Pride and Prejudice Review

The novel I have chose to read was Pride and Prejudice, one of the best and well known novels written by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813 and celebrated its 200th Anniversary last year. This classic is on the Leaving Certificate course for 2016 so I decided it would be a good idea to take the time out to read it. Pride and Prejudice has been adapted into films and into a television series. 
          This novel centres around the Bennett Family. Mr and Mrs Bennett have five daughters Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary and Kitty. They do not have any sons, therefore the family home and the land from which their income is made are entailed to a male heir. This means that on the death of Mr Bennett, the land will be passed on to their cousin Mr Collins, leaving the girls and their mother poor and homeless. Pride and Prejudice follows the girls on a hunt for a husband, to the Bennett girls it is essential to find a husband of comfortable means as soon as possible.
          Marriage is a theme that is explored at length in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. This is established straight away from the opening sentence "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife". Jane Austen immediately links marriage to money. In the world of Pride and Prejudice, marriage is a woman's career. A woman must find a husband for comfort, convenience and money. Marriage was not born out of love in the nineteenth century. I learned from reading this novel that marriage should be born out of love. You come across eight different marriages in Pride and Prejudice and I have discovered that the delightful marriages of Jane and Mr Bingley and Elizabeth and Mr Darcy show the result of long periods of love. The other marriages are unhappy and loveless as a result of a lack of courtship or marrying for the wrong reasons.
          I admire Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice. Her role is to deliver Jane Austen's view on marriage, know-one should marry for convenience, you should only marry for love. Elizabeth follows her heart and doesn't get pulled in by the ways of society or family who marry for wealth and status. I have learned from Elizabeth's relationship with Darcy that love does not come about over night, it comes about so gradually that you hardly even notice it. Another reason why I admire Elizabeth is because at the beginning of the novel she only believed in first impressions and always believed that she was right. It is clear that Elizabeth matured during the course of the novel because by the end she was able to admit that she had been wrong about Mr Darcy, she had been "blind, partial, prejudiced and absurd", her initial impression of him was wrong.
          I enjoyed reading this novel because it is still relevant to our lives today, marriage is a usual event in young peoples lives and you can learn a lot from this novel. Pride and Prejudice has taught me not to give into the ways of society. Copying other people is not the right road to take, you must stay true to who you are and do what you think is best for yourself.
          I really enjoyed reading 'Pride and Prejudice' and I would definitely recommend it. It is a timeless classic full of romance and suspense that captures your attention from cover to cover!

Mo Thaithí Oibre :)

Chaith mé an coicís ag obair i Maxi Zoo, siopa peata i Maigh Nuad. D'fhoghlaim mé a lán faoin post nuair a bhí mé ann. Tá mé ag iarradh a bheith ag obair le ainmhithe sa todhchaí.
     Thosaigh mé ag obair ar a naoi a chlog gach Ceadaoin ar feadh ocht seachtaine. D'ith mé mo lón ar a dó-dheag a chlog agus chuaigh mé abhaile ar a leathuair tar éis a dó.
     Thaitin sé liom. is é Darren an duine a bhí i gceannas orm, bhí sé an-cairdiúil agus greannmhar. Bhí orm ná na seilfeanna a líonadh agus na caighean éan a ghlanadh. Bhí mé an-ghnóthach go leor.
     Gach lá nuair a bhí mé ann, chaith me t-leine dearg agus bríste géine. D'fhoghlaim mé a lán scileanna nuair a bhí mé ag obair, scileanna cumarsáid agus scileanna eagrú.

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How Many Miles to Babylon- Review :)

The novel I chose to read was 'How Many Miles To Babylon' by an Irish author Jennifer Johnston. I decided to read this novel because my friend read it and recommended it, it is also on the Leaving Certificate course so I thought it was a good idea to read it. How many miles to Babylon was written in 1974 and is one of Johnston's most celebrated novels. It has been adapted for television  in 1982 and into a stage production in 2005 and 2006.
     This novel was written in the genre of fiction and social realism, which basically means that it does not exceed the limits of reality.This novel is a story about the lives of two boys, Alexander Moore and Jerry Crowe in Ireland prior to and during World War 1. Alec is the only child of a wealthy Anglo Irish couple whereas Jerry is part of the Catholic underclass, two very different cultures. Their personal qualities reflect these backgrounds as do the prejudices that divide them at home and at war.
     The story was described through the eyes of the narrator Alexander Moore, it recounts the events of his life that have led to his present circumstances. As a child Alec, the only son of a bitter marriage, formed a close friendship with a village boy named Jerry Crowe who shared his passion for horses. However Alec's mother Alicia has a very strong dislike for Jerry. Jerry's social status means that for Alicia he is not a suitable friend for Alec. Having found out about Alec's and Jerry's friendship, Alicia forbids Alec to see Jerry anymore and takes him on a holiday to Europe in the hope that separating them for a period of time would make them forget about eachother and fall out of friendship, however this did not work and when Alec returned from Europe their friendship continued. Alicia's final attempt to keep Alec and Jerry apart was to send Alec off to war, this would mean that Alec would become an officer because of his social status and mix with men from his own social background. While she doesn't know that Jerry also plans to go to war to earn some money for his family, it is irrelevant to her as Jerry's social class are separated from Alec's. Alec and Jerry both find themselves under the command of the cold and heartless Major Glendinning. The Major treated their close friendship with confusion and suspicion and when Jerry runs away for a few days to search for his wounded father, Glendinning sentences him to death, making Alec take command of the firing squad that will carry out Jerry's execution. Due to their close friendship Alec was unable to follow such a command, he visits Jerry in his cell and shoots him with his own pistol. The last paragraph of the novel describes Alec himself waiting for the firing squad after being sentenced to death. 
     The character I found to be most interesting was Jerry Crowe. Jerry is part of the Catholic underclass, a very different culture to his best friend Alexander. Even though the village people and the majors judged and looked down at them for being friends, Jerry ignored them because he didnt care what people thought of them. Their backgrounds were very different, Alec was home-schooled while Jerry's background was in an ordinary school, which he left at a very young age to work. I really admired Jerry near the end of the book. After receiving a letter from his Mam saying that his Father had gone missing Jerry risks his life to go look for him, this showed great courage. After finding his critically injured father, Jerry returns to the war. He decides to face the consequences of running away from war like a man and gets turned in. He was sentenced to death, however Jerry's death showed how much he loved his family and that really impressed me!
     How Many Miles To Babylon is set in the early 20th century during World War 1. I found this book extremely interesting because it was set in Ireland, but life for Irish people back then was extremely difficult and different to my life today. It was really interesting to see the separation between social classes. I also found this book extremely easy to read because the author really allows you to get dragged into the world of the book and it becomes nearly impossible to put the book down, you just want to keep reading! I enjoyed the style of writing, it was easy to understand and was a nice change from other novels on the English syllabus that are all written in the old fashioned English language. 
     I really enjoyed reading 'How Many Miles To Babylon' by Jennifer Johnston and I would definitely recommend it. The story captures your attention from cover to cover, and I am really looking forward to reading another novel by this author!

Ciara :)

Happy Holly Days!

Yesterday was really fun! Our whole year volunteered to sell holly badges in aid of the ISPCC to raise money for all the children who call the ISPCC on Christmas. Over 1700 Children call every Christmas Eve, and the money that we raised was given to those children so that they can have a happy Christmas this year.
    We arrived into town at 10 o'clock and met two people who work for the ISPCC. They gave us a Santa hat, a yellow bib saying 'ISPCC Volunteer' and a box of Holly Bagdes each. Sita, Caoimhe and I were told to sell our badges outside Tesco. We raised money for the ISPCC for about three hours, we actually made quite alot of money! It didnt take long before we realised that more people came over when we sang Christmas Carols, so we spent our time singing 'Rudolf the red nose reindeer' and 'Winter
Wonderland'.

Calamity Jane Launch!

Last Friday was the official launch of our school musical 'Calamity Jane'. The launch was held in The Celbridge Manor Hotel at 8 o'clock. The school choir opened the evening by singing a few Christmas Carols, I love hearing Christmas Carols because it really gets me in the Christmas spirit!
     After the choir sang it was time to introduce our cast, they had a few songs prepared. Act One Scene One was performed, which included the musicals first song 'The Deadwood Stage'. 'Secret Love' was also performed, I really enjoyed secret love because there were ballet dancers in the background. The launch went really well and a lot of tickets for the musical in February.

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xmujSyxkU

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU8tQpCZEzg

Maths Trip

On Wednesday our TY year group went to Rathbeggen Lakes in Dunshaughlin for a project maths trip. We were put into groups of four and were given a number of logical maths problems to solve using the equipment provided and the our surroundings. For example we had to use our knowledge of maths to measure the height of a pole. Some of the problems were easy but others really made you think. Our group did well, we solved five of the problems. The people who solved the most problems won a family day pass to the Rathbeggen Lakes Centre.

     After the Maths Trip we all went to Blanchardstown shopping centre for lunch and we also got an hour and a half to go around the shops, it was great fun and it was nice to see all of the Christmas Decorations!

source: http://www.stationhousehotel.ie/images/uploads/rathbeggan%20lakes.jpg

source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6843439791_f1b5ef6106_z.jpg

source: http://airdnuaeve.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/christmas-shopping.jpg

     

CAKES!!

Last week the TY Students organised a Cake Sale to raise money for the Philippines following the Typhoon disaster. We all made cakes and encouraged students from other years to bake too. The night before I was up late baking chocolate cookies! There was a great turn out on the day, the lines to get into the hall were so long and everyone was pushing to try get through the doors.
     The Cake sale was held during Lunch time, and by 2 o'clock all the cakes were sold. We raised over 1700 euro which we gave to Trocaire for the people suffering in the Philippines. this just shows how much the people in St Wolstans want to help out and how much we love cake! :)

source: http://www.stwolstans.ie/slideshow/home_2_1.jpg

source: http://www.stwolstans.ie/slideshow/home_2_6.jpg