My Knee

Well, I know that mostly everyone noticed that for the first three months or so of the school year, I sported a big, black knee brace. I get tired of explaining what happened, so I'm just going to tell the story on this blog!

On August 13, 2008, Ellen Breen and I were at the third and final day of tryouts for the Central school volleyball team. It was the day they planned to announce the teams. We were all scrimmaging with each other while the coaches called each player over individually to let them know which team they made, if they made it. It was really relaxed and fun because I was pretty confident that I made the team so I was just having a good time playing. Normally I'm a setter, but I love to spike too. So I was playing as a left side hitter just for fun. My sister, who also plays as a setter, set me a ball to the high outside. It was a little out of my reach so I sort of twisted my body to try and reach the ball. I managed to spike it down, but as I came down, that's when I hurt my knee.

It's really hard to remember what actually happened and to even talk about it because it was so painful. It was probably the scarriest, most painful, and worst experience of my life. All I remember was that I fell after hearing a "pop" and then I just screamed on the ground. Ellen was standing right next to me when it happened and she said I was yelling and grabbing tightly onto this girls foot. She even said it was one of the hardest things to watch.

After the fact that I realized I'd hurt my knee pretty badly, the coaches came over to the makeshift cot they'd made for me on the gym floor, and told me what team I made. If this situation could get any worse, I made varsity. Of course, this was directly after realizing I probably would not be playing at all this season.

So I ended up tearing my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament aka "the bad one") and meniscus.  I had reconstruction surgery about two weeks later, on the Friday after the first day of school.  And THAT is a whole different story.

Beowulf LRJ#1

Emma Holmes
Ms. Peifer
10 IB Hour 5
5 December 2008

1. The values of the society in Beowulf included a strong and well-knit community, their military strength and their faith and dependence on a hero or some sort of leader. When describing the construction of Hrothgar's gread mead-halll, the text says, "...it would be his throne-room and there he would dispense/ his God-given goods to young and old-..." (Heaney 71-72). This shows how Hrothgar, their king, was sharing his wealth with the community in order to bring people together. It also shows his strength as a leader. A few lines before this, the text is describing how Hrothgar came to power by saying, "The fortunes of war favoured Hrothgar./ Friends and kinsman flocked to his ranks,/ young followers, a force that grew to be a might army" (Heaney 64-67). This also describes the society's willingness to depend on a leader but it also shows that they prized a strong army.

2. Alliteration is a commonly used literary device used in Beowulf. Even from the beginning when the story is being introduced when is says, "There was Shield Sheafson, Scourge of many tribes" (Heaney 4). Since Beowulf was recited orally, alliteration helped create more dramatic sounding scenes and helped the sentences flow more easily. This is seen again when it says, "...broad-beamed, bound by its hawser..." (Heaney 302). The repetition of the "b" sound makes the sentence stand out from the others. Another example of alliteration is found here: "...renowned as a warrior, well-known for his wisdom..." (Heaney 349). Each alliteration contributes to the pleasing and dramatic sound heard when reading the text aloud.

3. Kennings is used often throughout Beowulf. Its effect is to create a new way of think of a simple noun. For example, the text describes a dark sky by saying, "cloud-murk" (Heaney 651). It is also seen in describing Grendel as he creeps around the village. Instead of saying simply monster and beast the text says "shadow-stalker" (Heaney 703). This creates a better picture of Grendel's stealth and uses an interesting combination of words that creates a new possibility in the mind. Also, instead of using the word "guts", it uses the term, "wound-slurry" (Heaney 848). This depicts the material spewing from Grendel's wound in a very descriptive way that enhances the imagery.

LRJ#2

An important image is seen in Antigone, when Antigone is referencing Polyneices' body. She says, "But his body must lie in the fields, a sweet treasure/ For carrion birds to find as they search for food" (Sophocles 21-22).  This quote uses descriptive language and imagery to paint a mental picture of Polyneices' abandoned body.  It is important because his death was the cause of many arguments and struggle between the other characters in the story.  His body, buried or unburied, is referenced throughout the whole story.  For example, when the sentry is informing Creon that Polyneices' was buried, he says, "New dust on the slimy flesh!" (Sophocles 103).  This shows the sentry's point of view of the body but also describes it to the reader.  Later, he goes on to say, "The body, just mounded over with light dust: you see? / Not buried really, but as if they'd covered it" (Sophocles 112).  This, of course, is after the body had been buried by Antigone.  After the conviction of Antigone, the sentry says, " The flesh was soft by now, and stinking" (Sophocles 25).  Even more images are made by antigone and the sentry to reinforce the importance of the body to each of the characters.

A fatal flaw is seen in Creon.  This flaw is his unwillingness to cooperate and listen to the ideas of others.  Creon, being a person of high importance, had many important decisions. One of which was to decide to do with the body of Polyneices. Creon decided to deny him a burial because of previous acts he committed against the city of Thebes.  When Teiresias is trying to persuade Creon to reconsider his choices he made about Polyneices' burial, Creon responds by saying, "You can be sure you won't change my mind to make yourself more rich" (Sophocles 1190).  This basically means that nothing Teiresias said could change his mind.  Later on, when Haimon is trying to reason with Creon, Creon suggests that the only way Haimon and Antigone could be married was if they were both dead. Haimon challenges this suggestion and Creon, being the stubborn character that he is, upholds his claim. He says, "Go bring her out- that hateful creature, so she can die right here, with him present, before her bridegroom's eyes" (Sophocles 760).  This demonstrates how, in his heart, Creon doesn't really want to execute Antigone but because he implied to Haimon he was  brave enough to do so, he would keep his word.  Thus, enforcing that his character is stubborn and proud.  

Creon only begins to recognizes his mistakes at the end of the play.  After Antigone, Haimon, and Eurydice have all committed suicide, he says to himself, "Woe is me, for the wretched blindness of my counsels! Alas, my son, thou hast died in thy youth, by a timeless doom, woe is me!-thy spirit hath fled,-not by thy folly, but by mine own!... Ah me, I have learned the bitter lesson!" (Sophocles 1339).  His unwillingness to accepting to others and his stubborn attitude resulted in three deaths.  Creon greatly blames himself for these things and this is where Anagnorisis is achieved.

Creon also experiences a sudden change in fortune near the end of the play.  He was used to the treatment of a king and the feeling of having power. Now that the three people in life that he was closest to are all dead, he realizes that his fortune has diminished greatly.  In the last lines of the text, Creon absolutely collapses and lets out all the emotion he was holding inside through peripeteia. Coincidentally, this is the same place that catharsis occurs.  Before the release of Creon's emotions, the audience feels pity for him, being all alone.  Fear is influencing the audience as well.  When Creon accepts the consequences for his actions, this fear and pity is resolved.  Even though the play ends with three deaths, the reader feels more reassured because Creon was able to shed his stubborn attitude and accept his fate.

Throughout Antigone women are characterized as having more power and recognition than in other stories around that time.  Antigone, the most prominent character in the play, is given the characteristics of strength, bravery, and love.  Her love for her brother gave her the strength and bravery to honor his death, despite the fact that it was against the law.  This trait is voiced by Antigone herself: "So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that would have grieved my; for this, I am not grieved" (Sophocles 571).  Since Antigone was the main character in the play, one can assume  that Sophocles must have based his views on all women off of this one woman.

Works Cited

Sophocles. "Antigone." Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: World Literature. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall 2001. 814-826.

Sophocles. "Antigone." The Internet Classics Archive. Trans. R.C. Jebb. 04October 2000. Classics.mit.edu. 24 November 2008 .

Sophocles. "Antigone." Malaspina University-College Website. Trans. Ian Johnston. May 2005.

Malaspina University College. 24 November 2008 .

Polyneices Buried Against Creon's Orders!!

Around 3:00 PM this afternoon, according to our sources, a sentry came running to the palace doors, frantic and out of breath. He carried grave news for Creon, the King of Thebes.  Stuttering and babbling senselessly, the sentry (identity unknown) finally managed to tell his story: Polyneices, the man Creon ordered to be stripped of a burial on account of his acts against his country, had been buried!  As all citizens should know, as it was made quite clear by Creon, the burying of Polyneices was strictly forbidden. Our great king has decided to honor Eteocles for his loyalty to Thebes with a proper burial. But his brother, Polyneices, on the other hand, has rebelled against us, and it is only right that he should not receive such honor or respect.  Enraged, our good King Creon took drastic measures. He ordered the poor sentry to inform him of the person responsible or he would be killed.  The sentry was seen leaving the palace late this afternoon, his face stricken with worry.  Whether this young man has found the culprit or not, is unknown.

This story remains a mystery while the life of an innocent, or maybe not so innocent, man lays on the line.  Please tune in to this evening's paper for more information or visit our website at www.thedailythebes.com. 

Old Computers? Yes Please!

Remember when that first Mac computer came out? Well I don't.  But I do remember having one at our family cabin out in western Minnesota.  The monitor was like a heavy cinderblock with a screen about the size of your palm. The actual computer was another rectangular box, situated next to the monitor. Of course, the computer's capabilities were limited to downloading games and intermittently crashing just as you defeated the slime monster on level 7 of Rogue. Oh joy! 

Despite the poor quality of this computer, it was my first memory of technology.  Pong, Tetris, Rogue, Minesweeper, and Helicopter - all in black in white I might add - kept us kids occupied on those dreary, rainy days. Pong was, well, Pong. Tetris... well if you have never heard of Tetris, I'm sorry for your loss. But Rogue, that's something worth explaining. You start out as an Apprentice, exploring the dungeons in search of coins, magic potions, scrolls, and the staircase that'll lead you to the next level.  Easy right? Wrong! There are monsters too, and you could only kill them by clicking furiously on them with the mouse.  This game got us kids pretty worked up sometime. I'm actually surprised the mouse (and the computer for that matter) still works!

We still have that old computer out at the cabin.  It serves as a sort of reminder to what technology has become.  I think exposure to this kind of technology at a young age has allowed me, and most of the rest of my generation, to become the tech-savvy, or tech-dependent, generation to which everyone refers. I'd like to think I'm not totally dependent on this machinery; that I could somehow scrape my way through life without it. I mean Eistein and his genius buddies did fine right? Wow, listen to me; trying to defend myself while I sit typing this at a MacBook Pro. Then again, I do use www.dictionary.com for words I don't know, and a calculator for 12 times 6! Its pathetic but what can I say?  Life with technology isn't going away anytime soon, and, personally, I love it!!!

Thoughts on Technology

I think this blogging technology is a great idea. At times it can be frusterating if you can't remember passwords or you have different information stored on different sites. The general set up is quite a hassle, but once it's done, its very convenient.  Genereally, i really like figuring computer things and technology out.  I can be very calm about complicated processes which is really helpful.  I like how you can customize all your content and information in your blog. I also like the netvibes website because it gathers all the information into one easy place. In general, I like it!!