Romeo and Juliet 1

A character I really relate with is Juliet. When Juliet was talking she said something along the lines of always wanting to please her mother. I try my best to please both of my parents. The situation is obviously a little different since I am not getting married but I wouldn't date or be good friends with someone who my parents didn't approve of. Juliet wants a man that her mother will like. The comparison between Juliet and me is that we both want to do what our mothers want us to do.

When reading Romeo and Juliet I think the best way for me to understand the play is when we read it together in class having different people play each part. This helps me because I can listen and think while other people read it. Also it helps me when Ms. Smith stops to ask what a certain thing means so we understand it better and can write in what it means. I am able to decipher the main events but some of the side conversations are more difficult to understand because it is the way Shakespeare spoke. When I read at home I don't understand the play as well as I do when we read it together in class.

Wrapping up Great Expectations!

I believe the universal message Charles Dickens was trying to display is that the people who mean most to you in life should come before money and social class. While reading the book this wasn't the theme I thought was the most important but towards the end and when I finished the book, if someone were to ask me what the theme of the book I just read I would say put people before the things in life. An example of this in someones life today would be parents being so concerned about making money and having a nice lifestyle that they don't spend as much time as they should with their children. This doesn't directly parallel the story of Great Expectations but it is a good example for a likely way people put money before friendship and before those who matter most. The parents don't mean to not spend enough time with their kids just like I don't think Pip meant to purposely not spend enough time with Biddy and Joe. In the end hopefully everyone realizes people are more important than things just like Pip did in this novel.