The Shack

If I were to memorize a book so that future generations would know the story, it would most definitely be The Shack by William P. Young.
The story begins with a father, Mackenzie, mourning the kidnapping of his youngest daughter Missy.  The dress she was wearing when she was last seen was discovered covered with blood in an abandoned shack.  Four years later, he receives a note, apparently written by God, asking him to come to the very same shack where his daughter's dress and apparent murder occurred.
Throughout the book, Mack, at first hesitant, encounters Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and even God.  With the love and guidance from God, Mack undergoes a transformation from a sad, angered father wanting to avenge his daughter's death to a father with a deceased daughter attempting the virtue of forgiveness.
It doesn't matter whether you are Christian or not, which is why I believe it's a great book to pass down.  It is not filled with Christian theology and Bible verses.  Instead, it is filled with emotions, questions, and guidance for traumatic and seemingly unbearable pain that we all experience.
Can one truly forgive the murderer of a loved one's death?  Why do we have all this pain in the world? Where  is God when all this pain occurs? Why does this happen to me?  These are all questions we face today that Mack faced when his daughter was viciously murdered.
This story is relatable in so many ways, which is why I believe memorizing and telling it down the line would benefit others.  They don't have to be religious to find it relatable in some way.  Hopefully others, having heard this story, can somehow receive some sort of closure from all the pain they have and find the strength to forgive and move on just like Mack attempts in The Shack.

Annotated Bibliography

Downing, Crystal. “Reading Hamlet.”  Hamlet: with Contemporary Essays.  Ed. Joseph Pearce. San Francisco: Ignatius Pr, 2008. Print.

Downing’s essay, Reading Hamlet, presents a different approach to the interpretation of the tragedy of Hamlet.  Interpretative ambiguity throughout the play often leads to misreading lines, resulting in different meanings.  Right at the beginning of the essay, Downing tackles the most important misinterpretation in Hamlet- “To be, or not to be, that is the question”.  Incorrect emphasis on that leads people to interpret this as Hamlet battling over suicide.  Instead, the emphasis is on being, “to be” which expresses Hamlet’s longing to know the meaning of existence.  Thus, Hamlet’s search for understanding plays out throughout the tragedy.  Downing continues to explore other puns and word usage that can significantly alter the image of the character that the reader has of him or her.  She also investigates Shakespeare’s choice of school Hamlet attends, Wittenberg, and the historical and religious significance it has on the play. 

            Downing displays different interpretations of Hamlet that most likely have been overlooked by many readers.  She points out how one simple line, such as “I am too much in the sun”, can say so much about a character.  She also examines the misreading characters have of other characters, such as Hamlet and his father’s ghost. 

            Downing’s insight on the usage and interpretation of words in Shakespeare’s play can easily challenge the reader’s previous analysis of Hamlet.  Her essay would be beneficial to any person looking to critically analyze the tragic play.  It is also useful to any student looking for a new approach to writing a paper, especially for Shakespeare’s work.  Downing’s well crafted and researched essay can open the minds of those who never thought about Hamlet like this. 

Flowers

If Hamlet were to give his mother flowers, they wouldn't represent the nicest and happiest of meanings.  Instead, I believe the bouquet would consist of columbines, white roses, ivy, petunias, begonias, cypress, and deadly nightshades.  Columbines represent adultery.  Hamlet doesn't not approve of his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle and views it almost as adultery/incestuous relationship.  White roses can represent remembrance.  Hamlet wants his mother to think of his father and not forget about what she's done to his legacy by marrying Claudius.  Ivy represents fidelity.  Hamlet is very sarcastic throughout the tragedy, so the ivy would be a sarcastic joke.  In reality, Hamlet does not view her actions as faithful to his deceased father.  Petunias represent resentment and anger.  Hamlet does not condone his mother's actions and resentful of her quick marriage after his father's untimely death. Begonias represent dark thoughts and beware.  Hamlet knows that Claudius is the one who killed his father and believes he married his mother to obtain the throne as well.  The marriage is tainted by dark motives and these flowers are a way to display that.  Cypress flowers mean mourning, death, and melancholy.  Hamlet would chose these to constantly remind his mother of his father's death.  Deadly nightshades are a symbol of falsehood. Hamlet does not view his mother's marriage to his uncle Claudius as pure and for the right intentions.  He views it fake and not for the reasons a marriage should be for.  Therefore, this bouquet of flowers would be a great representation of how he feels about his mother.

In Act IV, Scene v, Ophelia passes out flowers as a way to express her sorrow, grief, and feelings.  This contributes to the garden motif.  Throughout the play, references to gardens are the opposite of what people would think of a garden.  In Hamlet, gardens are negatively portrayed as ruined, disgusting, and "unweeded."  Most of the flowers Ophelia passes out have negative connotations, like columbines (adultery), rue (sorrow), fennel (ingratitude), and so on. These flowers fit in the negative imagery of the garden.   Ophelia says she would have given violets "but they withered all when my father died" (Lines 208-209).   Judging from these lines, there are no happy flowers that you'd normally plant in a garden.


 Columbine


 White rose


 Ivy 


 Petunia


 Begonia


 Cypress


 Deadly Nightshade 


Flower Symbolism courtesy of: http://livingartsoriginals.com/list-flower-articles.html

Shakespeare and Dante

The writer of this article makes striking points about William Shakespeare inexistent relationship with Dante.  His inferences and contrasts of the two literary geniuses are quite strong when he mentions the language barrier. The article was at its strongest point when he brings up the language topic.  Dante wrote in his vernacular, Italian; while Shakespeare was English.  He also brings up a good argument when he states that Dante's work was not translated until many years later into English.  Showing the fairly similar parallels in Shakespeare's and Dante's works displays that the author is "tipping the hat to the other side" and that maybe there could have been contact since they are similar yet he still disbelieves it.  He does not delve and explore that aspect further so that is potentially the weakest part of the article.

Dante's Inferno

Canto 29.5

As my master and I entered

The very last part of this level

In hell, I began to lament

For the treacherous seemingly devil

Like souls that tried to repent 

For their deceit in this dishevel. 

It was evident that they were in discontent,

Judging by their horrid faces of displeasure.

Although it was not their original intent

To be placed here after death.

These manipulative, devious liars’

Actions brought them here.

They lied their way into getting

Ahead in life.  They lied to control

And get their own way.  Truth was

Not a value that they regarded highly.

Never did one admit they lied.

I saw these people covering their

Ears, screaming in agony.  I asked my Master

What was happening to them. “Cursed by their

Pathological lies, these people constantly hear

Their lies told to people on a continuous loop.  

It is so unbearable to listen to day after day.

They hurt others with their lies, and now

It’s their turn to be hurt.”  I shuddered at the

Thought.  As we walked further, the fraudulent

People were running up stairs and opening doors,

Only to lead to more doors.

Those doors led to more stairs

And more doors and repeated again

And again and again.

My master saw my puzzled expression

And Answered, “These liars lied to get their

Own way, no matter who they

Hurt or who they lied to. They think

They can run away from their sins.

They can’t be victorious over their sins.

These stairs and doors lead to nothing.

In fact, they aren’t even moving up at all.”

I felt a combination of emotions,

From anger to pity to disgust.  I begged

 my Master for us to move on from here.

Explanation

My sin is pathologically lying.  Pathological liars lie to control and to get their own way.  They lie to others to get ahead in life.  They lie about almost anything, and most of all, they do not value truth.  The punishment is hearing their lies they’ve told over and over again and “climbing” staircases leading to doors that just lead to more stairs and doors.  I believe this fits because the liars will be unable to defeat or run away from sin.  Plus, hearing their lies will make them feel guilty for their actions in their lifetime. 

This sin is in the eighth circle of hell, the frauds.  It is in the bolgia with the falsifiers.  It is a coldest blooded sin in lower hell because it leads people astray.  The creature that best represents this level of hell is the she wolf because she was the most vicious and brutal of them all.

The Roaring 20's

Five facts about the 1920's!

20's Fashion

Gone were long dresses and corsets in the 1920's.  Women's dresses were made with different colors, fabrics, and textures, much brighter and lighter than before.  The hem line was much shorter as well.  Shoes and stockings became more popular and were much more prominent due to the shorter dresses. 

"Women's Fashions 1920s." The 1920's-Roaring Twenties. 1920-30.com, 2005. Web. 14 Nov 2010. http://www.1920-30.com/.




20's Prohibition

During the 1920's, alcohol was banned, known as prohibition.  However, individuals could obtain alcohol for medical purposes. Physicians could prescribe distilled alcohol on government prescription forms.  Alcohol was prescribed for various reasons, disease control to even a snake bite.

Kerr, Austin. "Temperance and Prohibition ." Medicinal Alcohol . Department of History- Ohio State University , 1996. Web. 14 Nov 2010. http://prohibition.osu.edu/content/medicinal_alcohol.cfm

20's Music and Dance

The 20's saw the emergence of jazz music. Jazz artists like Louie Armstrong, became popular during this time.  This music also led to the development of a new type of dance- jazz dance.  Much of the jazz music was played by bands with many instruments. 

Chobharkar, Pankaj. "Jazz Music in the 1920's." 1 July 2010. Web. 14 Nov 2010. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/jazz-music-in-the-1920s.html.



20's Film

The 1920's was the birth of "talkies" or motion pictures with sound. The Jazz Singer in 1927 is considered to be the first talkie. 

Dirks, Tim. "Film History of the 1920s." Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic History. AMC Filmsite. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://www.filmsite.org/20sintro.html.



20's Radio

In Pittsburgh, the first commercial radio station went on the air.  3 million Americans owned radios by 1922.

Schultz, Stanley K. "H102 Lecture 15: The Politics of Prosperity: The 1920s." American History 102: Civil War to the Present. University of Wisconsin. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture15.html.

Nick Carraway's Bio Poem

The partially involved narrator
Quiet, reflective, good listener
Relative of Daisy and Tom Buchanan
Lover of New York City, Jordan Baker, nightlife
Who feels fascinated by Jordan Baker, like Mr. Gatsby is continuously lying, intrigued by the people he meets at the parties
Who needs to listen to his father's advice, find out the truth about Mr. Gatsby,  spend more time with Jordan
Who fears awkward situations, the rejection of Jordan Baker, the unhappiness of Daisy
Who gives his time to Tom to accompany him to see his mistress, his time to listen to others, help to friends
Who would like get to know his neighbor Gatsby better, know the truth about Gatsby's background, be with Jordan Baker
Resident of West Egg
Nick Carraway