Connections between me and my book

I don't think I can relate much to anyone in the book Romeo and Juliet, but I think I am a little bit like Benvolio, who likes to give advice to friends and tries to make them feel better. Benvolio would do anything to help Romeo with his problems, Even taking him to a party where only Capulets are allowed, ignoring the feud between the families. After reading scene 4 (I hope that counts as part of the first few scenes) I realized that Romeo's intrusion to the party might have escalated the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.
The language of Shakespeare is actually easy to understand with the help of the footnotes, which are definitely a HUGE help. However, there are lots of jokes and allusions I don't really understand. This is where the reading in class helps. I guess since I'm kind of getting used to Shakespeare's language when I'm reading on my own its easier now. I'm so glad we aren't assigned huge portions of the book to read at home every night like when we were reading Great Expectations. (or maybe it was because that book wasn't very exciting) The first scene took my forever to get through because I had to constantly refer to the footnotes. I still don't think that reading in class helps that much though.

wrapping up GE :D

I think that Charles Dickens really wanted his readers to remember that when you go after something you don't really need you won't become happy or content. Pip went to London with lots of money thinking that would make him happy. You think it will make you feel better about yourself but it only keeps you from realizing what real happiness is. Nowadays this message is still very true. For example, when you get something that everybody else has, what's considered cool, you might be happy for a moment. But after a little while you start to realize that it isn't as great as you thought it was. A great example that supports this message is the silly band. Silly bandz were a huge fad with elementary schoolers for an extremely short period of time. People liked to trade them and cover their wrists, fingers, and necks with them. Then the fad of these interestingly shaped rubber bands started fading away. I can imagine the regret people who spent huge amounts of money on the fad felt then. When you do or take something just to fit into other people's standards you'll never be content. But when you stay content with your circumstances and where you are that's what can make you happier.