Thursday, December 4, 2008

Macbeth Blog #4

Have you ever experienced a predicted dream? Has anyone ever suggested something about your future that has actually come true? Did their comments influence your actions and the results that followed?
I actually had a lot of dreams that i got to experience later in life. (Dejavu sort-of like) It was really nothing though. Mostly it was something very random and out of no-where. One dream that i remember was that i saw my friends playing this game on the computer and and one of them screamed that she's gonna go kill someone due to the frusteration that she felt from the game. Then, a few days later, the same exact thing happened, or it felt like the same exact thing happened. It was freaky, but i didn't think it meant anything special.

When i first came to korea, my friend was showing me around seoul. There was this tent outside, and it said 'Tarot Card'. I asked what it was and my friend told me it was something like a fortune teller. In america, it was pretty hard to see someone anything close to a fortune teller, so i decided to try it with my friend. We got to pick a category of relationships, grades, family life, etc. Me and my friend picks relationships and we got some feedback on how are relationships with people is going to be in the future. She said some things that i thought it wouldn't happen, but everything she said came true. At first, i was really amazed, but i think it's just a lucky guess. I don't believe in Tarot, but i think it's just fun once in a while to give it a try.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Macbeth Blog #3

Is there a personal incident in your life you wish could erase? Envision Lady Macbeth wringing herhands, unable to get the imaginary blood off of them. She is haunted by her participation in the grisly deed.Do you think her response is plausible? Do you think you would be consumed with guilt yourself if you foundyourself wrapped up in such a heinous crime?

So far, i haven't comitted such a crime to the point where i would feel extremely guilty and regret until now. And as long as i keep up my reputation as it is, i dont think i would want to erase anything that happens to me even though i regret what i have done. I think the mistakes that i make and the hardship i go through by that experience makes me into a wiser and a bigger person.

However, in the circumstances of Lady Macbeth, I think anyone would want to erase that part of their life. (Exception of crazy maniacs) If i was put into her shoes, I don't think i'll ever be free from my guilt and what i have done. Even if i never got caught or there was no way for other people to find out of what i have done, i think that i would never be able to live life with my head up high. I think that i would be paranoid for the rest of my life, and always carry that feeling of remorse with me wherever i go. In our society, you can see many people like Lady Macbeth through world news, media, etc. Even in that one incident in Virginia Tech where after the killer had gone around killing random people, he has committed suicide for the fear of having to deal with the future. The answer is, that we are all afraid of facing death. But due to the temptations we face, we all take that risk of sinning and hope that we can get away with it.

Therefore, i personally think that if you think you're going to regret it, it's better off not doing it.

Macbeth Blog #2

What do you think about the character of Macbeth? Was he a good guy before he met the witches, or do his actions imply that he was always capable of dark deeds? Is he to blame for his actions, or are the witches really to blame?

Maceth i think is a character who does not know how to control himself. He is rather controlled by others such as the witches, Lady Macbeth, and somewhat King Duncan. For some reason, i get this sense of goodness through Macbeth even if he did murder King Duncan. I think that Macbeth is not really sure why he has killed King Duncan when he had respected him so much. That transition in his mind and thought... where did it come from? I think the witches strongly have to do something with how Macbeth thinks and what he should do in the future.
In the beginning of the play, we are presented with 3 witches where they give us a foreshadow of evil deeds later in the play. They also say where they should meet Macbeth, which gives us a clue that they will be involving Macbeth into their evil deeds.
One example we can see within the play is the scene right before the murder. Macbeth sees or hallucinates a dagger that leads him to the killing of King Duncan. It's as if he is a puppet on a string controlled by the witches and does everything for the witches and get blamed for it.
However, i think we cannot fully blame the witches for all the evil deeds that Macbeth comitts. I think that Macbeth himself is just not a strong character who can have self-control nor self discipline. Everybody has evil thoughts and temptation of wanting to do things that shouldn't be done. However, we all have the right to choose what to do and not to do. Therefore, witches may have a huge role in making Macbeth do bad things, but we cannot fully blame them for Macbeth's actions.

Macbeth Blog #1

Do you feel sorry for Lady Macbeth? Why or Why not?


Reading Macbeth, i have had some scenes where i felt slight pity on Lady Macbeth. It is true that she has started the whole murder and the vicious deed that put herself into a sorry position, however if i think of the reason why she might gotten that idea, i feel sorry for her. At that time in the play, it is very much like a man's world where men hold all the power and control. I think that she just feels like as a woman, she has nothing to do with her life. Therefore, she steps forward and tries to do something where she will atleast be acknowledged and be honoured by men and women.
I also feel sympathy for Lady Macbeth in a way that she has realized she had committed such a terrible sin. She realize that 'what has been done can never be undone' and she, i think, disciplines herself with all the nightmares and the state of paranoia.
Lady Macbeth might be portrayed as a very evil woman throughout the beginning of this play, however i feel that she is a very strong character. She's not the best of human kind, however you can see that by the crime she has committed, you can see her unselfish love towards Macbeth and how much she wanted things to go well for him.
I think that there is more to the character of Lady Macbeth, and we should look at the reason behind her actions rather than focusing only on the things she does.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Margaret Atwood 2

Siren Song

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song t
hat is irresistible:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who had heard it
is dead, and the others can’t remember.
Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?
I don’t enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical
with these two feathery maniacs,
I don’t enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.

After I TPCASTT-ed the poem 'Siren Song', i have came up with a conclusion.

Through the title, i predicted that it was going to be something about either fire, injury, hospitality, mermaids, male, chaos.


After finding all the context clues of this poem, i have came to the conclusion that the main message of this poem has something to do with the origin of the word siren. Once, my art hakwon teacher had told me this story of Greek mythology that the word siren actually came from monsterish mermaids. They would lure men who sail among the sea with a song, and when they come near, this creature would eat them up. And by looking at this poem, that story of greek mythology connects totally well with this poem that Atwood had written. (Words like: Island, birds, mythical, singing, 'help me' gave me clues that this poem had a lot to do with the origin of the siren story.) Also, I think that the significance of the 'siren monster' has got to do something with feminism because the monster is a female that attack men. Looking at our history, woman is stereotyped as being weak, powerless, defenseless. However, in this poem, the main power is held by a female character.

I think within this poem, Atwood is mainly trying to come across a feminism idea. That woman might be treated as a second priority, but that we can hold power and have some strong side of us as well as men. yes, very cliche thing for me to say, but that's what i think :)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Margaret Atwood 3

In class, we had read over the poem "Morning in the Burned House". The Harmartia that is expressed through this poem is the fact that people become too overwhelmed when they lose something.


people in our world today in most parts are obsessed over consuming many things. Money is the major problem. In our society, all we care about is to strive for success and happiness. In order to do that, we all live up to the American Dream. However, to achieve that american dream requires endless effort and arrogance. Yet many people tend to fall even with all the hard work put through all their life, and encounter this 'loss' (loss of time, life, and chances) which makes a lot of us to become overwhelmed and result as doing something stupid as suiciding.


It seems as though within this poem, Atwood is trying to say that being so caught up with the American Dream can only lead you into destruction. I personally think that within this poem, i was able to feel what the speaker was feeling throughout the poem. It seemed as though for me, that the speaker was realizing something after she had gone through the process of losing her family, house, and possessions. So the connection between how i took in this poem and the use of harmartia seemed to enhace the understanding of the message that Atwood was trying to present.

Margaret Atwood 1

Out of the three poets that were given, I feel that Margaret Atwood has the most similar thoughts about some issues as i do. She is widely recognized as a feminist, which can connect with my life in many ways being a female myself. I might not be like a total feminist freak, however I tend to seek interest in that area of woman rights. Also in many of my art works I have created, it has a lot to do with feminism and the idea of perusing equality within the society. So I guess we’re kind of similar in ways where she creates poems, and I create art as well. Also, out of those 3 poets, I know that Margaret Atwood has a humorous side of her (hockey clip) which can also connect with my personality because I am not considered to be a very serious character. I’m not really sure about the other two poets, but Atwood also wrote books for children which can relate to how I much I love children. J