Thankful

This Thursday, I reminisce about the blessings that were bestowed upon me in since last Thanksgiving. Regarding my classmates, I'm most thankful for meeting Elena. Her constant friendship during junior year has been the best gift I've received. That's all I want to say. There's no way of continuing this entry without setting an uncomfortable, awkward mood.

Then he is dead?

Macbeth's short time in the throne was not at all worth the trouble he caused. Not only did he overthrow the king of Scotland and murder his good friend Banquo, Macbeth also killed his peace of mind and his good conscience. He threw aside his morals in order to gain power. By the end of the play Macbeth was the complete opposite of himself at the beginning, noble and timid. He had become insane from hiding his evil deeds by killing more and more innocent people. Paranoia and suspicion cloud his mind and cause him to have nightmares.

Macbeth's motives for his series of crimes does not justify them; his main motivation came from his overwhelming ambition, spurred by Lady Macbeth's encouragement and the witches' prophecy. The notion of becoming king is not worth murdering the crown and other innocent people. Considering Macbeth dies after ruling tyrannically for a short period of time, he would have been much better off being a Thane and not pursuing Duncan's throne. "Macbethish" acts are never worth it.

"From the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty"

Lady Macbeth's famous line, "From the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty", illustrates her strong ambition to hoist her husband into the throne of Scotland and to give herself the title of queen. She is willing to slay Duncan in order to achieve her goal. She must be top-full of cruelty so that she can murder without remorse. Mercy causes weakness; if she had any mercy, the king might live and her plot will be ruined.
The concept still holds true today. Most situations in the real world that involve somebody moving into a higher position of power usually requires that person to cause the downfall of their superior. An example is when a politician makes slander about a governor in order to gain more votes for himself in the reelection. They must be cruel to gain the crown.

No New Tale to Tell

I believe every tale is unique. Of course they can can be categorized into genres, but the essence of the story is unique. The theme, mood, and tone may be the same, but the way the story convenes it is distinct. There will always be a new tale to tell.
The Pardoner's tale is about three men who are overcome by greed; it reinforces the message that greed is the root of all evil. This moral has definitely been used in many other tales. However, that does not mean that the Pardoner's tale is not unique; he tells the moral through his own unique tale. The Pardoner incorporates his own characters and rhymes into his tale so that he sets it apart from other stories.
The tale of the Fisherman and the Fish also conveys the moral that greed is bad. The fisherman catches a golden fish who promises to grant wishes for its freedom. The fisherman's wife asks for increasingly luxurious wishes until the fish finally puts the fisherman and his wife back in their old home. By having too much greed, they end up back where they started. The theme of both tales are the same, but told vastly differently. Every tale is unique.

Truth

Truth is merely an illusion and the Shaper is proof of that. Through his graceful poetry he is even able to convince Grendel of lies and exaggerated tales of heroism. Grendel  cannot handle the paradox of the Shaper's songs and it enrages him. He is drawn towards the Shaper's interpretation of Danish history even though he knows firsthand that they are far exaggerated. Grendel seeks truth from the dragon.

The dragon claims that he knows all that happens and all that will happen. Even though the dragon tells Grendel that the Shaper is all smoke and mirrors Grendel continues to have faith in the Shaper's side of truth. In the end, I think Grendel realizes how the Shaper was manipulating the truth. That is why Grendel regrets not slaying the Shaper years ago.

Modern Day Beowulf

A modern day Beowulf is the United States. Like Beowulf, our nation likes to boast about its achievements such as being the first to reach the moon. The biggest topic to brag about is our so called "freedom", which we take great pride in. When Beowulf killed Grendel, he kept the monster's arm as a victory trophy. Similarly, the United States holds onto foreign lands as spoils of war.

Me

My name is Tian Zhou and this blog is for my English III class at Whitney Young. If you are here because of randomly browsing the internet then this is not the blog for you. My elementary school was Healy. I'm an only child living with my parents. I was born in Beijing, China. My favorite breakfast food is bacon. I enjoy going swimming and playing chess. My goal is to pass this class and then pass high school.