Kayley Nguyen
Mrs. Harrison
ELA
April 22, 2017


What is the climax (turning point) of the novel? How do you I know? How is the central conflict addressed in the climax? Use textual evidence to back up your claims.

The climax in my opinion was when Gatsby was shot because it eliminated the love and conflict in the book. Also when Gatsby died there was no longer two guys for Daisy to choose between because the choice was made for her in a way. Another example is when Tom Buchanan’s mistress died then Tom didn't have somebody to cheat on Daisy with even though he could probably just find someone else in the city. Even if tom didn't have anyone to cheat with, there is still the conflict of who Daisy loves. Also I thought that the climax of the story usually happens during the middle of the book but to me all the other characteristic of a climax were met when Gatsby died. Also, after Gatsby died everyone started leaving and going off on their own. Everything seemed to calm down and separate after Gatsby died.

Kayley Nguyen
Mrs. Harrison
ELA
March 7, 2017

For class, the group I was in read Othello. Othello is a tragedy, you can find information to back this up in the play because pretty much everyone in the play dies. The main characters in the story tend to get in arguments a lot especially Othello, Iago, Emilia, and Desdemona. In the play Iago and Othello kills their wives making themselves both look really bad. On the other hand, the one person that no one would really expect. Iago was the villain. Iago was the reason for his wife's death and he framed people. The whole play was really unexpected that any of this actually turned out the way that it did. 

Kayley Nguyen
Mrs. Harrison
ELA
February 28, 2017

For my response to The Merchant of Venice I decided to write a poem. It was hard to come up with things at first to try to write about because there was so many things I could write about. I was also trying not to make this poem really long by describing every single detail on the book. I ended up writing about the most important parts,l or the parts that stood out most to me. I thought that it turned out pretty well, but I also thought that if I had more time I could've made it better. If I could've changed it, I would want to add more details on what I was talking about and being able to end it well off. I would also liked if it would rhyme better. I think that the rhyming was ok, in other spots not so much. Overall I really liked what I had chosen. Last year I wrote a poem for a creative response and I thought it was really fun, so I would try it again. I would definatly choose to do this again, I thought it was really fun to write and also it brings out the creative parts in you, to be able to put all your ideas to make a poem. 

Kayley Nguyen
Mrs. Harrison
ELA
February 21, 2017

    In The Merchant of Venice, I liked the part with the three caskets. I thought it was interesting to read about and it. I dont think that was a smart way to find your future husband in my personal opinion. When i saw the she had put her picture in the lead casket, I was thinking that she was pretty intelligent by doing that. I also really liked all the scenes where Portia was dressed as a judge. I became really interested in this part of the play because I thought that it was a really smart idea to go spy on Bassanio. I think in this case it was a good idea to spy on her husband, because Bassanio and Portia had just become married and if she didn't do that she couldn't have ever found out about the ring. I also think it was written very well to fit into this play, and to add something this important was kind of like a plot twist.

Kayley Nguyen
ELA
Mrs. Harrison
February 10, 2017

As a modern audience, do you think that Shylock deserves the punishment that he receives? Why or why not? Also, how do you think an Elizabethan audience would have felt about this (would they have thought he deserves his punishment)? Why or why not?
   
In my opinion I think that Shylock deserved his punishment. His role in the play was a money lender, and back then it was common for Jewish people to lend money to others. In the book I understood why he was mad at Antonio for not paying him back because that is a lot of money. On the other hand when Shylock wanted to cut a pound of Antonio's flesh, that caught me off guard.

I liked how Portia played her part on how not to make herself noticeable by the other men in the room. In the video that we watched in class we saw that Portia told Shylock that if one drop of blood were to shed from the pound of flesh, he would die. This caused a bunch of stuff to happen with Shylock and Antonio and eventually Antonio punished Shylock. I think that Shylock deserved his punishment with losing all his money, but for him also to become a Christian? In class I saw that this was very traumatic towards Shylock which in those times that was a serious and humiliating thing.

I think that in the Elizabethan audience would have mixed opinions only because everyone's opinion is different depending how they are. Some people might think that it is ridiculous that Antonio got away with all that debt, and some people might think that Shylock was overreacting and deserved everything that happened to him.

Kayley Nguyen
Mrs. Harrison
ELA
February 6, 2017

1. On page 49 (Act 3, Scene 1) Shylock gives his speech that seems to be sympathetic to the plight of Jews ("I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?..."). Considering the rampant anti-Semitism in the play, why do you think Shakespeare would have included this speech? How does it change what we think of Shylock?

    I think that the speech that Shylock was saying was interesting. This made me think about those kind of days and how it was normal for people to treat Jews like this and how this kind of stuff was funny to people during that time. Personally I think that Shakespeare was adding this to show readers that even if they were good people then, time and history changes things. This quote made me think and visualize how people were treated then. I also think that now that the readers, being our class have seen history, have seen how people treat each other, we have a better understanding of how that was cruel. I also think that Shakespeare added this because it was normal back then for people to talk to each other like this so it wasn't a big deal for them.

Kayley Nguyen
Dr. Quillin
ELA
December 13, 2016

Zeus

This week I decided to write about Zeus, the god of the sky, controls lightning, and he was considered the ruler of olympian gods. He was the last child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. He was the only one that wasn't swallowed by his father. Cronus saw that his children were becoming to powerful he thought that his kids were going to overthrow him, so he started swallowing his children which were Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus was not swallowed because his mother Rhea hid Zeus from Chronus and he was raised in the forest by Nymphs. His brothers and sisters never died in Cronus stomach but they couldn't get out. Zeus ended up overthrowing his fathers throne when one day he decided that he wanted to save his brothers and sisters. Zeus had an ability to change or turn himself into any person or animal. He disguised himself to something that Cronus wouldn't recognize him by. He gave Cronus a special potion and when Cronus drank it, he coughed up all five of his children. Zeus had a famous and common weapon, this weapon was a thunderbolt, which he hurled to people that displeased or disrespected him. Zeus had many affairs with different woman even though he was married to Hera. Hera was Zeus' sister and she was also the goddess of patron and marriage.  He tricked Hera into marrying him by disguising himself into a hurt bird. He raped Hera and she felt so shameful, she married him. They had many children Zeus wasn't a bad god just because he did this to Hera. Zeus watched over all people/ the community, and was the protector of the people.