a "good" person:

First I will start with a list of characteristics that I think a "good" person should have. This does not mean that people are not good if they make mistakes and do the wrong thing, or display characteristics at time that contradict my following list. The characteristics I hold as important are: Honest, kind, loyal, considerate, selfless, giving, and true. To be a good person, you do not have to be perfect. To be a good person, to me, means that you do your best to minimize the pain of others and if at all possible, maximize their happiness. If you are a good person then people should be able to trust you, to count on you, know that you will have their back but not to lie to them just to make them feel better. People should be able to come to you if they need you and you should be there for them as much as you can be. And, a good person would give all of these things in return. I know that people make mistakes and misjudge situations, and what's done is done and you can't take those things back. To me, that does not make them bad people. Good people are not perfect people, everyone makes mistakes. A good person feels bad about their wrong doings and tries to make them right if it is possible. Sometimes good people do bad things and I am not condoning that behavior, but I am not going to condemn that person either. Which brings me to think that I should also add forgiving to my list of characteristics for good people to have. I think that my definition compares with the ones we have read this week in the play and two short stories in different aspects. After reading all of the assigned texts, I am able to right a more comprehensive definition for myself about what being "good" means. Each story covered a different lesson, a different set of characteristics to be valued. They are all good stories and I have learned from each of them individually. I have learned enough to be able to write a comprehensive list of character traits that I value enough to use as a base for defining a "good" person. I am not saying that my list is the be-all end-all of good characteristics by any means, it is just a good jumping-off point in which I can build upon and try to emulate myself.

Antigone

Antigone was a heroine who saw past her own pain and suffering and did what she believed to be right. She knew that not doing something would be worse than facing the punishment that Creon would give her. She tried to tell Creon that he was wrong in his doings, as did many others. Antigone did eventually end up being banished to live in a cave where she immediately hung herself after being placed there. I don't think that she did this to giver herself glory or to make sure that Creon suffered. I think she saw past all of that and did this as a way to make an example of a situation so that others would remember it forever. So, yes, I do believe she did it to solidify her fame, but not in a selfish way. I do believe that she wanted Creon to suffer, and I do believe that she wanted to be famous, but she wanted it for the right reasons. She wanted for everyone to always remember and never forget the story of Creon, king of Thebes, who held his own pride above all else. She did this so that the story would stand the test of time so that nothing like this would ever happen again. Because of this, I do think that Antigone is a good person. She stood up for her beliefs in the face of death. She made a change for all others at her own expense.

good people

There are many different ways in this story that you could think of people as being "good" or "bad", which is the theme of the short story. Lane Dean is sitting frozen thinking about the decisions that people make and what those decisions say about that person. In the beginning of the story Lane Dean thinks that to be a good person he must sit silently and wait for Sheri to say something that gave him a clue as to what he should say to make her feel better. Then his thoughts changed, he thought that it would make him a hypocrite to say what he thinks would comfort her but then to not really mean what he said to her. He worried that it would make him a liar and that he might be doomed to Hell. Then he thought about how lying would get him what he wanted. That again made him feel like he was a bad person because he was thinking of lying to her for his own good, to get what he wanted. Then he realized that lying is not the way to go. He needed to be honest, but in being honest he would hurt Sheri. Sheri even offers him an out, saying that he does not hold him to any responsibility with the child other than his respect of her decision to not go through with the abortion. He feels really horrible when he hears her say this because he knows that she is lying. He knows that she views him as a good person who will make the right decision. But, his "right decision" and her version of the "right decision" are two different things. He knows that he must be honest to be a good person and make the right decision, and in doing so he must tell Sheri that he does not love her. He is sure that he doesn't love her, but needs to find the courage within himself to say it out loud.

what it means to be a "good" person

The different definitions of a "good" person are given by many characters throughout the short story. First the grandma thinks that to be a "good" person you must be respectful of each other and not speak rudely to others. Next in the play a different definition of "good" comes from Red Sammy, the owner of a barbecue stand that the family stops by on their trip. He thinks that a "good" person is someone that you can trust. He values honesty. Next, we get the Misfit's definition of being a "good" person. Once again, the definition we receive is based on what the character speaking values. The Misfit does not value much. His idea of a good person is someone who inflicts suffering on others for their own happiness. He values doing whatever he wants. To me, each person has their own definition of what being a "good" person means, and this is all based on our own personal values. If you have none other than to bring your own self happiness, then you will act recklessly in order to fulfill that. If you value honesty, then to you, a "good" person is an honest person. To me, my values reconcile most with the grandmother's and Red Sammy's definition of "good" people. I value honesty, respectfulness, and being kind to one another. The final comment made by the Misfit saying that the grandmother would have been a good woman if someone would have been there to shoot her every minute of her life, is confusing to me. I tried to put a meaning behind it, and I would be able to look up what other people have thought about it and then come to some sort of realization of what he meant, but I don't want to do that. I have not yet figured out what he means by this... But I will continue to try to figure it out.

watching the play

 R. (2013). "A Midsummer Night's Dream" presented by Rice University Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-bJjrVOtI

I watched "A Midsummer Night's Dream" performed by the theater department at Rice University. It was fairly easy to follow, only after reading the play. If I hadn't read the play before watching it, it would be much more difficult to understand. I think that is because in this video they talk extremely fast and sometimes they don't pronunciate enough. If I were used to hearing people still use this type of language, it would be no problem, but I'm not. This is not how we typically hear people converse in this time period. So, with the language being harder to follow, I would definitely recommend reading the play before watching it and using that time to also find a resource that will translate the language into sentences that you would more commonly hear today. I used sparknotes in order to do this. They break down the entire play in this way.

Other than the language barrier difference between reading the play and watching it, I found it very helpful to watch the play in order to distinguish the characters. Putting faces to names helped make the play more fun to watch and I think that if I went back and re-read the play now I would use the images that I can recall from watching the play to help me re-enact the play in my mind while I was reading it.

Puck

I think that Puck is the main protagonist in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". He is the fairy that Oberon tells to go find a special flower. This special flower has the power to make anyone fall in love with the first person they see when they awake. Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and spreads the flower over Lysanders eyes. When he awakes he sees Helena and then falls in love with her. Demetrius also falls in love with Helena. Puck is the one that started all of this. Then Demetrius and Lysander begin to fight with each other. Puck imitates their voices and leads them away from each other so that they are lost in the forest separately. Also Helena and Hermia start arguing and Hermia challenges Helena to a fight! This was all instigated by Puck. Oberon ends up having to fix all of this mess that Puck has created. In the end, everything works out as Lysander falls back in love with Hermia and Demetrius and Helena are in love and they all get married. At the end of the play Puck apologizes for his mishaps and tell everyone to think of it all as a dream.

Sundays too

In the poem "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, it is written from the son's perspective. It starts with the words, "Sundays too" which to me means that on Sundays which are supposed to be a day a rest, his father would rise just as early as he does during the weekdays. He does not take rest, because he starts a fire before everyone else gets up so that they are not cold when they awake. He puts that duty, amongst all others during the week, upon himself. He gets no thanks, and his sons speaks indifferently towards him. Because then he did not know what he does now. He did those things out of love, he did not need thanks or gratitude. In resemblance to WIlly Loman, he also works hard day after day. The difference here is that Willy requires those thanks and songs of praises in order to think of himself as successful. The father in this poem does not do that, he just rises every morning and does what is needed to be done. Whereas with Willy's perspective on life I do not see that it was so easy for him to rise every morning without effort and do what needed to be done. This might be just because I am from the Midwest but I see this as a difference in lifestyles. I see the father in the poem to be a hardworking man who keeps his head down and just does what is needed and sees success as being able to have a happy, healthy family with food on the table. Willy represents a different lifestyle. He represents someone who thinks that success is having everything in the world at your fingertips, not having to cook your own meals or do the work anymore. Someone who takes health for granted, like it should just be there. This week reading these stories and thinking about them in terms of the world we live in today has solidified to me that it is so important that we view things with a positive attitude, because so much of our life is affected by our attitude towards what happens. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it and what we decide to turn that experience in to.