Thankful (Classmate edition)

The classmate that I am thankful for is Brianna. I sit right next to her in class. When we have group work, she is always there to help me interpret some of the text that I don't understand. I am also thankful for her because she edits my papers well. She looks strictly at the text and helps me get my point across better. And sometimes, when she has an extra donut, she gives it to me. I am also thankful for her because she offers a different perspective on things and she is funny. And then when I'm having a bad day, her scarcasm makes me smile again. Overall, I'm thankful for Brianna because of all the things she brings to the class.

Then he is dead?

Throughout the play, Macbeth committed many acts such as killing Duncan, Banquo and Macduffs family. Although he got to be king, i don't think that it was worth it. In the end, Macbeth lost who he was and was killed. He went from being a righteous person to one who stood for nothing except getting what he wanted and securing the throne. Despite it not being worth it in the end, i can see why Macbeth did what he did. In that time period, he would have been stuck under Duncan and those in his family for the rest of his life, without the opportunity of being someone of higher class. So the only way to become someone, he either had to kill Duncan or hope that Duncan chose him as his successor, which was highly unlikely. So he perused the idea of being king and with his wife's help killed Duncan. After killing Duncan, Macbeth felt threatened by Banquo, thanks to the witches, and killed him too. This is the ultimate turning point because after he killed Banquo, Macbeth began seeing things that wern't there, such as Banquo's ghost. He talked to the ghost in front of the other lords which caused them to see that he was mentally ill. After that he went on to kill Macduffs family, which caused him to be killed by Macduffs hand. Macbeth had everything at first. The king and everyone loved him. But that wasn't enough for him. So he killed the king, and look where that got him.

“From the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty”

At this point in the story, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband entailing his new title "Thane of Cawdor" and how one of the witches that he encounter foretold that he would become king. When Lady Macbeth reads about this, she says that she will do anything to help her husband claim that title. When Macbeth come home, they discuss things further and Lady Macbeth tells him that he is too innocent and feminine to commit the act so she tells him to leave it to her. This is a stark contrast to how women are viewed. They are viewed as being proper and holy but Lady Macbeth doesn't show this. She asks "From the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty". She doesn't want anything to stand in her way when she commits the act of killing the King. I think that this shows how the gender roles between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are switched since Macbeth doesn't possess cruel qualities so Lady Macbeth has to take it on. Macbeth starts to rethink the plan but then Lady Macbeth comes and sets him straight again. This made me wonder who really wanted the throne because it seemed as if Macbeth likes the thought of it but Lady Macbeth really wants it.

No New Tale to Tell

Of the tales that we read, I liked the Wife of Bath's Tale the best because it held my attention and because it was easy to understand.The knight was put on trial for taking a girls virginity and because of that he was going to be put to death but the queen reasoned with the king to let her handle his trial. I found this interesting because this is the first part where we see the woman having some power over the man. This was rarely seen in history. The woman never had any power what so ever. But as the story goes on, the knight has to find what women truly desire, and he has a year and a day to do it. As he traveled to find the answer, he met many women who all had a different answer. This part was weird to me because I though that if it was something that women most desired, then they all should think the same thing. 

Now the knights time was up. And as he was about to return he met an old woman who told him she would tell him what women truly desired if the knight did the next thing she asked. He said yes and she told him women truly desired to have some type of power over their man. He went to the queen and said what the old women told him and none of the women disagreed. As I thought about this and what the women on his travels said, I thought that although some wanted money and clothes, they all wanted to have some power since at the time, they had no power.

After the knight answered, the old woman came and said that he had to marry her. Although he didn't want to, the knight married her. As they were about to have sex, the knight said he couldn't do it. So the old woman asked would you rather have a old woman who is faithful or a young deceitful one. An the knight let her choose. This is another instance where the woman was given power over her husband. And in the end, the old woman turned into a beautiful young woman. 

Another thing I got from the reading was that beauty is only skin deep. Although some one may be the most beautiful thing ever, they could be mean and deceitful. That's why it's best to judge someone based on the content of the character, not their looks. So overall, I enjoyed the wife of baths tale.

Truth

In the novel Grendel, by John Gardner, the main character, Grendel is exposed to many truths. One of which is brought about by the Shaper. Throughout history, Grendel watched the Danes destroy and kill each other. When the Shaper arrives on the scene, he changes everyone's perception of history. He tells the story and he makes them look like heroes. Even Grendel said "Even to me, incredibly, he made it all seem true and very fine.(pg.38)" I found this part kind of confusing because the Shaper wasn't from there, yet he knew the history of the Danes.
Things change again for Grendel once he encounters the dragon. The dragon explains to Grendel that there are flaws in human thinking. They dont have the full understanding of things so they piece isolated facts together in order to make sense of it (pg 57). From time to time, the humans realize that what they stand on is nonsense, and thats when the Shaper comes and and provides them "an illusion of reality". The dragon says "He knows no more than they do about total reality." So in other words, the truth about the Shaper is that he is false, and knows no more than everyone else.

Modern Day Beowulf

Beowulf if a character in the story "from Beowulf" who is a mighty warrior who kills the monster Grendel, its mother, a dragon and various other giants and sea monsters. In the text, he didn't sailed all the way to Denmark to fight Grendel and save the people and in turn proved himself to be the strongest in all the land. In our modern day society, Martin Luther King Jr. is like Beowulf. Although Martin Luther King couldn't save people by killing a monster or a dragon, he helped to save African Americans from racism. They each had to do many things to save people. Beowulf had to leave his home country and go to Denmark to slay the monster Grendel. Martin Luther King Jr. and the people that followed him went on marches to help free African Americans from racism. On their journey to save people, they had many obstacles. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers had to be nonviolent when they were faced with violence, while Beowulf had to slay Grendel's mother. Although they used different methods to save the people, the point is that they didnt have to do what they did. And in the end Beowulf saved the people of Denmark and Martin Luther King Jr. was a major stepping stone in freeing African Americans from the monster of racism.
Word Count: 225

Me

My name is Fredrick Cherry. I am a junior at Whitney M Young High school. One of the things I like to do when I'm at home is reading. I mostly like to read thriller and mystery novels. Also I like to write. I like to write short stories. In addition I like to play video games and listen to music. My favorite type of music is R&B.

One thing that I do well is singing. At Whitney young I'm in the chamber choir. I can also read music pretty well. Outside of school, I like to bowl. To date, my highest score is a 170.  Also I'm a big fan of food. My favorite kind of food is Mexican food. Also I love cheeseburgers and pizza.

I was born in Chicago, but I've been out of the state. I've been to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas and Florida. Places I want to visit are Italy, California, and Vegas.

Looking to the future, I want to go to school to become an anesthesiologist. So overall, I'm excited about this school year. I hope to learn lots of new things and have a great time  in Mr. McCarthy's British Literature English class!