Is Lying Right or Wrong?

Lying is something that people automatically think is bad. And yet everyone lies. Not all lies are bad though. Though they are never really good you can not say that it was bad to tell them. One example of this is one Christmas when my sister and I were really young. My sister was making a small hat out of red and yellow thread. I was fascinated by it. I couldn't wait for her to finish it. One day I noticed that it wasn't around anymore so I asked her where it was and why she wasn't working on it. She said that she had finished it and that she had it in her sock drawer. I asked her if I could see it and she said no. I got really upset and tried to look through her drawer but my mom wouldn't let me. On Christmas when I opened my present form my sister there was the little hat. I was so happy. She had never put the hat in her drawer she had wrapped it and put it under the tree. In that case the lie was not bad. It was a small lie so that I would be surprised on Christmas.

Sometimes lies are bad though like Don John's lies in Much Ado About Nothing. He lies for the sole purpose of causing trouble. The first time he lies to cause trouble is when he tells Claudio that the Prince, Don Pedro, is not wooing Hero for Claudio but for himself. This Causes Claudio much grief and for a while it causes him to reset the Prince, his good friend. When lies are told for a selfish reason, or to cause pain to others, as in the case of Don John, they are bad. If they are told to keep a surprise or cause happiness, they are good.

Poems

She is Far from the Land
by Thomas Moore

She is far from the land, where her young hero sleeps,
And lovers are round her, sighing;
But coldly she turns from their gaze, and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying!

She sings the wild song of her dear native plains,
Every note which he lov'd awaking
Ah! little they think, who delight in her strains,
How the heart of the Minstrel is breaking!

He had lov'd for his love, for his country he died,
They were all that to life had entwin'd him,
Nor soon shall the tears of his country be dried,
Nor long will his love stay behind him.

Oh! make her a grave, where the sun-beams rest,
When they promise a glorious morrow;
They'll shine o'er her sleep, like a smile from the West,
From her own lov'd Island of sorrow!

This is a poem of lost love. It tells of a beautiful woman who though she is now surrounded by other men is sad because of the death of her love. She is now far away from were her love was. She sings the songs from where she used to live that he liked to the other men. The other men do not understand her sorrow. At the end the poem says, “Nor long will his love stay behind him,” meaning that his love will die soon because she misses him (12). The last stanza talks about the girl’s grave. It says that she should be put in the sun so that she can be nearer the west where her love was.

I chose this poem because I found it very touching. The poem is sad because it is about a woman who has lost her love but at the same time it is happy because she will soon be put out of her misery. I also liked this poem because its message it that true love does not die. It talks of how even after she dies she should be buried where she is closer to the west because even in death she should be close to her true love. It also reminded me of other stories. It reminds me of one book that was a telling of Tam Line. The poem seems to be set out doors and seems to have a mystical feeling about it like perhaps if the story continued you might meat a fairy or a nymph like in the book

Reflections on an Interesting Quarter

Overall this quarter I had fun in class but the homework was not so fun. I finally found out what my teachers are looking for in the body paragraphs. I hadn't understood this before because the papers were so ling that I just had to do them and be done. I couldn't sit and think about every single thing I was saying for any length of time because I never had enough time but when we wrote the picture and movie analysis papers, particularly the picture. I had time to think about them because I knew that I only had one paragraph to write. Because of this I was relaxed and I was able to think clearer.

The one thing that I still need to work on is three part thesis statements. I understand what I am supposed do but when I actually sit down to write one I get completely confused. This is mostly because I am stressed about the amount of stuff i have to write and look up. It would be nice if I could find a way to make long papers like the short ones but I will always know in the back of my mind that I still have a long paper to write not just one paragraph so I will still be stressed. I have to admit though that this is not my only problem. My other problem is procrastination. For example right now. I am supposed to be getting sources for my upcoming paper but instead I am spending extra long on my blog assignment meaning that I will get to bed later and become more sleep deprived and then become even less productive. What a horrible cycle to be stuck in. You procrastinate and so you get less sleep meaning everything takes you longer plus you still procrastinate so you go to bed progressively later and therefore you do everything even slower.

Outside Reding Blog #5

Though in most stories the main characters are revealed at the beginning, in Twilight we do not even meet some of the characters until the end and some characters that seem to be main characters turn out to be uninvolved in the plot of the story. One such character is Jessica. Though she is one of Bella's first friends, the last we hear about her until the end, when Bella only says, "I caught a glimpse of Jessica and Mike dancing, staring at me curiously. Jessica waved, and I smiled back quickly," is a phone call from Jessica where they say nothing of importance (494).
Another person, or rather vampire, ends up having a big role in the plot but is not introduced until more than half way through the book. His importance as a character is not shown until Edward says, "'Listen to me, Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his passion, his obsession – and he wants her, Alice – her, specifically. He begins the hunt tonight,'" meaning that the vampire, James, will not stop hunting Bella until he is either killed or he kills Bella (382). This is the set up for the climax of the book, where Edward must show his strength of will and the Cullens show their love for Bella.

Outside Reding Blog #4

As the book continues we learn more about the characters' struggles. We learn that Edward has been struggling with the question of whether or not he is strong enough to not attack Bella. We find this out when Edward says, "But this afternoon, I was still … undecided. I am sorry about that, it was unforgivable for me to behave so"(301). But Edward did decide and when he did, he learned that he was stronger than he had given himself credit for.
Another person who struggles is Billy Black. He is a leader on the reservation. He knows that Edward and his family are vampires and he is struggling to decide whether he should tell Bella's dad what Edward is or not. On the one hand he wants Bella to be safe, he does not want her dad to get hurt but on the other he knows that will brake the treaty and that Bella's dad will not believe him anyway and will just become mad. He finally decided that he will leave the choice to Bella because she knows more than he suspected and because he does not want to ruin his friendship with Bella's dad.

Outside Reding Blog #3

This novel is similar to other novels we have read in class and movies we have watched. To begin with Bella like Richard Wright, from Black Boy, lives with her mom because her parents are divorced. Also like Richard she sees her father very rarely and at the age of 17, one year older then Richard when he moves north and lives his mother, she goes to live with her father. Another reason why she is like Richard is because like Richard she has just moved. Richard is always moving and having to get used to a new situation.

Bella is like the main characters in Black Boy, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The 400 Blows because she is in some ways old for her age. She shows us that she has always seemed old for her age because her mom is so irresponsible when she says, “‘My mom always said I was born thirty five years old and I get more middle-aged every year.’” In response to Edward’s comment, “‘You don’t seem seventeen,’” (105-106).

Another way that Bella is like the main characters in the books Black Boy and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is that she is learning more about her surroundings and the world she lives in. Richard learns more and more about segregation and racism as Black Boy continues and Oscar from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, learns more about other people’s lives, learning that everyone has a different life. Bella finds out that the world contained things that are not normal. She says, “Well, they were something. Something outside the possibility of rational justification was taking place in front of my incredulous eyes. Whether it be Jacob’s cold ones or my own superhero theory, Edward Cullen was not… human,” when she finally accepts that there are more things in the world than she knew (138).

My Photograph