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A skylark set free...

From below, the sound of a door slamming shut.

Act IV

Nora down the hall, talking to herself walking back and forth stuttering, and crying….

  Nora: Wow, this feeling I have is something I, I, never felt before. My stomach is like there’s worms wiggling around. Well, kind of… a little (panting) when I kept that secret from Torvald. I never thought this would ever happen to me, to us, that we would ever separate, that I will ever leave my kids. But, Torvald left me no choice! (Strengthening her voice) How can he ever give into Krogstad? How can a man let another man control him or have any power over him? I used to think that Torvald, my wonderful husband was the best man I ever met in my whole entire life. The man who I fell in love with, well…. until he yelled at me of course (voice whimpering), and said I don’t deserve my children. How dare he have the audacity to say such things out of his mouth? Well, to think about it, I can imagine he would do that, because look, he always controlled me. Everything I eat and wear, I have no freedom at all. It’s like, like, like I’m a bird trapped in a little cage. Why, Yes! That’s exactly how I feel, this is how I felt my whole life. My Papa always treated me like the perfect little doll and then Torvald took his place. That doll that doll... it’s like the one I bought for Emmy. Oh my! (Shockingly) My poor Emmy, who’s going to be there for her as she grows up. She’s the only girl in the house. I can’t leave her here. Oh yea, I have Anne-Marie there. Man, I really can’t believe Torvald didn’t stand up for me. I mean I knew we never talked about anything serious throughout our eight years of marriage so we never had to deal with a serious situation. But I’m his wife, his little songbird, his little lark, his spindrift. Oh boy, now what’s going to happen? What am I going to do? Who’s going to provide for me, how am I going to survive? I was just saying all those things out of spite! Wait, wait wait, what am I saying? (Voice begin to change as Nora stands up straight and wipes her tears)I know what to do, and I have Kristine to help me. I’m a grown woman with no worries left to wonder about. I’m free! No more guilt of Torvald getting hanged for me! I’m ecstatic to see what new adventures I’m going to endure. Who knows… maybe my Lord, will forgive me for saying I’ve stopped believing in miracles, and give me one, one last time! (Nora starts to walk and exit the hall)

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Suicide or Life?

A type of drama that has human suffering or terrible events in a significant manner is what we call a tragedy. In a tragedy one of the most occurring event is the protagonist or the main character getting killed or, dying by their tragic flaw. In the play Hamlet, the character has a tragic flaw of, weakness towards his inability of going through and completing his actions. The story is based on the character Hamlet avenging his father’s death, and finding out the truth of how he died. Which was by, his uncle who is now King Claudius who poisoned him and married his wife, now Queen Gertrude. As King Hamlet passed away, he later appeared as a ghost to Hamlet his son and told him to avenge his death but don’t punish his mother the Queen because she didn’t know and that Heaven will punish her at the end for remarrying. As Hamlet seen the ghost of his father, the people of the village started to become concerned and thought he was going crazy, and with King Claudius confirming the illness, only to get rid of Hamlet because, he now knew the truth of how his father died. Hamlet then questioned his life, and wondered if it’s still worth living at this moment, although we all will die one day later in life, but the thought of avenging his father’s death kept him around and he later inserted lines and help produced a play that portrayed the scene of how King Claudius killed his father so Claudius can feel conviction as he watched it and admit to the act. As Hamlet was planning this, King Claudius was planning Hamlets death as he wanted to transfer him to England. However after escaping his death from England, King Claudius found a way and framed Hamlet for the death of Polonius the father of his beloved Ophelia (Which Ophelia then killed herself by drowning) by telling Laertes the son of Polonius that Hamlet poisoned him, which led Laertes to go after Hamlet, and kill him with his sword that had a poisoned tip. Although he succeeded in his revenge, Hamlets tragic flaw, delayed the act of killing King Claudius when the ghost appeared, it delayed him from killing his mother for her betrayal, and it delayed the killing of himself. If Hamlet grew a mind of his own; his demise wouldn’t be a result of a lie that his uncle who was a traitor said, it would be with honor and dignity.

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Banquo’s Effect

This video scene was taken from the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The scene you see is about the time when Macbeth started to hallucinate and see his best friend Banquo who he got murdered so he so nothing can stop him from his legacy of being King. This obsession of Banquo, all started from the beginning of the play Macbeth, where three witches made a prophecy that Macbeth a honored devoted soldier would be Thane of Cawdor. This prophecy made Macbeth full of ambition and with his wife, Lady Macbeth helping he would stop at nothing to become Thane. So together they created a plan to murder the king at the time King Duncan, to receive this throne automatically. As days went on the witches appeared again and told him that another obstacle would be in his way and his sons through his lineage will be overstepped by the sons of Banquo, so then Macbeth had Banquo killed. Now since Banquo has died, Macbeth started to receive hallucinations and started to go crazy. As he began to go crazy his ambition started to get more as the prophecies made his determination turn into hubris, leading him into his demise. As he tried to take out his final obstacle to success a character Macduff killed him as he found out the real way of how Banquo died.

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I had the Time of My Life!

Hi, everyone I’m going to tell you a story about a girl named Velah. Here we go!

Once upon a time there was a girl named Velah. She grew up in this small home in the projects with her parents and her dog. Velah was 17 years old and suffered from depression and was teased throughout all her life, because she had braces, freckles, and her hair was never combed into a nice style like everyone else. Because she was an only child, her mind created this beautiful girl named Ebony to be her best friend. Ebony always stood up for Velah, and gave her advice when the other girls were mean to her and started to bully her. Her parents were too busy with work to pay attention to her behavior, and just always thought she was going through a phase. So one day, Ebony whispered in Velah’s ear and said  “Go steal moms wallet to go shopping so you can get a nice outfit for back to school”, but because Velah knew that was wrong she told Ebony “NO” but, she did it anyway because she believed Ebony was her only friend who understood what she was going through.

Oh No Velah don’t steal!

So now Velah went to go shopping and bought all the name brands in the world so she could look like the cool kids in school. This was the only time Velah ever smiled. She came back home and was trying on all the things she bought in her mirror. A few minutes later, her mom came home,

“Oh No Velah lookout”

And walked in on Velah and her eyes were almost blind because Velah’s clothes were very shiny and so so so sparkly. Velah’s mom came in and asked “Where did you get all these clothes from and jewelry from Velah?” And Velah lied and said I found them in the backyard! Velah’s mom knew she was lying because she checked her purse for her wallet to get lunch at work and it was never there. So Velah’s mom took all the clothes and jewelry to return them and grounded Velah for 3 weeks because stealing was not acceptable in that house. ************************************ So it’s the next day and it’s time for school, and Velah’s teasing began and all the kids were laughing at her and throwing paper at her except for this one kid in the back of the class. Who’s that kid he looks nice. After the bell rang Velah ran to the bathroom to wipe her tears and when she came out the same boy was waiting outside and gave her a hug and said “Hi, I’m Tony, and you shouldn’t let those kids get to you”

Wow Tony that was so nice of you!

Velah blushed and said “thanks but its ok I’m used to it”. And Tony responded “You shouldn’t be, because that’s not how people should be treated…would you like to sit with me at lunch?” Velah answered and said “sure!”

Awww how cute!

After the day was done Tony found Velah at locker and asked if he could walk her home and she said “ok” and he did, and when they reached her house they hugged and said bye to each other. Wow you guys are moving fast! So now Velah rushed to her room to tell Ebony about her day, and as she was smiling and laughing Ebony was getting jealous and started to get mad at Velah and walked away. Velah told her there’s nothing to be jealous about but Ebony didn’t believe her. ************************************ So it’s the next day and Velah got up early and was trying on all her clothes to see which outfit looked the cutest so she can stand out to Tony, and she finally found the right one. She even tried to put on a little makeup to make her look a little different and pretty. Ebony was looking so jealous at her and said “why are you getting so dress up for, you just met him”, but Velah didn’t care and went to school anyway with a smile. She went into class and everyone was looking at her especially Tony.

OOOHHH ok Velah looking gorgeous as ev! 

Everybody started to be her friend and Velah was enjoying all the attention. Now after the day finished Tony walked Velah because that was their routine since they became friends, and when they reached Tony planted a big big big kiss on Velah’s lips. And Velah was so shocked and smiled and ran away, because that never happened to her before.

Oh wow Tony your brave!

So now Velah reached her rom to tell Ebony of her day and they got into a big argument and Ebony just disappeared, but Velah didn’t really care anymore because she got her first kiss! So Velah started to write a journal entry and wrote about two pages about her day and how happy she was. So when night came around Velah looked out her window and seen a wishing star, and she ran and said “I wish Tony would ask me to go to prom with him.” ************************************ Now its morning and Velah is dressing up all over again with makeup and jewelry, and rushed to school so she could see tony. And when she reached she seen flowers and balloons everywhere. And Tony came out of the crowd and asked her to PROMMMM! OH MY GOSHH!! And of course Velah said “YESSS!” And rushed home to tell her mom so she can buy a prom dress, and her mom answered and said, “Ok Velah since your off punishment now and you’ve been a little happier why not!” So they went out to buy the perfect prom dress and they found one is white silver and blue and when she tried it on Velah looked like a princess. ************************************ Now Prom is approaching and one day after school Velah came home to make sure her dress was ready for tomorrow, but when she reached her room she seen Ebony standing over it with scissors and the dress was everywhere.

Oh no Ebony Why did you do that!

Velah started to cry and her mom seen her on the floor and said, “What happened to your dress” and Velah replied “it was Ebony!” and because her mom felt bad for Velah, and since prom was tomorrow Velah’s mom got an idea and hushed Velah to sleep. ************************************ It’s time for prom and Velah was so sad she locked herself in her room. Then a few hours later Velah’s mom came home with a white fitted beautiful dress to show off Velah’s shape and Velah’s frown went to a smile and she hugged her mom and quickly got ready.

Now it’s time to take pictures and Tony reached the door and ringed the doorbell and Velah’s dad opened it and said, “Tony come in”

Tony was looking very very dapper

Tony entered with a nice suit on with a corsage on, waiting for Velah to come down, and as he looked up he seen a beautiful girl walking down the stairs looking gorgeous as ever, and they both started to blushing. Tony couldn’t wait for Velah to come down the stairs as soon as she reached he grabbed her a kissed her “Even in front of her parents!”

Now they went off to Prom in a nice single limo and enjoyed the rest of their night and Velah had the time of her life!

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Death Unseen! The Lottery By: Shirley Jackson

Beliefs, doctrines, customs, passed down generation to generation is what we, the people of the world call tradition. Tradition is a main behavior that is used in many societies today to portray a symbol of who our ancestors were and where we come from. The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, uses the motif of family to symbolize how tradition can make or break a family in many ways. In the story, the main tradition in the village was called the “lottery”, and the lottery was created to select a person from the village to die. One day in the month of June, it was time for another lottery to begin, time to choose names out of the black box to select who’s life will end now. After all the names were call in the village, it was time for Bill Hutchins onto choose a paper and behold he received the black dot and was condemned to be stoned, however his wife Tessie Hutchinson claimed that the lottery was not fair and she was against it for a long time. After that, leader who was in charge Mr. Summers understood and made them re-choose the papers again, and anyone who received the black dot will be put to death. So when they chose the papers again and Bill seen his paper was blank he quickly turned and raised Tessie’s paper with the black dot and was killed by stones. As a reader of this story, the line that stood out to me the most was a line told by the oldest man in the village and he stated, "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while.” Once I read it I believed that many of the people believed that this was true and the only way to keep that from happening was to continue on the tradition of lottery to keep them alive and stable. I also thought if many people believed this statement then how would they feel if they received the black dot? People are raised in a society to believe what the majority believes until they build up the strength to stand up for what they believe in, although that was the cause of Tessie Hutchinson’s death. I also believe that many things can make your family change and go by the phrase every man for themselves, because as the audience can see if Bill received the black dot the story would of ended with a different tone and different storyline.

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Pain is everywhere

The Shoah also known as “The Holocaust” was a genocide led by Adolf Hitler, which murdered over 6 million of Jews. Stories and stories were told to represent the painful experience and one of them is called “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick. The author Cynthia Ozick was a Jew raised in the Bronx in the times of feminism, rationalism, and skepticism especially towards woman. As she began her literature career she used the experiences of stories told by her parent and grandparents to express the reality of what she went through growing up and what they went through growing in the times of the Holocaust. In the story “The Shawl” there is a mother named Rosa, her daughter named Magda, and her niece named Stella. The story began with the mother (Rosa) who was raped by a German Soldier, placed within a concentration camp with her niece and child, and how they went through the struggle and terror just to stay alive. In the concentration camps you were not allowed to have children, so in order to keep her child alive, Rosa placed Magda in a shawl to keep her safe from harm, when it was time to be called into labor. As Magda grew with her shawl, she grew to have a relationship with the shawl as it provided nourishment and protection, and because Magda received all the attention, her cousin Stella became jealous of Magda because she never experienced true love from a mother and wanted to be the one who was cradled and rocked to sleep every night. So after surviving for 15 months one day Stella’s heart began to experience coldness since she was so skinny and stole the shawl from Magda making Magda cry and run to go get the Shawl. Which at the end made Magda die from an electrified fence, because children weren’t allowed and that’s how the Nazi soldiers were trained when they see a problem. As the audience can see after reading this, Ozick represented a true heartfelt story of what probably happened in real life based on the terrors she was told as she grew up. She used this horror to express that pain comes in many forms and we all experience it no matter who we are.

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You Can’t Run!

The termination of all bodily functions that keeps a living organism alive. That’s what we can’t escape. It’s planned, and unplanned, it’s rapid, it’s slow, it’s in your face, and it can sneak and stab you in the back; we can never hide from death which is we should accept it as it comes near. In the story, “The appointment in Samarra” retold by W. Somerset Maugham, starts off by saying the narrator of the story is death. Death tells a story about how one day a servant went to a market in Bagdad for his merchant (master) to get him provisions. Which are a supply of food, drinks, and equipment mainly for a journey. As the servant was in the market he felt a joust from a woman in black and said it was death who gave him a “threatening gesture”. As the servant hurried back to his master to ask him for a horse so he can ride away to Samarra to escape death, the master granted it, because he favored the servant, then the master returned to market to ask death why did she give a threatening gesture to his servant and she replied it wasn’t a threat, it was just a surprise because he has an appointment with her in Samarra the night. The theme and moral of the story is that fate is inevitable, and it makes no sense to run away because it will always catch up with us. Time waits on no one, and when the hand strikes 12 just be ready for the result.

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“Cinderella” By: Anne Sexton What an imagination!

In the poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton, she starts off with different folktales that talked about many individuals who went through being impoverished throughout all of their lives until one day luck came upon them and they went from “toilets to riches”. Beginning in the 16th century the original story of the fairy tale we all know as Cinderella was told by Charles Perrault, under the name Cendrillon. As time progressed over the years the story of Cinderella changed and was published under many names in different version. In the poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton she wrote her story off of the Grimm’s Brothers version of folktales; which came out in the 18th century. The Grimm’s version of Cinderella is about a young lady, who after her mother died was treated poorly by both her father, stepmother, and stepsisters. As they felt that Cinderella wasn’t pretty enough to eat/be around them, she then became their housemaid and was treated poorly with disrespect and cruelty. Then one day, her father went on a trip to the market and asked all his daughter what would they like for him to bring back, his stepdaughters asked from jewels and dress, but Cinderella asked for the first twig to brush off his hat and that’s what he did. That same night she went to the grave where her mother was buried to plant it, and as she wept her tears grew and sowed a beautiful tree that had a white bird who grew fond of it and every time Cinderella wept and prayed the bird granted her wishes that were made. Now in the story it was time for the Princes Ball which was where the Prince looked for his true love. And of course Cinderella was not allowed to go because her stepmother was as ashamed of her, so each night of the 3 day ball she wept and wished to be able to go and each time the bird dropped her a beautiful and even more magnificent dress then the one before. As the nights of the ball ended at 12am Cinderella had to run home so she won’t be caught but on the third night the prince learned her ways and placed a trap in the steps and as she ran off her shoe was left behind and at the end of the story the prince finally found this mysterious beautiful woman and grew happy-ever-after. As the poem ended in the last stanza Anne Sexton stated the Prince and Cinderella were “never bothered by diapers or dust, never arguing over the timing of an egg, never telling the same story twice, never getting a middle-aged spread, their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. Regular Bobbsey Twins.” I feel like she added this statement because what is happily ever after if you’re not experiencing true life, it means you’re just stuck in an imagination thinking of true happiness. As she relates to the Bobbsey Twins who were stuck in an imaginary world controlled by a person’s mind who believed going in different adventures were a real meaning of “living happily-ever-after”. So going from “toilets to riches” and “rags to riches” is just an imagination that is told of an imagination of what true reality is.

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A Reflection on Her Smile By: Aleah E.M. Blair

Came out the hollowness op’nd mi eye n’d didnt see ‘ar Grew one next year, n’d there she was I ain’t neva see a smile s’uh big She Hel’ me s’uh tight I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ‘ar inna the room a’h lay down a’h wat’h tv N’d a’h listen to the raid’yo I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big

E’rd ‘ar ‘eels happroach t’wards me as she a’h moggle I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ‘ar a’h praise God I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ‘ar a’h cook I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ‘ar aroun’ fam’ly I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big

Press one likkle kiss pon ‘ar cheek I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ar’ a age N’d a look like one likkle pickney I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Den mi see ar’ drop I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ar’ a fall apart with tears and still I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big

Seen ar’ inna h’ar death bed I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ar’ inna h’ar casq’et I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Look pon her pic’cha pon h’ar grave I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big Seen ar’ inna mi ‘ead I ain’t neva seen a smile s’uh big

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“The white Man Pressed The Locks”

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The breath you take as you see, “The White Man Pressed the Locks” by James C. Kilgore

The poem “The White Man Pressed the Locks” by James C. Kilgore is what I believe to be told from the mind of observation.  As Kilgore wrote his poems he wrote during the time when The Jim Crow Laws were just passed and being raised and creating a life in that time he probably experienced a life that one can only bare. Being separated, controlled, and owned by people who believed “Might is Right”, can make someone feel as if they’re being closed, poisoned, and shut in a dark locked place. “Driving down the concrete artery, Away from the smoky heart, through the darkening, blighted body” can yet be interpreted as someone with no entitlement being intoxicated by what is being forced upon one as their owner restricts and puts them to labor. In this poem Kilgore uses the literary element of imagery as he explains the control of what a white man had/has on a city. “Pausing at varicose veins, the white man pressed the locks on all the sedan’s doors, in other words as the white man is control he can open and close all pain, damage, and strain in one’s life during this time of struggle. During the time of slavery and segregation history wasn’t changed like now meaning, we never had a black President before, so at this time no black man really had control/ power. So as a person trapped and being force to do anything and everything all one may see as he/she looks out are “white arms hugging the black city”.

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“Sonnet 116:Let me not to the marriage of true minds” By- William Shakespeare

What is Love? Love is defined as a deep intense feeling of affection. This feeling of bliss, peace and happiness, can be showed differently through the expressions of every man. In “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” by William Shakespeare he talks about how powerful the feeling of and the way, love can either create or destroy mankind. He bases his theory off of the meaning of what true marriage means to him. In which he describes this bind as an unforgettable feeling of two minds joined together that doesn’t change each one to adjust but joins both together to make more powerful and constant as one. Shakespeare also states, “It is the star to every wand’ ring bark, whose worth’s unknown”, in other words as love takes such a toll on one’s life, love is measureless. The feeling of loved can be expressed through many things such as the first sight of an attractive man or woman, food, ones favorite hobby/activity, music, religion and many more. A person can expressed their way of love from the days of birth to their days of death. Shakespeare also states “Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle’s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.” Meaning time waits on no one, and as you fall in love with something or someone, time can slip through the fingers that helped you pave the way to success. As he ends with saying if he is wrong about his statements then his words mean nothing he shows to the reader of what true love can do to man and how it can affect them as an internal and external life changing moment.