Great Expectations: The First Stage

When Pip is talking about "the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns and flowers, that would never have bound you" (70), he's referring to a specific day in his life that had changed who he was, as a person. This memorable day in Pip's life was when he first went to Miss Havisham's. Pip never really went out of the house until the life-changing experience when he met Miss Havisham and Estella, people of the upper class; people that Pip were never around before. This day was Pip's "chain" that bound him because it was that day that he realized he wanted to become something more than a blacksmith; he wanted to become a gentleman.

I would have to say that the day that bound my life was when I was at the age of 9. It was Christmas, to be exact. I opened my last present and it was an art kit. I remember my face lit up and my smile was as wide as it could get. The kit had just about everything in it; colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, paints, paper, and of course, the number two pencil. Whenever I was unoccupied with anything, I drew or painted. It made me feel good whenever I finished a drawing/painting, mostly because my parents always stuck some of my masterpieces on the refrigerator. To this very day, I still keep painting and drawing. It's something that's a tremendous part of my life. Opening that one present on Christmas was the chain that's bounding my life and makes me the person I am today.

*Group Essay: Madison, Kayla and I

Hey Madison and Kayla. Let me remind you that I'm writing my paragraph about social class in The Importance of Being Earnest, and how social class affects the lives of different people living in the Victorian Era. My first point of my paragraph is going to talk about how Lady Bracknell is astonished when she finds out that Ernest (Jack) was born in a handbag, even though he was part of the upper class; he wasn't exactly "born" into high society. Next, I'll be writing about how Lady Bracknell asks Jack if he smokes, and she says that "A man should always have an occupation of some kind." (24). Basically, Oscar Wilde is making fun of the fact that Jack nor Algernon have occupations, and that leisure acitivites, social gatherings, and the pursuit of pleasure are the only occupations that men of the upper class have. Last but not least, I'll write about how Algernon and Jack don't appreciate money. An example of that is when Lane hands Algernon the bills, and he simply tears them up. This obviously means that Algernon doesn't care, and he takes his inheritance for granted.