A Plethora of Prose
Herein lay the collected promted texts of myself, a high school senior at William Mason High School.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Memoir
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KuhKuQDQAlrYcaNILDsE0XilPEDsd3AHx8-7FW9qyo/edit?usp=sharing
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
D.H. Lawrence Essay Reflection
Cara Roth was my peer whom edited my essay and she gave me a 5. I thought that perhaps I deserved closer to a 4. This is partially because I didn't even finish writing. I had another paragraph to write when time was called. I reworked my thesis too many times to have adequate time to develop my essay and though its good to focus on a strong thesis I probably should have worked on it more as an after thought for once I had finished the essay. My essay had some good content, I feel if I had elaborated more on my quotes and finished the last paragraph I may have been able to reach an 8. My choice of " imagery relating to bodily stances and oxymoron" was not exactly a popular choice, I found. I thought that my evidence would support my decision be it rather unorthodox, however you really must explain your evidence for it to support anything at all. Its as if you had a lego and just expected it to work with the other legos on the ground to build a house without connecting any of them. Basically my essay was a bunch of well picked legos that I left on the floor.
D.H. Lawrence Essay (In class)
"It was not money nor power nor position" says D.H. Lawrence in reference to what puts one human over another, its knowledge. In his 1915 novel, The Rainbow, Lawrence gives us insight on one of the Brangwen woman's thoughts and inner contemplations. D.H. Lawrence's portrayal of the woman, conveyed primarily through imagery relating to bodily stances and oxymoron, is reminiscent of Adam and Eve and their associated conflict revolving around knowledge. Creation began, consciously with Adam and Eve.
The woman's position on male gender roles is taken in literal stance, "She faced outwards to where men moved dominant and creative" (Lawrence 23). The topic of creation is shown to be multifaceted for the woman through the oxymoron in which men are said to have, "turned their back on the pulsing heat of creation..." (Lawrence 24). The physicality of these actions, rather than simply the thoughts or mentality behind them emphasizes the influence of being woman or man and their bodily creations in actuality. This becomes the idea that even in the physical "facing outward" of women and "turned back" of men, the female's movement has more to do with her mental developments while the male's actions are closer to a single simple decision.
Males within this text are generally conceptualized to be rugged and senseless, an oxymoron when given the quote "they lived full and surcharged, their senses full fed..." (Lawrence 11).
The woman's position on male gender roles is taken in literal stance, "She faced outwards to where men moved dominant and creative" (Lawrence 23). The topic of creation is shown to be multifaceted for the woman through the oxymoron in which men are said to have, "turned their back on the pulsing heat of creation..." (Lawrence 24). The physicality of these actions, rather than simply the thoughts or mentality behind them emphasizes the influence of being woman or man and their bodily creations in actuality. This becomes the idea that even in the physical "facing outward" of women and "turned back" of men, the female's movement has more to do with her mental developments while the male's actions are closer to a single simple decision.
Males within this text are generally conceptualized to be rugged and senseless, an oxymoron when given the quote "they lived full and surcharged, their senses full fed..." (Lawrence 11).
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Hamlet, Blog Post 6
Kayla Burns
AP Literature and Composition
Ms. Wilson
November 14, 2013
AP Prompt:
“Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters may likewise be guilty of treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel or play that includes such acts of betrayal. The, in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal and show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course. Kayla Burns
Ophelia’s insanity arose from the betrayals she endured which acted as blows to a table, knocking her down leg by leg. Though these betrayals were only partially intensional and they were primarily accidental products of self-centered and self-important actions, they ultimately decimated an innocent bystander, Ophelia. This lack of acknowledgement prompts an extremely hostile aura to linger over the characters as none of them feel they are being supported or even thought about by any of the surrounding people. For most of the characters it becomes more so about what you can do for yourself rather than what a group of logical people can do together. As each character poignantly acts for their own well-being, the play’s theme of distrust and general uneasiness is displayed boldly in the decaying mind Ophelia.
The betrayal of Ophelia was all-encompassing. Gradually her brother, her father, her lover, and the only female whom had any sense of power all in her life put their own desires above hers. Her father tells her she is not to talk to Hamlet anymore as he is “...a prince, out of [her] star” (2.2.149). This is found to be absolutely heartbreaking for Ophelia, she obeys however and is distraught. The destruction caused by thoughtless actions is crucial to the tragedy. Hamlet slays Polonius, and responds to his mother Gertrude when asked what he had done that he didn’t know. “O me, what hast thou done? / Nay, I Know not. Is it the King?” (Hamlet 3.4.31). Hamlet’s killing of Polonius, Ophelia’s father, is the last leg to come out from under her. Her insanity begins here as explained by a Gentleman, “She speaks much of her father, she says she hears / There’s tricks i’ th’ world, and hems, and beats her / heart” (Hamlet 4.5.5).
Ophelia’s ability to maintain her sanity was temporary and strained, any sense of normalcy she had may have come from the security that she had in the relationships she held, however, as they broke down she slowly perished as well. The King himself calls on the insanity of Ophelia as being a product of grief, “O, this is the poison of deep grief” (Hamlet 4.5.80). Perhaps if one of these legs had been able to hold, if one of her relationships had been able to hold true, she may have been able to keep her composure. Tragedies cannot help themselves though, and innocents is fleeting. Ophelia is thoroughly victimized throughout, her decaying mind is a symptom of the chaos and distrust that befell Denmark in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.
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