4. Have you ever experienced a predicted dream?

I have never experienced a predicted dream before. However, I think that it will definitely influence my action and the results that follow. If I know about my future I think I would be like Macbeth in some ways. If the dream indicates a bad future, I think I would try to manipulate some things to change the bad outcomes. If the dream indicates a promising future, I would do things according to my dream. I think it is a human tendency to prevent things that are not promising. For example, I know that it hurts if I go to dentists, so I try to prevent it by telling my mother that I don’t have toothache. How can one not be influenced if they know about their future? It’s a human nature that we can never be satisfied with what we have.

3. Is there a personal incident in your life you wish could erase?

There are hundreds of incident in my life that I wish to erase such as public embarrassments, my wrong deeds, and foolish mistakes. From these experiences I usually learn lessons and try not to do the same behavior again. I however, do not have a personal incident like Lady Macbeth’s. I think Lady Macbeth’s response is plausible at the moment. When one commits a sin, one should feel guilt and try to cover up that sin. However, I think this is because she is not stable and insecure. Although Lady Macbeth seemed strong and stubborn woman figure unlike other women in Shakespeare’s time, she, like other women, was fragile, insecure and weak. I think I would be consumed with guilt if I found myself wrapped up in such a crime. First of all, I do not think I have a gut to kill others and I am not a strong and stubborn person either but rather a vulnerable and indecisive figure. I would be under extreme stress that I probably would have killed myself unless I meet Jesus and get saved.

2. What do you think about the character of Macbeth? Was he a good guy before he met the witches..

I think Macbeth was a just normal person before he met the witches. I think most people in this world have ambition and want to satisfy them by achieving their dreams. We all are capable of dark deeds, too because we are human beings. However, everyone has different cut line for their reactions in achieving their ambition. Everyone has different limits for their level of morality and integrity.
I think Macbeth had just as the same ambition as others but was not fully moral and faithful. Macbeth is like a bomb which is perfectly safe until it’s ignited. In fact, Macbeth didn’t really think about having a greater power or being a king before he meets the three witches and even after he after until Lady Macbeth tells him to kill Duncan. The prophecy from the witches and the encouragement of Lady Macbeth spark the light in Macbeth’s heart. These two events make Macbeth to commit dark deeds.
I think Macbeth is to blame for his actions because his limit of achieving his ambition was immoral. Witches also prophesize Banquo that his son will be the king, but Banquo draws a line right away and remains loyal to his king. It was possible for Macbeth to be like Banquo, but he chose to achieve his ambition by doing wrong deeds.

1. Do you feel sorry for Lady Macbeth? Why or why not?

I do not feel sorry for Lady Macbeth because she was the one who encouraged Macbeth to kill Duncan which started the murder domino effect. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to kill Duncan because she was blinded by her desire for power. She not only encourages Macbeth, but also sheds her hands with Duncan’s blood. To cover up the murder, she accuses other innocent people for killing Duncan. She sparked the light of greed in Macbeth’s heart. Lady Macbeth, however, feels guilty about her action as the time goes by. She later began to sleep-walk because she suffers from her guilt and insecurity. On top of this, Macbeth stops discussing with her about his plans about prophecies. She later chooses to kill herself due to guilty feelings, worries, and fear of discovery. I cannot sympathize or feel sorry for Lady Macbeth because she deserves it. Bible clearly states that murder is a sin, so Lady Macbeth obviously should be punished.

Poets Blog

Poets: Atwood vs Dickinson vs Plath

In class, we researched about these three poets about their personal lives and the factors that might have impacted their writings. The common thing that I found in these three poets is that they all had some struggles throughout their lives. Atwood experienced a divorce with her first husband, Dickinson lost several her close friends, and Plath divorced with her husband and killed herself. They all were unlucky in love! Dickinson never got married, Atwood and Plath got divorced. These factors definitely influenced their writings because I read many poems that deal with struggles and death.
The poet that I think I most alike is Sylvia Plath. Although Plath lived the most “dark” life, I found myself that I have the most similarities with her. First, Plath has travelled many times in her life. She was born in the U.S but later moved to England and then moved back to the U.S again. Similarly, I have travelled many times in my life. I was born in Korea, moved to China, moved to Canada, and then came back to Korea. I think moving to different countries may have affected her works because she may have experienced a culture shock and met so many different people that might have changed her life such as her husband. I, too, experienced the culture shock whenever I moved to different countries. For me, this was very stressful for me at first because I have to step up and try to adjust to the different culture.
The next similarity that I have common with Plath is the struggle when I go through depression. Plath had experienced a drastic depression in her life after the divorce and raising two children by herself. When she went through her depression, it was extremely hard for her to get out of that depression (she even tries to kill herself and she did!). Although I am not this serious as Plath, I struggle to get out of my depression once I’m depressed. I become a really emote person and probably no one would want to talk to me during this period of time. Compared to other people, we (Plath and I) become more emote and have hard time escape from the depression.
The last thing that I like about Plath is her use of imagery. Plath uses a ton of imagery in her poems compared to other poets. Her poem is filled up with imagery that arouses emotions and dark feelings. I love her use of imagery because it really creates distinctive picture in my head that I can remember my own experience related with her poem. While Emily Dickinson tend to use many symbols in her poems, Plath tend to use more imagery to evoke the readers’ emotion.

Personality and Lifestyle

3.
Although it seems there is not much difference between having a nice personality and being a good person, there are some distinctive differences between them. Having a nice personality means that a person has positive and unique characteristics such as kindness, popularity, humorous, attention-grabbing, fame, etc. A person who has a nice personality doesn’t have to be “kind” or “loving”; he or she doesn’t have to be a “good” person. Biff may have a nice personality because he is popular in school and a star inside his high school as a football captain. He is ‘well-liked’ by people and has a unique personality. A good person conveys more than having a unique personality. A good person may have a nice personality, but moreover, he or she has to show humbleness, help and care other, know how to treat other people with care. A good person may make other people to feel comfortable and respected. This person also may not have a unique personality, but may have the ability to serve others.

Similarly, having a nice lifestyle is having a balanced, satisfying, and happy life. A person who has a nice lifestyle doesn’t need to be a rich. As long as this person enjoys and satisfied with his life, he has a nice lifestyle. The main difference between having a nice lifestyle and living well is living a contented life. This person may have family members who love this person to support and to make happy. On the other hand, living well doesn’t necessarily include living a happy life. A person who lives well may be rich and can afford money for whatever, but is not satisfied with one’s life and may not be balanced. A nice lifestyle is more practical and healthier than living well which may cause dissatisfaction and unsuccessful social life.

There are some common things between the notions of personality and lifestyle. These two are interrelated. The personality of a person determines the lifestyle. A person with a popular personality will make this person’s lifestyle t to depend on popularity. These two are the main things that change when a person is impacted by something. For example, if the person reads an article about the impact of bullying others from which she decides not to bully people, this person’s personality which is being haughty and no caring will change into less haughty and caring other people’s feelings more. Thus, this person’s lifestyle will change from bullying people to not bullying people. This, however, doesn’t mean that this person changes from bad person nice person, but from maybe from a bad person to a less bad person.

What is the significance of Willy's suicie attempts?

2.
Willy’s suicide attempts show his failure of achieving his American dream. These suicide attempts are significant because it shows Willy’s struggle to his failure to achieve his American dream and also shows his characterization. His American dream is to be like Dave Singleman who is well liked by everyone and makes money even until in his eighties. Willy, unlike Singleman, cannot make enough money and has to borrow money from Howard. Since he has not been a successful salesman and has to face the reality such as economic difficulties, he probably is depressed and disappointed in himself. Willy has such a disillusioned ideal that he even attempts to kill himself when he cannot reach his ideal. He doesn’t want to accept the fact that he has not achieved American dream unlike Singleman.

From the Willy’s suicide attempts we can see that he is a quite stubborn figure who tries to prove that he has not failed to achieve his American dream. He cannot accept He is too caught up with his dream that the only way to escape from himself and his American dream is killing himself. By killing himself he can escape from the reality and free from his collapse to achieve his American dream. He tries to kill himself by inhaling gas using a rubber hose. He expects that he will be free from the pressure of accomplishing his American dream. He will also expect that from his death, he can be free from himself, Linda, his family members and the guilt of committing adultery. He has lived a false or fake life which has not show the real self of him. He secretly has had an affair, has hid the fact that he borrowed money from Howard and has bought stockings for Woman not for Linda. Not achieving his American dream and self-realization will mean that these facts will be revealed to his family members. He, however, is too stubborn to reveal these facts to his family and accept the fact that he has not achieved the American dream. He has gone too far to go back. Willy cannot take these heavy-loaded untruths anymore that he commits suicide. He, however, doesn’t know that his family members already know about these factors that he has tried to hide. Willy will expect that these facts will be remain unknown when he kills himself, but this doesn’t happen because the family members already know about his reality. His death also will not prove that he can achieve the American dream, but rather prove that he failed to achieve his false American dream.

1. Who is "Dave Singleman"?

1.
Dave Singleman is a ‘well-liked’, successful, and infamous traveling salesman. Even by the time he is in his eighties, he makes money by just phoning his buyers without ever leaving his hotel room. His last name, “Singleman”, is significant because his name has negative connotation unlike his infamous and ‘well-liked’ life. The word “singleman” literally means “a lonely man” who has no close family members and sells goods until his death. Although Dave Singleman has these disadvantages, Willy still loves and admires the life of Singleman and even talks about Singleman as if he is an idol. There are many attractions that surround the figure of Singleman and his salesman profession. Such attractions are high income, earning money even when in his eighties, inconvenience of not traveling but making money just by phone calls, and being ‘well-liked’ by all the people. In addition to these attractions Willy is really eluded by the “death of a salesman”; in Singleman’s funeral, many businessmen and other people attend and mourn for his death, showing his fame and well-liked nature. Willy, thus, wants this kind of attention from other people when he dies and wants to be remembered and loved like Singleman. He, however, doesn’t realize that the people who came to Singleman’s funeral weren’t his close friends or the loved ones. Singleman actually dies on the job and actually is a pretty lonely man, but Willy fails to realize this tragic life of Singleman.

At the end of the play, we see Willy’s motivation for going into salesmanship related to a way of dying rather than a way of living. The reason that Willy goes into salesmanship is its limitless potential and its honorable nature; he even quotes “selling was the greatest career a man could want.” The salesmanship has been his ideal American dream, in which he is disillusioned and fails to grab onto his own identity. He tries to imitate Singleman as a salesman, not realizing that it is a false American dream. He, however, doesn’t realize that and assumes that he is a successful salesman. In the same way, Willy is totally disillusioned by his American dream even until his death. Willy probably expects his funeral to be like that of Singleman’s. He thinks that many people from the region he has sold his goods will attend his funeral and illuminate his respected and honored nature. His funeral followed by his suicide, however, fails to portray Singleman’s funeral like he fails to be a successful and well-liked salesman. Nobody except for Willy’s family members and Charley attend his funeral unlike what Willy has expected. Willy not only fails to be a successful traveling salesman, but also loses his identity and lives in a false American dream.