TSW 5 and 6.

Chinua Achebe uses some of the Ibo language in his stories to set the scene and to give a more vivid image of the Ibo way of life. That is why there is a glossary at the back of the book. Some words he incorporates are: ‘agbala – woman; also used of a man who has taken no title’ and ‘obi – the large living quarters of the head of the family’. The story Things Fall Apart is solely based on the Ibo tradition and how it changed, so it is set where the Ibo live – Eastern Nigeria. They wear nothing until they are teenagers, when they where a loose clothes to hide their parts. The men carry machetes to protect themselves against animals and to show their power. There is no single ruler, but there is a council of elders which make some decisions based on everyone’s ideas. The Ibos have lots of gods, but the most powerful is Chukwu. But when the British invaded, their religions and traditions faded away.

TSW 3

The main theme of Things Fall Apart is the change from old traditions to a modern life. When the white men came, the mindsets of many of the Ibo tribe strayed from their gods and towards the one and only god of Christianity. Also, many people enjoyed all the money they were making from selling their resources: "the clan had undergone such a profound change during his exile that it was barely recognizable. The new religion and government and the trading stores were very much in the people's minds" (Achebe 157). In addition, some joined because of the thought of equality. Okonkwo was not one of these people, and stayed strong in his beliefs.

TSW discuss the use of relevant literary techniques in a manner that shows understand of how they create and develop meaning in the work

Chinua Achebe uses indirect characterization to describe the characters. This way there is more action in the novel and it gives the readers more to think about.
He writes in the third person limited, because even though he describes everyone’s actions, he mainly focuses on Okonkwo. This helps the reader sympathize with Okonkwo more than other characters. By sympathizing with him through Achebe’s description of his actions and dialogue, we can see more of his thoughts and feelings than others.
Achebe does not clearly portray the antagonist, but the reader can infer from Okonkwo that the white men are ruining Okonkwo’s way of life. However, looking from some other people’s point of view, I can see that they followed the white man.
The main conflict in the novel is between Okonkwo (old tradition) and the white men (modernization). Many of the Ibo tribe turned to Christianity in the end, but not Okonkwo, who stays strong in his beliefs until he dies. Therefore Okonkwo is a static character.
Achebe often mentions the seasons (e.g. the rain season, harvesting season) to go along with the plot of the novel and to symbolize change and the passing of time.

Letter to John Steinbeck

Steinbeck old pal...
I loved reading your letter, i can't believe how you portrayed me though. It was outrageously funny, but touching at the same time. Yes, yes, i taught you all of that old crap, but I'm extremely glad that you sucked it in, and found the real truth behind writing - there really isn't one. However, yes, i do remember those lessons where i gave endless lectures, where i saw your face fall every time i disappointed you in saying that there was no recipe for writing. After that, you seemed to dislike my class, but all students are like that, so i juts let it be. I am extremely glad that you respect me now, but you must know, nearly all teachers are like that, so don't worship me or anything, I'm not godly; and I wish people could worship me, but I'm just a plain old Stanford teacher who spills coffee everywhere you see. I've considered being a writer, but after lots of thinking, i decided not to, or else i would spill coffee over all that too. I am glad you have grown up to be such an amazing boy (I should say man, but your always a student to me). The Nobel prize acceptance speech was amazing. Oh boy, did you blow my mind! You must be born to write, my dear. You left me nearly in tears, you see, but teachers st shouldn't cry; it ruins our self esteem.
Lots of regards,
Your one and only Edith xxx

The Ant -Imitaion of the Turtle

The ant slowly inched forward on the dusty road which was ridged with countless bumps, just like a mountain range. Each step seemed to drain a joule more of energy from its already lifeless body. The burden it carried on its shoulder, a single fresh green leaf for its family, brought its stamina down even more as it trudged down the seemingly endless road. In the middle of the road lay a dip, to the ant is seemed like a massive hole. Everything was magnified for the poor little innocent ant. Just as it was contemplating its current depressing situation in life, a gigantic, vile smelling foot tried to trample the ant. Swearing quietly in antlanguage, it quickly dodged and stealthily crawled back to the saftey of the grass. However, the grass slowed the ant down even more, and it had to move up up down grassy mounds and sharp, stingy leaves. It finally reached its destination, the hole, his home, but he knew, with a sad sigh, that home would just bring more trouble, and he would be better off in the open road. But he didn't want his family to starve.

Book Review VI - The Thirty Nine Steps

The Thirty Nine Steps
John Buchan
Character: ★★★★★
Setting: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★

This book is EXCELLENT. I finished it in 3 hours since I just couldn't stop reading. The book is a gripping thriller which is a bit similar to Sherlock Holmes, only the protagonist, Mr. Hannay, was being tracked down by both the police and the 'Black Stone', which was the antagonist. The Black Stone was a large German association which was trying to get information from England through spies and a deadly plot. The book begins with a gripper -a man who just confided many secrets affecting the whole country just got assasinated in his room. A large part of the book is where Mr. Hannay is chased across the wide Scottish moors. In the end, Mr. Hannay triumphs along with the Foreign Office which aided him because they were in danger. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. I highly recommend this book for any Sherlock Holmes/detective fans or wannabees. It does not contain any love, but it is funny at times, but mostly just extremely gripping. The whole book is like a chase, and it is amazing to see how things progress.

The Bear Incident From Charley's Point of View

Howdy mates! My name’s Charley, the beloved dog of John Steinbeck. I’ll tell you about this really weird thing that happened to me last summer.
Me n’ John were jus’ havin’ fun, visiting Yellowstone Park n’ all. I could see that John wasn;t really interested, but I was pretty lookin’ forward to it. We got to the door and the gatekeeper came up to us ad said to John that he’d better be careful and keep me on my leash cause of the bears in the park. I tried to act all innocent, like, cause I hate beaing on a leash. It stings my neck, especially when I’m sweating. The gatekeeper was all like yeah, warned you mate. So me n my ol’ pal walked around the park, chattin’ about the trees and stuff.
All of a sudden, this humungous monster came up in front of me. Oh, what a DISGUSTING creature it was! There was spit dripping from his half open mouth and there was a smell of poop coming from his arse. Holy crap, I thought. Finally all of that growling and biting at pillows had come in handy. I growled as mean as I could, baring my teeth like a dog should, but the bastard wouldn’t back off. Suddenly, when the bear was staring at me with his dull, stupid eyes, I saw something. These weird images came to my mind, like flashbacks, except I never remembered any of that stuff happening. This one thing, that creeped me out like mad, was this bitch which looked exactly like me. She was happily yappin’ and all, also in Yellowstone Park except the trees weren’t so tall. But then this humungous monster jumped up. In fact, it jumped, then crashed down in front of the dog. I could faintly hear the snap of her bones. The next thing was just horrendous. As if the bone breaking wasn’t enough, the monster opened his mouth at the little innocent thing, inching closer, and in one go, bit off the poor thing’s head. That image really got to me, seeing the headless dog collapsing on the freshly mown grass. All of that stuff made me mad as hell, cause the bear just killed this innocent little dog. So I became all angry n; all, but the thing just didn’t stir at all. What a dumbass. I tried to snap at it, but John held me back. If he hadn’t, the thing would’ve turned into mashed meat. Seriously. But John pulled me back n’ locked me up. All that adrenaline was amazing, and my heart was pounding like crazy. I did everything I could to get to it, but I couldn’t. Me n’ John exited the park, n’ old John looked scared as hell for me. I calmed down when he gave me some water, but I could never get that horrendous sight out of my mind. -arghhhhhhhhhh

Reader's Response to The Photo Essay

"The Photo Essay" is a very interesting 'essay' which clearly depicts life for migrant workers who moved from the dust bowl to California. The pictures show run -down caravans, collapsing tents, and mud everywhere. I could see the poverty in the pictures, but the words still showed optimism and a positive attitude, for example the last picture which explained how the people still cared about love and family, and they were looking towards the future rather than dwelling on the muddy present. The sixth picture was also a little cheerful, because the kids were smiling even though they lived in a tent. This shows that wherever you are, you should always feel hopeful. The second and third picture depict how much the farmers care about their family, and how much of a closely knit family they were. The photos add a clearer image to our minds of what the situation as actually like, and it also shows up some signs of cheerfulness, despite the poverty and floods.

Reeader's Response to The Flood

"The Flood" is also a chapter from John Steinbeck's noel The Grapes of Wrath. It is also a highly descriptive chapter which talks about a flood which totally wipes out all of the migrant workers in the sense that they have no job so no food, which leads to sickness. Steinbeck uses a lot of word choice; specifically verbs, such as 'the land whispered with muddy waters'. This is also an example of personification, which shows how nature has control over everything. Other verbs he sued include piled in, sucked, beat, whirled, crept, whipped, and thundered. These verbs clearly show the atmosphere of the chapter, which is solemn and depressing. Steinbeck's dialogue is also unique, because he doesn't use quotations and it has a very strong dialect, for example "They ain't gonna be no kinda work for three months". The tone and mood of this chapter is very solemn, and Steinbeck uses dark adjectives to describe it, such as "frantic men", "wet hay and leaking barns" and " Their faces were gray with terror".
No work till spring. No work.

Reeader's Response to The Turtle

"The Turtle" by John Steinbeck is a very symbolic chapter from his novel The Grapes of Wrath. The chapter was extremely descriptive, but i thought that the description got a little tedious. Steinbeck described every level of the turtle's journey and all of the obstacles that stood in its way, including the steep embankment and the ruck which tried to kill it. The head of wild oats symbolized a problem which stick with us forever, that we can't get rid of. Steinbeck also described the turtle as having old, humorous eyes. The whole chapter shows the problems a family has to face when moving from the dust bowl to California. This is clearly a scenic mode, because Steinbeck focused solely on the turtle's movement. Basically, the whole chapter's meaning is: "Life is tough but you should always have your held high high and a smile on your face".

Betrayal

Betrayal is a very intriguing topic, but it also a very dangerous thing to come across. I find betrayal disgusting, because it is like making a promise, but breaking it. Under most circumstances I would ignore the person who betrayed me, because I feel that getting revenge wouldn't bring me any satisfaction and it would just bring pain for other people. however, I would feel a strong resentment for that person and i would probably shun them if they betrayed me. I would also warn other people of that person's danger and try to steer them away, just in case they could be betrayed too. I would probably not forgive to be honest, unless the situation wasn't really important to me. I have forgiven many people for making me mad, because somehow I feel that the ice-coldness between two people is usually worse than heated arguments (not that I've participated in any ;). Forgiving depends largely on the situation, because if it didn't really affect me and my reputation so much, I wouldn't really care. However, if the secret or oath was really important to me, then i would just kind of shun that person, however not in the 'evil' sense. When i say shun, i don't really mean knocking shoulders with them, I would probably still chat with them occasionally, but i wouldn't enjoy their presence.

Book Review V - Treasure Island

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Character: ★★★☆☆
Setting: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★☆☆
Overall: ★★☆☆☆

Summary: This novel is based around a boy, Jim Hawkins, who goes on an adventure with people, many of whom he later discovers are pirates. The book is mostly set on an island, and there is a kind or 'war' between the group of pirates and other English men who brought the pirates to the island unknowingly. In the end, they find out that the treasure is gone, and many people die. Jim, the captain and some other men finally return to England empty handed.

This book was good, however i somehow did not find it as extremely gripping as i expected. Jim was a pretty confusing character, and even though he was the protagonist, i did not sympathize with him very much. That kind of ruined my appreciation of the book, but the fighting scenes were exciting.

Book Review IV - Inkdeath

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Character: ★★★★☆
Setting: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★☆☆
Overall: ★★★☆☆

Summary: This book is the third book in the Inkheart trilogy. It's about Meggie and her father who are in Inkdeath, trying to fight for freedom for the people against the Black Prince and his master.

This book was very gripping, however i found that it was much easier than i had expected because i had read the previous two books when i was around 10. I think the book is targeted more at children around 12, because i found that it had a simpler plot, characters and words as the other books i've been reading recently. Apart from that, the book was great fun and not challenging at all. I felt that there could have been more depth in some areas and the ending was a bit disappointing after the previous two books were filled with action. I prefer Inkdeath because it contained more action and was more exciting to read.

Book Review III - Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Character: ★★★★☆
Setting: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★☆☆

Summary: This is a story about an orphaned boy called Charles Dickens who had an unfair childhood but has a happy life at the end. He is raised at first in an orphanage but he runs away and he does lots of little things. He meets Fagin who teaches him how to steal. One time, he is amazed by the way Jack Dawkins stole a handkerchief, but he got caught and accused of stealing the handkerchief. The man who lots his handkerchief saves Charles and takes him in. He gets taken back by Fagin when he tries to help the man. He has to help Sikes in a burglary and gets shot. The owners of the house he tried to rob feel sorry for him and raise him up. Oliver gets reunited with the kind gentleman, Mr. Bronlow and together they find out about Oliver's dark childhood. Oliver finds out who his relatives are and Fagin gets hanged. In the end, Mr. Bronlow adopts Oliver and together with the kind people who Oliver tried to rob, they live happily together in the countryside.

I like this book a lot, but it was annoying reading about how Oliver was constantly mistreated and shunned by society. The ending was really satisfactory. I recommend this book to anyone who likes real life stories and happy endings.

Book Review II - Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Character: ★★★★★
Setting: ★★★★☆
Plot: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★

Summary: This book is also set in England and is told from the point of view of Mr. Lockwood who stays in the Grange which is in the Yorkshire moors. Sparked by curiosity, he visits his tenant's (Mr. Heathcliff) house and from that time, he gradually learns of the dark history of Wuthering Heights which is where Mr. Heathcliff lives. The story has many deaths and is tragic, but ends quite peacefully because Mr. Lockwood finds out a year later that the 'crazy' Mr. Heathcliff has died, and Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine Linton are living happily together.

I like this book a lot. The plot is extremely gripping and dark, because at least three of the main characters die. This book is aimed mostly at girls because i would expect that boys wouldn't like the crazy love scenes. There is a lot of death and tragedy though. Heathcliff annoyed me a lot, even though he was crazily in love, because it was mainly because of him that Mr and Mrs. Linton died.

Book Review I - Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Character: ★★★★★

Setting: ★★★☆☆

Plot: ★★★★☆

Overall: ★★★★☆

Brief Summary: This book set in England's countryside is written in the 1st person, and it is about the life of Jane Eyre, an orphan who was brought up by her harsh aunt. She goes to school partly due to the way she is 'shunned' by her aunt and cousins who look after her. She goes to a strict boarding school and is amazed at how sensible and obedient the students are in the way that they always listen to the teachers and do not get mad when beaten by a teacher for something they didn't necessarily do. She befriends a kind gird called Helen and slowly learns to be obedient. She is also in love with Miss Temple, the generous teacher who all of the students love. An outbreak of typhus fever causes many of the school's students to die, including Helen. The school's harsh discipline is made much better once people discover the state of the school, and Jane lives comfortably for a few more years and teaches for about 2 years. When Miss Temple marries and leaves, she feels bored at school again so she seeks a job as a governess. She gets employed very soon by Mrs. Fairfax of Thornfield Hall, and lives happily with Adele. She later finds out that the master, Mr. Rochester is going there, and she feels mystified by Edward's curious personality. As time passes, they get closer through life-death experiences, like when Mr. Rochester's bed hangings were set on fire by 'Grace Poole' and Jane saved him. However, a big party happens in Thornfield Hall and Mr. Rochester says that he is going to marry Miss Ingram. The arrangements are all made, but one twilight, while walking in an orchard, Mr. Rochester declares his love for Jane and explains how the marriage was just to make Jane jealous. On the day that they were going to get married, they can't because someone said that Mr. Rochester was already married. Jane finds out about the ghastly woman on the 3rd floor who is Mr. Rochester's wife and leaves, leaving Mr. Rochester heartbroken. After some hardships, Jane is saved by a kind family and she teaches at a poor school. She later finds out that the kind family who saved her were distant relations of Jane, and she also finds out that she is rich because her uncle died and gave money to her. She shares out the money, but then the Saint who saved her wanted to marry her so they could go together to India as missionaries. Jane refuses and goes back to Mr. Rochester and finds out that he is blind because there was a big fire at Thornfield and Mr. Rochester's wife committed suicide, but they still love each other and get married and live happily ever after.

For me, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was an excellent book, but i think it would have meant more to me if i hadn't read Wuthering Heights straight before, because i kind of got sick of romantic stories. I think this book mainly just aimed at females who like reading romantic stories.

Romances -Brutus

Brutus followed nearly all of the chivalric qualities. He was constantly saying how he did every for his country, and the daring acts he performed were all due to his honor for his country. He was loyal to his country by trying to give the people freedom, but he saw mostly only Cassius' perspective, so he tried to change some things that were already quite peaceful. He was also very courageous and fought for victory and went to war with Antony. However, he sometimes lost courage, for example he was frightened when he saw Caesar's ghost, and he committed suicide because he felt that he had lost in his heart, and Cassius was gone. He was not so courteous, because even though Julius Caesar was his friend, he killed him, but he thought it was right. he didn't follow anyone's rule except for Cassius' and sometimes he disagreed with his ideas. He kind of followed the rule of chastity, because even though he was married to Portia, he was a loyal husband mostly, except for when he didn't tell Portia what he was doing at night. He mourned a little for her death too, but he was careful not to show a leak in his honor and courage. On the whole, Brutus was a great man who followed mostly all of the chivalric code, except sometimes he was mislead by Cassius or images of Caesar's ghost.

Compare/Contrast Steinbeck and ...

The life of Sir Launcelot has been rewritten and changed many times, and two stories about him portray his personality very differently. Sir Launcelot du Lake shows Sir Launcelot as a brave, strong soldier who is harmless to any man. He heeds to no bad persuasion, not even the threat of death if he did not 'be with' one of the three women. He possessed exaggerated powers such as super strength and courage. However, the Sir Launcelot portrayed by Steinbeck shows the softer side of Launcelot. He falls passionately for Queen Qwynever, the wife of his good friend King Arthur, and does something he regrets later for doing. Steinbeck's version was much more reaistic, and we could sympathize and empathize with many of his actions (except the outrageous kissing which showed that he was not as faithful to King Arthur and the chivalric code as everyone had expected). The narrator of Sir Laucelot du Lake sounded like one of the millions of admirers Launcelot had. According to Steinbeck's version, many witnesses were in awe of him, but Sir Launcelot seemed tired and uncaring about what they all said. This shows that even though he has strength, he is not entirely honorable, as he was bored while the exaggerated events played on in his ears. He also did not possess chastity, which shows that Launcelot did not completely obey with the chrivalric code. This makes Sir Launcelot seem more real and life-like, but not necessarily more likeable. This is a little relieved by the fact that he felt guilty after he did the outrageous thing with Guinevere, but he cried, which may be a little dissapoiting, but it makes him stand out more. Overall, both stories are very different, one with Sir Launcelot as an unfeeling warrior who fights proudly for honor without a second glance at any woman except Guinevere, the other showed a passionated love affair. One thing in common was that Sir Launcelot was strong.

ISSUES: Suicide

In Antigone, suicide is portrayed as a sort of act of relief, and many of the characters commit suicide. "And if this hurries me to death before my time, why, such a death is gain." Antigone, a tragedy by Sophocles, Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice all commit suicide due to depression, love or hopelessness. Antigone – because she was starving to death, wanted to join her brother in heaven, and felt that life had no more meaning anymore. Haemon, who was engaged to Antigone, felt heartbroken that his lover had died, and committed suicide with her. Haemon also committed suicide because he disliked his father’s way of ruling, and they disagreed on law. In the end, Creon finally understood his flaw, but it was already too late, and his wife, son, and to-be daughter all died due to him. His wife, Eurydice killed herself because she knew she could not live her husband, the one who led her son to die. She felt that Greece would be filled with tyranny, even after Creon had his epiphany, because the commoners would also be affected by the death of the two lovers, and pluck up the courage, like Antigone, to speak out their opinions. Ismene said to Antigone: “let me share your death and the holy homage to the dead.” So she wasn’t afraid either, as long as she was with her sister and dead brother. She said that she would accompany Antigone together, and basically, love would make sure nothing would ever tear them apart. Currently, suicide is not a major topic in the news, but occasionally, terrorists have made suicide attacks. Many of these men are either depressed or hopeless. In Antigone, it is similar, but their deaths have been received by the people better, because she was higher in ranking. Some people also commit suicide due to heartbreak, but not very often do we hear of it. Currently, in mainly Japan and Korea, students have been committing suicide just because of bad grades or a drop in class ranking. This is because the education system is much tougher than the U.S. system.

ISSUES: The Role of Women

I admire Antigone’s courage as a woman. In the past, women have always been seen as the same old stereotype – ‘the angel of the house.” Women were always expected to stay in the house, look after children, play musical instruments, cook, clean, and entertain. In WWI, women gained a better reputation: women were more efficient in working in factories than men. When the men had gone off to fight wars, women looked after farms and created airplane parts. Women were more efficient because unlike men, they did not get drunk and could work stably. Many men felt that women should not have so much power, and they used things such as “while the housemaid was voting for prime minister, she forgot to take the bun out of the oven.” Many men thought that women were emotionally unstable, but after the world wars, women’s reputations grew. For example, they were allowed to vote, and Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister in England. Even though women in history haven’t been the focus of heroes, they have often brought down powerful people due to love. Powerful men have sometimes sacrificed their life to protect their wives, for example Haemon and Antigone. Romeo and Juliet is also a good example, because even though Romeo had money and a healthy life, he gave it up because of Juliet. Currently, in the 21^st century, more movies have contained female heroes, such as Wonder Woman and Hermione, who have played major roles in saving the world and bringing the downfall of an evil or unjustifiable character. In Antigone, she was the only women who had the strength to fight for justice. Her sister, Ismene, felt hopeless: “You ought to realize we are only women, /not meant to fight against men,/and that we are ruled by those who are stronger,/to obedience in this and even more painful matters." Line 64-73. Antigone died honorably, but Eurydice died shamefully, feeling that she had no protection anymore, and she had had an awful life. Eurydice was a sad excuse for a powerful women, and that is often what men think of women. Creon was afraid of tyranny, but more afraid of a woman like Antigone taking over: "When I am alive no woman shall rule." This shows that me felt shamed if women took power over the country.

Compare/Constrast -JC Movie & Book

Julius Caesar is a famous play written by Shakespeare. There is only one play, whereas many versions of the movie have been created. The movie has some parts cut out, probably because it was unnecessary or irrelevant to the movie scene. In the play, the actors have to move away from the scene when performing an aside, and the other characters gave to pretend that they aren't listening. In the movie, the character can just seem as if they are thinking it in their head and the camera can zoom into their face with their thoughts being told out loud. The movie takes less than one second to change scenes, whereas the curtains have to draw close every time a scene is changed. Also, the movie seems more realistic, because the set can change into real fields and buildings, whereas the set has to be made bit by bit and put on stage.

Portia: Is Brutus sick? Structured Paragraph

Qi Pan
Ms Lindsay
January 13th 2009
Julius Caesar - Structured Paragraph

Portia: Is Brutus sick?
This important paragraph of the play Julius Caesar is narrated by Portia, Brutus’ husband. Portia thinks that she should know what Brutus is up to, so she uses rhetorical questions, ethos, and counterarguments to try to make Brutus tell the truth. One of the ways Portia uses to convince Brutus is by using rhetorical questions, for example: “Is it physical / To walk unbraced and suck up the humors / Of the dank morning?” (Caesar 2.1.261-263). This is a rhetorical question because Portia answers the question four lines later. Portia uses this rhetoric to make Brutus think about what he’s doing. Another technique Portia uses is ethos; for instance: “Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, […] Am I yourself, […] To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, / And talk to you sometimes?” (Caesar 2.1.280, 282, 284-285). Portia uses this rhetorical device to make Brutus think if what he is doing is really the right decision, because Brutus knows that after marriage, husband and wife should confide in each other. By explaining to Brutus how she is loyal to him, she can make Brutus feel guilty, because it is right, as her husband, for Brutus to be faithful to her too. Portia also uses counter-argument very tactfully: “I grant I am a woman, but withal / A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife, […] A woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter.” (Caesar 2.1.293-295). Here, Portia anticipates what Brutus is thinking – that Portia is only a woman – and says why he is wrong. Portia uses this to show Brutus how high she is in society, and that she is not only a woman. This shows that Portia believes that as her wife, Brutus should be honest to her. Consequently, Portia, through using strong persuasive skills, tries to sway Brutus’ state of mind to tell her what is wrong. The reader can infer from this passage that Portia is a caring, determined and good-willed wife.

What I think about Shakespeare...

I like Shakespeare A LOT, even though we have lots of homework because of him, because he is a phenomenal man. I wonder where he gets his ideas from... I wish I could be like him, inspirational etc... But it's just that we have to study his plays rather than read them for fun... But i guess it's for our own good. It's annoying how the main character usually dies because he/she misses or ignores the warning in his plays. it's agonizing (and annoying) to feel the pain of their death... but that's what makes the swan of avon such a great poet/playwright. I love Shakespeare' dramatic irony. He makes us feel the pain of Artimedorus etc... Did Shakespeare get his ideas from his teacher's whip? Surely that wouldn't help... He has inspired many modern writers using his amazing talent, but personally, I don't think that anyone can surpass his skill and craftiness in the art of dramatic irony and literature