Proposal

             For my "positivity project" I plan on writing notes of encouragement to the people in my neighborhood. I know how much words of encouragement help me when I am feeling sad and I hope to do the same for my neighbors. In order to do this I will need some markers, maybe some glitter, and either pieces of paper or note cards. After writing these notes I plan on putting them on the doors of the houses. I do not really ever get a chance to talk to any of my neighbors and hopefully this will open up an opportunity to speak to one of them. Hopefully by doing this I can bring something nice into their day. A plan on doing this either Sunday afternoon or Monday.

Sarah, Entry # 9:

            I do not think that the dreams people had really affected them. One reason is that we never see the dreams that people have. When people slept it was only so that the play could continue. If people had not randomly fallen asleep then the juice would not have been put into their eyes. Even when characters thought they had had a dream they did not change anything about themselves at all.

            As for which character I thought I was most like; I do not really see any similarities between any of them and myself. I admire Hermia the most out of all the characters. She does not give up until the can be with the one she loves. Also, she does not let her father or Demetrius get in her way. She fights for what she believes is right and does not let others influence her decisions. For example, when she tells her father in the first act of the play that she will not marry Demetrius, she states: “I do entreat your grace to pardon me./I know not by what power I am made bold,/Nor how it may concern my modesty/In such a presence here to plead my thoughts”(Scene 1, Lines 58-61). She knows that she is not being very respectful to her father by doing this but she feels that it is the right thing to do and that he is being unfair. That is why I like her best, and why I want to have some of her characteristics.

            Hermia’s standard of purity is however not very surprising for this period of time. Back then people had higher standards when it came to purity unlike today. There are a fare amount of people with high purity standards in this day and age, but there are also many people who simply do not really care. As for Lysander’s apologizing, I think that he probably realized what he said had upset Hermia so in order that she not get angry at him he just said that he did not mean it that way. As for relationships as a whole in that day and time; they were probably a lot less casual then by today’s standards. Back then marriages were arranged; as indicated in the first act of the play when Hermia’s father wanted her to marry Demetrius. It was probably not very common for two people to just fall in love and get married. That is why it is such a big deal when Hermia and Lysander run away together when Hermia’s father will not let her marry Lysander.  What would you say is the most important theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Does this theme apply to modern times in any way? Which scene was your favorites of the play and why?