One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: PART 4

OH-M-GEE!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!! Is that what really happened….Seriously though…Never in my life has the bad guy won….Except for now…Nurse Ratched self handedly destroyed McMurphy…(smothered in a pillow)

What else is there to say….That’s the end….The good guy ALWAYS wins…. (just not in this case)…..I can’t believe it…And after everything that has happened throughout the story things just got worse. She did it…She managed to be the complete downfall of the ward…CONGRATS TO NURSE “WRETCHED”!!

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: PART 3

Nurse Ratched….Well I don’t think I’ve talked about her…..EVIL is her middle name…Always on McMurphy’s case….I guess some personal grudge or something….Nurse Ratched is “WRETCHED”…..She’s my main focus on this section….She wants total control over the ward and McMurphy won’t stand for it….

Total B-yotch. (excuse me)….Ugh…I so hate people like that….The patients are so frightened by her….BIG NURSE RATCHED!! I’m so glad that McMurphy takes a stand in this section…I really want to watch this movie now to see how it all plays out….I think I’ll go rent it…

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: PART 2

McMurphy…..what can we say about him?! Well I can say that he doesn’t know what he wants. He act’s like a child. Disobeying all the rules only to realize conformation could be good…..Only to go back and break the rules again. “CUCKOO” ….I guess this will all lead up to letting the reader find out who he truly is.

I saw this movie called The Dream Team and it sort of reminds me of the patients and their freedom. In the book some patients are able to leave but choose not to because they don’t have faith in themselves. (McMurphy just doesn’t care and does what he wants)

It reminds me of the Dream Team because like in that movie the patients don’t believe they can do anything without help until they meet some guy who comes and shows them that they are people too. Kind of like McMurphy…. (I think)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: PART 1

Okay…so….After reading a bit I began to realize what the significance of the title was…The “Cuckoo’s Nest” referred to the mental institution/psychiatric ward (however you want to say it).

The characters are what stuck out to me the most in part one because they were what really made the story. The black aides who can be fit to the typical stereotype (only in the matter of this text though….) or the patients….What ABOUT THE PATIENTS!! Look at how they are portrayed in this book. So far they are the victim of the staff’s cruelty. …Ugh….just the thought of if that actually happened now…

I think that the treatment that these patients are getting is inhumane. It’s unethical….Like seriously people treated animals better than that. I thought that psychiatric wards were supposed to “help” people to recover…I guess not…

Hamlet: Lantern Theatre

IT WAS SOOOOO FLIPPIN’ AWESOME!!!! Okay the fact that the actors kept the audience interested was only part of the reason I thought it was so FANTABULOUS!!! They made the audience part of the show…INTERACTION WAS MOST DEFINITELY KEY!! Hamlet was really sweaty (let e just point that out). I honesty enjoyed it better than I thought I would...

I can’t really say much except for it was really good….I would so pay to see it as much to see it again…lol….(get it…cause it was free) .Oh but the thing that I really hated was that it seemed to go by to slow…I mean fast but slow….

Anyways…It was really enjoyable and I felt that I got a better understanding of Shakespeare through the way they acted…Still didn’t understand what they were saying using Shakespeare’s dialogue but like The way they acted made me understand what was going on.

Hamlet: III, IV, V

SHORT AND SIMPLE: PARAPHRASE

During the final 3 Acts , Hamlet learns the truth to his father’s death. He seeks revenge and kills Polonius, Laertes, and Claudius. During his monstrous wrath he indirectly kills Ophelia and Gertrude. Death…..that’s all there is left….That’s the end of Hamlet….death, betrayal, sin…Shakespeare.

Hamlet: Act II

Okay, so let's go back and recollect the events that happened so far.

1. Hamlets father died (more like murdered)
2. Gertrude and Claudius hook up (wow...like way to mourn for your hubby Geri)
3. blah blah blah some dramatic stuff blah blah blah
4. Hamlet gets the real dirt on the death of his father from his spirit (OMG A GHOST!!!)
5. Hamlet devises a plan ("I now proclaim my insanity")

Oh look...Here we are ACT II!!!

Okay so at this point in the play Hamlet is about to play the role as "psycho". It's hard to tell if Hamlet is just really good at acting mad or if this role is actually making him turn into a mad-man. (kind of like some Heath Ledger stuff dont ya think?!?) In my opinion all this stress and the vents that led up to this have gotten way over his head and is making him think and do crazy things.

Another point of interest in this act was Ophelia and Hamlet. What is going on in their love life. If Hamlet was in love with Ophelia why would he give the letters back and treat her the way he did.

This play has got me so confused I just might go crazy myself...(I'm surprised Shakespeare didn't go crazy while writing this masterpiece)

I did however like when the Players came in and reinacted events that had happened. I guess it was Hamlets way of telling Claudius that he knew what was up and that he wasn't going to get away with it. (Hamlet very clever man)

Hamlet: Act 1, scenes iv-v

In Act I, scenes iv-v Hamlet encounters a ghost. This ghost is the spirit of his late father. While keeping night watch with Horatio and Marcellus, the ghost appears and calls for Hamlet. When the spirit signals for Hamlet to follow him Horatio and Marcellus urge him not to go because they feel that something terrible will happen. (At this point I would have certainly listened to them because seriously how would I know whether this ghost was trying to help or harm me.) Hamlet follows the ghost into the darkness and leaves Marcellus and Horatio behind. After debating what to do they decide it's best to follow him in case Hamlet might need them.

At this point in the play I was curious as to what would happen next. Various questions came to mind like; Why did the spirit of Hamlet's father appear and call for him? Where was this spirit taking him? and What was going to happen to Hamlet?

After asking myself these questions I finished reading. After taking Hamlet into the darkness, the spirit of his father told him what had happened and how he died. He told Hamlet to avenge his death.( Which I was surprised to find out it was actually a murder) He told Hamlet that he was poisoned while napping and told him that Claudius was to blame. (talk about revenge). As day approaches the ghost dissappears and Horatio and Marcellus ask Hamlet wahat happened during the night. Hamlet refuses to tell them. Later he tells them of his devious plan and tells them to sear not to mention it.

So far I've learned that the story of Hamlet is full of lies, deception, and betrayal. I can tell now that all of the events that have happened are leading up the the climax of this story.

Hamlet: Act I, scene i-iii

So after I read the first three scenes in Act I of Hamlet and I have developed compassion for Prince Hamlet. I don't really know how to understand Shakespeare's writing but what I did get out of it was that after the death of Hamlets father his mother decided to marry his uncle. In my personal opinion that's kind of messed up. Even in this day of age I think that sort of stuff is wrong. It is basically like you were awaiting the death of your husband so that you could get with his brother. (wrong on SO many levels). The thing that made it even worse was that it happened in short notice, practically right after his father's death, well two months after.

When Hamlet delivers his soliloquy he describes how his uncle will never be a father to him. “Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on; and yet, within a month- let me not think on't. Frailty, they name is woman! A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father's body. ...O god! A beast, that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer-married with my uncle; my father's brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules.” (Act I, scene ii, lines 143-152). He describes here how his mother is all over Claudius (the uncle) and isn't showing that much remorse over her husband's recent death. I don’t know exactly how Hamlet feels but I get the gist of it. I mean seriously no man especially an uncle could replace the father you lost. I mean so far this entire play is messed up. Well not the play but the concept of Hamlet.

I have so many questions. For starters (with a little reference to Hamlet) I know Shakespeare is known for his dramatic plays but I mean they all have this weird twist to them. Like Oedipus and how he killed his father and married his mom. SO TOTALLY TWISTED!! Or Romeo & Juliet and how they both committed suicide for love. I mean seriously what is up with this pattern of drama, betrayal, and death. I wonder sometimes if Shakespeare himself went through these types of things which made him write so much about them.

Coleridge & Shelley~ Imagination & Narrative Voice Due 3/23/09

1) The power of the imagination is often exalted in Romantic poetry. In my personal opinion Kubla Khan does not celebrate imagination but cautions its indulgence. "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree" (lines 1 & 2) and "But oh! That deep romantic chasm which slanted down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! As holy and enchanted as e’er beneath a waning moon…" (lines 12-15). In lines 1-2 it begins to describe the imagination as a glorious place, a place in which you are free to let your mind run free. In lines 12-15 Coleridge begins to describe how that wondrous and enchanted place in your mind can be trouble. Throughout this poem Coleridge illustrates how the mind is a place of pleasure and fear. I personally think that by illustrating these things he is warning us how the imagination "really" works. I think that Coleridge is writing to those all who read his work, notifying them to be weary of letting their imagination run wild for it may be dangerous.

2) In the sonnet, "Ozymandias", there are three speakers, the narrator, the traveler, and the King (Ozymandias). The narrator has a brief role in the sonnet whereas the traveler is the main voice. As the listener the three voices in this sonnet seem to discuss different things. The narrator is first to speak and he has a line or two about his encounter with a traveler. The traveler (who I believe to be the main speaker) then goes into telling his story about how he came across a sculpture which had been destroyed. Ozymandias (The King) doesn’t "speak" in the poem but does indicate that he has a voice. He shows this voice through the words that were sculpted across the pedestal: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair". These voices seem to tell a story within a story. The narrator tells his story of how he met a traveler who told him a story of how he came across the sculpture of a King who tells a story all his own from a pedestal.

Jonathan Swift Teacher Prep Work Due 3/9/09

a)

• Was Gulliver a giant in a normal sized world or was he a normal sized man in a land inhabited by tiny people?
• How did Gulliver get to where he was?
• What reference to the story did the eggs have?

"But his present Majesty’s grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one Emperor lost his life, and another his crown." pg.658

I chose this excerpt because I wanted to know if I could find a deeper meaning behind it. I didn't really see the point in having this part in the story so I began questioning it.

b)

Well the good thing about working in a group was that we had a variety of opinions and ideas. It worked out well becasue we learned that on some topics we had mutual agreements where as others we felt that we could not relate. I think that after finally getting what we needed we started to get bored and we started not to care anymore so that was kind of the downfall of it all. I mean I guess it helped us somewhat but I kind of felt limited. I like doing work by myself so working ina group was kind of different. I think that if it was to work differently than I would change the group thing I think that was a was of saying "okay go find your friends talk for an entire period and at the end come up with nothing." Again that's my personal opinion but really that's what it comes to at the end of the day. I learned that everyone thinks differently and contributes something in somem weird way which is weird, I guess. But I mean I could have came up with similar questions and thoughts on my own...doing work solo....But it was assigned group so yeah. I feel we get more done as a group but it's more productive by yourself because you HAVE to think about it....No one can help you.

c)

Well we will discuss each gropups ideas, questions, and thoughts and try to find reasons explanations for them. We want to try and help understand them and in return them the same. Well we would tell them what we thought and ask for feedback then just discuss it together.

Nineteen Eighty-Four Final Writing Assignment Due 2/27/09

In George Orwell's 1984, the doctrine that O'Brien proclaims to Winston plays its importance in maintaining the system of oligarchical collectivism upon which INGSOC is based on. Oligarchical collectivism is a system where a small group of people rule another group of people by using mind control. Basically it means that anything and everything that the people see or do revolves around what the Party or governing society wants them to see or do.

According to the doctrine proclaimed by O'Brien, “What-ever the Party holds to be the truth is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.”(pg 205) People only see what the Party wants them to see. They believe what they tell them because according to the Party there is NO other way. The only way is their way.

Fear…A big part of the Party. The people are on watch 24/7. They should just start singing that song "Who's Watching Me". You really want to know who's watching. Well I'll tell you. Big Brother is watching that's who. "What's that over there?" A big telescreen is what it is. Every move these people take is watched. Every thought they think and every sound they make. Fear is instilled into their minds. It's no wonder they are scared to take a chance and bend the laws a little. I find that to be quite stupid but that's just me. If the Party said that yellow and blue made purple then they would believe it. (Those colors mixed make me think green….But hey if I thought that I might be arrested and tortured)

Towards the end of 1984 Winston gives in to the "fad" mind control and makes the doctrine his new way of life. (Call that a "twist" of fate) I guess you could say that he was giving up. Backing down on what he really believed in because he wasn't getting anywhere. I don't get why you would have numerous thoughts of overpowering big brother (DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!!) and then just throwing it down the drain. Why????

Deep down Winston knows and understands that there is a whole other world to explore and learn. There's more to life than the world of Big Brother. But that wasn't enough. In the end this was his fate. He was to conform. No questions asked. (In my opinion it would have been so awesome if he would have completed his total rebel attitude toward the Party). But fate is fate. Don't mess with it. Like Linkin Park sang "In The End it doesn't even matter…."

1984 Assignment Due 2/23/09

Why I Write Is Why I Am Me

I write because I feel alone.
Alone.
Where am I?
How did I get here?
Why am I here?
Big Brother you watch over me,
Like a hawk watches over his prey.
I am imprisoned behind these laws.
This is why I write.
My past......unknown.
My future.....to come.
To forget is to fail.
This is why I write.
I need to know what each day will bring,
What the past has brought.
This is why I write.
I live each day in a state of suspense,
Not knowing if I will surivive.
I wonder if there is a world that I have never seen.
A world where I am free is where I want to be.
I write because I can.
This my only piece of freedom.
My only taste of power.
This is why I write....
I write for me.