Kaylene+Barber

My Final English Project!!! Here's a video in which I analyze why analyzing is bad. :P A bit ironic, but there was no way around it. I made a video because I figured it would be smoother than presenting: both easier to listen to and easier to watch, because I often get tongue-tied when I'm doing a real presentation in front of the class. :} media type="youtube" key="FRqgVIvtz54?rel=0" height="315" width="420" o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o =Very Late Hamlet Blog Posts! = = = =Since this was supposed to be completed during the reading of Hamlet rather than after reading Hamlet, I will handle this by posting about whatever parts of the play I found the most interesting! Also, I will posting them in reverse chronological order, by the date they were supposed to be due. =

(Late) Hamlet Blog #3The one that I was kinda supposed to have posted by February 12th... Today I feel like talking about the ironic situation between Hamlet and Claudius in Act III, Scene 3. Hamlet's predicament is interesting. He stumbles upon the opportune moment to singlehandedly slay Claudius. But he does not take advantage of the situation, and instead has an aside in which he contemplates whether a person killed whilst praying will go to heaven or hell. Hamlet of course wants Claudius to have "his soul damned and black/As hell (94)." However, it is risky. Hamlet does not know "how his audit stands" with God. If Claudius's life is taken while asking for God's forgiveness for the crimes he has committed, it is possible that he may be sent to heaven. The irony of the situation surfaces when Claudius finishes praying, and out of Hamlet's earshot says: //My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.////Words without thoughts never to heaven go.// First off, I LOVE how it rhymes! ^-^Besides that, it makes me furious that Hamlet didn't just kill Claudius when he had the chance. Although Claudius prayed to God, he is saying that he doesn't actually feel guilty for his sins/crimes. He is reaping benefits! He is now King, he has the Queen. Life could not get any better for him. It is basically impossible to feel bad about doing something bad when the effects of your actions fall in your favor.

**Essential Question: ** What is insanity and how do we know if it's real? Who has the right to judge madness?

He's beginning to sound slightly insane, and I only say this because if I were him, I would have //jumped// on the opportunity to get revenge on the man who killed my father, regardless of where he would be sent in his afterlife! But by legal standards? No, I do not believe he is insane.

This situation frustrates me because I know that if Hamlet had killed Claudius at that instant, he would have been sent to hell. What kind of sick, twisted person would kill his own brother?! Murder is not something that can be easily forgiven. If you do it, it had better be self-defense. Of course, if he had jumped on the opportunity, Hamlet would go to hell too, someday.

Whenever I think of Hamlet, I am reminded of this particular scene from __Freaky Friday! __ media type="youtube" key="cn4NcqsgmMM?rel=0" height="315" width="560" //"You mean to say that he is a man who couldn't make up his mind."//--Mr. Bates, __Freaky Friday__ with Lindsay Lohan o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (Late) Hamlet Blog #2 The one that was due by February 5th, 2012 

 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech is probably one of the most famous Shakespeare soliloquies. It's the kind of thing you reference as a kid before you know what it really means. Actually being able to read it and see just how confusing it really is, was quite an honor.

The speech is Hamlet's long-winded way of asking a simple question that is even thought about often nowadays: Is it easier to live or die? Throughout the passage, he compares life to a "sea of troubles" that causes "heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks," and he calls death "sleep." Hamlet does not know what death is like, but his best guess is that it is "perchance to dream" compared to the "sweat under a weary life." Ah, the prospect of death being as comfy as a good night's sleep. If only we could verify that concept! Then we'd all be dead! He then talks about how death is an "undiscover'd country" from which "no traveller returns," which brings a more eerie image to mind. I personally thought of a dark, dry wasteland with a starless sky, inhabited by walking skeletons.

**Essential Question:** What is insanity and how do we know if it's real? Who has the right to judge madness?  From this speech, Hamlet doesn't seem insane at all. He only seems like a contemplative, deep thinker. I wouldn't base his insanity off of this passage. This topic is not unusual at all, perhaps the kind of thing you'd talk to your best friend about on a late night, or even a random stranger you've just met. Some psychologists believe that in order to be a creative thinker, you must be insane, so perhaps this speech is a giveaway in that sense.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Hamlet's on to something here. I've thought about how tough life is, and I do think that if death were like sleep, it would be easier. School, senioritis, college acceptance, social pressures... The list goes on. Despite all these deterrences, there are some things about life that makes me // not // want to be dead, though. There are too many things about life that I love, like music, family, and friends. And who knows, maybe I'd get bored of death? If there's anything to be bored of at all. If I could, I would ask someone who knows. But I've never met a dead person. That's funny, because Hamlet has.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">An E-mail to the Wrong Wife Joke: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">After being nearly snowbound for two weeks last winter, a Seattle man departed for his vacation in Miami Beach, where he was to meet his wife the next day at the conclusion of her business trip to Minneapolis. They were looking forward to pleasant weather and a nice time together. Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix up at the boarding gate, and the man was told he would have to wait for a later flight. He tried to appeal to a supervisor but was told the airline was not responsible for the problem and it would do no good to complain. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Upon arrival at the hotel the next day, he discovered that Miami Beach was having a heat wave, and its weather was almost as uncomfortably hot as Seattle's was cold. The desk clerk gave him a message that his wife would arrive as planned. He could hardly wait to get to the pool area to cool off, and quickly sent his wife an e-mail, but due to his haste, he made an error in the e-mail address. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">His message therefore arrived at the home of an elderly preacher's wife whose even older husband had died only the day before. When the grieving widow opened her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out an anguished scream, and fell to the floor dead. Her family rushed to her room where they saw this message on the screen: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Dearest wife, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Departed yesterday as you know. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Just now got checked in. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Some confusion at the gate. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Appeal was denied. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Received confirmation of your arrival tomorrow. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Your loving husband. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">P.S. Things are not as we thought. You're going to be <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">surprised at how hot it is down here.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

1984 Final Project

March 23 2012

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__Lyrics__:

It all started in 1984 Minitrue was the place Winston worked for (Orwell, 7) He rewrote history and more To make big brother always seem right And he sometimes thought that there just might Be something wrong with this (37) Society thought that big brother was great (17) He really watched them all took their privacy away (6) You can't trust anyone You can't trust, or you're done

War is peace (7) Down with Big Brother (19)

Julia gave him a simple note It said "I love you" and it gave him hope (90) His hatred for her now revoked (100) O'Brien got them in The Brotherhood (141) Cause they're against Big Brother's livelihood They wanna bring him down for good (146) The Brotherhood is a secret group Its own members don't know who's in the loop (144) You can't trust anyone You can't trust, or you're done

Freedom is slavery (7) Down with Big Brother (19)

Winston and Julia were caught One day by the police of thought (182) And taken to Miniluv (186) O'Brien wasn't one to trust (197) And from the start he set them up He brought them to Room 101 There he was tortured psychologically (234) Submitted to his fear and betrayed fully (236) You can't trust anyone You can't trust, or you're done

Ignorance is strength (7) Down with Big Brother (19)

You can't trust anyone (I love Big Brother, Down with Big Brother) You can't trust or you're done...

<span style="background-color: #fffdde; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I have written and recorded a song about 1984, the novel. I recorded this song on Garageband. I had a tune in my head, and then started writing lyrics based on the events from the book. I programmed the drums first then recorded my guitar and voice. I added bass because the recording sounded too empty without it! <span style="background-color: #fffdde; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I chose this format for the project because music is my passion and I love writing and recording songs.

<span style="background-color: #fffdde; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Song written 100% by me! <span style="background-color: #fffdde; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Singing and guitar recorded by me. <span style="background-color: #fffdde; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Bass and drums programmed by me. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Hamlet Blog Post #1 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">January 29th 2012

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Essential Question: What is insanity and how do we know if it's real? Who has the right to judge madness?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"><range type="comment" id="992020">Well, only having read the first section of the play, no one really seems that crazy yet... But from those movie versions. Dang, that situation looks really awkward, with his mother marrying his uncle. Poor Hamlet. In the Mel Gibson version, Hamlet's mother seemed quite crazy. The kissing made me cringe. I don't even know what to think yet... I want to base my analysis off the text version of the play but we haven't really read much yet. If those movies versions are true-to-the-text, I assume the entire play will be even more awkward. Great.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Frankenstein Individual Project: "Writing" #3 September 16th 2011

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">__ The Monster __ lyrics

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Whoa, whoa <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Whoa, whoa

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">He wasn’t the average man <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Just wait til you hear his crazy plan <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Playing God, a task beyond belief <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Creating life by his own means

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Sewn pieces of dead bodies <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">A spark of life, it was born <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Never thought about the consequence <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">He fell asleep and the monster left (Shelley, 43)

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">The monster lives in you <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">It did bad things but so did you <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">The monster had a heart but (Shelley, 87) <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">You pushed him away and it fell apart

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">His brother was killed soon <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Suspecting the monster (Shelley, 130) <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">The monster wanted just one thing <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">To be accepted by anything

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">He said “Frankenstein, you must comply, <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">“You must make me a monster bride” (Shelley, 133) <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This time the scientist said “no” <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Cause this time he knows how it’d go

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">The monster lives in you <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">It did bad things but so did you <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">The monster had a heart but <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">You pushed him away and it fell apart x2

<span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 80%;">Song written 100% by me! <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 80%;">Singing and guitar recorded by me. <span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 80%;">Bass, drums, and piano programmed by me.

<span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I have written and recorded a song about Frankenstein, the novel. I recorded The Monster on Garageband. I started with the “whoa” intro as a lead, and then created a piano part to go underneath it, and added drums, bass, and guitars until I had an entire song formatted. Then, I sang the lyrics I’d written to go along with the instrumental parts. <span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I chose this format for the project because songwriting and recording are what I love to do. When I find myself procrastinating important things (like homework from other classes) I’m usually doing something music related. I decided that if I incorporated music into a project, it would help me get it done, and it did! <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o