Romeo: Tis a Beautiful Night

2005-04-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight tis a most wonderful night.
Doth beautiful maiden brought into light.
Graced mine hands and grasped beauty divine.
This night I stole a kiss and made it mine.
She is but a theif whose glance stole my heart.
A moment shared till fate tore us apart.
Stole from me my heart so I too a kiss.
A short moment shared in beautiful bliss.
Heirs to rival houses destined to fight.
Torn in two on such a wonderful night!

R&J

2005-04-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Romeo and Juliet has pretty much been everything I've expected it to be; however, it is quite longer than what i would have originally thought. The language is pretty easy for me to adjust to. I may not understand line for line, but I can understand the bulk of information and the message that is trying to be crossed by the lines. I'm comprehending the scenes pretty easily right now. The only problem with the language that I would have is that I can't translate every line into "regular" english, or really lamen's terms, but I guess that's okay since I understand it; however, it does leave me a little unsatisfied.

Commentary

2005-03-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

Links to the comments I made:
Kevin's Blog
Samera's Blog

Sorry for this being a little late. I forgot about it.
After looking at other people's drafts, I found that they generalize their ideas alot in the into. It seems that they focus more on the summary of the stories rather than the idea that they are going to place their essay on. This will help me a lot. So now I know to focus more on the idea that I want to present through the two stories rather than the stories themselves.

Comparison Draft: March 14

2005-03-17T08:37:00.000-08:00

Mr. Seal's 2nd period English 1 class is doing an assignment where we make blogs to keep up with our work. We are using blogs to familiarize ourselves with using new technology and by keeping blogs it is easier for us to share our work with our classmates. This way we can obtain feedback more easily and we can keep on top of our English assignments.

"Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing and "Brothers are the Same" by Beryl Markham have two boys going through their transitions into adulthood. "Through the Tunnel" has an English boy on vacation with his mother. He is attracted by some older boys that can swin through an underwater tunnel, and decides to do so himself to prove himself "older". In "Brothers are the Same" a Masai tribesman is going though a traditional lion-killing trail to prve his own transition into adulthood. His rival is set as one of the warriors to watch him and they later realize that they are not so different. The constant theme running through these two stories are similar; however, how it is approached is very different.

Reagan Nguyen
Mr. Seal
English 1
3-22-05
First Draft
“Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing and “Brothers are the Same” by Beryl Markham have two boys going through their transitions into adulthood. “Through the Tunnel” has an English boy on vacation with his mother. He is attracted by some older boys that can swim through an underwater tunnel, and decides to do it himself to prove himself “older”. In “Brothers are the Same” a Masai tribesman is going through a traditional lion-killing to prove his own transition into adulthood. His rival, Medoto, is set as one of the warriors to watch him, and they later realize that they are not so different. The constant theme running through these stories are very similar; however, how it is approached is very different.
The settings of these stories are very different, one originating under water, while the other takes place on the hot African plains. “Through the Tunnel” takes place on a vacation beach and the rocky bay next to it. “THE YOUNG ENGLISH BOY STOPPED AT A TURNING OF THE PATH AND LOOKED DOWN AT A WILD AND ROCKY BAY, AND THEN TO THE CROWDED BEACH HE KNEW SO WELL.” (375) Jerry is an English boy on vacation with his mother and doesn’t want to spend his time on the beach anymore, but wants to explore the rocky bay where he finds the underwater tunnel he wants to go through. In “Brothers are the Same” the story takes place in the dry lands of Africa. “They live on the Serengeti Plain, which makes a carpet at the feet of high Kilimanjaro.” (361) On the hot plains of Africa is where Temas will face the trial that will determine his rite of passage into adulthood, the lion. Whether on vacation on a beach or on the hot plains of Africa, a trial is what determines their passage into adulthood.
Both boys have a goal to achieve in order to prove themselves men, but the trials they must face are very different. Jerry in “Through the Tunnel” is presented as an English boy who is fascinated by the “older” local boys of the coast. “They were big boys-men, to Jerry.” (377) He watches the boys dive from a cliff and swim through an underwater tunnel, and he sees that as an example of being older. So he takes it upon himself to prove that he too, is older. “Brothers are the Same” has Temas, a boy coming of age in his village, following a tradition passed down by the warriors before him to prove himself a warrior, a man. “He must meet in combat the only worthy enemy his people recognize-the destroyer of their cattle, the marauding master of the plains-the lion.” (361) Being very different characters, the trials that these boys must face are very different, but the end result is the same, they will have proved themselves men.
In these stories, both characters have the same goal, to complete their trial and prove themselves men. Even though, on the outside, the trials they face are very different, the goal they both reach are the same. In “Through the Tunnel” Jerry faces the underwater tunnel and doesn’t want to be like one of the other boys any more. He doesn’t want to fit in with other people now that he’s done what they can do. “He could see the local boys diving and playing half a mile away. He did not want them.” (383) Temas in “Brothers are the Same” is able to kill the lion and receive praise from his fellow warriors. “And so he smiled. He raised himself and, swaying slightly like any warrior weak in sinew but strong in spirit from his wounds, he stood with pride and took his accolade.” (367) With the death of the lion behind him he is recognized as a warrior in the eyes of his peers. Jerry and Temas both had trials to face, although their trials were very different, in the end they both got recognition of their transition, Jerry to himself and Temas to his tribe.
On the outside, these two stories are almost opposite. One has a civilized English boy on vacation with his mother on a sunny beach, while the other has a Masai tribesman out on the Serengeti Plains under the hot African sun. Their trials also differ. “Through the Tunnel” has Jerry going through an underwater tunnel, and “Brothers are the Same” has Temas combating a ferocious lion; however, the end result is the same. Both of them are striving to prove that they have taken the next step. They prove that they have become men.

Evaluations:

What was your process for writing this paper?

I tried to create a skeleton of my essay on a pre-write and correlate the ideas. I also tried to separate the differences from the diagram and group them in my head so it would be easier to work a point-to-point essay.

When did you start it?

I started it in class when we were told to.

How does this measure up to other writing you've done?

It's a little bit more sketchy than what i usually write. It was hard working on it through my injury, which made me stay home and miss out a day. I would have liked a little more time to fine-tune my ideas and string them through the essay.

What is your educated guess about the grade on this paper right now?

I think maybe a B or a high 3.

What is the best thing about it?

The points a raise, but I really don't know.

What is the worst thing about it?

It might seem a bit sketchy.

My First Blog 0_o

2005-03-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

I created my first blog today! YAY! Uhm... so yeah. The experience was very easy for me and there are many uses for me having a blog. I could post up things that i want commented, such as my writings etc. Uhm... i think having a blog just for school isn't all that bad because it's easier to get feedback, but at times, it does limit you to what you can write, so yeah. With blogging it's kind of really just a journal that can post what I think; however, it is a little limited and I do have to keep it up to english standards. I do want to know how to customize my blog more, if it's possible, but that's about it. Having my own spot on the internet doesn't really make a difference, although i do have a spot to post my writings although no one would probably care. Uhm... what i think about my classes is that I DON'T LIKE hw and yeah. If only there was no hw and maybe more tests or something that would be nice. Maybe we could have hw become classwork. I just don't like homework. Yeah.

bluhr

Romeo: Tis a Beautiful Night

R&J

Commentary

Comparison Draft: March 14

My First Blog 0_o