Malvolio Became Too Curious!

     After Malvolio scolds Sir Toby Belch and friends, Maria devises a plan to mess with Malvolio. In order to get revenge, she brainstorms the devious idea of forging a letter that makes it seems as if Olivia is in love with Malvolio. Malvolio's own curiosity prompted to pick up the letter and open it even though he couldn't even be sure it was his letter to open at first. Then his own thoughts beguiled himself into thinking that the letter had to be from Olivia and that it only expressed her passionate love for him. All he ended up doing was making a fool of himself. He acted like a crazy person in front of Olivia by doing things like always smiling and wearing those ridiculous stockings. Not only did his curiosity cause him to ridicule himself, he had to undergo emotional torture since everyone decided to treat him like a crazy person. He was trapped in a dark room and treated poorly because Maria and company decided to continue the hurtful prank on Malvolio. This situation Malvolio finds himself in displays how curiosity can sometimes become detrimental if it isn't used in the proper way. It also reveals how cruel some people can be to one another and how others are selfish and believe that everything in the world revolves around them. So it's important to remember to always be careful with curiosity because it is such a powerful and important part of life. 

PRANK GONE WRONG!!!! (COPS SHOW UP)

     In the play Twelfth Night, the characters are constantly making jokes and tricking each other. However, one of these pranks went a little too far. Maria, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and the fool all help pull a prank on Malvolio that ends up in him going crazy. Maria writes a letter to Malvolio that seems like a love letter from Olivia. In this letter, "Olivia" asks Malvolio to do ridiculous things in hopes of them becoming lovers. Malvolio wants to love her so much that he convinces himself that the letter has to be from Olivia and the tricksters watch and laugh as he ridicules himself. When Malvolio was finally going to directly ask Olivia about the letter, Sir Toby Belch and friends tie him up and lock him in a dark room. Even after all that, they try to convince everyone including Malvolio himself that he is insane. When Malvolio is finally released, he vows to get revenge on the people that did this to him. Obviously, this prank went way too far. Not only did they play with his emotions and make him do ridiculous things, but also kidnapped him and locked him up which is insane. I love to trick and prank people myself, but in my opinion, the prank should have at least stopped after Malvolio dressed up ridiculously. Playing with someone's emotions is already bad enough, but they also kidnap him and try to make him believe that he is insane is definitely taking it way too far. They had already gotten their laughs from him romanticizing over Olivia when he first got the letter and the prank could have easily ended right there. Now, they have a very upset Malvolio on the loose looking for revenge which may come back to haunt them in the end.  

Modern Dating Is Actually Better???

     In this "new" world, access to technology has made dating, in my opinion, a lot easier to do. People all over the world can easily start talking to each other using many things like social media. However, Aziz Ansari's article called Modern Romance discussed how the common use of technology in today's society has made dating a lot harder because people don't know what they should do face to face and what they can do over text. In this article, Aziz mentions a survey conducted in 2013 that asked Americans on Match.com how they would ask someone out on a first date. For asking over text, there were only 8% of people over 30 while there were 32% of people under 30 showing how much of an effect smartphones have had on the younger generation. Aziz discussed the complications that this produced, such as lack of confidence and just overall just becoming more dependent on technology. I refused to believe that the lack of courage to ask someone out face to face was the only thing that caused a significant shift to relying on text messages, so I pondered on all the possible ideas that could do this. I came to the conclusion that text messages are a really efficient and effective way of communicating with others most of the time. Anyone can text someone else at their own convenience and that other person can also respond at their own convenience. This also gives each of the time to think how to respond to other person's message, while asking over the phone or face to face might actually create awkward gaps between the conversation. This same concept also easily applies to social media and if anything, being able to use technology can easily create more self confidence. Anyone can easily ask someone else and even if they get rejected, it's really easy to meet new people on the internet and keep trying. In the end, someone could become confident just because of repeated trial and error about what to do over technology and what to do face to face. In the end, the use of technology is actually very beneficial and actually helps people with their relationships. 

Okonkwo = Captain America = Ant-Man

 

     In Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is considered a strong and respectable man among all the tribes; however, he started from the bottom. Okonkwo's father was as lazy as can be and owed money to multiple people, so Okonkwo became determined to work as hard as possible and devote his life to the Ibo culture. In the end he became the very antithesis of his father. As I read this, I recognized this same pattern in many other stories. Out of my own curiosity, I began to ponder on the many stories with a similar plot of a protagonist's rise from the bottom. I came to the conclusion that DC's Captain America and Ant-Man were very similar to Okonkwo's journey to the top. Steve Rogers (Captain America) was a scrawny boy with many physical problems, but he was determined to fight for his country. He was continuously denied from the military, but that didn't phase him. In the end, his determination was recognized by a scientist who made him into the respected man he is today. Similarly, Scott Lang (Ant-Man) is a convicted criminal who is trying to find his way in the world. All he really wants to do is be there for his daughter. However, his ex-wife and her new boyfriend keep forcing him out of her life. Scott keeps trying to lead a successful to show his ex-wife that he is worthy of seeing his daughter and he eventually becomes Ant-Man, which brings him very close to his daughter. All three of these protagonists started from the bottom and were still able to reach their goals with their unwavering determination.  

Banana

  

     I ate a banana today. It tasted like any other banana I've eaten, but my own surroundings and feelings made me realize this was a very unique banana. I ate this banana right after I ate dinner, meaning that I was still hungry and unsatisfied with my meal. I probably wasn't in the best mood which explains the reason why I violently threw the banana peel in the trash once I was done. Maybe I really ate the banana because I am sick. "Eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away" so maybe I ate the banana because it was a healthy option for a snack. I could have been thinking that I would feel better and become healthy again quicker. I also may have used the banana to gain enough strength to begin doing my homework for the day. The idea of all the exhausting homework I was about to do could have been enough to make me eat a banana before I even started to do any of the homework. Even though all these details surrounding my experience of eating a banana may have affected my experience slightly, I believe that my true reason behind my desire for eating a banana today was my spirit animal: Curious George.

Power in the Hands of the "Qualified"

     In the novel Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, Swift has Gulliver discover a unique society that is similar to a miniature version of the real world. This particular society calls themselves the Lilliputians. As Gulliver passes time in this bizarre world he finds out that the people that become officials in the government are chosen based on their ability to dance on rope. At first, I just assumed it to be a weird custom that the Lilliputians followed, and I was interested in their other customs. However, my curiosity about the rope dancing kept bothering me. As I was thinking about that some more, I soon came to realize that this was the only real qualification that a person in their society must have to become a government official. This makes absolutely no sense because these people aren't tested for their ability to actually run a government, but only for a trait that has almost no relation to their job. They even test current officials by making them dance on rope again to prove that they are still "qualified" for the job. Swift uses this irrational qualification to satirize the government of the real world, specifically England. He characterizes politics in general as faulty and ineffective since the most qualified people to run a government aren't necessarily chosen and only the people who, in this case, are good at impressing others are chosen. I found this satirization really interesting because Swift never explicitly says how ridiculous this qualification is and the fact that this can be easily related to today's world. 

How Did Frankenstein Not Predict Elizabeth's Death?

     After Frankenstein leaves his home, he learns from his professors about science and eventually his curiosity becomes so great that his they can't help him anymore. Frankenstein continues to fuel his curiosity for science by furthering his knowledge by himself and he ends up creating life, proving his brilliance. However, somehow Frankenstein is still not able to find out that Elizabeth was going to be murdered by his monster. His monster promises Frankenstein that the creature will be there for Frankenstein's wedding day. For months, Frankenstein believes that the creature will try to murder him and doesn't consider any other options. When the day finally arrives, Frankenstein obliviously leaves Elizabeth alone and the creature kills her. It is very intriguing that an intelligent man like Frankenstein was not able to predict this. All the creature wanted to do, after Frankenstein ruins the creation of his female companion, is to make Frankenstein's life miserable. If the creature was just going to kill Frankenstein, Frankenstein wouldn't be able to feel sadness the creature feels. By murdering Elizabeth, the creature does exactly what Frankenstein did to the creature. He is able to make Frankenstein overcome with anguish just like how the creature felt when Frankenstein took away the creature's chance for love. The fact that a man like Frankenstein wasn't able to figure this out is very perplexing. The creature even murders Frankenstein's good friend before to make Frankenstein guilty and to lose a companionship. The creature's goal to make Frankenstein experience the same pain that Frankenstein placed on the creature seems very obvious and the I find it very interesting on how an ingenious man like Frankenstein couldn't uncover this.