Hamlet and Ghost Stories

For this assignment, there are four steps:

1) First, either write or record a ghost story you or a friend/family member is familiar with. If you choose to videotape your ghost story (or had yours videotaped during class), make sure you know how to embed a YouTube video in Blogger. I can show you how to do this if you need help and/or missed the in-class instructions - just ask me at least one day before the due date. Whether written or videotaped, consider per our in-class discussion what kind of language is needed to DESCRIBE the ghost and why/how the ghost HAUNTS the main character of the story. Remember: if you choose to write your story instead of record it, find an appropriate picture online to accompany your story and include in your blog post.

2) Second, write a brief comparison between your ghost story and what is happening in the opening scenes to Hamlet by William Shakespeare. What are the key similarities and/or differences between the ghost in your story and King Hamlet's ghost? What are the key similarities and/or differences between how the main character is haunted in your story and how the prince is haunted in Hamlet? Remember to include a quote from the play to help your argument with the character and act/scene/line info in parentheses following the quote. Example: “This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.” (Horatio, 1.1.186)

3) Third, complete your blog post with two or three open-ended questions related to ghosts, death, and/or Hamlet to ask your classmates, who will be responding to you in the comments section. As discussed in class, open-ended means it encourages the respondent to give their opinion in detail and there is no right or wrong answer. Consider the kinds of questions that help lead an interesting class discussion.

4) Lastly, re-read your post! Double-check the requirements listed above. Do you have everything? Use the spell-check function located at the top-right of the Blogger window, but don't rely on it. If you're satisfied with your work, put your initials in the Labels section and press publish!

Blog posts are due Thursday, September 14th. They should be published to this site no later than 10pm on the due date *with your initials in the Labels section.* If you are having trouble posting, email me at cpolley@gmail.com ASAP.

Honor, Love and Betrayal ( Hera, Paris and Helen)

Hera was the queen of the Gods and mt. olympus. She is the Goddess of love and marriage an weather. She is the wife of Zeus and bore his three children ares (God of war) , Hebe (Goddess of youth) and Hephaestus (smith God). She was also worshipped as the Roman goddess Juno, and the month of June (which is the most popular month for weddings) is named in her honor.
Her husband Zeus was very unfaithful not honoring his commitment to Hera when her agreed to mary her. Hera often took her anger out on Zeus's women instead of him.

Paris Son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy and brother of Hector. Paris and his brother had a great brotherhood until he was killed by Achilles. Hector protected his little brother and paris knew that "Do you love me, brother? Will you protect me from any enemy"?, he asked . Hecuba had a dream about the great trouble her unborn child would cause, so when Paris was born, instead of raising him, she ordered him exposed on Mt. Ida. Paris won" the love of Helen wife of Menelaus queen of troy. By giving the goddess aphrodite the title of the fairest Goddess in a contest against Athena and Hera . Whoever he thought was the most beautiful would receive a golden apple from him. He gave the apple to Aphrodite. In return she promised him she would make Helen of sparta fall in love with him. She was honorable to him and Helen somehow fell in love. Some say she fell in love with him on her on free will and followed him back to Troy others say, He kidnapped Helen of Greece which starts the Trojin war.

Helen She is the daughter of zeus and mortal mother Leda which makes her half god was known as " the most beautiful mortal" and even " the most beautiful woman in the world". She caught the eye of Paris prince of troy. And ended up leaving her husband for him. therefore she became helen of Troy. If she stayed loyal to her husband there would be no cause for the trojan war. Her husband felt betrayed and pissed. She broke the honor she made to him when they first married just like Zeus did to Hera and when that happens people end up getting hurt by the one scorned in this

Hermes, Patroclus, and Hecuba

Hermes is a god like figure. He was a great messager of the gods to the humans. He was compared to the Roman god Mercury. He was a patron of boundaries and of the travelers that crossed them. His symbols consist of the winged sandels and a winged hat. His honor shown through how he cares about the travelers and guides them.

Patroclus was a great young Greek. When he was young he accidently killed his bestfriend over a game of dice. Him and his father ran to excape revenge. They later went and meet Achillies. The two boys became best friends. When the Trojan War started Patroclus asked Achillies to don his armor for a battle and he succeeded and won the fight. He was a crazy man he did alot of things off the top of his head he never really thought about what he was gonna do.

Hecuba was the queen of Troy. She was the wife of King Priam. They had 19 kids together. She was a rather shy women who tended to her own buisness. She also went insane when she saw her kids Polydorus, and Polyxena corpses. She also led the women of Athena to a temple to pray. She had a ton of honor and pride in her family and she would do anything to have any of her kids back.


And when fortune overturned the pride
of the Trojans, who dared everything, so that
both the king and his kingdom were destroyed,
Poor wretched captured Hecuba,
after she saw her Polyxena dead
and found her Polydorus on the beach,
was driven mad by sorrow
and began barking like a dog...

The story of the Iliad is a wounderous story of two cities that was in contention over many different reasons such as Eris wasn't invited to a wedding so she snuck in Thetis and Peleus wedding and brought a golden apple. Creating an uprise in the wedding about the apple making everyone contraversal about the subject creating problems within the Wedding after the wedding the trojans and geeks contienuously kept the confrontation going making it bigger than what it really is.

In this story their are many different characters such as Apollo he is variously the god of light and sun, truth and prophecy medicine, healing, the pleague, music, poetry, art and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto and has a twin sister and Artemis. Apollo also has a nickname which is phoebus In the story the Iliad Apollo play a big role in creating more confrontation by steping in the confict when a trojan preist daughter was abducted by a greek by sending a bow of pleague apon the city. He also intervened when Hector and Achillies were solving their conflict with violence by Choosing sides with Achillies and help him slay Hector. In the end Apollo does the right thing by protecting hectors body as Achillies rides through the city of Troy haleing Hectors body from him charriot.

Priam the king of Troy and the father of Hector and 50 other children was threatened by Achillies when he brought Hectors body back to Troy. Achillies forced Priam to give him a Ransom for Hectors body. When Priam realized that achillies was not fully human but half God he gave Achillies the ransom.

Achillies isn't just a normal human he's half god and half human because mortal named King Peleus had intercourse with goddess named thetis. Once Achillies Found out that he was half and half he felt as he was greater than other but achillies isn't the most inconciderate person ever because the war that he's in he's fighting for his wife. The reason Achillies had killed Hector was because he had killed Achilles best friend patroclius without reasonable doubt so Achilles kills Hector gruesomly then ties hectors body to his charriot and haled Hectors body around the city of Troy.

The Iliad

The god I have is Zeus and he is the ruler of all gods and everyone. some of the things he did was he put Hector and Achilles on the scales of fate. He sent a message to Achilles about Hector's body to prium. He is very selfish and didnt involve himself in the trojan war. Zues was not an honorable god he just seemed to care only about himself and he played his role only half and really didnt care for anyone else.

Calchas is a priest and a prophet and he asked why there was a plague that got sent down by Zeus. Calchas also determined that the war with Troy would last over ten years because he saw a blood-red snake eat eight baby sparrows and a mother and that symbolized that would stand for weakness. He was honorable because he could see that the snake ate the living and he had an idea that stood for weakness.

Chryses is a priest of Apollo whose daughter has been captured by the greeks and Chrysies is his daughter. He was honorable because his daughter got stolen and did not do things that he probley wanted to do but he held it back.

the honorable, greeks, gods and trojans.

Athena is the god of wisdom and a powerful defender in war and is a peacemaker. She is the daughter of Zues. In the story The Iliad she tries to convince Achillies not to fight. She dresses up as Hector's brother to talk to him, she is on Hector's side and protects him. One thing i learned from research was that Zues swallowed Athena's mother, Metis, while she was pregnant with Athena. Athena was born from Zues's forehead, fully armed. In The Iliad Athena does not show honor, but she made sure that Hector died with Honor.

Nestor is the king of Pylos and the oldest and widest Greek leader. He was trying to get peace between Achillies and Agamemnon. In The Iliad Nestor shows that he is powerful and he could take down Agamemnon if he wanted too. One thing i learned from research was that all of Nestor's brothers were murdered by Hercules and he escaped. In The Iliad Nestor shows honor by telling the warriors stories about when he was in the war, to help them fight honorably.

Hector is a Trojan, and Priam was his father. He was worried about dying in the war, he was telling his wife. Achilles killed Hector and brought his body back to the city. He dragged his body all over the city and around his best friend's grave, Protroclus for revenge. Zues protects Hector's body by bribing Achilles with a treasure. I learned from research that many poets described him as the son of god. Hector ties in with Honor because he fought with honor and when the god's got his body back he was buried with honor.

"Behold Hector now-if you ever once rejoiced

to see him striding home, home alive from battle!
He was the greatest joy of Troy and all our people!"

Iliad...those who are honored.

Agamemnon is a Greek in the book of The Iliad. He is like somewhat of the "Commander in Chief" of the the Acheans army in Troy. Agamemnon sends emissiaries to Achilles for some type of reconciliation, but Agamemnon is the one that stole Chryses' daughter. Eventually Achilles forgets about the fight with Agamemnon and they are reconciled. I learneed that Agamemnon was married to Clytemnestra and had several kids with her. Agamemnon links to the theme of honor because he was the leader of the Acheans Army.

Aphrodite is a God in the book of The Iliad. She is the the Goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. She is the daughter of Zeus. She protected the ones she gave beauty to. Cassandra resembles Aphrodite, and she announces hectors arrival. Paris was asked to determine who was more beautiful out of Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena; Paris chose Aphrodite. Aphrodite relates to the theme of honor because she is worshipped and known for being the most beautiful thing pretty much. She is honored as being the most beautiful God.

Andromache is a Trojan in the book of The Iliad. She is Hectors wife. Andromache was born in the city of Cicilian Thebe, and the city's name means "battle of a man". Her husband Hector was killed by Achilles in the Trojan War. Andromache relates to the theme of honor because she was Hectors wife and Hector was killed by Achilles.

The Iliad Blog Post

For your blog post on The Iliad, write three paragraphs: one on each of your characters that you were responsible for following throughout the story (a god, a Greek, and a Trojan). For each paragraph, 1) offer a general description using your notes, 2) something new learned about the mythological figure from online research, and 3) how they relate/connect to the theme of honor in the epic poem. In the second requirement, make sure to link to where you learned that information. Also, at some point in your post, include an important quote (found in The Iliad) either from or about one of your characters. Finally, include an appropriate picture, title (the names of your characters), and your initials in the 'Labels' section of the post.

Not sure if your sources are reliable? Check with me before using them.

Metamorphosis

I am Metamorphosis because when i was younger i used to be young and reckless and used to be really immature and really didnt care about anything in life.

Then one day i just relized everything i was doing is old and was really immature ans wasnt going to get anywere by doing them things so i grew up.

By me growing up i have cared a lot more about school and life and really care about the people that care about me.

Me and Gregor have something in common because he had to indure a lot of different things before he grew up because he turned into a cockroach and had his family turn on him and all i had to do was look in the mirror and change the things i didnt like.

DG

The fight to live

Everyday I try and live my life to the fullest and do what makes me happy beacause when you do that you never have anything to loseand everything to gain. I try to not take anything for granite either cause you don't know what you have untill its gone. I never would of thought that having to fend for yourself would be so hard so I take all I can get and appreciate what I have.

In the beginning Gregor or his family didn't respect or appreciate the thing they had and that they had a good son that supported them and Gregor didn't realize the good deed he was doing and how self-gratifying it was. I take care of me and my girlfriend and it's really gratifying to be independent.

I know how gregor feels to be stuck I am right now im having alot of relationship problems and it is really interfering with my school and the things that I need to do, everyone gets stuck in life its the people you see now that kept pushing to get out of the hole they were in.

Life and Death is the reason that the humanity exist on earth. To experience the way of life and to have a variety of choices to chose from in life. I am not a person that is down about death. To me I really don't care cause ether way. Its going to happen regardless so why stress about something that you can't control or stop it inevitable. Seizing the day I do that everyday. I try to live life to the fullest because you could die any day regardless of age, race or gender, or demeanor. So I think you should wait to the last moment of life to reminisce about what you could of did but didn't.

I think that Kafka morally leaned more toward the Death philosophy rather than life. As an adult Kafka had a miserable life. Most days he suffered from severe chronic headaches, insomnia, and tuberculosis. As a kid Kafka was in torment from his father. Kafka's father wanted Kafka to be more like him when he was younger: Strong, powerful, self assured, and self satisfied. Since Kafka was a sensitive boy this torture followed him thought his life, causing him to have an inability to find happiness through marriage.

In the story metamorphosis i think that Gregor beleived in death more than seizing the day because he lived at home with his parents and siblings supporting them for a living. When Gregor transformed into a dunn beetle roach he believed in death even more because when he was a regular person he work alot so that was all he look forward to so when he wasn't able to go back to work his family and him thought what was the use of him if he couldn't work.

The biggest stuggle in life that me and Gregor have in common is the struggle of money cause the States is in a recession so theirs a scrasity of jobs out there. also what we have in common is that me and him wants to support his family and make sure their happy.

love of a sibling .

" He must go." Cried Gregor's sister, "That's the only solution, father. You must try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor... Just look father." pg 1143.

Gregor lived for his sister. He worked all day, to support his family and to put his sister through college. For the one person that he lived for, doesn't believe in him anymore. So why would you want to live? No one seems to care about him anymore. I wouldn't have the strength to live alone, so I see why Gregor didn't.

For me and for Gregor, my siblings are my life. If they didn't care about me anymore, or tell my grandma that "I must go." I think i would be very upset and not want to go on any longer, especially if i was in a position like Gregor. I think Gregor would never overcome this struggle because his sister is the main person he cares about, and that's lifelong. Same for me, I don't think I could ever overcome one of my siblings not caring about me anymore.

I think Franz Kafka believed in life, especially if you have a purpose. I think Kafka believed in his purpose of giving other people a bright future or the caring for other people. Like Gregor, he lived to give his sister a better life, and without her he was nothing.

Before Gregor died, I think that if his family wouldn't have hurt him or abandoned him. He would have tried to live. Especially if his sister wouldn't have said "He must go." Because she was the main person that was there for him and was trying to do things for him like feed him. Maybe if they would have found out that he was a dung beetle earlier, they could have helped him live.

Struggles in Life

Our life really depends on our views. If you are an optimistic person you will problay not think the world is doomed. We really arent doomed. The right thing to do is to just live your life to the fullest and try to see all the wonders of the world. Gregor in the beginning was not a very optimistic person. He was not a very greatful person for what he had. Now after he went through all that shit he has changed and is now more open towards caring for others and living a good life.

Franz Kafka was a very lonely angry person I think. He mad Gregor have a horrible thing happen to him. He didnt need to have that happen to him he could have relized it himself in some way.

Lifes biggest struggles are when you get stuck. You have to learn to move on and get past whatever gets in your way. If you change bodies into a cockroach then the first thing you have to do it think about why you are there and how to get out of it.

Kafka makes Gregor sound weak by saying "He is in a very slow mood he is creeping across the room very slowly". He is now in a weak position. When people are in a weak position they struggle and try to do whatever they can to get through it so they make it out. We dont learn if Gregor makes it out but if he just keeps fighting his struggles then he will be the winner in the long run.

Struggles

Gregor's quote

" Just see how thin he is

it's such a long time since he's eaten anything

the food came out again just as it went it"

That is a big struggle to go threw not being able to eat because right when it goes in comes out the same way. It would get so annoying to eat then it doesnt do anything for you so there would be no point to eat. Also what Gregor is missing is love from his family and because he has turned into a cock roach everyone is looking down at him even tho they know its him but what can you do when you are a bug.

Some of the struggles i have are not being able to eat lunch for one day and how hungry I get I couldnt imagine how hungry you would be after 3 days. Some of the things i have seen when i went to other countries are kids begging for money or anything to give them and i would just give them a few dollars or change that i have because that is some body's kid and i just feel bad but i cant help everyone and if i could i would.

I also struggle to get gas for my car sometimes and i have to bribe my parents and do work for them so then i can get some money and it is not good to be broke or have to worry how your about to get your next dollar. Some things that we could do to help is make is more civilized like putting stores up and hiring people to make money so they can spend it and after awhile i think it would eventually work dont you think?

By: Dylan Gollnick

Where is life taking you

Everything we do is in my opinion already ment to happen. We might feel like we have control of our lives but i don't think that's the case. God planned out everything that's supposed to happen in our lives. Its all planned out and crafted. So why be a existentialist? why should it matter?

Even the struggles that we have in our lives was ment to happen and cant be avoided. sometimes we can have presentiment of upcoming struggles but Its just fate. even the way you deal with them is fate. so when people beat themselves up about the way they handled a certain situation i wonder if they know it wasn't their fault. they had no control over it.

Gregor's didn't have any control of the struggles he experienced with is sister, mother and father. He didn't choose to become a roach. "Gregor was so exasperated when she began addressing him again that he ran at her, as if to attack her, although slowly and feebly enough." Gregor's greatest struggle was with his sister. He wanted to be there for her and talk to her. He just wanted everything to go back to normal again.

Even though everything we do is fate. We still have to keep in mind that there is an after life. Nobody knows where or when we're going to die. We haven't actually experienced it. we just have beliefs , some of them stronger than others. Whether you believe in life after death, reincarnation, or neither, death crosses our minds quite often.

Metamorphosis Blog Post #2: Life's Struggles

For your final Metamorphosis writing assignment, please rework your homework assignment on Existentialism into a 4-paragraph blog post about your life philosophy and struggles as it relates to Gregor's and/or Kafka's, based on your interpretation of the story. Also include a creative yet appropriate title and a corresponding picture to your post. It's ultimately up to you as to what to write each of the four paragraphs about (besides covering the two themes PLUS being about both you AND the book), but there are some ideas below:

• Do you believe in seizing the day/living in the present? Explain why or why not.
• Does it matter what we do with our life if we're all doomed to die? Explain your position.
• What did Gregor seem to believe in, both before his transformation and after? Where did his beliefs stem from?
• Based on what you know about Franz Kafka, what do you think he believed in regarding the purpose of life?
• What is one of life's biggest struggles, both for Gregor and for you? Is this struggle something that can be overcome?
• Consider Gregor's death - could he have done anything differently? Could his family have? Have you ever felt completely stuck like Gregor seemed to?

Please put your initials in the 'Labels' section before you press 'Publish Post'!

When I Change

“What’s happened to me”, he thought. When people transform they aren’t aware of what’s going on or why. They’ve come so far in their transformation already that they only realize it when its in full effect. I think the time in my life where i realized i changed drastically. Is when i started to care about school and actually work hard. I didnt realize when i was changing i just knew it when i did.

Gregor becoming a cockroach means that he treated himself like crap and thats what he's worth. Not only did he himself treat him like crap but so did his family. They over worked him and under appreciated him. and he let it happen
I think my real life transformation was for the better. But Gregors was not. His transformation was to get him to realize that the people he loves the most are taking advantage of him. And they're treating him like a bug.

transform

Im in a cartoon, im in a cartoon (throw it back ) im in a cartoon im in a cartoon doin spongebob on em do the ninja turtle on em going bart simpson on em ima transform on em In this song hes talking bout transforming into a cartoon like the guy transformed into a bug . He wants to be a superhero he wants to do stuff that a normal human cant do he wants to feel unstopable.

The Alteration

Many people change as they mature but most still stay the same thinking that they're sixteen through out there whole life. My uncle was one those people he hustled he banged and broke alot of laws and got away with it. One day he wasn't as lucky he was transporting illegal narcotics and he had gottened pulled over for speeding. The police searched the car and found that he had narcotics in the car he was charged with a felony and received 15 years at the age of 17. Once my uncle got out he changed his life immediatly cause he saw what it was like to be incarcerated. "I came with the intention of telling you all of this in private, but since you are wasting my time so i don't see why your parents shouldn't hear it too.'' -Mr.Samsa

Gregory has changed because he's always at work on time working hard but instead of that he stuck at home on the bed as a cock roach. Also another example of a real life transformation is the notorious gangleader Tookie Williams. He was a ruthless leader of the Crips in los Angelos, California. When he was out he was the D bo of every neighborhood until one day he had got arrested for murdering some victims of the crips. While incarcerated for life he changed his way of life and became a peaceful person that brought gangs together rather than killing each other.

Transformin Ya

I can transform ya, I can, I can transform ya Anything ya want, I can, I can get it for ya You're my baby girl, so you know I get it for ya I can trans, I can trans, I can transform ya - Chris Brown

It has to do with transformation. This is turning into a robot. Unlike our book where it is turning into a cockroach or an animal. The song makes it seem like its amazing to transform. But for Gregor it is very scary and he wants it to go away really badly. It is a huge burden for him he only wants to go to work. It just suddenly happened it what is very scary.

"He's not well" said his mother. That has to do with the story cause that makes it seem like it is really bad and he is very sick. That is true he doesn't even have his own voice to be even to tell them what is going on it is modified and sounds like hizzing.