2Fer#7 - Kendall

Shilo Kendall
English 3 
Mrs.Pahomov 
4/22/18

Horror in a Nutshell 

Blood. Screaming. Gore. What comes to mind? Horror, specifically horror movies. Horror is a very disturbing and strange genre of movies. Movies such as Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho are all based on serial killers, and others such as The Exorcist and  The Omen are all based on Satan. These topics are taboo and make it uncomfortable to watch with the amount of detail some movies go into, such as in Henry. The genre focuses on the fears of people and puts them into the movie in order to get a reaction. Horror movies reflect the major fears of the parents living during the times the movies were produced. 

In the early 80s, a popular book that came to light during that time was Michelle Remembers. It was a book written by Michelle’s psychiatrist about Michelle’s experience being a child in a satanic cult. She talks about how she felt and what they did to her. She didn’t just start to remember, but expressed it in  movements as if she was possessed. Through this, people started to become terrified of satanism. It produced the idea “about Satanic cults abducting, sexually abusing, and murdering American children.”(PEOPLE) People then started to fear satanism and become extremely cautious around other people who weren’t the same as them. It made people paranoid and worried that something would happen to them or their children. It also created a front for what satanism actually was. With this common idea, the movie, Children of the Corn, which was produced in 1984 at the beginning of the “Satanic Panic”. It is about a small town surrounded by a corn field. The town is controlled by a cult of children who sacrifice adults to an evil spirit that lives in the corn. Children of the Corn earned $14,568,989 in America at the time it was out (IMdb). This movie brought in the fears of Satan and its involvement with children to the front, which was a terrifying thing for many adults and was a common paranoia about their children getting involved with the devil. This movie hit the terrors of every American during the time period. 

 Starting in the 60s into the 70s, a group of people started to form. They fought for social change, peace, and protested war. This movement was the hippie movement. Due to their laid-back lifestyle and difference in political beliefs to most of the people at the time, they were feared by parents.They didn’t want their children to become involved with the movement. Hippies did a lot of drugs, along with living in communes and not having a normal job or no job at all. Parents didn’t want this for their children. A popular movie towards the middle of the hippie movement was Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie earned $30,568,000 in the USA when it was out. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a movie about a group of hippies that are traveling across Texas in order to see one of their friend’s childhood homes. They then run into a hitchhiker that marks their car, which then leads to their deaths from that man’s psychotic family. This movie took every fear that parents had about hippies an put it into a movie. Having the people who are hippies in their mid 20s pick of a hitchhiker, along with be extremely laid back the whole movie shows parents how their children could end up as the people in the movie, possibly ending with their children dying, further evoking fear into the people of America. 

In the early 2000s, the topic of teaching abstinence started to come up more frequently as a bad way of teaching sex education to teenagers across the country. Abstinence teaching is when the teacher does teach the facts about sex and how to be safe, but also to avoid sex in general till you are married. Most parents prefer this method since to them it helps them believe that their children will not have sex till they are older due to the fear of pregnancy and adultery. It Follows was a movie that came out somewhat recently in 2014. It earned $14,367,301 in the US by 2015 (IMdb). It is a based around the idea of having premarital sex. The movie starts with a couple who have sex in a car. The woman then wakes up, the man apologizes for what he has done to her, and then he leaves. A spirit then follows her around till it is close enough to kill her. The only way to pass it on is through having sex with someone else. This movie focuses on the fear of sex and how once a person has it, there is no way of stopping them from doing it again, which is contributes to the fears of parents. The idea of sex has always terrified parents when it comes to their children. This movie makes sex the forefront and can instill more fear into the parents. 

If parents would stop to think about it they would realize that the movements in the societies they are living in are not a threat to their children. When making horror movies, filmmakers should pick the themes that scare parents because it makes the movie richer and more suspenseful. With this, if horror movies did not focus on the fears of parents they would not make an impact. 
 

Work cited:

1. Shewan, Dan. “Conviction of Things Not Seen: The Uniquely American Myth of Satanic Cults.” Pacific Standard, 8 Sept. 2015, psmag.com/social-justice/make-a-cross-with-your-fingers-its-the-satanic-panic.
2. “Children of the Corn (1984).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0087050/?ref_=nv_sr_2.
3. “The Hippie Movement 1960-1970's.” The Hippie Movement, 30 Apr. 2015, blogs.stockton.edu/hippiemovement/.
4. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
5. Kotz, Deborah. “A Debate About Teaching Abstinence.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2007/12/19/a-debate-about-teaching-abstinence.
6. “It Follows (2014).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt3235888/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
7. “A Canadian Woman's Bizarre Childhood Memories of Satan Shock Shrinks and Priests.” PEOPLE.com, people.com/archive/a-canadian-womans-bizarre-childhood-memories-of-satan-shock-shrinks-and-priests-vol-14-no-9/ . 

2Fer #7 Revision - Lauren Nicolella

Lauren Nicolella

April 17th, 2018

English 3

Ms. Pahomov

Another Reason to Love Animals


Domesticated animals have always been a large interest of not only children, but adults as well. Whether it is a dog, cat hamster or even a ferret, they are another vital member of a family that is deserving of love and endless cuddles. The options are truly endless and all animals provide a very large mental and physical factor to families around the world. By having a pet in a household, it is benefitting one’s mental health by keeping them occupied and gives a sense of relief because of a distraction being placed on them.

Anxiety and depression are one of the largest mental health issues that many people have to face on the daily. Although these are not easy to overcome, there are ways to help an individual solely based on adopting a pet. According to the American Psychiatric Association, animals help a range of those who have mental illnesses. “These specially trained therapy dogs help people with a variety of mental health conditions, including, dementia and Alzheimer’s, depression, PTSD, and autism. Therapy sessions typically include a therapist and the dog and its handler and they often work together through a series of sessions.” By having a pet, it allows people to be active, therefore taking their mind off of what had been stressing them out. Dogs are being trained to become therapy and service dogs, giving access to be in a hospital, which is one of the main places they are being brought to in order to provide some source of help. By having these certified pets in places like hospitals and simply a home with a family, they are slowly contributing relief to those who face struggles every day.

Many scientific studies, research, and surveys have been conducted in order to test if the possibilities are true and actually effective to those who adopt a pet. Steve Feldman from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America has researched a concept he calls “the pet effect,” which is explained through some statistics taken from a survey. “Any pet owner will tell you that living with a pet comes with many benefits, including constant companionship, love and affection. Not only are people happier in the presence of animals, they’re also healthier. In a survey of pet owners, 74% of pet owners reported mental health improvements from pet ownership, and 75% of pet owners reported a friend’s or family member’s mental health has improved from pet ownership.” By owning an animal, responsibilities are given and expected among a family and individual as well. Creating a new routine and being a part of caring for a new furry member of a family can create a distraction from the previous amount of mental issues that were preventing daily actions to be able to happen. Even with smaller pets like hamsters or guinea pigs, they require more maintenance than a more domestic animal like a cat or a dog, and that close animal interaction helps with relieving fear and anxiety.

Although adopting a pet may not be a solution for everyone dealing with a mental health issue, it is a great alternative and worth a try if there is an available option to do so. By having a companion constantly around, it could make up for the absence of another human and discard many negative thoughts and overwhelming feelings someone may feel throughout the day. Animals are a source of therapy and relief, and are able to be accessed easily, as there are always many dogs, cats, hamsters, ferrets, and plenty of other pets that are available and are willing to look for a friend as well.



This was my best possible 2Fer because I feel that I did a lot more research that also had an impact on me and others. The topic I chose allowed me to be genuinely curious about what I was going to be writing about, since animals are a huge part of my life and I have noticed some changes of when they are around and how I have changed mentally throughout this school year. A main goal I tried to stick to was making sure that my points were not going too all over the place, since I have a tendency to skew away from what I originally presented in my thesis statement. Finally, I have been able to work on my analytical essay skills and I feel that this definitely involved the most percents and statistics to help back up my argument, as well as follow up points that lead into the topic.


Works Cited:



2fer Revision #7

Brendan Hall

English 3

April 23, 2018

The Loneliness of Fame

A common principle displayed in American popular culture is admiration for entertainers. Actors and musicians are usually the most familiar faces seen promoted to consumers and the general public within the United States of America. Aside from the artwork these individuals produce there is also an underlining about the social status they claim. The majority of these celebrities have fans that assume that their life is perfect due to the popularity they have among ordinary people. However, if one were to look further than the surface, they would realize that a lifestyle as such can be dangerous. This is due to the fact that they are expected to be perfect at all times. When a person at a power positional makes a mistake it often haunts them for their entire lives and taints their careers. This further illustrates how entertainers are held to unrealistic standards of expressing emotion due to their profession.

A well known misconception about people in these powerful positions is that once they become powerful their problems disappear. While increasing financial stability can be a major benefit, they are still capable of frequent human emotions such as sadness and loneliness. The material benefits can often be hazardous because they can attract fake friends who take advantage of them and exploit them for wealth. Aside from this it can also create a materialistic mentality where their happiness is dependent on buying expensive things. It becomes a lifestyle where their own self worth is determined based upon what they can afford to buy. A specific example of an entertainer mentioned his troubles with materialism is musician, Tyler, The Creator. A major theme of Tyler’s 2017 album, “Flower Boy” deals with the reality that a life full of luxury was meaningless to him because he still felt a disconnect from his peers. In his own words he stated, “Full tank of the gas but that don’t mean nothing, nothing, without you shotgunning the passenger. I’m the loneliest man alive, but I keep on dancing to throw ‘em off.” What this essentially implies is that having remarkable tangible items is worthless if there is no one to admire them with him. Predicaments such as these prove that mental and emotional fragility happen just as frequently with entertainers, despite the social status and financial excess. In that song Tyler also shows that celebrities faking happiness since it is implied that their life is great by the general public. This is what he was referring to when he mentioned being lonely, but still forcing himself to have a good time because every famous person is imagined as having a perfect. When in reality, Tyler’s status made him have a detachment to those around him due his uncertainty of whether people appreciate his personality, or his popularity.   

Another destructive assumption about famous people is that their extraordinary talent results in extraordinary mental stability. There are few examples of this, but the most notable examples are from Kurt Cobain and Kanye West. Both have been acclaimed for their creative visions and revolutionary minds in music. However, the media and general public seemed to turn their back on the problems these men faced. West had traumatic experiences prior and after becoming a full time rapper. His first traumatic experience was from a nearly fatal car accident that resulted in him being on life support and getting his jaw wired shut. The aftermath of this was  a more ‘on edge’ version of Kanye West due to the stress of that situation. Several years later he confronted an emotional tragedy after his mother passed, to which West blamed the death of his mother on himself by saying, "If I had never moved to L.A. she'd be alive,". Despite this, most of the focus on Kanye West is about his impulsive award show comments, instead of the problems that led to his irrational behavior. Similar things can be said about Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain. In just 27 years he helped push grunge rock into the mainstream while also having personal lyrics in the songs. Although he became a superstar in his 20s he was still not able to escape the pain of his personal demons. A large portion of this had to due with the shallowness of the media that only cared about his talents and not about his emotions. Cobain had a troubled life where he was mostly an outcast by his peers and family. After accomplishing stardom, the emptiness within him caused the tragic death of him taking his own life further proving how stardom can damage a person even more than living an average life.

While fame may seem attractive to average people, they must also understand that position is not for everybody. The stigma of stardom resulting in a perfect life emotionally is naive and has been proven false on several different occasions. It takes a massive amount of bravery for someone to put their lives on display, which can result in vulnerability and resentment just from one mistake. Many people do not know any famous individuals, but usually have opinionated thoughts about them. Unfortunately, it is routine for one to hold entertainers to the same standards as a god when they are just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else.

Why this was my best 2fer possible:

This is my best 2fer possible because I followed the basic guidelines such as: MLA formatting, having 2 pages at 700 words, and no 1st or 2nd person pronouns. This time I included I conclusion paragraph which I sometimes don’t do if I’m already past the minimum word count. However this time I wanted to include a conclusion to make the paper feel more complete. I was also working on not repeating phrases so much because it would make the paper boring. For instance, in the last paragraph I had already said people a few times so I decided to say “one” in order to switch it up.  

Work cited:

“Tyler, The Creator (Ft. Frank Ocean & Steve Lacy) – 911 / Mr. Lonely.” Genius, 30 June 2017, genius.com/Tyler-the-creator-911-mr-lonely-lyrics.   

Marcus, Stephanie. “Kanye West Still Blames Himself For His Mother's Death.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 June 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kanye-west-mothers-death_us_558cbd8be4b081449b4c91e5.    

Kyianna Thomas 2fer #7

Kyianna Thomas

2fer # 7

4/23/18

Rap Vs. Actions

Rap is a genre of music that expresses its passion through  struggle. Artist today more than likely talk about how they have been through a lot. This type of music is listened to so much because of the  relateable lyrics and how overplayed it is on the radio for teens today. This is also the reason why rap gives off an negative vibe from children today. The most popular artists talk about violence, drugs, sex, and their struggles. Rap music has one of the strongest influences on younger generations because it’s  impressionable and struggle to differentiate between the utilization of trends for entertainment and actually participating in trends that can be harmful.

Teens today listen music that could influence the way they act when in danger. According to Nakia Jackson from Livestrong it states, “ Rap lyrics may discuss violence as a part of an exciting and dangerous lifestyle, but some songs condemn violence and even propose solutions.” This quotes shows that lyrics in a song could possible affect the way a child behaves. This is because the lyrics that artist use could are about where the artist grew up. The phrase “ dangerous lifestyle, but some songs condemn violence” shows that there are songs that a made that condemns violence which is listened to why the younger generations of children. This could affect how their lives are lived because some of these artist are role models for kids today. But what the artist actually never realizes is that the words they say are the actions that the younger children are taking to follow in their footsteps.

Rap music has been an issue in students’ everyday life, such as school, their emotions and the way they act towards adults. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics it states, “Research on popular music has explored its effects on schoolwork, social interactions, mood and affect, and particularly behavior. The effect that popular music has on children's and adolescents' behavior and emotions is of paramount concern. Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres.” This quote shows how the most recent and popular music affects students in their everyday lives, such as when a kids decides to make a bad decision. This could be a reason as to why students express their non-care  for school or anything, due to artist lyrics. This could also be because they don’t care about the actions. The lyrics of the songs are becoming problematic to why kids are using reckless language. The phrase “Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence” shows how music impacts what kids are doing in life today. It's not only the lyrics but the videos and the messages the artist tries to get across to the world impacts the behavior that goes on. Kids today think if this artist can do it and get away with it away can’t they do it too.

Rap music has given kids today a voice that can be heard in many ways. This genre of music speaks loud for it self because of how rap music started. Rap influence people to do different thing each day some could be positive but because of how the music is written by the artist it makes kids do things so differently. Rap influences younger kids because of how the music is portrayed by the role models they look up too.


Work Cited:

Council on Communications. “Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth.” Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Nov. 2009, www.pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/1488.

Jackson, Nakia. “What Influence and Effects Does Rap Music Have on Teens Today?”LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 13 June 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/1005065-influence-effects-rap-music-teens-today/.


Aysha Siddiquee 2-fer #7


Overhyped Much


Coachella a world renowned desert festival known for its aesthetic and the celebrity buzz. Since the beginning of spring the world is focused on branding one of the largest and well known music festivals. But the reality is it is not known for its content and musical focus but rather the celebrities that go and their posts about it that revolve around drawing in the public with more than 99,000 people that attend per night during the three day weekend. Coachella is overhyped and popular based off of Celebrity buzz which is based off the name they hold.

Coachella is known for being one of the most popular music festivals in the U.S. It is advertised on all forms of social media and media. Not only by celebrities but by other socials. On Dashtwo’s site it states “One of the single biggest music events on the West Coast is upon us. Coachella sold 198,000 tickets last year – and that’s not including the thousands upon thousands of people who left LA to attend the hippest of Coachella parties for the weekend. A lot of celebrities will tweet it, they Instagram it. It goes viral. It’s a great social media tool.” In other words a lot of celebrities and socials are paid to advertise the festival to draw in more attention to the festival the more attention that it is given the more increased amount of ticket sales there are. So in the statement above it clearly states how once the celebrities start to tweet and instagram about Coachella it goes viral. Celebrities present a major influence on how popular Coachella gets and the buzz it gets. Since they not only are featured by magazines when they go but they too are getting more attention. So this draws in more fans who want to go in hope of meeting the celebrity they want to meet.

Not only do the celebrities themselves promote Coachella and make it as successful and popular as it is, but big companies and branded magazines as well. Some of the most popular magazines include: Harper's Bazaar, Elle Magazine, Peoples Magazine, Seventeen Magazine and Cosmopolitan Magazine which are very well known and advertised magazines that feature Coachella Celebrities. They include an entire section in their issues about which celebrities will be attending Coachella in order to draw in more of the attention from the public. The title of Elle Magazine’s cover is “All the Celebrities at 2018 Coachella” then there are multiple pages on the celebrities that are at Coachella currently and this is not only drawing the public in for the festival currently but the upcoming ones in the next years to come. So the public is more infatuated to come in the upcoming years in hopes of meeting certain  celebrities.

Coachella is sponsored by not only world renowned celebrities but youtube personals that are being sponsored by big companies to go to Coachella. This is so that Coachella receives more publicity and fans to attend based off of the Youtubers large fan base. In a recent video uploaded by the ACE family that has a fan base of over 7 million followers they were endorsing or presenting coachella tickets and where to get them cheaper. They explained how they partnered themselves with a ticket company called SeatGeek where Coachella tickets will be cheaper if people use the code provided in the description box below their video posted. They also explained how they too will be at Coachella, meaning that their fans will have the opportunity to meet them by going to this event. In other words, companies are sponsoring youtubers as well for their fame and fan base in order to increase ticket sales. They do this by drawing in the attention of public by appealing to the public that not only will the youtubers themselves will be there but the tickets will be sold for a cheaper price if the given code is used. Moreso, Even youtubers are used for their large fan base in order to endorse Coachella to draw more attention and people.  

Coachella is an overhyped event that is endorsed by celebrities and other well known persons. Other name brand companies that are based off of Celebrity Influence play a big role in making Coachella what it is. Since without them meaning the celebrities and the branded magazines a large number of the people who attend Coachella would not. Many of the people that do attend, attend in hope of seeing their favorite celebrity or someone they admire.


















Works Cited


Odiamar, Danielle. “Coachella's Most Star-Studded Parties.” ELLE, ELLE, 11 Oct. 2017, www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g28148/coachella-2016-parties-celebrities-fashion/.


“Coachella 2018: See the Celebrities at the Music Fest.” EW.com, ew.com/music/coachella-2018-celebrities/.

Aysha Siddiquee- 2fer #7


Overhyped Much


Coachella a world renowned desert festival known for its aesthetic and the celebrity buzz. Since the beginning of spring the world is focused on branding one of the largest and well known music festivals. But the reality is it is not known for its content and musical focus but rather the celebrities that go and their posts about it that revolve around drawing in the public with more than 99,000 people that attend per night during the three day weekend. Coachella is overhyped and popular based off of Celebrity buzz which is based off the name they hold.

Coachella is known for being one of the most popular music festivals in the U.S. It is advertised on all forms of social media and media. Not only by celebrities but by other socials. On Dashtwo’s site it states “One of the single biggest music events on the West Coast is upon us. Coachella sold 198,000 tickets last year – and that’s not including the thousands upon thousands of people who left LA to attend the hippest of Coachella parties for the weekend. A lot of celebrities will tweet it, they Instagram it. It goes viral. It’s a great social media tool.” In other words a lot of celebrities and socials are paid to advertise the festival to draw in more attention to the festival the more attention that it is given the more increased amount of ticket sales there are. So in the statement above it clearly states how once the celebrities start to tweet and instagram about Coachella it goes viral. Celebrities present a major influence on how popular Coachella gets and the buzz it gets. Since they not only are featured by magazines when they go but they too are getting more attention. So this draws in more fans who want to go in hope of meeting the celebrity they want to meet.

Not only do the celebrities themselves promote Coachella and make it as successful and popular as it is, but big companies and branded magazines as well. Some of the most popular magazines include: Harper's Bazaar, Elle Magazine, Peoples Magazine, Seventeen Magazine and Cosmopolitan Magazine which are very well known and advertised magazines that feature Coachella Celebrities. They include an entire section in their issues about which celebrities will be attending Coachella in order to draw in more of the attention from the public. The title of Elle Magazine’s cover is “All the Celebrities at 2018 Coachella” then there are multiple pages on the celebrities that are at Coachella currently and this is not only drawing the public in for the festival currently but the upcoming ones in the next years to come. So the public is more infatuated to come in the upcoming years in hopes of meeting certain  celebrities.

Coachella is sponsored by not only world renowned celebrities but youtube personals that are being sponsored by big companies to go to Coachella. This is so that Coachella receives more publicity and fans to attend based off of the Youtubers large fan base. In a recent video uploaded by the ACE family that has a fan base of over 7 million followers they were endorsing or presenting coachella tickets and where to get them cheaper. They explained how they partnered themselves with a ticket company called SeatGeek where Coachella tickets will be cheaper if people use the code provided in the description box below their video posted. They also explained how they too will be at Coachella, meaning that their fans will have the opportunity to meet them by going to this event. In other words, companies are sponsoring youtubers as well for their fame and fan base in order to increase ticket sales. They do this by drawing in the attention of public by appealing to the public that not only will the youtubers themselves will be there but the tickets will be sold for a cheaper price if the given code is used. Moreso, Even youtubers are used for their large fan base in order to endorse Coachella to draw more attention and people.  

Coachella is an overhyped event that is endorsed by celebrities and other well known persons. Other name brand companies that are based off of Celebrity Influence play a big role in making Coachella what it is. Since without them meaning the celebrities and the branded magazines a large number of the people who attend Coachella would not. Many of the people that do attend, attend in hope of seeing their favorite celebrity or someone they admire.


















Works Cited


Odiamar, Danielle. “Coachella's Most Star-Studded Parties.” ELLE, ELLE, 11 Oct. 2017, www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g28148/coachella-2016-parties-celebrities-fashion/.


“Coachella 2018: See the Celebrities at the Music Fest.” EW.com, ew.com/music/coachella-2018-celebrities/.

2fer #7 - Mindy Saw

It’s a Myth and a Legend  

Should we believe in myths and legends? -- Many people believe in myths because of a constant reminder of them from their environments. When an individual believes in a myth, they are actually psychologically affected. Myths come from a variety of cultures throughout the world. The belief in myths occurs through stories told to others whether it be true or not. The truth relies on how much an individual believes in the myths. People believe in myths and legends through their own cognition because each individual’s cognition is grown through their own process.

Something to consider when certain people are telling you certain stories (myths), is that in their mind they are held to have a cognitive dissonance. What that does is that it allows the mind of a person to remove a conflictingconlficting matter and instead continues to replace it with cognitive corporationcoorperation. For example, if someone is constantly telling you a story about how the boogie man monster does really exist, in their childhood, they may have heard the story of the boogie man so many times that it stuck to them and holds a place in their cognitive mind. With that in their cognitive mind, when someone else tries to replace their thought and tell them that the boogie man does not exist, they would remove that idea and instead keep their idea of yes it does exist. An article from How Stuff Works by Julia Layton states, “We all want to feel comfortable with our thoughts and actions, and it's a whole lot harder to change than it is to stay the same. We can see cognitive-dissonance theory at work in everyday life.” It’s true that when an individual  learns something totally new that they have never heard of in their entire lifetime, it’s hard for them to process it. BecauseBecasue they are human and that issue falls in place with every human, they are more or so likely to believe in the myths that have been told to them rather than myths that are totally new to their existence.

Myths are something that many people believe in. However there are different myths that people believe in. For that reason, when people believe in myths, they are believing in things that are always being told to them. An individual’s memory is basically a constant renovative story-telling device that exists within them. No one would actually be able to tell what is true and what is not, it depends on the person themselves if they believe in certain things or not. There is something called neuromyth, this is a type of myth in neroscience. Neuromyth results in overthinking the things that people learn to end up misunderstanding these things that they learn. When they are constantly told to believe in certain things, they make up these “connections” and misunderstands the whole point of the truth. Memory is what builds the person’s cognitive mind. With the cognitive mind, a person would automatically acknowledge things that they have faced or been through. Whereas they would not process something they have been told for the first time because they have no cognitive memory of it. Psychology Today states in their article, “Research indicates that remembering a bunch of new, unrelated elements is difficult. But if the elements are part of a structured story, they are more easily remembered.” What this article is saying is that the fact that parts of new things that we experience are the same parts we have already built into our cognitive minds makes us remember this new experience more. With that, different people believe in different myths because their cognitive minds are built different from the moment they came out of the womb.

Only certain people believe in myths because only certain people grow up from the moment they have been born to whatever age they are now, their cognitive schemas have been building within their own minds. ZSR Library exposes a case study performed by Mary Diane Cantrell, which where she states, “For others, believing in a particular legend is an emotional response. Legends can feed into the fears, anxieties , and biases a person may feel toward the subject matter or society in general thus providing them with emotional gratification.” With that said, an individual’s personal state of mind using their cognitive schema is what continues society’s beliefs in myths and legends. “-- believing in a particular legend is an emotional response” what this means is the fact that an individual’s own cognitive mind compels them into believing in the legend. Since everyone’s cognitive minds are not the same at all, only certain people with certain cognitive schemas can compel themselves into continuing to believe in the legend or myth. Looking at beliefs for myths and legends though a psychological lens, people with common disorders are more likely to feed into things like myths and legends. Cantrell states in her case study that “Legends can feed into the fears, anxieties, and biases a person may feel toward the subject matter…” By coming to that conclusion, it is clear that when an individual is affected by some sort of disorder, like anxiety, they are emotionally unstable which generates their cognitive mind to feed into things like legends and myths that are told by anyone and everyone.

If people stopped to think about it, they would realize that they only believe in the stories that they are told because of how common it is told to them. Whether these stories have the same concepts or are exactly the same stories. For the majority of the people in the world, myths are a big factor of their lives because it’s what build their cognitive minds which is what they use to think about anything they experience in life. People can experience that growing up in a certain neighborhood and then moving to the complete opposite side of where they were, they would face different problems and would try to stick to their original cognitive minds no matter how different they seem to the rest of the community. Depending on how long they make their stay, they would eventually grow into a different cognitive mindset to eventually feel comfortable with their new home.


Work Cited  

Layton, Julia. “Why Do People Believe Things That Science Has Proved Untrue?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 8 Mar. 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/why-people-believe-things-science-proved-untrue.htm.


Cantrell, and Mary. “ZSR Library.” Urban Legends: Why Do People Believe Them?, Wake Forest University, 5 May 2010, wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/handle/10339/14790.  


Lindemann, Katherine. “Many People Believe Myths about How the Brain Works.” ResearchGate, 9 Mar. 2018, www.researchgate.net/blog/post/many-people-believe-myths-about-how-the-brain-works.


“What Mythology Reveals about the Mind.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cui-bono/201704/what-mythology-reveals-about-the-mind.


This is my best possible 2fer because I really made deep connections with how I feel about myths and why they exist or become overly invovled in an individual's life. I also think that this 2fer was one that I struggled with, but came around to being able to knock it out within a an hour or two when I changed around my thesis. For my previous theses, I would tie myself down to the first thesis that I come up with even if it sounds wrong or irrelevant to what I am actually writing. 

2fer #7 Revision

Miguel Rivera
Ms. Pahomov
English 3
23 April 2018
TV Time  
TV shows are a key part of the development of children in today’s society. Children watch different shows and like different genres of shows. They learn lessons about life or themselves. That people live different lifestyles or have a different point of view than their own. These lessons are very beneficial for children. TV shows are beneficial for children because it allows children to see people face reality and increase their creativity.
Reality shows are stereotyped as “trash entertainment” and many people look down on people who watch reality shows. However, reality shows can be very informational and show different lifestyles. One genre of reality shows that does this well is competition shows such as Amazing Race. Vox stated “Even the contestants’ backgrounds — on Amazing Race and other shows — allow us to consider how Americans differ, from New Jersey to Kentucky to California. Reality shows like Amazing Race and Survivor like to slap labels on the participants (‘the Boston Firefighter,’ ‘the Cheerleader,’ etc.), but the people themselves often defy easy description.” Children need to learn about different cultures to have a better understanding of the world. These shows highlight different cultures and people. This exposure of differences leads to children being more tolerable and understanding of different points of view. Also, it allows children to think about the lifestyle that they might want to live in the future. Children are able to expand their imagination of the future if they are able to watch TV and see a new type of future for themselves that they didn’t previously consider. This show is about people doing rigorous challenges in groups. This teaches children about hard work and how to work with others. 
Stress is something that is unavoidable in life. The way that children cope with stress should be something that is not self-destructive or harmful to others. TV is a possible solution to this problem. According to a study by the University of Siena’s neonatal intensive care unit, children feel less pain while getting blood tested when they were watching cartoons even more than maternal attempts at distraction. TV shows are an easy and realistic way for children to cope with stress. Children who can cope with stress are better suited in life because they are able to back away from stress and regroup themselves. Also, the TV shows themselves teach children ways to destress or talk about their stress. Sesame Street has throughout its’ episodes talked about how to deal with stress or talk to children about stress. In a segment of an episode titled “Comforting Children Through Stressful Time,” Rosita talks to Nina about being scared about things on TV. Nina responds “Well, if you see something or hear something that makes you or you (looking at the camera) feel sad or scared, tell a grown-up that’s close to you.” Nina’s advice of talking to someone else a healthy way to cope with stress because it allows children to learn how to use their words to explain their feelings and it shows that it is okay to feel stressed.
TV shows push parents and children to have difficult conversations that they would otherwise never talk about or even push off. An article titled “The Benefits of Watching TV With Your Kids” by Steven Schlozman on U.S. News website showed how one mother had conversations about politics and death with her 12-year-old daughter while watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix. In the article, it states “ … a great story can spur discussion about all sorts of topics big and small; and while a shared television program isn’t the only way to do this, it’s certainly one of the best.” TV shows allow children to ask questions about how the world works. This forces parent to be honest and open to their children. It shows children that asking questions is healthy and important. Parents are able to talk about hard topics such as death before it personally affects their children. The conversation could have a more relaxed tone and children would have some background information about the topic.
TV shows are something that most children watch on a daily basis. Children have different reasons for watching TV. However, they are all influenced by the shows that they watch. TV shows can improve children's point of view on life and themselves. TV encourages children to ask questions and be more open about a different point of views. For this reasons, society should rethink the stigma that TV is only for entertainment and children shouldn't watch shows.

Work Cited
Murray, Noel. “Reality TV Offers Valuable Lessons for Children. Really.” Vox, Vox, 12 Apr. 2018,www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/12/17147740/reality-tv-parenting-children-media-literacy-survivor.  
WebMD. “TV Can Reduce Stress For Kids.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 16 Aug. 2006, www.cbsnews.com/news/tv-can-reduce-stress-for-kids/. 
SesameStreet. “Comforting Children Through Stressful Times.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4FNLF2sgo4. 
Schlozman, M.D. Steven. “The Benefits of Watching TV With Your Kids.” U.S. News & World       Report, U.S. News & World Report, https://health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2017-11-27/the-benefits-of-watching-tv-with-your-kids 

The Fallout of Beliefs

Why do people believe? Why do they have faith if they are going to lose track and sight of what they once had? The answer is simple and is located in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been doing will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” This verse is saying that whatever happens to something that was good, than it’ll come again.  It is often believed that high school students are more known for losing their faith, compared to college. This is an inappropriate accusation because it provides false information. Statistics and studies have shown that it is more common for students who leave for college to also leave track of their religious beliefs.

Statistics from Christianity Today (CT), proves that 34% of teens and highschool students drop their faith. It is believed that the rate is so low because they are surrounded by encouraging people who also believe the same things they do. However, the college rate for dropping their belief systems is greater, averaging at about 70%. This rate is much higher because this is the time in a young adult’s life where they start to venture out of their parents wings and start living independently.

High school, internships, jobs and parents don’t prepare kids enough for the journey that they are about to take. School prepares you for the workload that you are about to experience like, exams and benchmarks. Internships and jobs prepare you for responsibility and parents prepare you with the understanding and concept of living independently. Sadly though, these four things fail to teach young adults the importance of not losing yourself and who you are to others especially God or Gods.  

The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU) is an organization who notes that 65% of students who graduate from high school and enroll for college drop out or leave their church. It is believed that students walk away because they are launched into the world facing new situations and temptations that they have never come face-to-face before.

Though it is predicted that the only reason that students tend to lose their faith is because of the new atmosphere they have moved to. Yes, this is an important aspect of the situation, it is not the only and main reason. A very knowledgeable point was made in One News Now, there they stated that students and young adults don’t make it a priority, implying that they don’t make it important or a priority to keep their faith.

If a student were asked, “Why did you lose your faith. What happened and what caused it?”  More often than not they would answer that it wasn’t intentional, but also it is important to point out that it was intensical to not lose their faith in the first place. A lot if  not all of college students get overwhelmed and tend to forget about certain things, like religious backgrounds and old friends.

Losing faith is common in all age groups, parents, kids, grandparents and adolescents. But, research show that it is more common for college aged students (ages 18-24) to drop or walk away from their faith. It can be a sour sight to see for that was part of who someone was, thankfully though, colleges have been noticing the drop of religious backgrounds. College took initiative to fix the problem and created support groups for different religions so they can feel more at home and not have to change who they once were.

Although some students who didn’t lose their faith in college might think that the topic of losing faith is irrelevant and unnecessary.It is important to remember that the  influence goes beyond them and can affect other students.


Citations:

Melleby, Derek. “Why Students Abandon Their Faith: Lessons From William Wilberforce.” CPYU, 13 June 2014, cpyu.org/resource/why-students-abandon-their-faith-lessons-from-william-wilberforce/.

 

Wermund, Benjamin, et al. “Losing Faith in Higher Education.” POLITICO, Pro Education, 11 May 2017, www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/05/losing-faith-in-higher-education-220254.

Stetzer, Ed. “Dropouts and Disciples: How Many Students Are Really Leaving the Church?” The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer, 14 May 2014, 2:00, www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/may/dropouts-and-disciples-how-many-students-are-really-leaving.html.

“BibleGateway.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV - - Bible Gateway, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes 1:9&version=NIV.

“OneNewsNow.com - Your News Right Now.” OneNewsNow.com - Your News Right Now, www.onenewsnow.com/.



I believe that this is my best possible 2fer because this is something I worry about going off to college. I believe I was able to help people who might feel the same way. Although I didn't list on how to not lose faith I did however include things that people can do to avoid that from happening. I did include a lot of factual information with statistics backing it up, and that is very important because I always seem to not use as much statistics as I should. So I am very proud of this 2fer. 

War Between Shrews

This Means War vs. The Taming of the Shrew



First, in Taming of the Shrew an important character to notice is Bianca. She is the youngest daughter of Baptista, whom is a young beautiful woman that many men are trying wed. Though Bianca might seem ready for a master, her father refuses unless her older sister Katherine has found a man. Katherine is a strong, opinionated woman who isn’t afraid to speak her thoughts because of these traits, it caused many people to not seek beauty in her but veil and disgust.  Another important character is Lucentio, he is the suited man for Bianca, he was able to woe her instantly. Lucentio is a young charming man full of caring characteristic. While on the other hand, Petruchio is a cruel greedy man who only seeked Katherine for her wealth.


In the movie one of the central characters is Tuck he is a small,  kind man with a funny sense of humor. Though many may not see him to be the type who works for the CIA he is good at what he does. Tuck hides behind the idea that he is a travel agent but this identity caused many problems with a previous relationship leaving him with an ex-wife. Though Tuck might have lost someone he loved, he still had his best friend FDR. FDR is Tuck’s partner in crime who also has to hide behind the title of being a cruise ship captain. Through the movie you will begin to notice that he is a womanizer and somewhat snobby. Though many people might find these traits unattractive Lauren Scott, found his games foolish, at first. Lauren is a product testing executive who has recently suffered through a failed engagement and to cope she dates 2 different guys who happen to be FDR and Tuck.


In comparing the story lines, viewers and readers will notice though the two have to different plots and ideas they both surf around the same theme and topic; relationships. Relationships won’t last long unless their is true honesty with each other. Being honest is what a relationship is all about, some would argue that it’s about control, but in the end it's about trust and honesty.


That’s how our characters were able to win their girls.



The scene is set with Tranio and Lucentio, hiding in the bushes, over hearing a group of people disgust the fates of Katherine and Bianca.


“Tranio: You will be a school master and undertake the teaching of the maid: that's your device.”


(Act 1, Scene 1, 196-198)


The context of the quote was given to Lucentio from his servant Tranio when he saw that he had been wooed by the presents of Bianca. In honoring his master and wanting to help him, Tranio gives Lucentio the idea that he should become someone else. Someone that would be able to get close with the youngirl, like a school master. In doing so Lucentio would hopefully be able to woo Bianca, just she owed him.



Though Tuck doesn’t dress up as another person to woo the girl he has madly fallen for. He does however still hide behind the identity of false management in the workforce as well.  


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Screenshot 2018-04-11 at 4.29.44 PM

At this point in the film viewers know that for a living Tuck works for the CIA. But, as the movie continues forward he ends up facing his ex-wife after visiting his son at karate. In the scene, you are given a small piece of important information that he is known as a travel agent. In the film viewers are able to tell that his previous family is very sour about the idea of him being a “travel agent”.


The context of and the reasoning of hiding their identity might be different in the film and play but either way each character both play apart in being dishonest about who they are to someone they care about. The two characters, Tuck and Lucentio both lied about their profession to a  women they love. Which in the end, Tuck ends up with his ex-wife again later finding out his true identity and same thing with Lucentio. Eventually in the play, he reveals his true self to Bianca and still was able to win her over.



Later on the script Lucentio runs into a problem.



Hortensio: Sir, you say well, and well you do conceive. And since you do profess to be a suitor, you must, as we do gratify this gentleman, to whom we all rest generally beholding.

(Act 1, Scene 2, 277-280)



Here is the scene when all three suitors for Bianca meet up and create the plan to marry off Katherine, the older sister. The men convince Petruchio to marry the women and he claims that he will do it because of the wealth and the money that is being offered with the commitment of the marriage.


In comparing the circumstances at hand the audience can see that the men combined from both Taming of the Shrew and This Means War that they all have different motives in the beginning and while at first they didn’t stop to think how it might affect the relationships with the female character in the film and play.


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Screenshot 2018-04-11 at 5.26.04 PM
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Screenshot 2018-04-11 at 5.33.22 PM

In the scene, best friends Tuck and FDR, reveal to each other that the person they are dating/seeing happen to be the same person. Through a quick transaction of words it is understood that the men will continue to date the women under three conditions, she doesn’t know that they are friends, they stay out of each other way and “no hanky-panky”.


In comparing the book to the film though there isn’t necessarily an agreement placed upon the three suitors when it came to Bianca. Though the men did agree on the idea that let the best and most fit person for her win there wasn’t any rules held against them. In the film the men did happen to agree upon those three things but throughout the film you will notice that they didn’t acknowledge them and tried any way possible to win Lauren over, even if it meant lying to her.



Hortensio (as Litio) : Madam, my instruments in tune.

Bianca: Let’s hear. Oh fie, the treble jars!

Lucentio (as Cambio) :Spit in the hole, man, and tune again.

(Act 3, Scene 1, 39-43)


In the scene, the reader can identify that the game of trying to win Bianca has begun. Laid out for the reader is the idea that Hortensio and Lucentio is disguised as other characters as if they were both school masters. Lucentio is trying to convey how he feels towards Bianca and how much her presence pleases him but Hortensio is getting in the way bring the musical instrument that he doesn't know how to play or tune properly, interfering with Lucentio’s shot at trying to win the lady.



Though neither of the characters is scene playing a gamut in the movie. A scene is portrayed of FDR showing Lauren another type of art; paintings.


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Screenshot 2018-04-12 at 9.53.19 AM
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Screenshot 2018-04-12 at 9.53.33 AM

In the scene FDR took Lauren out for a date to see an exclusive exhibit on Gustav Klimts. To impress the girl, FDR had an earpiece with someone from his agency relaying information to him about each painting. Eventually though, the connection was interrupted by Tuck and he starred relaying false information to FDR to screw up his date and get between Lauren and him.


Reading the end and seeing the credits roll up the screen the audience can come to the assumption that relationships are important to society. It is often portrayed that in relationships it is often about control over whom, and Taming of the Shrew was a great example for that. But, in the movie This Means War, it shows that instead of control, relationships are more about honesty. For a healthy relationship won’t work unless you are true with yourself and the person your trying to be with.


One-Sided

One-Sided

Comparing Taming of the Shrew to 13 Going on 30


In the Taming of the Shrew, it is clear to the reader that romantic relationships revolve around what the male desires. Although it is not said clearly, it can be seen through the actions and the words being exchanged. In the movie 13 Going on 30, their way to determine who has more power and gets the better relationship with the desired one are those who are the most popular. These two relate because it includes people who seek the best for themselves that eventually get to where they want.


In The Taming of the Shrew, one of the main characters, Petruchio, does not stop but to ensure that Katherine becomes and remains his wife. Katherine is in a learning and adapting process during this relationship. Petruchio also approaches her in a manner that is not considered mean. In the movie, 13 Going on 30, the main character Jenna, wants to be the most popular and have the most attractive guy as her boyfriend, until something backfires. She wishes to be 30, only having it come true. Just like Petruchio, she wants to make everything her way and just like Katherine, she learns to change. These two stories show us that when it comes to marriage and love, there is also one who fights harder and does more so that there can be a relationship.


Petruchio: “Thou must be married to no man but me. For I am, he am born to tame you, Kate. And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate Conformable as other household Kates.”

Page 95, Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 290-293.

In this scene, it was around the time of when Katherine and Petruchio first met, Petruchio already had the idea of marrying Katherine, set in his mind. They exchanged conversations when they first met. Katherine was a bit harsh with her words and Petruchio was calm. Petruchio is stating how he is the man Katherine should marry. He will also be the one to “tame” her. Petruchio saying that Katherine is to only marry him means that he has this idea of how life will be for her without even asking how she feels. He makes the decision based on what he wants. Taming her meant that he wanted to change her. He says things like this which shows that he believes that he has authority and that he should be listened to. Katherine has to act a certain way and do certain things so he can be satisfied. She has to do more to keep what they have, intact and together. She has to put the effort while Petruchio says what should be done.


In the movie 13 Going on 30, there was this one scene where it was Jenna’s birthday and she threw a party. She also invited all the popular kids over. When the doorbell rang, she told her current bestfriend at the time to play music as she excitedly ran to open the door. He eventually left to get something and she implied that she didn’t care because it didn’t affect her and her current status. Just like Petruchio, she had authority over her best friend, making herself happy. During this birthday party, she controlled where her best friend stayed and made him get things ready so that the popular kids that were coming would be welcomed nicely. This is like Petruchio because they both had decisions for the benefit of themselves. They display acts of leadership which makes people want to follow because they eventually do in the scenes. In the relationship between Matt and Jenna, Matt is constantly finding himself helping out Jenna and doing what she desires to keep her happy. This allows Jenna to pay attention to him. Jenna has other things on her mind while Matt only has her in his mind. Matt is doing what he is being told to do to keep her happy and their current friendship positive.


Katherine: “No shame but mine. I must forsooth, be forced To give my hand, opposed against my heart, Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen, Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.”

Page 117 Act 3. Scene 2. Lines 8-10.


In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio and Katherine are indeed married, but it was a difficult process getting there. Katherine began with a breakdown. Petruchio was late for their wedding. She agreed to marrying a man who sought control, only to be left to look like a fool in the beginning of the ceremony. She only had the option of complaining about it because it was all she was capable of doing so. As long as she did her job in giving Petruchio what he wanted, even if she was upset, their relationship together was fine. Petruchio showed up late to their own wedding and he didn’t apologize, but ignored the fact that his soon-to-be wife was upset and carried along. Katherine had to put up with him and just accepted it. This allowed them to move on.


In the movie 13 Going on 30, there was this one scene where Matt was getting married to someone, someone that wasn’t Jenna. Jenna and Matt had reconnected in that time period and did more than what best-friends normally did. They both knew they felt more than just friends towards one another. Jenna goes inside the room and says something along the lines of “You shouldn’t be getting married, not unless it’s to me.” She wanted them to work as more than friends, but Matt saw it a different way, even though deep down he knew he didn’t. He wanted to remain friends although he did possess a large amount of love for her. Jenna agrees and goes away. Just like Katherine, Jenna has to accept what is happening for the better of their relationship. If they act accordingly, they will avoid other problems and be able to move on, leaving the other significant other satisfied, and keeping the relationship they still have with one another, alive.

Katherine: “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,”

Page 219. Act 5. Scene 2. Line 162-163.

 

In this scene of The Taming of the Shrew, everyone was gathered in a place, dining together and talking amongst one another. Katherine then decides to speak up and make a speech. When she finishes her speech, it is clear that her whole perspective on how she should act changes. She has now convinced herself that the correct way to act is by acting the way Petruchio wants. She is the one in the relationship that must do keep them both satisfied in order for the relationship to keep moving forward. She also states it herself. By her words, she is allowing herself to give into what Petruchio wants as if it is what is right and what she should be doing. Petruchio seems to be having indirect control over her. She has to do more than Petruchio does to hold them both together.

In the movie, 13 Going on 30, at the end of the movie, Jenna returns to her 13 year-old self, only realizing what she has been missing out on. She is back into her closet and when she hears her best friend Matt, she quickly opens the door, runs to him and kisses him. She realized, from future her, when she was 30, that Matt was someone she couldn’t lose, the second she open the door, she secured him for herself, jumping on him and kissing him. She makes this action to make sure Matt becomes hooked, which he does, allowing Matt to be Jenna’s. Jenna relates to Katherine in this because they both took it a step further in their relationship to make sure things would be secure between both characters in both relationships.

Although the idea of love and how people should act towards their significant other has changed around time, certain parts of still very much the same. Love seems to be more one-sided whether it is intentional or not. Equalness in love is hard to find and see. It is easier and more likely to find one doing more than the other in a relationship.

 



A Tale of Love and Deception

A Tale of Love and Deception

Comparing "Taming of the Shrew" to "Love Love You"


As "The Taming of the Shrew" brings the idea of expectations on relationships that the women or women role in a relationship should be obedient to the male role. Petruchio sets the expectations for Katherine, that since he is the husband/man the wife/lady should be obedient to them. Katherine ends up being obedient to Petruchio’s every call. Unlike Bianca and the widow to their respected husbands, Lucentio and Hortensio. Love Love You is a Thai film about a Gump and Nai’s relationship with new complications coming into their lives. Gump moves into a new apartment with a guy and Nai’s old flame comes back from China. In the movie Gump is seen as the women role in the relationship, while Nai takes up the man role based off of actions. Gump follows Nai like a lost puppy in love most of the time, too shy to do anything or say something when it’s needed to be said. Nai on the other hand does what he wants eventually causing problems within their relationship.

In both Love Love You and Taming of the Shrew, relationship expectations are known. With the Taming of the Shrew, both Katherine and Petruchio the relationship expectations are more pronounced. Gump and Nai’s relationship is more flip-flopped, but still noticeable by the character’s actions. Katherine and Petruchio’s relationship sort of started with dishonesty and deception leading to obedience, meanwhile Gump and Nai’s relationship started with obedience but along came dishonesty and deception. In the Taming of the Shrew, relationship expectations are more pronounced and in modern times it’s not as pronounced but obedience still lingers in the air. Relationship expectations go hand and hand with dishonesty or deception.


"Katherine, I charge thee tell these headstrong women. What duty they do owe their lords and husbands."

(Act V, Scene II, 144-146)



In this scene the husbands were making a bet to see who’s wife is more obedient to them. The widow and Bianca didn’t go to their husbands call, while Katherine did. The wives, widow and Bianca disagreed with needed to be obedient to their call. So Petruchio ends up demanding Katherine to tell Bianca and the widow that the wives duty to their husbands. Dusty meaning how obedient they really are. Petruchio forces Katherine onto his ideal marriage and obedience since he’s the man of the relationship. He makes their relationship expectations known to the other newlywed couples surrounding him. Petruchio wants it all be pronounced.

A scene in Love Love You follows the similar obedience ways as the Shrew. Only this time it’s not a demand and out of guilt.







Within this scene, Nai finds out Gump is moving in with a fairly attractive man and complains that he doesn’t want Gump to live there. Out of guilt and obedience, Gump ends up apologizing to Nai about moving in with Sunz for a while. Gump and Katherine are similar yet different, both of them are obedient to the male role yet they do it in different ways. Katherine started lashing out at first and eventually gives into to Petruchio, causing her to be more obedient towards him. While Gump is shy and doesn’t speak up, naturally being obedient to the male role. The relationship expectations on the two relationships take different tolls on the characters lives.


"Be patient, gentlemen. I choose her for myself. If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you? ‘Tis bargained ‘twixt us twain, being alone, That she shall still be curst in company… Give me thy hand, Kate. I will unto Venice to buy apparel ‘gainst the wedding day. --- Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests. I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine."


(Act II, Scene I, 321-336)


Petruchio’s whole spiel was pretty much a lie to Baptista and everyone else. He was only willing to marry Kate for the money and the dowry he gets for marrying her. This all started the deception and dishonesty between Katherine and Petruchio.  Katherine at first was reluctant to listen to Petruchio’s wish to marry her, as most men revolted her due to bad temperment. During the spiel Petruchio was spitting, he said, “She hung about my neck, and kiss on kiss, she vied so fast. Protesting oath on oath, that in a twink she won me to her love.” Earlier on in Shrew Petruchio’s character was basically established that he liked money and only did things for himself. He was dishonest in his feelings towards Katherine, eventually leading him to place the relationship expectations.


Nai’s old flame came back from China, causing Nai to rekindle with him. On the other hand, Gump has no idea about their past relationship together.  


Bon went to visit Nai while Gump was over. Nai introduced them to each other, while lying to Gump in the process saying Bon was just his high school classmate, when in reality Bon was Nai’s old flame. Since Gump was deceived he went along with Nai’s lie. Believe Bon was only a classmate, but later on realizing how close the two were. Nai was worried to tell Gump the truth about Bon, so he lied. In the end breaking the trust of their relationship slowly. Petruchio on the other hand lied to Katherine in the first place, deceiving her into being an obedient wife. Both Nai and Petruchio lied to their significant other for their ow2n good, ending in two different results in their relationship.


Thus, in the end the obedient Gump stopped talking to Nai for a while after spotting an unforgivable scene while Bon and Nai were completely drunk. Being deceived once more thinking Nai was shot at a party, just to get Gump to confess his true feelings. Gump’s obedience lead to dishonesty and deception within their relationship, while Petruchio and Katherine’s honesty and deception lead to obedience eventually. Thus creating the three things, dishonesty, deception and obedience in relationship expectations to go hand in hand. Modern day romantic comedies sometimes lay on the same principle, just in a different formation.


Along Came Deception


Along Came Deception

Comparing “Taming of the Shrew” and “Along Came Polly”


“The Taming of the Shrew” was one of the first exposed examples of deception in relationships. During “Taming of the Shrew”, Petruchio and Katherine are emotionally unfaithful to each other in their marriage. Meaning that the emotions and feelings that they showed were never truthful.  A movie presenting a similar message was later released in 2004. “Along Came Polly” expressed the same values but it two different ways. Reuben, marries a woman who he believes is the love of his life only to find out that on the first day of their honeymoon, she has an affair. Less than a month later, Reuben decides to start dating an old classmate, Polly, whom he fails to admit his past and present to.



Deception is shown throughout the play because many of the characters tend to deceive their partners by not being truthful to them about what they want in a relationship and what they want out of a relationship. Petruchio is not upfront  with Katherine about what he wants out of the relationship and instead continues to exploit Katherine. Katherine does the same thing by allowing Petruchio to treat her without respect and not stand up to him. Katherine wants nothing material from Petruchio except for the titles of a marriage Because Reuben’s former wife, Lisa, decided to have an affair very early in their marriage, Reuben is scared that if he does not know everything to please Polly, she might try to escape the same way Lisa did.


By doing so, they are both deceiving each other in the relationship by not being comfortable with being the person they truly are in the relationship.


Both the play and the movie deal with similar situations, but in different ways. While they both acknowledge what it is like to not be truthful in a relationship, “The Taming of the Shrew” never reveals the better qualities and advantages that a healthy and truthful relationship has like they do in “Along Came Polly”. This reflects that modern films may start relationships off as rocky, but over time they show the growth of relationships including obstacles and miracles.


“Petruchio, shall I then come roundly to thee and wish thee to a shrewd ill-favored wife? Thou'dst thank me but a little for my counsel and yet I'll promise thee shall be rich. And very rich.”


(Act 1, Scene 2, Line 60)


In this section of the play, Petruchio is offered a deal. He is given the thought of marrying Katherine, a rich but unwanted young lady. Out of this marriage/arrangement Petruchio would gain wealth. By Petruchio already having these ill intentions for a relationship that had not begun yet, he set their relationship up for failure. By the time that relationship started, it was already destined to fail fail because Petruchio was deceitful towards Katherine by engaging in a relationship with her for her money and only for her money. While Petruchio enters his marriage with Katherine for money,  Lisa, Reuben’s wife enters their marriage for nothing.


As Petruchio entered his relationship with ill intentions, so did Lisa, Reuben’s wife.





In this scene, Reuben has left his wife, Lisa, on the beach to go scuba diving with an instructor. When he comes back to find her, unfortunately, he finds her involved in intercourse with the instructor. Lisa fails to admit to her husband what she wants out of the relationship. She also fails to admit to her husband, (on their wedding day), that he is not the man she is truly in love with. Because if she were to be truthful with Reuben, she would have acknowledged and admitted that he was not the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Not only did Lisa hurt Reuben and deceive him by stepping outside of their marriage, she was so reckless that she allowed Reuben to catch her in the act. By deceiving Reuben in the very beginning of their marriage, she pushed him to carry these same relationship tools onto his next romance.




"Too little payment for so great a debt. Such duty as the subject owes the prince, even such a women oweth to her husband."


(Act 5, Scene 2, line 170)


Katherine is notorious for her bad attitude and wicked persona in the play. Her character is sought out to be so evil that she it seems just a little awkward that she becomes so submissive towards her husband, Petruchio. During Katherine’s long speech about how she understood the expectations of her husband, she mentions what seems to be the total opposite of her initial impression. Katherine becomes submissive to her husband which is out of character coming from her. This is a surprise to everyone who has known her, especially because of what she refers to herself as. She mentions that she is indeed a debt or a burden to her husband because she sees herself unworthy of his true love. Now that Katherine feels this way, it shows how much of an impact her husband has on her personality. Instead of making a compromise with her husband about how they should both share the right to express their emotions in the relationship, she submitted to her husband and lost the person that she was. Katherine simply forgot who she was and what she believed in to make her husband happy and feel like he was doing his job as a husband to “train” her into a well equipped wife.


When Reuben begins dating shortly after his departure from his wife, Lisa, he begins to carry on the “dishonest”  trait into his next relationship.



Reuben has recently started dating again and has already started on the wrong foot. Instead of telling his new “girlfriend” that he has irritable bowel syndrome, he withholds the information and allows himself to be put in an uncomfortable situation just to make his mate happy. While this may seem to be just minor and immature, it leads to more problems further on in the relationship, including trust issues like those of Katherine and Petruchio’s.






"Come, Kate, we’ll to bed. We three are married, but you two are sped. Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white, and being a winner, God give you good night."


(Act 5, Scene 2, line 200)


After Katherine decides to give her shocking speech, Petruchio feels honored. Honored enough that his wife has now become submissive towards him with no words of her own, that he should still disrespect her because she allows it. Petruchio thanks God so much because he would rather have been able to say that he broke a strong minded female down than to have her “prettier” sister.




This happens to be one of the big problems that concealing does to Reuben and Polly’s relationship. Despite Polly spending loads of time with Reuben for the last few weeks, he has left out plenty of information that should have been revealed when they first went out. Concealing his real life causes Polly to lose trust in him as well as feel like she doesn't even know exactly who she is dating. By this time, Reuben has started to use the same character traits with Polly, that his cheating wife used with him. Unlike Petruchio and Katherine, Reuben was able to leave one toxic relationship, just to start another. Allowing Katherine to portray herself in this way lowers Katherine’s self esteem because it proves that he is not in love with her, but the person she has become because of them wedding.


Both today’s society and yesterday’s society have similar approaches to relationships. No matter what century humans are living in they will still make the stupidest mistake of engaging in a relationship where both parties are not happy. One of the most common mistake sin relationships is not being 100% truthful. By doing so, mates allow their mate to paint a completely different picture of them. And although these situations are continuously depicted in movies and plays such as ‘Along Came Polly’ and ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, audiences still fail to realize how important it is to remain honest with their partners as well as come to compromises about things the both of them do not agree on.





Works Cited


Hamburg, John. Along Came Polly. Universal Studios. 16, Jan, 2004.

Shakespeare, William, et al. The Taming of the Shrew. Pocket Books, 1963.






Visual Essay

     The Taming of the Shrew has a desire to show you different relationship styles. One of the Main characters in this play was named Petruchio. He was the man who knew how to use clever words to get women. There is also Kathrine who was married to Petruchio, she was not always interested in him. Later on Petruchio tame Katherine into the women he wanted her to be. What Happens In Vegas has a comedy based laugh and keeps you wanting to wonder if relationships are like theirs.  There are two main characters, Joy and Jack they both were in Vegas. They got drunk and woke up married. Joy character is happier but she can be feisty if she wanted. Then Jack is a man who is all about the women and sport who lives an average man life. Both pieces demonstrate the conflict between the ideal way to develop a relationship against how relationships often realistically develop, and how the expectations of an ideal relationship are out of reach.

PETRUCHIO

To her, Kate!

HORTENSIO

To her, widow!

( In Act 5 scene 2)

       This was a scene where Petruchio and Hortensio made a deal to see who would could use this woman. Society would look at this and believe that relationship today come about because of bets that friends make with each other. This could also show you how relationship could be taken as a game and not actually a real life problem. Boys could look at this a being a player and girls could look at this as getting played. This shows you that the development of relationship are based upon other people that are not in a relationship.



        In this scene from What happens in vegas it portrays to society that love is just something that comes with luck. The couple is showing that marriage can come easy and it doesn’t take long to do. This couple was just sitting in a bar, than waking up the next morning marriages. This shows to society that love is drug that can make you do crazy thing and regret it later. Love is a symbol to how the people in the society should look at it, which then later on makes the audience struggle with how a relationship is supposed to be developed


Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak,

And speak I will. I am no child, no babe.

Your betters have endured me say my mind,

And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.

My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,

Or else my heart concealing it will break,

And rather than it shall, I will be free

Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words

( In Act 4 scene 3)

    In the Taming of the Shrew this was a scene that showed of petruchio actions toward Katherine after they got marriage. He started to control her by telling her what she could wear and what she couldn’t wear. This is showing to society that when a man does not like what you wear or what you are doing they have a say so in how they could change it. This could lead to why women began to feel insecure about themselves. This could also be a reason on why men have the mindset if one can do it then why can’t I.

      In this scene Jack is talking about Joy is trying to be so perfect but in reality he never was perfect for him. Society men would look at this as if men are supposed to talk women as jokes. Men is the society could began to believe that this is how you are to treat a girl when it comes to her feelings and how she cares. This is teaching that girls are not [perfect and guys they will never be so this movie does a bad job at portray how a guy should look at a female. It’s as if a girl is not perfect for you then he's not perfect at all.

       In conclusion to this relationships are looked upon differently in many ways. Movies and books could give a general impression on how a person should feel about it but it never actually tells you how to feel. Society are always watch the the actors and authors to see how they would describe the best development for how a relationship should be. This is why both pieces demonstrate the conflict between the ideal way to develop a relationship against how relationships often realistically develop, and how the expectations of an ideal relationship are out of reach.


Sources:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CADEAC_enUS670US671&biw=1366&bih=629&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=FRLhWsaJEIPw_AaepL2IBg&q=what+happens+in+vegas+subtitles+club+scene&oq=what+happens+in+vegas+subtitles+club+scene&gs_l=psy-ab.3...16809.22272.0.22582.15.12.3.0.0.0.131.869.10j2.12.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.128...0i24k1.0.ZJE4sHAlNEc#imgdii=L4mEXiC0U_HZkM:&imgrc=oCMf9MyWlwnlSM:

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+happens+in+vegas+club+scene&rlz=1CADEAC_enUS670US671&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRspjpy9baAhVGON8KHXAlB2EQ_AUoAnoECAAQBA&biw=1366&bih=629#imgrc=BWG_n3AEOe3yFM:


Control in a Relationship

Control in a relationship

Comparing ‘Taming Of The Shrew’ to the film Begin Again.’


The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare is a  family drama. The story opens with Baptisia a merchant who is the father of two girls. Katherine who is the eldest strong-willed and awkward. His younger daughter, Bianca is more beautiful and kind.   Baptisia wants his older daughter Katherine to get married before his youngest daughter will be permitted to do so.


Tranio and Lucentio come to town from Verona. Lucentio is a well-off man and Tranio is his servant. Lucentio falls in love with Kate; he falls in love with right away. Lucento dresses like a tutor so that he can be in the household were Kate lives. Tranio takes on the profile of Lucentio. Another man named Tranio and Lucentio come to town from Verona. Lucentio is a well-off man and Tranio is his servant. Lucentio falls in love with Kate; he falls in love with right away. Lucento dresses like a tutor so that he can be in the household were Kate lives. Tranio takes on the profile of Lucentio. Another man named Petruchio comes from out of town to Hortensio's house which is his friend who is also interested in Bianca. Horensio has a plan, and he convinces Petruchio to marry Kate.   Baptista has a lot of money, so when he gets married to Kate the marriage will come with a large dowry. This will clear the path for Bianca to marry. In the movie Begin Again Gretta is dating a songwriter named Dave Kohl, they move to New York when Dave gets a major record deal. With Dave's new issues he has new temptations for other girls. When a couple is married the husband has more control over the wife and the spouse is forced to do things that they don't want to do.









 


 "Quote from Play" (Act 1, Scene 2, 75 and 76 )



“ I come to wive it wealthy in Padua; if wealthy then happy.”



The quote is from the Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio was the one speaking here. The quote shows how Petruchio feels about marriage. Petrucio knew that had money and had the plan to get some of the money in the form of a dowry by marrying his daughter Kate.  Petruchio wants to marry for money, not love. This shows he is in love with the money, not his wife.

















This is Dave and Gretta Talking about their relationship and Gretta leaves Dave showing he does not control her.



Dave did not have control over the relationship between him and Gretta. In the time and setting of the play women are married to men, the husband has power and the spouse is forced to do things that they might not like, but they do it because there married.




"Quote from Play"


(Act 5, Scene 7, 175)


"Thy king, Thy Governor."


This quote is again a part of Katherine's speech at the end of the book. Katherine was saying that the husband is the king and they can control the wife. Back then the husband had more control of the wife; the husband would work and provide for the family while the wife stays home. This brings the theme control; this shows that the husband has the power of the relationship because the wife is saying my husband is the king.



Gretta and dave fighting  this shows that Dave does not have control over the relationship.



In the movie, Dave Kohl goes to L.A for his music career, and then comes back to New York. He plays Gretta a new song that he made, the song talked about another girl who was touring with him. He cheated on Gretta, and this made Gretta mad and she left him. This is the opposite of the play because the wife believes that the husband is the king and he can do whatever he wants. Dave did not control Gretta.



Quote from Play"


(Act 5, Scene 2 ,176)

" Even such duty as the subject owns the prince"




This quote is again a part of Katherine's speech at the end of the book. Katherine was saying that the husband is the king and they can control the wife. Back then the husband had more control of the wife; the husband would work and provide for the family while the wife stays home. This brings the theme control; this shows that the husband has the power of the relationship because the wife is saying my husband is the king.



Gretta is forced to perform here showing that she has to do things she does not like



This can be compared to the Movie Begin again because Greta is forced to perform her music and ends up finding that she has great talent. Being forced to do something that worked out for her. I believe that Katherine was forced to say the speech and ended up loving her husband.




When women are married to men, the husband has control and the spouse is forced to do things that they might not like, but they do it because they're married. The play the Taming of the Shrew is older than the movie Begin again. Since the film is more contemporary the view has changed. Back then, the husband had total control over their spouse, but now the spouse will stand up for there self. Divorce was not common back then but now if the relationship does not work the spouse can leave their husband. When women are married, they are forced to things they don’t like; this is true because Katherine did not want to perform that speech and Gretta did not want to perform, but they both did it because they are married.


It's All About The **** Money!


“It's all about the Mother*@* Money”

“The Taming Of The Shrew” & “Revenge Of The Bridesmaids”


The Taming of the Shrew focuses more on the social aspects of marriage than on the feelings that are involved. Lucentio is only allowed to marry Bianca after he promises that his father can provide a larger dowry than Hortensio, and after his ‘father’ promises that the money will be paid. Petruccio is marrying any woman with a large dowry. In the 2010 movie “Revenge Of The Bridesmaids,”- Chaos strikes when two best friends (Abigail, Parker) try to sabotage their friend Caitlin's wedding for the sake of true love.


In The Taming of the Shrew and Revenge of the Bridesmaids, the two share a similarity of the economically beneficiary in a marriage. Characters listed as Bianca, Katherine, and Caitlyn are all daughters who character’s stand as prime examples of societies’ reconciles for marriage of the daughters based on money. However, some  of them --(Abigail, Parker) -- is trying to straight-up sabotage, while the other (Petruchio,Lucentio) is operating in order to marry women of high status. Both Taming of the Shrew and Revenge of the Bridesmaids highlight how characters of vastly different social classes envision marriage as a business proposition through which the lower class can rise to the top.


PETRUCHIO

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;

If wealthily, then happily in Padua.

(1.2.76-77)


Although crude and offensive, Petruchio is completely up front and open about his fortune- seeking ways. Marriage brings happiness, not for love’s sake, but because marrying a wealthy wife brings in alot of cash, which according to Petruchio, is enough to satisfy him.


Central Character in the movie “Revenge of the Bridesmaid” similarly shares the same valves of Petruchio, yet it circles around a whole different situation.  



In this scene from “Revenge of the Bridesmaids,” Caitlin  reveals the scemening plot that she is only marrying Tony, her fiance, in the case of her mother’s extravagant spending. In this particular scene she says “now I don’t mind a Love-less marriage.” This compares to Petruchio's attitude towards his marriage with Katrina. They both use the wealth of money to fill the void of love in their relationship. If Caitlin is going to marry someone whos she doesn't love, the least thing she will get out of it all is being comfortable and feeling secure. This feeling of security will come from Tony’s lucrative family. In Petruchio's situation, he’s not only after Katharine for her money, but her status as an Nobel women. In all, they are using the secret vow between two people to excell up the ladder of success.


BAPTISTA

Faith, gentlemen, now I play a merchant's part

And venture madly on a desperate mart.

TRANIO, as Lucentio

'Twas a commodity lay fretting by you.

'Twill bring you gain, or perish on the seas. (2.1.345-348)

Baptista’s metaphor gives voice to his role as a “Businessman” in negotiating the marriage of Bianca. Marrying his daughters is a very personal business project for him, as he seems that he stands to lose more than his daughter does.


In Comparison, Parker’s Father explains to the girls how the role of business is involved between the two, Tony’s and Caitlyn's, coming about.



After overhearing the two (Abigail and Parker) discussing the confusion of Tony’s  and Caitlin's relationship, Lou breaks down the situation enough for them to understand it all. By saying:” It’s a business transaction,” Lou revealed that her marriage for him is merely a proposition where she seems to gain just more than his last name. By marrying Tony, Caitlin and her mom are able to continue their lavish  lifestyle. They will be able to afford everything, thanks to Tony’s money. Unlike Petruchio, who lives comfortably without any financial problems, Caitlin relays on this marriage to fulfill her and her mother’s wants and desires. She needs this wedding to go perfect because without it, they will be recognized for their money problems.


KATHERINE

He'll woo a thousand, 'point the day of marriage,

Make feasts, invite friends, and proclaim the banns,

Yet never means to wed where he hath wooed.

Now must the world point at poor Katharine

And say, 'Lo, there is mad Petruchio's wife,

If it would please him come and marry her.' (2.1.15-20)


We’ve seen how a wife’s reputation can influence and determine her husband’s reputation and credit, but here, it’s clear that Katherine fears marriage is yet another institute that will cause her public embarrassment and pain.


Unlike Katherine, Tony is using marriage as a scapegoat to escape talk and screntany from others.



While having dinner,  Parker askes Henry how did  his best friend, Tony, react after finding out Caitlin was pregnant.  Henry explains Tony’s side of the story about his sudden engagement to Parker. By saying “ It’s 1870, and the only opens are “get married” or “get married now,” it lets watchers  know that Tony is using this marriage as an punishment to himself. To escape from talk of the town and others, he is biting his lip and doing what he thinks is best on the situation at hand.  Unlike Petruchio, Tony is humbly accepting his fate. He is only going along with this marriage because of the bad hate he would get if he didn’t agree, and that would be bad for his and his father’s publicityhile Petruchio wants all to know of his marriage and winning the hand of an Wealthy lad.



Both written pieces show in may ways how society can easily misuse the true meaning of marriage. With Caitlin devious plot to trick a man to marry her  through a fake pregnancy, and Petruchio's plot to marry a wealthy women for the sake of his name values. Viewers are displayed human’s mistake on taking a secret vow and turning it into a business proposition all in the name to gain more success for themselves.


work sited 

Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Taming of the Shrew Theme of Society and Class.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/taming-of-the-shrew/society-class-theme.html.
SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/search?q=dowry.




Taming Your Silver Lining

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is based on the conception of love. Bianca shares connection with one suitor Lucentio which eventually turns out as a romantic relationship. In comparison, her sister Katharine doesn’t want to share a romantic relationship with Petruchio which results in conflict. Petruchio abuses Katherine’s pride by treating her in an inhumane way. By the end of the book, Bianca and Lucentio have an honest relationship. Katherine obeys Petruchio despite his rude action towards her.

Silver Linings Playbook is about two main characters named Pat and Tiffany. Pat recently came home from a Psychiatric facility. He hopes to win back his ex-wife, Nikki. Along the way, he meets Tiffany who is the sister of a friend of his. IN order to get closer to Nikki, Pat asks Tiffany to give Nikki a letter he wrote but in exchange, Tiffany wants Pat to dance with her at a dance competition in order to win his love.

“The Taming of the Shrew” and “Silver Linings Playbook” relatively share a controversial topic about honesty and deception. Petruchio takes advantage of Katherine by imposing her into a relationship that only he could benefit from. Petruchio doesn’t confront her about his arrangement to win her love but instead abusing the little power she has in their relationship. On the contrary, Tiffany, who is similar to Petruchio in this sense, was dishonest to Pat in order to benefit from him. Their deception brought out their true colors which lead them to a romantic relationship. Both the play and the movie reflect the belief that Honesty and loyalty do not factor into a romantic relationship when one or more is egocentric of what they want or want in return.

Signior Hortensio, ‘twixt such friends as we Few words suffice; and therefore, if thou know} One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife— As wealth is burden of my wooing dance— Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love, As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd As Socrates’ Xanthippe or a worse, She moves me not—or not removes at least Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough As are the swelling Adriatic seas. I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padua. - Petruchio Act 1 Scene 2 Line 66-77

The audience gets a glance at Petruchio’s perception as he admits to Hortensio about his scheme to win over Katherine. He discusses that he wants to marry her for money and sets aside romance in their relationship. Her character traits, the things that define who she is, is not significant to Petruchio. He knows of Katherine’s demeanor, but most meaningful her financial status, which he is anticipating. Katherine is not aware of his plan which doesn’t allow her to speak on what she wants or needs. This plan abuses Katherine’s power and pride, as is shown to the reader as a one person relationship.

Screenshot 2018-04-16 at 7.51.46 AM
Screenshot 2018-04-16 at 7.51.46 AM

Correspondingly, This quotes briefly explains Tiffany’s gateway to get Pat to see she really likes him which in comparison is similar to Petruchio wooing Katherine. This quote approaches Tiffany’s selfishness. Tiffany emotionally tells Pat about how she is involved with other people’s issues and how she supports them but expects something in return. She continuously aids other people’s needs and not receiving the same support back which teaches her a lesson about being all for herself. A little later she gives the suggestion to Pat to participate in a dance competition for her. The audience then comes to a realization that the lessons for the competitions bring them closer together which is what she wants. Tiffany knowing that Pat wants to get closer to Nikki and that he will do anything in his power, Tiffany being one of the factors of doing so.

-“The only way you can beat my crazy was by doing something crazy yourself. Thank you. I love you. I knew it the minute I met you. I’m sorry it took so long for me to catch up. I just got stuck.” - Pat

Pat’s determination lead him to understand that with Tiffany’s help, he fell in love with her. Pat is dependent and doesn’t let his egocentricity affect his sensuality. This quote in contrast to Petruchio realistic views of a romantic relationship shows how the influence of someone can develop feelings for others. In this moment Pat gives Tiffany a letter saying about how she lied to him, which let him see how much she cares for him. He is thankful that her guidance helped with one of his bigger issues, depression. Him being “stuck” was him trying to consider the bigger picture, which was Tiffany’s vain choices and truly having a romantic interest in somebody that he knew from a complicated relationship.

“Shrew” and “Silver Linings Playbook” authors want readers to understand the exposition of love and what it means in a relationship. Based on these representations, these characters attitude towards courtship dating does not involve their partner’s say or satisfactory. It also shows that the attitudes towards dating do not involve confrontation a partner’s true character. Society’s values the things they want for themselves. The behavior that interferes with the things that society priorities are feeling that people in courtship share.

Sources: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Silver-Linings-Playbook.html https://giphy.com/explore/silver-lining-playbook http://nfs.sparknotes.com/

Desiring the Perfect Marriage

Desiring the Perfect Marriage

The Taming of the Shrew and Gone Girl


In The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare uses Petruchio to show how a husband could "train" his undesirable wife to be something he would seem fit through his actions with Katherine. By “training” her, Petruchio is able to put Katherine into submission by suppressing her free will and her former unpleasant self. David Fincher's Gone Girl takes a similar approach to marital manipulation through Amy. In the story, she would constantly manipulate Nick's emotions to the extremes as a consequence of him cheating on her with Andie by framing him of a crime he initially has no idea of.

In both The Taming of the Shrew and Gone Girl, marriage would revolve around control and infatuation rather than the actual love between two people. In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio would rather change Katherine rather than love her for who she is and in Gone Girl, Nick would get emotionally manipulated by Amy while having to come to terms that she is not the person he initially thought she was. Although deception is still prevalent in marriages, the thought of romantic love is maintained through the perception one has for another, which is infatuation. However, unlike The Taming of the Shrew, besides the swap in gender when it comes to who is in control of the relationship, even though Amy is the one in the marriage who is orchestrating Nick's life against his will, she desires a Nick who is not necessarily his real self. From that, this shows that when it comes to marriage today compared to back then, women can be deceptive as men in relationships and in love while being able to choose the men they want to have.


"Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,

And for thy maintenance commits his body

To painful labor both by sea and land,

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,

Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,

And craves no other tribute at thy hands

But love, fair looks and true obedience—

Too little payment for so great a debt.

Such duty as the subject owes the prince,

Even such a woman oweth to her husband."

- Katherine (Act V Scene 2 lines 155-165).

This is noted by Katherine at the end of the play when her husband bets that she would be the most obedient wife compared to Bianca and the widow. After experiencing the torment Petruchio would put her through such as not letting her sleep at night or not allow her to obtain a dress she ends up liking, Katherine has no other choice but to submit to her husband. This is evident to the reader when she states, “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee.” By referring to him with terms such as “lord”, “keeper”, and “head”, she submits to Petruchio’s dominance over her will in their marriage by the end of the story. With the choice to have no one else to love her or have a man who would destroy her former self, there is no doubt that Katherine will choose the latter when it comes to being with the only man she could ever have, not because her actual self would be loved by that man.    



Like Katherine, in this situation, Nick has no choice but to submit to Amy’s pressure. This scene is where Nick announces on national television that he and Amy will be having a child. When he states, “We’re honest with each other,” it tells the audience that their marriage mainly consists of lies since they have been deceiving each other and have been dishonest to each other the entire movie, but Nick has no choice but to lie. Throughout the movie of Gone Girl, Amy deceives Nick into getting caught for committing a crime he initially has no intentions of perpetrating. As for Nick, with the accusations of how horrible of a person he is for cheating on his wife and how he might be the culprit for the alleged death of Amy, Nick cannot do anything else or express himself. Due to that pressure, he has to pretend to the masses that he and Amy are a happy couple. Amy, unlike Katherine, does not have to worry about her husband leaving him since she is the one in control of the marriage.  

  

"Look, if you love me, stay."- Katherine

(Act III Scene 2 line 176)

"Grumio, my horse."- Petruchio

(Act III Scene 2 line 177)

The quotes that are stated by Katherine and Petruchio occur during their wedding. In this scene, Katherine wants to stay at the wedding while Petruchio wants to leave. When Petruchio refuses to stay despite Katherine claiming that he is in love with her if he chooses to stay, it shows that Petruchio does not love Katherine for who she actually is. He does not care about what Katherine wants and would commit to actions that would harm her for her “own” sake. As a result of taking Katherine along with him even though she wants to stay, Petruchio proves how he would manipulate her into committing to matters she would not initially oblige to.



In this scene, Amy tells the audience her thoughts of the murder and her plans to ruin Nick. This is reminiscent to Petruchio manipulating Katherine to coercing to things she does not want since in Gone Girl, Nick does not want to be framed for murder and Amy knows this to be the case but she still orchestrates it to get Nick arrested. However, unlike The Taming of the Shrew, Amy deceives Nick to get revenge on him for cheating on her, not necessarily to make him a better person like what ends up happening in Katherine’s case. When Amy states, “He actually expected me to love him unconditionally,” the audience could see how Amy has Nick fooled to believing that and how she would not actually love him unconditionally despite being married to him. This can explain why she is willing to have revenge on him and why she is willing to hurt him: she does not love his actual self.


“You lie, in faith, for you are called plain Kate,

And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst,

But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,

Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate—

For dainties are all Kates—and therefore, Kate,

Take this of me, Kate of my consolation:

Hearing thy mildness praised in every town,

Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded—

Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs—

Myself am moved to woo thee for my wife.”

- Petruchio (Act II Scene 1 lines 179-189)


During Katherine’s first encounter with Petruchio, Petruchio claims that people refer to her as Kate, not Katherine despite her denial. In addition to denying her words as true when she states that people call her by the name of Katherine instead of Kate, Petruchio compliments to her in outlandish ways like calling her “bonny Kate”, “the prettiest Kate in Christendom”, and the “dainties are all Kates”. Despite it being the first time where he actually talks to her, it is clear that Petruchio idealizes Katherine rather than trying to understand her true self because if he is actually in love with Katherine, he would have trusted her when she states that people call her Katherine rather than pushing it aside as a lie. To add up to his idealization of her, without any thoughts or incentives to understand her, it shows how Katherine as a person is no valuable to Petruchio compared to his desire to marry her. Although it could be argued that Katherine is actually value to him since he is willing to marry a person who has a bad and undesirable reputation in the story, if he is truly in love with Katherine, he should try to get to know the person he is marrying instead of fantasizing about her while not trusting what she says.   



Similar to Petruchio, Amy ends up falling in love with Nick’s persona on television, not Nick himself. After coming back from hiding, Amy only realizes that Nick is not the person from his persona on television and that he wants her back so he would not be seen as a murderer in the masses, not that he actually has any affection towards her. This leads to her being somewhat different from Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew because although she has been manipulating Nick to the point where Nick has to be desirable to her to get her back to him similar to how Petruchio tries to manipulate Katherine to winning her affection, she has known what Nick can actually be like as a person due to her long marriage with him. In addition to knowing that Nick is not as desirable as she has wanted to believe prior to her life with him, she knows that Nick has been hiding his affair with Andie from her and has tried to lie about it on TV. Despite knowing Nick as an actual person, his past, and how dishonest he can be, she ends up getting fooled anyway when she comes back to Nick solely because of her idealization of him on TV.

In a lot of ways, characteristics in marriages back then are still around today like manipulation, conceit, and idealization. With many changes to societal norms such as women being given more opportunities now than ever before, this can be surprising to those who have expected society to be a lot different than before. Although there is no doubt that times have changed long after Shakespeare’s times, now that women have more marital rights, women like Amy can potentially be Petruchio when it comes to maintaining traditional characteristics of what marriage has always been. This changes how people see courtship today since with Amy actually being the one taking control of her marriage with Nick instead of the victim of that abuse, people can no longer assume that Amy is the damsel in distress while Nick is the villain without ignoring the implications that can have to victims of domestic abuse like Nick. Overall, to leave on a final note, when Nick tells Amy, “Yes, I loved you and then all we did was resent each other, try to control each other. We caused each other pain,” Amy replies, “That's marriage.”

Works Cited

“The Taming of the Shrew.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,

nfs.sparknotes.com/shrew/page_246.html.

Milchan, Arnon, et al. Gone Girl. Twentieth Century Fox, 2014.

“The Taming of the Shrew.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,

nfs.sparknotes.com/shrew/page_138.html.

“The Taming of the Shrew.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,

nfs.sparknotes.com/shrew/page_90.html.