Anna Crooker
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
"An Evening on the Beach"
“An Evening on the Beach”
It is a beautiful evening, peaceful and full of things to adore,
And there I sat with my toes in the sand,
And sand dollar in hand.
I could hear the waves crashing against the shore,
Providing much needed comfort to my mind which was quite sore.
The birds could also be heard flying over the small island,
Gracefully flapping their wings in order to get to a far away land,
I watched them fly away like precious time only leaving you to want more.
This moment in my short life was absolutely breath-taking,
It inspired me to stop and just take in the beauty of my surroundings,
Its beauty made it a moment I will remember forever.
These moments don’t come often, but they are life-changing,
They make me realize that nature is simply outstanding,
And a precious gift from our God that created this absolute treasure.
Although I was enjoying this picture perfect moment,
All good things must come to an end.
As I sat watching the waves and the sand blend,
A cold air started to blow which felt like absolute torment,
And the dark clouds started to rumble putting a damper on my enjoyment.
Yet there was still beauty to be found with the storm that started to descend,
Whether it be in the lightening illuminating the sky or the smell of rain that ascends,
Nature has many various breath-taking elements.
As I started to stand up and brush the sand off me,
I took one more look at this unforgettable sight.
And as it sadly started to rain,
I had no choice to leave this angelic sea,
And return into the dark night,
With many beautiful memories that will always remain.
I modeled this poem after ““It is a beauteous evening, calm and free” by William Wordsworth. This poem contained a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA CDECDE, which I used in my poem. Wordsworth is known for using metaphors to combine the natural beauty of the world with religion. I also attempted to keep this characteristic in mind as I referred to my religious beliefs in this poem. Another characteristic of Wordsworth is emphasizing emotions gathered from memories and feelings instead of formality. To him, it was more important to write about what he felt rather than writing a traditional poem. I also tried to incorporate my feelings from my memories of the beach into this poem. Finally, this poem contains elements of Romanticism as the entire poem is about the nature and beauty of the ocean. It also contains vivid use of imagination through the detailed descriptions of the beach scene.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Lady Macbeth Playlist
http://open.spotify.com/user/1219022039/playlist/1hRooFkL9lMxEHBihFc4hM
The following are a list of songs which describe Lady
Macbeth’s character:
1
“Disturbia” by Rihanna – This refers to someone
going crazy and not really having a sane grip on reality like Lady Macbeth.
2.
“"Apologize” by One Republic –This relates to
Lady Macbeth because once she feels regret over her actions, it is too late to
apologize.
3.
“"No One Mourns the Wicked” from Wicked the
Musical – This song pretty much explains itself as no one is would mourn Lady Macbeth
because she is a ruthless wicked killer.
4
.
“I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from the Mulan-
This song describes Lady Macbeth’s desire to turn Macbeth into a man who is
capable of killing King Duncan.
5.
“Mean” by Taylor Swift- This pretty much
describes Lady Macbeth’s personality as she was a mean, bossy, and overbearing.
6
.
“Heartless” by Kayne West- This is another song
which sums up Lady Macbeth’s personality.
Like the song states, Lady Macbeth is a heartless and has no compassion
for others as she will do whatever it takes to be successful.
7.
“You’re Not Sorry” by Taylor Swift- This song
describes Lady Macbeth because she is not sorry for her actions until it was
too late.
8
.
“King of Anything” by Sara Bareilles- This song
is talking about how no one can be the boss and controlling. This relates to Lady Macbeth because she doesn’t
let anyone tell her what to do or control her as she is the boss of herself.
9.
“I Can’t Wait to Be King” from the Lion King-
Although Lady Macbeth could never actually become a king, she most certainly
wants all the power that she could possibly get.
.
“Haunted” by Taylor Swift – This relates to Lady
Macbeth because she is haunted by her actions and guilt she has, which eventually
causes her to commit suicide.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Women and Power
Today in our world, a woman can certainly take on an
important leadership role. In order to take on a significant role women don’t
have to dial down their emotions and act the part of a man, but instead just be
themselves. Gender should not be a deciding
factor in determining a leadership role, as both men and women make outstanding
leaders. The only thing that should matter is if they
have the qualities and credentials to be a strong leader. For example, they should be responsible,
trustworthy, fair, honest, and assertiveness. In the olden times, women were considered to
be nothing but housekeepers as they weren’t allowed to have an opinion or speak
out. However, they have come a long way
since these days. Today women have many
prominent positions in society and under no conditions should they have to
change to fit into these positions of power.
The perfect example is Queen Elizabeth as she ruled England
independently for many years. She was
able to remain herself, control her emotions, and be an effective leader. It didn’t matter that she was a tiny woman
because she was just as effective as a man.
Although women can make fine leaders, sometimes emotions can get the
best of them. For example in the case of
Hilary Clinton, emotions got the best of her causing her to dropout out of the
campaign trail. It is okay to have
emotions as it shows that you are human, but her problem was that she didn’t
know how to control them. Women who take
things too literally and allow their emotions to interfere with their work
shouldn’t be powerful leaders. However, not all women are troubled by their
emotions. Some women are able to put
aside their emotions realizing that their jobs come first. These women who are mentally strong can
certainly make excellent leaders. When
it is said that women have to be mentally strong, it doesn’t mean they should
bottle up their emotions. It is all
right for women to be passionate and have feelings for a certain issues because
it shows their character as long as there is balance. The way society sees women and emotions is
different than men and their emotions.
It is almost a double standard.
When men show their emotions it proves that they are strong and
dedicated. When women show their
emotions, society automatically assumes they are weak. This is unfair to women because it is
impossible to bottle up all of your emotions.
Society needs to realize that women can be just as strong as men and
can be excellent leaders.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Untitled
Unfortunately in our
world today, there are many unjust and terrible crimes occurring all around
us. Many of us look at these crimes and are
overcome with sorrow and compassion for the victims, but we don’t have the
opportunity or motivation to take matters in our own hands. This leads to the question: If we were aware
of the crime occurring, as a witness how morally should we handle it? In the case of both the Holocaust and Macbeth, it would have been very hard,
if not impossible, for a witness to speak out and take action. The Holocaust was filled with many odious crimes
occurring all the time. Therefore for
someone to take responsibility and condemn the actions of the Nazi soldiers, it
would have gotten them killed. In the
story of Macbeth, the character of MacBeth
abused his recently gained power and decided to order several executions of
innocent people. For someone to stand
up to Macbeth, it would have automatically resulted in their death without
having even a slight effect on Macbeth himself.
Responsibility for these heinous crimes however can be blamed on no one
but the people who ordered the executions.
Yet some blame can fall upon the individuals who carry out the unjust
orders. In “Can You Learn Anything From
a Void?” Adam Kirsch states, “If Victor Capesius had never been born, or
if he had refused to take part in the selections at Auschwitz, just as many
Jews would have died there.” Although
the actions that Victor and many other German soldiers committed were without a
doubt immoral, their lack of participation would have had no effect on the
outcome. Just as many Jews would have
died regardless of if Victor participated.
Although they didn’t have many options, Victor and other Nazi soldiers
are still partly responsible for their crimes.
This is also the unfortunate case in the
story of Macbeth. Even though the guards
killed innocent people under direct orders, they are still left with the
responsibility of the murders. Just
because they were ordered to kill certain individuals, under no means, meant
they had to proceed with the murder. Although
we have seen many examples of hatred, there are ways to combat the evil in the
world and uphold your moral convictions. The best way to combat the hatred in the world
is with compassion. You have to show
compassion and sympathy to others, in order to prevent an evil act. For example, In “Can You Learn Anything
From A
Void?” Kirsch states, “Over and over again, nothing but dates and
numbers for a defense, never an awakening, never any self-reflection: morality,
guilt, conscience.” This statement refers to the lack of compassion and remorse
that Victor Capesius had when he murdered thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Day at the Globe Theatre
This is a marvelous day to see a Shakespeare Play in the
Globe Theatre. Therefore we must have an
entire day of celebration. The
festivities begin in the early morning and continue up until the play
itself. It includes lots of lavish foods,
drinks, and conversation with my prominent and wealthy friends. We discuss everything from the weather
outside to the type of playing we will see later. The
play to be seen today is Romeo and Juliet,
the classic tragedy of the two star-crossed lovers. It is personally one of my favorites that I
frequently come to the Globe to watch it preformed. As always our seats are in the Lord’s Room,
which are proclaimed to be the best and most prestige seats in the theatre. They are exclusively preserved for the
wealthy, like myself, as they cost five times that of a seat for a commoner. These exceptional and quite pricy seats are
positioned in the balconies at the back of the stage above the Tiring
Room. However, some may argue that the
view is disappointing as you can’t always see everything that is
occurring. Although the view is
sometimes obstructed, one can hear almost every word of the play. This is a
huge advantage as the general sound quality in the Globe is poor and the upper
class greatly appreciates the dialogue with pristine sound and quality. Therefore,
to be able to hear the dialogue flawlessly is better that having a complete
view. Around me surrounds many interesting sights
and sounds that I take in as the play progresses. Sights include a limited picture of the
stage, several spectators dressed in their finest, and many actors in
costumes. The arrays of sounds include
the conversation among many individuals, laughter, snickering, applause, and
dialogue from the actors. Although my
view is somewhat obstructed, I am still able to understand what is occurring on
stage because of dialogue and familiarity with the play. This is because of the
spectacular performance put on by the very experienced actors who have been
acting for several years. My favorite part of the play is when Romeo
kills himself with the poison from the apothecary to be with Juliet only
because he believes she is dead. Once
the play is over, I linger for a bit as I exchange thoughts about the previous
performance and anticipation of the next.
Finally, it is time for me to go home as a long day of celebration has ended
and I am left with anticipation for the next Shakespearean Play at the Globe
Theatre.
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