Photo - Great Expectations

This photo represents when Pip gets tailored for a suit, and he get's rather full of himself because of his recent acquirement of money.

Group Essay: Me, Nikki S., and Katelyn

Okay, so this is not that great, but it's a start. At least it's finished. Much revising will take place!

Even when the lies of the characters are partially for their entertainment, societal pressure can still be found as an underlying reason for their actions. Take for instance Mr.Bunbury, Algernon’s imaginary friend whom he uses frequently to get out of certain events. Bunbury is used by Algernon to slip out of situations that he is requested to attend, when if society would not expect him to make an appearance at every social event, he would not have to create such lies just to not go to a tea party. The pressure from the public is so great that he must create an entirely fake person to get out of it. Another example is how Algernon pretends to be Jack’s non-existent younger brother, Ernest. Algernon is curious about Jack’s young ward, Cecily, and is also looking for a bit of fun, and he quickly learns that Cecily is quite attracted to Ernest, who has a reputation for being a rebellious person. Cecily is attracted to such a man because with the constant pressure to be perfect, a lot of men in higher society had very similar qualities, but if Ernest is a ‘bad’ man it makes him different, and therefore more interesting. On the other hand, Ernest would not have even been a problem had Jack not introduced him in the first place. Much like Algernon’s Mr. Bunbury, Jack’s younger brother was a persona that Jack could use to escape his country life and have fun with Algernon. His fun times could only be had by lying so he would not detonate his reputation as an upstanding noble man of the house. The lying presented in Oscar Wilde’s play can still be found relevant today, such as Algernon’s theory of ‘Bunburying’, though probably under different circumstances.

Animal Farm: The Poem

Animal Farm, I want you to know
Though not from beginning, is really a foe
Who started off friendly to all but us men
Till animalism was thwarted again
Napoleon was and always will be
A pig, you might say, who was not filled with glee
But greed, lots of greed, and power to suffice
Who’s cold heart was frozen in a hard block of ice
At first, as we thought, he was content with the bicker
With Snowball, the hero, who soon was much quicker
To run off the place by the dogs who were trained
To snap at poor Snowball, though no speed had they gained
As soon as the hero, dear Snowball, took flight
And Animal Farm was far out of sight
The animals set course down a dark dreary path
Filled with anger, resentment, and ever-feared wrath
The power, that once was at everyone’s hands
Fell into the hoof of the one who made plans
To turn this whole ‘Animalism’ to dust
Down with equality! Work till you bust!
And this, my dear reader, is how you will find
That corruption and stealth is what filled up the mind
Of Napoleon, yes, the king of them all
Who was never, I tell you, more good than a thrall.

Lessons Learned

As usual, it was rainy. The twice weekly trip from Olympia to Seattle and back is not exactly what I would call fun, but it is a great time for just me and my mom or dad to have nice conversations. I was in the passengers seat, passing Tacoma driving down to Seattle in our little black Saab, yabbering to my dad. I don't remember exactly what started the conversation, I never really do, but somehow we got on to the subject of introverts and extroverts. My mom is strictly an extrovert, she gets scared of introverts at times. When people don't plainly show their emotions on their face, she has a tendency to take that as an 'I don't like you!'. My dad is an introvert. "The best kinds of people are ones that take a while to get to know. Its more fun to think that someone's shy and uninteresting and realize that they are the most amazing people you have ever met, than to figure out that the cool outgoing person you just became friends with is really a poser." I will never forget this.
Since then, I have looked at things with a slightly different light. I am drawn toward the outgoing people in my class naturally, but I realize my best friend is a total introvert. then again, I find myself being interested in not only the extroverts but the quiet people in the corner who don't speak out in class. When I meet someone new at the Free Choir or at school, I make sure I don't judge people by what they look like or how much they talk. Everybody has a different story to tell.

Madera

Her messy faded blue hair tucked behind her ear, Madera flips through the Stranger, settling on the weekly Dan Savage column. Its fairly warm outside, but as always, she insists on wearing the usual tights, spankies, knee-high socks, and finally, her beloved leg warmers. Nothing ever matches, yet that's just so much of her character. Each day is something new; an idea for a comic book, an interest in zines, a song she wrote, a book she is writing, a musical she is directing.

Few people actually get to know Madera, she's quite the introvert, but I would be a completely different person if I hadn't. Madera is a feminist, pro-choice, independent, amazing person and no one in the world could equal the girl she is. Madera taught me how to be the spontaneous creative person I am, and I never stop thanking her for that.

First Person Beauty

The grass is so green, and my dress is so soft with its stripes. I know that my mom wants me to play catch, but all I want to do is be my idol, Sleeping Beauty. It's the easiest game to play! All I do is grab the nearest flower, run to a nice soft piece of land, and lie down. Holding my flower, with my eyes closed, I know I am the most beautiful girl in the world and that no one can harm me because I am under a powerful spell..

I remember this day fondly, I used to play this game a lot. I would be sleeping beauty, and would hold the nearest flower-ish thing pretending to sleep while my friend would pretend to be the prince. That role usually involved touching me on the forehead instead of kissing me, but the intent was still the same. I woke up, a beautiful princess, and would run away with my fake prince and then laugh and go find my mom.

The Motifed Jungle

Well, I may only be half-way done with this book, but I think with my current information i have enough to do an adequate project on it. I decided that the DOMINATING LITERARY ELEMENT (that's quite a handful to say) was Motif! The motif in The Jungle (as far as I have read) is the cattle and the pigs that get brutally slaughtered every day. There is always some mention of them, and how gross or how helpless or whatever they are. Or how nasty it is to kill them. Bleagh. Upton Sinclair probably addressed this the most becuase it makes the most sense! Now I would love to write more but I really need to go read my book, so bye. :D