Dishonesty makes up a lot of the humor in the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. Particularly the misunderstandings of who should be married to whom. Gwendolen and Cecily both think that they are going to be married to Earnest, but in reality Earnest is an entirely made up figure from a result of what Algernon calls bunburying. Epigrams are also a type of humor that is put into the play. For example, "Cecily: It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time. The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone whom one has just been introduced is almost unbearable" (pg. 52). This is usually not true for most people because you would have gotten to know someone better if you were to spend a longer amount of time with them and therefore hate to see them go. Someone you have just met though, you would most likely not care as much. Satire of social institutions also contain dishonesty. Engagement between Gwendolen and Jack or Algernon and Cecily was not at all honest because of the confusion that the woman both thought that they would be married to a man named Earnest, when they were not. Education was made fun of when Cecily says: "Dr. Chasuble is a most learned man. He has never written a single book, so you can imagine how much he knows." (pg. 56). Jack and Algernon are both very dishonest when they pretend to be Earnest and decide to marry Gwendolen and Cecily with that lie. Therefore they were both not being very earnest by pretending to be Earnest. The pursuit of pleasure is Algernon and Jack trying to have pleasure by being dishonest. For example, Jack goes to town and pretends to be Earnest as a form of pleasure, and gets engaged to Gwendolen while he is at it. Algernon enjoys bunburying in the country and gets engaged to Cecily. These are both forms of pleasure that the two men take with dishonesty.
I think that Wilde is trying to say that even though being dishonest is a action to be looked down upon, there can also be conclutions that end up better with the factor of dishonesty. At the end of this play three couples end up engaged and Jack finds out a lot more about his family because they were being dishonest. I also think that Wilde was trying to be lighthearted about this subject. Shown with him writing a comedy. The characters in this play also do not seem to have taken the excessive bunburying too seriously and it all ends up that everyone lives "happily ever after".
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Animal Farm Project Evaluation
1. Giselle
2. Slideshow
3. I thought that Giselle's project really summarized the novel in a symbolic and clear way. Foreshadowing was also portrayed when clues were given out to the reader that a leadership like the one on Animal Farm is hard to avoid because there always has to be one person that eventually comes out on top.
1. Adora
2. Poem
3. Adora's poem was in Boxer's point of view, and after I read it I thought that it was interesting because the other projects were all focusing on Napoleon, but to see it from an ordinary farm animal and not the "leader" was a nice change. At the same time, it still showed symbolism in that Boxer was the spokesperson for all the animals on the farm.
1. Thomessa
2. Scribd
3. Thomessa did her online project as a representation of how the Animal Farm has changed before and after the ruling of Napoleon. By showing how the rules changed, I think it was a very effective way of doing this symbolically, and this also represented the theme of the story.
1. Angela
2. Diagram
3. Angela's diagram is very organized in a way that you can tell which animals are in the lower class and which are considered the higher class. This is symbolism in the way that you can represent this information in the form of a triangle, it is also pretty ironic that she put the human people around the edges because it is comparing the novel to the present tense political situation.
1. Talia
2. Diagram
3. I thought that this diagram was very informational and conveyed the literary elements present in the book very well. I especially like the fine line separating Napoleon from the other animals. That really symbolized the controlling state in which Napoleon was in.
1. Hailey
2. Poem
3. This poem had a very distinct parallel with the novel, so you could clearly tell that it was based off it. It was very nicely written and in the animal's point of view, which I thought was interesting to see what they thought of the rebellion.
1. Kayla and Kelsey
2. Comic Strip
3. I enjoyed looking at this comic strip, it correctly portrayed how Napolean took control of the farm by using just one senario: Napolean tells them that the windmill was his idea in the first place, and gives the orders for it to be made while he stands by, then it gets knocked down and the animals (excluding him) have to start all over again. By using this scenario, it symbolizes how Napoleon takes control of the farm.
1. Emily
2. Diagrams
3. Unlike some of the other diagrams I have seen, Emily's was two of them being compared together. I thought that this was a very effective way of showing the parallels to the Russian Revolution and also showing symbolism of who had more power then who.
1. Kylie
2. Photoshop
3. This project was very creative! I loved how the rules were written and the added parts were in a different font, and symbolism was correctly portrayed when "Napolean" was on the side of the picture with a crown on him that symbolised power and control like a king.
1. Sidney
2. Poem
3. I thought that this poem was well written and you could clearly tell that it is a parallel from the novel Animal Farm. I especilly enjoyed reading the last stanza and thought that it summarized the last chapter perfectly.
I put a lot of effort into my project, and I hope that it shows in the final product. Comparing my project with those of my classmates, I think that effort-wise I put in a little more then some people. But when it comes to showing symbolism and parallels to the Russian Revolution, a movie trailer was probably not the best medium in expressing these things, though my partner and I tried very hard to do so.
2. Slideshow
3. I thought that Giselle's project really summarized the novel in a symbolic and clear way. Foreshadowing was also portrayed when clues were given out to the reader that a leadership like the one on Animal Farm is hard to avoid because there always has to be one person that eventually comes out on top.
1. Adora
2. Poem
3. Adora's poem was in Boxer's point of view, and after I read it I thought that it was interesting because the other projects were all focusing on Napoleon, but to see it from an ordinary farm animal and not the "leader" was a nice change. At the same time, it still showed symbolism in that Boxer was the spokesperson for all the animals on the farm.
1. Thomessa
2. Scribd
3. Thomessa did her online project as a representation of how the Animal Farm has changed before and after the ruling of Napoleon. By showing how the rules changed, I think it was a very effective way of doing this symbolically, and this also represented the theme of the story.
1. Angela
2. Diagram
3. Angela's diagram is very organized in a way that you can tell which animals are in the lower class and which are considered the higher class. This is symbolism in the way that you can represent this information in the form of a triangle, it is also pretty ironic that she put the human people around the edges because it is comparing the novel to the present tense political situation.
1. Talia
2. Diagram
3. I thought that this diagram was very informational and conveyed the literary elements present in the book very well. I especially like the fine line separating Napoleon from the other animals. That really symbolized the controlling state in which Napoleon was in.
1. Hailey
2. Poem
3. This poem had a very distinct parallel with the novel, so you could clearly tell that it was based off it. It was very nicely written and in the animal's point of view, which I thought was interesting to see what they thought of the rebellion.
1. Kayla and Kelsey
2. Comic Strip
3. I enjoyed looking at this comic strip, it correctly portrayed how Napolean took control of the farm by using just one senario: Napolean tells them that the windmill was his idea in the first place, and gives the orders for it to be made while he stands by, then it gets knocked down and the animals (excluding him) have to start all over again. By using this scenario, it symbolizes how Napoleon takes control of the farm.
1. Emily
2. Diagrams
3. Unlike some of the other diagrams I have seen, Emily's was two of them being compared together. I thought that this was a very effective way of showing the parallels to the Russian Revolution and also showing symbolism of who had more power then who.
1. Kylie
2. Photoshop
3. This project was very creative! I loved how the rules were written and the added parts were in a different font, and symbolism was correctly portrayed when "Napolean" was on the side of the picture with a crown on him that symbolised power and control like a king.
1. Sidney
2. Poem
3. I thought that this poem was well written and you could clearly tell that it is a parallel from the novel Animal Farm. I especilly enjoyed reading the last stanza and thought that it summarized the last chapter perfectly.
I put a lot of effort into my project, and I hope that it shows in the final product. Comparing my project with those of my classmates, I think that effort-wise I put in a little more then some people. But when it comes to showing symbolism and parallels to the Russian Revolution, a movie trailer was probably not the best medium in expressing these things, though my partner and I tried very hard to do so.
Monday, January 3, 2011
EC: New Year's Resolution
Let's just say that keeping New Year's resolutions is not one of my strong suits. I start with enough motivation that I think will last me the entire year, but no, it dwindles to nothing after a month or two. I say that I'll start running in the mornings tomorrow, then tomorrow becomes the next day, and the next day, until before I know it, its been an entire year and the cycle starts over again. This year... well, I'll try to keep my motivation high, but no guarantees there. I have a few resolutions that I would like to achieve this year (if possible...) and they are as follows:
- Organize My Time More Efficiently: This is something that I have been struggling with for the past few years since homework started to come piling in. I will make myself a schedule and a to do list but not follow it at all. If I were to complete this resolution, I would hope the outcome to be going to sleep earlier and a noticeable decrease in my stress level.
- Get In Shape/Start Jogging: Alright, so I have made this resolution a few times in the past, but this time I hope that it will actually take place and I will have the self control to get off that computer and jog around the neighborhood once in a week. The weather might be a barrier, but I guess I use that as an excuse too often.
- Swim More: Joining the swim team this year was great, I meet so many more people, and exercised too. I love the competitive feel of meets and the school spirit. Therefore, this year, I plan to go to the YMCA at least three times a week to swim and hopefully decrease my times. Right now I can swim 50 yards freestyle in 32.62 seconds, so this year, I want to make it under 30 seconds. This would also further help my goal of joining JV by Junior year.
- Plan For The Future: In the time being, I have no idea what I would like to have as a career. Not a single clue. I do have a few more years, but I think it would help make myself more motivated if I had a clear goal to what I would like to be when I grow up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)