Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year. It's not like Christmas, where people express their love for each other through gifts and other trivialities, but when people can simply express their thanks that they have such great people to support them in their lives. I am very thankful to have been placed in Mr. McCarthy's first period Brit Lit class this year. I was definitely not looking forward to having to take this class, and especially fearful that I might receive one of the notoriously difficult teachers here at  Whitney Young. Mr. McCarthy makes class fun, interesting, and all around enjoyable.  It's nice that we can have class discussions not only about the literature we are reading, but about real life situations and that we as a class can connect with our teacher as a human being, not just someone who's supposed to make our lives difficult. So thanks to Mr. McCarthy for being the great person and teacher that he is, and for understanding the struggles of living in Beverly and  making fun of me and Lizzie for it. Speaking of which, shoutout to the surprising large amount of south siders in this class, Lizzie, Tom, Claire, Gabe, and I guess Matt kinda counts, even though he hasn't experienced the real struggle of the Metra or Beverly/Mt. Greenwood stereotypes. I'm thankful for my group members, Charles, Amy, and especially Candance. Charles, although he is quiet, is full of knowledge and always knows what he's talking about, even when he doesn't always voice his opinion. Amy is a diligent worker and we can always count on her for good notes and quotes to support our answers. Candance has become a good friend of  mine this school year, and every morning when I walk into class she greets me with a smile and we talk about all of the drama happening in our lives. It's usually our fault that our group gets off topic, but when it comes time to work, she knows how to buckle down and get stuff done. Finally, thanks to Liam, Cole, and Matt Patt for making class entertaining and for making us all laugh, even when it's too early to do anything but sleep.

Then he is dead?

Are MacBeth-ish acts worth doing if one realizes the rewards for a month, a year, a score, or a lifetime? I personally don't think that such evil acts are worth performing for any reason, because even if one can reap the rewards for a lifetime, there are still consequences. One who kills is usually sought after to be killed, so there would be a constant fear of someone watching you and waiting to kill you. Also, if there is a hell, a murder or murderess will find themselves miserable in the afterlife because no one who takes someone's life can possibly go to heaven or not receive some kind of consequences. In order to take the life of another, especially for a reason as foolish as to be in power, one would not have much of a soul or a conscience to feel no remorse or guilt for the horrendous act they have committed. If the outcome of said murder is rewards for a lifetime, knowing that you had to kill someone to get to that place will always be in the back of your mind and will always haunt you. It will always be there, that you're living a lie and that your way of obtaining power was cruel and convoluted, not to mention unnecessary.

Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy

"Fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty!"

This quote comes into play towards the end of Lady Macbeth's soliloquy. She has been informed that her husband has the opportunity to obtain the throne and reign as king; but, of course, there is a catch. Knowing that her husband is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" (page 18), to kill King Duncan, she decides to take matters into her own hands. In this era woman are seen as people that should be seen and not heard, almost like property, as if they were owned by their husbands and society. By staying one step ahead of her husband and Duncan she is planning to execute a plan that will allow her to live vicariously through her husband in a powerful position of royalty. Although her originally thoughts may make the reader begin to think that she is evil through and through, she goes on to explain that she wants to break the stereotype of women being caring, loving, and motherly and, figuratively, exchange her breast milk (which is used to care for young) for gall, which is used her as a synonym for poison. This interests me because she is choosing to become evil in order to reach her ultimate goal, but if she truly had it within her to arbitrarily kill a person, especially a king, it seems that she should have been evil all along. This quote, which speaks of figuratively filling someone with evil and cruelty, reminds me of a saying that refers to people who are extraordinarily nice; people refer to them as "not having a mean bone in their body". This quote, however, seems to be the opposite of that, as Lady Macbeth is purposefully developing an evil conscience within herself.

Truth

Despite the dragon's claim of complete, unlimited knowledge, I still am questioning him and whether or not he is actually a real being or just a figment of Grendel's imagination. Grendel, unhinged by the Shaper's words, visits the dragon to find answers to his questions about order, language, and truth. The dragon tells him that the Shaper's words are an "illusion of reality," and that they only serve to make the men think that there is meaning in the universe. In a way, when the dragon says this, it makes you think that he just wants you to believe what he says, but he is actually telling the truth, or at least the majority of it. The Shaper, on the other hand, has become quite untrustworthy in my mind and is hard to trust. Although I definitely favor the dragon over the Shaper, the dragon’s charm, which renders Grendel physically invulnerable, is both a blessing and a curse. At first, Grendel rejoices in the feelings of superiority this new power affords him. He enjoys feeling strong and superhuman in front of the creatures who once made him feel confused and ashamed. At the same time, however, Grendel also feels lonelier than ever before. Even though Grendel considers man’s moral and religious systems ridiculous at this point, he nevertheless has—perhaps subconsciously—found a way to experience the kind of connectedness such systems provide their believers. The dragon’s charm, however, destroys that sense of connectedness, preventing Grendel from ever fully engaging in his battles with the humans, and ensuring his separation and disconnection from them. To conclude, I think that the dragon is more trustworthy and all around better compared to the Shaper, but neither of them are very moral or good beings all around.

Modern Day Beowulf

It is very difficult to compare Beowulf to a modern hero. Beowulf fought a giant monster, while common heroes fight typical villains. Beowulf was trying to save Scandinavians from a giant invincible monster. Martin Luther King Jr., though not really seen as a hero, was trying to save African Americans from the monster of racism. Both the Scandinavians and the African Americans were trapped by evil things in society, both physical and intangible. The outcome was the same and they were both trying to do the same thing, just in a different way. Beowulf not only agreed to take on Grendel and his mother, but he defeated Grendel with his bare hands and also survived a trip into the mysterious lake, where he eventually defeated Grendel’s mother. Like Beowulf, civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. fought his entire life for the advancement of his people. Like Beowulf, he was aging and his power was in decline when he was faced with a hero’s ultimate dilemma. Was he more of an inspiration to his people alive, or more powerful as a martyr who went out fighting the impossible fight? Dr. King had been warned by the FBI that his life was in danger in Memphis that fateful day, but he went to face his dragon. Like Beowulf, he fought and died for his people and the power of his legacy to his people.

"Me"

Hi, my name's Ciara Lynch and I'm a sophmore at Whitney Young High School. I guess I'm supposed to talk about myself. Well, I'm 15 years old and I have triplet brothers that are 10. Both of my parents are from Ireland, so I'm first generation American. I'm not a very sporty person, but I love performing. I've been doing musical theatre since I was five years old. Singing, dancing, acting, I love it all. I have met all of my best friends through theatre and dance and I love being onstage. I live on the south side of Chicago,  but I'm so glad that I decided to come to Whitney because it allowed me to broaden my horizons outside of Beverly. In my spare time, when I'm not doing theatre or dance, I do a lot of community service. I volunteer at Christ hospital and Smith Village nursing home. When I graduate high school I hope to attend Stanford University or NYU to be a physical therapist. Well, I guess that's it, tata for now.