The Murder of the King

Today in class we found out that Hamlet’s uncle is responsible for the murder of the father. Unbelievable.  Is it not preposterous that a brother would kill his own brother? What has this world come down to? I’d really like to find out why the uncle would do such a thing. Was it because he truly was in love with the Queen? Or did he do it for the title of being the new King? I think it is a bit extreme and sorrowful that the King would expect Hamlet to let go of his father’s death and completely accept his new father. What will Hamlet do now that he has found out about this tragedy? Will he seek revenge and go after his uncle and kill him? Or will he also do something to his mother if he finds out that she had something to do with this murder? The fact that his guards came by and witnessed Hamlet’s absurd behavior once he told them about talking to the ghost, foreshadows that maybe they will too be involved in this tragic revengeful story. I look forward to finding out on what Hamlet will do in revenge. He might be secretive until he comes up with a master idea of how to really make his uncle suffer. Will the rest of the society consider Hamlet a tragic hero or an evil revengeful man? I think he should be considered a hero if he gets his uncle back, because all bad deeds must be punished and even Hamlet believes that “nothing good will come out of this”.

When we saw the scene of the funeral, the “look” that his mother gives to the uncle is a bit questionable. We could either interpret that as her gazing at him furiously with the fact that she knows that he is the one who killed her beloved husband. Or we could view that “look” as her way of disguising herself by crying, meanwhile she actually is happy to be with the new King. Is there some sort of a scheme going on here? Which leads me to question the idea that perhaps the Queen and the uncle had some affair going on before the uncle had killed the King. If that is what was going on, then I am guessing the King was killed because the reputation might have been in stake of the royal family, which is a terrible thing which society despises. Was he killed because he knew and didn’t do anything? And the only way for the uncle’s happiness to thrive on would be to end the life of his dear brother?

Oh Hamlet

Hamlet is a very confusing novel to me. At first I had no idea what was going on or what the characters were saying. I am actually not a fan of what type of old English, just because it is so frustrating to really understand what is being said. However, throughout class reading time and activities we have been doing, I can somewhat now understand parts of it more clearly. Based on the activity we did in class on Friday I can now clearly understand what Hamlet is saying about his mother. He feels as if he wants to disappear and dissolve into mist. He is questioning God, which is a very unique and absurd thing to do back in those times, because everyone was so caught up in the existence of God. But due to the fact that Hamlet’s mother has done such a dramatic thing, Hamlet is forced to question God’s presence. Hamlet feels as if his whole world has turned upside down. His father has only been dead for two months and his mother has already married his uncle. However to look at it from the mother’s perspective, perhaps she felt so weak and she really needed a sense of security. Perhaps the uncle is the closest resemblance to the father and therefore, the mother picked to marry him. Perhaps she misses her dead husband so much that the only option for her was to grab his brother. Maybe he reminds her of her dead husband. And that is not a bad thing…? But two months is a short time. Did she not think of how Hamlet would feel? Is she that selfish? How did she think Hamlet would feel having his own uncle as his step-father? Strange. Kind of disturbing. And as of Hamlet, all he can do is keep his mouth shut. He knows it’s not his place to say anything. But maybe later on in the novel he will stand up for what he believes is right? Will he kill his uncle? Or will he run away from home and never speak to his mother again? All of these questions I have that need to be answered. Hamlet feels angry, hurt, and mournful. Is that the opposite of his mother? Or did she marry the uncle just to cover all of these feelings up? Is she using the uncle as a replacement for her lost loved one? I can’t wait to read more of this confusing novel and hopefully figure out what is happening is at happens!

The Simple Beauty of Poetry

Poetry to me means something that I can go to in order escape the present and become engulfed into a fantasy. A fantasy of either the past, present or future. It doesn’t necessarily have to be dramatic, but as long as it has meaning to ME, then I consider it a good poem. I enjoy poems consisting of love, life struggles, or inspiration. Because those topics are something I can relate to and I can actually feel the authors meaning. I like to become involved within the poem and experience the emotions that the author was trying to make the reader feel. Sometimes, I read poems and think the complete opposite thing of what the author might have been suggesting. That is the pure beauty of literature and writing. You can go on and on without many boundaries, besides the edge of the white paper on which you are writing on. Even if I do find unintentional meanings within the poem, I still wonder on what the author was really trying to get across. Perhaps the writer was merely writing just for the fun of it? Perhaps that is a way of expressing their own true feelings and thoughts?

I love the way poetry lets me get involved within the simple and small portion of the page. I can connect words with other ones in the poem and try to derive some type of a meaning. One connection leads to another and this lets me be free and write down any thought that I might be feeling. I love that simple act of reading that lets me feel a whole lot of emotions, based on what I am reading. That’s the beauty. I can read a poem each day to go along with my mood. Or sometimes I can read a poem in hopes of changing my mood from one to another. Once the poem changes me, I feel different. But with irony, I do not change the poem. The poem always stays the same and does not change. It’s funny how just a bunch of words on a page can provide so much feeling and completely change a person. Meanwhile the page is never affected, unless you burn it. But I’m sure these days there’s always a copy somewhere online or in another million books.

I am enjoying this unit of AP Lit. There’s really no wrong or right answer when you analyze a poem, as long as you have your evidence to support what you’re saying.

"The School Children"

"The School Children" written by Louise Gluck is a poem about the difficulties a mother has to face during the time of her child’s departure from home. A possible thesis for this poem could be: In the poem, “The School Children”, Louise Gluck explores the difficulties mothers face and reveals the sadness and lonesome they feel once their children leave home, through imagery, contrast and tone shift.

Right from the start the author explores the idea of “children go(ing) forward” as their mothers labor at home and do shores that are “unknown” to them. Possibly meaning that the only thing that mothers know how to do best is to take care of the children. To them the chores seem to be “of another language” as their kids go to school. The second stanza, suggests the fact that the kids are the “great offerings” which are received “on the other shore”, being teachers, schools etc. The mothers are left behind with all their efforts put into the children and the children just leave, leaving no credit behind. The mothers give apples to the children, as in they teach their kids the right from wrong. But all that the children do is, leave the home and take their knowledge elsewhere. Moreover, as the teachers “instruct them in silence” the children are spoiled by the teachers’ rotten traps and all of their innocence goes away. The mothers try to “scour…for a way out” as they feel trapped inside by their duty to stay at home. They show little ammunition, because they are tired of labor and they miss their children.

This poem is very true in most cases. The author did a great job emphasizing the importance of mothers upon the children. The real pain can be felt throughout the poem as the author displays imagery in various parts throughout the poem. Just as poetry does, this poem also interrupts the “stream of life” in order to let humans process it. This poem is concerned with a moment in life where the hardest part of being a mother is to watch your children leave the home. All your efforts and caring go out the door, without an idea of whether they will come back or not. The poem works by making the readers feel how mothers feel exactly and the pain that they go through. And this way the author does a great job capturing what really is going on at that moment of time in a mother’s life.