Death is an every day occurrences but all the deaths in hamlet were not natural or justified. William Shakespeare has written some heartbreaking stories in his day but Hamlet is one of the most tragic. There are ten deaths in Hamlet and not one of them was for the greater good of human society. The first two deaths we infer happen are the demises of Hamlet senior and Fortenbrass senior. King Frotenbrass was killed by Hamlet the first. This was during war time and war regularly can not be justified. Hamlet was in turn killed by his own brother! This murder was in the queerest way, Claudius ( Hamlets brother) pored deadly poison into Hamlets ear. Because Claudius committing such unjust murder, Hamlet senior’s soul was forced to bear the shellacking of the unholy whip. The only death that was not a murder was Ophelia, she killed her self. In most of the world including the setting of the book suicide in frowned upon. She did not receive a royal burial because of this. There was no reason for her to kill her self, she lost a father but every one losses a father and that could be another theme to hamlet. There is not a death in hamlet that can be justified and that is my theme of hamlet.

Starting Over- Creative Writing

By: Kloe Creel
It had happened one too many times. I couldn't find it in my heart to forgive him this time. Although I had forgiven the first, second, third, and even fourth time he had done this to me, I had had enough. I could no longer take the yelling and screaming, or the fear that I would end up seriously hurt. I went with my mother, a true hippie, to buy my ticket to South America that would leave three days later. She decided she would come with me too- we were best friends and enjoyed traveling together. After that, we went to the bar to try and release some of my stress. My mother declared herself the designated driver. I was impressed; it was extremely rare for my mother to go to the bar and not have one drink. After a few drinks, I decided to go to the restroom before we left. I came out to find my mother taking shots with a young man- making an absolute fool of herself. I dragged her away and out to the car. "You promised me you would be the designated driver!" I whined.

"I know," she laughed, "I am the designated driver."

"But you're drunk!"

"Exactly," she said with a grin, "I'm the designated drunk driver. Now get in."

I laughed and reluctantly got in the car. I knew he would be upset if I got home too late.

She dropped me off a block away from the house, knowing he would be angry if he was aware I had been spending time with her. He hated my mother. He was a redneck and she was a hippie, that was just the way it was. I hadn't cared about that when I fell in love with him, but now it was as if I hated everything about him.

He hadn't always been like this. He used to be kind to me- he was sweet and caring.

But one night on his way home from the bar, he had a head on collision with a 17 year old girl. He walked away without a scratch, but he had damaged his brain. This was something we did not find out until later. The part that was damaged was the part that controlled his emotions, and now it was like they were all blurred into one. The result of this was anger. He was always angry. Not only had he become a terrible angry person, but he had also grown extremely jealous and protective. He had to know exactly where I was every minute of every day, or he'd lose it. I had put up with it for what felt like centuries, mainly out of fear. But I was done now. I was leaving him.

I entered the dark house to find him sitting in a chair facing the door, waiting. He turned on the light next to the chair and gave me an evil glare. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"I was working late." I said shakily as I approached him and gave him a kiss. "Sorry honey."

Without another word I went straight upstairs, got in bed, and hid under the covers- hoping he would believe my story and leave me alone.

The next morning I woke up early to go and get my passport, eager to leave the following day. He was snoring loudly next to me as drool poured out of his mouth. I tiptoed out the door to meet my mother down the street.

Later that night, I came home to find him sitting in his chair, in the darkness once again. He turned on the light next to the chair once I shut the door. There was a glass of beer in one of his hands, a rifle in the other. "Where have you been?" he asked.

I panicked trying to think of an excuse. "I had to work late." I said, crossing my fingers.

"Is that so?" he asked, a smile beginning to spread on his face.

I began to shake, looking only at the gun in his hand. He noticed, and put the gun down. Then he stood up and walked towards me, his smile widening with every step. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the receipt for my ticket I had bought the day before. Tears began to run down my face as his face turned bright red- like it always did before he

snapped. Then I realized how cowardly I was being. I had turned into this person, who was always so afraid and insecure. That was not who I was, and I realized I was going to leave this person I had turned into just like I was leaving him.

I began to laugh. It was a real, full laugh. "That's right!" I yelled, teasingly. "I'm leaving you! There's nothing you can do to stop me!" I marched right passed him and went to the closet under the stairs where my bag was hidden.

He stood there for a moment, not knowing how to react. Then he slowly turned to face me. His face was flaming red like I had never seen before. He charged at me full speed. I ducked out of the way and ran into the yard screaming as loudly as I could. He chased me around the lawn and back into the house. Tripping on the rug, I fell to the floor and hit my head on the table. I turned to see him raising the chair above my head, ready to strike. I held my breath, bracing myself. Suddenly the front door flew open.

Two young men from down the street stood in the doorway. "Put down the chair!" One of them shouted.

My husband turned to them and charged. But he was no match for them. They were both giants, about seven feet tall. They didn't fight back, they just pushed him to the floor. He lay there in shock. One of the men looked at me and told me to go with them. I followed his orders, even though I was terrified. I rolled my suitcase past my husband and out the door. He stared up at me, still in shock. I laughed again, "Karma's a bitch, aint it?"

The two men took me to my mothers house. I sat in her living room for a half hour, waiting for her to come home. Beginning to grow bored, I walked around and looked at the hundreds of pictures she had framed on her walls. That's when I noticed a small amount of smoke coming out from the crack underneath her bedroom door. I rolled my eyes and opened it. After the cloud of smoke cleared, I found her lying on her bed. "You ruined my hot box!" she yelled.

I laughed. "I'm sorry mother," I said, "I feel so terrible."

We left early the next morning. The air was cold and crisp, and I could smell the rain from the night before. However there was not a cloud in the sky- it was a perfect azure blue. This was an ideal day for a starting over.

Siddhartha Questions

For the CHapters "Kamala" and "Among the Child People," I want you to focus on three questions.

1. Siddhartha is experiencing a lot of new things including women and having a job. What does Siddhartha learn in these chapters?
2. How has Siddhartha followed the steps of the Hero's Quest?
3. Is he still following the eight fold path, and if not, how has he violated them?

I am having technical difficulties with School fusion and was unable to post. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gotama Chapter 3 Questions

1. Describe Buddha in detail.
2. What does Buddha preach?
3. Summarize the discussion between Buddha and Siddhartha. How do they address each other in regards to Right speech.
4. What would happen to Siddhartha's ego should he chose to join Buddha?
5. Why should Siddhartha "beware of excessive cleverness"?

Siddhartha Chapter 2 Questions

The following questions are optional; however, I encourage you to complete them before class tomorrow. They are meant to reassure you of understanding the chapter.

1. How did Siddhartha change once joining the shramanas? What was his one single goal?

2. How does Siddhartha try to escape ego? (Pg 13 and 14)

3. What conclusion does he come to about trying to escape his ego? How do other people such as drunkards experience the same feelings? (top of page 15)

4. What thoughts does Siddhartha have on learning and why does he feel this way (pg 15 and 16)

5. What rumors are flying around about Gotama? (17)

6. What does Govinda wish to do? What is Siddhartha’s reaction? (be specific)

Exit Alchemist Questions

1. Overall impressions of the Alchemist. This includes favorite/lame parts, whether or not you liked it, would you read it again, etc.
2. What are your opinions on the language of the world, soul of the world, and other philosophical ideas the text presents?
3. Did the text enlighten you in anyway? If so, how? If not, why not?
4. Why do you think this book is so popular?
5. How did it fit the bill in regards to the steps of the hero’s quest?
6. Can you think of other popular movies or books that match up with the hero’s quest?

The Alchamyst page 104 -142

The Alchemist and Santiago are drinking wine when the boy asks "isn't wine prohibited here?"
The Alchemist in turn says "it is not what enters men's mouths that's evil, it's what comes out of their mouths that is." The significance of this quote is that he is saying we shouldn't fear things in life, we should fear what we do with them. The wine is just a small example of man's fear. It contains alcoholic and men can become stupid off of alcohol. The Alchemist is saying that it is not the alcohol in the wine that is evil, but the men who get drunk off of it and then don't control themselves. The significance is that you can't let the little worries take control of your life.