R+G Act 2!!

I don't know about you, but I am sure glad that the world is not as confusing as this book makes it seem. What chaos we'd be in! You know?
When i opened the book to page 57, I liked the way that the act opened with Hamlet chatting it up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It involved me right away. Something significant that stood out to me is that R and G include Hamlet in their word game without him knowing. They count his rhetorical questions and what not. I find it funny that there are two sides to this. The first is that Hamlet is playing with their minds by using wordplay in order to keep his feelings to himself. The second is that R and G are including Hamlet in their word game questionaire.
This all broadly ties into the theme that they are all merely pawns acting out a BIG game of life.

I also enjoyed the world play and witty banter. The word "rough" is interpreted in many ways on page 58. This adds to the post modern theme because words lose their meanings and are distorted. I liked the following phrases because they show wordplay and attention to concrete senses:

R: "Lick your lips"
G: "Taste your tears"
R: "Your breakfast"
G: "You won't know the difference"
It is important to note page 64, where the players' lives started. When their audience faded away, that is when their mission to go to the king began. Their lives became controlled when the king made a guilty soliloquy, because it gave them purpose. The player also demonstrates the postmodern theme when he says, "Uncertainty is the normal state. You're nobody special"(66) to G.
Remember how in postmodernism, only birth and death are knowable? Well let me give you some great examples of that. On page 70, R goes on about how death makes him depressed since death is certain. On page 72, eternity scares Guildenstern since it is unknowable and confusing. Birth and death are the only concrete things that these two individuals understand.
Humor strikes once again as G says, "Give us this day our daily round" (90) lightening the mood of the play.


Who do you relate to more? Rosencrantz or Guildenstern? When i read this story, i usually agree with Guildenstern and feel more connected to him. I think that's because he likes to see the logical side of things and tries to analyze the world that he lives in. I'm not sure if it was Mrs. Harris or not, but one of the English teachers made the class take a "self test" to see what kind of a person they are. Mine told me that I'm a "concrete sequential" person, meaing that I like logical order and patterns. I guess that explains why I must writes sticky notes to myself, reminding myself to remind myself. :) That's why I have to make a list for the items I am packing for a trip or the food I have to buy at a grocery store. Being sequential also explains why I enjoy very structured essays, because when given a broad category to write about- I freak out! I have no idea where to start. My mind works in an orderly fashion. So there you have it.

I'll leave you with the existentialist( experience is all we know) quote by Guildenstern, "No, no, no! If we can't learn by experience, what else have we got?"(90).

Inaugural Blog

Isn't it fascinating that a man like Michael Gerson has read every single inaugural speech in American History?! I appreciate people, like him, that dedicate themselves to something like that in order to give us a deeper understanding of the speeches.
I remember sitting in Mr. Coffey's class watching the inaugural speech by Obama. I was surprised-as was Gerson- that Obama did not emphasize the progress of the African Americans in America as much as I thought he would. I figured that his entire speech would be a climatical narration of how African Americans used to not have any rights, and how he now stands as the nation's president with the most respected position. Gerson admired Lowery's prayer and that prayer was something that stuck out in my mind as well. Lowery used traditional phrases to point out civil rights. Lauren and i were chuckling at the fact that Lowery had said things like, "When the black comes back, when the yellow is mellow, when the white isnt right" and such.. His expressions were kind of distracting, so I didn't absorb the meaning of the prayer as a whole, but focused on certain elements of it. Our whole class seemed to do the same thing, since we found it quite entertaining. The camera even focused in on Obama himself, who could help but laugh during the prayer.
I thought it was important that Obama stated in his speech that he wanted America to turn back to its original virtues. Michael Gerson points out that most presidents use that theme in their speeches, which i found intersting. I also find it very entertaining that when Obama mentions religion, the nation just "oohs" and "ahhs" in appraisal, yet when Bush states his religious opinions, people think he is trying to go against the constitution. So WHAT IS IT that makes Obama so different? Has anyone got the answer for that yet?