Hannah's English Blog

Felicia is one of the most prominent characters that shows mental illness in Dreaming in Cuban.   Celia named Felicia after one of the women that she was in the mental hospital with (who burned her husband to death) once her daughter was finally born. After the author describes how Felicia tries to kill her husband with a burning rag, it made me wonder if Felicia actually is cursed because of the meaning behind her name. The novel has many instances of magic happening, such as Jorge meeting Celia and Lourdes as a ghost and Pilar hearing her grandma at night, even though they are thousands of miles apart. This makes me think that she actually is cursed, as it would not be that hard to believe considering the novel is classified as magical realism. Other actions of her's also show how she may be cursed are when she pushes her husband out of a rollercoaster and the summer where she abandons her children as she slowly loses her mind. On the other hand, it could be argued that it ...

Though I like how Jarvis' point of view about the natives shifts after his son's death, I feel like some of it was out of spite. In his son's writing, he talks about how his father is ignorant on the matters of the unfair treatment of the natives. After he reads this, he decides to become more like his son and educate himself and believe in the rights the natives should have. This makes me believe that part of the reason James wants to help the people who are discriminated against just to prove his son wrong. Another aspect might be that James feels guilty for not supporting his son while he was alive, thus showing interest in what he was interested in in order to feel closer to him.

One of the most prevelant motifs in Cry, the Beloved Country that I keep noticing is change. Living in Ndotshini for his whole life, Kumalo has never encountered a change in his life. When going to Johannesburg, he feels very overwhelmed and insecure in a place where he needs to adapt his way of life. Another example of change occurring is when Kumalo's son, Absolom turns out to be a criminal even though his father is a priest. Despite the fact that he was brought up to be a good man who should show respect and behave well, the corrupted city of Johannesburg caused him to change into someone who is the opposite. The city of Johannesburg shows the motif of change as well and can be considered a symbol of it. Once the mines were set up and the city was industrialized, Johannesburg changed as a whole. Everyone who comes to live there changes as well, as it is cramped, violent, poor and segregated, making those who live there to work (or otherwise) have to do anything to survive.

During Honors English 10 this year, I have learned how to write a better thesis statement. As one of the most important aspects of a paper, it is important to learn how to relate your thesis with the topic and your support. It incorporates your knowledge of the paper and the understanding you have of the topic and helps me to gather all my ideas into one sentence. Another thing I have learned so far this year is grammar. Though it is a broad topic, the practice and explanations we do in class help me understand grammar much easier than last year. The grammar is also something that I can use in my writing to improve and correct it in order to write a better paper. Next, I learned new literary terms that helped to analyze poetry and writings better. These words are words that I had already heard of before, so it also helped me to become more knowledgable about literature and understand what people are talking about. The terms we studied can also be related to the novels we have read in c...

I found the movie version of Macbeth that we watched in class to be much more entertaining than the play itself. When reading from a screen (or book), its much harder to imagine what is happening around tThe characters as well as the actions they do and the setting. In the movie, they show the action that is happening at the time, making it more interesting and easier to understand. The language that Shakespeare uses is very confusing no matter what form you experience it in; watching it in a movie or reading it. However, the movie makes it much easier when you can see the setting, mood, and actions of the characters and play to gain more knowledge of the plot. The actors in the movie did an amazing job capturing the characteristics, mannerisms and feelings of the characters that they played. This made the movie feel more immersive and easier to connect to.

I don't understand why people hate the word "moist" so much. Sure, it's not the most pleasant sounding word, but there are several other words in the world that invoke a much larger feeling of discomfort. I feel like a lot of words make me annoyed, along with many other things. Moist is actually a good word for describing something. I would rather say moist than have to say "damp" which grosses me out even more than moist. As for quench, my least favorite word, I have no idea why you would say it when a word like "parched" exists and sounds nice.