Ku’s 6th Period AP Comp Blog

1. I believe that Hamlet waited so long to kill Claudius because he wanted to be a hundred percent sure that he was the murderer.  He also seems to be trying to persuade himself that what he is doing is right, because he isn’t the type to kill someone, but this man had killed his father, and his father’s ghost had come back to tell him to kill Claudius.  He had one very clear chance to kill Claudius without getting caught, but he backed out because he thought Claudius would go to heaven if he was killed while praying. 
2. I think that he acts like he is crazy in order to draw attention away from the fact that he is plotting to kill his uncle.  If he acted perfectly normally, or was in grief all the time, Claudius might have figured out that he was going to get murdered, because it is understandable that Hamlet would want revenge.  I think his madness crosses into reality when Ophelia dies, because it seems like he actually did love her, even if he didn’t seem to show it.  She is really mad compared to Hamlet, because she eventually drowns herself in suicide. 
3. I think the Freudian interpretation is a bunch of crap because they use a fairly new psychological theory to judge a play written hundreds of years before the theory was made.  Hamlet is just disgusted by the fact that his mom is with his uncle about a month after his dad’s death, and sickens him to also know that Claudius murdered his dad.  I don’t think that Gertrude had anything to do with the murder, because its not like she would want her husband murdered for no reason. 
4. I think he believes that people continue living because there is no point in dying so early, because nothing is accomplished by dying.  For example, he mentions that Yorrick, who made him laugh so hard as a child, has died, and no one remembers him anymore, and mentions how his mom got married right after his father died. 
5. I looked at the “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy, and I believe that it means living is the most important thing in life.  I believe this because he mentions his father, and how his mother got married one month after his death, and I took it to mean that he thought that people forgot the ones who had died; no matter how close or important the person was to them. 
6. I beleive that this is a good piece of writing, but not the best ever produced.  In English literature, it stands out because it is not too complex storywise, but also manages to fit many different smaller stories into one.  Literature from other countries has to be evaluated first and we cannot ever claim that one is the best, because of our own personal biases. 

I did not find the advice from the AP testers to be very useful in preparing me for the test.  It seemed like it was just trying to be positive and tell students that the test is not too bad.  It also seemed to be giving really basic tips that everyone knows and that are common sense.  I believe that writing such basic facts only makes the reader stop reading, which could make them miss out on some very important facts in the packet.  It was extremely similar to the SAT packet, which pretty much gave the same tips for being an effective writer. 

I believe there are several strategies used by Chesterton in this essay.  He uses code grooming when he quotes Cyrano de Bergerac.  He mentions this quote in order to prove that he understands art and painting, but doesn’t have enough blank space in the house, since most of the spaces in a house are covered in wallpaper.  He also uses repetition in the second paragraph in order to lend his writing more influence, because he says that he was the one finding out that wallpaper is really boring and not very interesting at all.  He also quotes specific phrases that are not really quoted, but is also used for code grooming because he expects the reader to know what he is referring to in his article, for example, when he says, “cleanliness is not next to godliness nowadays,” referring to the old idea that cleanliness is related to godliness.  He also mentions Michael Angelo in order to emphasize that he knows something about art. 

In John Downe’s passage, he uses many rhetorical strategies to convince his wife to move over the
United States.  For example, when he talks about the treatment from the farmer, he claims that, “I was welcome to his house at any time,” explaining that Americans are open to people and are super friendly.  He uses anecdotes to convince his wife that American life is way better than life in
England.  Downe also uses pathos to talk about his wife and children, and that they would live much better with him in
America. 

I find gun control to be a very important issue.  Many people are dying needlessly because guns are not effectively controlled by the government.  For example, in the news recently, a child died from police gunfire because he was brandishing a toy gun without an orange tip in public, a way for police officers to recognize fake weapons.  Even though many people believe gun control is strict enough in the United States, it is not when a person can get a concealed weapon carry permit a week after applying for one.   Another problem is how lax gun shops are about background checks and keeping records.  For example, the D.C. sniper bought his rifle at a
Tacoma gun shop that did not keep records and also sold guns under the table.  This is why gun control is needed. 

            I believe that gun control is not necessary in our country.  Even though occasional problems occur, this is not due to how the
United States regulates guns, but the people who use them.  For example, people who are diagnosed with mental disorders or have prior criminal history are banned from buying weapons.  In cases like Columbine, the sellers are not directly responsible for what their products do, because these guns were bought through a straw purchase.  When people decide to paint the tips of their toy guns, that is their responsibility and fault because the orange tip is there to alert police to the fact that these are not real guns.  If they walk around in public with a painted over toy gun, it is their own fault if they get shot.  This is why gun control is not a necessary issue currently in our country. 

            I believe that Kennan is right in saying
America has a wide distribution of power compared to many other countries.  The argument that I find to be the most compelling in this short passage is where he mentions the power that malicious groups hold, but how it is all put into check by our willingness to operate in groups and the pressure we feel from the rest of the group.  Like he mentions at the very end of the passage,
America is one of the only countries where the population regulates the balance of power.  For example, in
South Korea, university students clash with riot police all the time because the distribution of power is very uneven. 

Minchi

Takashi Murakami

The first picture was done by an artist named Minchi and their piece is called
Nuphar japonicum, and was created using conventional art medium. The second picture is by a man named Takashi Murakami using conventional art medium for a ten minute short film.

There are many differences and similarities between these two images, which both are biased toward nature. For example, the first piece of art relates to nature in a way that the girl is in the midst of flowers and other bright foliage. The second piece is similar in the way that it displays large fruits and landscape in the background. They also both have images of people present in the scene, but the first one takes a more morbid take on the nature, and displays what I believe to be a dead person, or if not dead, unconscious person floating in water, surrounded by small fish, while a person is looking on. The second picture has a more optimistic view, and features human characters interacting with a giant living tree. The first one uses more vibrant colors, which almost seem as a way to offset the not so obvious violence present in it. The second one has more muted tones, but it is overall more optimistic and the style adds more to the happy mood than to the first picture. The first one also has a lot more vegetation and it is a brighter color, but the black backgrounds to the flowers make them seem even brighter than they actually are. The second picture has less contrast and the vegetation blends in, and the only exception are the people, who almost glow white compared to the plants. The first picture also uses a lot more blending and the white background blends in, while the second picture has very well defined outlines for each figure.
There are some very different techniques used for each picture. For example, the first picture uses more shape and form to distinguish the girl’s dress from the the flowers and the paleness of her skin, and also helps accentuate the body in the water by highlighting the legs of the body in the water. There is a lot of negative space around the girl’s figure and the water, because they both are one simple color and make up a lot of the picture without really showing very much. The water has a lot of tiny curved red lines that represent fish, and form little outlines of the body. Water is represented very well in this because the surface has a lot of form that creates the illusion that there are waves. There is some form in the first picture, but the pictures only seem three dimensional around the human forms, and the flowers seem kind of flat. There is very little texture and the picture is very smooth, which fits the style of the picture. The colors are very bright and colorful, and add to the intensity of the picture, but end up masking the body a little, so that the viewer does not notice it right away. The picture has an overall bright value because most of the picture is very bright, but the edges are dark.

Takashi Murakami has a very different style from Minchi’s style of artwork. For example, his picture has more definite line, such as the horizontal lines in the background as the ground, the mountains, and the clouds in the sky. There is more shape and form because the watermelons and the giant living plant seem very three dimensional and alive. There is a lot of shading that gives everything realistic shadows. There is very little empty space in the picture, the only place with any noticeable empty space is in the cloud where the sky is. There is more texture in this piece, because it the background and the fruit in the picture look pretty realistic compared to the flowers that are presented in the first piece.
Both pieces also use a few principles of design effectively. The piece by Minchi has little balance because all of the bright colors are concentrated right in the middle of the piece, while the piece by Takashi Murakami has a lot more balance because the colors are all evenly spread out, and the characters are not all focused right in the middle. There is a variety of colors and shapes in the first piece that make it interesting to look at, but there is a lack of textures that makes me want to reach out for it. The second piece has a lot more variety and rhythm, because there is repetition of the fruits, people, and background art such as the clouds and mountains.
These two images tell different stories on the importance of the human condition. The first piece by Minchi illustrates how the human condition will eventually lead to fear or pain, even during the best times of someone’s life, and I found this in the piece because the girl is in a really beautiful scene, but happens to find a body floating in the water. Her expression shows surprise, and maybe some fear, and I see this because she has such big eyes and her mouth is slightly open in a way that shows surprise. I believe that Takashi Murakami’s piece represents the imaginative side of human nature, because humans are that plants are not conscious, but we create cartoons and other forms of entertainment that use inanimate objects, or animals that cannot speak. This is what I see about human nature in these pieces of art.

Works Cited
“How to Critique and Write About Art.” 18 Apr. 2008 <http://clackhi.nclack.k12.or.us/~edgintonwWeb/page%20files/Critiquing_Writing%20about%20art.htm>.
Meathaus. 18 Apr. 2008 <http://meathaus.com/wp-content/images/minchi_art2.jpg>.
Murakami, Takashi. “Art with Baggage in Tow.” New York Times. 4 Apr. 2008. 18 Apr. 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/arts/design/04mura.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>.

            Joe was a second semester senior.  He doesn’t care about his grades anymore and spends his time sleeping instead of doing his homework.  Now, he has poor grades in all his classes.  Unfortunately for Joe, he finds out that he is about to fail his chemistry class.  His teacher tells him that his grade will go up if he does very well on his next notebook and test.  Joe decides that he must work as hard as he can to raise his chemistry grade, and in the end, passes the class and graduates on time with his friends.  Joe realizes that, even though he might have gotten into college and that he doesn’t have to try anymore, some colleges will kick him out if he fails classes his senior year.  That is why Joe worked so hard to pass every class, even if he didn’t have any incentive anymore.  

There are several different ways that Canaday uses rhetoric to compare the two family portraits. For the first painting of the Peales, he looks at all the figures who all seem so happy and content to be with each other, but they are not all grouped into the middle, which would make the picture stale and boring.  He also mentions that, even though the family is divided into two groups down the middle, the appearance of fruit and the table cloth help connect everything.  Canaday also mentions the amount of action happening in the shot, where family members are painting, talking to each other, and doing things independently of each other, which he explains is becaues the family members of the painting were all painted seperately, then put together as a composite.  The tones are muted, and there are not very many bright colors except for the people, who almost glow white.  Canaday only finds problems with minor details, such as the grandmother’s way too long arms, and the large hands of the sister in the background.  He explains that this picture is nice, but is rather simplistic and does not really tell a true story about families, which are never perfect.  For the Bellelli piece, Canaday finds many things to praise.  For example, the vertical lines moving down the picture separate the Baron from the rest of the family, and the way he has his back turned toward the shot also creates an amtoshpere of indifference or avoidance to the family.  The way that the mother is standing straight up with the contrasting colors makes her the most powerful figure in this scene.  He likes this scene because he believes there is more substance behind the picture than the one by Peale.  This shows the actual problems that can arise in a family, instead of glossing it all over like the first portrait.  I saw similar methods that Canaday saw, but I have to disagree with his final idea.  I believe that happy families exist, and that his point that the Peale portrait is too superficial is kind of biased toward someone who is good at critiquing art, but maybe not seeing something as holistically. 

http://todayspictures.slate.com/20080321/ 

Image 2 

I believe that this image tells its own story as it is being analyzed.  This image portrays a group of religious Catholics in
Spain, who are dressed in all black and are wearing a hat similar to the ones that the members of the KKK wear.  They are all grouped around a flag, and the picture was shot in black and white.  I think that the black and white accentuates the feeling of fear that the picture gives off in general because it is more stark and harsh feeling.  I think that the connection that Americans have to the tall pointy hat is brought out in this picture, because Americans  are more likely to associate the hat with racism and fear, while in Spain, it is a religious symbol and does not mean what it signifies to people here.  The flag that they are gathered around seems more dark and evil, even though its probably red and a sign of religiousness, not fear.  the objects that the figures are carrying also seem to be slightly threatening, like spears or guns, and the emphasis of the photo seems to be on the kind of fear creating figures.  As a piece of rhetoric, I believe this does a decent job of getting people to understand how important this ritual is for Catholics, because the whole somber mood of the pictures shows that it is something that they take very seriously.  I think the only reasons why it doesn’t work is because the hat is associated with hate crimes and violence in the United States, and the darkness of the picture doesn’t make the scene look very happy.