Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Othello Coding


O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts,suspects, yet fondly loves!


1.) Translation: You must be careful about jealousy Othello, for it it only leads to the destruction of both involved. Even if you are being two-timed by Desdemona, you can still be happy with the knowledge, and not befriend the one she now loves. And over this period of time, you should display your affection to her, but always keep information away from her. You must always hold you suspicions, in order to not fall into jealousy.
2.)          : The color of greed
          : Repeated use of commas, showing the the breaths Iago makes while telling Othello about jealousy
underline: refers to word meaning a husband(Othello) being left by a wife who has eyes on another(Desdemona).
         : Contrasting words of love and doubt, meaning that in order to not be engulfed by jealously, one must display affection, but hold his own suspicions and thoughts to himself. 
          : Metaphor of jealousy, speaking about how jealousy destroys the one being afflicted and the one suffering from it.

3.) Iago is saying that jealousy destroys all who are affected by it, being it the sufferer or the affected. And if one is not recognizing it until it is too late, they will find themselves hurt and confused on whether to hurt a friend or not, thus leading to everyone's demise.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Pre-Othello Assignment

" A person's love can be gained through material wealth." : Personally, I disagree with this statement since people should be able to find the one who is  spiritually and mentally compatible with them, without looking at what's around them. However, people are always judging others and making decisions about what they judge. This can cause people to make decisions to meet someone in the belief that they will be given back a material in return, and satisfying that person. And in the long run of things, the other person who meets with the wealthy may learn to truly love the person. So universally, love can be created through wealth, by bringing people together.

1) Venice: Venice is located in Italy, and during the 16th century, the city was in a state of decline. The economy was experiencing a crisis due to traders moving to America, and merchants dependent on Venice found new trade routes. This caused political power to fall, but the arts became a focus in the city, and this soon brings up many talents within the city while it recovers from its economic crisis.

2) Cyprus: Is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey. During the 16th century, Cyprus was very important because it was the home to the Ottoman Empire after it was invaded. The Ottoman Empire gained more power during this time when it enlisted people in economic crisis, and this later helped the economy of many countries recover.

3) Moors: The Moors are Muslims from North Africa(specifically Algeria), who were forced to move into Europe during the 16th Century because of they did not own any land after a military loss, and had to live in Europe to survive.

4)Turks: In general, foreigners were looked at negatively and alienated because of skin color and religious beliefs. Non-Christians and Turks were treated very cruelly because of religion, which forced them to hide their religion, or convert.

5) Epilepsy: It causes seizures that range from lost of alertness, violent shaking, or staring spells. During the Renaissance, epilepsy was thought of as a sign of great intelligence and prophetic powers coming to a person, or a disease that can only be cured by touching holy relics. Now, people think of it as a disorder that causes seizures in certain individuals.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

"Easter 1916" Coding

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No,no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse-
Macdonagh and Macbride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly;
A terrible beauty is born.

Highlighted Background: Rhyming words, and the matching colors are the words that rhyme together.
Highlighted Text: Repeated use of words.
underline: Names of those who died in the Easter Rebellion
Italics: The actions taking place during the rebellion, and the deaths of those who are fighting
Bold Stone: Meaning permanent and even forever remembered
Different font: Terrible beauty, meaning a great thing was born, through a horrible process.

This stanza is speaking about how those who died will be forever remembered and spoken about for their dreams, actions, and importance within Ireland. However, W.B. Yeats believes their deaths may have been pointless in the end, since they died because Pearse and Clarke both went ahead with their attack even though not all of their men were ready. He's saying if they had waited when everyone was ready, they could have still become heroes and succeed in their plans, without them dying. But maybe, they chose this type of death because they didn't want to be recognized alive, as said in the line "[a]nd what if excess of love bewildered them till they died?" They only wanted to be remembered by people as those who began the revolution, and sparked the fire in the Irish, in order for Ireland to gain independence.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Blog Post # 5: Piano Lesson Responses

         I believe that the "piano lesson"  is the Charles family learning to accept and move on together with the past, and not discarding it or staying with it. You see throughout the story that Boy Willie wants to sell the piano and move on with life, while Berniece wants to keep it and never move on. Only in the end, these ideas come together within Berniece, and she keeps the piano, while moving on together with it. August Wilson chose the title The Piano Lesson, because the whole story was revolving around what the Charles family needed to learn about themselves, and their past involving the piano.At the end of the story, Boy Willie finally understands the importance of the piano. He understood its importance when Berniece played the piano and sung her family members' names, telling him that the piano holds a great deal of their family within it, and it shouldn't just be given up. What's significant about Berniece calling out her dead ancestors' names to rid the house of Sutter's Ghost is that she understands that her family has been through a lot with the piano, and she shouldn't keep mourning for them, but instead asking them for help with her own life. The purpose of this is that Berniece finally learns to accept the past and move on with life, together with the memories of her family.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Post # 4: Social Mobility


1. Zakaria believes social mobility is going down in the U.S. because the likelihood of children born into poverty rising up to higher classes is low, and the U.S. welfare state is not spending  on the poor, but the middle class. In many parts of the U.S, those who are poor end up with less food, and a bad education. Because of this, the poor are never given equal living conditions as the middle and upper classes, and opportunities for the poor show up significantly less. Also, since the U.S. welfare state chooses to only focus on the middle class, the distance between the poor and the rich slowly increases, and this may soon make it impossible for any lower class people to move up in the U.S.

2. Equality within basic needs for life is a big factor for the U.S. to get back on track with the American Dream and social mobility, because if all classes are given the same education, health care, etc, both the poor and middle classes have opportunities to move up within social classes. This relates to the American Dream of people wanting to become successful, and maybe even better than their predecessors, because if everyone isn't given the same pieces to build up their life, no one can achieve anything they want for their life.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Post # 3: The Piano Lesson Act 1



1. The Ghosts of the Yellow Dog are the Boy Charles and the four hobos that died on the Yellow Dog railroad. They may have been hit by a train, and now they're out for revenge.

2.The "n word" is being used in a friendly term between the the characters in early Act 1, and they only use it to refer to one another without using names.

3.The Irene Kauffman Settlement House seems to be a sort of place that helps the poor, because Berniece has Maretha go there so that she can become a teacher. You feel the sense that they may be poor or struggling because during the time in the play, racism still exists, and this effects many black families during that time.

4. Parchman Farm is referring to an actual prison from the 1900's, because Boy Willie said that he and Lymon did time there for three years, which means they were in jail for three years.