Cheezay Blog

I think the most important thing I could say looking back on this year is to stay on time with stuff. I say this mostly with reading and blogs which is most of the class’ work. First I must say, blogs are the bane of my existence. I hate them. I think if blogs were a person then I’d shoot them. While this is true, they really make up a lot of points and add up after awhile. Even if you can turn in stuff late, it’s really hard to catch up and get back on track so really you just needa suck it up and get it done. Kind of the same thing with reading stuff. If you dont read something, a lot of the time you get lucky and theres no reading quiz or anything, but its always good to play it safe and just read. I dont know what yall will be reading, but almost all the stuff we read was pretty darn good and worth reading. Another thing is to be active in class. That participation grade’ll sneak up on ya at the end of the quarter adn either really help or hurt. GOOD LUCK!!! Oh and dont worry about da Duke, she’s really not that bad, in fact she’s actually really fun and interesting as I’ve found this year, and that is NOT butt kissing!

Dear Mr. Beale,

We recently listened to your recording of Hamlet in our english class and I must say, it was pretty dang good. I would like to talk a little about your character in particular. I recently wrote a letter to Kenneth Branagh who did a movie interpretation of Hamlet and also critiqued his performance. I kind of said the same thing to Mr. Branagh but I think of Hamlet as super BA. Your performance was a little…well… girly…sorry. I think of Hamlet as a buff, vengeful, scruffy, scrappy, lumber jack. Because of this, i imagine his voice sounding more gravelly adn rough especially after being  captured by the pirates. People think that Hamlet is crazy but I think that Hamlet is constantly plotting and very wise. Because he is constantly looking towards the future and has a plan, i think he should sound very calm. Because he is so stoic, I think people would get very aggravated with him also so he kind of makes a lot of enemies along the way but he doesnt care because he’s hung up oin revenge and hes really BA. If any of yall have seen the movie The Punisher…ya…him, sounds like him.

thanks,

           Jonathan Chetta

Dear Mr. Branagh,

First of all I’d like to say your interpretation of Hamlet through your movie was amazing! While it was very good, there still are a couple things I’d like to comment on, they’re not all bad, dont worry! First, I really loved the setting and the Austrian militia style throughout. It really went with the story especially with the whole power struggle thing with Hamlet and his uncle. It also went with the fight at the end between Hamlet and Laertes because they are both trying to seem respectful and gentlemanly when they really hated eachother. It was important to be proper and gentlemanly at this time. One thing I didnt like was, sorry to say it but, your character. I hear that yo ualso directed this movie adn you did an excellent job of that, but I did not think you fit the character of Hamlet very well. When I think of Hamlet, I think of this scruffy, scrappy looking guy, perhaps with dark hair, maybe even a little wild looking. At the same time though, I imagine him with calm blue eyes and a royal airo. Also, not to say you’re ugly, I imaginehim being very good looking and rustic. To sum up Hamlet, I think of him as a buff, dark-haired, good looking, blue-eyed, sensative lumberjack. I REALLY did not like your mustache, sorry but I really didn’t, it just didn’t fit. Mustache:bad, scruffy:good. I also thought Hamlet was kind of whiny. I imagined Hamlet as really BA and more vengeful than whiny. He’d also need to be a little more calm, as if he was biding his time more, so he wouldnt be going on rampages and screaming and stuff. A really hardened, BA, lumberjack…ya. Anyway, good movie and I’d say better directing than acting on your part, sorry but you just didn’t fill the role for me…

 The beginning of act 3 reminds us of this whole play within a play, them knowing they’re in a play but not whole confusing thing. Also, Rose and Guild, mostly Rose, remind us readers of their intellect. Then, all of a sudden, for some reason Rose and Guild are on a boat…ok…They go through all these shenanigans of light and dark and of course, they dont really know where they are. Hamlet is with them on the boat sulking it seems since he’s alone and I think pretty depressed or maybe just subdued adn pondering the future. Again, the two talk about nothing and stretching their legs which of course goes on for a page. Guild talks about his love for boats as Rose is sea sick. Guild says how boats make him feel free. Guild then says how his destiny is already picked out for him and he must deliver this letter to the king and escort Hamlet . Hamlet is now asleep and because of this, there really is no story so Rose adn Guild go through this akward scene with no speaking and them just playign stupid games. They then talk abou their pay from the king again reminding us of them beign in a play and them knowing it. Guild gets aggravated with Rose sayign that they’re being boring, they are aware of the audience. I can imagine this being hilarious in real life. Rose breaks down adn together they kind of question their existence. Guild’s line of “we’re finished”, oh ya…foreshadowing. Says this is what is to happen once they’re done with delivering the letter. Dramatic Irony. They discuss the letter for awhile and freak out when they cant find it. For beign pretty dumb, these guys have some really interesting/valid/good arguments. They become really conversational after finding the letter and rather disappointed when they lost all the suspense of finding the letter, again, play thing. Rose then talks about arriving is England and how he can’t imagine. Another death foreshadowing with “we’re falling off the map”. These guys talk about death a lot…Rose actually considers killing himself by jumping off the boat. Seems a little rebelious as he wants to mess up the play it seems. They then practice what they’re going to say to the king with Rose acting as the king who acts pretty literally. They read the letter and begin to doubt their friendship to Hamlet. It is now morning and they hear music playing which they look around to find. I really want to see this play live more and more. Somehow, the players pop out of barrels…ya…they realyl go on about nothign for a really long time until Hamlet finally does something. For some reason, he spits, dont know why but he does and it gets everyone quiet for awhile. They then ponder for awhile if Hamlet is crazy or not and then all of a sudden have this epiphany and finally figure out whats going on. Then the pirates come and it’s all confusing and stuff happens. Hamlet in the end is now on the pirate ship and Rose and Guild have a hard time learning this from the players. The next thing is kind of sad as Rose and Guild realize they dont really have a point without Hamlet . Guild at this point is really aggravated and Rose of course is trying to be an optimist. The rest of the story is them questioning life and talkign of death, and their eventual death in England. Very interesting!!!!

1- Hamlet needs to kill his uncle! I mean seriously, its liek all he talks about! Just do it already and get on with your life adn talk about something new!

2- It’s a soliloquy so his audience is really himself. It seems like hes just weighing the pros and cons and convincing himself to finally do the deed. Since it is a play, the second audience is the audience watching/listening/reading. If thought of in this sense, this scene can be seen as an explanation and helps the audience know what Hamlet is feeling.

3- Hamlet is weighing the pros and cons of doing the deed and trying to convince himself to do it. Stepping across the threshhold is always the hardest part.

4-

5- I mostly notice hyperbole and imagery. All of Hamlet is kind of a hyperbole as he exagerates a lot. That whole melting into a puddle thing…ya. IDK about everybody else, but i really dont talk to myself or really contemplate things this much. Theres a reason why this thing has been done into a play so many times, because its really dramatic. For imagery, theres a lot of comparison adn reference made to water.

6- I think Hamlet is a girl in disguise. No offense ladies but no man really thinks and freaks out this much about stuff. Ya he’s killing his uncle which is a big decision, but gosh! the guy killed your dad! just do it already, youve got a pretty dang good reason.

So I love the start of this section. Guil is spying on Claudius and Rose is tryign to figure out whats going on by asking ridiculous questions like is he naked or selling candy apples. Typical Rosencrantz. They still stay in hiding and start to spy on Hamlet talkign to Ophelia. I also just noticed how Rose and Guild are always attempting to find an opportunity to talk to Hamlet at the most ridicualous or improper times. They meet up with the player again for no apparent reason, Rose gets his hand stepped on at the players’ dress rehearsal. Hamlet then interupts the scene as he leaves Ophelia weeping on the floor. Claudius cames in and says hwo he’ll send him to England and the players have a lively conversation with the guys about stories and murder and “how it is written” (inevitable). They then argue about what they want in a performance and the player says how people just want the dirty dirty. Theres really a lot of talk about death in this section. It’s almost kind of creepy the way they talk about it with the players after the rehearsal so conversationally.

Alright…I think I’m gonna have to steal and augment a Twilight movie quote. Rose and Guilds random changing of subjects gives me whiplash. They go straight from death to the sun and which direction is east. The next scene of Hamlet we see is when Polonius is killed and the two are sent to find Hamlet and get the body. So I really used to think this story was hilarious, btu now its just getting kind of annoying. It’d be really awesome to see performed but it gets realyl annoying havign to read all this stuff and talke notes when half the stuff these guys say are completely insignificant. For example, theres a couple of pages where they just ramble on about which direction they’re gonna go to find Hamlet. It’s just ridiculous. They finally find Hamlet and ask him where the body is just lkie in the actual story of Hamlet and hsi response is the same with the weird dust quote. The rest is pretty much exactly liek Hamlet. They brign Hamlet back to the king and Hamlet is to be sent to England. Rose and Guild find otu about Fortinbras from a soldier and decide to go too.

So this part starts off with the players arriving just as they did in Hamlet. I’m not gonna lie, I really LOL’ed whenever Rose and Guild say how they made “some headway” since they really barely got a word in. As I read more and more, I’m beginning to really be able to imagine what these guys are like: what they look like, sound like, act like, etc.. They really are very interesting, fun characters when examined closely. There’s then this moment of foreshadowing whenever they say “Hamlet murdered us”…Hmmm…very interesting. I really think it’s hilarious how everthing is a competition for them. They say how Hamlet killed them and somehow kept track of some kind of ridiculous point system. \

ADD much? My God! these guys are probably the most ADD people I know. Again I’m making reference to Monty Python, but really these guys really just talk about the most insignificant things liek the wind. Then they talk about misuse of free speech and just go on and on. Really, these guys should not be left alone. Finally, the guys are brought to the play and Hamlet talks to the player and devises the plan just like he did in the real story of Hamlet. So Hamlet then makes a bad decision and leaves the player alone with these two guys and they just totally gang up on this guy. It’s pretty cool, Rose and Guil just go off of eachother and seem more like one person than 2. They gossip awhile about Hamlet and hassle with the player and the player manages to escape and again Rose and Guild just go on about nothing. Rose all of a sudden changes gear and goes on with these big long lines and sounds fairly sophisticated. This can be considered pretty po-mo with the change and discontiuation.

So we had to read pgs 36- i think it was 51 or something, IDK…anyway this part of Rose and Guild is when Rose and Guild come to cheer up Hamlet. So at the beginnig it shows the king an queen welcoming Hamlet’s friends after being summoned. They go through all this formal stuff which seems very similar to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Then, all of a sudden after the king and queen leave, all formality is lost. Rose starts whining about how he wants to go home which is very different from the portrayal in Hamlet. In the story, Rose and Guild seem very happy to see their friend but in Rose and Guild these guys seem to be dreading visiting their friend and just cant wait to get back home. They also go through this funny/weird/stupid back and forth banter. It’s all very conversational and quirky and reminds me a lot of the “Who’s on First” sketch. I think the quirkiness and ironic, unexpected, funny, conversational aspects of this scene make it postmodern. I really enjoyed reading this section. Also kind of reminded me of Monty Python.

Wow this thing was pretty ridiculous at the beginning. The dude just kept talking and saying all these crazy things. You can kind of tell theyre college students. Theyre starting college and getting all smart and such and I guess now that theyre back out in the real world they feel its necessary to impress their amazing intellects on everyone adn perhaps, just perhaps maybe some of these “facts” are just a few of these scholars hypotheses. I think I like Rosy a little more. Guildy almost seems a little pessimistic at times while Rosy seems pretty laid back and generally awesome. Seems like a normal, stereotypical college student of today. Pretty chill.

I dont know why, but I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be blogging about this. So I went into Baton Rouge High full of loathing today, adn for good reason. For some odd reason, I just dont enjoy spending  5 hours of my day doing standardized tests. Anyway, I started the test and OMG, when people say the ACT is a lot easier than the SAT, they  aren’t joking, or so I thought. I proceded through the math, and the reading and the other English thing…and then I got to the science section.I had nooooooo cllluuuuueeeee what I was doing. For like the first couple questions, I was pretty confident, but then the lady called 5 minutes and I realized I had like 20 questions left. So ya science=bad on ACT. Then I got to the writing section where I wrote the best essay of my life. IDK what it was, the words just poured out of me. I had a pretty cool topic though. I had to talk about TV and education and I basically said stuff about me being lazy…ya you had to be there I guess to understand. Anyway, I’m glad thats all over adn hopefully Harvard approves.