Macbeth Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdsXj4fIgWg

By：Andrew Yan, Roena Ong, Linda Xu, Ray Zhang, and Francis Lo

and not-for-Ms.Mah version:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZFNJrE5j-c
...I'm kidding, you can watch it too Ms.Mah.

Literary Device

1) Simile

“a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion.”

 (26)

2) Foreshadowing

“He wants to know what you’re going to do about the snake-thing.”

(34)

Piggy speaks for a young boy who is scared of a snake-like beast. This foreshadows the boys’ upcoming struggle with and fear for the never existed beast.

3) Personification

a darker shadow crept beneath the swarthiness of his skin” (65)

4) Symbol

“We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smock on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.”

(37)

The fire on the mountain is a symbol for civilization as it is the sole connection between the boys on the deserted island and the civilized world back home. Whenever the fire is out, a further step of degeneration into savagery will occur.

5) Metaphor

“Beyond the tribe and the twins were a loud and writhing heap”

(198)

6) Dramatic irony

“Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.”

(65)

At first, all the boys on the island are still subjected to rules from the civilized world, wishing to return to it soon. Yet they don’t know the fact that a war has broke out in their homeland and the society they wish to return is a minor image, on a larger scale, of the boys’ chaotic world.

7) Alliteration

“The first rhyme that they became uses to was the slow swing from dawn to quick dust.”

8) Epithet

“The smaller boys were known now by the generic name of ‘littluns’.”

(61)

9) Hyperbole

“In a year or two when the war's over, they'll be traveling to Mars and back.”

(84)

10)Assonance

“ the creepers shivered throughout their length.”

(57)

Learnt Morality

    Mankind is not naturally evil or just; it is a blank piece of paper that can be written on with every colour. Morality, too, is just another touch of paint on human nature that spreads on the canvas of life through time. Morality for each individual can only develop with coherence to the moral code of the society in which the person is present. Even if infants in their birth, with some mystical power, can bring along with them their own set of moral rules to this world, without adjustments made according to the rules of their new world, they will be considered immoral. As children grow, they will learn to adjust to what is considered moral in their own society and will finally be able to develop their own set of conduct to differentiate right from wrong based on the teaching their society casted on them.

    When a child is born, he inherits a dominating sense that will control all of his behaviors for the first stage of his life: a survival instinct. A baby will cry for food, for nourishment, and for all vital factors that he will need to survive the most vulnerable period of his life. He will not take into account or even understand the trouble he will cause on his parents, and will only consider what is needed for his own survival. At this point, his standard for good and bad is based solely on his survival instinct. He is ignorant of the concept of selflessness or sacrifice for the general good, which is closely associated with the practice of morality. The self-centered child controlled by this most innate instinct will not develop an understanding of what mankind considers as morality until he is taught the expectations and moral codes of his society. And only then will morality gradually take over survival instinct in guiding the child’s thinking and action. Even though, in many cases survival instinct is stronger than morality because of its innate nature. In life threatening situations, people will more likely follow their survival instinct instead of their moral obligation. Some can even argue that people only oblige to morality because of its close association with law. Self-centered mankind perhaps only chooses to follow moral rules to avoid being punished by law. Morality, enforced upon people after birth, is unlikely to be as influential to a person’s behavior as innate qualities.

    Because morality is a learnt factor enforced upon later in life, it accumulates through both the course of one’s life and the course of history. As time progresses, people integrate themselves and their view on morality. Just as new discoveries are constantly unveiling and knowledge will accumulate and be corrected, the code of morality has been developing with new rules added in and the old adjusted. Mankind has the ability to learn from past mistakes and improve himself, so does morality. In ancient times, people in caves have led a life of savagery and had little moral rules to regulate themselves. Yet as civilization develops, systematic regulations have appeared and people are starting to follow sets of moral obligations integrated together: the law. And law itself has been changed and amended thousands of times through the course of history to eliminate immoralities within it such as injustice and bias. Morality is like knowledge, as more of it accumulates, more is there to teach and to learn. Because civilization has changed, the morality taught in a particular time period is different, slightly or greatly, from that of another time. For an individual, his own set of moral code can also change with his growth and maturity. Experiences can change one’s view on life, thus changing the motivation for the person’s behavior. Morality is not always uniform and can be modified and altered because it is a learnt and accumulative quality instead of an innate one.

    Far from being congenital, individual morality is developed and changed through the course of life to meet the expectations of the moral code of the society. Morality cannot be inborn because the right and wrong that moral defines is itself a biased matter. No definite measure can be used to differentiate right and wrong as there will always be grey areas in between. Morality is defined and modified by its environment and a person is only called "moral" when he fits the definition decided by his society. Even if some innate "goodness" can be passed down from generation to generation, this "goodness" can only be considered as "morality" after it is adjusted according to the present moral code, as society is the ultimate power defining "morality".

Atychiphobia

     Atychiphobia: the fear of failure, usually caused by demeaning parents or traumatic embarrassment early in one’s life. 

   I am shocked when I read this definition of atychiphobia. Fear of failure is the very thing that I suffer from, yet my condition is resulted by the exact opposite of the cause stated above. My parents are always the most supportive of my decisions and are the first to acknowledge my achievements when I succeed. I have no traumatic experience of embarrassment due to failure; in fact, I have never experienced any major failure in my life. Yet the fact that I have little experience of failure is the very reason that I am afraid of failing.

   I see fear as the result of unfamiliarity of something new. I have overcome many kinds of fear just by forcing myself to face them and having experience dealing with them. When my parents told me to go to the grocery store alone for the first time, I was terrified. I was afraid of the ongoing traffic, the strange faces on the sidewalk, and the thundering noise of the busy street. Yet I overcame this fear easily as I went alone more often and had more experience. The same case applies to my fear of failure. I am used to being praised by others and receiving applaud for my success, but I don’t know how to deal with failing. Unfortunately I cannot overcome this fear with my usual method, for I will not intentionally make myself experience failure just to learn how to cope with it. Achieving success appears to be the only way to appease my phobia.

   I remember reading an article suggesting that young people should make mistake while they are young, for they will not repeat themselves after they grow up. Yet as I become older and gain more expectations and responsibilities, I feel even harder to accept failure. A year before I joined a voluntary tutor group that tutors elementary students at their spare time. I soon became the leader of the group and ran the session together with an inexperienced new staff who was not much older than I. Once when I found out that a deck of cards that the group used to entertain the children had gone missing, I was obsessed with finding the cards. I even cried because I thought I failed as a leader and was not being responsible for the group’s supplies. Later the staff told me that she had taken out the cards and forgot to put it back, and that even if the cards were lost I will not take any responsibility for it since I am only a volunteer. Yet the sense of responsibility following my title still haunted me and reminded me that I could not afford to fail. My fear of failure is growing deeper as I grow older and is not lessening with my aging at all.

   The fear of failure can transform into the fear of success, as sometimes the fear will prevent me from even trying to achieve success. One of my philosophies is that I don’t do things that I am not confident to be the best. The statement sounds good as a philosophy, but in fact it is merely a way to hide my cowardliness to fail. One thing that fear has prevented me from doing is playing piano. When I gave up playing piano ten years ago because I don’t have the talent for it, I decided to hide the fact that I failed by claiming that I did not like playing piano. The excuse got me into many fights with my parents, yet it calmed my fear and rejected my failure. I still feel foolish for being obsessive over such a minor failure, yet the fear that causes this obsession is not easy to overcome.

   Phobias are all irrational fears. Yet my fear is not like phobia of concrete objects; fear of an abstract idea is usually stronger and harder to overcome. In my case, my fear of failure can be so strong that it ironically brings about the very failure that I fear. I really hope that I can overcome this fear in time.

Quote Analysis of Lord of the Flies

     In Lord of the Flies, William Golding sets up a miniature replica of society with children on a deserted island. Many symbolism and allusion are used throughout the story and three quotes in particular are very effective in articulating the novel’s moral theme. In the beginning of the novel, the boys gather for the first time and decide that they need to have a chief to make decision. And one of the boys, Roger, proposes that they should “have a vote” (P18). This is perhaps the fist allusion to government and civilization in the novel. The children, despite their lack of maturity, attempt to build a government similar to that back home on the island. They try to mimic the procedure of a government by voting a leader, having meetings to make decisions and enforcing rules. The children are so influenced by the rules enforced on them back in England, that even when the people that enforce these rules are gone, the children are still on alarm. The imposed morals give the children a natural inclination towards civilization, which they view as “morally right”. However, as the story progress, this inclination is disappearing among the children and is replaced by their savage instincts. The lessening of the restrictions of morality appears in Chapter 4 where Roger throws rocks at Henry, a boy younger than him. Yet there is “a space around Henry…into which [Roger] dares not throw” because he is still restricted by “parents and school and policemen and the law” and “conditioned by a civilization…in ruins” (P64-65). Roger does not have a reason for throwing rocks at Henry, but his act is rather an instinctive thirst for freedom and wilderness. The quote shows that comparing to morality, which is enforced upon rather than inherited, savagery is more instinctive and inborn in mankind. The last part of the quote also hints that a war is going on in England and civilization is degenerating both on the island and back home. The degeneration shows that civilization, which takes a long time to establish, can be destroyed and turned into savagery as simply as picking up a rock to throw or staring a war. Similarly, the chant that the boys sing after killing a pig signifies a further step into savagery. As the boys carry the dead pig back from the forest, they sing “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” (P72) At this point the boys are completely immersed in joy from their first taste of savagery. Ironically, while they hunt, they let out the signal fire on the mountain and a ship passes by without noticing them. The signal fire is the boys’ only hope for rescue and only connection with the outer world. The extinguished fire shows the boys’ disconnection with civilization and their degeneration into savagery. The hunters seem rather indifferent about the fact that the rescue ship is gone, and is rejoicing over their kill. They now, instead of longing for home, desire to enjoy the freedom they have on the island. The fact that their prey is a pig relates to a character nicknamed named Piggy. Piggy is discriminated against by other boys because of his unattractive appearance. His real name is never know, which shows that he is seen not as who he truly is but who he appears to be. He is regarded as fat and useless even though he is actually very intelligent and knows what is right and wrong for the boys. Piggy is symbolic for intelligence in civilization, yet pigs are hunted down and slaughtered by the other boys. This signifies the boys’ desire to distinguish civilization on the island and degrade into complete savagery. The step by step degradation of civilization implied in the story is shown through the book’s heavy use of symbolism. Significant characters and events in the novel all have their part in the allusion to human nature and the society. The above quote are the most effective in comparing mankind’s civilizing instinct and savage instinct, and their part played in degeneration.

Textism? Txtsm!

     As mobile text messaging and internet communication technologies develop, a seemly inferior branch to the English language is born out of the convenience to communicate on electronic devices. This simplification of words and expressions due to difficulty of writing words on a numeral pad is referred to as textism. While some anti-textism advocates strongly oppose the use of text messaging words in more formal situations, textism can also be viewed as a step towards literacy development instead of a corruption of the English language. Textism is mainly blamed by teachers and linguistics for its defiance for the standardized rules of English and its ‘savaging’ of the use of words. But the emergence of textism itself shows the unlimited potential of the language. English is able to be condensed to its limit to create convenience for people while still successfully retaining its original purpose as a method of communication. Language exists to help people communicate, and textism aids this purpose by creatively twisting and turning English around to help people communicate more easily in text messages. Another reason for textism to be considered inferior is probably fear for its taking over and replacement of the standard English. Nevertheless, Textism, though much different from formal English, is able to coexist with English just as colloquialism coexists with formal English. Just as people are able to switch back and forth with conversational English and formal English, textism is also interchangeable with formal English. Textism itself will not interfere with the usage of English, not any time soon. Even if far into the future, textism will actually replace English, it is not necessarily a bad sign. Textism is concise, yet its use of visual and symbolic representation of emotion can effectively express what takes formal English many paragraphs to describe. As for lovers of literature, formal English texts do not need to be distinguished. Just as how Old English and Middle English texts still remained today in a world which does not speak these forms of English anymore, English can still remain even if the world is adapted to using textism. Textism should not be considered as a degradation of the language but a step helping the literacy development.

Ralph in Lord of the Flies

     Ralph, the protagonist in Lord of Flies, is a twelve-years-old English boy who is stuck on a deserted island with many other boys after the plane that is evacuating them from a war in their homeland has crushed and the pilot has gone missing. He is the oldest boy on the island and because of his “size… and attractive appearance”, he was elected as the leader of the boys on the island, even though Piggy, a boy with glasses, is clearly the more intelligent, and Jack, the chapter chorister of a choir of boys, is the most obvious leader (P19). My first impression for Ralph is a very charismatic leader. He possesses many leadership skills and is very clear on the rules that the children should obey. He tries hard to maintain orders among the boys. For example he knows when to talk and when not to, and uses the conch that has assembled the boys as an indicator of the right to speak at meetings so that the boys can only speak one at a time. But at first, Ralph is acting rather inexperienced as a leader when he encourages the boys to have fun and assures that they will be rescued very soon. When Peggy suggests that in order to get rescued, the boys should first start building shelters on the beach, Ralph ignores him and wants to make a big fire on the top of the mountains to make signals to ships passing by. All the boys favor Ralph’s idealistic assumption that the rescue is coming soon over Piggy’s harsh reality that “Nobody knows where [the boys] are”, so everyone rush up the mountain while Piggy tires uselessly to stop them (P32). Yet because the lack of organization and knowledge, the boys started a fire that burn down half the forest and kill an innocent six-years-old boy who might be playing in the forest at the time. Ralph’s character is relatable to immature politicians in our world. Some politicians are elected by people not because that they are capable but because their appearance, family background, and wealth, just as Ralph was elected by the boys for his physical attractiveness, despite his immaturity as a leader. The intension of these immature politicians might not be bad, but their lack of experience and practical knowledge often results in bad outcomes. But Ralph, unlike the incapable politicians in the real world, can easily be forgiven for his actions because the fact that he is a typical child. Different from Piggy who appears much more mature than his actual age, Ralph as a boy sees the island as a great adventure and enjoys the thrill of conquering the place. Therefore even though Ralph's unthoughtful command resulted in a disastrous conflagration, he is still a likable character to me because I feel sympathetic for the situation he is in. I personally hope that as the story progresses, Ralph will become more experienced as a leader of the group and become more practical in what he does for the group. Ralph will become a much better leader if he can adopt some of Piggy’s thoughtfulness and intelligence when considering matters. I think in order for Ralph to grow personally and mentally, he will have to accept Piggy as his friend and consider his opinion more often. Even though Ralph seems to prefer Jack to be his friend and offers Jack the to the leader of the choir, who are the hunters on the island, I feel that Jack has a very selfish and almost savagery desire for power. He is unhappy when Ralph is elected as the leader instead of him. After letting a pig ran from his hand, he cares little about the boys on the island, and all he focuses on is to kill a pig. Jack’s selfishness sharply contrasts Ralph’s wish of getting everyone rescued. I don’t think the two boys are able to be friends. In fact I think the closer they become with each other, the more conflict they will have and eventually become mutual enemies. I believe that Ralph is leader with many potential. I hope he can develop his leadership skills as the story progress and eventually be able to get all the boys rescued.

It was Beautiful

I've heard many times the witticism that our greatest enemies are ourselves, but I never really understood its meaning until I received a letter of challenge from the "other me". I was a very self-demanding person since I was a child and the reason I was able to keep my high standard was because I never had any serious failure in my life. But there was one unacceptable exception that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't master it: the piano. Reluctant to accept my failure, I silently made a vow to never play the piano ever again at the day my father sold my newly-bought piano for half its prize.

Years had passed since that day and I became a high school student. I understood that a person could not be perfect at everything and that my standards of being a perfect girl were very childish. As for the piano, I never touched on again and pretended if the instrument had never crossed roads with me. Yet it entered my life once more when I heard my friends talking about how piano examination could add bonus marks when applying to university. It was very tempting. The examination in Canada was much different than that in China; the Canadian version focused less on the technical part but more on the theoretical portion, which was my asset. But remembering my failure before and the anger on my parents' faces when I refused to play piano and they had to sell it cheaply, I didn't know how to ask or another piano.

Not long afterwards, I was shocked to hear my parents asking me for my opinion on playing the piano again for the examination. I didn't know how to reply and felt as if the annoying "other me" was pulling me away from my true wish. One part of me was holding back in fear for failing again; but the other side was dying to launch for the easy marks I could get for university. The opportunity lured me like gravity. Since I stopped playing piano, I kept myself from showing any sign of changing my mind. I was the one that decided to abandon playing piano because I didn’t want to look like a shallow and childish person who couldn’t even stick to her decision. So to avoid my parents thinking that, I put on a reluctant face and replied in a careless tone: “Sure, whatever you want.”

A couple weeks later, the piano that my father rented from Tom Lee was home. I had already prepared a piece of music and practiced on my table top, so I could continue my little lie that I didn’t give up because I couldn’t play but because I didn’t care to play. However, when I opened the piano’s shiny black lid to reveal its full mouth of black and white teeth, I felt like I was looking at a strange creature. The piano was different from what I remembered from a child’s perspective; it used to be much wider and the keys much larger. When I put my hands on the keys and tried to find the right position, my fingers felt so stiff that they couldn’t even move properly. Somewhere in my head a cursing voice kept mumbling “you can’t do it, you can’t do it…”, and both my arms started moving like mechanic arms of a clumsy robot. I realized the piece I played was so messed up with wrong notes and off- keys that it wasn’t music anymore. At that moment I hated the piano so much; it was like a monster with wide open mouth just to mock me!

Then I heard a sobbing voice from next door; it was my mother’s. I was so shocked and stopped my hands instantly. Was I that bad? I asked myself, and the feeling of guilt from the piano sale rushed back. That day my mother cried too, and I acted as if I didn’t care at all and was happy to get rid of the piano. She must have been so disappointed of me. Maybe I should just talk to my father to see if there is a way to return this piano. I couldn’t play it anyways. Just as I thought so and was ready to stand up and leave the piano, my mother’s voice came from next door: “Why stop? My dear, it was beautiful!”

I felt my eyes are suddenly flooded with hot tears. Then I realized how much I wanted to hear someone tell me that. I had been waiting for this praise, for someone to acknowledge my effort for too long. It was like the as if the only missing puzzle of my heart is filled in by these simple words. I was so satisfied and happy. I tried hard to control the tremble in my voice when I answered: “Nothing, I was just resting.” Then I put my hands back on the keyboard, took a deep breath, and started playing again. It was still filled with wrong and broken notes, still not a sing piece of complete melody existed, but I didn’t mind anymore, because my mother said it was beautiful.

My skills were improving day by day and now I think I’ll even have the confidence to play in front of my friends. To think back, the truly shallow and childish part was vowing not to play the piano ever again. But this silly little vow of a ten-years-old child grew into the greatest barrier I had ever encountered. It prevented me from touching the piano for six years, and six years I was finally able to overcome it. This simple matter of playing again created so many struggles because I ingrained the idea of rejecting the piano myself, and to be able to play again, I must face that rejecting part of myself first. This experience of overcoming the barrier set up by myself is the greatest challenge I ever had.