For my Masterpiece, I worked together with Taylor Duguran, Hannah Savaso, and Kylie Sagisi to create a project that fully covered our "Senior" experience and how we worked together, and with other peers, to finish off our high school experience with as much positivity and adventures as we could.
Here is a link to our blog:
http://theadventuresofusproject.tumblr.com/
Here is a link to our Prezi which we used to showcase our experience to the class:
http://prezi.com/mjtsoqri3odi/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
And finally here is a link to our Youtube video that we put together (with major thanks to Taylor!) to really sum up what we learned from our experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnvIgZJXcPI
If you have a chance I would recommend checking out our Masterpiece, especially the Youtube video link!
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Active Reading Notes of ACT V (MACBETH)
Scene i:
-The Doctor and a maid watch as Lady Macbeth sleep walks and talks to herself
- They can tell that Lady Macbeth is troubled and feels guilty, and how she continually tries to wash her hands of "blood"
Scene ii:
- The Scottish lords prepare for battle and talk about the approaching English army, led by Malcolm, who will meet the Scottish army near Birnam Wood
- Macbeth is fortifying troops at Dunsinane Castle
Scene iii:
- Macbeth and his men are confident going into battle because “none of woman born” can harm Macbeth
- Seyton, his servant, confirms that an army of 10,000 are approaching the castle, and Macbeth wears his armor though the battle is not for a while
Scene iv:
-Near Birnam forest Malcolm prepares his men, saying that they should hold a bough in front of them to throw off the Scottish about their true numbers
Scene v:
- Macbeth is confident until he hears news that Lady Macbeth has died
- He goes into a panic when he hears that "Birnam wood is advancing too Dunsinane," which in the prophecy is when he will fall
- Macbeth accepts what will happen in the battle
Scene vi:
Preparing for battle
Scene vii:
- Macbeth is confident in battle and slays Lord Siward's son
Scene viii:
- Macduff searches for Macbeth in the fight
-The Doctor and a maid watch as Lady Macbeth sleep walks and talks to herself
- They can tell that Lady Macbeth is troubled and feels guilty, and how she continually tries to wash her hands of "blood"
Scene ii:
- The Scottish lords prepare for battle and talk about the approaching English army, led by Malcolm, who will meet the Scottish army near Birnam Wood
- Macbeth is fortifying troops at Dunsinane Castle
Scene iii:
- Macbeth and his men are confident going into battle because “none of woman born” can harm Macbeth
- Seyton, his servant, confirms that an army of 10,000 are approaching the castle, and Macbeth wears his armor though the battle is not for a while
Scene iv:
-Near Birnam forest Malcolm prepares his men, saying that they should hold a bough in front of them to throw off the Scottish about their true numbers
Scene v:
- Macbeth is confident until he hears news that Lady Macbeth has died
- He goes into a panic when he hears that "Birnam wood is advancing too Dunsinane," which in the prophecy is when he will fall
- Macbeth accepts what will happen in the battle
Scene vi:
Preparing for battle
Scene vii:
- Macbeth is confident in battle and slays Lord Siward's son
Scene viii:
- Macduff searches for Macbeth in the fight
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Active Reading Notes of ACT IV (MACBETH)
Scene i:
- The three witches are mixing the cauldron when Hecate stops and congratulates them on their work
- A witch warns "something wicked this way comes" and Macbeth appears, demanding to hear a prophecy
- The first one is of a head warning him against Macduff, which he says he already knows
- Second a bloody child appears and says “none of woman born / shall harm Macbeth”
- Third a crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe and secure until "Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill"
- Fourth a line of 8 kings walks by, with Banquo in the end and carrying a mirror. Macbeth demands to know the meaning but the witches do not give him any hints
- The witches vanish and then Lennox appears, telling Macbeth that Macduff fled, whose castle Macbeth plans to attack and kill his women and children and anyone else
Scene ii:
- In Lady Macduff's castle, Lady Macduff asks Ross why her husband has fled, which he responds that she needs to just trust his judgement
- Lady Macduff does not respect this response, and after Ross regretfully leaves asks her son how he will live without a father. The son is clever and knows that his father is not dead, and answers this
- A messenger enters and tells Lady Macbeth she needs to flee, but she refuses to, saying that she has done "no wrong"
- Murderers enter and ask where Macduff is and Lady Macduff answers "I hope, in no place so unsanctified/ Where such as thou mayst find him."
- One murderer insults Macduff and his son stands up for him and gets stabbed and begs his mother to run away
- Scene ends with Lady Macduff running from the murderers
Scene iii:
- Malcolm tries to test Macduff's loyalty by telling him every reason that Malcolm feels that he himself is unjust to govern Scotland, saying that he is even worse then Macbeth
- Macduff first disagrees with him, saying it is not possible for anyone to be more evil then Macbeth but eventually cried "O Scotland, Scotland" after Malcolm continues to list his vices
- He says that Malcolm is not fit to govern, or even fit to live
- Macduff's loyalty to his country makes Malcolm trust him and he no longer fears that Macduff was secretly working for Macbeth
- Ross arrives and tells them of the state of Scotland, saying it gets worse every minute because of Macbeth
- When asked, he tells Macduff that his children and wife are well, but later goes back on his word and tells Malcolm and Macduff that both their families have been slaughtered by Macbeth's men
- Macduff starts to greatly grieve and Ross recommends that he turns his grief into violence so that he can take down Macbeth
- The three witches are mixing the cauldron when Hecate stops and congratulates them on their work
- A witch warns "something wicked this way comes" and Macbeth appears, demanding to hear a prophecy
- The first one is of a head warning him against Macduff, which he says he already knows
- Second a bloody child appears and says “none of woman born / shall harm Macbeth”
- Third a crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe and secure until "Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill"
- Fourth a line of 8 kings walks by, with Banquo in the end and carrying a mirror. Macbeth demands to know the meaning but the witches do not give him any hints
- The witches vanish and then Lennox appears, telling Macbeth that Macduff fled, whose castle Macbeth plans to attack and kill his women and children and anyone else
Scene ii:
- In Lady Macduff's castle, Lady Macduff asks Ross why her husband has fled, which he responds that she needs to just trust his judgement
- Lady Macduff does not respect this response, and after Ross regretfully leaves asks her son how he will live without a father. The son is clever and knows that his father is not dead, and answers this
- A messenger enters and tells Lady Macbeth she needs to flee, but she refuses to, saying that she has done "no wrong"
- Murderers enter and ask where Macduff is and Lady Macduff answers "I hope, in no place so unsanctified/ Where such as thou mayst find him."
- One murderer insults Macduff and his son stands up for him and gets stabbed and begs his mother to run away
- Scene ends with Lady Macduff running from the murderers
Scene iii:
- Malcolm tries to test Macduff's loyalty by telling him every reason that Malcolm feels that he himself is unjust to govern Scotland, saying that he is even worse then Macbeth
- Macduff first disagrees with him, saying it is not possible for anyone to be more evil then Macbeth but eventually cried "O Scotland, Scotland" after Malcolm continues to list his vices
- He says that Malcolm is not fit to govern, or even fit to live
- Macduff's loyalty to his country makes Malcolm trust him and he no longer fears that Macduff was secretly working for Macbeth
- Ross arrives and tells them of the state of Scotland, saying it gets worse every minute because of Macbeth
- When asked, he tells Macduff that his children and wife are well, but later goes back on his word and tells Malcolm and Macduff that both their families have been slaughtered by Macbeth's men
- Macduff starts to greatly grieve and Ross recommends that he turns his grief into violence so that he can take down Macbeth
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Active Reading Notes of ACT III (MACBETH)
Scene i:
- Banquo notes that so far the witches prophecy has been correct, but fears that some foul play has been involved
- He next wonders if because the first part became true, if it will be true that his son will become King
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth invite Banquo to dinner that night, and he says he will be horseback riding before
- We learn that Macbeth feels that Banquo is a threat to him and that Macbeth wants to kill him because Macbeth feels guilty and is slowly loosing his mind. He is also jealous that Banquo still has a clear conscience
- Macbeth now seen as a bad/diseased person who sees the world with violence that is not there
- Macbeth hires murderers to go after Banquo, trying to bring them to action by telling them wrong doings Banquo did against them
- Macbeth sends the murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance
Scene ii:
- During a talk between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says that he is still not content with their work because there are still threats to eliminate
- Macbeth states that he has planned “a deed of dreadful note” for Banquo and Fleance and tells his wife to be jovial with Banquo at the feast to he slips into a false sense of security
Scene iii:
- The murderers wait outside the castle walls for Banquo and Fleance and are able to kill Banquo, but his son escapes
- As Banquo dies he yells for his son to avenge his death
Scene iv:
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter the hall and Macbeth hears from a murderer that Banquo has been slain but his son escaped
- This sets Macbeth into a type of frenzy because he feels even less secure; the word "safe" is used repeatedly to mean "dead"
- Macbeth enters the feast and is the only one that sees Banquo's ghost in his seat
- He makes such a scene that Lady Macbeth is led to insult him by asking him if he is a man
- It is Macbeth's guilt that leads him to see Banquo, for he says "Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!/ Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;/ Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/ Which thou dost glare with!"
- Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to go to sleep and he promises in the morning to find the three witches and learn more about his future
Scene v:
- Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, comes to scold the witches for making contact with Macbeth, saying that they did not show him the full potential of their power, but plan to the following day when they know he will come to visit them
- In Hecate's speech you say that there is a rhyming scheme where the last word of two lines at a time rhymes
Scene vi:
- Lennox and a lord talk about the status of the Kingdom
- Fleance has been blamed for his fathers deaths, but Lennox feels that Macbeth may be guilty for both Banquo and Duncan's deaths
- Macduff and Malcolm, Duncan's sons, have gone to the King in England and requested help for defeating Macbeth, which has led to Macbeth preparing for war
- Banquo notes that so far the witches prophecy has been correct, but fears that some foul play has been involved
- He next wonders if because the first part became true, if it will be true that his son will become King
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth invite Banquo to dinner that night, and he says he will be horseback riding before
- We learn that Macbeth feels that Banquo is a threat to him and that Macbeth wants to kill him because Macbeth feels guilty and is slowly loosing his mind. He is also jealous that Banquo still has a clear conscience
- Macbeth now seen as a bad/diseased person who sees the world with violence that is not there
- Macbeth hires murderers to go after Banquo, trying to bring them to action by telling them wrong doings Banquo did against them
- Macbeth sends the murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance
Scene ii:
- During a talk between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says that he is still not content with their work because there are still threats to eliminate
- Macbeth states that he has planned “a deed of dreadful note” for Banquo and Fleance and tells his wife to be jovial with Banquo at the feast to he slips into a false sense of security
Scene iii:
- The murderers wait outside the castle walls for Banquo and Fleance and are able to kill Banquo, but his son escapes
- As Banquo dies he yells for his son to avenge his death
Scene iv:
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter the hall and Macbeth hears from a murderer that Banquo has been slain but his son escaped
- This sets Macbeth into a type of frenzy because he feels even less secure; the word "safe" is used repeatedly to mean "dead"
- Macbeth enters the feast and is the only one that sees Banquo's ghost in his seat
- He makes such a scene that Lady Macbeth is led to insult him by asking him if he is a man
- It is Macbeth's guilt that leads him to see Banquo, for he says "Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!/ Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;/ Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/ Which thou dost glare with!"
- Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to go to sleep and he promises in the morning to find the three witches and learn more about his future
Scene v:
- Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, comes to scold the witches for making contact with Macbeth, saying that they did not show him the full potential of their power, but plan to the following day when they know he will come to visit them
- In Hecate's speech you say that there is a rhyming scheme where the last word of two lines at a time rhymes
Scene vi:
- Lennox and a lord talk about the status of the Kingdom
- Fleance has been blamed for his fathers deaths, but Lennox feels that Macbeth may be guilty for both Banquo and Duncan's deaths
- Macduff and Malcolm, Duncan's sons, have gone to the King in England and requested help for defeating Macbeth, which has led to Macbeth preparing for war
Monday, April 7, 2014
LITERATURE ANALYSIS #6
The book I chose to do my literature analysis on was The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.
1) This book is divided into four different sections with women from four different families narrating a chapter in each section. In the first chapter of section one you learn about the origin of the Joy Luck Club, which was started by Jing-Mei Woo, who is planning on going to China to meet her half-sisters. Next, you meet An-Mei Hsu who stays with her grandmother after being abandoned by her mother. Her mother returns only to leave again because she is unwelcome. Next, there is Lindo Jong who is at a young age given to another family so that she will marry their son. After getting married, Lindo manages to break up the marriage and escape to America. Next is Ying-Ying St. Clair, who attends the Moon Festival as a child but falls off the boat. In the next two sections you meet these four women's daughters, Waverly Jong, Lena St. Clair, Rose Hsu Jordan, and Jing-Mei Woo. You learn about how Waverly was a chess master as a young girl, but abruptly quit after too much pressure form her mother and about her struggle to share with her mother her new relationship with a man named Rich after her failed first marriage. Lena has to cope with her mother's failed pregnancy and high tension level in the family following, along with a controlling husband who does not treat her as his equal. Rose must deal with the tragedy of her younger brother Bing being swept into the ocean, and later with a divorce suggested by her husband that she later realizes is because he has a new woman in his life. Jing-Mei deals with her over-bearing mother who tried to force her into learning the piano and later in life with her general feeling that she is a failure. In the last section we learn about the mother's perception of the events going on in their and their daughters lives, as well as what happens when Jing-Mei goes to visit her half-sisters.
2) The theme of this novel can be identified as "The Challenges of Cultural Translation."
1) This book is divided into four different sections with women from four different families narrating a chapter in each section. In the first chapter of section one you learn about the origin of the Joy Luck Club, which was started by Jing-Mei Woo, who is planning on going to China to meet her half-sisters. Next, you meet An-Mei Hsu who stays with her grandmother after being abandoned by her mother. Her mother returns only to leave again because she is unwelcome. Next, there is Lindo Jong who is at a young age given to another family so that she will marry their son. After getting married, Lindo manages to break up the marriage and escape to America. Next is Ying-Ying St. Clair, who attends the Moon Festival as a child but falls off the boat. In the next two sections you meet these four women's daughters, Waverly Jong, Lena St. Clair, Rose Hsu Jordan, and Jing-Mei Woo. You learn about how Waverly was a chess master as a young girl, but abruptly quit after too much pressure form her mother and about her struggle to share with her mother her new relationship with a man named Rich after her failed first marriage. Lena has to cope with her mother's failed pregnancy and high tension level in the family following, along with a controlling husband who does not treat her as his equal. Rose must deal with the tragedy of her younger brother Bing being swept into the ocean, and later with a divorce suggested by her husband that she later realizes is because he has a new woman in his life. Jing-Mei deals with her over-bearing mother who tried to force her into learning the piano and later in life with her general feeling that she is a failure. In the last section we learn about the mother's perception of the events going on in their and their daughters lives, as well as what happens when Jing-Mei goes to visit her half-sisters.
2) The theme of this novel can be identified as "The Challenges of Cultural Translation."
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Active Reading Notes of ACT II (MACBETH)
Scene i:
- Fleance and Banquo are walking around the castle at midnight, because Banquo can not sleep, when they run into Macbeth
- Banquo says he dreamed that the witches "revealed some truth" to Macbeth but Macbeth claims to not be in contact with them, and they agree to discuss the witches at a later time
- Macbeth sees a floating dagger appear in the hallway pointing towards Duncan, but comes to the conclusion that is it a figment of his imagination saying "A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/ Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"
Scene ii:
- Lady Macbeth takes pride in her part of the murder (she laid out the daggers) and says she would have done it herself if the sleeping King hadn't "looked like her father"
- Macbeth kills Duncan and comes out of his bedroom nervous and fearful, holding the daggers and with blood on his hands
- He claims to have heard a voice say "'Sleep no more!/ Macbeth does murder sleep' "after killing Duncan
- Lady Macbeth chides Macbeth for not leaving the daggers next to the watch guards and goes to do it herself, exiting the bedroom saying "My hands are of your colour; but I shame/ To wear a heart so white"
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hear a repeated knocking and decide to go to bed to escape suspicion
Scene iii:
- Macduff and Lennox enter the house late at night by the Porter, and Macduff asks to go see Duncan
- Lennox makes several comments to Macbeth about how bad the storm was that night, and
Macduff comes rushing out of Duncan's bedroom saying he has been slain
- The rest of the lords are awoken and Duncan's sons (Malcolm and Donalbain) arrive
- Macbeth claims that he killed the two guards, who had the daggers, in rage, which Macduff finds suspicious
- Macbeth says "Had I but died an hour before this chance,/ I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant,/ There 's nothing serious in mortality:/ All is but toys: renown and grace is dead;/ The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees/ Is left this vault to brag of" toward the event
- Duncan's sons make plans to flee, fearing that they will be targeted next
Scene iv:
- Ross and an old man talk about the strange occurrences since the King's death
- Macduff arrives and shares how Macbeth has been chosen to be King, and that there is suspicion that it was Duncan's sons that hired the guards to kill Duncan because they fled after
- Fleance and Banquo are walking around the castle at midnight, because Banquo can not sleep, when they run into Macbeth
- Banquo says he dreamed that the witches "revealed some truth" to Macbeth but Macbeth claims to not be in contact with them, and they agree to discuss the witches at a later time
- Macbeth sees a floating dagger appear in the hallway pointing towards Duncan, but comes to the conclusion that is it a figment of his imagination saying "A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/ Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"
Scene ii:
- Lady Macbeth takes pride in her part of the murder (she laid out the daggers) and says she would have done it herself if the sleeping King hadn't "looked like her father"
- Macbeth kills Duncan and comes out of his bedroom nervous and fearful, holding the daggers and with blood on his hands
- He claims to have heard a voice say "'Sleep no more!/ Macbeth does murder sleep' "after killing Duncan
- Lady Macbeth chides Macbeth for not leaving the daggers next to the watch guards and goes to do it herself, exiting the bedroom saying "My hands are of your colour; but I shame/ To wear a heart so white"
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hear a repeated knocking and decide to go to bed to escape suspicion
Scene iii:
- Macduff and Lennox enter the house late at night by the Porter, and Macduff asks to go see Duncan
- Lennox makes several comments to Macbeth about how bad the storm was that night, and
Macduff comes rushing out of Duncan's bedroom saying he has been slain
- The rest of the lords are awoken and Duncan's sons (Malcolm and Donalbain) arrive
- Macbeth claims that he killed the two guards, who had the daggers, in rage, which Macduff finds suspicious
- Macbeth says "Had I but died an hour before this chance,/ I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant,/ There 's nothing serious in mortality:/ All is but toys: renown and grace is dead;/ The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees/ Is left this vault to brag of" toward the event
- Duncan's sons make plans to flee, fearing that they will be targeted next
Scene iv:
- Ross and an old man talk about the strange occurrences since the King's death
- Macduff arrives and shares how Macbeth has been chosen to be King, and that there is suspicion that it was Duncan's sons that hired the guards to kill Duncan because they fled after
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
WHAT ABOUT MY MASTERPIECE?
I feel that in the last two weeks my group and I have really started off our Masterpiece project off strong. We created a blog on Tumblr ( theadventuresofus.tumblr.com ) and already have 50+ posts, most of them pictures and quotes of past memorable events in our lives, but as time has been progressing our posts have became a lot more current. We are yet to meet together for one of our planned activities, but I am hopeful that we will in the distant future. Though we are really starting to get together the content and posts for our project, I hope that soon we will be able to take the next step and plan out "adventures" together, while influencing the community positively.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Active Reading Notes of ACT I (MACBETH)
Scene i:
- Three witches appear and plan to meet again to discuss Macbeth
- Leave with "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Scene ii:
- At a military camp King Duncan of Scotland asks wounded solider about battle
- Soldier says that Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage and violence, and goes into detail how Macbeth violently killed the traitorous Macdonwald
- The thane of Ross enters and tells the king that the traitorous thane of Cawdor and his Norwegian arms have been defeated
- Duncan decrees that the thane of Cawdor be put to death and that Macbeth given Cawdor’s title
- Ross leaves to deliver the news to Macbeth.
Scene iii:
- Three witches meet near battlefield, meet with Macbeth and Banquo
- They declare Macbeth the thane of Glamis (original title) and thane of Cawdor, which surprises Macbeth
- Also declare that he will be King someday
- Banquo asks for fortune and witches tell him that he is “lesser than Macbeth, and greater,” and “not so happy, yet much happier”
- Also tell Banquo that he will never be king but that his children will
- Ross arrives and tells Macbeth about his new status as thane of Cawdor
- Macbeth and Banquo are skeptical of their prophecies and promise to discuss them later
Scene iv:
- When Macbeth returns to the kingdom he is greatly thanked by Duncan for his heroism, and invites him to have dinner at his castle
Scene v:
- In the castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth talking about his new position and the witches prophecies
- Lady Macbeth fears Macbeth is too full of “th’ milk of human kindness," though she knows he is ambitious, and decides to take whatever steps she must so that Macbeth gets the crown
- She makes the comment that “you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty,” so she can become less feminine and take the necessary steps for Macbeth to become King
Scene vi:
-Duncan arrives and comments positively on the castle and Macbeth himself
Scene vii:
- Alone, Macbeth ponders the idea of killing Duncan saying "He’s here in double trust: / First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself."
- Macbeth realizes that his actions would set off a terrible chain of events, and really only driven by his ambition
- When Lady Macbeth enters Macbeth says he calls off the plan
- Lady Macbeth reacts negatively, saying he is a coward
- When Macbeth asks her what will happen if they fail she promises that as long as they are bold, they will be successful.
- Lady Macbeth says her plan is that while Duncan sleeps, she will give his guards wine to make them drunk, and then she and Macbeth can slip in and murder Duncan. They will smear the blood of Duncan on the sleeping guards to make them appear guilty
- Three witches appear and plan to meet again to discuss Macbeth
- Leave with "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Scene ii:
- At a military camp King Duncan of Scotland asks wounded solider about battle
- Soldier says that Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage and violence, and goes into detail how Macbeth violently killed the traitorous Macdonwald
- The thane of Ross enters and tells the king that the traitorous thane of Cawdor and his Norwegian arms have been defeated
- Duncan decrees that the thane of Cawdor be put to death and that Macbeth given Cawdor’s title
- Ross leaves to deliver the news to Macbeth.
Scene iii:
- Three witches meet near battlefield, meet with Macbeth and Banquo
- They declare Macbeth the thane of Glamis (original title) and thane of Cawdor, which surprises Macbeth
- Also declare that he will be King someday
- Banquo asks for fortune and witches tell him that he is “lesser than Macbeth, and greater,” and “not so happy, yet much happier”
- Also tell Banquo that he will never be king but that his children will
- Ross arrives and tells Macbeth about his new status as thane of Cawdor
- Macbeth and Banquo are skeptical of their prophecies and promise to discuss them later
Scene iv:
- When Macbeth returns to the kingdom he is greatly thanked by Duncan for his heroism, and invites him to have dinner at his castle
Scene v:
- In the castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth talking about his new position and the witches prophecies
- Lady Macbeth fears Macbeth is too full of “th’ milk of human kindness," though she knows he is ambitious, and decides to take whatever steps she must so that Macbeth gets the crown
- She makes the comment that “you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty,” so she can become less feminine and take the necessary steps for Macbeth to become King
Scene vi:
-Duncan arrives and comments positively on the castle and Macbeth himself
Scene vii:
- Alone, Macbeth ponders the idea of killing Duncan saying "He’s here in double trust: / First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself."
- Macbeth realizes that his actions would set off a terrible chain of events, and really only driven by his ambition
- When Lady Macbeth enters Macbeth says he calls off the plan
- Lady Macbeth reacts negatively, saying he is a coward
- When Macbeth asks her what will happen if they fail she promises that as long as they are bold, they will be successful.
- Lady Macbeth says her plan is that while Duncan sleeps, she will give his guards wine to make them drunk, and then she and Macbeth can slip in and murder Duncan. They will smear the blood of Duncan on the sleeping guards to make them appear guilty
Monday, March 31, 2014
MEET MACBETH
Macbeth is indirectly/directly introduced through two men talking about his actions during a battle. They talk about his violent actions and the brutal way he finished off his enemies, but use a positive word, "brave," to describe him. Later when Macbeth and Banquo are greeted by the three wishes is Macbeth more indirectly characterized as hesitant and unwilling when greeted with his new future as a king. Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth sets an untrusting and dark tone to the play, along with the witches hint that "Fair is foul and foul is fair." From Macbeth'd conduct you get the idea that he may he unwilling to carry out his fate and more soft-hearted and repenting than his character is initially introduced to be.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
SEEKING MENTOR
I think it would be most beneficial to my Masterpiece and myself to ask my mentors more questions about what exactly it is they specialize in. All of my possible mentors have field that they excel in, like knowledge about hiking or putting events together, and hopefully they will pass on their knowledge to myself and my other group members so that we can put our Masterpiece project into full swing.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
MY MACBETH RESOURCES
1) Sparknotes as an easy outline to follow
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/
2) Shakespeare online with helpful analysis
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbethscenes.html
3) Shmoop with a modern-day approach to the information
http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/
4) Macbeth Unplugged with a very in depth look at the play
http://library.thinkquest.org/2888/
5) Shakespeare on About.com with what people usually come away with when looking at the play
http://shakespeare.about.com/od/macbeth/a/Macbeth_Character_Analysis.htm
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/
2) Shakespeare online with helpful analysis
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbethscenes.html
3) Shmoop with a modern-day approach to the information
http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/
4) Macbeth Unplugged with a very in depth look at the play
http://library.thinkquest.org/2888/
5) Shakespeare on About.com with what people usually come away with when looking at the play
http://shakespeare.about.com/od/macbeth/a/Macbeth_Character_Analysis.htm
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Essay Brainstorming
PROMPT
1979 Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of
recognized literary merit who might, on the basis of the character’s actions alone,
be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and
why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react moresympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.
The # 1 step for developing a good essay is to look at the main ideas/words of the prompt, which I highlighted. I decided that the character John Savage from Brave New World would best fit this prompt.
ACTIONS ALONE:
- He whips/ punishes himself
- He doesn't believe in premarital sex or the in-taking of soma
- He is isolated
- He reads
IMMORAL:
- You get this from the other character's responses to him
- Even called 'the savage'
- Starts a free soma riot
- Hangs himself
SYMPATHETIC:
- Readers own personal morality aligns more with John then the rest of the society
- John is persecuted/ made to feel bad, sets in instinct to root for the underdog
- Transparent thinking
- He reads what we read (Shakespeare)
Some literary techniques I could apply to these three basic categories would be:
1 - Indirect characterization, point of view, tone, figurative language
2 - Indirect characterization, doubleness of character, chiasmus, juxtaposition, cognitive characters, dissonance, conflict
3 - Connotation, allusion, foil, wo/man vs. society, mood
1979 Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of
recognized literary merit who might, on the basis of the character’s actions alone,
be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and
why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react moresympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.
The # 1 step for developing a good essay is to look at the main ideas/words of the prompt, which I highlighted. I decided that the character John Savage from Brave New World would best fit this prompt.
ACTIONS ALONE:
- He whips/ punishes himself
- He doesn't believe in premarital sex or the in-taking of soma
- He is isolated
- He reads
IMMORAL:
- You get this from the other character's responses to him
- Even called 'the savage'
- Starts a free soma riot
- Hangs himself
SYMPATHETIC:
- Readers own personal morality aligns more with John then the rest of the society
- John is persecuted/ made to feel bad, sets in instinct to root for the underdog
- Transparent thinking
- He reads what we read (Shakespeare)
Some literary techniques I could apply to these three basic categories would be:
1 - Indirect characterization, point of view, tone, figurative language
2 - Indirect characterization, doubleness of character, chiasmus, juxtaposition, cognitive characters, dissonance, conflict
3 - Connotation, allusion, foil, wo/man vs. society, mood
Monday, March 10, 2014
10 QUESTIONS
1) How did you begin to gain expertise in this field?
2) What do you recommend to those wanting to pursue a project in _______?
3) What are problems you encounter?
4) Is it passion or a desire to succeed that drives you in this field? (Or both.)
5) Do you feel that what you know in this field is applicable to what you envision yourself doing as a career?
6) Do you find it rewarding to work in this field?
7) What advice could you give me for pursuing a project in your field?
8) What is it that you wish you could do more of in this field?
9) What kinds of project do you feel could make the most impact?
10) What types of things can you think of that could make changes to everyday life in this field?
2) What do you recommend to those wanting to pursue a project in _______?
3) What are problems you encounter?
4) Is it passion or a desire to succeed that drives you in this field? (Or both.)
5) Do you feel that what you know in this field is applicable to what you envision yourself doing as a career?
6) Do you find it rewarding to work in this field?
7) What advice could you give me for pursuing a project in your field?
8) What is it that you wish you could do more of in this field?
9) What kinds of project do you feel could make the most impact?
10) What types of things can you think of that could make changes to everyday life in this field?
Friday, February 28, 2014
LITERATURE ANALYSIS #5
I chose to do my literature analysis on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
1) The exposition of this novel starts with developing the World State, a society in the future where there is no families or love, and humans are mass-produced and assigned to different ranks. The novel starts with a group of students touring the Hatchery, where the humans are produced. We are introduced to Lenina, who having relations with a man named Henry Foster. Wanting to explore other men, Lenina accepts a man named Benard's invitation to go to a Savage Reserve. When Benard goes to ask the Director for permission to visit the reserve, the Director tells him a story about a woman that he lost while he took a trip there. On the reservation, Lenina and Bernard encounter Savages, whose life-styles vary widely from theirs. They meet Linda, the woman the Director had relations with, and her son John who they bring back to the World State in an attempt to embarrass the Director. The society finds Linda a disgust, but John mildly amusing, though he grows to hate the society's morals and ideals. Lenina begins to develop feelings for John and attempts to seduce him, but John is so digested by her actions and her willingness to engage in premarital sex that he chases her away. He runs to the hospital, where he watches Linda die from her continued overdosage of soma. He becomes furious, especially because no one seems to care that Linda has passed, and holds a free-soma riot along with Bernard's friend Helmholtz, which lands them all, including Bernard, in the Controller's office, enemies of the State. John and the Controller debate the state of the society and John chooses to not follow Bernard and Helmholtz to the island they are sent to. He instead takes refuge in an abandoned light house, where he is free to take part in the rituals of his old life. This fascinated the World State members, who come to watch him and eventually push him towards suicide, ending the novel.
2) The major theme is "The Incompatibility of Happiness and Truth." This theme majorly becomes evident through the Controller and Johns debate about the problems of the World State's ideals. In creating humans, the top leaders program the children so that they do not fully experience emotions, both the positive and negative sides of them. They are not taught how to love, but instead taught to pleasure themselves through as many sexual partners as they please, saying "Everyone belongs to everyone." The Controllers do this because they have realized that when people are aware of suffering and aware that they could be "something more," they will never truly be happy. By developing people to want nothing more then the social class they are assigned to, people don't know that there is more to life than what they know, and therefore are content.
3) The tone of the novel is Dramatic/ Parodic. Certain scenes of the novel are very dark and intense, but at the same time in a sense mocking our society. Many of the ideas/ concepts of the novel are so ridiculous you almost can't help but laugh, though in the novel there is no humor in their context. In part 2 of Ch 5 (Page 85) Bernard takes part in a "Orgy-porgy," which is so ridiculous you have to laugh. " 'Orgy-porgy,' the dancers caught up in the liturgical refrain, 'Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, kiss the girls...' " Another example in Ch 13 is when Lenina makes a mistake when developing the embryos and the text reads "Twenty-two years, eight months, and four days from that moment, a promising young Alpha-Minus administrator at Mwanza-Mwanza was to die of trypanosomiasis." A last example is Ch 2 when the Director talks to the new students about mothers. " 'Humans used to be...' he hesitated; the blood rushed to his cheeks. 'Well they used to be quite viviparous.' "
4)
1. Allusion:
There are a few examples of allusion in the novel. Many of the slogans implanted on the citizens minds are corrupted versions of things said in society today. Examples would be “A gramme in time saves nine,” or, “A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away.”
2. Satire:
Satire is doubtlessly the most prominent literary element in the novel. The entire premise for the plot is a criticism of values that Huxley observed society of his time was heading towards. Huxley sarcastically addresses the consumer-driven world of today, saying “Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption. It’s madness. Nowadays the Controllers won’t approve of any new game unless it can be shown that it requires at least as much apparatus as the most complicated of existing games.”
3. Setting:“A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.” Through the harsh description of the setting of Brave New World comes to characterize the surrounding World State society as well as its values of: COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.
4. Rhyming scheme/Free Rhyme verse: “Bottle of mine, it's you I've always wanted! Bottle of mine, why was I ever decanted? Skies are blue inside of you, The weather's always fine; For There ain't no Bottle in all the world Like that dear little Bottle of mine.” Not long enough to qualify as a sonnet, the rhyming scheme however cleverly creates a catchy means by which readers can get the sense that even their “folk-songs” are merely propagandist spirituals.
5. Figurative Language:
Throughout the novel Huxley uses animal names to refer to the members of the World State, which you can take to mean negatively. He uses the names of birds and insects to get across the idea that, like animals, the people have no feelings or compassion that drive them, only instincts.
6. Connotation:
The connotation of the morals and ideals that we see in different charters in the World State helps readers to understand which of these characters would be found socially acceptable or not. We agree more with John's ideals, but in the World State the connotations of his beliefs lead him to be an outcast.
7. Foil:
In many ways John acts as a foil to Bernard. Though they both question the social norm, Bernard is all talk and thoughts while John is all action. Bernard is intelligent and can change himself to fit into the World State, while John is all emotion and passion and can not seem to change his ideals so that he is not an outcast.
8. Point of View:
Depending on your point of view, you also can see the main characters like John and Bernard in several different lights. John can easily be seen as a heroic fighter for morality and compassion, as well as an emotional idiot who has the right ideas but the wrong ways of making an impact with those ideas.
9. Personification:
“The roses were in bloom, two nightingales soliloquized in the boskage, a cuckoo was just going out of tune among the lime trees. The air was drowsy with the murmur of bees and helicopters.” Huxley at times engages in beautiful bouts of imagery laden figurative language to juxtapose the otherwise cruel and grey atmosphere of the novel. The personification in this passage with the soliquizing flowers and drowsy air, creates a mood contrasting with the overall foreboding feeling of oppression prevalent in the book.
10. Tone:
“The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber. The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Cold, clinical the tone of Brave New World is sterile in it’s diction, even the similes/figurative language set an overall mood of a dead humanity.
CHARACTERIZATION:
1) Direct Characterization for Bernard: "The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects." Direct Characterization of Helmholtz "...Helmholtz Watson had also become aware of his difference from the people who surrounded him."
Both Bernard and Helmholtz are directly states as outsiders, which gives readers the lasting impression that they are different from the other members of the society.
Indirect Characterization of John the Savage takes place when he rejects Lenina's invitation of sex, which shows he is truly against the morals of the society, even the things that appeal to him on even a physical level. Indirect Characterization of Henry takes place when he flies extremely close to the ocean, which shows that he is deep down against the World State ideals as well, but does t have the right outlet for his feelings and is afraid to truly show his ideas and be punished.
2. "Anywhere. I don't care. So long as I can be alone,""But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, i want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin,"In these two examples we see a shift in the syntax of John the Savage's speech. Instead of speaking in eloquent sentences, his speech becomes short and almost exasperated. It conveys a quickened pace and it almost seems as if he is out of breath. It strongly reflects the idea that there is so much running though his mind and that all of his senses are overloading and becoming too difficult to process.
3) It could be argued that there is several different protagonists to this play, but the major one would be John the Savage. John grows up on the reservation, and therefore has certain ideas about love, sex, religion, compassion, and what his meaning in life is. I would argue that John is in some ways a static character because though he is opened up to many different ideas through his time in the World State, in the end he has the same ideas about what is right and wrong.
4) At the end of the book I mostly came away feeling like I met characters because what takes place in the book is so far-fetched its really hard to imagine anyone thinking and feeling that way, though Huxley does a great job of making it realistic. An example is the conformation between Lenina and John, where she is desperately trying to seduce him while he violently tried to fight his urges.
1) The exposition of this novel starts with developing the World State, a society in the future where there is no families or love, and humans are mass-produced and assigned to different ranks. The novel starts with a group of students touring the Hatchery, where the humans are produced. We are introduced to Lenina, who having relations with a man named Henry Foster. Wanting to explore other men, Lenina accepts a man named Benard's invitation to go to a Savage Reserve. When Benard goes to ask the Director for permission to visit the reserve, the Director tells him a story about a woman that he lost while he took a trip there. On the reservation, Lenina and Bernard encounter Savages, whose life-styles vary widely from theirs. They meet Linda, the woman the Director had relations with, and her son John who they bring back to the World State in an attempt to embarrass the Director. The society finds Linda a disgust, but John mildly amusing, though he grows to hate the society's morals and ideals. Lenina begins to develop feelings for John and attempts to seduce him, but John is so digested by her actions and her willingness to engage in premarital sex that he chases her away. He runs to the hospital, where he watches Linda die from her continued overdosage of soma. He becomes furious, especially because no one seems to care that Linda has passed, and holds a free-soma riot along with Bernard's friend Helmholtz, which lands them all, including Bernard, in the Controller's office, enemies of the State. John and the Controller debate the state of the society and John chooses to not follow Bernard and Helmholtz to the island they are sent to. He instead takes refuge in an abandoned light house, where he is free to take part in the rituals of his old life. This fascinated the World State members, who come to watch him and eventually push him towards suicide, ending the novel.
2) The major theme is "The Incompatibility of Happiness and Truth." This theme majorly becomes evident through the Controller and Johns debate about the problems of the World State's ideals. In creating humans, the top leaders program the children so that they do not fully experience emotions, both the positive and negative sides of them. They are not taught how to love, but instead taught to pleasure themselves through as many sexual partners as they please, saying "Everyone belongs to everyone." The Controllers do this because they have realized that when people are aware of suffering and aware that they could be "something more," they will never truly be happy. By developing people to want nothing more then the social class they are assigned to, people don't know that there is more to life than what they know, and therefore are content.
3) The tone of the novel is Dramatic/ Parodic. Certain scenes of the novel are very dark and intense, but at the same time in a sense mocking our society. Many of the ideas/ concepts of the novel are so ridiculous you almost can't help but laugh, though in the novel there is no humor in their context. In part 2 of Ch 5 (Page 85) Bernard takes part in a "Orgy-porgy," which is so ridiculous you have to laugh. " 'Orgy-porgy,' the dancers caught up in the liturgical refrain, 'Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, kiss the girls...' " Another example in Ch 13 is when Lenina makes a mistake when developing the embryos and the text reads "Twenty-two years, eight months, and four days from that moment, a promising young Alpha-Minus administrator at Mwanza-Mwanza was to die of trypanosomiasis." A last example is Ch 2 when the Director talks to the new students about mothers. " 'Humans used to be...' he hesitated; the blood rushed to his cheeks. 'Well they used to be quite viviparous.' "
4)
1. Allusion:
There are a few examples of allusion in the novel. Many of the slogans implanted on the citizens minds are corrupted versions of things said in society today. Examples would be “A gramme in time saves nine,” or, “A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away.”
2. Satire:
Satire is doubtlessly the most prominent literary element in the novel. The entire premise for the plot is a criticism of values that Huxley observed society of his time was heading towards. Huxley sarcastically addresses the consumer-driven world of today, saying “Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption. It’s madness. Nowadays the Controllers won’t approve of any new game unless it can be shown that it requires at least as much apparatus as the most complicated of existing games.”
3. Setting:“A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.” Through the harsh description of the setting of Brave New World comes to characterize the surrounding World State society as well as its values of: COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.
4. Rhyming scheme/Free Rhyme verse: “Bottle of mine, it's you I've always wanted! Bottle of mine, why was I ever decanted? Skies are blue inside of you, The weather's always fine; For There ain't no Bottle in all the world Like that dear little Bottle of mine.” Not long enough to qualify as a sonnet, the rhyming scheme however cleverly creates a catchy means by which readers can get the sense that even their “folk-songs” are merely propagandist spirituals.
5. Figurative Language:
Throughout the novel Huxley uses animal names to refer to the members of the World State, which you can take to mean negatively. He uses the names of birds and insects to get across the idea that, like animals, the people have no feelings or compassion that drive them, only instincts.
6. Connotation:
The connotation of the morals and ideals that we see in different charters in the World State helps readers to understand which of these characters would be found socially acceptable or not. We agree more with John's ideals, but in the World State the connotations of his beliefs lead him to be an outcast.
7. Foil:
In many ways John acts as a foil to Bernard. Though they both question the social norm, Bernard is all talk and thoughts while John is all action. Bernard is intelligent and can change himself to fit into the World State, while John is all emotion and passion and can not seem to change his ideals so that he is not an outcast.
8. Point of View:
Depending on your point of view, you also can see the main characters like John and Bernard in several different lights. John can easily be seen as a heroic fighter for morality and compassion, as well as an emotional idiot who has the right ideas but the wrong ways of making an impact with those ideas.
9. Personification:
“The roses were in bloom, two nightingales soliloquized in the boskage, a cuckoo was just going out of tune among the lime trees. The air was drowsy with the murmur of bees and helicopters.” Huxley at times engages in beautiful bouts of imagery laden figurative language to juxtapose the otherwise cruel and grey atmosphere of the novel. The personification in this passage with the soliquizing flowers and drowsy air, creates a mood contrasting with the overall foreboding feeling of oppression prevalent in the book.
10. Tone:
“The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber. The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Cold, clinical the tone of Brave New World is sterile in it’s diction, even the similes/figurative language set an overall mood of a dead humanity.
CHARACTERIZATION:
1) Direct Characterization for Bernard: "The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects." Direct Characterization of Helmholtz "...Helmholtz Watson had also become aware of his difference from the people who surrounded him."
Both Bernard and Helmholtz are directly states as outsiders, which gives readers the lasting impression that they are different from the other members of the society.
Indirect Characterization of John the Savage takes place when he rejects Lenina's invitation of sex, which shows he is truly against the morals of the society, even the things that appeal to him on even a physical level. Indirect Characterization of Henry takes place when he flies extremely close to the ocean, which shows that he is deep down against the World State ideals as well, but does t have the right outlet for his feelings and is afraid to truly show his ideas and be punished.
2. "Anywhere. I don't care. So long as I can be alone,""But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, i want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin,"In these two examples we see a shift in the syntax of John the Savage's speech. Instead of speaking in eloquent sentences, his speech becomes short and almost exasperated. It conveys a quickened pace and it almost seems as if he is out of breath. It strongly reflects the idea that there is so much running though his mind and that all of his senses are overloading and becoming too difficult to process.
3) It could be argued that there is several different protagonists to this play, but the major one would be John the Savage. John grows up on the reservation, and therefore has certain ideas about love, sex, religion, compassion, and what his meaning in life is. I would argue that John is in some ways a static character because though he is opened up to many different ideas through his time in the World State, in the end he has the same ideas about what is right and wrong.
4) At the end of the book I mostly came away feeling like I met characters because what takes place in the book is so far-fetched its really hard to imagine anyone thinking and feeling that way, though Huxley does a great job of making it realistic. An example is the conformation between Lenina and John, where she is desperately trying to seduce him while he violently tried to fight his urges.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
MY TEAM
Right now my team consists of Taylor Duguran, Hannah Savaso, Ian Stellar (?), and Kylie Sagisi, who is in the 5th period class. Today we spent a lot of time talking about what exactly it is that our project should be, and brainstorming events that we could easily and cheaply put together. We came up with hikes, making lunches for homeless people (in SLO), a bonfire at the beach, movie nights, and possibly a camping trip. Together, we all looked over our schedules to see which weekends or week days would work best to hold the events on.
Monday, February 24, 2014
I, JURY
What I found form my peers essay responses was that they possibly did not completely understand the book, or maybe just had not been given enough time to finish it. A lot of the essays seemed to have a broad idea of what Huxley was trying to say through Brave New World, but few had specific examples of details to support their statements. I know there is very strong writers in this class and given more time to talk about and complete the book will probably bring better responses from my peers and myself.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
BRAVE NEW WORLD ESSAY TOPIC
One essay topic that I found and really liked was this:
"How does Aldous Huxley incorporate his views of history (that men do not learn enough from history) into Brave New World? Do people, in general, learn enough lessons from history? Furthermore, examine the role the future plays in Brave New World. Consider the following: If individuals have knowledge of future events, do they have the same responsibility to the future as they do to history? Finally, what lessons might readers take from Brave New World? Should society be more affected by knowledge of the past or of the future?"
This prompt was posted on a Yahoo answers page from this link: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100122204636AAacFhN
"How does Aldous Huxley incorporate his views of history (that men do not learn enough from history) into Brave New World? Do people, in general, learn enough lessons from history? Furthermore, examine the role the future plays in Brave New World. Consider the following: If individuals have knowledge of future events, do they have the same responsibility to the future as they do to history? Finally, what lessons might readers take from Brave New World? Should society be more affected by knowledge of the past or of the future?"
This prompt was posted on a Yahoo answers page from this link: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100122204636AAacFhN
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
I AM HERE
At this moment in time, I am not completely sure what it is that I will create as a Senior Project. I am leaning towards an area that, in an offhand way, relates to my Big Question, which was about whether or not "goodness" can win over all the bad that their is in life. There is many ways I could go with my Senior Project, but I want to dedicate my time to building some kind of online scrapbook with my friends while also trying to make a positive impact on people. I would love to combine these two elements, but am unsure how to exactly.
If I stuck to this general idea for a project, I could also try to combine elements of the Collaborative Working Group idea I created in the beginning of the semester, but failed to carry on and actually create. My idea was to travel to different sights and trails around the Central Coast and document my experiences on a blog. My hope was that I would be able to take time to appreciate the beautiful area we live in and also possibly direct others toward some sights they might not have previously known of.
If I stuck to this general idea for a project, I could also try to combine elements of the Collaborative Working Group idea I created in the beginning of the semester, but failed to carry on and actually create. My idea was to travel to different sights and trails around the Central Coast and document my experiences on a blog. My hope was that I would be able to take time to appreciate the beautiful area we live in and also possibly direct others toward some sights they might not have previously known of.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
LIT TERMS: LIST 6
- Simile: An analogy or comparison implied by using an adverb such as like or as.
- Soliloquy: A monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals a character's innermost thoughts, including his feelings, state of mind, motives or intentions and provides necessary but otherwise inaccessible information to the audience.
- Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.
- Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.
- Stereotype: A character who is so ordinary or unoriginal that the character seems like an oversimplified representation of a type, gender, class, religious group, or occupation.
- Stream of consciousness: Writing in which a character's perceptions, thoughts, and memories are presented in an apparently random form, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, or syntax. Often no distinction between various levels of reality--such as dreams, memories, imaginative thoughts or real sensory perception.
- Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.
- Style: The author's words and the characteristic way that writer uses language to achieve certain effects.
- Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language.
- Surrealism: An artistic movement doing away with the restrictions that might be imposed on an artist. Artists sought to do away with conscious control and instead respond to the irrational urges of the subconscious mind, which resulted in the hallucinatory, bizarre, often nightmarish quality of surrealistic writings.
- Suspension of disbelief: Temporarily and willingly setting aside our beliefs about reality in order to enjoy the make-believe of a play, a poem, film, or a story.
- Symbol: A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a literal level.
- Synesthesia: A rhetorical trope involving shifts in imagery or sensory metaphors. It involves taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and comingling it with another separate sense in what seems an impossible way. EX: How a color sounds, how a smell looks.
- Synecdoche: A rhetorical trope involving a part of an object representing the whole, or the whole of an object representing a part. EX: "Twenty eyes watched our every move," meaning that ten people watched the group's every move.
- Syntax: The orderly arrangement of words into sentences to express ideas." EX. The standard word order and sentence structure of a language.
- Theme: A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work.
- Thesis: An argument that a writer develops and supports.
- Tone: The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood.
- Tongue in cheek
- Tragedy: A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe.
- Understatement: The opposite of exaggeration.
- Vernacular: The everyday or common language of a geographic area or the native language of commoners in a country as opposed to a prestigious dead language maintained artificially in schools or in literary texts.
- Voice: The narrative or elegiac voice that speaks of his or her situation or feelings.
- Zeitgeist: The preferences, fashions, and trends that characterize the intangible essence of a specific historical period.
WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY
I am sharing a project with Hannah Savaso, Taylor Duguran, and Kylie Sagisi, where we plan to schedule events and outings for us and others of our friends to participate in. During the event we will take pictures and videos that we will end up posting to a shared blog. We are focusing on the relationships we have established and developed over the last four years, or even longer, and how we can simultaneously build our friendship, create a database of memories to be able to enjoy after high school, and spend time helping out our community. An example of an event we came up with was to go on a hike with friends and document it while also picking up trash along the trail.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
HAFTA/ WANNA
I feel that nothing after high school will change as suddenly and drastically as we have been led to believe. For myself and some friends of mine, responsibilities will not be a completely new thing. A lot of us already have jobs, own cars, and pay for some of our own expenses like car insurance and phone bills. Just like how you are no different on January 1st compared to December 31st, no one will wake up June 7th feeling like a whole new person. For a lot of my friends and I, life will stay somewhat the same as we spend our last summer together in our hometown before leaving, or possibly staying, to college in the fall.
I think what will bring one of the most dramatic changes after high school is finally setting off to live by ourselves; whether it be in an apartment or on-campus housing. That's when I feel like we will truly be "adults." Though obviously we can't do whatever we want, not living under our parents' roof anymore will bring all new kinds of freedom. I feel that that freedom will either make us or break us. In college we could skip class every day, spend zero time studying, and party into the early morning every chance we get and almost no one would know.
This year I have really struggled to have the motivation to complete all of my homework every night. I mean I already got into a couple colleges, as far as I'm concerned I could just keep my grades to a C- or above and not seriously mess up in any way and still be attending college next fall. What does stop me from failing to do anything at all is mostly my awareness that the major I'm going into (civil engineering) is actually going to be pretty tough and that it might actually help knowing some stuff from the Physics and Calculus classes I'm taking this year. And on top of that, not having to pay for certain courses if I manage to pass the three AP tests I'm taking would be nice as well...
My hopes are that in college I am able to find a happy medium of getting my work done, while also exploring what else that it is I want to do in life besides working, and making some good memories with good friends along the way.
I think what will bring one of the most dramatic changes after high school is finally setting off to live by ourselves; whether it be in an apartment or on-campus housing. That's when I feel like we will truly be "adults." Though obviously we can't do whatever we want, not living under our parents' roof anymore will bring all new kinds of freedom. I feel that that freedom will either make us or break us. In college we could skip class every day, spend zero time studying, and party into the early morning every chance we get and almost no one would know.
This year I have really struggled to have the motivation to complete all of my homework every night. I mean I already got into a couple colleges, as far as I'm concerned I could just keep my grades to a C- or above and not seriously mess up in any way and still be attending college next fall. What does stop me from failing to do anything at all is mostly my awareness that the major I'm going into (civil engineering) is actually going to be pretty tough and that it might actually help knowing some stuff from the Physics and Calculus classes I'm taking this year. And on top of that, not having to pay for certain courses if I manage to pass the three AP tests I'm taking would be nice as well...
My hopes are that in college I am able to find a happy medium of getting my work done, while also exploring what else that it is I want to do in life besides working, and making some good memories with good friends along the way.
Friday, February 7, 2014
LAUNCH DRAFT
- What am I passionate about? What do I want to do?
Right now I am starting to think that I may not exactly know the answer to these questions, or at least that the answers change day to day. I would really love to look more into engineering and architecture, but what I really would love to do is work with children. And some days when neither or those options sound good I feel that I would really love to learn more about photography because I would really love to capture some of the places around on the Central Coast that my iPhone camera does no justice to.
- How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
I can use the Internet in general to make connections with people and learn more about what topic I choose to focus on.
- What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
Again, there is a lot of different ways that I could answer this question. Honestly, I feel that the best way to feel no regrets in June is to spend as much time as possible with the people I love and have a positive attitude.
- What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
In my field, hard work, dedication, and assertiveness, especially because it is so male-dominated. In just life in general, I feel that honesty, sincerity, compassion, but enough self-assurance to not let anyone walk over you is what is going to make people want to trust you and listen to what you have to say.
- How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
I’m still not sure what the “idea” is honestly… So that would be the first step.
- Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?
I’m sure teachers and peers will be what I will focus on as my personal learning network.
Right now I am starting to think that I may not exactly know the answer to these questions, or at least that the answers change day to day. I would really love to look more into engineering and architecture, but what I really would love to do is work with children. And some days when neither or those options sound good I feel that I would really love to learn more about photography because I would really love to capture some of the places around on the Central Coast that my iPhone camera does no justice to.
- How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
I can use the Internet in general to make connections with people and learn more about what topic I choose to focus on.
- What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
Again, there is a lot of different ways that I could answer this question. Honestly, I feel that the best way to feel no regrets in June is to spend as much time as possible with the people I love and have a positive attitude.
- What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
In my field, hard work, dedication, and assertiveness, especially because it is so male-dominated. In just life in general, I feel that honesty, sincerity, compassion, but enough self-assurance to not let anyone walk over you is what is going to make people want to trust you and listen to what you have to say.
- How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
I’m still not sure what the “idea” is honestly… So that would be the first step.
- Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?
I’m sure teachers and peers will be what I will focus on as my personal learning network.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
LIT TERMS: LIST 5
- Parallelism: When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length. EX: "King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable."
- Parody: Imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those same features. EX: Using the elaborate, formal diction of an epic to describe something trivial like washing socks.
- Pathos: In its rhetorical sense, pathos is a writer or speaker's attempt to inspire an emotional reaction in an audience. EX: Evokes a deep feeling of suffering, joy, pride, anger, humor, patriotism, etc.
- Pedantry: Rigid to book knowledge without regard to common sense.
- Personification: A trope in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are given human character, traits, abilities, or reactions. EX: The moon "is a face in its own right, / White as a knuckle and terribly upset. / It drags the sea after it like a dark crime."
- Plot: The structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction that starts with a catalyst. Focuses on how events relate to one another and how they are rendered and organized so as to achieve their particular effects.
- Poignant: Affecting or moving the emotions.
- Point of view: The way a story gets told and who tells it. EX: First person, third-person narrative, dramatic third person, objective, omniscient, limited, unreliable.
- Postmodernism: A general label referring to the philosophical, artistic, and literary changes and tendencies after the 1940s and 1950s up to the present day. (1) a rejection of traditional authority, (2) radical experimentation, (3) eclecticism and multiculturalism, (4) parody and pastiche, (5) deliberate anachronism or surrealism, (6) a cynical or ironic self-awareness.
- Prose: Any material that is not written in a regular meter like poetry. EX: Short stories, novels, letters, essays, and treatises.
- Protagonist: The main character in a work, on whom the author focuses most of the narrative attention. EX: Harry Potter.
- Pun: A play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning. EX: "Thou art Peter [Petros] and upon this rock [petra] I will build my church."
- Purpose: The reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
- Realism: (1) Generally to any artistic or literary portrayal of life in a faithful, accurate manner, unclouded by false ideals, literary conventions, or misplaced aesthetic glorification and beautification of the world. Written to depict events in human life in a matter-of-fact, straightforward manner (as it actually is.) In general, realism seeks to avoid supernatural, transcendental, or surreal events. It tends to focus as much on the everyday, the mundane, and the normal as events that are extraordinary, exceptional, or extreme.(2) Refers to a literary movement in America, Europe, and England that developed out of naturalism in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Refrain: A line or set of lines at the end of a stanza or section of a longer poem or song (these lines repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or sections of the same work.) EX: "With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino" in the song from As You Like It.
- Requiem: Any musical service, hymn, or dirge for the repose of the dead.
- Resolution: The outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events, an aftermath or resolution that usually occurs near the final stages of the plot.
- Restatement: To repeat something again or in a new way.
- Rhetoric: The art of persuasive argument through writing or speech.
- Rhetorical question: Question that implies an answer, but usually does not provide one explicitly.
- Rising action: The action in a play before the climax.
- Romanticism: Artistic philosophy prevalent during about 1800-1830. Rejected the earlier philosophy of the Enlightenment, and instead asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and powerful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living. Typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over "artifice" and "convention," the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of urban life.
- Satire: An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards.
- Scansion: The act of "scanning" a poem to determine its meter, or which syllables have heavy stress and which have lighter stress.
- Setting: The general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which the action of a fictional or dramatic work occurs.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
LITERATURE ANALYSIS #4
The book I chose to read was The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
1) This novel is about fraternal twins and their journey through the death of their cousin and the imprisonment of their mother's forbidden lover following. When the twin's grandparents learn that their daughter is having a love affair with an "Untouchable," they try to do everything in their power to keep them apart by accusing him of kidnapping the twins and their cousin, who dies from drowning.
2) The two major themes are "social tensions" and "forbidden love." One of the major problems in the novel is the relationship that Ammu and Velutha have, which their parents are strongly against because of their different social rankings. Their parents' anger leads to a chain of events that seriously changes the lives of everyone in the novel.
3) The tone of the novel is both childlike, brooding, and mature. The switches between when the children are younger to their adulthood shows a contrast in how they see the world. At times, the writing often takes on a rhyme-y, sing-songy tones in the moments in which serious information is being conveyed.The narrator darkly rhymes that 31 is "Not Old. Not Young. But a viable die-able age". The author also describes Sophie's coffin in a sing-songy manner: "Satin lined. Brass handle shined." Another example is "A wake/ A live/ A lert."
4)
Symbolism- The History House was used as a symbol of the India and the family's actual history. "Estha and Rahel had no doubt that the house Chacko meant was the house on the other side of the river, in the middle of the abandoned rubber estate where they had never been. Kari Saipu's house. The Black Sahib. The Englishman who had "gone native." Who spoke Malayalam and wore mundus. Ayemenem's own Kurtz. Ayemenem his private Heart of Darkness." (2.92)
Allegory- Pappachi's Moth is more of an allegory of his life. "his life's greatest setback was not having had the moth that he had discovered named after him" (2.73).
Imagery- Rahel's watch is used as imagery for her desire to make everything right. "The wristwatch] had the time painted on it. Ten to two. One of her ambitions was to own a watch on which she could change the time whenever she wanted to (which according to her what Time was meant for in the first place)." (2.12)
Allusion- The novel uses allusions to connect with the audience. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (2.15)/ Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (2.92, 5.17)/ Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book (2.152)
Writing Style-
Setting- The God of Small Things for the most part takes place in a town called Ayemenem, in Kerala, India. One of the trademarks of the novel is the way it jumps back and forth in time between 1969 and 1993.
Flashbacks- The author uses a lot of flashbacks to switch between the two settings of the novel.
Characterization:
1)
Characterization:
1)
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
LIT TERMS: LIST 4
- Interior Monologue: A type of stream of consciousness in which the author depicts the interior thoughts of a single individual in the same order these thoughts occur inside that character's head. EX: In the "Lestrygonian" episode of James Joyce's Ulysses.
- Inversion: Inverted order of words or events as a rhetorical scheme. EX: Shakespeare speaks of "Figures pedantical".
- Juxtaposition: The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development.
- Lyric: A short poem (usually no more than 50-60 lines, and often only a dozen lines long) written in a repeating stanzaic form, often designed to be set to music and that may not have a plot. EX: William Wordsworth's "The Solitary Reaper."
- Magic(al) realism: To mingle and juxtapose realistic events with fantastic ones, or they experiment with shifts in time and setting, "labyrinthine narratives and plots" and "arcane erudition" (135), and often they combine myths and fairy stories with gritty Hemingway-esque detail. This mixture create truly dreamlike and bizarre effects in their prose. EX: Gabriel Garcia Márquez's short story, "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings."
- Metaphor (extended, controlling, & mixed): Extended- A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem./ Controlling- a symbolic story, where the whole poem may be a metaphor for something else./Mixed-A succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons.
- Metonymy: Using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea. EX: Using "crown" in reference to royalty.
- Modernism: A vague, amorphous term referring to the art, poetry, literature, architecture, and philosophy of Europe and America in the early twentieth-century.
- Monologue: An interior monologue does not necessarily represent spoken words, but rather the internal or emotional thoughts or feelings of an individual. EX: William Faulkner's long interior monologues within The Sound and The Fury.
- Mood: a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere or tone of a literary work.
- Motif: A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature. EX: "Loathly lady" who turns out to be a beautiful princess.
- Myth: A traditional tale of deep cultural significance to a people in terms of etiology, eschatology, ritual practice, or models of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The myth often (but not always) deals with gods, supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes. EX: Greek Gods.
- Narrative: the story or account itself.
- Narrator: The "voice" that speaks or tells a story. EX: Huck Finn.
- Naturalism: A literary movement seeking to depict life as accurately as possible, without artificial distortions of emotion, idealism, and literary convention.
- Novelette/novella: An extended fictional prose narrative that is longer than a short story, but not quite as long as a novel. EX: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
- Omniscient point of view: Where a narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about the agents and events in the story, and is free to move at will in time and place, and who has privileged access to a character's thoughts, feelings, and motives.
- Onomatopoeia: The use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect. EX: Buzz, rattle, quack.
- Oxymoron: Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level. EX: Jumbo Shrimp.
- Pacing: Rate of progress; specifically : parallel rate of growth or development.
- Parable: A story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth. EX: The Prodigal Son.
- Paradox: Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level. EX: "Without laws, we have no freedom."
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