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Shakespearean Poetry

The sonnet we read in class is Shakespearean because of its tone and structure. The poem consists of several sets of four lines with ab-ab rhyming schemes, then shifting to an aa rhyming scheme in the last couplet. The other characteristic that makes it Shakespearean is the shift in tone in the last couplet from satirical and insulting to geniuine and almost sweet. The first lines of the poem make fun of love poems by realistically describing someone in a seemingly insulting way. However the shift in the last couplet makes it real. By describing a persons imperfections and then saying that the author still loves the woman shows a new type of "real" love poem, over a fake mushy poem saying how unrealistically beautiful someone is. 

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If Macbeth didn't kill

If Macbeth didn't take things into his own hands and go out and kill for power the entire play would be different. First off, if Macbeth just let things be and didn't gain power at other peoples expense but rather through bettering himself, the play wouldn't be nearly as interesting. The entire play shows how he slowly gets more and more paranoid killing people left and right, without the paranoia, there would be a very different mood to the play. There would also be a very different tone because Shakespeare would be talking about a different subject matter and thus the theme would also be different. Most of these things (tone, mood...) would just be the reciprical of what they are in the original play. For instance the tone would be working hard is the right way to do things rather than ambition could lead to your demise.

Outdoor School

I know this post is really long but it's important to me so please read. I promise it gets more interesting the further in you go.

             I just missed an entire week of school. I have several hours’ worth of makeup work to do. I have to take several tests on Monday. I am going to fail those tests. Do I regret missing school? Absolutely not.

            This past week I decided to go to The Outdoor School with 103 sixth graders from Dunlap Elementary School. I went as a cabin leader with several other students from Righetti, to help the campers have the best experience possible. All the cabin leaders had to come up with fun “nature names” like “Willow” or in my case “Shark Bait.” My role specifically was to be in charge of a group of 13 boys who were in my cabin, “Pismo.” Every night they slept in my cabin and every day I was responsible for making sure they got to activities on time and that they were all quiet and asleep by 9:30. I was also assigned to a dining table where myself and a group of six campers sat to eat every meal together. I made sure they ate enough good food and only took what they could eat so they had minimal waste. I was also placed into a hiking group. The “Fleas” and I went on all the curriculum hikes together listening to the naturalist tell us about specific things about the environment as we hiked: plants, animals, geology, Chumash culture, and a Night hike. On these hikes it was my responsibility to keep the kids quiet while the naturalist talked, encourage kids to get involved asking questions and participating, and lastly making sure no one fell behind on the hikes.

            It may seem like I had a lot of responsibilities when it came to being a Cabin Leader, but it was probably the most fun I’ve had all year. I got to hang out with 11 of my good friends, and develop interesting relationships with kids who didn’t know my real name. I had the opportunity to be a role model for kids who were at an age that they really need one. I remember back when I was in sixth grade and was at outdoor school, I really looked up to the cabin leaders. They were much more relatable than a 30 year old naturalist or a 50 year old teacher. The cabin leaders were in High School. They were the “cool big kids” whom every sixth grader wanted to be. Last week, I got to be that “cool big kid.” All the kids needed the Cabin Leaders for one reason or another. The trouble makers needed someone positive who would give them a reason to be good. The ones who were too afraid to put themselves out there needed someone who would back them up when they did. The quiet ones needed someone who would hear them speak. The bullied needed someone to look out for them. The outsiders needed someone who would include them. I had a different experience with every kid. Every kid looked up to me in a different way. And not to sound full of myself, but it felt good. To go from a world and community where you have no voice, where you are the bottom of the food chain where its every man for himself, to a place where you not only have power, but you’re looked up to and admired, where people respect your leadership and authority, is incredible.  I’ve always enjoyed activities where I get to lead, from refereeing to school activities, but nothing compares being a cabin leader.

            During outdoor school, I woke up at 6:30 every morning, a whole hour before I wake up for school, and I felt energized. The days were exhausting, and I still woke up early every day ready to start the day. I didn’t feel groggy, I never yawned, I was alert. I still don’t have a definite answer why. Taking care of preteens is supposed to be exhausting and it was but I still don’t feel tired. I have a few theories. The first is the energy of the kids. The kids woke up excited to see what the day would hold, and maybe there excitement wore off on me. Second is the fact that I went to bed at a reasonable hour. Lights out in the cabins at 9:30, and even though I didn’t go to sleep until 10:30, I still was asleep earlier than at school. My last theory is my individual experience. I love the outdoors, I love the adventure of the unknown, of seeing knew things, and waking up in a new, beautiful place excited me. Though all of these reasons seem valid the exhaustion hasn’t caught up to me. There is no doubt that this week should have been tiring and no matter what the reason I awoke with energy is, I just am not that tired. Don’t get me wrong I’m not upset I’m not tired, I’m just confused. Maybe the fresh air is the cure to tired.

            As a Cabin Leader I had to help the kids learn, but I have to say, I learned a lot myself. My masterpiece is all about getting outdoors. I absolutely love hiking and getting away from it all, getting dirty hiking through the woods, camping, just full on nature. Outdoor school has reinforced that. Because of outdoor school I have learned the value of opening your mind to the world around you. That sometimes you need to shut up and listen, that hiking at night without a light can be beautiful. That a week without internet and TV and cars and long showers and clean clothes and a working toilet, and all the other modern conveniences really isn’t that bad. While there is value in “coming prepared,” there are things you really don’t need. I only wore two different pairs of pants and a pair of shorts the whole week and switched off between three shirts. I wore the same jacket and same sweatshirt all week. I could have packed in a small backpack. I didn’t need my phone or its charger. There are a lot of things that I would have normally brought but didn’t and I’m glad, because I didn’t need them. Would I have been more comfortable with more stuff? Yeah, probably, but I would have ruined the experience. We all get so worried with being comfortable and bringing all our modern things with us that we forget that the whole reason we go to the outdoors is to get away from all those things, because otherwise, we really aren’t going to the outdoors. I’m not saying show up with shorts and a T-shirt and that’s it, but really think about what you’re bringing places and if you really need it. Enjoy nature as it comes, don’t modify (and therefore ruin) the experience.

            The reason I post this to my blog is because it relates to masterpieces. The point of our masterpieces is to be a leader inspiring people with our work and our passion, asking questions and insisting on answers. My Outdoor School experience was just that. I lead and inspired sixth graders, I found my love for nature and have been inspired to continue to explore it through hiking and backpacking. I had fun experiences with my fellow cabin leaders making memories, another thing I love very much, inspiring me to take people with my backpacking for more memories. As far as I’m concerned I’ve done my masterpiece. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve become inspired, and I did something I love. I know it’s my masterpiece because I loved it so much I’m going to keep doing it. The point isn’t to finish it’s to find what you love. And I have.

Outdoor school is an experience I will never forget.

Young Goodman Brown Essay

             As people get older they begin caring about what other people think about them. A child will wear two different shoes and his or her shirt inside out without a care in the world, but eventually they are taught that they need to dress a certain way and behave a certain way in public. They are taught standards, and administered punishment if they don’t meet these standards. As people grow up they must conform to these standards outwardly while they inwardly question why they have to be quiet and wear two shoes that are the same color. We are taught that we must do what everybody else is doing, because what everyone else is doing is right, and this carries on throughout our lives changing who we are and what our instincts to do are. Young Goodman Brown struggles with outward conformity and inward questioning in a parallel way. In the story he watches the entire town participate in a devil worshiping ritual. Everything he ever knew as good in the world was being tarnished in front of him. Every standard he had ever been taught was ripped from him, and he struggled between going with the crowd and sticking to what he knew.

            In Puritan societies of the early development of New England, children are taught god is good, and that the only thing they have to worry about in life is worshipping god and staying away from the devil. Goodman Brown was taught this. From his beginnings he outwardly conformed to worship god the Puritan way. If he showed any inward questioning he would be deemed devil worshipped and killed. His morals and beliefs were what he was taught as a child: god.

            When it came to the night in the forest, Goodman Brown’s beliefs were put into question. He felt the pressure to conform as he watched everyone including his symbolically named wife Faith, participate in a devil worshipping ceremony. Goodman Brown’s God fearing instincts and his love for Faith allow him to question what he is seeing and not initially go with the crowd. However after seeing even his Faith be tainted by the devil he gives in because the truest thing held to him, his beliefs, were tarnished.

            If we are stripped of what we hold to be true, stripped of the foundation of our very being, our ability to question, we are left with nothing but out ward conformity. Goodman Brown’s struggle with outward conformity and inward questioning is a good demonstration of humanity. Take away who you are on a personal level, and you are left with nothing but the chaos around you.

"Out Out" Essay

             Most people would agree that society focuses to heavily on working and making money rather than enjoying life and living it to its fullest potential. In his poem “Out Out,” Robert Frost demonstrates this through strong imagery, personification, and a shocking transition from peace to violence.  Frost begins the poem with imagery describing the surrounding landscape, showing how beautiful the world is and how enjoyable it could be without work. Frost then transitions to the boy working, juxtaposing the beauty of the mountains with the “snarling” of the buzz saw, personifying the saw as an evil being. Frost mentions how the boy longed to get even a half hour break so he could be a boy rather than be forced into doing “man’s work” while “still a boy at heart.” The boy’s sister soon arrives and announces supper is ready. Frost again personifies the saw “leaping” out of the boy’s hand and cutting his other one. Though the accident happened because the boy lost concentration, Frost blames the situation. If the boy hadn’t been forced into an early man hood and made to work, or had been given that half hour break, he would never have gotten hurt.

            If the boy had been allowed to enjoy his childhood, he wouldn’t have been working, and if he wasn’t working, he wouldn’t have been called for supper and been distracted and wouldn’t have cut his hand. Frost blames the work for the death of the boy demonstrating how making children do too much work can have severe consequences. While death may be a bit hyperbolic, it is clear that child labor can negatively affect a child. Children don’t always have the same attention span and same understanding for the importance of work and thus accidents like the one described by Frost can happen. Along with physical harm there is psychological damage that can come to a working child. In the beginning of the poem Frost mentions how the boy wanted to have a half an hour break to do things a boy would do like run around and play. Studies have shown that children who don’t play enough as children lack the social and creative skills necessary in adulthood for real jobs, while a farmhand may not need these skills, they are needed if the child every decided to leave the farm or to do business selling things in town.

            At the end of the poem, after the boy dies, all the on lookers, the boy’s sister and presumably the boy’s parents just return to work, unaffected by the death of a young innocent boy, since they “weren’t the ones dead.” This is another comment by Frost on the effect of work on society. If the people had taken the time away from work to develop a personal relationship with the boy they would have felt a pain from losing him. The people were too involved in their work to feel they needed to grieve for the boy. Even if the people didn’t know the boy they should still be effected by his death. Frost is showing that people have become so money oriented that they aren’t even impacted by the death of a boy right in front of them. If people cared about others as much as they did about money or themselves they would have stopped to help the boy and grieve for his passing instead of just turning their backs and going on with their lives.

            In conclusion, “Out Out,” by Robert Frost is social commentary on the negative impact of over working. If people stopped working and lived, building relationships and seeing the world, a lot of unnecessary consequences could be prevented, and life itself could become more enjoyable.

"Out Out" Poem Analysis Prompt

1971 Poem: “The Unknown Citizen” (W.H. Auden)

Prompt: In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected in the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the poem.

This prompt most defiantly fits the poem “Out Out” by Robert Frost, because the entire poem comments on society.  Frost reflects how over working is negatively affecting our society by consuming us and taking away life’s enjoyment.

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