The Importance of McNicholas High School

4794 Beechwood Farms Drive/Wodsworth Analysis

4794 Beechwood Farms Drive What brings the spirit to our five-roomed house? It doesn’t matter what time of the year, Whether there are over twenty people or only a spouse, The feeling of love and care is apparent here. At 4794 Beechwood Farms Drive. A hard-working family, busy as bees, Who always seems to spend quality time. Eating dinner, playing scrabble, climbing trees, Or making phone calls regardless the time. At 4794 Beechwood Farms Drive. There’s something special about the season of fall The autumn chill and rainbow-colored leaves, That even though we are the busiest of all, The time spent together is more cherished than perceived. At 4794 Beechwood Farms Drive. A dry sense of humor, a sarcastic room, Filled with sports and Jeopardy at 7:30 Late nights of staying up or studying for tests that are soon, With someone always waking up early. At 4794 Beechwood Farms Drive. My life without these four people would be very sad, My family is all that I need to get through the day And for that I’m forever glad That in 10 years, I will be able to get away, To 4794 Beechwood Farms Drive. Analysis of William Wodsworth's poetry: William Wodsworth has very original poems, but there is definitely a common theme within each one. In the Romantic Era, poems generally emphasized the themes and style of formality and mannerism. Wodsworth breaks this regularity and writes poems about strong feelings, instinct, and pleasure. He truly believed that poems were meant to be enjoyed, and he focused on pleasing his readers. His poems deal with the subjects of childhood and the child’s lost connection with the nature surrounding him or her. Along with childhood, the historical past is analyzed in Wodsworth’s poems in a more emotional way. His poetry is not hard to read, but is written in common speech rather than extravagant wording.

Shakespeare and the Underground Lair

Shakespeare and the Underground Lair
by: kgorman014

Must Women Play the Role of Men to be Successful Leaders?

Since the beginning of time in historical records of varying cultures and countries, we see a popular trend of men overpowering women, and women being forced to do jobs like cleaning the house, washing the clothes, making dinner, and so on.  The true beginning of women’s rights was not until around the mid-1800s, and even at that point their voices were limited.  We’ve read in the textbooks about how women were treated and how they fought for their ability to have any sort of power including political power, but we don’t see it as much firsthand.  In the past two election campaigns, there has been a woman running for the President of the United States of America.  We’ve seen woman like Oprah Winfrey and Meg Whitman, owner of a large sum of eBay, climb to the top and make as much money as the men on the list.  So why is it that in order to be a successful and powerful person, you must be “manly” about it?  I personally do believe that there are enormous differences between the way women and men are in their demeanor and emotions.   Studies show the obvious conclusion that females are much more prone to show their emotions than men are.  I see this every day at school when girls are constantly fighting over some stupid, unnecessary reason and boys get angry one second and get over it the next.  I think this emotion idea is carried over to the political area: you have to be willing to drop your emotions and think about what is most important for you and your country.  Sometimes this involves being ruthless, sometimes this involves being straightforward and not what everyone else wants to hear.  When someone who is full of emotion is forced to make important decisions, they are more likely to mess up.  Although these characteristics are seen in men and women, these are only stereotypes.  There are plenty of women out there who are very good at making decisions and thinking things out efficiently, and there are also men who are flawed by their inability to see past their emotions.  There is no doubt that being emotionless is also a terrible trait to have as a leader.  I think it’s important to have a balance where you are neither cruel nor drowning in emotions.  There have been successful male and female leaders, and there secret is that they are able to balance their emotions with their common sense and seek out the needs of others before themselves.

"Can You Learn Anything From a Void?" Creative Response

Kate Gorman

February 9, 2012

“Can You Learn Anything From a Void?”

Witnessing a crime and not turning the person in is considered a crime in and of itself.  This basically is the same idea portrayed when Nazi soldiers were not physically killing millions of Jews but carrying out specific orders for their extermination.  I don’t believe that there is any legitimate excuse for a murder, and the people involved include more than just the murderer himself.  The article states that, “In order to be willing to send human beings to their deaths, it would seem necessary first to dehumanize them, to see them as enemies or as statistics—or as a problem requiring a final solution.” People who believe that they have the power and authority to dehumanize God’s creation and target humans as enemies or statistics are very wrong.  Even in Shakespeare’s story of MacBeth we see a power-hungry man and woman who think it’s realistic to kill the king in order to replace his spot as king and queen.  I think this feeling of power roots from our ignorance and helplessness.  If we were constantly compassionate and worried about others before ourselves, this type of genocide and regicide would not occur.  In both the story of the Nazi solider and MacBeth, the people that they were murdering were people that they knew and had personal relationships with.  MacBeth has invited King Duncan to stay at his palace and engaged in very deep, personal talks.  The Nazi solider was a pharmacist and neighbor to many of the Jewish people that were being brought to the concentration camps.  It seems impossible for me to fathom what was going on in their minds and the remorse they felt afterwards.  Macbeth obviously felt that feeling of guilt when he was haunted by the ghost of Banquo, the second person he plotted to kill.  There is no difference between Duncan’s murder and Banquo’s murder in my eyes despite the fact that MacBeth was holding the knife in one and not in the other.  This opinion also relates to the Nazi soldiers physically killing and torturing innocent Jews and Russians and those who just merely ordered the killings.  The fact of the matter is that whether it is one person or a total wipeout of a race, murder is never justified unless it is in self-defense.  These murders lead only to lies and more lies, which cause problems upon problems.  People lose grasp of their conscience in times of self-interest in genocide, and that is not the reason that we are put on this earth.    

Globe Theatre Creative Response

My heart began to race as looked up through the bustling crowds and my eyes caught the top of the Globe Theatre.  There was one thought on my mind: I would be inside this theatre for the first time in my life in less than ten minutes observing Shakespeare’s play, Henry VIII.  I had heard of the astounding playwrights and acting that took place inside this small arena, and it was now my day to experience it firsthand.  Over the city noise, I heard a man yelling, “Just five cents to sit on the stage of the Globe Theatre this afternoon!  Five cents!”  Even though this was a lot of money, it was a once in a lifetime chance for me, and I had to take advantage.  I ran over and handed the man my money, and he directed me to the opening which would lead me straight to the front.  Men, women, even small children were fighting to get to the front.  My adrenaline got the best of me and I got on my knees in order to crawl below the crowd.  Before I knew it, I was touching the front of the stage and found a suitable opening where I could sit.  As I sat, I looked out on the crowd; the mass amount of people was something I’ve never seen before.  There were hundreds of London citizens who were as excited about Shakespeare’s great plays as I was.  Before I knew it, the whole theatre grew silent and the actors took their places on stage.  The energy in their movements and the strength in the words they were saying took my breathe away.  It seemed almost as if this was not a play, but a real life situation we were occurring.  The actors had a special aura that pulled the crowd in.  The emotions and feelings of each crowd member were made clear through laughing, sighing, and even crying.  From the peasants, to the middle class like me, all the way to the high class sitting in the balcony: we all seemed to become one in the same as we watched the play.  I was amazed at the atmosphere that was present in this place for those two and a half hours.  There was no doubt in my mind that Mr. William Shakespeare had a way with words and had the ability to realize a person’s true feelings and emotions.  As the play ended and Mr. Shakespeare took the stage, the round of applause and standing ovation he received was sincere and necessary.  My experience on the stage up close to the actors was one that I will never forget.