Frame Story

   The most basic definition of a frame story is a story within a story. Authors use frame stories when they want to connect multiple mini-stories or they want to provide multiple perspectives on a larger story. By allowing the writer to present a story within a story, a frame narrative leads the reader from the first story into another one, which is within the overall story. This guidance allows the frame narrative to establish the context for the embedded narrative and more specifically, call attention to the situation of how the story is told. The resulting effect of the guidance is that the frame narrative allows the writer to create the context for how the narrative should be interpreted. Frame narratives allow the author to provide the reader with multiple levels of meaning. Whether a narrative contains one embedded narrative or a series of related stories, the framing of a narrative creates opportunities for multiple levels of interpretation.

   Some examples of famous stories that use the frame narrative are Inception, Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, and Heart of Darkness. Some of these stories use a play within a play structure like Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew while other stories use the story within a story structure. Heart of Darkness had the main character tell his own story to the other surrounding characters.    

Good job, Quinn.
Mr. Murphy

Mercutio's Queen Mab Speech

I found Mercutio's Queen Mab speech to be particularly interesting as I thought it provided insight into Mercutio's character. To provide some context, Mercutio is trying to convince Romeo to set aside his depression over his love for Rosaline and come to the Capulet feast. When Romeo starts talking about how a particular dream of his made him sad, Mercutio launches into the Queen Mab speech. According to Mercutio, Queen Mab is a fair who supposedly brings dreams to people while they are sleeping. The main point Mercutio makes in his speech about Queen Mab is that the dreams Queen Mab brings to the person are directly related to the person who dreams them- lovers will dream of love, soldiers will dream of war, etc. While he is making this point however, Mercutio falls into a sort of wild bitterness in which he seems to see dreams as destructive and delusional. The manic way Mercutio gives this speech gives insight into how he may be an unstable character.
   For my research, I found an article on JSTOR by Donald Williams that described the different ways Mercutio's Queen Mab speech has been depicted. In the 1996 Baz Luhrmann Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio takes drugs just before the Queen Mab speech. In the Franco Zeffirelli 1968 film version, Mercutio seems manic-depressive; the Queen Mab speech starts out as an energetic manic episode but soon crumbles into a dark depression.

Shakespeare's use of Paradoxes

For this blog post, I decided to research Shakespeare's use of Paradoxes in his play. The definition of paradox is a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory. Some popular paradoxes they I already knew about are the Twin Paradox and the Pinocchio Paradox. The Twin paradox is a physics theory dealing with relativity. It states that if you have two twins the same age and have one stay on planet earth and and have another board a spaceship and travel a certain distance at the speed of light or a speed close to it, the twins will age differently. To give a quantitative example, if the twin on the spaceship travels 10 light years round trip in the span of a year and returns to earth, the twin that stayed on the earth will have aged 10 years while the twin on the ship will have only aged one year! This paradox has far reaching affects as it questions the concept of time itself and how it can vary from person to person based on the theory of relativity. The Pinocchio Paradox is a different kind of paradox as it results in an infinite logical loop in which there is no way to break from it. The Paradox states that if Pinocchio says his nose will grow, there is no logical solution. Based on the story of Pinocchio, every time he lies his nose would grow. If Pinocchio says his nose will grow and it grows, it would mean that he was lying when in fact he said the truth. Likewise if his nose does not grow he would also be lying, causing his nose to grow, which brings us back to the first statement of the loop. I have always found these paradoxes fascinating and I researched how Shakespeare used them to enhance his own works.
   In my research, I came across a paper by Peter G. Platt, who is a Professor of English at Barnard College. In his paper titled "Shakespeare and the Culture of Paradox", Platt researches the origins of Shakespeare's use of paradox and oxymoron. Platt states that Shakespeare adopted these literary devices from the Renaissance, where paradox and oxymoron came into being. He writes that Shakespeare used the foundation of paradox and oxymoron that the Renaissance created and built upon it, adding an immense vocabulary and a conceptual framework for his dizzying array of perspectives on love, gender, knowledge, and truth. Shakespeare's ability to confuse the reader/viewer and make them think about the deeper meaning of the themes of the play is one of the reasons his plays are heralded as the great works they are. He allows everyone to interpret the plays differently with the use of vague or open-ended paradoxes and oxymorons, which give his works a wealth of depth as plays can be reenacted in an almost infinite number of ways. His addition of these thought-provoking literary devices give his plays a versatility that has allowed them to be reenacted for centuries without ever becoming dull, repetitive, or played out. It is one of the reasons that makes Shakespeare's plays so popular.

Zodiac Signs

   To be perfectly honest, I know very little about the Zodiac Signs and the horoscopes accompany them. In fact, the only time I have ever researched the Zodiac Signs or horoscopes was in a sarcastic manner. I know that I am an Aquarius but thats about it. In my research, I looked at the history of the Zodiac Signs and where they came from. The Zodiac is believed to have developed in ancient Egypt and was later adopted by the Babylonians. The signs are divided into four groups: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The Fire signs are Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo; The Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces; The Air signs are Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini; and the Earth signs are Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. Each sign has different character traits and each sign gets a different horoscope.
   In my research, I focused on my own sign: Aquarius. Aquarius' are born between January 20th and February 18th. Their strengths include wittiness, cleverness, originality, creative, and caring. Their weaknesses are that they are stubborn, unemotional, sarcastic, rebellious, and aloof. In my research I found a wealth of information regarding the various relationships Aquarius' have in different areas of their lives, but I really started thinking about how Fate ties in to the Zodiac signs. Everyone likes being able to put blame on something other then themselves and having a sign give you a predisposition to act a certain way is the perfect excuse for one's behavior. Fate is such a relevant topic today because society loves having bad things be out of their hands.

Rings in Merchant of Venice

In an exchange between Portia and Bassanio, both characters use repetition and varying emphasis to express how they feel about Bassanio giving away the ring Portia gave to him. In this scene, Bassanio tries to explain to Portia that he gave the ring away for a good cause. He uses parallel sentence structure to add emphasis to his words and he makes it clear that he thinks he is in the right for giving away the ring. In the lines, "If you did know to whom I gave the ring, If you did know for whom I gave the ring, and how unwillingly I left the ring, When naught would be accepted but the ring," Bassanio emphasizes different words in each line to get his point across. He uses the same ending "the ring" to demonstrate how highly he valued it and this repetition adds to his argument that he did not part with the ring lightly. Portia uses similar repetition in her speech, but she emphasizes different words to get her point across that Bassassio was wrong in giving it away. She says, "If you had known the virtue of the ring, or half her worthiness that gave the ring, or your own honor to contain the ring, you would not then have parted with the ring." Portia emphasizes that Bassassio either does not care enough about Portia or does not realize what he has and that is evident by him giving up the ring. She emphasizes the meaning of the ring as much more than a piece of jewelry.
   In my research, I found a paper by Anastasia Feaster and Phillip Graff that discusses the significance of rings in Shakespeare's plays. In Shakespeare's time, wedding and engagement rings indicated commitment, just like they do today. The rings stood for the man's commitment to his wife. Rings were common among the richer parts of society, while peasants would give smaller tokens or none at all. Rings were a symbol of wealth in Shakespeare's time. The fact that Portia and Nerissa gave the men rings is symbolic of the wealth of the women and the status that they have.

I don't think you meant to say a predisposition to Catholicism. You meant Christianity. Catholics were hunted in Elizabethen England. Some solid work here, but not as srong as your blogs about Modernism.
Mr. Murphy