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You should thank Yanessa for her comment about the Eq. You borught it back to power to help wrap it up. Well done Daniel. You have creatively shown M's development and transformation throughout the play. You have brought in some good examples from the play to show his integrity and his change from it. I like how you referred to Neptune's seas. You have definitely demonstrated his evolution as a character. Good work.

Journal Entry 8

These nightmares just never seem to end. My conscience has finally taken control over my body. I feel only guilt and regret for the actions I have gone through with. Every time I look back onto the things I’ve done in the fairly recent past, I cringe at my own actions and set myself in shame. I do not know the location of my husband for almost 100% of the time, and I’d rather not know if he’s been feeling the same pain as me for doing such things to other innocent people. Was my greed for power too much for my own mind to handle? 

But no, of course not… Power is never too overwhelming for a human.. especially such a human like myself. But then, if I am such a human, why does my heart continue to pull the strings that tighten my body, making it hard to think, breathe and live? I find no reason for my life on this cruel yet beautiful planet anymore. Through all the things I have done, I am for once unsure about what I actually want. 

This just might be the last entry to my journal.

Journal Entry 7

I’ve been having the weirdest dreams ever for the past few days… It’s just me, walking to a sink, and washing the blood off my hands repeatedly… blood that seems to never disappear. The guilt in my mind for planning and committing murders within my country has been eating away at me, I will admit. But I didn’t know that this seemingly small guilt would exponentially grow into such horrifying yet terrific nightmares… I always seem to remember certain lines of my dreams, in particular something about the overwhelming strength of blood in my hands, immune to the washing for the finest perfumes of Arabia and all the oceans’ water from Neptune. These dreams have been truly detrimental to my everyday life, I can’t seem to fall asleep normally and the process of waking up is equivalent to being released from a murderer’s chokehold.

The strangest part about these dreams, is that strangely enough, when I wake up in a cold sweat, I find my hands somewhat wet… I wonder how I can rid of this guilt. I mean, what I did only benefited me and nothing more, right?

Journal Entry 6

So, it’s been a long time since I updated this journal, not much exciting seemed to happen in my life… Well, not that I can even remember of. Ha. But today my husband invited some of his company including Banquo… Who didn’t ultimately show up for one reason or another… But anyways, the dinner was going great, the food was quite delicious I must admit… Really made my taste buds dance and celebrate. Well, they sure were until my husband started going mental and hallucinating… 

Oh right, he had sent men to kill Banquo… That would explain his absence, oopsies my bad. 

But still, he was seriously scaring me and the guests… And I’m pretty sure that the guests were getting really suspicious! It was honestly too risky for me to get caught as part of this act… And… well…. Bad for him to get caugh too… I guess… So I kept telling everyone that if they paid attention to Macbeth, he would only feel embarrassed and more upset… I tried to dance it out and distract the guests by stuffing them with more food, but Macbeth seemed to steal the spotlight… very unfortunately. Wow, it was soooo frustrating ‘cause I just couldn’t get Macbeth to stop ranting on about non sense that nobody else could see and muttering.. or more like shouting… what seemed to be confessions and denial about his actions… The man I married did not ever once in his life act so foolishly… If I had known that he were to act like this in such dire situations, I would have certainly never have even agreed to meet him on a friendly basis. But I was really relieved once the company left: relieved beyond belief… As if the whole entire Scotland had been lifted off my shoulders… and other parts of our neighbouring countries too. 

That was a loooooong night… I hope that they don’t get any longer than that.

Journal Entry 5

Pretty much moments after we slaughtered those 3 men, someone rang the bells to declare that the king had been killed…. Gave me a total heart attack and I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty scared if the king’s sons were going to find out about the very beneficial deed (in my opinion at least) that my husband and I completed. And of course, my husband would have to start rambling on about unnecessary things and totally be on the verge of ratting us out, so I had no choice but to distract the men and allow this nerve-wracking conversation to halt… Falling down on purpose wasn’t as easy as I thought… But it got rid of them.

Journal Entry 4

So we set off to do the plan and like, drugged the King’s attendants so they’d obviously be sleeping pretty well… Haha. But I wasn’t able to take the knife into King Duncan myself ‘cause… well… He reminds me too much of my father… So I gave the knife to my husband Macbeth and forced him to go kill him… Which seemed to make me feel much less guilty and much more pleased in the end, even if I was against myself killing him. Lol, oh well. After we killed the king, we had to frame the two attendants and like, totally kill them to rid of any chance of us getting caught… So I took the two other knives and stabbed them… It was pretty gruesome and unladylike, I must admit. However, it had to be done to reach my goal… I mean, our goal… Cough. 

Journal Entry 3

Ugh, how frustrating… There I am, revealing my amazing and flawless plan to my dear husband, but all he can do is counter my magnificent ideas with his kindness and human heart. Honestly, is he even a man for not being able to even consider taking action with my plan? I was pretty mad, not gonna lie, so I yelled at him and totally called him a coward and stated his unfathomable lack of manliness… Pretty funny to see my husband crash like that, but I honestly needed to nail it into his head for him to realize the power and prestige we would obtain through this plot. What felt like hours later, my husband finally gave in and accepted to follow through with my plan to kill King Duncan… 

Took him long enough…

Journal Entry 2

My heart is beaming a pearly white smile. Such a miracle has been bestowed upon me today. So there I am, with my husband in my house, then suddenly we get this random unexpected news of King Duncan coming over to have dinner with us and stay overnight. My heart began beating like… something that beats really fast… Don’t judge me k? But anyways, I knew that this was the perfect time to truly make that prophecy happen. I just knew that if my husband obtained the power that can be possessed by only a king… 


I’d be beyond happy… Wouldn’t I? 


But dang, I still have to think of a plan to take Duncan’s life and make a king out of my husband… This is a really difficult plan to organize and execute, but there’s not much I wouldn’t do to obtain a form of such prestige power.

Journal Entry 1

So I was walking around the kitchen searching for something to eat and all of a sudden I stumble upon this letter on my table… Yeah, don’t remember how that got there. I picked it up and it was from my husband (who is Macbeth, duh). My eyes were totally going crazy and my jaw dropped when I read about this whack story of Macbeth receiving some prophecy from a bunch of witches that he’s going to be king. Obviously at first I was pretty sceptical. But after thinking it over, in a world as crazy as this, I thought it was pretty possible. After all of that happened, I just sat down and started to think this stuff over ‘cause it’s pretty crazy… 

But what would it be like to have a king for a husband? Yeah, that would be nice… 

If only there was a way to fulfill such a prophecy…

Song on Identity

The song I chose is 'Bigger Than My Body' by John Mayer. This song connects to overall identity as people try to discover who they are amidst all the negativity, pressure and judgement from others (peers, family, society, media). The lyrics speak of breaking out of one's own body and being someone bigger than their body can physically/visually let them be. This relates to identity because as humans, we all want to be the best that we can be and we naturally aim to be the best in something we enjoy. This song shares perhaps the struggle and negativity received from other people, barring the way to our true identity. However, it conveys the message that it is possible to break through the opinions of others and become who you want to be and who you were meant to be. Also, the lyrics state the wanting to be noticed and remembered by other people, a natural tendency for human beings. Through self growth and self confidence, one can strengthen themselves and follow the path of who they feel like they are called to be. In the end, the song is conveying a strong message of being who you naturally are meant to be: your true identity, to live your life out as the biggest person you can be.

Poetry Reflection

Which of the poems had the most meaning for you personally?


For me personally, the poem Richard Cory by E.A. Robinson had the most impact. The poem follows a seemingly well educated and groomed man walking down town, and ends in a shocking way when he commits suicide. This poem is able to clearly convey the message of outer appearance versus inner conflict. By using somewhat who seems fairly well off and happy with his life, the author is able to share that one should not 'judge a book by its cover' as what is on the inside is sometimes completely different. The meaning of this poem is powerful to me because I tend to judge people off the top of my head without thinking. After reading this poem, I was able to reflect on how other people that I have seen may not be even close to the image that I create in my head. The moral itself is also very meaningful, as it is an everyday life lesson that people seem to have difficulties applying to their lifestyle. It also shows the dangers of over estimating one's happiness, as one may never be too sure on how someone is truthfully doing on the inside; if they are on the verge of ending their life. The unexpected ending to the poem strongly reinforces the message, and it personally renders it much more convicting in my quotidian life.

What thoughts and/or feelings did the texts evoke in you? Why?


A few of the poems evoked the feeling of thankfulness and gratefulness in me. In the poems Richard Cory, As I Grew Older, and Alone, they all share a sense of facing difficult obstacles, struggling. After reading these poems, I felt grateful to not have some of these obstacles, such as homelessness (as I have a house to live in) and racial discrimination (as I live in a multicultural community that is overall very accepting of different races). I am very grateful to also not be struggling with emotional problems, as portrayed in the poem Richard Cory. Overall, the feeling of gratefulness overwhelmed me as I discovered that I am perhaps very well off, not having to deal with difficult problems that many others in the past have suffered through, and that people in the present still struggle to overcome. The other two poems, based on anonymous authors and their identities, provoked a feeling of individuality in me. As I read through how they described their life through their experiences and influences, I felt that I could relate to them in the sense that I also have many diverse influences that shape who I am as a person. Through these poems, I felt very unique and proud to be where I am and who I am today.

Trust thyself

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is common in our world today to try to mold our thoughts into the shape of others'. Perhaps it is the fear of being different, or the uncertainty of the validity of our thinking that causes this self-inflicted assimilation. In this quote, I believe that Emerson is advocating against this mindset, explaining that believing in your own thoughts and standing firm in your opinions is very crucial. If you yourself cannot believe what you think, then there is no way that you can have the confidence to act out the beliefs that you have placed in yourself. You have to act out upon your own thoughts that make you an individual as nobody else can do it for you.

Through my personal experience, I have faced certain challenges that required me to think about my interests and qualities before making a decision. A choice in specific would be continuing to piano for level 10, or dropping out to focus on school work. After spending multiple weeks debating in my mind, I came to a realization that I would prefer to not continue into the last level of piano. After I made my initial choice, I began to wonder if I had chosen correctly, and if I would regret it later on. But after a few days, it settled in that I had done the right thing because I trusted my own thoughts. Because of the dropping of my piano, I am now able to focus more on school and volunteering with a much lighter workload, not having to incoroporate the stress of piano and its required theory/history examinations.

If I had followed what some others told me and continued in piano, perhaps I would be suffering through a higher stress level today. But because of my decision to stick to my instinct, my initial thoughts, I am confident in my choice and do not regret it.

By keeping true to your beliefs, you can help guide your life and your choices to suit yourself better; almost better than anyone else can do for you. Although at times the trust you put in yourself may lead you to the less practical choice, you can learn from mistakes and build character, and develop thoughts even more. Listening to others' thoughts and beliefs is good, taking their opinions into consideration is great. But do not let the ideas of others overtake your own, as your thoughts will in the end balance out who you are.

Inside or Outside?

What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider? As implied by the words contained in the words themselves, an insider is one who is closer to the 'information', as an outsider is further away from it and does not have clear access.
In the poem Richard Cory, the narration seems to be in the point of view of fellow citizens who admire and are somewhat envious of his life. The people passing by everyday seeing him were clearly outsiders, as  "we people on the pavement looked at him, he was a gentleman from the sole to crown...". They admired him from the outside, taking attributes of his personality and life through physical facts and observations. However, someone on the inside would know perhaps much more to him, speaking about his true personality, the way he reacts in situations and his interests and hobbies and other personal traits. In the end of the poem, Richard Cory "put a bullet through his head", possibly implying that he was unhappy with his life. An outsider who was simply observing the way he appeared in public would not have expected the shocking decision Richard made on that summer night, whereas an insider would have been able to understand and perhaps learn about his unhappiness and difficulties. An insider may have been able to consult Richard Cory about his difficulties and how to cope with them without ending is life. An outsider, on the other hand, can only see what their eyes retain and are not able to change the outcome.
In conclusion, an outsider means to be someone who is (at times) unintentionally trapped on the outside of a person or situation, only seeing the directly physical aspects of what is observed. They are not able to go deeper into their understanding for a certain subject, as they are not able to learn more about the topic itself. However, an insider is quite the opposite. An insider is able to search deeper into a person or situation, and as a result can sympathize or even relate with what is happening. They are able and in addition willing to discover more about what surrounds them.

I am

Trust thyself

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe that Emerson is advocating that believing in your own beliefs and thoughts and standing firm in your opinions is very crucial. If you yourself cannot believe what you think, then there is no way that you can have the confidence to act out the beliefs that you have placed in yourself. You have to act out upon your own thoughts that make you an individual as nobody else can do it for you.

Through my personal experience, I have faced certain challenges that required me to think about my interests and qualities before making a decision. A choice in specific would be continuing to piano for level 10, or dropping out to focus on school work. After spending multiple weeks debating in my mind, I came to a realization that I would prefer to not continue into the last level of piano. After I made my initial choice, I began to wonder if I had chosen correctly, and if I would regret it later on. But after a few days, it settled in that I had done the right thing because I trusted my own thoughts. Because of the dropping of my piano, I am now able to focus more on school and volunteering with a much lighter workload, not having to incoroporate the stress of piano and its required theory/history examinations.

If I had followed what some others told me and continued in piano, perhaps I would be suffering through a higher stress level today. But because of my decision to stick to my instinct, my initial thoughts, I am confident in my choice and do not regret it.

By believing in your own thoughts, you can help guide your life and your choices to suit yourself better; almost better than anyone else can do for you. Although at times the trust you put in yourself may lead you to the less practical choice, you can learn from mistakes and build your character, and develop your thoughts even more. Listening to others' thoughts and beliefs is good, taking their opinions into consideration is great. But do not let others' ideas overtake your ow as your thoughts will in the end balance out who you are.