Petruchio

Petruchio is a rude, selfish man whose only concern in life is how he is going to make a profit and get richer. Petruchio is faced with the challenge of pursuing Katherine as his wife. He is told by numerous people how rude and unfriendly she is, but he continues the pursuit because he is promised money if he completes the task. Petruchio also sees women as just a figure position. He thinks women are just there to take care of the men and the children and complete household duties. Without Petruchio there would be no hope for Bianca and the men who want to marry Bianca. Petruchio takes on the task of wedding Katherine, so Bianca can finally become somebody's wife. Petruchio moves the play forward by doing the unthinkable and taming the shrew.

Setting the scene

In Act 2, Scene 1, Gremio sets the scene by explaining to the audience what his house looks like. Gremio says, "First, as you know, my house within the city/Is richly furnished with plate and gold,/Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands;/My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry;/In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns,/In cypress chests my arras counterpoints". Gremio continues on describing his house and we get the impression that Gremio lives in a very nice house and is very rich. Also, Gremio likes to brag about the fact that he has all of these things. Gremio talks of his nice linens and his jewels with much pride. When reading this scene, I get a picture of an old victorian style house with old statues and everything lined in gold. It reminds me of a house that when you walk inside you feel like you can't touch anything because your worried your going to break it. 

Eveline

Throughout the story, a young teenage girl named Eveline is faced with a major decision. At a young age her mother passed away and being the oldest, Eveline took over the motherly roles. But, Eveline had fallen in love and was considering running away with this man. She struggles with this choice throughout the story and finally has an epiphany. Her epiphany is that she is going to leave with this guy. She decides that she wants to live happily and do something for herself for once. After taking care of her family for so long, she needed to escape from it and be on her own. As soon as she makes this decision she becomes paralyzed and can no longer leave with her lover. She becomes quite bitter after this happens. She is upset that she has to stay and work for her family and that she cannot be with the man she loves. Her epiphany is kind of ironic. She finally decides what she wants, and then fate chooses the other route for her. I think she was supposed to choose to stay with her family and when she chose to leave them she was punished and forced to stay with them. Eveline had an epiphany, but it did not work out for her.

Sympathy

In The Metamorphosis, Kafka wants the reader to sympathize with the main character, Gregor. Gregor transforms into a bug, possibly a roach, and is ultimately rejected by his family. I believe that Kafka used the transformation to symbolize people who have physical or mental abnormalities. People tend to reject others with certain abnormalities because they are scared of something or someone being different. Kafka is presenting this message to us by changing the way Gregor looks. Gregor is still the same caring, helpful person as before, the only thing that has changed is his appearance. Kafka is telling the reader to not judge a book by its cover. Just because someone looks a certain way doesn't mean they are a bad or undesirable person to be around. The author wants us to sympathize with all people persecuted for the way they look, nit just Gregor. Kafka is trying to change the way we look at people.

Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, demonstrates that the attributes conventional society mistakes for life's meaning -- success, social position, political or corporate power -- are ultimately meaningless in the great scheme of things. Gregor’s employer who had come to Gregor’s house to fetch him to work, leaves in a very nervous state and Gregor worries about losing his job.  His family, however, cannot believe that the bug is Gregor and shoves him back into his room when Gregor tries to step out badly bruising Gregor.  Gregor returns to his room and goes to sleep.  The family is now faced with the problem of the lack of money since Gregor was the only member of the family that worked.  Luckily, the father had saved some money which the family would be able to live off of for about a year.  Also each member of the family got a job. Because Gregor has contributed heavily to the family’s comfortable lifestyle, this new development causes them to turn on him. His beloved sister concludes that he should be disposed of, because he isn't really Gregor. His father heaves an apple at him with such force that the apple lodges in his back and becomes infected. Rather than being angry, Gregor is actually relieved that his family has “saved” money. He feels he has to show “every possible consideration,” and “help them bear the inconvenience which he simply had to cause them in his present condition” (2761). His parents, Gregor thinks, “were suffering enough as it was” (2763). All along, he believes he will be able to work again, that this is a temporary illness, and that life will eventually return to normal. Gregor's metamorphosis, which of course symbolizes any sort of physical abnormality, calls into question all the assumptions of our daily lives: that success and appearance and social position matter; that a productive life was characterized by a steadily improving standard of living and a socially-acceptable appearance. These considerations produce even further questions: if we once appeared socially acceptable and now have ceased to do so, are we still in fact ourselves? Was the socially-acceptable persona in fact ourselves, or is there more essential self-ness in the being we have now become? Or have we, in fact, been nobody in the first place, and are we nobody still?  we nobody still? 

was it a dream??

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" there is some uncertainty of whether or not Brown's journey was real or if it was just a dream. Brown's experience is very vivid and seems very real, but I believe that is just a dream. Brown's experiences frighten him and leave him feeling skeptical about his belief in God. He sees people who he thought were very religious, such as his wife and the pastor, going into this dark forest and becoming one with evil. The next day, everything goes back to normal and everyone goes to church in an orderly fashion. This leaves Brown really confused about his belief in God. Brown's dream was intended to be a warning that we should not always believe what people say. People can be be two-faced and hypocritical. Hawthorne is sending this message to his readers through Brown's dream.

Original Paragraph:

Langston Hughes uses imagery and rhyme scheme in his poem “Harlem” to illustrate how a dream deferred can affect someone. The first simile appears in the second line and it says, “Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?” This simile is saying that a postponed dream can dry up and eventually be gone for ever. Another simile in the poem is the last stanza and it says, “Maybe it just sags/ like a heavy load”. A deferred dream can hang over you, it can become something that never leaves you and something that is never accomplished. Hughes’ rhyme scheme also plays an important role in developing the idea of a dream deferred. The rhyme scheme is ABCBDEDFGG. This rhyme scheme places emphasis on certain words, such as “sun” and “run”. Through imagery, Hughes demonstrates the emotional destruction that can result from the postponement of one's dreams.

Revised Paragraph:

Langston Hughes employs imagery and rhyme scheme in his poem “Harlem” to illustrate how a dream deferred can affect someone. Hughes first uses a simile which appears in the second line and it says, “Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?” Hughes is asking the reader a question and implying that a deferred dream dries up when it is forgotten about. Hughes uses many similes throughout his poem and he finishes his poem with this one, “maybe it just sags/ like a heavy load”. A deferred dream can hang over you, it can become something that never leaves you and something that is never accomplished. Hughes is trying to encourage the reader to never give up on their dreams and follow through with them no matter what. Hughes’ rhyme scheme also plays an important role in developing the idea of a dream deferred. The rhyme scheme is ABCBDEDFGG. This rhyme scheme places emphasis on certain words, such as “sun” and “run”. Through imagery, Hughes demonstrates the emotional destruction that can result from the postponement of one's dreams. 

WHY?

After our class discussion, i decided to change a few things about my paragraph. The first thing I did was to substitute for the word "use" because it is so vague. I also added in more support/explanation of my quotes and added added a few words in order to make my paragraph "flow" more. I think my first paragraph was really rough and kind of choppy, but I think after a few revisions it sounds pretty good.