MAAN & Stereotypes

As we are finishing up Shakespeares play Much Ado About Nothing, I began to think about and ponder about all the stereotypes that appear in this play. For instance, the Prince and Claudio openly accused Hero of being unfaithful. Considering how high and nobel the Prince and Claudio are, her father, Leonado, immediatly turns on his own daughter even without visual proof. Another example of a stereotype in this playwright is how the women are treated in the play. The men view women to be beneath them, and we can see that when Leonado takes the men's accusations over his daughter's word.

I believe Shakespeare was attempting to teach his audiences a lesson about misjudging others. He shows this through Leonado. When Leonado puts the gentlemen's word over his daughter's, he fell to a stereotype. Later, Leonado discovers that his daughter was guiltless, and the Prince, Claudio, and even he had wronged her. He is filled with remorse and sadness for his daughters 'death'. Shakespeare was trying to teach us that following a stereotype can get oneself into much trouble and leading to alot of distress and discomfort.

Poem

A Girl
by Ezra Pound

The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast-
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world.

Ezra uses a central metaphor in her poem to compare the maturing of a girl into a women to the growth of nature. Just as the girl is maturing and growing, so is nature. In this poem, a girl/woman is depicted as the most beautiful thing in the world. Ezra wrote, "You are violets with wind above them" (8). This line tells us that Ezra believes that nothing is more beautiful in the world than a girl/woman. They are the utmost beautiful things in the world. Except women aren't treated that way. Ezra wrote, "And all this is folly to the world" (10). This line explains to us that Ezra believes the world is blinded to how beautiful and graceful girls and women are in the world. Also, that the world has a lack of understanding of how beautiful and special women and girls really are. By making this comparison, Ezra suggests that girls grow the same way trees and flowers do, that they are beautiful and nothing can top their beauty, but they're unnoticed by the world.

Debrief

I didn't do as well as I thought i would've, but i did decently. I was hoping to get scores higher than i had recieved. I learned alot about analyzing photographs and films. Normally, i don't look so deep into those two things, but when you do, you get alot more out of it. I also am getting better at coming up with a thesis and writing a paper on it. I could strengthen my learning community by participating more and helping my fellow classmates as well as recieving help. Some goals for quarter 2 would be first, I need to keep getting better at writing papers. Second, get more involved during class. Third and laslty, try not to focus so much on the specifics.

Stormbreaker 4

When i'd last left off, Alex had just arrived at Sayle Enterprises. Alex is a very clever boy. Sometimes i like to think i'm as clever as he because we share the same name, but i guess that's not the case. For example, Alex enters the room he will be staying in. In the room he notices a piece of paper hidded in the matress that his uncle had left. It had sort of a sguiggly line on it, two letters, and a number. Later we find that the sguiggly line is a trail on a map, and the two letters and a number are a label on a certain book. Another example of Alex's cleverness is when he is pulled a gun on and, realizing the gaurd had no idea who he was and that he was only 14, quickly acts innocent and scared. The guard slowly lowers the gun, and Alex strikes him cold with a karate kick. I find Alex to be the smartest and most skilled 14-year old i've ever read about. Right where i stop is when Alex is caught spying on Herod Sayle and is knocked out cold by a gaurd.

Stormbreaker 3

As i am reading this action pact book, i begin to ask myself, "What would i have done in Alex's position?" It's hard to tell because you have to remember Alex never asked or wanted to be a spy. He was basically black-mailed into it. If he didn't go along with MI6's request, his nanny, Jackie, would be sent back to America, and he would lose the house along with his inheritance. If i was in his position i probably would've done the same thing he did and give in. I'd rather not lose the things i love and go along with the mission as planned. Alex also says, "I don't want to be a spy. I want to be a normal kid, who plays soccer and goes to school" (65). Nonetheless being a spy would be pretty cool, but losing your life wouldn't.

Stormbreaker 2

Last time i left off, Alex Rider was being faced with a decision that would change his life. He was asked to join MI6 and become a spy. Not just a spy, but the first 14 year old spy. Alex decides to go along with MI6's wishes because they threatened blackmail against him. He goes to training for two weeks. The way Horowitz described it made it sound alot worse than boot camp and alot like hell. Also, because he is only 14, he is ripped on and made fun off by his other squad members. They dislike the fact that he is only 14 and is working through the same obstacles as they are. After training, Alex is sent to Port Tallon, Cornwall, which is his first mission location. He is asked to spy on a multimillionaire, who is giving away 10,000 of his new 'Stormbreaker' computers free to all the schools in England. MI6 is suspicious of him because this deed is simply just too kind, so they send Alex in as a contest winner to see Herod Sayle in person and test out his Stormbreakers.

Stormbreaker 1

The book i chose to read is Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. So far, it is an awesome book filled with action and suspense. what more could you want in a book. It is about a kid named Alex Rider whose parents were dead and he is staying with his uncle. He is 14 and is happy until his uncle, "a banker", dies in a car accident or so he's told. He later discovers that his uncle was a spy and was killed by a spray of bullets hitting the side of his uncle's BMW. Alex is called into the so called bank that his uncle worked for. He is tested by the head of MI6, Mr Blunt, to see if he has what it takes to be a spy. Alex proves himself to be worthy of a spy, but this fourteen year old just wanted to be a fourteen old. MI6 needed a young spy on their team and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Alex was backmailed into going along with their demands, and he just began training for his first assignment.