Macbeth Test (questions and answers)

. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by

A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald. (Act I scene II)

B. serving as a gracious host for his king.

C. not pleading for advancement.

2. King Duncan rewarded Macbeth by dubbing him

A. the Earl of Sinel.

B. the Thane of Cawdor him. . (act I scene II)

C. Bellona's bridegroom

3. In addressing Banquo, the witches called him which of these?

"Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." (I)

"Not so happy as Macbeth, yet much happier." (II)

"A future father of kings." (III)

A. I and II

B. I and III (act I scene III)

C. I, II, and III

4. When Macbeth said, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues" he was referring to

A. his titles of Glamis and Cawdor.

B. the victories against the kerns and gallowglasses.

C. the predictions made to Banquo and to himself. (act I scene III)

5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to

A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor.  (act I scene IV)

B. Banquo's son, Fleance.

C. Duncan's son, Donalbain.

6. Duncan's statement, "I have begun to plant thee and will labour / To make thee full of growing" is an example of

A. a simile.

B. a metaphor.  (Act I scene IV)

C. personification.

7. Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband as being

A. "the glass of fashion and the mould of form."

B. "too full of the milk of human kindness." (act I scene V)

C. "a cannon overcharg'd with a double crack."

8. When Macbeth agonizes over the possible killing of the king, which of these does he say?

"He is my house guest; I should protect him." (I)

"Duncan's virtues will "plead like angels" " (II)

"I am his kinsman and his subject" (III)

A. I and III

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III (Act I Scene VII)

9. Macbeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he

A. is proud of his wife's transformation. ( act I scene VII)

B. is concerned over the succession to the throne.

C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king.

10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady Macbeth would

A. get the chamberlains drunk. (act II scene II)

B. smear Duncan's face with blood.

C. arrange an alibi for Macbeth.

11. Trace Macbeth's transformation from a good man to an evil man.

·         Macbeth begins as a hero. He is given a title, and the glory of heroism. He meets witches that foretell of his assent to the throne, and begins to have thoughts. He is pushed even further down the path of destruction by his wife who hears of the potential crown. As the thoughts continue to circle in Macbeth’s head, he further develops the idea of betrayal  of those to whom he was once loyal. When the opportunity presents itself, he cannot help but take it.

12. What motivates Macbeth to take the evil path he chooses?

·         Macbeth is motivated by the idea of glory. He is also motivated by his dominate wife, who pushes him to pursue a higher title than the one that he possesses. Because of his love for her, and his desire to please her as well as fulfill his deeper, darker desire, he takes steps that lead him down a darker path.   

13. What influence do the witches have on Macbeth?

·         The witches tell Macbeth that he can obtain what he desires. They tell him of a reality that his darkest self wishes to possess. They appeal, and fuel the repressed desires of a loyal, faithful man, and introduce him to another life.

14. Contrast Macbeth's response to the witches' predictions with Banquo's.

·         Macbeth inquires how to obtain the predictions. He questions the validity, and wishes to explore his options in relation to the procurement of the prophesies. Banquo listens to the ideas presented to him, and questions no further. He is honored by the thought of his descendants obtaining the throne, but does not question how or when it will come to pass.

15. Describe the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Trace how it changes over the course of the play.

·         At the outset of the play, Macbeth is ruled by the desires of Lady Macbeth. What she wants, she obtains through the manipulation of her husband. (while he is an honorable man) After she has convinced her husband to commit treason, he becomes more distant, and consumed by guilt, and must face the horror of what he has done. She has an equal part in guilt, but is not plagued by the feelings of remorse, or by the visions that her husband is, until it consumes her. Because Macbeth has become more distant, he becomes a more independent thinker, acting for himself, instead of falling prey to his wife’s desires and manipulations.  

PART 2

1. "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight?" is a reference to the

A. ghost of Banquo.

B. dagger.

C. bubbling cauldron.

2. Lady Macbeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that

A. she couldn't gain easy access to his bedchamber

B. he looked like her father

C. one of Duncan's guards spied her on the to stairway

3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to

A. allow Macduff to gain admission to the castle.  (Act II scene III)

B. remind the audience of the Witches' prophecies.

C. provide comic relief.

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder

A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles. (act II scene III)

B. in order to join Macduff in England.

C. lest they be blamed for it.

5. Macbeth arranges for Banquo's death by telling the hired killers that

A. Banquo had thwarted their careers. (act III scene I)

B. if they fail, they will pay with their own lives.

C. he will eradicate all records of their previous crimes.

6. Macbeth startles his dinner guests by

A. conversing with the Ghost of Banquo (act III scene III)

B. attempting to wash the blood from his hands

C. saying to Lady Macbeth that, "Murder will out."

7. The Witches threw into the cauldron

"Eye of newt and tongue of frog"(I)

"Wool of bat and tongue of dog" (II)

"Fang of snake and eagle's glare" (III)

A. I and II (act IV scene I)

B. I and III

C. II and III

8. The three apparitions which appeared to Macbeth were

An armed head. (I)

A child with a crown. (II)

A bloody child (III)

A. I and II

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III (act IV scene I)

9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward Macduff because he

A. wasn't prepared to overthrow Macbeth.

B. suspects a trick.

C. wasn't worthy of becoming king, in his opinion. (act IV scene III)

10. Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane when

A. the witches rendezvous with Macbeth.

B. the camouflaged soldiers make their advance.

C. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to stand and fight.  (act V scene III)

11. What is the significance of the line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (I, i, 10)?

·         In omniscient point of view that is possessed by the audience, the topsy-turvy morality of the actions performed by the characters is visible. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,”  makes reference to all of the otherwise treacherous and backwards actions that are being taken in the betrayal of the king, and the plotting that is done by the parties whom Macbeth has wronged.

12. How does Macbeth function as a morality play?

·         Macbeth serves to illustrate the morality that had existed in the past in Scotland and to serve the superstitious beliefs of the day. Macbeth showed the faulty processes of the former monarchs in Scotland, while entertaining with witches that were dark, powerful entertaining Shakespeare’s audience. He made the characters examples of the most extreme changes in character, and the most horrific acts that could be committed for the possession of power, relief of paranoia, and to ease the conscience. Shakespeare also showed the dangers of rationalization of our actions through his main character. Macbeth rationalized away the murders of those that trusted him, while becoming calloused to the other events taking place around him and stepping further and further down a dark and dangerous path (from which there was no return).

13. How does Shakespeare use the technique of dramatic irony in Macbeth?

·         Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to show the darkness of the characters, and to show the stages of guilt, and the changing of Macbeth from honorable man to traitor. In the end, everything that Macbeth had fought for had turned on him. He was haunted by his actions. Finally, the punishments that he had ordered for others were doled out to him in return for his horrific deeds because of his shift to a more evil version of what he had been.

14. How does Lady Macbeth overcome her husband's resistance to the idea of killing King Duncan?

·         Lady Macbeth uses manipulation and guilt trips to persuade her husband that he should fulfill a promise that he made to her. She tells him of the perfect opportunity that has presented itself, and then proceeds to tell her husband the upside, rather than focusing on the dark, treacherous side.

15. Contrast Macduff's response to the news of his wife's and children's deaths with Macbeth's response to being told Lady Macbeth is dead.

·         Macduff was heart-broken by the news of his wife and children. He was hurt by the pain he had caused them, and took the blame for their deaths upon himself because of his abandonment. Macbeth simply recognized the fragility of life, and failed to come to terms with the ideas that Macduff grasped. Macbeth did not take responsibility, or even recognize the gravity of the situation. He was distracted by the threat on his own life. 

Poetry Remix

She Walks in Beauty byGeorge Gordon, Lord Byron
Dramatic Situation: Seeing a beautiful woman from a distance.
Speaker: a distant obserber.
Context/Setting: A place where an onlooker can look, with no inturruption.
Structure:ABABAB, CDCDCD, EFEFEF- (with 8 syllable lines)
Three paragraphs: Paragraph 1 describes beauty, states a fact. Paragraph 2 tells how she is beautiful. Paragraph 3 tells why she is beautiful.
Theme: She is beautiful because of everything about here. Not only a physical appearence.
Diction: mends words to fit the 8 syllable lines. Innocent, beauty, eloquent. adjectives used to describe beauty.
Grammar and Meaning: colons and semi-colons are used to separate ideas withing the poem.
Images and Figures of Speech: Similes: "she walks in beauty, like the night"
Tone: In awe of the woman and her beauty.
Lit Devices: Personification- gives traits to the woman's beauty, rather than the woman.

She Walks in Beauty

By Lord Byron (George Gordon) 1788–1824 Lord Byron (George Gordon)

She walks in beauty, like the night

   Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

   Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

   Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

   Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

   Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

   How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

   So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

   But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

   A heart whose love is innocent!



A week in Rewind

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is exactly that. It follows parallel stories that take place in two cities (London and Paris) before and during the French Revolution.

     I first read this poem in Miss Reineke's English class my freshman year. This was my introduction to poetry. It caused me to think. What do I want, sitting in my small classroom without windows, reading poetry about people who have influenced people in amazing ways. What do I matter? How do I compare to Langston Hughes writing for his English teacher. This poem still echoes in everything that I do. "Let it come out of you, and then it will be true."
   I'm very glad this was my introduction to poetry, and that now I have the opportunity to share it with others. I learned an awful lot about myself from a poem written for someone else's class.

THEME FOR ENGLISH B

By Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple? 
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem. 
I went to school there, then Durham, then here 
to this college on the hill above Harlem. 
I am the only colored student in my class. 
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem 
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, 
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, 
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator 
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

1951

Big Question: Abstract

The purpose of this inquiry is to determine whether fictional stories that focus on love and interpersonal relationships create a skewed view of the realistic expectations for long- term happiness.  Literature defines the stories to which I refer as romance novels and in television, romantic comedies, and even some dramas, fairy tales too fall into the category to which I refer. In these novels, or narratives that have been passed through generations, good characters after some trouble, come to good ends. Meanwhile, their “evil” counterparts are defeated and become miserable.   I intend to investigate the impact that “romance” novels have on the relationships, and the expectations that occur due to the avid belief in the ideas portrayed in the novels.  I intend to focus especially on the expectations that occur in the current generation. I hope to see a coloration in changes in the psychological and anthropological trends, due to the relevance of romance stories in the media.

"By their deeds shall ye know them." We often judge people by what they do; therefore, we consider people who commit cruel or reprehensible acts corrupt, base or amoral. In literature, however, authors often introduce us to characters whom we learn to like or even respect, despite their deeds.

Write an essay about one such character for whom you developed admiration or compassion. Briefly explain why you felt his or her behavior to be condemnable or contemptible, and how the author's techniques influenced you to admire that person. Do not summarize the plot. (40 minutes)"

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we find ourselves in the middle of a story in Puritan Massachusetts. A married woman was found to be pregnant, with a child that was not her husband’s, as he had not been seen in years. Hester Prynne was branded with a scarlet A, and forced to live outside the small community.  The community watched and judged as the woman raised her daughter without her unknown lover. The authorities condemned her, and called all others to see her as an example.  The ailing Reverend Dimmsdale was among the judges who watched as Hester and her unborn child were sentenced. We come to find out that Dimmsdale was the unnamed partner, and had been suffering inwardly as he watched the events unfold.

                Dimmsdale allows the guilt of his actions to consume him. He creates a hell for himself because of his great sins. As a devoted minister, he taught the value of living a chaste and moral life, while he himself had committed a sin of the highest degree. In the Puritan community, Dimmsdale was revered for his morality, and his ability to preach the correct principles for the dogmatic congregation. Despite his age, he was seen as an authority on maintaining the laws and statues expected of those in the settlement. He was ailing, all around him could see. He had a mystery illness, and looked to be much older than his actual age. Reverend Dimmsdale had created a personal punishment for himself, because his actions were not known to those around him. He did not confess to being a party in the adultery, but he suffered more because of the inward guilt he felt for Hester’s public suffering.  

                The Reverend’s health continued to suffer. He became friends with a mysterious doctor who moved into the small community. The doctor was Hester Prynne’s husband, Roger Chilingsworth. He suspected that the Reverend had been the man with which his wife had an affair. He made it his mission to cause more suffering to the worsening condition of Dimmsdale.  As his suspicions were confirmed, Chilingsworth did his best to ruin the life of the already guilt ridden man with whom he lived.  Dimmsdale’s life became consumed with the guilt he felt for abandoning his child, and leaving his lover to suffer alone in silence.

Dimmsdale’s actions in the public were self-preserving, and cowardly.  Nathaniel Hawthore, however allowed the reader to see the suffering that was actually felt by a man who to others seemed to be pure. The suffering caused by the guilt, and by the infliction of a scorned husband, allows compassion to be felt. It is felt even more strongly when, at the conclusion of the novel, we see the scarlet “A” branded into the flesh of the dead Reverend in the center of the town, for everyone to see.  We see, through his death by self-inflicted guilt, that the child, and the lover were never far from his mind, and that the unnamed man suffered more than the publicly condemned woman.  

Thinking Outside the Box....

Create a post for your blog entitled "Thinking Outside the Box" in which you compare how Plato & Sartre describe the limitations of our thinking and imply solutions to the problem.

Plato saw people being restrained by other people. He saw the limitations of people, and the existence of a higher authority among the people through his discussion of government. Plato understood that people place limits on others and their quest for truth and knowledge. He saw that actions taken by the leadership affected those they ruled. Those kept in the cave were affected my the decisions of their captors to let only some be exposed to the truth and light that existed outside the cave. We too are kept from things, whether in childhood, or later in life, not everyone is exposed to the full degree of truth. Some may be allowed to see beyond the walls, but then comes the question, do we believe them? Are they our leaders?  Or do we think they're crazy for one reason or another?

Sartre wrote about the limitations that people inflicted on thermselves. Everyone in Sartre's story of "No Exit" was in the same condition as the people they were surrounded by. None could use a mirror, none could sleep, eat, brush their teeth, or even blink. The three people knew the truth of their situations, and of the actions that had landed them in their locations, but still refused to believe the truth that was proven to them. They could not leave the room. They could not ring the bell. They were stuck in their state. Living in Hell with other people and miserable because of their own selfishness, and mistakes. The Hell was not created for them , there was no one sent to make the residents more miserable than they already were. Through this, Sartre seems to be suggesting that Hell is a creation of those who can't possibly learn to deal with their surroundings, and for those who refuse to be content with what they are given in life, or death. The prisoners in Sartre's story were only put in a room. They may have been put there with other people, but their own worst nightmares became a reality only after they decided they were in Hell. In this, it seems to show that happiness is a choice. Little do we think that so too is Hell.

Both show captivity of people, and both have truthes for their players to realize. They both offer a commentary on life, while offering completely different ideas as to why those held prisoner remain there.

AP Lit Term

Dialect is defined as: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar and diction employed by people distinguished from others. 

As a person who likes old movies, I suddenly remember a movie that's all about dialect, and how it affects a person's life. I even speak differently sometimes, and say some different things because of the area of the county I'm from. Don't even get my started on the way my southern realitaves talk. (Believe it or not... Missouri isn't strictly southeren... (southeren is southern speak for southern... confused yet?) :)





Here is an example in our own country. Their way of life, and way of speaking is very different from our own, but they are still Americans. They just hunt alligators, and live in Louisiana.

The Big Question... Revised.

Do cultural narratives about love and relationships create expectations and behaviors that lead to  an idealized, unfulfilled desire for immediate gratification?

The Big Question..

For mine, it takes a little explanation. I'm a person who is extremely idealistic. I see myself as the herione of a Jane Austen novel. I love all the characters who have overcome their trials to find their true loves, and reach their happily ever after. So, as a hopeless romantic, and a believer in all things mushy and fairytale-esque, I ask: Have fairytales and happy endings made people too idealistic in regard to their reality? Do people want the knight in shining armor, the white horse, the romantice rondevous on the balcony? Do people confuse the fairytale with their reality?

Hamlet Essay. Take 2

In Hamlet, characters think, and speak before they act. They talk to themselves, and to their audience about what has taken place, what they are thinking, and what they are planning. Hamlet's ability to plan, and to hear others plan gives the plot new directions and twists that would not take place without performative utterance. In that way, "self-overhearing" allows all people to hear our own plans before taking action. Just as in Hamlet, it gives us the opportunity to evaluate our positions, and ideas, and motivations.

In Hamlet, our main character is stuck between action, and inaction. He wants to take revenge but can't seem to decide how to go about doing it. He talks about it. He tells his audience his plans, and we learn more about his mental state and about the ideas that Hamlet has as he plots revenge. We over hear Hamlet making up his mind, changing it, and becoming more determined with his actions. We in our own lives do the same thing. We think. We act, then when it may not work out, we act again after making an assessment as to why the action didn't work out. That is what self overhearing does. It allows for corrections, and realizations.

Hamlet's ability to hear others plan, or rather for the audience to hear other characters plan allowed performative utterance to become a character of it's own. The words spoken by the characters were more important that what the characters did, what they said in exchange with one another determined whether or not they would act on their self overheard resolutions. The conversations with other characters in the play, allowed the plot to turn in different directions and change in ways that it would not have, had it not been for the words exchanged.

Through self-over hearing, one can discover a better, and truer sense of self. A sense that is independent of others influence. Through the performative utterance of Hamlet, the main character's self discovery became more imperative as he made decisions, and interacted with other characters in the play. This allowed the plot to twist, and the story to change in ways it otherwise would not have if others had not attempted to influence the characters through their words and authority.    

Hamlet v. Epic Heroes

Hamlet’s use of performative utterance allows an in depth look at thought processes, feelings, and the decision making process of the main character unlike epics, which offer views of only amiable triats in the character. Hamlet allows us to see the pain that he feels while attempting to complete his duty. His performative utterance shows a struggle of will and duty unseen in heroes before.

Hamlet is not the most brave of characters. He considers ways out of his duties, not only through escape, but through death.  We see a look at these thoughts in “To die, to sleep--To sleep--perchance to dream…” Hamlet considers the prospect of death to escape his hardships. Suicide was looked at as a sin, but when his afflictions seemed to be more than he could bear at once, he did not hesitate as other characters such as Beowulf may have. Honor did not mean to Hamlet what it meant to a normal hero. Due to the view we have of Hamlet’s inner thoughts, we have a better understanding of what Hamlet did see as important.  

                In the eyes of Hamlet, the world was not cut and dry. Nothing for him was black and white. Good would not always triumph over evil, simply because it should. He evaluated the world, attempted to gain a better understanding of the  complexities that existed among people and in life’s situations.        “Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life , But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all…” Through Hamlet’s thoughts, we see how a conflicted person feels. Hamlet we see is a man trying to makes sense of a world that he sees as unjust in the only way that he knows how, talking about it with himself.

                Hamlet understands that people have limitations. He sees man as fragile, and thinks of more than his legacy. People, he knows cannot do everything. Hamlet sees, and talks about the vulnerable state that man exists in.” For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin?” Hamlet sees that people are not subject to their will alone. He sees the outside factors that affect people. Hamlet knows that man is not in control of the outside factors that may affect  man’s ability to cope with the life that he is surrounded by. 

What's next?

In this video, it talks about a meme. Something we talked about in class. This has become a game that involves Google. I really wonder how THIS game affects the Miss Cleo feature on your computer. Technology really does affect our daily lives. More and more, I'm realizing how it affects my entertainment. I can spent signifigant ammounts of my time participating in meme transfer. Making things go viral, and using Google for silly reasons. These are valuable tools when used correctly. They are also sources of fun, or amusement rather. Even these videos, the blogs, the diaries kept on computers, are memes. What's next? What will everyone else have next?

A meme? and google? in the same video?!

Roy Christopher- an Outline

Before the conference:

The medium is the message. - Marshal McLuhan
Hamlet and Montainge were the first to give a window into thought that has now been copied by many who publish works today.

The Conference:

Ted Newcomb: Questions for Roy-

Q: How did you get involved in the internet?
A: mid 90's web developments and advertisements with BMX racing. The wed seemed like the next logical step.
Q: What got you more involved?
A: got more and more into computers and sucked in through jourmalism.
Q: Do you find balancing your time a struggle?
A: It's a mix. It's a wierd and complex mix of balancing time.
Q:Why did you self publish?
A: There wasn't a market for the type of book that he wanted to publish. The book was meant to be short, and read in short intervals.
Q: Were you surprised by the quick response? (to the book)
A: More surprised by the slow response. People now understand the cross-pollenation of ideas.
Q:What's your take on the re-mix culture?
A: Hip hop plays a major role. More and more people are figuring the culture out now.
Q:What are you working on now?
A: Ph.D and a book.

Important ideas:
The web represents an advent horizon.
Regression of ideas, people teaching what they consider to be the basics and fundementals more than the new technology is an expression of a new horizon.

Is it possible that the medium is no longer the message? - what can we currently use that is more important than the medium?

To participate in the digital age you need to be prepared. Program or be programmed.

Mobile is changing the dynamic of the age. The computer is supplanting the television. There is an irreplacable at home aspect to to being at home that mobile will never replace. We're not watching T.V. on a phone instead of a flat-screen!
Technology can create challenges in communication. Digital Natives squeeze out analogs.

Trust the youth. all generations have problems trusting the next.

"The future is already here- it's just unevenly distributed."

Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


I've found that education is different for me than for generations of the past. Information comes easily, and without the effort that people of the past went through to learn. Learning is not just reading and writing now. It isn't basic math. Learning and thinking has become more critical. What do we want to learn? In today's world we have every resource available to us. Whether we use those resources for good, or for other more destructive purposes is entirely us to us. People can either go with the flow of information fed to them, or go beyond the relm of known facts to something worth knowing, that not everyone accepts as fact. Today, I have less of a problem challenging the facts given to me. I accept what I'm told, and don't go beyond the relms of convience. My thinking is something that hasn't gotten lazy. My ideas are still my own. I know what I think, I may not challenge it because of laziness, but I know what is right, I know what I should do still, I can thinik for myself, I have my good ideas. I may be lazier, but I know how to think for myself.

In Search of.....

After watching the "filter bubble" video, I have begun to wonder what I'm not seeing that I'd should, or that I need to. While redoing my "Shakespeare" search, I started to think... "Is this what everyone else is seeing?" So I used another, public, computer with Google. Then I used the same public computer with the Dogpile search engine. My results were very different. At home, my computer only showed me the author's biographical information, and quotes or plays that he had written. At the public computer, I was hit with fishing equipment, conspiarcy theories, and a few legitimate sources that were what I had seen before. The two were nothing alike.

Notes on "Hamlet"

Hamlet went from a whiny boy to a man with a purpose. He has evolved from a love sick, mourning, and composed prince to a man charged with dealing with the issues set before him. Hamlet changed my mind about the plot. His determination, and his willingness to act on his duty charged to him by the ghost of his father has turned the play from a story about a man waiting for his problems to be solved, to someone who has taken his fate into his own hands, Hamlet is no longer the submissive son. He is the vengeful prince, whose father was murdered. I see Hamlet becoming more bold than he currently is. All the characters have to express their intense emotions at some point, or end in sorrow, or worse...

Who Was Shakespeare?

First, from Google we find shakespeare.mit.edu, which takes us to a time line of important events in William Shakespeare's life. Born in 1564 at Stratford-upon-Avon, he married Anne Hathaway in 1582. His children Susana, Hamnet, and Judeth were born between 1583 and 1584. In 1596, Hamnet dies, then 1598 Shakespeare's first play is published. The next important point on the time line is Shakespeare's death in 1616.

Then, again from taking my search on Google further from "William Shakespeare" to "William Shakespeare's life" we find a more detailed summary of the life of Shakespeare. From http://www.enotes.com/, we find that William was the eldest son of John and Mary Arden. John was today's equivilant of the town's mayor, and his wife, Mary, was the daughter of local gentry. William was born in April of 1564, and attended the local grammar school until age 15. After leaving school, he worked for his father. William lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and it was there that he met his wife, Anne Hathaway, who was 8 years his senior. His daughter Susana was born 6 months later. William, then became an actor and writer for the theatre in London. When the plague closed the theatres William worked for, he began to write sonnets and narritave poetry. The Earl of Southampton has been recognized as Shakespeare's benifactor, although no real evidence exists. From this narritave of Shakespeare we learn that the sonnets that were written, were more likley signs of the time, instead of being expressions of a relationship as often thought. After becoming partner in the Globe Theatre, William Shakespeare became co-owner of another theatre. He worked until retiring to Stratford-upon-Avon where he died in 1616.

We are left to wonder much about the life of this man. Where the sonnets a reflection of feeling? How could a man write such passionate works of poetry, and it only be a sign of the time? Why did Shakespeare leave his rural life for London? What inspired him to write?

Students see Shakespeare in two ways. Hoplessly romantic (almost overly romantic) or dumb. Many students don't understand the simplicity of expression in Shakespeare's wordy lines. He expresses extreme emotion in legnthy, beautiful language, that many don't take the time to understand. They hear the words, without listening to the meaning behind the lines. Shakespeare leaves no emotion unturned as he goes to the depths of the human heart. Exploring and expressing what no man has before. My first real exposure to Shakespeare was a sonnet in the 7th grade that my literature class took apart to understand, and learn more about. I fell in love with the symbolism and the imagry used. It was like nothing I had experienced in my eight years of education. I had heard the name, but had never read the words. I understood then that it was beautiful. Now, I know that it is complex. There is more said in Shakespeare's word than is ever actually said. So much of Shakespeare is unwritten, and open to a person's own understanding. Shakespeare can mean something to everyone, but at the same time, every reader can come away with a message tailored for their mood, and state of mind at the time they read the work. I still struggle understanding what other people want me to see in the words on the page of anything written by Shakespeare. I read what the words on my page say to me. Not what the words on their page say to them.