Blog post 20

Blog Post 20

Prompt: In the first two pages of the novel, Nick Carraway claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgment." Do you find that this is true so far? Please provide textual evidence to support your position.

    The book The Great Gatsby starts off where we are introduced to our narrator of the story Nick Carraway. He claims that throughout the book he will not show any sign of him passing judgement about any of the other characters. He then proceeds to describe Gatsby as someone who “represented everything for which he has an unaffected scorn” and that “there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life”. Right away in the first two pages I get a vibe that he seems to be quite dishonest and not the man who he says he is at the very end of chapter 3 “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known”. Throughout the first few chapters however, there are a few cases where one could make an argument that he is passing judgment upon another character. For the most part though, he seems to stick to his word when talking about anyone but Mr. Gatsby. When referring to Gatsby it is as if he puts him on a higher pedestal than the rest of the characters, and speaks as if Gatsby is like a god looking down on us mortals. This is only what I’ve noticed during the first few chapters, and I am inclined to see if his viewpoints change as we continue reading.

Blog post 19

Blog Post 19

This week the prompt was to discuss the characteristics of my play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and determine if it was a comedy, a history, or a tragedy. In my opinion this play was undoubtedly a comedy, there are so many features of it that fit the definition of a comedy. For instance I could tell it was one just by reading the major plot points of the twisted love triangle, the ass’ head, the ridiculous play put on by the laborers, and just the fact that everything is being manipulated by magical fairies. Even if somebody didn't know the structure/guidelines of a comedy, I think it would still be obvious to tell that it was one, however the play fits the Shakespearian format perfectly, as nobody dies throughout the story, and it ends in a huge wedding and a joke play. Concluding my argument, no other category would remotely make sense. There is no historical elements in the play and tragedies are usually filled with death which in this play there are none. Also there are tons of characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a ton of sub plots which are typical for a comedy in contrast to a tragedy where there are few characters that drive the plot, for example Romeo and Juliet. 

Blog post 18

Blog post 18

        For my ELA response project I chose to film a movie with Sage, Andrew, and Xander included in my group.  For the most part, it went pretty well, there were definitely some things we did better on than others, and some things that needed much improvement looking back on the experience now. For example, I think that the screenplay was very good and the writing of the movie that was contributed by all four members of my group. Also there were bits and pieces during the acting part that really came together, and other instances where it didn't work as well. A way we could improve would be that I think we could have used more focus and tried harder to memorize our lines. Although the acting I felt was a very strong element in our production there were things we didn't do as well on. The biggest mistake we made on set was when we hadn't noticed that the camera was leaning slightly down in one of the scenes resulting in our heads being cropped out of the shot. And the mistake we made was that we trusted our cameraman Ilan’s judgement that the take was good, instead of reviewing it ourselves. Evidently this blooper made it into the final cut, as we had no other choice but to include it because it was our only good take. In conclusion to this project review, I would deem it a success and would definitely think about doing it again. Except next time, I’ll remember to review the all of the shots!   

Blog post 17

Francesco Argentina
Ms. Harrison
ELA
2/21/17
Blog post 17
“Who was the protagonist in The Merchant of Venice”?
         For my blog this week I chose to write about who was the protagonist in the story, The Merchant of Venice. Really there are two characters that have enough relevance in the story to take the role of the protagonist, and those two characters are Antonio, and Shylock. In the story there is no direct indication which one is the protagonist so I will only be talking about my personal opinion. The English audience at that time would have definitely assumed the Christian Antonio as the protagonist, and Shylock as the evil villain, but now that we think more rationally as we asses Shakespeare's work it could be called either way. For my personal opinion I think that Shylock is the protagonist in this story, and he faces many conflicts through the antagonist Antonio mistreating him. This would mean that the end of the play would be a tragedy rather than a comedy which was originally suggested by the English audience.

The quality of mercy

Francesco Argentina

Ms. Harrison

ELA

February, 13

Blog post 16

Towards the end of the play, Portia disguised as a doctor, makes a very interesting speech on Antonio's behalf towards Shylock. She talks about the quality of mercy in contrast to justice. All this is just to save her husbands best friend from having a chunk of flesh carved out of him. She uses this speech to try and persuade Shylock to be merciful and spare Antonio. In this speech she stresses the importance of mercy, and explains how mercy is a blessing from the gods, and how it is the holy spirits way of making you do the right thing. She says that anyone can choose justice, but it takes a real courageous man to choose the act of mercy. I found some of this speech to be kind of ironic as Shylock, being jewish doesn't even believe in the god which she talks about in the speech which might be some of the reason as to why her attempt to persuade him did not even work. Overall however, I do believe what she is saying about how showing mercy might not be the easiest option and how it does take a lot of courage to show an act of mercy especially when someone that you hate is sitting right in front of you waiting for you to cut into him.        

blog post 15

Francesco Argentina

Ms. Harrison

ELA

1/29/17

Blog post 15

Prompt: Shylock's speech

In the play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare presents this interesting concept through his writing and through the character Shylock where he gives a very thought provoking speech about Jews and their feelings about the way the Christians look down on them and shines some light on the anti-semitism based society in which Shakespeare lived. This particular speech by Shylock was especially significant during this time because of the effect it had on the audience of Shakespeare's play. I would assume that to the white christian male audience, that the idea of being sympathetic towards the Jews would be absurd and not socially acceptable. For example, another playwright Marlowe, had previously written a play called The Jew of Malta in which the Jewish character was portrayed as a horrible villain with no positive qualities, and this is what the culture thought was acceptable at the time. So for Shakespeare to go and put this speech in his play, it was an incredibly controversial thing that he did and was the first time that this way of thinking rationally about the Jew’s feelings was introduced. From Shakespeare's perspective, he was just thinking about selling tickets and making money, but maybe including this monologue was actually a great business move as it most likely caused a lot of drama in the media, resulting in people going to see his show, because as we all know, controversy is what sells. In conclusion, I think this message was very beneficial to the development of this society in terms of our consideration for other cultures feelings and opinions.        

Blog post 14

Francesco Argentina

Ms. Harrison

ELA

1/29/17

Blog post 14

Prompt: Discuss the major conflict in Act 1

There is one major conflict that emerges from what we have read so far in Act 1, The Merchant of Venice. The problem is that Bassanio is in need of money which he will use with the intention of pleasing the beautiful Portia. There is only one way that the book has introduced of him getting it, and that is through Shylock the Jew in whom he has little respect for, and vice versa. Bassanio's loyal friend Antonio would have loaned him the money, but is unable to, as all of his money is invested into his ships which are out at sea. Antonio and Bassanio come to Shylock with the proposition that he lends Bassanio the money. Shylock is first very insulting as he mocks the fact that Bassanio, someone whom he doesn't respect, is now in need of his assistance. This is understandable, as the two christians have talked down upon the Jew many times and have insulted him previously, there is a clear lack of trust between both sides. Shylock then claims that he will loan the money as long as it will be repaid by Antonio. If Antonio fails to do so however, Shylock is permitted to take a pound of flesh from Antonio from any body part he pleases. Antonio being the loyal friend he is, is willing. To conclude Act 1 the conflict is that Bassanio is in desperate need of money and his only source is someone he does not respect, as well as his closest friend putting a great deal of risk on his behalf.