Thursday, April 1, 2010

Alchemist/Julius Caesar Essay Reflection

To demonstrate appropriate ideas and content I use quotes. Quotes always help prove and support your ideas because it comes straight from the book. I also get my ideas from the book so I have evidence to prove it in my essay's. I could improve my ideas by getting more evidence and explaining why I chose my ideas and support them.

For organization I think I could improve, but my paragraphs are organized okay with a topic sentence. In my first paragraph I also have my thesis statement and support that with evidence from the book. I think I could organize my paragraphs better and not repeat myself . I also could not go to the future and then go back to the past in my essays.

Personally I think I did better in my Alchemist essay than my Julius Caesar essay. One reason this might be is because we had time to plan and improve on our Alchemist essay and the Julius Caesar essay we had to right in class without any corrections or improvements. My Alchemist essay was more organized and I didn't repeat myself while in my Julius Caesar essay i repeated myself a lot and had more spelling errors.

To make an essay I think you have to communicate effectively. We have to clearly communicate our ideas to the reader. The reader should understand what you are trying to say and if the person didn't know what the book is about should get a better understanding.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Cassius a man of Jealousy


‘I know where I will wear this dagger then; Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius:’ (Lines 89-90 Pg 54- Act 1 Scene 3). This quotation captures that Cassius is doing this for power. He is saying he will rescue himself from slavery and knows where he will stab his dagger. It shows that he is jealous and wants Caesar dead so he can have power. Cassius is jealous of people with more power than him and wants Caesar dead. Due to his envy he conspired and is telling people to go against Caesar. His jealousy leads to the assassination of Caesar and to make this act seem noble he has pulled Brutus into the act because everyone loves noble Brutus.

As Cassius gets hungrier for power his jealousy gets worse. Cassius believes that when he kills Caesar he will get more power and the respect he has wanted for a long time. Cassius’s jealousy is getting to much and now he has the urge to kill Caesar. The night before the ides of march is n it’s way and Cassius is getting more and more excited and hyped up while most of the conspirators especially Casca is afraid also because of a very bad storm that has been going on the whole night which is a bad sign from the god. When Cassius is talking to Brutus trying to convince Brutus to come into the conspiracy and kill Caesar with them. He is trying to tell Brutus that he is as noble and powerful as Caesar and has he right to say as much as Caesar. When he is attempting to get him in Cassius say’s this to Brutus, ‘But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ’Caesar’? Why should that name be sounded more than yours?’ (Lines 149-141

Pg 36- Act 1 Scene 2). Here he is saying why are we underlings and not as high as Caesar. They were both as noble and learnt the same in school why should Caesar’s name be heard more than Brutus’s, and why should it be more famous. This shows that Cassius is jealous of Caesar and is trying to flatter Brutus so he will come in to the conspiracy and help him kill Caesar so he can have more power. Cassius is still

trying to convince Brutus to come into the conspiracy and is talking to him while Caesar s being offered the crown thrice. When he is talking to Brutus he is also telling him that ‘Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs, and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves.’ (Lines 134-136 Pg 36-

Act 1 Scene 2). Cassius is saying why should we walk under his huge legs and peeping around, going to out graves dishonored. This shows that he wants to do something about Caesar to get more power so he won’t have to be jealous anymore and will have everything he wants. To be able to kill Caesar he will need the help of more people. Eventually he does kill Caesar and needs the people to think his act is a noble act for Rome.

When he has killed Caesar, Cassius will have to make the people think this wasn’t for personal reasons but for the best of Rome. He has to make this seem noble so he can go on and get the respect and power he needs from the people in Rome. If he wants to do this he has to Bring Brutus into the group because everyone knows/thinks Brutus is and honorable noble roman who actually did do this for the best of Rome unlike Cassius. When he speaks to the people of Rome he has to show them his public image telling them it was a noble act and he did it for the people so they wouldn’t eventually all be living as slaves. Cassius is asking the conspirators if they should put Cicero in this act because the people of Rome think he is strong and noble so this act will look strong and noble. Thins is what he ask ‘ But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him? I think he will stand very strong with us.’ (Lines 141 142 Pg 72- Act 1 Scene 2). This is telling us they want more noble people so this act will seem even more for the best of Rome and not for personal envy. This shows that Cassius wants this to be noble and wants the people of Rome to believe her isn’t doing this for himself and power. He is getting a bit scared because they are going to kill Caesar soon and need all the noblest people to help. When they have just stabbed Caesar in the Capitol, Cassius is yells out ‘Some to the common pulpits, and cry out, ‘Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement’. (Lines 80-81 Pg 110-

Act 3 Scene 1). This is Cassius telling some of the speakers to go to the platform and cry out “Liberty, Freedom and democracy!” The quotation shows that this motivates Cassius because he is telling people to cry this out so they think it is for Rome and the peace freedom and democracy. It is showing that the act has nothing to do with his personal jealousy but is really showing his public image to make people believe he is noble. When everyone gets afraid and leaves Brutus goes and talks with the people of Rome and convinces then it is a Noble act but after Brutus’s speech Antony comes and convinces the people it wasn’t a noble act.

In the end Caesar was killed because of Cassius’s jealousy but because Brutus did it for Rome. Cassius’s jealousy did seem to effect the final stabbing but at the beginning the people believe it was a noble act until Antony came and made the people believe it wasn’t a noble act. Cassius acted frustrated and worried because Rome was going against them. Cassius did not achieve his goal because he didn’t get the power and respect he wanted and so killed himself because I was too frustrating. He did not achieve his goal because he acted to superstitious when he killed Caesar and after he was dead. Cassius’s goal was not noble but worthy because he killed Caesar for a personal thing. He killed him because he was jealous of Caesar’s power and did not kill him for Rome.

Lost Boys of Sudan Collage Reflection

In this collage I thought creatively by choosing the shape of my poster in a unique way. I thought of putting it in the shape of a dove to show that the Sudanese people wanted peace. I also cut my photos so the shape of the dove wouldn’t disappear but also so the picture wouldn’t get ruined. I put the 6 word memoir words on cardboard so it would pop up and attract the person who is looking at it before they notice anything else. People would look at the words first and understand what I mean and then go to the photos to get a visual and a better understanding of the reason why I chose these images.

I reasoned critically in this project because I used some of the images so I would get a better understanding of how it was like for the Sudanese people not having enough food and not having a place to go back too. I also used the words (my 6 word memoir) to show that people should help and listen to them more because they do have good ideas and maybe if they would listen it wouldn’t be as bad for the people that are going through this war and the people would maybe have enough food so they wouldn’t starve.

I showed people what it was like for most of the people in Sudan that were going through this war. People will start to be more aware and might help out like sending them food, clothes or even raising money for them. Hopefully a lot of people like us and even other people will see from my poster how bad the war is and how hard it is for them to survive and start taking action. I hope people feel sympathy for them because most people have never been through a war like this and might try to feel bad for them and help out. This part of my project showed communicating effectively.

I think this poster makes people be more aware of what is happening in the world instead of only knowing what is happening in there own country. They might see what is happening and feel sympathy for them. They might even feel empathy and take action to help the people in Sudan that are going through this war and don’t have a real home, don’t have enough food and also have to take care of other people. If people help the Sudanese in Sudan it will show they live ethically and really care about the world.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Lost Boys of Sudan

As we have just finished watching a Documentary about 'The Lost Boys' I have gained my knowledge about what these people have gone through. As they were going to America and even before they went, they thought it would be heaven. At the beginning it was a bit like it for them because they had enough food but soon Peter and Santino started getting problems. They weren't used to the culture and a lot of things that they would do in there culture would be weird in the American culture. Eventually Peter moved to Kansas City for an education. Santino stayed behind but Peter came to America so he could get an education so went to look for an education. Peter seemed to adjust to the American culture much faster than Santino and had made friends from different cultures, while Santino felt safer staying within his own culture. Peter was also open for new things and tried out for the basketball team and made some friends. He as enjoying his like while Santino had a hard time and got in trouble for driving without a driving license. Eventually Peter was successful in his education and had high enough grades to hopefully egt into a good college and even Santino was trying to do some kind of education by doing a movie course. I hope eventually the Lost Boys will return to visit there family and help in some way.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Julius Caesar Duet

Partner- Valentina

Characters:
Portia- Valentina
Lucius- Lara
Soothsayer- Lara

Passage- Act 2 Scene 4, Lines 1-47

Valentina and I chose this passage because it is a important part of this act. Brutus has just told Portia what he is doing and she is getting worried. It was the day when Brutus and the conspirators were going to kill Caesar. She promised Brutus she wouldn't tell anyone but this is very hard for her. She wishes there was a mountain between her heart and tongue that would stop her from telling her errand boy 'Lucius' everything. When the soothsayer comes she is still very worried and asks if he has been to the Capitol yet and seen Caesar pass. The soothsayer says caesar will be crowned that day and leave to go to the Capitol.