La Fin

EQUALITY AMONG HUMANITY

If you have ever looked at my other blog posts about my masterpiece you'd have the gist of what it's about. I became interested in this because I have always felt that our judgments of people come first and they hinder us from learning about or from other people. I have no idea what stereotype I fit in to. Sophomore year I dressed in all black. I suppose I was scene, emo, goth, or whatever you want to call it. Junior year I wore jeans and t shirts. I suppose I was average. But I've changed a lot since last year alone. I have no set style. I wear all black, jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts. On the weekends I dress very feminine in dresses and I will mess around with makeup. Some of my classmates may be surprised by that because I don't show that side of myself at school. And that's a result of not feeling safe to be or express myself because the stereotype mold keeps me confined to expressing one side. The Canterbury Tales is an example of stereotypes predominating the opinions of other people. The Knight is described as a brute when in reality he's the kindest character. Basically the point of this project was to get past those stereotypes that predominate first impressions. The point of this project was to accept everyone despite sexuality, gender, race, class, or social group so that we can see each other as equals and connect on an emphatic level through conversations. I want everyone to be able to experience a conversation that is so great you don't want it to end and time is irrelevant. Tuesdays With Morrie is a great novel that details the conversations between a regular guy and Morrie.
            Erica and I went around asking people about what they were passionate about because when someone is passionate about something their excitement for telling you about it is contagious. You can't help but be interested and that infectious environment helps to create a conversation that can be worthwhile. Here is our blog were we detailed different stories eahumanity.blogspot.com. These stories are only snippets of the person but these stories are a way of getting people to contribute their story and to be open to accepting others as well as trying to get to know them.

Poetry Boot Camp

Sonnet analysis

Petrarchan- traditional;, classical, flowery, 8 & 6
Shakespearean- no bs, 3 quatrains & 1 couplet(stands by itself)
Shift from couplet
     - goes from insulting her to yet he still loves her
 Shakespeare was a modernist of his time, goes against traditional, this sonnet is a response to classical writing

-his lover is human & that's why he loves her, loved based on what's real, has integrity
-commenting on love, what it's based on in society and also on the literature of love

Distracted Driving

Today I drove my grandma around and thought it was going to be a normal ride, nothing to mention in a blog post. Lately I've been noticing how many people text and drive on the road and it's absolutely ridiculous. To make it even better, April is supposed to be the month that brings awareness to distracted driving. And I believe St. Joe's did the mock accident today as well. Anyways today I was at a light turning left. The light had changed and there was a car in front of me that hadn't moved for a good five seconds. I wasn't in a hurry but I wanted to catch the light so I honked and they turned in a big huff. As I followed behind them I could tell there were kids in the back and the driver was swaying on the road nearly driving on the sidewalk clearly indicating they were either drunk, texting, or not paying attention. Whatever they were doing, they were clearly distracted. I can't even begin to express how much this pissed me off I was especially after everything that has happened with car accidents in Santa Maria. The driver took the risk to put themselves, the passengers, and all the other drivers on the road in danger. I personally don't text and drive but I get the temptation to look at your phone. With everything being instant, its hard to not want to look at a text right away. The point of this post was not for me to rant, it was just a plea to stay mindful and aware when you drive.

Act 4 Macbeth Questions

Act 4 questions

Danielle 4.1

1. How many witches appear in this scene?

The three weird sisters from the beginning and Hecate appear in this scene.

2. What messages does Macbeth get from the witches and their apparitions? Does he feel safe after the first three apparitions? Should he? How does he feel after the fourth, the line of kings?

The armed head tells Macbeth that Macduff has gone to England. The bloody child tells him that he will never be vanquished by a man. The child with a crown and a tree tells him that he will be vanquished when someone gets past this forest. Macbeth continually wants to know his future so he asks if Banquo’s prophecy will come true and the witches show him eight kings that rule with Banquo behind them. When i read this part i pictured Macbeth in the fetal position because he seems broken and if he were standing on a ledge well these visions would be his last inch. I think he should feel this way because his own greed, ambition, and corrupted self led him here and he knew  what was going to happen when the witches told him.

3. What does Macbeth learn from Lennox at line 158? What does he plan to do about it?

Macbeth learns that Macduff has fled to England which means he is becoming a serious problem so Macbeth plans to murder his wife and children. P.S. He thought of that all on his own, just to show how much his character has changed since the beginning of the play.

Erica - 4.2 (#1, #3)

Today is Earth Day

So today when I was walking home today I saw some an empty bag of fritos in a bush. I'm not sure how many of you know this but today's Earth Day. Just like with mother's day and father's day, Earth Day was created to create respect and love for the place we live. Whoever decides to read this, I want you to remember the Earth as being a place full of beauty and hope, so much so that just being present in the scenery gives you an overwhelming sense of serenity. Now imagine all that had vanished. If we continue the path of letting future generations take care of the problem then it will all be gone. The future generations will never know what it was like to swim in an ocean not washing ashore garbage. They will never know what it was like to breath fresh air because they'll be forced to wear pollution masks. So please pick up your trash, walk to school, do something that protects our home. Fight for the Earth that provided us with life

Macbeth act 3 notes

Scene 1

• Banquo is suspicious of how quickly Macbeth and his lady have moved into Forres
• Macbeth is also suspicious of Banquo and without hesitation wants to kill them because he might take his throne

Scene 2

• Macbeth seems to have come under the influence of his wife's mindset of murder
• He doesn't tell her about how he is going to kill Banquo and she's almost proud?

Scene 3

• Banquo is stabbed and Fleance runs away and is told to take revenge upon his father

Scene 4

• at the dinner party Banquo's ghost comes
• it taunts Macbeth s much that he embarrasses himself in front of his guests.
• Lady asks her husband if he's a man again
• imagery with how he's in a deep river of blood

Scene 5

• Hecate is the goddess of witches and she's basically the boss
• she thinks the weird sisters messed up with Macbeth and that he is not going to play the part they want him to because  he's looking out for himself.

Macbeth act 2 study questions

I collaborated with the same group from act 1
2.1

1. What is the purpose of the opening of 2.1 (lines 1-9)? Notice the references to time (lines 1-3), and think about the other references to time so far in the play (1.1.1-5; 1.3.56, 146, and 152; 1.5.8 and 56-62; 1.7.51 and 81). What is the function of the discussion about the witches in 2.1.20-29?

Banquo and Fleance are a little anxious about the fact that the moon has not come up yet and that there are so little stars in the night sky. This helps the audience to understand that Duncan’s impending demise is nearing soon and not even the moon and stars want to come up and push time forward. Time is viewed as a ticking clock throughout this play whenever there is a major event about to happen. Many can relate to the ticking of a clock as one waits for a minute to pass or wishes that time would slow down. The discussion of the witches is foreshadowing the prophecy of the witches that will be fulfilled.

 2. Read Macbeth's soliloquy in 2.1.33-64 carefully. What is happening to him? How does he explain it? What will he do about it? Notice references to time in line59 and to deeds and done in lines 61-62.

Macbeth is feeling guilty about the murder he is about to commit so he is imagining the dagger that he will kill the king with. Macbeth understands that the dagger is not there but he describes it as being the wolf who howl’s his watch. The dagger is pointing him towards the way to go as if the witches put it there to guide him in a trance to murder the king because he would be able to do it with a fully aware conscience. Macbeth is rowing aware of his steps towards Duncan’s room as if he were a kid in a classroom listening to the ticking of a clock to get out of class. The bell beckons him like the wolf’s howl previously.

ACT II Study Questions

Collaboration

First come first serve - pick 2 each

Erica - 2.1 (#1, #2) ; Hikaru - 2.2 (#1, #2) ; Danielle - 2.4 (#1, #2)

  

Erica - 2.1

1. Scene II, Act I contains dialogues between Banquo and Fleance, walking at night with the torches casting shadows. Banquo states that he “would not sleep” as a result of a dream he has about the witches (stated in the earlier scene). He is in turmoil, wrought over by the fact that even in his dreams do the witches follow. Shakespeare refers to time, once again, this occasion to set the tone. It is mentioned that the time is past midnight, with nothing but the torches to keep light. There is a stillness in the air, tension that coils within Banquo (multiplied due to his haunted dreams) that the audience specifically catch when Banquo almost uses his sword on Macbeth. The flow of time is continuous, but the foreshadow of the death of a king, and the crowning of a wrongful successor, disrupts the flow of time. Time, is therefore, continuously referred to, during the play, with moments of disruption.
2. Macbeth, feeling self-reproach and ultimately gripped with guilt for his planned actions, hallucinates about a dagger. He thinks he sees a dagger “faced towards his hands,” but quickly realizes that it is “a false creation.” Lost in his mind, Macbeth speaks as if he is in a trance, talking about blood and daggers. He is eventually brought back to reality by the ringing of the bell.

Hikaru - 2.2

1. Lady Macbeth is seemingly confident with the plan, but has traces of doubt. She prepared the dagger and assumed that Macbeth is killing the king. Lady Macbeth could not kill Duncan because his sleeping figure reminded Lady Macbeth of her father.
2. Macbeth has actually killed Duncan. He worries about the blood on his hands and starts to feel guilty. Lady Macbeth responds in a negative tone, again. In line 46, Macbeth left the dagger in the room, which he wasn’t supposed to. Lady Macbeth goes instead to get it.

2.3

1. What does the porter pretend to be doing? Notice the emphasis on equivocation in this speech and in the following dialogue with Macduff. Equivocation was a doctrine espoused by Jesuits living secretly in England (and in danger of arrest, torture, and death) that allowed them to swear oaths with double meanings in order to preserve their lives while also maintaining their faith but that looked to their opponents very much like lying under oath. Equivocation had recently been much discussed because of the trials surrounding the Gunpowder Plot of November 1605, a Catholic attempt to blow up Parliament while the members and the King were present. Watch how the idea of equivocation functions in the play.

2. What is the thematic function of Lennox's conversation with Macbeth about the unruly night (lines 50-59). What is the theatrical function of the scene? Why doessomething need to be here?

3. What news does Macduff report at line 59? How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth respond? What does Macbeth report in lines 103-104 that he did? What do Malcolm and Donalbain decide to do and why (lines 116-121 and 131-142)? Where will they go? What do they seem to expect will happen if they don't leave?

2.4

Danielle

1. The dialogue between the Old Man and Ross serves to show  the tension everyone feels about the murder of the king and the too quick coronation of Macbeth. We learn from Macduff that he doesn’t want to attend the coronation because he doesn’t trust the new king. Also, he thinks the two sons are suspicious. Macbeth has gone to Scone for his coronation. One of the recurring themes that show up is time.

        

Macbeth character map

I feel like we haven't been introduced enough to the characters to do a character map. So I found some that were helpful, but they were spoilers.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/112238215687842248/
http://www.anoisewithin.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/01/ANW_Macbeth_Character_Map.pdf

I prefer character analyses to describe them
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/61495-macbeth-character-analysis/

What about my masterpiece?

The conversations thing is dead. The story thing is dead. Everything is dead. I've really become unmotivated in this masterpiece thing anymore. My passion has always been science and its what i'm interested in. I'm thinking about posting about my project and my travels through the science fair I won and the state fair too come. Problem is that it would be more like a journal nobody wants to read. Or Erica and I will take photos of people doing what they love and we put captions under why they love what they're doing. If I do the photo thing then I need to wait until after AP tests when I actually have time. If I do the science thing I could start now. Comments on what I should do?

Love is blind

Macbeth sees Lady Macbeth as his business partner and nothing more. Macbeth has no affection for her because they have no real relationship other than the name of marriage. He brushes off the continual throws of emasculation but her dominating ambition puts him under her spell. The audience sees Lady Macbeth as pure evil. She is nothing but an ambitious and heartless soul that cannot even be considered human. She has no humanity and in a way she wants to lose it considering that she wishes to not feel guilty about the murder of the king.

Macbeth Act 1 Study Questions

Act I Study Questions Collaboration

FIrst come first serve - choose 2 questions each

Collaboration: Jayce, Jared, Hikaru, Marcel,  Danielle, Erica

Jayce - My first picks are the first two study questions 1.1-1.2.

1.1

1.  The effect of the witches at the beginning of the play gives off a gloomy, dark, wicked aura. Nothing beats a supernatural setting based on evil remarks and foreshadowing from the witches, yet they detest their true objective in meeting someone of value. From further reading of the play, the witches are going to meet Macbeth and Banquo when the air is unclear to see, just like fog.

1.2.

1.  The “bloody sergeant” comes to meet the king and his attendants to describe the fierceness of Macbeth and the experiences he’s had with him on the battlefield. Macdonwald was a rebel fighting the king’s army and mercilessly slain many men. The one to kill him was Macbeth and so chopped his head and stuck it to a pike. This did not drop the moral of the enemy soldiers, so the king of Scotland regrouped with new troops and retaliated with another assault. None of the rebels faltered after such display of intimidation

Danielle- my picks are 1.3 #1, 2

1.3

1. In lines 1-27, the witches are talking about sinking the ship of Macbeth. The effect the witches create is one of disgust to hear them talking about sinking a ship as if it were a game. These specifics foreshadow that Macbeth will arrive by the sinking of his ship. The witches are here to create the plot while the other characters are merely dancers. Line 9 is talking about sailing in a typical sieve sailing to sink the ship. The witches prepare for Macbeth by literally casting a spell. Giving thee a wind means to help you out. But this spell could be seen as basically winding up the plot so that Macbeth will play the part the witches want him to.
2. Macbeth’s first line reminds me of the witches line fair is foul and foul is fair. Those that we see as evil see us as evil. The witches look really ugly and look almost demonic. They portray the typical image of a witch. The witches tell Macbeth that he will be king of Cawdor as well as Glamis. He becomes captivated in the witches visions of him as king. We know this because that’s how Banquo describes him as being. Banquo asks the witches to tell him what they see in his future and they tell him that he will be greater than Macbeth though he is lesser and he will be happier though not so happy. We know that Macbeth will kill the king and rise to his throne that way.

Jared Dube- My first picks are the 2 questions of 1.4.

1.4

1. Cawdor died honorably after confessing and repenting his own crimes. The basically replies that Cawdor was a chivalrous man who had completely trusted.
2. The king greets Banquo and Macbeth with guilt that he can never truly repay them for their heroic deeds. The king then announces that he is going to make his eldest son, Malcolm the heir to the throne. Duncan then declares that he intends to dine at Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth states he is happy for the new heir but then realizes that Malcolm is just another obstacle getting in his way of becoming king.

Hikaru - my first two picks are 1.5 #4, 1.6

1.5

1. Lady Macbeth’s name is Gruoch, modeled after the name Gruoch ingen Boite.

1.6

1. Macbeth is not ready to kill the king. He expresses his doubts and troubles of killing Duncan. In lines 1-12, Macbeth is worried that the same assassination will happen to him once he replaces the current king. Just as he is eyeing the king’s throne, other people will also want it if Macbeth is to spill Duncan’s blood. Macbeth’s violates the code of friendship with Duncan. He is his “kinsmen and his subject” so he has some sympathy towards him. His “vaulting ambition” is his motivation.

Marcel-  #1 and #2 for 1.7

1.7

    1.   Macbeth has everything set up to murder Duncan from the offer to come and stay at his abode to the poison to place in his cup. How ever he’s worried about what will become of him after doing so and if he actually should go through with it. As a host you're not suppose to kill your guest rather do everything in your power to make them comfortable. Macbeth’s ambition outweighs the sorrow of killing duncan and this is all the motivation he needs.

    2. Lady Macbeth complains for knowledge of the desolation of duncan after dinner. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about how he doesn't want to go through with this heinous act any longer and she responds with calling him a coward in riveted language. Lady Macbeths sticks to her taunts and ambitious pulls to make him go through with it while Macbeth stand by what's morally right but in the end Lady Macbeth dominates this scene over her husband.

Erica - 1.2 (#2) ; 1.3 (#3)

1.2  (#2)

Ross and Angus mention that the Norwegian lord “surveying vantage,” and ensuring new supplies, began a new assault. They specifically mention that the thane of Cawdor is the traitor, and shall be stripped of his title (given to Macbeth) and killed in accordance to his betrayal.

  

Erica - ACT II

2.1:

    

You can tell you love science when you love these songs

Meet Macbeth

      Macbeth is introduced initially through indirect characterization by the Sergeant. The Sergeant glorifies Macbeth as a warlord and this is only proven through his entrance of impaling a head on a pike. But Macbeth is not a pure brute, he has self reflection. This can be seen through the foreshadowing of the witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he will ascend to the throne of a living man, which means he's going to die. They also say that his wife is going to chew him up every chance she gets. Shakespeare's exposition uses characterization to develop the characters and the story. The audience understands that the witches are setting out the play while the characters are the dancers. Macbeth is characterized as if he is a tragic hero and this allows a tone of sympathy and regret to come through when Macbeth is present. Today in class we noted that a central theme of the play is "Fair is foul and foul is fair". Everyone in this play is under the pretence that their fair appearances will hide their foul realities. Lady Macbeth is seen as a feminine wife, when in reality her evil soul rots her away.

Macbeth Resources

• http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/macbethresources.html
• http://www.classicstage.org/downloads/macbeth_studyguide.pdf
• http://www.penguin.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/macbeth.pdf
• There are multiple acts here
• http://www.novelguide.com/Macbeth
• http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/

Out, Out Poetry Essay

1971 Poem: “The Unknown Citizen” (W.H. Auden)

Prompt: In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected in the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the poem.

 

I chose this prompt because the poem is referring to the industrialized society that is leading to the destruction of the people who created it. I felt doing a prompt on society would fit this poem well.

In his poem “Out, Out.”, Robert Frost condemns a society’s transition to industrialization by focusing on one family on a farm. Frost details a scene where a boy cuts his hand off while using a buzz saw. This poem implies that the people on this farm live in an industrialized society and the all-consuming concept of work has caused the traditional family to lose its meaning. The fact that this poem is detailed on a farm shows that not even the most hard- valued people are swallowed by industrialization’s gaping mouth.

The buzz saw is the symbol of industrialization. It is personified as snarling and rattling like the metal machines in factories. The buzz saw leaps or appears to leap of its own accord at the sound of “supper” and it met with the boys hand as if they were meant to come together. Frost was implying that industrialization is going to lead to the destruction of what we need (like our hands). The boy knew that without his hand he would not be able to complete his share of the family’s work. The third person omniscient point of view allows the audience to see the juxtaposition into the boy’s thoughts when his hand was cut off and his realization of what that meant. The boy laughs at first with a sad humor and looks for his sister as if to say “Look, look at what I’ve done.” The boy then becomes rather frightened and begins to panic because of the doctor cuts off his hand then he can’t work. But the hand was gone anyways. The syntax and tone of the last few lines suggest the family’s reaction to be dispassionate and unconcerned because the sentence is very relaxed. A family not corrupted by industrialization would care, but this one went back to work like normal because the boy’s death did not directly affect them.

Frost’s description of the loss of the boy’s hand provides insight as to how he viewed this changing world. Frost implies that the industrialized world will lead to the destruction of families and will lead to the creation of impersonal people caring only for what affect them.

 

YGB essay

P.S. This has got to be one of the worst essays I have ever written.

Young Goodman Brown is a devout man who cannot imagine leaving his Faith (literally). As Young Goodman Brown takes his journey into the forest, he starts to question his faith and the society he lives in. When his journey brings him to find a satanic communion of sorts, YGB is dragged into a world of uncertainty. He returns to Salem living a life conformed to the society he has always known while he is consumed by the gloom and distrust of this community. YGB returns to what appears to be a perfect Puritan world, but his knowledge of the community’s lies causes him to lead a life of confusement and suffering.

YGB begins as an intensely pious man. His wife is incoincidently named Faith and she is very precious to him. Hawthorne foreshadows that he will meet something evil when he describes the feeling of someone following YGB. When he meets the man along the path, the mood of the story turns dark. The skies are filled with clouds and the man is characterized as somewhat devilish. The first moment when YGB begins to question the faith of the community is when he discovers that Goody Cloyson, one of the most devout women in Salem, is actually a witch. YGB wants to turn back so the traveler he met with gives him his evil staff. The staff is symbolic of snake who when touched, bites and infects with poison. He began to hear voices from clouds of darkness and saw every churchgoer with every Satan worshiper participating in a devilish event. This poison caused YGB to lose his unwavering trust that Salem was a place of Puritan values. His once perfect image of Salem had now been tainted by what he saw. When YGB returns to Salem he questions who the people of his town were. Yet, he dared not say anything or else risk being burned at the steak like a typical devil worshiper.

YGB’s conformity to a false society was a means of protection. But he could not forget what he saw in the forest. He lost all trust as to who these people were. Through his questioning and conformity, YGB learns that the perfect pious world he thought he lived in was a built on a pile of lies.

Constuctive Criticism Please?

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I felt a Funeral in my Brain Analysis

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,

And Mourners to and fro

Kept treading - treading - till it seemed

That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,

A Service, like a Drum -

Kept beating - beating - till I thought

My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box

And creak across my Soul

With those same Boots of Lead, again,

Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,

And Being, but an Ear,

And I, and Silence, some strange Race,

Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,

And I dropped down, and down -

And hit a World, at every plunge,

And Finished knowing - then -

Meaning	The meaning of the poem is to convey what a mental breakdown feels like.
Antecedent Scenario	This poem is about the process of a mental breakdown.
Structural Parts	The first stanza relates the mental breakdown process to that of a funeral.  Parts of yourself say goodbye to others that may not come back. The beating of the second stanza represents the ritual of the funeral or it could be the beating of a her heart that overwhelms her. The third stanza is the end of the funeral and when her empty soul begins to yearn for the the thing that died. The fourth stanza she is talking about being a silent listener where she seems to be cozy with silence. The last stanza expresses the end of the breakdown and has stopped thinking.
Climax	It occurs at the end of the last stanza.
Other Parts	The author is very religious when talking about the funeral but is very personal when talking about her mind.

Skeleton	The tone of the poem keeps a constant sense of morbidity.
Content Genre- games	The solitude poem.
Tone	I feel like the poem when read aloud has a bit of sarcasm and insanity in it as she's losing her mind/herself.
Agency	Emily Dickinson
Roads Not Taken	This could be written by someone who has a morbid outlook on life but otherwise the poem would lose the meaning.
Speech Acts	An explanation.
Outer and Inner Structural Forms	Has rhyme, stanzas, imagery
Imagination	The poet has created a dark world in her mind that resembles a funeral.

Makes me want to go to Austrailia...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/college-tourist/10-reasons-why-you-should-study-abroad-in-australia_b_6963060.html?utm_hp_ref=travel&ir=Travel

Lit Analysis #3 Catch-22

1. Catch-22 is a novel about an American bomb fighter named John Yossarian who sees war as the reality it truly is, absolute carnage. The craziness he experiences in world war 2 makes him want to escape the military but his colonel tries to keep him there by making him go through more missions. Eventually all of his friends die and he begins to shirk off his duties. The story takes place during world war 2. The narrative fulfills the author's purpose by condemning war in the novel through uses of satire and sarcasm.
 2. The theme of the novel is to condemn the idea of war instead of praising it. The men that go through a war experience horrors that they cannot forget and to praise something that is absolute evil is absurd. Men are praised as heroes when they come back, but most don't fell that way after they've seen the carnage.
 3.
The author used a lot of satire within the novel and it created a very sarcastic tone. This help set the mood for how Yossarian felt about war especially when his friends began to die. Also, the story is told through third person omniscient which allows the reader to see Yossarian from an outsider's perspective. The story is fragmented with flashbacks of the war.
 4.
Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The

doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn't quite jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat

it. If it didn't become jaundice and went away they could discharge him. But this just being short of

jaundice all the time confused them.Irony

Yossarian had everything he wanted in the hospital.


Reference

Catch-22 required that each censored letter bear

the censoring officer's name.


Imagery

He had been smuggled

into the ward during the night, and the men had no idea he was among them until they awoke in the

morning and saw the two strange legs hoisted from the hips, the two strange arms anchored up

perpendicularly, all four limbs pinioned strangely in air by lead weights suspended darkly above

him that never moved. Sewn into the bandages over the insides of both elbows were zippered lips

through which he was fed clear fluid from a clear jar.Personification/Onomatopoeia

Even in Yossarian's ward, almost three

hundred feet away, they could hear the roar of the blaze and the sharp cracks of flaming timber.

Symbolism

Yossarian straightened sharply when he spied the tiny silver cross on the other side of the chaplain's

collar. He was thoroughly astonished, for he had never really talked with a chaplain before.Simile
Aarfy was like an eerie ogre in a dream, incapable of being bruised or evaded, and Yossarian dreaded him for a complex of reasons he was too petrified to untangle.


Metaphor

An innocent nest of

ancient pimple pricks lay in the basin of each cheek.Irony

Dunbar was working so hard at

increasing his life span that Yossarian thought he was dead.Allusion

As far back as Yossarian could recall, he explained to Clevinger with a patient smile, somebody

was always hatching a plot to kill him. There were people who cared for him and people who didn't,

and those who didn't hated him and were out to get him. They hated him because he was Assyrian.

But they couldn't touch him, he told Clevinger, because he had a sound mind in a pure body and

was as strong as an ox. They couldn't touch him because he was Tarzan, Mandrake, Flash Gordon.

He was Bill Shakespeare. He was Cain, Ulysses, the Flying Dutchman; he was Lot in Sodom,

Deirdre of the Sorrows, Sweeney in the nightingales among trees. He was miracle ingredient Z-247.

He was -

'Crazy!' Clevinger interrupted, shrieking. 'That's what you are! Crazy!



CHARACTERIZATION
1.
Indirect

"After he had made up his mind to spend the rest of the war in the hospital, Yossarian wrote letters to

everyone he knew saying that he was in the hospital but never mentioning why. One day he had a

better idea. To everyone he knew he wrote that he was going on a very dangerous mission. 'They

asked for volunteers. It's very dangerous, but someone has to do it. I'll write you the instant I get

back.' And he had not written anyone since."

"As far back as Yossarian could recall, he explained to Clevinger with a patient smile, somebody

was always hatching a plot to kill him. There were people who cared for him and people who didn't,

and those who didn't hated him and were out to get him. They hated him because he was Assyrian.

But they couldn't touch him, he told Clevinger, because he had a sound mind in a pure body and

was as strong as an ox. They couldn't touch him because he was Tarzan, Mandrake, Flash Gordon.

He was Bill Shakespeare. He was Cain, Ulysses, the Flying Dutchman; he was Lot in Sodom,

Deirdre of the Sorrows, Sweeney in the nightingales among trees. He was miracle ingredient Z-247.

He was -

'Crazy!' Clevinger interrupted, shrieking. 'That's what you are! Crazy!"Through the use of indirect characterization, the author establishes the crazy side of Yossarian. Yossarian has bee living in his own world in the hospital and now he can't get out of it.
Direct

"I'm dead serious about those other wards,' Yossarian continued grimly. 'M.P.s won't protect you,

because they're craziest of all. I'd go with you myself, but I'm scared stiff: Insanity is contagious.

This is the only sane ward in the whole hospital. Everybody is crazy but us."

"But Yossarian couldn't be happy, even though the Texan didn't want him to be, because outside the

hospital there was still nothing funny going on. The only thing going on was a war, and no one

seemed to notice but Yossarian and Dunbar. And when Yossarian tried to remind people, they drew

away from him and thought he was crazy. Even Clevinger, who should have known better but didn't,

had told him he was crazy the last time they had seen each other, which was just before Yossarian

had fled into the hospital."The use of direct characterization shows that Yossarian couldn't be happy because he was scared to leave the hospital and be involved in a war. The hospital he fled to protected him from the outside world and that is why he didn't want to leave. He was afraid that if he left he would become crazy from all that he witnessed outside.

2.  When the author focuses on a character, he becomes very sescriptive and the sentences are drawn out to describe them in a flowy manner. The diction does not really change when he focuses on a character.

3. Yossarian is a dynamic and round character because he undergoes a sense of change. He goes from being someone who is afraid to go into the world because of what the war has done to him. In the end he wants to go and fight no matter what the cost is.
4.

"But Yossarian couldn't be happy, even though the Texan didn't want him to be, because outside the

hospital there was still nothing funny going on. The only thing going on was a war, and no one

seemed to notice but Yossarian and Dunbar. And when Yossarian tried to remind people, they drew

away from him and thought he was crazy. Even Clevinger, who should have known better but didn't,

had told him he was crazy the last time they had seen each other, which was just before Yossarian

had fled into the hospital."
After reading this novel I felt like I had known a person because of the turmoil Yossarian experienced. He was afraid to leave the hospital because he didn't want to have to fight a war only to lose his friends. The example above shows that he was not happy because there was a war going on outside of the hospital. Once you get past the patriotism and glory of war the only thing that is left os death, turmoil, and carnage.

Tobermory Explained

• satirical upon human society especially the upper class
• tobermory has dirt on everyone and explicitly puts it out there and within a few sentences these people's relationships with each other are ruined.
• human's become very simple and savage like, we say what we need to survive but it may kill us
• as for the last line I feel like this shows how our gossip of other people will lead to our demise.
• We can try all we want to establish these relationships and keep them, but the gossip will kill it

the best blogs!

Jayce

Anaya

A brave new world..

“Community. Identity. Stability.” What price is a society willing to pay for such a social order? A conforming life of unconsciousness with an inward life of curiosity. John, ironically nicknamed Mr. Savage, leads such a life when he entered the world he had only heard stories about from his m---. John exemplifies the human tendency to conform in the name of community, identity, and stability only to find himself lost in the process.

                Initially John is characterized as being the black sheep on the Savage Reservation. Unsure of where he belongs, john attempts to conform to provide himself with any piece of identity, he even goes on to say that he could have lasted longer getting whipped. John’s transition into the new world gave him a sense of acceptance but in reality it was individualism. The communal beliefs of this brave new world were juxtaposed against his own. This drastic comparison caused John to be very stubborn in his own beliefs of God, emotions, and love. But an individual cannot reside in a community so John sought refuge in a lighthouse, a symbol of enlightenment.

                John’s individuality persisted until a mob of Alphas and Betas urged him to whip Lenina. The repetition of “Kill it” and “Orgy-porgy” created a dark mood, that reflected something of a cult. When the repetition becomes too much for John to bear, he becomes what society perceived him of being, a savage. Becoming a part of the unconscious community caused him to lose a part of himself. He wakes up the next morning conscious of what he’s done and chooses to end his life. Huxley indirectly describes the death scene through imagery which allows the audience to infer what has happened. The direction of the feet turning in a circle references a part in the novel where John is talking about King Lear. This allusion talks about how the gods’ punishments are dictated by those that rule over society. The dark, vicious place that we create for ourselves is one in which we lose ourselves. It’s a constant circle that we create and lose ourselves in and it is only to be repeated by others.

                John becomes a part of the community and loses his identity in the name of stability. The people of this society are part of an unconscious community that creates something stable but at what cost? None can stand as an individual because that would disrupt the community. Human tendency is to allow the outward existence t dominate the inward life to the point where a person is no longer an individual and is lost in a sea of unconsciousness.

The masterpiece experience is making me feel like...

A couple weeks ago I changed my masterpiece to being more about conversations. If you've ever read Tuesdays with Morrie, you'd understand. Or if you've ever had one of those rare conversations with someone where you've connected with them... That's what it's about. Basically I want people to connect on an emotional level and get past the first couple pages of a person. So, today I brought up this conversation idea partly to get people to start talking about their masterpiece and what they're passionate about but also partly to have one of those rare conversations with someone. Honestly, I'm a little disheartened by the experience. I think the conversation starters might work for the masterpieces, but as for a personal conversation I don't think it's going to go anywhere. With the exception of Erica and myself, I think about three people were interested. Which is fine, I get not everyone wants to get personal with other people  but the conversation could merely be what you're passionate about. I think this says a lot about the Class of 2015. We've gone through probably one of the best and worst year of our lives and we are more disunited than ever. The AP kids strictly hang out with AP kids and then there are sub-hierarchies within our group. Honestly I wonder how much of each other we really know. Anyways, I feel that the way to unite us is to learn about each other and maybe that won't be done through conversations but through other means. What I want to do is showcase the awesome amazing people of our class. Show them to the world so they can reach far. I want to show them off through their passions and accomplishments and differences. So that we can become more than the Class of 2015 and become the Class of Awe- Inspiring People. I have a few people in mind who might be able to help me jump start this and those people happen to be the ones that we're interested in the conversations. Also, if anyone is interested in still doing the more personal conversations, I'm definitely up for it.

Be Awesome

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-to-be-awesome-at-life.html

Is a brave new world on the horizon?

     As our world advances we find ourselves discovering new technology that is leading us to a world that could be as impersonal as the one Huxley writes about. What is the price of this brave new world? The costs of these new advancements involve losses of freedom. Through overpopulation individuals receive less and the must work more to compete. One would just have to look at college applications. Each year, more students apply to a limited number of spots and once they're in they will have to claw at the throats of others to get the classes they need. Huxley also warns of the dangers of subordination from over-organization. Today, any profitable corporation has is divided into departments which in turn is divided into different sub-departments which then proceeds to have a hierarchy over workers. Few make it to the top of the pyramid and those that do aren't willing to give up that spot.
     The competition among fortune 500 companies such as Apple and Samsung have brought great changes though. In a span of 30 years communication became portable and instantaneous. The world is now smaller than ever before. Despite these amazing feats, these companies keep striving towards a profitable future which will always involve competition. To outcompete, companies use advertising which subconsciously make us want to buy their products. The effects these ads have is incredible, but what if this form of mind control--I mean communication--were taken advantage of. The propaganda of the Hitler regime would be minor to what would happen today. Most people assume that what happened in history will never be repeated. But the hunger for power is ravenous and this passion may cause people to use our technological advances to build a world that mirrors the one Huxley describes.

Lit Analysis #2: The Bear

1. This story takes place in the South and time passes differently at different parts of the story. A boy named Isaac is hunting an old bear with a group of men. Countless times the men have not been able to defeat the bear until they eventually they found a dog that wasn’t afraid of him. When they finally kill the bear, the dog that killed it also dies, and a couple men die. Isaac returns to the farm a grown man to receive his inheritance, a plantation but gives it to his cousin. He goes through life retracing the incident with the bear.

 2. William Faulkner was born into a time period of machinery. This machinery was taking over nature. Forests were cut down to make room for production. The masterminds that built these machines did so because they wanted to move into a new age which would require the removal of nature’s power. The Bear is a short story that explores the theme of man v. nature. When man is compared to nature, it can seem insignificant. It has only recently come into existence whereas nature has been here for billions of years, striving until man came. The bear that the men hunt represents nature as old as time and power it has had. Multiple men have continuously tried to defeat nature and eventually they did. But what satisfaction does this bring them?

 3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

4. Personification- " He had already inherited then, without ever having seen it, the tremendous bear with one trap-ruined foot which, in an area almost a hundred miles deep, had earned itself a name, a definite designation like a living man."

Metaphor-“ and even rifle charges delivered at point-blank range and with no more effect than so many peas blown through a tube by a boy”

Parallelism-“ too big for the dogs which tried to bay it, for the horses which tried to ride it down, for the men and the bullets they fired into it, too big for the very country which was its constricting scope”

Simile- “like pygmies about the ankles of a drowsing elephant: the old bear solitary, indomitable and alone, widowered, childless, and absolved of mortality”

Allusion- “—old Priam4 reft of his old wife and having outlived all his sons.”

Inference- “a moiling5 yapping an octave too high, with something more than indecision and even abjectness in it”

Colloquialism- “He do it every year ”

Repetition- “With the gun which was too big for him, which did not even belong to him, but to Major de Spain, and which he had fired only once”

Euphemism- “Sam said, had had to be brave in order to live with herself”

Imagery- “tasting in his saliva that taint as of brass which he knew now because he had smelled it”

 CHARACTERIZATION

 1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

 2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

 3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

 4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.  After reading this, I felt like I had known a person. “”

Found an awesome link!

the awesome link

B.N.W. Ch2 &3 Analysis

Most of these two chapters involve the background to how this brave new world begun. This background knowledge involves how new members of society(they can hardly be called human) are born, wait, I mean decanted, to how this world compares to the premodern one. The world in which we felt everything. Every emotion, good and bad, that gave us a sense of self and humanity. The price for stability was humanity. The price was to stop feeling and have our only desires and wants be satisfied with having another or taking a soma holiday. The third chapter can be a little confusing for anyone who has not read the novel before. Throughout this chapter there is a juxtaposition/melting of three different scenes. There is  the hyperbolic recounts of the DHC and Mustafa Mond of the premodern world, the scene of Henry being the pristine Alpha citizen he is, the scene of Bernard's thoughts of inadequacy, and the scene of Lenina'e unconventional thoughts of relationships and people. Throughout this chapter the scenes coalesce to provide context of this new world and how unconventional thinking is chastised while the mundane human relationship of this world is represented by Henry. In a way I can see how the world we live in can be unstable given the views of Mustapha Mond.

Brave New World ch1 notes

theme, characterization, plot

• The new students have no identity (why would they, they're hatched) so they regurgitate the dhc 
• The principles of mass production at last applied to biology
• Year of our ford 

Lit terms

• Imagery of the hatching and conditioning centre is grey, cold, "wintriness responded to wintriness"
• Restatement of progress...progress

Well-written pieces
"For particulars, as everyone knows, make for virtue and happiness;generalities are intellectually necessary evils."
"Rams wrapped in thermogenesis beget no lambs"

Issac Asimov Interview

The third part of the interview has to be my favorite of the entire interview. One of the reasons I love science is because I love learning about how the world works; it can be incredibly fascinating to think about how our own bodies work. Science proves to us what we thought or it shows us that we are wrong. One of the problems that we face in education is how many students find it boring and long to get it over with. Asimov said that if we can broaden our knowledge then maybe we will be able to find something that we're passionate about. The problem is that once we enter school we are faced with common knowledge and basic subjects that consume our lives for years. Unfortunately, if you don't find something interesting that you'd like to pursue then you will refuse too learn and never get a chance to find that passion. In this way we give up and become lazy and our desire to learn disappears.

lit terms 5

time and paparallelism- equal function has equal form
parody- mimicking a famous work
pathos-call forth emotion
pedantry- learning for its own sake
personification- human qualities for inanimate objects
plot- plan to accomplish purpose
poignant- eliciting sorrow
point of view
postmodernism- lit. that blurs reality and fantasy
prose- language with no rhyme pattern
protagonist-central character
pun- play on words
purpose- intended result
realism- lit about aspects of life
refrain- chorus
requiem- musical service for dead
resolution- denouement
restatement-idea repeated for emphasis
rhetoric- use of language
rhetorical question- question that suggests own meaning
rising action- plot build up
romanticism- valued reason over fact
satire- ridicules weakness of works or people
scansion- analysis of verse in terms of meter
setting- time and place

Aldous Huxley

Before Huxley had become a writer, he had been a scientist. He had experimented a little but his eyesight problems made him give up science for writing. Yet science is still a prominent theme in some of his novels.
P.S. Aldous Huxley has to be my most favorite author.

http://www.quirkbooks.com/post/happy-birthday-aldous-huxley-some-interesting-facts-about-his-life

Lit Terms 3

exposition: the beginning
expressionism: movement, unrealistic representation
fable: story with animals that teaches a moral truth
fallacy: false notion
falling action: part of the story after the climax
farce: boisterous comedy with dialogue
figurative language; language characterized by figurative speech
flashback: a flashback
foil: opposing characters or things
folk tale: Oral tradition story
foreshadowing: hinting at what is to happen
free verse: verse without a pattern
genre: a category of a book
gothic tale: tale characterized by gothic elements
hyperbole: overexaggeration
imagery: vivid description
implication: something that the reader has to arrive at
incongruity: joining of opposite elements to balance each other
inference: judgement based on evidence
irony: incongruity between what is said and what is meant

Thanks Laura!

http://www.lauraritchie.com/2015/01/25/piece-story/


Laura has helped me and Erica I with our masterpiece. I hope that you all will be able to share your stories with us!

What's The Story?

(I wrote this while listening to the Brain Food playlist on Spotify. I really like it.)
     Reading Great Expectations is like reading society itself. Fiction is reflective on society and human nature. In dreams when you see people, they have all been seen before at one time or another. You may not recognize a face but subconsciously you remember them. In fiction there are many themes that seem new, but they have all been seen before. The author may intend to write for the sake of writing yet meaning is conveyed subconsciously just as faces in dreams are seen subconsciously. The themes that we read about have been seen in society and copied down in a book. Dickens wrote Great Expectations because he wanted to reflect on how when the human instinct is to want and be greedy, it will lead to a state of decay and corruption by the fortune one craved dearly in the beginning until simplicity is craved instead.
     "So imperfect was this realization of the first of my great expectations, that I looked in dismay at Mr. Wemmick. "Ah!" said he, mistaking me; "the retirement reminds you of the country. So it does me."" Through the use of foreshadowing Charles Dickens exploits a child's dreams/expectations of becoming something great and better. Foreshadowing is present in the title, this quote, and the broken phases of Pip's expectations. When a child is asked what they want to be, most will respond with something that would be nearly impossible to attain. Pip wants to be a gentleman. He craves something more than the simple life that he has had no choice to live with. Pip's desire is the first stage of his false expectations that wealth is perceived to bring.
     The two men that develop Pip's expectations are foils. Most of these expectations are derived from shallow and materialistic perceptions of the lifestyle and personality these people represent. Joe has a colloquial diction and tone. It is very clear that he is uneducated, yet he is satisfied with his lifestyle. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have sacrificed his position in society to save Pip. Unfortunately, all Pip sees is a man who is kind, yet ignorant of the life he could have. Jaggers is an educated, wealthy man. He could buy just about anything that he wants, except for the happiness he had lost from the power he got from his wealth.  He abandoned his daughter Estella and feels no remorse. His diction and syntax is formal and has a business-like connotation because his business is what gets him power. From the drastic foil comparison Dickens created, wealth comes to represent a poison of decay.
     Wealth symbolizing corruption is a cliché that may seem unusual for a great author to use. Dickens used this cliché because it is a thought that can be seen in society through various rulers throughout history. By using something that is incredibly mundane, Dickens allows the audience to focus on the decay of Pip and his returning want for simplicity. In doing so, the audience is able to connect to Pip on a more emotional level.

Funny Commencement Speeches

I know it's a little early for commencement speeches, but these ones are really great :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmDYXaaT9sA






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Y0F0cNLDM