Captured Thought: Shakespeare's Writing Expertise

In middle school, William Shakespeare was a strange man to me, hidden within a realm of mystery. Of course, I had never read anything by him at this point; I had just heard many tragic English class horror stories of Shakespeare's devilish writing that past high school students had told me. With this, I was extremely nervous to read the Bard's work.

As the end of the year approached during Freshman year, we began to read Romeo and Juliet, arguably Shakespeare's most famous play. I approached this play with some reluctance because I was almost certain that I would hate reading it.

Surprisingly, that was not the case. I did not fall in love with Shakespeare, yet I most certainly enjoyed his story about two lovers and the consequences of their "misadventured piteous overthrows." Still, I found Shakespeare's writing to be ambiguous and wordy. I did not see the point of the countless numbers of long monologues, specifically Mercutio's famous "Queen Mab" rant.

It did not truly understand Shakespeare's beautiful writing until Sophomore year.

At the end of September, I was involved in GBN's fall production of Romeo and Juliet, and I was not too thrilled. Although I was happy to get a part in the show, I remember rolling my eyes when I found out what the fall play was going to be.

Finally, we ran through Act I, Scene IV, or "The Queen Mab Scene." I was shocked; it was so incredible. The very monologue which I hated so much was my new favorite. Jake Prizant took the role of Mercutio and he played the part wonderfully. After experiencing this scene in a positive atmosphere, the Bard's writing finally made sense to me.

What I had long since considered ambiguous and wordy was now descriptive and beautiful in my mind. I finally understood why my wacky English teachers loved Shakespeare so much! To truly love Shakespeare, I needed to embrace his writing and focus on the poetry that he so carefully crafted in his tragedies and comedies. Watching that scene in Romeo and Juliet taught me a valuable lesson and implanted a valuable idea in my head: Shakespeare's works are more than just impassive "writing." His works contain emotion, thought, poetry, literary genius, and so much more.

I am continuing my Sophomore year with the mindset that Shakespeare need not be feared, rather his writing style should be accepted and embraced. I am extremely excited to read King Lear this year in my English class so that I can confirm my positive opinions of Shakespeare and read my second Shakespearean play with an open mind.

iMedia: Katy Perry's Powerful Pressures

WATCH FROM BEGINNING UNTIL 4:45

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A

"Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry at first seems to be just an innocent, comedic music video with no social implications. Upon further investigation, however, some deep cultural effects become prevalent. Recent music videos have glorified extremely bad habits and ideals that are now considered fun, as if there is nothing wrong with them.

"Last Friday Night" is a music video about a stereotypical "nerd" who goes to a party, gets drunk, and claims that it was the best night of her life. This struck me as extremely surprising, especially given that “Last Friday Night” was the best-selling song on iTunes for a good amount of time. The problem is not that it is a bad song; the song is actually quite catchy. The problem is that this disturbing image of drug-use and binge drinking is being praised in the media and in our culture. 

These unhealthy images have deep impacts upon our society and culture. Many high school teachers and counselors are trying extremely hard to enforce self-esteem and making the right decisions with drugs and alcohol. When popular videos such as "Last Friday Night" go against these teachings, it is very easy for teenagers to completely forget about making the right decision, and instead they accept the social norm. 

It is so unbelievably necessary to try and get kids to reject the idea of 'social necessity.' Social necessity is a term that I made up, but I believe it perfectly captures what is going through teenagers' minds today. We, teenagers, believe that we are socially obligated to do drugs and alcohol because it is what Mother Culture--in Ishmael terms--wants us to do. I know that this is true because I have felt this same obligation. While I have never partaken in drug or alcohol consumption, I have been in situations where my friends or I feel as if we should. It is as if the media is luring us into a trap of addiction and alcoholism from which we cannot escape.

This is the very reason why "Last Friday Night" is so disturbing to me. Enforcing the idea that drugs are "good" is extremely unhealthy for adolescents, both mentally and physically. Mentally, this idea takes over in the brain and inclines unstable teenagers to partake in drug and alcohol consumption. Physically, it encourages kids to engage in risky behaviors that are harmful to their health.

We must try as hard as we possibly can to enforce self-esteem and making positive choices when it comes to drugs and alcohol. Media figures such as Katy Perry make drugs and alcohol seem cool and normal, as seen in "Last Friday Night," and this idea has massive negative impacts. While we are not able to censor videos simply because they contain negative moral teachings, we should encourage media giants like Katy Perry to write fewer songs that can be dangerous for teens in America. Perhaps at that point we can move towards an era where drugs and alcohol are seen as disgusting and wrong, rather than glamorous and cool.

An Inconvenient Truth: We Are Not All Free

Even in America, we are not all free. In a capitalist society, money is the reason behind not only economic decisions, but also social and political problems that decide the future of many Americans. Throughout my childhood, I was always taught that America is the land of the free, and that all men are created equal. Recently, especially since sixth grade, I’ve been learning that this is nowhere near the truth, and so I began investigating the sad but undeniable fact that we are not all free.

From the lens of a lower-middle class family, getting their eighteen-year-old son through four years of college seems impossible. Even with need-based scholarships, the additional tuition money on top of housing and schoolbooks is just too much. In our country, it seems that only the rich have the unconditional opportunity for good education.

This is the most severe of our freedom issues in America; we do not have equal opportunity to education. Not only are we not free, but by basing our educational system on income, we are fostering a new generation where the same issues will occur. The same families will remain in the upper classes, and the same families will continue to struggle. This truth is evident in the African-American community. The shadows of slavery and segregation still affect the socioeconomic standing of African-Americans.

This troubled me in sixth grade, and it still does today. How can—under the same laws and jurisdictions—some people have different opportunities to basic rights than others? Growing up in an upper-middle class family, I have been largely unaffected by these inequalities, which is the exact reason why I am so bothered by them. I feel guilty that I have the freedoms that some families so not have.

But there are even more inequalities than this! Healthcare has been the subject of furious debate in America because many people see it as a human right, and therefore it should be cheap, or even free. This issue again goes back to capitalism. A competitive healthcare system encourages greed and denying care, in which the sick cannot get the care that they need more than anyone else.

The truth that all men are not equal, even in America, implies that there are serious problems with our current “equality doctrine” that need to be addressed.

But there is hope! Many need-based and merit-based scholarships are emerging around the country, despite rapidly inflating education costs. Also, many lower-middle class citizens are going to college and getting better jobs, which is helping to reshape our economic and social systems in this country. The concept of universal healthcare, too, is gaining momentum in Washington.

For me, and I believe for many other Americans, the best way to come to terms with the truth that we are not all equal in this country is to accept that inequality is fluid, not defined. Out of the ashes, many lower class citizens are becoming prosperous businesspeople that will one day produce a thriving family. We must accept that inequality is the nature of capitalism, but the glory of capitalism is that these people can someday become more wealthy and successful than even Bill Gates!