Thankful for...

I'm really thankful for Jennie, the original one who's last name is weng.  I've know you since freshman year when I mistook you for someone else. Truthfully, it was kind of an awkward first meeting but it didn't take long for us to get close. I've grown up with you in the biggest part of my life so far and I'm really grateful to have watched you grow up too. I remember us being wimpy freshman and now we're intimidating juniors (hopefully). Even though this is the first time we've EVER been in a class together ( and chances are it will be the only time e.e) I'm still happy it happened. It makes my day start off well knowing that second period I get to see one of my closest friends. Thinking on it now, we've been through a lot together. We've had some fights, and cried to each other and laughed with each other; I even remember the day Evan was born and how exciting it was (even though we stayed up until 1 am and I was dead tired ). I will treasure all the memories we've made together and despite only being in high school for two more years, I hope that time passes slowly so we can make lots more memories together. I love you Jennie, thanks for being a good friend.

Then he is dead...

Poor Macbeth, died a sad death! But at the very least he had his......kind wife? No, wait she went insane. Well, he had  his country and kinsman? Well, not really, no one liked him. Oh, but there's the money and wealth that came with the kingdom? Although, he did die before he got to experience most of it...Wait...so ...what did Macbeth even get..? He did kill a few people...and then went mentally insane...and did have his wife call him womanly...but at the very least he did become king? With my sarcasm out of the way, from my P.O.V Macbeth came out with a whole bunch of nothing from his entire experience as king. And now that he's dead I have been left with a few pondering questions. Macbeth went crazy AFTER killing Banquo but  I still don't know why.  He already killed Duncan, which was the worst of it, he didn't even personally kill Banquo, and he went crazy from that? He killed an entire army of people and that did nothing on his subconscious as far as i know, but hiring people to kill someone else did so much worse for him than anything. I still don't get why. Even if Banquo was his "friend" , he didn't seem to like him that much. Secondly, throughout the entire play I can't recall one good thing that happened during Macbeth's reign as king. Not a single "win" on his side that made going mentally insane, ending up with a dead wife, and dying himself worth it. He shouldn't have done anything to get to become king in the first place, and what he had to do wasn't much in retrospect, it was only killing 2 people rather than 50 of his best friends, along with blackmailing and then stealing and an infinite amount of more evil deeds. For a warrior, a thane, a lord, that seems like such an easy thing to do right after he murdered 100's of people in a rebellion. And the witches didn't predict much; it was that loony, wacko nut Lady Macbeth that caused most his craziness at the start, then she couldn't even handle the actions he did! It was such a fruitless endeavor that i find myself sighing and rolling my eyes at every action the Macbeth's act out. I don't condone anything the Macbeths did in their attempt to become king and queen, but they at the very least could have carried everything out better to a more favorable ending on their part. Both of them were so weak willed in acting this out, I think if they had been stronger mentally or just stronger emotionally it would've been such a more fruitfull endeavor for them. At least then they could enjoy the titles they worked SO hard to earn (it's all sarcasm, i find their efforts so useless and everything they did with no purpose in the end). All in all, I have nothing really to agree on with this play. I don't enjoy it because of how dumb i find Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and I can't ever agree that the murder of Duncan and Banquo was worth anything.

From crown-to-toe, top-full of direst cruelty

Seeing how I have read Macbeth more than once, my reaction to Lady Macbeth's odd ramblings and soliloquies still remains the same. She's really a lunatic. The concept, even in a play, that someone wants to be stripped of kindness and compassion for the ultimate goal of power, is still sickening to me. With what happens at the end of the play, I reassert the idea of greed can be the stem of all evil. If not for the idea that Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth could be queen and king, she might not have been so eager to be filled with "direst cruelty". I have a hard time even processing the idea of WANTING to be a worse person in the name of absolutely nothing but more than you have. But i think the meaning behind is more than just Lady Macbeth's insanity. I feel the bigger statement made is that sometimes in order to do things that might be deemed as harsh or mean in society, we have to first ourselves become harsh and cruel to carry it out. Even if it isn't as monumental as killing someone, the concept can apply if you are a "yes man" or an overly nice person. If you can't work up the courage to say no to someone, then you would want to "from crown-to-toe, top-full of direst cruelty". I may personally disagree with that saying or quote but i still think it applies to multiple things we do throughout or lives and days.

No New Tale To Tell

Ever since I was little, I could watch the same movie or show over and over and over again. Sometimes repetition is soothing, a familiar presence in a persons life. It's always good to have a familiar sort of routine or "tale" but as there has always been a new "tale to tell" since the beginning of humans. We, as a people, make up the the tales of time, a prime example being Adam and Eve. Everyday a new reality is made and we always log it or remember it. Newspapers, the media, and the internet are all examples of the "tales" we make. The idea of no new tale to tell i think isn't real. Its similar to the idea of "can't teach a dog new tricks" in the sense that old ideals or stories can't change or become new. If there was no new tale to tell, we could never move on as a society or human beings.

Truth

In Grendel, we all know that Hrothgar isn't exactly the greatest guy ever. He's killed a bunch of people, taken over lots of kingdoms, made people think he was trustworthy when the reality is he's a backstabbing, old man. But the Shaper does a pretty remarkable job of making Hrothgar's actions seem like hes a God. The Shaper is used as a dual story teller in Grendel, one that shows what the men of Thanes (or danes? I'm never quite sure who Hrothgar's people are) show what they think of how they have acted. Because Grendel is only first person view, we don't really know what the people think of him or how they view their own accomplishments, so the Shaper is that point of view and voice. In Beowulf we never got to see what Grendel thought but in Gardener's book we have a view of both sides. However, the Shaper is giving Hrothgar and his men a little too much credit and the fact that everything he says has a huge effect on Grendel doesn't make much sense. But if you look at it from a modern day view it makes more sense. For example, if 3 people are in a fight and decide to gossip about it later, each person gets their side of the story told. Two will villanize the other person entirely and one will tell the story from a bias standpoint. That bias standpoint cane make either side seem that much better or that much worse. Its the same in Grendel and because the Shaper distorts the truth to make Hrothgar and his men that much more favorable, that becomes the truth to Grendel and everyone else.

Modern Day Grendel

The best modern example I could think of for a lovable, evil like Grendel is the Grinch. Although I'm not sure if the Grinch is monster or human or elf warlord or some kind of chemically experimented green pepper, but he shares many characteristics of Grendel in a child descriptive manner. For starters, the Grinch is living alone with his dog near a village of happy people. Grendel lives alone with his mother near a town of rich and happy men. Both can't stand being in the state they're in - outcasts, sad, and lonely - so they want to take their anger out on the people having a good time. Plus, both are out of grace with some sort of other being; the Grinch with Santa and Grendel with god, thus each tries to get their revenge on those that have all that they don't. The Grinch steals Christmas from the town and Grendel murders every night. Now, if we were to hypothetically put the Grinch where Grendel's situation is, and there is no Christmas, chances are he would resort to killing. He had no other options and he was desperate or, in modern terms, “thirsty”.  In addition, from the town’s point of view, both are thought of as monsters and thus villainized before the reader thinks of their side of the story. Although, the Grinch didn't end up dead whereas Grendel has his arm ripped off and slowly died still alone, with only his mom.

Me

Name: Alana Marie Bourgeois
Gender: Female
Year: 2015, Junior
Occupation: Student seeking to win the lottery
Hobbies: Practicing languages, and stand up comedy (not really the comedy but its a good backup)
Likes: The color blue, foreign countries, sweet foods, my pets
Dislikes: Veggies (so un-yummy), math

I currently live in the South Loop with my mother and two pets. One dog and one cat that are particularly annoying at 6 in the morning, regardless of the day of the week, but give lots of love and affection. Since i was a little kid i have always traveled with my mom and met people from all over the world. We once owned a house in Mexico that was built by my grandfather and traveled there a lot before i started kindergarten. Partially due to the fact everyone in my family has some slightly big-shot job - lawyers, judges, dentists, doctors, in television production - and partially due to the fact my mother is a Jewish parent, the expectations on me to be great are high. Because I've always been motivated to be great i decided to be a diplomat of a foreign country which is why i'm currently studying Japanese, Chinese and Hebrew. The Hebrew is because my mom speaks it almost fluently an we want to travel to Israel together soon. But because I'm trying to be a diplomat I spent the past two summers in Japan studying and next summer i plan to go to China. However, if being a diplomat fails, I've decided I'll go into stand up comedy. I think i would have a real talent for it.