Great Expectations Chapter 9-10

In chapter 9, Pip lies about his experiences at the house and says he had a great time.  Pip then tells Joe the truth and says, "There's one thing you may be sure of Pip, namely that lies are lies. Howsever they come, they didn't ought to come, and they come from the father of lies, and work round to do the same" (Dickens, 64).  Joe is really a father figure to Pip instead of just a friend.  He knows that if Pip wants to do well in life he will need to be honest in his works.  Joe is constantly telling Pip of what is right and what is wrong. He's trying to teach him good habits and keep him out of trouble.
In chapter 10, Pip and Joe go to a bar and a mysterious man buys them drinks.  Pip explains, "The strange man, after glancing at Joe, and seeing that his attention was otherwise engaged, nodded to me again when i had taken my seat, and then rubbed his leg in a very odd way, ad is struck me" (Dickens, 69).  This strange man is very similar to the convicts that Pip has met before.  This makes me wonder if this is another convict or a man who knew the convicts.  This part is probably very significant to the plot and what's going to happen later in the story.

Great Expectations Chapter 7-8

In chapter 7, Pip talks about his schooling and reads Joe a letter he wrote. Joe states, "I say, Pip, old chap! What a scholar you are! Ain't you?" (Dickens, 41).  The truth is the letter was written very poorly but Joe doesn't care. He's glad that Pip has wrote him a letter.  This also shows the relationship between the two of them.  So far throughout the story, Joe has become the second significant character behind Pip.
Chapter 8 is when Pip goes to Miss Havisham's house to play.  Pip meets this girl, Estella, and while Pip is leaving she says, "You have been crying till you are half-blind, and you are near crying again now" (Dickens, 59).  Pip is very sad at the end of his visit to the house and cries the whole way home.  We find that Estella is very wealthy and also very bratty.  She is always criticizing Pip's social status and loves to make fun of him. Pip knows that if he speaks up or does anything to disrespect her, his sister and everyone else will be very upset at him.  This shows how the social status was like in those days.

Great Expectations Chapter 5-6

Chapter 5 is when the soldiers come and they go search for the convicts.  As they finally capture them, Pip says, "...my convict looked around him for the first time, and saw me...I looked at him eagerly when he looked at me, and slightly moved my hands and shook my head" (Dickens, 34).  It seems like Pip is feeling very afraid of the convicts even though they are now captured.  He is still worried about the people finding out that he has given the convict food and wants to keep it secret.  when the convict looks at him, Pip fears that he will be recognized and found out.
In chapter 6, Joe and Pip come home and tell the people about the incident with the convicts. Pip explains, "But i loved Joe, perhaps for no better reason in those early days than because the dear fellow let me love him, and as to him my inner self was not so easily composed" (Dickens, 37).  In this moment, we get to see how much Pip actually cares about Joe and how guilty he feels to not tell him the entire truth.  Pip doesn't even care about telling his own sister but feels guilty about it with Joe.  This shows his trust and love for Joe which may help him in the future.

Great Expectations Chapter 3-4

Chapter 3 was about Pip stealing the food and running to go give it to the convict.  He says, "I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window, as if some goblin had been crying there all night, and using the window as a pocket kerchief" (Dickens, 14).  As Pip is running, he's has all these illusions around him and feels that everyone knows he is stealing the food.  This quote uses a metaphor to show how damp and wet the outside was.  He compares it to a goblin crying which I don't really understand why.  This also shows how much his guilt affects the way he thinks and may influence some of his actions later in the book.
In chapter 4, Pip comes back from delivering the food, and no one realizes that he has taken any.  As he walks in, Mrs. Gargery says, "perhaps if i warn't a blacksmith's wife, and a slave with her apron never off, i should have been to hear the carols" (Dickens, 19). Once again she complains about being a blacksmith's wife and hard her life is.  Dickens uses this statement many times throughout the book which means it must have some importance.

Great Expectations Chapter 1-2

From chapter 1, the quote that i felt was important was when the old gray man was talking to pip about the young man.  He says, "A boy may lock his door, may be warm in bed, may tuck himself up may draw his clothes over his head, may think himself comfortable and safe, but that young man will softly creep and creep his way to him and tear him open" (Dickens, 4).  The old man is speaking in rhymes which is different from which he was before.  I also think that Dickens was trying to make this relate to something totally different than what the text is making it. I think it means if you do something bad, no matter how hard you try to keep it secret or get over it, you will always feel guilty of doing it.
Chapter 2 introduces us to Mrs. Gargery and Joe Gargery.  Mrs. Gargery is yelling at pip about how but work she does around the house. She explains, "It's bad enough being a blacksmith's wife (and him a Gargery) without being your mother" (Dickens, 8).  She seems to complain about being married to a blacksmith a lot.  It really bugs me on how snotty she is to both Pip and Joe.  Joe seems like a very nice man but is too afraid to say anything to Mrs. Gargery.  She doesn't respect him and is always complaining about how she does work all day. So far, i don't really like Mrs. Gargery.

Shakespeare Reflection

I think that Shakespeare's plays are very useful and should be used in English classes.  Many students don't like Shakespeare because of his writing style.  When I first started reading Shakespeare's work back in 9th grade, I didn't like it at all.  I didn't understand the way he wrote and it confused me throughout that year.  Slowly, as I started to read more of his plays like Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, I could understand his writing style better and enjoyed reading them more. My favorite out of all of Shakespeare's work is Othello.  I just really liked the plot and I thought Iago was a really interesting bad guy.  I usually don't care too much for the bad guy in Shakespeare's work but I liked how Iago was so cunning and witty.   
For my senior year, we have read Macbeth in my English class.  Overall, I really enjoyed the book.  It was a little hard to understand the plot and know what was going on in the beginning but once it got going it was a great story.  It was sort of confusing trying to figure out how each person related to each other.  I kept forgetting who was who which made it a little confusing going throughout the play.  I thought the end was very fitting. I'm sort of glad that Macbeth was killed the way he was.  At the beginning I liked Macbeth but after all of his greed and selfishness I despised him.  I didn't really see what Lady Macbeth was thinking throughout the story.  I thought she was more crazy than Macbeth.  Even though there were a lot of crazy people in Macbeth, I still enjoyed it.  I felt that it was different than the other plays he wrote.  Macbeth wasn't really a love story like most of Shakespeare's work.  This was about power and greed which was a nice change to what I was used to. 

Goblin Bullies

In a small town up in the North Pole lives many creatures from all different sizes and shapes.  The wind blows against the old wooden houses and the "Welcome to Mysteryville" sign.  Snow falls as the first bell rings for the students to go to class.  In the school, there are two different animals and creatures that go there. First, there are the goblins.  They are the mean and most dreadful creatures in the school.  You wouldn't want to pass by them in the hallways.  Then there are the turkeys, which are the ordinary everyday students. 
Out of these turkey's is one that stands out, whose name is Tom Gobbler.  He's the coolest turkey in the school.  As he walks in his class, he sees his friends as well as his zombified teacher, Mrs. Roasted.  When the turkeys get old, they become zombified and go into teaching at the schools.  As Tom sits, a voice goes over the intercom.  "Good morning students! Ho Ho Ho! This is your principal, Mr. Claus.  Ho Ho Ho!  I just wanted to say Christmas is coming soon so you better have been good this year. Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!" 
During class Tom asks Mrs. Roasted to use the restroom and he walks out.  While walking, he hears gobbles of distress.  He follows the noise and sees the goblins picking on and beating up another turkey.  Tom wants to help but knows that if he gets into a fight his senior year, he won't be able to graduate.  When the goblins see him, they laugh and run away.  Tom helps them other turkey and runs back to class to tell Mrs. Roasted what he saw.  Worried, she picks up the phone and calls Mr. Claus. 
Throughout the rest of the day, Tom is wondering what will happen to him or the goblins.  The next day at school, an announcement comes that Tom needs to see the principal.  When Tom arrives, the principal tells him that he has talked to the goblins and has given them the worst punishment Tom has ever heard.  No presents for the goblins unless they promise not to pick on anyone again.  Tom is happy that he told some one and helped out his fellow turkeys. 
The goblins didn't promise so they received coal that year.  When school started up again after winter break, the goblins swore they wouldn't bully anyone else.  They were miserable that break because they had no presents to play with.  Tom stood up for what he believed in and helped make peace between the turkeys and goblins.