Thursday, April 3, 2008

Paper #4

I'm not quite sure whether I'll be writing a traditional paper or attempting the creative project. I still need to read Persepolis so whatever themes that book may hold have yet to enter my mind. I know some common themes that I would like to press on that have been prevalent in the stories that we have read are, conflicts with religion (I may relate this to the war in Iraq, Christianity vs. Islam), or even bullying (stronger countries demanding other countries for resources), or I might take a stab at discrimination that Middle Eastern individuals may be experiencing in the States (because of their physical similarities with those we are fighting, similar to the Japanese in the U.S. during WWII). I'm going to have to browse through my notes and read Persepolis before I come to a definite conclusion. Primarily though I am leaning towards a topic including the Middle Eastern peoples because judging by the pictures, I think Persepolis is of that region.

I'm going to focus on the discrimination based on appearance most likely, because a lot of the characters that we have read about have dealt with this obstacle.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Friar John Fails to deliver Letter

When Friar Laurence asks for Romeo's response to the letter he sent containing their devious plans to forge Juliet's death, Friar John then tells him that he was stay'd and could not travel to Mantua, where Romeo was in hiding.

John was unaware of the importance of the letter and in failing to deliver it, he contributed to the untimely fate of Romeo and Juliet. That little miscommunication, has a ripple effect that caused Romeo to buy poison, Juliet to wake up and watch her lover die, and finally her own suicide with Romeo's dagger.

If Shakespeare had not written this, the tragedy in its entirety would be changed to a love story that ends well, a dark comedy even. But being that the story starts off with the deliberate intent to inform the reader that this is no happy tail, that the two star-crossed lovers are indeed doomed to die, this miscommunication was necessary. Shakespeare's flawless capability to write tragedy is astounding in the sense that everything that he wrote four hundred years ago is cleverly applicable to today.

Because of miscommunication during the Civil War, the North and South forces fought even after the war was over, resulting in needless deaths. Often a simple lack of relay between two opposing forces can result in devastating circumstances.

Because of this, I find Friar John and Friar Laurence's misinterpreted calculations on the importance of the letter to be crucial to the story.