Post 28

A good person is kind, generous, loving, caring, humble, polite, smart, they are consistent with all of these traits ultimately makes them a good person. Being a good person is not that difficult to do.  Respecting others and their values is at the top of the values you have to do.  The golden rule also is important to being a good person "treat others the way you want to be treated." The goodness in a person is ultimately defined by the actions a person demonstrates.  Being a good person as a whole is difficult, for example, when Antigone defies Creon and buries her brother anyway, that is with a doubt an act of goodness, but she commits suicide at the end of the play so I would not consider her a good person as a whole. What I am trying to get at is that people are capable of doing good acts, but are ultimately good people in the long run.  I believe that is what are text gets at in all of the stories in this section, from Antigone, A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Good People.  Ultimately they all demonstrate good acts, but are not perfect, good people.

Post 27

First things first, what Antigone does in terms of giving her brother a proper burial is very respectable and a very good trait.  She is an integral part of helping over the king;however, in order to accomplish that she kills herself.  Suicide is arguably one of the most selfish acts a person can commit it taking their own life.  Due to her committing suicide I do not consider her to be a good person.  It does not solve anything positively.  I realize that this brought on the demise of the king, but she is not there to experience his downfall. There is no way that fame can be enjoyed if you are not alive to experience it. This is a prime example as to why Antigone committing suicide is a bad thing and does not make her a good person what so ever. The fact that she betrayed the king is a very heroic trait and should be admired by anyone, including me.  As you can tell I have a very strong opinion on this matter, but suicide is not a good thing and it never will be under any circumstances.

Post 26

I think at the beginning of this short story, Lane Dean Jr. is a devout Christian and that is undoubtedly what he bases his life around.  I think Lane believes that at the beginning of the story believes that being a good person revolves completely around how devout in your faith you are, in other words, living by the book of being a Christian.  They have done a deed, by Christian standards, is very sinful.  Him and his girlfriend got pregnant out of wedlock which is something that is very frowned upon.  In my opinion, at the end of the story his definition of a good person changes, I think he lets religion take over too much of who he is.  He is more worried about what the church will think of him, rather than doing what is right and that is standing by this girl and their unborn child. This is my opinion and I could be wrong, but I feel that no matter what he needs to own up to his "mistake" instead of hide from it.

Post 25

A Good Man is Hard to Find is not only the title of this short story but a statement that can reign true in the world today.  This story blurs the definition of good abundantly and ultimately the label good loses its meaning completely.  The grandmother first uses the definition good with the character Red Sammy in that instance good seems to mean gullibility, poor judgement and blind faith.  The other label of good is towards Misfit when she calls him a good man while pleading for her life.

One character that is more good than all the rest of the characters is Bailey because of the bravery he displays in trying to talk to Misfit about killing them.  He also tries to keep his grandmother quiet meaning he is level headed.  He is good because he understands what is happening and keeping his cool.  The end of the story when Misfit says "She would of been a good woman . . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life"? He is saying that she is only a good person when she is put in a tough spot and not all the time, in other words, she is a fake.

Post 24

Hoffman, M. (Director). (14 april 1999). A Midsummer Night's Dream [Motion picture on Online].

I watched this movie on YouTube

 

The differences between "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the written play and the movie are quite abundant.  The differences I have found between the play and the movie by Michael Hoffman are in the book Oberon curses Titania in order to acquire her Indian page. Before releasing her, he reveals to Puck that his plan succeeded; however, in the movie Oberon begins with the same intentions, all mention of the Indian page is dropped after the initial confrontation and is never resolved. In the play it is never mentioned that Bottom is married, but in the movie itself it is shown that Bottom hides from his "angry wife".  In the play, the mechanicals first meet in Peter Quince's house to cast their play. In the movie; however, they meet in a public area where Bottom is humiliated by a set of children. His spirit is damaged and Quince insists that they rehearse in the forest to be not seen.
You never truly know why directors of movies change things when they make a film that is based on a work of literature.  They can do it for time reasons, cutting things out are important so they can avoid really long productions. In this movie, I believe things were changed to make the audience wonder, when Oberon's confrontation is not resolve which gives the audience the ability to piece things together on their own. The other two examples I used are pretty puzzling as far as why the director did them.  I could not figure out why he gave Bottom a wife in the play, or why he changed the setting of the place to cast the play.  It could be just to put his own spin on things, but it is hard to truly know.                                                  

Post 23

The character I have decided that is the best option for the protagonist in this play that has an abundance of characters and plot lines is Puck.  He is a mischievous, quick witted character that sets many of the play's events in motion with his magic.  He does this pulling his deliberate on human characters by transforming Bottom's head into an ass and his unfortunate mistakes by smearing the love potion on Lysander's eyelids instead of Demetrius's. Another large reason as to why he is the protagonist is his fun-loving humor, and lovely, evocative language that set the tone of this play. This play is dominated by the exact things that his character is portrays.  He is graceful but not as graceful as the other fairies which helps him stand out.  Most people would depict a fairy as a beautiful elegant creature, Puck is not that at all which also helps him stand out.  He is referred to as a "hobogoblin" at one point in the play which is not anywhere related to the term of  "fairy."

Post 22

There are a nice amount of connection made between "Death of a Salesman" and "Those Winter Sundays." The father/son relationships in each piece is quite close to one another in the fact that both of the fathers are portrayed as hard working men. It is clear that the son, who is the speaker of this poem, does not do much to help his father provide for the family.  He also does not share the same aspirations as his father, and he speaks indifferently to his father.  This compares to Biff in Death of a Salesman, he does not speak indifferently to his dad, but is obvious they do not share the same desires. Another connection that takes place in both is that the love the father's have for their children.  Even though Biff and Willy have their differences Willy truly loved Biff and took his life just so Biff could get ahead in life.  The father of the poem also loves his son as seen in the hard work he puts forth every day to take care of him and his family. A personal experience I can share with these two works is that my father loves me very much and wants what is best for me and I am very fortunate for this.  He has showed me what hard work is and the right way to provide for a family, it is something I will carry with me forever and  like I said I am very grateful for this.  The story that I compare the relationships to is "Boys and Girls" that we read earlier in this course.  The parents clearly love their daughter but do not necessarily show it very much.  Especially when she is confused about where her life is going in terms of her place in the home.  A movie that stands out to me in which the father and son have a different relationship is a movie entitled "The Rookie" starring Dennis Quaid.  Throughout the movie him and his father struggle to form a bond because of the hardships they went through in his childhood, but ultimately they find a deeper connection with one another.