Much Ado About Nothing-Stereotypes

As we finish with our unit on Much Ado About Nothing, consider what stereotypes (racial, class, gender, etc.) are present in the play and how they effect your interpretation of the events portrayed. Do you think Shakespeare believed in the stereotypes he presented or do you feel he was attempting to teach his audience a lesson about misjudging others or about forcing people to conform to tradition? Your intial POST is due on 1-17-08 and your comments on other's blogs are due on 1-23-08.

I believe that one of the most present stereotypes present in the play are based on gender. Most of the women in Much Ado About Nothing are viewed as silly, emotional girls who really have no true opinions or noteworthy thoughts. Throughout the play the men are constantly misjudging the women, raging at them often, and never giving them an apology or admitting their mistakes. For example, Leonato practically disowns his own daughter Hero when she is falsely accused of cheating on her fiance Claudio. Leonato rages and scorns Hero when he hears the news, "Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes" (IV.1.122). Later in the play when Leonato hears that this news is untrue, he happily accepts the news but offers no apology to Hero. This is absurd and clearly shows that Leonato believes that an apology is not necessary in this situation. The more appalling thing is is that Hero does not call Leonato out on his wrongdoings. These stereotypes make the women seem weak and voiceless. The way that the women simply accept the rudeness of men also makes the controversies in the play less serious, and more light hearted in the way that the characters "laugh it off".

I do believed that Shakespeare agreed with these stereotypes. In his day and age, it was very common for the women to be simply treated as mothers and lovers, but never as strong people with real opinions and voices. The way the women are treated in the play is very customary, and I think that the audience who watched and read the play back when it first came out did not find these observations to stick out in anyway. But for someone to read the play in this day and age, it is very apparent that there are serious stereotypes and inequality present in the play. The way the women were treated is simply tradition, and Shakespeare expects his readers to realize and accept this tradition as he and the rest of society did.

The Justification of Lying

I believe there is no correct answer to the question "is lying justified or not". One must look at the situation and how it must be dealt with. For example, in a situation where a lie will keep someone from being emotionally or physically hurt, then I believe that it is morally right. But in a situation where a lie is told out of spite, meanness, manipulation, etc., then I believe it is not morally just. These types of lies usually backfire and create sticky situations.

Morally just lies are told for the good of an individual or society. A real life example of this would be a German willing to risk their lives to save a persecuted Jew. Miep Gies, the woman who hid the Frank family during the Holocaust, told many lies to the Nazis to preserve their safety and lives. This is an example of a morally ethic lie. An example of this from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is when Don Pedro lies to Hero about his identity to help woo her for Claudio, "I know we shall have reveling tonight. I will assume thy part in some disguise, And tell fair Hero I am Claudio" (I.1.258-60). Although this plan is deceiving, in the end it brings Hero and Claudio together happily. This lie is a morally just lie because it is productive and furthers the relationship of Hero and Claudio. It gives Claudio a chance to be with the love of his life, because he may have been too shy or afraid to actually to take the first step. Ethically just lies are ones that are positive, helpful, and constructive.

A morally unjust lies are ones that are scheming and misleading. An example of this in real life would be a lie to deny cheating on the test, or robbing a bank, or even adultery. These types of lies are ones that hurt or trick others. One of the main plot points in Much Ado About Nothing
is built on a tangled web of lies. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato all scheme to force Beatrice and Benedick to fall in love, "I, with your two helps, will so practice on Benedick that, in despite of his quick wit and his queasy stomach, he shall fall in love with Beatrice. If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love gods" (II.1.321-25).
Although the men may have good intentions, it is morally wrong to toy with the emotions and feelings to two people. To trick Benedick and Beatrice is definitely morally wrong and I believe that the men have no right to play games with their love. If the two ever find out about the plan, they will be furious, embarrassed, and it will ruin the relationship between the two of them.

I'm Sitting On a Porch Today

I'm Sitting On a Porch Today- By Joseph Francis Fendt

I'm sitting on a porch today
Watching traffic drive by
It makes me wonder where and why
Some go straight while others take a turn
Some seem to be in a hurry
While others just seem to be there
And as I look past the traffic
Theres buildings everywhere
Some are dilapidated some are new
And pollution is everywhere
On the ground and in the air
I'm sitting on a porch today
And as I look around this is what I see
Fields, Trees and Mountain Peaks
Creek running by Beaver building a dam
The air is fresh and clean so is the land
With no other people or traffic to be found
The one porch is called the progress of man
While the other is creation by Gods hand

In this poem Joseph Francis Fendt describes the destruction of man by using his point of view from his "porch". Fendt describes two different images, the first is a modern and industrialized society, while the other is serene, beautiful and not yet reached by man. The poet's disappointment is shown when he is describing the first image; he seems sad and confused to see "the progress of man". Fendt's confusion of the reasoning behind destroying God's beauty is demonstrated in beginning of the piece, "Watching traffic drive by/It makes me wonder where and why" (2-3). I too sometimes feel this confusion, like Fendt. Why does our society always seem to be going somewhere or having something to do? We live in a society that is nonstop going, going, going, and I sometimes think that we miss the small beautiful things in life. Fendt goes on to describe the progress of man which is harmful and destroying our beautiful Earth. He uses words like, "buildings, dilapidated, and pollution" to point out the ugliness that has become of our once undisturbed and contented world (8-10). Although I am not against modernization and the progress of our society, I sometimes feel that cities and overbuilding can be dirty, destructive, loud, and ugly. I too sometimes feel suffocated by our busy and, at times, overbearing society.

Halfway through the poem, Fendt changes his view to the "other porch" to see the natural side. This side is beautiful, clean, and fresh. Fendt describes nature's treasures and other peaceful images. One description that really stuck in my mind was the picture of the animals building their home, "Creek running by Beaver building a dam/The air is fresh and clean so is the land" (15-16). This picture really just says, "We are undisturbed nature, the way we were intended to be". The poet's capper is also very powerful. It sums up the whole poem in two lines and leaves the reader thinking about how our society really can take over, "The one porch is called the progress of man/ While the other is creation by God's hand" (18-19). After reading this I kept thinking, the nature was here first, not our society. Although I do not think our society is evil and destructive, I do believe that we disturbed a once very peaceful and placid setting.

Reflections

Meditate on the events of quarter one. How did you do in this class? What did you learn? Which of your academic skills improved? Where are you still struggling? How is the class environment? What can you do to further strengthen the learning community in our classroom? What are your goals for Q2? Basically, how did things go for you and what can you do to improve or to make things more successful for yourself and others?

Quarter one... I think I did alright considering that it was such a tough quarter! Last year's enriched Language Arts was a cake walk compared to what this year is turning out to be. The transition at the beginning was pretty tough but I think I'm falling into more of a routine- but it still is incredibly hard. I learned a lot about MLA citations and I really think I've learned how to write a more solid thesis. I think my writing overall has improved, especially my analytical writing. I used to dread having to write an analysis paper, but now I'm learning how to manage it better. I'm still definitely struggling with it however, and it's really hard for me to do in class essays or have to write any type of thesis piece on a short deadline. I think that this class has definitely improved my writing however, because I'm finding it easier to do writing pieces in other classes- like AP Euro. I think our class environment is pretty positive, and I've met a lot of new people which is always fun. To further strengthen the learning community in our classroom I just think our class needs to work on always listening to one another and we all should continue to learn from each others' mistakes. My goals for quarter 2 are to work on my time management a little more, better my ability to write a strong thesis, and to be more involved in discussions during class.

Nineteen Minutes- Outside Reading Post 5

The positive and negative effects of rebellion.

In the novel Nineteen Minutes, one of the main character Peter Houghton rebels. Peter spends all of his life being relentlessly and brutally bullied. Finally, after years of being tormented and alone, Peter snaps. He goes to school with a gun, and ends many lives. Obviously there were many negative consequences, but I also believe there were a few positive ones as well.
After Peter is locked up for murder, he obviously has to deal with the hard consequences, which he deserves. First of all Peter has to deal with the regret and pain of ending young lives and hurting families in his town. He also has to spend a lot of time in jail, "He'd be brought back to the jail only until the sentencing hearing; then he would be transferred to the state prison in Concord. Serving out eight consecutive murder sentences, he would not leave it alive" (447). Peter also has to live with knowing the fact that he mentally destroyed the one girl he ever loved- Josie. Because of what Peter did, Josie also ended up going to jail because she tried to protect him during the school shooting by killing her boyfriend Matt. Josie always stood up for Peter their whole lives, and it still ended up hurting her in the end.
However, as unbelievable as it sounds, I think Peter made a small difference. In Peter's school, he received no help from the adult authority there. When Peter was de-pantsed in front of his entire cafeteria, or pushed around, or blatantly humiliated in class, there was no teacher there at his aid. In gym class when Peter was violently beat up, his teacher simply shrugged with a "boys will be boys" attitude. After the school shooting incident, I think it made a lot of people wonder, "how could this have happened?" Peter became the voice for a lot of kids across the nation who were bullied like he was. He also received a lot of letters saying things like, "'I would've liked to be your friend'" (416). So in the long run, I think that the actions of Peter's rebelling may have had a positive impact on society, because it got people thinking. It got people wanting to stop the monster that started this, so incidents like Peter's could be prevented.

Nineteen Minutes- Outside Reading Post 4

In the novel Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult describes high school life and the quest for popularity. I think that Jodi Picoult does some of this well, and some of it seems unrealistic. I think that Picoult stereotypes too much and some of her characters only fit into the typical high school kid molds- art kids, jocks, quiet loners, nerds, cheerleaders, etc. I think that some of her characterization is unrealistic at times because I don't think that kids are only strictly in one group of friends at high school- I think that a lot of people bounce around from group to group and that a lot of people are friends with a wide variety of kids.
I think that she labels some high school kids as extremely cruel. In the novel, the main character Josie struggles with being in this clique, and watching her friends bully her old best friend Peter. Josie is in the popular crowd, so therefore Picoult makes this crowd out to be very mean and snobby. Josie is friends with the cheerleaders and the jocks. I think that her depiction of these characters is too embellished. I find the actions of some of her characters unbelievable. For example, Josie's "best friend" Courtney decided it would be funny to send a love note that picked on boy Peter Houghton sent to Josie to the entire student body. Courtney was snooping through Josie's emails and came across a sweet but slightly pathetic email from Peter, "The email opened, and Courtney started to read. 'Oh my God,' she murmured. 'This is too fucking good.' She swiped the body of the email and forwarded it to RTWING90@yahoo.com. Drew, she typed. Spam this out to the whole wide world" (316). I find it very hard to believe that any girl would find this funny. I find it so extremely cruel and I really cannot imagine any girl in my grade who would've even thought about doing that. I feel like there is a certain line that some people just don't cross, and the characters in Nineteen Minutes do. Another example of the over cruelty of the characters in this novel is when Josie's boyfriend Matt comes to visit Josie at work- where coincidentally Peter works there as well. When Matt is talking to Josie, he all of a sudden turns to Peter and says, "'Stop looking at me, homo'" (204). While Matt continues to verbally abuse Peter, Josie just stands there and watches Peter shrink down in embarrassment. I think that any other teenage girl would've told her boyfriend to knock it off, after all , Peter and Josie were best friends when they were younger. But Josie just watches it happen. I think that ignoring the issue of bullying is just as bad as being the bully himself.
While I read this novel I became frustrated and was so shocked by the way Picoult depicted these cruel kids. There was not one nice person in the entire student body that befriended Peter or even stood up for him. This, I find hard to believe. I think that out of all those kids, there would've been one girl or boy with enough courage to stand up and say, "stop".

Nineteen Minutes- Outside Reading Post 3

Nineteen Minutes and The 400 Blows- Comparisons

After watching The 400 Blows, I can see many comparisons between it and my outside reading book Nineteen Minutes. Both of the pieces have the common theme of rebellion. Antoine from the film and Peter from the novel both deal with rebellion, although through many different ways, they both have dealt with very similar things in their young lives.
Peter and Antoine both rebel at a young age. However, the rebellion is for different reasons. Peter rebels because of brutal bullying he has tolerated for most of his life, while Antoine is dealing with the neglect from his parents. However, one could argue that Antoine has to deal with the bullying of his teacher. When Peter is asked why he decided to start a school shooting, he replies simply with saying, "They started it" (317). When Antoine is asked why he has stolen, run away, etc, by the shrink at the Juvenile Facility he replies with stories of how he was angry with his mother or teacher, or simply bored and looking for something to do. I would have to say that both boys rebel out of anger though. Peter is angry at the kids who bullied him, and Antoine is angry at the authority figures in his life who ignore him or provoke him,.
Peter and Antoine also both lack structure in their lives. However this comes to them in different ways, they are both left alone by their parents. Peter grew up mostly in his room, playing computer games and building experiments such as bombs. "'He was on his computer,' Lacy said. 'Almost always'" (175). The mass amount of time Peter spent on his computer left hours of unstructured and mostly unproductive activity- which most often involved violent games. Antoine spent most of his time with his friend Rene causing trouble and cutting class. Antoine cut class repeatedly and his parents did not suspect a thing for the longest time. The lack of parental involvement in these boys' lives contributed to their desire to rebel.
I found it very interesting that I could tie these two very different pieces together, but through analyzing the characters, I saw that rebellion is a common theme in both the film and the novel.