Act IV-V

Act four opens up with Le Bret and the rest of the soldiers struggling to find any source of food. Meanwhile, Cyrano is trying to keep good on the promise he made with Roxanne by continuing to send Christians letters to her. As time passes by more and more soldiers start getting homesick, but Cyrano tries to help the situation by performing a song. Later De Guiche arrives and talks to Cyrano about the attack the Spaniards have planned. Act four ends with Roxanne going to visit Christian, but when she arrives they ask her to leave because they are about to battle the Spaniards.

Act five is fifteen years later where Roxanne now is a nun at the Convent of the Ladies of the Cross in Paris. Now Roxanne and De Guiche are having a conversation and some of the topics include Cyrano and her love for Christian. Cyrano than arrives to see Roxanne even though he has a broken skull. As Cyrano is dying he reads the last letter he wrote to Roxanne, an d then Roxanne realizes that it was Cyrano writing the letters the whole time but he denies it. Soon after Cyrano de Bergerac dies in the arms of Roxanne.

Act four and five are vital to the play because Roxanne finds out about Christian and Cyrano dies too. Roxanne finding about a Christian was important because she finally found out that it was Cyrano that had all those emotional feelings towards her. Lastly Act five reveals the tragic death of Cyrano after getting hit in the head and breaking his skull. Cyrano’s death was important because as he is dying Roxanne finally realizes that it was Cyrano she loved the whole time.

One new word I came across was cadets. A cadet is defined as a student in a national service academy or private military school or on a training ship. (dictionary.com). The cadets were preparing to battle the other soldiers.

Act 3 Scenes I-XIII

Act Three opens up with Ragueneau having a conversation with Duenna about his wife Lise running away with a Musketeer. Soon after Duenna calls Roxanne into the room and starts bragging about Christian’s poetic abilities and even rehearses some of Christian’s poems back to Cyrano. De Guiche then enters to tell Roxanne that he is going off to war while Roxanne begs him not to go. When Cyrano finally leaves he goes off to find Christian to help him prepare for his date with Roxanne, but the date goes bad and Roxanne asks Christian to leave. Christian then goes back to ask Cyrano for help. Christian then returns with Cyrano’s guidance and once again Christian was able to knock Roxanne off her feet with his poetry thanks to Cyrano. Minutes later the monk arrives with a letter to Roxanne that reads her and Christian have to get married tonight. As Roxanne and Christian are getting married Cyrano distracts De Guiche from interrupting by telling De Guiche that he has fallen from the moon. As Act Three ends Roxanne and Christian are married. However, Christian now has to go fight in the war and leave Roxanne.

Act Three teaches us that Cyrano still has feelings for Roxanne. Cyrano makes it obvious because when Roxanne was describing the man she loved, Cyrano clearly thought it was him and got his hopes up. Later Roxanne says she loves Christian and Cyrano seemed a little disappointed telling by his reaction. However, as the Act continues Cyrano handles it well knowing that in reality Roxanne really likes him because he is the one writing all the poems Christian gives to Roxanne.

One new word I found in the reading was demisemiquaver. (pg 89) Demisemiquaver is defined as a thirty-second note. The word was used by Cyrano while giving an order to a boy and saying, “A demisemiquaver, stupid boy!”

Act 2 Scenes I-X

Act two opens up with Ragueneau and his cooks making food for the day. Ragueneau’s wife Lise is later infuriated with him after she finds out that he has been giving away free food to poets. Cyrano later arrives at Ragueneau’s bakery while Ragueneau still awaits the arrival of the other poets. When the remaining poets finally arrive Ragueneau shares some of his verses with them, while Cyrano confronts Lise about her affair with Musketeer. As Act Two comes to a end Roxanne finally arrives at the bakery to meet with Cyrano. Roxanne goes on to tell Cyrano that she is in love with Christian and wants him to write to her.

Act two shows Cyrano’s loyalty to his friends. The reason being that Cyrano goes to confront Lise about the affair she is having with the musketeer behind Ragueneau’s back. Cyrano goes on to tell Lise, “I like Ragueneau. That’s why I won’t allow anyone to make him play the ridiculous part of a deceived husband.” (pg 71) This quote demonstrates how much Cyrano cares about Ragueneau, because he could have just ignored the problem. Instead, like a good friend Cyrano goes ahead and confronts Lise about the affair. At the end of Act two Cyrano could clearly be labeled as loyal due to his actions in the Act.

While reading through the play I came across the word coronets. A Coronet is defined as a crown worn by nobles or peers (Dictionary.com). Our coronets would stretch from here to doomsday!

Favorite Poem

While searching through the Word of Mouth poetry book I came across a very interesting poem titled “These Images”, by Wang Ping. In the beginning of the poem Wang Ping describes everyday nature such as birds, forests, and sand. Wang Ping later uses these images he described earlier in the last stanza when he says, “So simple, these images, their recognition is in out nature, yet too often neglected, our eyes already elsewhere. Wang Ping in that last stanza is basically saying that we take the little things in life for granted and usually never remember them, because we are just too stubborn.

My favorite line of the poem was when he says, “Where words are at stake and thoughts immobilized, where life shouts with joy and being is beauty and love no longer clings”(Line 24-28). The reason why I like this part is because he shows a lot of emotional feelings in those lines. In these lines I believe he is trying to show how the perfect world would be and how everybody should be living their lives.

Fight of the Decade

It has been a wild start to the month of December in the world of sports and its just getting started. Thus far you have the greatest golfer in the planet getting into a car accident, two undefeated teams in the NFL (Colts, Saints), but most importantly the announcement of what could be the biggest fight in boxing history. The two fighters that will take part in this bout are undefeated Floyd “money” Mayweather and pound for pound champ Manny “pac-man” Pacquiao. The two are set to face off against each other on March 13th in what should easily break the previous record for pay-per view buys which was set back in 2007.

Personally, I can’t wait for the fight to happen and getting a chance to see the top two boxers in the world go at it and finally prove who the best boxer is. Many people give the advantage to Mayweather due to his bigger size and power, nevertheless Pacquiao does make up for size with his quick hands and speed. However, I myself will be rooting for the “pac-man”, because he has proven that he could hang with the bigger fighters and overcome adversity. One thing for sure is this anticipated battle will be packed with fireworks.

Cyrano de Bergerac: Act 1 Scenes 5-7

Scene five opens up with Cyrano and Le Bret having a conversation. The topic of discussion is Cyrano’s high numbered list of enemies some of which include Montfleury, De Guiche, Valvert, and Baro. Cyrano later discuses why he truly despises Montfleury and shares his true feelings about Roxanne. As scene five comes to a closing Le Bret is trying to convince Cyrano to go and talk to Roxanne, but Cyrano refuses fearing the chance of rejection. As the play progresses Cyrano finds out that Roxanne needs to talk to him in private at the Ragueneau’s Shop. Act one closes with Ligniere asking for Cyrano’s help after he finds out that one hundred men are after him.

Scenes 5-7 suggest that Cyrano is a brave and cocky guy. Cyrano shows signs of cockiness in the beginning of scene five when Le Bret is telling Cyrano all the enemies he has made thus far. Cyrano’s response to Le Bret was, “Stop! That’s already enough to delight me!” (pg 48). Cyrano’s response suggest that he gets a kick out of angering people. However, Cyrano shows a courageous side of him at the end of scene 7 when he decides to help Ligniere from getting attacked. The brave Cyrano goes on to say, “Lets go!” Gentlemen, when you see me charge, don’t come to my assistance, no matter how great the danger!” (pg 56). Thus far Cyrano should be labeled as courageous and a bit brash.

One new word I found in the text was divinity. (pg 50) Divinity is defined as of superhuman or surpassing excellence. (Dictionary.com) She creates grace without movement, and makes all divinity fit into her slightest gesture.

Cyrano de Bergerac: Act 1, Scenes 1-4

Act one begins with a group of men playing cards and dice as they are eagerly anticipating the star of the play called, La Clorise by Monsieur Balthazar Baro. The audience and actors finally start to enter, but everybody is still awaiting the arrival of Monsieur de Cyrano. Everybody now suspects the reason of Cyrano absence is due to the problem he had with Montfleury who “took a dislike to Montfleury and ordered him not to appear on stage for a month”. Scene III ends as Cyrano finally arrives and says, “I’m about to lose my temper!”, which gets the crowd going.

The opening Scene in Cyrano de Bergerac is vital to the play because it introduces the characters in the play. The scene adds suspense with Cyrano not yet at the theater, but you also get a sense of detestation between Cyrano and Montfleury.
Without the opening scene right now there would be no drama or excitement going on the play. Lastly, it would also take away the great entrance made by Cyrano at the end of the scene which created a buzz in the crowd.

As I was reading through the play the word coquettish caught my attention. Coquettish is defined as a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection. The word was first used by Christian when he says, “ I’m afraid she may be coquettish and refined” (pg 15).