In these past few weeks, we have pretty much 1.) wrapped up Death of a Salesman, and 2.) started Hamlet.
First off, I must say that, after working with this DOS so much in class, my opinions on certain characters have changed. I still strongly dislike Willy and Linda. If anything, my hatred for them has grown. In my opinion, Willy and Linda are two terrible human beings. Willy always sucked at being a salesman, yet his pride kept him from switching to being a carpenter. I can't stand how proud he is. It's one of my pet peeves. However, I've come to like Biff, Charley, and Bernard. I also sympathize with Happy, because his parents treat him like utter crap, and he really only wants their approval.
The reading dealing with DOS that Ms. Holmes assigned us was actually very useful. When I first heard about the assignment, I groaned because it was yet ANOTHER thing to read and analyze. However, I actually enjoyed it. One thing that surprised me was how much I hated Arthur Miller. I honestly had no idea that someone could come across as so pompous in a 5-some page interview! It also surprised me that I didn't interpret the play at all how Miller did.
Anyways, that play is behind us and we're now on Hamlet. I must say that Shakespeare has never been my favorite. In the past, I've struggled deciphering what the freak characters are actually saying. I also generally dislike the stories (ESPECIALLY Romeo and Juliet). I've liked Hamlet so far, though. The plot is interesting, and the text hasn't been as hard to read. Hopefully things continue like this.
Hi Haley!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enjoying Hamlet - it seems like one of the most difficult in the Shakespeare cannon, so its great that you are understanding it so well.
I am curious as to why you hate Linda so much? I mean, I have no idea why she was ever attracted to Willy, but I respect her fierce (albeit self-destructive) loyalty.
This response is great because it is truly your own reflections on the text. This is also a tool to help us review for the AP, so try to think of the details you will want to remember in May and add those in your blog posts.
Haley,
ReplyDeleteI love the reflection of your thoughts shown in this post. That's really cool that you are understanding Hamlet so well. Your opinion on Linda also brought the same question to mind as Emily said! I think your personal opinions in this post showed the deeper thinking process. Good job!
I thought I was the only one who hated Linda as well as Willy! He is just too proud to change his ways when they obviously weren't working, and Linda just agreed with whatever he did, and was really mean to Biff, even after he shows remorse over abandoning his father and suggests to help out with money. She just annoys me most of the time for going with what Willy wanted, even if it was just what women were supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you guys offer one another positive reinforcement, but you also need to challenge one another to work to capacity. Where are the connections to other course material, other courses, the world outside our classrooms, etc.? I just don't see the synthesis that this assignment is primarily about.
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