Hamlet blog by Michael Trammell

Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a tragic tale of vengeance and madness. The play is focused of the events that followed the death of the former king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. Act I of Hamlet is  more or less setting up the play and its future events. At the end of Act I, Scene 5 after being given a task by the spirit of the dead king, Hamlet now knows that it was his uncle to blame for his father’s death. From this point on Hamlet plots against his uncle to avenge his fathers murder. As we reader further into the play, Hamlet’s state of mind becomes poisoned with thoughts of revenge. Hamlet’s actions effected not only him, but the people he cared about.Madness, both real and fake lye in the heart of this play. Hamlet's mood throughout the play has made a debate between him faking the madness, or was he truly mad. This is truly seen as an answer that can never be figured out. But the difficult structure of Hamlet's mental state and his unusual attitude seems to speak for the play itself. His state of mind and mood effect the atmosphere of the play and every character in it. But is he truly mad, or is it all and act that he cleverly played on everyone.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/themes.html

Frankenstein Blog Entry by Brian McNulty

The story of Frankenstein is interesting in the sense that it is transcribed through multiple sources into one narrative, so you never really know exactly what happened.  Victor is perceived through Walton as a whimsical man who should be his dearest friend; Victor himself would obviously limit his own negative aspects as he is telling Walton his tale of unfortunate consequences.  We do however see that Victor is the very essence of how a brilliant mind and a self-centered temperament can go awry.  His egotistical sense of how he must not only defeat nature’s limitation but create life that will owe him as their sole creator, really speaks to his motivations not only in the field of science, but life itself.  Events obviously occur that put Victor in his place, however. 

By not remotely nurturing his creation that is doomed to be alone, and not take responsibility for its actions; Victor does lose everything.  It’s a dramatic tale of mad scientist, the arrogant and sheltered young man, love and loss, and everything in between.  The overview of Victor and Walton can be found here:  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/canalysis.html#Victor-Frankenstein.

Hamlet Analysis Blog by Martin Felder

Hamlet is one of those stories the typical High Schoolers dread reading. Its complicated wording and deep meanings makes us think more than we normally want to but the more you read into it the better it is reflected upon modern society. Existentialism is the key here; just as many of the characters in Hamlet are looking for their own existence in life so are we. Doing daily things like school and work all serve the purpose of finding ones true self. As the story develops Hamlet is thrown into several situations that define his character and ultimately leads to him out casting himself in the sake of revenge. Upon finishing the reading I felt that Hamlet did not know what he truly wanted from his life and that sense of unknown is what drew him to revenge in order to have some purpose. I feel like I know what I want to do with my life but when I actually sit and think about it I have no clue. So I have no choice but to move forward and continue to mold my own being so I feel like I can exist. If you want to learn more about existentialism visit http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm or watch the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Hamlet blog by Yvette Ortiz

In Hamlet, he seeks revenge for his father, but also for himself. Even though he doesn't believe that the ghost was there, up until hamlet came forth in front of him and hears the truth of his fathers murder. Hamlet has a plan to murder but wants proof. As he has a plan, to see if his uncle/stepdad would show emotion as a theather play comes to the castle and performs or reenacts the murder of his father and watch for emotion as guilt comes forth. As hamelt reads the body language as the play occurs, when someone lies body language plays a big role, as the body , tone of the voice,  and gestures. Reading the play is diffrent than seeing a movie with the full effect of the body language when reading the play could confused with the tone and misunderstand the tone.

Social Constructs in The Piano Lesson by Gilberto Flores

The way the Charles Family and Lymon are treated in the Piano Lesson by society is the example given by August Wilson how black people were treated after the Civil War in America. Lymon’s predicament with Mr. Stovall is a perfect example of how economically blacks were still owned by whites. Although it’s unknown whether Mr. Stovall owned Lymon’s ancestors, he used the society’s “white supremacy” mentality and his money to leverage the court system into freeing Lymon, after being charged with a petty crime, in exchange for his labor, for an unspecified amount of time, and giving Lymon no legal option but to work for Mr. Stovall until he paid the $100 back.  Another example that isn’t really elaborated in the play is that of Parchman Farm. Each of the males in the play spent time there and were all familiar with it but no one really talked about the conditions they lived in. Parchman Farm was notorious for exploiting its black inmates to turn massive profits. In 1905 James K. Vardaman, Mississippi’s Governor known as White Chief, personally supervised the clearing  and draining of the land and the construction of a sawmill to cut timber to for its prison buildings. Cotton was planted on seven thousand acres, along with cops to feed the convicts, the mules, the hogs, and a dairy heard. In less than a year the prison had turned a profit of $185,000 and continued even during the Great Depression. The inmates were encouraged to socialize with each other to teach new inmates proper discipline, strong work habits, and respect for white authority. They were watched during work hours by a line of shooters that shot anyone who tried to escape.

For further reading check out Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justiceby David M. Oshinsky.