A Real Tragedy + 2nd Book

We wrote our second in-class essay today. I read The Cherry Orchard to answer my essential question, which is how one’s decisions or actions can change his/her life. The Cherry Orchard is a play written by Anton Chekhov. When I first started reading it, it is hard to figure out what’s going on in each scene and who is talking. It took me a while to remember who the characters are and what are the relationships between them. As I read more, I get a clearer idea of the story. It is obvious that each character has different personality through the way they talk. The downfall of Ranesky reveals that opportunities are only for those who are prepared. Don’t wait until feels lonely and then realize the importance of friends, don’t wait until fails and then realize the necessity of taking advice and don’t wait until it is too late to make decisions.

We also shared our tragic creation in class. I was disappointed that the sound of the background music of my slideshow was really low; it didn’t work on the school computers. My slideshow also got cut off and played a little faster. But I really enjoyed looking at other’s works. They turn out really great. The one strike me the most is the art piece The Cataclysm of the American Dream. It looks really cool. It reminds me of the big fire in Shanghai on the 15th this week. The whole building was on fire and 58 people died. I am scared by only look at the pictures. It is hard to imagine how the people inside felt, from scared, hopeless or desperate. It is definitely a tragedy because those people couldn’t control what was happening. They didn’t do anything wrong. Most of them were probably taking a nap. It is also very sad for their families. I feel really sorry for them. Wish the dead rest in peace. Hope their family members can move on.

Here is the link to the pictures of the fire:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4701280b0100mri0.html

Tragic Creation

I am almost done with my tragic creation. It is a slideshow with pictures and quotes. I spent about five hours on it today, from finding famous quotes about tragedy, images representing those quotes and recording background music to creating the slideshow. The biggest challenge for me was to find the images that match the quotes. I tried my best and I wish it would come along well. After I put the quotes and the images together, I tried different effects. I learned how to convert m4a file into mp3 file and how to set continuous music to the powerpoint.

Here are some of the quotes I found:

1. “Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late”
-Benjamin Franklin
2. "Tragedy, sadness, loneliness and despair taught me that life is really a beautiful thing; if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to recognize that anything was wrong"
-Greg Evans
3. "The essence of a tragedy, or even of a serious play, is the spiritual awakening, or regeneration, of the hero."
-Maxwell Anderson
4. "Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor."
-Sholom Aleichem

Response

In this blog post, I decide to answer the questions I got from the comments of the previous posts.

Katie: Do you think that our view of a "tragic hero" has changed since Aristotle's time? He believed it had to be someone of noble status who got knocked down by his own faults/misfortune, but what do you think we consider tragic heroes now?
A: I think it has evolved. Like the idea Arthur Miller presented, a common can be a tragic hero as well. I agree with his idea because we can relate them in many ways. We understand their decisions and have more sympathy for them. In my opinion, a tragic hero can also be someone innocent, like a kid. Because those are who should not be suffering. They are unable to defend themselves and are unable to change what life brings them.

Andrew: was Gloomy Salad Days the saddest piece of media you have seen? Did it affect you?
A: No. The reason why I wrote about it is that it is the most recent one; therefore, the first one I thought about. I think it is hard to say which one is the saddest because all the tragedies are sad in different ways. I like this story because it is originated from a true story. What I learned from it or how it affected me is that I become more aware of what is going on in the society and how some other teenagers think. It also shows that we have to take responsibility for our actions. We should think about the consequences before we do certain things. Living in regret is probably the worst feeing.

Lindsey: I always wonder why do people continue to hurt someone they love so much? If they truly loved them so much why do they continue?
A: I think sometimes people don’t mean to hurt the ones they love. For example, sometimes when people lie to others, they just don’t want others to get hurt or to be worried. But when the truth is revealed, those people got hurt. Sometimes we hurt others when we try not to.

That’s all the questions I got so far. Thank you for asking those questions and I enjoy answering them because they push me to think deeper.