The Bard of Avon: Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is widely known as one of the greatest writers in the English language.  His writing has captured the eyes of many people.  His surviving works consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems.  Most of his works were produced between 1589 and 1613, and his earlier plays consisted more of comedies and historical plays.  His plays became a source of entertainment for the people of his time, and not much has changed since then.

            William Shakespeare was born as the son of John Shakespeare, who became a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of a landowning farmer.  He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptized there on the 26^th of April, 1564.  No one really knows his true birth date, but we observe his birthday on the 23^rd of April.  He reigned as the third child of eight, and the oldest surviving son.  No one knows for sure where Shakespeare went to school, but more biographers agree that he went to King’s New School in Stratford.  This free school became chartered in 1553 a quarter mile away from his home. 

            Shakespeare respect level did not rise dramatically in his day, but his popularity did not increase until the 19^th century.  The Romantics especially appreciated his genius.  In the 20^th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by movements in scholarship and performance.  His plays rank high in popularity and scholars constantly study them.  They are performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts all through the world. 

            You may know some of Shakespeare’s best work; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Romeo and Juliet.  All of these works are comedies, with Romeo and Juliet excepted.  This famous play categorizes as a tragedy.  Shakespeare’s popular poetry is his sonnets.  Shakespeare’s wrote his poetry mainly in the sonnet form.  Few poems by Shakespeare show as written in other forms of poetry.  His sonnets make for some of the best reading.

            Shakespeare has left a lasting impact on this world.  Besides creating about 1,700 words like aerial, amazement, and bloody, he also greatly influences writers as well.  He has influenced a large number of notable novelists.  Herman Melville and Charles Dickens are among said novelists.  Also, it is said that Shakespeare has become the second most quoted writer in the history of the English speaking world.  An author can hardly dream of having such a lasting impact on the world of literature as Shakespeare has.

Resources:

William Shakespeare.  8 May. 2011.  Wikipedia

5 May. 2011 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare>

Shakespeare's influence.  27 April. 2011.  Wikipedia

5 May. 2011 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_influence>

Shakespeare's Influence on Other Artists.  2011.  Shakespeare Online.

5 May. 2011 < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespearewriter.html>    

Edgar Allan Poe: A short biography

           Edgar Allan Poe was a poet, author, editor and literary critic.  Many people who read his work will call it dark and macabre; his tales full of mystery and the morbid.  Poe became one of the earlier writers to create short stories.  He added to the science fiction genre of literature, and was also said to have tried to make a living off of writing alone.  Edgar one of the more popular poets and he has had quite an impact on the literary world.  He wrote very well and left a lasting legacy behind.

            Boston, Massachusetts is where the famous poet was born.  At a very young age, Poe’s mother died and he became orphaned, since his father had left the family.  John and Frances Allan took Edgar in, but never officially adopted him.  He went to a school in England from the age of six to the age of eleven and continued his studies in America.  In 1826, Poe attended the University of Virginia but, less than a year later, he had to quit due to a heavy drinking problem and debt.  

            When Poe was a young man, he failed at becoming a cadet at West Point.  He lied about his age so he could get admitted.  He rarely had a job and no one really liked his work during his lifetime.  To this day, no one really knows why Edgar died.  His fiancé said that he left the house with a weak pulse and a small fever, but nothing more serious than that.  Also, Poe was buried in an unmarked grave.  Eventually, they ordered a gravestone, but someone destroyed it on the train trip to the location of the grave. 

            Poe has written poems, tales, and essays.  Poe named the only play he ever wrote “Politician”.  This unfortunate play was never finished.  He mostly wrote poetry and fiction tales.  One of Poe’s tales is called “The Masque of the Red Death” which talks about a certain prince who tries to avoid a dangerous plague.  Edgar usually stuck to his normal dark and mysterious writing style.

            Poe’s early detective stories laid the groundwork for future mystery writers.  “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, ‘Each of Poe's detective stories is a root from which a whole literature has developed. Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it (wikipedia.com)?’”  Poe created this genre and made a whole new path for other, young writers to follow.  Many people around the world today enjoy these novels, thanks to Edgar Allan Poe.

           

Resources:

Edgar Allan Poe.  14 March. 2011.  Wikipedia

15 March. 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_allan_poe#Legacy>

Edgar Allan Poe.  2006.  C.D. Merriman

15 March. 2011 <http://www.online-literature.com/poe/>

Edgar Allan Poe.  2011.  Enotes.com

15 March. 2011 <http://www.enotes.com/authors/edgar-allan-poe>

Love...?

Is true love real?  Yes, I think it is real.  A lot of the time, we use the word "love" without thinking twice.  For example, a child might say,  "I love ice cream!" or "I love candy!"  Teenagers also use the word "love" towards their boyfriend or girlfriend,  I don't think that we quite understand the strength of the word.  We use it left and right without thinking twice.  In the example of the child, I don't think it is necessarily bad, but in the example of the teenagers, yes, I do think it is wrong.  I think one should wait until the right person comes along before they start saying, "I love you".  Since we use the "L" word so much, we don't really take the time to think about what it means, therefore degrading the real definition.  The end effect of this would be people thinking that love will come right away and they are confused when the one whom they said "I love you" to walks away.  The phrase "I love you" is meant for the person one is planning to spend their whole lives with.  The word "love" has a power that most people don't understand, so we should preserve that power and save the real definition of love.

I find pleasure in reading works by the author Joan Bauer..  She has a writing style that I really like and I enjoy reading her books.  This book was really captivating and I haven't been able to find a book that has drawn me in from the first sentence like this one has in a while.  Her other book that I have written a review on, Hope Was Here, was just as captivating as this one.  As soon as I had Rules of the Road in my hands, I sat in bed and read half of it within an hour and a half.  I had the entire book read in a day.  I tend to do this a lot as I have an incredible reading speed.  This is exactly the type of book that people like me love.  I'm looking forward to get my next book by Joan Bauer.

 

Abortion is one of the worlds most preformed surgical procedures, but the average person knows very little about its gruesome reality.  What is being destroyed is not a blob of cells, it's a living thing!  "The word fetus (plural fetuses) is from the Latin fetus, meaning offspring, bringing forth, hatching of young (Wikipedia)."  People like to call the tiny baby a "fetus" so that it does not sound like a human is being murdered in the process of abortion.  It's maddening when one thinks that the fact that no one cares to do anything as 3,000 "fetuses" are being killed every day in the U.S. and 130,000 world wide!  Thats 47,450,000 abortions every year!  If that amount of young or teenage children were being killed every year, we would do something about it!  Yet, we silently brush the fact aside.  We say to ourselves, "Those little blobs of cells are not worth anything anyway" and we go on with daily life.  I attended the March For Life in Washington D.C. and I was greatly encouraged that there were so many people who are against abortion, but there is still the rest of the world.  We have to take action against this act of murder and stop it.  It is not a human right, it's murder, plain and simple.       

Book review

"Hope's used to thinking on her feet-- she hasn't become a terrific waitress by accident.  But when she and her aunt move from New York City to a small town in Wisconsin to run the local diner, she isn't sure she'll fit in.  Luckily, she doesn't have much time to brood.  G.T., the owner, has decided to run for mayor, and no one in town knows what to think.  After all, G.T. has leukemia.  And his opponent is the unscrupulous current mayor, who will do or say anything to win the election.  Hope knows that G.T. is up against the odds-- but his vision of the future is so vivid and good that she can't help but join the campaign.  Because, after all, everyone could use a little hope to get through the tough times.  Even Hope herself. (book description on the back of the book)" 


There are few books that I can read over and over and never get tired of it.  This is one of them.  Hope Was Here is a book about hope.  Not just the girl, but also the feeling.  Every one needs hope now and then, and for some people, it's all they have.  As you follow Hope through G.T.'s political campaign, you discover the power of hope and friendship.

(Watch the movie first)

Did you know that English is about the sixth hardest language to learn?  This is because of all of the crazy pronunciations in our language.  "We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig (http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/humour/learningenglish.htm)".  

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) I did not object to the object.
9) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
10) They were too close to the door to close it.
11) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear. 

12) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

(also from http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/humour/learningenglish.htm)

We all now that the English language is going down the drain.  Let us try to preserve the language and not let it flow down the drain iether... Either?