Thinking Outside the Box

      Plato's philosophy illustrates man's struggle for enlightenment, being shackled by the false perceptions of society that inhibit us from seeing things in their true form. He has a simple dialogue where he explains his allegory of "the cave" and very neutral responses take the reader through his extended metaphor. On the other hand, Sartre believes that every man's worst enemy is himself, not society's standards, beliefs or perceptions but by their own flaws they are individually restricted in understanding. He uses detailed conversation to create a sense of separate struggle and perception for each character as if to give a taste of a few small puzzle pieces that when put together, have created their own hell. You come to slowly get a picture of how personalized Sartre's hell is, breaking the stereotypical idea of a burning cavern with a river of lava and unimaginable torture used to create only the most horrific experience for all of eternity. This hell is defined by the people you are trapped with, the ones that drive you crazy, you can't find peace and there is no way to get around the unpleasant contrasting feelings that clash constantly as your trapped in a room with no exits, maddeningly reflective of a circumstance that could easily be experienced on earth, but here it last forever. Could Sartre be implying that in life we place ourselves in hell, in situations that we would like nothing more than to get away from, but what do we do to avoid it? the monotonous job, unhappy marriage, leaky house. Our state of mind remains in this neutral state taking it all in, no physical situation should be an excuse for not receiving enlightenment. However, in Sartre's existential analysis of the individual, we see them faced with the choice to define themselves, or be defined by those around them. Plato's allegory parallels this in the aspect where once the individual is enlightened and attempts to share this knowledge and clarity of thought with others, he can either rise above their disbelief and close-minded perceptions, or fall to their blind words and let go of what he now knows and conform to their ideals allowing them to define him.

AP term

Mood- the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece. Essentially the overall feel that the writer's story has, whether it is happy, sad, dramatic, peaceful there is a "mood" that brings the reader into the situation. Imagine a mood ring, it supposedly changes color due to the mood your in, blue= happy, green= a little stressed, black=anxious etc. this can remind you that the mood of the story reflects the "vibe" if you will. For example, as soon as this song comes on what colors come to mind? :) The song has a classic mood that reflects the artist and reminds the listener of colors that represent the mood

The Big Question

If we only use around 10% of our brain, is it plausible the "final frontier" is the vast reaches of our mind? We have so much discovery, new corners in the depths of the ocean, an uncharted planet outside the borders of our solar system. But with all these dots slowly being connected with lines maybe the picture is our comprehension of the dots and lines. What if our ability to understand and capture the limitless reaches our imagination would completely redefine everything we've previously known.
How much of our brain's potential are we using?
How can we optimize our brain's capabilities?

AP Exam-worthy essay

    

     One of the most prominent archetypes in literature is the epic hero. This strong seemingly flawless character possessing extraordinary strength or mental capacity is viewed overcoming obstacles, forging through the most dire situations and carrying the hopes of many on his shoulders. We see this hero with few inner struggles, and from what we know of his sense of self and morals is generally just a conviction to do good. However, when we look at Shakespeare’s work we see an intense depth and attention to detail as he molded Hamlet into a dramatically transparent man. This transparency allowed the audience to see a hero that had not yet been revealed, a hero with overwhelming emotion ranging from his sickening feelings of loss and hate, to his fits of rage against injustice.

     Shakespeare was able to depict these strong emotions and inner turmoil so eloquently through his flowery and often cryptic language that can just as easily confuse as it can reveal the essence of a character. For example, when Hamlet says “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.” In this small portion of the passage we see Hamlet debating the benefits of death and how they can outweigh life. No classic hero ever struggled with these contemplations brought about by extreme hopelessness, they were hardened men who were only concerned with fight, kill, win mindset never touched by feelings of inadequacy or hate.

     In addition, another important part of Shakespeare’s language is his use of “self-over hearing.” Hamlet’s character is constantly in a state of self discovery, finding himself along with the audience as he makes indecisive declarations that voice his true desires and eventually guide his actions. Hamlet must rely on himself for these revelations, he doesn’t have the classic mentor to show him the way in his journey, his journey is within and his guide must be his own will drawn forth by his ability to search his thoughts. A textual example is,” Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, thus the native hue of resolution, Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprise of great pitch and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.”Hamlet can acknowledge that our mind can be our greatest weakness in itself, and that once confident decisions can lose their drive and movement in a sea of uncertainty.

     Lastly , a definitive aspect of the language that Shakespeare uses is “performative utterance.” Hamlet isn’t some mighty warrior capable of vengeance and destruction, he lacks the confidence so commonly seen with the hero, and instead must voice out these feelings he has in order to give them life and reality, to create a passing thought into a determined action. This can be seen in “Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them.” We can see Hamlet questioning his own mental torture, at first weighing out the two options, and then needing to have some sort of action whether it be to fight back or end the sorrow and pain he is feeling.

     In conclusion, Hamlet’s use of language gives him a completely different image, breaking free from the “fight to the death” hero stereotype and being the transparent self tortured man. Shakespeare gives Hamlet this desperation not only to search for answers to his undecided questions, but to act upon those feelings within himself that cannot be brought about accept through extreme self analysis.

Not as complicated as we thought

A Major Concept

     One major concept I have learned this year is how to break down the most confusing pieces of literature so that they make sense. If I had read Hamlet in a different class I would have tried to understand it at first, relied completely on sparksnotes, given up out of hopelessness and disregarded that section of learning as a whole. However, we were taught to read it as a class, toss around ideas and analyze chunk after chunk of dialogue until we could come to a general agreement about the meaning of the passage. We watched a variety of movies made reflecting the play so that we could see how others had seen Shakespeare's work, had group meetings to discuss intents and character motives, and through careful dissection I was able to understand one of the most hated pieces of literature in schools. Unlike my parents or their friends who at the mention of Hamlet roll their eyes, laugh and say "yeah all I remember is I hated it and didn't read it at all" I on the other hand, can recite Hamlet's soliloquy, interpret dialog, remember act summaries, and understand the key themes and motives reflected in Shakespeare's play. Now, I can say I have made it through one of the greatest trials of high school English and found it only a fraction of what it once was in my eyes.

Roy Christopher Video Conference

- Roy reflected that her thought hip hop culture's essence and creation of remix, mash-up, rebellion really shaped 21st century culture as a whole.
- indicators of a generational acknowledgement that a new technology is defining us our sense of loss and looking back. For example,Vinyl records suddenly became popular again, it shows a cultural sense of remembrance and fondness that takes hold when we realize we've moved on leaving a piece of us behind.
- Roy said there is a generational gap in understanding where the older generation is distrusting of technology they don't comprehend, and are wary of the younger generation with this technology.
- (point by Shanno) Due to the economy, online classes are going to need these technological improvements in order for higher education to still be available.