Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

       The first act of Romeo and Juliet was more entertaining for me than I had expected it to be.  Right when I read the first part of Act One, I could relate to it from my everyday life at home.  When the Prince tells the Capulets and Montagues to put down their weapons and just get it together, I feel like the Prince when my mom and my sister argue all the time.  I always feel like I have to get involved and break things up, and the arguments are usually over relatively unimportant things anyways, like television, waking up for school, and getting to bed.  The Prince was mentioned in the first act and has yet to be seen, but I know he will be back to break things up again, I know I always am.
       When I'm reading at home, I get the basic idea of what's going on, and I can comprehend the basic storyline of the characters.  What I don't get at home is all of the similes, metaphors, figurative language, etc. that we review when we read it in class.  Reading in class helps me personally, and I'm sure others as well tremendously, because we're gaining a better perception of the novel, new outlooks, a better insight, and a greater overall understanding of what's going on.  I know its not just me who benefits from reviewing Romeo and Juliet, and I definately want to continue doing so.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

       Great Expectations was a huge book, full of different themes that could be percieved, but the iverall theme that stood out for me was that you don't need all the riches in the world, unlimited wealth, and to have the highest social status to be happy and content with yourself.  I think the story is really about Pip as someone who starts off not knowing what he truly wants to be, so he lets society and misconceptions overwhelm him, causing him to cave in, after Estella's blatent insults, to be a gentleman.  This is what Pip thinks he wants, but its not, and he never feels completely happy, he still has a place in his heart for his hometown and Joe.  When he returns at the end of the novel, every possible weight off his shoulders, including Estella, Pip feels happy for once, and he learns that going through all of that wasn't at all necessary for him to feel like relieved.  I think this book is relevant to people because everyone has a dream of becoming something more than we already are.