Macbeth Act 5, Scene 7

In the beginning of this scene, Macbeth feels like he must fight no matter what. As the scene goes on he begins to lose his confidence, but he never stops fighting. He is surprised when he finds out that Macduff was taken from his mother's womb before her time. This may have altered his performance ability. It definitely hurt his pride. He was so sure that Macduff wouldn't win the battle. At the scenes beginning, Macbeth thought he'd come out on top again, but as the scene progressed that idea slowly began to diminish. Ultimately, Macbeth lost his life with his last thoughts being that he had miscalculated the event.

Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5

Macbeth is losing his confidence. He is beginning to think the devil has deceived him. It is almost as if he might even accept the fact that he will lose. Towards the end of this scene he makes a statement that at least he will die in armor. This is completely opposite of how he felt in the beginning of this scene. Until he heard that the forest was "moving" he was quite arrogant. He thought it would be impossible for them to attack his castle. His plan was to make them wait until they were either deprived of hunger or the plague got to them. Macbeth's mindset is quite different now compared to earlier in the play as well. Before it was as if Macbeth feared death. However, his most recent statement about dying in armor seems to say that he doesn't fear it anymore. His comments about his wife's death also support this. He accepted the news as if he was expecting it. These facts contribute to making Macbeth a dynamic character.

Macbeth Act 5, Scene 3

Macbeth thinks that he will be invincible. He is convinced that until Birnam Forest comes to Dunsinane he will be just fine. He has no faith that Macduff is capable of defeating him. He thinks that there should be some kind of medicine to cure his wife's sleep issues, and he wishes there was a medicine to cure his country of the English. He has become very rash and demanding to those around him. This is a sign that he is a bit nervous. Deep down he is anxious about the battle, and this may come to blind him from the most important things, leading him to a defeat.

Lady Macbeth Act 5, Scene 1

Lady Macbeth is suffering by now. She is haunted by guilt, and it is beginning to make her go crazy. Her episode of sleepwalking implies that she thinks her hands will never really be clean again. This depicts to the readers exactly how guilty Lady Macbeth feels, even though her character, while awake doesn't give us this impression. Up until now, Lady Macbeth has always instilled confidence into Macbeth about the plan, but judging by her words while she was sleepwalking, she is still trying to convince herself that everything will work out and things are not as bad as they seems. This is quite shocking to the audience. So far we have seen Lady Macbeth as a heartless and evil woman, but now we can conclude that she just might actually care about those she has hurt.

Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1

Macbeth is starting to sweat a little bit. He goes to see the witches because he is nervous about his future. However, this visit doesn't make him feel very good. He is completely disgusted by the idea that Banquo's offspring will hold the crown for many generations to come. He is also thinking that Macduff is a potential threat to him, and when Lennox tells him that Macduff has fled to England he becomes even more concerned. He thinks that his life and his power are in danger. He aspires to remove anyone who poses a threat. Macbeth is very concerned about those around him. It is becoming a paranoia for him.

Lady Macbeth Act 3, Scene 4

Lady Macbeth believes her husband has gone crazy. She is very concerned about keeping suspicions to a minimum. She believes that a good nights sleep will help her husband. After several incidents with Banquo's ghost, Lady Macbeth became upset with her husband. She thought he was less of a man for acting such a way. She sees no threat from a ghost, unlike her husband. This is probably because she lacks a guilty conscience. She believes that if her husband doesn't pull his act together he will ruin everything for them. Lady Macbeth is doing everything in her power from keeping her husband from destroying everything they have accomplished so far.

Macbeth Act 3, Scene 4

Macbeth thinks that Banquo has come back from the dead to haunt him. He is becoming very paranoid. He finds it odd that his wife is not phased at all by the fact that he can see Banquo's ghost. It is almost remarkable to him. He begins to wonder what bad things are in his future. Macbeth plans to meet with the witches to find out what he is up against. He also wonders if Macduff poses a threat. This concern has lead him to place spies in his house. Macbeth is determined to stay in control and take out anyone that is a potential threat. He thinks he has gained far too much to lose it now. Ultimately, he is trying to change fate. He wants to father kings.

Lady Macbeth Act 3, Scene 2

I believe Lady Macbeth is going to be quite surprised by what her husband is up to. She thinks it is wrong for him to be alone because he is surround by such depressing thoughts. She wants to make sure that he has let go of any regret or guilt he has for Duncan's murder. She thinks it is only appropriate for him to look happy when he is surrounded by others. She wants to see this at the dinner, especially. She has concluded that he must not dwell on the murder because he cannot change it now. It is also obvious that she supports the idea of killing Banquo and his son. She thinks it is necessary to maintain their security and happiness.

Macbeth Act 3, Scene 2

Macbeth is thinking he will be successful at cheating the system. He is confident that after Banquo and his son are dead his worries will be dramatically less. He doesn't seem to have any guilt for what he wants done. This is quite different from his attitude before he killed Duncan. He thinks that because he is king now there isn't anything he can't get away with. He also believes that the only way for him to live in peace is to eliminate his enemies, which happen to be Banquo and his son.

Lady Macbeth Act 3, Scene 1

Lady Macbeth is enjoying her power as queen. She is thinking of all the important things she must carry out so that everything seems normal. This is why she hinted to Macbeth that he needs to invite Banquo to the dinner. It would seem rude and odd if they had forgotten to do such a thing. She is still confident in her plans. Her main goal is to be convincing to all of those around her so that the plans don't fall through. She doesn't seem to think it is too difficult to put on an act for those around her.

Macbeth Act 3, Scene 1

Macbeth is concerned about Banquo. He is thinking it is best to have him and his son killed so that they cannot interfere with his power. Macbeth is well aware of the prophecy he received compared to the one Banquo received. He concludes that Banquo and his son are a threat because the witches predicted Banquo fathering kings. Macbeth may have been predicted to be king, but he will not father any. That could very well mean that Macbeth will only be in power for a short time. He is trying to make sure that he can stay in control and protect himself from his enemies. His safety is his main concern at this time.

Lady Macbeth Act 2, Scene 3

Lady Macbeth's main goal is to keep her husband from giving away their plan. She is there to cause a distraction if Macbeth may start to stumble in his confidence and lies. She is their safety net so to speak. Lady Macbeth has no trouble acting oblivious to the murder, and she is quite confident in herself.

Macbeth Act 2, Scene 3

Macbeth is just trying to fake that he doesn't know the truth. He goes along acting surprised with everyone else about the King's murder so that he won't be a suspect. So far he has been convincing. He doesn't seem to give off the impression that he feels guilty for anything. Macbeth is also acting under pressure quite well.

Lady Macbeth Act 2, Scene 2

Lady Macbeth is very short and to the point in this scene. She has no guilt for what she has allowed her husband to go through with. She acts as if murdering Duncan wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Lady Macbeth feels that her husband's heart is too pure even though he has murdered the King. Her only concern is making sure that Macbeth doesn't ruin the plan by acting out of the ordinary. She goes along continuing to act like there is nothing wrong and they have done nothing wrong.

Macbeth Act 2, Scene 2

Macbeth is very distraught at the end of this scene. He is having a hard time believing what it is that he has done. His guilt keeps his mind running in the direction of madness. He is now more worried than ever that the plan won't go as they intended it to. He feels as though his hands will be stained from the sin he has committed forever. At this point, Macbeth has little appreciation for himself. He is rather disgusted with what he has done.

Macbeth Act 2, Scene 1

At then end of this scene, Macbeth is just starting to get up the courage to follow through with the murder. He may be going a little insane, probably from a guilty conscience. Macbeth starts to hallucinate about a bloody dagger. However, this does not seem to change his mind about the murder. His only hope is that everything will go as planned and Duncan will not wake up before Macbeth can do the deed.

Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 7

Lady Macbeth's role in this scene is to persuade her husband. He is starting to feel uneasy about the murder, but she successfully brings confidence back to him. She tells him her plan in detail so that Macbeth can build his nerve. She is certain that the drunken guards will take the fall for the murder and the two of them will get away with the evil deed. Judging by the phrase, "What beast was't then that made you break this enterprise to me," it as though Lady Macbeth wants her husband to be an evil being. She sees the two of them carrying out evil acts together, and nothing more pleases her.

Macbeth Act 1, Scene 7

At the very beginning of this scene, Macbeth is deep in thought. He is very agitated by the idea of murdering Duncan. He begins to question if it should be done or not. At one point he concludes that he should not go through with the murder. His reasoning is explained in the phrase, "He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject." However, Lady Macbeth is successful in convincing him that they should follow through with the murder. Macbeth is eager to prove to her that he is more of a man than she thinks he is. He is willing to go through with the murder as long as he is reassured that he will not take the blame for it.

Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 6

In this scene Lady Macbeth is doing her best to deceive and bring comfort to her guests. She is setting the stage for the evil plans she and her husband have. She does not give any of the guests the right to think she is acting suspicious. Lady Macbeth does not appear to be nervous about anything that may be about to happen. She simply goes about her business acting as normal as she can.

Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

Lady Macbeth absolutely adores the idea of her husband being King, but she is certain he can't do it without her. She is convinced that he doesn't have a heart cold enough to take control. She plans to inspire him and advise him so that he will rule. Lady Macbeth has very evil thoughts and plans in store for her husband. She acts very confidently on what she plans to do, and the only thing she advises Macbeth about at this point is to hide his feelings and act normal.

Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

At the end of this scene, Macbeth is rather nervous about what he must do to his visitor. He knows he has to dispose of him somehow during the time that Duncan stays there, but he wants to be sure he does it appropriately. Macbeth urges Lady Macbeth to discuss and plan the situation out more, but she cuts him off and simply pushes on confidently.

Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4

At the end of this scene it is obvious that Macbeth is a bit upset. His potential position of King is threatened by Duncan naming is oldest son the Prince of Cumberland. It is Macbeth's intention to remove this interference by murdering Malcolm. He seems to have something planned for his visitors' stay at his castle.

Macbeth Act 1, Scene 3

At first Macbeth can hardly believe what the witches tell him, and even when the prophecy comes true he is a bit hesitant to believe it. At last, however, Macbeth does come to admire the idea of being King. Readers can tell that he becomes slightly obsessed and engulfed in the idea judging by the tone in the lines stating, "Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the welling act of the imperial theme." In Macbeth's closing lines to the scene, he implies that they will just have to wait a while and see what happens.

Epic Hero

Beowulf is an epic hero. He would be considered a larger than life figure from a legend. He endures great quests or journeys, in which he faces challenges that try to defeat and destroy him, but he comes out on top and returns home with a new outlook on life due to his experience. Beowulf displays morals that are valued by the society he protects. He has superhuman characteristics such as being smarter, stronger, and braver than average human beings. He is in a way a warrior. He performs the most difficult task of fighting Grendel with such grace and confidence. This is an amazing accomplishment to the people of Herot. Not one individual from the society would have ever had the nerve to do what Beowulf did.

Allegory of the Cave discussion questions

1. Would it be possible for the prisoners to adapt to the outside world?

2. How does the prisoner react to the outside world?

3. How would you react if you were the prisoner?

4. Do you think the prisoners communicated with each other?

5. How do you think the prisoner felt after he returned to the cave?

The White Album

1. The premises were all the struggles she had undergone throughout her life.

3. Looking back on 2001 I would say many people questioned or reconsidered their basic narratives. With such horrific events occurring that year, anyone who was not directly affected probably felt as though nothing that terrible has ever happened to them. I think it happened to everyone in the society. Everyone was affected by the events of 2001, whether it was directly or indirectly. If the affect was indirectly placed on individuals I would assume they struggled with the events just as those who were directly affect. It is difficult to see those around us suffering.

4. "missing on the written examination only the question about the financial responsibility of California drivers." is an example of humor in this essay. It is humorous because it is so specific and almost ironic. It develops her argument by giving specific details.

Figures of Speech

Figures of speech are broadly defined as a way of saying one thing in terms of something else.

Simile- makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like, as, than, appears, or seems.

She is as pretty as a flower.

He ran like the wind.

Metaphor- makes a comparison between two unlike things, but it does so implicitly without words such as like or as.

The cookies she made were bricks.

The assignment was a breeze.

Implied metaphor- is a less direct metaphor.

The man's feathers were a bit ruffled.

He brayed his refusal to leave.

Extended metaphor- a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms....

The fog comes in on little cat feet.

It sits looking over the harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then, moves on.

Controlling metaphors- a symbolic story, where the whole poem may be a metaphor for something else.

"Catch"

"She being Brand"

Pun- a play on words that relies on a word having more than one meaning or sounding like another word.

I finally found a spotter at the gym. It is like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

The new weed whacker is cutting-hedge technology.

Synecdoche- a figure of speech in which part of something is used to signify the whole.

He is behind bars.

She paid for it with plastic.

Metonymy- something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it.

At exactly ten o'clock the paper shufflers stopped for coffee.

She preferred the silver screen to reading.

Personification- the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman things.

The wind howled.

The ocean waved hello to us.

Apostrophe- an address either to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something nonhuman that cannon comprehend.

"Thou still unravished bride of quietness."

"Hello darkness, my old friend, I have come to talk with you again."

Overstatement/Hyperbole- exaggeration that adds emphasis without intending to bye literally true.

The teenage boy ate everything in the house.

He has tons of money.

Understatement- says less than is intended.

When the neighbor hood is flooded saying "We have had a little rain."

Bill Gates is financially secure.

Paradox- a statement that initially appears to be self-contradictory but that, on closer inspection, turns out to make sense.

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

"Nobody goes to that restaurant, it is too crowded."

Oxymoron- a condensed form of paradox in which two contradictory words are used together.

Bitter sweet

clearly confused

Furnace Emergency Safety Update

The phrase, "In fact, most furnaces die in middle age" is one example of personification. "I'll actually make money on this in the long run anyway" is an example of a metaphor.

A few things come to my attention while reading this. The first is the author's credibility. The whole offer makes me a little skeptical. It really just seems like it is too good to be true. The author does a good job at making his case. He points out all the benefits of his service and mentions his competition's higher prices. To top that he even goes as far as making a risk free money-back guarantee. These are all good things for the consumers, but something just isn't right about the situation. It is almost as if the author is a bit too biased, which we would expect I suppose. However, I do believe there may be details the author is leaving out.

Another thing that came to my attention was when the author mentioned how his business is slow in November. Being a heating company would make me suspect that November would be a pretty busy month since that is about the time everyone usually starts looking into heating their houses. I also don't quite understand how stripping out everything except the raw costs of the company would be a wise idea. If the author claims November is a slow month, how can he afford to pay is technicians and still offer such a great deal?

Two Poems about Snowmen

4. The assonance and repetition combine to help the rhythm of the poem flow more smoothly. In the last stanza the author repeats the word 'nothing' quite often. Using repetition with such a strong word gives readers distinct emotions, such as solitude, loneliness, or even depression.

8. Wilbur's poem is very ironic, creating its humor. Lines like "having no wish to go inside and die" are humorous because they are ironic. Logically, readers can assume the snowman is going to die when the it warms up anyways. The author also adds to the irony and humor by giving the snowman more insight then the boy. These elements help prove that there is a tragicomic complexity of the human condition by using the boy's ignorance as a prime example.

Common Ground

This poem makes me feel sympathetic towards the author. It is obvious by her negative descriptions that she does not like what she sees when she looks in the mirror. We first get the impression that she is unhappy when she describes her stern lips. That tone of unhappiness is carried all the way through the poem, and it is almost human nature to feel sympathetic when someone is unhappy.

The overall tone of this poem is bitter. The author expresses her disappointment of her aging body in her diction. Someone with stern lips would be expressing an emotion similar to bitterness. The readers get a mental image of her trying to smooth out her wrinkles, but when she releases the skin from her nervous hands we would expect her to be bitter about the reappearing wrinkles.

Summer reading assignments

I think the summer reading assignments had their pros and cons. I like that when we came back to school we already had a good start in the class. I am sure it also cuts back on the initial amount of homework we receive. Having two books read by the first day of the class definitely reduces the amount of stress for the class. I also liked that we could read and work on projects over the summer at our own pace. This was nice for those times when things got really busy and those times when I had nothing better to do then homework.

There were cons to the summer reading, however. It was kind of overwhelming, but I realize it could have been worse. I didn't like how we didn't get to discuss the book as we read it. I think that would have helped me understand Walden a little better. One of the hardest things for me was finding the motivation. During the summer the last thing I want to worry about is homework, which made it very easy to procrastinate. So in the end it was a little stressful.

Barcelona

The story seems to give the impression of the stereotype that men are supposed to be heroic and brave and women are scared to get into action and stand up for themselves. The story also seems to hint that men are the only ones who steal from others and women are always the victim. The conclusion we see however is that woman aren't always afraid to get involved and stand up for themselves. It shows very well that women can be just as brave as men. I strongly agree with this standpoint. I think gender is a minor factor when it comes to qualities such as bravery. Persis may feel that men are just dopes, and they are always chasing after something because she has been exposed so much to men, like her husband trying to show just how brave they are, yet she doesn't see the value in that bravery because she is just as capable. Thad may resemble the thief in that they are both trying to prove their bravery and act like they are the bigger, more powerful man.

Walden and Frankenstein

I enjoyed reading Frankenstein more then Walden. I felt it was easier for me to follow and understand. I was pleased with how the plot developed. I was a little disappointed in the ending, however. I wasn't too fond of the idea of the ending being a tragedy, but I do understand how it was fitting for the novel. I really wouldn't expect such a gruesome story to have a happy ending. I felt like this was a good book that I could read without any issues with comprehension. The different levels of the plot also made the book interesting. It was long story that consisted of really three points of view. Frankenstein was telling his story to Walton, and in some of his recollection Frankenstein told of how the monster told his story to Frankenstein. There was also Walton telling all of this to his sister in his letters. In my opinion that complexity makes the story a little more interesting so you get a change of narrators every now and then.

I was not too interested in Walden though. I had a lot of difficulty understanding and dissecting the story. Often times I felt like Thoreau was just rambling on about nothing at all and he didn't really have a point to make. I guess I just didn't like how there wasn't really a definite story line. I had trouble seeing how the plot developed. I think the basic idea of the story is interesting, but I did not like how Thoreau presented it in his writing.