Shell-Bee+Mallory

=**Something Funny- 4/1/12**= I find this video to be of humorous value. media type="youtube" key="AbKGrtpgBtA" height="315" width="420" = = = = = = =Hamlet Blog #4- 2/20/12=

In Act 5 scene 2, the huge fight scene begins, in which Gertrude mistakenly drinks the poisoned wine. KING CLAUDIUS Our son shall win. QUEEN GERTRUDE He's fat, and scant of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows; The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. HAMLET Good madam! KING CLAUDIUS Gertrude, do not drink. QUEEN GERTRUDE I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me. KING CLAUDIUS [Aside] It is the poison'd cup: it is too late.

What I find to be rather frustrating is the fact that even though King Claudius knew his wife/ex sister-in-law was going to drink the poison, he made little effort to prevent her from doing so other than "hay gurrrrl, maybe you shouldn't drink dat". If he had shouted "hay gurrrrl don't drink dat cause it be POISONED" then she most likely would have not drunken it. Unless Hamlet gets his craziness from his mother, in which case who knows what she might have done.

King Claudius didn't warn her that it was poisoned because if he did, the room full of people would have freaked out and he would be at blame. However, obviously people were going to find out anyway since she was minutes from death. Maybe he did this to save his own skin momentarily, naively thinking it would not be tied back to him- or perhaps he felt like he would lose his chance to kill Hamlet if he saved his wife, considering he might have been charged for his crimes. Either way, he didn't do himself or anyone else any favor because everyone died regardless.

Relating to the essential question, I believe that a line can be drawn between sanity and insanity depending on the logic behind a person's actions, and when King Claudius didn't warn his wife that she was about to die, there was absolutely little sound logic behind that. = I conclude my Hamlet posts with this picture of baby owls hugging a fake owl. =



=**Hamlet Blog #3- 2/12/12**=

In act 3 scene 3, King Claudius admits to his brother's murder- although not to anyone's face, of course. He admits that he has done the deed, but he still seems to believe he can be forgiven by God.



Claudius: What if this cursèd hand Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood? Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy But to confront the visage of offence? And what’s in prayer but this twofold force, To be forestallèd ere we come to fall Or pardoned being down? Then I’ll look up. My fault is past. But oh, what form of prayer Can serve my turn, “Forgive me my foul murder”?  That cannot be, since I am still possessed Of those effects for which I did the murder:My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.May one be pardoned and retain th' offense?In the corrupted currents of this worldOffense’s gilded hand may shove by justice,And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itselfBuys out the law. But ’tis not so above.There is no shuffling. There the action liesIn his true nature, and we ourselves compelled,Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,To give in evidence. What then? What rests?Try what repentance can. What can it not?Yet what can it when one can not repent?O wretched state! O bosom black as death!  O limèd soul that, struggling to be free, Art more engaged! Help, angels. Make assay. Claudius seems to show some remorse for what he has done, and yet at the same time he will not allow himself to do what is right. He still seems to think that after all he has done he can be forgiven. Does it make him crazy to believe that there is "Enough rain in the heavens" to wash away his sins? After what he has done, it seems there is no way of redemption.

=**Hamlet Blog #2- 2/5/12**=

Many readers of Shakespeare would agree that Hamlet isn't the most sane cookie in the cookie jar. He also isn't the most independent adult either. In Act 1 Scene 2, he goes on this angry rant about his mother and his uncle.

HAMLET  A little month, or ere those shoes were old  With which she followed my poor father’s body,  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she— <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle,  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> My father’s brother, but no more like my father  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> Than I to Hercules. Within a month, <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes,  <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> She married. O most wicked speed, to post <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> It is not nor it cannot come to good, <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. Hamlet obsesses over the marriage and curses them both. Although it is completely rational for him to be so angered by his mother remarrying his uncle not so long after his father's death, he is overreacting in the sense that it's his mother's choice and not his own, yet he acts as though she has purposely set out to ruin his entire life. I mean, really? You're not twelve, Hamlet. I don't know how old he actually is, but in the film versions he looks at least thirty. Maybe he wouldn't have gone crazy if he hadn't been living in the basement of his parent's castle for so many years. And he's really melodramatic about it too. " <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew". Really, Hamlet? Calm down, bro.



<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif;"> To reflect on the essential question for my class period, the line between sanity and insanity here is whether or not the madness is justified. Hamlet's madness seems to be, at this point in the play, unnecessary. It is his mother's choice and not his own so he shouldn't be so hurt by it, not to the point where he's wishing he was dead and slandering her name right and left. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Later on, however, when he encounters the ghost of his father, it may be said that his rage is completely rational because of the information given to him about the way his father died. Except that doesn't really help his sanity case because he's talking to a ghost. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">I think what Hamlet really needs is to stop mooching off of his parents, get a job, move out, and make his own life instead of obsessing over the choices his mother makes in her's.

=**Hamlet Blog #1- 1/29/12**= Essential Question: " Where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity? To what extent can we trust the insane?" In the opening scene of //Hamlet,// a ghost appears before the guards who seems to look much like the recently dead king.

<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**MARCELLUS** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">And will not let belief take hold of him <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us: <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Therefore I have entreated him along <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">With us to watch the minutes of this night; <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">That if again this apparition come, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">He may approve our eyes and speak to it. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**HORATIO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Tush, tush, 'twill not appear. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**BERNARDO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Sit down awhile; <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">And let us once again assail your ears, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">That are so fortified against our story <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">What we have two nights seen. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**HORATIO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Well, sit we down, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**BERNARDO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Last night of all, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">When yond same star that's westward from the pole <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Had made his course to illume that part of heaven <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">The bell then beating one,-- <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">//**Enter Ghost**// <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**MARCELLUS** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again! <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**BERNARDO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">In the same figure, like the king that's dead. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**MARCELLUS** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**BERNARDO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">**HORATIO** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Most like: it harrows me with fear and wonder. This cat is wearing a ghost costume. Don't you just want to hug it? I know I sure do!

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In this scene, third period's essential question, " <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif;"> Where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity? To what extent can we trust the insane?", can be applied to analyze the accuracy of the ghost sighting. It may appear that Horatio is proof that the apparition is indeed real. After all, he entered the scene as a non-believer, claiming that the ghost was not real and he would find nothing there that could change his mind. Then, when the ghost appears, he claims that he too can see it. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This may seem like proof that the ghost is really there, since a person outside of the original group that sighted it now claims that it is indeed real. The line between sanity and insanity can be drawn when multiple people confirm that such an event is happening. However, this might not always be true. If this little "guard party" were to be compared to teenage girls at a sleepover, the truth of the situation could easily be questioned. <span style="font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Imagine if Marcellus and Bernardo were braiding each other's hair and telling Horatio that OH, MY GOSH, you just HAVE to come check out this super haunted attic in my house. Horatio stands as the logical thinker of the group and tells them that there are no such things as ghosts and if they were to go up to the supposed haunted attic in question that "tush tush, no attic-ghost will appear". But once these teenage girls/guards get up to the attic/wherever they're guarding, no matter how logical Horatio's thinking may be, he's still <span style="font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">susceptible <span style="font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> to group-think, which is when a group of people make a consensus based not on the evaluation of information but the majority thoughts. Group-think is the cause of much mass hysteria. In this scene, Marcellus and Bernardo are already positive that a ghost has appeared, and when they drag Horatio outside in the dark and tell him that a ghost is going to appear, even if he is not actually seeing exactly what the other two guards claim to be seeing, he will believe that he is because when you're standing in the dark and someone says "look, it's the ghost I told you about!", your brain might trick you into believing that you see something, and suddenly, you have become part of the group-think consensus that there is in fact a ghost in your attic/ outside your guard station when if you were alone, you might not have noticed anything at all. Whether the person in question is a manly-man guard or a teenage girl, they are still susceptible to group-think and the power of persuasion, and perhaps there was no ghost in the first place. Huh. I just took about a billion words to say something that could have taken like a paragraph to explain. But that's okay. Here's some cats wearing Shakespeare clothes.

__ Why did the otter go to hollywood? To get some OTTER graphs!