Hamlet Cray or Nay?

One of the most debated topics in the story of Hamlet is whether or not Hamlet acts crazy or is actually insane. This debate begins at first true occurrence of the story: the spotting of the ghost. Some people immediately believe that the ghost is only a figment of his imagination and does not exist. It can be countered that because Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus saw the ghost as well it must be true. Later on in the story when Hamlet is with Queen Gertrude in the bedroom a counter argument is formed. In this scene, Hamlet is in the middle of talking to his mother when a ghost appears. At the sight of the ghost Queen Gertrude looks at Hamlet saying,"Alas, he's mad!" (Act 3, Scene 4) because she cannot see the ghost that Hamlet sees. This could obviously support the initial idea of the ghost being nothing but imaginary. Reading ahead (Lol), Hamlet clearly admits to his mother that "essentially am not in madness but mad in craft" (Act 3, Scene 4). It is easy to believe that even at this point Hamlet could still be lying. The only thing that supports the validity of  his statement is the fact that he had just compassionately taken instruction from his father to be sweet towards his mother and talk to her. As of this point I truly believe that Hamlet's "madness" is all a facade. On the other side of it, i don't trust Queen Gertrude to keep is secret..idk. I also look forward to seeing how this may or may not affect or reveal something about Hamlets true feelings toward Ophelia...

Side not: I really am enjoying the 1996 version of Hamlet. Although I did not really imagine the male characters in the Hamlet family to be blonde, i really could imagine the humorous and insane actions of Hamlet. As for the 2009 BBC version, its too modern for me, but it did capture the awkward interpretation of Hamlet having a sexual attraction to his mother well (gros!).

Not So Different After All

As human beings we take on the role of being the dominant species on Earth. We are educated, strong, innovative, and conscious creatures. We have conquered great areas and ruled everything on the Earth. The largest category of creatures most inferior to us is animals. In comparison to our supreme statues and civil ways, animals are looked down upon and given a bad name due to there vicious natural instincts. We as humans are far too smart to ever stoop down to the level of animals. False. There are dozens of stories throughout history that expose the "flaws" of human beings as equally vicious and inhuman. For example, last year in 10th grade english class we read a book called "The Lord of the Flies." In this book a group of school boys, escaping war had a plan crash onto an unknown island. On this island the boys used what they knew about the "proper" way in which humans beings were supposed to act. It did not take long before the boys not only began to mercilessly murder animals but eventually each other. Of course this is from a book, but it expressed the truth behind the natural instincts of humans to do whatever is needed to survive. Similarly, this can be seen from the essay that we read this week that suggested the poor and hungry Irish people to eat babies and sell them for profit. Even in the Bible, when the city of Jerusalem was taken captive and refused food, did the people result to eating each other dead or alive. As seen there are plenty of examples of the true nature of human beings and its extent. I'm not suggesting that people don't already know these things, but rather I'm refreshing the reader to not be quick to praise themselves in a time when things are going "good."

Balancing

I agree with Chet Raymo in "A Measure of Restraint". I agree that humans have a responsibility to keep the balance in nature, as the most dominant species on earth. Humans have the ability to to lead, guide, and discover new things, but consequently they also have the ability to bring things to the light that were meant to stay in the dark. The perfect allusion to my declaration comes from the beginning of time itself with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In this garden, god declared Adam and Even command over all the creatures of the lands. He also told them to not eat the forbidden fruit. Unfortunately, it did not take long before Adam and Eve were tempted by their curiosity to try the forbidden fruit. Once the fruit was eaten, Adam and Eve were filled with the knowledge of all the good and bad in the world and were punished. Not only where they punished but everyone that came after them was punished as well forever. The examples of "curiosity killing the cat" that Chet Raymo used in his story fortunately only has effects for short periods of time. Therefore Chet Raymo's caution about the truly dangerous and permanent use of genetic modification really brings thoughts to mind. Especially for any Christians that know and understand God's word it is scary to to think about changing the way things were meant to be. And even for those who are not Christians, it is scary to ponder the image of another species developing intellectual dominance and eventually taking humans out of the picture. Though it has taken time, the biggest GMO "killers" are the use of hormones, chemicals, and man made refined products. All the things that bring unusual health issues and one of our biggest ever. Overweight people. Yes GMO's are not all bad, but precautions definitely need to be taken by human beings to provide a greater balance and as well maintain human beings health.

What Would the World Be Without Money?

The way I see it, money rules everything that we do. If it were not for the necessities of money, people would be able to live happier and more prosperous lives. People would be able to do the jobs that they love and do it to the fullest. The topic of money and how it rules our lives makes me think of my own journey growing up. Now that I am a junior, I am using this year to think about what college I want to go to and of course what I want to major in. The common majors that come to mind first are in pre-med, law, and business. For me, I have no aspiration to have a career in either of those fields. I want to go into music production industry as the type of person that engineers audio. Compared to the popular and successful majors, I don't stand a chance of living the "American Dream" with an abundance of money and the ability to purchase anything I want. But the more I talk with my parents and older individuals the more I feel confident about my decision to do what I love. My mother specifically told me the other day to "make sure you end up doing what you love." I know that my mom said this out of encouragement from of her wisdom about. I see through my mom that life is not always easy and sometimes you really do want to give up but at the end of the day money and power will fade away but love through family friends and passion will last forever.

Never Ending

Recently I was sucked into watching the entire original Planet of the Apes movies. In these movies it was a never ending battle between the earth being ruled by apes or by humans. The majority of the movies showed the earth, specifically humans there, being ruled by Apes. In every scenario, with either the apes or humans in dominance, one group would belittle the other by making each other slaves or targets of disposal. The nature of creatures is to be selfish and competitive, causing, in the case of humans, groups of people to always feel as if they must be on top at any costs. As for the essay of "Black Men in Public Space", it is a classic case of how the white people of that time period treated African-Americans like lesser individuals because of their strong desires to feel as though they were more superior then someone-else. It could be said that in the melting pot that we live in today, prejudice and competition is not as big an issue but that couldn’t be more wrong. Although prejudices and competition are not as exclusive to blacks and whites, it’s still present everywhere. For example, our whole society is built around sources of competition like the Olympics, singing shows, dancing shows, Grammy awards and etc that people will cheat, kill, or die to be a part of. Additionally, there are many stereotypes and prejudices that go with being of a specific ethnicity; like African-American’s as the “gangster killer” or “ghetto person”, Asian’s as “the super genius” or the person with unusual style as the “Druggy ”. All prejudices are wrong and distasteful: Competition is ruthless and cruel. Unfortunately, they are both unchangeable as well. As long as there are creatures on earth there will be prejudice and competition.

"It's the Little Things"

In the story "The Death of the Moth" the Author, Virginia Woolfe describes the simplicity of life that the little moth lives. She watches how he goes effortlessly from corner to corner in the windowpane ultimately to his death. For example, Woolfe writes, “He flew vigorously to one corner of his compartment, and, after waiting there a second, flew to the other.” This description of the moth depicts the simplicity of the moth’s life that is confined to the windowpane. The moth’s life is simple because he only has four choices to choose from in comparison to the activities of the rooks, ploughman and horses outside the window. The simplicity of life makes me think of the saying that "it’s the little things in life". This story inspired me to remember that when the big things in life seem to get you down, remember that life is all around us and that there are so many things to be appreciative of. For example, friends, family and food can make the big things in life not seem so big.

Champion of the World by: Maya Angelo

The story described a scene where a group of African-Americans came together at a small town store to listen to the Joe Louis boxing match. I really enjoyed reading Champion of the World by Maya Angelo because the elements of the story really drew me in. During a time when it seemed that everyone was against them, it was refreshing to see them sticking together. When I read through the story there was a tone of unity that was felt and made me want to keep reading. For example, when Joe Louis gets behind in the fight, Maya describes the thoughts of everyone in the room saying, “We didn't breathe. We didn't hope. We wanted." This quote perfectly symbolizes that even though it was only Joe Louis in the fight that the entire African-American community was with him. Therefore this quote shows the overall theme of togetherness against adversity. Additionally, it was touching that after the win by Joe Louis the African-Americans still hadn't won. Joe Louis winning the fight symbolized African-Americans beating the "white man" and gaining equality among the races. Therefore, when Maya said, “It wouldn't do for a Black man and his family to be caught on a lonely country road on a night when Joe Louis had proved that we were the strongest people in the world", it was attention grabbing. This quote grabbed my attention because it turned a very fanciful moment into a realistic one where despite the win by Joe Louis, far and square, it was never going to change any of their circumstances. In conclusion, the story as a whole held my attention and allowed me to feel emotions and see the environment in which the African-Americans came together at.