I came across this article by oops, but thot it may be helpful because its on our subject. Its sounds pro and con, I think. It at least raises questions to look into.
Ancient Global Warming Triggers Found
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News
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April 26, 2007 — The rifting apart of the Earth’s crust to create the northeast Atlantic Ocean may have been triggered a mysterious past global warming episode not unlike the human-made climate crisis unfolding today. And just like the today’s climate change, the 55-million-year-ago global warming started with fossil fuels, of a sort.
The fuels weren’t necessarily coal or oil and they weren’t, of course, being burned in engines at the end of the Paleocene epoch. Instead, it was carbon-rich sediments that were baked in place in the ground by the intrusion of a lot of molten rock and an awful lot of heat into the landmass that comprised both Europe and Greenland at the time.
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That baking created at least several hundred giga-tons of greenhouse gases which were exhaled from the ground and into the atmosphere, explains Michael Storey, a geochronologist at Roskilde University Center in Roskilde, Denmark.
That may have been just enough to warm the oceans and knock over the next climatic domino: vast stores of frozen methane hydrate in cold sea beds. When these thawed and bubbled up they added a few thousand more giga-tons of carbon into the atmosphere and heated up the global climate to what scientists call the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).
At the height of the PETM, sea surface temperatures in the oceans rose 9 degrees F (5 degrees C) in the tropics and 11 degrees F (6 degrees C) in the Arctic. The oceans became more acidic and 30 to 50 percent of the sea floor life went extinct.
"The two outstanding questions about the event are what triggered it and where did all the greenhouse gases come from," said Storey, who’s paper on the matter appear in the April 27 issue of the journal Science.
To answer the first question, Storey and his colleagues Robert Duncan and Carl Swisher gathered volcanic rock specimens from the now distant edges of what was once a united Denmark and Greenland, and tested their ages to see if that matched up with the timing of the PETM.
Ancient Global Warming Triggers Found
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News
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They used a natural clock in the minerals created by different concentrations of argon-40 and argon-39 to date the rocks and found they were about the same age and fit well into the timing of the PETM, which has been identified independently from marine sediments.
"The dating allows us to link the (PETM) to what we see as a massive surge of volcanic activity," Storey told Discovery News. "It was an enormous surge." And it left behind more than 2 million cubic miles (10 cubic km) of basalt.
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"This is almost perfect because you have that as a trigger," says paleo-oceanographer James Zachos of the University of California at Santa Cruz. "The (climate) system is just perched on the edge and you just need a little kicker."
After that kick, there’s plenty of methane hydrate to complete the process and keep warming things up, Zachos said.
Today there are estimates to be between 2,000 and 10,000 giga-tons of methane hydrate buried in cold ocean sediments. Humans currently release between six and seven giga-tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
The big unknown today is exactly how much carbon it takes to warm things up to the point that the methane hydrate breaks loose and takes the matter entirely out of human hands.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
confusion about assignment
Just want to make sure, we have 2 debates, 1 fallacy, and 2 more essays to go??
fallacy question
Is omitting important facts about a product considered a fallacy? How would you define that?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Is this a fallacy?
When I was writing my Midsummer Night's Dream essay, I came across this one quote in which Egeus states:
"I beg the ancient privilege of Athens,/As she is mine, I may dispose of her:/Which shall be either to this gentleman/Or to her death, according to our law/Immediately provided in that case." (Act I, Scene i.)
To me, this statement seems like a false dilemma. Egeus presumes fewer options by saying that he either can let his daughter marry Demetrius, or have her die. He doesn't consider other options such as letting Hermia marry Lysander. What do you guys think?
"I beg the ancient privilege of Athens,/As she is mine, I may dispose of her:/Which shall be either to this gentleman/Or to her death, according to our law/Immediately provided in that case." (Act I, Scene i.)
To me, this statement seems like a false dilemma. Egeus presumes fewer options by saying that he either can let his daughter marry Demetrius, or have her die. He doesn't consider other options such as letting Hermia marry Lysander. What do you guys think?
global warming debaters
Hello G.W. team
Last week in class their were only two of us out of six. Nyioo7 and I chose our side we want to support already. I hope at least two of you show up so we will have even teams. I've already started alot of research and would like to continue this subject.
If you can not show, please write so we know who's on the team and can discuss the debate issues.
Thank you
Last week in class their were only two of us out of six. Nyioo7 and I chose our side we want to support already. I hope at least two of you show up so we will have even teams. I've already started alot of research and would like to continue this subject.
If you can not show, please write so we know who's on the team and can discuss the debate issues.
Thank you
Friday, April 27, 2007
Inductive Fallacy, False Analogy, Hasty Generalization
This ad is taken from the Daily Mail, UK, September 2006.
In this case, the induction involves generalization from the study of French Fat Women Population.According to the survey conducted, he concluded that one-third of French women population is fat and thin women is just a myth.
He also made a hasty generalization by saying, "Women's waistlines are certainly expanding the fastest." where he judged all women by a small range of fat French women.
He has also favored a comment made by Professor Arnaud," Women appear to be more affected than men." where he has made a false analogy be comparing men and women even though they have different bodily structures.
Do you guys agree with these fallacies?
Can more fallacies be formed from this newspaper ad?
I think this is a fallacy because...
Ok I am going to give this a shot - I am not sure I fully understand, but here it goes....First, this is a "false analogy" fallacy because it compares shampoo (a manmade material) with nature.
Second, I am not sure which fallacy it would fall under, but the "urge of nature" is not a thing that is definable in common terms. One person's idea of the urge of nature would be different than another's. To be honest I dont even know what the "urge of nature" means to me, it is a confusing and ambiguous statement.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
fallacies
www.magazine-ads.com
This site has alot of different ads, and may help you get some ideas.
I found a couple potentials.
This site has alot of different ads, and may help you get some ideas.
I found a couple potentials.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
MLA Citation Generator
Here is the website for the citation generator - there are also MLA guidelines linked to this page.
http://www.easybib.com/
http://www.easybib.com/
Friday, April 20, 2007
Upcoming Fallacy Assignment
The fallacy assignment involves collecting ten fallacies, displaying them, and explaining how and in what sense the examples are fallacious. The assignment is weighed as one essay. The student may display the fallacy in whatever way seems appropriate, and the instructor will try to be sure there's class time for people to display fallacies in class.
For anyone behind on blogging, or even those who are not, fallacy samples with comment will make great blog entries, as will reappraisal and constructive comment on other people's fallacy samples. Students can get credit for blog entries while they get feedback on their fallacy analyses before turning these in for credit.
For anyone behind on blogging, or even those who are not, fallacy samples with comment will make great blog entries, as will reappraisal and constructive comment on other people's fallacy samples. Students can get credit for blog entries while they get feedback on their fallacy analyses before turning these in for credit.
Fallacies
Here's a garden stroll through fallacy.
Teaching fallacies has some problems. Human logic is something that humans have not succeeded utterly in describing, and categories for fallacies vary somewhat from person to person and text to text. However, since students will collect fallacies for an assignment, let's go through some examples. Just please take the facile categories with a grain of salt, and remember too that this list is not exhaustive. Also, the presence of a fallacy in an argument does not mean that the point the argument intends to support has no validity; it just means that a hole exists in the supporting argument.
Fallacy finds with comments would make great blog entries, by the way.
Inductive fallacy -- Induction involves generalization from experience or experiment. One observes a sample population, then judges that certain things will be true in general that seem to have been true in the sample population. Obviously, problems occur insofar as the population experienced differs from the population to be judged:
False Analogy - two actions or things taken as similar do not resemble each other in some significant aspect: "Students have to work, and mules have to work: If you want either to do well, you need to put a carrot in front of them and a stick behind them."
Hasty Generalization - a conclusion is drawn about a wide range of things using a small range of examples. "Joe the quarterback failed his English class. Football players are sure lousy students!"
Unrepresentative sample- The thinker generalizes from a sample that in some ways does not represent the majority of instances of the class of things under discussion.
Exclusion - The thinker ignores relevant information. "Jim has been here all semester, so he'll be here tomorrow" (even though he's running a fever of 103 degrees and his car burst into flrmes while he was driving to his mother's to complain because she turned him in to the IRS.
Slothful induction - The thinker ignores a significant pattern in the data."I get too busy at the end of each semester, but it's not bad planning: It's just that things happen that I don't expect."
Fallacies of Deduction -- These may take valid premises, but misapply them so that conclusions might not be correct. In these, the errors or abuses involve misuse of operators or shifts in the meaning of terms.
Fallacies of Distraction These deductive fallacies misuse an operator to relate premises to premises or premises to conclusions in ways that are not valid.
False dilemma - The thinker presumes fewer options exist than might. "Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists," or "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
Complex Question - Two distinct statements are treated as though they were coterminous or inseparable. "So you think it's OK to reduce welfare and let that small child starve?" "Won't you support our troops and authorize the new defense budget?" One must establish that one factor genuinely is consequent upon the other.
Slippery Slope - One idea is related to one or a series of similar (or not so similar!) ideas, which are usually less acceptable. "If we allow same-sex marriages, pretty soon we'll have to honor marriages to multiple partners, then to sheep or pigs." Here, unless the speaker can invent some reason to equate same-sex marriage with polygamy and bestiality, the argument lacks validity.
Argument from Ignorance - Because a proposition cannot be or has not been disproven, the thinker claims it's proven true. "You can't prove God does not exist, so obviously She does." Note that this argument works equally well -- or equally poorly -- in reverse: "You can't prove God does exist, so obviously She does not."
Changing the Subject - Some invalid use of operators involves applying the argument to something that's not relevant, or applying something that's not relevant to the argument.
Ad hominem - Even a valid attack against a person's character has no necessary relation to the correctness of that person's idea. "You say pot hurts my studies, but you do seem to like your whiskey sours." Notice that if one person makes an argument based on authority ("It's true because Joe says so!"), the personal attributes of the authority may have some provisional relevance ("Well, Joe's specialty is in another field!")
Style over Substance - Graceful or graceless argument does not itself render an idea true or false. "How can you believe Bush? The guy can't say three words without putting his foot in his mouth." "But that's just why I trust him: He's so down-to-earth and anti-intellectual." (Check out newspaper coverage of possible presidential candidates for '08 for a river of style over substance arguments.)
Appeal to Authority - People pretend authority; real authorities disagree. Even Aristotle claimed that flies have four legs. (BTW, just because this is listed as a fallacy does not mean you'll get away with no references in research papers!)
Appeal to Motives - Just because one might want something to be true or false bears no relation to whether or not it is.
o Prejudicial language - People sometimes hold a thing true of false because it's couched in complementary or nsulting terms. "Hey, it's just common sense."
o Pity - I'd feel so bad were this not correct that you must believe that it's so. "I'm working so hard on this CD for this class that you'd better like it."
o Force - If you disagree, woe unto you.
o Popularity - a position is held to be true because it's popular or supported by someone popular or held to be popular or because one may become popular. Ads with some young lady draped over the hood of a car or a basketball player selling sneakers are cases in point.
Cause and Effect Fallacies These tend to just miss the point -
Coincidental correlation - One thing happened after another, so the first must have caused the second: "Leonard can command the Sun. He said, 'I command that the sun shall rise tomorrow,' and lo, it did."
Joint Effect - Two effects of one cause are treated as cause and effect: "The violence in Afghanistan was caused by the war there."
Reverse cause-effect - Cause is treated as effect, and vice-versa. "I'm a lousy writer anyway, so I don't bother to proofread my papers."
Complex Cause - Significant causes are ignored, as though only one cause were crucial.
Insignificant cause - One cause heralded as vital is not: "The maraschino cherries on these sundaes are probably fattening; maybe I'll have them leave the cherry off my second."
Teaching fallacies has some problems. Human logic is something that humans have not succeeded utterly in describing, and categories for fallacies vary somewhat from person to person and text to text. However, since students will collect fallacies for an assignment, let's go through some examples. Just please take the facile categories with a grain of salt, and remember too that this list is not exhaustive. Also, the presence of a fallacy in an argument does not mean that the point the argument intends to support has no validity; it just means that a hole exists in the supporting argument.
Fallacy finds with comments would make great blog entries, by the way.
Inductive fallacy -- Induction involves generalization from experience or experiment. One observes a sample population, then judges that certain things will be true in general that seem to have been true in the sample population. Obviously, problems occur insofar as the population experienced differs from the population to be judged:
False Analogy - two actions or things taken as similar do not resemble each other in some significant aspect: "Students have to work, and mules have to work: If you want either to do well, you need to put a carrot in front of them and a stick behind them."
Hasty Generalization - a conclusion is drawn about a wide range of things using a small range of examples. "Joe the quarterback failed his English class. Football players are sure lousy students!"
Unrepresentative sample- The thinker generalizes from a sample that in some ways does not represent the majority of instances of the class of things under discussion.
Exclusion - The thinker ignores relevant information. "Jim has been here all semester, so he'll be here tomorrow" (even though he's running a fever of 103 degrees and his car burst into flrmes while he was driving to his mother's to complain because she turned him in to the IRS.
Slothful induction - The thinker ignores a significant pattern in the data."I get too busy at the end of each semester, but it's not bad planning: It's just that things happen that I don't expect."
Fallacies of Deduction -- These may take valid premises, but misapply them so that conclusions might not be correct. In these, the errors or abuses involve misuse of operators or shifts in the meaning of terms.
Fallacies of Distraction These deductive fallacies misuse an operator to relate premises to premises or premises to conclusions in ways that are not valid.
False dilemma - The thinker presumes fewer options exist than might. "Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists," or "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
Complex Question - Two distinct statements are treated as though they were coterminous or inseparable. "So you think it's OK to reduce welfare and let that small child starve?" "Won't you support our troops and authorize the new defense budget?" One must establish that one factor genuinely is consequent upon the other.
Slippery Slope - One idea is related to one or a series of similar (or not so similar!) ideas, which are usually less acceptable. "If we allow same-sex marriages, pretty soon we'll have to honor marriages to multiple partners, then to sheep or pigs." Here, unless the speaker can invent some reason to equate same-sex marriage with polygamy and bestiality, the argument lacks validity.
Argument from Ignorance - Because a proposition cannot be or has not been disproven, the thinker claims it's proven true. "You can't prove God does not exist, so obviously She does." Note that this argument works equally well -- or equally poorly -- in reverse: "You can't prove God does exist, so obviously She does not."
Changing the Subject - Some invalid use of operators involves applying the argument to something that's not relevant, or applying something that's not relevant to the argument.
Ad hominem - Even a valid attack against a person's character has no necessary relation to the correctness of that person's idea. "You say pot hurts my studies, but you do seem to like your whiskey sours." Notice that if one person makes an argument based on authority ("It's true because Joe says so!"), the personal attributes of the authority may have some provisional relevance ("Well, Joe's specialty is in another field!")
Style over Substance - Graceful or graceless argument does not itself render an idea true or false. "How can you believe Bush? The guy can't say three words without putting his foot in his mouth." "But that's just why I trust him: He's so down-to-earth and anti-intellectual." (Check out newspaper coverage of possible presidential candidates for '08 for a river of style over substance arguments.)
Appeal to Authority - People pretend authority; real authorities disagree. Even Aristotle claimed that flies have four legs. (BTW, just because this is listed as a fallacy does not mean you'll get away with no references in research papers!)
Appeal to Motives - Just because one might want something to be true or false bears no relation to whether or not it is.
o Prejudicial language - People sometimes hold a thing true of false because it's couched in complementary or nsulting terms. "Hey, it's just common sense."
o Pity - I'd feel so bad were this not correct that you must believe that it's so. "I'm working so hard on this CD for this class that you'd better like it."
o Force - If you disagree, woe unto you.
o Popularity - a position is held to be true because it's popular or supported by someone popular or held to be popular or because one may become popular. Ads with some young lady draped over the hood of a car or a basketball player selling sneakers are cases in point.
Cause and Effect Fallacies These tend to just miss the point -
Coincidental correlation - One thing happened after another, so the first must have caused the second: "Leonard can command the Sun. He said, 'I command that the sun shall rise tomorrow,' and lo, it did."
Joint Effect - Two effects of one cause are treated as cause and effect: "The violence in Afghanistan was caused by the war there."
Reverse cause-effect - Cause is treated as effect, and vice-versa. "I'm a lousy writer anyway, so I don't bother to proofread my papers."
Complex Cause - Significant causes are ignored, as though only one cause were crucial.
Insignificant cause - One cause heralded as vital is not: "The maraschino cherries on these sundaes are probably fattening; maybe I'll have them leave the cherry off my second."
Permissions & Invites
Those who have had trouble accessing the blog over the last few days should try again at their convenience. According to the site's database, no one's permission has been dropped.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Character Analysis for A Midsummer Night's Dream
If anybodys doing Character Analysis from this movie,http://www.bookrags.com/s/ is a very useful website.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Midsummer Night's Dream
I'm trying to write an essay comparing the love courtship in the 21st centurty to the love courtship during Shakespeare's era. However, I'm having a hard time finding articles about the love courtship during that era. If anyone come across with an article or a link, please send me an email.
It is funny how people do you "crazy" things for love. It seems that during Shakespeare's era it was a crazy thing to do if you marry someone for love, especially if it the parents were against it. Today, it is crazy to marry someone just for love, without considering the other major factors (education/ background/ social status) that plays a role when deciding to or not to marry or fall in love.
It is hard to find true or eternal love... because wouldn't true love still be present between two people if they had nothing else but each other? Isn't love unconditional?
I think each person has an ideal of what love supposed to be or feel like, and often times the "ideal scenario" don't quite fit the "real life scenario".
How is it to love someone completely opposite of you and has nothing to offer you but his/her love? Is that even possible?
It is funny how people do you "crazy" things for love. It seems that during Shakespeare's era it was a crazy thing to do if you marry someone for love, especially if it the parents were against it. Today, it is crazy to marry someone just for love, without considering the other major factors (education/ background/ social status) that plays a role when deciding to or not to marry or fall in love.
It is hard to find true or eternal love... because wouldn't true love still be present between two people if they had nothing else but each other? Isn't love unconditional?
I think each person has an ideal of what love supposed to be or feel like, and often times the "ideal scenario" don't quite fit the "real life scenario".
How is it to love someone completely opposite of you and has nothing to offer you but his/her love? Is that even possible?
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Synopsis Midsummer Night's Dream
In case someone finds it of use, here is a very bare outline of events in A Midsummer Night's Dream:
I. Opening crises.
A. Duke Theseus will marry Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons in four days.
B. Egeus complains that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius
C. Hermia loves Lysander, whom Egeus dislikes
D. Theseus says Hermia must marry Demetrius, die, or join a nunnery.
II. Plans -- best laid and otherwise.
A. Lysander tells Hermia to flee with him
B. Helena decides to inform Demetrius
C. Quince, Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snug, and Snout decide to rehearse a play performed at Theseus' wedding.
III. In the forest
A. Oberon and Titania spat jealously.
B. Oberon has Puck get a love-flower.
C. Oberon has Puck to anoint Demetrius with flower-joice it so he'll love Helena.
D. Oberon anoints Titania with the flower, then sneaks off.
E. Puck takes Lysander for Demetrius and anoints him with the flower, so he falls for Helena.
F. Puck makes an ass of Bottom.
G. Titania falls for Bottom and orders her fairy servants to attend to him.
H. The confused couples fight and love in various combinations, depending, of course, on who's gotten the flower juice when.
I. Oberon and Puck straighten out the flowers and lovers, but leave Demetrius with Helena.
J. Oberon awakes Titania and transforms Bottom back to a human.
K. The lovers are caught in the meadow, but since Demetrius no longer wants Hermia, Theseus lets all the lovers have their will, and invites them to join in his wedding.
IV. The play inside the play.
A. Quince's "tedious, brief, tragical" play consists of ten words, badly performed.
B. Thisby and Pyramus kill themselves for love; the Duke approves.
V. The fairies return, as always.
Puck gives his Adios:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
I. Opening crises.
A. Duke Theseus will marry Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons in four days.
B. Egeus complains that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius
C. Hermia loves Lysander, whom Egeus dislikes
D. Theseus says Hermia must marry Demetrius, die, or join a nunnery.
II. Plans -- best laid and otherwise.
A. Lysander tells Hermia to flee with him
B. Helena decides to inform Demetrius
C. Quince, Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snug, and Snout decide to rehearse a play performed at Theseus' wedding.
III. In the forest
A. Oberon and Titania spat jealously.
B. Oberon has Puck get a love-flower.
C. Oberon has Puck to anoint Demetrius with flower-joice it so he'll love Helena.
D. Oberon anoints Titania with the flower, then sneaks off.
E. Puck takes Lysander for Demetrius and anoints him with the flower, so he falls for Helena.
F. Puck makes an ass of Bottom.
G. Titania falls for Bottom and orders her fairy servants to attend to him.
H. The confused couples fight and love in various combinations, depending, of course, on who's gotten the flower juice when.
I. Oberon and Puck straighten out the flowers and lovers, but leave Demetrius with Helena.
J. Oberon awakes Titania and transforms Bottom back to a human.
K. The lovers are caught in the meadow, but since Demetrius no longer wants Hermia, Theseus lets all the lovers have their will, and invites them to join in his wedding.
IV. The play inside the play.
A. Quince's "tedious, brief, tragical" play consists of ten words, badly performed.
B. Thisby and Pyramus kill themselves for love; the Duke approves.
V. The fairies return, as always.
Puck gives his Adios:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Dramatis Personae (ie characters)
Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream are as follows:
Theseus – Duke of Athens, fiance to Hippolyta. Played by David Strathairn.
Egeus – Father of Hermia, wants her to marry Demetrius. Played by Bernard Hill.
Lysander – Hermia’s love. Played by Dominic West.
Demetrius – Egeus’ Favorite. Played by Christian Bale.
Philostrate – Master of revels to Theseus. Played by John Sessions.
Players/Workmen
Quince, a carpenter -- reads the Prologue to Pyramus and Thisbe. Played by Roger Rees.
Bottom, a weaver -- plays Pyramus. Played by Kevin kline
Flute, a bellows-tender -- plays Thisbe. Played by Sam Rockwell
Snout, a tinker -- plays Wall. Played by Bill Irwin
Snug, ajoiner -- plays Lion. Played by Gregory Jbara
Starveling, a tailor - plays Moonshine. Played by Max Wright.
The Ladies
Hippolyta - Queen of the Amazons, no less. Fianceé to Theseus. Played by Sophie Marceau.
Hermia - Egeus daughter, loves Lysander, scheduled to wed Demetrius. Played by Anna Friel
Helena - Loves Demetrius despite his rejection. Played by Calista Flockhart.
Ye Olde Fairies & Sprites:
Oberon - King of Fairies. Played by Rupert Everett
Titania - Queen of Fairies. Played by Michell Pfeiffer
Puck - Robin Goodfellow. Played by Stanley Tucci.
Peaseblossom
Cobweb
Mustard seed
Theseus – Duke of Athens, fiance to Hippolyta. Played by David Strathairn.
Egeus – Father of Hermia, wants her to marry Demetrius. Played by Bernard Hill.
Lysander – Hermia’s love. Played by Dominic West.
Demetrius – Egeus’ Favorite. Played by Christian Bale.
Philostrate – Master of revels to Theseus. Played by John Sessions.
Players/Workmen
Quince, a carpenter -- reads the Prologue to Pyramus and Thisbe. Played by Roger Rees.
Bottom, a weaver -- plays Pyramus. Played by Kevin kline
Flute, a bellows-tender -- plays Thisbe. Played by Sam Rockwell
Snout, a tinker -- plays Wall. Played by Bill Irwin
Snug, ajoiner -- plays Lion. Played by Gregory Jbara
Starveling, a tailor - plays Moonshine. Played by Max Wright.
The Ladies
Hippolyta - Queen of the Amazons, no less. Fianceé to Theseus. Played by Sophie Marceau.
Hermia - Egeus daughter, loves Lysander, scheduled to wed Demetrius. Played by Anna Friel
Helena - Loves Demetrius despite his rejection. Played by Calista Flockhart.
Ye Olde Fairies & Sprites:
Oberon - King of Fairies. Played by Rupert Everett
Titania - Queen of Fairies. Played by Michell Pfeiffer
Puck - Robin Goodfellow. Played by Stanley Tucci.
Peaseblossom
Cobweb
Mustard seed
Newest Version of MidsummerNights
I'm going to Google it up right now but off hand does anyone know the newest version of this film, reason being I missed the film when It was watched and need to rent it
This site is good if you want to understand the story better. It has a list with all the characters and gives a good description of each, it also gives a summary of the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night
Wikipedia
The cool thing about Wikipedia is that each entry has links throughout it to take you to a specific topic or definition from an overall general article or topic. For example, if you go to wikipedia and enter "A Midsummer's Night Dream" you will see links through the page that take you to specific ideas and definitions.
websites list for William Shakespeare
The Academy of American Poets Poetry Exhibits: William Shakespearehttp://www.poets.org/
The Collected Works of Shakespearehttp://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/
The Complete Works of William Shakespearehttp://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.html
The Complete Works--Online Freehttp://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.html
Mr Shakespeare and the Internethttp://shakespeare.palomar.edu/
Rivendell's Drama Pagehttp://www.watson.org/%7Eleigh/shakespeare.html
Shakespeare Birthplace Trusthttp://www.shakespeare.org.uk/homepage
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trusthttp://www.shakespeare.org.uk/
Shakespeare Oxford Society Home Pagehttp://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/
The Shakespeare Resource Centerhttp://www.bardweb.net/
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/shake.htm
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)http://www.stratford.co.uk/shakespeare.asp
William Shakespearehttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/shake.htm
Wired for Books: Richard Stevens Reads His Favorite Classic English Poetryhttp://wiredforbooks.org/poetry/richard_stevens.htm
Wired for Books: William Shakespeare's Plays and Poems in Audio and Videohttp://wiredforbooks.org/shakespeare/
Sonnets (audio)http://librivox.org/sonnets-by-william-shakespeare/
The Academy of American Poets Poetry Exhibits: William Shakespearehttp://www.poets.org/The Collected Works of Shakespearehttp://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/The Complete Works of William Shakespearehttp://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.htmlThe Complete Works--Online Freehttp://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.htmlMr Shakespeare and the Internethttp://shakespeare.palomar.edu/Rivendell's Drama Pagehttp://www.watson.org/%7Eleigh/shakespeare.htmlShakespeare Birthplace Trusthttp://www.shakespeare.org.uk/homepageThe Shakespeare Birthplace Trusthttp://www.shakespeare.org.uk/Shakespeare Oxford Society Home Pagehttp://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/The Shakespeare Resource Centerhttp://www.bardweb.net/William Shakespeare (1564-1616)http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/shake.htmWilliam Shakespeare (1564-1616)http://www.stratford.co.uk/shakespeare.aspWilliam Shakespearehttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/shake.htmWired for Books: Richard Stevens Reads His Favorite Classic English Poetryhttp://wiredforbooks.org/poetry/richard_stevens.htmWired for Books: William Shakespeare's Plays and Poems in Audio and Videohttp://wiredforbooks.org/shakespeare/Sonnets (audio)http://librivox.org/sonnets-by-william-shakespeare/
Midsummer Night's Dream Website
I think this is an interesting site to look at. It has a quick summary and has good detailed description of the characters. The site also contains questions and analysis that might help for the essay.
http://www.pathguy.com/mnd.htm
http://www.pathguy.com/mnd.htm
Computers drain our energy
Do you think that computers can actually drain our energy? I dont mean in the sense that by sitting behind a screen our eyes get tired or something like that. I'm speaking on our energy field, the part of us spirally through us, our spirit. Do you feel that these pieces of technological equipment can take pieces of that from us?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
midsummers essay
Has anyone found any cool info or sites to help with this report?
I found a book, I think its a screenplay, so its almost identical to the video we watched.
I definately need to get more creative.
Now that I found out we have to have five sources, I better get on the ball.
I found a book, I think its a screenplay, so its almost identical to the video we watched.
I definately need to get more creative.
Now that I found out we have to have five sources, I better get on the ball.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Midsummernight's Dream
I missed class on Sunday. Is there any requirement for this essay we are doing about the play? Do we have to find sources on others' opinions of it, or can we just write about our own observations? Also how long is it supposed to be? Thanx!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Happy Easter
Good Morning, Class -
Gee, everyone's quiet here at Bldg 9, Rm 132 this morning.
Happy Easter to all.
Gee, everyone's quiet here at Bldg 9, Rm 132 this morning.
Happy Easter to all.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
class!!!
Hi guys,
ok i know this is late, but can anyone confirm if there's no class tomorrow? thank you.
Ryan.
ok i know this is late, but can anyone confirm if there's no class tomorrow? thank you.
Ryan.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Email Problem
Okay. I've been trying to send my media essay to Professor Crandall with my mtsac email, and every time I do it, it comes up as an error. Is the address wcrandall@mtsac.edu?
Monday, April 2, 2007
Missed Information
As I have missed the class on Sunday morning April 1, I am unaware of any readings to be done for the weekend of April 15. Is a research to be done on Fiction and Drama?If yes, it seems to be an interesting topic. Please kindly let me know what is to be done.
Thankyou.
Thankyou.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Writing about Fiction
We ran out of time before we ran out of class today, and the response to A Midsummer Night's Dream will be due Sunday 4/22 without fail, so I thought I'd try to kick off a discussion online.
Writing about Fiction and Drama
Often people wonder how to do research in response to fiction. After all, if a story's made up, what does one research? Sure, fictions have meaning, but so often the meaning seems to involve all factors of the fiction working together, and seems to fall apart the second one moves to explain it. Years ago I saw a talk-show host ask a novelist "What did you mean by that last book?" The novelist blanched, lifted both palms up and responded, "If I could tell you that in so many words, I'd have never written it." When authors claim such mystery and their mystery sounds with such authenticity, one may wonder what chances for are left the critic.
Nevertheless, a major way humans consider our colleagues' observations is to compare and analyze stories. And if all the things one receives are partly or in some sense fiction -- that is, if one does not believe everything about anything one reads -- then the problems of responding to fiction must infect all other reading and viewing.
To use Toulmin's vocabulary, the fictional work makes a claim. In the case of what we call literature, that claim tends to be exquisitely nuanced, fraught with contingency, even downright debatable -- but a claim nonetheless. Applying Toulmin to essays, we might remember that an objection might come at any point. A reader might object to the abstract reasoning behind a thesis, to the raw data on which it's based, or to any step of the logic in between. Once the reader knows his or her objections, he or she may fashion hypotheses and theses from those objections, then research proposals, outlines, and finally essays from those hypotheses. Responding to a story, whether acted or written, works similarly.
In a play, authors, actors, and directors imply certain observations by the ways they act, move and talk; by what we call "content;" and by small details of production. The principals arrange such details to provoke readers and viewers to certain ideas. In a sense, the claim of good fiction is generally implied. The reasons may be likewise implied, but may reveal themselves on examining the events of the story and the language in which it is couched. The plausibility of the argument depends on the authenticity of the characters' reactions, not the exact plausibility of events described. For instance, if Bottom turns into an ass, a viewer's notion of plausibility within the fictional world of A Midsummer Night's Dream may have little to do with the unbelievability of the action -- of a man turning into a donkey because he acts like a fool, just because both things and his name can be called "ass." The plausibility may have more to do with whether he conducts as one might expect such an ass as Bottom the Weaver to do in the presence of the Faerie Queen, and if his actions remind us of what we know of human frailty and imperfections. It seems plausible to assume that if Bottom were turned into a donkey and wed to the Queen of Fairies, that he would manage philosophically to make the best of it, and not complain for too long that he has to return to his wife.
The response process, then, generally involves recognizing some pattern of relationships between an author's notions and the familiar world, and then describing the principle that governs those relationships, and possibly even suggesting something that viewers might do with the knowledge granted by observation of those relationships. Once that principle is identified, the essayist should defend it with whatever material seems most convenient and appropriate. Material from the play can be used, of course. Critical material can be used as well -- that is, what others have written may be of interest. And outside material may be used as well, although it may only relate in terms of the essayist's thesis.
Writing about Fiction and Drama
Often people wonder how to do research in response to fiction. After all, if a story's made up, what does one research? Sure, fictions have meaning, but so often the meaning seems to involve all factors of the fiction working together, and seems to fall apart the second one moves to explain it. Years ago I saw a talk-show host ask a novelist "What did you mean by that last book?" The novelist blanched, lifted both palms up and responded, "If I could tell you that in so many words, I'd have never written it." When authors claim such mystery and their mystery sounds with such authenticity, one may wonder what chances for are left the critic.
Nevertheless, a major way humans consider our colleagues' observations is to compare and analyze stories. And if all the things one receives are partly or in some sense fiction -- that is, if one does not believe everything about anything one reads -- then the problems of responding to fiction must infect all other reading and viewing.
To use Toulmin's vocabulary, the fictional work makes a claim. In the case of what we call literature, that claim tends to be exquisitely nuanced, fraught with contingency, even downright debatable -- but a claim nonetheless. Applying Toulmin to essays, we might remember that an objection might come at any point. A reader might object to the abstract reasoning behind a thesis, to the raw data on which it's based, or to any step of the logic in between. Once the reader knows his or her objections, he or she may fashion hypotheses and theses from those objections, then research proposals, outlines, and finally essays from those hypotheses. Responding to a story, whether acted or written, works similarly.
In a play, authors, actors, and directors imply certain observations by the ways they act, move and talk; by what we call "content;" and by small details of production. The principals arrange such details to provoke readers and viewers to certain ideas. In a sense, the claim of good fiction is generally implied. The reasons may be likewise implied, but may reveal themselves on examining the events of the story and the language in which it is couched. The plausibility of the argument depends on the authenticity of the characters' reactions, not the exact plausibility of events described. For instance, if Bottom turns into an ass, a viewer's notion of plausibility within the fictional world of A Midsummer Night's Dream may have little to do with the unbelievability of the action -- of a man turning into a donkey because he acts like a fool, just because both things and his name can be called "ass." The plausibility may have more to do with whether he conducts as one might expect such an ass as Bottom the Weaver to do in the presence of the Faerie Queen, and if his actions remind us of what we know of human frailty and imperfections. It seems plausible to assume that if Bottom were turned into a donkey and wed to the Queen of Fairies, that he would manage philosophically to make the best of it, and not complain for too long that he has to return to his wife.
The response process, then, generally involves recognizing some pattern of relationships between an author's notions and the familiar world, and then describing the principle that governs those relationships, and possibly even suggesting something that viewers might do with the knowledge granted by observation of those relationships. Once that principle is identified, the essayist should defend it with whatever material seems most convenient and appropriate. Material from the play can be used, of course. Critical material can be used as well -- that is, what others have written may be of interest. And outside material may be used as well, although it may only relate in terms of the essayist's thesis.
Midsummer Night's Dream
The themes one pulls out of a piece of fiction or a play like The Midsummer Night's Dream may be abstract, but they will be embedded in the details, even thet sensual details, of the story or play itself. A story is never just a chunk of reality, however the author or publisher may present it. Even if the author invents nothing outright, he or she must select some details, leave others out, and characterize whatever details remain in one way or another. All selected or invented aspects of a story or play generally exist to support whatever impressions the author or players would make, much as everything in an essay exists to support a thesis. Of course, just what the point is, which details relate to which aspects of the point, and how the author's point relates to something the reader or essayist observes about our world sometimes remains less than obvious.
Almost any detail may render something significant: if not, why did the author include it? For instance, I would have never guessed that Duke Theseus' fiance Hippolyta is supposed to be the Queen of the Amazons. At first glance, it seems almost totally irrelevant to the play, or at least to the movie production that we watched in class. But the Amazons were a mythical or legendary tribe of fierce female warriors. Why would Shakespeare introduce such a heady detail? What does it have to do with these lovers wandering in the woods? What does it have to do with Theseus' role in the play?
Theseus judges. He judges and adjucates Hermia's case -- once against here, then again in her favor when he finds the couples in the meadow on the morning after their strange revels. What responsibility to uphold the law when his sympathies and most everyone's in this case lie with Hermia and Lysander? What do his judgments have to do with his presumably opinionated Amazon fiance? Might the laws of her people be different? What might she think of this man who rules a land in which a woman cannot decide whom she should or should not marry? How can Theseus and Hippolyta work this out? What if anything could this have to do with interpersonal relationships around here, where fairy dust has been scarce these last couple of centuries?
Hermia's father, Egeus, would determine whom she marries. Should the young lady obey? Over most of human history and over much of the world today, young adults ask their parents' permission to marry -- and usually abide by their parents judgment. Why do people do this? Why don't most Americans? What differences do such practices indicate in a society's appraisal of what love, marriage, family, and self actually are?
Demetrius excites little sympathy in most viewers. But isn't his case pathetic, when one thinks about it? He wants Hermia; perhaps in some sense he loves her. But he's willing to stand by and let her father force her to marry him. He's willing to enter into marriage with an unwilling woman. He must somehow want terribly to be wanted, yet what chance has he of ever being wanted by the woman he lives with if he has forced her to marry on pain of death? One may want to distance oneself from identifying with such a character: "I would never do such a thing!" But how many of us have never been tempted to coerce the love of another? How many never get jealous, for instance?
Our empathy with Hermia's choice often gives us empathy with Lysander. After all, who can't relate to "The course of true love never did run smooth." Whew! But what is he really talking about here? Is he being practical? The lovers will flee Athens risking death, with little or no resources. Is this a responsible young man? Or is this just natural and courageous determination in the face of injustice? Demetrius has successfully petitioned Egeus' support; he may be in a better position to provide for Hermia and for their possible offspring. Does practicality and convenience relate to love? Should it?
By what considerations does Hermia disobey her father who has raised her and sheltered her? For love or attraction, surely. Are our romantic attractions more important than family connections, and if so, when and why? -- especially if a little fairy dust and some leggy friend might change things?
And as long as I'm throwing question marks around, why does Helena want to be a spaniel, and what does that mean to her? It's easy to wince when she forgoes her pride, but is one being fair? If everyone waits until certain that the other will love in return before loving, how can anyone love at all? If one loves only for hope of reward -- only because the other person will love one back -- is that love? On the other hand, is tagging along after someone who has clearly indicated disfavor an act of love or of stalking? How do we differentiate love, affection, desire, lust, lechery, need, infatuation, puppy-love and liking?
So what about the darn fairies? Oberon and Titania -- gee, I'm not sure where the name Oberon comes from. Maybe there's something in it, or maybe not. They're jealous, we know, and not entirely faithful -- more like English sprites or Greek gods and demigods than Christian angels. Oberon has an odd way of striving for Titania's faithfulness: He deliberately makes her fall in love with someone or something else as though to "teach her a lesson" somehow. How does this fit into this picture of Egeus coercing his daughter to love, or at least to marry, Demetrius? If Oberon's jealous, and clearly willing to deceive, why doesn't he attempt to force her to love him. If he's wooing her, why does he deliberately deceive her? Doesn't she have to suspect that Oberon might have something to do with her odd lapse? How does it relate to Theseus having to enforce Athenian law on Hermia before Hippolyta?
Titania's court includes fairies with names like "Peaseblossom," "Mustard Seed," and "Cobweb." These are things one might well find in an English wood or meadow like the ones where Shakespeare grew up -- or the one in which Bottom has become revealed for an ass. There's an interesting bend of reality and fantasy here. Bottom addresses the fairies as though he were speaking to the objects themselves. For instance, someone who cut a finger might stanch the blood with a bit of wadded up cobweb, which is quite soft and absorbent, a sort of silk, really. This would probably have been more common in Shakespeare's day, when paper was much less common. What does this imply about the nature of Bottom's "translation"?
Has Bottom become a donkey, or is he dreaming? Do the fairies' pastoral names imply fertility, fecundity, and, if so, does that therefore suggest love? If Bottom's experience with the Fairy Queen constitutes love, why does such a silly ass get to experience such a thing? Why can or cannot man describe what Bottom experienced? What is it Bottom experienced that it should be so difficult to describe or to grasp? Is there something profound about Bottom's character that it is he before anyone else who manages to have such experience, or is he just a fool? If this is not accidental, what does it seem to say about the nature of human love? Of human attempts to understand the infinite or the spirit world?
And then there's Puck. The name comes from the Greek, but his other name, Robin Goodfellow, is pure English folklore. He's sort of like the WWII gremlin. He makes fun of people and is capable of causing real trouble. If the other fairies personify aspects of the meadow, what might Puck personify as he runs about prompting people to misperceive and to fall in love one after another?
Now, I've been breaking this down by character, but one could look at it in terms of passages just as easily, or in terms of character traits, or kinds of decisions, and how different characters handled corresponding decisions. For instance, Theseus must convince Hippolyte that he's just, perhaps to control her, perhaps unjustly. Egeus wishes to control Hermia. But they do so differently, and to the extent that Theseus can be said to control Hippolyta, he certainly does so differently. Furthermore, Hermia with Lysander, Helena with Demitrius, Oberon with Titania, Titania with Bottom all encounter situations in which they would like to control their partners. They respond differently. How do their responses influence their results, and what does that say about coercion in relations, or at least Shakespeare's views thereon?
And, of course, while love's a prime theme in this play, one could talk about perception or sanity or dreaming instead. I was going to write about passages. What does Shakespeare signal us by replaying the story of the various couples as a farce in the the amateur play within his play? (The ending of that farce, by the way, is almost the same as that of one of Shakespeare's famous plays, by the way, in which it is written and played quite differently!)
Check out Puck's parting apologia as the play ends:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Is all this business of love real or a dream? If one loves, one misses the absent beloved. Would one miss that absent beloved so if one did not know the person at all? If that's true, can one suddenly need the person when one did not previously need the person at all?
I leave that to you, and I'll try to explain the essays.
Almost any detail may render something significant: if not, why did the author include it? For instance, I would have never guessed that Duke Theseus' fiance Hippolyta is supposed to be the Queen of the Amazons. At first glance, it seems almost totally irrelevant to the play, or at least to the movie production that we watched in class. But the Amazons were a mythical or legendary tribe of fierce female warriors. Why would Shakespeare introduce such a heady detail? What does it have to do with these lovers wandering in the woods? What does it have to do with Theseus' role in the play?
Theseus judges. He judges and adjucates Hermia's case -- once against here, then again in her favor when he finds the couples in the meadow on the morning after their strange revels. What responsibility to uphold the law when his sympathies and most everyone's in this case lie with Hermia and Lysander? What do his judgments have to do with his presumably opinionated Amazon fiance? Might the laws of her people be different? What might she think of this man who rules a land in which a woman cannot decide whom she should or should not marry? How can Theseus and Hippolyta work this out? What if anything could this have to do with interpersonal relationships around here, where fairy dust has been scarce these last couple of centuries?
Hermia's father, Egeus, would determine whom she marries. Should the young lady obey? Over most of human history and over much of the world today, young adults ask their parents' permission to marry -- and usually abide by their parents judgment. Why do people do this? Why don't most Americans? What differences do such practices indicate in a society's appraisal of what love, marriage, family, and self actually are?
Demetrius excites little sympathy in most viewers. But isn't his case pathetic, when one thinks about it? He wants Hermia; perhaps in some sense he loves her. But he's willing to stand by and let her father force her to marry him. He's willing to enter into marriage with an unwilling woman. He must somehow want terribly to be wanted, yet what chance has he of ever being wanted by the woman he lives with if he has forced her to marry on pain of death? One may want to distance oneself from identifying with such a character: "I would never do such a thing!" But how many of us have never been tempted to coerce the love of another? How many never get jealous, for instance?
Our empathy with Hermia's choice often gives us empathy with Lysander. After all, who can't relate to "The course of true love never did run smooth." Whew! But what is he really talking about here? Is he being practical? The lovers will flee Athens risking death, with little or no resources. Is this a responsible young man? Or is this just natural and courageous determination in the face of injustice? Demetrius has successfully petitioned Egeus' support; he may be in a better position to provide for Hermia and for their possible offspring. Does practicality and convenience relate to love? Should it?
By what considerations does Hermia disobey her father who has raised her and sheltered her? For love or attraction, surely. Are our romantic attractions more important than family connections, and if so, when and why? -- especially if a little fairy dust and some leggy friend might change things?
And as long as I'm throwing question marks around, why does Helena want to be a spaniel, and what does that mean to her? It's easy to wince when she forgoes her pride, but is one being fair? If everyone waits until certain that the other will love in return before loving, how can anyone love at all? If one loves only for hope of reward -- only because the other person will love one back -- is that love? On the other hand, is tagging along after someone who has clearly indicated disfavor an act of love or of stalking? How do we differentiate love, affection, desire, lust, lechery, need, infatuation, puppy-love and liking?
So what about the darn fairies? Oberon and Titania -- gee, I'm not sure where the name Oberon comes from. Maybe there's something in it, or maybe not. They're jealous, we know, and not entirely faithful -- more like English sprites or Greek gods and demigods than Christian angels. Oberon has an odd way of striving for Titania's faithfulness: He deliberately makes her fall in love with someone or something else as though to "teach her a lesson" somehow. How does this fit into this picture of Egeus coercing his daughter to love, or at least to marry, Demetrius? If Oberon's jealous, and clearly willing to deceive, why doesn't he attempt to force her to love him. If he's wooing her, why does he deliberately deceive her? Doesn't she have to suspect that Oberon might have something to do with her odd lapse? How does it relate to Theseus having to enforce Athenian law on Hermia before Hippolyta?
Titania's court includes fairies with names like "Peaseblossom," "Mustard Seed," and "Cobweb." These are things one might well find in an English wood or meadow like the ones where Shakespeare grew up -- or the one in which Bottom has become revealed for an ass. There's an interesting bend of reality and fantasy here. Bottom addresses the fairies as though he were speaking to the objects themselves. For instance, someone who cut a finger might stanch the blood with a bit of wadded up cobweb, which is quite soft and absorbent, a sort of silk, really. This would probably have been more common in Shakespeare's day, when paper was much less common. What does this imply about the nature of Bottom's "translation"?
Has Bottom become a donkey, or is he dreaming? Do the fairies' pastoral names imply fertility, fecundity, and, if so, does that therefore suggest love? If Bottom's experience with the Fairy Queen constitutes love, why does such a silly ass get to experience such a thing? Why can or cannot man describe what Bottom experienced? What is it Bottom experienced that it should be so difficult to describe or to grasp? Is there something profound about Bottom's character that it is he before anyone else who manages to have such experience, or is he just a fool? If this is not accidental, what does it seem to say about the nature of human love? Of human attempts to understand the infinite or the spirit world?
And then there's Puck. The name comes from the Greek, but his other name, Robin Goodfellow, is pure English folklore. He's sort of like the WWII gremlin. He makes fun of people and is capable of causing real trouble. If the other fairies personify aspects of the meadow, what might Puck personify as he runs about prompting people to misperceive and to fall in love one after another?
Now, I've been breaking this down by character, but one could look at it in terms of passages just as easily, or in terms of character traits, or kinds of decisions, and how different characters handled corresponding decisions. For instance, Theseus must convince Hippolyte that he's just, perhaps to control her, perhaps unjustly. Egeus wishes to control Hermia. But they do so differently, and to the extent that Theseus can be said to control Hippolyta, he certainly does so differently. Furthermore, Hermia with Lysander, Helena with Demitrius, Oberon with Titania, Titania with Bottom all encounter situations in which they would like to control their partners. They respond differently. How do their responses influence their results, and what does that say about coercion in relations, or at least Shakespeare's views thereon?
And, of course, while love's a prime theme in this play, one could talk about perception or sanity or dreaming instead. I was going to write about passages. What does Shakespeare signal us by replaying the story of the various couples as a farce in the the amateur play within his play? (The ending of that farce, by the way, is almost the same as that of one of Shakespeare's famous plays, by the way, in which it is written and played quite differently!)
Check out Puck's parting apologia as the play ends:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Is all this business of love real or a dream? If one loves, one misses the absent beloved. Would one miss that absent beloved so if one did not know the person at all? If that's true, can one suddenly need the person when one did not previously need the person at all?
I leave that to you, and I'll try to explain the essays.
LOVE
I don't believe love can necessarily be defined or analyzed. Its something personal to each individual.
So what was Shakespeare trying to convey or express? Who knows, maybe not even he who wrote about it really knows. Love seems infinite, so how do we grasp it?
As for those darn fairies, maybe they represented that love justs happens, theres no reason for it, one may not even know whats happening at first. Love does not seem like something that can be forced or faked. But I do believe it can take different forms, maybe even change or shift.
With Helena, love had blinded her in a way. So is love cruel? Love hurts? It makes us crazy and foolish? She got what she wanted in the end, thanks to the fairies, but was it authentic and fair in regards to Demitrius's side?
OK, I feel like I'm rambling on. Time for a break.
Any comments on the subject?
I think this is supposed to help us write our next paper! We'll see.
So what was Shakespeare trying to convey or express? Who knows, maybe not even he who wrote about it really knows. Love seems infinite, so how do we grasp it?
As for those darn fairies, maybe they represented that love justs happens, theres no reason for it, one may not even know whats happening at first. Love does not seem like something that can be forced or faked. But I do believe it can take different forms, maybe even change or shift.
With Helena, love had blinded her in a way. So is love cruel? Love hurts? It makes us crazy and foolish? She got what she wanted in the end, thanks to the fairies, but was it authentic and fair in regards to Demitrius's side?
OK, I feel like I'm rambling on. Time for a break.
Any comments on the subject?
I think this is supposed to help us write our next paper! We'll see.
essay
Is it just me or was a week to prepare this paper a little tight?
I'm not even sure I got the point across thats required.
I'm a returning student, so maybe I just need to get with the times!
Help my brain!!!
I'm not even sure I got the point across thats required.
I'm a returning student, so maybe I just need to get with the times!
Help my brain!!!
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