Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Brave New World (II & III)


I actually enjoyed Chapter 2 and 3 because I was introduced to new characters and other settings rather than just a boring London factory where humans are genetically engineered. I was introduced to Lenina and Fanny. Lenina is a promiscous woman which is normal in Huxley's Brave New World because everyone belongs to one another in their society so there are no such thing as mothers or love. There is only satisfaction and orgasms brought about by constant sex within society. An interesting trait of Lenina is that even though she is bound by society to be promiscous, she likes to date only one man at a time. 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Lit Terms 82-100

82. Omniscient Point of View:  knowing all things, usually the third person.

83. Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its
meaning

84. Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox

85. Pacing:  rate of movement; tempo.

86. Parable:  a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth.

87. Paradox:  a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.

88. Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.

89. Parody:  an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.

90. Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.

91. Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.

92. Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.

93. Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.

94. Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.

95. Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point
from which the observer views what he is describing.

96. Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.

97. Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.

98. Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.

99. Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.

100. Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.

Lit Terms 101-136

101. Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightfoward manner to reflect life as it actually is.

102. Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.

103. Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.

104. Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.

105. Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.

106. Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.

107. Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.

108. Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.

109. Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.

110. Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.

111. Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.

112. Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.

113. Simile:  a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

114. Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

115. Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.

116. Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.

117. Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

118. Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

119. Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

120. Style:  the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.

121. Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language.

122. Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.

123. Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.

124. Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.

125. Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.

126. Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.

127. Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

128. Theme:  main idea of the story; its message(s).

129. Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved
or disproved; the main idea.

130. Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the        
author’s perceived point of view.

131. Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan”

132. Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed

133. Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis

134. Vernacular: everyday speech

135. Voice:  The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.

136. Zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history

Friday, February 22, 2013

First Quarter Review

a) My performance this semester has not been as good as I wished, but there have been several occasions in which I have had "no" internet access. Unfortunately I dont not know my neighbors well enough to go over and use their computers. The factor that I live near a halfway house and a house with both the people being 50/50. Yet I believe my progress with my SMART goal and my senior project is good.

b) I expect next semester to:
     - not slip up on my blog posts
     - Continue to progress with my SMART goal and my senior project
     - and with this get a better grade

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Time of My Life (Feb 2)

Today in class most of my time was spent discussing my SMART goal with my other table members. This discussion included their SMART goals as well. We talked about our progress in each of our goals and also how were are all going to prepare for the AP exam.

Whats The Story (Jan 29)

Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations to entertain his readers. It tells the story of a young man named Pip and his journey of becoming a gentlemen and his attempt to win over a beautiful woman named Estella. Dickens uses characterization so that all the characters in the book are significant in Pip's life and affect him in numerous ways. The tone of the novel differs from person to person depending on how well that person compares to Pip in his adventures to becoming a gentleman.

Dickens Map (Jan 28)

1) My reading schedule consists of reading everyday for 30 minutes.

2) AP questions
          -Why do you think this novel divided into three parts?
          - Are there any points in the novel where you hear our author slipping into tour guide?
          - If Pip had not received his "great expectations" and never left Joe's forge, how do you think his life
would have been different?
          - Given Dickens' portrayal of Estella, what do you think attracts Pip to her in the first place, and what,  when he learns of her cold-blooded manipulation of men, keeps Pip devoted to her until the end, loving her, as he says, "against reason, against promise, against peace"?
      
      Sources
    http://www.shmoop.com/great-expectations/questions.html
    http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Great-Expectations-by-Charles-Dickens-Reading-Questions

3) I think the only way i could actually get  something out of this is to remix it or do a lit analysis on it.

LIT TERMS 31-56 (Jan 25)

31. Dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.

32. Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.

33. Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.

34. Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.

35. Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.

36.Dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles.

37. Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes
contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.

38. Epic: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and aspirations of his
nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time.

39. Epigram: witty aphorism.
 
40. Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
 
41. Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that  may insult someone’s character, characteristics.
 
42. Euphemism: the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
 
43. Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.
 
 44. Exposition: beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.
 
45. Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic   representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).
 
46. Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.
 
47. Fallacy: from Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
 
48. Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
 
49. Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
 
50. Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech .
 
51. Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
 
52. Foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
 
53. Folk Tale: story passed on by word of mouth.
 
54. Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; “planning” to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
 
55. Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.
 
56. Genre: a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.

SMART GOAL (Jan 24)

My SMART goal is to pass the AP exam when it comes around and also attend a university. While there I would like to major in Mechanical engineering.

LIT TERMS 1-5 (Jan 15)

1. Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point.

 2. Alliteration: the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words.

 3. Allusion: a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects        a reader to recognize.

 4. Ambiguity: something uncertain as to interpretation.
  
5. Anachronism: something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I am Here

My progress in the class has in a way remained the same as it was before.
My progress toward my smart goal on the other hand is doing very well as I have found the career that i want to be involved in. I have thought of a couple different things to do for my senior project. The one i want to do the most is to remix a comic book.