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The Alchemist & Julius Caesar

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The Alchemist
Throughout my Alchemist essay, I focus on my clear topic, most of the time, supporting it with my writing, although I sometimes go into the plot, but only to support my idea and topic. With the details and evidence I provide, I show that I know the topic well enough to be able to explain it thoroughly. 'In the Alchemist, Santiago, a young shepherd, leaves his home in Andalusia to sell wool to a merchant. But this trip to the village is different from the others because he’s been having the same dream for two days in a row now. He dreams of a treasure, supposedly waiting for him at the Great Pyramids of Egypt.' In my intro paragraph, I provide a brief introduction of Santiago, the protagonist in Paolo Coelho's 'The Alchemist', but I still clearly present the topic of the essay, as well as explanations of my quotations...."After Santiago was attacked, one of the refuges told him that he once dreamt of a treasure, hidden in the roots of a sycamore tree in a ruined church. After he was attacked ‘...The boy stood up shakily and looked once more to the Pyramids. They seemed to laugh at him, and he laughed back, his heart bursting with joy. Because now he knew where his treasure was.’ (155). Without his optimism, Santiago wouldn’t have been able to visualize himself achieving his destiny, which would’ve pulled him back from achieving his destiny, and the difficult obstacles waiting for him."


To improve my Alchemist essay, I could have included interesting and relevant details to get the reader more engaged and interested. I sometimes included details, but not enough to explain my ideas as clear as possible.


In terms of organization, my essay is structured well enough to make the writing flow. I begin with a hook to grab my reader's attention...'I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these things are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald.’ (Coelho 79) In the Alchemist, Santiago, a young shepherd', followed by a brief intro, giving the reader an idea of what the book is about, and also what this essay will be about. In the end of my intro paragraph, I include a thesis statment to 'kick off' my essay. 'Santiago travels through the desert, achieving his destiny, with optimism, bravery, and determination.'


For every body paragraph, I open it by including clear topic sentences...."Santiago’s optimism helps him achieve his destiny in many ways." (topic sentence of body paragraph 1)

Julius Caesar: Characterization Essay
My Julius Caesar essay demonstrates good ideas when focusing on the character I chose. Although I could've shown better strength in explaining my ideas to the best way possible, as I didn't provide enough info to support my ideas and content. Overall, I was able to provide enough information to send out a clear enough message to the readers, as I didn't explain the context of my quotes. Caesar is chosen as king, Rome will suffer greatly. “I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, did from the flames of Troy, the old Anchises bear. So from the waves of Tiber, did I the tired Caesar. And this man is now become a god… (pg 34)”

My essay was organized well as I did include all things needed (EX: Thesis Statement.) In my body paragraphs, I payed attention to the thesis statement, and building on my ideas, from the thesis statement.

Thesis Statement: Although the act seemed patriotic to the conspirators, Cassius's hidden anger and envy drove him into the assassination of the ambitious Julius Caesar". With my thesis statement, I wrote my body paragraphs, focusing on the anger & envy that Cassius showed throughout the play. To improve on my organization, I could provide clearer thoughts, rather than including ones as I go (not planned well). I have shown improvement between the Alchemist essay and the Julius Caesar essay through my effort and organization. I have put effort to produce a better essay, through my writing skills.

Improvement
I improved on my organization, as I used my essay planner more efficiently, whereas I didn't really plan my Alchemist essay.


Communicate Effectively
Throughout writing essays, I have to communicate effectively to send the clearest message possible to my readers. I have to use all six traits of writing, although I could be assessed on only three.


Gaius Cassius Longinus

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“ Ye gods, it doth amaze me. A man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone. (Act 1 Scene 2- lines 127-130) In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Cassius Longinus, a Roman senator, makes plans to assassinate the ‘ambitious’ Julius Caesar. Cassius uses his flattery and patriotism to persuade other noble Romans to join him, but he shows jealousy and personal aggression towards Caesar. He wonders why the people have chosen to reward and praise Caesar, and knows that if the Roman commoners continue to, they will live in servile fearfulness. Although the act seemed patriotic to the conspirators, Cassius's hidden anger and envy drove him into the assassination of the ambitious Julius Caesar"


Throughout the play, Cassius’s personality and motivations change completely, but the one thing that won’t let go is his envy for Caesar. Cassius is completely disgusted by the fact that Julius Caesar has now become a ‘godlike’ human. “ Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves. (pg 36) ” Cassius compares Caesar as a giant who sits on top of the world, as Caesar believes himself to be beyond the reach of any other human being. He shows envy by describing himself and all of mankind as unimportant, smaller humans. Although Cassius doesn’t start the conspiracy to gain more power, he believes that with Caesar gone, Rome will praise the conspirators and believe that the act is just, raising the amount of power that Cassius has now.


Cassius’s carries a personal anger over Caesar and believes that if Caesar is chosen as king, Rome will suffer greatly. “I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, did from the flames of Troy, the old Anchises bear. So from the waves of Tiber, did I the tired Caesar. And this man is now become a god… (pg 34)” In this quote, Cassius believes he is superior over Caesar. He believes that Caesar shouldn’t be regarded as a god-like creature, and later on shares that this ‘invulnerable’ Caesar did suffer a fever in Spain, and did shake. Now, Cassius bears a grudge over Caesar, and is confused why such a weak-hearted man like Caesar should be chosen to rule over Rome and not pay attention to any of his faults. He believes that such a man is not worthy at all. Furthermore, Caesar’s rudeness and disregard over Cassius makes him feel angry towards Caesar even more, that he feels such a need to kill him. Cassius’s motives for killing Caesar are considered selfish and dishonorable, although he does believe that it is done for the good of Rome.


With the assassination of Julius Caesar completed, the celebrations didn’t last. With Antony turning the public against them, the conspirators now had to deal with a war they hadn’t been expecting. Cassius’s envy and anger towards Caesar led not only to the death of Caesar, but also his own. With his jealousy and aggression toward Caesar, Cassius turned into this fearless man, who would do anything to see Caesar fall. He did achieve his goal of assassinating Caesar, but he failed to get the support of the people of Rome. The assassination was achieved, but with the aggression and anger the conspirators put into the assassination, there was no way the people of Rome could see the justice in it. For Cassius, his goal was planned to be noble, but with the amount of anger the conspirators put into the assassination, Cassius failed to justify the means of his goal of killing the ‘ambitious’ Julius Caesar.



"Hear our cries. Who will help?"

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Think Creatively..

To produce a succesful collage, it is vital to show some sort of creative thinking. As I explained in the video above, I showed creative thinking by producing a collage that has an "organized" and well thought out structure. Although when you look at collages, in general, the scattered photos don't seem to be organized in any way, but the way my collage shows, in pictures, the plight of the Lost Boys of Sudan, organized like a map, starts from the right (where the countries Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia are) and move on to the left (the United States of America). To further express my empathy to the Lost Boys, I showed the struggles they faced in Africa, which was more cruel than what they faced in their resettlement in the United States of America.


Reason Critically..

I showed critical reasoning when I planned out my collage's structure, showing more pictures of the Lost Boy's suffering in Sudan, to create as much empathy from the viewers as possible. Also, I reasoned critically to sort of create a "map like'' structure for my collage, as the African countries are over in the Eastern section and USA is in the western section.


Communicate Effectively..


I communicated effectively, through my pictures, to show my awareness of the Lost Boy's plight. I used the images to show how hard the lives of the Lost Boy's was, as well as including some quotes, to further project my feeling of empathy towards the Lost Boys. With my six word memoir, Hear our Cries. Who will help?, the pictures shown in the "African" section of my collage, shows the Hear our Cries part. The Who will help part is shown in the "American" part of my collage, as some have found help, but still need help to assimilate into the American culture.

Live Ethically..

My collage shows empathy through the pictures that show their vast amounts of suffering. With the quotes I included, apart from my six word memoir, I showed one that came from their experience in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, and one that came after their first few experiences in America. Don't forget your culture shows that even through all the suffering they've been through, their culture is still most important. There is no heaven on Earth supports the six word memoir (Who will help?) by showing that they are still struggling and still need help to assimilate into America, and live a successful, new life.

Taking the Right Turn

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My Name is Peter Nyarol Dut

They now call me and my brothers the 'Lost Boys'.

I come from the Dinka tribe, in southern Sudan. When I was a boy, our village was attacked, by the northerners. I was forced to flee from my homeland, knowing that I may never see most of my close friends again, but more importantly, I knew that I had only a slight chance of seeing my mother again, as they took the women as prisoners. My 'brothers' and I were forced to migrate out of our homeland, and after our walk of thousands of long miles, we finally found a peaceful place to live in Kakuma, a refugee camp in Kenya.

I was one of the lucky people chosen, from Kakuma, to travel to the United States of America, and build a better life in what has been called 'heaven'. I was promised an education, and my goal was to go to America, get educated, and come back and help my country.



They sent seven of us 'lost boys' to Houston, Texas. It was completely different than our living environments in Sudan and Kakuma. We arrived at the apartment we would be staying at. In Sudan, living in an apartment like this, would make us be considered as rich people, but in Houston, we were considered the poor people.

Life in Houston wasn't so pleasant. The American people didn't seem to accept or appreciate our culture. For example, in our culture, we show that we love each other, and we show that we are comfortable around each other, by sometimes holding hands or engaging in small physical contact. But here in America, we were notified that we should only show that type of affection with members of the opposite gender.

When trying to talk to the African American people in Houston, they called us their 'brothers', but they didn't seem to be so comfortable around us. Although they were 'black', we had darker skin, which to them, made us different.

After a few weeks in Houston, we still did not receive the education we seeked. I realized that Houston was a never ending road, as I was going nowhere, so I decided to turn around, and head off to Kansas City.

I left Houston without saying goodbye to my 'brothers', but I was determined to get an education to help them later on.

In Kansas City, I enrolled in Olathe High School, with an estimated age of 17 years. I experienced even more of the American culture, whereas in Houston, I was used to living with people who I understand more, people of the same culture. Also, the jobs we applied for in Houston were basically 'reserved' for the people of my skin color, a lot of the 'lost boys', and we didn't experience collaboration with American people.

After enrolling into high school, my daily routine changed completely. I woke up very early in the morning to get ready to go to school. I return from school and start to prepare my food. After I eat, I start my homework, very late. I finish at about one o'clock in the morning. Sleep. And then start my day all over again. I have very little time for social activity, so I feel detached from everyone. The only time I have for social activity is during the weekends.

After making some friends from school who were also, like me, religiously active, I started to go to church with them. Although the American people practice the same religion that we Dinka people practice, the way engage in this religious activities is completely different. For example, when I went to church in Kansas City for my first time, they showed a movie. This movie included the video of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is very different from what we did in Sudan, where we were not involved with any movies and videos. Although I appreciate that my schoolmates are willing to take me to their church, it took a while to get used to.

I became more comfortable in school, and I started to be more serious in basketball. I joined a basketball-camp, which I had to fit into my daily routine. I started to dress differently, like my friends from the basketball team. I didn't forget my Sudanese culture, but I started to mix in more with the American culture.

One day, I received a call from my family back in Kakuma. I realized my mistake of forgetting my main goal of helping my country. I didn't have enough money for myself and my family back in Kakuma, but I knew that I had to stay determined and make sure I could make life better for me.

Before I set off on the journey to America, I was told not to forget my original culture. I was told not to follow the ones who wear the 'baggy jeans'. I was told to go to America, become as smart and as ready as possible, and come back to my people and help my country.

But it is impossible to be able to go back to my country with more knowledge than I had when I left, but still have the same cultural beliefs that I had before. When migrating into a different region, it is impossible to be able to engage with the local people of that region, and not absorb any of their cultural beliefs.

When leaving my village in the Dinka land, I had no idea what was lying ahead of me. I had no idea that I would soon be sitting in a classroom, filling my mind with knowledge. I was lucky to survive, God kept me alive, because I have yet to achieve my goal, and return to my country and show that I am the 'Lost Boy' who will finally take the right turn in the 'never ending' road, coming closer to my final destination.









Performance Assesment - Julius Caesar

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Decius persuades Caesar to go to the capital.

Decius persuades Caesar to go to the capital. Decius persuades Caesar by changing the interpretation of the dream Calpurnia had. Calpurnia’s interpretation was that Caesar will die in the capital while Decius interpretation was about how great and important Caesar is to Rome. Caesar’s arrogant gets the best of him and he changes his mind and heads off to the capital.

This passage is significant because, Caesar characterization is seen really well, such as his arrogance. You can see his arrogance because Caesar thinks of himself very much as the greatest being in rome. He refers to himself in 3rd person such as “ Shall Caesar send a lie?” Another reason why this passage is significant is that it foreshadows Caesars death because if Caesar heads to the Capital he will be assassinated. This would also be considered a great dramatic irony because the audience knows that Caesar will be assassinated, while Caesar himself thinks that he is about to be the next king of Rome.



Act 2 scene 2

69-107

CAESAR
Shall Caesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest strech’d mine arm so far,
To be afeard to tell greybeards the truth?
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.


DECIUS BRUTUS

Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so.

CAESAR
The cause is in my will: I will not come;
That is enough to satisfy the senate.
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know:
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:
She dreamt to-night she saw my statua,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood: and many lusty Romans
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it:
And these does she apply for warnings, and portents,
And evils imminent; and on her knee
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.

DECIUS BRUTUS
This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance.
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.

CAESAR
And this way have you well expounded it.

DECIUS BRUTUS
I have, when you have heard what I can say:
And know it now: the senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be render'd, for some one to say
'Break up the senate till another time,
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.'
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
'Lo, Caesar is afraid'?
Pardon me, Caesar; for my dear dear love
To our proceeding bids me tell you this;
And reason to my love is liable.

CAESAR
How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.


5. If you are part of a duet, identify your partner.

Ashraf =Caesar

Arif=Decius

The Power of the Void

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The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides (silence) an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

In the ISKL mission statement, I inserted a silence between provides and an to create tension. I think that this would be a good place to insert a silence because this is where the mission statement starts to describe the school. In music, there is usually an intro, and in some songs, there are pauses inserted before maybe the chorus or bridge.
'The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides' is sort of the intro, and at that point people will be asking "What does this school provide?" or "Should I send my children there?". Then these questions are answered with '...an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.'

A great way for a composer to get the listeners asking questions is by transitioning into a completely different style, quickly. For example, a song could start off with a calm, soft, and slow melody and suddenly change into this 'bumpy', fast, & strong melody, and then after the audience feels the tension, go back to that calm, soft and slow melody. The listeners would definitely be asking questions when the sudden change happens, but they would feel more settled once the music has gone back to normal.

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What I would call the story..

The Un-Lucky Draw

I would call the story The Un-Lucky Draw, because a lottery winner wins completely by chance, just the way a lucky draw works. In this case though, many people would be avoiding the 'grand prize', and whoever is drawn, is an unlucky person.

In the beginning of the story, I thought everyone would be happy, someone would win a lot of money, kids would be out playing, basically everyones in a good mood. I thought that everyone was happy because it was an important day, and everyone wanted to win the 'grand prize'. I thought that kids were out playing because they were collecting stones, which could be used for some game. Although I didn't know much, I assumed I was right, and everything would turn out perfectly.

When the end of the story was not given to me, I knew something was going to surprise me. I sat there, coming up with a list of possible happy endings, and possible bad endings. I did begin to ask questions because I was sort of confused on what the black dot meant.

After I got my mystery paper, I began to ask even more questions, maybe more than other people, considering the fact that I had the black dot. I knew the end of the story would be in there but I was hoping that something else was in there, maybe a grand prize! I remembered to open it, at around 5:45, a bit late, because I completely forgot about it after my next class started.

After the teacher took the black box out, I got excited and hoped that it would be something like a lucky draw, hoping I would get something. But all I got was a paper that left me asking about a million questions at once, and probably a million more after I saw the black dot on my paper. I thought I would be the one that might get the surprise, that Mrs. Hutchinson was about to receive.

I felt completely surprised when I read the ending of the story and a bit confused, as I didn't get why so many people showed up for the lottery if it ends up the way it did.

My predictions were not even close. I did feel even more confused, because I didn't know what type of town would actually host these kinds of lotteries.

If I knew what exactly the townsfolk were preparing for the lottery, I could've made a slightly more accurate prediction.

I guess the author left these voids to get the reader wanting to read more to finally be answered, and feel that urge to read on to find out how the story will end up.

Without the title, I really had no idea what the story was about. I don't pay much attention to the author's, so that didn't really make me ask many questions.

I didn't know what was in the mystery paper, so I just concluded that there was no ending to the story, and I had to come up with my own ending.

The foreshadowing and text clues urged me to come up with possible endings and ask even more questions after even more awkward events in the story.

The mystery paper left the most tension, because I had no idea what was in it, and I had to go through the day with that disturbance stored in the back of my head.

The delayed ending caused me to come up with my own ending and obviously I made up a happy one.

The black dot created a lot of tension because I knew that I would either get something good or bad, most likely bad.



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