Literature Analysis #3

Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut

So it Goes... Thats the infamous, uncompassionate line that the reader always finds after a death in the book. The story was written by Kurt Vonnegut, a World War Two veteran, who, like the main character Billy Pilgrim, was also a survivor of  the bombing of dresden. From what Ive read, researched, and just inferred about Dresden was a city that was thought to be safe because it had no major military fortifications. So when it was reduced to almost nothing, I think that Vonnegut was just blown away at the scale of loss, that he couldn't really comprehend it. So when writing this book, he looks to shock the reader by his unempathetic tone of the phrase, So it goes. Anyways, The story follows Billy Pilgrim, a POW held in Dresden. Just before the bombing they are taken to an extremely deep underground meat locker, called Slaughterhouse Five. Billy and his fellow POWs survive the bombing but when they come up they see massive carnage and destruction. One of Billy's fellow prisoners gets shot while cleaning up the bodies because he touched a teapot or something. So It goes...

Billy then returns home and gets married and has a couple kids. He takes a job as an optometrist (symbolic?) but he feels very guilty. He shows some signs of PTSD ( I assume). Then he is abducted by Aliens called Transfalmadorians. They take him to a distant planet and hold him captive. He gets a new beautiful wife and has a kid. The transfalmadorians are shaped like plungers and they have a weird sense of time. They don't expeirience past, future or present. It is all at once, like, " Looking at a range of mountains." I was initially struggling to understand what this could mean so I researched it and found a video on youtube made by John Green, The author of Fault in our stars. Anyway he said that tthe Transfalmadorians were Billy's way of coping with his immense guilt. And since they view time all as one thing, Billy had no choice in the Bombong of Dresden, alleviating him of his guilt.

I think the tone that Kurt Vonnegut writes in is interesting. The first and last chapters are like a narrative prolouge and epilouge. He writes in kind of a dark humor meant to make you notice the horrible atrocities and the dehuminizng effects that went down in WW2. And if I had to comeup with a theme that would be it. To expose the atrocities and Dehuminization that WW2 saw and the effect on the survivors.

Literature Analysis #2 

Catch-22 by Joesph Heller

1) Captain Yossarian is a US army air Forces Bombadier stationed somewhere in Italy. They are constantly enticed to fly more missions in order to get a discharge from the Army. But the number of Missions is constantly raised. Also you can claim insanity and get a discharge. But you need to fill out paperwork saying you are insane to do so. But if one fills out the paperwork then one really isn't crazy. But, one must be crazy to keep flying missions. So it's a pretty absurd situation.

So the story is kind of fragmented between missions and a recurring memory Yossarian has, when he tries to save a young man named Snowden. Yossarian is also convinced that everyone is out to get him. So it's apparent that there is maybe some PTSD type of disorder or some kind of something, because Yossarian is very Paranoid. And when the cook at the airfield, ( Milo) takes his parachute and sells it for artwork and uneccasary things, this perception is fueled. The general is also very callous and insensitive. He sees his men not as people, but as resources and tools that he can use to advance himself.  It's like that Charlie Chaplin quote, '' Dictators free themselves but enslave the people." I wonder if Heller had ever heard that speech while he was writing that book because the parrallels are pretty spot on. ( military-wise)

2) The theme of the novel. Well, it seems to portray a very dark and realistic view of human conflict and the corrosive effects of power, and the desire of those in power to keep others down. So the theme, succinctly, is that humans have atendency to distance themselves from others and by doing so we have conflict and eventually lose sight of who we are really fighting. is it the enemy himself, or just what he believes in?

3) The authors tone in the story is very dark.

The author uses a mix of direct characterization and indirect characterization,

1) Indirect-- When Milo steals the squadron's parachutes and sells them for his own personal profit, we can infer that he is a greedy, ego-centric person.

2) Direct-- Yossarian tells us through dialouge that he is very paranoid.

The character Yossarian is very round. His mental state detiriorates as the story goes on.

The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock Questions

1) The phrase " There will be time," is repeated many times throughout the poem. IN the context of the poem we can assume that time allows put things off. "There will be time, to say, "Do I Dare, Do I dare." Prufrock just keeps telling himself he will do it someday, and that way he can hold on to his ideals that he loves. Obviously Prufrock has some serious Performative Utterance gong on. And like in Hamlet he puts things off, and precedes to beat himself up over it. But when he says that, he's not Hamlet he means that he has never taken action at all.  " to swell a progress, to start a scene or two." He's articulating the diference between himself and Hamlet. Although Hamlet took a while to kill Claudius, he did take some steps to put himself in the position too. So Prufrock is putting himself below that, saying I havent done any of that. 

" I grow old, I grow old." Prufrock is reminded that he is growing old, however, which contradicts his, "There will be time," statement. There are a few clues that support this." They will say: How his hair is growing thin." Gives us the connotation that Prufrock is grwoing old and balding. 

All of this gives the sense that Prufrock will live his life as a man of dreams, but never a man of action. "Till human voices wake us and we drown." What is he waking up from? His "etherization" of inaction? and when he drowns, is that when he realizes it was too late and wallows in guilt and regret? I think so.

Hamlet Essay

To be or Not to be, that is the question. This line is at the core of Hamlet, it is articulating the difference of knowing and doing, and through this delves into the ideas of Perfromative utterance and over analyzing. The To be or not to be soliloquy is essential to the story because it is the story's deep philosophical theme. ( if one looks past all the other topical ones) 

When I memorized the Soliloquy there was a section of it that stood out to me. From ," that's the calamity that makes of so long life...'' till the end of  it. It stood out because hamlet starts naming things in life that seem pretty universal. " The Oppressors Wrong, the proud mans contumely...' Shakespeare makes a connection with the audience when he does this. He also makes the performative utterance connection with Hamlet. When Hamlet names off all these things, it suddenly becomes real. After this soliloquy we see the last real change in Hamlet; he becomes a man of action. 

So what I mean is that the To be or not to be soliloquy, even though he was talking to himself, seemed to incite action in Hamlet. And by doing this he bridged the gap from idea to reality. So with that being said many of our actions can only be as good as the qquality of our language. Not small things but cearrtainly things like killing your uncle. Because if you now you need to take him out, and your not a pyscopath, your gonna need to talk yourself through it. Again performative utterance. 

A while ago I was watching a youtube video about Slaughterhouse-5 and John Green was analyzing it. He went on to explain that the reason Billy Pilgrim made up all the aliens and their odd sense of time was that it alleviated the gulit he felt and in his mind took away his free will. Basically the Aliens that kidnapped him said that time is happening all at once. there is no future. past or present just all one thing. So if everything in the future is already decided then it's not his fault. So thats what Vonnegut said, I don't know if he believed it but that sounds like a pretty accurate analyzation to me. What shakespeare said was that we have a choice. We have free will,we can choose to listen to ourselves or others and act. Or we can choose not to. But why do we choose at all. It all comes down to passion. If you really care about something. Hamlet obviously has a hatred for Claudius. But in broader, more open source learning terms I believe that we can apply this. I'll give you an anecdote to help explain. 

Most High School students know that they have to do their work. And back in the late 70's my Uncle Bob was just your average High School Student. But at the start of his senior year he just completely lost interest in schhool. " Why do somthing you don't care about." So he dropped out and joined the military. 35 or so years later he's a truck driver living in Arizona. But everytime he visits he will sit and talk about his gun ammo reloading. This dude has it down to a science. He dropped out of high school andhe's telling me about the ballistics for a ceartain caliber, a ceartain gun powder and a ceartain grain bullet. The point is that he found something that he is passionate for. And I think that our public education system should allow students the best oppurtunity to find out what they are passionate about and allow them to pursue it. Because as John Lennon said, " when I grow up I want to be happy." And one way to do that is to allow children to find their passion. If a kid doesn't operate on math, like his brain just doesn't think that way, whats the point in forcing him to take high level math classes? Make sure he can add and subtract and then let him do his thing. I know I went off on a major tangent but Ive been thinking about this whole idea for a while so i felt like it needed to be said AND it did relate to Hamlet.

Hamlet Essay

Hamlet is, in Deboer's words, a play " about a man that cannot make real what is found in his mind." In other words there is a difference between knowing and doing.It's similar to sports in a way. Lebron knows he needs to make his free throws, but it's a different thing to actually do it. Clayton Kershaw knows he needs to throw strikes, but sometimes he doesn't. So in a lot of ways this simple difference of knowing and doing is very relevant to Athletes. Coaches call it execution, which is kinda ironic because that's what Hamlet has to do to Claudius: he needs to execute him. But just as you wouldn't call lebron crazy for missing free throws you can't call Hamlet crazy for not killing Claudius, " like it was nothin." But just as Lebron and Kershaw prepare, Hamlet does too, so that in that moment of execution Hamlet knows that wihout a doubt Claudius killed his Father and that he's sending him to hell. But we know Hamlet isn't crazy because of his plan to kill Claudius, and the performative utterance, or self talk that we hear especially in the To Be or not To Be soliloquy.

The defintion of Crazy is, "mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild or aggressive way." Key words "wild or aggresive." If Hamlet truly was Crazy then why didn't he go and kill Claudius right after the ghost told him too. That would have been wild and aggressive. And it's not like Hamlet doesn't care, that's evident from his first soliloquy, and his passive aggressive tone in which he speaks to Claudius and Gertrude, almost like he's brimming with pure hatred. No, Hamlet has to be Careful because he has to kill a man in a house with a lot of enemies. But not only will killing Claudius be hard logistically it will be hard emotionally and psychologically for Hamlet. It's like in the Movie "Saving Private Ryan" in the Final battle scene where Upum is standing on a stairway with a gun in his hand, listening to his friend get killed. He Knows what to do, he's smart, but the overwhelming sadness of what he has seen keeps him from making real what his mind tells him. and I think this is true for Hamlet in some ways too. He is somewhat emotionally paralyzed by the circumstances of his Father's death, but he can't project these felling's outward, he can't talk to anyone about them. no he projects them inward and internalizes them, and it's almost like his sadness is a reminder that he hasn't killed Claudius yet. Like Performative Utterance. But for Hamlet it's almost like it's a battle between the grief over his Father's death and The utter hatred of Claudius and Gertrude. " The re are two dogs inside me, one is good and one is evil. When asked which one wins, whichever I feed most." And as the pain of his father's death slowly subsides and the more he sees Claudius and Gertrude blissful and happy, one dog gets fed more than the other.  

" To be or Not to Be,'' that is the question, but you could almost rewrite it as to kill or not to kill. Regardless of how much reason Hamlet has to kill Claudius, it's still not easy to kill another human Being. And as Dr. Preston said, " Maybe that's proof that he's the most sane in the whole play." He's right. People say, " but he sees a ghost, how does that make him sane?'' The Ghost is just a metaphor. He personifies the " and above all, be true to thine self," outlook. That's why Hamlet can see him but Gertrude can't. Dr. Preston on Friday pointed out that the definition of stupidity is ignoring new information. Hamlet isn't ignoring new information, but he is staying true to what he believes in. If someone in the play came up with forensic evidence that Claudius did't kill Hamlet Sr and Hamlet didn't even take that into consideration, then we could call him stupid or irrational. But since that doesn't happen we know he's not. In fact the complete opposite happens. Hamlet puts together an elaborate scheme to gather more information on the situation and everything he finds point's toward Claudius being an unremoresful killer. So Hamlet isn't Crazy and he's not stupid.

The Rest of Act iii

So basically the rest of it is a scene where Hamlet sees Claudius praying, and contemplates killing him, but stops because he doesn't want Claudius to go to heaven. He says something to that essentially means that he'd bne doing Claudius a favor. So he decides to wait until Claudius is sinning before he " trips him up." 

Hamlet Scene ii

The Second scene starts out in King Claudius's Court and the conversation drifts to the fact that Hamlet still seems sad about his Father's death. Then Claudius has a monlouge where he tells the court that Death is tough but life is for the living and that " we should focus on Fortinbras."  It sounds like he's tryhing to distact Hamlet from King Hamlet's death, Interesting. But Hamlet just plays it off as though he's happy even though we learn in his soliloquy that he is pretty upset. So Then Hamlet talks to Horatio and learns that a ghost like figure with a striking resemblance is wandering the grounds at night. That's basically it.

Hamlet Scene i

Hamlet scene one starts out with Franscisco being releived of duty by the Nard Dog Bernardo. ( The Office ?) Anyway Franscisco leaves and Marcellus and Horatio arrive and pretty soon the three begin talking about a ghost that Bernardo and Marcellus have seen. Well believe it or not the Ghost shows up just like it has the previous few and Horatio realizes that it looks like the deaseacesed King Hamlet. They Try to talk to it and intimidate it but the Ghost pays no attention to them. Soon its morning and the scene ends.

Vocab #6

Abase- To behave in a way as to belittle someone.- The boss abased his employees on a daily basis.

Abdicate- To renounce one's throne.- The king Abdicated his throne.

Abomination- Things that cause disgust or hatred.- The abominable snowman, enough said.

Brusque- Abrupt in speech or manner.- The kid in the video today had a brusque stammer.

Sabotuer- A person who engages in sabotage.- The sabotuers took the plane hostage.

Debauchery- excessive indulgance in sensual pleasures.

proliferate- increase rapidly in numbers, multiply

Anachronism- Something in astory that didn't exist in that time period.- A Ferrari in Beowulf would be an example of anachronism

Nomenclature- The art of choosing names for something.

Expurgate- remove matter thought to be objetionable or unsuitable from something. It's like censoring something.

Bellicose- Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight. Some people are just naturally peaceful, some are bellicose in nature.

gauche- lacking grace, awkward. That was a gauche fall.

rapacious- excessively greedy- Large companies are usually rapacious.

paradox- self contadictory- 

conundrum- a confusing, and difficult problem.

anomaly- difference in the pattern

ephermal- lasting a very short time

rancourous- bitterness or resentment

Churlish- rude in a mean spirited and surly way- Insubordinate and churlish.

preciptuous- action done without careful consideration.

Unphotographable

The Picture I didn't take

A couple friends and I decided to go down to the Gaviota Pier and do some Pier Fishing. We got up pretty early, at about 5:00, and started towards Gaviota. We stopped at the Doughnut shop near CVS in Orcutt just before we got on the Freeway.So we got Down there and it was really clear. In Santa Maria it was pretty foggy but not too cold. In Gaviota it was really clear and really cold, and I was only wearing a long sleeve shirt so I was freezing. Anyways we got down there about 5;55-ish and by 6:00 we were walking on the Pier. And just as we started to put our poles and tackle boxes down I looked over and saw the the sun rising. It was the most peaceful moment I have ever expeirienced. In an instant the horizon went from a light blue to a blazing orange, and I remember thinking about how soft the colors looked. It was beautiful.

We caught about 80 fish that day, just in case you were wondering.

 Multi Media Essay

I like the last line of the cooks tale," He married for countenance, and she whored herslf for substinence." this is a very direct characterization. I'm not really sure what trans media stuff I could use but like maybe that one hooker from Breaking Bad, like at the Very start, just a little ten second clip of her, thats all you'd need, and a Picture of something that is disingenousous. That's what'll i'll havre to look for.

Canterbury Tales Outline

My Essay for Canterbury Tales will probably consist of  an analysis of 2-3 stories to illustrate how how Chaucer emphasized the hypocrisy of Society through stories.

I'll probably use the Knight's tale to set up a Contrast between the next two stories.

Then I'll analyze the Miller's tale to contrast the Knoght's.

Then I'll make an insightful conclusion and wrap it up.

Green Eggs and Hamlet

A) What do I know about Hamlet?, the 'Melancholy Dane'

I really have no clue what Hamlet is about.

B) What do I know About Shakespeare?

I know he was born in Stratford on Avon or something like that and he was a Playwright in the 17th century. He is always highlighted for using the Iambic pentameter. I honestly think his stuff is pretty good, I mean I'm a Fan of Plays that turn into books ( i.e. Arthur Miller ) 

He wrote Romeo and Juliet and Julius Ceasaer.

C) Why do students Frown when they hear Shakespeare? 

I don't know, why's the sky blue? There's just some questions that don't have an answer.

D) What can we do to make this play an amazing expeirience youll never forget?

Well when we did Romeo and Juliet we made like 5 minute videos of it, I liked that I thought it was cool.

The Point of Canterbury Tales is...

Canterbury Tales is a comment on the hypocrisy of a society, much like Catcher in the Rye. Using the format of Stories Chaucer can be specific as to what he likes or dislikes about each certain minority of his society. 

Characterization #3

Brief Recap: My Character got called into the Dean's office but has no idea why.

The Dean's name is Carl Speckler, Mr. Speckler to you though. He's a middle aged man, probably an even 6 foot, and he wasn't invited to the office's Summer BBQ, oddly enough. Not because he's mean but because he's obnoxious. He's the kind of guy that's so in-your-face that it's a little too much. But nothing can get him down. In fact his over the top positive attitude was the reason he was hired. He is from humble beginings. He used to be a greenskeeper at a place called Bushwood and was notorious for being a stoner. But since then he has gooten his life together and now he's the Dean of Faber College. 

" You wanted to see me Mr,,," 

"Speckler, and yeah man I guess we need to talk about, uhh, an oppurtunity, yeah an oppurtunity."

"Okay, what's that." 

" Well we've had a bit of a snafu with the on campus housing situation, through some weird beaurcratic ruling 200 incoming freshman have lost out on housing." 

Speckler elaborates, " I think this will be good for you though. I mean you'll have to get a job to pay for an apartment, but you'll be ahead of everyone else man! I mean in terms of moving out, your way ahead of everyone else."

Speckler brimmed with joy while, the other looked indifferent, as though to say, 'this might as well happen.' But neither pissed of or happy about it, as though he could be content with being screwd over. 

Carl stood up, as though signaling the meeting was over, and put on a fake smile as he walked with him out of the office.

Character thing #2

 So a brief recap: my character, who would prefer to remain anonymous, just moved into college. Okay.  

It's the first week into College and I already love the freedom, but hate the work. I'm in a constant struggle to keep up with my schoolwork, and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be learning. But I figure I better find out quick cause I'm gonna get tested on it. But I'm likin the Dorms so far. Yesterday I got a note from the Dean's Office. It was like one of those office notes that you got in High School that told you to go up there or whatever. But this one told me that my interview was tommorow, which is today so I'm about to go check it out. 

Canterbury Tales Character Analysis: The Knight

"That greater there was not beneath the Sun."

This is one of the expository lines that Chaucer uses to tell us about the Knight. It's obvious that Chaucer likes the Knight, but why?

Well First of all I think that the Knight is humble. Chaucer tells us that the Knight came back home to a parade that everyone was at. The Knight was wondering why it was so chaotic, so he asks,"Do you so much envy my hounor that you must cry and complain?'' I think that the knight sees the people's reaction as a little overboard and Chaucer admires that about him.

Secondly, the Knight was a war hero. It tells us in the exposition of the knights tale that " many a rich country he had won." Which tells us that he conqured some stuff. But I think that Chaucer admires how genuine the Knight is. It talks about how the Knght's chain mail was rusty, like he had just gotten back from an expidition. Chaucer is kind of like Holden Caufield, he doesn't like any goddamn phonies. 

Chaucer also describes the knight as chivalrous, which is a pretty big deal back in those days. He also describes him as wise. But the biggest thing of all is the fact that Chaucer made the guy with all these qualities a knight. A knight who, usually, represents goodness and chivalry in literature,( the white knight) So I don't think that's a coincidence, that was intentional.

Direct Characterization-

Chaucer directly characterizes the knight, describing what he does and where he's been. I think that this is a sign of  adoration from Chaucer. It's like someone who's informing us of all the good things someone has done, if that makes sense. But here are a few examples.

" That was old time known as Scythia , there he wedded he the queen hippolyta."

''... and his Chivalry."

2) I think that Chaucer was giving the readers a contrasting character that one could compare with all the others. It's hard to know what good is when it's not clearly defined, and that's the purpose of the Knights tale.

"... his host of chivalry the Flower ( talking of the knight) ..."

Characterization #1

So how would I describe my future, college bound, self? Well, a tall guy with an easy-going attitude walks through the doors of the dorm. He's carrying a box with carefully picked out belongings. The essentials of course. Toothpaste, a phone charger. But also taking with him other more intimate things, each with it's own importance. He walks up to his assigned room and starts the process; of moving in, of getting to know his roomate, of living on his own. This is move-in day, the unoffical start to college.

Canterbury Tales #1

The prolouge of Canterbury Tales gives the reader some context. It tells us of a Pilgrimage to Canterbury to pay respect to a martyr. It does not, however give us any charecterization. It does'nt introduce the speaker or anyone for that matter. The purpose for it was just to give us some brief context as to what was going on.

It starts off telling us that it's April and it has just rained. So it gives us a positive feeling, or mood. So that's how it's set up. I'm interested to see if Chaucer changes the mood to contrast not only the moods but meanings throughout the story.

Vocab #3

Obsequious- to be attentive or obedient,- it is good to be obsequious in class.

Beatiude- extreme blessedness or happiness.

Bete Noirre- a person or thing one particularly dislikes.- A bete Noirre is like a pet peeve.

bode- be an omen of  a particular outcome.- Benny busting the guts out of a baseball was bode for the rest of the movie.

Dank- a moist particularly disagreeable feeling or smell. 

Ecumenial- representing a large number of christian churches. The congregation was ecumenial

Fervid- intensely passionate, the guy was a fervid football fan.

Fetid- smelling very unpleasant- that fart was very fetid.

heyday- the prime of something.

Incubus- one that has sexual intercourse while the other is sleeping.????

Infrastructure- Stuf that's built. like roads. buildings, etc...

inveigle-persuade someone by means of flattery- He was trying to inveigle me into buying that car.

Lagniappe- small gift given to the buyer of a product in olden days. 

Prolix- Lengthy, usually tedious.

Protege- Almost like an apprentice.

Prototype- the test type.

Sycophant- someone who patronizes, or acts obsequiously to gain an advantage.

Tautology- saying the same thing twice in different words.

Truckle- Barrel shaped cheese.

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest Literature analysis

1) Summary

"Chief" Bromden is a patient at a psychiatiric hospital in oregon. He has been labled as a "chronic", or incurable, and has been at the hospital since world war two. He serves as the narrator of the story. Soon after this Randle McMurphy arrives at the hospital. He was a convicted felon who faked insanity to escape hard labor. McMurphy starts to provoke Miss Ratched, the nurse of the partiicluar ward. Chief refers to her as "the big nurse." One night McMurphy attempts to throw a shower control panel through a window so as to escape. But he can't pick it up because it's too heavy. So a couple days later he want's to watch the World Series. He tells everyone on the ward,, like Mr Martini, Harding, and the studdering Billy Bibbit. Everyone seems to be on board until Nurse Ratched comes and argues that messing with the mens' routines can be harmful. So they decide to have a vote, and since everyone is afraid of "the big nurse" Miss Ratched has her way. One day the men on the ward are having a group discussion, facilitated by Miss Ratched, when many of the men reveal to McMurphy that they are there "voluntarily," and could leave any time. This surprises McMurphy because most of the men complain about the place so much but they can leave anytime they want. 

Soon after this the ward loads up on a bus, but McMurphy hijacks it and takes the men on a fishing trip. Miss Ratched is very upset with McMurphy. Then a while after this, McMurphy smuggles his girlfriend Candy and her friend Sandy into the ward. Billy Bibbit is Clearly attracted to Candy, so McMurphy insists that they sleep together for the night. Meanwhile the rest of the ward is causing havoc and getting drunk, which makes a big mess. The next morning the ward is rounded up into the day room, but Miss Ratched notices that Billy is missing. The "black boys" search for him and find him in a room with Candy. He has barely woken up when they find him and isn't studering. Miss Ratched is furious but Calmly asks Billy what his mother will think of this. Billy breaks down crying and is hauled off to the doctors office. Billy is left alone in there and kills himself, because he'd rather die than deal with the shame. This outrages McMurphy, who attacks Miss Ratched and nearly strangles her to death. After all this McMurphy is lobotomized and turned into a vegetable, cant move or talk. So that night chief smothers McMurphy with a pillow, killing him. Then Chief picks up the shower control panel and heaves it through a window through which he escapes, never to go back again.

2) The theme of this story can be succinctly described as a comment on the free will of humans, and the cruel treatment of people who are different, an allusion to the McCarthyist thinking of the early 50's. 

3) Chief's tone in the story is almost indifferent, its informative but definitely biased towards McMurphy. 

- " The Big Nurse" 

- " ... the nurse would have done what she did, even if McMurphy wasn't there."

- " The Black Boys." 

4) - Irony, McMurphy is faking his insanity but, he still gets lobotomized.

    - Diction, When Chief is explaining things the diction shifts, it sounds like an illiterate person with an accent explaining something. 

    Syntax, Kesey has a good balance of long explanations followed by long sections of dialouge.

    Allegory,-  the hospital patients represent misunderstood victims of communist fear during the McCarthy era. The Big Nurse is obviously McCarthy.

6) -Use of Tragedy, Billy kills himself.

7) Foil, The Nurse and McMurphy are foils, or opposites of each other.

8) Imagery- even though Chief talks like an illiterate indian, he still gives great descriptions of his surroundings.

9) Symbolism- McMurphy represents people standing up for themselves, The nurse represents oppression.

10) Motif- The shower control panel is a motif that, in the end, represents freedom.

Characterization, 

1) Chief, he tells you about himself all in the first few pages so he is defintely directly characterized.

2) Miss Ratched, he has been there as long as she has so he has picked up some idiosyncracies that he tells about.

1) McMurphy is characterized by what he does for the most part, all the mischief he creates, and the confidence he has to stand up to miss Ratched. 

2) The Black Boys, they are never really described much in detail, but their actions reflect the dark, corrupt people they are.

1) The syntax and diction of Chief talking is very distinct, but when Kesey starts to describe a character the diction shifts into more detailed and image filled descriptions.

1) the protagpnist, McMurphy, is definitley dynamic. He goes from a mischevious faker to a man in a virtual coma. I think he is a very obvious dynamic character.

I felt like I kinda met Chief, I mean when you have a prevalent voice through the whole story it makes you kinda feel that way. 

Vocab #3

Accolade- an award or privilege granted as special honor or as an acknowledgement of merit.- Miguel Cabrera earned the accolade of MVP.

Acerbity- sourness, harshness, as of temper or expression.- Some people can display acerbic qualities when stressed.

Attrition- gradually wearing down your opponent.- It's a war of attrition.

Bromide- a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate. "When life give's you lemons make lemonade."

Chauvinist- aperson displaying aggresive or exxagerated patriotism.- Some southern republicans are known to chauvinist.

Chronic- constant or habitual- Some people are chronically late.

Expound- to present and explain, systematically and in detail.- I expounded my presentation.

Factionalism- A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group. Gangs are a good example of factionalism.

Immaculate- perfectly clean, neat or tidy.- The classic car was in immaculate condition.

Imprecation- a spoken curse.- She placed an imprecation on him.

Ineluctable- unable to be resisted or avoided, inescapable.- I was put into an ineluctable situation. 

Mercurial- subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.- People can mercurial sometimes.

Palliate- Make a disease or its symptoms less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause. Lots of medicines today palliate the affliction they claim to alleviate.

Protocol- standard operating procedure, rules by which things are done.- We must follow the protocol.

Resplendent- attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous. - The scenery was resplendent.

Stigmatize- describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great dissaproval.- Some people stigmatize politicians and what they do.

Sub Rosa- denotes secrecy or confidentiality- The corporation had sub rosa activities.

Vainglory- excessive celebration or pride over ones own achievements, - Do narcicists tend to have vainglory qualities?

vestige- a trace of something that no longer exists- The Stonehenge gives a vestige to the civilization it created.

Volition- the faculty or power of ones will.- My volition will help me through tough times.

Beowulf through a feminist lens

It is commonplace to think that great epics, or the monomyth hold the important values in a culture or society.  But back when Beowulf was written, women were certainly not as valued as they are today. Was it because they were weaker than men? Whatever it was one question remains. What would Beowulf be like if told from a feminist perspective? This is a largely speculative and ambiguous question, but Beowulf from a feminist perspective would not be a Monomyth, and might portray the Woman as weak.

The Monomyth is a story that transcended cultures and peoples that were so inexplicably different, except in the story, or the myth that they all had a variation of. The monomyth usually embodies the views of a society, and since most of the strong characters are men, they must've put men on a pedastal, apogee, apotheosis. So women probably were'nt viewed favorably, so if the protagonist in beowulf was a woman, she probably wouldn't be a hero, A hero has to take risks, That is the defintion of a hero. But a woman character, or even a real life woman back in the day, would probalby be reluctant to take risks. So in this aspect, it wouldn't be a monomyth. Next, look at Grendels Mother. She does not represent the view that women are all evil and cruel, but the subtlety that she was not even given a name sheds light to the fact that women were viewed as unimportant. 

Also, a feminist view on Beowulf might portray her as weak. We live in a culture now that is virtually free of sexism for most of us, most of the time. But that is way different than back in the day. As was stated before, the lack of a name for Grendels Mother, along with the lack of a strong female character goes back to the presumption that women were not viewed with importance. 

So I think that culturally, feminine beowulf was just impossible. It would be like our box office hit being a patriotic terrorist. Now that is more of a hyperbole than what I intend, but what I do intend is that the culture doesn't even allow for either. Beowulf was a story that needed to be masculine, but I don't think theres anything wrong with that.

Will study for food

So I'm going to go to college next year and even though I'm probably going to go to a CSU, its still like 7,000 dollars a year. So for, hopefully at most, 5 years, the grand total for tuition is 35,000 dollars. That doesnt include off campus housing so lets call it an even 40,000. So I personally don't have 40 grand just laying around to go to college, and I don't want to take out a student loan. So I guess I need to get a scholarship, of some kind. I'm looking at a few scholarships that may just be a few hundred dollars, but in this case somethings better than nothing. 

I think my target goal should be 5000 dollars. I think that's do-able. Then get a job and save up some money and a tuition is paid for. Or I guess I could just gp to Hancock.

 Fall Vocab #2 

Accoutrements-  additional items of dress or clothing- Some people wear many accourtrements that are unnecasary.

apogee- the highest point of something- The apotheosis of something could also be described as an apogee.

apropos-adv. when a speaker thinks that someone's comment has no relevance to a situation or context.- The politicians answers were apropos.

Bicker- to argue- the brothers bickered on and on.

Coalesce- come together to form a singular unit- the football team coalsced to win CIF.

Contretemps- unexpected and unfourtunate occurance- The fire was a contretemps.

Convolution- a twisted interpretation- there was convolution over tupacs death.

Cull- select from a large quantity- the coach had a cull of players to choose from.

Disparate- So different there is no use for comparison- like apples and oranges

Dogmatic- Pricinples that are incontroversibly true- DNA in living systems is the central dogma to biology

Licentous- promiscuous- The dude was licentuous.

Mete- punishment- The judge allowed mete for the triple homicide killer.

Noxious- to feel like you want to throw up- the roller coaster made him noxious

Polemic-strong attack, ad hominen- the editorial was full of polemic letters toward Brobama. 

Populous- a region full of people- LA is a huge populous.

Probity- having strong moral principles- the puritans had probity.

Repartee- conversation with quick wity replies- talking with that clown was like having a repartee.

Supervene- occur later than planned, changes the situation- In the hangover, Doug's tardiness supervened the wedding.

Truncate-Shorten something by cutting the top or end- I truncated the grape vines in the vinyard.

Unimpeachable- not able to be doubted- Dogmatic things are unimpeachable

My University

Today in independent learning. Today I had a prety nice conversation in class about potential colleges, grape flavored watermelon and Damian Marley among other things. It was shooting the breeze, you could say but I think it's a good way to express and listen to thoughts at that given moment. It's almost like a journal that you can interact with. In a journal you pretty much say  whats on your mind, but theres no feedback. A good conversation you say whats on your mind, but can get input and feedback from others. And isn't that what open source learning is about. Creating networks with other people through the sharing of ideas? Because that's one of the big things I got from Dr.Preston presentation.
 I think that there is an element of comfort that you must build with the people you talk with, but I guess you cant get to know someone unless you listen to them and conversate with them. So even though it might be uncomfortable at first, we should learn to be open to all voices and sources of good ideas.
And even though I may have conveyed our conversation earlier as mere "bs"ing, we did talk about more serious, prevalent social problems, but all in the relaxed arena of conversation. So basically we were more relaxed and open talking about maybe uncomfortable stuff. So thats what I've been thinking about the last couple of days.

 Notes on the history of the English language

The Conquest of Britain
-2 groups of celts invaded the British isles between 600 and 800 bc
-next came the Romans, they conquered Britain in about 55 bc
-300 years later the Roman empire collapsed, thus forced to leave Britain
- Next came the Anglo-Saxons, from Germany, they took over what is now England.

The coming of Christianity
- Christianity somehow managed to stay on the isles
- people established monasteries in the north
-St. Augustine set up more monasteries in the south
- the church helped unify the English people

The Norman Conquest
- William of Normandy claimed he had the right to the English throne
-William of Normandy set up the system so that the Normans could basically run stuff in the country

The Reign of the plantegents

- Henry II ended the Norman rule when he came to the throne

The Magna Carta

- Richard I spent most of his time staging conquests
- This made debt which King John inherited.
- John tried to raise taxes on the Barons but the Barons resisted. This prompted the signing of the magna carta
-this marked the first constitutional government in England.

Lancasters, Tudors and Yorks

The War of the Roses was a series of conflicts between these familys to gain control over the throne.

Decline of Fuedal System

- in 1381 peasants staged a revolt against fiefdom. Eventually free peasants replaced serfs in the middle ages

 MY OPINION ISN'T A RIGHT

notes on the Socratic seminar

So the topic of the Socratic Seminar was the article," You don't have the right t your opinion." The gist of the article was that saying, " I have the right to my opinion," doesn't bring any new information or a relevant topic to the argument. Rather it provides sort of a red herring, which in fact is a fallacy.

So we got into the discussion in class, and someone kept saying they have the right to do this, or that, and Preston quickly shot her down and defined what a right is. Basically it's something that you have a social privilege of, meaning that everyone must follow and/or respect it. So a good example of a right is your right to live. You have a social privilege and obligation that mus be kept.( you can't kill anyone and no one can kill you, legally.) So by this definition having the right to your pinion doesn't make any sense. It would mean that everyone has to respect and believe your opinion, and no one can tell you otherwise.

This is demonstrated well with an analogy. Imagine your friend is about to cross a street but doesn't look both ways to see if cars are coming. You, however, do look both ways and see a huge truck speeding towards him. If he has the right to his opinion then you can't tell him that he shouldn't cross the street. This is because if he believes that no cars are coming, and starts to walk across, his opinion is such that he won't get hit. But you know he will. But if he has a right to his opinion then you can't tell him otherwise.

This is sort of like the Allegory of the Cave. I think we just need to be open to new knowledge and ideas, even if they aren't neccasrily our own.

Vocab

1) adumbrate- to report or represent in an outline. I"m going to adumbrate the vocab on my blog.
2)Apotheosis- the culmination in something. Graduating high school will be the apotheosis of a lot of hard work.
3) Ascetic- Verb, to practice extreme self discipline, noun, someone who practices extreme self discipline. The Puritans were very ascetic.
4) Bauble- a small showy decoration. I admired the mans old baubles on his shelves.
5) Beguile- to trick something. In the bible the serpent beguiles Adam and Eve.
6) Bergeon- to flourish. The plants in the Garden began to burgeon as spring arrived.
7) Complement- something nice that you say to a person(noun) verb to say something nice to a person. I complemented my mom on her artwork.
8) Countmacious- Willingly disobedient. One could argue that Walter White was very countmacious in his avoidance of the DEA.
9) Curmudgeon- someone who is irritable or stubborn. My brother can be a curmudgeon sometimes.
10) Didactic- a political or moral message. The grapes of Wrath carried a didactic message.
11) Disingenuous- to not be genuine. I don't want to be disingenuous, I want to hold integrity.
\12) Exculpate- to free someone of guilt. I'm sure all the dudes on death row would like to be exculpated right now.
13) faux pas- social blunder- There have been many Faux pas in recent memory, Donald sterling anyone?
14) fulminate- to express forceful criticism on somebody or something. Some editorials fulminate stuff? not really sure how this is used in context.
15) Fustian- Bombastic, loudly outspoken. The fustian coach yelled at his players.
16) hauteur- a haughty feeling or manner. She had a hauteur about her.
17) Inhibit- to stop. Some chemicals inhibit growth.
18) Jeremiad- A lengthy cpmplaint. The telemarketer had to listen to a jeremiad phone call from a customer.
19) Oppurtunist- unprincipled resourceful person. The opportunist entrepreneur took illegal business advantages.
20) unconscionable- morally unacceptable. Are the events in ferguson unconscionable?

My AP Test answers

1-C
2-B
3-C
4-E
5-D
6-C
7-B
8-B
9-A
10- C
11-D
12-B
13-B
14-E
15-A
16-C
17-C
18-D
19-B
20-B
21-D
22-D
23-C
24-B
25-C
26-E
27-C
28-C
29-C
30-B
31-C
32-A
33-A
34-E
35-E
36-D
37-B
38-D
39-C
40-A
41-B
42-C
43-B
44-A
45-B
46-E
47-B
48-D
49-B
50-E
51-D
52-D
53-E
54-B
55-D
56-C
57-C
58-D
59-B
60-C

AP English essay prompts

1) If I was going to write an essay for the first question I'd first come up with an argument. My argument would probably be about how Elliot views Old Leisure as below the new leisure. I'd then look for the devices Elliot used to portray her view. In particular her diction when describing both and her tone while describing both. I'd compare both tones and diction and then use this too prove my assertion. But I'd probably have to read it a few times to gather the correct info to write it.

2) If I was going to write an essay on the second question I'd choose The Grapes of Wrath because I know it the best out of the books. Then I'd go over the plot in my head and try and remember examples of Steinbeck talking about social or political change. Just thinking about it now, I remember a blatant example when Steinbeck called out Mr. Hearst ( Like Hearst Castle) because he left almost 100 acres of his land lay fallow. Then I'd give background on Steinbeck and his known views. But mainly I'd just use examples from the plot to support my assertion.

Reflections on Week 1

1) Some factors that may affect my performance in this class is my understanding of technology. I"m not "bad" with computers and stuff, but I'm not good enough to fugure out some f the more complicated stuff like posting a video (that works) to the blog. So I think that will be my biggest challenge.
2) The best learning experience I can think of off the top of my head was probably with my uncle Byron. Byron works in the strawberry fields as a kind of supervisor for Sweet Success Inc. He has to know a wide range of things, from advanced Spanish, to leadership, to the nuances of growing the best strawberry.  One day I went to work with him (It wasn't my first time, I went with him a lot,) and he told me a story about a truck driver for his company. He said that the driver had turned too sharp and some of the strawberries fell off. He called his boss and asked if he was fired. His boss said, ' no. just clean up the mess and give me a call back.' So the driver cleaned up all the strawberries, ( I thought I'd clarify that it was most of the strawberries he was carrying.) and he called his boss. The boss asked him if he was done cleaning up. The driver said yes. Then the boss said, ' Now your fired.'
The guy messed up, but instead of firing him immedialtley he made him clean it up first. his just illustrated the thining of a business man, and how the world may not always be a nice place.
3) The thing that I'm most excited about is that I don't know exactly what were going to do. The thing that concerns me is managing the workload. There just seems to be like 6 or 7 things happening simultaneously. So keeping up with that will be a challenge for me.

Fox in Socks, I hope it works I had too upload it in three videos because It took too long for me to send the email in just one email so it's kinda broken up but I still have the original on my phone as proof or if you want to see it.


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Montaigne Essay

"What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and interconnected for words to do at most, barely sketch the outlines of what's happeneing at any given instant," David foster Wallace. This quote can accurately describe Montainge's attempt to tell us what was happening in his life. Montainge's topics support Wallace's Claims. The elements that support Wallaces quote are, his wide range of topics and his intellectual approach he takes to try and describe his life.

Montainge covers a wide range of subjects in his essays. It's almost an assortment of random topics, with a common thread of human life connecting them. Wallaces quote also has a sense of chaos in it, with diction like, " too fast and huge and interconnected to do at most barely sketch the outlines of whats happening. " The way that Wallace and Montaigne both convey a sense of randomness provides a strong relationship between the two pieces.

Some may say that Wallace's quote does not elicit a random theme to it. But hos diction, specifically the words with chaotic connotations, like fast, huge, interconnected and any given instant disprove this thought. Some may say that Wllace was talking about an specific yet inpalpable feeling, or sense, so he cant relate to montaignes wide variety of topics. That's untrue also. Wallace states that he can "barely sketch the the outlines," implying that he doesn't have aclear grasp on a specific state of being that would define humankindess.

Another way that the two are related is their intellectual approach to their topic. David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech to a college called " This is Water." Last year when we learned about Henry David Thoreau, I immediately made a connection. I felt that Thoreaus transcendentalism had resurfaced in Wallace's work. So Wallace must have thoroughly read Thoureau. Being the intellectual that he was, that's a safe bet. Montaoigne goes about his work in an intelligent way through his use of extensive and aancieant latin quotes. This higher sense of thought is what connects Wallace and Montaigne in such a way.

In conclusion Montaigne and Wallace were both very smart writers looking for insight into the human condition. The way that they did it was through a connotation of randomness and a collective genius into their intelligent approach they took.

Summer Reading notes

The Poisonwood Bible

Characters

• The Prices
• Nathan Price
• Orleana Price
• Rachel Price
• Leah Price
• Adah Price
• Ruth Price
• Eeben
• Anatole

The Plot
Starting out, the Prices are an American family that, at the decision of Nthan Price, the father, move to the congo to do missionary work in a small village. They assume that western culture is pretty superior to African. But when Nathan tries to do westernized things like baptizing in the river or growing a garden, they find that they are in a much differernt place and culture. However the family soon gets acclimated, especially Leah. The family seems to adjust their attitudes, except Nathan. He seems to get progressively more and more isolated as the story goes on. Then some of the villagers make it clear to Nathan his Christian teachings are against their religion and ask him to stop. This fuels Nathans dilusion that these people need to get saved. Then the Prices find out from the Underdowns, ( a Belgian Family living in Congo, possible symbol of imperialism?) that Belgium is granting Congo its independence. The underdowns fear that they will be persecuted once the freedom is granted. This scares the girls and Orleana, who would really like to leave. But Nathan, in true dictatorship fashion, doesn allow it. Anyways, they all stay.
soon after Leah, the one who got really into the culture, wants to go on a hunt with the men. The villagers decide that she can, but a couple guys state that they have disrupted a natural order and make implications that it will have negative consequences. But the decide to break the natural order anyway and Leah goes hunting. Then Ruth gets bitten by a snake and dies. This prompts all the rest of the women to leave except Leah.

Themes
I interpreted this story as a comment on the oppressive nature of imperialism and religion. Probably helping end to mark the end of post modernism was an increase in a more secular look at the world. So this book, I believe, is using Nathan as a metaphor for not only Religon, but of all oppressive institutions. What I think is being said is that maybe we should try and understand cultures, as Rebelution said, "Lets learn about the culture opposite,'' so that's how I saw it.




Pride and Prejudice Notes

Characters
The Bennets
Elizabeth
Jane

Darcy
Bingley
Wickham

Plot

Charles Bingley buys property near the Bennets property in 1800s England. The Bennet matriarch believes that this is a prime opportunity to get one of her daughters married off. Jane and Elizabeth go to a thing that Vingley and his good friend Darcy are at. Jane and Bingley seem to get along fine while Darcy and Elizabeth aren't as well suited to be together from the start. After this Elizabeth meets a dude named Wickham, who is in the army. Wickham says that Darcy cheated him out on an inheritance. Elizabeth assumes this is true. Then soon after that Darcy told Bingley (?)  not to marry Jane because the family is middle class. Elizabeth finds out and is pretty mad. But shortly after they all work it out and Jane marries Bingley and Elizabeth marries Darcy.

Themes
 Im not really sure what the themes are but, I assume strongly that it has to do with the title, Pride and PRejudice and how those to words relate to each other in the context of the story. But Im really not sure what this relationship is.




Essays of Michel de Montaigne

This is a short collection of essays ranging in topics from Glory to Drunkeness to cannibals. Many still consider them relevant because of their material but I particularly found them hard to read. I don't know what it was about them but I felt like I read it, but I had no idea what it was saying.

                                                                                                                         William Dowell
                                                                                                                           Period 5
                                                                                                                            AP English Dr. Preston

                                       Isolation in the Things they Carried

" I write about these things, the remembering has turned into a kind of rehappening," says Tim O'Brien, author of The Things they Carried. Mr. O'Brien remembers painful, isolating experiences as well the camaraderie in collection of short stories about his time in the Vietnam War. O'Brien was Isolated in Vietnam, from his family and the way of life he used to know, but he also learned about the true nature of conflict from his experiences there.

Mr. O'Brien left his family behind to go to Vietnam. But before he went, he had to overcome a moral crisis of whether to desert to Canada or face the music and go. " All of us, I suppose, like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth." O'Brien got his draft notice and ran away to the Michigan-Canada border, in a town called International Falls. There he helps a local fisherman. The fisherman understands what is going on, but instead of telling O'Brien what to do, he lets the young man figure it out on his own.  " The man that opened the door that day is the hero of my life.'' This whole situation culminates in a moment when O'Brien is on the lake that's on the Canadian border. He thinks of his decision and chooses not to desert. He chose this because he was convinced in his mind that even though he was scared and hated the war, being a coward was worse than going to the war. So in this sense the decision was made because he was isolated, because no one told him what he wanted to hear, and because of that he made a hard decision based on his own values, which is a positive. Soren Kirkegaard, a philosopher, essentially said that choices make us who we are, but sometimes we default, and make others make a decision for us. But in O'Briens case he was isolated, so he had to make the decision for himself.

O'Brien also saw horrible things in Vietnam, while he was Isolated from everything he ever knew. One night he saw his friend get blown up by a landmine. " All I could do was cry.'' This stark contrast from home can be parralled to a summer job he had before the war. He worked in a pig slaughterhouse, and said he, " hated it." But this can be parralled to Vietnam, just pigs at a slaughterhouse. But this feeling of hopelessness definitely contributes to a feeling of isolation, from family, from normalcy, from hope.

But overcoming those challenges of hopelessness and isolation can be rewarding. It's like a greek hero going into a challenge alone, like Oddeseyeus overcoming challenges and temptations alike. But anyways I think what O'Brien is saying about isolation is that it can act like a crucible. It can change you for the good or for the bad.