Poem Remix

The remix we created to "Everything is Going to be Alright" can be found on Sophia's blog.


Group: Jisu, Edgar, Lupita, Millicent, Sophia, and Yesenia

Individuality?

Reminded me of "Another Brick in the Wall"...

Intro to Poetry

Everything is Going to be Alright

by Derek Mahon

How should I not be glad to contemplate

the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window

and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?

There will be dying, there will be dying,

but there is no need to go into that.

The poems flow from the hand unbidden

and the hidden source is the watchful heart;

the sun rises in spite of everything

and the far cities are beautiful and bright.

I lie here in a riot of sunlight

watching the day break and the clouds flying.

Everything is going to be all right.

What is the significance of the title?

- The title represents the theme of the poem, foreshadows at the overall message of the poem.

What is the tone of the poem?

- The author holds an optimistic and encouraging tone.

What is your mood as you read it?

- The poem gave me a sense of hope and tranquility.

Is there a Shift?  Where?  From what to what?

- One shift can be found after the lines, "There will be dying, there will be dying,

but there is no need to go into that."  The shift occurs from a place of uncertainty to one of conviction in the charm of life.

What is the theme of the poem?

- The theme of the poem is despite the hardships and cruelty that take place in this world, we must learn to observe the beauty around us and find happiness from it.

Hamlet Essay

Some of the greatest conflicts that one faces occur within, they are internal struggles that consume both the mind and soul. One of the most common internal conflicts we face is the struggle between being true to oneself and doing what is expected. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius delivers many good pieces of advice to his son, Laertes, before he embarks to England. One of the most lasting phrases being, “To thine own self be true,” referring to the fact that Laertes would be exposed to many different thoughts, ideas, and temptations but that it was imperative that he didn’t lose sight of himself. This quote can easily be applied to all other characters in the play, especially Laertes and Hamlet. Hamlet is often depicted as a young man who cannot make up his mind, when in all reality he is a clever prince whom is debating whether or not to stay true to his morals, values, and himself.

Hamlet has a strong sense of loyalty towards his beloved father therefore when the true details of his death are revealed, he knows that he must take revenge. However, in his famous soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’ we are exposed to the great inner struggle that Hamlet is facing, whether to avenge his father’s death and murder Claudius or stay true to his morals for fear of what awaits him if he does not. We witness this debate throughout most of the play, as he continuously attempts to convince himself that the murder is necessary and as he calls himself a coward for not taking action. He is finding it difficult to remain true to himself and to his perception of what is morally right in the face of such treason and hypocrisy, yet we see a Hamlet who continues to follow his values. When he pardons Claudius’ life while he is praying we realize that the true Hamlet is one with a noble heart and a moral conscience.

 In a play filled with moral corruption, death, and revenge it is expected that feelings of hatred would drive the characters to action. We witness this not through Hamlet’s actions but through Laertes, as he discovers his father dead by Hamlet’s hand. The power of illocutionary and perlocutionary force Claudius is able to exert on Laertes is what blinds him to the truth and drives him to kill Hamlet. Despite this, we see him repent for what he has done for his dying words are, “Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.” He loses sight of his true self and is manipulated by Claudius in the attempts to get rid of the threat that Hamlet poses, however in the he does seem to regain himself and his sense.

On the surface this play is about revenge and a tyrannical king, however when we truly understand Hamlet and his motives for prolonging his action we see a different side to the plot. The contemplative tone of this play invites us to question our own morals and values, to place ourselves in these situations and realize that we too are struggling to remain true to ourselves. We see, we witness, and we comprehend the fight between what we feel is our duty and what our instilled morals tell is right or wrong. Hamlet’s inaction sprouts not from childish indecisiveness but from the internal conflict between duty and self.

Act 3 Scene II- Notes

Act 3 Scene II

- Hamlet is giving instructions to his players; act naturally, don’t overplay emotions

- Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that the king and queen will be attending the play

- Hamlet confides in Horatio, sees him as a good man; asks him to watch Claudius closely during a specific scene

- Wishes to see his guilt, both will compare what they have observed

- Party arrives; Hamlet makes his usual witty remarks

- Makes another reference to the short lapse of time that is given for the grief of his father’s death

- Scene unfolds, very similar to the happenings of King Hamlet’s murder

- Player King and Player Queen are eerily familiar; Gertrude and Claudius show their dislike

- Hamlet says that play is based on a murder done in Vienna, nonetheless they leave

- Horatio did perceive the guilt in Claudius

- Guildenstern returns with a request from Gertrude; Hamlet has struck her so much with “admiration” that she wants to speak to him in her closet

-Rosencrantz attempts to discover the reasons for Hamlets distemper; Hamlet bites back by saying that although they have already deceived him they cannot play him as they would an instrument

- Polonius arrives saying that Gertrude wants to speak to him now

- “now I could drink hot blood” Hamlet seems to be ready to take out his revenge

Act 3 Scene I- Notes

Act 3 Scene I

- Claudius now begins to see Hamlet as a potential threat; notices he’s witty/intelligent

- Claudius and Polonius will spy on Ophelia and Hamlet to find out is she is the true reason for his “madness”

- Polonius states that if one appears devoted and pious they can hide their true self

- Claudius (in his aside) agrees and makes a reference to the murder he enacted

- ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy takes place; it is apparent his conscience prolongs the duty of murdering his uncle

- Throughout his encounter with Ophelia, Hamlet suspects that she has been put up for the conversation

- States that he no longer loves her; tells her to go to a nunnery as soon as possible

- Insinuates that he knows what Polonius is up to

- Touches on the subject of manipulation and the falseness of women

- “all but one, shall live” hint of the murder of Claudius

- Ophelia misinterprets Hamlet, thinks of him as noble

- Claudius no longer believes he is mad with love; he now fears and wants to send him off

- Polonius doesn’t let go of his “love” argument and asks that Gertrude talk to Hamlet while he spies

Notes- "The Performative Utterance in William Shakespeare's Hamlet"

The Performative Utterance in Hamlet

-          Hamlet knows what must be done yet he can’t bring himself to do it

-          We are exposed to Hamlet’s great influence with words but notice that he prolongs his revenge as he tries to convince himself to act

-          Performative language ‘acts’, through locutionary force (mutual intelligibility); illocutionary force (what is being said); and perlocutionary force (consequences of what was said)

-          Language can create reality if used correctly

-          Bloom argues revelation comes to characters from self-overhearing; is it revelation or creation?

-          Paper will discuss whether Hamlet realizes that his speech can actually create change

-          Reason for self-overhearing= presenting inner self to audience

-          Can only utilize what was written in the text to explore what was truly meant

-          Meeting between Hamlet and ghost= two oaths; demonstrate the effect of the illocutionary force on the perlocutionary force

-          The oaths (illocutionary) drive action and result in perlocutinary effect (success or failure)

-          Thought à language à action

-          Problem lies in the fact that Hamlet only swears to remember the foul crime, not to revenge it

-          Therefore the oaths contain no power and performative utterances are not as driving as they would’ve been

-          Playacting is said to only contain locutionary force but not illocutionary (b/c it lacks context)

-          Hamlet knows that he is unable to enact revenge therefore turns to words, creates a self-loathing

-           Hamlet feels the necessity to accompany words with a display of emotions; mechanism of performativity

-          Connection is established between language and emotion

-          Belief of presence of emotion leads to belief in authenticity (important)

-          Problem of play= misrepresentation of intentions; mimesis

-          Central mimetic act= when Hamlet plays mad to hide his intention of revenge

-          To overreact is to risk authenticity, to lose the visage of sincerity

-          Hamlet must make his madness appear natural, as he advises his players to do

-          In order to pretend you must actually do; therefore in playacting the locutionary value between when pretending and not pretending is identical

-          Only difference between two statements is the motivation behind the speaking

-          Constative value of utterance + manifestations of emotions = effective performative utterance

-          Hamlets utterances have illocutionary force of appearing mad

-          Polonius believes this because he represents the formal idea of self (pre-modern)

-          Through his madness he can explore his own identity; his previous identities being unreal

-          “all of us create ‘utterly different yet self-consistent’ visages of ourselves every day”

-          Lacking necessary thoughts/feelings causes performative utterance to fail

-          Hamlet knows he cannot determine fate, brings peace

-          Evolution Hamlet undertakes is only one of closure and acceptance

-          “man who uses that performative power in the unending task of the realization of the self” ; not to perform actions

-          Just as he is dying he realizes this