Post #68: Deceptive Figures

Seeing people solely as how they present themselves is a common lapse in human judgement. William Shakespeare plays with this notion of deceitful appearances in his The Taming of the Shrew, a play in which several of the characters take on disguises in order to achieve their goals. By using clothing as a prominent symbol for deception, and by slowly revealing character, Shakespeare demonstrates that outer appearances are not indicative of a person’s social role or actual characteristics.

Post #65: The Right to Make a Choice

Something as simple as a choice can mark the difference between one person’s life and another’s. Jillian Horton explores this idea of choices and their consequences with “The Bicycle,” a short story about the coming of age of Hannah Golandsky. The story conveys that a person must accept the responsibility of making their own choices in order to attain true fulfillment.