Breaking Dawn.

   Tomorrow is the last movie to be released to the Twilight Series. The movie is called Breaking Dawn Pt. 2. In 2008, the first movie of the Twilight Saga was released. Millions of teenagers camped outside of movie theaters across the nation in excitement. The twilight craze swept the country. At first, I paid little attention to the book and movie. I felt as if the whole concept was rather stupid. Vampires? Werewolves? I'll pass. One day I actually decided to stop being lazy and investigated what all the hype was about and read the book. I was hooked. Some feel as the books have literary merit, while others considered it a classic of this time period. The real question is where is the line drawn? When is a book considered popular? When is a book considered a classic? The answer to that question would vary from person to person. As the reader, I became more intrigued in the plot rather than the literary devices the author used (if any). There are different types of classics that vary throughout the time period. We see this in examples such as Shakespeare and Homer. These are two contrasting ideas, works, and time periods, but both still to be considered classical pieces of literature. Classics appear to shift with the time period. How do we know when to classify one and when not to?

The Classics/

     In school, we are forced to read and analyze different works of literature. These works include plays, novels, epics, and short stories. As we read, I realize how the author constructs their works of art is meant to be viewed a specific way by the audience. Plays are meant to be seen, while short stories and novels are meant to be read. But on the other hand, some epics were meant to be told orally. These are key factors that we must pay attention to while reading these works. But the real question is, why we even read them if their purpose was to be heard or seen? The answer is the techniques that different authors used. Shakespeare's poetry and use of other literary devices was unprecedented. The literary culture had never seen works like his before which make them unique and impossible not to study. Oral epics are classic and encompass much of a specific culture. Not only do they serve as a literary device, but also as an historical one. In conclusion, classics are classic for a reason and should be read.  

The Best Stories Ever Told.

   

   I have to admit, I still am in love with Disney movies (mainly the classics). I faithfully watch at least one a week, as my "relaxation" period of the week. Few people know that many Disney movies are based upon numerous components of classic literature such as Shakespeare (The Lion King), the Brothers Grimm (Snow White), Greek mythology (Hercules) , and Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist). These works provide the pre-cursor to movies we all love and cherish today. My personal favorite is The Lion King. The plot uses elements from Shakespeare's, Hamlet, and takes us on Simba's journey to re-conquering what belonged to him even while he attempted to escape his destiny. 

   Although, Disney gives little credit to these literary works without them there would be no story. Disney gives us the illusion that these classic stories were created and illustrated by them, but in reality are just "re-makes" of someone else's works. I do have to give credit to the Walt Disney Production company for providing such vivid images in a kid-friendly way, just not for the story line. Classic works of literature are classic for a reason. They not only are notable works of art, but also help spark other ideas that provide the basis for other stories and films. 

Bye Bye Odyssey !

 Recently, we completed Homer's, The Odyssey, in English class. Although, I cannot say I am not completely distraught that our time with The Odyssey has ended, I do feel somewhat disappointed. At the beginning of the Odyssey, I wasn't completely excited that we were reading it (all I saw was 400+ pages of reading). But as the story progressed, I did begin to enjoy reading it. I mean, as much as I dread reading (now), I wouldn't mind picking up the book and casually reading it. Instilled in the Odyssey is a lot of controversial themes i.e love, relationships, revenge vs. justice, and divine intervention. These are typically ideas I wouldn't normally think about, nor would any other teenage. As I read the book, I realized how modern society still struggles to answer the same questions of those of ancient days. It is vital to study our past in order to continue to move into the future. Then, maybe we could come up with some of the answers that they didn't come up with. Not only, do I feel as if I can hold an intelligent conversation and make literal references (making me feel smarter), but I also feel as if I realized what was important in life. People have little control on what goes on. Things happen. You can be on top of the world one moment, and one the bottom of it the next.  Homer's The Odyssey is something people should read because of the morals it holds. Maybe people can learn something from old Odysseus.

There's No Place Like Home

      Numerous times  the media introduces us to various movies, TV shows, and movies. Whether we realize it or not most of these sources depict a theme or moral lesson that we subconsciously associate with the medium. A prime example of this would be the story of The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is a fantastical story about a small town girl from Kansas who embarks on a mystical journey far from home once taken away by a tornado. Along her journey she encounters several friends, that help her make her journey to find herself and her way home. These friends are known as the tin man, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion. The story uses personification giving each of these characters human characteristics. Each character has an inner conflict that serves as a setback. The tin-man lacks a heart, the scarecrow lacks a brain, and the lion lacks courage. The four set out on a journey to find, The Wizard, who holds the answer to all their problems only to find out that The Wizard is a fraud and the answer was within them the whole time. The answer lied within them.  

     As a child, you see the story in "black and white," and for what it appears. I mean come on. We all dressed up as Dorothy or munchkin for Halloween, at least once. It's a fun, colorful, musical with a noteworthy soundtrack and cast. It wasn't until I reached high school till I realized the true meaning of the story. Each character depicted the classic human virtues caring, courage, and intelligence. Ultimately, home is where your heart is and you have the ability to get what you want because the power lies within you. The answers that you are sometimes seeking are right in your backyard. Within this movie, lies a lot of life lessons that are hard to distinguish as a young child. But once you evaluate the movie from an analytically standpoint you are able to see these themes more clearly. In life, you sometimes have to pay less attention to the monochromatic idea and search for the more kaleidoscopic solution. 

Dreaming

 "Dreams are a way of acting out one's secret desired." - Sigmund Freud 

Recently, we read Book 19 in the Odyssey. There was a particularly significant passage that we were to re-evaluate and search for the latent meaning.We each developed our own interpretation on what we felt Penelope's dream truly meant. We searched for the meaning behind the dream. Sigmund Freud was the pioneer of psychology. He believed every dream had a surface and a deeper meaning. This makes you question all the dreams of your past. As children we are given that simpler definition of what a dream really is; something that your imagination creates while you're asleep. From the works of Freud, we now evaluate ourselves in relation to our dreams. Our dreams reveal our inner most thoughts in a lively perspective. I'd like to think that they are thoughts that we hate to admit to ourselves. Things we think, but don't want to admit that we want them to happen. They are feelings that we have subconsciously. They also us to imagine, create, and full fill our deepest desires without revealing to the public what we secretly want. Dreams also allow us to differentiate what we want from what we think we want. It's nature's way of weighing the pros and cons.

The Beginning.

Last night, I was forced to babysit my younger brothers since my mom and dad when out. I have two brothers for those of you who didn't know, one is 5 while the other is 6. Being the eldest sibling, this entitled me to the fantastic job of helping them with their homework. The oldest of my younger brothers is beginning to read, while the younger one is beginning to learn "memory" words. As I sat and assisted them with their homework, I began to loose patience as the struggled to recognize words or phrases that don't require much thought process for me now. Then, I realized I had to start out somewhere too.  In Kindergarten, you learn basic words such as "mom", "dad", "car", and "man"; words that you can quickly recognize. But as you progress to first grade, you begin to study more of the meaning of the words and start associating them with phrases. This made me look back at when I began to start to read. Is this how it really happens? As a child, your given the work in front of you, and if your as anal or competitive as I am, you do it because you want the best grade possible (at least that's how I thought, even at a young age). You don't realize that your developing essential fundamentals that are in fact the building blocks for vocabulary in literature, reading, and writing. You start small gradually adding more and more before it eventually just becomes natural. It's interesting to actually be the spectator rather than the participant this time. It I could do it all over again, I probably wouldn't because it's not something that's easy at that age. Nor would I suggest that ANYONE enter elementary school teaching if they lack patience because the job requires a lot of it. I commend teachers from the K through Third Grade level because it's not easy. I couldn't do it.