Da Infamous Blog

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.