12.16.07

Summarize the tragic theme in Tartuffe that undergirds the play's comic method


The tragic theme that goes through Tartuffe is the theme of hypocrisy, and gullibility. However, one can find other themes which some refer to as "underdogs can bite." The theme in the play that shows how much harm a someone with very little power can do, the gullibility of such a powerful man undergirds the play's comic method.

Usually people feels superior to others with less power then themselves. However, this play shows an example of a group of people who feels superior and complacent about themselves get a lot of harm by somebody they'll least expect from. The fact that very powerful people getting hurt by some hobo makes this play very comical, because people thinks watching successful people become unsuccessful funny.

The fact that a head of a successful family is such a fool that he gets fooled by some hobo makes this play comical. Becasue people think other people being sad funny, so people think its funny. Also, the fact that Orgon cannot handle the situation well and was at last saved by the king makes this extremely comical.

12.03.07

In this passage, Milton is describing Satan and his followers discussing certain religious issues. What is Milton really saying about "Providence, Foreknowledge, Will, and Fate,/ Fixt Fate, Free will, Foreknowledge absolute"? Whom do you think Milton is actually talking about?

I think that Milton is actually talking about real people. On the passage it says stuff which matches the things that people do. People also have fixed fate and free will, and absolute knowledge. they also argue about good and evil, and happiness and misery.

12.2.07

Answers for Book 1 Assignment:

4
a) Titanian, Earth-born, Briareos, Typhon, Leviathan

c) line 101~112, lines 191~203

3
b) He was a large monster which looked like a beast, with who carried a huge shield and looked like a fierce warrior who will never fall.
4. a) Heaven can be hell and hell can be heaven depending on what you think. Rather than doing filthy work in heaven, it will be better to be one in high position in hell.

Book IV assignment

Does Satan have feelings? What are they? Do you feel sorry for him?

Satan does have feelings, and he feels guilty that he had to join the evil forces. But he knows that he is a part of hell now, and God will never forgive him even if he tried, so he keeps commiting sins. I don't feel sorry for him, because even thought this is a poem, its still Satan and its kind of wrong to feel sorry for Satan.

In line 295, what do you think Milton means by "though both not equal"?

He is saying that men and women are not equal.

And, lastly, in lines 380-381, is Satan trying to deceive or offer something in kind to Adam and Eve?

He offers them to become the mother of human race.

11.28.07

What's your favorite "epic" story or movie? What are some of the characteristics of that story that are elements of a traditional "epic?"

My favorite epic movie is Lord of the Rings. The characteristics of Lord of the Ringsm which is a traditional thing that many epic stories have is that it deals with a problem envolving many people in the world, and it deals with supernatural stuff.

11.27.07

Being in charge of England was a great deal since whoever was in charge of England also ruled the Anglican Church. Some of the different rulers in England were Olive Cromwell. Whoever was in charge of England had the right to do whatever they wanted to change the religion. This caused a lot of problems, because people do not like to change religions very often.

11.7.07

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the main character (the title character), Macbeth, experiences a dramatic change in character throughout the play. The changes are brought on by his flawed ambition.

Revision
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the main character (the title character), Macbeth, experiences a dramatic change in character throughout the play, which is caused by his feelings of ambition.

10.5.07

What drives Macbeth to do what he does? Is it human nature? Is it his wife? Is it ambition?

The driving force of Macbeth is at first, the persuasion of the witches and his wife, then it changes to his own ambition.

11.01.07

A good topic for Macbeth would be: How does Shakespear show changes of characters throughout the play?

10.31.07

In Macbeth, one can find several different motifs. These are some of the ones that i found.

1. Macbeth
2. Lady Macbeth
3. Bloody hand
4. England


Through out the play, one can realize that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth go through a different process of changing. Macbeth changes from feeling guilty to feeling apethetic about the things he does. However, Lady Macbeth, who persuaded MAcbeth into the murders, feels guilty later on. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth represents different people who changes in the opposite ways.
The bloody hand represents the guilt that Macbeth feels. Through out the play, one can notice the difference of the guilt of Macbeth through what he says about his bloody hand. At first, he feels so guilty that he says even the ocean could not wash his hand, and turn the ocean red. However, later on in the play he says that he does not care about his bloody hand. Also, the hand represents the people.
In the play, there is a moment where the play takes place in England when Macduff runs away to England to escape Macbeth. There he finds Malcom who also fled after his father died, and there is a peaceful moment in the play, where they escaped from evil Macbeth, and there is a king who can heal anything. This comes after a scene of a mother and a son. The mother and son are both very peaceful, even when they were talking about something tragetic. When they die after their peaceful scene, and Macduff is informed, ironically, the reaction of Macduff is to not give up and fight Macbeth, but also to be sorrow like a man, which referes being sorrow to something good, instead of something not good, which makes England a place without evil.

10.30.07

Today in class we learned about Act 5. We learned that in Act 5, there are a lot of scenes because it is like the climax of the play. We also learned that Lady Macbeth is turning guilty from evil, and on the contrary, Macbeth is turning evil from guilty. The doctor in the act represents the Christian point of view in the play for the first time. Other than that, The play has been more of an opposite view, with all the killing and stuff.

10.25.07

We can see some changes of Macbeth. At first, Macbeth was a loyal warrior to the king. Also, he was a very nice person, and loved the king. However, he falls for the persuation of the Wierd Sisters and Lady Macbeth and soon finds himself guilty. He feels so guilty that he sees ghosts and sees hallucinations, such as the daggers in his hand. Later, when he kills Macduff's family, he does not even feel guilty. He has changed from a heartfull person to a cold-hearted person.

10.22.07

In Macbeth, there are several different themes. These are some of the themes i can think of.

1. People around you can influence you greatly.
2. Guilt can change one a lot.
3. Women think like men to be evil.
4. Murder brings another murder.
5. One's actions is totally depended on one's beliefs.

10.12.07

Friday was very cold, which helped us work harder. We looked at our scavanger hunt, and then we talked about Macbeth. We talked about the bonus he gave us, (which i did but left in my room) and we found each one in the book as a class. I found it very difficult to recognize those stuff because Shakespear's language is so confusing and wierd. However, i got over it, and succeded to find those stuff that he gave us.

10.10.07

Today we did a scavanger hunt on Macbeth. I found some metaphores and forshadowing. It was an interesting game, except it was very difficult and hard to understand. Mr. Maddox's assignments are always difficult. I had difficulty finding what dramatic irony meant, but Iwas relieved after Mr. Maddox decided to tell us.

10.7.07

In a movie, I would present Macbeth as a hero in a battle, who always doesn't really care about his armor for protection, but still never gets hurt. He would talk a bit cocky. In a battle, he would never take a helmet on, and when the other soldiers see him, they will be afraid.
His expression is very changeless, and calm.

10.4.07

The way Macbeth was feeling is kind of stubborn because of something shocking. Sometimes, when I have nightmares, I feel the same way. I wake up scared of what happened in my dream, and it takes me about 10 mins to calm down. For example, once I had a dream of my friend dying. When i woke up, my heart was pumping so fast that my chest hurt, and it took a while to calm down. However, even after i calmed down, I was scared that my dream would come true, which did not fortunately.

10.3.07

I think that the witches wanted Macbeth to believe what they were saying, becasue the witches showed earlier in the play that they did not care what happened to anybody, and that what they enjoyed the most is to just sit back and watch what they have set up. Also, the witches have no reason to side on anybody, because they dont care.

10.1.07

Today we talked about Maya Angelou and heard opinions from others. Mr. Maddox said that it is important because shes someone who has lived through times of racism and still lives to tell the story, and that she leaves her thoughts through literature.

9.25.07

Today, we talked about Macbeth. Mr Maddox was reading and it was kind of funny. We talked about the witches again and talked about how much of a hero Macbeth was.

9.24.07

Today we talked about the book in class. We learned that the three witches did not care on which side would win the battle.

9.20.07

Today in class, we took a quiz, and i got a very bad grade. However, Mr. Maddox said that we will get a curve, so I am kind of relieved. Also, he told us that he will not confuse us anymore and try to explain to us more. I think that he was trying to show us the happiness of learning through what he is doing to us, like confusing us and making us mad, and finally becomes more of a teacher. I think that Mr. Maddox is a genious. (literally)

9.19.07

Today was the worst class that I ever had. Even though now I actually read what he tells us to and write my journals diligently, we had a quiz on what year Macbeth was first performed, and we all thought it was 1606, while it was actually 18 something. Not only that, he said we are going to have a quiz on everything about Macbeth, and now I can't study for my other tests, because Mr. MAddox's quizzes are extremely hard. I hope he was joking. Sometimes I wonder how low my grade would be if he entered all those quiz grades, and I realize he is not entering them to use it as a weapon towards us to make us work harder.

9.18.07

Today we had class outside. I did not like it becasue it was too hot. At first Mr. Maddox said we were going to have a quiz, but later we did not, and said if we keep discussing like that, we will not have another quiz. He also said that he has graded all of the translation quiz that we took last week, and said that the class average was about a 75. However, I get the feeling that he is lying to make us work better, but i won't be suprised if I fail that quiz, because it was ridiculously difficult.

9.17.07

Today we had an interesting class. Ironically, we did not have a quiz over act 2 of Macbeth, but
instead we talked about ninjas, and how they are different from what we believe. Mr. Maddox said a ninja's only purpose is to win, not anything else. They either do it with weapon or use their head to talk out of stuff, or sometimes it is just good to run away.

9.13.07

Today we had a outdoor class, and were informed that we are going to have a translation quiz over phrases from Macbeth, which can replace all of our quiz grades that we got from before.
After that, Mr Maddox gave us a free time, and later told us to not live for the weekend.

9.12.07

Today we took a quiz on scenes 1-4 on Macbeth. It was very difficult but suprisingly Mr Maddox told us that he will not include our grades until he sees that we are improving on understanding the book. He also told us that Macbeth is a cursed book and actors are not
allowed to say the word 'Macbeth.' I thought it was wierd.