black + white = grey

Everything in Macbeth is somehow compared to light and dark, an action, a person, and feelings, include a few. Whenever the death of a character is being plotted, by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, they call upon the darkness, the night, to aid in their miss doings. "Come, thick night, and pale thee in the funnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wounds it makes." In this scene Lady Macbeth is calling on the night to conceal her immoral actions. Here we see darkness being used as something to cloak wicked exploits. In scene one, act four, Macbeth says "Let not the light see my black and deep desires", here he is referring to his desire to kill Duncan and his hopes that Duncan will not look past Macbeth's facade of courtesy. Darkness represents the heinous and destructive side of human nature while lightness describes the good of human nature, or the countenance of moral correctness.

In Macbeth light is often used to describe innocence. In Macbeth many of the characters often wish of lightness of darkness to protect them from the consequences of their actions. "Come, selling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, and with thy bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale" (3.2.50). In this scene Macbeth wishes for the night to arrive and cast out the good of day, so that the night may cast out Banquo.  Macbeth wants night to come sooner so that he can take off his mask of "paleness" or blamelessness. In Macbeth the themes of light and dark go hand in hand with death which is a prevalent concept in the play.

(click 'read more'  for reading/work times)

Mournful Macbeth

Act 2, Scene 3 (p.65)

"The night has been unruly. Where we lay,

Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,

Lamentings heard i' th' air, strange screams of death,

And prophesying with accents terrible

Of dire combustion and confused events

New hatched to the woeful time. The obscure bird

Clamored the livelong night. Some say the Earth

Was feverous and did shake."

The night as wild and disorderly, as though something in the universe was amiss. While I was asleep wind came through our chimneys and blew the fires out. Many said they could hear cries of grief, screams of those dying, heinous voices prophesying cataclysms that will bring a new age of terror. I could hear the owl squawking through the night. Some said that the ground shook like the earth had a fever. 

In the quote above Lennox is describing to Macbeth the strange occurrences of the previous night. At the time Lennox is not aware that the previous night King Duncan was killed. These lines above foreshadow the discovery of Duncan's body. Shakespeare also uses dramatic irony to evoke apprehension in the audience. We, the audience, are aware the Duncan has been killed and his the cause of these bizarre events occurring that night, but Lennox is unaware. Lennox notes that "lamentings [were] heard" and that voices were predicting cataclysms, which foreshadows the entire play. This passage is important because Duncan's death does not only affect the people around him, but the balance of the world. 

(click 'read more'  for reading/work times)

The End of an Era

As all of us know, freshman year of high school is coming to an end. I can honestly say I happy to be closing this chapter of a fairy tail novel. This year has gone but unbelievably quickly. High school is definitely a step up from eight grade, not being chaperoned by adults for eight hours a day has it perks. I delights me to know that 1/4 of my high school career is almost officially over. If I were to rate freshman year I'd give it three stars, it wasn't particularly thrilling but it did have it's high moments.

Summer is on the horizon and I'm ready. This summer will be thrill packed,  and I'll make sure of it. I'm leaving the country for a week, and will be away from home for over a month. I can't wait to leave the classroom and enter the real world to experience my youth. I most excited for the lack of school work and information that can be used later in life. The end of school couldn't arrive sooner.

(click 'read more'  for reading times)

Connect to Macbeth

Everyone is capable of lying, betrayal, and violence, which are basic parts of human nature.

I strongly agree that doing things that are morally incorrect are a part of human nature. I've witnessed betrayal and lies from people that seemingly would never do such things. It's common knowledge that everyone lies, and it's true everyone does, even if the lies someone tells are small or white lies. Some people may be physically violent, but more people are verbally and emotional violent. People don't necessarily have violent personalities but certain situations can bring out an ugly side in all of us. Although everyone is capable of betrayal and violence some people are less susceptible to allowing those feelings to overcome them and to act upon them, after all how were supposed to be civil if we don't. 

In the first couple scenes that class went over in Macbeth, we were introduced to a cast privy to lying, betrayal, and violence, first scene was a bloody battle. The reader already sees an upcoming betrayal on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's part on King Duncan. As a reader/audience we see the manipulation of the Weird Sisters and how their prophecies bring about the worst in Macbeth and his wife. We can see that violence will following this betrayal, just as violence followed the betrayal of the former thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth is a prime example of a character willing to use lies, betrayal, and violence in order to gain the upper hand.

reading/working times

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
pg. 1 -96
2 hours

Nervous Conditions work
dessert - 1.5 hours
appetizer - 2 hours
side - 45 minutes

work times

Reading:

The GoldFinch - Donna Tartt
pages 167-705
2 hours (throughout the week and in class)

Studying for poetry test:

Thurs. 2/20 - 1 hour (made flashcards and review terms)
Fri. 2/21 - 1 hour (looked over poems and looked for meter)
Sat. 2/22 - 1 hour (reviewing flashcards and handouts)

Be Happy, Because I Said So.

Be a teen,
a young adult,
a young person, 
a kid,
a jerk.
be ignorant,
never belligerent 

Be skinny, flawless, pretty, 
and modest. 
Never be good-natured
Mean is what I really mean.

Being mean is, 
is different than 
being opinionated.

Be boyish, tough, emotionless, 
and cruel.

Be fake.
"Stupid is funny."
"You're funny."

B+, F, C-, D, D, D, B.  ibuprofen.
School. 
Sport.
Sleep.
repeat. cry
Men don't cry.

Be perfect.
Never condemn what defines you.

Be the label that defines you,
don't define yourself.

Become the person to rewrite it.
Erase,
so hateful.
Helpful.

Achieve the pursuit of a youth that will only be cruel. 

Be happy.

Because I said so.
"Don't forget to smile."


 (click 'read more' to poetry techniques)