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.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
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
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.
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.
Monday, August 18, 2014
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?
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.
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.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
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.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Summer Reading notes
The Poisonwood Bible
Characters
- The Prices
- Nathan Price
- Orleana Price
- Rachel Price
- Leah Price
- Adah Price
- Ruth Price
- Eeben
- Anatole
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.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
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.
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.
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