Monday, October 28, 2013

Revised Paragraph

In the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses the symbols a pen and spade to show how  the narrator wants to life his own individual life and follow his dreams to write. While doing so he continues to show great respect for his father and grandfather who dug before him and expect him to do dig as well. He displays how we don't have to follow through with moral obligations if we want to branch out and be successful at our own things. Heaney also shows how guilt plays a role in doing so.  Heaney shows us through symbolism that we can live our own individual lives the way we want.





            In the poem "Digging by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses the symbols a pen and a spade to show how the narrator wants to live his own life and follow his dreams to write. While following his dream the narrator shows his father and grandfather who dug before him a great amount of respect. Heaney displays how we can be successful at our own things and be happy even if it means not following through with moral obligations. There is a sense of guilt that plays a role on the narrator and Heaney shows us that it is a necessary step to being an individual. Through symbolism Heaney shows how difficult it can be to be ourselves. 

      

Monday, October 14, 2013

Branagh's Portrayal of Hamlet

  
The director Kenneth Branagh's take on Hamlet in act one scene five of William Shakespeare's Hamlet is very peculiar in how he explains he carries out Hamlet's emotions. When Branagh discusses the topic of Hamlet seeing his father again in spiritual form he claims that it is hard for an actor to capture all of Hamlets emotions because no actor really knows what it is like to have your uncle murder your father and then steal his throne and his queen. Branagh also claims that he and his actor playing Hamlet tried to incorporate all of the feelings and emotions that they could. When i finally watched the scene that Branagh was discussing i was mostly just surprised. The entire time the apparition is talking Hamlet just sits there with a seemingly blank face that had little to no emotion at all. I was expecting some dramatic scene were Hamlet completely freaks out when he finds out that his father was killed by his brother but all Hamlet has to say is "O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!". (1.5 48) Branagh however does do an amazing job with the portrayal of the ghost.He makes the ghost scary but most of all i think he did an outstanding job on the way that the ghost tells Hamlet the horrid facts. The actor is at first some what speaking very loudly but when he starts to describe the scene where he was murdered he uses a very soft whisper as if setting up for a sudden loud outburst from Hamlet which of course doesn't happen. I think that because the way the ghost was portrayed it made Hamlet seem that much less emotional and also made it a lot easier for the person viewing the scene to pick up this lack of emotion as well. 

Monday, October 7, 2013

Hamlet"s Sorrow

In acts one and two of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character, Hamlet feels great sorrow because of the recent loss of his beloved father. Hamlet doesnt seem to overcome the feeling of sadness he possesses because of his fathers death and it seems most people he knows have. His mother the queen in one scene becomes frustrated with Hamlet because he is wearing clothing of a certain color. "Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,/ and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark." It seems it is very difficult for Hamlet to get over is father's death but that is not the same for others. Hamlet's mother marries the king who is Hamlet's uncle after the death of his father which seems kind of un loyal. It is a son's duty to mourn after the death of a loved one especially a father but to mourn for to long is the inappropriate thing to do. Hamlet's uncle and mother decide to have Hamlet stay close to them and not return to the school in Wittenberg where he was perviously enrolled before his father's death. When Hamlet is alone he exclaims that he does not want to live anymore and he wishes suicide wasn't a sin. He also scorns his mother for marrying his uncle. "O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,/ would have mourned longer, married with mine uncle,/ My father brother; but no more like my father/ than i to Hercules: within a month;"