What a Dream!

A review of A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare

Reviewed by Abigail Owens

Our dreams tend to be quite eccentric a lot of the time (at least mine do). Because of this, the story/play A Midsummer Night’s Dream was very interesting for me. The wedding bells are ringing for the Athenians Theseus and Hippolyta. But that is not all going on in the play. A nobleman by the name of Egeus has a strapping young nobleman, Demetrius ready to marry his stunning daughter Hermia. There is just one little predicament; Hermia has no intentions of marrying Demetrius, and instead is prepared to elope with her true love, Lysander. Of course, Egeus sincerely disapproves of this. Meanwhile, a fair, but not near as stunning lady, Helena is head over heels in love with Demetrius, but naturally Demetrius does not love Helena one bit given that he is planning to wed Hermia. There are also the Workmen, consisting of Peter Quince (a carpenter), Nick Bottom (a weaver), Francis Flute (a bellows-mender), Tom Snout (a tinker), Robin Starveling (a tailor) and Snug (a joiner). This odd mixture of characters is planning a play to perform at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Though it may sound like an impossible tangle of Christmas lights, the story is reasonably easy to follow.

Hermia and Lysander decide to up and run off to another town where they can be married without having Egeus prevent it. The path they decide to take leads through a nearby forest. The two let Helena in on their plans, but Helena informs Demetrius of this so that she might somehow make him fall in love with her. Demetrius follows Hermia and Lysander when they leave. Off they go, gallivanting off into the forest, but when night falls, strange things begin to happen.

The Workmen, for one reason or another, think they should rehearse their play in the woods, where no one will find them and catch a sneak peek. Incidentally, this wood happens to be the same wood. Once they start rehearsing, strange things start to happen as well.

Now is the time to introduce Oberon and Titania. They are the king and queen of the fairies. Being fairies, they can have no children, so Titania adopts a little boy, which starts a quarrel between Oberon and herself. Oberon wants the boy to serve him, and Titania does not. So Oberon decides that he will do something quite sly to get the boy from Titania. Oberon also has an assistant whose name is Puck.

Oberon hears about the Athenian lovers wandering in the forest, and decides to help out (or have Puck help out). He tells Puck to sprinkle the juice of a certain flower on Demetrius’ eyes; this juice causes one to fall in love with the next person they see, whether it be male, female, even an animal. Oberon tells Puck to do this, but to make sure the next person he sees is Helena. Well, off Puck goes to fulfill Oberon’s orders; the only thing is he has never seen Demetrius before. Puck happens upon Lysander, assumes he is Demetrius and sprinkles the flower juice on his eyes. What eventually happens, is Lysander is under an enchantment and is “in love” with Helena, who thinks Lysander is mocking her. But then Puck realizes this and sprinkles the juice on Demetrius’ eyes so that both Lysander and Demetrius are following Helena around. This brings Helena to tears because of what she thinks is mockery. Hermia on the other hand is trying to figure out what happened to her dear Lysander.

In the meantime, the Workmen are rehearsing in the woods, but Bottom disappears. When he returns, he has the head of a donkey and his friends run for their lives, not knowing it is Bottom. Bottom doesn’t know he has a donkey head either, until he sees his reflection in a pool. Puck is responsible for this.

Oberon then sprinkles the juice of the flower on his wife Titania’s eyes, so that she will fall in love with the next thing she sees. He hopes that he will be able to coax the little boy from her while she is enchanted, then he will release the enchantment. Oberon then has Puck lead Bottom to a place where Titania will see him, so that she will fall in love with him.

Hermia is still upset with Lysander, and Helena is still feeling teased. But Oberon and Puck are able to smooth things out, leaving Demetrius loving Helena, but taking the enchantment off of Lysander so he will love Hermia again. The lovers decide to head back home, having enough adventures already. Hermia and Lysander are granted permission to marry, because (obviously) Demetrius loves Helena. All’s well that ends well.

While Titania is doting on Bottom, the other Workmen are feeling hopeless since they lost an important character and they can’t seem to find Bottom. Eventually, once Oberon has completed his purpose, he removes the enchantment from Titania, and gives Bottom his normal head back. Bottom is off to Athens to find his friends; and Titania and Oberon are back in love, with all bumps in their relationship smoothed out. When Bottom returns, he finds his friends in the tavern, and they have a last minute rehearsal for the play.

At the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, the lovers are together and happy as ever. The Workmen’s play goes as well as their play could go. This play might be the most comical part of the whole play. It definitely had me laughing. Nonetheless, it was well intentioned.

This play is one of the best Shakespeare plays I have ever read. It has a little bit of everything, romance, magic, drama, comedy; it will not fail to entertain you. This is a classic, and you must read it if you even hope of having any knowledge of what good literature really is.

The Music of Spain

(From my Spanish Class)

La Música de España

By Abigail O.

Spain is a beautiful country in almost every aspect. The landscapes, the culture, the arts, the list goes on. Spaniards over all seem very bold, and that shows up in their arts especially, in paintings and even music. Music tells a lot about a country as you will find out.

Early in the Renaissance, instrumental music in Spain had influence from Arabic music. Polyphonic vocal style music became popular in the early 16^th century in Spain, and it was somewhat similar to the composing styles of the Franco-Flemish. The classical music culture in Spain was drawing to an end in the 18^th-20^th century. The new style of music was guitar compositions by popular Spanish musicians like Francisco Tárrega, Fernando Sor and Miguel Llobet.

Currently, the musical creativity of Spain has changed quite a bit from the 16^th century and has been leaning more towards folk and pop styles. The popular style has influences from British and American music, especially rock and roll. The music styles can be categorized by regions in Spain, as follows:

• Music of Andalusia
• Music of Aragon
• Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias
• Music of the Balearic Islands
• Basque Country music
• Music of the Canary Islands
• Music of Castile, Madrid and León
• Music of Catalonia
• Music of Extremadura
• Music of Murcia
• Music of Navarre and La Rioja
• Music of Valencia

You’ve probably heard of flamenco, whether you know what it is or not. It is an Andalusian style of music and it consists of three parts: cante (the song), baile (the dance) and guitarra (guitar). This style dates all the way back to 1774, and it was supported most often by gypsies. Flamenco had some low times for quite a few years, but it is regaining its popularity and is growingly acknowledged by musicologists and music conservatories. The other styles of Spanish music consist of various instruments. The more common instruments such as drums, guitars, tambourines, and accordions are seen in multiple styles. The lesser known instruments like wooden fifes, shawms, and even church bells can be included in multiple styles of music. Obviously, this music can have wide variations of sound, but they all have Spanish style as the base.

There are so many types of music, not just in Spain, but all over the world. God has truly blessed us with the gift of music, and every genre has its uniqueness that we can appreciate. Spanish music has truly inherited a lot of style from generations past, but they still use more modern influences in their music, making it a wonderful blend of history and art, yet in a song.

Religious Neutrality for the State

Should the state be religiously neutral? This is a topic disagreed upon quite often. The view I hold is that the state should be religiously neutral. Why, you ask? We as Christians need to guard ourselves from heresies, which come in all different shapes and sizes. By letting the state become associated with religion, we would be letting the state be associated with the Church as well and that is opening a door for all kinds of ideas to come through and possibly corrupt the Church. More descriptive reasons will gladly be explained in the following paragraphs.
The first of my reasons is that man is sinful and can become corrupt. There could be a strong Christian man appointed as head of state, but once his term is done, someone else needs to be elected or appointed. It would be nice if the next man was a Christian as well, but that might not happen, and it might turn out a Muslim is appointed. He then might change what is taught in the schools, or change laws to the disadvantage of churches. Some Christians have their children in public schools, and those children would then be taught heresies and they would have to shield themselves from those teachings. The public school systems in fact already have some of these teachings going on.
To add to the above, come Christians say that there should be praying in schools. This might look like a good idea on the surface, but once you dig in, it truly is not. For example, the teacher of a class could be an atheist, and when it comes time every day to say a “prayer”, the “prayer” might really just be a conversation with your soul or mind.
And also if man is sinful, he can be led astray. You might have someone appointed as head of state and when he is appointed, he claims to be a Christian. But we all know that fame and wealth have potential to corrupt men, and the head of state might end up leading everybody astray. This would not be good for the Church either.
In his Defense*, Justin gives an interesting example of a person expressing a reason for the state to be religiously neutral. In this example, Lucius is protesting the order of execution given by a man named Urbicius, for another Christian by the name of Ptolemy. This is what he said, “Why punish this man, who is not an adulterer, fornicator, murderer, thief, robber, or offender in any way, but merely confesses the name Christian?” In a more understandable sense, Lucius is saying that it is not any of Urbicius’ business that this man claims to be a Christian, and that Urbicius should only be concerned with crimes such as murder, thievery, fornication, and so forth. One of the reasons Lucius might think this is to protect Christians from persecution if a sinful leader (such as Urbicius) comes into power. This proves my point earlier that there is almost always the possibility that a sinful leader will come into power.
Though state and religion should not be associated, it doesn’t mean that they are not called to rule justly. Deuteronomy 16:18 says this, “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” (ESV) This verse is obviously calling rulers to judge with righteousness. It also does not mean that we as Christians should not submit to the authority placed over us. Romans 13:1-2 says this, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” This clearly states that we should submit to the government, and do what they say, unless of course they want us to renounce our faith.
To wrap things up, we can say these few things. Man is sinful and can become corrupt, and that can lead to heretical teaching in schools, corrupt leaders and Christian persecution. So then why should the state be in charge of religious duties as well? If there are Christian rulers, they should certainly encourage Christianity and Godly living, but the state should not interfere with religious activities. I will close with two verses, Psalms 2:10, “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.”, and Psalms 94:20, “Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?” (ESV)

A few words about a few quotes...

I came across these quotes, and it struck me how much they apply to our country's situation right now. Both are by Winston Churchill, and I will try to explain as best I can about how they apply to the current happenings.

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.” -Winston Churchill : Here, this quote is implying that we should learn from past events. With this Bailout and stock market points dropping dramatically, we should've looked back and saw that a similar event happened before the Depression, which caused the Depression. We could be heading into another Depression, but we will trust the Lord with everything we have.

“A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.” -Winston Churchill :This is a difficult quote to explain, so comment if you see something wrong. What I think Churchill is getting at, is that a politician needs to be able to see maybe not so good things that are going to happen in the future, and try to prevent them, and explain afterwards what they did to prevent it. But like I said earlier, I wasn't completely sure about this quote.

Earn Your Treats

A rich farmer, coming back from a long journey, arrived back at his home and began unloading his baggage. His favorite donkey, which had securely carried him throughout his whole trip, was given a rinse off, and put into his stall afterwards. The farmer was grateful for his donkey and wanted to reward him. On his trip, the farmer purchased special donkey treats, which were rare and was anxious to see if his donkey liked them. Donkeys, he heard, liked these treats a lot, and when he gave them to his donkey, the donkey apparently enjoyed them too. But when the farmer’s lapdog saw this, the lapdog thought that he deserved a treat also. The farmer gave the lapdog one, but he didn’t seem to enjoy it as much. Sadly enough, the treat didn’t taste as good to the dog because he didn’t earn it like the donkey did. Earning the treat would have made the dog enjoy it just as much as the donkey did.

Doing and Saying

Benjamin Franklin said “Well done is better than well said”. If you are looking for reason to agree, here they are. First, saying is easier than doing. Second, it’s better to do something well than to say something well. Third, talk can lead to laziness so saying is easier than doing.

Have you ever done a poor job on something that you said you would do? That is an example that proves that saying is easier than doing. It is hard for us, because we might want to help someone out but not have enough time to do everything that you said. See how much easier saying is than doing?

If you had to give a speech on why to do something good and prosperous, then afterwards you went off and did the opposite, than you would be saying it well, not doing it well. This is what Ben Franklin is trying to get across. It is a struggle that everyone has, but the Lord will help us overcome it if we ask him.
Now, you might be wondering why saying is easier than doing. Well, humans are born with a sinful nature which laziness comes out of so we are called lazy when we do the opposite of what Ben Franklin said.

The reasons you have learned are saying is easier than doing, it’s better to do something well than to say it, and last you saw how saying is easier than doing. Those are some excellent reasons, so it would be a shame if you didn’t agree with Ben Franklin when he said “Well done is better than well said”.

The Heart and the Intellect

J. G. Holland once said, "The heart is wiser than the intellect," which is a very interesting saying. I disagree with him. Your mind knows a lot more than your heart for sure. Also, your heart can be misleading.
First of all, you gain knowledge of things such as math with your mind, not with your heart. Your mind also has more common sense than your heart. Learning things with your heart is possible, but you certainly don't learn as much there as you do in your mind.
Easily being misled, your heart can be drawn to do bad things, though the mind knows that they're wrong. Your mind can also be misled, but when it notices its fault, it can turn around and know not do do that again. Both the mind and the heart can be misled, the mind can think its way out of the situation.
The major reasons the mind is smarter than the heart are because of its knowledge and being able to get itself out of a stick mess. In conclusion, I disagree with J. G. Holland's saying "The heart is wiser than the intellect." -Abby, South Carolina

Read Them Fairy Tales

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein said this so you might have to think about a little before completely understanding it. Here are some reasons to help that! Imaginations are important, and two ways of using it are writing and research.

Reading fairy tales helps your imagination since the events are usually not normal for our world. These help you think outside the box and be creative. We wouldn’t have many of the great inventions we have now if it weren’t for imagination!

One way of exercising your imaginative talents is by writing. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis or The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien are very good examples of imaginative writing. You can create the wildest stories when you write and that helps your imagination.

Doing research is another good way of working your creativity. In research you need to think of multiple ways to research something to get the most results, and if you can’t imagine and think of different ways to do it, you will have a pretty poor end product.

Read your children fairy tales, because it is good for them and Einstein said to. He did have his oddities but this saying is very true. You’ve learned what imagination is and does, and you’ve also learned two ways to use it. Go find your old bedtime stories and start reading them to yourself and your kids!

God's Handwriting

God’s Handwriting

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting”. Do you understand that? Here are a few points that might help you. First, take time to see everything beautiful, God’s imagination is amazing and everything He made is beautiful. Then there is a reason why most people do lose opportunities.

God made everything for us to enjoy, though lots of people don’t enjoy it, in fact, they sometimes ignore it. When Emerson says, ‘never lose an opportunity”, he means that if you had the choice between going outdoors and staying indoors, that you should choose to go outdoors.

Every snowflake is different, every leaf is a different shade of green, and mysteries still remain about the human body. These show what detailed and creative an imagination that God has. We as humans only know a very small fraction of what God has made, and we have discovered a lot!

Emerson also said that beauty is God’s handwriting. God made everything and everything was beautiful, so whenever you see beautiful things, you can tell that it is God’s handwriting.

The Travel channel is an excuse to not go outdoors. This may be good for disabled people, but it really isn’t as pretty on TV as it is in real life. Playing video games or playing on the computer are other excuses. Other people may have a fear about going outside, like getting lost. Still others may go out and see the wonders, but don’t understand how or why it is there. We as Christians know that God and His wonderful imagination created it.

You have covered taking time to see everything beautiful, God’s amazing imagination, and everything He made is beautiful. We then covered the excuses that some people use to avoid seeing all of this wondrous work. Do you agree with Emerson now when he said, “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting”?