My environment has shaped me. I didn’t want my environment to ever affect me but it has as I’ve grown older. I can’t change that because I didn’t plan it but it’s just the truth. Many of my friends do bad things and I thought they’d never change. I know everyone and everything from 15 year olds on acid and speed, kids who’ve done cocaine, kids who have piercings all over their bodies, kids who have sex like it’s a hobby, kids who cut, throw up, kleptos, drinkers, smokers. Everything. And I never thought I’d ever even associate with it. I thought I was better than those people, that I’d never even be their friend. I hate society for not finding a better way to teach us about reality because it’s a lot scarier than anybody ever warned me. When it hit me that drugs and violence, and people throwing their lives away were everywhere around me I just felt overwhelmed. Because of this I just sort of get frustrated with the way people deal with things. Everyone’s gotten MORE immature due to these things if you ask me. I just get upset with how people deal with things, and that makes me a hypocrite because I don’t always deal with things in the best possible way either. When people are hurt, or upset they do horrible things to themselves to self medicate, and make themselves feel better. It’s something that everyone is going to see at some point in their life, and some people will get trapped by it. I think that even so? What really matters is that I try. What hurts me the most about seeing my friends fall into these dirty, dark, habits is that they begin to forget everything that ever mattered to them. And even scarier they begin to forget themselves. That’s what separates me from them, is that no matter what happens in my life and no matter how hard or painful it is? I won’t let it affect me negatively. I’ll only keep getting stronger, better at dealing with these situations.  I would never purposefully hurt myself in any of the ways that my friends do. I just couldn’t let something consume my life before I’ve had my full chance at becoming everything I can.

            

​Isabela Aznar

Book review

Red stream English

Mrs. Dunn

                                                            Mitch Albom

                 The Five People You Meet in Heaven

 

The book The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a very interesting book about life and death and the possibilities of afterlife. The Five People You Meet in Heaven opens your eyes up to a whole new level of things that could possibly happen when you die. This book was on the New York Times best seller list for 95 weeks straight in 2003 when it was released. The novel was also turned into a movie in 2004, staring John Voight.

The book starts out with the main character Eddie (an old man) who has worked at Ruby Pier the amusement park for almost his whole life. He dies trying to stop one of the rides at the park from falling and killing the passengers inside, but once the passengers are safe, the carts of the ride fall and Eddie gets killed.

When he arrives at heaven, he notices that the sky changes rich, beautiful, colors and he feels his youth come back even though he is still inside his old worn looking body. He meets one person at a time in his or her own heaven and they explain to him certain events in his life, how it affected them, and why his life had purpose. When he is done in the first heaven, the sky begins to change beautiful colors again, and he arrives in his second person’s heaven. He feels his body growing older every time he reaches a new heaven as the people explain their relevance to his life. When he is done meeting all five of the people, he gets to choose his heaven, and then the book ends.

            The main character in the story is Eddie, but some of the other characters that played big roles in his life where is wife Marguerite, his father,  a little girl named Tala, Ruby, the Blue Man, and the Captain. Marguerite is Eddie’s first and only love in the story. He comes home one day and tells his brother that he met the girl he is going to marry. And one day, he does. His father played a big role in his life because his father was hard on him, and pushed him to follow in his exact footsteps, working at Ruby Pier. This is something that Eddie regrets and resents his whole life, as it is the life he wishes he had escaped. The little girl named Tala, Ruby, the Blue Man, the Captain, and his wife Marguerite are the five people that Eddie meets in heaven, all of which somehow played an important role in his life, weather he knew it, or met them, or not.

            This story has many conflicts, because it focuses on Eddie’s life as a whole, and throughout his life there are many things that weren’t right like his relationship with his abusive father, and the way that when he came home from the war he was a broken man.

My favorite character in this book was the Blue Man, because I leaned about the way silver nitrate was used as medicine long, long ago and how this man drank so much silver nitrate to help ease his tension and his jumpy behavior that he turned blue. After he turned blue, he had to change his name to “The Blue Man” and his father never spoke to him again because he saw him as an embarrassment, so he went and joined Ruby Pier’s freak show. He is my favorite character because I think his story was the most interesting one, and he seemed very relaxed, and okay with himself the way he was.

            The most important thing to take away from this book is the fact that life isn’t something that we can label or define, we can’t fully understand everything that’s happened in our lives until they are over, and we really don’t know what comes next, if anything. An important theme in this book is that we don’t know what happens when we die, and the form of life after death in this book makes you really think about the fact that when you die, anything is possible. Regardless of what you believe in.

I could relate to Marguerite (Eddie’s wife) in the story because she was the type of woman who was always happy with what she had. She loved children, and when problems like being infertile came up, she thought of alternate options without feeling upset or depressed for very long. I am similar in the sense that I try and make the best out of every situation as well.

            Eddie always felt like he could never live up to his father’s expectations. Nothing he ever did was enough for his dad. When I was younger, I remember wanting so much to live up to the rest of the world’s expectations. I think back to it now, and I’m glad that the only expectations that I live up to now are the ones I want to live up to, and my own. I don’t think it’s good to live doing what someone else wants you to do your whole life. Living up to a stereotype or doing things that influence your life to please someone else isn’t smart, and it won’t make you happy although completely understand what that feels like.

My opinion on this book is that it is really keeps you interested. I liked it a lot because it was a different style of writing than the kind I am used to, and because it had a lot of valuable lessons worded perfectly. One of the strongest things about this book is that it was very well composed, and Mitch Albom is great at setting scenery in your mind. Another thing that I think Mitch Albom did very well is that he created connections to everything in the story, and in the heaven he created he decided that everything important in your life would get explained. This book was very well written, and I honestly don’t think that there were any weaknesses. If I could change anything in the book I’d change the ending to find out what Eddie’s heaven looks like, but at the same time I think that might be hard to do since it was a great book.

I would very much recommend this book to people because it really gets you wondering about how things work. We don’t know how many things are going to happen and when they’re going to happen, so it’s nice to have that subtle reminded to keep our minds open to the many possibilities.

Me Magazine!!

Overview- The purpose of the myth project was to research about a mythical God who we found to be very interesting. There was one catch though, in order to choose this God it was best to know the least information about this mythical character. It was best to learn information that was fresh to the mind, in order to ensure that new information was gained and doing the project wasn’t boring.

(For some reason the file wouldn't upload, so here is a link: 

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2LDaXKN0qv1NTcxZTE4MTMtYTk0Yy00MmY4​

 

I think that Odysseus and Max are very similar in the sense that they both take control in every situation. But at the same time, Max would rather die than let anyone in her flock be killed. Odysseus on the other hand is all about getting himself home safely and finishing his journey by himself.  Odysseus just wants to get through his challenges so that HE can get home to his wife and son. He doesn’t really care too much about the well being of his other shipmates who are just there for him, and trust him completely.

 

Max and Odysseus are fierce, strong, and confident leaders. They both are attacked with challenges and face them without fear. Both leaders are very strategic and unafraid of the frightful experiences they must face. Odysseus had to face the horridly beautiful Sirens which makes a point about how things never are what they seem. The Sirens are beautiful but awful creatures that if given the chance would kill any man they see. Odysseus barely escaped them. Max likewise has to get past the unknown sea creatures that have been formed by toxic waste in the depths of the oceans. The creatures lure them in with their mysterious shapes and sizes and leave them in awe, and almost destroy them. On the contrary though, Odysseus is lured in by the sirens’ beautiful voices, and Max and her flock are lured in by the mysterious sight of the unknown creatures in the sea.

 

              Max and Odysseus are both strong, confident leaders, but every leader has his/her flaws.  Max is impatient, and Odysseus is selfish. There are people constantly attacking and throwing challenges at both crews and they handle everything in similar ways. The only thing that isn’t similar about the crews is that max is selfless and does everything to protect the people she is with/that are backing her up. Whereas Odysseus just about lets all his men die and be killed by monsters he knew he couldn’t stand a chance against like Scylla. Odysseus is all about getting himself home safely and finishing his journey by himself while creating as much glory for himself along the way. Nevertheless Max is all about protecting her flock and trying NOT to draw attention to herself. There are people constantly attacking and throwing challenges at both crews and they handle everything in different ways, both portraying them in my mind as strong and confident leaders.

Another thing that is different about Max and Odysseus is that Max is a girl, and regardless of how tough she comes off as she still does have her breakdown moments where everything overwhelms her. Due to the fact that Odysseus is a good 30 years older than Max at the least, and the fact that he is a man I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to battling and staying strong and confident, it’s easier for him. Max has to leave her mother and her sister at home and take the flock of genetically mutated kids whom she cares very much for with her, and she worries about everyone of them every day. Odysseus hardly ever thinks about his men as people and sees them more as sidekicks who aren’t quite as important as anything else.

 

More than anything, I think Max and Odysseus have about as much in common as they don’t. By that I mean that they are very similar when it comes to their rough lifestyles, constantly traveling and not sure whom they can trust, and the tough challenges they have to live through. But at the same time, they are different because Odysseus is only thinking about himself and Max has a deeper bond where she is honest with the people that accompany her on her insane adventures and journjourneys.

 

 

​Mischief Night

Isabela Aznar

Red stream

January 16^th, 2010

You know how people say great things happen when you least expect them? (Opener) Well that’s the way it all began between Nick and I. It all started on a Friday, (October 30^th, the day before Halloween to be exact) a day that I didn’t expect to be out of the ordinary. I had dressed up like a vampire to school for the costume competition, full with plastic fangs, chalky white makeup, and a cape.(Magic Three) Of course, I ended up being one of the only people who dressed up, but on the bright side, that never fails to make people laugh, right? My field hockey team had a very important game against a very good, prestigious team that day after school. We on the other hand just referred to them as “that snobby annoying school with a bigger field than us”. Some of the younger girls on my team decided that since it was the night before Halloween, we should try and “scare” the other team. I happily supplied white and black face paint,  (glad that some use came of it) painting every girl on my teams face white with black circles around their eyes. We were all laughing and making fun of each others bad makeup, and I guess our game plan to distract them worked, because even though we overheard them calling us freaks in the girls bathroom the victory was ours.

            My best friend is named Emmi. Emmi has long blonde curls, and fierce, deep blue eyes(Magic three). We do everything together and she had stayed to watch my game. I went downstairs and she waited with me while I washed off the messy face paint and changed out of my clothes, looking like I’d been tossed around in a tornado(Metaphor).We were going to a haunted house that night with my step brother, and his friend who I’d never met.

Emmi and I walked out of school, and over to love park where everyone hangs out after school when it’s warm. The cold hadn’t hit yet, and fall was at its warmest point. We went and met up with some of the kids we usually hung out with, skaters. Swoooosh, swiiiish, swoooooosh, their boards slid by us as they jumped around us doing skateboard tricks, and we laughed eating junk food from the Seven Eleven (repetition for effect).We didn’t feel like going to the haunted house anymore because we were having fun with our friends, and left in dismay when my dad called.

We hopped on the train and talked about school and field hockey, and how the other team looked when they lost. We trudged into my house expecting a quiet, dull and boring night and I had pretty much forgotten that Grace, Johnny (my step brother) and his friend were coming to the haunted house with us(Magic three).

Emmi and I were never pessimists, so I turned on music, and made both of us soup. We sat at my table laughing and  eating when suddenly the front door opened, and a boy walked into my house. I didn’t know him, but saw shortly after that Johnny was right behind him. The boy looked around my house and made small talk with Johnny while they walked up the stairs. I barely ever liked anyone at first sight, but when I saw him I immediately thought he was attractive. I turned to Emmi and cupped my hands around her ears  “he’s cute!” I whispered into her ear, she whispered back “I know!” they walked towards the table where we sat and I searched my mind for something to say. I ended up asking them the first thing that came to my head. “Want some crackers?” they laughed and looked at each other “no I’m okay” said the boy smiling. My step mom walked in through the door then and  the introductions were made, I analyzed the boy standing in front of me, he was tan with dark brown hair that flipped over his eyes. I signaled at Emmi and stood up from the table, “we’ll be right back” I said grabbing Emmi’s arm and pulling her into my room. We sat on my floor, my music was on as always and we brushed our hair and wiped the left over Halloween makeup from our faces. Just then there was a knock at the door. “Grace is here!” I said standing abruptly, Emmi right behind me. We opened the door and introduced her to Nick and Johnny. “Hi!” Grace’s freckle dabbled cheeks turned into a grin, and she hugged Emmi and I.

            On the car ride over, I made small talk with Nick and Johnny, and Grace and Emmi stayed moderately quiet. I found out that Nick played ice hockey, one of my favorite sports. He lived in New Jersey, and according to him he “never got scared”. We teased him, hoping that the pennententary would scare him the way it always scared us. We got out of the car and signed our wavers, walking through the long line of people and listening to the screams coming from the inside of the haunted jail. People dressed as monsters crawled on the floor and ran around, screaming and cackling with gouged eyes, rotten teeth and bloody wounds, but I was more interested in the boy named Nick (Magic three). Him and I decided to exchange numbers, solely for the slight chances that one of us got lost, of course. As we walked in, there were foggy lights and sirens going off. The jail looked like something straight out of a horror movie and every five minutes an actor that looked like he’d fallen into a bucket of toxic waste, would jump out from behind us or beg us to let it out of it’s jail cell (metaphor). Nick started squinting and saying he couldn’t see because of the strobe light, he kept walking into things so I grabbed his arm and he walked with me. Johnny, Emmi, and Grace were all in front of us and every now and again we could hear Johnny shrieking like a child at the doctor’s office(Metaphor). Every little while I’d check in to make sure Nick was ok, and he just kept blinking as if he were blind. Emmi, grace and Johnny went ahead and Nick and I were walking slowly. Everytime I got scared I’d jump and  he’d occasionally ask if I was ok. Eventually we reached one of those bridges where the walls spin around you in circles with creepy patterns on them. More actors were standing underneath the bridge scraping the metal walkway with their fingernails. I got really dizzy and couldn’t keep walking so Nick grabbed my hand and put his arm on my back, helping me out of the tunnel. When we got out of the tunnel, we didn’t let go of each other’s hands. I stood still for a second, (I’m known to get dizzy very easily) “are you good?” he asked me, I nodded my head and smiled. I was still holding his hand we braced the rest of the haunted house. My heart felt full and  I felt comfortable with him. I remember thinking to myself  “I don’t even know this guy…why do I feel so comfortable with him? Why am I holding his hand?” but I never said anything. Eventually we got out, and if it were up to me I would have made the haunted house a LOT longer. We saw Emmi Grace and John, and awkwardly let go of each others hands mutually feeling as though Johnny would not be happy if he saw. When Anne (my stepmom) and my dad arrived, we took some pictures in front of the prison, and piled into the car.

            Back at my house, I felt a sinking feeling in my chest as if an anchor were weighing it down, knowing that I would probably never see the boy named Nick again (Metaphor). We played with a football in my house, ate some chips, and then asked if we could walk around the neighborhood with the boys. By then it was like 11:30 but my dad said sure. We walked them to Market Street, and everyone was quiet except for Nick and I. We were making jokes and having silly arguments. We all eventually sat and talked trying to figure out who was taller, about school, how Johnny didn’t like the kids where he was from, Emmi and I teased them about being from Jersey, and Grace joined in every once in a while. Eventually we had to go back home and I felt my heart sink even more. We hugged them goodbye and I watched them close the door with brief smiles. Grace got picked up shortly after, and Emmi was sleeping over so that the next day (Halloween) we could go trick or treating together. We layed on my couch and watched Chuckie, when all of the sudden I got a text that said “Hey it’s Nick :P” my heart skipped a beat, and I showed my phone to Emmi. I remember staying up until 2AM texting him. Eventually we became closer and closer, and he asked me out. He was literally the boy version of me, and it still amazes me how when your not looking, you find some of the most important things in your life. Nick has now been my boyfriend for a year and five months, and he’s like my best friend. This story isn’t supposed to be one of those lovey stories, but it’s supposed to show that things happen when you least expect and that’s the greatest suprize. That night will now forever be special to me, even if Nick and me don’t stay together, he’ll still be special to me. 

Kristi Bezhani

 

ENGLISH PORTFOLIO

 

Reflection

 

This is the very last project in out English class where my peers and I had to make a portfolio of all the main writing pieces assigned to us throughout the school year. It’s meant to be a collection for us so we can see our progress and weaknesses. Although a lot of hard work was put into all writing pieces, I am only human and therefore not all of my writing will be flawless. For example, some mistakes that I made consistently were with my grammar and sometimes I struggled making my paragraphs flow as far as organization goes about.

Regardless of the fact that I love all of the writing work I have produced in this class, two that I especially love and look proudly back on are my Macbeth analysis, and my Comparison essay of Odysseus and a character of our choice.

Some reasons why I liked these two writing assignments the best, was because I revised these two pieces of work over and over aiming to make my writers tone and critical and strong.

Looking back at all of my work I feel happy seeing my progression of vocabulary, and structure. Although I still have some flaws such as grammar I am very proud of all my final products because I can see my effort in all of my work, and it looks beautiful to me.

In this analytical paper my class and I were assigned to incorporate a character from "Macbeth" of our choice, and use those quotes in our essay. To be specific, we had to take out 10 quotes that we favored from "Macbeth", and write a individual  paragraph for each quote to use as evidence for support on our statements.

Analysis on Lady Macbeth                       

Starting off with quite an absolute and insistent individuality, Lady Macbeth presented herself voracious in the beginning of “Macbeth”, however she gradually grew weaker with guilt from previous actions that drowned her in a puddle of regret causing her to die. The change in her character stunned me as I read closer and closer into the end of the play. One factor that influenced this doomed outcome in her life was Macbeth’s behavior in the end. As she started to observe Macbeth going insane during the feast, she herself couldn’t keep it all as well together anymore, and started to go insane too.

Her unhappiness which lead to her sickened mentality later on in the story, began at Act 3, scene 4, page 4, line 56-60 quoting: “Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus and hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary; upon a thought He will again be well. If much you note him, you shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed and regard him not. (To the lords at the dinner table)” In this line I could tell that Lady Macbeth was concerned and displeased with Macbeth’s behavior. Although she does not say this directly in “Macbeth”, the manner in which she said this line seemed as if she was bluffing to the men at her dinner table. In other words, she was trying not to show her audience the baffled concerned feelings towards Macbeth, for that reason, she acted as if Macbeth’s crazy incident was no big deal of significance and nothing of a surprise. All of the emotions at the dinner table were kept within her, and when emotions are bottled up for a long time the ending will not be gratifying. From here on out she became more and more depressed by the awfulness that she caused within herself. This was the part in the play where Shakespeare made it clear to the audience that the change in Lady Macbeth’s character was tragically worsening.

As mentioned before, Lady Macbeth was literally growing ill with insanity. However an example to show this is in Act 6,scene 1, page 86, this quote shows how Lady Macbeth is filled with guilt, and explodes her thoughts and emotions when she gets the opportunity: through sleepwalking. She says: “Out damned spot! Out I say!” Referring to the figurative blood that “stained” her hands, in this quote it is showing how she is becoming so paranoid about her crime that she is really trying to erase her sin, by “washing it off of herself”. The way, in which she phrases this, is: wash the blood from my hands. In other words lady Macbeth feels like she is scarred with her past’s action of killing King Duncan; she can’t rid it from her memory even though she desperately wants to according to this quote.

I was very baffled with her as this happened in the middle/end of the book, because despite everything that got in her way, she was never taken off guard so easily. She had begun by showing the audience firmly that she had a fierce grasp of desire and determination. This enabled her to achieve her goal. She led the audience to believe that she was in control of everything including Macbeth. An example this is in Act 1, scene 5, page1, line 3-10 “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.”  In these lines she shows herself to be controlling and bossy, yet she then disappointingly looses this firm grasp making it quite loose.

Although Lady Macbeth got into this lame depression, it was truly disappointing to read about her, changing from such a confident character to a sorry one. Nonetheless, I loved analyzing Lady Macbeth throughout the entire book, because she showed the audience an impressive, strong feminine personality, even if it only was in the beginning of the play. For instance in Act 1, scene 5, page 3, line 56-58 “Look like the innocent one but be the serpent under It” This shows how clever lady Macbeth is to influence her strong character all from one quote.  The way she manipulated people and actions based off of this quote showed that she was competent until her pessimistic emotions got into her way of things and caused her to die. But comparing her character “growth” from the beginning to the end was engaging as much as it was saddening.

In the beginning, she showed the audience firmly that she had a fierce grasp of desire and determination enabling her to achieve her goal. It was very wondrous and surprising for me to analyze exactly how far she would go to achieve her goal.  Little did she know how her decisions affected her gradually, striking her to the ends of all she had ever dreamed of. For example in Act 1, Scene 5, page 2, she said “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements.” It kind of shocked me to read exactly how far she would go to complete her wishes. I think killing is too unacceptable to encounter as an action when doing it to simply please the heart and become royal. I new that Lady Macbeth was a confident woman but what I didn’t know until then was that she could be very cruel. Reading that her desire was so strong to influence her cruelty, was entertaining and intriguing, especially when I got to the end because cruel was way more interesting to me than weak.

Like stated before, for a time period Lady Macbeth was in control of everything, but it was not enough, because she was doomed in deep affliction while trying to erase painful and regretful memories. She was unsuccessful at this. The terrible memories simply scarred her. She was so siked out, she tried even tried calming herself. For example in Act 5, scene 1, page 3, lines 45-47 she’s sleep walking once again but she tries to forget that all of it ever happened. She says: “To bed, to bed! There’s a knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed!”. Wishing she could forget about it all, she yells at herself and tries to go to sleep, tries to forget about it, but she knows deep down that it wouldn’t matter how much she tries, nothing would work, therefore she says what she says in this quote very desperately.

She should have never used her guilt to weaken her self. On the contrary she should have used it to empower herself in a productive manner. What I mean by “empowering productively” is that her guilt should have been a motivation towards fixing her mistakes. I was looking forward for her to have learned from her mistakes, and used this “empowerment” as a motivation to do more good instead of cruel, because she was so clever but this thought sadly never occurred to her.

What I had foreshadowed compared to what really happened was quite ironic. I say this because in Act 5, scene 1, page 3, lines 50-52 when Lady Macbeth says: “I still have the smell of blood on my hand. All the perfumes of Arabia couldn’t make my little hand smell better. Oh, oh, oh!” Here she showed her guilt and she also showed a little sympathy for herself as she said “my poor little hands” referring to her hands as little and sad. When reading between these lines, she is saying; awe my poor little hands are part of this as the rest of my body is! My point is she was showing that she didn’t want anything to do with the crime she had done, but what I foreshadowed was ironic because I thought that what was going to happen was that Lady Macbeth would increase her confidence and desires, becoming crueler doing everything in her power to reach the satisfaction of her desires. But she did nothing of the sort, in fact she backed away totally feeling trapped, unable to move.

The greed that lady Macbeth portrayed throughout “Macbeth” is a huge reason that lead her to her grave quite tragically.  For example in Act 1, scene 7, page 2 Lady Macbeth said: “Was the hope drunk where in you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?

And wakes it now, to look so green and pale at what it did so freely? From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’s the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat i' th' adage?” This shows that Lady Macbeth is upset about Macbeth being shaky on whether he should follow her directions. Lady Macbeth becomes very outraged and let out all her anger on Macbeth because she feels like she can, since she is so “spoiled” by Macbeths high tolerance.

The manner in which Lady Macbeth wants things, makes her spoiled and immature because when she wants something, she won’t give up till she get’s it just like a spoiled little child. Since the very beginning in Act 1 when she said “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” she showed her huge desire for winning the throne, glory and victory by directly wanting to have the rights of a man.

            Lady Macbeth lets her fierce personality get impacted, by bringing unhappiness upon her self. This jumbles with her sanity and life. She begins with a hungry desire, wanting to win the royal throne, increasing her expectations for many things hence leading her to greed, which finally leads her to negative outcomes, that then leads to her being unhappy till eventually she becomes mentally ill. Consequently in the end, all of this, results as a big tragic death for her. It was saddening to read about a character with such high stamina, mess up and then mess up even more, when she could have fixed or learned after her mistakes instead of taking things by heart and being a pessimist. In essence Lady Macbeth started off the story as this Voracious character but changes to one fraught with deep affliction.
 

This is a vignette that was assigned to my class and I,  for the purpose of writing something we choose. Our lovely teacher wanted this to be about something special to us, she wanted it to be memorable. And at the time I thought it was the most special thing in the world to be written about. It may not come across as one of my best writing pieces of mine however, because this was in the very beginning of the year.

He truly was a magnificent star, shooting form the sky, straight upon my school, and upon my heart.

 

“OMG HAVE U SEEN THE NEW 7^th GRADE HOTTIE!” Amanda screeched with excitement.

“Kid with the brownish curly hair, in a mushroom-shaped style?” I asked bluntly, with impish intentions. I could care less about the new kid. The only thing took my interest was Amanda’s reaction towards my apparent disinterest in this boy. Judging from her reaction, my attitude was too plain for her.

“DUHH that’s who I mean. That’s all you say to describe him though? GEEZ Kristi seriously you’re like the only girl who probably doesn’t think he’s hot!” Amanda was paddling on, screeching with disagreement.

 “You’re probably right about that” I assured her, knowing that she was going to say something along the lines of what she’d been ranting on about. But in my head I was trying to assure myself of my real, own feelings towards this boy. After what happened today, my thoughts and first impressions of him were jumbled.

Confusion is what my middle name became from that moment when I had an experience with this boy. I felt like we interacted from a distance. Anyhow, in this experience, my feelings towards this kid were frustratingly perplexed and when we locked eyes, it made me wonder why he was looking at me so observantly. According to the look on his face, he made his acknowledgment of me seem as if he had just seen a mermaid walk on ground, basically what I am trying to say is that he gave me a look unlike others.

Never will it escape my memory, the way in which my heart raced as he gazed upon me that day. My heart felt as if it was a bunch of old sheets that needed to be un-dusted badly with broom poles pounding at my heart causing it to thump so frequently. Every day from then on, it was those darn broom poles pounding at my heart, like annoying blizzards that are about to come when there is absolute peace. These feelings were a real disturbance intruding upon my life.

Have you ever heard of the phrase that states something along the lines of: “be careful what you wish for, because you might just regret it later”?

I never knew what the miller’s daughter in “Rumplestiltskin” felt like after wishing for the golden thread. This wish almost had her son taken away from her in the end. The regret I felt, similar to the miller’s daughter, was immense.

My regret built up more and more every time my memory returned to that moment of eye contact. It was me who wished for all of the trouble that was brought to me. It was me who asked God to bring a boy to my school, and into my heart; I wanted to feel “in love” like so many of my other friends back then. My recognition, however, was that praying and dreaming both were not able to satisfy my curiosity for what “love” would feel like. Instead of feeling satisfied after my curiosity was fulfilled, my regret built on more and more for, ever wishing such an insane thing.

I started to fall for him like the rest of the girls in my class from that moment on, but denied it to the point where I found it ridiculous to continue pretending to feel something I wasn’t feeling. I ended up denying myself, and lying to my friends. It became harder and harder.  I hated feeling as though I was swooped from the floor, and that this would alter every plan in my life. I felt disturbed in my independence of living. I felt like I had to guard my looks, behavior, and actions at all times when he was around. I began to feel less and less like the free turtledove I always felt like.

This guy disabled me to talk, walk, breathe, and think freely. My body didn’t want to give in to the world or myself what I felt. At first, I was so insecure and unsure about what I was feeling that I totally ignored my feelings and did what my head told me, and that was to focus on my life, work, friends, and family only. I left no room for the affections I could have had towards boys.

The next day it was pie day to my surprise. This sounds plain, but to my family however it’s a much bigger deal than some words on a page stating that it’s pie day and that I am surprised about it. Not that it’s super duper important to me, but like I said my family takes great value in this day, and my mom always bakes her traditional blueberry pies which every one loves, so in a way it makes me have to value this day too, because in my culture I am obligated to respect the food my elders make for me.

Anyway, as my family and I start to settle down for dinner, with pies all ready, I could barley stay awake from the lack of sleep I had gotten the night before. I could not get my mind to think about anything other than the boy last night. As a result, I desired sleep. Thoughts that reflect this desire are not very appealing if you’ve ever lacked sleep. What does lack of sleep do? I’ll tell you what it did to me. Basically, my head dropped into a blueberry pie, on pie day, caused by the lack of sleep from last night. I really had fallen unconscious on my mother’s blueberry pie! Face on a blueberry pie! Worse than this, I was known for sleeping on this blueberry pie. Logically my face became blue from sleeping on this pie.

“BLUE FACE!” all the little children surrounding the dinner table called me this disturbing name. Great. Not only has this boy caused a bunch of trouble into my life, now he scarred me with an unfortunate fame. All over my middle school, little first, second and third graders who heard of my recklessness, recognized me as “blue face”.

What had caused me to fall asleep on my mother’s well-baked pie? The boy. I really wish that these embarrassing and unappealing events had not happened in the very first place. It’s almost like the boy is my personal Déjà vu with unpleasant intentions every day.

He came up so much into my life, and as the years passed my feelings only increased for him. However month after month I was a heavy, locked treasure chest, about my secret of being bananas for this boy. Moreover, I kept it locked from everyone, but my sister. I was chicken to show anyone my consuming attraction especially to the boy himself, but my sister she was a whole different person in my life. She played a very special role in my life. My soul sister, and way more that cannot all be expressed in words, is what she is to me. I can talk to her about anything.

Unfortunately she was the only person I could act my true self around. Towards other people, I presented myself with a bulwark disguising me from my real feelings for the boy. The feelings that I felt inside were simply acted out as the opposite on the outside. Instead of feeling like I cared I behaved as though I didn’t care, instead of liking him I pretended like he was just a non-appealing boy to me. Instead of behaving like this boy was a shooting star, I acted as though I was the shooting star. I was acting out everything that was the opposite of what defines me. I became a good actress, but also a key, that was falling and getting lost in the deepest darkest waters. What good is behaving out something false when it causes me to get lost inside?

 In the end fortunately, my sister found the key, and the feelings I felt for this boy, increased to more than just attraction, they were becoming feelings based on looking into the soul not only the shell. Even though my feelings increased, however, it did not make my life easier. But at least it certainly made things more reasonable to like the cake for all of its’ insides not just the particular detailed icing decorations on the outside. 

This was an assignment where my class and I were required to compare Odysseus with another character from our choice. Furthermore we were also required to use quotes form both stories. I chose to compare Odysseus to Edmund from Narnia: The lion, the witch and the wardrobe. I could really relate one anthers characters, and as a result I bring up many strong critical points when I compare and contrast the two.

Comparison of the Odyssey and Narnia: The lion, the witch and the wardrobe (The movie)

 

     Despite the fact that both Edmund and Odysseus act egotistically, only one of them has an excuse for acting immaturely. Both Edmund and Odysseus want to be worshiped for what they think are “worthy actions” to be valued. However, this kind of expectation is not fit for “The man of twists and turns”. This behavior is more acceptable from Edmund, considering that he is relatively young being twelve years old, and therefore, having more time on his plate to mature. As mentioned before, Edmund has a long road ahead of him to learn from his mistakes, but Odysseus on the other hand, should be at a stable level of rationality in his life.  At any rate, in the end, both characters are easily swayed, reckless, and prideful.

                  Both Odysseus in The Odyssey and Edmund in The Chronicles of Narnia, The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe were bribed to agree to something that put their family and friends in potential danger. When Edmund and his siblings where playing hide and go seek, Edmund followed Lucy to her hiding spot, and that’s how he met the ice queen. The ice queen was negatively interested in Edmund and his siblings. Edmund, naively, told this stranger about his family in return for some candy, which the queen was using to sway this information out of him. Similarly, as Odysseus arrived at Circe’s island, Circe bribed Odysseus into staying. Little did Odysseus know that this stay was longer than expected. “Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of action, no more tears now, clam these tides of sorrow. Well I know what pains you bore on the swarming sea, what punishment you endure from hostile men on land. But now, eat your food and drink your wine till the same courage fills your chests, now as then, when you first set sail from native land, from rocky Ithica! ” (Book ten, page 244, lines 502-507).  After Circe said this to Odysseus, he narrated: “And there we sat at ease, day in, day out, till a year had run its course” (book ten, page 245, lines 513-516). It turned out “drinking some wine and eating some food” meant relaxing on the island for a whole year.  Moreover, Odysseus’s words are evidence that he didn’t once think about how his decision would affect his wife, son, or even his parents. The fact that Odysseus would take a one-year vacation for himself, just like Edmund trusted a stranger, giving out family information in exchange for candy, is proof of how easily they fall for bribes.  Both characters neglected to stop and think before they acted; this caused them to be swayed easily. In a nutshell, when both characters fell into the traps of their “enemies”, they were acting selfishly and immaturely. Also they both gave in to luxury and comfort; For Edmund it was the Turkish delight/power from the ice queen, and for Odysseus it was the sex and power form the gods.

                Edmund was irresponsible with his family and the people of Narnia just as Odysseus was irresponsible with his family, and crew. Society’s expectation for an adult is that they take responsibility and most of the time never let go of that steady control. Odysseus and Edmund have not shown that they are responsible human being’s in the beginnings of their stories. For example in Book twelve, page 279, lines 279-281 Odysseus says: “Of all the pitiful things I had to witness, suffering, searching out the pathways of the sea, this wrenched my heart the most ”, these words exhibit how Odysseus was irresponsible and reckless, by not telling his crew the voyage-plan journeying to the Seylla. He risked everyone’s lives with his irrationality and by the end, lost six of his men all because he didn’t follow Circe’s directions. Edmund was in a similar situation. He did not inform his siblings on the Ice queen (thinking she was good) while they were in Narnia making friends. This risked everyone’s lives just as it did when Odysseus chose to keep his plan hidden from his crew. Along with this, Odysseus, unlike Edmund, was more aware of his mistake, making Odysseus figuratively younger based on maturity.

             

      Furthermore, both characters show how their pride plays an important role in their lives. Although there was much positive growth in Edmunds character throughout “The Chronicles of Narnia, The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe”, in “The Odyssey” There wasn’t quite as much of a distinct modest growth in Odysseus’s character. This is because, like I said before, Odysseus is the “younger person” throughout “The Odyssey”. Both characters however, started out with a demanding character wanting some kind of attention from others, whether it was for the purpose of fame or plain fondness and worship. Too blinded by their pride in the purposes of doings, both characters jumped straight towards, glory or craves for self-satisfaction hidden behind intentions of their actions. For instance when Edmund saw with his own eyes that Narnia did exist, and how therefore Lucy was not telling a lie about it existing, Edmund never admitted it to his siblings when asked about it, for the reason that his image would be affected in a way where he would be perceived as immature like Lucy was. Edmund’s pride for his image resulted in making Lucy cry. As for Odysseus, he ignorantly said to the Cycolopse: “ Cycolops if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so-say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged your eye.” Book nine, page 227, lines 558-561. This quote clearly shows how he wants fame and glory. Having said that, the pride of Odysseus, disabled him to think ahead about the effect his choices would have on his family. For both characters, their pride resulted in creating unfortunate ending. For Odysseus it meant six deaths, for Edmund it meant Lucy’s tears.  Point of the matter is, that both characters prove it clear how their pride is a precious treasure to them and that if they lose it, it would be great loss.

       In light of this, when directed from a young adult such as Edmund, immaturity is of no huge surprise to an audience; even so, directed from Odysseus a full-grown adult, it is unexpected and low. Odysseus being an adult was supposed to act like an adult; all the same he was too stubborn to realize that he was being selfish and immature. In the mean time, Edmund grew out of his ignorance and immaturity, as Odysseus’s childishness remained constant. Ironically towards the end Edmund became the wise person, who realized his selfish mistakes. This being said, it is Sardonic when one thinks about how Edmund would have been the person that Athena would favor the most. Key of the matter is, that throughout the book, till the end, Odysseus remained immature while Edmund outgrew his callowness.

This essay was assigned to my class and I, after we finished "Macbeth". It is a peace of writing where we had to be creative. As I did my outline on this project I planned to make a photo essay with interpretations on the bottoms of each photo. The photos would not upload therefore as I am interpreting the photo's connection with quotes that I chose from "Macbeth", I ask you to picture the each photo as you are reading each of the descriptions and interpretations. I was still getting the hang of understanding Shakespeare's writing and therefore this essay will not sound perfectly clear.

Explanation of photo essay

 

The very first instance that Shakespeare introduced Lady Macbeth to the audience, he gave off a clear vibe that this woman was going to be a confident and shrewd person. As I began to read about her personality, I connected her character with some one else that came to mind. His name is Satin. This character shared so many similarities with Lady Macbeth. Both vain and prideful, these characters let one another's sinfulness lead to their doom. From angels they turned into Fallen angels.

Satin became a fallen angel because of the sins he committed, and so was Lady Macbeth for that matter. The only difference here is that Lady Macbeth punished herself, opposed to Satin who was punished by god. Also satin came form the Bible where as Lady Macbeth came form "Macbeth". Leaping from the bright side to the dark, atrocious side is what was happening in both of their lives. Lady Macbeth and Satin put it upon themselves to leap onto the dark side. Both had sharp perspicacious knowledge that they took advantage of manipulatively. The choices people make influence them to become the persons that they truly are within, and when they took advantage of their knowledge in a controlling manner, it caused harm upon them. They couldn’t mange modesty and became greedy to win what they craved for. They couldn’t manage sticking with being clever and as a result they turned out becoming immature.

As much as the greed of Lady Macbeth is the same for Satin, I could not help connecting it to Rumpelstilskin even more. Rumpelstilskin, like Satin and Lady Macbeth, had this huge greediness and just like all other characters mentioned here, it led all to an unfortunate ending. However, unlike Satin, Rumpelstilskin’s greed relates to Lady Macbeth's even more because both end up dying, where as Satin lives in hell forever.

Subsequently Hitler was another person I connected Lady Macbeth to. He was a historically ill person, who made faulty decisions and this is what made him the person he was.  His decisions revolved around power. This brought him grate unhappiness. Lady Macbeth was in the exact same situation. She benefited royalty from her terrible, merciless choices nevertheless it did bring her to a state of sadness, guilt and depression such as it did for Hitler. Regardless of how much Lady Macbeth wanted to, she couldn’t quite fit the two puzzle pieces together. She couldn’t attach happiness and power together as two fitting puzzle pieces. Therefore she had to choose one, and she chose power. The outcome emotions that came from this struggle of choosing power over happiness polluted her mind and left a huge mess that only increased till it created a catastrophe. This catastrophe brought Lady Macbeth great guilt and regret till it brought her to the end slowly and painfully. In other words Lady Macbeth was depressed meaning she chose royalty and she was only growing her depression along with Hitler.

Moreover, The life that lady Macbeth was leading, filled with depression, also reminded me of Elvis Presly. This famous singer grew depressed after his wife left him and he tried to end his pain by taking drugs and alcohol, where as lady Macbeth had nothing and no one to talk to. Her depression led her to doing nothing like drinking or drugs but it lead her to drown in her tears. Tears only made time melt and go slower reminding her of bad memories, and in fact scarring her with bad memories as well. For example in the play as she was sleepwalking and talking about washing out the blood that was accordingly in her hands, it showed that her sins permanently and figuratively marked her, and pretty horridly too.  She was trapped in her memories of guilt and regret such as a prisoner at fault would be trapped in jail left to think of their guilt. This is where Lady Macbeth grew weak and couldn’t stand the pain of being trapped in her terrible memories. She simply had to escape; therefore she committed suicide ending her life tragically. Fraught with grimness and grief, her face on her dead body said it all. Her face showed that she ended life mournfully.

 

 

Quotes Connecting to Photos

 

 “Look like the innocent one but be the serpent under It” Act 1, scene 5, page 3 lines 56-58

 

This quote applies to pictures one (Adam and Eve) it also applies to picture eight (Rumpelstilskin). The reason why I made this connection, is because the characters in these photos both exemplified how they acted innocent but eventually showed how they where the serpent under this innocence.

 

“My lord is often thus and hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary; upon a thought He will again be well. If much you note him, you shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed and regard him not. (Lady Macbeth to MACBETH)”

Act 3, scene 4, page 4, line 56-60

 

This quote applies to many of the photos but the one I feel it applies to most was the one with Elvis Presley. I say this because lady Macbeth was sort of in Elvis Presley’s wife’s shoes. In other words Elvis’s wife watched Elvis go insane because of the drugs and alcohol that he took, just as Lady Macbeth had to go through and watch her husband go through a similar situation of insanity.

 

“Out damned spot! Out I say!” Act 6,scene 1, page 86

 

This quote mainly refers to the picture with the scarred hands. Because this picture portrays Lady Macbeths despair. She feels as thought the blood scared her hands for life with bruises (shown in the photo) always reminding her that the blood on her hands is not innocent. In other words the bruises marked her and every time she looks back at them she feels regret.

 

“Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.” Act 1, scene 5, page1, line 3-10

 

For this quote there was quite many pictures connecting with it. However the one picture that really resonated a deep connection with this quote was the picture with rose thorns. I chose this photo because that picture symbolizes fierceness, and in this quote Lady Macbeth was acting like her fierce, feisty self towards Macbeth.

 

“To bed, to bed! There’s a knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed!”. Act 5, scene 1, page 3, lines 45-47

 

In this quote it has gotten to the point where lady Macbeth shows her obvious insanity. This quote I thought related to various pictures. Two pictures that very much related to this quote were: one, the picture with the “crying eye” symbolizing depression, and two, the picture with the pollution. Why this quote related to these two pictures the most, is because when lady Macbeth is saying this, she is greatly afflicted and depressed in the way where it pollutes her mind with negative emotions which make her weak.

 

“I still have the smell of blood on my hand. All the perfumes of Arabia couldn’t make my little hand smell better. Oh, oh, oh!” Act 5, scene 1, page 3, lines 50-52

 

 

This quote also refers to the picture with the scarred hands because it shows how lady Macbeth feels when she is scarred with the smell of the blood.

 

“The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements.” Act 1, Scene 5, page 2

This quote applies to the picture with Hitler because she, just like Hitler would go very far to get what they want.

 

“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” beginning in Act 1

This quote refers to the very first picture. In this picture Saitin would become a fallen angel just to satisfy his curiosity, as Lady Macbeth would unsex herself just to satisfy her desire.

 

“Was the hope drunk where in you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale at what it did so freely? From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’s the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat i' th' adage?” Act 1, scene 7, page 2

 

This quote applies to the picture with the fallen angel because when one first becomes a fallen angel they are upset about it, just like Lady Macbeth is upset with Macbeth in this quote.

 At the beginning of the year my teacher would give my class and I free journal time in class, where she put a question on the board relating to a book we are reading or something happening in our economy. After she wrote the question, we would answer the question based on our perspectives. For this portfolio we had to choose four of our favorites. Enjoy!

Four Journal Entries

 

Why do we write?

 

For people with terrible memories, writing exists in their life so they can record the things they want to remember on paper. For people who need some one to talk to when there is no one there, writing exists for moral support. Some people are forced to write, others do it out of joy. I think it really depends on the person and their point of view. Every one is different with different perspectives. Therefore if I were to justify the answer to this question fully, I would need everyone’s perspectives.  However since I do not have that option right now, the answer to this journal entry, on my behalf, would be; we write to shape that something beautiful we are thinking of, through the many different letters that can be formed on paper. 

 

If you really knew me… you would know…

 

If you really knew me you would know that growing up to this point I lack some information young adults my age don’t lack. I tend to take many things literally but this disables me to look at things knowingly the way others do. My cluelessness for some things feels almost like a curse sometimes. I can never seem to place my finger on things that others can. It’s not that I am not able to read between the lines. No, I can even look at a painting and manage to analyze the true meaning. It’s not even one of those things where you are just amongst people who are all the same and therefore know the same things, because in this case basically all people of different varieties with different perspectives know these things that I don’t. They are all different and yet on the same page. It made me feel as if I stood out in a rather dumb way while everyone else stood out in a “normal” way. Now however, even though this “curse” still remains it doesn’t make me feel dumb anymore because my school environment at SLA is very friendly.

 

            How important is it for you to fit in?

           

            Fitting in and being “normal” is not important to me now as much as it used to be. Now I don’t think about fitting in because I feel like I do. I am accepted and loved in my school, at home, and pretty much everywhere else for that matter.  However, if I weren’t already accepted from everyone that accepts me today, I would feel that it would be very important to me. I would feel the need to be accepted and as a result it would become a longing importance of mine. Being unwanted and uncared form are emotions no one wants to feel. Everyone wants to be accepted and loved somehow. Additionally everyone is different, for that reason everyone should be accepted for his or her uniqueness instead of being neglected and looked upon as strangely different.

 

 

If you were told a secret that was told to no one else but you, could you keep it?

 

            Depending on how funny it is I would tell people who I think would find it funny too. One of my favorite parts in life is laughter especially when it is contagious because then it’s like spices on a delightful dessert. Therefore, if this secret were to be goofy I think I could not keep it in me for long. When I have the option of sharing that joy of hysterical laughter with others, it excites me a great deal and is difficult to resist not spilling it. I cannot have a bunch of excitement in me and not burst it out to someone. However if the secret were anything but laughable then I could certainly keep it to myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beginning of the year, Ms.Dunn assigned us the project of creating a "Me Magazine”. The magazine contains articles, pictures, and facts about your life. In my magazine, I put three articles that are written on my inspiration for music, passion for the Twilight Saga , and Christmas that my family attends each year. A reason for creating this project was so we could reflect on our work at the end of the year. After reviewing my magizine in May, I seen how much I improve on my academic life. 

Isabela Aznar

English

 

 

In my essay I try to explain the process in which Macbeth begins to go insane. The majority of the quotes I use are his and his wife’s. I explain each quote, and then talk about what is happening in each act underneath.

 

 

 

 

In Act 1 scene 4 line 149-155 Macbeth says “give me your favor. My dull brain wrought with things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains are registered where every day I turn the leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time, our interim having weighed it, let us speak our free hearts to each other.” He is basically stating that he wants to help his kind friends if they ever need it,  and that he wants to be able to speak with them freely, with them doing so in return. He is declaring his loyalty to the king and these men, and acting as though they are his main priorities.

 

 

In Act 1 scene 5 line 64-68 Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t. He that’s coming must be provided for; and you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.” Lady Macbeth is hinting to Macbeth that he should kill Duncan. She’s pushing forward with this idea that his death will bring them power and happiness, and that what more could they ask for than an opportunity for leadership.

 

 

In Act 1 scene 7  line 12-16, and line 25-28 Macbeth says “He’s here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself…I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the’ other-“ Macbeth is debating weather or not he should kill Duncan. He feels as though the deed is malicious and two faced, but at the same time he is being driven by his great ambition to get what he (thinks he) deserves. He ends his speech on a self-ambitious note, but is interrupted. To  me it seems like he is slowly leaning towards doing the deed.

 

In Act 2 scene 2, 47-53 Lady Macbeth says “Why worth thane, do you undend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things. Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand. Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go carry them and smear the sleepy grooms with blood.”

Lady Macbeth is a little annoyed with Macbeth’s lack of confidence. He’s acting weird, and not doing things according to plan. This worries lady Macbeth, and she tells Macbeth to go back and do things right, he is too scared though because he doesn’t want to have any part in what he’s done…he is too traumatized.

 

 

In Act 2 scene 2  line 61-66 Lady Macbeth says: “Whence is that knocking? How is’t that with me when every noise appalls me? What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.” In this scene, Macbeth begins to say weird things. Lady Macbeth is confused, and he is acting completely freaked out. Macbeth begins to say things that don’t make sense, and begins to show fear and remorse for his actions. He has just heard a knock, and begins to talk about how he’s spooked, and he is talking about how no amount of water could ever clean the blood off of his hands. The deed he did was forever, and he cannot take it back.

 

 

 

In Act 2 scene 3 line 89-94 Macbeth says “Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant there’s nothing serious in mortality: All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead, the wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees is left this vault to brag of.” Macbeth is covering himself. He is pretending that he is upset and distressed by the murder of Duncan. He wonders who it could be, and why anyone would do such a thing to their worthy wonderful king but in reality, he is just pretending and hiding behind his own words, for Macbeth is the killer.

 

 

In act 3 scene 2 line 7-10 Lady Macbeth says “Nought’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content: Tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” Lady Macbeth feels like they’ve done enough harm. In this quote she is saying that which they desired didn’t make them feel any happier. She is also implying that she would rather pretend nothing ever happened than to keep trying to find meaningless happiness, and she hopes Macbeth calms down back into the man he used to be. She is implying that Macbeth’s mind is starting to change.

 

In act 3 scene 4 line Macbeth says to the first murdered “Thou art the best o’ the cut-throats: yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it, Thou art the nonpareil” What Macbeth is doing here is he is bringing his trickery and bribery to a new level. He is trying to make the murderer feel good about himself for doing his dirty deeds, when in reality the only person he is fooling is himself. Lady Macbeth’s worries about Macbeth only become realer and realer.

 

 

 

In act 4 scene 1 Macbeth says “how now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is’t you do” Macbeth is beginning to loose his mind to the point where he resorts to talking to the witches who brought him his prophecies and problems in the past. Macbeth later continues on to yell at the witches because he doesn’t want them to keep ruining his life.

 

In act 5 scene 3 line 3-9 Macbeth says “Bring me no more reports; let them fly all: Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear. What’s the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: ‘fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman Shall e’er have power upon thee’. Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures: The mind I sway by and then the heart I bear shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.  In this quote he is starting to panic because there is chance of someone else taking his spot on the throne. Macbeth is shaken, and has forgotten completely who he was. Macbeth is officially insane.

 

 

 

 

​This blog is mainly about my growth as a 9th grade student over the year. I feel like this portfolio shows how much I have matured. This will show my fellow readers that I have struggled , but i have tried to do my work. 

My stregnths in english are that when i put my mind to do the work and i try , that i succed , but my weaknesses are that i do not try and i do not push myself like i should, which ruined my grades most of the time. I want to work on trying harder and working more and not doing everything late.

My expirences while make this portfolio where okay. I did not try a lot nor did i act like i cared about doing work , which i would consider an issue of mine. I barely tried to resolve them, but from what i could do , i tried. I wasn't as proud of going back on my work because i can honestly say i did not try this year. Years before i came to high school i was always an A student, but just recently i didnt seem to care. 

The piece of work that i am proud of the most has to be my Me Mag. I have to say this because that potrayed who i was at that moment in time and it helps me see how i have changed. I loved doing that project the most.

VIGNETTE

                                                                                     Zaria Fortson-Linton

 

Wake Me Up When September Comes Again

 

I hate the feeling were you’re losing someone who once use to be so close to you. It’s as if you feel so alone and tend to blame yourself for what happened. You ponder on the fact that you might have been the reason why, like you changed, when all in all it’s not just your fault.

My previous best friend and I met in September. It’s funny how we became friends actually. I had food and he asked for some and we shared it together. Our love for good food brought us together I guess. We connected on a similar level. Realizing that we can understand each either made us befriend each other even more. We later found out that we had all the same classes and advisory. We were soon to be inseparable, which I was very excited about.

One point in time, a lot of our friends thought we were in a relationship. Such rumors like this I think made our friendship go bad. Honestly, these rumors and thoughts made me think of him in that manner. The true feelings I had for him soon came to the light, but for him it was a whole different story. His smile was something that once meaned nothing to me, actually brightened my day. His eyes, which I never noticed soon, became something I loved to gaze into. I was smitten by his charm, his looks, his everything. I felt like I was in love.

When I told him how I felt about that topic, he didn’t respond to it. It was as if he didn’t want to here it. I felt ignored, and soon that became the case.  I began to notice that he became closer with other people. He would never answer my text or IM messages. We stopped talking as best friends for about two months. We would only talk to each other when we were placed next to each other. The conversations changed from being non-stop all day everyday, to innocent hellos and goodbyes. Then I was told that he and my other friend (who is also in our advisory) had a “thing” going on, which not only angered me because of how I felt about him, but also because no matter what he would always come to me with important information like this. I was hurt and crushed. Words could not describe how upset and forgotten I felt.  I didn’t want anything else to do with him.

Ever since this has happened, my attempts to try and gain our friendship back have died down. Yes, I miss how close we once were but I was tired of being the only one trying to rebuild our friendship when he didn’t want to help.

Also, this made me wish that I held back the feelings I had about him. The trust I had for him.  The love that I had for him. I wish we could have had a new start. Like September would come back, to bring back that one memory we will always cherish, remember and miss.

 

ODYESS COMPARE AND CONTRAST

 

Thesis Benchmark

 

Macbeth and the Odyssey are both remarkable stories.  In these stories they both revolve around peoples actions and changes. The main female characters go by the names of Lady Macbeth and Penelope. These women are both sent on emotional rollercoaster and eventually change from the beginning to end of these books. Even though Lady Macbeth and Penelope both change in the story, they both change opposite from each other.

 

In Macbeth and The Odyssey both the leading ladies, Lady Macbeth and Penelope, are married to strong men. Odysseus whom was married to Penelope was king of Ithaca, thus making him powerful. Lady Macbeth’s powerful mate was Macbeth who was a thane of Cawdor.  The ladies also change attitude wise and during that change, they were both strong at some point. In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was tricky and confident. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to let anyone stand in her way, including the King.  Towards the end however, she became so crazy and paranoid due to her and Macbeth killing the king. Lady Macbeth felt remorse and guilt, but as for Penelope, she started out as being weak and timid. She became this way due to the suitors taking over her house. She didn’t act as brave as she should have when she was in the process of trying to get them to leave. Towards the end of the story, she became more powerful. She proved this when Odysseus disguised himself as a beggar and claimed to have known Odysseus. When Penelope found that out, she persistently asked him how did he know him, what does he look like, etc.

 

Although they both change, Lady Macbeth’s change was opposite to Penelope’s. In the Odyssey, Penelope goes from being quiet to fearless. She was quiet and scared from when the suitors took over her house. She didn’t act as brave as she should have when kicking them out. Penelope near the end of the story became brave when asking Odysseus (who was then in disguise) how he knew her mate. As for Lady Macbeth, she goes from being strong in the beginning to becoming crazy towards the end. She was strong in start when she knew she wanted to kill the King. She knew what she wanted and even pushed the then un sure Macbeth to go through it. But towards the end, she became swarmed with guilt and it soon sent her insane.

 These women have changed due to the paths in which they choose to fight for what they wanted. Their husbands careers is also the main cause for why the changed. Ultimately, all that matters is that they have changed from the start and ending of each book and that they were both dramatic.

ME MAG

 

 This is my me mag. This magazine showcased many things about myself that my peers did not know. We made these in September which help us get to know one another.

Independent Reading Project

My Book Report

Zaria Fortson-Linton

 

Introduction:

The name of this book is called “I Like Him, He Likes Her” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I found out that this book is part of a series titled “Alice Alone; Simply Alice; Patiently Alice. It follows the love life of a young girl named Alice who is struggling with school , love, and life in general.

 

This story is based on the life of a girl named Alice McKinley, who is a freshman, but so far her first year in high school isn’t going well. Her boyfriend of a year named Patrick breaks up with her for the new girl Penny, her father is getting married to her old middle school teacher and high school work is so much pressure on her. The main conflict in the story is her verses her feelings. Mainly because she’s learning how to deal with her personal feelings. Her learning how to grow up makes her my favorite character in this story. I think that readers will learn not only being single can be a bad thing turned into a good thing, but also life can be hard for young teenagers. What I mean by this is that most people make being single & not having a bond with someone may be bad at first , but then there are times in which being single can be a good thing. I also think that life is hard for young teenagers because us just starting high school isn’t easy. We have to adjust to new changes , getting older, meeting people , new school work and becoming a young adult. It’s very stressful.

 

I can relate to the main character Alice. I say this because I have been in this same predicament where the “love of my life” has left me for “something better” and I’m just left there alone. . . sad, not knowing what to do.

 

This book is a first person narrative which I love. The strengths of this book are it’s very easy to relate to and very understandable from Alice’s point of view. It is also very entertaining. The weaknesses of this book is that it seems to take to long to get to the point. Like it may take 2 chapters to understand what is going on. In order to understand where the main conflict will come from you’ll have to read into the story through the first 3 chapters.

 

I honestly would recommend this to young readers. I say this because it is very relatable and it is very entertaining.

JOURNAL ENTRIES

The first time i was judge was when i went to the mall with my mom. We went to a high priced store and the lady told us that this wasn't "our type" of clothing. That they do not sell Baby Phat clothing which is mostly worn by african americans. We felt angry because it was really rude.

If i were to have a fresh start on my past i would change the way my first year of high school started. I am not liked because of the choices i made in the beginning of the year. A bunch of 11th graders were calling me names, so i made a video and called them all out and they hated me ever since.

It really isn't that much important for me to fit it , only because i like standing out, i like being my own person and i like being different. Im proud to say i do not fit in and i always try to encourage others to do the same.

I think people write to express themselves. To have a place to be free. ALso to show others who they are. To have a way to reveal to the world who they are. It is an expressive and safe way to be themselves.

I feel as though an adult is someone who will take responsibility on what they are right or wrong about. Someone who will help others be mature and are mature themselves.  

My mother expects me to do good in school and to make sure im always on task. She knows that school is important and she feels as though school must be my number one priority.