Dishonesty

   Humor and dishonesty play a major role in this play.  The epigrams are all very insightful into real life and how ridiculous it really is.  It is also funny how these epigrams are said.  They are almost philosophically written. Wilde also seems to enjoy poking fun at marriage, education, and religion. He talks about how marriage is more of a business than a matter of love.  He also tells of how religion is more of a requirement than an act of faith.  Throughout the entire play Wilde talks about the importance of being earnest and how important it is for the characters to be named Earnest.  Throughout the play a common theme is the pursuit of pleasure.  Whether it be bunburying or lying about who you are, all of the characters are trying to make themselves as happy as possible without thought to any of the consequences.
   Oscar Wilde is trying to say that dishonesty is never a good thing.  It will always lead to misfortune, except for in this case where everyone fell in love and ended up being married.

Project Evaluations

Kyra and Amaya:  Movie
   They conveyed the message of the novel effectively.  I found that they used all of the most important scenes and incorperated them into the movie.

Porter:  Comic Strip
   I feel that the strip did not contain enough information, that it left a lot of the story out.  It only showed that they were oppresed by the humans and then the pigs rose to power.

Nick:  Picture
   All that was done was a paragraph about a picture that was obtained from the internet.  This could have been done within minutes.  There was very little work required.

Britta:  Poem
   I thought that the poem was very creative and required a lot of detail and hard work.  A lot of work was put into this project.

Aaron:  Picture
   I thought that this project was good. It could have used a little more work due to the fact that everything was just copied and then pasted.

Kady:  Movie
   I thought that this movie was very good.  A lot of work was put into it and it shows.

Adrienne:  Movie
   I thought that a little more work could have been put into this movie.

Daryl:  Picture
   I thought that this picture was quite interesting.  It shows how the story moves along in a different view.

Emma:  Picture
   I thought that this was a creative project and that it showed all of the literary elements from the novel.


I still stand by my project. I put a good amount of work into it and I think that it shows the elements of the story through the charecters and their actions.

Animal Farm Comic Strip



My Poem and I

   The poem that I am memorizing is called "Immortal Sails", by Alfred Noyes. m Alfred Noyes also wrote the poem, "The Highway Man". 
   This poem is about two people who love each other and they want to to everything they can with each other before they die.  This poem really speaks to me when it says that, "It is not time that makes eternity. Love and an hour may quite out span the years..."  I believe that this is completely true.  Its like the saying, time flies when you're having fun.
   The connotation in this poem is just amazing as well.  The words make it seem like the sunset, and the gates of heaven are right in front of you.  This poem also has a lot of meaning hidden within the lines.  After reading it a few times, I realized that the true meaning behind the poem is that you should not waste what little time you have with the people you love and that you never know when something could happen.

Poetry

Part 1:

• Keeping things whole
• Do not go gentle into that good night
• Echo
• Invictus
• Immortal Sails

Part 2:

• I liked the poem, "Immortal Sails", because it's simple yet complex.  It also speaks of last farewells.  Every word is chosen perfectly
•  I did not like the poem, "Keeping things Whole", it was too short and simple for m.
• I would choose "Immortal Sails"
• I have written poems along the same lines as this one, but none were as carefully crafted as this

Part 3:

• Giving a feeling of confidence to the audience and speaking in a loud and clear tone
• Doing a poem that has more stanzas and lines
• The student must use a loud confident voice and must not overact the poem. Very few gestures are needed.  You also want to read a poem with diverse language and themes.

Part 4:

• I watched "Writ on the steps of Puerto Rico Harlem".  The performer used the right amount of motion and spoke with a loud confidence.  H also used facial expressions and changed the tone of his voice to fit the mood.
• "Pied Beauty" was done without too many movements and actions.  The speaker did a good job of projecting her voice as well.

Part 5:

• I think that this competition could either be very challenging or very easy depending on how you prepare for it.  With good preparation all could go smoothly, on the other hand you can choose not to practice and fail.

Lobsters Should Fight Back

One of the more interesting points that was brought up during the discussion was how the flame under the pot was thought to be a comparison to hell.  This would set things in motion and eventually be our demise.  I thought this was an interesting point because the author only said 'the flame beneath the pot' and everyone automatically assumed he was referring to hell.
   I now have a new perspective on the poem.  When I first read it, I did not assume that the author was talking about hell, but merely events in nature that set things in motion.  I also thought that the author might even be referring to pollution in a way.

Too many paragraphs and not enough skills

   One of the most frequent weakness is the inability to properly embed your quotes.  Many people add pg. and don't add an text to the beginning or just say, "and she said".  I can become tiresome listening to the same mistakes over and over again.  Another common mistake is the process of proofreading.  As you listen to people read you hear them constantly correcting grammar and spelling and unnoticed punctuation errors. 
Some of the major skills that are needed for writing a five part paragraph are the ability to write a persuasive paragraph and the ability to go into a book and find certain quotes that match up with what you are saying.

   Personally I need to work on annotating my book as I go so that I don't have to search for quotes when I need them.  Also I feel like I put too much input on my own feelings about the book.  I need to learn to only put in observations and fact about what I have read and seen.