I'm thankful for Jake Long

         This year I am thankful for Nathaniel Ng. He is the biggest pain in my butt, but I probably could not live without him. As far back as I can remember us knowing each other (which is still pretty fuzzy) I know I have had some of the best memories with him. I'm thankful for a friend who understands me, and one that I can spend countless hours talking on the phone to. I know that at times we've drifted apart but I'm glad to say that I think our ups and downs have only caused us to be closer. And when we are not stupidly arguing he is my favorite person to be around. Nathan is always there for me and I can't thank him enough for that.

          I'm thankful for Nathan; someone who I can never seem to stay mad at because he always has a way to put a smile on my face.

Then he is dead?

          Macbeth has died, true, but his death occurred long before he was beheaded by Macduff. I believe Macbeth died the second he killed Duncan. Throughout the play he gradually becomes more malicious and insane and I feel it is because he had completely lost himself after the incident. Obviously you could tell that  Macbeth was not this kind of person on a normal basis, but with a little bit of persuasion from his wife and a bit of desire for power, he became a man no one suspected. The real Macbeth had died and he had lost his mind. He went on to kill anyone who threatened his role of king and that got him into a lot of consequences. He and his wife begin seeing things and go crazy which showed that they had really been pushed off the edge. Macbeth's reality dies long before Macduff had enough and took it into his own hand to killed him. So yes, Macbeth is dead, but first mentally, then physically.

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

           From not only head to toe but "crown to toe" as if these evil ideas of becoming queen had already taken her over completely. The crown sat conceivably on her head atop of these wicked plans to make sure her opportunity was not missed. In this whole quote I felt as if Lady Macbeth theoretically grew bigger as she filled with the power of the situation. This woman could have been going crazy. She wanted to act upon all these thoughts and with whatever it took, as she dreamed to "thicken her blood" and stop her "human compassion". Casting a fog above her actions, she was definitely going to go through with them. Whatever it took to get the crown.

           I also feel as if this quote brings back up the topic of unjust feminism. This idea that she needed to "unsex" herself before having such deep ideas, that a woman isn't capable of embodying this sense. She even pushes gender barriers when she refers to her husband as one who is full of "milk of human kindness". She doesn't even really replace her husband in this situation because he already was one who was not weak, but more soft.  Lady Macbeth took a strong role and played her part in the future of her husband and herself.

No new tales to tell

            In the Wife of Bath women are treated on a lesser scale than men and that is no new issue. Still today we have women fighting for equal rights that they deserve. This issue has been forever a long haul to fight as much other discriminatory cases have. Just as the Wife of Bath had explained, the sense of understanding and power should be equalized. He creates this character to personify this strong idea. Often time feminism is taken out of proportion into sexism with women’s favor. Women should not be able to control men or have all the say. There needs to be a balance within a system of giving and taking. I believe that he focuses very strongly on this topic without directly saying that there needs to be reform. He shows within extremist examples of ‘what might be ’ within the civilization to show that equality as its potential. We read in class stories of the Anglo-Saxon culture and how women had no say whatsoever in any decisions; whether they be about the village, her family, or even herself. In 1919-20 women finally received the right to vote and continued to fight on from there. Today we have small outbreaks of women showing their passion towards this idea. Taking complete reform would probably be unnecessary in our times now, but this comes to show that women wanting their equal respects and right will seemingly forever be a topic. And tales will come following the same ideas.

Truth

When we read Beowulf in the first week, we had already depicted our own bad image of Grendel as this evil creature who lures in the night. Yet we continued to read on into Grendel and saw a different perspective. Throughout this time our idea of what is the truth has been twisted and turned. This question of who is telling the real story is constantly running through my mind. The Shaper comes into the story and tells of these heroic and devastating poems to the people of Denmark and as they listen they are drawn into his tales. Even Grendel who listens in hiding is almost dragged in, and we know that is not the life that he knows. Grendel had seemed to be hiding in his own little bubble of stories that has brought him great torture, but absorbing such a drastic life in such a quick moment of time was to much for him. He has a pure breakdown in this moment of time because of the truth. As quotes say, the truth may hurt, and it really puts a toll not only on Grendel but everyone else in the village also. While Grendel is firing up in his cave, these villagers are being inspired by the ancestral stories. They are ready to take back their lives.
We also see truth within the Dragon. And this is a cold harsh sense of honesty. He blatantly tell Grendel what his life needs to be about. He makes Grendel, a feared man-eating "beast", afraid and demeans him. The sense of truth had made Grendel feel as his life is even less that he thought of it before (which was fairly low). The Dragons cold hard advice is to "find a pile of gold and sit on it" because the truth is, our life is such a small part of existence.

Modern American Beowulf

              Beowulf would not be considered a bad character, but personally I would not give him as many props for what he has really done. I would say modern American Beowulf would be America's participation within other countries issues. At all costs they are made from good intentions but could be considered intrusive. I don't have enough background information to strongly support the subject of Americas history but I feel America has a powerful sense of confidence when addressing others just as Beowulf did entering Denmark. Telling them he is the greatest and with their approval he will rid them of the monster. We seem to be a powerhouse of the world and by that we have this sense of certainty or boldness about ourselves. America also seems to have a tendency to involve themselves into other countries issues. Not always when asked. Beowulf came from a far away land all the way to Denmark telling them he was here to solve their problems, nowing fully well he could accomplish the task. American seems to take these issues with the same mind set, yet the outcomes don't  to be the case and often, we dig themselves or ourselves deeper in the problem. Not to say that it was a bad idea for Beowulf to come, obviously if not for him there would be hundreds more dead, but there was there was no invitation to it. I'm fairly  sure that America did involve itself within places such as Haiti to promote democracy or in Kosovo to end genocide, and  not saying that it was a bad idea because we are spreading 'good' ( or our idea of good), but there was no starting act of a call for help. Again I'm not at all against what Beowulf had done to come and defeat Grendel but he did just place himself very confidently in that position, just as America has with many other countries.  And that seems to have a negative connotation in a wide part in the audience of America. This is why I believe America's positions within other countries issues is a modern American Beowulf.  

  

Me!

One of my favorite things to do is to listen to people talk about themselves. They could go on and on about all they're silly quirks and secret talents and I could listen for hours, but when it comes to myself I can't seem to get that much out. Even though I try hard not to be I'm a very closed person.  Human interaction is definitely not my thing. However I could not possible live without my friends and my cousins and I spend as much time as I can with them when not crammed with other activities. I participate in Whitney Youngs girls golf team, Nonstop dance, The Piece Makers dance team, AAC, and help run our school's fashion show. I put a lot on my plate, but I feel that it is teaching me to be responsible and made me realize I probably don't have as much time in my hands as I thought, but I enjoy every second of it. My heart has belonged to dancing since I was 4 and I hope to continue until I can no longer move my legs. And along with that music is a necessity. On my long train rides to school I always  listen to Lana Del Rey, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, Boys like Girls, Awolnation, and sadly One Direction. Honestly it's only because Harry Styles is perfect.   

Even though I grew up a tomboy, being raised with 3 uncles, I'm a sucker when it comes to fashion and clothing, but Ill always have time for skateboarding and football. My favorite movies are the fast and furious collection and I could eat Thai food for the rest of my life. I've watched all seasons of Friends, How I met your mother, That 70s show, and Freak and Geeks more than once. It's a bit of a problem but not as much as the fact that I can't pronounce the words eighteenth and picture correctly. I guess I kind of rambled on here, but I eventually have to open up sometime right?