Creative Response
Its the English project n I go to discover
My strengths and weakness man I got to uncover
In the skin of a lion, I could feel its carcass
Sort of like Patrick I’m lost in the darkness
Sort of like Clara ain’t sure who to be with
Rapping about me n ma flo is so fluid
Lost in a world that’s so confusing
The way that we living its jus so amusing
they say every man got his own weakness
ma love for money is what ma own flaw is
also I could be so self-involved
like the sun thinking I’m where the earth revolve
but things aint always what they appear to be
and greed could make one lose their mentality
like Macbeth kill one then you wanna kill the rest
obsessed with so much power, the result was death

this about strengths and flaws, delivering it raw
boutta leave yall in awe
the best of the best, the worst of the worst,
strength vs weakness all in one verse

yo yo take a look at Will, for the American dream he would kill,
had a job yet couldn’t pay his bills, his life insurance is all he got in his will
and he put pressure on Bif, to try live his dreams,
a broken family n a dad with no self esteem
father of the house but he couldn’t run his team
all he did was scream and daydream
take another look at Clara, left real love for a man with money
hah ain’t that funny
when he died she had no one else to look to
even her real love Patrick just moved on too
I try to be positive try to be encouraging
Thass my strength and I’m real proud acknowledging
The strength of these characters, flaws of the characters
We all got flaws it’s just in different chapters

Written Respnse
Chigo Azuonye
Written Reflection

Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses, some more and some less, however Hamartia pertains to flaws or mistakes people make. In literature, hamartia refers to the tragic flaws of the characters that end up putting that character in a very bad position.
This English project focuses on the strengths and hamartia of each individual and how it relates to the globe as a whole.
For my creative response I wrote a rap song, to express my ideas knowing my lyrical talent and skills in delivery of the song. The rap song was more demanding because I had to write lyrics pertaining to the topic in an analytical manner while presenting my thoughts, in a way I could deliver to my peers. I feel so much looser when I rap and so it’s a good medium for me to express myself with. In the rap I mention my weaknesses and my strengths. I also talked of the hamartia of some of the characters on the works done this semester like Patrick, Clara and Will. Through out this semester we have studied works that outline the protagonist or antagonist flaws and portray the unfortunate effects afterwards.
In In the Skin of a Lion, Patrick is very lost in darkness; he has no clue what to do or where to go. He also lacks a sense of identity, and so can’t really understand who he is. He relies on other people to create an identity for him; he just becomes who everyone else wants him to be and doesn’t have a firm identity that could define him. He’s like a teenager going through identity crisis, when he changes identities to fit the people around him. In the novel In the skin of a lion, he clearly has love for Clara, it seems he’s able to discover himself and find his true identity but as soon as she leaves his life crumbles again, which shows his flexible identity crisis and his sense of loss in society. Clara also had her hamartia which causes one to feel pathos for her in this novel. She knows Patrick truly loves her but deserts him for Ambrose, a very rich man who could meet her physical demands. She did meet Patrick to satisfy her sexual desires but still hadn’t re-considered her actions. Ambrose later dies and she’s left with just the money and an empty vain life. Then she realizes the importance of true love in a relationship. Clara was so materialistic and selfish she was willing to give up true love in exchange for money and other physical wants.
In the secular night by Margaret Atwood presents powerful messages about solitude and misery that arises as a result of a lack of spiritual relationship or connections with others. The tragic flaw of people here would be this desire to always have things come so easy, a comforted life with enough things and people to satisfy them. When people battle to live an easy life or satisfactory life, there’s often problems with other people who work hard to live life, which involves a lot of struggles hence it ultimately causes despair. Since everything on earth can’t come easy, there is a problem and people often tend to intimidate or manipulate other people to feel more comfortable, hence it outlines greed as another hamartia. This poem also points out some weaknesses in me, I always want life to be easier and comfortable and a “bed of roses” and so when things don’t work out the way they should, it is really frustrating and annoying, and so this poem in a sense relates to me as a human too.
In Macbeth, Macbeth also had his flaws. He was portrayed as a loyal man in the beginning very patriotic and a hero of his people. However, even as a commander, he let his weaknesses attack him. Being the greedy man he was, he was manipulated into believing that he would be king. From that point on his life transformed from loyal and patriotic to treacherous and deceitful. It was only because of his greed and obsession with power that the witches were able to turn him into a ridiculous person because Banquo heard the news too but refused to be consumed by it. Also his wife, Lady Macbeth was so greedy, she actually convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan though he persistently refused. She also desires all the power and fame when she’s queen and so persuades her husband into carrying out the hideous murder and claiming his throne like the witches had prophesied. However, she realizes her flaw towards the end and tries to make amends. She becomes repentant and so she’s a character to feel pathos for in this novel. She’s portrayed as o ne who didn’t understand the consequences of her actions.
In the death of a salesman, Will is too focused on living this American dream, where one could have many opportunities in America and use it to get money but he couldn’t even pay off his own bills. He paid less attention to his family and constantly pressured his children to also become a salesman, thinking they’d only be successful doing what he did. This way he ripped his family apart, he wasn’t there for his wife and even kids, though Bif did try to satisfy him as much as possible he makes it apparent he can’t just live his fathers’ life and that he still loved him. Also, Will’s hamartia was uncovering the mask, he was too ashamed to let the truth out, at the end in the scene where he gets emotional with Bif, his emotions convey his true feelings and love he has for his family, that he doesn’t really show in the book. When he doesn’t express ourselves to others they can’t understand the way we feel about certain things.
Everyone has their flaws, being human we have a lot of flaws and no one is perfect even the religious people struggle to attain perfection yet often make mistakes. These characters all had flaws that relate to society now, as people struggle with similar weaknesses. There is a problem when we do nothing to correct our weakness sort of like how Lady Macbeth became repentant and wanted to fix her mistakes. If we don’t seek correction for our flaws, it becomes a dagger that ultimately kills us.

Blog
1. Research Atwood, Plath and Dickinson and find the poet you are most like (your similarities could be based on personality traits or on issues you are both interested in, or on themes emerging from the poet’s work and how those speak to you. Write about what you feel is common between you and the poet you have chosen.

Not trying to be anti-feminist but being a man, and considering the times these women lived in and some of the themes embedded in their poems, I find myself less similar to any of these poets. However, there are minor similarities that could be a reflection of my own self in each of these poets, like in Plath who uses symbolisms significantly to present strong messages through various scenarios, or Margaret Atwood who greatly influenced by her father’s profession lived in the wilderness area in Quebec, I too have been moving around the world because of my dad’s job but of all three Emily Dickinson is the most appealing to me. Not that I fancy recluses but her style of writing appeals to me in a higher level as I too can relate to it. Her often strong messages about death and immortality are brilliantly embedded in her poems. Emily Dickinson, growing up with a death-filled childhood, a pain-staking period in her life, changed the rest of her life and inspired her to write more on morbidity and stay segregated from society. However, her work remains remarkable and admirable, carrying powerful messages often delivered in a strong, persistent tone. Being a lyricist and rapper myself, I am able to relate to her style of delivering messages; she in her own way tries to incorporate slant rhymes to deliver a flow while delivering her messages. I often write love songs, rap songs, songs about life and of various topics with various themes using rhymes to even deepen the message of the song which is similar to the works of Emily Dickinson.

2. TPCASTT one poem and discover what it really says to you. Write about the poem and its theme, especially about how the poem’s message sheds light on the universal human condition/experience.

Of all the poems in this packet by all three of these poets, the one I liked the most was “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson. This poem was very interesting, not too complex and she presents a profound theme not generally accepted by society. Using a very calm and relaxed tone and mood, she presented powerful messages about the gentle acceptance of death and immortality of humans by personifying death as a suitor (a gentle man). Using an optimistic yet quite sardonic tone, Emily Dickinson is able to symbolize life as a journey and death with a positive connotation. Also, her use of slant rhyme is very effective in adding meaning to the theme along with other literary device used like alliteration, paradox and conceit. She uses this poem to point out a message that really sheds light on the universal human experience; humans are generally concerned and fear death very much. Religious people often believe in an after-life yet they still fear death and people often regret these situations. Death is never portrayed in our society as a positive thing in fact, once people age and get older, women often start to do surgeries to feel and look younger, because the whole idea of being old and approaching death is a fearful thought in our society. However, Emil Dickinson is assuring the people of this world that its only inevitable and for the better life that continues after death which humans often neglect.

3. Think about Hamartia: find one poem that displays a tragic flaw in human nature (either human nature in general or in one human, as expressed in the poem). Write about whether or not the poem’s message is enhanced for you, as a reader, as you contemplate hamartia as it relates to the text.

On this topic I think “In the secular night” hits it on he nail. The poem by Margaret Atwood presents powerful messages about loneliness and despair that arises as a result of a lack of spiritual relationship or connections with others. Hence, the tragic flaw of people would be this desire to always have things so easy, a comforted life with enough things and people to satisfy them. Some people also turn to religion just as a meaning to life while others understanding this loss and despair it causes, don’t want to be a part of the darkness. When people end up battling to live this easy life or satisfactory life there’s often problems with other people leading to some sort of despair ultimately. Since everything on earth can’t come easy, there is a problem and people often tend to intimidate or manipulate other people to feel more comfortable, hence it also leads to patronizing other people. This poem also points out some weaknesses in me, I always want life to be easier and comfortable and a “bed of roses” and so when things don’t work out it could be quite frustrating and annoying, so this poem in a sense relates to me as a human too.

Macbeth Blog Entry

1. Do you feel sorry for Lady Macbeth? Why or why not?

Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a remorseful character in this play. She makes a lot of stupid mistakes; she forces her husband to commit one of the worst felonies of his time, transforming him from a loyal figure to a treacherous blood-thirsty beast. However, unlike her husband Lady Macbeth does express remorse and guilt towards the end of the novel, she realizes all the wrong she has done and the casualties she has done and so seeks some sort of redemption. For this reason, I believe she is worthy of my sympathy. I believe everyone makes mistakes, some big and some small and in this case she made a very big mistake which haunted her for the rest of her life but at the end she’s able to come back to her senses and realize that she had done so much wrong and seeks forgiveness unlike her dictatorial husband. Though Macbeth decides to continue on with murder by killing any other opposition that stood in his way, Lady Macbeth was unaware of them like the murder of Banquo and Macduffs’ family but she realizes the results of greed and selfishness. She wanted to be the queen so bad, that she had allowed greed and self desires to overwhelm her mind and actions. She had then unconsciously committed so many atrocities including putting converting her once loyal husband into a murderer. Knowing how much she regretted her actions and even her confession to the doctor and her maid though sleepwalking, I think she’s one we should feel pathos for.

2. What do you think about the character of Macbeth? Was he a good guy before he met the witches or do his actions imply that he was always capable of dark deeds? Is he to blame for his actions, or are the witches really to blame?

Macbeth was portrayed as the “bad” guy in this novel. He has one of the major transformations in this novel from a loyal patriot to a treacherous power-monger. I think before he met the witches he was portrayed as a really good character. He’s out there fighting for his people and is rewarded on his victory with another kingdom and title, the thane of Gladis. However, upon meeting the witches he’s misdirected and hoodwinked into believing that he’s meant for the throne and from then on believes he has to work on every given opportunity to fulfill the “prophesy” which he accomplishes the night when King Duncan comes for dinner. All people have a greedy side and desire to be more powerful or wealthier. When relating to blessings people often tend to be gullible because of this innate desire to be very successful and powerful in life and so Macbeth simply succumbs to the deceitful con of the witches like most good people of his rank would have. However, this isn’t strong enough to shift the blame away from him because there are people who are very modest and strongly patriotic that such an act would still be considered very impossible to carry out. His wife also played a role in persuading him to commit his atrocities though he tried to re-think it and give up on the idea so there’s a shared amount of blame here but he is still responsible for allowing such “prophesy” to ruin the rest of his life.

3. Is there a personal incident in your life you wish you could erase? Envision Lady Macbeth wringing her hands, unable to get the imaginary blood off them. She is haunted by her participation in the grisly deed. Do you think her response is plausible? Do you think you would be consumed with guilt yourself if you found yourself wrapped up in such a heinous crime?

Well, I’ve tried hard in life to stay away from jail time or any trouble, growing up as a kid so I haven’t killed anyone unlike Lady Macbeth but I guess could relate with her on one incident, during my first grade class when one of my friends dared me to do something really bad for a 1^st grader and feeling like I had to prove myself, I went on and completed the deed. Right after, the kid went on to report me to the elementary school principal putting me in a lot of trouble with not just my parents, but other parents and even the school principal. Sometime later I did move schools but till today it’s one of those lingering memories in my head that I wish I could still erase. Despite the fact that we were neighbors and once best of friends I felt deceived and tricked and so I was more careful of very close relationships. I think Lady Macbeth’s response was very plausible and makes a lot of sense because she does express extreme remorse for her past actions and she should be forgiven. If I were in her shoes, I would totally be guilty I mean after convincing my husband to commit such a heinous crime, and then watching him transform into a butcher as a result of my persuasion should create enough guilt in any decent person. With all the sleep-walking and nightmares and constant reminder of blood on her hands, it just magnifies the intensity and severity of her actions which would even make her feel more responsible and blameworthy.

4. Have you ever experienced a predicted dream? Has anyone ever suggested something about your future that has actually come true? Did their comments influence your actions and the results that followed?

I can account for a couple of times when I have encountered dejavus, and as presumed it did occur in real life and I’m amazed by the whole incident but I’ve also had likewise dreams where it was actually a prediction of the future. I remember once, dreaming about my little brother getting really sick, and in less than 2 days he was really sick and was admitted to the hospital and I was just overwhelmed about the whole prediction and explained the whole issue to my parents. Well a couple of times my dad suggested I’d make a good engineer and so far it seems to be true because I’m planning to major in engineering and pursue a career in that field. Obviously, especially since being my dad his comments did influence my actions and sort of already made up my mind on what career I’d pursue.

1. What passage did you find the most beautiful in this novel and why? Dig into setting here, and give us detail about why you have chosen your passage

I was most intrigued by the scene where Clara deserts Patrick to move on with her life. In this scene Michael Ondaatje is able to portray the theme of the story in such an effective manner and helps in the characterization of Patrick and also Clara. The setting is in Patrick’s room and occurs in the rising action of the novel. This scene enables us to understand Patrick’s falls well and is also a very poignant section of the novel. The reader is able to feel pathos for Clara as she is very lost and searches for the wrong things in life during her life journey. The reader is also moved to feel some sympathy for Patrick who tries very hard to erase the memories of his past but as we see is not very successful as he still leaves a corner untouched and the iguana as a constant reminder. Michael Ondaatje also uses symbols n literary devices very appropriately and meaningfully in this passage. He uses the iguana to self-reflect Patrick’s character and individual. He also uses the contrast between day and night to portray Patrick’s search for light and identity in such a clouded and obscure journey through life. Also, this passage is key in understanding not only the theme of the passage but also portraying and laying down the foundation for how the characters in the novel relate to each other and their journey throughout life. Here, the setting is also important as it occurs in Patrick’s room and he tries to get rid of all the memories here. The room is also significant as it relates to all the intimacy between them, it is where they would have had all their sexual relations and sensual intimacy, something so relevant and important to partners especially broken ones like Patrick who tries to rid of these memories. By washing his room, he not only just “cleans” it but he is also getting rid of all their intimacies in their relationship which is key in understanding the novel because it helps us understand how his journey through life searching for identity and light is filled with love, intimacy and betrayal or falls at times.

2. What character do you most identify with in this novel and why? Is pathos an element of your response to this character?

I think it’s easy to just compare yourself with someone of a similar gender or the main character of the passage as he/she would usually have enough things to relate to but personally I think I most identify with Clara. Clara is portrayed in this passage as a woman who is lost in her search for material things and is characterized as a “lost” individual as she doesn’t know what exactly she searches for. I feel the same way about myself sometimes I find myself unable to make certain decisions and like trapped between two ideas where I can’t necessarily think of the better or most ideal decision. Clara also “blows” it in this passage with Patrick but also with Ambrose, she only goes for material things like money which is part of why she leaves Patrick for the richer man Ambrose, I feel like the world has shaped my life in a way that is geared towards money. Money is very important and essential to life, and so I have also made decisions about my future like a future occupation based on the job’s pay though that may not be the best idea for me or exactly what I would love to do best. Clara is obviously character to feel pathos for and in my opinion even the most pathos for in this novel. She seems to be on this same life journey but without a specific goal or aim to gain an identity or light but instead to just gain riches, money and sexual desires which are all physical desires. She’s just portrayed as a shallow and superficial individual with nothing to really cherish or love. Even at the end after pursuing Ambrose for his money, and after his death she calls Patrick to try to reconcile their relationship but we can see how lost and messed up Clara really was. Instead of moving forward and advancing with life she’s so lost and confused that she even goes back to her past to even Patrick who was finding his light and identity with his life journey.

3. Is tragic flaw an issue in this novel? Choose one character and explore how their tragic flaw resulted in disaster.

Tragic flaw is of great value to this novel. Clara has a tragic flaw which leads to her ultimate downfall and disaster. Clara pursues the materialistic things in life and is portrayed as superficial and shallow. This way she left Patrick, someone who had actually loved her for Ambrose, a rich man whom she could get a lot of money from. However, Ambrose does die and then she realizes how much she was lost and confused, she then decides to try embrace Patrick once again but he had moved on with his life. In this sense she was left miserable, lacking true love and once again bitter chasing only the materialistic things of life. Her bad decisions even ultimately leads to her destruction at the end where she is left with no hope, no one to actually provide her materialistic needs like sex and money and then no true love which she had denied in favor of money.