Great Expectations

There are a ton of spots in the novel that just didn't make sense to me but I came across something a little weird. When the two convicts are found and arrested in Chapter 5, I really don't get why they yell at each other and try to put the blame on each other's shoulders.  They know they've been caught and I don't get why the book spends 2 pages just describing the two screaming "Liar!" and "Murderer!" at each other.  Any ideas?

Thanks,

Sean

Group Essay

Zach and Katie, I haven't changed much since Friday, I am still using the three quotes we talked about Friday for the pursuit of pleasure in marriage, "The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain", "No married man is ever attractive to his wife", and the altered quote from "Oh!  I killed Bunbury this afternoon.  I mean poor Bunbury died this afternoon" to "Three is company, two is none."  What do you guys think of these quotes?  Also, I had a question about my concluding paragraph.  I feel like because its the first one of the three, I have to make it so it doesn't make the essay seem like its finished.  How do I make my concluding paragraph end things well just with the pursuit of pleasure and not the whole broad topic of marriage being satirized?
Thanks,
Sean

Dishonesty in Earnest

       Oscar Wilde uses many versions of literary enlightenment to describe not only the humor, but the truth in what happened back then.  Firstly, dishonesty relates to epigrams in a particularly humorous way because every time an epigram is used, it is either immediately contradicted or just instantaneously forgotten.  On the subject of satire towards social institutions, it's satirical because Wilde ostentatiously portrays the rich as obnoxious people that only care about themselves.  He also portrays them as being able to lie and get away with pretty much anything, therefore relating to the aforementioned, dishonesty.  Also, there is an obvious dishonesty relation to Ernest because he lied about his name to stay with Gwendolen.  The same goes for Algernon using the name Ernest.  Obviously, both Cecily and Gwendolen are being unfairly ridiculous in saying that they would only stay with Jack and Algernon if their name was Ernest and not only does it explain that it describes the pursuit of pleasure as well.  This pokes fun at many things, but the ending of the book, when Jack discovers his name was Ernest all along, I got a real kick out of that. 
       I think Wilde is trying to say that lying is everywhere.  I noticed that nearly every character had their own dark secrets.  For example, at the end of the book, when Miss Prism admits that she had left Jack at a train station as an infant and Lady Bracknell, being the obnoxious woman that she is, was not born wealthy.  I also think Wilde was trying to say that lying will get you caught in the end, no matter how elaborate the lie is.  It happened for Algernon and Jack, but while it turned out for the better for them, I think he was trying to say that not all lies turn out like it did in the play.
      

AF Project Evaluation

Dan Mongovin:
(Comic Strip)
Dan's comic strip was good, it showed a lot of visual realization of the book, but it looked like it took like 2 minutes to make.

Will/Paul
(Comic Strip)
This is a really good timeline and shows a lot of the main events in the story.  My recommendation is to show maybe some symbolism and what you guys found interesting and added that too.

Sherwin, Ketl, Chase, Zach
(Song, Video)
This video underlined a key part of the story and it was well played out.  It showed that the animals rights were being stripped away and its was shown exactly how I imagined it while reading the book.  Good singing and piano playing, guys.

Blog of the swimmer
(Poem)
This poem shows the tyranny of the pigs and how they eventually take complete control.  It was also really creative how they included tyranny in the poem.  Good job.

Kamron
(Artwork)
This drawing explains a lot of the main events throughout the story.  My advice, show more than just the main events.  For example, the pigs trading with the humans, or the pigs getting drunk.  Its ok to stray from the main storyline.

Sarah, Molly, Grace, Kady
(Movie)
The movie really expressed how the animals felt and showed their lifestyle and cruddy environment they lived in before the revolution.  An overall great job.  Also, the Farmer Jones part was pretty funny.

Matt
(Artwork)
Matt's picture was really good, it introduced a lot of main characters and even showed what Animal Farm could look like.  It was pretty convincing and I thought he did a great job.

Emery
(Video)
Emery described the characters very well and also proved his understanding of the book.  Its really good and it explains almost all of the characters in the book.

Rachel
(Game)
Rachel made a creative game that looked like it took quite a long time to make.  It's really cool and I enjoyed seeing it last week in class.  It looks like a game I'd want to play in the future.

Poop
(Artwork)
This is a wierd, cool picture of the farm getting rained on or something.  Not really sure what's going on in the picture but its cool anyways.

I think my project matched my classmates projects because I noticed a lot of Comic Lifes and they were pretty similar to mine so I think I did just fine.

New Year's Resolution Extra Credit

       A new year's resolution that would definately benefit me this year is waking up on time.  Last year, I always woke up around 7 and I barely had time to get to the bus so now I'm going to attempt to wake up at 6:30 each school day.  It'll give me more time to get ready and I won't be so rushed.  I could even finish the homework I didn't do the night before while I'm eating breakfast.  Not only is this a good idea but my sister, who's still sleeping will be waken up by my beeping alarm clock and she'll be forced to get up too!  I think this resolution will benefit the whole house, and I don't mind a few grumpy complaints from my mom and sister.  And besides, I can catch up on sleep while I'm riding the bus.

Animal Farm Project

My Poem

       Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost, is a very complex poem with more than one meaning to it.  For example, "he" admires the snow more than anything, and is willing to even die in it, or at least thats what i inferred from it.  I also noticed that he could be even a runaway, maybe from his hometown, noticing his neighbor's farmland and sneaking through it.  His little horse shows that he has been traveling for quite some time and is not even close to his destination.

        To me, this poem was at first, was something easy to memorize, but as I read the poem over and over and over, I started catching things I didn't quite catch before, understanding things I didn't quite understand before, and I never would have learned that much about poems if it weren't for Poetry Out Loud.