The End of the Line :-(

My stop has come for me to get off after a long and fun journey. I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone. It just seems like yesterday when I first walked into A115 on the first day of this course but it has been actually five whole months. I walked into grade 11 English thinking that it was going to be a killer but it was easier than I had thought. Throughout this course I have learned so much things and I personally believe that I have improved my English a lot.

My experience in Ms. Mazz’s English class was truly unforgettable. There were so many days where we had fun but also many days where we did serious work in class. I enjoyed reading Macbeth and Brave New World (even though sometimes it was disgusting). I really enjoyed Ms. Mazz’s ways of teaching. If it weren’t for her Youtube videos of Macbeth, I would have surely never read the play. Her chapter summaries for Brave New World and Macbeth were a big help. They really helped me a lot on the quizzes, tests and the final exam that we had. The idea of having a blog and posting our assignments on it was a great experience. It was the first time I ever made a blog and I had a fun time doing so. Ms. Mazz was also very thoughtful about her deadlines for her assignments. Her deadlines were always fair and manageable. She was very understanding and didn’t pill us up with a lot of work.

In this class I met a lot of new people who I have become really good friends with. The group activities allowed me to interact with my other peers and thus becoming better friends with them. I still remember how we all failed on our presentations and how kind Ms. Mazz was in letting us present again.

Thanks Miss for putting up with us, especially during the times where we talked a lot in the back of the class. Your style of teaching was marvelous and I have learned a lot of things from you. In the future I hope that I get teachers like Ms. Mazz and wish that I have her as my English teacher for grade 12. With that I end my last blog post and leave you with a small clip of one of the presentations that we did.

Thank you Miss for all your hard work and effort into helping us improve our English!!! :-)

(Please note that this clip does not have sound since it was made using consecutive photos which were combined together)

What does it mean to be a Man?

What does it truly take to be a man? Many people have different views and thoughts on what a real man is. Nowadays it is very common for a male to be called a man but does he truly deserve this title. When you take a look at Hollywood, one can realize that the true definition of a man has been dramatically changed over the past decade or so. On average when you ask a person what they think it takes to be a man, most of them will surely say that a man has to be strong, have muscles, money, a lot of girlfriends and has to be popular. This is the ideal stereotypical man which has been produced by Hollywood movies. In my books, a true man is one that is smart, takes responsibility for the actions he does, takes care of those who are close to him and makes decision which are in the best interest of him his family, and his friends.

As young male teenagers grow up they should realize that in a few years they will be fully grown adults and it is their duty that they became proud and hard working men of this world. A young teenager’s closest mentor to a man is his own dad. If his dad possesses the true qualities of a man, then he will look up to him and follow in his footsteps. Young males shouldn’t be influenced by what they see on television. Just because they see men with guns, having muscles, playing girls and riding pimped out cars doesn’t mean that they should do the same. Pearl says that “A real man may never pick up a knife or a gun, or drive a tractor, or operate a chain saw, or do anything that requires being tough and burly. But he is still a real man if he does his duty with grace and fortitude, not crumbling under the load, always getting up when life and circumstances knock him down. That is a real man”. As said by Michael Pearl, “It is not about being macho; it is about taking responsibility”.

Real men should take responsibility and do things which are in the best interest of himself and others. As said by Pearl, “sometimes a man has to do what is unpleasant. That is the demarcation line”. If he is to be successful in life, he should make intelligent decisions. Every man should find a job which allows him to work in a way where he utilizes his maximum capabilities. One that he knows will bring him success in the future life. “We live in a time when society is not producing as many men as it used to. There are a lot of freeloaders, a lot of lazy bums” says Pearl. Men should have the ability to do duties which they don’t like or prefer to do. A true man should always be committed to his duties and must overcome all obstacles that he faces.

A true man should know that he is the head of the household and that his wife and children will look upon him for support and help. He should be caring and understand the difficulties that are faced by his family. He should be there to support them and help them whenever the need arises. He should be decisive and the role played by him should set an example for all. A true man should possess strong leadership qualities for the family he leads. Some might say what if he doesn’t have a family? Just because he doesn’t have a family doesn’t mean that he has no responsibilities. A bachelor should aspire to be as successful as he can. He should have a good job and strive to get married in the near future because like the old saying goes “behind every great man is a great woman”.

In conclusion, being rich, powerful, or strong have nothing to do with being manly at all. A true man should set trends and live on principles which others will look at and follow. He is trendsetter for the future, one that is admired by his family, friends and those who are close to him. This is what I think a true man is!

Whose Fault Is It?

In the play Macbeth, many murders take place but the killing of King Duncan is the most significant one. When Macbeth first learned of the three prophecies, he did not believe in them, nor did he trust a single word that came out of the three witches’ mouth. Once the first prophecy became true, he started to wonder whether the same will happen to the others as well. The biggest mistake was when Macbeth wrote to Lady Macbeth and told her of the three prophecies. This was the major turning point of the play. Thereafter Lady Macbeth was convinced that Macbeth will soon become King and this greed led her to mastermind the killing of King Duncan. Even though Macbeth was the one who actually committed the murder, it was Lady Macbeth who provoked him into doing so. From that fact, I can personally say that Lady Macbeth was the one who was truly responsible for the murder of King Duncan.

During the Elizabethan period, where Shakespeare wrote his play Macbeth, women were treated differently. Unlike what is portrayed in the play where Lady Macbeth was the one who was in control and forced Macbeth to do things, the women during that time where made to stay at home and attend to house keeping chores and learn how to be good housewives. Many of the young women were made to stay at home after a certain age which prevented them from going to universities and colleges to obtain higher education. Women were the ones who usually attended to house matters while the men took care of the duties outside. Women were considered to be emotionally, mentally and physically weaker than men and were thought of as the inferior gender. Women were thought to be as compliant, polite and kind but Lady Macbeth was totally the opposite. She was the one who was in charge and it seemed to me that Macbeth couldn’t do anything about it.

As we find out when Lady Macbeth first receives the letter from Macbeth which tells her of the three prophecies and that the King is going to stay with them, she immediately begins to think of a plot to kill him. When she learns that the first prophecy has come true, her urge to kill King Duncan greatly increases and she advances with her plan. She talks to her husband about the plan but it seems that he is not interested in what she has to say. So she decides to test his manhood but Macbeth replies back and says “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more, is none” (Act 1. Scene 7). He tells her that he knows to do what’s right. She thinks that her husband is too kind and has a good feeling that he is going to back out of this plan. It is expressed in Act 1 Scene 5; “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’th’ milk oh human kindness/ To catch the nearest way”. Lady Macbeth even calls the spirits from the underworld to help her in this dark and dreadful deed. “Come, you spirits. That tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here”. She wants to remove her woman qualities so that she becomes a man who has the ability to commit such a crime. By provoking Macbeth that he wasn’t manly enough and calling him a coward, was enough for Macbeth to commit the murder. She says that “I have given suck, and know/how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me:/I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums,/and have dash’d the brains out, had I sworn/As you have done to this.” (Act 1 Scene 7).

Even though Macbeth didn’t want to kill the King because he was a loyal servant to him, the fact that he was a guest in his own house and even that they were related. But in the end it was Lady Macbeth’s persuasion talking and her strong argumentative qualities that lead to Macbeth’s ultimate decision. Ironically Lady Macbeth’s wasn’t as tough as she seemed. She was not mentally strong at all because in the end she commits suicide and takes her own life away. She had not only been involved in Macbeth’s downfall but also hers too.

In conclusion, I truly believe that it was completely Lady Macbeth’s fault. It was her greed to become Queen that led her to commit such a hideous crime. But what I am sad to say is that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were good people. But once they learned of the prophecies, their hunger for greater success was their weakest link which contributed to their downfall.

Blog Post #1: The Allure of Prophecy

In my English class we are currently studying Macbeth and we find out that there are three witches who are involved in the play. They play a major role in predicting what will happen to Macbeth and Banquo. The prophecies are bizarre but are truly accurate as we find out later on. Ms. Sylvia Browne does the same thing, she makes predictions about the future. Is she the modern day witch?

But unlike Macbeth, which is a fictional play written long ago by William Shakespeare, Ms. Sylvia Browne is reality, she’s for real, but does the same go for her predictions? I think otherwise. There have been records that people in the past have been able to predict what will happen in the future. Ever herd of a person called Michel de Nostredame aka Nostradamus. Well he was a French apothecary who is world renown for his prophecies. Nostradamus has been credited with predicting many events in world history from the Great Fire of London, to the rising of Adolf Hitler, to the September 11 terrorists attack in the USA. Both World Wars, the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Apollo moon landings, the death of Princess Diana, and the Space shuttle Challenger disaster are a few of his so called predictions which came true. Most of his prophecies involve tragedies, disasters, loss of life or death. All of Nostradamus' claims can be considered reliable since all of these events actually happened. But many of Sylvia's claims have been wrong.

Personally, I have never been to a psychic nor has anyone in my family. Can a psychic actually tell you about your present, past, or future? I don't believe in this but in the religion which I follow (Hinduism), many people do. There are many people in our society who have the ability to do palm readings and predict your whole future by using numbers from the day in which you were born. They claim that they can predict your whole entire future based on the time, date and the star on which you were born. I partly believe in this because I was raised up in a culture where everyone believes in this. But this doesn't stop me from picking up the paper everyday and turning to the back page to check my horoscope. Even though sometimes I feel that doing this is a waste of time, I still do it day after day. Does this mean that I believe horoscopes? No, it just simply means that since I was raised up the Hindu way, there will always be a part of me that will follow the Hindu culture.

Personally I feel that Sylvia Browne is a fraud. First of all, she is very intelligent. Her careful chose of words enables her to make predictions that are so vague but yet have the ability to come true. By appearing on the Montel show, Larry King Live and so forth, it gives her credibility which tends to lead people into believing her prophecies. Her prices for consultations are ridiculously high ($700 for a 20 minute phone call in addition to the 20 min long distance phone bill). Let alone her high prices, most of her predictions are wrong. A classic example was on the Montel show when the parents of a lost child asked her where their child was. She simply said that the child was dead. Her answer was simple, straightforward, quick and dead wrong! A few days later the missing child was found. Sylvia's prediction lead law enforcements officials to abandon the search and look in the wrong area, costing thousands of extra dollars out of the taxpayers pocket and wasting valuable man power.

When it comes to her predictions for 2007, all I can say is that they were completely absurd. The London underground bombs happened in 2005 and never again. Who doesn't know that the value of property always increases? The environment has always been changing. For the past fifty years glaciers have always been breaking apart. Texas has always been the major city to be hit by tornadoes and who doesn't know that the Yukon has the coldest winters in Canada (like duh its in the most Northern part of Canada). For many years she has kept on saying that a tsunami will hit New York and for many years she has been getting this prediction wrong. And even I can predict that Bush's approval rating will rise after he brings the troops home.

But this is completely my opinion. I'm not saying that all psychics are fake or that there aren't people in the world who can't make predictions. All I'm saying is that all this is a matter of your opinion and what you believe in. A persons belief is very strong and it takes a lot of effort to change the mind of somebody who really believes in something. So in the end its really up to you to decide what you believe in. Please feel free to leave your comments on this mind boggling but yet controversial issue.

I leave you with a clip in which Sylvia Browne gets debunked on Anderson Cooper 360°. Enjoy!!! (Please turn off the music on my blog before you view this clip – media player in located in the column on your right hand side :-) )

Äßøûŧ mɛ

*BASICS*

[ CalL mE ] - Ram or Sri….but never both
[ AgE ] - 16
[ FiRsT BrEaTh ] - May 10^th
[ LuKs ThRu ] - Black eyes.
[ Hair] - Black
[ ScHoOl] - W.C.C.I
[ GrAdE] - 11
[ ZoDiAc ] - Taurus

*FAVORITES*

COLOR: Any combination of red, blue or black
NUMBER: 19
MUSIC: Genre: Anything that’s worth listening to
ACTORS: Too many favorites
SPORT: Cricket and Soccer
FOOD: Chicken and Mutton Biryani and Chinese food
DRINK: Iced Tea
ICE CREAM: Butterscotch, Vanilla, Mint n Chocolate Chips

*THIS OR THAT*

HUGS OR KISSES: Hugs
BLACK OR WHITE: Black
TV OR MOVIE: Movie
LOVER OR FIGHTER: Lover
FRIENDS OR FAMILY: Both... but priority wise family
LOVE OR MONEY: Love
LISTEN TO SOMEONE TALK OR TALKING: Both
PERSONALITY OR LOOKS: Both

*IN A GIRL*

FAVORITE EYE COLOUR: Doesn’t matter as long as its natural
FAVORITE HAIR COLOR: Black
SHORT OR LONG HAIR: Long hair
HEIGHT: Just a little bit shorter than me
WEIGHT: Average
BEST CLOTHING STYLE: Whatever looks good on her
PIERCINGS OR TATOOS: Piercings but tattoos never
HOT OR CUTE: Both

*HAVE I EVER*

SMILED FOR NO REASON: All the time
LAUGHED SO HARD I CRIED: Yup
PARTIED TILL THE SUN CAME UP: Yup
EVER BEEN DRUNK: Nope
EVER BEEN CALLED A TEASE: Nope
EVER BEEN BEATEN UP: Ya

*RANDOM QUESTIONS*

DO I DO DRUGS: No
DO I DRINK: No
DO I SMOKE: No
DO I SWEAR: A single day hasn’t gone by without me swearing :-P
DO I SING: Does singing in the shower count….lol
DO I SHOWER DAILY: Of course
DO I EVER WANT TO GET MARRIED: Obviously
DO I BELIVE IN MYSELF: Sometimes
DO I GET MOTION SICK: Nope… never have
DO I THINK IM ATTRACTIVE: Maybe
AM I A HEALTH FREAK: Nope
DO I GET ALONG WITH MY PARENTS: Yup
DO I LIKE THUNDERSTOMS: As long as I’m indoors they don’t bother me
DO I PLAY AN INSTRUMENT: Yes
MY WEAKNESS: I’m too kind
THE PHRASE I USE MOST ON INTANT MESSAGING: lol :-)
THOUGHTS WHEN FIRST WAKING UP IN THE MORNING: Do I have school today?

ƜƐʟʗʘɱɛ

Hey! Welcome to my blog. On my blog space you can find out more things about me; like the hobbies i have, the sports I play and so forth. But the main portion of the my blog will be dedicated to 11U English class. After all, I was told to make this blog as an assignment.

At the moment I have nothing much to say. So when I do find something interesting I'll be sure to add it.

Until then...
Take Care!!!!