Thankful (for a classmate)

At the end of seventh grade orientation, I was left with a problem. I don't have a locker partner. I freaked out because I was scared that everyone else in my division already found their partner and I would be left with a stranger. That was when I approached Sandy Wu and asked her which division she was in. I was overjoyed when I found out she was also in 621 and we started to get to know each other. We clicked on video games, such as Maple Story, and somehow our parents knew each other. It was the start of a great friendship that still lasts to this day. Sadly, we didn't talk much during our first year at Whitney. We had two classes together but it wasn't until towards the end of 7th grade that we started to talk. Over these last four years, I've gotten to know so much about her. She has gotten me into AMV-ing, video editing, and baking. She is always there for me even if she doesn't know what to say or do, even if it is really awkward, and I mean really awkward. Most of the times she is careless. Sometimes too careless. Regardless, she always manages to make people smile. It is something that I envy of hers, but I am glad to call her my friend. I am thankful for these past four years and, hopefully, the many years to come.

Then He is Dead?

At the start of this tale, Macbeth didn't want to do anything that would dirty his hands. He decided that whatever happens, happens. He wanted to let fate run its course. This all changed when he told his wife, Lady Macbeth, about his encounter with the three witches. Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to see her husband beam with that crown on his head. This causes a domino effect on Macbeth as he starts to crave the crown also. It didn't help Macbeth that Lady Macbeth kept forcing him to do things and calling him a coward.

In their eyes, they view all the murders as a hurdle to overcome for the crown. In the end, it doesn't even matter. Macbeth got so far, but got killed in the end. (This reminds me of the Linkin Park song.) Anyway, personally, I don't think that it was worth doing. Ultimately, all the guilt drove both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth insane before they could even enjoy the position they worked so hard for. Plus, from the start, Macbeth wasn't the best guy for this job. He is loyal and kind-hearted. These are typically not good traits for someone who needs to be cold killer. Also, Macbeth kind of liked Duncan, and was forced to kill him. Not to mention he also had to continuously lie and commit more murder. Any human being with a heart would be affected by doing these deeds. We also see how much the guilt weighs on Lady Macbeth's shoulders by her sleepwalking and actions. Her death heavily impacts Macbeth. To me, Lady Macbeth was a support for Macbeth and he basically crumples when she dies.

From the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty

This line basically sums up the intenions of Lady Mcabeth. Her husband sent her a letter saying that he has a possibility to become King. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband will not take advantage of the situation to actually become King.  He is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness". This means that he is too kind to do something of this sort. She has to take matters into her own hands and she is willing to do anything for that crown. She wants King Duncan's blood on her hands. The rest of her soliloquy consists of her asking for help from demons and evil spirits. She wants them to take away her "female" nature and exchange it with harsh masculinity. This is because it is not in the nature of women to do any sort of murder. Females were also suppose to not be capable of this mindset, meaning they are inferior. In Lady Macbeth's mindset, her gender would prevent her from doing this. This is why she says "Come, you spirits...unsex me here...Make thick my blood...Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall..." She wants nothing to stop here from achieving her goals of killing King Duncan. She also convinces her husband, Macbeth, for her to do this to Duncan. Basically, she says that Macbeth will give away the plan because he will look troubled. So she says "leave all the rest to me."

No New Tale to Tell

The Pardoner's Tale was about how three greedy men searched for Death and eventually met him after being sidetracked by their encounter with gold. When they first found the gold under the oak tree, they all decided that they will split the gold and live the rest of their lives without having to do any work. While the youngest of the three went to town to fetch bread and wine to celebrate their discovery, the other two discussed with one another about killing the youngest so they can split their gold amongst the two. As the two talked under the oak tree, the guy who went to town had an idea that was greedier. He wanted the gold all to himself. He stops by a pharmacist and buys rat poison from him.After this, he bought wine and added poison to two of the three bottles. When he got back to the oak tree, the other two killed him. Then they sat down to drink their wine and they died.
The main motif in this story is obviously greed. All three of them got what they had coming for them because of their greed. The two under the oak tree were thinking about killing the youngest one just so they could get more gold. The youngest one was thinking of poisoning the other two so he could get all the gold for himself! If this is not the definition of selfishness, I don't know what it. This applies to our current society because I think that things like this happens constantly. People will kill one another for money. One thing that we can hope is that they will get what is coming for them if they do commit a crime of such.

Truth

The Dragon, the Shaper and Hrothgar's men, and Grendel all have different point of views of the truth, but whose version of "the truth" is actually real? Before Grendel met the Dragon, he really wanted to believe in the Shaper's songs and the world he was creating with his words. "I believed him. Such was the power of the Shaper's harp!" It is as if Grendel is really affected by the Shaper's words and is entranced. But when Grendel runs away from meadhall, he starts to think "perhaps it wasn't true". He starts to question the Shaper. To me, this is like a stepping stone or the middle ground of Grendel changing his mind.  It is kind of like a foreshadow that Grendel's opinions will be changed. After this, Grendel meets up with the Dragon. He doesn't really talk to the Dragon. He kind of just listens to the Dragon rant about being able to see the future and other things. I think Grendel's meeting with the Dragon is a ephemeral moment in his life. Grendel basically just absorbs all that the Dragon is saying. Grendel doensn't really talk because I think it is too much for him to comprehend. This is why Grendel thinks the Dragon is lying to him. Grendel doesn't understand what the Dragon is saying, no matter how much he tries to understand. The next day, Grendel is constantly thinking about what he learned from the Dragon and thinks "whatever I may have understood or misunderstood in the dragon's talk, something deeper stayed with me." Basically, this means that Grendel is ultimately changed by the Dragon's words, even if most of it didn't make sense. The Shaper is someone who tells stories. That is all that they are and ever will be: stories.

Beowulf

For me, a modern day Beowulf is anyone who helps out someone else. In my mindset, I think that no matter how small or big a good deed is, it helped and affected someone, somehow, someday, and in some way. At first,  I didn't think there was a modern day Beowulf that was comparable to the one in the story because the world is not in that setting anymore. Beowulf takes place in a time of kings and knights and kingdoms. Beowulf is called to help a king whose men gets slaughters by a beast named Grendel. Then I started to think of people who protect our current society. Soldiers and police officers are the closest thing to a knight in our day and age. They are the ones who protect us from the evil that want to harm us. Would the people that they combat be referred to as the modern day Grendel?

In the story, Grendel was bloodthirsty and killing people for no reason. As far as our knowledge goes, that is the only reason why he kills people. In our society, there are some people who do the same thing. They enjoy to kill people, or to do unnecessary "evil" things just to do them. They could be doing it for a reaction, or they could  love the thrill it gives them. As far as we know, there is no reason that will justify for what they did. Police and/or soldiers try to prevent and stop these people as much as they possibly can. This is like what Beowulf did in the story. He went up against Grendel and stopped him in his tracks. He protected the rest of the king's men and saved them from being killed.

Me

Hello. My name is Winnie Lee and I am a sophomore. To be honest, I consider myself to be very uninteresting and a plain person. My hobbies includes photography, drawing, baking and running. I have liked arts and crafts for as long as I can remember, although I am not very good at it. The main factor for my interest in drawing was that I was introduced to Japanese cartoons, other known as anime, at a very young age and fell in love. Even though I don't draw or watch as much anime as I did back in elementary school, the animations and the quality of the genre never cease to amaze me. As for photography, I like to take pictures of landscapes and nature. It all started when I was in seventh grade. My aunt gave me my first camera and I was captivated by it. I loved the idea that one single picture can capture so many words, emotions, and ideas. Another factor might also be the fact that I love having a tangible memory. It can range from a picture to a receipt of what happened or what I did that day. Ever since I was little, I always thought that people just come and go. One minute they are in your life, the next they could be in New York. No matter how much they impacted your life, sooner or later, they could be forgotten. For me, a camera is a tool that encases all the memories so they won't get buried in your past. Also, the world around us is beautiful.