Excerpt from Journal :

Madam Eglantyne the Nun, is also an ironic charater. She eats in a very refined manner and attempts other fine characteristics such as speaking French, although she fares poorly at this. Ironically, not all her language is pure, as she swears cosntantly by "St. Loy," a saint renowned for not swearing. Unlike the general conception of the Nun, she is very concerned with outward appearances and did not much care for human beings. Indeed, she cared much more for her three dogs than the human beings around her. Another irony is that she has a coral trinket to fight worldly temptations, which is clearly failing badly.

A second character is the Friar, Hubert. While he is jolly, merry, and festive, his actions are nevertheless evil and cunning. He impregnates girls, for example, and marries them off. He deceived the faithful by hearing confessions for a fee, and even begged from poor widows in order to fund his preference for good food and clothing.

Journal Exercise 1.9B: What Women Want

I believe that women want companionship and security from a marriage. These are, however, very broad requirements. I also think each woman has her own particular preferences, according to their personality. Women would want somebody they can talk to and relate to. Although the general conception is that women want romantic men, I don't think this is true of all women. Mostly, I think it is a matter of personal preference.

Journal Exercise 1.9C: The Wife of Bath

The Wife of Bath is very opinionated about her position in a marriage and the things she wants from a man. She believes in sex for pleasure, for example, something that was probably quite progressive for the day. She also likes to play a dominating role in marriage and tells her companions how she always made every effort to be boss in her various households.

Journal Exercise 1.10A: Revisiting the Monster Archetype

There are many types of monsters portrayed in the movies today. Most notably, the modern type of monster often does not look monstrous. This monster is often human, with a monstrous personality. One prominent example is that of "Jigsaw" in the Saw movies. This is the type of person who enjoys hurting others, has good reasons for it, and does not believe that he has done anything wrong. Similar monsters appear in Stephen King books, where the monstrous comes in the form of the psychologically scarred character.

Journal Exercise 1.11A: Late Breaking News

His household rejoiced as Priam returned from Achilles with the body of his deceased son, Hector. Priam was believed dead by his family when they learned that he left to retrieve the body from the enemy warrior. He returned late yesterday afternoon with his son's body. The family report that they are overjoyed to see him. According to Priam's spokesperson, he was treated with great respect by Achilles, an honor the warrior did not care to extend to the victim. Priam is reported to have found some common ground with Achilles, as both men have suffered great losses due to the war.

Journal Exercise 2.1A: Printing Press and the Internet

The printing press sparked a revolution because it created a medium by means of which literature could be made accessible to everybody. This caused a spike in literacy, which in turn created a nation of intellectuals, rather than simply a few powerful leaders.

The same could be said of the Internet. When it was first invented, only a few powerful and rich people had access to it. However, today computers and the Internet prices have fallen to the extent that almost everybody can have access to this technology. Even in poor countries, programs are being implemented to get everybody world's literacy levels will improve, since the online media requires reading and writing skills to communicate.

Journal Exercise 2.2A: Carpe Diem!

I can see a large amount of the Carpe Diem philosophy in the world today, especially among the rich and famous. The problem with this is that pleasure also often results in self-destruction, as seen so often among the young stars. Two specific examples I can think of include Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. In the past, Marilyn Monroe and River Phoenix can also be seen as icons of how this philosophy can be extremely destructive.

Journal Exercise 2.2B: Responding to Literature

The idyllic escape can be seen in several movies and literature today, including films such as "Blue Lagoon" and "Hook." Adventure films such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Tomb Raider" also provide wonderful escapist material for those who feel they need to take a break from the everyday world. In television, escapes are depicted in serials such as "Lost," where almost all the action takes place on an island.

Journal Exercise 2.4: Reader's Notebook

Assignment 1: Famous phrases

All that glitters is not gold

Bated breath

Love is blind

Quality of mercy is not strained

The truth will out

Assignment 2: Character notebook

Portia is intelligent and strong-willed. She has made up her mind about who she wants to marry, but nevertheless remains gracious towards her suitors. Her intelligence is most evident in the speech she gives to save Bassanio's life.

Bassanio's character can be seen from his conversation with Antonio, his rich merchant friend. From this conversation, it is clear that Bassanio is young, inexperienced, and tends to waste what money he has. He therefore frequently has to borrow money from Antonio.

Journal Exercise 2.5A: A Modern Marriage Test

I think the test is not only unfair, but also doesn't measure anything significant. There is no sense of testing the love of each person for Portia, or even of any particularly worthy trait. Any person can pass or fail the test. I would rather devise a test of love. I woud perhaps make a person write an essay on the qualities of the person they are going to marry. This would at least show if the suitor can communicate to express his love.

Journal Exercise 2.7A: Responding to Literature

There was probably an element of both beign dramatically wronged and receiving his deserved punishment. In terms of beign forced to convert to Christianity, I feel that Shylock was indeed dramatically wronged, as this is not directly related to his crime. The sacrifice in terms of fines and property are, however, deserved.

Journal Exercise 2.8A: Responding to Literature

Physical humor is generally embodied in the figure of Launcelot Gobbo, who frequently clowns around in the play. Launcelot also achieves humor by trying to confuse his blind father by disguising himself.

Shylock is indeed the victim of racism, especially at the end of the play. However, this does not mean that he is not particularly villainous. Demanding a pound of flesh as leverage for a loan and attempting to in fact claim this pound of flesh is particularly villainous and cruel. I believe that Shylock's end was richly deserved, and even that he deserved more than what was done to him.…