Hamlet

Shakespeare's characters tend to bother me almost every time I read one of his plays. Hamlet was not an exception to this annoyance. First of all, I don't understand why he couldn't just believe his father's ghost and kill Claudius. Not only does the ghosts story make sense, but Hamlet was already opposed to the marriage between Claudius and Gertrude. He had an easy way to end the marriage and most likely take the thrown, which he should have been given in the first place. Second, he seemed to be leading on Ophelia the entire time. He was rude to her one minute and then jumping in her grave the next. He probably just had a desire to be over dramatic and didn't actually care for Ophelia during her life. Also, he could have realized that he made a mistake in not pursuing Ophelia and he was upset he wouldn't ever be given that chance. After Laertes and Hamlet got into a small fight in the graveyard, Claudius bet on Hamlet in a duel against Laertes. Is that not a red flag at all? Hamlet knew that Claudius tried to have him murdered in England and that Laertes was upset over his father and sister's deaths. He was walking into a death trap from the beginning. Hamlet was a coward who lacked both ambition and common sense. He couldn't kill Claudius, he couldn't love Ophelia properly, and he didn't realize that he would most likely die if he went into a duel against Laertes. Horatio is the only person in the entire play that actually liked Hamlet and trusted him. Even his own mother doubted Hamlet and believed that he was insane. I don't know if he was insane or if he faked it, but I do know that if it was fake then it was very convincing.

Reading at a Young Age

When I was younger I read books constantly. I wasn't allowed to watch television during the weekdays because my parents didn't want me to get into the habit of watching television every day as a teenager and adult. Watching television was a privilege, not a necessity or a time that I believed I should constantly be given. Books were my form of television and in my mind they told a story better than any TV show or movie could. I was given the opportunity to imagine the characters and setting in any way that I desired and I wasn't confined to a movie's interpretation. In elementary school, I excelled in spelling, missing only two words during my time at the school.  Spelling was something I genuinely enjoyed because it gave me a sense of accomplishment and I was always proud of myself. In middle school, I did well on all vocabulary tests, rarely missing the spelling and definitions of the words. High school is the same story. I believe that I owe my parents a thank you for limiting my time on the television and giving me the choice of what to do with the spare time that I was given after homework. They never forced me to read, but they did give me praise when I would figure out a word by sounding it out or when I would complete a short story. After they got me past the first steps of learning to read, I chose to continue reading for fun. It has never been something I disliked or whined over when a teacher would assign a new book to read. Honestly, reading in school is a treat for me because I get to take time out of my busy day to sit down and read a couple of chapters. I might not enjoy all books, but I do enjoy the peaceful time that they bring. 

Beautiful Words

A beautiful word isn't necessarily a word that sounds appealing to the ears, or floats delicately off the tongue. It is a word that evokes a memory from the past or even a dream for the future. It is because of this that not everyone has the same set of beautiful words stored up in their head, instead, each individual is unique in their opinion. It is possible for every word in the English language to be beautiful.

Here is my list:
1. baseball
2. peanuts
3. boating
4. camel
5. Halloween
6. fuzz
7. Castaway
8. red
9. cow

When I was younger some of my favorite memories were outside with my neighbors playing catch or going to the Legends' games with my family. I had a dream of catching one of the game balls, but I'm sure that if it had gotten anywhere near me I would have ducked to the ground due to my lack of catching skills. It was the one sport that I wasn't very good at and that completely frustrated me at the time. However, I've learned a little more patience and one of my friends has started teaching me again. To me, baseball is a beautiful word because it brings back memories of my neighbors when we were all together.

During senior seminar one morning someone asked me to stand up and give one of my dreams. I easily answered with "Before I die I want to ride a camel." It may seem like a simple dream that would be just as simple to achieve, but somehow I always miss the camel rides during the fall for one reason or another. It remains on my high school bucket list to this day.

Fuzz. Not only is it fun to say, but it represents my entire childhood. When I was little I ate my teddy bear. I tore a huge hole in the foot and took out every bit of fuzz that was inside that poor, once fat bear. It was a slow process that eventually led to me demolishing a couple of pillows also. Eventually, I just skipped the destruction and got a bag of fuzz that I could steal from every once in a while. I have no idea what compelled me to take the fuzz, but I did, and I slept with it every night and honestly, I take it out every now and again for good luck on a test. All of my friends know about the fuzz and I'm sure every single one of them has seen it in my possession at one point or another. It is a serious obsession.

Oedipus #2

Oedipus thinks of no one but himself throughout the entire play. How can one person seem so caring and thoughtful and then turn out to be a complete lunatic? No one in their right mind would make the decisions that Oedipus made throughout each scene. First of all, why in the world would you kill a group of people just because they wanted you to get off the road? They needed to get past and a group of people should come before an individual, especially such a selfish, self-centered human being. He only expresses concern for the city's plague because he wants to look like a good king, but in reality he doesn't really care as long as everyone likes him and he is "popular." He has children and a wife that he should have considered throughout the play, however, he chose to do things that would only bring attention to himself. His wife hangs herself and he has to revert the attention back to himself by gouging his own eyes out and then begging for mercy on behalf of his children. That is the only seemingly kind-hearted gesture he gave the entire time I was reading. In reality, it isn't even all that nice because what would have been the logical course of actions was to leave Thebes, become kind of Corinth in place of his adopted father, and remain loyal to both his wife and children. In that situation he would maintain his nobility while also keeping his eyes.

I know this was just a rant, but Oedipus makes me quite angry. The end.