Darnell's Online Journal

The meaning of the word sophistry is  the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving. He is trying  to say that everything he is saying is true and he is not trying to deceive. The hawk also say “for the one path of my flight is direct through the bones of the living.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to defer the external performance of your “Oh What a Lovely War!” piece until Tuesday 19th of June (a one week deferral).

You will now be timetabled in lessons as normal tomorrow.

Our apologies for the lateness of this notice.

Torture

I believe the use of torture is necessary in some cases to protect lives. However, yet again innocent people are being tortured by terrorists and even killed but for what reason? Thousands of people are being tortured just because of their beliefs and just to make people scared of terrorists. An example of this is Isis, a group of militants from Iraq. They have been going around parts of Iraq and have been killing people like they are animals, just because they believe in different things. Isis have even been capturing news reporters and have been torturing and killing them on live TV leaving families without their loved ones just because of what has been going on between their own countries. This torture is disgusting and unnecessary.

Another example of torture is when the American government torture the terrorists they have captured. This is the torture I believe is acceptable as it isn’t just to scare innocent people, it is required. The American government are torturing them because they need some information about the other terrorists, and trying to get information to stop any further attacks on the county and its people. However over the years there has been many complaints of human rights breaches in places such as America’s renowned prison called Guantanamo Bay, where on many occasions people held there have accused the Americans of torture. Three British Muslims who were detained there said after they were released that U.S forces tortured them, this included beatings and forced drugging. This is just one of many examples of people claiming they have been tortured at Guantanamo Bay. The issue with torture is that everybody has human rights and torture is a breach of the human rights act, and the government are breaking one of the nation’s rules. George Bush, when he was president, said only 30-40 people were ever subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques”, one of these was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the organiser of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre’ “I believe this is when it is acceptable to use torture as he killed almost 3,000 people”. This was a statement made by the then president of the USA, proving that he went against the human rights act for his country’s wellbeing. I believe that this is an acceptable way to get information, however you could argue that when they have tortured someone but then released them that maybe in these cases torture wasn’t necessary, maybe it was a case of mistaken identity.

Torturing a terrorist may not be right, but surely saving thousands of lives must make it ok. Torturing someone is not something we should encourage, however in some cases I believe it is justified because you need to get information from these people in order to save many more lives. Although I do believe that torture should only be used to prevent future attacks. It is hard to argue with this when you consider in some countries they use the death penalty. The death penalty is another way to potentially get information out of someone, because if someone is faced with the death penalty for a crime, which they did not commit then they would inform the authorities of who it actually was. However, if the person does not value their life, then an innocent person may get killed, and the guilty person is able to roam the streets, and commit more crimes.

In conclusion I think torture should only be used if it is to get information that could save many lives. However it is a breach of human rights act which is breaking the law. Torture and the death penalty is just a means of punishing those who have committed a severe crime such as terrorism, treason, and mass murder. However sometimes justice has not been served and the innocent may be tortured or killed, this is why it is difficult to judge when somebody deserves to be tortured or face the death penalty.

J Humphry discusses in his article that the texting generation of today is ruining the English language, and how the younger generations are not picking up the english dictionary to develop their knowledge. This may be the case, they may not have used an English dictionary, but i can promise that texting is not ruining the English language. It is a way for the younger generations to express themselves, and is developing the English language. Not only is texting a way to communicate, it also allows people on social media to connect with each other, and express their feelings in a way that people that they know, understand. It is the short abbreviations of words that are effective in sending short, quick, and easy text’s. In case of an emergency, you do not want to be writing a full paragraph to let them know what is happening, you want to be able to send a quick, snappy text to show the emergency and where you are, and this one example of why modern language is so helpful.

Even the computers have evolved and accepted the change of language throughout the years, for example if you type on your computer or mobile device ”OMW’, the auto correct on the computer will automatically change it to say ‘On My Way’, yet again leading back to how quick and easy it is to communicate using texting language. I don’t see what J Humphry’s problem is, even William Shakespeare used different language to express himself, and much of that has evolved to the language we speak today, which he says is the correct way. J Humphry also mentions the problems with people using auto-correct, ‘The spell-check (sorry: spellcheck) on my computer is happy with both’. I do feel that this is a problem however, as auto corrects computers are giving us two ways to write one word, even if you spell the word wrong. Although it does help us when we are trying to type quickly, it does not give us or especially the younger generations an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Furthermore, people aren’t gaining the knowledge of how to spell words. If you type the first three letters of a word it’ll come up with the word without you needing to know how to spell it fully. However It can also offer you the wrong word if you have not used enough letters or spelled the beginning incorrectly, making you think about the word you need to spell, a helpful side to auto correct. Despite this, it is hardly a ‘raping of the english language’ but helps people who find it hard to spell or those with learning difficulties . People with Learning difficulties are able to communicate with their friends effectively, due to auto correct. This type of technology not only helps them communicate, but can have a good effect on their confidence, social life, and ability to do things on their own.

”the eyes fall on a word you’ve never seen before or one whose meaning you’ve always wanted to check”I also agree with your love of reading the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for the sake of learning because when you look through a dictionary you see hard words and ones you’ve never seen before and it gets you thinking of possibilities where you could use them. also, seeing a word constantly helps you remember how to spell it whereas with spell-check which suggests the words you use the most and as such you don’t learn new words. However, the times are changing, and the world is evolving. We are in a new era, where you can go online to access the dictionary, and for many it is easier. Even in schools they now promote the use of mobile devices to research, and type up classwork and this allows the children to use spellcheck and is proving quite handy.

Taking my view on board, i hope that J Humphry changes his opinion on the modern language and how the texting language is ‘pillaging’ our language.

In this essay, i will be analysing the play Julius Caesar, and two poems by Robert Browning; The laboratory, and Porphyria’s Lover. I will be trying to find the key parts where love and/or hate has paid a toll on the characters in the studied pieces of literature, and how it has changed the way they act.

Shakespeare represents love in Julius Caesar by creating a bond between Brutus and Caesar. This bond is sadly broken by Brutus making a conspiracy about Julius Caesar, and planning to kill him. Shakespeare has a theme of love throughout the play Julius Caesar, this is clear from the relationship that Caesar thinks he has with Brutus. Earlier in the play when Brutus is questioned by Cassius whether he wants Caesar to be crowned king, Brutus replies ‘I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well’. This is trying to say that although Brutus loves Caesar, he loves Rome more, and he doesn’t want Caesar to have absolute power over Rome. The reason for this is that he believes that if Caesar has all this power, it would change his ways and his Morales, this is clear in Brutus’s soliloquy when saying ‘he would be crown’d: How that may change his nature’. This is also saying that Caesar would no longer be the good Samaritan that he was before, and that the crown could change him for the worse. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to support this; ‘Crown him that, And then I grant we put a sting in him that at his will he may do danger with’, this suggests that Brutus is describing Caesar as a scorpion. As although a Scorpion is an elegant creature, when it is threatened, it can cause a lot of damage and pain. Shakespeare uses this soliloquy to prove the love that Brutus has for Caesar, as if Brutus did not love Caesar, he would not be talking about what is best for him, and how he did not want him to change. This love is also shown after Caesar’s assassination where Brutus justifies the act they have just done, by saying how they have acted more as friends than enemies, as they have shortened the time Caesar would have spent fearing death. Suggesting that Brutus was trying to ease his and the other conspirators guilt, and trying to convince them that they committed this act out of love, not hatred. Through this Shakespeare shows that even though you may love someone, sometimes love is not strong enough to overthrow the hatred, and that other things, like the greater good of Rome is more important.

Another way that Shakespeare presents love in Julius Caesar is through the characters and the bonds that they share with each other. The male bonds are a big deal to the characters in the play. This is often involving Brutus, as many of the characters show their love towards him, for example Caesars death, and again when Cassius asks Brutus why he’s been so distant lately. ‘You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand Over your friend that loves you.’, suggesting that the friendship between Brutus and Cassius has been effected by the way Brutus feels about Caesar, and how it troubles him that others and himself are plotting to other throw him. However during this conversation Brutus apologizes to Cassius for his recent behavior; ‘Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, Forgets the shows of love to other men.’ suggesting that Brutus is troubled and is blinded by his love for Rome, that he can not see the love that is shown to him by his friends. Shakespeare is using the characters to show us how love can be blinding, and love can be affected by other thins like hate, and power.

Robert Browning presents love in his poem, The Laboratory, and also shows how love can lead you to a dark place, and make you do things that are out of character. This poem is about a crazed woman who allows love and jealousy to overthrow and control her, leading her to plot a series of murders. Browning has a clear structure to this poem, the effect of having a AABB rhyme scheme, and a four line stanza gives the poem a calm and controlled feel to it, which is opposite to the what is going on in the text of the poem and gives it a more creepy effect. The descriptions in this poem is different to Julius Caesar, as Browning uses more imagery and shows how love has driven this woman to madness. He clearly shows the effect of love by showing how the betrayal of her husband has led her to create a toxic poison, the way the woman is talking during this poem resembles an evil scientist, Browning does this with the use of imagery; ‘tying thy glass mask tightly’. This shows that the woman does not want to harm herself, and is also the first clear sign that she is creating something that will bring harm to either herself or others. Browning uses metaphors to show how the woman wants her husband to suffer, as she has suffered knowing that her husband had a lover. This is supported by ‘He is sure to remember her dying face!’ showing that she wants him to watch his lover die, and is acting to scar him mentally as he has scarred her. Robert Browning shows that this woman is so hurt that she wants to cause her husband pain, however she questions if killing him would hurt her; ‘can it ever hurt me?’. This shows that although he has hurt her, she still loves him and it would still hurt her if he was dead.

In the poem Porphyria’s lover, Robert Browning presents love in many different forms. The main way he shows love, is through the reason behind the murder. From the beginning of the poem, he shows Porphyria in a bright light coming in from a rough dark storm. As she enters the cottage, Porphyria instantly changes the atmosphere; Browning describes her as ‘cheerful’, changing the atmosphere from the cold storm by ‘shutting the cold out and the storm’. Browning shows Porphyria to be madly in love with the speaker, this is shown by her offering ‘her bare shoulder’, after making him aware that she is breaking rules by being there with him. The speaker then gets the impression that she will end up giving to the social pressures of them being together and wants to treasure the moment of her laying on his chest, her being madly in love with him. He decides he does not ever want her to leave him, so decides to strangle her with her long ‘yellow hair’. He then toys with her dead body, and questions how god has not found a way to punish him, so he must not be wrong for doing what he did. Browning uses imagery and symbolism to show love by constantly talking about Porphyria’s ‘Yellow hair’. He first mentions her hair when she enters from the storm, letting ‘her damp hair fall’. This suggests already that Porphyria should not be at the speakers cottage, and could be symbolism for a ‘fallen woman’. A fallen woman is a woman who has cheated on her husband. This is supported by the title as it shows that Porphyria is cheating on her husband, and it is her lover who is the speaker. It also supports the reason why the speaker killed her, as he did not want her to go back to her husband. Through this Browning suggests that love can lead people to do things that they have no control over, this can be linked to Julius Caesar and The Laboratory, where love has led both Brutus and the Wife to commit murder. In Caesar it was Brutus’s love for Rome that led him to commit murder, and in the Laboratory it was the wife’s love for her husband.

After analysing the three pieces of literature, it is clear that love has played a major part in the way the characters in the pieces of literature have acted. Robert Browning uses imagery in both his poems to present love as a main theme, he makes the reader imagine the feelings of the characters and shows how love can lead them to do terrible things. William Shakespeare presents love in a similar way to Browning by showing Brutus’s love for Rome, and how he killed one of his best friends Caesar, to protect Rome from him.  In Porphyria’s lover, the speaker kills his love, because he could not stand her to be with anybody else and does not feel that she will ever be his alone. In the laboratory Browning shows how the speaker is planning to commit a series of murders because of the pain caused b her husband when he left her for his lover. Like porphyria’s lover, if she could not have him to herself, then he could have nobody for himself.

Response to J. Humphrys

Plan

overall – agree.
points to be made

agree
Text messages and auto-correct especially are messing up the younger generation because they don’t have to think about what they write – it’s already thought about. as such, it isn’t helping them use their brain.
“the spell-check (sorry: spellcheck) on my computer is happy with both [spellings]”
As computers are giving us two ways to write one word, even if you spell the word wrong, it’ll auto-correct it and you won’t learn from your mistakes.
Furthermore, people aren’t gaining the knowledge of how to spell words. if you type the first three letters of a word it’ll come up with the word without you needing to know how to spell it. It can also offer you the wrong word if you have not used enough letters or spelled the beginning incorrectly, making you think about the word you need to spell – the only good thing about auto-correct.
As such, while there are good and bad things about auto-correct, as it can give suggestions for hard spellings, it is ruining language because in real life there is no auto-correct and people will not learn how to spell.”the eyes fall on a word you’ve never seen before or one whose meaning you’ve always wanted to check”I also agree with your love of reading the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for the sake of learning because when you look through a dictionary you see hard words and ones you’ve never seen before and it gets you thinking of possibilities where you could use them. also, seeing a word constantly helps you remember how to spell it whereas with spell-check which suggests the words you use the most and as such you don’t learn new words. Similarly, thesauruses help people by giving different words that have the same meaning. they are helpful because people use the same words all the time and it is good to do something different. Predictive texting provides word ideas but not different words. As such, people don’t learn new words and use language properly and their language skills. You never hear someone say “she is surpassingly beautiful” when “very cute” is just 9 characters. Using a thesaurus and dictionary is essential, without them our language is nothing.