Semester Endgame

1. I actually do find myself reading my friend's work online. I like to read their posts to see what ideas they had on the topic that I have to write about. I like seeing the different point of views compared to my own. After every assignment, I check everybody's blog who sits at my table and occasionally some others as well to see what they had to say. Sometimes I will read other people's blogs to see what they have posted that I don't. I also read others blogs for ideas when I am stumped on the topic we are given to write. I like reading others blogs and I feel like if I didn’t understand the reading that well, by looking at how other people viewed the story and their ideas on the topic, it helps me to better understand it as well.
2. I think that the always visible course blog has made it different from other courses without a blog because I know that everybody can see my work. Other people in my class can actually benefit from my work by reading what my ideas on a subject are whenever they want. If the blog suddenly disappeared tomorrow, I would feel like all this work that I put into my blog was for nothing. I am tired of the old traditional classroom setting and I would be bummed out if we had to go back to text books and turning in homework.
3. Publishing work for the public to see has changed my approach to completing an assignment because I feel like I actually need to know my information before I post something on a topic. Some random person can come across my blog that knows a lot more about a subject than I do and read my perspective on it and think I am a complete idiot. So I find myself putting in extra research to make sure that I have my facts straight. If I couldn’t post my work online, I would actually be kind of relieved. To be honest, I would be able to do the bare minimum to just get my homework turned in or not complete questions that I don’t know. So this is actually kind of a good thing I guess because I have to actually research things that I don’t know and have to complete my post.
4. I like how in class all we do is talk about the work that we did online the night before and what we need to do online for the current day. It is a nice break in the day to relax and just discuss what I have already learned. The learning happens at home when i am doing my assignment and looking up information on different websites or reading stories online that I need to answer questions on.
5. I would say that seriously it is the learning of the future. Just imagine if the entire country's English classes collaborated online to study for tests. I could have a discussion with somebody over in Florida who has the take the same test as me the next day. I feel like the whole entire country as a whole would do better and have millions of different perspectives behind them when it came to the AP test questions.
6. They think that it is pretty interesting. My sister believes that Dr. Preston is onto something here that not many people realize. My mom thinks that it would be cool to talk with other people around the world about a class subject and help each other out.
7. They share the same ideas about the class as i do. I feel that in a few years, everything will be online and we might not even need to go to a classroom.

Lit Anal #5

The Color Purple
by Alice Walke

1)Summary:
Celie is a poor uneducated girls form rural Georgia. Celie writes letters to God because her father rapes and beats her. Celie gave birth to two children as a result, however her father took both and killed them in the woods. After Celie's mother died, her father married a new woman, but continues to abuse Celie. We soon learn that a man named Mr.____ wants to marry Nettie, Celie's younger more beautiful sister. However, Mr.____ also likes Shug Avery. Celie's father refuses to marry off Nettie to Mr.____ but offers Celie instead. Mr.____ eventually accepts the offer. Nettie runs away form home and takes refuge with Celie at her new home. Mr.____ advances on Nettie, who becomes frightened and runs away never to be seen again. Celie believes she is dead. Shug comes to town to sing at a local bar and Mr.____'s son marries a girl named Sofia. Both the son and father try to abuse Sofia but she is stronger than the to and fights back. Shug falls ill and Mr.____ takes her in forcing Celie to take care of her. Celie starts to become attracted to Shug. Their relationship grows more intimate. Shug and Celie learn that Mr.____ has hidden letters to Celie from Nettie over the years. Celie reads them and wants to kill Mr.____. Nettie became a missionary in Africa with the help of a kind couple. That couple had adopted two children, who look like Nettie. Nettie confesses that they are her sisters children. The wife of the couple dies and Nettie marries the husband. Celie eventually begins to like Mr.____ and starts to enjoy her life. Sofia remarries Mr.____'s son and works in Celie's clothing store. Nettie finally returns home and she and Celie live happily together. They never felt younger.

 

2)Theme:
The main theme is that the ability to express one's thoughts and feelings is important to find oneself.

 

3)Tone:
The tone of the novel is very serious and tragic.

4)Literary Elements:
Structure-the novel is written in a first person narrative format.
Symbolism-purple, the color, represents all things created by God that are good.
Syntax-the author writes in short chapters each one a different letter to God written by Celie
Mood-the mood is sad and tragic
Diction-Walker uses words that Celie would have used since she was a poor uneducated girl from Georgia.

Lit Anal # 4

The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
General -

1.This story follows O'Brien throughout different parts of his life. It mainly follows events of his experience in the Vietnam war. It is also important to note that the novel states it is a work of fiction by Tim O'Brien, that the exact events of this novel didn't really happen. O'Brien describes the daily life of Alpha Company in great detail. He mentions the little things like what each man carried with him when they went out on patrol. O'Brien then tells us of the first death in Alpha Company. Ted Lavender a low ranking soldier was shot on his way back from the bathroom. The book describes him as just dropping dead like a sand bag hitting the ground. The leader of the group, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross takes personal responsibility for Ted's death, blaming himself for not being more focused on the task at hand. Next, O'Brien tells us of his back round and how he ended up in the war. He was a normal person, living a normal life, when he got his letter saying he was drafted. He was confused and afraid, he didn't want to go to war, yet he didn't want to be a coward. He ran away and made it to the boarder of Canada where he stayed at a lodge called Tip Top Lodge. While he was there he became overwhelmed with his guilt that he decides to go home and to war. O'Brien tells us of another death, this time of Curt Lemon. Lemon stepped on a rigged mortar round which killed him and sent his remains all over the tree he was under. Another death happened when Lee Strunk stepped on a land mine and his legs were blown off. Strunk and Jensen made a pact to kill one another if the other was severely injured. However, Strunk begged not to die and Jensen didn't kill him. Strunk died before he got treatment. The final death in Vietnam of the company was that of Kiowa. He was a beloved member of the company and close friends with Tim and Norman Bowker. Kiowa died when a mortar shell struck the ground near him when Alpha Company was marching through a "shit field". The mortar caused a collapse in the field creating a hole which suck Kiowa head first under the muck. O'Brien explains that he dealt with the lost while Bowker never got over it. Tim goes on to tell us a short story of Bowker trying to figure out how to live his life back in the USA. We are told later that he committed suicide. With all of this death happening in Alpha Company, Tim recounts his first kill. It was misty and he was sitting in his fox hole with three grenades lined up for easy access. He saw a man run around the bend with a Ak-47, so he threw a grenade at him. Tim explains in great detail the kill and how he just stared at the man after it happened.
Lastly Tim explains how he was able to cope with all the death easier than everyone else. He tells us that his fourth-grade love died of cancer and that because of this he could deal with the deaths of his company.

2. A major theme in this novel is that of burdens, both physical and mental. The physical burdens of what the physically carried with them. In the first chapter, when Tim is describing the things they carried, he gives the weight of each individual item as well. The mental burdens are that of the deaths of friends and comrades in arms. How each one of them had to cope with the deaths and keep their emotions in line else they will die too.

3. The tone is very grim, dark, and straight to the point.
"The things they carried was largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed between 12 and 18 pounds, depending upon a man's habits or rate of metabolism."

"and there was a puff of dust and smoke- a small white puff- and the young man seemed to jerk upward as if pulled by invisible wires. He fell on his back. His rubber sandals had been blown off. He lay at the center of the trail, his right leg bent beneath him, his one eye shut, his other eye a huge star-shaped hole."

"I watched Lemon turn sideways. He laughed and said something to Rat Kiley. Then he took a peculiar half step, moving from the shade into the bright sunlight., and the booby-trapped 105 round blew him into a tree. The parts were just hanging there, so Dave Jensen and I were ordered to shinny up and peel him off. I remember the white bone of an arm. I remember pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that must have been his intestines. The gore was horrible, and stays with me. But what wakes me up twenty years later is Dave Jensen singing "Lemon Tree" as we threw down the parts."

4. Syntax-O'Brien writes in a very matter of fact type style but he adds more descriptions and detail.
"On the third day, Curt Lemon stepped on a booby-trapped 105 round. He was playing catch with Rat Kiley, laughing and then he was dead. The trees were thick; took nearly an hour to cut an LZ for dustoff."
Diction-O'Brien uses military language and words in the novel
Mood-the novel is grim and dark, as well as, morbid.
Structure-the novel is a first person narrative, also, it is a fiction auto-biography.
Symbolism-The "things" that the men carried were not only their physical burdens but the emotional and mental burdens, this ties in with the main theme.

Characterization-

1.Indirect characterization- “He would look them in the eyes, keeping his chin level, and he would issue the new SOP's in a calm, impersonal tone of voice, an officer's voice, leaving no room for argument or discussion"

This shows what kind of a leader Cross was. It shows that he was heartbroken by the loss of one of his men.

Direct characterization- The story uses direct characterization when it explains how characters feel about other characters.

2. The book is a first person narrative. He tells the story from his point of view. His diction doesn't really change because he always views them the same way. He changes the way they talk depending on who the character is or where they came from to help us get a feel for the different characters.

3. He tells his story as if it already happened. So he is static, however in the events that he tells about, he is dynamic. There is a part where he throws a grenade and blows a guy up. He becomes depressed at that point and it changes his character.

4. I felt like I met a person because it was the story of his life, so I felt like I really got to know him and his emotions.

Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

1. What a life we have here in this dark cave,
2. It is all we know, except for the brave.
3. They dare to turn their heads to the bright light,
4. And fight the shackles to reach the close day.
5. We're scared to venture into the unknown.
6. By sitting here, all of our lives are blown.
7. We're limited in what we see and do.
8. Most of the people do not have a clue.
9. There are shadows of something behind us.
10. But we choose to ignore it without fuss.
11. It is time to break these chains and be free.
12. The only thing stopping myself is me.
13. It takes some time for my eyes to adjust.
14. Once they do, there's a whole new world for us.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

1. I think this means that we mentally imprison ourselves and only we can set ourselves free. It represents that we look straight and only believe what is being presented to us. We don’t try to think outside of the box and question what else there is.

2. The cave represents a place of ignorance. The shackles represent limits. The shadows represent images that you have to question.
3. It is saying that we as students don’t want to go through the extra work and go outside of the cave because we want to stay in our own little comfort zone.
4. The imagery of shackles and the cave suggest that the prisoners only have that one perspective of the dark cave and have never left and are unable to leave to see the light outside of the cave. They are being controlled and limited to what they can do and see.
5. In society today, things like going with the flow and just doing the bare minimum shackle people. Everybody wants to stick with what they know and what they are comfortable with, and never want to try anything else because it is too much work. Nobody wants to change the way they do things or how they learn because they are content with the way it already is. They do not want to think about what could be.
6. The free prisoners can explore outside of the cave. They prefer their initial situation though because they are used to it and that is what they have known their whole lives. They are unsure about the outside world so they do not bother going out there.
7. The freed prisoner is blinded by the sun at first and how much light at first. When he goes back into the cave, his eyes need to adjust to the darkness.
8. To get free, the prisoners have to want to get out. Others tell them about the outside. It takes people who are willing to ask questions. They have to uncomfortably turn their heads and when they see the light, the chains break.
9. There is a big difference between appearances and reality. Everything in this world is not what it may seem. When you are lost in the desert and you see a mirage, it’s not actually there. You are just seeing images that you are imagining.
10. There is no truth. There are only versions of the truth. Reality is self-deceptive and you believe anything that you see.

Big Question

Is there ever a just war?

Lit Anal #3

Brave new world by Aldous Huxley
 

GENERAL

 

1. This story takes place in the future. It is about 2500 London. The people in this story are created and not born. The government controls these people's lives and wants to create a perfect world. There was a war that destroyed all of civilization. The people pretty much worship Henry Ford because of his work. They start a new era of Ford. Everybody who is made has one of five different castes Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. There are 10 controllers who have the power of the world. The world is maintained by brainwashing babies and giving adults the soma which helps people stay happy. Marrage is not allowed because the babies are produced in factories. So everybody has sex with everybody, but being together longer than a few months is bad.

2. The theme of the story is the threat of Genetic engineering. Huxley talks about how his new world breeds prescribed numbers of humans artificially for specified qualities. This whole story shows an example of what could happen if the world started using more and more genetic engineering to a point where every person on the earth was created and born.

3. The tone of the story is dramatic. The author uses a lot of flashy words that illustrate the perfect picture of what he is trying to say. Although there are a lot of big words that are hard to understand. it is very easy to read and makes the reader have to think and let their imagination run wild with his fascinating ideas. It is also humorous in a few ways. Like when the students in the classroom feel sick whenever they hear the word mother. Just the way he makes people talk and with his ideas of how life is at that time, he kinda jokes around a bit of the things people say do these days in the reader's present.

4. Imagery- he uses imagery of humans to animals like when he says they have the stupid curiosity of animals.

repetition- “straight from the horses mouth”

irony- “Community, Identity, Stability” is ironic because how are you supposed to be your own person when you are told how to feel and think.
Oxymoron- The blossoms described on pg 15 are an oxymoron between beauty and death/suffering.

Foreshadowing- “What man has joined, nature is powerless to assunder.” This foreshadows that because society is unatural, nature will break it apart and become natural again.

Hypocricy- The controllers are making children think how they want them to think, but the controllers are just people with their own beleifs and they are thinking the way that they want to think, why cant everybody else?

Hyperbole- The storyies characters are really exhagerated.

 

CHARACTERIZATION
1. The author uses mostly indirect characterization in this story. Since it is from a 3^rd person point of view, he can explain what how every character thinks and feels to give us an idea on their personalities.
 2. The author's diction does change a little bit from when different characters are speaking. Like when Mustafa Mond is speaking, he makes him sound way more intelligent than when Lenina is talking.
3. The protagonist, John the savage, is a round character. He has many different personalities that separated him from the world around him. He questions the order of things and expresses ideas through a real personality. He is different than everybody else and looks at the world through christian views. You can see his struggle with the world views when Lenina wants sex.
4. I feel like I read a character in this story. Everybody is mostly the same in this book where they are all brainwashed except for john. He was the only one who was normal and actually questioned the system. Like he probably did what every one of the readers would have done as well and wasn't really a person that was all that diferent from the every day person in the present.

 

Vocab #11

Affinity- relationship by marriage.

I do not know most of my step dad's cousins very well because I only know them by affinity

Bilious- of or indicative of a peevish ill nature disposition.

My sister is openly Bilious to those she doesn't like.

Cognate- of the same nature.

In Spanish, when a word sounds similar in English as it does in Spanish, we call them cognates.

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

When my mom grounded me because my sister told her a lie, and she didn't give me a chance to tell my part of the story, it was a corollary.

Cul-de-sac - a pouch/ dead end.

I never keep anything in my cul-de-sac because I don't want it to be stolen.

Derring-do- a daring action.

Stunt doubles always need to be ready for a derring-do.

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

I wish I could study divination so that I could foretell the future and say that my team will win CIF.

Elixir- A substance capable of prolonging life indefinitely.

I drank an Elixir and now I can never die of old age.

Folderol- a useless accessory.

Guys do not wear many folderols.

Gamut- an entire range or series.

Every practice was just a small piece of our gamut to become league champions.

Hoi polloi- the General populace.

The hoi polloi all agree that we do not want a world war III.

Ineffable- incapable of being expressed in words .

I was so happy, it was ineffable.

Lucubration- to study by night.

I usually practice lucubration because my days are so buisy.

Mnemonic- intended to assist memory.

People with Alzheimer usually take a mnemonic.

Obloquy- abusive language.

Many people just use obloquy instead of actions.

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

I had to search the parameter of the building.

Pundit- a learned man.

My grandpa sure is a pundit with all of his life experiances.

Risible- provoking laughter.

I love when my friends are risible.

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

I had a symptomatic headache from hitting my head on the ground.

Volte-face- a reversal in policy.

Usually when laws aren't working out, the government sets a volte-face.

Sonnet

Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,
As to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
And simple truth miscalled simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.

AP Hamlet PLN

http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listhamletma1.html
I liked this website because it was a whole page that a high school library had put up to help their students study Hamlet.
http://deborahharris.edublogs.org/2010/04/16/ap-hamlet-essay-directions/
I liked this because there were a ton of views and a lot  people were obviously seeing this page.
http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/discuss/students-studying-hamlet-55205
I chose this website because although it was posted in 2009, the students are commenting with some good points on Halmet.
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/shakespeare/hamlet.htm
I liked this website because it taught everything you need to know about Hamlet. It was pretty much a class on Hamlet online and it offered a lot of great questions.
http://thehamletweblog.blogspot.com/
I liked this blog because it was a whole blog dedicated to Hamlet and it is current.

Literary Analysis #2

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan- Literary Analysis #2

General -

1. Jing-mei's (June's) mother Suyuon left her other two children behind in China when she fled to America during World War II. Sutuon was part of a little gathering of women who play mah jong. An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair are Sutuon's friends who participate in this gathering. After Sutuon's death, they find where Sutuon's other two long lost daughters (Chwun Yu and Chwun Hwa) are located in China. The women want Jing-mei to travel to China and meet her sisters and tell them about their mother. She is afraid that she doesn't know enough about her mother and realizes that she didn't have that close of a relationship with her. The story consists of these women and their daughters talking about their mothers and their life experiences. At the end of the story, Jing-mei ends up traveling to China and meeting her family.
2. The biggest theme that I picked up in this story was Friendship. The whole story is based on the club that these four women created. They all became very close friends, and even after one of the women died, the other three are still looking out for her and trying to carry out her life wishes. They all help each other in difficult times and know each other like they are more than family.
3. The tone of the story is emotional and reminiscent. They are all remembering their heritage and teaching their daughters more about their lives, experiences, and family legacy.
4. Literary elements-
   Symbolism – The pendant that June is given by her mother symbolizes the relationship she has with her.
   Imagery – This is often used when the mothers tell parables.
   Allegory – The stories that the mothers tell.
   Foreshadowing - “everything fall down” foreshadows the fall of a relationship.
   Metaphor – The marriage being compared to an unstable table.
   Simile - “as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf” pg 153.
   Rhetorical Question – “How could I know these things do not mix?” pg 254.
   Allusion – An allusion to the “Ed Sullivan show on TV”
   Personification - “The chess board seemed to hold elaborate secrets waiting to be untangled” pg 93
   Hyperbole - “I felt such pain… as if someone had torn off both my arms without anesthesia, without sewing me back up.”

Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


I feel like the internet makes it really easy to be lazy and just look everything up. I have no need to memorize things that I look up because I know that I can just find them again. It screws up my priorities as well. When I am online and need to get my homework done, I find myself watching random videos or going on facebook instead of doing my homework. When I am online, time flies. I'll be on facebook and think I've only been on for a few minutes. I then look at my clock and realize that I have been on for an hour or two and have been wasting precious time that I could have been using for homework. If the topic I am looking up doesn't interest me, I do not retain much of the information because in the back of my mind I am thinking that I can always just come back to the site if I forget what it said. The internet is actually pretty awesome when it comes to researching your interests. The internet is so big and has so many results for everything that you can possibly imagine. When you look up things that you like, you know for sure that you will be satisfied with a very wide variety of results.

Notes on Hamlet

 At the beginning of the play, I felt like it was all just a big waste of time and that I wouldn't be interested in the story. As the play progressed, I became more and more interested. I love how many mysteries are in this play and how the reader is left hanging and has to decide for himself what he thinks is going on. I think that toward the beginning of the play, Hamlet was acting crazy for a good cause and actually had a plan. Now toward the end of act 3, I am starting to doubt that he is acting and starting to think that he is actually going crazy. I feel that as the story progresses, Hamlet is going to actually become the crazy guy that he has been pretending to be and end up doing something insane. I think that ,since Hamlet was the only one that saw the ghost in act 3, this is the start of his actual insanity and he is just imagining things now.

Who was Shakespeare?

 Nobody knows what Shakespeare looked like or when he was born. But yet, if his name is mentioned in a conversation, almost every person in the US will know who you are talking about. He is so famous because of his play writings.

Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare's.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshiped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Info taken directly from -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html seemed to say the same things as well.

Shakespeare is usually seen by students as hard to understand and boring because it is outdated. 
I feel like it isn't as outdated anymore and actually applies to us in some ways. I also get some humor here and there that I never used to understand. His stories are actually pretty interesting once you get past the way he wrote. I still struggle with the words that he used and have trouble interpreting what his characters are saying. 

"To Facebook or not to Facebook?"

My initial impression of Facebook was that it made it really easy to communicate with friends and see what everybody was up to. I thought that it was just a cool new way to spend time and meet new people. After reading the article, I feel that all these people are making a big deal over nothing. They are all just looking for new ways to get money from Facebook by saying, "My child has been disrupted emotionally because of his use of Facebook and he is under 13!" and then suing the company. Facebook is making a ton of money, and millions of people use Facebook and like it just the way it is. It is money maker, so I feel the people in this article should stop complaining about the ways Facebook makes their money and just enjoy it.
So I would go with "To Facebook"

Vocab List #9 Remix

 Here are some ways that I am going to remember these words.

Abortive: failing to produce the intended result.

This makes me think of abortion.
Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely

It sounds like the word brew which means to conjure or create. You can create rumors and spread them.
Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior

The "melious" part makes me think of malicious behavior which can be scornful and insulting.
Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle

You can sometimes find a dictum in a dictionary.
Ensconce: establish or settle

Ensconce starts with an e and so does establish.
Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions

Ensconce has "con" in it and so does iconoclastic. Ensconce is to establish, and iconoclastic is attacks on established beliefs.
In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning

This has the word "media" in it. Sometimes they put an In medias res in film and media.
Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict

This has "inter" in it just like internal. Makes me think of internal conflict.
Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy

This is an awkward word to read. Maladroit can mean awkward or clumsy.
Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness

Mary Magdalene (which sounds like maudlin) from the Bible was usually crying in the paintings she was in.
Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on

Both modify and modulate have "mod" in them. - Like to mod a car or computer.
Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner

Portent- an indication of something important about to happen.
Prescience: the power to foresee the future

Has "pre" in it which means before. So to see things before they happen.
Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something

My dad is a professional tile setter and usually trades tile work for something that we need in our house such as new windows.
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down

Reminds me of salad which is healthy.
Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry

Saturnalia is the ancient festival of Saturn.
Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized

When I think of a stone, I think of a standard rock.
Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma

Just makes me think of trauma, which is the same thing.
Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.

Vitiate and validity both start with V which is a rare letter to start with.
Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner

"Wag" makes me think of dogs which are playful.

Midterm Reflection

a) I really liked that the whole test was multiple choice. On answers that I knew but couldn't think of the definition, I could just read the list of definitions and say "Oh yeah, that's the definition."
b) I had a hard time remembering every exact word that we had, especially from the lists earlier this year.
c) I feel that I know most of the content and it will stick with me. But I need to study it more to become fluent with the words and be able to use them in my every day vocabulary.
d) I feel like I could have known the words better and I know that I got some wrong on the test. So next time, I will spread out my study time. I also only gave myself 10 minutes every night to study. If I find more time to study at night, I can study longer and hopefully do better.

Midterm study strategy

For the vocabulary midterm, I will probably just use my blog vocab lists and sentances to study. Being able to look at a word and remember the sentance it was used in helps me remember the definition of the word. I also have flashcards for a few of the lists that I can use to study as well.

Pre-Will

A) I do not know anything about Hamlet.

B) All I know about Shakespeare is that he is a very famous play writer and poet from back in the day and wrote “Romeo and Juliet” as well as “Hamlet” and his writing is very difficult to interpret because of the iambic pentameter.

C) People find Shakespeare's writing to be outdated and very difficult to read.

D) We can actually attempt to read it and not just give up right away. We can also try to translate and apply it to modern life so that we can relate better and it will actually stick with us.

Vocab #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
-The lady at the mental hospital had an aberration and couldn’t function properly.

Ad hoc- (adverb) for the special purpose or end presently under consideration
-After thinking long and hard, he decided to ad hoc his relationship with his girlfriend in order to date a different girl.

bane - (noun) something causes misery or death
-Hitler was a bane to the Jews.

bathos - (noun) triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos
-She made a bathos when we were talking about winning world war two and she mentioned how many people died.

cantankerous - (adj.) having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
-The cantankerous child would not go to bed.

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
-Everybody has a casuistry that will pop up when we do something we know we shouldn't.

de facto - (noun) in fact; in reality
-De facto, there are only a handful of dinosaur fossils left on this earth.

depredation - (noun) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive action
-The depredation of his town scarred the man for life.

empathy - (noun) understanding and entering into another's feelings
-I feel deep empathy for the woman who lost her baby.

harbinger - (noun) an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage
-The intense music was a harbinger.

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
-Hedonism can make people do some crazy things.

lackluster - (adj.) lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
-The rubber ball was lackluster and dirty.

malcontent - (adj.) discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
-The malcontent man gave the police a hard time for giving him a ticket.

mellifluous - (adj.) pleasing to the ear
-The violin is so mellifluous.

nepotism - (noun) favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
-My boss shows such nepotism when he makes me work on all the holidays while his son gets to go out with his friends.

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
-I found out that my teacher was a pander.

peccadillo - (noun) a petty misdeed
-I realized that I made a peccadillo when I threw my cigarette out the window.

piece de resistance - (noun) the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
-The roller coaster was the piece de resistance of the fair.

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
-As the chief of police, I have to remand about three people a day.

syndrome - (noun) a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
-Sneezing is a syndrome of having a cold.

Literary Analysis "Crime and Punishment"

General

1. There is a man named Raskolnikov who lives in Russia. He plans to kill Alyona who is a mean old lady that works as a pawnbroker. After, he decides to murder this lady and actually kills her and her sister. The whole story is about him and his internal conflict on weather to confess or not to the police. He meets a girl named Sonia who is his new friend's daughter. He ends up confessing to her that he murdered these women and then confesses to the police. He was sent to Siberia to work for eight years and Sonia follows him there.

2. Surprisingly, the main theme I pulled out of this book was love. Throughout the story, Raskolnikov kinda treated Sonia like crap. She liked him though and stuck with him. When he confessed to the police and was sent away to Siberia, she followed him there. It was in Siberia where he realized that he loved Sonia. Also, his sister Dounia loves her brother so much, that she is willing to marry a guy just to help her brother. And at the end, Dounia ends up finding love with Raskolnikov's friend Razumihin.

3. The authors tone in this story was very dramatic. There were a lot of minor characters that and plots in the story that were there just to entertain us while we weren't focusing on the main plot. Like the main story was Raskolnikov and his murder. But there were also little minor stories going on. There was his sisters problems with her fiance, and Raskolnikov's problems with him as well. There was also a story with that creepy child molester trying to get at his sister. As well as being dramatic, it was also a very dark and cynical book with the murders and the guilt he felt.

4. 1- In chapter 7, the author uses a simile. "...which flows and has always flowed in streams, which is spilt like champagne"
2- In chapter 6, he uses repetition “fresh air, fresh air, fresh air!”
3 – In chapter 6 again he used personification. “...his heart seemed to stand still for a moment, then suddenly began throbbing as though it were set free”
4 – He makes an allusion to Napoleon Bonaparte - “I wanted to make myself a Napoleon...”
5- The ax symbolizes two sides of his nature.
6 – In the whole story, there is a metaphor saying that the criminal won't always be caught and punished, but sometimes their own mind and guilt is punishment enough.
7- There is definitely foreshadowing that he is going to kill the pawnbroker because he states his intentions but says that he is not sure if he will go through with it or not.
8- It is ironic that he is a criminal but looking for a way to turn himself in.
9 – The cross in the story symbolizes human sin.
10 – Personification in chapter 3. “...eyes grew more penetrating every moment, piercing into his soul...”

vocab list #6

obsequious- flattering

Wives should always be obsequious to their husbands.

beatitude- Supreme blessedness

It is a beatitude to be able to live in a free country.

bete noire- a detested person (disliked or avoided)

My little brother at school is my bete noire.

bode- Be an omen of a particular outcome

Sometimes people think they are psychic because they are bodes to when its going to rain.

dank- Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold

After the beach, my swim shorts had a dank feeling to them.

ecumenical- general; universal; Promoting or relating to unity among the world's Christian churches

The ecumenical symbol for Christianity is a cross.

fervid- Intensely enthusiastic or passionate

The two lovers were very fervid around each other.

fetid- Smelling extremely unpleasant

My dog is very fetid.

gargantuan- of great mass

The whale was such a gargantuan.

heyday- The period of a person's or thing's greatest success or popularity

Just after the lawyer won his big case, he was in his heyday.

incubus- A cause of distress or anxiety like a nightmare

Clowns are the biggest incubus in my life.

infrastructure- The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation

After the surgery, they took me to the infrastructure to recover.

inveigle- Persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery

When I want money, I inveigle my mom.

kudos- Praise and honor received for an achievement

I gave my brother kudos for passing the 8^th grade.

lagniappe- Something given as a bonus or extra gift

When I realized that five dollars was not enough, I gave my friend a stuffed animal as a lagniappe.

prolix- Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy

I feel that a lot of people write prolix essays.

protege- a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career

My dad was my protege when I decided to go into the tile business.

prototype- A first or preliminary model of something, esp. a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied

The cotton gin was a prototype.

sycophant- A self serving flatterer.

I am a sycophant when I want something.

tautology- The saying of the same thing twice in different words

I always use tautology when foreign exchange students don’t understand me.

truckle- Submit or behave obsequiously

I truckle when I like somebody.

Vocab List

Acumen - (noun) a tapering point; shrewdness shown by keen insight

-The man had an incredible acumen in business matters.
Adjudicate - (verb) bring to an end; settle conclusively; put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of
-My dad always has to adjudicate disagreements between my brother and I.
Anachronism - (noun) an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
-The caveman from the car insurance commercial is an anachronism.
Apocryphal - (adj.) being of questionable authenticity; of or belonging to the Apocrypha
-When the man traded in gold for some food, the gold was very apocryphal.
Disparity - (noun) inequality or difference in some respect
-Freshman are treated with disparity compared to seniors.
Dissimulate - (verb) hide (feelings) from other people
-Sometimes, when people dissimulate, they will eventually explode.
Empirical - (adj.) derived from experiment and observation rather than theory; relying on medical quackery
-In physics, we always find empirical results.
Flamboyant - (adj.) richly and brilliantly colorful; elaborately or excessively ornamented; noun showy tropical tree or shrub native to Madagascar; widely planted in tropical regions for its immense racemes of scarlet and orange flowers; sometimes placed in genus Poinciana
-My Christmas tree last year was so flamboyant.
Fulsome - (adj.) unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
-There is a fulsome student in one of my classes that nobody likes to talk to.
Immolate - (verb) offer as a sacrifice by killing or by giving up to destruction
-Some religions immolate lambs to their god.
Imperceptible - (adj.) impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses
-Batman is imperceptible when he is in stealth.
Lackey - (noun) a male servant (especially a footman); a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
-Every villain has their own lackey.
Liaison - (noun) a channel for communication between groups; a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
- You should never have a liaison with close friends.

Monolithic - (adj.) characterized by massiveness and rigidity and total uniformity; imposing in size or bulk or solidity

-The redcoats were so much more monolithic compared to the rebels.
Mot juste - (noun) the appropriate word or expression
-My mom always has the perfect mot juste when we argue and ends up winning the quarrel.
Nihilism - (noun) a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake; complete denial of all established authority and institutions; the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal
-Nihilism would cause chaos because there would be no laws or law enforcement.
Patrician - (adj.) of the hereditary aristocracy or ruling class of ancient Rome or medieval Europe; of honorary nobility in the Byzantine empire; belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy; noun a person of refined upbringing and manners; a member of the aristocracy
-A patrician was always treated with great respect.
Propitiate - (verb) make peace with
- After 5 years, my sister finally propitiated my dad.
Sic -(adv.)intentionally so written (used after a printed word or phrase);(verb) urge a dog to attack someone
- I love to sic my dog on people.
Sublimate - (adj.) made pure; noun the product of vaporization of a solid; (verb) direct energy or urges into useful activities; vaporize and then condense right back again; change or cause to change directly from a solid into a vapor without first melting; remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation; make more subtle or refined
-I had to sublimate the lake water before I could drink it.

Vocab list #4

Vocabulary list #4

1. apostate - a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.

People call me an apostate because I switched from republican to democrat.

2. effusive - pouring out; overflowing.

The bucket was so effusive, the ground got soaked.

3. impasse - a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.

I found myself in an impasse when my friend locked me in the closet.

4. euphoria - a state of intense happiness and self-confidence.

 After working out, I feel such euphoria.

5. lugubrious - mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner:

The man in court was so lugubrious, he convinced the jury that he was innocent.

6. bravado - a pretentious, swaggering display of courage.

My dog showed a huge amount of bravado when it was attacked.

7. consensus - general agreement or concord; harmony.

The jury reached a consensus on the court case.

8. dichotomy - division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.

There was a false dichotomy between watches and calculators.

9. constrict - to draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink; compress.

The snake has to constrict the mouse to kill it.

10. gothic - pertaining to or designating the style of painting, sculpture, etc., produced between the 13th and 15th centuries, especially in northern Europe, characterized by a tendency toward realism and interest in detail.

The gothic architecture of the church was amazing.

11. punctilio - a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure.

When it came time, the man was willing to stand on punctilio.

12. metamorphosis – a transformation.

The caterpillar went through a metamorphosis and became a butterfly.

13. raconteur - a person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly.

My best friend is so interesting because he is a raconteur.

14.  sine qua non - an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential:

My friend's jokes were the sine qua non of my high school days.

15. quixotic - extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.

My ideas are always quixotic.

16. vendetta - any prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry, contention.

The vendetta between Romeo and Juliette's family was really interesting.

17. non sequitur - an inference or a conclusion that does not follow from the premises.

My answer in math was really non sequitur and didnt make much sense.

18. mystique - an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit.

Microchips are such a mystique to me.

19. quagmire - an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.

The car was stuck in a quagmire, so we had to wait for a tow truck.

20. parlous - perilous; dangerous.

The volcano was so parlous, the whole island was blocked off.