Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

1. Personally, I'm having trouble agreeing with the characters in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo just seems so stuck up and oblivious, while Juliet doesn't even seem to care about the way her life turns out. Typical teenagers? I don't think so. The only thing that remotely relates is the parental issues. Still, Romeo doesn't really have a part in the family feuds, he's always out and about feeling sorry for himself while everyone else in his family is struggling with the Capulets. Romeo makes this stuck up decision to let his family deal with their problems while he moans about his life to his knowledgable and caring cousin (Benvolio, obviously). I suppose that Benvolio is the only person I can relate to, and even so I mean that I can understand him more than I can relate to the position he's in. Benvolio works hard to help his family and takes the time to listen to and even advise his snobby cousin (Romeo). I approve of his actions, and can tell that he actually thinks things through. If it weren't for him, I think I'd be remarkably annoyed with the first act of this play.

2. I'm getting most of the ''stuff'' when reading just at home. Though the lines can be weirdly worded at times, I'll find myself discovering double meanings and puns, making this reading all the more enjoyable. And when that fails, I can always use the definitions on the left hand side of the page (which is very helpful, I'm so glad I bought the Folger edition). Rereading the pieces in class is pretty useful. I guess the story "sticks" better if you read it twice. My favorite part of reading this play though, is the group work. Well, really the group discussions. It's really nice to here all of the unique points of views. People can see things so differently, I always enjoy discovering their understandings because most of the time I wouldn't have seen these things the way that person does (and other people do).

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

     I believe that the overall theme of the novel Great Expectations is of responsibility. This is a consistent problem for Pip, and is used throughout the entire novel. Everybody at some point in their life struggles internally, whether it be over a label or over indecision. Pip feels both and represents the many possibilities of things that can happen to an ordinary person. I seriously think that Dickens created Pip to teach readers how to respond in situations, and how to have responsibility. Even though all of the horrible things that happened to Pip probably won't happen to an ordinary person, Pip represents many predicaments and instructs how to deal with each of them. From reading this book, I got that you need to have responsibility to gain respect and that there's a boundary where you need enough pride to take this responsibility, but not so much that you seem cocky and rude. Though it's quite straight forward, this is something you need to do and are capable of doing at any time/place. There's no need to wait until someone is brutal towards you, start demonstrating your reliability by being responsible all of the time.

Thoughts on Reading

Sorry this is a bit late! I thought we didn't have a blog this week because of the extra credit projects posted above it and when I recently checked again to make sure I wasn't missing anything I found that we did in fact have one, so here's my thoughts on reading the novel:
        The story itself was pretty depressing. I think I pitied the characters more than anything else though, and the author too! What is it that brings the creepy and emotionally overwhelming stories into your head? What did Charles Dickens have to endure to suffer the thought process of creating Great Expectations? Most of the mysteries I was able to figure out on my own with the exception of a few surprises. Orlick; yes he's a crazy stalker but I never thought he would actually kill Mrs. Joe or even try to kill Pip. Not only the literal mysteries but the bits of symbolism and meaningful sentences were frequently skimmed over too. It was incredibly helpful to talk it all over in class discussions and to have our awesome teacher (Mrs. Gilman) explain Dickens' motives and use of language. Most of the characters in Great Expectations had problems I've never had to go through, so you couldn't exactly say I sympathized with them, but I could respect them as I imagined what they were each going through and how draining it would be (even just emotionally).
     I might of skipped a page or two as I forced myself through the boring passages but I definately read enough to understand the novel. Reading outside of class felt really time consuming and was hard with all of  my other class work and outside of school dedications. I normally read at night and used it as a wind down because reading  can make me extremely tired. Unfortunately though, this didn't work too well with a book I was only reading for a grade (that I was reading after exhausting myself with other school activities -homework mainly). It's surprising I know but I do take five classes besides English :) . Each night I ended up snuggling in my bed with eyelids weighing my body down into the mattress, with another night's worth of English homework still to be completed. This definately affected the way I read the book because instead of taking the time to place myself in the narrator's shoes, I found myself searching for symbolism and themes that are otherwise irrevolent yet mysterious things that would keep me reading -if I didn't have to find them first. Having no extra time in the morning I made an effort to get to bed early and read late each night, though every once in a while a chapter would flood into the next day. I'm just glad I could keep up with every Friday.