1. I do not feel sorry for Lady Macbeth. She was the mastermind behind the whole plot and she stimulated Macbeth to murder the king (Duncan) and take his throne. The play implies that Duncan wasn’t a bad ruler who gained respect from the nobles and his people. Encouraging Macbeth to kill such a ruler gives no space of mercy to Lady Macbeth. Although her sufferings at the end and her tragic death might earn people’s sympathy, it was a fair consequence regarding her role in Duncan’s murder
2. I think Macbeth wasn’t a good person in the first place. His feeling of distress after meeting the witches implies that he was always capable of dark deeds. He simply didn’t have the opportunity to show his dark deeds since he was familiar with the king’s authority and thus stayed royal to the king. Macbeth should be blamed for his treachery because he could’ve declined the witches’ prophesy and go along with his life-if he was truthfully royal to the king.
3. Yes I do have a personal incident in my life that I want to erase. Since it is too personal, I can’t share this incident with other people. I hope you will understand my situation. Her response is plausible. We observe similar responses or hear these responses from the media, in which murderers’ metal state will slowly deteriorate due to sense of guiltiness. Police officers will sometimes use this response for investigation as well. I won’t be consumed with guilt if I’ve done a heinous crime for a reasonable reason such as: saving other peoples’ lives, protecting myself, and more. However, I will be definitely consumed with guilt if I’ve committed a heinous crime for the sake of for my own greediness.
4. Yes, I’ve experienced predicted dreams couple of times. About ten years ago, I went to a church and the pastor had a session of foretelling one’s future. I was interested in this session and I attended the session. The pastor foretold the future by praying with individuals and soon it was my turn to pray with the pastor. After praying for five minutes, the pastor said I would be an aircraft engineer. This prediction doesn’t seem to be right as I’m planning to go to computer science field. After I heard his foretelling, however, these comments influenced me for a year. I thought my fate was predestined and studied harder on my science courses and math courses. Later, I stopped working such way, but I was actually surprised how the pastor’s comment influenced my life for a year.
2008년 12월 9일 화요일
2008년 11월 28일 금요일
Lady Macbeth..
"Give me the daggers. The sleepign and the dead Are but as pictures... If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal..." (2.2.69-70, 71-72)
To introduce some background information, Macbeth is told by the three witches that he would become Thane of Cawdor and eventually the King of Scotland. Macbeth is royal to the king and he doesn't believe the prophesy right away. However, it is shown in Act 1 and 2 that Macbeth's royalty is shaken due to the witches' prophesy. Macbeth informs Lady Macbeth of such events before he returns. As he returns, Lady Macbeth incites Macbeth to kill Duncan and become the new king of Scotland. Macbeth finally decides to kill Duncan and succeeds. After Duncan's murder, Macbeth is agitated and brings the evidence (daggers) with him. Macbeth fails to have the courage to hold the daggers and Lady Macbeth takes them.
Lady Macbeth is a woman and women normally don't have the courage to get involved in murder scenes or bloody scenes. However, from the quote we can see that Lady Macbeth is confident and motivated to make Macbeth kill Duncan. She is the actual mastermind of the whole plot in which Macbeth is stirred to follow upon. She is brave and doesn't feel much guilt about the whole murder if she or Macbeth achieves the crown of Scotland.
"Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (5.1.41-42)
Macbeth is going through mental breakdowns due to the third prophesy and appearance of Banquo's ghost. It isn't only Macbeth that is having mental breakdowns. Lady Macbeth doesn't show her troubled heart to other people but her heart is visible when she unconsciously sleep walks in her bedroom. Doctor and the lady servant hears the above quote from Lady Macbeth's lips.
The fact that she is lamenting in her unconscious state tells us that she is deeply troubled with Duncan's murder. In Act 2, Lady Macbeth is fearless with the whole plot. She feels unguilty and has the courage to touch the daggers that are covered in blood. Nevertheless, the above quote suggests that Lady Macbeth is actually feeling somekind of guilt and pressure from the murder. Blood in this act symbolizes sin and guilt. Lady Macbeth says, ".... had so much blood in him?" The recognition of having "so much blood" implies huge amount of guilt building inside Lady Macbeth's heart. She is no longer courageous and fearless but fearful and weared out.
To introduce some background information, Macbeth is told by the three witches that he would become Thane of Cawdor and eventually the King of Scotland. Macbeth is royal to the king and he doesn't believe the prophesy right away. However, it is shown in Act 1 and 2 that Macbeth's royalty is shaken due to the witches' prophesy. Macbeth informs Lady Macbeth of such events before he returns. As he returns, Lady Macbeth incites Macbeth to kill Duncan and become the new king of Scotland. Macbeth finally decides to kill Duncan and succeeds. After Duncan's murder, Macbeth is agitated and brings the evidence (daggers) with him. Macbeth fails to have the courage to hold the daggers and Lady Macbeth takes them.
Lady Macbeth is a woman and women normally don't have the courage to get involved in murder scenes or bloody scenes. However, from the quote we can see that Lady Macbeth is confident and motivated to make Macbeth kill Duncan. She is the actual mastermind of the whole plot in which Macbeth is stirred to follow upon. She is brave and doesn't feel much guilt about the whole murder if she or Macbeth achieves the crown of Scotland.
"Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (5.1.41-42)
Macbeth is going through mental breakdowns due to the third prophesy and appearance of Banquo's ghost. It isn't only Macbeth that is having mental breakdowns. Lady Macbeth doesn't show her troubled heart to other people but her heart is visible when she unconsciously sleep walks in her bedroom. Doctor and the lady servant hears the above quote from Lady Macbeth's lips.
The fact that she is lamenting in her unconscious state tells us that she is deeply troubled with Duncan's murder. In Act 2, Lady Macbeth is fearless with the whole plot. She feels unguilty and has the courage to touch the daggers that are covered in blood. Nevertheless, the above quote suggests that Lady Macbeth is actually feeling somekind of guilt and pressure from the murder. Blood in this act symbolizes sin and guilt. Lady Macbeth says, ".... had so much blood in him?" The recognition of having "so much blood" implies huge amount of guilt building inside Lady Macbeth's heart. She is no longer courageous and fearless but fearful and weared out.
2008년 11월 11일 화요일
The First Question....
I found out that poet Plath came to me more familiar than other poets such as Dickinson and Atwood. Frankly speaking, I'm not a good writer and English doesn't come to me well. I looked at Dickinson's, Atwood's, and Plath's Biography and found out that all three women lived a writer's life achieving Poet related awards and more. All three writers were prestigious writers and Atwood was actually involved in feminist activities.
However, Atwood and Dickinson didn't experience many things that an average person in the world will experience. They did experience death of their family members and so on but that was it.
If we look at Plath's life she experienced various things that an average person (American) will experience. Her various experiences related to travel and love as an average person-rather than a poet-allowed me to become more fond with Plath than other writers. Plath was the poet who interacted with worldly affairs more than the other two poets. Such factor made me more familiar with Plath than Dickinson and Atwood.
In addition, Plath's poetry "The Surgeon at 2 A.M" was more interesting than poetries of Atwood and Dickinson. I was not sure of the reason but that was how it came to me.
However, Atwood and Dickinson didn't experience many things that an average person in the world will experience. They did experience death of their family members and so on but that was it.
If we look at Plath's life she experienced various things that an average person (American) will experience. Her various experiences related to travel and love as an average person-rather than a poet-allowed me to become more fond with Plath than other writers. Plath was the poet who interacted with worldly affairs more than the other two poets. Such factor made me more familiar with Plath than Dickinson and Atwood.
In addition, Plath's poetry "The Surgeon at 2 A.M" was more interesting than poetries of Atwood and Dickinson. I was not sure of the reason but that was how it came to me.
2008년 10월 19일 일요일
Comparion of poems
As we discussed earlier in class, "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" was about death. However, the tone and the mood of the poem wasn't the natural tone and mood one would expect in a 'death' poem. The overall rhythm of the poem was incandescent and the author accepted death as reality than mourning and grieving about death.
"I Felt a Funeral In My Brain" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died". are two poems which-I think-differ with "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" The imageries in those two poems are used to portray sadness and reminiscence. The overall tone and mood of the two poems are melancholy and gloomy. It's quite surprising how Dickinson was able to write two different version of poem about death.
There is a definite connection between "I Felt a Funeral In My Brain" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died". The speakers remember small details and recognize those details. This fact implies that speakers in the two poems desire to live than face the upcoming death of their lives.
"I Felt a Funeral In My Brain" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died". are two poems which-I think-differ with "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" The imageries in those two poems are used to portray sadness and reminiscence. The overall tone and mood of the two poems are melancholy and gloomy. It's quite surprising how Dickinson was able to write two different version of poem about death.
There is a definite connection between "I Felt a Funeral In My Brain" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died". The speakers remember small details and recognize those details. This fact implies that speakers in the two poems desire to live than face the upcoming death of their lives.
2008년 8월 24일 일요일
Questions for Death of a Salesman
1. Dave Singleman was a retired salesman who made a living without really working in Willy’s perspective point of view. It seems like Dave Singleman was a great salesman from the start and until the end of his death. In the business world, it isn’t easy to gain respect like Dave Singleman who has had hundreds of people coming to his funeral. Willy greatly admires Dave Singleman since he earned respect from other salesman and was able to make living through simply making phone calls to other salesman and buyers. However, Willy isn’t able to grasp the full idea of being salesman. He only knows that being well-liked and having a great personality will success him as a great salesman while it isn’t really true.
Later in the drama, we see that Willy’s personal values break up as soon as Howard fires him from the firm. Willy slowly starts to realize the reality that surrounds the business world. The shock is too terrible that he thinks he is “more worth dead than alive” He is still unable to escape from his materialistic point of view and this idea ends up in his tragic death. Dave Singleman’s attraction to Willy is simple: he makes money without working! Willy’s stress in paying debts and fees makes the job more attractive than mining diamonds in the south.
Although Willy works hard to earn money, his money is always expended and leaves him nothing. For such reasons, Dave Singleman’s career is attractive to Willy. Dave Singleman’s existence motivates Willy to go to salesmanship. However, Willy is always short of money and the job doesn’t give satisfaction but exhausts him. Even though Willy goes to salesmanship to make a way of living he falls in to the way of dying. He probably wants to become like Dave Singleman and make money while sitting in his house but it never happens in the drama.
2. The significance of Willy’s suicide attempts is the fact itself. In “Death of a salesman” we see-before Biff talks the truth-Willy is a hardworking person and strives to become a well-known man. Although he has character flaws such as being ignorant to his family members and neighbor, he is a general American in that time period who believes in the American dream and respects upper class people for success. He works hard for his dream but he achieves nothing but insurance money charged in his body. Willy’s suicide is tragic because his effort becomes futile and Willy ruins the image his family-Linda and Happy-originally had. Readers recognize at the end of the drama that Willy is a two-hearted person. He acts normal to his family, friends and others; however in reality, he suffers from inferiority and is in a bad shape having psychological problems. Later, Willy’s psychological disorder eventually leads to his suicide-conversation with Ben. Willy’s first suicide attempt is shown during Linda’s conversation with the boys. She says that Willy has intentionally crashed his car every since the first crash. In addition, Linda finds a rubber tube in the cellar and discovers that Willy has tried to commit suicide by inhaling gas through the gas pipes. Willy thinks the insurance company will give compensations for his death. Since he has paid “every premium” to meet the standards of the company, he judges that it is the insurance company’s responsibility to pay back. This is a right logic in normal conditions but thinking of Willy’s irregularities and suicide attempts, the company might refuse to compensate for his death. After all the insurance company has discovered prior his suicide attempts. If the company is informed of another car accident, even the smallest possibility of compensation is gone. Willy won’t be “more worth dead than alive.”
3. Personality is a unique object that everyone in the earth posses. Some might have similar personalities and some might have completely different personalities. Yet, spread of different dispositions compose the society and allows it to function.
In general, having a nice personality means a person does have good characteristic traits. For example, he might be: caring; loving; friendly; passionate, humble etc. In other words, he is genuine and truthful of his nature. A person who has a nice personality naturally becomes a good person since his/her personality will be shown to others. People around will classify the person based upon his actions and say he/she is a good person. Now, being a good person doesn’t necessarily mean the person has a good personality. As we notice, it is people around who make judgments over someone becoming a “good person.” Some people may look him/her as a good person while others may look him/her as a bad person. If a person is not genuinely nice from his/her heart, we can’t say that he/she has a nice personality. Living well means living without worrying about needs or money. It is an easy life where one can feel constant satisfaction without much pain and struggles. “Living well” is judged by others when comparison is made. If one has more money than average people and lives a luxurious life, he/she is “living well.” Living a nice lifestyle is a life that gives meaning to a particular person. This lifestyle might be tough and doesn’t necessarily mean living well according to normal living standards. Some might agree with the idea but some might disagree living such lifestyle. I don’t really see anything common between the notions of “personality” and “lifestyle.” Personality is connected and it shapes lifestyle but they don’t necessarily have anything in common.
Later in the drama, we see that Willy’s personal values break up as soon as Howard fires him from the firm. Willy slowly starts to realize the reality that surrounds the business world. The shock is too terrible that he thinks he is “more worth dead than alive” He is still unable to escape from his materialistic point of view and this idea ends up in his tragic death. Dave Singleman’s attraction to Willy is simple: he makes money without working! Willy’s stress in paying debts and fees makes the job more attractive than mining diamonds in the south.
Although Willy works hard to earn money, his money is always expended and leaves him nothing. For such reasons, Dave Singleman’s career is attractive to Willy. Dave Singleman’s existence motivates Willy to go to salesmanship. However, Willy is always short of money and the job doesn’t give satisfaction but exhausts him. Even though Willy goes to salesmanship to make a way of living he falls in to the way of dying. He probably wants to become like Dave Singleman and make money while sitting in his house but it never happens in the drama.
2. The significance of Willy’s suicide attempts is the fact itself. In “Death of a salesman” we see-before Biff talks the truth-Willy is a hardworking person and strives to become a well-known man. Although he has character flaws such as being ignorant to his family members and neighbor, he is a general American in that time period who believes in the American dream and respects upper class people for success. He works hard for his dream but he achieves nothing but insurance money charged in his body. Willy’s suicide is tragic because his effort becomes futile and Willy ruins the image his family-Linda and Happy-originally had. Readers recognize at the end of the drama that Willy is a two-hearted person. He acts normal to his family, friends and others; however in reality, he suffers from inferiority and is in a bad shape having psychological problems. Later, Willy’s psychological disorder eventually leads to his suicide-conversation with Ben. Willy’s first suicide attempt is shown during Linda’s conversation with the boys. She says that Willy has intentionally crashed his car every since the first crash. In addition, Linda finds a rubber tube in the cellar and discovers that Willy has tried to commit suicide by inhaling gas through the gas pipes. Willy thinks the insurance company will give compensations for his death. Since he has paid “every premium” to meet the standards of the company, he judges that it is the insurance company’s responsibility to pay back. This is a right logic in normal conditions but thinking of Willy’s irregularities and suicide attempts, the company might refuse to compensate for his death. After all the insurance company has discovered prior his suicide attempts. If the company is informed of another car accident, even the smallest possibility of compensation is gone. Willy won’t be “more worth dead than alive.”
3. Personality is a unique object that everyone in the earth posses. Some might have similar personalities and some might have completely different personalities. Yet, spread of different dispositions compose the society and allows it to function.
In general, having a nice personality means a person does have good characteristic traits. For example, he might be: caring; loving; friendly; passionate, humble etc. In other words, he is genuine and truthful of his nature. A person who has a nice personality naturally becomes a good person since his/her personality will be shown to others. People around will classify the person based upon his actions and say he/she is a good person. Now, being a good person doesn’t necessarily mean the person has a good personality. As we notice, it is people around who make judgments over someone becoming a “good person.” Some people may look him/her as a good person while others may look him/her as a bad person. If a person is not genuinely nice from his/her heart, we can’t say that he/she has a nice personality. Living well means living without worrying about needs or money. It is an easy life where one can feel constant satisfaction without much pain and struggles. “Living well” is judged by others when comparison is made. If one has more money than average people and lives a luxurious life, he/she is “living well.” Living a nice lifestyle is a life that gives meaning to a particular person. This lifestyle might be tough and doesn’t necessarily mean living well according to normal living standards. Some might agree with the idea but some might disagree living such lifestyle. I don’t really see anything common between the notions of “personality” and “lifestyle.” Personality is connected and it shapes lifestyle but they don’t necessarily have anything in common.
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