Romeo And Juliet

We recently read scene 4 of act 1 and its about this fairy of good and bad dreams. Mercutio speaks a HUGE monologue about Mab, this fairy that controls dreams or something. she is described as really tiny, and people in my class described her as overwight...? yeah I don't know what they were thinking. Anyways she controls dreams and can make them good or bad. She makes Romeo see a vision of death, and he begins to worry and you know how dramatic Romeo gets when he speaks. Speaking of dramatic, Romeo attends the Capulet's party and oddly, Capulet doesn't get angry because he hears Romeo is a good kid. but he spots Juliet and once again. he falls in love at first sight..... At first Juliet doesn't buy it. but as soon as Romeo slides in for that first kiss. All Juliet can think about is Romeo. they end up having a make out session for about 5 minutes and then Romeo Capulet tells everyone to leave. Romeo soon finds out Juliet is a Capulet. this doesn't really bother him to me... Oh Romeo....

Intro to Shakespear

         This week we are starting our Shakespear unit and we are reading/watching/performing one of his most famous plays, Romeo And Juliet it took a few class days to get the hang of Elizabeathen Language, but I think im getting the hang of it pretty well.

 

         On Act 1 Scene 1, I played Benvolio , Romeos Cousin, this scene was basically the fight between the Capulets, and the Montegues. we also watched to versions of this scene. One was the 1968 version that really portrayed the events to the actual events really well. it was what me and a lot of students imaged in our head as we read it for the first time. However the one with Dicaprio, in my opinion. was awful because it was in modern times, they had guns, cars, AND EVEN HELECOPTERS, and still used old English! Like Cmon, what were they thinking!? All in all I came into this unit thinking it would be bring, but im actually quite enjoying myself. I like acting it out because it makes it more enjoyable because everyone gets a laugh.

Bryce Conner, Spencer Hathaway

A Long Way Gone

For my second memoir, I read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. The central idea in this text is the impact of war on both the soldiers and the general population.    A Long Way Gone focuses on the war in Sierra Leone;  the war in Afghanistan exhibits several parallels to the African conflict.

Child warriors have been pulled into both conflicts with long term ramifications.  Unicef reports that children are recruited or forced into service because they are easier to manipulate.  This robs them of their childhood and creates an ongoing crisis after the conflict ends.  The child soldier may see violence as the sole method to achieve their objectives after witnessing repeated brutalities and being subject to physical, emotional and substance abuse themselves.

In 2010, the Society for Research in Child Development studied the re-acclimation process for former child soldiers in Sierra Leone and Uganda.  They found that children that witnessed war were significantly less traumatized than those who actually hurt or killed others.  In addition, a non-violent and supportive living environment was key to the mental health of the former child soldier.

While war is certainly hard on the youngest citizens, soldiering creates a huge burden with long term mental health implications. I see that I am very fortunate compared to other children around the world who have had their freedoms robbed by the time they reach my age