Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Julius Caesar Essay Evaluation
Ideas and Content
Throughout my Julius Caesar essay I had to find ways in order to show what characteristics best suited Brutus. In my essay I thought I did fairly well with using my ideas to make my essay sound good and make sense. I used my ideas and back them up with explanations in order to get the message across of how Brutus acted towards the people and Caesar. I knew what I was meant to write about, and that helped me get my message across, plus I was able to write a lot about the topic. Another thing that I did well was that I explained how my quotations related to the main topic. This was probably because I planned before the in class essay and I also understood the play extremely well. I believe I could have worked more on including interesting and relevant details to some of my assumptions about Brutus. This could have proved my point and could also bring my reader in. I should have focused mainly on writing the topic sentence or the beginning of my essay because that would have helped the reader understand completely what I was writing about.
Organization
The organization in my essay was quite well put together (I believe). I was able to begin with an interesting hook to grab my reader's attention and my body paragraphs closed with good summarizing and transition sentences. This got my reader into my essay and it made them want to read more. The transition sentences helped my essay flow and it made sure the reader didn't get lost. The organization of my essay was the thing that kept it all together and made sure it didn't fall apart and turn into a terrible essay. I could have improved on having good lead in's to both my paragraphs and quotations. I should have had some relation to the past paragraph and I could have had some form of context before all my quotations. Being able to add context to my quotations was hard because I didn't mark my quotations, so I wasn't able to discover what happened before.
Personal Growth
The difference between my Alchemist essay and my Julius Caesar essay was huge. I was way more prepared for my Julius Caesar essay than for my Alchemist essay. This was probably because I knew I wouldn't get much help and I needed to write it up by myself so I tried to do as much as I could at home. I thought that my explanations for my ideas in my Caesar essay had much more detail than the ones in the Alchemist essay. My organization in my Caesar essay was also better which kept the essay together and in my Alchemist essay I got away from the topic and started to talk about other things which didn't relate much to the topic. This gets the reader less interested and it can drop down your grade if the reader just wants to finish reading your essay.
SLR Reflection
Whenever I write my essays I believe that communicating effectively is the key to a well written essay. This is because you need to get your ideas across well to the reader so that they understand what your essay is about and so that they don't get tired of reading it earlier than they should. Without communicating effectively the reader will get lost during your essay. Communicating is the key to an essay because it keeps it together and it keeps the reader interested in what they are reading.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Brutus the Patriotic Man
Brutus’ Noble Act
“Well Brutus you are noble but I can tell that honorable qualities can be given in a new direction.” – Cassius. This quote is spoken by Cassius and it shows his need to get Brutus to be part of the conspirators. This quote also reveals that many people adore Brutus and that he is an honorable man that people like to spend time with. The play “Julius Caesar” was written by William Shakespeare and it takes place during the time of Caesar’s reign. Various characters, like the conspirators, didn’t fancy what Caesar was becoming so they decided to stop his control of Rome. Brutus is caught in the middle, between saving Caesar or keeping Rome a republic. Brutus’ sense of patriotism and his integrity lead him to two critical decisions. The death of Caesar and his own death.
Patriotism is a key motivator to one’s life because it makes them strive for the best and what’s right. Brutus exhibits this quality throughout the play and it shows how noble he actually is. During the play Brutus becomes more and more patriotic because he agrees with what all the conspirators believe about Caesar. The conspirators decided to allow Brutus to become part of their group because that would make the assassination look more noble and worthy. They believed that, if the people discovered that his friends were killing Caesar, the assassination could be justified. During the planning of Caesar’s assassination Cassius just wanted revenge but because Brutus was so patriotic he continuously told the conspirators that they had to do it for the country. Brutus didn’t believe that just killing him for no reason was the most worthy way so before he made his final decision, he knew it was for the common good. This following quote was said by both Cassius and Brutus. Brutus claims that he is frightened of Caesar becoming king of Rome. Cassius gets Brutus to explain his thoughts and that allows Brutus to understand the meaning of why Caesar must be killed. “I was born free as Caesar; so were you.” – Cassius “What you have said I will consider.” – Brutus This quote reveals Brutus’ thoughts of Caesar’s reign and that he fears what will be the outcome. This quote also shows that Brutus agrees with Cassius’ thoughts and that he will consider them for his final decision. In the end Brutus was very willing to assassinate Caesar because he believed that Caesar wasn’t any different that anyone else. He accepted the fact that Caesar shouldn’t be treated differently than anyone else, especially the Roman people. Brutus was also shown as patriotic in many times throughout the book. Before the following quote Brutus has woken up early in the morning and concludes that Caesar must be killed. He decides that he will kill Caesar but he must do it for an honorable cause (for Rome). “O Rome, I make thee promise, if the redress with follow, thou receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus.” This quote presents that Brutus finally agrees to kill Caesar but for the only right way. He does it in order to keep Rome a republic. Throughout the book Brutus is shown as a very patriotic character and cares more about others than himself. He doesn’t agree with killing Caesar for no reason but he agrees with killing him for the people.
Brutus’ integrity was also a key motivating factor that lead his decision to being both noble and worthy. Near the beginning of the play Julius Caesar was gaining more and more power, that some people didn’t believe was best for the country. Brutus’ integrity was a key factor that lead Brutus to staying honest with the people. This factor got Brutus to be loyal to the people and to also be loyal to Caesar his good friend. “Shall we now contaminate our fingers with base bribes.” This quotation presents the fact that Brutus doesn’t want people to just get them to do what they want. Brutus decides that he must follow his morals and has to kill Caesar for the way that he wanted to. He was motivated to follow his own ways and not anyone else’s. “Strato. Countrymen, my heart doth joy that yet in all my life I found no man but he was true to me. I shall have glory by this losing day more than Octavius and Mark Antony by this vile conquest shall attain unto. “ This previous quote exhibits Brutus’ love for Caesar and that Brutus believes Caesar was so true to him. Brutus killed Caesar in a way that any friend would. He did it for the people but as a person Brutus still loved Caesar as much as Caesar used to love him. Brutus didn’t only kill Caesar for the people but he also killed him by the love that he shared with him.
“This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators except him did what they did out of envy of great Caesar.” – Antony This quotation demonstrates that other people loved Caesar for what he did, because he did it for others and not just for killing Caesar. Brutus’ patriotism and his integrity lead him to being one of the most noblest conspirators of all. Brutus acted differently towards the death of Caesar because of his patriotism and integrity. He was able to achieve his goal because of this and it was shown as a noble and worthy achievement. In the end, many people decided that Brutus was doing it for the right reason and that many other people adored him for what he did. Brutus died in the end for Caesar which exhibits his love for Caesar and for the country.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Collage Written Reflection
While working on my collage, I tried to include many creative elements inside. I believed that if I divided my pictures into different categories then it could get the reader more into what was happening to the people in Sudan. I divided my collage into two parts with the pictures I found off the internet. I divided the sections into bad things that happened to the Sudanese people and one section was all the good things that happened to them like being able to transfer to America. It was quite hard to divide my pictures into two different parts because so many bad things happened to the Sudanese people and it was hard to find pictures for good things that happened to them. When I was cutting the pictures I also tried to cut around the part that I thought was the most significant. I believed that the reader should see all the pain that the Lost Boys had to go through.
Most of my images were of pain that the Lost Boys had to face. I also decided to make my six word memoir sound a bit sad because the conflict that the Lost Boys had to face was extremely sad. Right next to the word hell, I pasted a picture of a person crying because it showed the hell they had to go through. Some of the pictures I chose showed how little food they got because they looked so skinny in every single picture. I was also able to find a picture of the UN sign because they were the main group that helped them transfer to America and try to start off new. At first they were in pain when their parents died, then they were lonely on their way to America because of the new culture and then they were in hell, the moment they had to figure out ways to survive in America while trying to keep their family alive in Sudan.
Both the text and my pictures in my collage show awareness for the Lost Boys plight. The combination of my text and pictures show some of the fun the Lost Boys had but also some of the pain they had to go through. In some pictures it showed that the Lost Boys could forget about the past but could still remember their Dinka culture. The moment the Lost Boys entered America they were trying their best to forget about the past and to think about the future. In one of my pictures Peter is attending high school which shows he wants to get a good education so that he can get a good job and send money back to his family in Sudan. Some of the Boys are now quite popular in America because their story has been told to many people worldwide and a movie has been made because of them. In one of my pictures, Santino is being interviewed on a TV show and he is wearing extremely nice clothes. This shows that he was able to forget about the past and work hard in America. He earned enough money by himself to survive and be able to buy nice things for himself.
In the corners of my poster, I pasted some websites for the reader to visit in order to help the kids. I specifically chose these sites because I thought they were the best and they do a lot for the kids in Sudan. My collage also shows some of the worst pictures ever seen of the kids and people in pain. These pictures can get the reader feeling sorry for the people in need and it will make them really want to help out. My six word memoir is also something that shows some of the hard parts of the Lost Boy's journey.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Conflict for Peter
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Cassius' Talk With Brutus
BRUTUS
Not I.
CASSIUS
I pray you, do.
BRUTUS
I am not gamesome: I do lack some part
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony.
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
I'll leave you.
CASSIUS
Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.
BRUTUS
Cassius,
Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved--
Among which number, Cassius, be you one--
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
CASSIUS
Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
BRUTUS
No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,
But by reflection, by some other things.
CASSIUS
'Tis just:
And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes.
BRUTUS
Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
CASSIUS
Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear:
And since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of.
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus:
Were I a common laugher, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester; if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And after scandal them, or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.