a mid summer night's dream project home

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
































John E. Fitzgerald Jr.

Frank Williams

English III ISP Honors

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

















Love is a feeling that can almost simultaneously be turn on and off with a quick thought. It turns on when you don’t need it, when you do need it, and when you already have love. It is just a confusing nature of us humans. Same thing happened with the confusion of love within “A Midsummer’s Nights Dream.”































• Theseus

• Hippolyta

• Egeus

• Germia

• Lysander

• Demetrius

• Helena

• Robin Goodfellow

• Oberon

• Titania

• Nick Bottom

• Peter Quince

• Francis Flute

• Robin Starveling

• Tom Snout

• Snug

• Philostrate

• Peaseblossom

• Cobweb

• Mote

• Mustardseed



John E. Fitzgerald Jr.

Frank Williams

English III honors

Wednesday, June 01, 2011



A Midsummer Night’s Dream



A Midsummer’s Nights Dream is about a love quadrilateral. The main characters are Puck, Oberon, Titania, Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, Helena, Egeus, Theseus, Hippolyta, Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout, Snug, Philostrate, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed. Puck “Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the other main plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass”(Sparknotes).



The character Oberon, “The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce”(Sparknotes). My favorite character is Lysander, he is, “A young nobleman of Athens in love with Hermia. Although Hermia’s father refuses to let her marry Lysander, Lysander believes that love must conquer all obstacles, so he persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him, into the forest”(Sparknotes). Lysander is like an average teen love story. He loves a girl whos father doesn’t like him and they plan to run away to be together. Even though most of the time it doesn’t work, it is still noble of him.



Demetrius is a player in modern slang, or he just can’t make up his mind. He is, “A young nobleman of Athens. In the past, Demetrius acted as if he loved Helena, but after Helena fell in love with him, he changed his mind and pursued Hermia. Emboldened by Egeus’s approval of him, Demetrius is undeterred by the fact that Hermia does not want him” (Sparknotes). Hermia the girl he loves but has no change with is, “Egeus’s daughter. Hermia is a beautiful young woman of Athens, and both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. Hermia defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander. She is unusually strong-willed and independent—refusing to comply even when Theseus orders her to obey her father—and resolved to elope with Lysander. Hermia is also the childhood friend of Helena (Sparknotes).



Helena the girl that Demetrius acted as though he loved is, “A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. Helena has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who had claimed to love her before he met her best friend, Hermia. Consequently, Helena tends to speak in a self-pitying tone. Moreover, she puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations, running through the forest at night after Demetrius even though Demetrius wants nothing to do with her”(Sparknote). Egeus, the father of Hermia, “A respected nobleman in Theseus’s court. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry Demetrius, Egeus’s choice for her. Egeus’s wish to control his daughter is quite severe—he asks Theseus to impose the death penalty on her if she refuses to marry Demetrius. Theseus, however, reduces the penalty for noncompliance from death to life as a nun” (Sparknotes).



Theseus is, “The duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals to the reader that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of erotic expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power” (Sparknotes). Hippolyta is a very strong woman, “the legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to marry Theseus. Although Hippolyta is marrying Theseus because he defeated her in combat, she does not act at all like an unwilling bride. Theseus is very courtly in his manner toward Hippolyta, and she is unfailingly deferential toward him” (Sparknotes).



Nick Bottom is an innocent civilian that got dragged into every by mistake, “The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen have decided to put on for Theseus’s wedding celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance” (sparknotes). Peter Quince is, “A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue (Sparknotes).



Francis Flute is one of those manly men that aren’t afriad to look weak. He’s the, “The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice” (Sparknotes). Robin Starveling is really not a big part in “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream”. He is the costume designer/tailor in the craftsmen’s play for the marriage. The wall in the play within a play is Tom Snout, “The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Tom Snout ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers” (Sparknotes).



Snug, a lion is just a caring loving man, too caring, “The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience” (Sparknotes). Philostrate, “Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration” (Sparknotes). The fairies whom are Peaseblossom, Cobew, Mote, and Mustardseed can all be categorized at once. They all wait on Nick Bottoms every whim because Titania tells them to do so.

The play was composed between 95-96, and I mean 1595-1596. This is an old piece of artwork that the author William Shakespeare wrote. Before we get into that though, let’s get a basis to which Shakespeare was and still is. He was born about 1564 and passed 1616 on his 52 birthday. We cannot totally pin point a date he was born because they did not keep records of births then. The earlier record was when he was baptized on the 26th of April 1564. So typically his baptized date is considered his birth date also. During his life, he wrote about 37 plays and 154 sonnets. We all know what plays are, but sonnets are, “poems of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line” (About.com).

Now “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the base of three love couples. Theseus who is the duke of Athens and Hippolyta who is the queen of the Amazons. Theseues dethroned Hippolta to take over their land and now he is marring her to create a superior race. Lysander who is in love with Hermia but Hermia’s father doesn’t want her to marry him. Helena who is in love with Demetrius but Demetrius does not love her, he is in love with Helenas good friend Hermia. These are the three love couples and you can already see the problems going on in the relationships.



Now since Theseus over throne Hippolyta, why would she want to marry him? She doesn’t; she is being forced too but does not act hostile nor negative towards him. She just goes with the flow of the relationship. This may be because she knows she and her people are in the grasps of the Athenians. In modern time, something like this would never happen. My theory of why she is doing this is to save her people. Saving them by soothing what Theseus does with the land. She knows after awhile from being married, she can persuade Theseus to do certain things. Or this can seen a forced true love where someone is forced to marry someone else and eventually feeling grow and the couple stop pretending to like each other and really start too.



Lysander and Hermia are so called Romeo and Juliet of the play. Their love is true and pure, pure as a teenagers love carelessly thrown around. Since Hermia’s father doesn’t want her to marry Lysander, she is either destined for death or to be a nun. Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius who her father thinks is a very noble man. Her father has the authority to choose who she marries because she is his property. He also has the power to do what he wants with her, either to behead her or make her a nun for life.



The man known as Demetrius is seen as a mischievous and womanizer because he is said to wooed Helena with his moves but this left her. He did all the work necessary to make the girl fall in love with him but then he changes his mind and decided to pursue Hermia who is already in love with Lysander. How did Demetrius get Hermia’s father’s approval knowing about Helena? My best bet is your best bet.



Since Hermia’s father doesn’t approval of Lysander, he gives her a month to think about it and if she changes her mind then they will go on with the wedding, if not then who knows what will happen. Then Lysander tells Hermia about his aunt that lives in the woods. The woods that are outside of Athens. If you are outside of Athens, then Athenian law does not apply to you. She would then be able to marry Lysander no matter what.

Hermia and Lysander sneaks into the woods at night fall so it is less noticeable. Hermia also tells Helena about her and Lysander’s plans are. Helena wishes her the best of luck and off is Hermia. Helena then tells Demetrius about what Hermia and Lysander have in plan. Demetrius then runs off into the forest too. He thinks he can win over Hermia from Lysander. Since Helena is in love with Demetrius, she also runs into the forest after him.

In the forest the men from Athens sets up their play for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Mean while the super natural characters start to come into action. Oberon is angry at Titania because she stole an Indian boy from a kings and wants to do what she wishes with him. Oberon wants the boy for himself to accompany him through the dangers of the forest. All Titania does is put flowers in his hair. After Titania walks away, Oberon tells one of the fairies to get a flower on the other side of the world. The flower was the creations of cupid’s arrow that was misguided by a moon beam that was head towards a virgin. The flowers used to be white, but are now purple from the arrows poison. If the flower is obtained and the juices from it are put into the eye lids of someone, the first living creature that they see they will fall in love with.

Oberon also tells the fairies to put the juice into the Athenian boy’s eyes. Oberon is talking about Demetrius, but the fairy sees Lysander instead. While Lysander is sleeping on the ground, Helena walks by and doesn’t know if he is dead or alive. She wakes him up and he falls in love.

Mean while, one of the fairies also changes the head off one of the play actors to that of an ass; a donkey. While walking, he trips over Titania and she falls in love with him. They make love and tell the fairies to take care and get him anything he needs. The love poison also finds its way into Demetrius eyes and makes him fall in love with Helena once again.

This is not the end of the play even, there is still much to go. The poison from cupid’s arrow represents love at first sight. Also that love is like a child, always making foolish mistakes. The people in the play believe in love at first sight. To believe in cupid is a sign that they do not believe they have control over their love emotions.



Works Cited

“Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the other main plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass”(Sparknotes).



“The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce”.(Sparknotes.com)



“The duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals to the reader that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of erotic expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power.”(Sparknotes.com)



“A respected nobleman in Theseus’s court. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry Demetrius, Egeus’s choice for her. Egeus’s wish to control his daughter is quite severe—he asks Theseus to impose the death penalty on her if she refuses to marry Demetrius. Theseus, however, reduces the penalty for noncompliance from death to life as a nun.”(Sparknotes.com)



“Egeus’s daughter. Hermia is a beautiful young woman of Athens, and both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. Hermia defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander. She is unusually strong-willed and independent—refusing to comply even when Theseus orders her to obey her father—and resolved to elope with Lysander. Hermia is also the childhood friend of Helena.”(Sparknotes.com)



“A young nobleman of Athens in love with Hermia. Although Hermia’s father refuses to let her marry Lysander, Lysander believes that love must conquer all obstacles, so he persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him, into the forest.”(Sparknotes.com)



“A young nobleman of Athens. In the past, Demetrius acted as if he loved Helena, but after Helena fell in love with him, he changed his mind and pursued Hermia. Emboldened by Egeus’s approval of him, Demetrius is undeterred by the fact that Hermia does not want him.”(Sparknotes.com)



“A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. Helena has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who had claimed to love her before he met her best friend, Hermia. Consequently, Helena tends to speak in a self-pitying tone. Moreover, she puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations, running through the forest at night after Demetrius even though Demetrius wants nothing to do with her.”(Sparknotes)



“A “puck” or mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals; he is sometimes referred to simply as Puck. Robin is Oberon’s jester, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the play. At Oberon’s bidding, Robin sprinkles “love juice” in the eyes of various characters to change who they love, but he makes mistakes in his application that create conflicts Oberon never intended. Though Robin claims to make these mistakes honestly, he enjoys the conflict and mayhem that his mistakes cause.”(Sparknotes.com)



“The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.”(Sparknotes.com)

“The beautiful queen of the fairies. Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince whom she has taken. Until Oberon gives up his demand, Titania has sworn to avoid his company and his bed. She is less upset by the fact that she and Oberon are apart than by the fact that Oberon has been disrupting her and her followers' magic fairy dances.”(Sparknotes.com)



“The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen have decided to put on for Theseus’s wedding celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.”(Sparknotes.com)



“A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue.”(Sparknotes.com)

“The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.”(Sparknotes.com)

“The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Tom Snout ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers” (Sparknotes.com)



“The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience” (Sparknotes.com).



“Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration” (Sparknotes.com)



“poems of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line” (About.com).



































Bibliography



Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 2 Jun. 2011.



R. Moore. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Introduction." eNotes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ed. Penny Satoris. Seattle: Enotes.com Inc, October 2002. eNotes.com. 2 June 2011. .



Friedlander M.D. Ed. “Emjoyinh “A Midsummers Night’s Dream”, By William Shakespeare.” pathguy.com. 2 June 2011.



Bevington, David. "'But We Are Spirits of Another Sort': The Dark Side of Love and Magic in A Midsummer Night's Dream". A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ed. Richard Dutton. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. 24–35.



Buchanan, Judith. 2005. Shakespeare on Film. Harlow: Pearson. ISBN 0-582-43716-4. Ch. 5, pp. 121–149.



Howard, Jean E. "Feminist Criticism". Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide. Eds. Stanley Wells and Lena Cowen Orlin, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 411–423.

OCD project notes/research used for project

What is OCD?


-When was it discovered

-who discovered it

-popular people in history that may have or had OCD



what is anxiety?

-When was it discovered

-who discovered it

-popular people in history that may have or had OCD



Terminology used with the ideas of OCD.

-OCD

-obsessed

-washers

-checkers

-doubters/sinners

-counters/arrangers

-hoarders



What are the symptoms of OCD?

-Unwanted behaviors

-Unwanted thoughts

-Checking person, place, or things repeatedly.

-Constant counting

-Do things a certain amount of times

-Making things extremely orderly but makes no sense of the order to anyone else except the one person

-Pictures, words, images, or scenarios that the person cannot get out of their head(disturbing nature)

-Thinking about the “What if’s” in life.

-Hoarding of objects, pets, clothes, trash, etc.

Not touching anything publicly used for fear of germs.

^Just an overview.



What are some of the most abnormal behaviors of someone with OCD?

Even numbers of steps- Some people count their footsteps to make sure they move each leg the same amount. You can point these people out if you see them constantly looking at their feet or counting/mumbling numbers as they walk. Ex: I always start walking on my right foot and i always end on my left.



What are other disorders similar to OCD?

Tic Disorders/ Tourette Syndrome-

Trichotillomania (Compulsive hair pulling-

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)-

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder(OCPD)- Both have problems with making long lists, having things perfect(perfectionism) and hoarding.

Asperser’s Disorder and Autism- Both have routines/ habits and obsessions interests in certain persons, places or things.

Impulse control Disorders- Both have great urges to repeat certain habits and have problems paying attention.

Psychotic disorders/ Schizophrenia- Both Psychotic disorders/ Schizophrenia have strange or bizarre thoughts and thoughts that include sexual, violent and or religious topics.



What age group is most likely to have OCD the most?

From the ages 15 to 44 are the ages that people mostly suffer from a mental illness. Children are most common to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Kids between 7 and 12 is when they normally become diagnosed with OCD. There are an estimated 1% of all children in America experienced an OCD disorder, ritual, or obsession.



What kind of medication do people use for OCD?

Two types of medication that is proven to be the most effective with OCD are “tricvlic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Some specific band drugs are listed below:

Clomipramine (Anafranil)

Fluoxetine (Prozac)

Fluvoxamine (Lovox)

Sertraline (Zoloft)

Paroxetine (Paxil)

Citalopram (Celexa)



How likely is a child to get OCD if a parent has it?

There is no real statistic but children with parents that have OCD are much more likely to develop OCD later in life. Even if you cannot be seen, some children when they grow up develop a certain amount of the OCD habits like perfectionism.



Examples of people with OCD habits.

Obsessions:

1. Fear of dirt or germs

2. Disgust with bodily waste or fluids

3. Concern with order, symmetry and exactness (Perfectisum)

4. Worry that something has been done wrong.

5. Fear of thinking evil/sinful thoughts

6. Need of constants reassurance.

7. Fear of harming someone or something.

Compulsion

1. Cleaning/grooming: Washing hands, showering and brushing teeth.

2. Checking drawers, door locks, and appliances to make sure they are off, shut or locked.

3. Repeating actions like going in and out of a door, sitting down and getting back up, and touching something several times.

4. Ordering and arranging items in certain ways

5. Counting to certain numbers, letters over and over again.

6. Hoarding items like trash.

7. Always asking for permission and approval.



*Product 1: Statistics of different scenarios of people with OCD.

• Approximately 2.3% of the population between ages 18- 54 suffers from OCD, more than any other mental and emotional based challenges such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or panic disorders. Approximately 1 in 50 people are affected.

• Half of the people in America with OCD are considered severe cases.

• OCD is found in all ethnic groups. Both men and women are equal. But in children, OCD is more prevalent in boys.

• 1/3 to a half of all sufferers will find OCD rooted in childhood, with a fractional percentage showing signs of OCD as early as pro-school. In most cases, symptoms of OCD will start to show as a teenager.

• The age of onset of OCD is 6-15 for males and 20-29 for females. New cases of OCD after 40 are rare.

• The average age of people with OCD is 19.

• Less than 10% of people with OCD will seek effective treatment.

• Most people will go years without treatment (6-9) before seeking any form of treatment due to embarrassment and denial.

• OCD is not a consistent condition, it changes over time. There may be periods where the symptoms disperse and seem to go away but then come back. Others can see a steady increase in intensity and frequency of the obsessions.

• People with OCD are often diagnosed with other conditions such as social anxiety, anorexia, nervosa, bulimia nervosa, tourettes, trichotillomania, generalized anxiety disorder, ADHA, Asperser syndrome, Di-polar,…etc.

• There is a higher risk of substance abuse and addiction of those who have anxiety disorders.







*Product 2: Probability of people having OCD due to age, sex, location, parents …etc.



*Product 3: Display of graphs of data collected and researched.











*Product 1: Expository essay on OCD.



Have you ever thought you were obsessed about something? Have you ever seen someone else obsessed about something? You most likely have, because 2.8% of all Americans have obsessive-compulsion disorder (OCD). You’ve probably heard of this disorder before but only have an extreme point of view for it as people hoarding animals, trash, and useless items. Not everyone who has OCD goes to extremes; many like me just have an algorithm on how to do things a certain way so it makes other things work faster and run smoother.

What is OCD even? Obsessive-compulsion disorder is a form of an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is a psychological and physiological involving people’s minds, behavior, and the function of living systems as far as distinguishing the chemical breakdown of the mind or other living organisms. An anxiety disorder is used by doctors to cover up many different problems. If a doctor tried to write a list of everything wrong with a person, the paper could be four miles long. There are countless anxiety disorders out there like panic, OCD, post-traumatic stress(PTSD), social anxiety; phobias that can be listed a separate problem for each phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. That is just a couple. Symptoms of anxiety can be panic, fear, uneasiness, obsessive thoughts, nightmares, ritualistic behaviors, problems sleeping, and muscle tension.

In history, there was no thing as anxiety or OCD. There was only a very general view of mental illness. These mental disorders could be a crazy man or just someone who was born deformed or mentally handicap. In ancient Greece and Rome, mental illness was thought of being caused by spirits or demons. Early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations viewed mental illness as possessions and used exorcisms. Sometimes its involved beatings, restraint, and starvation to try and drive the spirits, soles, or demons out from their victim. One ancient scholar did not agree with the theory of mental illness. Hippocrates believed in natural origins. That the mental illness was a natural cause from the body. He also did not try to drive demons out of a body. He tried to rehabilitate a person through rest, bathing, exercise, and dieting. Another ancient scholar named Plato saw mental illness as experiences that shaped an adult’s behaviors. Up to about 1910, habits that reflected OCD were still seen as possessed from the devil. Then a man named Sigmund Freud attributed the habits as Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior. Then behavior was changed to disorder, this is how OCD came along. He saw these habits as “unconscious conflicts that manifest as symptoms”. Now in modern time, people know everything they did in the past was uncalled for because we learned about it more.

The world has also learned about the brain activity of OCD patients. They have not fully found that cause but they have found hints and clues. Studies of people with OCD show that with brain scans, their brain activity is different than other people. They have different circuitry within certain parts of the brain like the striatum. People diagnosed with OCD also have an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin chemicals in many regions of the brain. Dopamine’s chemical formula is C6H3(OH)2-CH2-CH2-NH2. It has many functions in the brain such as behavior, cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment, and reward. Serotonin’s chemical formula is C10H12N2O. It is actually not a hormone. It is said to be linked with feeling of happiness or well being. It is stored mostly in the gut where it regulates intestinal movements, the rest of it if found in the CNS in the body.

There are many very famous and historic figures in the United States that had OCD. There are a few like Albert Einstein. He suffered from dyslexia. He also had very bad memory; he would forget the months in a year but would solve the hardest mathematical problem in no time. Charles Darwin also had OCD. His symptoms are still unknown but he is said to have symptoms showing by the age of sixteen and became incapacitating around the age of twenty-eight. Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson who was a confederate general during the Civil War also had OCD. His symptoms are also not listed but it is know he had it.

There are categories for some OCD habits. The category of “Obsessed” is used when someone is fixated on an object or subject. That is all they think about. This could also be a general label for all OCD patients as well. Another group of OCD behavior is called “Washers”. This is for the large kind of people who keep extreme cleanliness. They wash, scrub, and disinfect everything. They do this in fear of their children getting sick, the house getting too messy, and for other reasons as of what other people will think of them if they see a dirty house or a piece of dirt on their hand. “Checkers” is a community of people who double, triple, and quadruple check thins as doors, locks, where their children are, and if someone is ok. They check to make sure appliances are off, the house alarm is on, and if they turned off their car lights. “Doubters/Sinners” are similar to “Checkers” but not fully. “Doubters/Sinners” do check things over and over again but then think that something bad will happen or they will get in trouble if they do not. They think the worst of thinks in all situations. Now “Counters/Arrangers” are the kind that need everything put symmetrically. Everything is lined up perfect on the shelf, the chalk on the board is all the same length, and nothing is out of order. This also goes with the principle of “Perfectisum”. Hoarders are the most popular classification of OCD habits. It’s so famous because it is so extreme and the show “Hoarders” on “A&E television” show the inside struggles from it. Hoarders are collectors of anything. Some collect specific things such as animals, trash, dolls, or just things in general like junkmen. In intense cases, their houses become cluttered with all the items. Cluttered enough that you cannot go through the house without leading and avoiding objects without knocking them down.

You can even organize the symptoms of OCD even more by categorizing them into “Obsessed” and “Compulsions”. Obsessions are things like the fear of dirt, disgust with bodily waste/fluids, and concern with order, symmetry and exactness; other words (Perfectisum). Compulsions are things like cleaning, checking things, repeating actions, and asking for permission and approval.

There is so much to do with just the mental illness of OCD. It branches off in so many directions it’s hard to keep up. You can always learn more. Before you know it, you might want to be a psychologist.





Obsessions:

8. Fear of dirt or germs

9. Disgust with bodily waste or fluids

10. Concern with order, symmetry and exactness (Perfectisum)

11. Worry that something has been done wrong.

12. Fear of thinking evil/sinful thoughts

13. Need of constants reassurance.

14. Fear of harming someone or something.

Compulsion

8. Cleaning/grooming: Washing hands, showering and brushing teeth.

9. Checking drawers, door locks, and appliances to make sure they are off, shut or locked.

10. Repeating actions like going in and out of a door, sitting down and getting back up, and touching something several times.

11. Ordering and arranging items in certain ways

12. Counting to certain numbers, letters over and over again.

13. Hoarding items like trash.

14. Always asking for permission and approval.









*Product 2: Power point of all other information collected within other subjects.





*Product 3: Perswasive Essay on the positives of OCD.



Introduction

Are you lazy? Maybe you should have OCD. OCD is Obsessive-Compulsion disorder. It is an anxiety disorder that make you do something longer than it is necessary or more times than necessary. There are different levels of OCD though, from mild and down, it’s not too bad of a thing.

1st reason- You get stuff done; not being lazy

Some people are obsessed with cleaning. Cleaning is always good to a degree. If you wake up everyday and clean your television or vacuum your carpet, then you’ll have it for a long time.

2nd reason- Everyone needs some kind of anxiety

3rd reason- Id the ocd symptoms are positive, you can be a great effect on others

Closing









*Product 1: What’s different with brain activity in normal people and people with OCD?



The world has also learned about the brain activity of OCD patients. They have not fully found that cause but they have found hints and clues. Studies of people with OCD show that with brain scans, their brain activity is different than other people. They have different circuitry within certain parts of the brain like the striatum. People diagnosed with OCD also have an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin chemicals in many regions of the brain. Dopamine’s chemical formula is C6H3(OH)2-CH2-CH2-NH2. It has many functions in the brain such as behavior, cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment, and reward. Serotonin’s chemical formula is C10H12N2O. It is actually not a hormone. It is said to be linked with feeling of happiness or well being. It is stored mostly in the gut where it regulates intestinal movements, the rest of it if found in the CNS in the body.





*Product 2: What medicine is used to treat OCD?

Two types of medication that is proven to be the most effective with OCD are “tricvlic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Some specific band drugs are listed below:

Clomipramine (Anafranil)

Fluoxetine (Prozac)

Fluvoxamine (Lovox)

Sertraline (Zoloft)

Paroxetine (Paxil)

Citalopram (Celexa)



*Product 3: What are other disorders/diseases that are linked or similar to OCD?

Tic Disorders/ Tourette Syndrome-

Trichotillomania (Compulsive hair pulling-

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)-

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder(OCPD)- Both have problems with making long lists, having things perfect(perfectionism) and hoarding.

Asperser’s Disorder and Autism- Both have routines/ habits and obsessions interests in certain persons, places or things.

Impulse control Disorders- Both have great urges to repeat certain habits and have problems paying attention.

Psychotic disorders/ Schizophrenia- Both Psychotic disorders/ Schizophrenia have strange or bizarre thoughts and thoughts that include sexual, violent and or religious topics.



Product 1: How different societies viewed mental illnesses and how they viewed it over time.



In ancient Greece and Rome, mental illness was thought of being caused by spirits or demons. Early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations viewed mental illness as possessions and used exorcisms. Sometimes its involved beatings, restraint, and starvation to try and drive the spirits, soles, or demons out from their victim. One ancient scholar did not agree with the theory of mental illness. Hippocrates believed in natural origins. That the mental illness was a natural cause from the body. He also did not try to drive demons out of a body. He tried to rehabilitate a person through rest, bathing, exercise, and dieting. Another ancient scholar named Plato saw mental illness as experiences that shaped an adult’s behaviors.





*Product 2: What societies thought about OCD in different times?



Up to about 1910, habits that reflected OCD were still seen as possessed from the devil. Then a man named Sigmund Freud attributed the habits as Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior. Then behavior was changed to disorder, this is how OCD came along. He saw these habits as “unconscious conflicts that manifest as symptoms”. Present day, people think of OCD as a mental illness that could be moderate or greatly bad. When people think of OCD now, they think of extremists that pick their skin, hoard animals/trash, touch a door knob seven times or are very clean, un-germy people.



*Product 3: Who in American history could have/ had OCD?



There are many very famous and historic figures in the United States that had OCD. There are a few like Albert Einstein. He suffered from dyslexia. He also had very bad memory; he would forget the months in a year but would solve the hardest mathematical problem in no time. Charles Darwin also had OCD. His symptoms are still unknown but he is said to have symptoms showing by the age of sixteen and became incapacitating around the age of twenty-eight. Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson who was a confederate general during the Civil War also had OCD. His symptoms are also not listed but it is know he had it.









Ideas:



http://www.brainphysics.com/ocdfaq.php





http://anxiety.stjoes.ca/obsessive.htm





http://www.ocfoundation.org/relateddisorders.aspx

OCD SIP2 PRESENTATION

MY OCD PRESENTATION!!!!!

Expository Essay

OCD Project

ISP

4/7/2011 9:10:59 AM





Have you ever thought you were obsessed about something? Have you ever seen someone else obsessed about something? You most likely have, because 2.8% of all Americans have obsessive-compulsion disorder (OCD). You’ve probably heard of this disorder before but only have an extreme point of view for it as people hoarding animals, trash, and useless items. Not everyone who has OCD goes to extremes; many like me just have an algorithm on how to do things a certain way so it makes other things work faster and run smoother.

What is OCD even? Obsessive-compulsion disorder is a form of an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is a psychological and physiological involving people’s minds, behavior, and the function of living systems as far as distinguishing the chemical breakdown of the mind or other living organisms. An anxiety disorder is used by doctors to cover up many different problems. If a doctor tried to write a list of everything wrong with a person, the paper could be four miles long. There are countless anxiety disorders out there like panic, OCD, post-traumatic stress(PTSD), social anxiety; phobias that can be listed a separate problem for each phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. That is just a couple. Symptoms of anxiety can be panic, fear, uneasiness, obsessive thoughts, nightmares, ritualistic behaviors, problems sleeping, and muscle tension.

In history, there was no thing as anxiety or OCD. There was only a very general view of mental illness. These mental disorders could be a crazy man or just someone who was born deformed or mentally handicap. In ancient Greece and Rome, mental illness was thought of being caused by spirits or demons. Early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations viewed mental illness as possessions and used exorcisms. Sometimes its involved beatings, restraint, and starvation to try and drive the spirits, soles, or demons out from their victim. One ancient scholar did not agree with the theory of mental illness. Hippocrates believed in natural origins. That the mental illness was a natural cause from the body. He also did not try to drive demons out of a body. He tried to rehabilitate a person through rest, bathing, exercise, and dieting. Another ancient scholar named Plato saw mental illness as experiences that shaped an adult’s behaviors. Up to about 1910, habits that reflected OCD were still seen as possessed from the devil. Then a man named Sigmund Freud attributed the habits as Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior. Then behavior was changed to disorder, this is how OCD came along. He saw these habits as “unconscious conflicts that manifest as symptoms”. Now in modern time, people know everything they did in the past was uncalled for because we learned about it more.

The world has also learned about the brain activity of OCD patients. They have not fully found that cause but they have found hints and clues. Studies of people with OCD show that with brain scans, their brain activity is different than other people. They have different circuitry within certain parts of the brain like the striatum. People diagnosed with OCD also have an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin chemicals in many regions of the brain. Dopamine’s chemical formula is C6H3(OH)2-CH2-CH2-NH2. It has many functions in the brain such as behavior, cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment, and reward. Serotonin’s chemical formula is C10H12N2O. It is actually not a hormone. It is said to be linked with feeling of happiness or well being. It is stored mostly in the gut where it regulates intestinal movements, the rest of it if found in the CNS in the body.

There are many very famous and historic figures in the United States that had OCD. There are a few like Albert Einstein. He suffered from dyslexia. He also had very bad memory; he would forget the months in a year but would solve the hardest mathematical problem in no time. Charles Darwin also had OCD. His symptoms are still unknown but he is said to have symptoms showing by the age of sixteen and became incapacitating around the age of twenty-eight. Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson who was a confederate general during the Civil War also had OCD. His symptoms are also not listed but it is know he had it.

There are categories for some OCD habits. The category of “Obsessed” is used when someone is fixated on an object or subject. That is all they think about. This could also be a general label for all OCD patients as well. Another group of OCD behavior is called “Washers”. This is for the large kind of people who keep extreme cleanliness. They wash, scrub, and disinfect everything. They do this in fear of their children getting sick, the house getting too messy, and for other reasons as of what other people will think of them if they see a dirty house or a piece of dirt on their hand. “Checkers” is a community of people who double, triple, and quadruple check thins as doors, locks, where their children are, and if someone is ok. They check to make sure appliances are off, the house alarm is on, and if they turned off their car lights. “Doubters/Sinners” are similar to “Checkers” but not fully. “Doubters/Sinners” do check things over and over again but then think that something bad will happen or they will get in trouble if they do not. They think the worst of thinks in all situations. Now “Counters/Arrangers” are the kind that need everything put symmetrically. Everything is lined up perfect on the shelf, the chalk on the board is all the same length, and nothing is out of order. This also goes with the principle of “Perfectisum”. Hoarders are the most popular classification of OCD habits. It’s so famous because it is so extreme and the show “Hoarders” on “A&E television” show the inside struggles from it. Hoarders are collectors of anything. Some collect specific things such as animals, trash, dolls, or just things in general like junkmen. In intense cases, their houses become cluttered with all the items. Cluttered enough that you cannot go through the house without leading and avoiding objects without knocking them down.

You can even organize the symptoms of OCD even more by categorizing them into “Obsessed” and “Compulsions”. Obsessions are things like the fear of dirt, disgust with bodily waste/fluids, and concern with order, symmetry and exactness; other words (Perfectisum). Compulsions are things like cleaning, checking things, repeating actions, and asking for permission and approval.

There is so much to do with just the mental illness of OCD. It branches off in so many directions it’s hard to keep up. You can always learn more. Before you know it, you might want to be a psychologist.























References:

Arch Gen Psychiatry/Vol. “Mapping Structural Brain Alterations in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Archpsych. July 2004. April 7, 2011. < http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/61/7/720.pdf>

Amal Chakraburtty, MD. “Anxiety & Panic Disorders Guide.” Webmd. February 09, 2009. April 7, 2011. < http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders?page=3>

Bartz JA, Hollander E. “Is Obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorder?” PubMed. May, 2006. April 7, 2011. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16455175>

Benedict Carey. “Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You're Just a Perfectionist.” Nytimes. December 4, 2007. April 7, 2011. < http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/health/04mind.html>

The OC & Spectrum Disorders Assn., Susan F., The OC Foundation, The Nat'l Institute of Mental Health, Solvay Pharmaceutical's Community Eduction Publications, Chris Vertullo's OCD-L mailing list, and the Prodigy medical support board. Expert Consultants: S Saxena, MD and K Maidment, PhD. “Most Frequently Asked Questions About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).” BrainPhysics. April 7, 2011. < http://www.brainphysics.com/ocdfaq.php>

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GoodReads book review # 5

Stoner & Spaz by Ron Koertge

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is about a boy who is pretty much an outcast. He doesn’t have too many friends, has an over protected grandmother, and has cerebral palsy. He has an obsession with movies. He is a spaz in our society. He was at the movies once and while he was coming out he saw a fellow classmate named Colleen. She is a drugged up teen with a jock boyfriend that wears ripped rights, neon miniskirts and has a very broad range of tattoos over her body. They talk a little and his grandmother ends up giving her a ride home when she comes and pick him up. She climbs in the car and the first thing she does is stick her head out of the window and puke down the side of the car. When she put her head back in, she lays it on his shoulder. Right there, the boy has a feeling that his life is going to change greatly. The author Ron Koertge tells the story about two lonely teenagers that no one really cares about. They treat each other with respect like no one ever has before, like two normal humans.



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GoodReads Book Reivew # 4

His Robot Girlfriend by Wesley Allison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is about a man who is about to retire. It takes place in the year 2032 and a lot has changed since our time. Cars are fueled by hydrogen, there are robots working in stores and fast food restaurants, and the average temperature is about 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

The man is 50 years old. Has had a wife and kids. The kids have grown up to live their own lives and his wife pasted when the kids were before their teen years. The man is a below-high school-teacher. The kids there bring e-readers for all their work. He is happy where he is, but is getting tired of being lonely. The lifestyle he leads is very boring. He goes to work, goes home, eats, sleeps, watches TV, and falls asleep again.

He sees that there are these new home robots called Daffodils. They are not very cheap, but everything is not cheap here. There is a very great inflation on the economy at that time. These robots are for everything. They can cook, clean, do earrings, learn, and everything else a robot had do. They can be ordered by the specific body shape, hair color, nails, feet, butt, and face. Everything can be customized. He orders one, and she becomes his girlfriend. She does not act like a robot. She speaks in a normal tone, walks normally, and is very gentle. There are a few things she does not do like sleep, eat, nor does she need to be plugged in to recharge. She drinks a glass of water occasionally for energy. The book does not say why, but I think it’s because she’s powered by hydrogen and she break the water down to obtain the hydrogen. She learns emotions also. She does question something’s but if told so she will do anything if commanded.

This is just a look into the future. Back in the 30’s, science fiction was about going to the moon, and putting satellites up in orbit around the earth. Those things came true later in life. It’s just a matter of time until robots are an everyday thing. They will take over many of the jobs that we have today; because they are free labor, a slave. People above 40 may not see this kind of life style, but I sure will live to see it. This was a great book of someone else’s perspective of the future.





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Crank: Book review #1

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book takes place in modern time. Not too old and not too much in the future. The main characters consist of Crystal and/or Bree, her father, and some boyfriends. The girl Crystal lives on the West cost too with her mother. All her friends and family are all on that side. Her father lives on the West coast in New Mexico. On the East, she is a straight A student, does nothing bad, and has good friends. Shes your average American teenager from the perspective of grandparents. Then one summer she is forced by court to visit her father. Crystal is okay with her father. She doesn't know too much about him and she likes to keep it that way. She thinks of this visit more as "something you have to do, even though you don't like it". She goes there and meets a boy. The boy is like any girls dream. Cool, calm, handsome, and manly. The boy introduces her to the monster. The monster is a drug called crank. a yellowy powder/ crystal form that you can snort,smoke, and shoot up. When we leaves from visiting her father, she brings back two things. The other personality and her addiction to the monster. She then meets two boys that are both friends that both have connections to the monster. Bree, i mean Crystal doesn't have much money so she is desperate for the monster. So desperate that she let the one boy rape her so she could get a taste of the monster. She then starts a relationship with the other friend and then she finds out she is pregnant. The one boy thinks its his but its really the boy who raped her. The good guy proposes to her and she declines and he goes off to collage. She keeps the baby. The book ends with her keeping clean and doing everything right. Until the sequel.



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Book review # 3. Glass by Ellen Hopkins

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is the second edition to the previous book "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins. This book pick up where crank left off. In this book she has her baby. She thinks the baby will keep her occupied to no blow crank anymore, wrong. She starts working at a 7-11 and starts buying glass. Glass is a more pure drug than crank, bigger, stronger, and scarier. Crystal or Bree, how ever you want to look at her is now getting high and crashing. Getting skinnier by the day. Her mother finally kicks her out because of an incident that left her son under a chair and unable to get out because his mother was too high and crashed and couldn't hear him crying. She then starts staying with her new boyfriends cousin and babysits his daughters full time. Crystals mother takes her son and is staying with her at the house. Since Crystal babysits all day, she had to quite her job at the 7-11 in which the owner was a porn dealer and offered her a job as a prostitute but she turned it now anyhow. Now that she's staying at her mans cousins house, he stops by a lot and visits her. Then he goes away and she starts sleeping with his cousin. I cannot tell anymore of the story because then their would be nothing left. This book is definitely a must read though. Not for the young and immature.



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Book review #2. Twisted

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is about a boy who was a nobodey. Someone who kept invisible and stayed unreconized in his home town. His dad only cares about busisness and his mom is on his dads ever last word. He has a sister that just started high school while hes in his last year.



Since no one knew him, no one would care what happened to him. He was bullied by this one kid for years in school since elementry school. Beat up, stolen from, and lied about. His arch enemey happens to be his dads big boss. His bully is also the brother of the love of his dreams.



One night he went out, and didn't come back home. He was arrested for a crime and was sentenced to community service. His monther thought he was becoming a criminal, and his father wanted to talk nothing about it with him. Everyone who went to his school heard what happened also. Some though he was a criminal and could snap any minuite, some gave him highfives down the hallway just because of what he did, and some looked down on him from what he did.



But, before he was arrested he was this little scranny kid. Since the court orrdered community service, he grew alot. Everyday in the summer he was working, working like a cheap laborer but cheaper than cheap. After the summer of the community service, he was built like an animal. Ran as fast as an animal, ate like an animal, and looked as good as an animal.



Now he was a new man. No everybodey knew how much he changed mentally and physically, but they were sure as hell to find out once school started up.



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Reading history

John FitzgeraldReading history essay


Reading history k-10


My reading has had it’s off and ons. Year by year my reading habits would change. Some days I would read nonstop because I had nothing better to do. Other days I still had nothing better to do but could still find something else to do. I hope in the future that I can have a steady reading habit where I find time to read every day, maybe before bed like a normal American.

Kindergarten was very interesting. I couldn’t really read that good but I still picked out books. I have always behind the other kids in reading and writing, and I was tremendously bad at spelling. Normally I would get a book with not many words like “I spy” by “Walter Wick” and riddles by” Jean Marzollo”. I spy books were almost a phase kids went through. Other books I got were pop out books that would tell a story through the picture it has within. Also, I had this interest with dinosaurs, just like any other very young boy in school. I would get big books on dinosaurs, big books with huge pictures. I guess you can say that picture was an enormous part of my kindergarten years.

I went to Delair elementary school In _____________. From kindergarten, first grade, and first grade for the second time I was in the same school that my older sisters and cousins went also. After first grade they built a new __________elementary school about four blocks away. I went to that new elementary school for the second, third, and also fourth grade. During these older elementary years, my interests in books changed a great deal. In second and third grade I was still into “I spy” and dinosaur’s books. It wasn’t until fourth grade that I started reading actually books. In fourth grade I read “Willow” by “Julia Hoban”. I thought this book was far too complex for our reading abilities. The only reason why I remember this book is because I also brought in the movie to watch in school. Elementary school was such a headache.

Middle school was when I really go into books. I went to __________ middle school in __________. The most popular thing to read was the “Blueford” series. The books were never really that interesting to me, so I have not read one of them. I was ore into “Ellen Hopkins” books about drugs, sex, and teenaged problems. They were books I could relate to. I would actually like to read her newest book titled “Tricks”. Her books are always interesting to me. I must have stayed up all night just reading one of her books because I had nothing better to do, of course that was during summer.
Now high school, my prime years, my best memories, is ridiculously interesting. I will read just about anything now. As long as I understand the settings and the main characters then I am set to go to the moon. My personal genre of choice is realistic fiction. Anything that could happen and might happen. I guess you can say that I was always interested in realistic fiction. I am still into “Ellen Hopkins” and I don’t plan on losing interest in her.
I am now in my junior year of high school. My sophomore year was filled with reading. I remember being in class and watching kids read under the table and then get in trouble by the teacher. I was always wondering how a love for reading could become that strong. Well this last year I realized it, because I also got in trouble for reading while I had work to do. I realized books are very comparable to movies. They say all the same things but you just picture it to however best fits you. This is where your imagination comes into play and you start being creative.
Unfortunately I did not read over the summer. Well I did read just not actual novels or books. I read a great deal of informational text about cars, motorcycles, and wireless internet routers. I do plan on getting back into reading since now I have the school’s library in my control.
My reading history habits have change throughout the years, but whose hasn’t? If you did not change then you would not be able to adapt. It’s just a part of growing up. I hope as I grow up even more that I do not lose an interest in reading. I see myself as going to a coffee shop and drinking coffee and reading outside of the store. I could be one of the people that when they want to relax they read. Oh how I am interested in how I will become when I grow old.

Song interpretations

The Fratellis- Whistle for the Choir

Well this song is about a boy who likes a girl but is going crazy because he doesn’t know if she likes him back. That’s the whole theme of the song from my point of view. It takes place in the city and late at night. The girl says the she’s not lonely, like she already had a man or her eyes on someone else. He keeps talking about how she is “irresistible” and how obsessed he is with her. Also he tells us that his heart is broke already and he is trying to fix it through her, he wants to love her and he wants her to love him back. He calls her a “stupid girl” because she doesn’t know what she has in front of her. In front of her is him and if she doesn’t take him then she’ll regret it because he would have treated her right. This relates to William Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Theme” because it’s all about love. Someone loves someone else and they don’t know if that someone else loves them. It’s like a love square because there’s so many people involved.

The Spill Canvas- Staple gunned
This song is about a boy who has just met a girl. He is already regretting what he hasn't done yet and what he should have done. He then makes up all these similes and metaphors to describe how much he loves her already. I can tell this is not love though, but lust just as in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". This relates to the story because all the boys love another girl because of lust and not because of love. When the one man wanted to sleep next to the woman in the Forrest, which showed that he wanted her for all the wrong reasons.

Dashboard Confessional- Hands down
This song is about a boy who is with a girl and they are pretty much having the best time with each other, just the two of them. It’s the feeling that they have because it’s just him and her and no one can say anything about what they do or how they should act. Like cuddling for instance, some people may see it weird; your mom probably thinks it’s weird when they see you cuddling with a girl. They don’t have to worry about this now, because it’s only them two. Since he’s having such a good time he is willing to die, just so he dies happily.

This song describes how extreme the characters are about explaining their lying love for one another. “This air is blessed, you share with me", reminded me of how they are also so religous.

Say Anything- Alive With the Glory of Love
The song was said to explain Max Bemis's grandparents when they were in the holocaust. It using words like "Boot stomped meadows" and "Treblinka". The song explains how his grandparents were separated but still never lost their love for each other. The video for this song shows his grandparents as children sneaking out of the work camps in Germany to see each other just to get a kiss before they are found and taken back to their separate camps. This relates to the book "A midsummer Night's Dream" because the characters Hermia and Demetrius are not suppose to see each other by order of Hermia's father. But they do anyway; they sneak out into the woods to live together forever.

Pink Floyd- Wish you were here

Now there are many, and I mean many interpretations for this song and I do not wish to research all of these because I would get nowhere so I decided to give you my own interpretation of the song. Well mine is that there were a couple, woman and male of course and they broke up or were separated somehow. The man is singing and describing how she lost all hope for everything. That she or he does not have a good understanding of the world, that her understanding of the world is all messed up, like she was brain washed or a tragic event happened. He also explains how she can't tell things from other things and that she is trading thing for things that she shouldn't. He says that they are both two lost souls that keep going over the same tracks and same paths. He just wishes that she was there with him.

Spanish essay in the beginging of the school year.

John



Spanish 2



As a person I am John Fitz. I am a skateboarder, biker, athlete, and interested in computers. Others see me as a typical white kid. Someone who skateboards, is crazy, will do anything, listens to death metal, and is just unnatural. Others see me as normal because they do not stereotype me are into the same things I am into. In ten years I see myself as in my prime. Not to old to settle down and too young to be told what to do. I can see myself with a steady job that I have already started working myself up the chain. When I’m twenty-six I want to still be skateboarding and want to be still athletic. I want to be one of the people that are well rounded in every field possible. I want to be good at everything know to man. Girls have always been my weakness; I would do anything for girls, well not really everything but a lot to make them happy. My knees are week from the sports that I do so now I have problems in my knees. I am very strong in endurance. I have that attitude that if people are expecting me to do something a win I will do it. Or if I am competing against other people I will make sure I come in first or pretty close to it. Most people give up too easily, not me. I just keep my mind think about something that will pass the time and keep doing what I am doing. My family is very funny. Like the first time you come over they will fart and burp and blame it on you just joking around. They are a big spending time together family, I’m still getting used to that. Most of my friends are athletic or are just cool to be with or were once athletic. They are only my close friends. I deal with problems by being alone. If I am alone I can just get over the problem and forget about it. That’s all problems are, things to get over and forget about.



I am a very good student. As long as I do the best way I learn and the teacher stays on me. I learn best by being alone. This creates fewer distractions for me while I’m working. From what I know about the ISP program so far, it’s going to be hard managing my own time. Normally teachers have deadlines for certain parts of a project. I’m the type of student that wastes time because I’m sitting there with someone and they keep talking and I can’t pay attention. I have learned that friends in high school done stick with you forever. Most of the people I meet I will never talk to again when I grow up. I learned that because I do not talk to a lot of people I went to middle school with, because most of them went to Pennsauken high. I mean every now and then I get and IM or a comment on myspace from some but that is about it. Some qualities of a teacher that I do not like is when teachers make the students do work over and over again. Also when they write the question down and answer it in a complete sentence. Especially when you get the really long questions where you have to explain. The only thing that stops me from learning is people talking or the teacher telling the students to do one thing then telling us to do another. Like teachers not being able to make up their mind. I am a serious student because I am hungry for knowledge. They only reason why I didn’t go to Pennsauken high school is because I wanted a good education in high school and I wanted to learn a trade and get a head start on my future job. For teacher to help me to learn, they must go over every single detail when I ask a question for it. If I do not know a certain part of something then it’s like you talking to be never even helped at all.



In a friend I look for someone who is relaxed and not all hyper. Someone who is athletic and into the same things I am into. I am a good friend because I do not create drama. I do not follow the theory of “hated by association”. And I will just tell you straight up how I feel about how you look, act, or talk to me. Even if you were catering to my every need I would tell you. The most difficult thing I have to deal with is people getting annoying. Some people are really cool at first. They make jokes, play around, relaxed, and don’t yell. Then some of them people start talking louder and more, and always playing around and always making jokes that are not funny. Then they start getting mad about how everyone is just sitting there looking at them. And at that time everyone is loosing respect for that person. Well enough about other people now. Some activities I would like to get involved with this year is weight lifting. But the way my knee is right now, I don’t thing I am going to be able to get into it. Also I’m not really excited about staying after school until five o’clock just to work out. By that time I’m not going to be getting home until six thirty, then once I get home I will have to do the tons of homework I have. Then I probably eat and sleep then wake up for school tired. All that right there just tells me its just going to be a hassle if I do it. And my social life is pretty good. I am happy with whom I hang out with and whom I talk to. I can tell from last year that my years in high school are going to be above average in fun then normal students.



First of all, what does diversity mean? Being diversie is being different. Everyone is diverse because everyone is different. I feel as if I am a very diverse person. I like to think of myself as modest. I am not like others neither. I have my own opinions. When I was growing up, I had a wide variety of friends I hung out with. Some were African American, Porto Rican, white, Christian, Muslim, catholic, atheist, and even bilingual people. Unfortunately I do not speak any other languages. I also find myself an open-minded person when it comes to information, if it is just rumors then I do not believe then and I become stubborn. The word diversity means to me that it’s a matter of differentials between you and the world. Tolerance is something I put up with a lot. I tolerate my uncle, family, girlfriend, friends, and some people I just do not like. Acceptance is almost the same meaning I guess but you don’t think of it any way. You just don’t think much of it, like it doesn’t even bother you. Well I think that my outlook on the world is different from my families and friends. I am a realist; I like to see everything how it is and the truth of it all. I do not need and pretty blanket or story to cover up what people may think I’m too young to know about. The people in my town don’t really think. They just try to get by and create drama because they have nothing to lose. And I don’t believe in god anymore, so religion does not affect me. This is little about me just in case you forgot who I am over the summer. Thank you for your time.

Text to pictures.

This blog entry I'm going to import images of song lyrics so you can have a better imagery of the song and the view that I get when I listen to the song. This is " And the cradle will rock" By " Van Halen"

Ow
Oh yeah, get up
Ow! (Yeah)
Ow! Ow!
Well, they say it's kinda frightnin'

How this younger generation swings

You know it's more than just some new sensation
Well, the kid is into losin' sleep

And he don't come home for half the week

You know it's more than just an aggravation

And the cradle will rock
Yes the cradle, cradle will rock
And I say rock on. Uh! Rock on

And when some local kid gets down
They try an' drum him outta town

They say, "Ya coulda least faked it, boy"
Fake it, boy (Ooh, stranger, boy)
At an early age he hits the street
Winds up tied with who he meets
An' he's unemployed (Unemployed?) Ow!



And the cradle will rock. Ow!
And the cradle, the cradle will rock
An' I say rock on. Oh, say, rock on

(Guitar Solo)



Have you seen Junior's grades?
Ooh

Ow!

And when some local kid gets down
They try an' drum him outta town



They say, "Ya could've least faked it, boy. Faked it, boy"
And so an early age he hits the street
'N winds up tied with who he meets
An' he's unemployed. His folks are overjoyed

And the cradle will rock
Yes the cradle, cradle will rock
I say rock on. Hey! Rock on

Rock on. Rock on. Rock on
This ain't never been new, babe, child. Ow!
Rock on, wow! I said...
Rock on. Rock on. Oh, oh, oh
Rock on. Oh, ow, ah, ah, ah
Rock on. Rock on. Rock on 

A lit Letter I wrote awhile back.

Forrest Gump




I’ve been reading very realistic books lately, books that could come to life, books that I could even live in. This book may even be considered a classic. The book “Forrest Gump” is written by Winston Groom. This book is good for anyone who has seen the movie or has seen parts of the movie. This book is realistic fiction and ranges from the high school to adulthood. The story is about a mentally ill person. Normally they refer to this as retarded or him being just an idiot. Throughout the entire story Forrest tries to do the right things but gets pulled into the wrong things and is taken advantage of by almost everyone he knows.

One of the important parts of the book is when Forrest went into space. He went up into space with an orangutan and a female human. The female human was rude and needy, the orangutan was scary. In the end before they got out of space they all became friends. It’s not when they got out of space either, it’s how they got out. The orangutan was getting angry and started pulling some wires out of the side of the ship which caused some malfunctions and made the spaceship fall out of orbit and back into earth. They crash landed near an island. They all landed safely and were unharmed. The island was covered in cannibalizes and were ready to eat all of them. Luckily there was a man there who spoke very good proper English and he was the leader of the tribe. Instead of eating them they put Forrest, the lady and the orangutan to work in the fields to grow cotton. They were there for four years straight. While they were there the leader of the tribe taught Forrest to play chess. After four year of playing the leader never beat Forrest. But night they played and the leader was about to win, that’s when Forrest said he had to go pee and got the other female astronaut and the orangutan. They all started to run from where they were and hop on a boat. Once they did the tribe came after them and caught them once again. They were going to eat them now, since the tribe villagers were dripping in their mouths to eat all three of them. Once they were about to from them in the pot a rival tribe came up and took hostage of the tribe and the tree of them. That rival tribe were about to drop the leader of the cannibal tribe in when he said where he was going to make his next move in his chess game to beat Forrest. Then he was thrown into the boiling pot of water and was cooked. Then the tree astronauts conked the rival tribe leader over the head and ran like crazy.

Personally I think the book was a little more exciting than the movie. I’ve got to say though, the actor “Tom Hanks” made the movie very good though. I would recommend this book to anyone who has seen the movie and to anyone who likes books about the old good day. This book is just plain awesome.

This was for a perswasive essay this past year.

Dear Mr. Corzine

Is your life really yours?



Life is something that is sacred, something that you can say is truly yours and nobody can say otherwise, wrong. Your body is the governments. I am here to fight for assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is a way for people to commit suicide with their dignity. This lets them die without any pain, cuts, bruises, and lets them have a funeral with an open casket. The people who create these devices use chemicals and other ways to die with no pain. You have created your life, you are sick of life, you want to end your life, but you can’t because it is not yours. Assisted suicide should be legal in all states and all places over the world.

You should have the right to die. You have to have the right to die. Some people do not wish to commit suicide in an unordered fashion. Most people want to die with dignity. This is a way for people to die with dignity. We chose all the decisions for our life and we even pay money for our life. We have to pay for our birth and our funeral. We are in control of our lives and we live them. We should definitely know if we want to keep on living or wish to part to the other world.



If assisted suicide becomes legal, this will open up new job opportunities. This means more money coming into the state and more money in taxes. Doctors will be paid more for the service of death. Will’s will be able to be fully written for the person if they set up a particular date. Doctors can come up with new drugs and methods of assisted suicide; it will eventually become an art of killing. More the deaths then more the money.



What do we get from people who wish to end their lives? We get nothing; we get no help, no sympathy and no remorse from them. They are just dragging other people down into their own problems that they have and create. If a person is not happy about being alive then they do not deserve life. If assisted suicide become legal, it will provide an opportunity for people to take the first step to helping others out.



On the other hand everybody can’t stay depressed and unhappy with their life forever. Sooner or later they will realize they are happy to be alive. They will look forward to do things in the future; they will have hopes and dreams and will be almost a normal human being. In the history of the United States, suicide or expected death has always been a tragedy. Maybe assisted suicide will give only hurt more than good.



But to conclude everything I have said, I am still for making assisted suicide legal in all states and around the world. If we do it will give us more rights, make us money, and will not have to waste resources to people who are not worth the wait. Assisted suicide should be legal and that’s final.

shi no numa

This is a poen I wrote for a project we did on the atomic bomb.

shi no numa

A day that was so perfect,


A day that went by so quick.

the love of my life was going to be with me.

He even asked my mother if we could hang.

The boy plays in a local band,

a band that which i adore.

Nice swing band with big beats.





I wore a flowery dress that i knew he would like,

I know he would like it because my mother doesn't like it.

My father is at work still and know nothing about this boy.

he's been at work for 8 months.

The boy that i will someday love and have young with.

I know the day would come,

but not like this.





I walked to the movie therete that he told me to go to.

It was about 4 miles but i didn't mind,

as long as i saw his face.

an ariel assualt was called earlier but was then dismissed.

The sky was blue, my father out and about, and nothing was to worry.

I heard a whislteing sound in the air.

I looked but could not make out what it was.

It looked like a plane dropped it.

But i ignored it as it were just an angle falling out of the sky.







I heard a bang,

I heard a thump,

I heard screams,

I dropped to the ground,

but was too close.

I felt a quick rush of heat across my back.

It was about to get very intensse then is stopped.





I saw my town and how it was turned into a childs sand chasle.

It was like I never even existed.

Just a peice of collateral damage.

I was 15 and gone.

so i am like tottally not doing this on my ps3 right now.

ISP risk game

This new isp project it very cool. It is simular to the game risk. I'm not very familar with the game but I have a good idea of the game from what has been explained to me from the project. But I think the other students don't have the basic stratigies for war. These kids are talking about making treaties and then back stabbimg each other. Its so confussing. Nothing has been put on paper yet and they want to kill each other.