Romeo and Juliet: Journal #9

(Journal for Act V)

I think Romeo and Juliet are viewed as heroes both by the officials and their families. They sacrifices as heroes for the hatred between the Capulets and Montagues.

At Act V Scene III, lines 292-293, the Prince says: "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!". The Prince is talking to the families and telling them this is a punishment for their fault. I think it also indicates that Romeo and Juliet sacrificed for their family's hatred, which would be a heroic act. 

At Act V Scene III, lines 303-304, Capulet says: "As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie—poor sacrifices of out enmity!". First he is agreeing to Montague, who previously said he would raise a statue of Juliet. More importantly, he admits that their children has become sacrifices for their own problem.

No one has ever said anything to wash off their own responsibility or blame Romeo and Juliet for all the problems. They admitted and regretted their acts. Everyone sees Romeo and Juliet as victims who heroically sacrificed for their families; and they did. They sacrificed for the greater good; their families has put away their hatred and come together at last.

Tiger,

5/18/16

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #8 (#7 Skipped)

(Journal for Act IV)

In my views, I think the Capulets are seen as "bad guys". They did not really care for Juliet's feelings before her death or even after her death.

Before Juliet "died", she rejects the idea to marry Paris. To that reaction, Capulet does not care about her opinion, he basically forces her to marry instead. Capulet says in Act III (not supposed to be mentioned in this journal but only as an example) that if she does not marry Paris, she then will not look  him in the face ever again. You might say that this is quite understandable, maybe he is just saying these things but doesn't actually mean it. He might not mean it, but he definitely does not care for Juliet's feelings.

Even after Juliet "dies", all Capulet cares about is the ruined wedding! They never say anything like "oh, I shouldn't have given her too much pressure". Instead, all he sees in his eyes is that it shouldn't have happened on a wedding day. In Act IV Scene 5, lines 61-62, Capulet says: "Uncomfortable time, why camest thou now To murder, murder our solemnity?". He is saying why the sad time came at this moment and killed their "solemn wedding". Capulet only exclaims about the wrong time this death came, but not the death itself. He can care less about whether Juliet's alive or not. All he cares about is the "murder" and "death" of the wedding. In this case, Lady Capulet expressed more personal sorrows than Capulet, she exclaims how sad this moment is and how cruel death is rather than sorrowing for the wedding. Though she does actually care for Juliet more than Capulet does; however, she still only emphasizes the importance of her presence rather than her emotions or feelings.

It is quite hard to say whether they are "bad guys" or complex human beings. They can be expressed either ways. They can be seen as sorrowing for their lost after Juliet's "death" (complex human beings). Or they can be seen as not caring for their child's emotions ("bad guys"). It all depends on the reader's own comprehension.

Tiger,

5/17/16

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #6

(Journal for Act III, Scenes I-III)

I think their reactions prove that Juliet is a very self-conflicting person, and confirms that Romeo is a really emotional and pathetic person.

In Scene II, when Juliet heard the news from the nurse that Romeo killed Tybalt, she becomes angry at Romeo, (Act III Scene II, line 79) "A damned saint, an honorble villain". However, from this sentence, we can also tell that these are completely opposite words used together that don't make sense. Later when the nurse agrees with her and curse on Romeo as she did, she defends Romeo, (Act III Scene II, line 91) "Blistered be thy tongue". She still loves Romeo but she's also angry at him for killing their kinsman. She cannot make up her mind. 

In Scene III, when Romeo heard the news that he got banished from Verona, he just starts sorrowing and complaining to Friar Laurence about how bad this is even compared to death. At Act III Scene III, lines 29-33, Romeo says: "'Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here, where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog and little mouse, every unworthy thing, live here in heaven and may look on her; but Romeo may not". Like how Romeo always is, he only looks at the bad side of an event. He does not appreciate that the Prince did not give him a death sentence but rather a banishment. If he is not satisfied by the banishment, he should think of a plan to get back to Juliet. But he just sits on the ground and do nothing but sorrows and complains about how animals are better than him. Romeo is a very dramatic and pathetic person, and his rational mind definitely gets covered by his emotions when bad things happen.

Romeo and Juliet are both very emotional persons. However, Juliet has more of a self-conflicting personality than a pathetic one. Romeo, needless to say, has nothing but a pathetic mind.

Tiger,

5/15/16

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #5

(Journal for Act II, Scenes III-VI)

I do not agree with Romeo. Actually, I think it's a very childish and irrational. 

My opinions here are going to conflict with my perspectives in my last journal. But I do want to back up for both sides of view.

Firstly, Romeo changes his mind about his "love" and emotions very fast. Yesterday he was crying all night over Rosaline; today he totally forgets about her! At Act II, Scene III, lines 45-46: "No. I have forgot that name, and that name's woe". This sentence completely proves his childish views about love. Only because of the woe that his "love" Rosaline brought him, he is going to give her up without even blinking his eyes. Romeo says that he totally forgets about Rosaline after he saw Juliet. But how can we know if he will completely forget about Juliet after seeing another one or not?

Secondly, he states that their time now is worth the price of them both dying. Romeo just assumes that Juliet will want to die with him even if he has the will. From my perspective, it is quite a selfish action. Only because he wants to die with her and have the joy, she will also need to die with him even if she does not want to.

I think they really need to think about it before deciding something life this, because death is a quite serious topic. Or it might just be some sweet words Romeo says to impress Juliet while he doesn't actually mean it. (I am assuming I have no knowledge of the ending when I write this...)

Tiger,

5/11/16

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #4

(Journal for Act II, Scenes I-II)

I think the love between Romeo and Juliet is very true, inspiring, and selfless. They both sacrifices themselves to have other's presence. They know the risk of getting caught and its consequences but still do it in order to meet and talk to each other. During their conversation, at Act II Scene II lines 71-73: "Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet and I am proof against their enmity". Juliet is warning him that if her family sees him they will murder him. But Romeo is eventually saying that as long as he has her smile, he will be defended. Romeo is risking his life to talk to Juliet right now, and I do not believe this can be faked, it is pure selfless love. Like I have said in the previous journals, Romeo is a very emotional person, so you might say that he is only doing this by his emotions controlling and he is not realizing the true consequences. But when it comes to one's life, one will always look for the way to survive. Romeo is doing exactly the opposite. His love to Juliet is strong and true enough for his emotions to override his will to live. That is why I believe that their love is true and selfless as anything can ever be.

Tiger,

9 May 2016

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #3 (#2 Skipped)

(Journal for Act I, Scene IV-V)

I think Mercutio is a foil to Romeo in the way they view and think about things. Romeo always thinks things are hopeless and he has a very pathetic view. Mercutio, in contrast, is quite optimistic and makes fun out of things that aren't the best instead of getting upset over them.

For example, in Act IV, lines 27-28, when Mercutio is trying to cheer Romeo up: "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down". Mercutio, I believe, is not only just a nice friend of Romeo's, but also a very positive and inspiring person. Even though Romeo's sad atmospheres is covering over all the happiness, Mercutio was still trying to joke and save him from the pathetic mood.

Also, Romeo often worry about too many things, while Mercutio is mostly in a relaxed mood. In Act IV, lines 106-11, Romeo says: "I fear, too early; for my mind misgives some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night's revels and expires the term of a despised life, closed in my beast, by some vile forfeit of untimely death". In this quote, Romeo is fearing that some terrible event is going to happen caused by the stars. This might foreshadow his meeting with Juliet later but it can also show that he worry about little things too much. Which contrasts to Mercutio, which gives people a happy, relaxed mood.

Tiger,
5/5/2016

Romeo and Juliet: Journal #1

(Journal for Act I, Scene I)

I think Romeo, from the inferences I can make right now, is a very emotional person. After he falls in love, he cries all day without doing anything else, just one whole day with pathetic emotions. We can prove this in his actions and words. 

Look at some lines when Lord Montague is describing his son when he returns to home at Act 1, Scene 1, lines 131-133: "And private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes him and artificial night". At night, he goes out to the woods and cries all night. When he returns, he locks himself in his room having nothing but sad emotions. These actions shows that he is completely driven by his emotions (love) and nothing else.

Through his conversation with Benvolio, the mood he is in is all shown in his words. I believe that there is no need to quote a specific sentence because any line he says can be quoted! I even feel surrounded by sad atmospheres when he starts talking. Romeo is so sad and emotional that it can be easily spotted in the words he speaks.

Tiger,

5/3/2016

Why I + Don't Want to Meet or Sing with the Artist I Like

I am personally not "obsessed" with any musicians, I don't really get crazy when thinking about meeting or singing a duet with a musician I like. I purely just enjoy the music itself rather than going for names. Thus it is really hard for me to choose one, or I should say that I don't really have the willingness to sing a duet with the musician I like or any of them. I think meeting them and getting to know them personally destroys the pure likeness for the music itself. I rather don't want to be obsessed with any musician, because then I cannot enjoy the music purely. For example, when you look at my list of singers in my "liked music", the singer that has the most songs in my playlist only has 6 songs, and most of them only have 1 or 2 songs. It might be that the fact that I don't know them creates an attraction of mystery to me. So I can image out what they're like myself. Anyways, my point of listening to music is not about going for a certain musician, but rather just to relax myself with it. If I find a piece of music I like, I will get it without knowing its singer. I know that you might argue that singing a duet is a different story from getting to know the musician personally. So I prepared a simpler and clearer answer to that question: I CAN'T SING!

Jiahua (Tiger) Wang

21 April 2016

"Spring is the nature's way of saying 'let's party,'"

Based on the fundamentals of "partying", which is basically socializing, I would interpret this quote as spring, in his opinion, is the time when both the nature starts to "socialize" and when humans start to socialize and spend time with each other a lot.

 I cannot completely agree with him on this idea. It is true and I agree that spring is when nature starts to "socialize"：blooming flowers, animals awake from winter sleep and so on (unless it is like last year when the flower bloomed in December😒...). However, I cannot fully agree with him on the human part. As to our basic human nature, it is still somewhat true, because we were basically animals in the time periods like the Stone Age. We couldn't fulfill our need of shelter and food during winter and wouldn't have time and effort to socialize. Then when spring comes, we become less dependent on the shelters and food is easier to find, so we start to socialize with others a lot and "party". But the human society has evolved through time. We have left the Stone Age and gone to something way greater. As from our perspectives from now, with social and technology advancements, we can literally "party" and make fun out of any time we want to. Also, the advancements of our society have brought us more time and effort to entertain ourselves rather than hunting for food all day long.

Though I do not fully agree with him on the human perspective, but I must  admit that spring is a great time of the year to enjoy nature. However, I do believe that every season has its own beauty and it's just lacking the ones able to discover it.

Jiahua (Tiger) Wang

22 March 2016

A Potato's World - Kids Television Show

I believe the goal of a children television show or anything else for young children would be to show them the beauty and love of this world. Even though the real world isn't always like that, but the show just need to remind the child when they grow up, face troubles, there is always a kind side to this world.

I think if the show is overexaggerated from the real world. It will just be viewed as a lie when the viewers grow up. So the show need to show the kind side of the world, exaggerate it, but in a realistic way. In another word, the show needs to be relatable to them when they think of it as an adult. My plan of a kids TV show is "A Potato's World". I plan to show the little things in life that matters from a view from a potato. I choose "potato" not only because it is sometimes what I call myself, but also because that a potato is a very small, small part of the life. And the small things might show all the small details about this world. So when the viewers face trouble, hopefully they can look at the small little things in this world that not only matters, but also remind them about the beauty of this world. Really, the stories the potato tell can even show the dark side of the world. But the whole goal here is to remind the viewers that a thing can be also viewed from two sides, it might seems horrible now but there might be something in it that's good and they might later appreciate it. It might also teach the viewers to not only perfect the overall situation, but also paying attention to the small details around it. 

I am not sure if I ever was taught this point of view when I was a child. But right now, I do understand the importance of viewing this world optimistically. However, I do understand that other people, even maybe the future me, might think that the world is hopeless. So if I ever create I kid television show, I will definitely emphasize the importance of optimistic views, and beauty, kind, and hope in this world.

Jiahua (Tiger) Wang

25 February 2016

Cupid and His Bow

When I looked up and saw Cupid with his bow, I knew we were in trouble. I knew that we would fall in love with each other. I knew that I probably will never get out of it. I knew that what ever happens afterward, I will be in deep, deep trouble with it, the potato.

This is a exaggerated imagery of me right now thinking about when I was a little kid and how I probably fell in love of eating potatoes. (Completely fictional)

It was a dark afternoon, I just finished my homework, now playing Minecraft on my old HP. The smog outside was strong, but not as strong as the bitter, tart smell of the potatoes. The house was small, the strong smell of the potatoes made its way from the kitchen to the computer, and right at that moment, I was amazed of how disgusted I felt. Even though it's probably the one millionth time of me smelling the abhorrent smell of these vegetables (yes, I do consider potato a vegetable), but I was still surprised of the actual feeling I felt. Since my grandma started cooking in the kitchen, I've been preparing for this moment to come, however, the preparation is obviously not enough, it is still not possible for me imaging the feeling of the potatoes, and the smell hit me like a bullet and I was striked down to my bed. I covered my nose and all my senses with double, no, triple, layers of blankets. But I still underestimated the power of these potatoes. I was hit so hard that I felt dying even better than standing the smell of the potatoes, the one millionth time I felt the same way. Every time after the smell went away, I always think to myself that that reaction was stupid and irrational, and I need to get use to these feelings and it is not that bad after all. And then come the next time, I could never overcome these fears, the fears of the smells of the potatoes reaching to my senses. 

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of me putting my self under triple layers of banket, the moment came. The moment deciding whether I will live or not. Grandma called me with her heavy accent, "Come out to eat, now!" I slowly walked through the doorway, I said to the computer in silent, remember me. As I walked closer and closer to the evil plate, the feeling of disgust got stronger and stronger exponentially. It was harder and harder for me to walk towards it, the lack of happiness spread all over my face. I tried my best to resist the feeling, and sat down, then "relaxed" my head in the chair waiting for my death to come. The plate of boiled beef and potato was right in front of me. Maybe to you, the smell of the beef is definitely stronger than the potatoes, something barely has any smell to it. But to me, no matter how strong the beef was, the potatoes overrode it anyway. I was avoiding the real world, I was avoiding the fact that I will eventually "eat" it somehow. And I know what my grandma is going to say right at this moment, "Get up and eat! I cooked this for you and you are going to eat it, I am not feeding it to the cat again!" By the ordering of my grandma, I got up and faced the the evil plate. I carefully picked all the beef in it and enjoyed it as my last meal before my death. And there it comes, the final moment, the moment of my final death. It is like putting two magnets with the same poles together, it is not possible. But my grandma is definitely gonna try anyways with me and the potatoes. I've gone through many of the same situations in my life and I know if I resist the potatoes right now, she is going to get very very mad. So I carefully picked up the smallest one with my chopstick. Putting it closer and closer to my mouth, my hands were shaking, and I wish I could just throw up and then she wouldn't forced it to me anymore. But I didn't. The potato had to get in my mouth and fill it with the disgusting bitter taste, I just hated it. There are no other words that describe my feeling towards potatoes other than "I HATE IT". Every single chewing was torturing, I tried to speed up the chewing process and just swallow it down my throat. Finally, I was over with the first one, then I looked down at the plate, there were probably more than a million to go. I was exhausted already by the first one, how am I going to do the same thing to every one of them in that evil plate. I "rested" my head on the chair again, thinking how I can avoid eating all of them. Then I saw something in the corner of the room. I  looked up and saw Cupid with his bow, I knew we were in trouble. I knew that we would fall in love with each other. I knew that I probably will never get out of it. I knew that what ever happens afterward, I will be in deep, deep trouble with it, the potatoes. I didn't know that I was happy or not. I didn't know whether I want to fall in love with potatoes or not. The only thing that I thought I about was that I am finally going to get over with the fear of potatoes. And I did.

The end of my completely fictional story of how I fell in love with the potato.

I probably have a lot of tense errors in there, so ignore them...

DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NEVER HATED POTATOES IN MY LIFE!!

Jiahua (Tiger) Wang

11 Febuary 2016

Love Poem

Love,

It is holy,

We live for it,

We die for it.

 

Love,

Everyone has it,

Romeo and Juliet,

Valentine the Saint,

Even ones who fight.

 

Love,

It is not about difficulty,

It is not a duty,

It is a cure.

"Famous" Artist/Athlete I Want To Meet

It is hard for me to make a decision on the subject of this post, because of two reasons. First, I do not watch sports, at all. Second, I rarely listen to English songs (I used to listen only English songs until the music field ended up how it is today). So I am going to do a person that isn't technically "famous", though he is very famous in China. 

If I have a chance of meeting one artist or athlete, I would choose to meet Wang Feng (汪峰). He is a singer, composer, and a lyricist. He started to compose music during his years in high school (1988). His early works are largely influenced by Cui Jian (崔健), Bob Dylan, and the Beatles. He began a band called No. 43, Bao Jia Street (鲍家街43号) which is named by the address of his own university and made up of him and his classmates in 1993. In 2000, the band was dismissed, and soon, he released his own album. He and Cui Jian are both called the "Father of Chinese Rock Music" (highly disputed on the Internet of who is the actual one). Though his musics are mostly rock musics, it is not like hard rock music, it is more like smoothed rock music which expresses many actual feelings.

I first got to listen to his songs when I was very little (because my mom is a huge fan of him). It is not only the music, the lyrics really touches my feelings also. I listen to him sometimes to just get reflections to my own feelings. I look at him not only just as a singer, I look at him more as a poet. He himself is very talented, it is really hard to have someone who not only compose heart-touching musics, but also writes heart-touching words. I wish he can keep up the great work in the future also! 加油汪峰！

Jiahua (Tiger) Wang

1/21/16

Individualism vs. Collectivism

I do not have much experience with a collectivism society. Though I lived in a "Communist" country for 12 years, but in many ways, China is not really a Communist society anymore, even it does not practice Individualism completely. The first time I got to experience a "complete" indivualism society is when I came to the United States. Many ideas were new but I had experienced most of them in a somewhat "limited" way during my time in China.

One country that I definitely know that practices complete Individualism is the United States. Capitalism, a product of Individualism, is widely spread. The proposition that all persons shares the same rights, another great product of Individualism, is practiced everywhere. One good product of Individualism would be "inventing". If Edison was in a community which practices Collectivism completely, he would never have invented the light bulb, for the simple fact that individual thinking is "not allowed". Even though one has the ability to do great things, one could not practice them because everyone must be as the same as everyone else. If we lived in a Collective society, we would not have the advanced technologies that we have today. We would still use what is considered "old technologies" today. We would still be using candles, horses instead of light bulbs and cars.

Today's China is probably not a very good example, but China in the 50s and 60s definitely practices complete Communism without doubt. I did not experience these ages but I have heard them from my mom and my grandma. From the words my mom told me which my grandma told her, China seems like a different country from now. Political propagandas about Communism and how good it is was spray painted on walls everywhere, everyone had a handbook of Mao Zedong (Chinese Communist Leader)'s famous speeches, people and the whole society seemed like they were brainwashed. People actually worked in a collective when the Communist nation was first created. People worked in farms as a collective, ate as a collective, but that was soon canceled due to its low efficiency. Later, people were "assigned" farmlands to work on, and they got certain amounts of "Food Tickets", which can exchange for food, depending on the amount of grains/rice they produced. But they didn't really owned anything (even right now in China, nobody actually "owns" any property, when someone buys a house, he has the property for 70 years, and then it is returned to a bank which is mostly owned by the government). One advantage of a Collective community it is that it's very easy to manage, which is probably one reason that Chinese government chose Communism because of China's large population. If no one has individual property or even individual thinking, there would be no problem at all to manage the whole society. The ruler of the community would not have to worry about any rebellions either, because everyone is just trying to model everyone else.

Lastly, I do believe a Individualist Society is better for us, humans. Collectivism does have its advantages, but we are not robots. Whether the law is going to permit us think or not, we are going to. They have to relize the fact that it is not possible for everyone and everything to be the same—they have to relize that they are trying to reach a goal that could never be reached—they have to relize that we, humans, have their own ideas and are different from each other.

Jiahua(Tiger) Wnag

1/15/16