Order in the Court!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am here today to convince you of the guilt of Antigone, who has willfully and unlawfully violated the decree set down by King Creon and buried her brother, Polyneices. She has attempted to defend herself by saying that, “it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not such are the laws set among men by the justice who dwells with the gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of heaven,” (Sophocles, 85). This, however, is not the point. Regardless of whether her actions violated the “unfailing statutes of heaven,” Antigone has violated mortal law, and must be punished for her misdeeds.

Antigone’s own sister, Ismene, supports her guilt as well. She says “Howbeit, the offence is the same for both of us,” (Sophocles, 126), implying that they have both committed the crime.

King Creon has been quite clear in his will: he has stated “leave him unburied, a corpse for birds and dogs to eat, a ghastly sight of shame. Such the spirit of my dealing; and never, by deed of mine, shall the wicked stand in honour before the just…” (Sophocles, 37). Antigone has directly violated this edict, and so she is guilty.

The most obvious proof of all, however, is that Antigone herself has admitted repeatedly to her crime. She has said, “I avow it; I make no denial,” (Sophocles, 81), clearly stating that she has committed a crime. Whether or not other witnesses can be believed, the truth comes straight from Antigone’s mouth. She is guilty, and must be sentenced.

Relics from the past...

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient newspaper in Thebes! Only one article seems to have survived, however. It's translated here:
Polyneices Buried!
Reports have come in from the battlefield near Thebes that Polyneices, exiled and shunned prince of Thebes, has been given burial rites by his sister, Antigone, against the wishes of her father, King Creon. Creon was quoted as saying, "He who does his duty in his own household will be found righteous in the State also. But if any one transgresses, and does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to his rulers, such an one can win no praise from me. No, whomsoever the city may appoint, that man must be obeyed..." Nevertheless, it appears that Antigone has gone against her father's will and has given her traitor brother proper Greek burial rites, greatly angering her father, who has sentanced her to death.
Not all agree with the King's decision, however. Prince Haimon, son of Creon, has apparently sided with Antigone, asking his father to "Nay, forego thy wrath; permit thyself to change." Creon has given him no punishment
As a state owned newspaper, the Thebian Times supports Creon in his decision, and hopes that all who violate his will are brought to justice.
Antigone could not be reached for comment.

Technology, Blogging, and the Information Age

We are living in the age of information. With sites such as Wikipedia and Google, we have an incredible amount of information and work right at our fingertips, simply waiting for someone to come along and look for it. We are more connected to each other than we have ever been, through sites such as Facebook and, of course, blogging. This wealth of knowledge and connection has incredible application for schools.
Focusing on blogging for the moment, I think that this method of giving our thoughts on literature is quite effective. Using a blog for assignments makes it much easier for our teacher to look at and grade our assignments, while allowing us students to make corrections and do work on our own time. Doing assignments on a computer also gives us easy access to all the useful information on the internet. For example, if we need to find a quote from, say, the Iliad, a quick google search takes care of it (it's the second result). This makes it easier to cite our work and find things that we didn't anticipate needing. I also like the way that this method mirrors the real world, where technology will undoubtedly be a large part of our lives.
I might be a bit biased, being a self described technology nerd, but I like how we're starting to integrate this kind of thing into school. It makes everything more efficient. Again, this may be different for other people. I've always been comfortable around technology, since my dad gave me an introduction when I was quite young. I'm sure there are some who prefer to actually put pencil to paper and write out their thoughts, but I like blogging - it gives me a chance to edit as I go, and I like the way I can easily read other peoples' entries.
Edit: There is one issue I see with using blogs for assignments. English has been my only class that doesn't consistently assign homework, and blogging has changed that: we now have to do blog posts at home fairly often. If this can be kept to a minimum, I won't have a problem.

What this blog is about

This blog is primarily going to be to enter assignments and work from my 10 IB English class, but I may or may not talk about other stuff as well. If you're interested in some random sophomore's thoughts on great literature, keep reading.