FEATS OF WISDOM!® #7

Thinking Outside the Bun...er..Box

This is hell.  And this.  And this one fa'real.

First, let me admit that Estelle would have been my first target.*sigh of relief*  Feels great to get that off my chest.  Now, Sartre creates hell in an unassuming room with a situation of discomfort.  This discomfort was extreme enough to get a person to kill another.  Well, at least try to.  Everybody in the room was uncomfortable with strangers around because they knew an infinity together would mean letting them in on their secret insecurities.  I guess, in summation, I'm saying that Sartre's uncomfortable hell is the lack of self-acceptance which is also the limit of our thinking because we become preoccupied or stubborn.  Sartre's hell can be escaped on one's own up to a point where self-improvement becomes reversal of introduced qualities, but it is easier when there is somebody judging you.  Simply put, you can't please everybody.  That's why you need self-acceptance.  The "escapability" can be seen when the door opens for Garcin.

Plato's hell is inescapable without the imposition of an outer influence.  That influence can be a new idea or a teacher.  It doesn't matter.  But the way he sets the allegory up like a jail makes it clear that you don't get out on your own.

What confuses me still is the signifance of the bronze ornament in "No Exit."  Garcin touches it everytime he's being reflective.

Input? Pretty please with assorted toppings?

Life is a Highway to Hell

That's not what I got from Jean Paul Sartre's "No Exit."  Actually, the title of this post is a nod to something hellish to my tastes.  The song Highway to Hell and all other songs similar to hair metal.  I haven't heard them all so, for now, I think it's an evil genre of music.

1.  Since I grew up watching cartoons fairly often, there were inevitably scenes depicting hell.  Cow and Chicken comes to mind.  These cartoons had nothing to compete with since the mass I was attending at the Catholic church was designed for us grade school kids to mope through without too much violent imagery (besides the holy man nailed to beams above us.) Anyway, my image of hell is burnt to a crisp.  There are casual flames spouting from the purple/maroon ground.  Come to think of it... it's lonely.  I guess that's what little me was afraid of.  That's what hell would be, right?  A place where all your greatest fears exist in harmony.  Your mind would be in hell, even if your body were unscathed.  I'm sure any human would go insane living in Sartre's hell.  Even if we didn't need the sleep or other worldly necessities, the boredom and aggravation would be too much for the mind to accept.

2.  Hell, like I said, would be a place that we are afraid of.  Whether that place be mental, emotional, or physical is irrelevant because anything without moderation would be something to fear. Squidward's hell

3.  The dialogue was almost the only thing here so the clarity of the image in my head is unexpected.  I had to look up second empire furniture though.  The sense of place he creates in the dialogue is a place of frustration.  Being in a room you don't like with people you like even less is the pits.  The idea of staying awake for eternity is similarly the pits because I don't even like staying up through calculus class.  If I only had math and econ classes or they extended hours past anything humane, that would be hell.  Garcin seems apprehensive and unwilling to believe that hell could be so simple to create.  He expected torture devices made of metal, not fainting couches and an arrogant French woman.

Allegory of The Cave Sonnet

Shadows seem clear to those who've not seen more

Shackles are comfy when they're all you know

Deep down in ignorance. Where is the door?

You'll never find out lest you're pushed to go

A familiar shape returns underground

Like a n00b teacher coming into town

Resistance and pain are what's to be found

Give them a new light. Don't let them back down.

But ultimately, this must be their choice

No matter how much you've learned from the sun

Walking out of the cave, earning a voice

That job isn't yours. It's theirs to be done.

Create a trail to the world outside

Make their raw ankles an unshackled guide.

I'll Sit Down in My Thinking Chair

Plato was quite the thinker if his ideas are stilling being dismantled and superglued thousands of years later.  I know.  Captain Obvious.  But what ideas from today are gonna make it to the future?  Is this question too big to be a Big Question? Idk, brah.
Anyway, here are my "The Cave" answers.

1. The Cave represents the fight to be enlightened, whether that be a conflict with yourself or the forces that made you ign'ant in the first place.
2. The most important images of the allegory were the shackles, the shadows, the sun, and the cave(duh).
3. The allegory suggests that enlightenment is something to be attained and retained; embraced and shared with all you see lacking it.  Because of this, some people want to shove it down your throat with good intention.  Plato seems to suggest that enlightenment is supposed to be experienced and passed on despite the resistance the teacher may encounter.
4. The perspectives of the prisoners are forced and predetermined like the range of movement their shackles.  Caves are pretty finite unless they're in Vietnam so the extent of what the cave dwellers can know shares that trait.
5. Conditioning shackles my brain.  I went to a leadership conference with Calvin Terrell and one exercise we did was to flash words like "slave" or "drunk" on the screen.  We had to tell him the first kind of people to come to mind.  You can see where I'm going. :(
6. The freed prisoner is ashamed of what he sees as the reactions of his fellow cave dwellers.  Plus, he sees the whole world even though it hurt in the beginning.  The shadow watchers, on the other hand, are lame ducks.  They are dogmatic and provincial. *nods in self-amusement for using vocab*
7. Intellectual confusion happens when you first see the sun a la Ace of Bass and you begin to wrap and stretch your mind around all the shiny, new ideas.  The other is when you're going back to the darkness after being enlightened and having to consider the comprehension of your non-enlightened peers. Think privileged n00b teacher going to teach at an inner city school.
8. The spelunkers are compelled free and dragged out so I guess Plato meant that you don't just decide to be free-thinking but that there is a force; idea, person, or otherwise, that can make you think freely like the tweeters that started the Arab Spring.
9. There is a difference between appearance and reality.  Things don't always look like what they are.  If a stranger walks in and sees our class on its phones, he doesn't think bloggers.  A lot of Chinese people see the internet but have no idea what the event at Tiananmen Square was. 
10. When reality and appearance are the same we find that nothing is a lie.  We can take everything for face value.  We also find that thoughts, as personal interpretations of a constant, can lead to discovery of the core values of the community that is experiencing that reality.

What's the Big Idea?

My big question.  I have lots of them and when I heard of this assignment last year, I was hella stoked.  Of course, when we're actually given the assignment all my curiosity and ideas fall to the wayside.  Wateva, I guess I'll stick with my bread and butter: languages and learning them.
My Big Question is: What are the obstacles of language learning that can be met after getting older? or thereabouts...

Herman Melville's Benito Cereno

Yesteryear, Mrs. Nylander, as a final act of her instruction, allowed us to take all the books from her room.  Classic Carol.  I was in the last class so I got to scour the leftovers and went home with a few books, one of which was a collection of Herman Melville novels.
1. Captain Amasa Delano and his ship meet another ship seemingly captained by a Spanish-Chilean, Don Benito Cereno (FYI his name is Benito, not Don which is a respectful title).  On Cereno's ship, are also many Africans destined to be slaves.  Delano notices that all social interaction on the ship is awkward, notably between the captain and his Black servant, Babo.  Additionally, we see the figurehead is covered by a tarp and written beside it is "Sequid Vuestro Jefe" which means follow your leader. Foreshadowing much?.  Anyway, after a while, we see a relationship between Babo and Cereno that is unlike that of a slave and his master.  This one is more like a companionship.  At the end, we find out that all the awkward could be chalked up to the fact that the slaves had revolted on the ship and killed their master, tying him to the figurehead.  Now, they had taken control and commanded Cereno to sail them back to Africa.  Babo is the ringleader which explains why he always kept close to Cereno.  He is put to death like many unwieldy slaves of the day and oddly enough, Cereno, clearly a sufferer of compromised mental health and Stockholm syndrome, dies soon after.  That's that.
2. The theme of the book was definitely to question the truth.  Delano, a seemingly salty sea-dog whose judgment most people would never question didn't get that there was a mutiny going on right in front of his eyes.
3.Considering Herman Melville lived in the era of slavery and its abolition this may have been a warning to keep a better eye on what's going on farealz.  Additionally, the writing took plenty of liberty with its description of the slaves as inhuman.

• "This is an uncommonly intelligent fellow of yours, Don Benito, " whispered Captain Delano across the table."
• "But tell me, has he so far as you have known him, always proved a good, worthy fellow?"
• " 'Because they have no memory,' he dejectedly replied; 'because they are not human."

4. Literary Elements of Benito Cereno

• " Rudely painted or chalked, as in a sailor freak, along the forward sentence, ' Sequid vuestro jefe.'" This was probably the most outright presentation of foreshadowing.  On a boat full of slaves and a master, it's clear who the jefe is. The fact that it was poorly written leads one to believe that it was an afterthought.
• "Yes, this is a strange craft, a strange history, too, and strange folks on board.  But- nothing more." Blatant irony is strong in this statement.  The audience is yelling at Delano, voice of this statement, that something is indeed going on here, but he's like the drunk guy in a scary movie, oblivious.
• " Don Benito faltered; then, like some somnambulist suddenly interfered with, vacantly stared at his visitor and ended by looking down on the deck."  This simile explains the state of Cereno's mind.  It's clear by now that he isn't all there but Delano brushes it off.
• " His last glance seemed to express a calamitous, yet acquiescent farewell to Captain Delano forever." During the monologue that this quote comes from, it is reflected upon that Benito Cereno is acting strange and it is becoming clear that there may be an ulterior reason for it.
• I won't be providing another textual example for the motif of preconceived notion that is the savage.  The best quote is the one I used to answer question 3.  The savage is the idea that the slaves are typically unintelligent and cowardly.  This is all very dehumanizing so it is easy to see how Delano could come to the conclusion that the slaves are idle.
• "These tops hung overhead like three ruinous aviaries, in one of which was seen perched, on a ratlin, a white noddy, a strange fowl, so called from its lethargic, sonambulistic character." This one is definitely symbolism for Don Benito.  He is like a zombie of captivity by Babo.
• " Ere long it seemed hard to decide whether she meant to come in or no--what she wanted, or what she was about."  The personification of Cereno's ship went beyond calling it her to giving it wants and desires with their own levels of ambiguity to match those of the actions that were occuring aboard her.
• " Battered and mouldy, the castellated forecastle seemed some ancient turret, long ago taken by assault, and then left to decay."  This imagery is heavy in the very beginning of the book, likely to emphasize the condition of the boat and describe its fort-like traits which lends itself to hosting a siege.  Additionally, this provides a good transition into describing the figurehead.
• " The noisy confusion of the San Dominick's suffering host repeatedly challenged his eye. " This quote is pretty moody.  Seriously, you get the feeling of how awkward the whole situation is.  If you've seen the scene in Hancock where he rescues the liquor store owner from the thieves, this is what it's like, only Delano isn't a bamf with superpowers.

Characterization

1. Direct characterization

• "Captain Delano's surprise might have been deepened into some uneasiness had he not been a person of a singularly undistrustful good nature, not liable, except on extraordinary and repeated incentives."
• " But the debility, constitutional or induced by hardships, bodily and mental, of the Spanish captain was too obvious to be overlooked.

    Melville's use of direct characterization was not entirely necessary even though it came more often than most authors would use it.  That is because he also was good at intertwining indirect characterization with the plot.  

     Indirect characterization

• "While Captain Delano was thus made the mark of all eager tongues, his one eager glance took in all faces, with every other object about him."
• " What! have you saved my life, Señor, and are you now going to throw away you own?" 

     Melville uses the reactions of others to characterize Delano as a man who looks worthy of respect and gossip.  Unfortunately for Delano, my opinion of him relied mostly on his lack of understanding in regards to the mutiny.  Were I to consider the characterization alone I would have thought him an admirable seaman.

3. Captain Delano is certainly dynamic.  He is, by the end of the novella, much more apprehensive in his consideration of things.  I suppose that means he is less happy-go-lucky than he had been when there was nothing in his mind to suspect.  What a boring book.

4. " Some months after, dragged to the gibbet at the tail of a mule, the black met his voiceless end."  This quote applies to the death of Babo.  He and Captain Benito Cereno are the ones I felt I had met, however passingly.  They were certainly not the most intriguing characters and Delano was even less.

AP Hamlet PLN

If there are eyes out there that don't know what the inside of our school classroom looks like PLN stands for personal learning network.  It's not just gonna be mine though.  Y'all can have some too.  It's a compilation of resources to help us learn.  We begin with Y'ung H or, as others may call him, Hamlet.

This one is a museum but Hamlet hasn't changed so any perspectives or questions that you see here are still valid.
Here's another dinosaur.  Actually, I just realized that and I feel like some ki'na fool for trying to invite the author to use our learning path. Wateva.  That message will probably land in the cobwebs of an inbox far from the eyes of judgment and embarrassment.
Bookmark this PYT because it has not only a collection of tools that relate Hamlet to other works but also similar work on other literary feats like Candide and Brave New World.
Are these people us? No.  But they're doing something along the same format as us and that familiarity can make it a cool environment to collaborate...with strangers.
After the jump you will find a blog that has summaries of the scenes of Hamlet so if you couldn't read the whole thing, you could read that lil' bit.  Noice! Also, it seems to be a collection of resources for many AP subjects so that's cool too. TTYL

Third Times a Charm, Mr. Steinbeck

Cannery Row, as it turns out, was breath of fresh air in comparison to the withered husk of a plot that was Grapes of Wrath.  Additionally, it wasn't a sad ending like Of Mice and Men. 
1.It's a local story about a community in Monterey, specifically those living on Cannery Row.  The narrative fulfills the author's purpose by avoiding a tightly structured plot and creating many stories surrounding the collective plot.  Essentially, a group of "bums" try to make a patriarch's life better and along the way we see the natural evolution of a community.
2. The theme of the novel was intention.  Whether it was the brothel's bouncer intending to defend the girls from a lush and accidentally breaking his spine or the guys' intent to throw a party for Doc and ruining his home before he even arrived.
3. I'm happy to report that the tone of this novel didn't make me want to put myself on suicide watch like the story of the Joads.  Nevertheless, there was a serious air no matter what was happening.

• " The party was slipping away in sweet sadness."  
• " He wondered what a beer milkshake would taste like."
• " His old lady hits him.  But I bet you when Gay's away from her three days, he gets it figured out that it's his fault and he goes back to make it up to her."

4.Here's a cool aside.  I found this book in the trashcan outside of room 607 along with a couple other classics.  It's 1945 copy from the Viking press and is " IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH ALL WAR PRODUCTION BOARD CONSERVATION ORDERS." Cool stuff dawg.

• " Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a qualilty of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." Metaphor is a useful to say things without being too articulate.  Still he lets it flow with a sequence of them.
• " 'I love you,' he said one afternoon. ' Oh, I love you.'" Ambiguity is powerful when there is a conversation between two me.  I don't know who he was that made this statement.  That mystery definitely got me to probing the characters more on their emotional capacity.  
• " At Lee Chong's he got him a new pair of overalls and a striped sweater and Frankie became his slave."  Diction.  Did Frankie make himself a hyper-devoted employee? Or did he become an indentured servant?
• Another similarity this book holds with Of Mice and Men is that characteristic of post-modernism that is the not-necessarily intertwined multitude of plot lines.
• The genre being post-modern, you would expect an omniscient narrator, and in this novel, you would find one." Fire did not break out, and while no rent was ever paid, if the tenants ever had any money, and quite often they did have, it never occurred to them to spend it any place except at Lee Chong's grocery."
• Near the end of the book, Steinbeck writes out a poem in verse and instantly, the mood is changed to a comfort of existence that you could find in a home design catalog featuring artfully cluttered rooms.
• I'm not sure epigrams are used for anything else but in this novel, they highlighted the theme at a particular point of the plot and there were quite a few.  My favorite: "The man doesn't live who doesn't have to look at a parade."
• One could also interpret the zeitgeist of the story through the authors lax use of the word "oriental".  He used it to describe almost all the emotions the Chong family collectively displayed.  
• The subtle metonymy of replacing the people of Cannery Row with only the name of the community emphasizes the idea that they all belong to and characterize the place just as much as its geography or climate.
• One motif I didn't notice until now is the puppy Mack and his crew pick up while trying to get on Doc's good side.  At the outset of the dog's life in the story, she is uncontrolled and eventually becomes sick.  The relationship between the men and Doc is in the same state of disrepair after the failed attempt to create a party for Doc.  After he is called upon to see how the dog can get better, we see the relationship and the dog's health improve and life is brought back to the community as well.

1. " He was twenty-six-dark-haired and pleasant, strong, willing, and loyal." Had he just been described as a question-asker and non-listener, I would have written him off as a rude and insincere character.  His youth allowed me to understand that his life had been hard and that there was a background to his personality I didn't have to learn to understand.  An example of indirect characterization I saw was when the crew happened upon the owner of the land where they were hunting frogs.  He was initially guarded but opened his home and pantry to the men when they showed kindness.  He only offered them help and gratitude which made me sad to consider the life the man led while nobody else was around.

2. The syntax does not change through the story but the diction does when the more learned or respectable characters are showcased.  It becomes less colloquial while retaining its Steinbeck qualities.

3. I would venture to say that there was not an individual protagonist but that the entire community was it.  Harping on this cord, I say the community was static overall.  We reached  a homeostasis by the end of the book.  One that could've been found at the beginning of Cannery Row's description also.  By definition, the community was rounded.  There was compassion and indifference.  There was willingness to share and their was mystery as well, especially in the old chinaman who came flopping up from the beach everyday.  

4.  After the book, I sympathized immensely with Doc.  He was the kind of person who couldn't imagine asking a question and not wanting the answer.  I am also that kind of person.  " That was the way with Doc.  He never asked unless he wanted to know and he could not conceive of the the brain that would ask without wanting to know."

Tools that Change the Way We Think

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

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

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

Ever since I became a more active user of the internet, I have been in an almost constant state of awe. There are so many useful things to use and revisit but that expanse of utility is a double-edged sword in its ability to make me forget that I even have certain tools to use. I definitely have to agree with Ryland about how our minds are chewing up information all the time. At the same time, so many people take it for granted. Somebody wonders something aloud during a conversation yet doesn't make a move to google it with their pocket computers. Drives me crazy.
Although I don't think I would have been more inclined to read a wall of text, the power of the scroll bar is so enabling. I can look for a tl;dr if I want it short and sweet. I don't like calling them generational differences because it only feeds the trolls and hipsters(not necessarily bad members of a community) who would like no more than to say that the quality of humans has degraded overnight. People of other times would have been just as likely to drop their books and head for a shining LED screen.
The future is scary because we've all been focusing on all the bad the tech industry is capable of but consider also the improved utility. Look at this video of a near future. It's a good'n. KTHXBAI. Gonna go look at funny cat pix.

Wachagonnado about it?

This video is like a crystal ball in its high resolution and foresight.

Notes on Hamlet

At the beginning of the play, I thought I would be bored.  I guess wasn't really that interested in knowing what it was about and it doesn't have the same fame as Romeo and Juliet.  What I thought I knew was that Hamlet goes crazy.  Now (and I should have assumed this), I see that Shakespeare created an uncommon depth to the eponymous character.  Not only is he an honorable, moral-led character but also a rightfully conniving personality.  Also, the plot was much more interesting to follow than what I had initially assumed, crazy prince goes ham on e'rybody he knows.  From here, I know there has to be a good twist coming because the plot is so sturdily set.

Who Was Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare was born in 1564, probably on April 22 or 23 and died April 23, 1616. He was married at 18 to Anne Hathaway.  He had two daughters, Susanna and Judeth, and a son, Hamnet, who died at 11.  The first work with his name on it was Love's Labours's Lost. He had written other works and dedicated them to aristocracy who would get them published, albeit, under somebody else's name.  Clearly, this is just asking for illegitimacy claims.
People don't like Shakespeare and I think it's because they don't get it.  They're is so much more to his work than meets the eye.  Most students probably aren't told how intricately his syllables are placed so they can't see his genius.  Also, it isn't the most modern English so many of us can get lost in the archaic words.  Lots of it can be understood with knowledge of another language and a scholastic vocabulary but, here in America, neither of those are very common.  I was dumbstruck when I first learned how he wrote.  I was also intense in my attention to his words.  Now, it takes less effort to understand his message.  Whether that is due to a grown vocabulary or simply experience is unclear.  Probably a mixture of the two.  Still, the symbolism can sometimes whoosh right over my head. " Get thee to a nunnery," though, that's wicked harsh but I truly lol'd.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook

When I first got an account on Facebook, I was childish.  The reason I signed up at all was because everybody else had one and I thought I should do it to remain at speed with my peers.  I first got there and the most common thing to do was find funny pages to like.  The benefits of having one were that I could talk to my peers online even though we could talk through text and collaboration on homework projects.  I've never found a group that actually did their work while on Facebook.
The benefit of sharing a name with a popular character is that my name doesn't get flung up on to the screen when you search it.  It's the same letters but really, they're not looking for me.  The risk of Facebook still exists, however, because I show my life on there (not that I've updated recently).
After having read the article, I have raised the wool from over my eyes.  I won't be thinking like a sheep in a flock believing that a big company can't do bad because that's argumentum ad hominem.  They just want the money and they know that kids will continue to use it as long as it stays relevant.

Vocabulary List #10

abortive

bruit

contumelious

dictum

ensconce

iconoclastic

in medias res

internecine

maladroit

maudlin

modulate

portentous

prescience

quid pro quo

salubrious

saturnalian

touchstone

traumatic

vitiate

waggish

WUBWUBWUBWUBWUB: A Hamlet Remix

Hold on to your wayfarers guys, cuz I'm  'bout to take it back!

I wanna kiiiiiillll Claudius
And it's not just because.
These actors are the real test.
And vengeance is my cause!
I'll keep my eyes glued upon the man
See the emotions he tries to hide
I'll use this play to understand
The guilt that is inside!

Treachery! Gotta watch it all!
It's not just me.
Got a few of my best buddies!

Treachery! Ohhh, just one life to end
A monarchy to defeeeeennd!

Treachery! Gotta watch it all!
Are my suspicions truuuuue?
In his ears, you poured poison through?

Kill my dad and I'll kill you!
Treacheryyyyy!

Gotta end it all! Gonna make you fall!
Treachery!

YEEEEEeeeeeaaaaahhh...

Based on one of my generation's anthems: Try not to headbang too hard.

Midterm Autopsy

Cause of death: word-bank and process of elimination
Had the midterm been given as a "give a definition" quiz, I would have whimpered as the BS flowed from my pen.  Frank, I know, but it needs to be admitted.  Next time, I'll get down to business and defeat the Huns.  For the time being, I'm happy considering the studying I did did not merit the grade I got.  I guess that's just the way the ball bounces, the cookie crumbles, the mop flops. *keels over in self-loathing laughter*

Something's Cray in the State of Denmark

Dear O,
    Although this impasse you've arrived at may make you lugubrious, I recommend you show some bravado.    You are a strong, independent woman.  Unless the monarchy experiences some kind of metamorphosis, you will see that Hamlet cannot be quixotic because the punctilios of royal relationships are sine qua non to his duties.  He would be an apostate to ignore your father. The fact is that your family will not reach a consensus with you and your love's feelings. It will always be a dichotomy. I'm just bein' real.
#soothsayer

Don't Wanna Say I Told Me So But...

I told me so.   I worried the night before because I was resting up this week for the SAT on Saturday aka not studying for the midterm.  I assumed I would do fine without the studying.  Still, I'm sure if it had been anything but multiple choice I would have regretted it more.  But the stars aligned for me on Friday.  I lost my glasses that morning and feared a repeat of one such time in sophomore year when I couldn't see the words.  However, mine eyes didn't deceive me.  I knew almost all the words and the ones I didn't I answered through the process of elimination.
    Some people like to hate on multiple-choice tests because you don't remember a lot of the stuff but I always learn after I take tests.  When I cram, I learn details.  I came across this ability on the Friday mornings before AP World History in sophomore year.  I grabbed the text book and scanned for new info on the way to school.  I'm not an actor working for Bosley Hair Solutions so I'm not gonna say "If it works for me, it can work for you."  It might.  Who knows? But I don't recommend it. On the other hand, the SAT taught me that modern air conditioning was invented in 1902.
   Next time, I will be able to recite the definitions so I'm not surprised by a more challenging format of the test.  Also, I learned that accoutrements can be spelled accouterments *shivers*.  It's gross but it's allowed.

Papa. Don't Preach. And I'm Keeping My Baby.

 That is, if my baby were my favorite way to study for vocabulary tests then I would be sticking with it.  I plan on looking at all the words, tracing my finger down each list while sitting next to the computer so I can immediately look up the ones I don't know and find sentences they belong in.
   And I'm not gonna lie.  If I do well on this test, all my grade are belong to Michelle Arriaga...probably.    That quizlet page she has going on is wicked useful.

No Patience from Mr. Nice Guy

I sent the creators of two of these sources an email but I have no idea how valid those addresses were and they haven't replied.*has only waited one day*. Sorry morals but my grades win today.

Behind curtain number one we have a lovely lesson plan from a teacher who really seems to have the right idea about analyzing Hamlet: Clickety-click #1

Curtain number two hides a hotlist of Shakespearean links to bring flavor to any of William's works(if you need it.):Clickety-click #2

Last, but not least, curtain number three reveals a place that could be so helpful if you made an honest attempt and followed the rules of Howard Rheingold.  Honestly, while I was reading his how-to on web convos, I thought the creators of Reddit must have used it as a bible:Clickety-click #3

Hamlet. The other white meat.

What I know about Hamlet is based on what I've learned in pop culture.  Lion King plot is similar to Hamlet's.  Was it his father's ghost? He is a prince? I'd like to thank Freaky Friday (starring America's sweetheart, Lindsay Lohan) for teaching me a bit about Hamlet also.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon.  He married a woman named Anne Hathaway.  Many call him the father of Modern English.  His venue after he became celebrated was the Globe, a rounder stage.  He wrote in iambic pentameter.
Students frown at the sound of his name because the reading is not as modern as the English we speak today.  This makes it harder to read.  Also, they probably frown because their teachers say "Read this," and then they get essays or tests (jk both).
To make this truly memorable we should read in class as if it were a table read for a sitcom or animated show.

Literature Analysis: Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

For such a highly recommended novel, this plot seemed pretty commonplace but I suppose it's unclear whether the novel was always vanilla or if it were like a prototype for this particular kind of novel.  The novel begins after the death of the founding member of the Joy Luck Club, a group of women and their families who came together, essentially, to hide from the pains of Chinese society during the 1930's and '40's.  She bequeathed her corner of the mahjong table to her daughter and this mother-daughter interaction opens up an analysis of the relationships of all four daughters and mothers.  This technique of direct comparison between Chinese-born mother and American-born daughter is effective in displaying some common elements of relationships such as these.  Some of these elements included a refusal of old Chinese allegories and a dogmatic attitude toward the culture the characters, especially the mothers they were observed in.
The most clear theme to me was the idea that there is always something to be learned from your peers.  The daughters learned from their mothers which one would expect anyway but the mothers also learned some important lessons in individuality and amenability.
The tone of the book was much more grave than the title would have led me to believe.  I suspected lessons taught through comedic and awkward experiences but instead it was taught through tragic recountals.  " Because I was promised to the Huangs' son for marriage, my own family began treating me as if I belonged to somebody else."  This excerpt was provided by one of the mothers who recounted her childhood in a small village.  " She had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls."  The protagonist explained the effects of the Japanese invasion of China  on her mother's life incredibly tristfully.  It was comparable to the image of the napalmed girl in Vietnam or the Price family exodus from the village after the death of Ruth.  " You don't even know little percent of me! How can you be me?"  Family dysfunction runs rampant through these characters plots.  The language barrier between Chinese-preferring mothers and English-preferring daughters was only an additional quandary to incite argument between factions.
The edition of book I am reading is the Penguin Books 2006 print in paperback.  This section lends itself to numbering:
Literary Elements
1. Pathos is used on page 99: " Embarrass you be my daughter?"  Her voice was cracking with anger."  The pain of that assumption bares through to anybody with parents.  It makes it increasingly obvious that one of Tan's other messages was that the relationships in Chinese-American families have their own qualities that only made the emotional health of the family more distant.
2. Parallelism was used on page 115: "  I saw a girl complaining that the pain of not being seen was unbearable. I saw the mother lying in bed in her long flowing robes."  The comparison between mother and daughter in this excerpt was demonstrative of the fault that could be found within the perceptions of either party.
3. Motif was also used on page 115: " 'Then you must die the death of a thousand cuts.  It is the only way to save you."  The death by a thousand cuts was repeated several times, seemingly with the intention of portraying the message that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  The painful experiences these women dealt with were suggested to be strengthening, like a bone that breaks and is stronger afterwards(not medical advice).
4. Metaphor was used on page 40:  "Not know your own mother?  How can you say?  Your mother is in your bones."  This sentimental idea maybe one of the most prehistoric identities a person can have.  The idea that although her mother was dead, she had raised her and gotten into her body with the food she fed her daughter and ideas she had instilled.
5. Symbolism was used on page 77:  " And I turned around so I could find the Moon Lady  and tell her my secret wish."  The Moon Lady was symbolic of the hope that this mother had felt since she was a child for a different life in which she were more in control of and more emotionally in touch with.  Essentially, all the characters felt this way, whether they were the mothers who sought to redefine themselves by individuality they hoped to find in America, or the daughters who hoped to understand themselves without the distancing weight of their mothers' expectations.
6. Imagery was used on page 77 also:  " In the dark water, I could see the full moon, a moon so warm and big it looked like the sun."  This quote was directly before the Moon Lady sentence.  In this, it serves as an example of the pattern Tan created by being descriptive about significant objects that would be symbolic.
7. Foil was used on page 203:  " It was amazing how Waverly still sounded the way she did twenty-five years ago, when we were ten and she had announced to me in that same voice, 'You aren't a genius like me."  Jing-Mei, the protagonist, was never the prodigy her mother had hoped for her to be.  Waverly was a smug chess child prodigy and a smug genius can make anybody look better.
8. Colloquialism could be found sprinkled throughout the entire text.  This was one of the most common:  " Aii-ya!"  Whether the interjection was directly significant to the plot or not was not as important as the fact that it was used at all.  The phrase means something along the lines of " My God!"  The pure emotion that interjections can carry due to their lack of restraint speak to the fact that although the parents do their best to assimilate with American society, including English, they still feel in accordance Chinese values.
9. One cliché was introduced on page 96:  " A small weekend crowd of Chinese people and tourists would gather as I played and defeated my opponents one by one."  It is a common cliché to see a small child playing chess and beating his/her opponents, especially old men.  I believe this cliché was included so that Tan could make the reader understand that some of what most people understand about "tiger parents" is true.
10. Irony was included on page 137:   " So that's how I discovered that Old Chong's eyes were too slow to keep up with the notes I was playing."  The irony of this excerpt is not only that the piano teacher doesn't see her mistakes, but that she abuses this disability while her mother has agreed to clean the house for him in exchange for the lessons.  This further demonstrates the misinterpretation of the other's intentions.
Characterization
One example of direct characterization is when Lindo Jong describes the boy she was forced to marry when she was young.  She says he was scared like a boy who had never grown up. Another example is when Lena St. Clair falls in love with her co-worker.  Direct characterization is used to describe characters who are only being used as means to develop the other characters.  Indirect characterization is used at many times, especially during description of the mothers and daughters when dealing with dogmatic attitudes almost all of them had.  It is also used to tastefully mention minor details about peripheral characters.
Diction was only changed when the mothers were speaking or being spoken of because there would be Chinese words and ideas included.  This also altered syntax by making it a little more curt  for the foreign message to be comprehensible.
Although there was no true protagonist, Jing Mei was probably the most important.  She was dynamic in her metamorphosis from a girl who resented what her mother was trying to make of her to the esteemed daughter who only wished she could have understood her mother before she died.  She was flat though because other characters occupied different aspects of the personality.
"And I knew by the wonder in his voice that he had no idea what the pendant really meant."  This quote illustrates the appreciation Jing-Mei has found by the end of the book.  She ultimately understands the knowledge that her mother passed on to her, symbolized by the jade pendant mentioned in the excerpt.  She was also well-described by indirect characterization, which is the way most of us learn about other people anyway.

Some Edited Notes and a Quiz

These are the notes and quiz we did on pages 64-82 in our textbook
Clickety-click

Vocabulary List #5

Vocabulary definitions and sentences: Clickety-click

A Spoonful of Effort Makes the "Surprise" Quiz Go Down

To be honest, the quiz wasn't that hard for me.  I have the good fortune to be more than decent at recall.  I ain't all that but neither are my notes.  I wrote down most of the important stuff like names and even some good ideas that I put together from a few of the concepts.  I will be incorporating, however, more mechanical notation for bold terms and subject headers and give them their due credit while using their information to mesh some of my own thoughts and observations into a more comprehensive pile of phonemes.

Basically an Exercise in My Favorite Subject

Learning about the history of English and the sprinkle of linguistic theory Dr. Preston added in class has been a lot of fun for me because my favorite thing to learn about is language, whether it be learning a modern one or how it came to be.

Meanehwæl, baccat meaddehæle, monstær lurccen;
Fulle few too many drincce, hie luccen for fyht.
Ðen Hreorfneorhtðhwr, son of Hrwærowþheororthwl,
Æsccen æwful jeork to steop outsyd. Þhud! Bashe! Crasch! Beoom! Ðe bigge gye
Eallum his bon brak, byt his nose offe;
Wicced Godsylla wæld on his asse.
Monstær moppe fleor wyþ eallum men in hælle.
Beowulf in bacceroome fonecall bamaccen wæs;
Hearen sond of ruccus sæd, "Hwæt ðe helle?"
Graben sheold strang ond swich-blæd scharp
Stond feorth to fyht ðe grimlic foe. "Me," Godsylla sæd, "mac ðe minsemete."
Heoro cwyc geten heold wiþ fæmed half-nelson
Ond flyng him lic frisbe bac to fen
Beowulf belly up to meaddehæle bar,
Sæd, "Ne foe beaten mie færsom cung-fu."
Eorderen cocca-cohla yce-coeld, ðe reol þyng. 
=
Meanwhile, back at the meadhall, Monster lurked.
Full of a few too many drinks, He was looking for a fight.
Then, Hreorfneorhtðhwr, son of  Hrwærowþheororthwl,
Asked the awful jerk to step outside.  Thud! Bash! Crash! Boom!  The big guy 
Each of his bones broken, bit his nose off;
Wicked Godzilla wailed on his ass.
Monster mopped the floor with each man in the hall.
Beowulf was in the backroom making a phone call;
He heard the sound of the ruccus and said, "What the hell?"
He grabbed his strong shield and his sharp switch-blade
Stood forth to fight the grim foe.  "Me," Godzilla said, "make the mincemeat."
The quick hero got hold with his famed half-nelson
And flung him like a frisbee back to front
Beowulf belly to the meadhall's bar
Said, "No foe has beaten my fearsome kung-fu."
He ordered an ice-cold Coca-Cola, the real thing.

Color Me Surprised

I definitely didn't think this article would offer any diversion but I found it was a nice read considering it offers a perspective usually lacking from the dichotomy *wink-wink* of its arguments.  Samantha Garrison and I decided to compart this assignment so, if you'd like, you can find the rest of the answers at her blog.

1.  Burkdall's thesis stated that although writing is definitely not as developed or extensive as before, it still holds a certain, nearly interminable value due to its role as a primer for the development of structure in thought and process for multimodal works.

2.  Why wouldn't the media be eager to create such an edgy claim.   The people love controversy and this is just the kind of article that could incite leathery fingertips to undulate like flames across the keyboard, typing hateful, hipster-bashing comments at kittylover42 for mentioning that she's a 90's kid but she still loves reading from paper.  And when people find articles with a little je ne sais quoi, they can talk about them at the water cooler or while they try fend off an awkward silence when they recognize somebody at the supermarket.
      Additionally, I think we're more comfortable dealing in absolutes.  It's harder to remember the deets about a claim that says there is evidence of a shrinking audience than one that says there is no audience at all.

3.  To stop the sea is a godly feat so, clearly, this allusion is a metaphor for doing something impossible.  In Ulysses, Leopold Bloom, the protagonist, compares the phrase to stopping the desires of a multitudinous and overwhelming woman.  Burkdall explains that some may believe the progression of the non-literary work to be a tsunami of exclusion, ready to engulf all writing in its path.

P.S. Now I kind of want to read Ulysses though I don't know when that will be, considering we got served a veritable harvest of homework this weekend and its over 600 pages long.

Spiderman: A Marvel Hero Deconstructed

I'm basing my analysis of Spiderman off of the Toby Maguire movies because I'm not familiar with the comic books or the cartoon series.  I chose him because he's the only Marvel hero with real powers, that wears tights my favorite Marvel hero.

Ordinary World: Peter Parker is just an ordinary human chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool.  Then his life gets flipped, turned upside-down.

Call to Adventure: Peter is bitten by a science experiment of a spider.  He gets powers overnight.  At this time, Uncle Ben is worried about how he thinks Peter is feeling a change that everybody experiences.  One might imagine puberty but I think Uncle Ben meant responsibility in regards to your individuality and capabilities.

Refusal of the Call:  When Uncle Ben first tells Peter that "With great power comes great responsibility," Peter brushes it off to win some money to impress Mary-Jane. He also allows the robber to run past him as an act of vengeance for not getting the money he deserved from the wrestling manager.   Everybody looks bad at this point of the Hero's Journey  but I think it is a natural progression of human tendency, that fear of what may be dangerous.  Actually, this tendency probably extends to all animals which explains why such an ancient habit is hard to avoid.

Meeting with the Mentor:  Unfortunately for Peter Parker, his mentor is the dying Uncle Ben.  Now, in the movie the uncle dies after repeating Peter's name, much to the chagrin of my attempted stoicism during the movie.  But, I like to think that the lack of words shared between uncle and nephew serves to emphasize the last thing he really told Peter, the most famous quote out of Spiderman.

Crossing the Threshold:  It happens pretty quickly that Spiderman crosses the threshold.  He does so when he goes after the guy he believes killed Uncle Ben, who is also the guy he let run past him.  The values of this zone are certainly different from Peter's because he carries out an act of vigilante justice by killing a man who had done wrong.  Aunt Jane is good at reminding Peter that certain morals transcend multiple personality disorder.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies:  Then, we find out that the Green Goblin is a bad guy when he tries to kill a bunch of people at the parade, including the girl-next-door.  I'm sorry Miss Watson, the Green Goblin's for real.  In that act we see that Spiderman has few active allies.  Mostly, they tell him to look at his life and look at his choices, which is all mere humans can be expected to do.  Additionally, most of the good citizens of New York City become enamored with the "Masked Menace."

Approach:  For Spiderman's training regimen, he wakes up, eats his wheaties, irons his outfit, and goes to work as your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, protecting the world from devastation.

The Ordeal:  Could it be anything than the Green Goblin iffin' to hurt Aunt May.  Peter is forced to understand that his new role as a hero will affect those around him also.  This realization is a call to arms in regards to the Green Goblin because Spiderman now understands the personal threat this villain poses.

The Reward:  Mary-Jane loves Aunt May just like Peter does, so when they see each other at the hospital, sly old Aunt May takes advantage of the situation and stays quiet while listening to the creation of a new romance being built where before there was only friendship.  Mary-Jane is the one in danger now, because she is the Big Apple of Peter's eye.*rimshot*

The Road Back:  Peter is now engaged in the active pursuit of the Green Goblin who has taken Mary-Jane to the edge of a bridge.  However much of an objectification of women it is, Peter must go retrieve and protect his prize, the thing he went to hell and back to find.  

The Resurrection:  Peter ends up beating the Green Goblin when he dodges some blades that end up killing the villain.  This particular method of beating the bad guy was integral in the justification of Spiderman's character because it made amends for having begun as the guy who killed his uncle's killer.

Return with the Elixir:  Even though we thought that Mary-Jane was the true prize, in the last scene of the movie we learn that the real prize, the one that would benefit not only Peter, but also the rest of society, was Spiderman, the one capable of defending New York City.

Vocabulary List #4

These are a week late.  My B.
Clickety-click

The Joy Luck Club- It's What's for Dinner

Ever since I first learned what The Joy Luck Club was, in what was probably sixth grade, I have intended to read it.  But whether there was another book I was digging more or I had simply forgotten it, I have never gotten around to Amy Tan's acclaimed novel.  Now, as for reasons why, because I can and because I'm interested in getting a little perspective on immigrant experiences coming into the United States.  The Chinese aspect of the novel is, however, a substitute for what I would rather read about.  I have read and been exposed to plenty Mexican immigration stories including that of my mother so, today, I'm asking all o'y'all (if there aren't just crickets reading this blog) if you have any recommendations for books about immigration from India to England, or Indians going from England to America à la Patel.

Baby's First Pathbrite Portfolio

I published my AP essays on Pathbrite without too much trouble aside from them initially being upside-down.  If you are so inclined, feel free to comment and critique.  Protip: when you're in My Computer while creating a portfolio (idk about Macintosh), click the first document you want to add and then hold shift while clicking the others to save time.  I hope someone can benefit from this knowledge and that I didn't miss the memo or something.
Here's my Pathbrite: Clickety-click

For the Sake of Diversion and Utility

The page this link takes you to will guide you through the process of emboldening, italicizing, and creating hotlinks in your comments on posts:
http://mike.brisgeek.com/2006/08/30/simple-html-for-formatting-blogger-comments/

My Portion of the Beowulf Questions

The Dragon Wakes

1.How much later does Part 2 take place? What kings have died in the meanwhile? What danger now exists?  Part 2 takes place fifty years after Beowulf returns home.  Kings Hygelac and Heardred (son of Hygelac),  have died.  The new danger is an awoken dragon.

2.Why is the dragon angry? Why did the man take a cup? How did the treasure come to be there in the first place? (The speech of the lone survivor, the one who put the gold in the barrow, is in a typically Old English elegiac tone.):  

          The dragon is angry because a man has come and taken part of his treasure, a cup, to honor his lord.  The treasures are said to have been left there after an ancient race had been pushed to the brink of death and hidden their treasures in desperation.

3.What did the dragon destroy that evening?: 

              Many buildings and homes had been destroyed by the dragon.

4.Why does Beowulf think his home was burnt? Why does he order a new shield? How will he fight this battle? What will happen to him?: 

          Beowulf thinks it's his fault that his kingdom was burnt because he must have broken some ancient law and offended God.  He wants a steel shield because a wooden one will burn in the flame of the dragon.   He will die and he will bring the dragon down with him.

5.How did Hygelac die? (The description in lines 2354-2379 begins one of several versions of Geatish history and Hygelac's death we will get.) What did Beowulf do after Hygelac's death? What happened when he returned home? Did he accept Hygd's offer to become king?: 

          Hygelac died in hand to hand combat in Frisia when they ran out of swords.  Beowulf swam away from the battle with thirty coats of mail on.  Hygd offered him the title of king because her ill son could not rule.  Beowulf accepted.

6. What happened to Hygelac's son Heardred? (That's the story in lines 2380-2390.) How did Beowulf plan to revenge Heardred's death (lines 2391-2396)? 

                 Heardred died after an attack from the Swedes landed in Geatland and is avenged when Beowulf helps kill Onela.

7.How many men accompany Beowulf as he goes to meet the dragon?  

           Eleven and the man who took the cup initially.

8.What happened to Hygelac's oldest brother Herebeald? Who killed him? What did this do to his father King Hrethel? (This passage, lines 2425-2509, is the second account of Geatish history and of the death of Hygelac.) What happened between the Swedes and Geats after Hrethel's death? What happened to Haethcyn? How die Beowulf revenge Hygelac's death?: 

             Herebeald was accidentally killed by his younger brother Haethkyn.  King Hrethel was forced to send his own son to the gallows.  He became depressed.  When he died Haethcyn was king but he died during the war between the Swedes and Geats.  Beowulf killed the Frisian king.

 Beowulf attacks the Dragon

1.What does Beowulf tell his companions to do?: 

             He tells his companions not to fight the dragon because he knows it will be his last battle.

2.What happens the first time Beowulf and the dragon fight? What do his companions do? How is Wiglaf different? What does he tell the others? What does he then do?:  

             The sword Beowulf used to attack the dragon was no use to hurt the dragon and he is engulfed in flame.  His companions run into the forest.    Wiglaf stays because he is grateful of what Beowulf has done for his family.  He tells the others how good a king Beowulf was and that if a king is to fall, his men should fall to.  He enters battle with the dragon. 

These questions were answered as part of the set our group used to complete the questions. These are my partners: Samantha Garrison, Chanel Yamaguchi, Iliana Gutierrez, and Owen Iness.

Reflections on Week One

1. The only thing that I can foresee weighing me down at the moment is the obligation to be vigilant at all times. Still, that was one of the most attractive things I had ever heard from a class so I don't see me giving in.
2. The most significant lesson I have ever learned was from my mother. She is usually so calming to behold and hear but when I was learning to play the recorder in fourth grade she was quite the opposite. I was sitting in my room with the recorder in my hands, the music book at my feet, and tears in my eyes. It was a ridiculous scene but my frustration at learning was too much for me. And, like I hoped, my mother walked in but her words were unexpected. She told me to stop my crying and try again. I didn't understand because it was the first time I had ever not understood how to do something. Yet by the time I was to perform the next day, I had learned Hot Cross Buns. This lesson always whips my mind into attention when I try to give up.
3. I suppose what I am most exciting things about the class for me is the idea that, although there is a curriculum for us to tend to, we have been enabled to direct and manipulate it into nearly anything we see fit. The use of web tools is also going to be a valuable experience in becoming familiar with freewares.

Orientation Video

Almost forgot to post this integral moment in the perspective of an individual who isn't myself because my phone seems defunct.

Não Falo Besteira

It's about time I write this.  I'm not gonna put up a façade of typical answers (unless, of course, my honest replies are actually that standard).  I signed up for this class because,  in 2010,  I found a new way to perceive the world.  Maybe I just got a little more mature, but I think it legitimately altered the way I interpret the things I see and hear.  I also took this class for the GPA boost and the AP label it carries, which is not to say that I wouldn't have taken the class otherwise.  I just know that the people who are in charge of letting me into the place I've been told to get to my whole life are not sitting in the classroom with me, understanding how innovative and immersive this class promises to be.  I'm not sure that place, a.k.a. NYU,  is gonna be worth it in the end but I  really want to be there in (arguably) the most cosmopolitan city in the world.  It's the cityscape in this blog's background and the purple at the top of the page is NYU's official purple.  But for now, back on task.

             I'm excited for the incorporation of technology into our lesson planning because we're gonna be living in this world full of wi-fi, iclouds, and video conferences.  And that's just standard at the moment.  I know that Dr. Preston is going to come through in this promise because he doesn't put things in the syllabus that aren't true like the majority of teachers. 

            Nervous? As in what makes me tense and short of breath?  Not knowing how difficult this class will be.  I'm gonna deal with whatever I'm sent but I still would like to know what's coming at me (biggest insecurity in life also.).  My personal goal in this class is to be an active participant and not sit there letting my thoughts work my stomach into a knot that isn't loosened until I escape the roomful of breathers.  Also, let's try not to procrastinate.  How many times has that goal been set?

             I expect nothing less than sophomore year.  In fact, I expect much more knowing that we've had time to learn and become (marginally) wiser since then.  My knowledge will be beefed up by thinking about things that others have thought about before.  My knowledge will be beefed up by thinking of these things alongside people who actually care about how their brain is filled and used.  Also, my thinking, I hope, will be less dogmatic and more pragmatic, while becoming more receptive.

P.S. This posts title (Portuguese) means: I do not speak nonsense.