THE RETURN OF MACBETH TRAILER

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVkQxYWUlQA
BY: MARENA, MILA, ROWAN, ETHAN, LOUIE

10 Literary Devices From Life of Pi

Motif
"These are animals we haven't stopped by."
(Page 41)

Imagery
"A streak of black and orange flowed from one cage to the next."
(Page 39)

Dramatic Irony
"But he can't be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It's impossible. He must choose."
(Page 76)

Repetition
"But one thing is clear: atman seeks to realize Brahman, to be united with the Absolute, and it travels in this life on a pilgrimage where it is born and dies, and is born again, and dies again, and again, and again, until it manages to shed the sheaths that imprison it here below."
(Page 53-54)

Alliteration
"That a big, black, tropical cat managed to survive for more than two months in a Swiss winter without being seen by anyone, let alone attacking anyone, speaks plainly to the fact that escaped zoo animals are not dangerous absconding criminals but simply wild creatures seeking to fit in."
(Page 46)

Symbol
"My name is Piscine Molitor Patel."
(Page 24)

Simile
"I imagined it beckoned the Muslim faithful to the mosque, much like bells summoned us Christians to church."
(Page 65)

Assonance
"His hand went BOOM BOOM BOOM on my head."
(Page 63)

Foreshadowing
"Yes, it was all forcefully brought to the attention of my bemused parents. You see, they didn`t know. They didn`t know that I was practising Hindu, Christian and Muslim."`
(Page 71)

Hyperbole
"Is that so? Well, a whole lot of good it did God to be with you--you tried to kill him! You banged him to a cross with great big nails."
(Page 74)

Babylon English-Chinese (S)

(名) 拟人观, 拟人论

Morality - What's Right and What's Wrong?

     Morality is something that we must face when making decisions in our everyday lives. Sometimes we are torn between what is right and what is wrong. I believe it is something that we as humans learn and develop over time. We are not born with the ability to make the right decision. It is a type of knowledge that we gain over time from our own personal experiences. It could be something like making the wrong decision and learning from it or something as simple as getting advice from your parents. Taking a class on morality could teach you how to make the proper decisions. Most of this is based on your point of view and how you interpret things. Sometimes people are prone to making the wrong decisions and never learn from them. While others make mistakes and choose to learn and change from them for the better. People can influence and persuade you to make certain choices as well. Most of us have 'common sense' that is based on our view of morality. When we are born, we cannot make choices for ourselves but once we grow older, we gain the knowledge and soon the trust from our parents to makes our own resolutions. Whether is life threatening or something as simple as deciding which restaurant to go to, it all comes down to morality. Sometimes I ask myself the questions, what happened the last time I came to this dilemma? What are the possible outcomes? Who would benefit from my actions? What do I feel is the right thing to do? These are all answered with the knowledge I have obtained over the years. It can be a tough choice sometimes but we all have to make it at some point. I believe having a positive view on morality will help you succeed in life.

My Greatest Fear

     Fear is something everyone has to face at some point in their life. Whether it is something as stereotypical as a spider crawling out from underneath your bed or being afraid of crashing while on an airplane. Every single person has their own personal fears and some people can overcome it and move on while others have to deal with it for the rest of their lives. My greatest fear would be to disappoint my parents again. I say ‘again’ because this is a fear I have come face to face with in the past. Disappointing my parents is one of the worst feelings I have ever felt in my entire life. After what I put them through, they started to believe that they were doing something wrong with raising me. I have never seen my parents so upset with me that they have cried. Having my parents not talk, look, or even acknowledge that I was present was something I wish I never had to experience. Not only would I sit in my room alone and think about my life, which would result in crying, I would regret every choice I had made prior. Even though I know that I learned from my mistakes I still had to go through my most dreaded fear. Nothing would ever change the way my parents felt at that point in time and what they thought of me. That is why I can say this is something that scares me into being much more careful and making smarter decisions. I hope I never have to feel that way ever again in my life and more importantly, never have to put my parents through it again.  

Significant Quotes from Life of Pi

                In the novel Life of Pi I found three significant quotes so far in my readings. These quotes are very important moments in Pi’s life and are all meaningful in different ways. I found I had a better understanding of Pi afterwards and a deeper meaning into his life.

The first quote I found in Life of Pi is:

            “The water, having crossed all of Paris, came in foul enough. Then people at the pool made it utterly disgusting” (11).

This quote is Mamaji, Pi’s father’s good friend of the family, telling another story about the city’s oldest pool, Piscine Deligny.  Not only did Mamaji have a passion for swimming pools and competitions but Pi loved listening to these stories. This quote shows Mamaji’s educated knowledge about another pool in India. It is very fascinating to hear about how the public pools there are cold and dirty and that the people only make it dirtier. This also shows that Pi’s memories left of Mamaji, who was someone very special to him, are these amazing stories he used to inform him with. Pi will always remember how he was named after Mamaji’s favourite pool, Piscine Molitor.

The second quote I found is:

            “ It’s all right with me, brother. Anything’s better than ‘Pissing’. Even ‘Lemon Pie’.” As he sauntered away he smiled and said, “You look a bit red in the face” (26).

This is a significant quote because Pi talks a lot about how people would always mispronounce his name. Piscine Molitor Patel was the proper way of saying his name but no one was ever able to pronounce it properly. Therefore, people would result to calling him ‘Pissing’. This quote is Ravi, Pi’s brother, asking him about his new nickname. It shows that Pi would not only get angry but embarrassed as his face turned red when Ravi only asked him about it. Something as simple as a name being pronounced correctly seems like it shouldn’t take much effort but even his teachers would call him ‘Pissing’. His brother seems to be making fun in this quote as well because it’s a very silly nickname even though it is harmless but Pi seems to become very upset. Pi even writes his name on the blackboard one class because he is so fed up with people saying it wrong. Now I can tell that Pi can become very sensitive towards certain things.

The third quote I found is:

            “I come here all the time. One might say it’s my temple. This is interesting...” He was indicating the pit. “If we had politicians like these goats and rhinos we’d have fewer problems in our country. Unfortunately we have a prime minister who has the armour plating of a rhinoceros without any of its good sense” (29).

This quote is Pi’s favourite teacher Mr.Kumar speaking. It is a very important quote because not only did Pi love his biology teacher but he never knew he could have so much in common with him before he spotted him in his father’s zoo.  Mr.Kumar would come to the zoo not just to look at the animals but he would read every bit of information there and approve of every animal he saw. He would leave the zoo feeling scientifically refreshed. This quote is comparing the rhino and goats exhibit to the prime minister. Clearly Pi’s teacher has a strong compassion for animals and wishes that people could be as simple and smart as them.  I believe that this teacher inspired Pi to love animals even more and have a deeper understanding of them.

            In conclusion to these quotes, I believe they have shown that there are many things and people who make Pi’s life interesting and inspire him. I believe that all these moments in his life are setting him up for the start of something amazing.  

LOL , TTYL , L8TR, CYA, BRB

     Computer language and texting abbreviations are becoming more and more common as time progresses. This type of new language is usually seen being used on electronic devices such as cellphones and computer social networking sites. This type of conversation which simplifies our word span is being taken out of the electronic world and being used in what should be formal pieces of work. I believe that this way of communicating is not exactly something that should be frowned upon and should not be banned immediately. Although I do also understand why people would be upset because of this new generation that is slowly taking over. Some students do not enjoy reading literature and learning about history if it is about something that doesn't interest them. Often the way things are composed are in such a way that makes it harder to understand. Computer language makes the dread of reading something boring more interesting when it's put into a familiar state. Also it makes it easier and quicker to read and comprehend that piece of text. On the other hand, those who appreciate and love the style and authenticity of an original piece of literature are obviously going to be upset with the modern generation trying to change and get rid of the real meaning behind reading a passage just to make their lives easier. I can understand where those people are coming from because the literature they had to read when they were our age was meant to be read from it's original text to fully understand what was happening. They would most likely think that people these days who are trying to do this are just lazy and are being disrespectful. Really people being lazy is not usually the case and they really do want to understand the meaning of the literature but just in a simpler way. It can be very beneficial with time especially because students these days have a lot more homework and cannot remember each and every little piece of information given. A summary of a passage of literature in computer language and texting abbreviations is much more time efficient then reading pages of literature that will most likely go in one ear and out the other. I think not only will students be more willing to read the simplified writing but also understand the main concept quicker. Students writing their own pieces of literature will also be able to produce something much faster if they are using a familiar style of writing. The people who think this should be prevented have a point to take into consideration but if we all had the time to really appreciate the tiny details of each piece of literature then we would.

Meet Pi Patel

     In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the protagonist is Pi Patel. He is an educated and determined middle aged man that grew up in India. He moved to Canada to attend the University of Toronto and double-major in religious studies and zoology. He is interested in animals because his father owned a zoo when he was younger and was exposed to all types of wildlife. Once he was all grown up, he went to the equatorial jungles of Brazil to study the three-toed sloth. I find this character very real because he is coming from a cultural background just like anyone else and moved to Canada to create his future. I can relate to this character because I love animals and they fascinate me. I also live in Canada so I can relate to him in that sense. Pi seems to be a sympathetic character to me because of how he talks about fathers close family friend, Mamaji. Mamaji was around all throughout Pi's childhood and Pi was even named after Mamaji's favourite swimming pool, Piscine Molitor. The way Pi reminisces on his memories of Mamaji shows that he is caring and appreciative of the people in his life who have made a difference. When he explains parts of his childhood, he seems very thankful that Mamaji was there for him. I think that as the story progresses Pi while encounter new adventures and situations as he seems like he has a curious personality. Hopefully he relates back to his family in India as well as I would love to learn more about their culture and his experiences growing up as a child there. Pi is an interesting character and I can't wait to hear more of his exciting stories that he has to tell.

Evil Anxiety

     Everyone faces difficulties throughout their lives. Sometimes they are harder than others and sometimes we choose not to face these problems at all. Dealing with my anxiety was a learning experience not only for myself but also for my friends and family. Many things were changing during this time in my life and figuring out how I was going to cope with all of them was the most difficult part of all. Often the greatest challenges we have to face are with ourselves.
     When I was about six years old, it all started. The feeling I would get of my stomach coming up my throat and turning multiple times into a big knot. My hands would tremble and my mind would drift off on these crazy ideas. None of this was a pleasant feeling. My mom would tell me things like "Oh your just anxious, don't worry it'll go away soon." Of course I wanted to believe her words but I knew that it wasn't planning on going away anytime soon. One night my friends from school were going to have a sleepover at one of their houses. It was my two best friends at the time, Taylor and Megan and I loved them both very much but the entire night I felt like something was off. After hours of watching movies, stuffing junk food into our mouths until we turned sick and talking about all the latest gossip, we decided it was time to head to bed. We all brushed our teeth, slipped into our pajamas and curled up into our sleeping bags. Once Taylor had fallen asleep for sure, I realized I wasn't feeling that tired. Megan talked with me for a little while but soon drowsed off herself. This is when I started to experience that awful feeling in my stomach. Something was wrong. My mind started trailing off and creating worries. I was so used to my mom tucking me in at night and having that feeling of comfort right there whenever I needed it. I thought to myself what if I never fall asleep? What if I'm up alone all night long? What am I going to do? Too many things were rushing through my mind at that moment. I felt a tear drop from the corner of my eye. I needed to go home right away where I would feel safe again. That's when I shook Megan awake to tell her and once she saw my red cheeks and glossy eyes, she knew something was wrong. Although I felt embarrassed to say it, I told her "I need to call my mom to come pick me up, I don't feel well." That was always my excuse even though I didn't feel sick. I went home and crawled into my bed while my mom tucked me in and said "Goodnight". I thought that everything would be alright in the morning but never once realized that this was my first time experiencing anxiety.
     Weeks went by and other sleepovers came my way. Every single time when we would all head to bed, I would end up calling my mom to come pick me up because I couldn't deal with what the anxiety would do to my emotions. One weekend my parents had a wedding they were going to attend in Victoria on Vancouver Island. They would be spending the night there and would be back the next day. Even though I was in my own house with my grandma who was watching over my brothers, cousins and myself, I still had feelings of anxiety. Having to deal with my emotions was something that none of my family could truly understand. They all thought I was making everything a bigger issue then it really was. I would end up crying myself to sleep because that was the only way I would become tired enough to be able to fall asleep and make my anxiety go away. Finally when my parents arrived home, the second stage of my anxiety kicked in. I needed to feel so comfortable and close to my parents in my own house that I started sleeping on their bedroom floor at night. At this point I was doing anything possible to escape those feelings of anxiety because of how strong they had become. I would pull out my little spongy foam mattress and a sleeping bag and go to sleep. This went on for about two months. Sometimes I would go to bed before them and they would be watching T.V. in the living room. I would put my sleeping bag in the doorway of their bedroom just so I could hear them and be sure they were there. Eventually my parents started getting annoyed with me sleeping on their floor every single night and knew that something had to change. I was forced to sleep in my own room when I wasn't emotionally ready yet so I started sneaking into their room before or after they went to sleep. My anxiety was taking over me and this wasn`t only hard on myself but also taking a tole on my friends and family.     
     After a little while my parents realized this wasn`t normal and that we needed to deal with this matter right away because it was only becoming worse and worse. It wasn`t just your typical case of being homesick, this was something much stronger that was starting to take over my life. My mom decided that she was going to send me to a counsellor who specialized in anxiety disorders. Her name was Danielle and she helped me realize my personal problem and what was triggering the anxiety. I learned how to manage and get rid of it anytime it came around. By imagining myself in a place where I felt comfortable and happy, I was able to make the feelings of the anxiety go away. She also taught me some other techniques that really made a difference. The things that were causing my anxiety were mainly to do with me being scared of something happening to my family even though deep down I knew that nothing was going to happen to them. My anxiety would take over my thoughts so that I wouldn`t be able to calm myself and I would basically have a melt down every time. It used to be very confusing to everyone because even I didn`t know why I would get so worked up. After my sessions with Danielle I slowly moved into sharing a room with my brother at night and then finally was able to sleep in my own bedroom again which was a major accomplishment. Whenever the feelings of anxiety would come back, I knew exactly how to deal with them without it overwhelming me. Before I knew it I was overcoming my fears and fighting off the anxiety like it was nothing! Not only did I grow as a person but I faced something that had been holding me back from living a normal life.
     Therefore my experience coping with anxiety has shaped me to be the person I am today. Not only did I do my best to continue living my life during this difficult time but I learned something I never knew about myself. Now I can help other people who are going through the same thing as I did and get them back to doing the things they love. Even though my anxiety still comes back at times, the important thing is that I now know how to conquer it. My greatest challenge I had to face was with myself and I`m more proud than anything that I could overcome it.