hamlet activity 1.2

There are two main family units in the Shakespearean play Hamlet, those being Hamlet’s family and Polonius’s family.

Hamlets family consists of Old Hamlet (deceased), Gertrude (Hamlets mother) and Claudius (Hamlet’s Uncle). Within the Hamlet family there is the crisis that exists within the family which is the murder of Old Hamlet. After the death of Old Hamlet, Claudius marries Gertrude, which causes Hamlet to feel a lack of love between his deceased father and Gertrude. Hamlet then seeks revenge and plots the murder of his uncle, Claudius. And he succeeds by poisoning Claudius with the very drink Claudius tried to poison Hamlet with.

From the point of view of Claudius, he sees Hamlet as the only thing standing in his way of being king. So he tries to get Hamlet killed. He doesn’t succeed with his plan of poisoning him, but Hamlet does die in the end.

In Polonius’s family, there exists the crisis that involves Hamlet being in love with Ophelia. Both Polonius and Laertes do not want Ophelia with Hamlet, so, Polonius informs Ophelia that she cannot see Hamlet any more. Hamlet kills Polonius which causes Laertes to seek revenge. Hamlet gets sent away, Ophelia goes insane, and Laertes plots revenge with Claudius to kill Hamlet.

In the end, they are all dead. They all got their revenge I suppose.

A stereotypical nuclear family is one that consists of a mother, a father and children. Hamlets family is a nuclear family before Old Hamlet’s murder and Claudius takes the throne. Polonius’s family could be considered a nuclear family if there was a mother described in the play. Because of a lack of mother/wife in Polonius’s family they cannot be considered a nuclear family although they are close.

#2

#2



On December 15th at Rockland district High School a debate took place between to two teams to argue if Gertrude had betrayed bother her husband and son. The debate lasted approximately one hour in length. The affirmative debaters were Adam Young, Mathew Brown and Stuart Gendron and the opposing side was Jon Khatib, Tyler Keith and Alex van der Mout. The judges of the debate, Stephanie Wilson, Jayme Bedell, and Megan Marshall, had a fun set up for attacking the opposing team by making them literally attack each other, with lightsabers.

The debate began with Adam stating a simple definition of “betrayal” and demonstrated that Gertrude fit ever description within the definition. And the rest of the affirmative team added more and more events in which Gertrude had shown the different points in which she had shown a neglect towards Hamlet and his problems. The negative side countered with numerous back up using the ghost in the play.

There was numerous points during the debate in which the audience was amused and broke out in laugher due to the comments made by Stuart and Jon throughout the debate. Stuart had made statements like, “Maybe she’s not the queen of Denmark, and she’s just the queen of Whoreville?”, “I think the ghost is full of shit!”, and he made a bold statement to start a lightsaber fight with Jon by calling his mother a prostitute.
Sadly the affirmative had lost the debate by a hair, but Stuart’s comments will be remembered by many of the audience members.

debate things.

Debate #2
On December 11th at Rockland district High School a debate took place between to two teams to argue if Hamlet is unstable thus not held responsible for his actions. The debate was roughly one hour starting at approximately 8:30 am. The affirmative team consisted of Mary Collins, Ilayda Williamson and Michaela Blaser and the opposing team consisted of Kelsey Campbell, Melissa Watson and Jessica Barton. The judges were Nick Leblond, Yanick Lee and Jennifer Ross.

The debate kicked off with an introduction argument for the affirmative with detailed information on what it really means to be insane or mentally unstable and all the characteristics that are expressed by someone with those issues. Hamlet according to their analysis Hamlet exhibited a variety of those characteristics. The opposing team countered with the argument that hamlet is only showing signs of grieving for his deceased father. They argued that hamlet was not insane more confused and only required time as a cure.
Throughout the debate, the affirmative side was using more medical evidence to attempt to prove that hamlet was clinically insane, where the opposing side was using their knowledge of Hamlet and the story to counter their arguments. The free for all portion of the debate was where lots of yelling took place but it was short lived. The crowd out of boredom decided it would be best to entertain themselves by doing ‘the wave’.
The debate concluded with the affirmative using their last resort, Shakespearean insults. This was less than effective resulting the end of the debate.

standardized argument

ORIGINAL:
Original

Standardized:
1. Muscle reaction depends on speed brain cells give commands to muscles.

2. An exercised brain may spot decaying insulation quicker and signal for repair cells to get to work.

3. Healthy myelin (a special sheet of fat that coats nerve fibres) allows prompt conduction of the electrical signals the brain uses to send commands.

4. Researchers conducted test to discover the ages where finger tapping speed started to decrease. Each subject was tested for myelin health in the areas necessary for the finger tap.

5. Myelin health as well as tap speed was at its best at age 39 for the group tested.

6. Rest of brain isn’t affected. In fact evidence shows that myelin in higher level thinking parts of the brain start to decay up to a decade later.

7. Building memories requires high-frequency electrical bursts, and Bartzokis' earlier research suggests an Alzheimer's-linked gene may eliminate myelin repair.

8. With age comes a weakening of the system that's supposed to repair broken myelin.

Therefore

9. As you age past 40, your brain and body start to slow.

Take home ESSAY-->Wizard of Oz--> Mythopoeia

The Wizard of Oz is an extraordinary tale that is a classic example of mythopoeia and its main elements. The Wizard of Oz is a story about a young girl named Dorothy who wished for a better place. After being knocked out by a blow to the head in a cyclone, she gets what she wanted, and a little that she didn’t. The movie follows Dorothy as she travels through the mythical Land of Oz, she believes to be over the rainbow and encounters certain characters that add to the development of the story. Things like archetypes and other mythological elements are used throughout the story making it fall into the mythopoeic genre.

When analyzing The Wizard of Oz, you have to consider all of the things that set it apart from society now. The first things to notice are the improbable events of Dorothy getting caught in the cyclone and surviving while in the cyclone as well taken to the magical Land of Oz, “Over the Rainbow”. These events are presumed impossible which is one of the elements that make this mythopoeia. Mythopoeia borrows elements from real life, and incorporates them to make something that normally would seem impossible, seem very probable.

The Land of Oz is a mythical land found just over the rainbow, a colourful place inhabited by munchkins. This land is a prime example of a fantasy world within a fictional universe. Although Kansas is a non-fictional location, the story is still considered to be in a fictional universe. The events in the film never took place, and the Land of Oz is considered to be a fantasy land, making it a fantasy world within a fictional universe. Elements such as the excessive amount of munchkins living in the Land of Oz and the unrealistic characters add to the fantastical and fictional aspects of the story.
An element of a mythopoeic story is the archetypes that are found within the story itself. Archetypes can be found within characters as well as plot and story itself. The main character, Dorothy, is an archetype as well as the path that she follows. At the beginning of the story, Dorothy is on a mission to get out of Kansas to “a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away, behind the moon beyond the rain. Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high [...]” (Wizard of Oz) [ellipses mine].

Ironically, this mission changes very quickly as the story progresses and Dorothy arrives in the Land of Oz. This is also when the theme of the story is revealed to the audience of the film. There’s no place like home. After arriving in the Land of Oz, her mission no longer becomes getting out of Kansas, it becomes getting back to Kansas. This mission or quest is an archetype of the journey of a protagonist towards their goal, Dorothy’s goal being to find a way home and escape the Land of Oz.
Not only is Dorothy on a quest for the Wizard, Dorothy’s companions tag along to fulfill their wishes as well. Each companion has a journey of their own, they are all related in the sense that they are each missing something from their lives and they are on a quest to achieve what they are missing. The Scarecrow is on a quest for a brain, the tin man is on a quest for a heart and the lion is on a quest for courage. Although each of these characters believe they lack these qualities, they have possessed them throughout their entire journey and displayed it as well, but just had to discover it within themselves. This is something that the each companion as well as Dorothy have in common.

In the Witch’s castle, the Scarecrow displays that he does indeed have a brain when he thinks quickly and gets the crew out of a nasty situation with the guards. The Lion displays courage when he encounters the Wizard as well as at the castle in the attempt to save Dorothy. The Tin Man shows that he does have a heart when he demonstrates his love for other characters throughout the film. As the film nears the end, Dorothy realizes, with a little help from Glinda the Good Witch of the North, that she had the power to get home all along.

DOROTHY:
Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
GLINDA:
You don't need to be helped any longer.
You've always had the power to go back to
Kansas.
DOROTHY:
I have?
[...]
GLINDA:
[...] she wouldn't have believed me.
She had to learn it for herself.
TIN MAN:
What have you learned, Dorothy?
DOROTHY:
Welll, I -- I think that it -- that it
wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle
Henry and Auntie Em -- and it's that --
if I ever go looking for my heart's
desire again, I won't look any further
than my own backyard. Because if it
isn't there, I never really lost it to
begin with! Is that right?
GLINDA:
That's all it is!
[...]
DOROTHY:
Yes, I'm ready now.
GLINDA:
Then close your eyes, and tap your heels
together three times.
GLINDA:
And think to yourself -- "There's no
place like home; there's no place like
home; there's no place like home."
(Wizard of Oz) [ellipsis mine]

At the beginning of the film Dorothy is greeted by the Good Witch of the North who isn’t what Dorothy expected of a witch. Dorothy sees a witch as “old and ugly.”(Wizard of Oz). That is the normal archetype of a witch within a story, but Glinda is a beautiful, good witch. The only ones that are ugly as Dorothy described are the bad witches. The difference is contrasted when the Wicked Witch of the West enters the scene. The Wicked Witch of the West is a haggard, old woman with a dreadful, cackling voice and green coloured skin, what you would normally see a witch as. These descriptions are what separate the two characters archetypes as good and evil. Good being portrayed as beautiful and light and evil being seen as dark and hideous.

As well as the character contrast between Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West, there is a contrast between the two settings in the story. When Dorothy is in Kansas it is seen as a very dull place because of the use of sepia tones and the lack of color. Once Dorothy arrives in the Land of Oz it is a land of great colour and many details. This helps you understand how much more a desirable place the Land of Oz really is although Dorothy is still interested in making her way home. In addition to the contrast between Kansas and Oz, you can compare Emerald City to the domain of the Wicked Witch of the West. Emerald city is a bright, colourful, lively, happy place whereas the domain of the Wicked Witch of the West is a dull, dark, ominous and dreadful place.

After comparing Kansas, the Land of OZ and each character more and more, it demonstrates the main elements of a mythopoeic tale. The lack of reality within the Land of Oz is frequently reflected throughout the film by taking viewers over the rainbow and travelling with Dorothy on her journey down the yellow brick road.


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The Collector//John Fowles

The title to a novel should always relate to the plot or story in some way. John Fowles’ “The Collector” is an excellent representation of how the title of the novel can tell you so much about the plot and story and how the title alone can be linked directly and indirectly to actions and events in the story. “The Collector” is a name best suited for the main character Clegg. The title can be related to his personality as well as his actions. You learn that Clegg is indeed a collector of insects as well as another interesting specimen, the human female.

Within the first pages of the novel, you discover that Clegg has a collection of some sort. “She drew pictures and I looked after my collection” (Fowles, Pg. 4). Clegg speaks of how he would go “off collecting” (Fowles, Pg. 6) while out with his Uncle Dick. Clegg’s father died when he was just a little boy, and was raised by his aunt and uncle. His uncle acted as a role-model as Clegg grew up and he “would always stick up” (Fowles, Pg. 6) for Clegg when his aunt and cousin would make fun of his collection.

Early on in the novel you get an idea of what Clegg collects. He speaks of his “entomological observations diary” (Fowles, Pg. 5), and later states exactly what his collection is. “I’m an entomologist. I collect butterflies.” (Fowles, Pg. 42). Entomology is the study of insects in a scientific field, so when he mentions his “entomological observations” (Fowles, Pg. 5), you are given the information that he collects insects, then you are further led to believe that it is butterflies when he mentions his “Aunt Annie and Mabel used to despise my butterflies” (Fowles, Pg. 6).

Further into the novel, Clegg’s collection extends to another species, that of the human female. You read of Miranda in the first pages of the novel when Clegg talks of how he would “have daydreams about her” (Fowles, Pg. 4). Miranda is considered to be one of his collections. He becomes obsessed with Miranda like someone would with a collection, to the point where he literally collects her.

“I had a special plastic bag sewn in my mac pocket, in which I put some of the chloroform and CTC and the pad so it was soaked and fresh.” (Fowles, Pg. 23). With these tools at his disposal as well as a carefully thought out plan, Clegg had an opportunity to begin his new collection. You relate these tools to that of what he would need to capture a butterfly. He would need a net and a jar to capture a butterfly to add to his collection. For the capture of Miranda, his chloroform was his net, and his van was his jar. Clegg tricked Miranda into thinking he had hit a dog, and had her come around and take a look. “I got the pad I’d been holding in my pocket right across her mouth and nose...then suddenly she went limp...” (Fowles, Pg. 24). He had now finally collected Miranda and was ready to add her to his collection.

Clegg did not capture Miranda to torture or torment her, rather to admire her. He claims “she was my guest at last and was all I cared about.”(Fowles, Pg. 27). This tells you that the act of keeping her there was not to upset her, rather fulfill his own wants. Clegg kept her in captivity with the intensions of having her fall in love with him; he would even give up his most prized possession, his collection of butterflies. “I said, if you asked me to stop collecting butterflies, I’d do it. I’d do anything you asked me.” (Fowles, Pg. 43)

Clegg collects both Miranda and butterflies to fulfill his desires, but those desires are in different aspects of his life. Collecting butterflies was a form of entertainment for Clegg, where as the desire to collect Miranda was for what he perceives as “love”. Clegg will not set Miranda free because he has a strange “love” for her, and this “love” does not exist between the both of them. This separates Miranda from his collection of butterflies.

Miranda is also able to comprehend that she is just another one of Clegg’s collections. She sees herself as another one of his collections, something for him to keep shackled up and view as an object. “Literally. You’ve pinned me in this little room and you can come gloat over me.” (Fowles, Pg. 42). Clegg even states himself that “Seeing her always made me feel like I was catching a rarity, going up to it very careful...” (Fowles, Pg. 3). He is referring to her as an object rather than a person. Miranda would also refer to the butterflies as her “fellow victims” (Fowles, Pg. 54) as if she was trapped just as they were.

At the end of the novel, Clegg shows no remorse for his actions because his obsession begins for an addition to his collection. After putting forth an extraordinary amount of effort into this piece of his collection, he ultimately leads to Miranda’s demise. After Miranda’s death, Clegg recognizes the wasted time he put into Miranda’s kidnapping, and moves on to another subject where this collection will continue to grow.