1. I'm really bad at writing about myself.
2. Um....I have a cat? And two brothers and a mom and a dad. They're all pretty cool people, I must say.
3. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be bagels with cream cheese.
4. When I crash in a plane on a deserted island like on LOST, I hope the three things that I have with me are some good books, my iPod, and a tent.
5. I'd die without my mother. She's my best friend even though we don't get along sometimes, and I don't know what I'd do without her. I've learned so much from her and I can only hope to be half the person she is.
6. I'm addicted to the internet.
7. Oh I'm a Leo! I find things like zodiacs and tarot cards really fascinating.
8. If I ever got a hedgehog or a kitten or a puppy or any small animal I'd name it Mozart.
9. I'monlyfourteenandI'vegotmyweddingcompletelyplannednbd
10. I LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING IS A LOST REFERENCE AND NOTHING EVER HURTS.
11. I'd do anything for my friends.
12. Oh how I wish I could go dancing in the rain.
13. When I grow up I want to go to culinary school and become either a pastry chef or open my own cafe bookstore.
14. If I woke up as a cat one morning I'd be so happy.
15. Books are my favorite thing in the world.
16. I can't make a decision to save my life.
17. I like all months, but particularly summer and fall.
18. Jason Mraz has consistently been my favorite musician for like ever.
19. A collection of all the things I like can be found here: http://fortuitoushappenings.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-just-about-sums-me-up.html
20. I am, sadly, very superstitious, but I adore going to church and I love Jesus with all my heart.
21. I think it would be really cool to be a tree. Seriously, just think about it!
22. When I was little I wanted to be a fairy. I still do I MEAN somewhat kind of not really pshh.
23. I cannot wait for summer. I can't wait for the beach, can't wait for those lazy mornings when you wake up whenever and then head down to the beach and then stay there all day only to come back when the sun disappears from the horizon and forces you back home.
24. I have really bad anxiety about basically everything. I over-think and stress and sometimes even make myself sick out of worry.
25. There will forever be derbis in my Kool-Aid.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The Battle for the Title of REAL TRAGIC HERO: Brutus vs. Caesar Edition
Marcus Brutus
picture from: http://www.florin.ms/mshawthorne.html
Julius Caesar
- Has a lot of honor for his country, wants what he thinks will be the best for Rome and its citizens
- Only in favor of killing Caesar, doesn't want to have to kill anyone else
- Very well-liked, regarded highly
- Always works for the good of Rome no matter what
- Prevalent leadership skills, kind heart
- Wants to help everyone, but trusts too easily
- Takes things to the extreme sometimes
Julius Caesar
- Ambitious but proud, as he turned down the throne 3 times
- Believes in himself and his abilities
- Powerful leader
- Has strong ideas about society and government
- Would be a renowned leader of Rome
- Manipulative and over-confident
picture from: http://www.desitin.no/index.php/artgallery/detail/1296
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Parting is such sweet sorrow...especially when you have to go back to school the next day.
Mrs. Zurkowski's Honors English Purples and Yellows took a field trip yesterday to Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C. It was such a fantastic trip, from beginning to end! The show was great, and so was going to Union Station. I was disappointed that our group didn't get to go to the Library of Congress though, because it's a wonderful place.
Anywho, I actually got a lot out of seeing the show at Folger. They went through a lot of different scenes from a variety of Shakespearean plays, and seeing them being acted out helped me make sense of what Shakespeare was trying to say. Although I didn't think the three different ways they demonstrated of how to better understand Shakespeare really helped, I thought it was a fun way to keep the smaller kids interested in what was going on. I really do think that Bill's Buddies know exactly how to cater to their audience of all ages, because from what I could tell, everyone loved the show. My favorite part of the show was watching the scenes being acted out.
Oh and the rest of the trip was tons of fun too, nbd. I liked walking around to get to where we needed to be because we got to see a lot more than we would have on a bus. Eating at Union Station was awesome, it's really pretty there. Well okay, the lowest floor with all the food stalls was a little sketchy, but still. Overall this was a great trip, 4 and 3/4 out of 5 stars!
Anywho, I actually got a lot out of seeing the show at Folger. They went through a lot of different scenes from a variety of Shakespearean plays, and seeing them being acted out helped me make sense of what Shakespeare was trying to say. Although I didn't think the three different ways they demonstrated of how to better understand Shakespeare really helped, I thought it was a fun way to keep the smaller kids interested in what was going on. I really do think that Bill's Buddies know exactly how to cater to their audience of all ages, because from what I could tell, everyone loved the show. My favorite part of the show was watching the scenes being acted out.
Oh and the rest of the trip was tons of fun too, nbd. I liked walking around to get to where we needed to be because we got to see a lot more than we would have on a bus. Eating at Union Station was awesome, it's really pretty there. Well okay, the lowest floor with all the food stalls was a little sketchy, but still. Overall this was a great trip, 4 and 3/4 out of 5 stars!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God....but it's not even a picture book!
Imagery is a literary device which provides the reader with vivid visual descriptions using figurative language. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston flawlessly uses imagery throughout her writing to enhance her book.
Chapter 1
1. "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men." (pg. 1)
2. "...because it was sundown. The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky." (pg. 1)
Chapter 2
1. "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches." (pg. 8)
2. "She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her?" (pg. 11)
Chapter 3
1. "She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making." (pg. 25)
2. "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." (pg. 25)
Chapter 4
1. "..he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon." (pg. 29)
2. "The morning farad air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet." (pg. 32)
Chapter 5
1. "The idea was funny to them and they wanted to laugh. They tried hard to hold it in, but enough incredulous laughter burst out of their eyes and leaked from the corners of their mouths to inform anyone of their thoughts." (pg. 37)
2. "They, all of them, all of the people took it up and sung it over and over until it was wrung dry, and no further innovations of tone and tempo were conceivable." (pg. 46)
Chapter 6
1. "Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun." (pg. 51)
2. "That was the rock she battered against." (pg. 54)
Chapter 7
1. "The years took all the fight out of Janie's face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul." (pg. 76)
2. "Then one day she sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes. Somebody near about making summertime out of lonesomeness." (pg. 77)
Chapter 8
1. "Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the Weest. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now." (pg. 84)
2. "Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town." (pg. 84)
Chapter 9
1. "Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like a wall of stone and steel." (pg. 89)
2. "She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world." (pg. 89)
Chapter 10
1. "So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day." (pg. 99)
Chapter 11
1. "He looked like the love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom- a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God." (pg. 106)
2. "Janie awoke next morning by feeling Tea Cake almost kissing her breath away. Holding her and caressing her as if he feared she might escape his grasp and fly away." (pg. 107)
3. "In the cool of the afternoon the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers arrived at Janie's ear. Doubt. All the fear that circumstance could provide and the heart feel, attacked her on every side." (pg 108)
Chapter 12
1. "The next morning Pheoby picked her way over to Janie's house like a hen to a neighbor's garden. Stopped and talked a little with everyone she met, turned aside momentarily to pause at a porch or two- going straight by walking crooked." (pg. 112)
Chapter 13
1. "But, don't care how firm your determination is, you can't keep turning round in one place like a horse grinding sugar cane." (pg. 118)
2. "She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her. The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long." (pg. 120)
3. "Her heart all but smothered her." (pg. 120)
Chapter 14
1. "Some came limping in with their shoes and sore feet from walking. It's hard trying to follow your shoe instead of your shoe following you." (pg. 131)
2. "All night now the jooks
(I couldn't find anything good for Chapter 15 or Chapter 17, considering that Chapter 15 was short and Chapter 17 was all about the townspeople getting drunk and not much else.)
Chapter 16
1. "Mrs. Turner was a milky sort of woman that belonged to child-bed. Her shoulders rounded a little, and she must have been conscious of her pelvis because she kept it stuck out in front of her so she could always see it." (pg. 138)
2. "Her god would smite her, would hurl her from pinnacles and lose her in deserts, but she would not forsake his altars." (pg. 145)
Chapter 18
1. "Morning came without motion. The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath had left the earth. Even before the sun gave light, dead day was creeping from bush to bush watching man." (pg. 155)
2. "So when Janie looked out of her door she saw the drifting mists gathered in the west-that cloud field of the sky-to arm themselves with thunders and march forth against the world. Louder and higher and lower and wider the sound and motion spread, mounting, sinking, darking." (pg. 158)
3. "It woke up old Okeechobee and the monster began to roll in his bed. Began to roll and complain like a peevish world on a grumble." (pg. 158)
Chapter 19
1. "And then again Him-with-the-square-toes had gone back to his house. He stood once more and again in his high flat house without sides to it and without a roof with his soulless sword standing upright in his hand. His pale white horse had galloped over waters, and thundered over land. The time of dying was over. It was time to bury the dead.
2. "Saw the hand of horror on everything. Houses without roofs, and roofs without houses. Steel and stone all crushed and crumbled like wood. The mother of malice had trifled with men." (pg. 169)
3. "She looked hard for something up there to move for a sign. A star in the daytime, maybe, or the sun to shout, or even a mutter of thunder. Her arms went up in a desperate supplication for a minute. It wasn't exactly pleading, it was asking questions. The sky stayed hard looking and quiet so she went inside the house. God would do less than He had in His heart." (pg. 178)
Chapter 20
1. "The light in her hand was like a spark of sun-stuff washing her face in fire. Her shadow behind fell black and headlong down the stairs. Now, in her room, the place tasted fresh again. The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and nothingness." (pg. 192)
2. The whole last paragraph of the novel was quiet long, so I didn't write it, but it should definitely be considered part of this list. (pg. 193)
My favorite line of imagery in the novel is, "She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making." (pg. 25). This is my favorite quote from the novel because I love the way it explains how every day is a new day.
Chapter 1
1. "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men." (pg. 1)
2. "...because it was sundown. The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky." (pg. 1)
Chapter 2
1. "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches." (pg. 8)
2. "She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her?" (pg. 11)
Chapter 3
1. "She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making." (pg. 25)
2. "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." (pg. 25)
Chapter 4
1. "..he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon." (pg. 29)
2. "The morning farad air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet." (pg. 32)
Chapter 5
1. "The idea was funny to them and they wanted to laugh. They tried hard to hold it in, but enough incredulous laughter burst out of their eyes and leaked from the corners of their mouths to inform anyone of their thoughts." (pg. 37)
2. "They, all of them, all of the people took it up and sung it over and over until it was wrung dry, and no further innovations of tone and tempo were conceivable." (pg. 46)
Chapter 6
1. "Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun." (pg. 51)
2. "That was the rock she battered against." (pg. 54)
Chapter 7
1. "The years took all the fight out of Janie's face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul." (pg. 76)
2. "Then one day she sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes. Somebody near about making summertime out of lonesomeness." (pg. 77)
Chapter 8
1. "Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the Weest. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now." (pg. 84)
2. "Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town." (pg. 84)
Chapter 9
1. "Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like a wall of stone and steel." (pg. 89)
2. "She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world." (pg. 89)
Chapter 10
1. "So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day." (pg. 99)
Chapter 11
1. "He looked like the love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom- a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God." (pg. 106)
2. "Janie awoke next morning by feeling Tea Cake almost kissing her breath away. Holding her and caressing her as if he feared she might escape his grasp and fly away." (pg. 107)
3. "In the cool of the afternoon the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers arrived at Janie's ear. Doubt. All the fear that circumstance could provide and the heart feel, attacked her on every side." (pg 108)
Chapter 12
1. "The next morning Pheoby picked her way over to Janie's house like a hen to a neighbor's garden. Stopped and talked a little with everyone she met, turned aside momentarily to pause at a porch or two- going straight by walking crooked." (pg. 112)
Chapter 13
1. "But, don't care how firm your determination is, you can't keep turning round in one place like a horse grinding sugar cane." (pg. 118)
2. "She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her. The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long." (pg. 120)
3. "Her heart all but smothered her." (pg. 120)
Chapter 14
1. "Some came limping in with their shoes and sore feet from walking. It's hard trying to follow your shoe instead of your shoe following you." (pg. 131)
2. "All night now the jooks
(I couldn't find anything good for Chapter 15 or Chapter 17, considering that Chapter 15 was short and Chapter 17 was all about the townspeople getting drunk and not much else.)
Chapter 16
1. "Mrs. Turner was a milky sort of woman that belonged to child-bed. Her shoulders rounded a little, and she must have been conscious of her pelvis because she kept it stuck out in front of her so she could always see it." (pg. 138)
2. "Her god would smite her, would hurl her from pinnacles and lose her in deserts, but she would not forsake his altars." (pg. 145)
Chapter 18
1. "Morning came without motion. The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath had left the earth. Even before the sun gave light, dead day was creeping from bush to bush watching man." (pg. 155)
2. "So when Janie looked out of her door she saw the drifting mists gathered in the west-that cloud field of the sky-to arm themselves with thunders and march forth against the world. Louder and higher and lower and wider the sound and motion spread, mounting, sinking, darking." (pg. 158)
3. "It woke up old Okeechobee and the monster began to roll in his bed. Began to roll and complain like a peevish world on a grumble." (pg. 158)
Chapter 19
1. "And then again Him-with-the-square-toes had gone back to his house. He stood once more and again in his high flat house without sides to it and without a roof with his soulless sword standing upright in his hand. His pale white horse had galloped over waters, and thundered over land. The time of dying was over. It was time to bury the dead.
2. "Saw the hand of horror on everything. Houses without roofs, and roofs without houses. Steel and stone all crushed and crumbled like wood. The mother of malice had trifled with men." (pg. 169)
3. "She looked hard for something up there to move for a sign. A star in the daytime, maybe, or the sun to shout, or even a mutter of thunder. Her arms went up in a desperate supplication for a minute. It wasn't exactly pleading, it was asking questions. The sky stayed hard looking and quiet so she went inside the house. God would do less than He had in His heart." (pg. 178)
Chapter 20
1. "The light in her hand was like a spark of sun-stuff washing her face in fire. Her shadow behind fell black and headlong down the stairs. Now, in her room, the place tasted fresh again. The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and nothingness." (pg. 192)
2. The whole last paragraph of the novel was quiet long, so I didn't write it, but it should definitely be considered part of this list. (pg. 193)
My favorite line of imagery in the novel is, "She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making." (pg. 25). This is my favorite quote from the novel because I love the way it explains how every day is a new day.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Girl please symbolism is for Ancient Egypt, why are we associating it with African American Literature. I do believe we are confused.
Ta-daaaa. Here is the list of symbols Honors Purples found in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God.
- Trees/Roots- African people without any roots
- Pear tree- Janie's budding womanhood, coming of age
- Mule- the black woman's experience. She does the worst jobs for white people and black man. She gets "walked on." Logan buys Janie a mule to represent how he is tired of treating Janie like a princess or white woman, and now he wants her to do the heavy labor jobs around the farm.
- Gate/Road- Related to the metaphor at the beginning. The Gate is the shore and the Road represents the waves as Janie looks down the road to find a new dream. Opportunity.
- The New Horizon- Janie is constantly looking over the gatepost, down the road, to a new horizon (a dream or new start).
- Eatonville General Store- Represents the center of this first all-black town
- Illumination of the lamp post represents the start of a new all-black town. It also shows that Joe Starks is omnipotent and likes other to bow down to him, including Janie.
- Joe and Janie's two-story house- Seems to represent his similarity to a plantation owner, while the hard-working townspeople live in smaller shack-style homes like servants' quarters.
- Tobacco spittoon- This represents again how wealthy Joe is.
- Guitar- playful side of people
- Overalls- Working side of people
- Janie's hair hanging down represents her freedom
- Janie's hair rag represents her bond and acquiescence to Joe Starks
- The color blue represents a compromise between Janie and Tea Cake
- Checkers- Janie's equality with Tea Cake (didn't have that with Joe)
- Packet of seeds- rebirth, new life, remembrance, rejuvenation
- Fish- sharing of relationship
- Muck- the dirt represents working class, becoming rich, growth
- Hurricane- God's almighty power
- Rabid dog- when good happens, life changes
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