A Post In Which Is Final

Over the school year, I have learned and written much and developed greatly as a writer. This blog is like journal keeping track of how my writing has developed over the school year. I can look back at what I have done at the beginning of the year and compare them to my more recent posts. I can view how my work as well as the amount of thought I put into my blog posts.

My writing was much simpler at the beginning of the year. There seemed to be more word repetition and some somewhat awkward wording here and there. Even the diction of some of my older work seemed like it could use a little bit of improvement. Now, those areas of my writing have improved greatly. The quality of my writing may have improved, but is till have along way to go.

  

When I look at my first blog post in comparison to this one, I quickly prove my own point. The writing style was very simplistic, and it sounded kind of “flat”, there wasn’t much character in the writing. The word choice was extremely limited compared to some of my more recant posts (not to say that these posts aren’t limited themselves, however, just not as limited). The post was rather dull and repetitive. I slowly started to get more and more character into my writing as the year went on. Without much to define who I am, is it really my blog or just a monotonous robot created for the soul purpose of writing dull blogs?

Still, I seem to be over-exaggerating my work. Although my writing has improved, my posts aren’t the most gripping, expressive, emotional pieces of art ever to come from the depths of my mind. I really could have spent more time re-wording them and adding character and expression to them but I honestly must say that wasn’t really my goal. I just wanted to get it over with, really. Now that I think about it, though, I have been putting some more thought into my blogs, even if they aren’t mybest work.

This, by far, is my best blog post. Being the last post, I am putting forth more effort, character, and thought into this blog than any other because I want my last post to reflect everything I’ve learned, how my writing has improved, and  to be a memorable last post, one that stands out from all the others. Well, actually… nah, I just want to do well because you’re grading the actual work this time (but we can always pretend like I have academic aspirations to go beyond the requirements, right?).

This post definitely reflects my personality, doesn’t it? Good, because that’s really what my, or anybody’s blog, really, is all about, right? Too bad it took me too long to figure that out. The blogs we do for this class are, or, at least, should be, much more than just assigments. They should reflect who you are as a person, not a student because its your own blog, created, customized, and updated by you, and nobody else.

And so I leave you with one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost:

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Nature’s first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold

 Her early leaf’s a flower

But only so an hour

So leaf subsides to leaf

So Eden sank to grief

Nothing gold can stay

(Sorry if there are any, I’m trying to be impressive and recite the poem from memory)

I leave with this because although sometimes the blogs were kind of a drag, I enjoyed writing posting on my blog, especially the ones where we posted pictures or connected things to novels we have read outside of class, posts where I can show a little bit of who I am, my interests, and the way I see things. This is by far my favorite blog post this year. Thank you for a great year of Honor’s English, and see you next year!

Not all asignments are boring

             The extra credit assignment for the Romeo and Juliet unit is one of the assignments that I am most proud of. I took a memorable scene from the play and made it into a Lego set, then designed a box for it. I probably could have used a real picture, but it would have taken me forever to search through the ridiculous amount of Lego’s sitting in my room, so I just used the computer program Lego Digital designer. Which ended up being just as painstakingly slow. Sure, the bricks were nice and organized but I could only place one brick at a time, there weren’t any shortcuts to speed that up. In the end, it looked close enough to what I envisioned the actual scene looked like when I was reading, only in Lego.

 Once I finally finished building the set and taking a picture of it, I got to practice some of the things I learned in my digital design class, which is another reason why I enjoyed this assignment so much. I built the box design around the picture using a computer program called Adobe Fireworks. That took a bit of time but I was able to work at a much faster pace. I also got to share some of the imagery that the play gave me as I read. I sat at the computer and worked for good amount of time, doing something I enjoy. I am proud of the effort and time I put into this assignment.

Poetry!

When I was in 8th grade, my English class had a poetry unit. We worked on a poetry book with 11 original pieces and an analysis of a poem written by a famous author. It was a very enjoyable experience and now I really enjoy writing poetry. I hadn’t done much with poetry before that, so this is when I realized how much I enjoy writing poetry.

 I choose to analyze the poem “The Man in The Iron Pail Mask” by Shel Silverstein. Silverstein is one of my favorite poets, and reading through his books got me excited for the poetry unit. I loved the goofy stories and wacky rhymes that his poetry consists of.

Once I started writing I realized how much I enjoy writing poetry. We had to write several different styles of poetry, so I was able to find out what styles I am good at what styles I like best. One of my favorite things to do when writing poetry is to rhyme. Of course, blank verse can be just as fun to write with and sometimes may work better to convey the message you’re trying to send.

I love all forms of poetry. Poetry is probably my favorite part of English class. That and reading. When poetry was mentioned in class, I got really excited. I am really looking forward to the rest of this unit and when we get to writing poems in class.

Conflict: Rebelling against controlling parents

           The conflict arising from Capulet wanting Juliet to marry Paris instead of Romeo is one of the most important conflicts in the novel. Capulet doesn’t want Juliet near a Montague, which is ironic because Juliet is married to a Montague. This conflict would be considered an interpersonal conflict, considering it takes place between Juliet and her parents. Romeo and Juliet’s love and Juliet’s resistance against her arranged wedding shows that true love can’t be controlled.

            In our modern culture, marriages may not be arranged but many aspects of who people date and marry are controlled by parents. However, the conflict itself, which is more of about rebelling against parents, is still very much present in our community. Especially amongst teenagers, parents restrict who you can date, for example, they may want you to date somebody with the same religion or may not want you dating somebody who gets low grades. Many people follow the same path as Romeo and Juliet, one of rebellion. Love can’t be controlled.

Connecting The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to Sonata Arctica

These are my final lines
I've lived all my nine lives
My nights are over
Cannot feel your heart anymore

I lived only through you
My scar, my heart, my truth
I do not want to die
But no more can I love you!!!

How hard it is to understand
My wish to die hand in hand
This night's like a dream
You will be the last thing I will see

I hold your hand, close my eyes
And all I love finally dies
Drank the poison most foul with you
But why do you smile?

Don't smile
Don't you smile
You were supposed to wither away with me, so, Juliet
Please don't smile
I'm paralyzed and you are still alive

Life is but a long, sad game
Drifting souls avoiding shame
Two dead swans is all we need
To pave the winding memory lane

No hellos, no bad goodbyes
Wailing, distant, silent cries
You can live with my pain
It's your own you cannot take

You played the game and lost
I wonder how you can
Hold the cards for a dead man

The light and the clarity
A welcome change for the life in the darkness
Sea of my sanity

Lost in the vanity
All I ever wanted, to be lost in you
My burden, the hatred

(My own reality)
My own reality
Mirrors and smoke
(Mirrors and smoke)
The final truth unfolds

(Your reality)
Your reality
Mirrors my hopes
Where you will need me

(They'll never find us again once the trail has gone cold)
They'll never find us again once the trail has gone cold
I'm a restless soul, I'll make the best ghost
All things good end into a...

Minute of silence
I get myself in line
One minute of silence
To face my own demise
One minute of silence
This is not what I signed for
One minute of silence
You double-crossing filthy whore

I sit with someone in the dark
I'm so afraid to see it's me again
You had a change of heart
Now we're all getting hurt

Ladies and gentlemen
Welcome to my life again
Walk with me, every curve, every bend
This promenade that seems to come to an end

You know what you meant to me
Emptied the room in your life that I paid for
When I lost my sanity
I made a mess, now I am here to clean

It is too late to regret anything tonight
After what has come to light
You have played me for a fool for all this time
The story may rewrite itself after I'm gone
One more breath, the day will dawn

Hard is it to understand
My wish to die hand in hand
These wounds stay open all night long
You are the last thing I will see

I lived only by you
My scar, my heart, my truth
My sole reason to die
There's no life without you

These are my final lines
I've used all my nine lives
My life is over
Cannot feel your heart anymore

I lived only by you
My scar, my heart, my truth
Have no reason to live
I can't feel the love anymore

This is... the end... Why...?

You're closing my eyes...

You can listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mkOadYqWt0&playnext=1&list=PL986CADF967229A79

 

                For this blog post, I chose the song “Juliet” by one of my favorite bands, Sonata Arctica. This song really connects to the “tragedy part” of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, it being about their deaths. Many of Sonata Arctica’s other songs could just as easily be referencing The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but those wouldn’t be intended references, as are with this song. Come on, the song is called “Juliet” and clearly references to the scene where Romeo poisons himself. It tells about the dramatic irony of when Romeo thinks that Juliet has poisoned herself and so decides to poison himself, when really Juliet has only faked her death, all from Romeo’s point of view.

                The lines, “Hard is it to understand/My wish to die hand in hand/These wounds stay open all night long/You are the last thing I will see” is telling of the scene when Romeo poisons himself in Juliet’s tomb next to her supposedly dead body.

                Then, the song continues to, “I lived only by you/My scar, my heart, my truth/My sole reason to die/There's no life without you” Is explaining why Romeo killed himself. He is blinded by love and all that matters to him is the one he loves, so his life has practically ended when Juliet dies.

                The song also makes another reference to Romeo being blinded by love through the lines, “I lived only by you/My scar, my heart, my truth/Have no reason to live/I can't feel the love anymore”.

                There plenty other references to the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in the song that I haven’t mentioned, just read through the lyrics, you’ll find more.

                The song also makes another reference to Romeo being blinded by love through the lines, “I lived only by you/My scar, my heart, my truth/Have no reason to live/I can't feel the love anymore”.

                There plenty other references to the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in the song that I haven’t mentioned, just read through the lyrics, you’ll find more.