Jake's Blog

Woah the year is pretty much over and looking back on english this year, I would say it was quite an experience. Before giving you hints on how to succeed, I will say that you will learn a lot in this class no matter what. You will take back a lot from the course itself but also just by viewing different perspectives of a different kind of class.

This class will be the most work you have ever done in your whole life, but you must get used to it because it does not go away. You need to try to start off by making good habits of doing it all. READ everything that is assigned and try to think deeper about what you have read. Don’t be afraid to be wrong! If you are doing this it will make your classroom life a lot easier. You must participate in order for the class to work, and If you know what your talking about in class your grade will be rewarded.

Ms. Duke wants you too grow as a student in your junior year by challenging you. It is tough, but Its something you must realize and its how life works. Things will get harder but keep in mind that it is possible too do everything she says. IF you can push through and show dedication to this class you really will benefit from it in the future. Good luck new upper class-men!

When I first started reading, where we had left off I had to go back a few pages to remember what was going on. I would definitely say that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead Is much harder to understand then Hamlet . In my opinion it is a more interesting read. It brings deeper thought but the downfall of this still is its cause of slight confusion.

The two, Ros and Guil, are needed by Hamlet to find out the reasoning behind Hamlets troublesome behavior.  It confuses me, when Ros and Guil talk really quickly to each other because they know each other so well. It makes it more difficult to understand what they are talking about. This doesn’t happen all the time but on occasion. This reading gives us another view point that we can relate to Hamlets story, which triggers different thought and is making it more interesting.

The reading starts off with introducing the two main characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Through there coin flipping game you can tell that the two are competitive towards one another. Ros wins all the money after the coin lands 99 times on heads in a row. Both of them ramble on about probability and I didn’t really understand how that was relevant. After this the two are approached by a group of actors. I was a little confused at first on what the Player was talking about. The group and the two men had some tension between one another. I feel as if the group of actors were looked down upon at this time period. The group asks for sexual service to the men and they turn them down. Showing that they are obviously higher class. The ending is very weary. What I portrayed is that the Player lost a bett with Guil and was forced to put on a normal play. (Hamlet)

This was very different then anything I have read. Reading this i also got the idea that they were obviously in the post modern time period. This play is extremely thoughtful and it causes a lot of confusion. After going back after what i had read and taken notes i realized there is a lot of philosophy. Very strange and abstract thoughts. I feel that somethings that are mentioned will be answered late in the play that will help lower my confusion. Very innovative as well, but maybe just because I have never read anything like this before.

The definition of a drama is a serious play written for performance on stage, television, or radio. I always think of a drama as a play. You express your emotion through acting and showing people. I know little about Shakespeare except I could recognize his style. A drama also reminds me of a television series. I’m interested in reading Hamlet because plays interested me. I feel they are easier and more fun to read maybe because of the back and forth conversation between the characters. I remember when my sister read Hamlet and she talked about it.

We just won our first play off game and the team is fired up. It takes 5 games to win a state championship in high school baseball and we are one step closer. Kinder was a familiar opponent, we had eliminated them first round freshman year. It was a good and very close game. We ended up winning 6-5. The first game was very important to win and now we are playing lakeside, which will be a home game.

We are very excited and feel we have a chance to really go far this year. Our team has worked really hard this year and this is everything. We got eliminated last year in the third game against u high. Dunham lost and U high is still in it. We will see what happens in the future. I will keep everyone updated.

HOW will IT be DIFFERENT?  Well, I’m starting in advanced that’s a change. I’m going to try to make this my best work of the year. It would feel nice to get a good grade on this at the caliber of how much its worth, and also having it being one of our last chances as juniors to prove ourselves in the English department. I plan on trying to finish it a little early to have it proof read. I feel like that would help strengthen then end product, especially in the case for this writing assignment.

I feel like I have a strong idea and Ms. Duke helped to make it even better. I guess I’m not really using a different style besides writing in a historical lense. I started my paper well and it sounds as if it will carry through very strongly. I need to come up with some good ideas to match points together and in the end sound more interesting but I think it will come to me. Well I hope it comes to me…

I just got done watching the movie Office Space and I can’t decide whether it’s a famous movie or not. I was just flipping channels when I came upon it. It intrigued me for some odd reason, maybe because I saw Jennifer Aniston, my future wife. I didn’t start watching from the beginning so I was a little confused but I am a great TV watcher so I picked up the plot quiet quickly. I don’t know if anyone has seen the movie or not but its extremely weird.

In summary, it’s about how a lot of American’s dislike their jobs. Peter, the main character, works in a cubicle and really does the bare minimum job, fitting because of lack of motivation. It takes some fat guy to put him through a permanent trance so he can realize he is unhappy. He decides with his two friends at work that they are going to scam money out the company’s account. After there plan goes wrong and they accidentally take out 300 thousand dollars in a matter of days they knew they were going to get caught. Peter writes an apology letter turning him self in and puts it underneath his boss’ door. The movie ends by the company somehow coincidentally burning down and Peter and his friends are free from the crime they had committed. The movie also was very comical but made me laugh very little.

I guess what the movie did for me today was motivate me to come do my homework…I don’t want to work in a cubicle, I don’t want to live the poor pathetic life of Peter Gibbons. Or maybe, maybe… I’m just jealous he gets with Jennifer Aniston.

After high school, I plan too finally leave the country. I have always anticipated what it would be like, but I have never had the chance to take a trip. Perhaps, I will study abroad in Paris. Maybe, I will take the love of my life to Rome for our honeymoon. A dream of mine is to play professional soccer in a country in Europe, so maybe that’s in the picture. I’m unsure as of now, but it is a must happen in my life.

If I could choose, I’d love to live somewhere in Spain. I took Spanish since the 6^th grade, and although I’m not very good at it I could definitely communicate enough. My great grandmother is from the beautiful Canary Islands, also the home to our Spanish professor here at Episcopal, Senor Ramos.  I’m interested in the government, sport, daily life, and the economy of different places.

The Canterbury Tales presentations were extremely helpful. I took notes on each of the presentations and I have a bold understanding of each now. I would not say I am ready for the test yet, but this project definitely helped. When reading last minute I really just got the literal aspect of each story. The presentations each did a good job of scratching below what I had read and giving me a more in depth analysis of the tales.

At first the project did not seem like it was going to work in my favor but Ms Duke was right. Letting the class teach each tale helped me to learn in a memorable way. I will remember hearing something in class from a specific class mate that I have a specific bond with. I learned so much about each tale and have a couple pages of notes. I would just like to say thank you to everyone for teaching me your tales

*With the advent of the new shopping mall, many small stores closed down.

*Andrew was blasé about winning the championship because he wins it every year.

*Frank’s latest act of bravado was pushing the bully over a chair.

*There is a great disparity between Donald and Steve.

*The governor’s domicile was an imposing edifice.

*The boss relegated his assistant to a lower level job.

*His phobia of heights cause the man’s vertigo.

*The young boys in the yard defoliated many trees.

*The boys fabricated a snow man together.

*The itinerant theater group received warm welcomes in the many small towns where it performed.

*In a cheap neighborhood, everyone owned lilliputian houses.

*Although terrified of heights, I overcame my phobia by forcing myself to jump off the cliff.

*The oceans waves made some passengers queasy.

*The coach often upbraided his team.

*I promised Thomas i would reciprocate by giving him 8 dollars.

*The vertex of the school building is 200 feet above the base.

*Brail people use tactile symbols.

*The girls grandmother had bad amnesia.

*Colin keith would be considered an equestrian.