Macbeth Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEao6TxBZR8

Literary Devices

1. Symbolism
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie"
(Sebold 1)

2. Metaphor
"I always chose the icicle: the weapon melts away"
(Sebold 125)

3. Simile
"The room like a vault, the chair like a womb"
(Sebold 136)

4. Dramatic Irony
 "Mr. Harvey would later say these words to my mother when he ran into her on the street: 'I heard about the horrible, horrible tragedy. What was your daughter's name, again?'"
(Sebold 8)

5. Allusion
 "If Susie was carrying around To Kill a Mocking Bird it means she must have turned in her paper on Othello already"
(Sebold 24)

6. Repetition
 "the suspicion her now held that kept repeating itself. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey"
(Sebold 60).

7. Metaphor
"She felt encased in something heavy, a fly trapped in a spider's funnel web, the thick silk binding up around her"
(Sebold 180).

8. Symbolism/ Repetition
"The silk-screened number on her back screamed out at him. 5! 5! 5! Lindsey Salmon in her soccer shirt"
(Sebold 182)

9. Simile
"Our heartache poured into one another like water from cup to cup"
(Sebold 186)

10. Foreshadowing
"But on December 6, 1973, it was snowing, and I took a short-cut through the cornfield back from the junior high. It was dark out because the days were shorted in the winter, and I remember how the broken cornstalks made my walk more difficult"
(Sebold 6)

Morality Is Not Permanent

I believe that humans are naturally good, and that they are influenced by their surrounding environments. If people with morality are put into harsh environments, they would eventually change into someone different. Most likely, their strong sense of what is right and what is wrong will be weakened. This will lead to them being confused, and situations will no longer be black and white, but instead grey. The once morally good people will then begin to alter into people who are immoral because of the environment that they are put into.

Humans are born with morality because at a very young age, humans have a sense of right and wrong. For example, in order for babies to learn what is right and what is wrong, they experiment by experiencing the consequences for their actions. A baby might wonder if it is alright to hit others. Therefore, they will hit someone to test if harming others is approved. If they do not get punished for harming others, this will lead the baby to believe that hitting others is right. In contrast, if the baby gets scolded and is told by an adult that hitting others is not right, then the baby will understand and be sure that harming others is unacceptable. As a result, humans are born with morality because they have a sense of right and wrong, but depending on the environment, their morality can easily be altered.

Morality is innate to humans, but at the same time morality is also learned. Humans learn morality from their parents, teachers, and friends. Often, humans are influenced by what others believe is right or wrong. This is evident in everyone because one’s morality is greatly influenced by parents and teachers. As a young child, a majority of parents and teachers teach children manners and morality. Common rules that children learn are not to steal, not to lie, and not to harm others. Children are constantly reminded of these rules, and are punished if they break any of these rules. With the help of the constant reminders and consequences, children begin to have a strong morality, but their morality can also be easily disrupted due to their surroundings. The people that they associate themselves with are either a good influence, or a bad influence on the child. If the people are a bad influence, the child’s morality can easily be changed into immorality. Therefore, the people who the child associates with have a strong impact on the child because of the time spent together, and the child will eventually adapt to their moral codes.  

Please Go Away Fears?

No one is fearless in the world. Everyone lives with some kind of fear, little or big. Fears can range from the fear of insects, to the fear of failure. I believe even Superman has fears! Therefore, if someone told me that they have no fears, I know that they are lying. One thing I know for sure though, is that I have fears of my own. The first fear that I have is a fear of making the wrong decision. I have this fear because I know that if I make the wrong choice, I will have to face an unpleasant consequence. For instance, at the beginning of this semester, I was not sure if I should stay in the English Enriched class. I was not confident in myself, and believed that I would not be able to handle the class. I was then faced with a dilemma, should I stay in English Enriched, or should I switch out of the class and take regular English. This decision was extremely difficult to make because I feared that I would make the wrong decision, and regret it later on in my life. If I chose to stay in English Enriched, and I was not capable of the workload, I would be really stressed and do poorly. On the other hand, what if the class is really interesting, and will help me improve my English skills? I was really scared at that point, and I did not want to make the wrong decision because it could hurt me. In the end, I chose to stay, and I am grateful that I made the right decision.

My second fear is my fear of embarrassing myself. This fear is a big disadvantage for me because whenever I attempt to avoid embarrassing myself, I tend to do the exact opposite Negative thoughts of failure run through my mind, and these thoughts attack the little confidence that I have. For example, when I play basketball in front of people, I get really nervous because I do not want to embarrass myself by air- balling, or not catching a pass. When I start thinking about all the mistakes that I could make, nervousness starts to creep up on me, and control me. When this happens, I do not do my best, which results in me failing. In other words, I embarrass myself. Another example is when I get nervous about reading or speaking to an audience. My fear of embarrassing myself surfaces when I think of all the things that can go wrong when I read. I could get all tongue-tied, and everyone would not be able to understand me. I could mispronounce a word, and sound stupid. These are all the ways that I could possibly embarrass myself. When I think of all the mistakes that I can make, I get nervous, and when I get nervous I make mistakes. This is a cycle. First I the fear of embarrassing myself suffocate me, then I think negatively, which needs to me being nervous, and results in me embarrassing myself. I wish to be able to break this cycle one day. I guess I just have to overcome my fear.

Steps Towards Heaven

 

In Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, she utilizes symbolism to reveal Susie’s thoughts and feelings. These symbols also foreshadow the future, by representing Susie hope and anger. Through these quotes, Susie’s character is fully understood.

The first quote that I found was significant to The Lovely Bones is:

            ‘If you stop asking why you were killed instead of someone else, stop
            investigating the vacuum left by your loss, stop wondering what everyone
            left on Earth is feeling,’ she said, ‘ you can be free. Simply put, you have to
            give up on Earth’ This seemed impossible to me (Sebold 120).
This quote reveals that Susie is still really attached to Earth and is still having troubles accepting her death. She is unable to leave her family once and for all, which shows how difficult it is to cut off all of one’s feelings for loved ones. Even though Susie wants to truly live in heaven, she is not willing to give up her ability of watching life on Earth. She is at the stage where she does not belong on Earth, nor does she belong in heaven. This reflects her feelings as well. She has accepted her death, but she still cannot bear to end her ties with her family on Earth. She is still not ready to allow herself to cross the border into the place she belongs, heaven.  In heaven, Susie can live in an environment of her choosing and be happy, but instead, she chooses to desperately deal with her death along with her father, her mother, her sister, and her friends. At this point, Susie feels that it is impossible for her to move on in her after-life because she is unable to stop questioning the past, and leaving her family spiritually.

The second quote that I believe is really important to the novel is "'How to Commit the Perfect Murder' was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle: the weapon melts away" (Sebold 125). This quote reveals a lot about Susie's character because by choosing an icicle as her weapon, her kindness is shown. It is also very interesting that Susie chooses an icicle as her weapon because when icicles are hard, they are considered a dangerous weapon, but once it melts, it is no longer a threat, but just a puddle of water. The icicle also symbolizes Susie's purity and innocence because water is considered pure. Instead of focusing on revenge and becoming an angry person after her murder, she wishes that murder incidents can melt away like icicles, and evaporate. Unlike water that is easily polluted, Susie does not become contaminated by her murder, by turning into a vengeful person. The icicle melting away also reveals that Susie could possibly forgive Mr. Harvey in the future, and her hatred for him will melt away as time passes.

This third quote is also significant to the novel because it clearly illustrates Susie's personality by revealing her love for her father:

I wanted my father's vigil, his tight love for me. But also I wanted him to

Go away and leave me be. I was granted one weak grace. Back in the room

where the green chair was still warm from his body, I blew that lonely,

flickering candle out (Sebold 140).

This quote reveals that Susie is not one bit selfish. Even though it kills her to let go of her father, she still wishes that her father will give up, and not search for her murderer anymore. Susie understands that this is the best for her father, because if he searches further, he could possibly get hurt emotionally, and physically. Susie knows that his father is slowly dying inside because he is unable to prove that Mr. Harvey is the one who murdered his daughter. Susie knows that everyone wants her father to move on with his life. She is also aware that the hole in her father’s heart will never fully heal, but she does wish that he will be able to let go, and continue on with his life. There is also symbolism in this quote. The lonely, flickering candle that Susie blows out symbolizes his father's hope and determination. His hope and determination is slowly dying away, just like how Susie is slowly leaving their lives. Everyone is starting to accept her death, and Susie wants her father to feel the same way, so he will not be in constant pain. Even her mother is starting to let go and accept reality. The action of Susie blowing out the candle symbolizes her letting go and maybe possibly forgiving her murderer. Also, Susie once said that it is impossible for her to say goodbye to her family in order to get to heaven, but her blowing out the candle is her first step towards heaven.

In conclusion, Susie’s personality and her love for her family are translated through these three quotes. She is slowly letting go and is realizing that she no longer belongs on Earth. One step at a time, she is making her way towards heaven, and leaving the realm between Earth and heaven behind.

Invasion of CPU and TXT Language :O

I believe that computer language and texting abbreviations are degrading not only the English language, but also our society. Abbreviations are only used because people are lazy and want to complete tasks faster. If the English language moves toward that direction, is the movement saying that everyone is becoming lazy? I do not oppose using texting abbreviations and computer language, but I believe that there is a certain time and place to use it. For example, I use computer language when I talk to friends online because it is more convenient and faster to type, but I know not to use the same kind of language in essays that I hand in. Therefore, I do not think that it is suitable to use computer language and texting abbreviations for classroom assignments and resumes. If I was an employer and I saw a resume with these abbreviations, the first thought that would rush to my mind, is that the person does not care. I will think that the person is in a rush and could care less about getting the job. If the person could not take the time to write a formal resume, what does this reflect about the employee's working attitude and habits?

Computer language and texting abbreviations are not only inappropriate in the working environment, but it is also inappropriate in school. If students handed in assignments filled with abbreviations and computer language, I would find it extremely disrespectful because I believe school is a serious matter. In addition, if teachers started to write everything in computer language and texting abbreviations, then formal language and proper spellings of words would be lost forever because everyone will move away from spelling words the proper way and writing formally. The English language would then be moving back in time instead of moving forward and improving. Words and language that was once developed would be broken down and lost.

Susie Looking Down From Heaven

Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones begins with a fourteen year old girl named Susie Salmon, who gets murdered. She is murdered by a man named Mr. Harvey, and the novel is told from Susie's point of view while she is in heaven. At the very beginning, Susie chooses a quote that she believes marks her, and that quote is "If they give you ruled paper, write the other way" (Sebold 5). I believe that this quote describes her because after she is murdered, she describes heaven in a very normal and optimistic way. Normally, after a person is murdered, they would be devastatingly sad and despise their murderer for taking their lives. Instead, Susie does not seem to lament her death and seek revenge. Not only does she not strive for Mr. Harvey’s arrest, but she also watches Mr. Harvey while he gets rid of her body parts that he had cut up. Susie is not uncomfortable when she watches her murderer, which makes it hard to believe, because I would think that she would despise seeing him or would be afraid of him. Therefore, the quote that Susie picks definitely suits her personality because she does not behave the way a normal person would. My impression of Susie is that she is a unique and kind individual. She goes against what is typical which leads me to believe that she will forgive Mr. Harvey for murdering her in the end. I also believe this because Susie really loves her family and she puts others before herself. When she is watching her family from heaven, she feels for her family. For example, Susie is watching her sister, Lindsey, talk to the boy that she likes, and when she sees "Lindsey's face [flush]; [hers flushes] up in heaven" as well (Sebold 71). Susie is more concerned about her sister being happy than herself being dead. Not only does Susie care about her sister, but she is also very protective of her brother, Buckley. In order to protect him, she "[has] never even let herself yearn for Buckley, afraid he might see [her] image in a mirror or a bottle cap" (Sebold 91). Susie would rather have herself suffer, than risk the chance of her younger brother accidently seeing her image. Now that she is dead, her image will appear if she yearns for someone. Susie knows that her younger brother would not be able to handle her death. Therefore, she must protect him from harm.  Susie is really attached to her family and really cherishes them, especially her father. When she was alive, Susie and her father would make bottled ships together whenever they had time. It was a little hobby that the two of them shared. Due to the strong attachment to her family, I believe that she will focus her love and energy watching her family, than waste her time loathing Mr. Harvey. To continue, I get the impression that Susie is an introverted and shy person, because she "never felt comfortable with adults" (Sebold 7). Another impression that I have of Susie, is that she does not want to face reality. Susie believes that if she misses her family, it will "mean that [she] has accepted that [she] would never be with them again" (Sebold 27). I can relate to this because Susie is only fourteen years old, which demonstrates her immaturity and how she wants to run away from reality, which is her death.

Battling With Myself

    Sitting in my squeaky chair with my clammy hands resting on top of my lap, I listened nervously as Mr. McBurney was telling the Spectrum Nine class about previous adventurous Strathcona trips. I was dreading the outdoor trip all year long because of all the worries I had about the trip. I felt like I was the only one unsure about going to Strathcona, which made th situation even worse. As I looked around the crowded classroom, I saw that all my classmates had smiles on their faces which brought my dismay. No matter how many times Mr. McBurney told us how awesome the trip was going to be, all I could think about was how challenging the trip was. Thoughts of failure drowned out Mr. McBurney's booming voice, and they convinced me that I would not succeed, before I even faced the challenge of surviving the outdoors.

    Unfortunately, the day finally came and we had to go to Strathcona. Once I got off the stuffy charter bus, I saw the familiar scene of the blue lake out front with wooden cabins that dotted the trails. We indolently made our way to the basketball court with our back-breaking backpacks strapped tightly onto our backs. Just when I thought that I could relax, the canoe group, which was the group that I was in, was called aside. I knew that this could not be good news. We were told that we would be embarking on our four day journey after dinner that night. Instantly, a sick feeling started to brew in my stomach and I felt an uncomfortable, twisted knot start to form. Instead of spending two nights outdoors like the other lucky groups, I would be spending three long nights! I thought I was going to have a panic attack right on the spot, but thankfully, I calmed myself by taking deep breaths. Sooner than I wanted, we were driving to our camp site in a white family van. The heater was turned on so high that it was almost suffocating. I did not understand why, but I kept telling myself that this trip would be horrible and that I would not survive. Looking out the car window, I was distracted by the mesmerizing scenery. I stared at the clear glistening lake, with reflections of the surrounding mountains laying restlessly on top. Seeing this, the tension in my shoulders loosened. Maybe this trip would not be so terrible after all.

    The next morning, after eating a bird-like breakfast, which consisted of seeds, berries, and oatmeal, we started  on our canoe trip. Part of me was anxious to start canoeing so we could complete the trip faster, but an even more dominating part of me was dying to teleport back home and crawl under my covers. After pushing the steel canoes into the murky water, I looked up at the sky and it was crowded with angry, grey clouds. What a happy start, I thought to myself. Paddling for almost an hour, it started to rain raindrops that were the size of marbles. Paddling desperately through the walls of white waves that were smashing against the dainty canoe, I felt my nightmares coming to life. This was only the first hour of my trip and I was already doubting my abilities. I looked up from under my wet hood and I could finally make out the shape of an island. When I got out of the canoe, I felt so proud of myself for canoeing through the tumultuous waves. I looked at my friends' faces and I saw that some of them were still smiling. I thought to myself, maybe if I was more optimistic, I could be like them too, and this trip would actually be more enjoyable.

    As the days passed, each day got more and more challenging. I thought, what could be worse than the first canoeing experience, but I knew there was much worse when we had to protage for two hours straight through a dense forest that was flooded by the heavy rain. Reflecting on the trip, the trip was a great challenge, but now I realize that a bigger challenge that I had to face was myself. Before going to Strathcona and the first two days there, I allowed my nerves to take control. I made myself believe that the trip would be horrible and I already adjusted myself into thinking that I would be the weakest. The negative thoughts not only made the trip challenging, but it also brought my spirits down. If only I was more optimistic, then my trip would have been a lot more interesting and fun. Thankfully, towards the end of the trip I was able to overcome my greatest challenge, which was myself, and was able to have an eye-opening experience. If everyone can be more optimistic and eager when facing challenges, then their greatest challenge would not be themselves.