Semester

This week we have to talk about things we liked in class. We can also talk about things that we have learned in class. We can also talk about thing that we improved on or benefitted from in the class. There are not a lot of things that I really liked about class. One of the things that I like about the class was the movie that we watched. Another is the videos that we watched that had to do with satire. One of the things that I learned was how to write a better essay. I think that I improved in writing essays in a set amount of time. I also improve on my reading skills. I benefitted from having to read all the things that we did read. I did not like having to write a blog every week. I also did not like the vocabulary quizzes that we had. I also did not like having to read all the things that we read in the class. I hope that I do better in the next semester then I did in this semester. I also hope that I don’t have to read as many things or do as many blogs next semester.

Movie & Play

This week we have been watching a movie. The movie that we are watching is called The Importance of Being Earnest. We are watching this movie because we are learning about satire. I at the beginning did not think that I would enjoy the movie because we were watching it in English class. But as we got further into the movie I started to enjoy it more and more. The things that I enjoy most about the movie are the parts that are funny. I enjoy these parts of the movie because when the actors say funny thinks they appear to be very serious about it. This week we also went to watch a play that the drama students have been working on for some time. I don’t really remember what the play was called but I enjoyed it. It was a little hard for me to understand some of the thing that they were talking about because of the language that they used. The parts of the play that I enjoyed the most were the sword fighting scenes. I liked these parts because the actors did a very good job in pretending to fight. I also liked how all the characters did a very good job in the play.

Finished Hamlet

This week we finished reading Hamlet. I think that overall it was a good play. It was a little difficult to understand at times but in the end I understood the main parts of the plot. I did not enjoy having to write an essay on Hamlet the first day back from our break. I did not know what to write about in the essay. I am also not good when it comes to writing essays especially when there is a set amount of time to do them in. We also had a vocabulary quiz this week. I was a little worried about the quiz because I had not looked at the words in a very long time. But the day before the quiz I studied the list of words for about half an hour. I think that I did ok on the quiz but when it came time for the quiz I got a little nervous and forgot a few of the definitions. I also got one of the words meanings mixed up with another word. We also started learning about satire by reading a speech. I did not find as many satire devices in the speech as some of my classmates so I think that I don’t completely understand it. But with a little more practice I think that I will get it.

Books

This week we read act three of Hamlet. I think that Hamlet should just tell someone that his father was poisoned. He should also tell them that it was the new king the kill him. After they find out the truth they should have the new king executed. I also think that Hamlet should not try to appear to be too crazy. I think that Hamlet’s mother should have been more scared when Hamlet killed the man hiding behind the cabinet. My second independent reading book was The Pesthouse. I think that this was a pretty good book. It was about people going east and trying to get out of the now ruined America. It talked about the problems that they faced on their journey. But in the end they decided to go back and make a life for themselves in this ruined America. Although I enjoyed this book there were some question that I don’t think got answered by the end of the book. My third book for independent reading is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Some of my friends have told me that it is a little weird and can be difficult to understand at times. But I think that it sounds interesting so I will try to read it.

Play & Book

This week we started reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare. When I first started to read it I did not really understand anything that was going on. But as I got further into the play I started to understand some parts of it. The foot notes really helped me to understand some of the words that did not make sense the first time I read it. And they also really helped me to understand some of what was happening in the play. But there were times that the foot notes made things a little harder to understand. I thought that I was getting better at understanding how Shakespeare wrote but then I got to the second act.  I understood some of the beginning but as I got to the end of scene two I did not understand any of it. And most of the foot notes really did not help to make things clearer. The book I chose for my outside reading was The Pesthouse by Jim Crace. Although I have not really read a lot of it so far I think that it is a good book. I am sort of worried that I may not have the book finished by the day that it is due.

Oedipus and a play

This week we finished reading Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. At the end his wife kills herself because Oedipus finds out the truth of his past. I think that she could have found a way to deal with the problem that did not involve her taking her own life. Then after finding his wife dead Oedipus ripped out his eyes with her golden brooches. I think that he could have found a less painful way of punishing himself for killing his father and marring his mother. I thought that this was a pretty good tragedy over all. This week we also went to see a play that the drama kids worked on. I thought that it had some parts that were a little funny in it and they made me laughs a little. At the beginning I did not understand it and found it boring. But as it went on I started to understand it. There were some parts that made other kids around me laugh but I did not find them that funny at all. I think that over all the drama kids did a very good job in the play. Also I enjoyed watching the play even when it did not make me laugh.

Tragedies

This week we had to turn in our drafts for our papers. I had a hard time thinking of what to put in the paper. It did not help that I waited till the day that it was due to write it. I think that I did an ok job on the paper but there is a lot of work that can be done to improve it. This week we also had to start reading Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. I found some parts a little confusing because I don’t know a lot about Greek mythology but I think that I understood the most important parts. We had to think of question to ask our peers about what we read. One of the questions I came up with was why did the queen not want Oedipus to continue his search for the truth. One answer we came up with was that she suspected that Oedipus was her son and that he killed his father. She did not want Oedipus to know the truth so that she would not have to deal with the problems that came after. Another was if Oedipus would carry out the punishment that he said would be for the killer of the king. We said that he would punish himself so that the people would not get angry at him.