The semester has come to an end, yes! no more essays. Well that's until grade 12 English. Other than that, the semester went by too fast. Having Ms. Mazzaferro as my English teacher was a blast. I really enjoyed her ways of teaching, such as, instead of reading the entire Macbeth play Ms. Mazz shows us videos on You tube to make our lives easier. The chapter summaries for BNW and Macbeth were a life saver when it came to quizzes, and especially the exam.
Grade 11 English was not how I expected to be, it was much better. It was a fun class, while socializing with friends, I got to learn at the same time. I guess that's why it seemed so fast. I hope Ms. Mazz enjoyed our company and we left a good impression with her. The grade 11 English was a great experience, although I did not like the novel Brave New World, I enjoyed Macbeth and I think it should always be used. The fact that we did not have to use as many books as the previous years was a relief. Hoping to see Ms. Mazz again next year as my teacher, I move on to my next semester eager to meet my new teachers and crossing my fingers for teachers like Ms. M.
Being A Man
Today if you asked what it takes to be a man, on average the response you would get would be strength, power, money, and so on. This is because of what media and entertainers have portrayed manhood to be to the audience. The ‘man’ would be seen shooting people, or maybe showing the amount of jets or cars he owns, or even how strong and big he is that no one would fight him. The meaning of manhood varies from culture to culture, but today it is just assumed as what media shows it as. Just because you do not have anything that is shown on TV, does that mean you are not a man?
The points that Michael Pearl lays out on his article ‘What does it mean to be a Man?’ correspond to my view of a true man. Taking responsibility of your life and responsibility of your actions is what a true man means. A man fulfils his duties as a son, a father, a brother, a husband, and a friend. A man must stand up for his beliefs and principles.
A man has to face challenges day to day which he can’t back off, or depend on others to face them for him. As a man, you are responsible for what you do and what you must do. Dependence on others will only make you weak as a man. A very good example is the “decision maker” of the family. Taking care of the entire family is his responsibility, making the choices that are best for his family, and most important of all, not depending on his family to do his duty. Independence shows the confidence in a man to take challenges.
Not having a family does not mean you have no responsibilities. As a bachelor, a man should be successful in life. A secure job, aiming higher, and maturity should be some of the many characteristics of a man. Being powerful, rich, and muscular have no relation to what a real man should be. His thoughts, actions and principles determine if he is a man.
Whose Fault is It?
Lady Macbeth was the root of the decisions and actions that were done by Macbeth. She provoked Macbeth by questioning his manhood, telling him that she would kill her own baby for this kind of an opportunity, and awaking Macbeth’s desires. Although the three witches did trigger the situation, it wasn’t until Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to take the foul steps to make the future come true. Lady Macbeth was not the average woman of the period this play was written. Women were not considered equal to men, they were meant to stay at home and have a lower education than men. They were all housewives and not to be involved in major matters outside their houses, and because of all that they were always quite and considered weaker than men (physically and mentally).
Lady Macbeth knew her husband was emotionally weak and respected humanity. In order for Macbeth to make any moves towards the prophecy she knew she had to take over, plan everything out and persuade Macbeth to doing it. Macbeth believed in the prophecies as the first one came true instantly, but to be king it was completely different from he thought. King Duncan had announced his sons as the heir to the crown. Lady Macbeth had figured that the prophecy had to come true one way or another and that is how she persuaded Macbeth. After she reads the letter and tells Macbeth her plan, Macbeth refuses and Lady Macbeth questions him about his manhood. “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more, is none” [7.1.50]. This quote shows that Macbeth knows what it means to be a man and have humanity within him. Lady Macbeth tells her husband that he is backing off when the opportunity is given to him. “How tender.....dash’d the brains out”[7.1.60], she tells Macbeth what she would do as a woman if she was given the opportunity and puts Macbeth into a question whether he should agree to what his wife is planning.
Macbeth never had intentions of claiming the throne at any cost, at most he would have thought that the prophecy that came true is a coincidence, since the heir of the throne was Duncan’s son. Macbeth was loyal to the king, but Lady Macbeth made changed his thoughts to that he is the real heir as the witches predicted, and the king must pay for his wrongdoings. The witches were just the trigger, but Lady Macbeth was the “brain” behind the entire plan and actions. Macbeth had desires, but Lady Macbeth was the one who changed it into evil greed. Macbeth still had humanity within him and this was obvious when he regretted about what he had done. In the end Macbeth faces his consequences like a brave soldier that he was known for, and not the traitor Lady Macbeth had turned him into.
The Allure of Prophecy
The play Macbeth by Shakespeare has the three witches that make a prediction to Macbeth’s future. He would be future king, but he began doubting as the king announced his son to take his place. He took matters into his own hands and eventually paid the price with his life. Back then people believed in spirits and would believe in prophecies. Today in the 21st century spirits are never taken into consideration for anything more than beliefs, but there are still people who predict the future. A very well known psychic would be Sylvia Browne.
She claims that she can communicate with the spirits, which in turn can tell her predictions, talk to the dead, and advice you about your future. In my opinion, I would trust the daily horoscope on the newspaper over her predictions. What I am trying to say is that her “predictions” are too general and some are just common facts. In the Hindu culture there are also predictions made, most of them are from using astrology and numerology. I do not believe in them, but I have heard many predictions coming true. An example would be my father’s prediction about his working visa. He asked a priest in July whether he will be accepted or denied for the visa, and the priest said that he will get it in the month of October. That would be something worth believing as the priest gave the time range for the prediction.
I watched several video clips with Sylvia Browne on the Montel Show, where she made predictions for the audience. Most of the questions were about a person missing, how the victim died, if the victim is still living or not and etc. Browne’s answers were completely off for many of them, they had no relation to the victim. An example was “My boyfriend is been missing for over 5 years, what do you think happened to him?” Sylvia replied with no thoughts that she sees him drowning. When the woman replied that he was missing from 9/11 and he was a firefighter, the entire audience was confused whether Sylvia’s answer had any relation to what could have possibly happened.
For the most time that she has been wrong she tries to cover up what she says with “bizarre” words to try to persuade the person asking the question.
Psychics such as Sylvia Browne use words in a way that would persuade the audience. She is completely wrong and has caused many breakdowns for people with her predictions. On the other hand she has gained the trust of many people using clever words and not getting into anything specific. People who claim to have such abilities are definitely not sincere, especially Sylvia Browne. Charging $700 for a phone consultation which is under one hour is just business and nothing more.
I do respect the prophecies in other religions, but back to Sylvia Browne she doesn’t claim to have these “powers” from any religion, philosophies, or even principles. As a Hindu, believing in talking to the dead would be absolutely out of the question as in Hinduism the soul leaves the body and goes to the next one after death(reincarnation).
Out of all of the predictions Sylvia made for the year 2007 not very many came true and it should make us wonder why people still look up to her for answers after the breakdowns people have suffered from her words.
Introduction
Welcome everyone! This is my blog for my grade 11 english class, i will be posting blogs and discussions from my class. Hope you enjoy, and comment on anything you like or not.
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