You Either Die a Hero, Or You Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain

Brutus

• Has an undeniable sense of honor for his country.
• Believes the no one man should rise to enough power to control an entire nation.
• Epitomizes Roman values.
• Is able to completely separate his public life from his private life. 
• Only plans to kill Caesar for the greater good of Rome.

Caesar

• A great Roman dictator and general.
• Declines the crown of Rome several times. 
• Is not power-hungry (at first).
• Is willing to do anything for what he thinks is the greater good of his country.
• Has extreme perseverance. 

25 Random Facts About Dan

1. I'm part of a family of four.
2. I've made about 100 short films in the past four years and counting.
3. I've always wanted to learn how play the guitar and/or the electric cello.
4. I have a primal fear of horses.
5. My 8th grade class and I were once on the news for singing "Manic Monday".
6. I used to play the piano in 4th grade.
7. I played the Jaws theme on the piano during a 4th grade talent show, which was basically just me playing the same two notes over and over again for three and a half minutes.
8. I've always wanted to live in California.
9. I've collected all of the Iron Man 2 Slurpee cups from 7-Eleven.
10. I think 3-D movies are the downfall of modern cinema and will give you an extensively long rant about them if you make the mistake of asking me for my opinion.
11. I basically like every type of music there is, except rap and country.
12. I am a proud NolanFan #InNolanWeTrust
13. I have a countdown clock on my desktop that shows the amount of days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the midnight premiere of the third Batman movie in 2012.
14. I have another primal fear of roller coasters.
15. I've always wanted to learn how to surf.
16. I used to be obsessed with fish and the ocean in general.
17. When I grow up, my dream is to become a Hollywood film director-writer.
18. My favorite car is the Audi R8.
19. I would be lost without my friends and family.
20. I think the second Iron Man movie was terrible.
21. If a magic genie appeared and gave me three wishes, my third one would be for an interchangeable British accent.
22. At heart, I am the biggest nerd you will ever meet in your entire life.
23. I also think Michael Bay is the epitome of the downfall of modern film directing.
24. My other primal fears are roller coasters, public speaking, and ordering things over the phone.
25. This list is over.

The Washington D.C. Escapades of the Honors English Class

The excursion we took to Washington D.C. for the Folger Shakespeare Theater presentation, coordinated by Mrs. Zurkowski and embarked on by both sections of the Honors English classes, was a fantastic Shakespearian experience.

Most of the techniques the acting troupe at the presentation used to help us understand and relate to Shakespeare's writing were greatly understandable for people in our age group. Since they were conveyed in the context of a medley of plays, the experience was also reinforced with examples.

There were also a lot of interactive fun activities conveyed on stage. The death scenes were dementedly hilarious in their disturbing and violent, yet very enjoyable to watch, nature, and the interactive sentence diagraming with exagerrated hand motions was a great way to bring sentences that we had once interpreted as black and white text on a page, to life.

The overall trip to our nation's capital was a separate escapade in itself. What with standing in front of the capital building, eating lunch at the union station, taking ice cream samples from complete strangers, and watching people sunbathe on public sidewalks, Washington D.C. had a lot to offer us in our learning experience.

Overall, I think this trip was a great way of reinforcing how to help interpret Shakespeare through a perspective of our individual daily lives, and I think it should be offered to all classes in the future, as I will use the techniques I learned for the rest of my Shakespearian learning career.

Their Eyes Were Watching Dan's Book Review (And His Hilariously Clever Titles)

Consensus: The interestingly hybrid style of writing and delightfully controversial symbolism provided by “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston makes it a worthy reading experience for any reader looking to fully immerse themselves in the controversy of the Harlem Renaissance.  

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is an ethnic and influential love story written by Zora Neale Hurston as a response to the events of the Harlem Renaissance. While the book deftly blends beautifully written narrative with somewhat “unconventionally” written pieces of dialogue, it also adds a pinch of backlash towards the oppression against women (black women in particular) into its literary makeup.    

            The book is told from the perspective of several highly-opinionated black characters, thus it is fitting for Hurston to have combined such jarringly contradictory forms of writing together in the book. The pieces of dialogue, which are written according to their literal pronunciation (for instance, “Ah got several chillin.”), were a gutsy move on Hurston’s part to include in a novel. However, due to the context of the book itself, it works extremely well to paint an accurate picture of both the literal context of the setting and the unfiltered thoughts of the characters’ minds.

            The book is also thought of by some in its entirety as a metaphor for the oppression brought on to African American women by racism and sexism. Whether Hurston more or less actually intended this mindset for the reader, or all the controversy sparked by its popularity, is mostly up to the reader. That being said, I lean more towards the side of readers that believe Hurston intended the novel to be read as a somewhat symbolic love story, not a fiery political attack.

            The phenomenon conveyed by Hurston’s novel is that the general public for some reason seems to look for the “deeper, politically opinionated” meaning to something that is intended to be simple. If you were to write a love story with a lot of symbolism, that’s one thing; but if you make all of the characters in the story black, all of the sudden you open a torrent of political controversy.

            In conclusion, Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a book that is best read with an organic mind. Meaning, the reader should approach the book with a fresh, unbiased mindset in order to enjoy the reading experience in the way Hurston intended. To me, this book is a solid 4 out-of-5 star effort. It is a truly beautiful love story that picks at the reader’s mind in an interesting and unprecedented way.

Their Eyes Were Watching Dan's Symbolism

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" contains an extensive amount of symbolism integrated into the story by author Zora Neal Hurston. Most of the symbolism revolves around the central point of oppression brought upon the black women in a venomous hybrid of sexism and racism. Whether or not Hurston intended all of this symbolism to be interpreted from the story, or whether she was just trying to convey a simple love story, is up to the reader.

These are a few examples of symbolism noticed in the book:

 • Trees/Roots- African people without any roots

 • Pear tree- Janie's budding womanhood, coming of age

 • Mule- the black woman's experience. She does the worst jobs for white people and black man. She gets  "walked on." Logan buys Janie a mule to represent how he is tired of treating Janie like a princess or white  woman, and now he wants her to do the heavy labor jobs around the farm.

 • Gate/Road- Related to the metaphor at the beginning. The Gate is the shore and the Road represents the  waves as Janie looks down the road to find a new dream. Opportunity.

 • The New Horizon- Janie is constantly looking over the gatepost, down the road, to a new horizon; a dream or new start

 • Eatonville General Store- represents the center of this first all-black town

 • Illumination of the lamp post represents the start of a new all-black town. It also shows that Joe Starks is omnipotent and likes other to bow down to him, including Janie.

 • Joe and Janie's two-story house- Seems to represent his similarity to a plantation owner, while the hard-working townspeople live in smaller shack-style homes like servants' quarters.

 • Tobacco spittoon- represents how wealthy Joe is

 • Guitar- playful side of people

 • Overalls- Working side of people

 • Janie's hair hanging down represents her freedom

 • Janie's hair rag represents her bond and acquiescence to Joe Starks

 • The color blue represents a compromise between Janie and Tea Cake

 • Checkers- Janie's equality with Tea Cake; didn't have that with Joe

 • Packet of seeds- rebirth, new life, remembrance, rejuvenation

 • Fish- sharing of relationship

 • Muck- the dirt represents working class, becoming rich, growth

 • Hurricane- God's almighty power

Their Eyes Weren't Watching Zora Neal Hurston Until A Little Later

• Zora Neal Hurston was a highly influential writer who was closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
• She was born on Jan. 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama.
• Her mother died in 1904 when Hurston was only 13 years old.
• Hurston was famous for her interpretations of African American folktales and her literary works focusing on African American life in the southern United States.
• She wrote the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", which was published in 1937.
• She was a major influence on African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Hurston died due to health problems and passed relatively unrecognized by the literary community.
• Passed away in January 1960 after having a stroke.
• Regained popularity after an essay about her life and work was published in 1975.
• Is sometimes called "one of the greatest writers of our time."

Photos and facts from http://www.zoranealehurston.com/biography.html

The Who, What, and How of the Harlem Renaissance

• The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.
• The Harlem Renaissance took place during the 1920s and early 1930s.
• The Renaissance goes by several alternate names, including "the New Negro movement", "the New Negro Renaissance", and "the Negro Renaissance"
• This renaissance marked the first time in history that African American literary works were taken seriously and brought to the Nation's attention.
• This renaissance focused on the uprise of the credibility of African American media.
• The movement began at the end of World War I.
• One of the reasons the renaissance emerged was due to the formation of an African American middle class after the Civil War.
• The renaissance was primarily a literary movement.
• The movement occured during a period of upheaval in African American rights.
• Many African Americans moved to northern cities to take advantage of employment oppritunities.

• Claude McKay was born in Jamaica and later moved to and lived in America.
• McKay was an author who wrote poetry and novels depicting life as an African American.
• He was one of the first African American writers to attract a widespread white audience.
• His first book was called "Home to Harlem", which depicted the life of an African American soldier returning home from war.
• He converted to Catholicism in 1942.



• Zora Neale Hurston was an African American writer and folklorist.
• Hurston was famous for her interpretations of African American folktales and her literary works focusing on African American life in the southern United States.
• She wrote the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", which was published in 1937.
• She was a major influence on African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Hurston died due to health problems and passed relatively unrecognized by the literary community.

• Jean Toomer was an influential American writer during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Toomer's novel "Cane" was an innovative and influential literary landmark that signified a new energy in African American arts.
• His novel "Cane" was a largely experimental combination of poetry and prose.
• The book documented the life of African Americans in the rural South and urban North.
• Was elected into the Georgia Hall of Fame in 2002.

**All photos and facts were taken from Microsoft Student/Encarta. No copyright infringement intended.