A Francis' Online Journal

In both stories there are examples of extreme emotions. In Macbeth there is jealousy, ambition and fear. In the other hand in Scrooge we see misery, hope and redemption.

At the start of the play Shakespeare uses extreme emotions to build up his protagonist. The sergeant describes Macbeth at the battle “As sparrow’s eagles, or the hare the lion” In the battle he is described as a warrior with no fear and with unbelievable strength.  As he fights he gets stronger and stronger. In the simile Shakespeare shows us that Macbeth is face with over whelming odds but can conquer the lion and never gives up. Shakespeare introduces Macbeth with extreme emotions like this because he wants to give us an idea of the main protagonist and what he is capable of in the future. He could also introduce Macbeth like this to foreshadow the future of the play. During the time the play is set, being a soldier is a high statutes and it was an honour, therefore the audience will know he is a very respected character.

In the other hand Scrooge is shown with extreme emotions but quite different to Macbeth. At the start of the story he is shown to be cold hearted and selfish this is shown when he is visited by charity workers and he says “if they would rather die,’ said Scrooge, ‘they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” In the quote it shows that Scrooge has no empathy towards poor or any other people including his own family. Unlike Macbeth, Scrooge is worried only about himself and only serving himself. Although Macbeth is cold hearted at the beginning he is fighting for King Duncan and his Country. Dickens is make Scrooge over exaggerated to show how awful Scrooge is and how far he could go in the future.

Moving on from the start of the play, Shakespeare shows extreme emotion within Macbeth. In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he is debating what to next, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”  From this quote, Shakespeare shows Macbeth as conflicted and confused. Shakespeare presents Macbeth with extreme emotions like this because he wants to show the audience that Macbeth is not what he appeared to be in the opening of the play. He also wants to show the audience that Macbeth can be easily manipulated and not the warrior he was presumed to be at the beginning.

Moving on from the start of the novella, Scrooge is shown with extreme emotions but quite different from the start of the novella. In this part of the play, the ghost is showing Scrooge the past and extreme emotions were shown by Scrooge, ‘The school is not quite deserted,’ said the Ghost. ‘A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.’ Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed.” This quote shows the reader that Scrooge is not the cold hearted man from the beginning and that he can feel sorrow for other individuals and not just himself. I believe Dickens presents Scrooge to the reader like this to show the audience that even the evilest of men can feel deflated.  

Nearing the denouement of Macbeth, Shakespeare is showing extreme motions with Macbeth that we wouldn’t have considered at the start of the play. In this part of the play Macbeth ordered two assassins to kill Banquo and his family, which they did apart from Banquos son. After the murders Macbeth says this to his wife, “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives… What must be done?  From this quote, Macbeth is regretting and feeling guilty about what he has done. The metaphor “full of scorpions is my mind” tells the reader that Macbeth is started to breakdown over what he has done .This links back from the beginning of the play as the beginning foreshadows a dark future for Macbeth.

Nearing the denouement of the novella, Dickens presents Scrooge as someone recognising his wrongs. This is shown when the ghost is showing what he has become. “Spirit,” said Scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. “I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way, now. Merciful Heaven, what is this.” This quote tells the reader that Scrooge has recognised what he has become and he knows that he has to change. A similarity between both Macbeth and Scrooge is that both of them have recognised what they have done but Scrooge is changing for the good and Macbeth is too late to change.

At the denouement of Macbeth, Shakespeare shows Macbeth in a completely broken state. In this part of the play, Macbeth has just found out that his wife has died and that his end was coming. “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” From this quote we can identify that Macbeth has completed given up and that he has one more battle to fight.  I think that Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to be presented as someone who is hopeless because in the play he is always the one who is in control and at this point of the play he knows he has no chance of staying king or even being alive, and he is now feeling the consequences of his savage actions earlier in the play.  Macbeth has come from a character with no fear to someone who is broken and dismantled. All showing extreme emotions. 

At the denouement of the novella, both Scrooge and Macbeth have shown extreme emotions. Both characters have gone on paths which have affected their emotions. In Macbeth, the protagonist has gone from positive emotions to distraught. However in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge has come from a rotten old man to a generous and kind one, this can be shown when Scrooge says this to Bob “Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again;’ and therefore I am about to raise your salary.’ This confirms the transportation that scrooge has gone through as he wouldn’t even consider this before all the ghosts. I believe that Dickens shows Scrooge this way to show people anyone can change with motivation. Both Scrooge and Macbeth have both completely changed their characters and extreme emotions from the beginning of the story, in Scrooge’s case he has changed positively but for Macbeth he changed in such a manner that he got killed for his actions.

In the opening of Macbeth, we see no flaws linked to Macbeth. He is presented as a strong and powerful character. He is described by King Duncan “As sparrow’s eagles, or the hare the lion” This simile shows us that whatever the army they’re facing they will beat it. Due to this he is respected by his fellow soldiers and people higher than him in ranks. Shakespeare is telling the audience that Macbeth is unbeatable and extremely strong. Shakespeare also hints that Macbeth could have a dark future due to his unbeatable and powerful nature.

However in the opening chapter of The Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a complete opposite to Macbeth. Scrooge is shown as someone is cold hearted and self-centred. In the opening we can tell that Scrooge only cares about himself, I can demonstrate this when the charity worker comes to Scrooges work place and he refuses the give them donations and tells them that the homeless should die and they should decrease the surplus population. Dickens presents Scrooge as an over exaggerated evil person. I believe that Charles Dickens presents Scrooge this way because his own father had debt problems and he felt that the debt collector was similar to Scrooge. So, in the openings of both story and play Scrooge and Macbeth are completely opposite men and that could be influenced by what they do for a living.

Moving on from the beginning of the play and the novella, Macbeth and Scrooge are developing flaws in their characters. In Macbeth, Macbeth has told Lady Macbeth all about what the three sisters have told him about his future. As Lady Macbeth is a power thirsty women, she manipulates Macbeth into murdering King Duncan. As we know from the openings of the play, Macbeth is strong and he has second thoughts over it. I can demonstrate this when Macbeth is in his soliloquy. “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly if the assassination could trammel up the consequence” Even though Macbeth is having second thoughts, his Wife stills persuades him to do otherwise. After these events the audience now know that Macbeth is gullible and vulnerable and a completely different to the man from the beginning of the play.

In the Christmas Carol, Scrooge meets an unexpected guestp upon the instant.” This quote tells us that Scrooge has a slight chance of also known as Jacob Marley’s ghost. As Scrooge is reunited with his old partner, he quickly assumes that this ghost wasn’t real and this was a dream. As the chapter progresses he believes in the ghost and he tells him that if he doesn’t change he will fall into the fate of his old business partner. We can tell that Scrooge had a difficult night when it says “Scrooge went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell aslee changing his ways and that this night was frightening experience. From only a couple pages into the book, the audience have found out that Scrooge is an evil old man but with a bit of motivation from something unexpected he can change his ways. This is similar to Macbeth because both characters are being influenced by someone or something else, but both characters are still going in opposite paths to each other.

Nearing the denouement of Macbeth, Macbeth has much more flaws than his glorious start to this play. In this part of the play, Macbeth Orders two assassins to kill his best friend Banquo. He does this because he believes that Banquo is going to betray him by telling someone of his secret. “Sweet remembrance! Now, good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both! Sweet remembrance! Now, good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both!” When Macbeth says this to both of the murderers he is now manipulating them that murdering Banquo was the right thing to do and that they saved Scotland. Now the audience know that Macbeth is unholy and that his dark future from the start has come true.

On stave III of The Christmas Carol, Scrooge encounters his second spirit, the ghost of Christmas present. Whilst flying around with the spirit, they travel the Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchit. Scrooge see’s Bobs son called Tiny Tim and he says “tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” When Scrooge says these words, we all know as the audience that Scrooge is started to change because at the start of the novella he didn’t care about no one apart from himself.

At the denouement of the play, Macbeth is consumed by his flaws. Just before his final battle, Macbeth finds out about his wife’s death. Macbeth reacts nihilistic to the news. This is demonstrated when he says “she should of died hereafter” This quote creates an image that Macbeth is finally giving up and starting not to care about himself and his family’s life. I think that Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to be presented as someone who is hopeless because in the play he is always the one who is in control and at this point of the play he knows he has no chance of staying king or even being alive, and he is now feeling the consequences of his savage actions earlier in the play.

However at the denouement of The Christmas Carol, Scrooge has a completely different flaws to Macbeth. Both characters have gone in paths that have affected them in different ways. In Macbeth they draw attention to his flaws but in Christmas Carol they emphasise his virtues. This is established when he is pleading with the ghost of Christmas past yet to come: “Spirit! He cried, tight clutching at its robe. Hear me! I am not the man I was… Why show me this, if I am past all hope.” The rhetorical question that he uses suggests that Scrooge is terrified of what is to come in his life so he wants him to change it. I believe that Dickens presented Scrooge this way to show people that the worse of people can change and turn into someone good. However, both Scrooge and Macbeth have both completely changed their characters from the beginning of the story, in Scrooge’s case he has changed positively but for Macbeth he changed in such a manner that he got killed for his actions.

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,
I am writing to inform you that I totally disagree with the points on teenagers that Louis CK and Franzen claimed in your article. They claim that teens can’t build reasonable relationships online. In my opinion the older generation is just as bad as teenagers in their use social media:in 2015 two thirds of American adults were found to be using social media compared to 56% of teenagers who report using the internet “several” times a day.

In the first paragraph of your article, Franzen says, ‘I asked a teenager girl, how often do you text?
“About 250 times a day, or something.”‘ He responded ‘Shocking’. Franzen can’t honestly think that this girl texts that much, can you? This certain girl is likely to be exaggerating and it probably feels like she is texting that much but she is most likely not. Most teenagers nowadays use apps like whats app and snapchat to communicate with their friends- these apps have been introduced to allow big groups to communicate with each other instantly.

If this girl is actually telling the truth, not all teenagers are like that. Also he call teenagers “Emoticon-addled zombies”. In my opinion the “Emoticon-addled zombies” are between the ages of 11-13. The main reason I am saying this is because more children are handling more technology than they actually should do for their age. Most people under the age of 13 should be just starting to use Instagram for selfies with their friends. I do agree that companies like Instagram and snapchat should have age limits to sign up, but social media sites like Facebook and twitter are not just used for friends in the same street but for people to socialize overseas with distance friends and family. Sites like these can be helpful for education as well. For example, a student could miss a day of school and they could ask their fellow peers what they did on that day. After finding out what they did, they could revise the subject so they wouldn’t miss any work and they wouldn’t be behind anyone at school.

Also in the first paragraph he says that teens cannot socialise face to face. I totally disagree with this point and I know this from personal experiences and from people talking about their experiences online. I do know that some teenagers have trouble socializing with each other, including me sometimes ; however the majority of teens can socialize wherever and whenever. It can be a struggle talking to someone you have just met, but when I have something in common I talk for the world. To help teens socialise more, Leif K-Brooks created a site called Omegel. This site is a live video allowing people to talk and to chat to others around the world. The site normally averages around 100,000 people logging in every day. Omegle is useful for people who are “Emoticon-addled zombies” because you can adjust your search so you can find people who have the same likes and similar interests to you. This creates good conversation and it makes people much more confident, and it’s literally face to face.

In conclusion, I believe that the people you mentioned are slightly out of touch with how people use social media, though I do agree with some of your piece where you say that teens under a certain age shouldn’t be on their phone non stop. For them to say, however, that all teenagers are all “Emoticon-addled Zombies” is a huge over exaggeration as my personal experience proves to me that only a small number of teens are like this.

1-“Three days before Armistice Sunday. ”
“Before you left, I pinned one onto your lapel”
“I was Brave, as I walked with you”
“”
“”
“”

Repetition is used in the poem to present desperation in Out of the Blue. In the second paragraph the protagonist says ” In fact I am waving waving “.
The protagonist is trying to catch the attention of the people who is watching the news or on the streets for help and that there is at least one soul to save . This would mean that he is in a bad situation and he needs help urgently.

The poem centres around a hawk and how he goes through his every day life and how he gets his food.
In the whole poem the hawk is arrogant and he thinks he is better than the creator “To produce my foot and, my each feather now I hold creation in my foot. We can compare this to mankind because some humans think that they are the best and that know one can stop them. Also in the poem it says “I kill where I please” We can also compare this to mankind because certain humans kill people for pleasure. For example the killings in America when this one person killed 17 children for the pleasure.
In the third out of sixth stanza the poet introduces a caesura. A caesura is a complete pause in a line of poetry. “My feet are locked upon the rough bark”. The caesura is when the full stop is. I believe that this line is being used for a caesura because I think that this hawk is ready to pounce and that the pause is the hawk getting focused for hunting.
In stanza 2 it says “The convenience looked upon the rough bark it took the whole of creation to produce my foot, my each feather: Now i hold creation in my foot”
I believe that the poet has written this poem not about a hawk but about human beings. This is because I believe that the all the similarities are focused on human desires and not on a hawks life. I think that when the hawk is hunting it would be humans in War or murder situation.

I’m going to be comparing ‘ At the Border, 1979’ and ‘ Belfast Confetti’ and I found that there are equally similarities and differences.
In ‘ At the Border, 1979’ there is a women and she left Iraq for Kurdistan because of a civil war, likewise in ‘ Belfast confetti’ this man country is in civil war because of his religion and he is in a situation that he doesn’t want to be in. Also in ’at the border’, the family didn’t choose to be in the civil war and not in there situation. We can tell that this family is happy to return home and that they haven’t got anything in their way because it says “A man bent down and kissed his muddy homeland”. However in Belfast confetti the man is trapped by the riot squad and he cannot find his way home, to his safe haven.

In At the Border the poem is written in the first person like wise in Belfast confetti, in first person the poem sounds realistic and it feels like we are in there situation. If the poem was written in 3rd person the poem would be less dramatic and most likely ruin the poem.
In At the border the women has passed her conflict and returning to her home country. However in Belfast confetti the man is during the conflict and a observer of the situation. When the person in the conflict we as a reader feel what the character is feeling but when its after the conflict it doesn’t feel the same.

Both of the poems are very similar and both about war. I believe that the poets wrote these poems to show people the horror of war and what people have to do to get of the situation they are in. In At the border this women and had to fled to Kerdistan because of a war in a her country. When we turn to Belfast confetti this person is struggling to get out of his situation. In at the border these people are returning to Iran so the poem is happy joyful. However in Belfast confetti the poem is talking about a terrorist attack and that this man is trying to escape so the poem is dark and anxious. But in the title it says confetti and when I think of confetti it reminds me of celebrations and happiness, but I thing the poet means confetti as a Molotov or a bomb because confetti spreads every where and explodes, so it’s a metaphor. However in At the border the title explains the poem so it is not a metaphor. In my opinion these two poems are very similar because they are both showing a message about war and how it can effect peoples life’s and how scared people can get and that these wars can split love ones from each other. So Apart from the minor differences of the poems I think these two poems are very close to be the same.

1- In the first stanza there are clues to suggests Vaudevue death. ” Her finger tap the ground, she is alone. At midnight in the moonlight she is sitting alone on a round flat stone. I think when this little girl is alone she is tapping her fingers on the ground, she could be thinking about how she is going to continue without her memory and without a way out.

2- I believe that M.L.5 fits in with the poems sub title ‘ Incident In a Future War’. This is because in this day in age there is no such thing of ‘M.L.5’ that we no of. In the poem ‘M.L.5’ sounds like a weapon or gas that could be used in warfare to kill or injure the enemies troops and to remove their memory to forget who they are and who they’re fighting for.

3-I think that repetition helps to create a feeling of sadness in the poem. This is because in the first stanza it repeats the word ‘Alone’. This creates a feeling of sadness because this is a little girl that is alone without her family and without her memory.
The rhyme ‘ M.L.5 has just left her alive ‘ also creates the feeling of sadness because Vaudevue has just been left alive by this weapon or gas that has removed her memory.

The poem The Right Word was written Imtiaz Dharker after the 9 11 bombings. The poem is about this women in her house or work place seeing this figure. In the first stanza she describes the figure lurking in the shadows and that figure is a terrorist. Just from this start we can tell that this poem is going to be a political one. When she said the word terrorist, this can show racism and can be controversial. In the second stanza she starts of with the question ‘Is that the wrong description?’ This shows us that she is questioning her self and that she could be wrong. Also in that stanza she describes the person taking shelter in the shadows instead of lurking, and instead of a terrorist the person is a freedom fighter. In this one stanza the description of this person changes completely. Like wise in the third and the fourth stanza she changes the description of the person to a hostile militant and to a guerrilla warrior. But in the fifth stanza starts of with God help me. In my eyes the character is desperate and wants help. And in this stanza we find out that the shadows are people, And that this person is standing defying the people around him or her and that she is a martyr. Then everything changes, she says that the person is a child that is lost in the shadows. Then she invites the child to eat with her. From this poem we found out that this women judged a figure in the shadows and thought that the figure was a terrorist due to the colour of his or hers skin.
I would think that this poem was written to tell people that you can’t judge people over their skin colour or their ethnicity, And that this women made a mistake about this child. The message of this would be don’t judge people on the race.

Throughout the twenty first century nuclear weapon testing has been used across the world. The first nuclear weapon was tested by the US on Japan at Hiroshima. Since that day in 1945 atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons have grown and has been used more.The US’s last Nuclear weapon test was in 1991-1992 with operation Julin. This operation was the last of 1000+ weapon tests in the United States. The most recent nuclear weapon test was in 2013 with North Korea. The weapon was aimed at the US but first into space.
These nuclear weapons are putting pressure on other countries to respond with their own weapons to feel safe. However this makes the problem worse.

In January of 2013 when the U.N condemned North Korea of launching a satellite into space whilst it was banned due to the Korean Ballistic missile test. They did do the test and a couple of days later they said to china that they will do more. As I said before when one country threatens an other, the country would respond. In this case South Korea and the US responded with B-52 Bombers going over North Korea to warn them. This did make the problems much worse.

In my opinion the use of nuclear weapons should be banned all across the world. People like Hiroshi Sawachika was just walking to his desc when the bomb went off, 4 kilometres away. Hiroshi was 28 years old and a doctor. He said that when the bomb struck, everyone in the building was unconscious for at least 10 to 30 seconds. He said that 5 to 8 thousand people came to the hospital for treatment. He also talked about a mother touching his leg and saying that she was going to die but to save her baby in her womb, He never knew what happened to that women. on that day 140,000 mothers, fathers, sons , and daughters never came back. If president Truman never said that command to drop that bomb, there could of never been nuclear weapons.

Since Hiroshima 1945, the United States have carried out 1032 different nuclear weapon tests. The most recent test was operation Julin in 1992. This operation had seven similar tests. The most tests that the US did in one was over 50 in just one operation. However in 1956 President Kennedy signed a treaty to stop nuclear weapon testing. The US also signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with North Korea, France, and Britain. This treaty was to stop nuclear weapons to be used widely. The treaty worked in a extent but the Cold War happened. When the Cold War finished The United states stopped nuclear weapons for good.

Imagine a world where nuclear were allowed to be used. I would believe that at least 90% of humans would be dead. Do you want to live a world with only 7000 people? Do you want to live in a world were your children could grow up with disabilities due to radiation? I didn’t think so. If nuclear weapons were abolished completely, people from countries like south Korea won’t be scared from threats of bombings from North Korea. People who live in the Gaza strip cannot be afraid from the threat of being killed.
These are some of the reasons why nuclear weapons should be abolished.