i chose this picture because i thought it was funny. but it does actually go with the play Hamlet.  even though Hamlet is really saying to be or not to be, he know it is TO BE.  on the other hand bush is not even thinking if it’s not to be. he just wanted to stay in the war.

Many people have a fear of ghosts mainly because of superstitions they have heard in the past.  Alot of early East Texans had a healthy regard for ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Some of their superstitons were:

• Carry a lump of bread in your pocket when walking in the dark. It will serve as an offering to ghosts.
• If you see a ghost, walk around it nine times, and it will disappear.
• If you can’t walk around the spook nine times, crow like a rooster. The theory is that ghosts don’t wear watches and they’ll flee if they think daylight is coming.
• When passing a graveyard or a house where someone has died, turn your pockets inside out to make sure you you don’t bring home ghost in your pocket.
• Never slam a door. You might hurt a ghost, who’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.

During Shakespeare’s time many people interpretted ghosts in different ways. Some ways were:

• an hallucination

• a specter seen as a portent

• a spirit of a dead person returned to perform some deed left undone in life

• a spirit of a dead person returned from the grave or from purgatory by divine permission (the Catholic position)

• an angel disguised as a dead person, or a devil disguised as a dead person to tempt a living relative into eternal damnation (the Protestant position taught to Hamlet and Horatio at Wittenberg)

English and Welsh castles are said to have the most ghost hauntings/sightings.  Some of the most famous ghosts have been sighted here. Such as Elizabeth I and Anne Bolelyn.

The top 10 most haunted places in America are:

1. new orleans, louisiana
2. galveston, texas
3. gettysburg, pennsylvania
4. key west, flordia
5. savannah, georgia
6. charleston, south carolina
7. san francisco, california
8. chicago, illinois
9. miami, florida
10. salem, massachusetts

Most of those that are fascinated with ghosts like them because they like a little scare.  Plus many are just interested in the unknown.

 the wicked witch

she definitely stands for evil. but i dont think she stands for jus the evil found in people but also the evils all around us.  and to dorothy she also stands for the storms that we have to get through in order to get to our main goal.

 dorothy and toto

dorothy stands for persistence, honesty, loyalty, and faith.  she shows persistence with all the obstacles she has to get through not only to find the wizard but to get back to kansas. she is an honest and loyal person to all of her friends that she comes to meet on her journey.  and she also represents faith because she never truely gives up faith of finding the wizard.                                                                                   toto represents that faithful companion thats always by your side when you need him.  he keeps dorothy and her friends company along the entire way.

 cowardly lion, tin man, and scarecrow

they represent companionship and loyalty. they each were strangers to one another and to dorothy as well but opened up enough to each other to become friends. they helped each other when they needed help. they also showed qualities that each didnt believe that they had. (i.e.: lion was brave, tin man loved, and scarecrow was smart)

 tin man

as we all kno tin man wanted a heart so he could love.  but he himself represents love because he exhibits it throughout the movie.  this just shows that you dont need a physical heart to love someone, they just have to be important enough to you for you to be able to show that you care.

 scarecrow

scarecrow shows the need to succeed in something. he doesnt believe he can be smart without a brain. but he shows us that smarts arent all scholastic and intellectual. he is smart in the sense that he knows how to do things and get out of certain situations that the group occassionally found themselves in. scarecrow didnt need a brain to be witty.

 cowardly lion

the cowardly lion stands for brevety.  he doesnt think hes brave at all because he tends to cower in the face of danger. but in fact he gathers up all of his courage and helps dorothy escape the wrath of the witch. he is very brave even when he doesnt realize it.

 THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END