"Great Expectations" proven Wrong

This picture shows a major point in the book, that there are two sides to every coin. When Pip envisioned London, all he thought of was the grandeur and the magnificence of it all, only to be disgusted by the slums and less desirable parts of the city when he arrives. "You may get cheated, robbed, and murdered in London. But there are plenty of people anywhere who'll do that for you." (169-170) For Pip this is a wake up call, not all things in life are pure and simple. Every good has its exact parallel evil, where there is the wealthy there is the poor, that's just the way of life. He finds that things aren't black and white,such as Wemmick. He isn't the most moral man alive yet, he's still a decent person. Pip begins to realize that things are rarely as we "expect" them to be, whether for better or for worse, ones "great expectations' are rarely proven true.

A Post of Great Expectations

There are moments that forever change the course of one's life. They can be obvious, overt or anywhere between, but their affects are undeniable, these moments can haunt you forever just as easily as they can ease your mind and bring peace to the soul. For Pip, this instant both opened his eyes to the possibilities of life while binding him down in the fact that, although there could be a better life for him, he can't achieve it because he is "common". Pip's fateful trip to Miss Havisham's changed him forever, he is no longer content with the life he had, even more he was ashamed of his place in society, a blacksmith's apprentice, a "common laboring-boy". He became a much more conflicted child after this, often plagued with conflicting emotions on his lot in life, grateful to Joe for his kindness and fellowship yet yearning for more.

Among my "memorable" days was the day of my baptism. November 6th, 2002 I found myself in the baptismal font at the Olympia Stake center, listening to my father say the ordinances. Then I was immersed in the water then pulled out. It was on this day that I really got my priorities straight, fun and other stuff is good, but there are more important things in life. This was more and more impressed upon me as I sat dried in the pews listening as my sister then my grandmother gave lessons on the importance of that day for me. For on that day I joined the church that I would be of for the rest of my life, who's values and ideals I promised to uphold.

My Ernest Part of a Earnest Five Part Five Part Paragraph

The idea of The Importance of Being Earnest is that no people are to high in society to critique. That the upper classes can and should be shown the errors of their ways, be it overtly or plainly. Wilde does this brilliantly through the satirization of the Victorian aristocracy.

That is why the main idea of our humble little paper is to show the deeper meaning, the reasons Oscar had for his massive amount of criticism.

My paragraph is on the subject of education, both personal and school wise. Fist off will speak of how apparently, among the wealthy, their are no fools left (CD) and how that this is for the benefit of themselves over the fools (aka the lower classes) and how they only use their cleverness to gain

more power, wealth, social standing, or any other greedy thing. Secondly I will touch upon the how some people (expressed by lady Bracknell) believe that one must be either all knowing or completely ignorant and that anything more or less is completely unacceptable. In their minds you must either be more knowing than your subordinates or not know anything (so you have an excuse). Lastly I'll talk about the how public education has failed (according to Lady Bracknell) and how if it didn't it would be a considerable danger to the upper classes. This is because the aristocracy uses their education to widen the gap between them and the less fortunate, to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. All they care about is their wealth and that wealths protection.

All of the above topics are used in the play by Wilde to show the upper echelons of England in the light they truly deserve, nothing more, nothing less, just enough to show the wrong that they were enacting and how they were trying to stifle the lower classes development, thus keeping their place in society intact. With that bombshell I plan to lead into Ellie's paragraph on social class.

Blog the Eighth

As you could probably guess, The Importance of Being Earnest alludes to and satirizes Victorian society continually due to it being the era of both the author and play. As such one needs to study Victorian society to get Wilde's cracks at life, both subtle and the not quite so discreet. One needs to know the role of classes, gender, and even education to even hope to find the satire dispensed throughout the play. Luckily for me, we where asked to study this topic thoroughly in preparation for this comedic tale. From the roles of man and woman to the class system of the people, we were readying ourselves for the society and atmosphere of the play.

In Victorian England women were often thought less of than men, as such they were often handed of from marriage to marriage, often without the consent of the wife. This clarifies one of Gwendolen's outbursts, "...I marry someone else, and marry often...". Also with the knowledge of the classes and the large gaps between them, one begins to understand the dynamics between them. "Really, if the lower orders don't set a good example, what on earth is the use of them." Without this knowledge one can find them self lost and utterly unamused by the lack of clear cut comedy that can be seen without any prior awareness of life back then. So to truly get the play you have to immerse yourself in the facts of the Victorian way and the flaws and kinks in is.

Corruption of Ideals

Mockingbird Motif Week:?

What is a motif? According to dictionary.com it is a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work. To Kill a Mockingbird exemplifies motif through its namesake "mockingbird motif", or the idea of the sin of killing and/or harming something, that only does good, for no reason. This example of motif is easily visible, it is referenced both directly and indirectly throughout the book, and has helped considerably in my understanding this concept. Because of this overarching theme, one is able to much more easily understand the book and what Harper Lee is trying to convey.

Not only is the motif itself a theme, but it helps expand many other underlying ideas. Among these are racism, walking in other's shoes, justice vs injustice, and many many more. It is through the use of the motif in many instances and with multiple characters who are in completely different situations that give it its deep, symbolism.

Week 6

For as long as I can remember, my father has always stressed the importance of wearing a helmet when biking. Even though my dad stressed this point quite strongly, I never quite thought that it was overly important. Although some people go through life without a single bike wreck, I've found myself among the group that has. The only thing that kept me in one piece was my helmet, concreting in my mind my father's words.

Over the years I had heard that saying so many times that it never set in. But after my wreck it really sent home a message that you should never take safety for granted. This has been really beneficial throughout my life and can be applied to almost anything, whether bike riding, driving or spelunking, you should never put life or limb in danger for laziness.