Big question next steps

I was originally thinking about immortality and if such a thing is possible, and eventually that lead me to thinking about ancient history and how looking back to their civilizations and ways of life could help us further today's modern societies. I've always loved learning about history. It was always my favorite class in school, but it seems like there are a lot of people who don't retain the things they learn (or just don't consider it important). But it is important because "if you don't know history, you are doomed to repeat it" or something like that, and I think that's true. We've already pulled a lot of ancient ideas to use today, like forms of government. But eventually all of those civilizations fell, and that's not something people really think about. If history does repeat itself, then why can't we look back and try to find an accurate way to avoid it? Obviously, circumstances change and the world has different superpowers than it did thousands of years ago, so we can't exactly pinpoint how our country, or world, will fall apart. But there is no harm that could come from trying to avoid the mistakes made by people just like us thousands of years ago, and that goes for everybody. I hope it will get others to think about history more and put more value on it.
I don't think there are any skills required to learn about history, but finding ways to apply it to today could take some critical thinking.. My plan would be to go to the Getty Museum that houses artifacts from ancient Greece and Rome and just spend a day there learning about how people lived back then and what life was like because I don't think that, in their day to day life, they were that different. That's a huge thing to realize because at the end of the day, we're all the same, no matter where we're from or what era we live in. I don't think there's anyone in particular I would like to meet, but if there's a friendly curator who wouldn't mind spending the day talking about everything I see then that would be great. Obviously, I would like to take some people with me, so a car (or van, depending on how many want to go) I would need. The trip would be just to get an idea, and help others get an idea, of how important history is to us. I'll post updates of how things are going and working out, and a final post just to sum up what was learned and what everyone thought.

Something about poetry

I used to write poetry, or try to, but I don't anymore because honestly most of it wasn't that good. It's relaxing to write it though, and it feels good to get something off your chest. No one has to read it, but you can still keep it to find a few years later when you've forgotten all about it. I prefer reading it, and I like ones that tell stories, like "The Highwayman." "Gunga Din" is a good one, too. And if music is poetry, which it pretty much is, then I like listening to poetry, too. I think that writing something or singing something is the most powerful way to get a message across, especially if it has to do with something controversial and if the lyrics are impactful.

Intro to Poetry

The title of the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" gives us an idea about where the poem will be set/what it will be about. There is something there, where the sidewalk ends, but we don't know what it is yet.

The author is thoughtful, and likes the place that he is talking about. He says that the children "know the place where the sidewalk ends" so he probably likes children and knows that they can see things adults can't. The way he talks to the audience is informative, like he has a secret and he wants to share it because it might benefit someone.

The poem makes me feel curious, like I want to know more about the place that he's talking about because it sounds nice. It sounds relaxing, so I guess my mood would be happy.

The shift comes when he talks about the place, then goes on to talk about the dank city. The mood gets darker, it goes from being happy and peaceful to being unfriendly and sad.


The theme of the poem could be youth, because it talks about how the kids know where the place is and the adults follow the arrows that the children have drawn. He says they'll walk slowly, meaning the adults, maybe because the children are already there and they want to catch up without running, because they're not young anymore.

Hamlet Quote Essay

"O! That this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew."

Hamlet cries these dramatic words in the wake of recent events that have rocked the foundation of his life, and this quote, more so than any other in the play, demonstrates the theme: mortality. Whether r not Hamlet is truly suicidal or just doesn't want to exist, he brings up a topic that doesn't go away throughout the rest of the play. Since Hamlet cannot trust anyone to tell his true feelings to, the audience is trusted with a big secret and is able to come up with feelings about Hamlet that none of the other characters can. The audience can the see the theme in action as later events unfold.
Shakespeare's tone could be described as sympathetic to the longing for death. He understands what Hamlet is going through, and thus is able to create a convincing monologue for the character. The fact that the monologue begin with the line  "O! That this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew" suggests that Shakespeare was trying to shock the audience, as it was unexpected from lack of mortality being mentioned earlier.

Hamlet Essay (incomplete)

Hamlet has always been looked at as a confused teenage boy who gradually goes insane by the prospect of killing his murderous uncle. It's fair to say that he is. "The Performative Utterance" provides some insight into how Hamlet may have become disillusioned with himself through the process of "self-overhearing," or listening to oneself speak and discovering knowledge about themselves. While Hamlet may have started out as a normal teenage boy, a part of him that the reader doesn't see much of as Hamlet is given his revenge assignment early on, by the end of the play he has changed drastically--more than he's told his friends he will.

The Performative Utterance

Honestly, I thought that "The Performative Utterance" was really boring. It had some interesting things in it but as a whole it was way too long and the guy who wrote it could put his time to better use. The analyzing of how Shakespeare wrote felt like it was overanalyzed and like they were trying to look for meaning where there maybe was none. It felt too complicated.

Today's Discussion

Today we talked about the conservativeness of American culture versus Europe and the first amendment. I thought it was interesting. We talked about how certain speech is not protected under the first amendment, like hate speech or speech that calls on people to do bad things. But what if someone says something that, when people hear it, they think, "They're getting arrested for sure" but no one physically reacts in anyway to what was said. Then they can't be arrested. So, technically, all speech is okay unless you're threatening someone with their life or unless someone is stupid enough to do whatever they were told. Also, on the topic of American conservativeness in the media, in particular, if you watch European commercials they are way more explicit than what is allowed here. I don't have any idea why that is, and I don't know if that has anything to do with Shakespeare having his characters make dirty jokes.