For the sun will rise And the moon will set And learn how to settle For what you get. It will all go on if we're here or not So who cares? So what? So who cares? So what?
Mama Doesn't even have an inkling That I'm working in a Nightclub In a pair of Lacy pants. So please, sir. If you run into my Mama, Don't reveal my indiscretion,
What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret
Come taste the wine, Come hear the band. Come blow your horn, Start celebrating; Right this way, Your table's waiting
Start by admitting From cradle to tomb Isn't that long a stay. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Only a Cabaret, old chum, And I love a Cabaret!
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, a writer born in Boston on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7, 1849, was one of the most miserable ones I have ever heard of. Poe's father, David Poe Jr., left Edgar when he was not even one year old, and his mother, Eliza Poe, died from tuberculosis a year later. He then lived in the back of the curtain of prop room until he was informally adopted by the Allan family, from which he got his middle name. Edgar Allen Poe attended University of Virginia but soon he dropped out, just like so many poets, after getting involved in gambling and having debts.
Poe, at the age of 18, soon enlisted himself as a private in the United States Army. His stepfather supported Poe to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, but as soon as Poe was discharged from the Academy, Allan never accepted Poe as a stepson again. Because Poe got an award for his short novel, he could work at Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond from 1835 to 1837. Though he was close to an alcoholic, he wrote lots of creative works, which made the paper popular.
In 1835, 26-year-old Poe married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm. After experiencing a very poor living conditions during economic crisis in the US, Clemm fell sick; she suffered from tuberculosis and poverty for five years until she died in 1847. In the year Clemm died, Poe wrote a poem Annabel Lee:
It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.
In the poem Edgar Allan Poe reflected his emotions when he had to let her wife die in poverty. Poe expressed his sadness not only in this poem but also in the Raven.
Poe could only live for two years after his wife's death; he suffered from depression and even tried a suicide with doses of opium. Although he had a couple lovers, with whom he planned to start a new life. On the morning of September 28, 1849, he appeared in a hospital in Baltimore, lingering on the verge of death. It is said that he disappeared without any treatment and on October 3, people in the street found him unconcious; in the hospital he suffered from insanity and in the morning of October 7 he died.
A fictional movie with Edgar Allan Poe is in the making and I am more than excited to watch how this man with the most miserable life will be depicted in the movie! Here is the trailer.
I was making my college list last week, and I thought I might as well look at colleges' libraries. So many prestigious colleges had beautiful libraries, and I ended up looking up beautiful college libraries. I wanted to introduce some of them.
Georgetown University's Riggs library blew my mind. Look at those gold bars and windows! This library was built in 1889 majorly to make space for 105,000 volumes of university archives and books.
This is University of Chicago's Harper library. It's interesting because not only its ceiling is gorgeous but also it is one of the largest university libraries.
This is Pratt Institute's library, the one I have actually been to. I liked it because its warm colors and round arches created comfortable atmosphere. Though it was not a gigantic library, I could find many intriguing and artsy archives, like culture magazines, lying everywhere in the library (probably because it's an art school library).
University of Pennsylvania's Fine Arts libary has a studious atmosphere -- if I were in that library I'd probably want to study.
This is Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. I love the modern interior and the fact that each block of the column in the middle of the picture is a bookshelf!
Uris library, Cornell's oldest library, is another library with great interior design built in the 19th century. This library is special because of another large, three-story room library called Andrew Dickson White library that is built within it.
I don't know what college and what library I'll end up going but one thing I'm sure that no libraries will give out gigantic chocolate chip cookies or have the sweetest library dog that would put his head on my lap and wait until I pet him.
Throughout the Poetry Class, I had great opportunities to learn as well as to write poems both inside and outside of the class. As a class, I was able to create my own poems even though I have never written one in my life. I not only learned about specific poets and poetry but also wrote creative poems, including "tomato" poem, "When I am 2%" poem, and blackout poem. I learned how to express my thoughts and imagination without any embarrassment to share my ideas though I felt nervous as I read my "Walgreen" poem but was able to accomplish due to the classmate's encouraging claps and cheer:).
Also I realized that having blog, personal writing space, to share my ideas and opinions was neat project to do. I always wanted to create a blog where I can introduce movies, musicals, music, or culture; share my opinions and critics on books; and talk about specific events. In my blog, I was able to share wide variety of topics- Great Depression to Super Junior. I also enjoyed promoting our blog- sharing blog posts with my friends and people whom I do not know and receiving helpful comments.
I, throughout the course, not only learned history or techniques of poetry but also received chance to become a poet myself. Poetry is unlimited: Poets can share and write their poems whatever their minds tell them to write!
I used to think that poetry was just a way for people to express themselves and let out anger and stress. From this blog project, I learned that poetry represents how the world was at the time it was written. The poetry can express how people felt about the government, global occurances, and even other people. The poets were basically documenting human history. Through this blog project, I realized that you don't have to look hard to relate poetry to real life and find connections to historical happenings of the time. I also realized that all poetry can have different meanings to different people. Poetry is subjective.
The fall musical at my school is Man of La Mancha. At first, I wasn't too excited about this show. I heard the story line and it sounded dry and boring. After this past week, I can honestly say that Man of La Mancha is the farthest thing from boring. I would compare the format of the story to something along the lines of Inception.
The opening scene shows prisoners in a dungeon during the Inquisition. Don Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant have been put in prison because, as a taxpayer, Cervantes, in favor of equality, foreclosed on a church. Don Miguel, a poet as well as a tax collector, is robbed of his properties and effects the second his is thrown into the prison. The Governor and the Duke, two other men in prison, hold a mock trial for the new inmate to decide on whether or not they should return the stolen items. The Duke charges Cervantes with being "an idealist, a bad poet, and an honest man." Miguel pleads guilty but would like to provide the jury, the other prisoners, with the opportunity to change their minds "in the form of a charade." He enlists the help of his manservant, the Governor, the Duke, and various other inmates to help him perform this story. Thus, the fabulous tale of La Mancha is formed.
Cervantes becomes Senor Quijana, a man who has "left the sane world" and become a knight-errant known as Don Quixote de La Mancha. His manservant becomes Quixote's trusty squire, Sancho, the Governor becomes the innkeeper in La Mancha, and the Duke becomes Quijana's niece's fiance and doctor, Dr. Carrasco. There are three story lines that the audience must keep straight throughout the play. The first layer, as I like to call it, is the prison scene where Cervante's main goal is to convince the to prisoners to return his property to him and get out of jail. The second layer, has Senor Quijana with his niece, doctor, house keeper and the local Padre, who are all trying to get him to once again become a sane person.
Throughout the show, the Padre and Dr. Carrasco are trying to get Quijana to remember who he really his and convince him that everything else is just a dream. The third layer, is the story of Don Quixote, who is trying to be dubbed a knight when he stumbles upon a castle. In this castle, he finds a most wonderful lady named Dulcinea and sets out to make her, his. The only problem with all this is that Quixote is really the only person who sees these things. His lady, Dulcinea, in layer two is really a kitchen maid and a prostitute. The castle in which he visits to gain his knighthood, is really just an inn. Throughout the show, Cervantes, Senor Quijana, and Don Quixote set out to "dream the impossible dream."
If you would like to see more, check out the movie but if you have the opportunity, I would suggest you see the play. You won't regret it.
This is a song that Don Quixote sings to Dulcinea.
Are you stressed about the exams? Do you feel that you are not quiet ready to take BIG, LONG tests? Though I had exams throughout middle school and three years of high school, I still feel burden when I am preparing for the exams. But studying for the exam can be easier if you know the "right way" to study.
1. Make Flashcards.
Careless which subject you are studying for, there are lots of information that you are expected to know. Before using flashcards, I thought I could memorize events, dates, and definitions right off from the notes or textbooks; however, when I actually set down to take the test, I could not remember everything that I was suppose to know because I "thought'" I knew the materials instead of actually "knowing" the materials.
The one of the reasons that I did not make flashcards is because I believed it took up too much time just making them. But thanks to technology, you can easily make flashcards online at http://quizlet.com. By using flashcards, it helps you actually memorize and know the terms and materials that are required for test.
2. Seek for Help.
When I first entered high school, I believed asking for help only showed the teachers that I was not ready for the tests. But after actually getting help from my teacher, I realized that seeking help was nothing to be ashamed of since I learned exactly "how" and "what" to study and prepare for the test. So do not be AFRAID of asking questions!
Also I found asking peers, who already took the course, were also helpful since they might have different explanations that you can understand better. So do not be shy or be shamed to ask! Asking for help is beneficial to you and your grades.
3. Turn off Electronics.
Do you tend to listen to music while you are studying? Or do you check your phone to "check the time"? You really should not have anything around you when you are studying since it is distraction!
For example, I use to use my computer when I studied for my exams since I had to ask my friend on Facebook. The next thing I realized is that I was "chatting" and "playing" instead of actually studying for the exam.
The time intervals do not have to be long. Take breaks between to refresh yourself and your brain so that you can learn, understand, and remember better.
4. Make Study Group.
Personally, meeting with study group is time when I get to organize my thoughts and facts. By talking and debating with peers, I learned where I struggled as well as where I do not fully understand. Also drafting study guide as a group will be helpful to you and people in the group so that when you are studying alone. I also think the topics brought up in conversation are the things that people can remember the best during the exam. So make sure people in the group are also dedicated to study so that you can actually learn from the study group.
5. Use Resources.
Like flashcards, use other resources that would help you remember the materials. For instance, timeline is great source when you are studying for the history test because it gives you "big picture" of history so that you can have wide interpretations when studying for the test. You can quickly make you timeline either for free or for feed.
The another great source is making connection between materials to pictures, drawings, or music. I made a random song when I had to memorize both states and capital cities of United States of America. Though it does not have to be professional, the song or picture will stick to your mind easily and quickly than just looking through worksheets or books.
6. REST and RELAX.
Though I personally believe that studying and looking through the notes are helpful, I also believe that relaxing is part of preparing for the test. If you lack sleep, it gets hard for you to concentrate on the test because you are tired from lack of sleep. Even though it may be a short sleep, make sure you get some rest before taking the exam!
Georgetown University's 
This is University of Chicago's 
