Graduation Speech Second Draft

Now I don't know about you, but I am a little nervous, yeah, who could be nervous speaking in front of a crowd of people. That is not the only reason I am nervous; I am graduating, moving on with my life, I won't see many of you for a while and that, that makes me a little nervous. Sitting in these seats is very nerve-racking, it seems like yesterday we were all in Mrs. Valerie's class learning: 'when in doubt, right click', or in Mrs. Raker’s class learning about the zombie geese.

As a class, we have been through a lot; teachers have been leaving the school left and right, (I think they might not like us that much) and some of our fellow students that we spent the past years growing up with, have left for other schools. After today we are going to be symbolic adults going into what is called the “real world”. This can be difficult for some students, but if we can become the leaders of our school, I know that we can make it in the “real world” as well. We just need to remember that enough is enough and a pinch can sometimes turn into a jungle, we are not always right, sometimes we are wrong, and we have to know when to admit defeat. We need to look on the bright side, don’t go to the dark side, they lied about having cookies.

 Looking back on the years the only thing many students remember from freshman year is 'when in doubt, right click', but has anyone ever stopped to ask the question: what happens when you 'right click'? On a computer a drop down menu appears with options to choose from , all of these options being useful in some way or another, whether it be to get a picture, or to help you get the page to work properly, but how does one exactly ‘right click’ in a setting other than a technical one? That can be answered by many students here; we have all ‘right clicked’ even though we might not know it. We take pictures, we share events, we try to fix some situations; we have all ‘right clicked’ many times.  Seniors, as a class, we need to know how to right click, to save that moment in our mind, and how to right click to understand what we did wrong. We need to right click, to save that moment with our friends, to help us understand the problems that we are facing, and most importantly to get us to where we need to be.

Theme analysis

“’I'd like you to play a game of Scrabble with me,’ he says.

I hold myself absolutely rigid. I keep my face unmoving. So that's what's in the forbidden room! Scrabble! I want to laugh, shriek with laughter, fall off my chair. This was once the game of old women, old men, in the summers or in retirement villas, to be played when there was nothing good on television. Or of adolescents, once, long long ago. My mother had a set, kept at the back of the hall cupboard, with the Christmas tree decorations in their cardboard boxes. Once she tried to interest me in it, when I was thirteen and miserable and at loose ends.

Now of course it's something different. Now it's forbidden, for us. Now it's dangerous. Now it's indecent. Now it's something he can't do with his Wife. Now it's desirable. Now he's compromised himself. It's as if he's offered me drugs.

‘All right,’ I say, as if indifferent. I can in fact hardly speak.”

 Magaret Atwood uses a modern everyday tool, and makes it extraordinary in chapter 23 of a Handmaid’s tale. She creates a sense of danger in playing a game of “old women, old men, in the summers or in retirement villas.” This makes the reader understand the society that they live in more, as well as help them realize what the society has done to their humanity. It has forced them to play these games in the dark of night, so that no one will know. She uses a simile in comparing scrabble to illegal drugs that help the reader understand the danger associated with the game. Atwood also uses an anecdote of the main character to help the mood soften saying that it was a normal occurrence before this strange, and drastic change.

Well isn't that nice

As I continue reading I did a tone analysis of a passage out of the fifth and sixth parts.

“I pull her to the ground and roll on top of her to cover her, shield her. Quiet, I say again, my face is wet, sweat or tears, I feel calm and floating, as if I'm no longer in my body; close to my eyes there's a leaf, red, turned early, I can see every bright vein. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I ease off, I don't want to smother her, instead I curl myself around her, keeping my hand over her mouth. There's breath and the knocking of my heart, like pounding, at the door of a house at night, where you thought you would be safe. It's all right, I'm here, I say, whisper, Please be quiet, but how can she? She's too young, it's too late, we come apart, my arms are held, and the edges go dark and nothing is left but a little window, a very little window, like the wrong end of a telescope, like the window on a Christmas card, an old one, night and ice outside, and within a candle, a shining tree, a family, I can hear the bells even, sleigh bells, from the radio, old music, but through this window I can see, small but very clear, I can see her, going away from me, through the trees which are already turning, red and yellow, holding out her arms to me, being carried away.”

-          Chapter 13

Atwood’s use of tone in this paragraph makes the reader feel for the characters, as well as start to question this society that the characters are living in. In this passage a feeling of protection and comfort soon change to fear and dislocation. They family is being torn apart, and there is nothing they can do to stop it from happening. This passage is important to the whole of the book because it gives Offred characteristics to show that she is not just there to be there, she was at first forced into this life.

Continuing The Handmaid's Tale

As I continue to read The Handmaid's Tale I have some questions about the third and fourth parts of the book:
1. What is the purpose of the phrase “Under his eye” used in chapter 8 in The Handmaid’s Tale?
“’Under is eye’ she says. ‘Under his eye,’ I reply, and she gives a little nod.
To me the eye is the all knowing big brother, the quintessential being in the characters lives. This being decides the rules, and punishes those who do not obey.
2. How do the flashbacks throughout part four help aid readers in understanding Atwood’s tone?
“One day, when she was eleven months old, just before she began to walk, a woman stole her out of a supermarket cart.”
Atwood uses these flashbacks to show readers just how different then and now are. When talking about running away from the police just trying to become a family. These flashbacks help develop a tone of possession with the possession of people, and the need for possession of novelty or ordinary items.
3. What was the use of Moira in developing theme?
“Moira, sitting on the edge of my bed, legs crossed, ankle on the knee, in her purple overalls, one dangly earing, the gold fingernail she wore to be eccentric…”
Moira is the "bad best friend", she is the one who would get in trouble just to get in trouble, and then get you in trouble as well. She is the fun character. She adds to the theme by showing readers how strict the society really is.

Starting The Handmaid's Tale

Starting out The Handmaid's Tale is interesting, and I have done a character analysis of the first two parts of the book:
In The Handmaid’s Tale Offred is a flat character because she is portrayed as a character that only does what she is told to do. She is a very obedient character that is narrating the story. She can be seen as an flat character when she talks to the Commander’s wife, as well as when her and Ofglen are shopping. Ofglen and Offred are partners, and they do not know much about each other, but they know the routine. The  quotes “I know better than to say yes,” “I walked to the corner and wait. I used to be bad at waiting,” and “Yes, Ma’am,” all show her obedient personality as she progresses through the first parts of the novel. Offred is shown as the protagonist in the story, though she is only seen as a possession to many people in her life. Her name Of-Fred show that they see her this way. This makes her an even more vital character to the story to see how she deals with how she is treated throughout the story. She can be seen as sympathetic when she has flashbacks to a simpler time. These show that she is still human, as well as develop her character even further by revealing facts about her past. She was married to a man named Luke, and the had a child together. This story is very interesting, as I continue reading the book I will try to write more about it on the blog.

My poem

Looking up a poem that represents me is quite difficult, but when you find the right poem, you know. I was looking around my room the other night to see what represents me. I looked for awhile and then decided to start reading, hoping it would get me thinking creatively, so I could find out what represented me. That is when I realized that books, far away places, lost kingdoms, hidden relics, and ancient civilizations represented me. I didn't know hoe to search the web for a poem like that so I searched until I found one. That poem is "and yet the books" by Czesław Miłosz. I first read it and I didn't like it at first, but as I continued to read it I liked it more and more.

And Yet the Books 

And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings,

That appeared once, still wet

As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn,

And, touched, coddled, began to live

In spite of fires on the horizon, castles blown up,

Tribes on the march, planets in motion.

“We are,” they said, even as their pages

Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame

Licked away their letters. So much more durable

Than we are, whose frail warmth

Cools down with memory, disperses, perishes.

I imagine the earth when I am no more:

Nothing happens, no loss, it's still a strange pageant,

Women's dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley.

Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born,

Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.

Czeslaw Milosz 

Graduation Speech

      Hello, now I don't know about you, but I am a little nervous, yeah, who could be nervous speaking in front of a crowd of people. That is not the only reason I am nervous, I am graduating, moving on with my life, I won't see many of my classmates for a while and that, that makes me a little nervous, sitting in these seats is very nerve-racking, it seems like yesterday we were all in Mrs. Valerie's class learning: 'when in doubt right click', or in Mrs. Raker’s class learning about the zombie geese. For many students the one piece of advice they do remember from freshman year is 'when in doubt right click'. What exactly happens when one 'right clicks'? Well a drop down menu appears with options to choose from such as copy, paste, bookmark, back, etc. all of these options are useful in some way, whether it is to get a picture or to help get unstuck. We have been through a lot as a class, teachers have been leaving left and right, (I think they might not like us that much) and some of our fellow students that we spent the years growing up with left for other schools. After today we are going to be symbolic adults going into what is called the “real world”, this can be difficult for some students, but if we can become the leaders of our school I know that we can make it. We just need to remember that enough is enough and a pinch can sometimes turn into a jungle, we are not always right we are wrong, and we have to know when to admit it. We need to look on the bright side, don’t go to the dark side the lied about the cookies. Seniors we need to know how to right click, to save that moment in our mind, and how to right click to understand what we did wrong, we need to right click.