Should we continue Blogging?

In my opinion, there are both positive and negative points when using Blogger. Firstly, Blogger can be described as a different device to use to write your homework. Some people might find typing easier and more efficient than writing their responses on paper, which people sometimes find time consuming. I agree with typing my homework on the computer being faster, easier, and more "environmental friendly", since you are conserving paper. Also, Blogger allows you to post and share videos and images and include them in the post making your response more interesting and fun to read. Blogger has improved my ability in critiquing other classmates' work and allowed me to voice out my own opinions on what I liked and disliked in a response. Nonetheless, there are still some drawbacks to using blogger. people can easily be distracted when they are on the internet. This might affect the quality of their responses and not being able to produce their best work. Furthermore, Some people experienced technical issues and were not able to post. This resulted in the entire group falling behind since they would not have sufficient posts to comment on.

With that said, technical issues were mostly solved at the end, which means there are far more benefits to blogging than drawbacks. Therefore, I believe that our class should continue using Blogger as a device to write our homework and share our ideas on.

The Pros and Cons of Blogging

Using blogging as an alternative to writing on pen and paper has its benefits and drawbacks. In English class especially, students often need to analyze literature, write multi paragraph essays, and critique the works of other students. All these can be achieved by blogging, but to decide whether or not to continue using Blogger, one must take look at what it has to offer.

The major benefit of blogging, as opposed to writing with pen and paper, is that it is much less time consuming. Imagine, having to write out essay after essay on paper. It would make one's arm sore, and consume too much precious time. The effort and time needed to write it out would be an incentive to not put in as much effort and time into the work, thus seriously deteriorating its potential quality. Blogging requires one to type, which is easy, effortless and much less time consuming. Time is precious and cannot be wasted, and anything that saves time without compromising anything is definitely worth using.

Another benefit of blogging is that it encourages people who are shy in class to speak out. For whatever reasons they are shy, and rarely voice their opinions in front of their peers, it is hurting their progress. They are not able to learn to critique information presented, and not able to express their opinions. Blogging gives them  a voice, a voice to argue and support. This is where a lot of the learning comes from, hands on experience critiquing information. Since in blogging they will not have to face their peers and teachers, they would be less shy to speak, as evident in all the blogs in Ms.Lees' class. The bottom line is, blogging helps these shy people learn.

One last benefit of blogging is that it allows the inclusion of various media, from pictures to videos to online articles, which only serves to enhance the message of the essay. Obviously, this cannot be achieved in pen and paper.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks that comes with blogging. When students are on the computer, it is predictable that they can be distracted, whether from Facebook, Youtube or whatever. This can halt their train of thought and can damage the quality of their work. Also, technical issues can occur that renders students incapable of posting, or commenting. Lastly, technical issues can be used as an excuse to not post and do their work.

But these problems are not unsolvable. Technical issues are quite rare, and if it does occur one can write on pen and paper as a last resort, or can send it to the teacher as proof of completion. Technical issues as an excuse will not be very effective. As noted above, there are solutions to real technical problems, hence the teacher will still expect completion, so there is no way these students can get away with not doing their homework.

Blogging does bring its benefits and drawbacks. However, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, as it saves time and encourages better quality of work. On top of that, there are solutions to the drawbacks, solutions that can be easily used. And it is for the reason that blogging does more good than harm, that Ms.Lees' second block English class must and will continue blogging.

Entertainment and Society 2

Ms.Lees asks: Do you think the theater of the Elizabethan Age or the Entertainment media of today has any link or influence upon the social values or political ideals of the people or is it only a reflection (artistic expression) of the social values and political issues of the day? In other words - do you think entertainment (theater or other media today) reflects (is a record) what is going on in society or influences (has an effect) on society. Support your argument with logical reasoning and at least 1 example from your knowledge of the Elizabethan Era through our novel and 1 example from present day.


This is a very broad question that needs a very broad answer in order to be addressed efficiently.Entertainment contains both aspects, influencing and reflecting, but withing the broad spectrum of entertainment there are those who influence and those who reflect.

There will always be those few, if not only one, work of entertainment that changes everything and can heavily alter how society behave and what it holds valuable. For example, look at how video games have changed society, especially the teenage demographic. Although it has corrupted many of our youths, there is no denying it's affect on society. The game many consider the first shooter is called  Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992. It has poor graphics by modern standards, but display far too much gore and blood for youths. However, since it's release, the popularity of shooter games have skyrocketed. Since then, the violence and gore of  a lot of today's video games are common household items and are seen as acceptable, despite condoning from parents, government etc.. This genre's popularity made it look like a "cool" thing among "cool kids", despite very little reasoning behind this.
The rap genre of music has also made a huge impact on society and,especially,the way it behaves. Tupac Shakur is considered as the pioneer of rap music, and made this music popular following the declining popularity of rock music. Because of rap music, the image it sends and association it has with street culture, it is now common, and sadly acceptable, among people to use words such "nigga", "dawg", "yo", and made being "gansta" look "cool", by means of wearing pants low, the excessive use of profanity, among others, that as recently as a decade ago was considered unacceptable. And it is undeniable that the first rap musics and artists had a lot to do with this.

The Big Question #3: Revised

The Big Question: #3 Is Peter considered a hero?

Q: The character of Peter is a 15 year old ordinary lower class boy who becomes a heroic figure by the end of the novel. People can be heroes in many ways. Commonly, people choose to lead noble, honourable or risky lives and they become heroes as a result of their choices or training, like peace keepers or firemen. Others are "accidental heroes" where circumstances arise and it is their unexpected responses that make them heroic. What kind of hero is Peter? Or is he one at all? Provide examples from the text and compare Peter to someone from the past or present that you would call a hero.

In the beginning of the story, Peter had to run away from his hometown hiding from a tyrant called Sir. Philip, due to a small incident that sparked Sir. Philip’s anger towards Peter, and he had no choice but to leave his hometown. Later, Peter meets various people and events who lead him into becoming a hero of Queen Elizabeth.

In the novel, Peter is considered a hero, since he stopped the conspirators from murdering the Queen and the evil plans they had in mind of overruling England. However, he wasn't born determined to save England, which makes him an "accidental Hero". Some of you might ask, what differs an accidental hero from heroes in general? Well, for instance, heroes in general include firemen, policemen and many more. They are people that others rely on and being a hero becomes their duty. On the other hand, accidental heroes, are people who weren't born to be a hero but because of their actions that makes them become heroic figures. Therefore, Peter would be considered an "accidental hero".

The situation that sparked the whole adventure was when Peter threw the rock at Sir Philip. If you think about it, if Peter never threw the rock, in result, he would not have had to run away from home, and then he would not have become a hero. He had no choice but to run away from his hometown and later met Mr. Desmond's theater company, which eventually lead to him meeting kit and William Shakespeare. These events were all leading to Peter finding out the plans of the conspiracy against the Queen of England. Also, Peter met the “Yellow Gentleman” and gave his script to him and later found out where all the conspirators were meeting to discuss their evil plan. The entire journey and experience made Peter realize that he had to become a hero and save the Queen, because he was the only one who knew their secret and the only one who could stop them. It was his actions that made him a hero, for instance, when he went to the yellow gentleman's house and retrieved his script back, he could have just went back to the theater and not noticed and cared about the things that were written on the back of the script. Instead, he tried to figure out what they meant. He took the initiative to investigate in them and made the choice to save England and stop the conspirators from assassinating the Queen.

Peter, as a character in "Cue for Treason", was similar and comparable to Harry, in the novel series, "Harry Potter". Harry Potter was also considered a hero from saving his school and the entire wizard world. However, no one ever thought he would become a hero, not even himself. He had a long and dreadful journey but he always stuck to his plans and choices in saving the wizard world and that resulted him in becoming a heroic figure at the end. Peter, on the other hand, had quite a similar journey as he went through many troubles that tried to stop him, such as when Sir Philip constantly chased after him and when he got caught and was trapped in a deserted island. He could have just given up and forgot about the whole situation. In the end, Peter chose to save his country and not let it get taken over by the atrocious tyrants and that was what made him become a hero.

Peter was not born determined to be a hero, but his actions and choices made him a heroic figure since he risked his life and did whatever it took to go for what he believed in (saving England), and that's what makes up a hero, and in Peter's case, an accidental hero.

Uncertain English Assignment

Good evening fellow scholars,
I am uncertain exactly what we are supposed to do, so I will just post what people have been posting - anything related to A Midsummer Night's Dream.


Here are some questions answered, the last question especially useful: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKuRWtoXa98&feature=related


Here is a summary:
 http://www.gradesaver.com/midsummer-nights-dream/study-guide/short-summary/


I hope I did it right,  if not, you are welcomed to comment.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

explaining the book; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcKPQY8b2U
EEENNNJOOOOYYYY!

QUESTION 3!

Question 3: The character of Peter is a 15 year -old ordinary lower class boy who becomes a heroic figure by the end of the novel. People can be heroes in many ways. Commonly, people choose to lead noble, honourable or risky lives and they become heroes as a result of their choices or training, like peace keepers or firemen. Others are “accidental heroes” where circumstances arise and it is their unexpected responses that make them heroic. What kind of hero is Peter? Or is he one at all? Provide examples from the text and compare Peter to someone from the past or present that you would call a hero.

In the book Cue for Treason, Peter is a hero for sure, more like an accidental hero though! You can also see that Peter is a hero by his personality; Peter is adventurous, independent because he works on his own .Especially when Peter was trying to fix his problems with Sir Philip and Sir Philip’s people after Peter, because Peter threw a rock at Sir Philip. Peter never asked anyone to help him escape his problem fully, meaning he would be an independent young lad. Peter is self confident, and most people would think that is one of the things a person would need to be a hero, because it may not be possible for a specific person to be a hero without being confident. For evidence Peter gained enough confidents to throw a rock at Sir Philip and also to Save Queen Elizabeth from being killed. Peter is, Powerful and has excellent memory. All of these personality types lead on to being a hero.

One day, Peter heard Sir Philip over talking about him planning to kill the Queen. Then on Peter realised he had to tell people and get on the case to save Queen Elizabeth from Sir Philip’s evil plan in killing Queen Elizabeth. From then on Peter was no question a hero, because without Peter being at Sir Philip’s tower over listening to Sir Philips conversation, Queen Elizabeth would be LONG GONE.

I could also compare Peter to Jake Sully in Avatar when he told all the avatars that people were coming to kill them, and that they needed to group up and save everyone. In this case Peter is “Jake Sully” telling people from the theatre that people are coming to kill Queen Elizabeth and that they need to save her. In the end Peter is a hero !!!!!

A Midsummer Night's Dream Links and Videos

A brief summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream-

Title- A Midsummer Night's Dream- Summary

http://youtu.be/hdcKPQY8b2U

A short animation video on A Midsummer Night's Dream-

Title- Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream summary

http://youtu.be/M1wMfOwlAZ8

Entertainment and Society - Uedited version

Ms.Lees asks: Do you think the theater of the Elizabethan Age or the Entertainment media of today has any link or influence upon the social values or political ideals of the people or is it only a reflection (artistic expression) of the social values and political issues of the day? In other words - do you think entertainment (theater or other media today) reflects (is a record) what is going on in society or influences (has an effect) on society. Support your argument with logical reasoning and at least 1 example from your knowledge of the Elizabethan Era through our novel and 1 example from present day.

I respond.

This is a very broad question that needs a very broad answer in order to be addressed efficiently.Entertainment contains both aspects, influencing and reflecting, but withing the broad spectrum of entertainment there are those who influence and those who reflect.Allow me to explain.

There will always be those few, if not only one, work of entertainment that changes everything and can heavily alter how society behave and what it holds valuable. For example, look at how video games have changed society, especially the teenage demographic. Although I condemn how it has corrupted many of our youths, there is no denying it's affect on society. The game many consider the first shooter is called  Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992. It has poor graphics by modern standards, but display far too much gore and blood for youths in my opinion. However, since it's release, the popularity of shooter games have skyrocketed. Since then, the violence and gore of  a lot of today's video games are common household items and are seen as acceptable, despite condoning from parents, government etc.. This genre's popularity made it look like a "cool" thing among "cool kids", despite very little reasoning behind this.
The rap genre of music has also made a huge impact on society and,especially,the way it behaves. Tupac Shakur is considered as the pioneer of rap music, and made this music popular following the declining popularity of rock music. Because of rap music, the image it sends and association it has with street culture, it is now common, and sadly acceptable, among people to use words such "nigga", "dawg", "yo", and made being "gansta" look "cool", by means of wearing pants low, the excessive use of profanity, among others, that as recently as a decade ago was considered unacceptable. And it is undeniable that the first rap musics and artists had a lot to do with this.
One last example from Elizabethan England was how Christopher Marlowe's play, Edward the II, is considered among the first and most most acclaimed historical plays in English history, in which Shakespeare might have gotten inspiration for his writing techniques and styles from. Marlowe's play, as well as Shakespeare's plays, shed new light to the theater and gained the attention of the general public, as well as its respect, to the point where it became a huge part of English past time.In other words, it made society value the arts.

However, when these works of entertainment are produced repetitively, it then becomes only a mere reflection of what society values, and what is common and popular. For example, the vast majority of video games nowadays are shooters. Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, Battlefield etc.. they are all very much alike  Sequel after sequel of the same shooting game. It has become a reflection of just how much people, especially teenagers, like to rebel and use video games as means to escape from the reality that breaking the rules and doing what you like can lead to serious consequences.
 Nearly all rap songs are very much the same .It has become a symbol of self expression without boundaries, a social value held by adults and youths alike. However, there is no rap song in recent memory that will change social values, and few that will be truly revolutionary and influence society more.
Lastly, the plays following the few greats from Shakespeare and Marlowe merely reflect, for example, the political idea of nationalism and patriotism. Of course, when portraying historical figures or heroes of England, they are portrayed as righteous, whereas the enemy would be portrayed otherwise.


But allow me to specify how entertainment can influence people, it is often used to spread a message, a moral. For example, Sir Bob Geldof's Live 8 concert was organized in order to donate funds for Africa, and it was highly entertaining. To close the concert, the famous "We Are the World" was to be sung. This concert collected great sums of money for the needy in Africa, and is just one way entertainment can influence our views and decisions. Another example is the crazy conspiracy theories regarding entertainment. Some believe that the Illuminati control much of the music industry, influencing us and putting forth their own political ideologies. You can watch a video here regarding their influence and control over the industry.


In sum, entertainment influences and reflects society. There will be the few, but doesn't have to always be the first, who change everything and influence us greatly, such as the rise of rap, the use of entertainment to encourage efforts for good causes etc... But when it becomes so repetitive and common it becomes a mere reflection of how we have changed, and how what we hold valuable have changed.

Blog Question: Question #3

In the novel, Peter is considered a hero, since he stopped the conspirators from murdering the Queen and the evil plans they had in mind of overruling England. However, he wasn't born determined to save England, which makes him an "accidental Hero". Some of you might ask, what differs an accidental hero from heroes in general? Well, for instance, heroes in general could be superheroes, exaggerated figures that everyone knows, such as Batman, Spider man, and many more. Those are characters who people rely on saving others and being a hero becomes something that they are known for.

On the other hand, accidental heroes, are people who weren't born to be a hero but because of their actions that makes them become heroic figures. Therefore, Peter would be considered an "accidental hero". In the novel, the situation that sparked the whole story was when Peter threw the rock at Sir Philip. If you think about it, if Peter never threw the rock, in result, he would not have had to run away from home, then he would not have became a hero. He had no choice but to run away from his hometown and later met Mr. Desmond's theater company, which eventually lead to him meeting kit, and getting hired by William Shakespeare. These events were all leading to Peter finding out the plans of the conspirators trying to kill the Queen of England.

Also, Peter met the yellow gentleman and gave his script to him and later found out where all the conspirators were meeting to discuss their evil plan. The entire journey and experience made Peter realize that he had to become a hero and save England because he was the only one who knew their secret and the only one who could stop them. It was his actions that made him a hero, for instance, when he went to the yellow gentleman's house and retrieved his script back, he could have just went back to the theater and not noticed and cared about the things that were written on the script and trying to figure out what they meant. He took the initiative to investigate them and made the choice to save England and stop the conspirators from assassinating the queen.

Peter, as a character in "Cue For Treason", was similar and comparable to Harry, in the novel series, "Harry Potter". Harry Potter was also considered a hero from saving his school and the entire wizard world. However, know one ever thought he would become a hero, not even himself. He had a long and dreadful journey but he always stuck to his plans and choices in saving the wizard world and that resulted him in becoming an heroic figure at the end. Peter, on the other hand, had quite a similar journey as he went through many troubles that tried to stop him, such as Sir Philip constantly chasing after him and when he got caught and was trapped in a deserted island. He could have just gave up and forget about the whole situation. In the end, Peter chose to save his country and not let it get taken over by the atrocious tyrants and that was what made him become a hero and successfully prevented them from taking over England.

Conclusively, Peter was not born determined to be a hero, but his actions and choices made him an heroic figure since he risked his life and did whatever it takes go for what he believed in (saving England), and that's what makes up a hero, and in Peter's case, an accidental hero.