My own idea

For my second entry, I came up with an idea of my own. So Emmy Petersson hereby presents: Why I think "Romeo and Juliet" has become such a popular work and why it is still popular. Enjoy!


"Romeo and Juliet" is, as I said in my first blog post, a masterpiece written 400 years ago. I think that one of the reasons why it became so popular in first place is the author. William Shakespeare was a very busy man while he lived. He acted  together with a playing company called "Lord Chamberlain's Men" (later; The King's Men) and this company held exclusive rights to preform every play written by Shakespeare. This company also had access to a theatre with the very resourceful name "The Theatre". Although, this theatre got dismantled and moved to Southwark in London (for you who aren't so familiar with the London geography, this is the south bank of the Thames), this was also the time when the theatre got the name "The Globe". Most of the geniuses that have been born to this world have gotten their acknowledges after their deaths (for example Van Gogh). But not William Shakespeare, he had the actors, the playhouse, the audience and of course the plays while he was alive. So since he was famous, his legacy to the world had to keep maintained and therefore people kept preforming the plays written by William Shakespeare.

Second, I believe "Romeo and Juliet" has kept its popularity because it never gets old fashioned and this is also why it's still popular today. Sure, it was written 400 years ago, so it's not actually up to date but even so it's not old fashioned. Do you guys understand what I mean? No? Ok, let me explain.
People have always fallen in love, right? And people are hopefully planning to keep falling in love. I believe that as long as there is love, people need love stories. People need love stories that ends with a "and they lived happily ever after" and people need love stories that ends in misery.
"Romeo and Juliet" is the perfect miserable love story and it has everything a tragedy needs!
* Love at first sight
* An aspiring fiancé who happens to be rich
* Something, in addition to the fiancé, that stands in the way for the lovers
* An ending which you hope will be happy, but it's not.
So, love and forbidden love is something human beings always have enjoyed reading about and it's a topic that never gets old fashioned.
Take "Hamlet" for example (another play by Shakespeare, for those who don't know). That play is all about retaliation and how common is that in 2011? Sure, "Hamlet" is famous as well and everyone should know the phrase "To be or not to be..." Though, I still believe that "Romeo and Juliet" is far more well-known and more of a "role model" for past, present and future authors just because of the forbidden love, which is always a popular and relevant theme.

So, this became a pretty long and confusing entry, didn't it? If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know :)

/ Emmy

Summary of 1984

Although the year of 1984 is long past, George Orwell's vision about the future does not cease of amaze. The year is 1984 and the world is a different place then what is known to you and me. The government knows everything about everyone and every step you take is supervised by "big brother" through the tele-screen on the wall. You can't move or talk without being spied on. George Orwell paints a picture of the future of negative utopia. A completely plausible, nightmarish future, where there's no such thing as freedom and where the act of thinking for yourself is a sin that won't go unpunished. Where there's even a new language on the rise built to keep you from expressing your emotions. As a citizen of the, now broken, city of London, Winston Smith gets to find out what thinking for yourself gets you and what it's like to fight a power so much greater than just one man. Living in a society where the reality is altered and twisted to the very point that he can't even trust himself or his own senses. A society where nothing is certain, everything and nothing is true and no one is ever safe.

/Sofi

1984 Quotes

I've read the book 1984 by George Orwell. I've chosen the following quotes:

"He understood how; he did not understand why" (About the main character Winston, page 217)

I chose this one because it's the question the main character keeps asking himself and it's pretty much what he tries to find out throughout the book and the main point of the book. It says a bit about the character as a person. The question comes back a couple of times and it's always the same frase.

"WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" (The "big brother"- slogan, page 16)

This one is the slogan of the party and there are posters and things all over town that saya the same thing. It really reflects how the society looked and what kind of values they had or wanted the people to have. This also comes back repeatedly and it's always written in capital letters.

"Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past." (A party member named O'brien, page 248)

One very high-ranked  party member says this to the main character Winston. I think this is a good example of the kind of weird logic the people have in the book and it also says a bit about the way George Orwell has written. The whole book is written in a pretty complicated way and this is the kind of quotes the re-occurs frequently. The words in the book, the language he uses, is not difficult, per say, but the thoughts are pretty complex and it really takes some thinking to sort out what he means.

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever" (O'brien, page 267)

Once again, an example of the way it's written. The author uses many parables in this book and this is just one. This is uttered by the same party member and he talk about how the party intends to make the future for the people and the fact that it's not even an option to have an other future shows how much power the party has in the book.

"All the confessions that are uttered here are true. We make them true." (O'brien, page 254)

This yet again a display of the party's power. The can make things true by altering the reality or by making everyone so certain that it in the end becomes true. For instance , they keep saying that 2+2=5 and in the end that is the truth.

I hope you've been able to make sense of this...

/Sofi

Collection of quotes from the novel "A clockwork orange"

"Oh oh oh. I said, smiling very wide and droogie:" Well if isn't fat stinking billygoat Billyboy in poison. How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap stinking chip-oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly, thou"


I chose this quote because I was very fascinated about the main character "Alex's" way of saluting Billy. It is a polite, at the same time rude and well put invitation to a fight. This is a very typical way of Burgess, the author to give a feeling of discomfort but fascination and confusion about a scene at the same time. This mysterious undertone is repeated at many times in the novel.


"Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!"


This is among the most beautifly described thoughts that the main character Alex has. But in the same way he associates the music to his so called "ultra violence". At the same time as he listens to classical music he slooshes and fantasies about torturing people, suffering and blood and flesh flying everywhere. It is a very strong contrast between something very evil and something very good and beautiful. And that is what fascinates me about this whole character. 


Suddenly, I viddied what I had to do, and what I had wanted to do, and that was to do myself in; to snuff it, to blast off for ever out of this wicked, cruel world. One moment of pain perhaps and, then, sleep for ever, and ever and ever.


This is when Alex is ready to take suicide. After the experiment he has developed an anxiety as an effect off listening to a special song of Beethoven. The cruelty of this is that they have made him hate the only good thing of his interests and joys. Though, in this sad scene you can really relate to Alex way of thinking and you feel for him even though he is the villan of this story. That is what made this quote speciall interesing.


By Emelie S.

THE SHACK

- Wm. Paul Young

I've decided to evaluate THE SHACK, a novel where tragedy confronts eternity. It's an astounding story where a young girl gets kidnapped and murdered and her dad, Mack, who blames himself, gets to meet the Holy Trinity; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You get to follow his journey trough sorrow, disbelief, gratitude and forgiveness. This novel has brought many tears in my eyes and has giving me wisdom about several questions in life, in particular when it comes to faith and my belief in God. Based on that I would like to share a collection of quotations from THE SHACK and explain for you why I love them so much.

"Will you at least consider this: When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?" (p.96)

- A quote from God, also known as Papa

Life is not always easy, everybody knows that. It contains struggles, pain and sorrow. And many times we forget the beautiful things in life, like love and friendships. When we hit the ground, maybe when someone in our family gets sick, we lose sight of the good things. We only focus on the terrible occurrence. But I think it's then and there, when we need to not lose sight, to lose sight of God. I believe it's where we need God the most. 

"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown." (p.115)

- Author Unknown (Opening for the eighth chapter)

When we grow up, we change a lot, not only in our appearance, but as human beings. During my years at Brinellgymnasiet, I feel that I have grown so much. And for me to do that, that involves taking risks, "Stepping from the known to the unknown" as the quote from this brilliant unknown author writes. Growth requires stepping out of the comfort zone and facing obstacles that are meant to overcome. And when we actually overcome these obstacles we discover our growth.

"And besides, you have judged many throughout your life. You have judged the actions and even the motivations of others, as if you somehow knew what those were in truth. You have judged the color of skin and body language and body odor. You have judged the value of a person's life by the quality of your concept of beauty. By all accounts, you are quite well-practiced in the activity." (p.158)

- Sarayu (The Holy Spirit)

This quote teaches us a lesson. We all judge. It doesn't matter what, the point is that we judge. And we really don't have any right to judge others. If we don't want to be judged ourselves, then we can't require the power to judge others. I don't know about you guys, but I think this is a lesson to learn.

"The darkness hides the true size of fears and lies and regrets," Jesus explained. "The truth is they are more shadow than reality, so they seem bigger in the dark. When the light shines into the places they live inside you, you start to see them for what they are." (p.175)

- Jesus

God said: "Let there be light!" And there was light. Before God created the light, the earth was coal black. He brought light to the world, but he also brought light into our lives. And when darkness comes upon our minds, we tend to lose sight of the light we once had. The darkness makes everything much bigger and scarier, and we think it's impossible to meet the light again. But if we fight to see the light God gave us from the very beginning, we are going to comprehend that the darkness never had a chance.

"Let's say, for example, I am trying to teach you how not to hide inside of lies, hypothetically of course," she said with a wink. "And let's say that I know it will take you forty-seven situations and events before you will actually hear me- that is, before you will hear clearly enough to agree with me and change. So when you don't hear me the first time, I'm not frustrated or disappointed, I'm thrilled. Only forty-six more times to go. And that first time will be a building block to construct a bridge of healing that one day- that today- you will walk across." (p.187)

- Papa

This is my favorite quote, by far! It brings so much hope and longing to my heart. To hear to words; "I'm not frustrated or disappointed, I'm thrilled", gives me the chills. God never gives up on me, on you and on us. And if we don't hear Him, He won't be mad, he will be THRILLED.

If I had the time, I could go on and on and on. It would be possible to make a book only by quotations, because THE SHACK contains so many of them! Since THE SHACK is not mine, I have written down every quote I like, so I can look back whenever I need it, whenever I need some answers or comfort. I could read this novel over and over again, that is how exquisite it is.

This novel may or may not be reality-based. The author never tells us readers if it is. I believe it is.

 Ps. I know my entrie is very, very detailed, but it's sooooo hard to leave the good parts out. Ds.

// Ida

Pride and Prejudice - Themes

Themes: Pride and Prejudice

The two major themes in the novel Pride and Prejudice are summed up in the title. Pride and Prejudice contains a cherished love story between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. As in many good love stories, the lovers must overcome and conquer several stumbling blocks, beginning with the tension caused by their own personal prides and prejudices.

          The pride is one of the foremost barriers that create an obstacle between Darcy’s and Lizzy’s relationship. Thanks to Darcy’s position in society he has a lot of pride which eventually leads him to scorn anyone outside of his personal social circle. Even the character flaw that causes Lizzy to dislike Darcy on their first meeting is pride. Her perception of him is a cold, an arrogant and a proud man, but yet Lizzy herself suffers from the same flaw: her own pride. Lizzy’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression and then it also leads her to think ill of Darcy.

          Prejudice is another thing that causes trouble between Darcy and Lizzy. Darcy has prejudices against Elizabeth’s poor social standing which completely blinds him and Lizzy has prejudices about Darcy as a proud and an arrogant man. Both Darcy and Lizzy realize that they are wrong in their judgments towards one another. Darcy realizes that he’s wrong when he judges Lizzy after her social position and Lizzy realizes that her judgments and prejudices about Darcy were based on vanity and pride, rather than on reason. Darcy proves that Lizzy’s prejudices about him are wrong when he treats the Gardiners, who are a much lower class than him, with great civility.

          It’s also obvious that Lizzy’s prejudices about other characters have been incorrect. In fact her prejudices about different characters are only correct half of the time. Her judgments about Mr. Collins and how absurdly selfish he is and about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and how snobbish and proud she is turns out to be true, while her first impressions and prejudices about Darcy and Wickham steer her incorrectly. At first Wickham is thought to be a gentleman. His easy manner and good looks fool many people in his surrounding, including Lizzy. She even believes every word he tells her about Darcy. Lizzy’s prejudices about Wickham are proved wrong when she realizes that everything he has said about Darcy have been a lie.

          Jane Austen enclosures a happy ending when she shows us that there’s something about love that empowers it to overcome all the pride and prejudice that society throw in its way.

// Rebecka Belge

Pride and Prejudice - Poem

A poem based on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice

That annoying mansion has been let at last,

Do they all have to confront the man so fast?

He’ll look everyone out within a week.

He’ll find all the girls too bleak.

Your silly people are dizzy

Mr. Darcy will marvel when he sees our Lizzy.

Mr. Darcy, such a big jerk!

Socializing overly much work.

Didn’t want to wrinkle his pants,

By asking me for a dance!

On the other side,

Netherfield is extremely fine.

To live here have to be divine.

Stay with me or I’d get lost.

How much did this mansion actually cost?

// Rebecka Belge