Finals... is kicking my a**

That's what I feel like, especially when studying last minute for finals... or any tests in general.

Literary Analysis: The House on Mango Street

Since my my friend, Sara had the book, I decided to read it. Thought it would save me some time from going to the library or a book store..

1. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a mexican coming-of-age novel that is made up of vignettes, which aren't poems but also not full stories. The novel is about a girl, Esperanza Cordero who lives in society of chicanos and Puerto Ricans. She feels a strong urge of leaving her impoverish ways and going into a new world. The novel starts off during Esperanza's younger ages, where her family has just moved to a new house in the center of Chicago. The house was very big improvement from where her and her family had previously lived, but she did not like the house at all, the city was more racially segregated and Esperanza soon had hopes and dreams to get out of this city and have her own house. The novel expresses Esperanza's later years, as she matures physically and emotionally. It portrays stories of how she made friends, grows hips, about the development of her first crush, how she endured a sexual assault and how she writes to express her feelings and thoughts. Through the novel, Cisneros also describes each of the neighbors and how Esperanza crosses them in her life in the future. She matures more and more as the novel illustrates her experiences and relations with other people. She has the will to leave Mango street throughout the novel but develops an understanding that she will not fully leave the place, some of her, emotionally, will always be there and she will soon have to come back to take care of the woman she has left in the future. She then decides to stay on Mango Street but her will to leave increases and she engaged in writing her thoughts and feelings out until the day she will leave Mango Street.

2. The main themes of the novel are a quest for a better life and the loyalty and significance of her promise to someday come back for the ones she has left behind. It is important that Esperanza engages in her hopes and dreams of leaving her street and starting her own life, but throughout the novel it is very dominant that the people living on the street have effected her in some way and she will always emotionally be attached or connected to the people and the street itself.

3. The story is in Esperana's point of view. She constantly sounds young and innocent, but at the same time the way she describes things are very different, clever, and artistic. For example, in one of the first chapters called "Hairs" she describes her mother's hair:

     "...like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it.."

Sometimes when she talks it seems like she says things in such a factual, nonchalant way, even though what she's saying could be considered quite sad or terrible.

      "Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be there. My mother was born on an evil day and prays for me."
"I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for."

4. Symbolism: Esperanza has dreams, hopes, and plans. These are symbolized by a house. Esperanza regards the house on Mango Street as simply a house she lives in with her family. When she was younger and constantly on the move from apartment to apartment, her parents promised her a real home with a green yard, real stairs, and running water with pipes that worked. She dislikes the house on Mango Street because its sad appearance and cramped quarters are completely contrary to the idealistic home she always wanted. Esperanza's dream becomes having a house of her own.

Like said in the section before this, Esperanza has a very artistic way of describing things. The author uses personification and different syntax and diction to make this happen. The tone of Esperanza is sweet and innocent which creates a dfferent mood from how she sees Mango Street.

Doodle (:

 

 

I doodled. Simple as that, I find myself doodling on tests, homeworks, and any open area on a piece of paper. I doodled my day and the huge thing in the middle was just random and I couldn't stop until I figured it was irrelevant. 

First Semester Finals: It's creeping up on me...

Just some tips I found online.... Stating the obvious but we all let common sense slip our minds when it comes to things we want to avoid.

Twice each year, at the end of each semester, high school teachers expect their students to spill out, to the best of their ability, all the knowledge they accumulated on a final exam. Knowing how to maximize the time and energy you spend on preparing for those exams can make a substantial difference in your grade for the course.

1.) Prioritize what you need to study; don't bother making flash cards and reviewing material you're already sure about. Find out whether the exam will be comprehensive, covering the entire semester or if it will just cover what was taught since the last test. According to the study center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, it's important to narrow your focus. If the teacher provides you a list of test items, make sure you stick to studying only the items on that list. If no list is given, decide what you think the teachers will ask by going through your notes and highlighting material the teacher focused on. Ask classmates what they think will be on the test and look through tests from earlier in the semester.

2.) Organize your time. The University of New South Wales "Studying for Exams Guidelines" suggest that you make a week-long calendar, cross out times when you can't study and then reserve one-hour time slots for exams. It also suggests having materials handy for short study spurts; 10 minutes can come in handy for memorizing a formula, for example. Plan a final review the night before the exam and make a date with yourself for 7 in the evening rather than waiting until 11.

3.) Categorize your material into various study modes. For example, for material you simply need to memorize (dates and names, for example), create some color-coded flash cards fro various categories of materials. For items that need to be learned in sequence, write them out on a large piece of poster board, so you can see the whole sequence at once. Cover up various parts with adhesive notes while you memorize.

 

4.) Study with a partner or small group only if you feel your study partners are prepared; otherwise, you might find yourself tutoring rather than studying. Use time with peers to get their ideas on what will be included on the test and verify answers you're not sure about. Talk about concepts that may appear as essay questions.

 

5.) Give yourself a test. Turn facts into questions and drill yourself. Study hints from the University of Buffalo include writing sample essays. To study for essay tests, first write possible essay topics on slips of paper. Draw one and "talk" the essay. Say out loud what you would write. Later you can actually practice writing one within a time limit.

Read more: How to Study for a High School Final Exam | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7367702_study-high-school-final-exam.html#ixzz2EEKWJLjM

Hamlet: High School Summary

There's a whole site for these videos and its quick and fun!

The Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens

Haha I thought this was funny and if people didn't pick it you would get the gist of what went on... (:

Literary Analysis: Christmas Carol

1. Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens which was first published December 19, 1843. The story revolves around the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge who is stingy and sour all around. It portrays his ideological, ethical and emotional transformation resulting from unusual occurances and visits from Jacob Marley who is his former business partner and the Ghosts of Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The story begins exactly seven years after the death of Jacob Marley, where he is warned that he needed to change his attitude and out take on everything or else he will live a bad afterlife as well. He is then visited by the three ghost prompt to the appearances of Jacob Marley. He first meets The Ghost of Christmas Past, where he is shown the day where he was more innocent and happy.v Memories and feelings start to swirl around his mind and body which shows his tender side. Then he meets The Ghost of Christmas Present, and he his shown a scene of people buying food and getting ready for the holidays. Most of this part cirlces around Scrooge's clerk, Bob Cratchit's family. The spirit shows him Cratchit's youngest son, Tiny Tim, who is severely ill but cannot attain treatment due to Scrooge not paying his father enough. The third ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge visions his future, of him not taking action, nor changing his ways even after he has witnessed all of the things the spirits have shown him, including the death of Tiny Tim. It shows what happens after Scrooge has pasted away, where his employees take some of his belongings and his grave is left unattened, with no one to visit him. He realized what is happening around him and what may come and states he will change his ways. He then wakes up the next morning, which is Christmas, feeling, different, full of happiness and love. He spends the day with his nephews and send the Cratchits a turkey. Overnight, he has changed entirely and has realized the greatness of what may come.

2. The theme of Christmas Carol is that it is important to be able to help others and not be selfish in a way that you prioritized wealth and your own social status. Scrooge is at first unwilling to be nice, not willing to pay more than the minimum, not willing to help. He then transforms into a warm hearted, caring human being who realized the sadness and darkness of being alone forever.

3. There were imagery, personification, similes and different diction used throughout the story, which made characters and the story flow.

Imagery:
- "...Candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air."
- "Foggier yet, and colder. Piercing, searching, biting cold!."

Similes:
- "Old Marley was as dead as a doornail."
- "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire."

Personification:
- "To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale."

Diction:
- "Bah. Humbug."

4. Characterization:
-  "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!"
- "a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!"
- "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his his cheek, softened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice."

Thinking Outside The Box

Notes:

Extended metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

This is a example of an extended metaphor and it's entertaining so I thought it would be easier to understand the meaning of an extended metaphor if it was entertaining. At 4:30 is where the metaphor actually starts!



Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

I thought this was kind of funny... It pretty much summarizes the Allegory of the Cave, except for the free prisoner getting beat up. But it says what is symbolized throughout the story. So yeah.

Thinking Outside The Box:

In the two texts, from Plato and Sartre, you see that a person's thoughts and mind sets are very limited and biased. People try to take the easy way out or staying in their comfort zone. What we all don't know is what lies upon the bigger picture, whether that is positive or negative, we as an individual will decide. In Plato's Allegory of The Cave, the free prisoner goes through the pain to take the chance to find out what is really out there, something more than just a shadow. The others end up not believing the "truth" because it is something they have never heard of or are used to hearing. The freed prisoner, in the end, just leaves the rest unknowing of what lives they could have had. In "No Exit", three people or sinners are put in a room, no windows, no exit, spending eternity with each other. They all want significant but different things, usually things to make themselves feel better or to make them feel like they are wanted, needed, or superior. The excerpt explains that Hell is other people itself, possibly because other people portray the things you do not want to see. I think, especially in our generation, we are getting too used to the fact that everything we want is in the palm of our hands, technology increasing more and more, making it so that all the information is given to us in a split of a second. Moreover, everyone tries to avoid the things they don't want to hear or the things we don't want to do. What if you knew that there is SOMEONE out there in the world that has the answer you are looking for..? What if you have the answer to a question someone else has been longing to figure out..? There are so many 'What ifs..' mostly because we haven't taken the time to truely find out the "truth" in what we want to know. If every person took the courage and did the things it takes to find the right answer we may have less problems in the world. All of this, in the end is hard to sum up, so much goes through your mind about what you could have done, what you want to do and so on. Even though you know that the answer or your possible fate is waiting within reach, some of us take a long time to realize it and some of us even struggle to let go of the past and look to the future. If more people were able to forgive, take a deep breath and believe that everything will be alright, would all the problems in the world be decreased? If Garcin, Estelle, and Inez could realize who they actually are/were could Hell not be as bad as it seems? But when do you truely know if you have accepted yourself for who you are and what you have done? It is hard to say there is an actual solution to the limitation of our thinking since we are doing much more that we know, but at the same time less than we should. So I believe that from the two readings, you get a grasp of human flaws and ways we can expand our thoughts but when one problem is solved, there will always be another problem waiting to be solved.

Literary Techniques:

In "No Exit", the tone throughout the paly is very dark, gloomy, unclear because of the dark emotions and the "hell" they are in. Compared to the Allegory of the Cave, Sartre's message was told more indirectly, like a puzzle to be solved, where Plato made it more straightforward from our thoughts and reality. There are different levels of understanding for the Allegory of the Cave, teaching us  lesson and the audience possibly getting the same main point but getting different thoughts and ideas from it. "No Exit" was more hard to connect with but more so to take it in, just take the information in that acceptance of yourself is needed in order to take the next step.

Literary Analysis: The Joy Luck Club

1. The Joy Luck Club is written by Amy Tan, an American-Chinese woman. Both her parents were born and raised in China, but unlike them, Tan was brought to America by her parents and raised there. She adapted to the American culture while balancing her ancestral traditions. Tan’s personal journey is The Joy Luck Club premise. It contains sixteen interwoven stories of mothers and daughters that went through the same obstacles that Tan had endured: the conflict between American-raised daughters and their Chinese immigrant mothers. The story revolves around many relationships, but the main focal point is Jing-mei and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan recently passed away, and Jing-mei has taken her mother’s place play mahjong in a weekly gathering her mother had organized in China and brought with her to San Francisco: the Joy Luck Club. Jing-mei is also on a mission to reunite with her long lost half-sisters who are back in China. Suyuan was forced to abandon the twins when fleeing from the invading Japanese during WWII. The first four sections of the books are told through the mothers’ point of view. They recall their own relationship with their mothers with perfect recollection and reveal that they are afraid that their own daughters do not have the same intense relationship that they had with their mothers. The next four sections are from the daughters’ point of view. They also recall upon their childhood memories with their mothers, putting to rest their mothers’ fear that they won’t treasure the mother-daughter bond. The Joy Luck Club represents the difficulties of the struggle to maintain the mother-daughter bond across cultural and generational gaps.

2. There were multiple themes within The Joy Luck Club, but the most significant one to me was cultural transition and ethnic identity. I am not from Chinese descent but from a Japanese one. I too also feel a gap between my heritage; I may be American, but I am also Japanese. But then again, I’m neither, because to Americans I’m not “truly American”, but to the Japanese, I’m not “truly Japanese”. So what am I? This is exactly what the daughters are feeling in the book, they don’t feel truly anything. This is why the Joy Luck Club is such a safe-haven to them. They are all considered an outsider to the rest of the world, but in the club, they are connected to one another through their differences. The daughters are genetically Chinese, but aren’t true Chinese. Their mothers are “true Chinese” and so the gap between the two can put a strain on the relationship.

3. Tan’s tone throughout the book is evocative, memory-filled with happy thoughts and sometimes remorseful ones. Tan’s words are filled with emotions, whether those emotions are bitter or joyful, they bring out your sensitive side.

“It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flas with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was easy to get confused and pick the wrong thing.

“I raced down the street, dashing between people, not looking back as my mother screamed shirlly ‘Meimei! Meimei!’ I fled down an alley, past dark, curtained shops and merchants washing grime off their windows.

“My breath came out like angry smoke. It was cold…The alley was quiet and I could see the yellow lights shiningg from our flat like two tiger’s eyes in the night.”

4. 1) Tone: Her tone moved you; I couldn’t not help but feel what the character I was reading about was feeling.

2) Diction: She used bold, emotion-charged words that would help convey the character’s feelings.

3) Syntax: Seeing the story from both the mothers’ and daughters’ view explained many of the missing links between the two. While you understood their problems and what they could do to change it, the characters struggled/thrived on.

4) Symbols: Tan used symbols such as the coy fish in the pond that the mother loved and the goldfish in the bowl that the daughter loved. It represented the gap that the two had and the cultural difference they had even though they were mother and daughter

5) Imagery, specifically metaphors and similes: Like Tan’s tone, her imagery painted in vivid detail the sorrow, happiness or whatever emotion she was trying to portray.

“. . . . I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught my daughter how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame. . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. She learned these things, but I couldn’t teach her about Chinese character . . . How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities. . . . Why Chinese thinking is best.”
“A mother is best. A mother knows what is inside you,” she said. . . . “A psyche-atricks will only make you hulihudu, make you see heimongmong.” Back home, I thought about what she said. . . . These were words I had never thought about in English terms. I suppose the closest in meaning would be “confused” and “dark fog.”But really, the words mean much more than that. Maybe they can’t be easily translated because they refer to a sensation that only Chinese people have. . . .”

“I . . . looked in the mirror. . . . I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind. . . . And then I draped the large embroidered red scarf over my face and covered these thoughts up. But underneath the scarf I still knew who I was. I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my parents’ wishes, but I would never forget myself."

Allegory in The Cave Sonnet

The prisoners in the cave

No one knows when they arrived

Is this the destiny God gave?

Not a single answer can be derived


The slightest warm light

Figures of shadows made one wonder

He turned his head with all his might

The shackles broke to see the sunlight


The one prisoner had fleed from the grieve

And later came back to tell them of the glory

The rest did not believe

Assumed it was a made up story


Leaving the rest to suffer and wonder

The free man will no longer ponder.





This took so long...... rhyming is hard for me.. hahaha This sucks but hey, I tried my best!

Plato Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
According to Socrates, the Allegory of the Cave represents reality and what people want to see. The prisoners think where they are now and what they have experienced is all there is to life and everything arround them is just there.

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
In the allegory, the cave is what "world" you live in now, the outside is reality or new things you have never known to exist. The shackles are like filters and things that stop you from knowing what should be available to you. The shadows show the differences of what you see and think to be true versus the actual truth and reality in things.

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
The allegory suggests that for enlightenment or education you must step out of your comfort zone and take the initiative. Whether that is attempting to break the shadow to step into the light or to raise your hand in class to get an answer that you never bothered to figure out. You can't just sit around and expect you are doing your best when there are so much more else where that offers you your needs.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The shackles is pretty much an excuse for them to believe that there is nothing outside of the cave and the cave itself seems to suggest that the prisoners feel in a way "safe" or "comfortable" there. It's their barrier from having to assume there is a better life outside the cave, because these prisoners have grown up inside the cave and have absolutely no idea what dwells right outside the entrance.

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Technology provides a lot more information than before but I feel there are still filters and walls that stop you from knowing "everything". Of course, it's nearly impossible to have knowledge about absolutely everything, but there is no chance of challeging it if there are subjects out in the world stopping you from knowing certain things. There are many other things that people may consider to be a "shackle", is there a possibility that school itself is a shackle? I could see that in a sense that not all students are taking advantage of their classes. There are limited classes offered and some teachers are only willing to teach the minium and enough to cover the course. Is law considered a shackle?

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
The freed prisoners have a wider and more new perspective compared to the prisoners still in the cave. The freed prisoners know more just by escaping and took the chance to live the life that they dreamed of. The prisoners still chained up are limited to knowledge and ideas, they have no idea how much they might like the outer world and how change can be one step away.

7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
Whe the prisoner turns his head in attempt to break the shackle he is forced to turn his head further because of the sunlight being so bright. He is then free from the shackle and takes a step out to the world outside, where the sunlight then again brightens the surroundings and widens his perspective. When he comes back to tell the others about the outside and how bright and spaceous it is, the cave seems so little, dark, and limited.

8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
By turning their head to the side although painful at first, the shackle breaks and they are set free. If you looked in different directions and sucked it up a little, you will obtain information you have longed to know. People have to step out of their comfort zone and just do it.

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
I think there are things that have distinct differences between appearances and reality. On TV, many people advertise products that "get rid of winkles", "makes you look 20 years younger" "makes you skinnier" and they show pictures of people before and after, but in reality, when people purchase the product and use it, it doesn't turn out like the pictures. People may look different than they actually are inside. I guess I agree, but it is hard to distinguish whether it is fair to say "everything" has a distinction between appearances and reality.

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?

Sonnet Memorization

Really bad quality in my living room.. I haven't used my webcam in so long! I hate my voice on video... :(

The Big Question

Does a parallel universe somewhere somehow really exist? If so, is there a possibility that we are the parallel universe and the other side is the normal?

Sonnet Analysis Part 1

For my sonnet, I chose Amoretti Sonnet 79 by Edmund Spenser. This sonnet expresses what true beauty is and the things you can do to achieve it. I chose this sonnet because of how society makes people feel, with size zero models, unaffordable make up, exotic fashion and so on being advertised everywhere you go. Spenser states that beauty is something everyone is born with and given to by God. It also portrays that inner beauty stay but outer beauty fades away in time.

Lit Analysis: Lord of the Flies

1. Lord of the Flies takes place on a mysterious island when the boys’ plane crashes onto it. They were heading towards England for boarding school when a storm turned for the worst and took down their plane. The boys are only in their adolescence stage of their life, so when the only adult they had (the pilot) dies from the crash, they are left to their own devices. There were four characters that stood out to me in the book: Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon. Each of these characters was a symbol for what power/chaos could do to you. Ralph and Jack fight over who should be the leader of the boys, since they are the older ones. They decide to vote for chief and Ralph only loses the votes of Jack’s fellow choirboys. Ralph and Jack have different strategies of “surviving”. Ralph wants to immediately start building a fire signal to get off the island, where as Jack wants to immerse himself in the wild. The group of boys are so young and inexperienced though that many accidents and mistakes occur. “The Beast” (a sighting the younger boys believe the saw) is also a prominent source of troubles for the boys. It causes much controversy and arguments about what to do with it if it even existed. These misfortunes led Jack and Ralph to have a showdown, both declaring themselves a better leader. Due to their differing opinions, Ralph and Piggy go off one way and Jack plus all the other boys make their own tribe. Jack and “his tribe” don’t want to go back home and believe that surviving in the wild is more enjoyable and liberating. They have let go of any rules of civilization and do as their animalistic instincts please. Ralph and Piggy realize this and know that Jack and his boys are going to come after them for vengeance (for not joining his tribe). Jack raids Ralph’s campsite for Piggy’s glass (their only tool for fire) and in the process of trying to get them, kill Piggy. They show no remorse for Piggy’s tragic demise, reinforcing the fact that these boys have let chaos take them over. Ralph knows he’s next and makes a plan to fight them off as long as possible. But during his plan, while running from Jack and his tribe along the shoreline, a sailor finds them. Once the boys get a sight of civilization (the sailor in uniform), they sober up. Jack and his boys stop hollering and feel a bit out of place and ashamed for their barbaric appearance. Ralph breaks down into tears of relief; he knows that he will be rescued now.

2. The theme Golding was trying to achieve is that without the rules and structure of society, you enter into a world of chaos and anarchy. The boys turned from innocent, proper English school boys to wild savages due to the absence of civilization.

3. Golding’s tone was rather somber, but neutral. Golding never hinted that he agreed more with Ralph on one thing and with Jack on another; he remained an impartial observer. It was also somewhat informative. Not informative in a way to teach you facts and equations, more like a lecture from a mother to a child. He was teaching us a lesson from a story. 

“He lost himself in a maze of thoughts that were rendered vague by his lack of words to express them. Frowning, he tried again. 

This meeting must not be fun, but business.”

“But a came down from the world of grown-ups, though at the time there was no child awake to read it. There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars.”

“Even if he shut his eyes the sow’s head remained like an after-image. The half-shut eyes were dim with infinite cynicism of adult life. They assured Simon that everything was a bad business."

 

4. Symbolism – Lord of the Flies was filled with symbols. The sow’s head symbolized the devil; the passing of Simon represented the death of innocence and civility in the boys, etc.

Descriptive Paragraphs – Golding also used long, graphic paragraphs for what was going on. He put the reader in the character’s shoes, so you could visualize what they were doing, what they were feeling, etc.

Allegories – This was obviously the biggest literary device Golding used in his novel. Every single one of his character represented something: Ralph stood for the good and civilization they all yearned for, Jack represented the evil that resulted from lack of society, Simon signified the innocence and good in people and so on and so forth.

Metaphors - Golding often uses metaphor in this book. In fact, all symbolism is a type of metaphor since they compare two unlike things. Other metaphors in the book was when Golding described the choir boy at the beginning of the book as a dark creature crawling along the sand.

Syntax – Golding write in simple, easy to read sentences. They are filled with description and action, but they are not difficult to read. 

“’I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”

“Ralph stirred uneasily. Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.”

“It was dark; there was that -- that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We were scared!”

Sonnet

Men call you fair, and you do credit it,

For that yourself you daily such do see:

But the true fair, that is the gentle wit

And virtuous mind, is much more praised of me.

For all the rest, however fair it be,

Shall turn to naught and lose that glorious hue:

But only that is permanent and free

From frail corruption that doth flesh ensue,

That is true beauty; that doth argue you

To be divine and born of heavenly seed;

Derived from that fair spirit, from whom all true

And perfect beauty did at first proceed:

He only fair, and what he fair hath made:

All other fair, like flowers, untimely fade.

-Edmund Spencer

Vocab List #11

Affinity- relationship by marriage

-It is quite common for your affinity to go wrong or come past a conflict.

Bilious- of or indicative of a peevish ill nature disposition

-The teacher was bilious in a way where all his students thought very poorly of him.

Cognate- of the same nature

-The two elements in the science lab are cognates so they both work as equal catalysts.

Corollary- A proposition inferred Immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof

-The victim had a corollary which no one believed from the lack of proof.

Cul-de-sac - a pouch

-The main character always carried around a cul-de-sac with her family heirloom in it.

Derring-do- a daring action

-He was always taking derring-do's becasue he enjoyed the adrenaline and thrill.

Divination- The art or practice that seeks to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge due to the interpretation of omens

-The fortune teller was famous for her ways of divination.

Elixir- A substance capable of prolonging life indefinitely

-Myths and stories say that an unicorn's tear drop is an elixir.

Folderol- a useless accessory

-Many people in society wear folderols  that make you look tacky and seeming to waste money.

Gamut- an entire range or series

-The watch tower had to be taken down because it lacked ability for the watchmen to see the gamut of the city.

Hoi polloi- the General populace

-The hoi polloi was at the presidential speech held in the biggest stadium in the world.

Ineffable- incapable of being expressed in words

-My feelings for him were ineffable.

Lucubration- to study by night

-I always end up lucubrating since I can never put myself up to finishing homework right when I get home.

Mnemonic- intended to assist memory

-It helps to create mnemonics when memorizing something.

Obloquy- abusive language

-The man was known for his obloquy toward everyone.

Parameter- an independent variable used to express the coordinates of variable point and functions of them

-In math class we are ,earning to use parameters.

Pundit- a learned man

-The pundit opened up a small school for the village so young children can be educated.

Risible- provoking laughter

-They both had a risible that made little kids in the neighborhood intimidated.

Symptomatic- having the characteristics of a certain disease but arising of a different cause

-The daughter was symptomatic and the doctors didn't know how to cure her.

Volte-face- a reversal in policy

-There was a volte-face when the first policy did not work.

Dear Ophelia

Oh my, I've heard so much about what has been going on lately. It must be tearing you apart, I must say I would be quite outrageous and would be planning to rebel, but you are too sweet Ophelia. You have always been so obedient and caring. You would never do such a thing to dishonor nor embarass your father. But from what I see, this situation is entirely unfair! Where's the chivalry? Who has given your father and your brother to bind you away from true love? I just cannot understand the reason for using you as a decoy to bring Hamlet down, when he could be a normal man wanting a normal future. You must not panic, don't make quick assumptions or conclusions. Is this so called love fantasy? A dream? Most certainly both of us don't want it to be reality. Well, hang in there dear Ophelia, we will talk again soon.
                                                  Love,
                                                           Chanel

Lit Analysis: Catcher in the Rye

 

1. The Catcher in the Rye starts off in the present day with Holden Caulfield explaining his state of being. He’s in a mental hospital at the moment, but doesn’t give any information on how he ended up there. The rest of the book is Holden narrating the events that led up to the mental hospital. He starts off by telling us the school he was enrolled at and how he hated it there. To him it was just another prep school that his parents shipped him off to so they wouldn’t have to deal with him.  Holden is a bright boy, but doesn’t have the ambition or desire to excel in his studies.  Because of this, he is failing in almost all of his classes. Holden knows he is going to be expelled for this and so he decides to take an earlier winter vacation in New York City. He takes all his belongings and hits the town. He jumps from place to place, depression seeming to follow him everywhere he goes. You can see that he wants to have a good time, he wants to forget, but everything just seems to be gloomy no matter where or what he does. (sucks) Various events such as hiring a prostitute, talking with an old classmate and hates and seeing his younger sister still aren’t enough for Holden to feel like he has a place in this world. Throughout the entire novel, Holden ask questions about everything that vary from serious issues such as his life to childish curiosity ones such as where the ducks go in the winter. He eventually falls ill from walking around the below freezing temperature of the city. This then leads us back to when Holden is talking about his current situation in the mental facility.

2. The theme Salinger was trying to convey was that isolation/alienation can truly drive a person insane. Holden was shunned everywhere he went and while some of it was due to his cynical, blunt characteristics, his family, the very people you expect to love and cherish you, weren’t there for him. Due to this, he built a wall around him where is defense is to criticize the people around him and no one wants to be around that. Hence his loneliness and his inability to form relationships with anyone.

 

3. The tone of the novel was cynical and pessimistic. Holden sees life as “the glass half empty” and so his words and action reflect such attitude.

· Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake.

· Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.

· Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.

 

4. Symbolism – Salinger uses many symbols that represent things to Holden. The red hunting cap was Holden security blanket whenever he felt uncomfortable; it was the only things in his life that stayed the same.

Foreshadowing – From the start, we know that he was institutionalized in a mental hospital; this leads a hand into what events will play out. 

Syntax – Salinger uses pretty easy, colloquial language. The text is mostly about Holden’s inner thoughts and his opinions about things. It’s descriptive without being difficult to understand.

     Metaphors – The title of the book is a metaphor of Holden’s life. He explains in one of the last     chapters why he feels like he is a catcher in the rye and how this has brought about a sense of purpose to him.

·    "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."

· "This fall I think you're riding for - it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started."
· "Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry."

This novel was kind of hard to keep up with for me... But I got it helps when a lot of people have read it before and there are many sources about this novel. The novel it self is dark, not very many "happy" things happen.

Tools That Change the Way We Think

Extensive internet/media/technology use has most definitely taken a peak since, most people have all these smartphones, and other handy devices available to them 24/7. It's much easier to find what you are looking for and often times more than you want or expect. When we don't know something, it is becoming second nature to pull out your smartphones to just make a quick search. With all the technology and media, it is somewhat significant that people are thinking on their own less and less, and it's not that they aren't as smart or they don't know, it's more the fact that we're a little lazy rather depend on the easiest way out. Of course it's fun to have all the information you ever want in the palm of your hands, but there is always a down side, as you are making searches or just looking up cool things to buy or cook or whatever, you may be giving personal information to people you never knew existed nor will ever know. Creepy.

Vocab List #9

Abortive: failing to produce the intended result

  The outcome of the lab was abortive due to the miscalculations before.

Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
  Some people in high school are known for how the bruit about anyone and everyone.

 

Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
  The most irritating thing is when a person acts contumelious toward you even when you did nothing wrong.

 

Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a

general truth or principle
  In the end of the novel, the author had a short section for a dictum.

 

Ensconce: establish or settle
  We immediately ensconced before the conflict got any bigger.

 

Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions

  The two memebers had an iconoclastic arguement on whose idea will prevail throughout the whole year.

In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
  The novel we read in class was in medias res.

 

Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
  The source of power that caused the two sides into war ended up being internecine.

 

Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy

  Many people have told me I am maladroit.

Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
  My friend's mother often is on the kitchen counter with a drink in her hand as she maudlins about how hard and horrible her job is.

 

Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
  The leader of the group was very modulate and convincing.

 

Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
  He was portentous and didn't say much to object what his wife was saying.

 

Prescience: the power to foresee the future

  As a child, you wish you had prescience.

Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
  The young boy had a soft heart and often did good deeds and later in his life, he was offered many quid pro quo that made him successful in the long run.

 

Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down
  The young couple was overwhelmed with joy when their baby was salubrious.

 

Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
  We tried to reenact a saturnalia in our history class.

 

Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized
  It is important to overcome the touchstone in order to become a better and improved human being.

 

Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
  The accident was so traumatic, the girl could not sit in a car without becoming emotional.

 

Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.
  It is against the law to vitiate any law made for the equality of the people.

 

Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
  The character was waggish and often made jokes to cheer everyone up.

Hamlet: Just because.. not my remix.

This song has been running through my head thanks to a few of my close friends and I realized that you can somewhat relate the lyrics to a few of the characters in Hamlet. I also just wanted to post this because it's a different take on the kind of songs that Taylor Swift sings. So it's whatever, just a fun thing I'm posting to keep myself interested in the play(: So here are some examples of relating lyrics to the characters:

Lord Polonius: "I knew you were trouble when you walked in. Shame on me now."
-Polonius obviously does not think Hamlet as fitting to be with Ophelia but thinks she's the reason for his insanity.

Ophelia: pretty much the whole song... But "And he's long gone, when he's next to me and I realize the blame is on me."
-Again, this whole song explains well what Ophelia may be thinking or feeling. She's blaming herself but then is so confused and still wants to follow her heart but she knows that something is wrong about what she wants to believe.

Hamlet: "No apologies. He'll never see you cry. Pretend he doesn't know. That he's the reason why. You're drowning."
-Hamlet figures out that his uncle, King Claudius is the man who killed his father. Nonetheless his mere reaction is to plan the death of Claudius.

(:

Hamlet: Remix

So I've been asked all day to comment on everyone's remix, and all day I couldn't really think of what I wanted to do. So as my last resort I was looking at scenes of the play on Youtube and I came across this... I'm not sure if this is COMPLETELY appropriate and I mean no harm to anyone. But it made me think, what if Ophelia actually had a friend there by her side? Just one person she could spill her heart out to?
She's obiously under a lot of stress knowing that she has to obey her father but at the same time, she wants to follow her own heart. I can proudly say that I haven't gone through any dramatic things like this in my life but I would not survive half of the things in life if I didn't have some of my close friends that I tell everything to.
Ophelia has to deal with quite a hand full, but is it a reason to let her life go to waste? No. It's weird that Ophelia doesn't get out much and that's a fair reason why she feels the need to listen to her father all the time.

Vocab List #8

I guess I never posted this list which makes me frustrated grrr..... So I'll redo all of them again.

Abeyance-(N.) A state of temporary disuse or suspension.

  Hamlet's attitude toward his mother was sort of an abeyance knowing she married his uncle promptly after the death of Hamlet Sr.

Ambivalent- (Adj.) Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

  Ophelia has ambivalent thoughts towards Hamlet and what she is told by from her father.

Beleaguer- (V.) Beset with difficulties

  Hamlet is always beleaguered with conflicts one after another.

Carte blanche- (N.) Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best.

  Hamlet would be emotionally wrecked and crazy if he had a carte blanche outlook on everything.

Cataclysm- (N.) A sudden violent upheaval, esp. in a political or social context

  There was a cataclysm when Hamlet found out that his uncle had killed his father.

Debauch- (V.) Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt.
(N.) A bout of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, esp. eating and drinking

  If I was in Hamlet's shoes I would feel the need to debauch everything in my surroundings.

éclat- (N.) brilliant or conspicuous success
  It is going to take Hamlet a lot of planning and lying in order for the death of his uncle to come true.

Fastidious- (Adj.) Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail
  It is important for Hamlet to be fastidious about what he does.

Gambol- (V.) Run or jump about playfully
  As Hamlet walks around the town, he sees children gamboling.

Imbue- (V.) Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality: "imbued with deep piety".
  The ghost of Hamlet's father has imbued Hamelt into directions that make everyone think he is crazy.

Inchoate- (Adj.) Just begun and so not fully formed or developed
  The revenge for Hamlet's father was inchoate.

Lampoon- (V.) Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule or sarcasm.
(N.) A speech or text criticizing someone or something in this way
  It id not proper to lampoon someone even if everyone agreed.

Malleable- (Adj.) Easily influenced; pliable
  I think both Hamlet and Ophelia are malleable characters.

Nemesis- (N.) The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall
  King Claudius is the nemesis of Hamlet.

 

Opt- (V.) Make a choice from a range of possibilities

  Hamlet can opt from all the possibilites to kill Claudius.

Philistine- (N.) A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

  In a way, Hamlet is philistine from his mother and uncle in a way that he doesn't want anything to do with them because of his emotions and anger.

Picaresque- (Adj.) Of or relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero

  The play, Hamlet is picaresque.

Queasy- (Adj.) Nauseated; feeling sick
  Ophelia felt queasy many times.

Refractory- (Adj.) Stubborn or unmanageable
  Hamlet is refractory.

Savoir-faire- (N.) The ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations.
  Hamlet does not have savoir-faire when it comes to speaking in the same room as his mother and uncle.

Autopsy of Vocab Midterm

I feel like once I took each one of the vocab quizzes, I let all the words fly over my head. I thought I would only need a short review a few days before but I was apparently wrong. I'm seriously starting to realize that I'm actually really bad at procastinating and I forget way too many things... Tisk tisk. I definitely could have done A LOT better. I'm going to prepare like a maniac for the final, and stop all this senioritus crap. haha. End of story.

Midterm Study Ideas

I've decided to keep it simple and study with one or two people and just quiz each other on all the words. Aside from that I think I will make flashcards because those come in handy later in the year anyways. Flashcards are just easy to keep around you at all times and you don't necessarily need another person there to help you. I personally can study more when I'm alone or with very few people, because I generally get distracted way too easily. But don't get me wrong, I love working with a lot of people(:

Literary Analysis #1: The Crucible

1.) The Crucible is a playwright about the Salem Witch Trials. The story starts with a group of girls trying out spells and forbidden things on a black servant. Then they are caught but they choose to deny it so that they do not get killed. To cover there usage of spells , they say they have been possesed and controlled by witches. Soon, the whole Puritan town is filled with uneasiness and many innocent women are taken into jail because of accusations that they are witches. John Proctor is sent to the gallows, but the main character, Abigail Williams wants to be with him. The whole witch hunt had cause many conflicts that cannot be taken back and later on it ends.

2.) A theme I thought was significant is that people are easily rattled up or will take wrong actions due to fear or other feelings that make them give in. In the novel, the whole town hears about the witches and start to make accusations towards innocent women. You can see that people can make quick irrational choices that can't be erased or backtracked.

3.) Since the story is a playwirght, most of the reading consisted of dialogues. The tones used were fearful, scared, careful and never truely at ease.
"Mrs. Putnam, softly:Aye. Her voice breaks; she looks up at him. Silence." - Act One, pg. 39
"Hale: Believe me, Mr. Nurse, if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning." - Act Two, pg. 71
"Mary Warren, hysterically, pointing at Proctor, fearful of him: My name, he want my name. 'I'll murder you,' he says, 'if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court he says!'" - Act Three, pg. 119
4.) The author used dramatic irony throughout the story, making it noticable if not obvious what the girls were thinking of doing. The author uses indirect characterization for all the characters where you are not given the exact figures of each character or properly introduced visually. Also, the usage of the tone and mood makes the playwright more dramatic, where it is dark and gloomy and full of fear and hesitation.

Vocabulary List #7

aberration - (noun) an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm
-Often times, magicians use abberation to amaze the crowd and start to get their attention.

Ad hoc- (adverb) for the special purpose or end presently under consideration
-We had no choice but to ad hoc the event because of the horrible weather we have been having for the past five days.

bane - (noun) something causes misery or death
-Cancer was a bane for my grandmother and she had no choice but to live her very best until the horrid disease ate her life.

bathos - (noun) triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos
-The story had a dramatic seen of bathos where no one in the audience saw it coming.

cantankerous - (adj.) having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
-There is always someone who is cantankerous in your group that will bring up issues and make things harder for everyone.

casuistry - (noun) moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
-The novel we read for the class had many details informing readers about casuistry.

de facto - (noun) in fact; in reality
-

depredation - (noun) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive action
-The evil in any movie or story usually makes a depredation before the actual attack.


empathy - (noun) understanding and entering into another's feelings
-It is hard to make an empathy to someone you have just met but it is a possibility that you can understand just a small part of their lives or their feelings.

harbinger - (noun) an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage
-Readers were able to easily make a harbinger when the prince was back in town, he would meet the pretty new girl who everyone was talking about.

hedonism - (noun) an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good; the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle
-Not everyone will believe or think that hedonism is right because everyone has different views of what pleasure is.

lackluster - (adj.) lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
-The old car that has been sitting in the garage for more than a decade is very lackluster.

malcontent - (adj.) discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
-The girl was discontented when she saw the criminal kill a person without hesitation.

mellifluous - (adj.) pleasing to the ear
-Girls often expect to hear mellifluous things by guys just like they expect them to make the first move.

nepotism - noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
-My aunt shows neptism towards me because I am one of the few that gives her the time of day.

pander - (noun) someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to
-There has been many articles about panders on the newspaper.

peccadillo - (noun) a petty misdeed
-As a child, many young kids make peccadillos that are later forgiven.

piece de resistance - (noun) the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
-The trophy was an obvious piece de resistance since the team had been working to win the world cup for over seven years now.

remand - (noun) the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial (or the continuation of the trial); verb refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision; lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
-They had to remand the criminal being accused for three different crimes because they ahd no evidence of whether he did them or not.

syndrome - (noun) a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
-As you get older, you may start gettign syndromes of different sort that become harder to manage.

Vocabulary List #6

1. Beatitude: (noun) supreme blessedness or happiness

The girl had an aura of pure beatitude that no one could dislike.

2. bête noire: (noun) something that is particularly disliked

Although it is a part of life all americans experience, I will always see homework on weekends and vacations a bete noire.

3. bode: (verb) to be an omen of, predict or foretell

The fortune teller boded what will be the destiny of the young married couple.

4. dank: (adj.) unpleasantly damp and chilly

Don't let yourself be clubbed by dank submission.

5. ecumenical: (adj.) universal

English is an ecumencial language because wherever you go, most people will know or understand English.

6. fervid: (adj.) intensely passionate

He was fervid when it came to football and put more effort and time than most people could ever do.

7. fetid: (adj.) having a stale nauseating smell, as of decay

The trash can reaked of a fetid air everytime it was opened.

8. gargantuan: (adj.) sometimes capital huge; enormous

The artwork was a gargantuan piece taking up almost one whole room in the museum.

9. heyday: (noun) the time of most power, popularity, vigor, etc; prime

The 80's is a heyday for many Americans.

10. incubus: (noun) something that oppresses, worries, or disturbs greatly, esp a nightmare or obsession

My dream was an incubus because it felt so real and I knew for a fact that it could happen in real life.

11. infrastructure: (noun) the basic structure of an organization, system, etc

It is important for each club at school to have a infrastructure so that it is easier to process everything and easier to plan everything for the whsole group.

12. inveigle: (verb) often fall by into or an infinitive to lead (someone into a situation) or persuade (to do something) by cleverness or trickery

The thief was such a master at inveigling that no one, at first, would suspect him to take anything until its too late and gone.

13. kudos: (noun) functioning as singular acclaim, glory, or prestige

We all gave kudos to the students who posted all the definitions of the vocabulary words.

14. lagniappe: (noun) something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus, small trinket

The coach gave a player a lagniappe for all the hard work that was done during the season.

15. prolix: (adj.) so long as to be boring; verbose

The class was honestly prolix to a point where at least six students had fallen asleep.

16. protégé: (noun) a person who is protected and aided by the patronage of another person

The princess was a protege in the story.

17. prototype: (noun) one of the first units manufactured of a product, which is tested so that the design can be changed if necessary before the product is manufactured commercially

I wonder what the prototype of an iPhone looked like since it is so high tech and full of wonderous ways of using it all over the world.

18. sycophant: (noun) a person who uses flattery to win favor from individuals wielding influence; toady

There is always at least one sycophant who buys their way to getting a good grade.

19. tautology: (noun) the use of words that merely repeat elements of the meaning already conveyed

The essay topic required to use tautology in order to relate to the passage given.

20. truckle: (verb) to yield weakly; give in

The little kids truckled and came into the house after smelling the sweet smell of their mother's pie.