Shakespeare

In English class, we are constantly getting assessments (approximately 1 every week or so...). This time, we had to research about Shakespeare. Before starting any type of assessment or any piece of work.

You always have to consider the PAF. PAF stands for purpose, audience and form.

In this case, the P was to inform.
Audience - was Y6-Y8 school children who had no understanding of Shakespeare whatsoever.
Form - we were asked to present our work in the form of a poster.

Born           April 23 1564
                  Stratford-upon-Avon,
                  Warwickshire, England
Died           April 23 1616 (aged 52)
                  Stratford-upon-Avon
                  Warwickshire, England
Occupation Playwright, poet,
                   actor
Spouse      Anne Hathaway (m. 1582-1616)
Children    Susanna Hall
                  Hamnet Shakespeare
                  Judith Quiney
Relative     John Shakespeare (father)
                 Mary Shakespeare (mother)

Summary  Born in 1582, there is no primary evidence revealing his life until he was 18. Neither is there any evidence of his existence. Many say he is a playwright, poet and actor. Writing 37 plays, and over 154 sonnets.

Did you know?
•Shakespeare was 3 of 8 siblings. But he was considered the oldest because the 2 before him had died.
•Based on textual evidence in the sonnets and some plays, some believe that Shakespeare was bisexual.
•More than 80 spelling variations are recorded for Shakespeare's name, from “Shappere” to “Shaxberd.”
•Shakespeare never spelt his name as “William Shakespeare” in his signatures
Shakespearean Themes:  
Envy
Jealousy
Perverse jokes
Romance
Hatred

Macbeth:
The three witches tell Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor, Glamis and the king. Soon after, he becomes the Thane. He and his wife decide they need to kill the king. Macbeth kills the king, his wife frames the guards to the murder by leaving the daggers Macbeth used in their hands. The kings sons run away in fear of Macbeth. Macbeth gets crowned king then hired murders to kill his threat, Banquo. Macbeth is haunted by Banquo’s ghost at his party, he then goes back to the witches for help and he sees three things...
1. a bloody baby saying "beware Macduff"
2. a bloody helmet saying that he cant be killed by anyone born of a woman
3. a child with a crown and a tree branch saying that he does not need to worry till the Birnam woods moves to Dunsinane.
Lady Macbeth kills herself because of guilt. Macduff and the army head for Macbeth's castle. Macbeth is killed by Macduff who was born by C-section which was not considered to be born of a woman fulfilling the witches predictions. Macbeth dies, order was restored when Malcolm was crowned as the new King of Scotland.

Time Era (Elizabethan Age):
Food - Depending on whether you are upper of lower class person. You eat different sorts of foods.
Breakfast, Dinner, Supper
Lower class: Porridge, bread, beer, ¼ lb of meat. Beer is low alcohol.
Upper class: The difference between the 2 are simply the richness of the ingredients. Not in terms of the money, but in terms of quality and quantity. The upper class would be served with more food. They mainly ate spicy dishes, or very sweet dishes.

Life: The Elizabethan Age was ruled by a monarchy.
•There was no schools for girls. They were only allowed to be home schooled
•Women could not become doctors or lawyers.
•They had no political power (apart from Queen Elizabeth), and could not vote.
•They were not allowed to act in theatres
•Every family is expected to attend Church every Sunday
Entertainment: Entertainment to people of the Elizabethan Age was key. Entertainment was something they celebrated. Entertainment didn’t necessarily have to be some fancy stuff like watching movies (they don’t have movies theatres), it could simply be attending someones wedding.
Feasts, banquets, fairs, plays, festivals, dancing, tournaments, games, sports, animal sports, hunting, hawking, etc.

Modern Shakespeare:

Shakespeare is a giant impact on our modern day life, he’s everywhere! Even if he was alive over 400 years ago, he has influenced and formed the world we live in today. Shakespeare contributed to our modern day English, he came up with creative words and phrases, and was known as the master manipulator of language.

Othello

• A Double Life (1947)
• All Night Long (1962)
• Catch My Soul (1974)

King Lear

• A Thousand Acres (1997)
• King of Texas (2002)
• Ran (1985)

The Tempest

• Forbidden Planet (1956)
• Yellow Sky (1943)

The Taming of the Shrew

• Kiss Me Kate (1948)

Its Hamlet

• Let the Devil Wear Black (1999)
• Strange Brew (1983)

Macbeth

• Men of Respect (1991)
• Scotland, PA (2001)

Henry IV and Henry V

• My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Romeo and Juliet

• Romeo Must Die (2000)
• West Side Story (1961)

Twelfth Night

• She’s the Man (2006)

Comedy of Errors

• The Boys from Syracuse (1940)

Richard III

• Tower of London (1939)

A Midsummer’s Night Dream

• Were the World Mine (2008)
• Authors borrow plots (Mama Day by Gloria Naylor)
• Children’s TV reworks his ideas (Duck Tales)
• Adult TV alludes to his work (Star Trek and Frasier)
• Cartoonists play with his words (Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield)
• Referred to in films (Clueless)
• Advertisements borrow his snappier phrases for captions and voice-overs

Globe Theatre:

What is the Globe Theatre?

The Globe Theatre is an Elizabethan theatre built in London 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company/The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The Globe has a capacity of 3,000 people with seating for the High-Class to the groundlings/low class.

Why is it called ‘The Globe’?

'The Globe' was said to be a reference to the fact that the actors create a different world for their audience.

Where is it?

On June 29 1613 the Globe theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A cannon was misfired during the performance resulting in the wooden beams lighting on fire and burning down the place. A modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre was built and opened in 1997 about 230 meters away from the site of the original theatre and it was then closed 28 years later in 1642.

Why was it popular?

The Globe Theatre is popular because of William Shakespeare and his theatre group’s involvement. In England, acting wasn't recognized as a profession until 1572 because the theatre was considered disrespectful.

How is the theatre different from today?

The Globe Theatre is the oldest theatre to be made. Nowadays, theatres have changed completely. Theatres now are sheltered, and don’t have the possibility of getting wet by rain. During the Elizabethan Era, theatres did not have electric lights to light up the stage, they had to use natural light from the sky to light up the theatre, making it more special than it is today. This mainly is because of the evolution of technology. As I have related before from the Elizabethan Era, women were not allowed to take part in acting. But nowadays, the law has changed and women have their rights.

Bibliography:

http://library.thinkquest.org/25592/shakespe1.htm
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/timeline/timeline.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQGATTeg1Os
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/summaries/macbeth/macbeth_summary.htm
http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/01/11_shakespeare.html
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-daily-life.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-entertainment.htm
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/whystudyshakespeare.html
http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQGATTeg1Os

Boogie-Woogie

Here is also another one of my music scripts that I made. But this time covering the genre of Boogie-woogie. It should give a little background information about the genre and its history. 

Popular in 1930-1940's but was invented much earlier.

"Boogie-woogie is a piano-based blues that became very popular in the midst of the 1930-1940's." Unlike Bebop, Boogie-woogie was the type of music to dance to. 

The position of the piano was the accompany the singers and also to play as a solo in smaller bands.

For most bands that played 'boogie-woogie' style, the 12 bar blues was almost involved in every song. 

Boogie-woogie was first discovered in late 1930's in Texas, where many people gathered to do jam sessions. 

For most Boogie-woogie songs, they are based on the 12 bar blues. 

"The 12 bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues can be played in any key."

Bebop

Right now, you may be wondering what on earth is 'bebop'. Bebop is a genre of music if you will. This was some research I did quite a while ago for my music class. Hope you enjoy it




For the music lesson, we were asked to make a presentation about bebop. And this is some research that I have turned into a script, so at first glance it may have not made sense to you. But I hope it does now.

Entrepreneurship news article

For English we were given an assessment to create a newspaper article. There were 4 different subject articles we could choose from. And I chose the one that was about a person named Ryan Hwang who has sold his candy recently.

As sweet as candy 

Born dyslexic, defeated in his academic work. Raised in a low income family. Ryan Hwang is destined to become the next entrepreneur of the year with his newly home-made candy

By FUNG 

Published: June 3, 2011

In what could possibly turn out to be another successful Virgin Music brand, a Hongkonger currently seeks to build a triumphant company. He sees Hong Kong as the preeminent place to build a retail business. 

Will there be more space for a new coming entrepreneur this year? 

Yesterday, Ryan Hwang, a possible forth coming entrepreneur and retailer, announced the release of his new candy line in Mong Kok. His candy has sold well the past few days, and Ryan is looking for more. 

Over the span of 4 days, Ryan has sold 400,000 packages of his new and innovative lines of candy. 

Since Ryan was young, he has always had the intention of being in the position of a Founder of a company. He had never anticipated that his life would go this far, but in a matter of time, his dream came not to be a figment. School life for Hwang was not a luxury. He attended City University, and he did not achieve academically good grades, nor did he get a high result for his physical education. He soon found interest in building his own business at the age of 18, growing and selling christmas trees.

“I was academically, and physically not up to the standards. In fact, I was dyslexic. At 18, I wasn’t able to do anything, our family was poor, and I needed to do something. So I dropped out from school to start my own business.”

 Ryan said he never thought he would become so successful in life. 

The release of the new line of candy was introduced in his very own store, The Kandi Stop. He announced it via a loud-speaker on the streets of Mong Kok. For a while, the police thought he was a madman, until the police tried the candy themselves. They were astonished by the quality.

 He says his candy is the most innovative and best ever to have been manufactured on the planet. “Our candy is the most awe-inspiring ever created on this universe! Once the candy has made contact with with your tongue,  it liquefies into a soothing fluid like texture.” claimed Ryan.

 Hwang’s inspiration has come from the successful, 41-year-old British entrepreneur, Richard Branson. Hwang said since his early youth days, he always looks up to Richard as a motivator. 

Richard Branson, states, “There are not many successful entrepreneurs that reach the level of where I am. It takes a lot of hard work. I am proud to hear that Ryan uses me as his inspiration, but he has to have faith in himself. As of 2011, the success rate for entrepreneurs is 34%, and I hope Ryan is part of that 34. I wish the best to Ryan!” 

Franky Ng, vice president of The Kandi Store, said that they hope to expand The Kandi Store internationally around the globe in approximately 2 years and have 79 stores world-wide. 

Since there was only brief details about Ryan Hwang and his new candy. I had to make up things such as his background and his past etc.

Hope you enjoyed this article!

Knowledge

Last year, I created a little document about Knowledge. This was during Year 7, and was the longest piece of writing I have done in Year 7. Although it seems very short, at the time I was very proud of this accomplishment:

“Knowledge is the psychological result of perception, learning and reasoning. In other words, knowing facts and information and the ability to do something is what a common definition of what knowledge is. Intellectually, knowledge is the awareness and understanding of facts, truths or information gained in the form of experience or learning, or through introspection. Knowledge is an appreciation of the possession of interconnected details, which, in isolation, are of lesser value. Knowledge is organized or contextualized information, which can be used to produce new meanings and generate new data. It is the act or condition of knowing something with a familiarity gained through experience or association.”

Good knowledge is hard to find. You can acquire knowledge by experimenting with things or by looking at things around you, or by reading information, watching T.V. etc. You can explore things, and gather new knowledge along the way. You can also gather knowledge by having conversations with knowledgeable people. In other words, knowledge can be taught through different types of media or acquired through experiences. As such, knowledge can be transmitted the same way.

I think that acquiring good knowledge is difficult. Things around us can all become good knowledge. Things that help us understand are true knowledge. What others tell you are not necessarily good knowledge, until you consider it and try it for yourselves, then it becomes true knowledge. You gather knowledge everyday, although you may not know, you gain knowledge bit by bit, and you acquire more of it, as you get older. You can also acquire knowledge in almost any activity that is if you are eager to learn. Knowledge is simple, look around and you can find it.

 A person, to begin with does not understand anything, but with gathering of knowledge, he will start to know more about this world. With more and more knowledge, a person will be more accurate and smarter, on every decision he makes. It is however wise to share one’s knowledge with others. Through this sharing of knowledge, human race would move forward. One can say that the person, who acquires knowledge, is also the owner of this knowledge. As all knowledge, are embedded in his mind.

Knowledge is a very important thing in life, in fact it maybe one of the most important. Without accurate knowledge, you would make wrong decisions, and the outcome could be disastrous. The more accurate knowledge you know, the better.

Knowledge is power.

“I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”

Socrates

“All men by nature desire knowledge”

Aristotle

“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it-this is knowledge.”

Confucius

Drama Classwork - Othello Lesson 6

Our Drama lesson objective for this lesson was to: highlight the theme of Redemption, but in our own modern day context from Othello.



I do understand that this text can be seemingly similar to a chunk of boring text. But I would like to share with you my work. As this is the longest piece of writing I have ever written so far, and it analyzes how I have created my drama performance.

I am also very proud of this, and I have spent quite a lot of time on this.

Please enjoy.

Representation in the Media

Today in ICT we took notes about how media is represented.

Media can be fake, yet it can be real. It is not controlled by us. It is controlled by people or organizations most likely the government. Media does not necessarily have to be the Television News. It can be things you hear on a radio, glossy magazines, newspapers, flyers, posters, etc. And quite a lot of it is artificial. But yet at the same time if we didn't have these types of artificial media, our knowledge is limited. Yet at the same time the media needs to make some sense of reality.

Media can also be bias. You may see in many movies, history programmes or documentaries, that they only show one side of the war. And they say this side is so-and-so cruel because of so-and-so. But then what about your side? You have probably done so-and-so, but they don't reveal this for many reasons including politics. This means that media can be bias. The producers only highlight some of the events that have occurred, and most of the time can be bias. Therefore when receiving media you should consider:

•Who produced it? (Was it a journalist, country, student, organization, etc.)
•Who is in the presented piece of information? (American soldiers in Afghanistan fighting, are civilians included, etc.)
•How is it represented? (Is it represented only from the standpoint of the American soldiers? Are there viewpoints from civilians and fighters in Afghanistan?)
•Why was it presented in that particular form? (Japanese slaughtering dolphins. Why did they present it as a movie. Why not present it as a newspaper article?)

So before taking in what everything the News says, think about the above. And try to differentiate whether it is true or false data.


Things that are included when presenting media (Gender categorization)


When you pick up a newspaper, you literally notice the difference whether it is for boys or girls, or men and women. This is a way of advertising in newspapers, or in different types of media. But gender is not only associated to humans, but it can also be associated with objects.

What makes them appeal to you that it is targeted for men/ women  is simply by presenting it as masculinity or femininity, which determines which audience it is intended for.

Typical masculinity characteristics are often revealed as a strong man with a six pack. A man who is tough, sweaty and hard.

On the other hand, feminine characteristics are often described  fragile, soft and fragrant

For example, in advertisements you will often see a car advert with a man driving the car. But on the other hand, if there were an advert for an airline they would use a female to represent it.

When a female is presented in an advert, they tend to highlight:
•beauty
•size/ physique
•emotional
•relationships

They tend to give the image they are part of a family and they work as part of a team.

Whereas, a male is represented as:
•strong (physical and intellectually)
•physique
•independent

Male characters tend to be presented as isolated, as if they are the 'spotlight' type of person.

Before this lesson, I knew that the media was controlled, and obviously there is lots of bias action that takes place. I did not know that much about artificial material in media as much as I have a understanding now.

I generally don't pay much attention to gender categorization in the media, but after writing down some notes, I now have a solid understanding.

The Mountains Run Along The West - Drew Carver - Peterson

The Mountains Run Along The West is a poem about nature, by Drew Carver - Peterson. In Art I chose to make a collage about my interpretation of this poem:

The mountains run along the West,
The rivers whisper as they flow,
The valleys are green down beneath,
The waterfalls crash as they go.
The rainforests? roofs are quite tall,
The lakes are incredibly wide,
The hills are glowing as they roam,
The plateaus have no place to hide.

We created our own abstract collage of our own interpretation. We were also required to make our own version of our interpretation of this poem. And mine this was my version:

The West they flow on.
Habitats they pass, rivers,
valleys, they keep flow.

Passing and tumbling, thriving to push through,
they plunge vigorously to the
icy cool, cool but not frozen.
Into the cool waterfall. . .

Through the night they flow,
through to the morn of light,
Say 'Hello' to the bright of tomorrow.
And say 'Good night' to the present.

Cause' there lay your mountains,
swooshing water, passes through the forests.
Where trees are high, reaching up into the sky.

Then we lay down our human foot,
tearing down rivers
valleys, and forests for paper.

Will we have mountains,
Will we have mountains, that say untouched?
Will there lay a habitat untouched?

As the mountains run along the west,
we run,
we run and chase.
Chase along the whole globe.
Cutting rainforests,

But the mountains, will still run along the west.

Another version I have written:

The sun rises on the east hiding at noon in the west, 

Running along with the mountains as the rivers drift in peace

Going down an emerald valley,

Changing into a gushing stream, crashing into bends and curves.

The rainforest high above with canopies in the clouds.

The lakes down beneath is boundless space,

As the hills reflects light as they travel along the mountain sides,

The plateaus far away from the shaded tree showing off their freedom space.