To future seniors

! Dear future seniors,


!

! Congratulations on finishing three fourths of your senior year! The good news is that you are nearly done. The bad news is that you are not nearly done. What does it mean? It means that you have come a long way to reach the end of your formative years and in turn high school, but it also means that you do not have time to spend in an idle manner. This senior year will be an important part of your college resume as it is this year that you will bring conclusions on your academic performance and extracurricular activities. As an individual who has gotten into a bunch of universities (USC, UCI, UCSD, St. Andrews, to name a few), here’s some advice that I would like to give you.!
! Perhaps the most important thing is to take a risk in whatever you do. To elaborate, playing safe during your high school life will get you practically nowhere. To the college administration, you will look lackluster. More importantly however, is that it is only until high school that you can make mistakes in life without having to suffer through permanent circumstances (provided you do not do drugs, or do any illegal activities). So go out and participate in varsity, join the Speech and Debate Team, audition for theater. If it catches your interest, try it out! Your time management skills will also become much better this way anyway. ! !
Another advice that I feel obligated to give as a senior is to not depend so heavily on caffeinated beverages to get you through the day. You will feel tired and miserable, unable to properly participate in classes. In turn, you will end up missing out on crucial information given during class, which will result in your grades dropping, and you consequently being left behind. It is a vicious cycle and one that is difficult to go escape once you are in it. Always remember that the effect of caffeine is only giving you the illusion of staying awake while your brain capacity stays the same. !
! Lastly, don’t go to Hagwons. They are a waste of time and money, and there will be no Hagwons to save you when you go to University. Also remember the fact that Korea is now in College Board’s black list due to the cheating incident back in 2013. You will be under the suspicious eyes of College Board and teachers in this school when you go to Hagwons. It will be difficult to learn how to study on your own again, but trust me, it will be good for you in the long run.!
! Good luck on your senior life, and don’t catch Senioritis!!


 

!!!!!!!!!!! YoursTruly,! !!!!!!!!!!! TerryLee 

My Growth as a Writer

In many ways similar to my growth as a reader, my development as a writer during this semester was built around my around my discovery that an author may have recurring themes in his work. While this had not been directly mentioned in my essays, this perspective has aided me in writing essays much more profound in nature, and in turn, helped my own development as a writer.

The idea of an overarching theme appearing in an author was first explored with the reading of Hamlet. The first essay I had to do for this semester was a question of whether or not Hamlet could have been a competent leader had he survived the cascade of conspiracies present within the play. Considering how it is often noted that Shakespeare himself was indirectly very involved in politics as well, asking its audience to question the political atmosphere of their times by watching the squabbles and the endless scheming of morally questionable noblemen. With this in mind, I decided to consider the question asked by the prompt from a purely political point of view by stating exactly what constitutes as a good king. I proceeded then to dismantle each aspect, demonstrating Hamlet’s complete incompetence as a leader, “a brilliant individual that is able to entertain and excite the audience, but due to his mental instability, unpredictable nature, and misplaced responsibilities on his honor would have made him an incompetent king had he survived the play.” (Hamlet Essay) This essay in turn taught me how to plan and write an essay with strong political connotations to it in a thoughtful manner, which helped me immensely for the Independent Author’s Study Project.

My progress with the Author’s Study Project was in no way the smoothest ride that I had taken during AP literature and I could even say that it was a significant demonstration of my growth as a writer. Due to the sheer amount of pressure from my other courses and the AP exams, I wasn’t able to initially give enough thought to the writing style that was prominently used by Aldous Huxley in his novels, so I was only able to scratch the surface of the fundamental choice of words, and, failing even that, had to resort to usage of vagueness in language and instead discussing what the question itself asked. This, however, helped me immensely later on when I was writing my final draft for the Independent Research Project, in which I was able to discuss many different aspects of Aldous Huxley’s writing.

Growth as a Reader

As my tumulus high school life comes to end, it is inevitable for me to consider how much I have improved from burning four years of my life to get to a good university. However, as a prospective English Major, it is important to consider how much I have grown as a reader as much as I have as a writer. If writing is the process of harvesting the fruits of one’s labor, reading could be considered as everything else, from sowing the seeds of ideas to watering one’s knowledge. Without reading, one could never learn how to think and unsurprisingly write better. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise that I was able to further cultivate my understanding and ideology through the wide reading which AP Literature opened doors to. 

Perhaps the most important part of my growth as a reader was to learn to consider a writers’ goals , dilemmas, and how they tried to resolve it through their writing. I had learnt to do this mostly during my independent author’s project as I read through various works written by Aldous Huxley. While not exactly obvious from reading Brave New World, going through and analyzing Brave New World Revisited and Island, then learning about his biography revealed Huxley’s inner plights regarding the future and the prospects of enlightenment. Reading the three novels from this perspective significantly changed the underlying contents of the three novels. Initially, I believed that the three novels signified Huxley’s hopeless struggles in finding an answer to the dark, unavoidable future in which a world without privacy and freedom was inevitable, and any genuine attempt at utopia could only end up in miserable failure. With Huxley’s inner dilemmas in mind, I was able to witness a much brighter interpretation unfold in front of me. The three novels were not separate warnings of a depraved future, but instead Huxley’s journey of trying to find a method of enlightenment. Brave New World and its Revisited counterpart served to observe the dark future that was determined by the usage of technology and destruction of human values of pain, restraint and intelligence. His final novel Island was the fruition of Huxley’s life long goals of finding a possible path for human enlightenment. Even if he solemnly came to agree that it may be impossible for a civilization in its entirety to fully espouse the idea of a refined human being, Aldous was able to fully demonstrate that it was possible to reach enlightenment on a personal level, if not anything else. By writing Island, Aldous Huxley was able to demonstrate that it wasn’t the successful creation of an utopia that mattered; simply trying to create one was of merit on its own. 

The new tools of considering the author himself as an important character of his literary works opened new doors for me as a reader, teaching me to look at works in a much broader sense than just the work itself. It is my hope that the drastic growth I had as a reader for both this and last semester could serve to aid me in my college year. 

Literary Style of Aldous Huxley

As one of the most prominent British intellectuals of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley was both an avid observer and prophet of his times, witnessing the current of revolutions and upheavals of a scale never seen before as horrendous tyranny and glorious empires fell, leaving space for yet another war for global domination between two conflicting ideologies. With sincere love for humanity, Huxley became increasingly desperate at the sight of his beloved free society become threatened by the very forces that drove democracy. This sense of urgency reflects upon the literary style of Huxley, which is both cynical and genuine.

Perhaps the most noticeable part of Huxley’s style is his cold, logical analysis of the topic of interest. Whenever a new argument is created to reinforce his opinions on a given subject, Huxley is quick to use research such as “1957- The Next Hundred Years” (Huxley, page 9), quotes from more specialized intellectual authorities and analogies of similar scenarios presented within Brave New World Revisited. His diction and sentence structure is kept simple in order to maintain clarity, not poignancy. Huxley makes sparse usage of imagery and physical detail to pain a picture in his work for the very same purpose of his simple diction. In the case of Brave New World Revisited, which its purpose is mainly informational, imagery and physical detail was never used due to the need for the author to remain factually credible and professional. This emphasis of substance over style allows Huxley to address the issue at hand as succinctly as possible, a significant trait necessary for an essay and reflection of the accuracy of his past works.

It is interesting to note, however, that Huxley does not always revel into the overtly dry. His writing, whether it be fiction such as Island or essays such as Brave New World Revisited, is sprinkled with apparent but never excessive cynicism. Even as he calls for his fellow men to struggle against the very forces that threatens the future viability of freedom, Huxley seems skeptical on how successful such a struggle would be, stating that “the forces that now menace freedom are too strong to be resisted for very long.” (Huxley, page 123). This cynicism may be difficult to accept initially, but this harsh criticism of everything around him is the foundation of Huxley’s tone and belief.
As an intellectual who witnessed the over-commercialization of America, rise of fascist regimes, and the western world’s continuous stride towards the leadership of the privileged few, Huxley lived in an era in which so many promises and expectations of an utopia were broken for seemingly one conflict to another. It would have been difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook during such turbulent times. However, this bitterness serves only to further emphasize the hope and love he had for his fellow man, as it takes a truly dedicated, enlightened man to protect and wish for freedom after seeing it foolishly squandered by corrupt leaders and short sighted people.

Work Cited:
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World Revisited. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. Print. 

Author Study Project

When the Ends Justify the Means
Introduction
Along with George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World has taken precedence
as a crucial piece of dystopian literature. While 1984 portrayed a tyrannical regime fuelled by hate, rage, and surveillance, the World State of Brave New World described a police state without a police; a regime that controlled its populace by consumerism and common pleasures. Unlike 1984, in which Oceania’s methodology of ruling was a vivid analogy to those used by the Soviet Union, the far fetched nature of the World State resulted in the novel’s abymissal initial reception. However, with the eventual fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of mass commercialism and cheaping of information, Huxley’s revelations were given a more critical analysis, only to be realized by its readers that the modern world was transforming alarmingly to resemble Huxley’s visions of the future.

Surprisingly, as readers began to fear the uncanny resemblances of their reality with that of Brave New World, Huxley himself began to doubt the moral implications of the practices shown in his dystopian novel. The novel Island, written in 1963, was a revisiting of the World State through Pala, a peaceful, “forbidden island” (7), coveted internationally for its rich, unexploited oil reserves. Despite using methods that were similar and at times even mirrored that of the World State, the community created in Pala was portrayed to be the closest thing humanity could have as a utopia. This strange contrast of opinions leads to the question of how much the end justifies the means when even Aldous Huxley wasn’t sure. It is the aim of this essay to bring clarity on this complex question by comparing the means and aspects of the worlds portrayed in Brave New World, Island, and Huxley’s essay Brave New World revisited, analyzing how much his involvement into the Counter Culture movement may have changed his opinions presented in Brave New World.

Usage of Adages and Education to Shape Minds

Adages are used by both Pala and the World State to reinforce the main ideas supported by the
two novels’ dominant body of government. Through constant reminders and repetitions, the adages are ingrained into the individuals that live in these two worlds. While the base intentions of doing so differ drastically, the methods of instilling these proverbs are quite similar.

The World State of Brave New World makes strong usage of hypnopaedia and simple
proverbs as methods to restrain its citizens’ capabilities of free thought. This is done through two methods, “INFANT NURSERIES. NEO­PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING ROOMS” (19), and
simple idioms. Infant Nurseries, as its name may suggest, use various methods of psychological conditioning on newborns to shape basic behaviors that persist for the rest of an individual’s lives. It is noted by Mr. Foster that Infant Nurseries are not to meant to instill complex ideas, but “ ‘instinctive’ hatred” (22) towards dispositions not related to them. Subliminal messages, also known as Hypnophaedia is repeated incessantly throughout a child’s life while going through the Neo­Pavlovian Coniditioning rooms. This instills a rigid and obvious class system that ingrains an idea into an individual that one’s disposition and class is much better than that of other social standings, regardless of whether one is a member of the Alpha upper class, or the low, nearly slave­like Epsilon. The other method of adages, one that takes place throughout a citizen’s entire life is to constantly feed individuals idioms that represent key ideals patronized by the world state such as “ending is better than mending” (49) and “One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments” (Assisstant Predestinator Brave New World 54). These idioms are engineered to be as trendy and easily remembered by Alpha­class men such as Hemholtz and Bernard. The maxims shown throughout the novel are used to further reinforce Hypnophaedia and fill in more complex concepts into the minds of the people without the need to think for one’s self. Huxley in Brave New World Revisited would later relate the idioms used in Brave New World with “singing commercials” (Brave New World Revisited 69) and subliminal messages, both of which would begin seeing use in the U.S with the advent of television.

The methods used by Pala in Island are much more subtle, but still equally prominent as those used by the World State. Genetically engineered birds are flown around the island to state key words that symbolize principles supported by the Pala’s government body. Unlike the idioms of the World State, which are quickly and often replaced, the phrases said by the birds are fewer in number, alternating between “Attention” (Mynah bird Island 1), and “Karuna (compassion)” (Mynah bird Island 37). Unlike the Hypnophaedia and Singing Commercials of Brave New World and its reflective counterpart, the adages that are sung by Mynah birds serve to emphasize self discovery and living in the moment, the two activities the World State attempted to quell the most.
Ultimately, adages and maxims serve to keep an ideology dominant in a society, constantly reminding citizens of important tenants of their communities. By doing so, the two bodies of governments are able to continue without real social criticisms brought against them. It is impossible for a community to be free of criticism or counterculture, even if said participants of that community are free of suffering and are prosperous. That is, unless drastic measures such as ones practiced by Pala and the World State are not taken.

Wide Distribution and Usage of Drugs
The usage of hullucinogens is a prominent aspect present in both Brave New World and Island,
and, while one is made artificially and other genetically engineered, the drugs consumed by individuals in both novels serve nearly identical purposes and intentions.

Soma holds as much significance as Hypnophaedia, if not more in maintaining stability and happiness in the World State. World Director Mustapha Mond himself states that Soma has “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol” (Brave New World 53). This is especially momentous as Mond expresses that old world religion was destroyed along with history and literature in order to make room for the doctrine of the World State. Hypnophaebia is widely used to encourage individuals to use Soma whenever they are stressed or at a moral dilemna, the strength of each pill easily adjusted based on a person’s needs. Due to Soma’s fundamental nature as a replacement of mysticism in a world completely devoid of it, Soma­induced drinks are liberally used during Solidarity Service to enforce a state of bliss in whoever attends it. It should also be noted that the various perspective characters introduced throughout the novel refuse to use Soma, and in some cases enjoy the loneliness and suffering their actions bring. This is especially so for the protagonist Bernard Marx, who begins to take increasing doses of Soma as he indulges into the excesses of sexuality and society that was previously unavailable to him.

Unlike Soma, which presides in the entirity of Brave New World, Moksha­medicine is only referred to at the concluding chapters of Island, after Will Farnaby comes to learn and embrace the enlightening culture of Pala. Moksha shares similar properties with Soma, taken in powdered form, and artificially created by genetic engineering. To outsiders, Moksha­Medicine is a typical “dope...something that... no decent person would indulge in” (Murugen Island 166), evoking similar emotions to that of the readers when reading about Soma in Brave New World. Through the usage of different names, such as “the­reality revealer... truth­and­beauty pill” (Murugen 166), the state of Pala has managed to desenticize the negative perception of Moksha completely in its citizens. As its alternate names may imply, the usage of Moksha is to heighten one’s senses, similar to the way LSD was used during the Counter­Culture movement of the 1960s. Notably, moksha is used by the local populace of Pala to make the process of sexual intercourse an enlightening experience in a manner similar to Brave New World’s Solidatary Services. Will Farnaby himself actively uses Moksha­Medicine in order to forget about the death of his wife. While it is not known whether or not Farnaby’s intentions of using the drug is shared by other individuals of Pala, the inferrence of Moksha­medicine’s potential usage as a mental pain killer blurrs the difference between it and Soma, other than the intentions of the drugs’ usages. 

Sexuality and Role of Family

As much as the two novels Brave New World and Island share many similarities in practices, there are certain key aspects of the societies shaped in Huxley’s novels that differ greatly, one being sexuality and the role of family in Huxley’s novels.
One of the most popular Hypnophaedic statement in the novel Brave New World is that “everyone belongs to everyone” (Assistant Predestinator 47), and the reasons are self evident; the
World State destroyed nationality and religion due to the conflicting loyalties it would bring upon its citizens. It is for these very reasons that the family, love, and monogamy has been completely erased from the minds of the people. The World State takes active care in turning these fundamental values into taboos, more justification of why the old world fell into chaos and destruction. In the absence of family and love, unrestrained sexuality and polygamy are dominant aspects of people’s lives, intended to be yet another method of controlling the populace’s anxietites. Huxley’s fears of sexuality being used by society to “constantly distract by gratuitous entertainment and reinforced in their good behavior” (Brave New World Revisited 19) is further reinforced in Brave New World Revisited. Huxley feared that, in addition to promsicuity serving to obscure and detract the people from the truth, overpopulation will become an impending problem due to higher birth rates and survival rates. As much as he disagreed with the World State’s decanting procedures modifying and predestinating the stations and social standing of each man, Huxley frankly states that the lack of such procedures may result in inferior humans over a long period of time.

Pala of Island thus creates a peculier contrast to the World State. In accordance to Pala’s prime adherence to Carpe Diem, promiscuity is prevalent in the lives of the people. This, however, does not mean that the values of family has been destroyed. In contrast, the various couples that appear throughout the novel are shown to be strongly loyal to each other. Children, on the other hand, are shared by multiple parents through the MAC (Mutual Adoption Club). This is to make sure that children could seek refuge from other parents when their blood relatives have lost their temper. Like religion, which is never discouraged but merged to fit with Pala’s beliefs, the value of family and sexuality is merged with the old Raja’s beliefs to create an ideal society.

The Protagonists
While the protagonists of Brave New World and Island do not necessarily reflect the policies of Pala and the World State, they are important in shaping Huxley’s perceptions towards the worlds he conceived.

There are four characters that are given a chance to express their ideologies in Brave New World: Bernard Marx, Hemholtz, John and Mustapha Mond. These characters share one thing in common, in that they were through varying circumstances given the benefit of doubt, a room to build their own ideas. Bernard and Hemholtz are both members of the upper class tasked with brainwashing indivduals; Bernard works with the operant conditioning of children, while Hemholtz is famed for creating fine Hypnophaedia. Having a significant part in the shaping of individuals lives, both of these individuals are painfully aware of the drastic measures the World State takes, and as a consequence their harrowing limitations as well. John Savage spent his childhood in an Indian Reservation, a world untainted by Soma, still rife with jealousy, hate and passion. Mustapha Mond, prior to becoming a world director, was a prodigial scientist who eventually gave up the joys of innovation and discovery for ultimate authority and the greater good. Their knowledge of a world gone by and distortion of what humanity used to represent serve to give these characters endless suffering which Soma and promiscuity can never fill. Their suffering is a pessimistic testament by Huxley that even happiness in endless supply can never truly replace the crevices of the heart which the World State so desperately tried to ignore.

In contrast, most of Pala’s characters are two­dimensional, serving to effectively describe the philosophies and values Pala stands behind. Thus, it is only Will Farnaby, a stranger to Palanese culture like the readers, that receives the benefit of perspective as he is slowly integrated into Palanese culture. Farnaby is a journalist and often the diplomatic voice of petroleum firms. He is deeply scarred by regret and death of his loved ones, the death of his ex­wife serving as a paramount to his self depreciation. The ability to forget about his pains using Pala’s methods serves as the fundamental reason why Farnaby would abandon his previous affiliation despite having doomed Pala by helping erecting an alliance with Colonel Dipa and Murugan. Farnaby’s downfall proves that Huxley’s pessimistic sentiments still remained, even after two decades of dedication to spirituality and humanity. It is through Will Farnaby’s eyes that the readers realize that the world does not have to remain tainted in blood. However, it is also through Will Farnaby that the readers are reminded by Huxley that the world of Pala is hopelessly optimistic, and that if it truly did exist, it would be engulfed by a depraved beast called greed and capitalism. The lessons that are taught through Will Farnaby is not completely pessimistic though; literary critic Alex Macdonald in his article Choosing Utopia: An Existential Reading of Aldous Huxley's Island firmly states that the existence of Pala itself is simply a picture of reality. According to him, Pala is a public experementation of an utopian idea, achieved through both intelligence and good luck. While it is true that Pala was eventually overtaken by excess of human vices, the significance lies in that an utopia did exist, a sentiment held by many occupants of Pala. Also, Will’s enlightenment painted throughout the novel demonstrates that, even if public enlightenment may prove very difficult, personal enlightenment was readily achievable through education and effort. Huxley, by writing Island, was hoping that each individual would make the rational choice of making the world an utopia.


Conclusion

Famed deconstructionist and literary critic Jacques Derridas stated that all novels are meaningless, specifically that the intentions of the author mean little when compared to what he has written. This does not mean that a prospective reader should completely ignore the social context of what has been written, but that the interpretations made by Huxley is just as important as the conclusions drawn by the readers of Huxley’s novels. Brave New World Revisited and Island, while not as critically acclaimed as Brave New World itself, are fundamentally important to our understanding of Brave New World as seperate interpretations and conclusions made by Huxley much later in his life. Huxley’s attempt at reinterpreting the policies of the World State through analogies with his current world and through a seperate entity demonstrate the author’s base belief that the end does justify the means. As an individual who in his younger days wished to become a scientist, Huxley considered technology as a double edged sword. The application of science, such as using hullucinogenic drugs, itself is not evil. It is only the intention and application of such technology, whether it be for suppression of man’s virtue or for personal growth and individual enlightenment, that matters in the end. A genuine case of when Ends do justify the Means.

Works Cited
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: HarperCollins Books, 2006. 2­6. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World: With the Essay "Brave New World Revisited" New York: Harper Perrenial Modern Classics, 2010. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. Island: A Novel. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1962. Print.
"Huxley, Aldous Huxley." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2013. N. pag. Columbia University . Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
"Aldous Leonard Huxley." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 21 Sep. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Macdonald, Alex. "Choosing Utopia: An Existential Reading of Aldous Huxley's Island." Utopian Studies Spring 12.2 (2001): n. pag. Questia. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. <http://www.questiaschool.com/read/1G1­83582928/choosing­utopia­an­existential­reading­of­aldous >. 

Hamlet Essay

A monarch is an autocrat born to lead one’s kingdom, wielding one’s birthright as the qualification of absolute sovereignty. A monarch is called for by his people, possessing the potential to lead one’s kingdom to either glory, or humiliating defeat. During Act 5 Scene 2, Fortinbras makes a comment that, should Hamlet had survived, he would have made a supreme ruler. This is often a matter of contention amongst the readers as Hamlet is an anti-hero; intelligent and beloved, yet indecisive and moody. Hamlet may be a decent and sympathetic individual from the perspectives of the play, but is unfit to rule due to the very qualities that make him sympathetic.

Perhaps Hamlet’s most noted flaw is his insufferable indecisiveness. When tasked by his father’s phantom to kill the king, he demonstrates remarkable unwillingness to put it into action, his elaborate grief regarding his father’s death and Gertrude’s shameless actions is quickly replaced by his dislike for setting things right, lamenting that the mission that is bestowed upon him is “out of joint...That I ever was born to set it right.” (1.5.189-190) Even after determining his desire to take vengeance, his actions still reek with indirectness. Instead of choosing a pragmatic method to murder Claudius, Hamlet chooses to feign madness, confusing the Danish Court unnecessarily and consequently tainting his reputation. Hamlet states that his reasons for acting like a madman is to conceal his true motifs, but it serves only to end him as he brings unneeded attention towards himself, allowing Claudius to ultimately see through Hamlet’s desire to end his life. Hamlet’s inability to take direct course of action constantly costs him, unintentionally killing Polonius and Ophelia in the process.This trait corresponds to his other major flaw, the inability to make allies in court even as a crown prince of Denmark. These two major traits in turn creates an immense barrier for Hamlet to become an effective king, as kings of this era were expected to lead by example with grim determination and consideration.

An inactive monarch may not be ideal to rule his kingdom, but with competent companions to fill his court, which Hamlet does have by the logical and sane Horatio, a nation could still remain stable. This provides for yet another major flaw for Hamlet as he is overtly reckless when determined. In Act 3 Scene 4, in the midst of his conversation with Gertrude, Hamlet stabs the tapestry the moment he hears Polonius scream for help without caring to check the individual hidden behind the tapestry. After the deed has been done, Hamlet does not even pretend to demonstrate any sort of remorse, calling the now dead Polonius to be nothing more than a “wretched, rash, intruding fool” (3.4.32) for eavesdropping. It is this recklessness bordering on psychopathy that leads to the death of Ophelia, whose love and loyalty towards Polonius’ wishes are constantly manipulated by the prince seeking for a decoy for his plans. This combination of extremities in personality makes him into an utterly unpredictable and difficult leader to handle for even his closest allies.

The two contrary characteristics of indecisiveness and recklessness are traits that a good king could do without, but there had been cases in which successful kings were well known to have been mentally unstable. Yet Hamlet is missing one crucial ability that is necessary for any competent ruler, and it that is to know what makes up a great leader. In Act 4 scene 4, Hamlet witnesses Fortinbras march his men to Poland and potentially sacrifice thousands of his soldiers for an useless piece of heavily protected land, an act that would be considered foolish and wasteful by any reasonable individual. Despite having shown an abundance of intelligence and wit in personal schemes, Hamlet is unable to see Fortinbras’ foolishness, and considers him a great man who does not need to explain his reasons for an invasion to lesser men. In Fortinbras’ actions, all Hamlet could see is the potential honor in preserving the family’s traditions, and decides to apply this foolhardiness into his actions as well. If Hamlet truly believes in only family honor, he would be unable to represent the sentiments of his people, demonstrating a key mark of a horrendous ruler.

Of course, this does not mean that Hamlet does not have qualities that befit that of a great ruler. Even with his odd antics, he has already gained the hearts and minds of his people, is very intelligent, and, as Act 4 Scene 7 would demonstrate, is unafraid of danger and leads by example in battle, a trait that is considered absolutely crucial in European Monarchy. Unfortunately, Hamlet’s bravery in combat is rarely revealed to the public and he purposefully hides his intelligence from those around him, thus dwarfing his positive qualities for excessively negative ones.

The question of what makes up a good ruler has been one of the most complex questions humanity has ever asked itself as it varies from culture to culture, and individual to individual. Hamlet is a brilliant individual that is able to entertain and excite the audience, but due to his mental instability, unpredictable nature, and misplaced responsibilities on his honor would have made him an incompetent king had he survived the play. 

Poet's Laureate

Poet: Howard Nemerov

Quick Biography

Howard Nemerov was a poet born in February 29, 1920, New York. He showed interest in the arts from a young age, studied at Harvard, earning a bachelor degree in 1941. He was a pilot of the U.S Army Air Force during WW II, and married in 1944. 

After the war, he taught English to WWII veterans at Hamilton College, where he developed his career as a professor. He earned the position of a Distinguished Poet in Residence in 1969 until his death in Washington University in St. Louis. As a poet, Howard Nemerov was known for his variety of subjects portrayed and his rather standard method of rhyme. 

That being said, here is the analysis of the individual poems:

Individual Poems

Writing

The cursive crawl, the squared-off characters 
these by themselves delight, even without 
a meaning, in a foreign language, in
Chinese, for instance, or when skaters curve 
all day across the lake, scoring their white 
records in ice. Being intelligible,
these winding ways with their audacities 
and delicate hesitations, they become 
miraculous, so intimately, out there
at the pen’s point or brush’s tip, do world 
and spirit wed. The small bones of the wrist 
balance against great skeletons of stars 
exactly; the blind bat surveys his way 
by echo alone. Still, the point of style 
is character. The universe induces
a different tremor in every hand, from the 
check-forger’s to that of the Emperor
Hui Tsung, who called his own calligraphy 
the ‘Slender Gold.’ A nervous man
writes nervously of a nervous world, and so on.
Miraculous. It is as though the world
were a great writing. Having said so much, 
let us allow there is more to the world 
than writing: continental faults are not 
bare convoluted fissures in the brain. 
Not only must the skaters soon go home; 
also the hard inscription of their skates
is scored across the open water, which long 
remembers nothing, neither wind nor wake.

This poem speaks of how beautiful, delightful, and wondrous writing is of doing despite seemingly just being words. It also speaks of how the way a man writes is characterised by who he is. Lastly, as much as writing is a great medium for man to express himself, Nemerov warns that there is more to the world than writing, and that some things have to be experienced.

A Spell Before Winter

After the red leaf and the gold have gone,

Brought down by the wind, then by hammering rain
Bruised and discolored, when October's flame
Goes blue to guttering in the cusp, this land
Sinks deeper into silence, darker into shade.
There is a knowledge in the look of things,
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.
Now I can see certain simplicities
In the darkening rust and tarnish of the time,
And say over the certain simplicities,
The running water and the standing stone,
The yellow haze of the willow and the black
Smoke of the elm, the silver, silent light
Where suddenly, readying toward nightfall,
The sumac's candelabrum darkly flames.
And I speak to you now with the land's voice,
It is the cold, wild land that says to you
A knowledge glimmers in the sleep of things:
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.

This somber poem portrays the death of autumn and its colors in the first stanza, and what it brings in return for what goes away. To be specific, the second stanza states that as the autumn leaves fall, and the world becomes darker, one could hear the voice of the land better with more clarity and focus.

KicksThe fishermen on Lake Michigan, sometimes,For kicks, they spit two hunks of bait on hooksAt either end of a single length of lineAnd toss that up among the scavenging gulls,
Who go for it so fast that often two of themMake the connection before it hits the water.Hooked and hung up like that, they do a danceThat lasts only so long. The fishermen
Do that for kicks, on Lake Michigan, sometimes.

Kicks is a light hearted poem with bits of humor and irony sprinkled into it. Basically, the fishermen of Lake Michigan attempting to amuse themselves by “fishing” seagulls, a notoriously dumb bird. To add further amusement, the birds do not attempt to let go of the bait, making it look as if the sea gull is dancing. 

Now, as the three poems are presented, here is what I think is the poet's calling card, which, frankly, was rather difficult to discover.

Calling Card

Notably, Howard Nemerov is the epitome of the prose poet. He is varied in the subjects he cover, from seemingly random observations of events to deep contemplations of the significance of a certain mode of thought. As a prose poet, Nemerov doesn’t seem predisposed to the pursuit of following specific rhymes, patterns, or structure. The tone also varies from poem to poem, from somber (A spell before Winter), to light hearted (Kicks). Therefore, if there was a Calling Card for this poet, it would be his versatility when it comes to the subjects Nemerov covers and his ability to change his tone to correspond to his topics.  

Citing

-"Howard Nemerov." Howard Nemerov- Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/222>. (Biography of Howard Nemerov)

-Nemerov, Howard. Writing by Howard Nemerov. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web.

-Nemerov, Howard. "Kicks." Kicks, a Poem by Howard Nemerov. N.p., n.d. Web.

-Nemerov, Howard. "A Spell Before Winter." A Spell Before Winter. Poemhunter, n.d. Web.