Masterpiece Essay

      When I first signed up for AP English Literature  and Composition I had no idea what to expect. Will this be one of those difficult classes or will it be easy and laid back? I had heard different stories the previous year about some students stressing out over numerous assigned essays while others were ecstatic about creating their course blog. I was also briefly told about the whole open source learning concept, something I had never even heard of before. On top of all this I was instructed to create a course blog in which I would post all of my assignments on. To say I was a little bit nervous would be a great understatement!
      Walking into class on the first day of school I felt just like Suyuan Woo from The Joy Luck Club did when she arrived to America; apprehensive and lost. I was still very hesitant over the whole open source learning concept but, to my surprise, I started to find myself loving everything about it. As a student, I was given a lot of trust with things like homework, studying, and quizzes which is very rare for a teacher to give right away. Because of this trust, I felt obligated to really work hard throughout the year in order to honor it. When we started to really use our blogs I felt like John the Savage from Brave New World. Just as John was excited to visit and learn about the new world, I was excited to start personalizing and posting on my blog. Though the course blogs were an amazing aspect of this class, I would have to say the final masterpieces were my favorite thing both to create and hear about in this class overall. I remember how funny it was when everybody found out that we were not going to be creating senior scrapbooks, but instead, creating something amazing and following our individual passions. Everybody was so shocked to hear about this and after the idea settled in, everyone became confused and scared about the idea of not having a set rubric to follow. Overall, I am very proud of my final masterpiece and how it turned out. I am also very proud over my blog and feel accomplished just as Beowolf did when he saved the Danes from the demon Grendel.
     A big theme not only in the masterpiece presentations, but also the class as a whole, was passion. For example, Allyson Brown, Daniel Rucker, Edmond Yi, and Bianca Ramirez and Ashley Hong all talked about their fields of interest they wanted to pursue. Allyson presented her prezi with a lot of enthusiasm. You could tell she was not only very excited to share her topic of genetics, but also that she knew what she was talking about and teaching. Unfortunately, she lost track of time and was unable to fully finish her presentation which shows just how much she got into her project. Daniel also ran into this problem. Even though he presented his project with absolutely no powerpoints or prezis or notecards, he talked all the way until the end of class. Edmond's passion was shown throughout his writing. Even though this was a project that would be graded, Edmond is still continuing to write and perfect his novel even after he graduates from school. Bianca and Ashley also plan to continue creating and sharing their comic strips. They shared their blog of all the comic strips they created and while they were reading and explaining some, you could tell how proud they were of them. Out of all the masterpieces, I believe Rudy Valentine's, Jasmine Beebe's, and Lauren Lascina's carried the most passion. They worked really hard at creating a music festival to put on in our community park and even though this first attempt failed, they are not giving up. Putting on a festival is a huge task but they didn't let that stop them as they immediately started planning and raising money. Even though they weren't able to get a festival together before graduation, they are still trying to get one together in the future as they believe this could be something huge.
     In conclusion, this course was definitely an adventure I will never forget. Though it was challenging and confusing at times, there was always someone to fall back on and help you out. By the end of my journey I believe I was able to reconnect with my own passion. I was able to do this by connecting what we were learning about in class to my own life instead of just memorizing a lot of information I need to know for the next test. Instead, I was able to study aspects of my own career and utilize it into my work such as my masterpiece. When I am older, I hope to start my own business whether it's a fashion boutique or a blog such as the one I made as my masterpiece. I was able to study different marketing techniques on how to get your business known to others and how to make it presentable and attractive to the eye. In this course, I've learned a lot about how to collaborate effectively with my peers, how to create and manage my own website or blog, and how to make connections with potential mentors and experts. Overall, I am so glad I signed up for this course as I'm walking out of it as a new person with an abundance amount of new, helpful information.

At Least Two Poetry Essays

(I'll be allowing myself only 40 minutes for each essay as if it were a real AP essay exam.)

Essay #1: Bright Star by John Keats

     The poem "Bright Star" by John Keats starts off with a man talking to a star. It becomes obvious he is envious of the star through his tone and initially seems to want to physically trade places with it and become a star himself. Later on, however, it seems he is just fond of the characteristics the star holds.
     During the beginning of the poem it is noticeable the man is passionate about the star. "Would I were stedfast as thou art". Starting off with this statement in the first line of the poem gives the readers a sense that the man is a traveler who wishes he could settle down in one place just as the star is. The man then goes on to explain the characteristics of the star he is fond of and does this with many literary techniques such as imagery and diction. "The moving waters at their priestlike task". By personifying the waters and then stating they go off into their "priestlike task" sets a very calm, tranquil mood to the poem.
     There is a shift in the poem on line nine. In this shift the readers are informed the man does not actually want to physically be a star. His focus changes from his jealousy of the star to his passionate feelings about his girlfriend. He wants to stay forever in this moment and stop time so he stay with his girlfriend. "And so live ever-or else swoon to death."  This statement supports this reasoning as the man would rather die with his love than walk away.

     In conclusion, this poem is about a man who longs for a steady life, just like a star, with his girlfriend. All throughout the poem his love for the moment he is in is evident through his words which helps to reinforce the theme of the poem; love.

Essay #2: We'll go no more a-roving by Lord Byron

     The poem "We'll go no more a-roving" by Lord Byron tells of a man coming to a realization that he is growing old. No longer is he able to do the things he use to do when he was younger though he really wishes he could.
     In the first stanza of the poem, a depressed mood is set. The readers are informed that the man can't go out anymore during the nighttime. "Though the heart be still as loving." An appeal to pathos here brings out the emotion in readers and they are able to get a sense that the man still yearns to go out and live his nighttime life. His attitude is one of bitter resignation as he explains that the moon is giving off light so he feels he needs to go out and do something.
     A shift in the poem begins at the second stanza. Here we learn the reason why the man can't continue living his nighttime life. "For the sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast." The man is comparing his old age to a sword by explaining that swords eventually wear themselves out just as his body is now growing old. His use of diction also helps to show his love for the night as he talks about his soul fading away. In the third stanza he repeats to himself again that he can't go out which displays how hard it is for him to grasp the fact he is getting old.
     In conclusion, this poem is about a man growing old. The theme of death and love is clear throughout the whole entire poem as one can really feel the man's need to go out and live his life. He loved his young life and states that "the night was made for loving". However, he does realizes that it is time for him to settle down and he does it in a bitter surrender.

Groupthink

My group and I discussed the poems over a group text message. We each talked about what we individually got out of the poems and compared them. We also thought it would be helpful to send out pictures of our grids to compare. This really helped to see how we each viewed the poems and if we had different ideas about what the poems were about, we had a quick discussion to see if we could all get on the same page. Hopefully this will benefit us when writing our essays.

Gridlock

TPCASTT: Poem Analysis

Title of poem means
Paraphrase parts of the poem
Connotation of some of the words (changing literal meaning to implied or associated values)
Attitude of the author, characters or yourself
Shift identify and explain
Title revisited (any new insights on meaning or significance of title?)
Theme

 Bright Star by John Keats
T-literally a star in the sky he is talking to
P- lying with his girlfriend wishing he could be like the star unchanging and live forever
C-"were steadfast as thou art" he wishes he was like the star in the sense of not moving... maybe a traveler?
A-jealousy towards the star
S- first stanza he wants to be like the star, second stanza he doesn't... "To feel..." he doesn't want to be the star but stay in the moment with his girlfriend forever
T- he wishes he were like the star (steadfast, not moving) and live forever
T- love: he wishes he could live forever like the star; admires it


 Hope by Emily Dickenson
T- whole poem talking about hope as a bird... personification
P-hope is strongest during dark times... never asks for anything though all it does is give
C- sings without the words
A-loving, admirable
S-last two stanzas she talks about hope through her eyes and how its affected her
T- no changes
T-hope endures through overwhelming circumstances



 We'll go no more a-roving by Lord Byron
T- time to settle down?
P- he needs to stop going out during the night time... getting older... needs to wake up
C-"still as loving" he really wants to go out but he shouldn't.... "sword outwears its sheath" he's getting old he needs to stop messing around
A- depressed; bitter resignation
S- shift after first stanza and again after second... first and last seem to be repeating the same meaning... second stanza gives reason for why he needs to stop roaming around
T- needs to stop messing around and going out at night because he's getting old
T- love: he really loves the night..... death: second stanza saying how he is getting old
(opens with anaphora)

Seventh Reading

Overall, I have to say that reading poetry out loud really does help! When I read the first poem in my head I was so confused but when I read it the second time out loud it was much clearer!

1) Bright Star by John Keats
Out of the three poems, I found this one to be the most difficult. After reading it seven times I noticed the rhyming schemes but I'm still having a bit of trouble with the meaning of the poem.

2) Hope by Emily Dickenson
This was my favorite! During the first reading I picked up on the rhyming scheme. By about the fifth reading I started to understand the poem a little more. In the first and second stanza Dickenson introduces hope while in the last stanza she shares her experience with hope.

3) We'll go no more a-roving by Lord Byron
 I picked up the rhyming scheme on the second reading. The meaning of the poem I picked up after the seventh reading was that we should rest at night and give ourselves a break even if it's still bright outside and we aren't tired.

Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Here is a link to the prezi.

Macbeth Act 5 Notes

• A doctor and gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking habits
• Lady Macbeth comes in with a candle in her hand (sleepwalking) talking about the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo saying she has blood on her hands that won't wash off
• Scottish leaders discuss the military situation of the English army approaching led by Malcolm and the Scottish army meeting to join forces near Birnam Wood
• Lennox and other lords call Macbeth a "tyrant" and say he has fortified Dunsinane Castle and is making military preparations in a mad rage
• Macbeth comes into hall of Dunsinane saying he is not scared of the English or Malcolm army because "none of woman born" can harm him 
• His servant Seyton confirms an army of 10,000 Englishmen are approaching and Macbeth puts on his armor even though the battle isn't happening
• the doctor tells him Lady Macbeth is kept from rest by "thick-coming fancies" and Macbeth tells him to cure her
• Malcolm talks with English lord Siward and his officers about Macbeth's plan to defend the castle
• They decide each soldier cut down a bough of forest and carry it in front of them so their numbers are hidden
• Macbeth orders banners be hung and says his castle will repel the enemy
• Seyton tells Macbeth the queen is dead and Macbeth says the tomorrow soliloquy
• a messanger says the trees of Birnam Wood are approaching Dunsinane
• the prophecy says Macbeth could not die until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane and he says he is tired of the sun and will at least die fighting
• Macbeth battles vigorously because no man born of woman can harm him and he kills Lord Siward's son
• Macduff can't find Macbeth whom he wants to kill himself
• Malcolm and Siward emerge and enter castle
• Macbeth and Macduff are battling and Macbeth says he is invincible because of the witches' prophecy
• Macduff says he was not woman born because his mother's womb was ripped and Macbeth is scared but says he will not surrender "to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feed/ And to be baited with rabble's curse'
• Malcolm and Siward walk the castle they have captured
• Ross tells Siward his son is dead
• Macduff enters with Macbeth's head and says Malcolm is King of Scotland
• Malcolm says all his thanes will be made earls  and will be first such lords in Scottish history
• Malcolm calls all those around his friends and invites them to see him crowned at Scone while cursing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

The Crossroads Between Should and Must

(Article Link)

     I never really thought about life being two different paths of Should and Must. This article really opened my eyes and got me thinking about all my decisions and whether they fell into the Should category or the Must category.
     If I'm being totally honest with myself, I'd have to categorize a lot of my past experiences in high school into the Should category. I've fallen into the routine of just doing what my teachers ask me to do in order to receive the A, and nothing else. It's almost time for graduation and I've found myself asking the same question in my head, "I've already been accepted to college is all this really necessary?". I feel it's time to stop going with the flow and doing mediocre work.
     I hope to see myself going down the Must path a lot more in the future. Going to college is the perfect opportunity to start fresh and start doing what I believe in instead of what others want. If I find myself not liking my chosen major, I hope that I listen to myself and branch out to try something different. My biggest fear is to find myself in a job I hate and don't look forward to go to every morning. Something I'd like to see myself doing in the future is co-owning my own boutique and marketing the name out to the world. After reading this article, I know that I shouldn't give up if things don't work at right away. Instead, I should keep on pushing through even harder until I see the results I want.
      In conclusion, this was a very eye-opening, stunning article. It really left me looking at life differently and making sure that everything I am doing and will be doing, is for myself and not for anybody else.

Macbeth Act 4

-the witches are chanting in a circle and Hecate comes by and compliments them

-"By the pricking of my thumbs/ something wicked comes this way"

-Macbeth comes and ask the witches to reveal the prophecies: 

-floating head says to beware Macduff

-bloody child comes and "none of women born shall harm Macbeth" 

-crowned child holding a tree says he is safe until Birnan Wood moves to Dunisane Hill

-lastly, eight crown kings walk by and the last one (Banquo's ghost) is holding a mirror

-Macbeth demands to know the meaning but the witches vanish

-Lennox enters and tells him Macduff fled to England

-Macbeth sends murderers to Macduff's castle to kill his wife and children

-at Macduff's castle Lady Macbeth demands Ross tell her why her husband has left because she feels betrayed and Ross says he trusts Macbeth

-Lady Macduff tells her son Macduff is dead but he doesn't belive it

-a messenger comes and tells Lady Macduff she is in danger and she says she has done nothing wrong

-the murderers come in and say Macduff is dead and the son calls him a liar so he stabs him and Lady Macduff flees and they chase after her

-Malcolm tells Macduff he doesn't trust him because he left his family so he's probably working for Macbeth

-to test his loyalty Macolm says he is not fit to be king because he is greedy and violent and Macbeth says he will be a good king 

-Macduff "O Scotland Scotland!"

-Macduff's loyalty to Scotland is proven when he agrees he's not fit to be king and he runs back

-Malcolm then trusts Macduff

-doctor says “crew of wretched souls” waits for King Edward so they may be cured

-Malcolm tells Macduff King Edward cures diseases

-Ross tells Macduff that his wife an children are well and says he needs to return to his country

-Malcolm says he will return there with 10,000 soldiers lent from King Edward

-Ross breaks down and says his wife and children were actually murdered

-Malcolm says to turn grief to anger and inflict revenge upon Macbeth 

Macbeth Prompts

Macbeth Act 3 Notes

• Banquo thinks that the prophecy about his children sitting on the throne will come true since Macbeth's did
• Macbeth is now King and Lady Macbeth is queen and they invite Banquo to attend a feast they will host that night and he accepts after his ride on his horse in the afternoon
• Macbeth says they should discuss the problem of Malcolm and Donalbain because they fled Scotland and are probably plotting against his crown
• Macbeth says Banquo is the only guy in Scotland he fears because his sons might overthrow Macbeth's family
• Servant comes in with two murderers Macbeth has hired who Banquo did wrong with them in the past so Macbeth asks if they are angry enough to get revenge on Banqou
• Murderers agree to murder Banquo and his son Fleance and to wait in castle for his command
• Lady Macbeth is in despair and has a servant fetch Macbeth
• Macbeth says his mind is "full of scorpions" and killing Duncan is not yet completed because there are still threats that need to be eliminated 
• He has planned "a deed of dreadful note" for Banquo and Fleance and to be very kind to them in the feast so they don't think anything is up
• Banquo and Fleance approach a wooded park on their horses and dismount and light a torch
• The Murderers kill Banquo who dies urging his son to flee and avenge his death and the light gets put out by one of the murderers so Fleance escapes
• Murderers leave Banquo's body to find Macbeth and tell him what happened
• As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter for the feast one of the murderers tells him that Banquo is dead but Fleance escaped and Macbeth gets angry "the worm that's fled/ Hath nature that in time will venom breed"
• Macbeth goes to sit at head of the royal table but Banquo's ghost is sitting in his chair and nobody else can see him but he starts to speak to the ghost
• Lady Macbeth says excuse her husband he sometimes has visions so they should just ignore his behavior but then urges Macbeth to snap out of it and questions his manhood 
• The ghost disappears and he tells the company "I have a strange infirmity which is nothing/ To those that know me"
• Macbeth is going to toast but the ghost reappears and he starts freaking out again and Lady Macbeth makes more excuses for him and sends alarmed guests out of the room and the ghost disappears again
• Macbeth says "blood will have blood"
• he tells Lady Macbeth he heard from a servant-spy that Macduff intends to keep away from court behavior that verges on treason and he will visit witches again tomorrow in hopes of learning more about the future and who may be out to plot against him
• Macbeth "I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er"
• Lady Macbeth says he just needs to go to sleep
• Witches meet with Hecate the goddess of witchcraft
• Hecate scolds them for meddling in business of Macbeth without her consent and says she will take over as supervisor of the mischief and when Macbeth comes the next day they will summon visions and spirits whose messages will fill him with a false sense of security and make him confused
• That night in Scotland Lennox walks with another lord talking about all that has happened
• Banquo's murder blamed on Fleance who has fled
• Both men suspect Macbeth who they call a "tyrant" for the murders of Duncan and Banquo
• Lord says Macduff went to England where he will join Malcolm in pleading with England's King Edward for aid
• News of plots prompted Macbeth to prepare for war
• Lennox and lord hope Malcolm and Macduff will be successful and they save Scotland from Macbeth

Macbeth Act 2

-Fleance is Banquo's son

-Banqou can't sleep because of cursed thoughts

-he is surprised to see Macbeth awake and tells Macbeth about how he dreams of the witches and thinks they may tell some truth but Macbeth says he hasn't thought of them since then and wishes to discuss it at a later time

-Banqou and Fleance leave and Macbeth has a vision of a dagger in front of him

-Macbeth reaches for dagger but fails and he thinks it's just his imagination when he sees blood

-vision shows his unease over killing Duncan but he will still do it 

-Lady Macbeth signals the chamberlains are asleep with a bell and Macbeth goes I Duncan's castle

-Lady Macbeth imagines Macbeth killing Duncan and she heard him cry out and is scared he failed but doesn't understand how he could because she set everything out perfectly for him

-She says she should've killed him herself

-Macbeth comes and says he has killed the king and he heard the chamberlains wake up and pray and then go back to sleep and Macbeth wanted to pray with them but he couldn't

-Lady Macbeth angry Macbeth sti has dagger cuz he was suppose to leave it and Macbeth refuses to go back so she does it

-Macbeth heard knocking and even when Lady Macbeth comes back be hears it again 

-A porter goes to answer the knocking and finds Macduff and Lennox who say it took him forever to open it

-porter says he was up late and says it's the effect of alcohol that makes you sleepy

-Macbeth enters and asks Macduff where king is and Macduff says he still sleeping so Macbeth offers to take him to him

-Macduff comes running back saying king has been murdered and Macbeth an Lennox run to look

-Lady Macbeth enters and is horrified to hear that such a thing happened under her roof

-Malcolm and Donalbain arrive saying they heard their father has been killed probably by chamberlains 

-Macbeth says he killed the chamberlains due to his anger which makes Macduff suspicious 

-Lady Macbeth faints and is taken away

-Malcolm and Donalbain say they will probably be killed next and flee the court

-Ross and an old man talk about what has happened

-foreshadowing?: an owl killed a falcon and Dancuns horses that were well trained were acting wildly and ate one another before all this

-Macduff enters and says Macbeth has been made king by other lords and is on his way to Scone to be crowned

-Macduff also tells them the chamberlains probably were paid to kill Duncon and ppl are suspicious of two kings Malcolm and Donalbain because they fled the scene

 

Look at my Brain

My blog and masterpiece represent both my creativity and inner thinking mostly because I created them. I created my blog and designed it the way I like in respects to the way I made my background and the widgets I added. Also, all my posts and essays I have on my blog show the way I write and how I think to formulate my work. My masterpiece project shows collaboration as I am working with four other classmates. Sarah and I got together to create the website which was very helpful because there were so many different ways to make a website. I have also collaborated with people outside of school in order to create posts for our website. 

What About My Masterpiece

     Though we have been focusing a lot of our attention on Shakespeare the past couple of days, I have still found some time to work on my masterpiece. When we had some old Righetti students come talk to us about their lives in colleges so far, I took that opportunity to take some notes. I then compared my notes with Sarah and we made a post about that on our website. I have also been posting a lot of posts onto our website as well as scheduling posts for the future. Check out some of the posts here.
    Shakespeare had all day to write his great plays without having to worry about a time limit. Unlike Shakespeare, we seniors do in fact have a deadline in which our masterpieces are due. It's a bit of a struggle trying to have everything perfected in a certain amount of time, definitely when there are other work and classes we have to worry about. However, I believe my team and I have been doing very well in managing our time. We have been keeping up with both the work in our other classes as well as finding some time out of our days to work on our masterpiece.

Love Is Blind

There is a big contrast between the way the readers and Macbeth view Lady Macbeth. The readers get a sense that Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, wicked, selfish woman. When she learns Macbeth will be next in line for the throne, she immediately starts planning a scheme to murder the current king, Duncan. However, when Macbeth decides he no longer wishes to carry out with the plan, Lady Macbeth gets furious. She starts to downgrade Macbeth and talks him back into the plan. Macbeth seems to be blind to his wife's evil attributes. He still loves his wife and agrees with everything she says without question. Macbeth doesn't think twice when his wife tells him her plan and ends up praising her.

Macbeth Act 1 Notes

-Irish invaded Scotland, leader Macdonwald

-Macbeth killed Macdonwald

-Duncan says thane of Cawdor be put to death and Macbeth will be the new thane

-Macbeth and Banquo comes across the witches who address Macbeth as thane of Cawdor and say that Macbeth will be king one day and Banquo will not but his children will sit upon the throne

-Ross tells Macbeth the king has made him thane of Cawdor and Macbeth is impressed the witches prophecies came true

-Duncan says Cawdor died nobly, repenting free of his sins

-Duncan says Macbeth is now heir to the throne and Macbeth notes to himself that Malcom is in the way

-Macbeth goes to tell the news to his wife

-Macbeth's wife receives a letter of Macbeth's great news and she plans to tell him to do whatever it takes to make t happen 

-Lady Macbeth says she will put her femininity aside so she can get bloody to seize crown

-Macbeth tells her Duncan plans to leave the following day but Lady Macbeth says he won't live to see the day 

-Duncan comes to visit Macbeth

-Macbeth contemplates about assassinating Duncan and says he would only do it for his own ambition 

-Macbeth goes over why he shouldn't kill Duncon= he's a good ruler and well admired so he decides not to do it

-Lady Macbeth is angry an says to do it and stop being a coward

-as long as they are bold they will be successful

-Lady Macbeth will give Duncan's chamberlains wine while Duncan is asleep to make them drunk and then Macbeth and her will go in and kill him Duncan in his sleep

-smear his blood on the chamberlains so it looks like they did it

-Macbeth agrees and says he hopes she gives birth to sons and no daughters cuz of her plan

Meet Macbeth

        Macbeth is first introduced through indirect characterization. His name appears in the conversations in scene 1 and 2. Through these conversations, we can characterize Macbeth as a brave, strong soldier who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty with blood. In scene 3, we see foreshadowing when, right after the witches tell Macbeth he will be thane of Cawdor, Ross comes to tell Macbeth the king has indeed made him thane of Cawdor. There is also foreshadowing when the witches declare Macbeth will soon be king, and though Banquo will never be king, his children will sit upon the throne. Shakespeare's use of foreshadowing right at the beginning of the play gives the readers a sense of what's to come in the play. We are able to learn about the characters, settings, background information through the conversations of the characters. Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth reflects the sinister, eerie tone because we first learn about Macbeth through the conversations about his violent acts in war and how he killed Macdoneald by chopping off his head. The theme of the story that is clearly evident in Macbeth's character and conflict is violence. I predict the rest of the play will be filled with even more bloody and gory killing scenes, and a lot of the characters that were just introduced will quickly die off. 

Seeking Mentor

My expert has a lot of information they can pass on to me to help with my masterpiece. Something I really want to focus on asking is how she advertised her business. Casey Ho is an entrepreneur that made her fitness idea into a business. It's been so successful that she has made appearances on tv shows and even has her own fitness clothing line. I think it would be beneficial to both my group and I to learn new ways to advertise our website.

My Macbeth Resources

1) I found this website that will be helpful while reading Macbeth. It gives detailed explanations for each scene in case you are confused about what happened. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbethscenes.html

2) Here is a quiz that would be helpful to take once the reading is finished to make sure you picked up all the information. If you don't know an answer, it gives detailed explanations for each question. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quiz/macbethquiz/macbethquiz1.html

3) Since we have already read Hamlet, it may be beneficial to some to compare Hamlet with Macbeth. 

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/examq/meight.html

4) The dictionary app is another resource that can be helpful because whenever I read Shakespeare, I always come across a word I don't know.

5) Shakespeare writes in such a unique way that may be confusing to the readers. Here is a link to a website post that helps to explain his language: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespearelanguage.html

Wednesday's Resource

My resource for today is my phone. I have been contacting some of my friends who are currently in college both through text messages and through talking. Some things I have been asking them are how the classes there are, how their dorms are, and if they have any tips for freshman. I've been taking notes on these conversations and will be posting a post on it soon. 

Resource of the Day

My resource of the day is www.blogilates.com. My expert is Casey Ho and she is the person who created blogilates. I am looking at the way she organized her website, looking for any tips I might be able to use for our website. I am also looking at the way she incorporated all of her social networks in such a way that she is advertising her business to the public. 

Is There an Expert in the House?

My expert is Casey Ho from Blogilates, an entrepreneur and a fitness instructor. She started out with a blog that soon became famous. Since she started her blog, she has appeared on numerous talk shows and has started her own fitness clothing line. I think she would be very helpful with our group as she could give us tips on how we can expand our website just as she did her blog.

This is Only a Test

Here is a screenshot from my group's masterpiece: TheClassyU

We created this website on March 10, 2014 and so far we have 18 posts and 407 page views.

Now that we have a few posts, our next step is going to be advertising the website to the public. Sarah and I have brainstormed a couple of ideas we will be putting into motion next weekend. We will be utilizing all of our social media accounts by posting about our website and sending out links in a variety of different posts.

I will be posting a "progress report" like this one every week to track our progress in respects to our post number and page views. Our long term goal is to have 100+ posts and 5,000+ views by June.

Literature Analysis: Of Mice and Men

1) George and Lennie are two best friends who are on a road trip. They are broke because Lennie can't hold down a job due to his mental illness but they are best friends so George can't leave him. They finally get a job at a ranch in Soledad, California. They meet Candy who has one hand, Crooks a lonely, African American stable worker, and Curley who is a man with anger management problems. Curley has a wife but due to his attitude, nobody is allowed to look at her let alone speak to her. Slim and Carlson are two other ranch hands who we met later on. Candy has a hard time putting down her dog and Carlson encourages her to adopt a new puppy and shoots her old dog for her. Carlson we learn is a very violent guy. He ends up getting in a fight with Lennie who crushes his hand. The climax of the book is when Lennie is in the bard one day with a dead puppy he has killed. He is scolding the puppy for getting killed and encouraging him. Curley's wife comes in and offers her head to Lennie so he can pet but he accidentally breaks her neck and kills her. He runs off and when Candy discovers Curley's wife's body he runs to get George. George runs out to find Lennie and talks to Lennie about their dream farm. George tells Lennie to look out to the river and imagine it and when he does, he shoots Lennie in the head. When everyone comes over, George explains that  George tried to take the gun away from Lennie but struggled and Lennie ended up shooting himself. Everyone believes the story except for Slim who understands.

 2) The main theme of this novel is the expectation of the American dream versus the reality. George and Lennie dreamed about one day living on a nice farm but in reality, they couldn't succeed in this dream. Too many things like Lennie's illness got in the way. Instead, they ended up working on a ranch instead of owning their own.

3) I think the tone of the novel was depression. It was hard for all the characters, especially George, to deal with Lennie's illness. He kept forgiving Lennie for everything he did and failed at but in the end, George had to shoot Lennie. "Simmer down, George. Almost as soon as we meet him, George is stomping around the novel flinging verbal abuse as Lennie. Does Lennie acknowledge this as a kind of violence, or is he generally unaffected by it?" "Lennie obviously has no concept of consequences, since he can't even remember the wrong that he did. So we have to ask: it just for George to keep dragging Lennie around with him? Or should George have taken action before Lennie ended up killing someone?" "[George] heard Lennie's whimpering cry and wheeled about. "Blubberin' like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you!" Lennie's lip quivered and tears started in his eyes. "Aw, Lennie!" George put his hand on Lennie's shoulder. "I ain't takin' it away jus' for meanness. That mouse ain't fresh, Lennie; and besides, you've broke it pettin' it. You get another mouse that's fresh and I'll let you keep it a little while.""
 
4) Symbolism- dead mouse= death
Imagery- "On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees— willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool."
Characterization- introducing Lennie and George, "Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws."
Foil- Slim and Curley, opposites (tall/short and intelligent/simple-minded)
Evocative- When George had Lennie look out to the river and picture their dream of owning their own ranch, it brought out a great deal of sadness and left the readers reminiscing. Right after that, however, George shot Lennie in the head which brought another wave of sadness.
Dialogue- "'Huh? Oh! Hello, Crooks. What’s’ a matter?'
'You told me to warm up tar for that mule’s foot. I got it warm.'
'Oh! Sure, Crooks. I’ll come right out an’ put it on.'
'I can do it if you want, Mr. Slim.'
'No. I’ll come do it myself.'"
Suspense- after Lennie kills Candy's wife, what is going to happen to Lennie
Foreshadowing- a peaceful landscape then George and Lennie run through is causing animals to be alert and flee
Motif- value of everything, “'I got hurt four year ago,' he said. 'They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county.'"
Pathos- When George shot Lennie, we were really able to feel great sorrow for him. The fact that George had to shoot his best friend really dug into the emotion of the readers.

Characterization:
1) Steinbeck used both direct and indirect characterization in this novel and both had a very lasting impression. He used direct characterization on appearances at the beginning of the book so we could picture both George and Lennie in our heads. Once we had that picture, he started to use indirect characterization. I noticed he did this a lot in his dialogue. They way George talked to Lennie you could tell that he really cared about him. Lennie also got really sad when he realizes he did something to upset George and this shows that he also cares a lot about his best friend.
2) I don't think John Steinbeck changed his syntax/diction at all when he focused on one character. He kept a very consistent tone and style throughout the whole book, never did he stray from it.
3) I believe George was a static, flat character. He never really strayed from his kindhearted self. He always stood behind Lennie and did whatever was possible in his power to help him even if he had to end his life. Never once did George stray from his morals nor did he ever think twice about leaving his best friend.
4) After reading the book, I feel like I met George. I was so sad at the end of the novel when he had to kill his best friend and could never imagine having to do something like that. George was such a remarkable character because he really looked out for Lennie and stuck with him even though he could have left Lennie and probably could've become much more successful.

Huxley's Brave New World

Watching this interview really did change my perspective on the book. It was really cool to see Aldous Huxley talk about his   views on the world he was living in. He didn't just talk about the book, but he also talked about propaganda, democracy, and the advertising of the world. He talked about how children ran around singing beer commercials and this showed how big tv influenced people. After watching this interview, I was able to really connect our world with Huxley's Brave New World. I think that, after having watched this interview, I would have been able to write a better essay. I could've made some references and connections about the real world with the new world.

My Resource of the Day

Today, my resource of the day is Pinterest. I have been finding a lot of cool dorm ideas I have been transferring onto our website from Pinterest. There are also a lot of studying tips I plan on putting onto the website too. I am also going to look into putting a Pinterest gadget straight onto the website tonight which can be very helpful to our viewers. 

Essay Draft: 1979 Prompt

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 more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary. 

Pre-write:

    
Essay Draft:

    When John the Savage walks into the futuristic society of the "Brave New World" filled with advanced scientific practices and biologically engineered bodies, he doesn't fit in at all. In fact, the citizens consider him to be quite immoral and alienate themselves from him. Aldous Huxley, however, presents John in such a unique way that makes the readers feel sympathetic towards him despite the opinions of the citizens.

       Just as John the Savage is introduced, Huxley immediately creates a sense of pathos towards him. John is one of the few characters in the book that stands up for himself and has faults. When he shares flashbacks about the times he saw his mother being harassed and beaten, the readers can't help but feel bad for him. As they read further along in the book, these incidents will always be in the back of their mind. Also, John's offensive epithet promptly characterizes him as a barbarous, unpolished person. This helps promote the sense that John is mistreated and shunned by his peers which, again, brings out a heartache in the readers for him.
      Additionally, the actions of John when he enters the "Brave New World" help to build the compassionate feeling in the readers. "'Don't you want to be free and men? Don't you even understand what manhood and freedom are?' Rage was making him fluent; the words came easily, in a rush. 'Don't you?'" John's emotions explode out of him when his mother dies and he is horrified that everybody is so calm and composed. When people die it's natural for others to react so intensely and the readers understand that. They feel for John when he goes crazy and pours out all the soma he can get his hands on. Unable to deal with the grief, John ends up committing suicide at the end of the book which leaves the readers reminiscing one last time of all the horrible events John had to live through. 
      In conclusion,  Aldous Huxley's techniques and use of literary terms really created a sense of sympathy towards John the Savage. Even though he was corrupt in the eyes of the citizens of the "Brave New World", the readers couldn't help but empathize with John. 

ClassyU

Sarah and I just got done putting up our website for our group's final project. I added a link to it on my page so be sure to check it out! We will be posting a lot more this weekend.

Resource of the Day

My resource of the day is Pinterest. I absolutely love Pinterest and I just got done pinning a lot of things I am going to be posting on my group's website. Check it out here.

10 Questions

Here are 10 questions I would ask my expert:

1) How did you become interested in your career? Did you always know what you wanted to be?

2) What does a typical work-day look like for you?

3) What tips can you share to help people interested in your career?

4) What subjects did you major/minor in during college?

5) Do you have a favorite project you have worked on? If so, what was it?

6) Have you ever made a website before? If so, what site did you use to make it?

7) Do you have any suggestions on how to make a website appealing?

8) Do you have any suggestions on how to direct traffic to a website? What kind of advertising/marketing techniques?

9) Do you have any tips you would like to share about your time in college?

10) Can you give me any contacts that might be helpful for me as I start majoring in marketing/business?

Benchmark: ClassyU

      For my Masterpiece I am working with Sarah Stevens, Rachel Nolan, and Caroline Mantoura to make a website about college life. Our goal is to create a website with tips on how to adapt to college living, different ways to manage your money, ideas on how to decorate your dorm, and much more. Even though we all have very different majors and career choices, we are going to find some way to incorporate it all into the project. Sarah is going into accounting so she will be focusing on researching and discussing different ways to manage money. Rachel hopes to become a teacher so she will be focusing on using the website to clearly convey a message to her audience. Caroline is going into cosmetology and so she will be making tutorials on how to do your makeup and hair quickly. Lastly, I am going into marketing so my goal is to market our website off to the public. We are trying our best to get our website up quickly because my goal is to have over 100,000 views on our website before the school year ends.
      So far we have sketched out a rough draft with what we would like our website to look like and have come up with numerous names for different tabs. After days of brainstorming we have also finally come up with our website name, ClassyU. We thought this name really fit with the different tab names we came up with and it represents college in the name because the U stands for university.
      Something we are having trouble with is finding the perfect website to make our website with. So far we have been through Weebly, Webnobe, Yola, and WordPress but they are all either very confusing or cost money. Tomorrow after school I am getting together with Sarah to do more research on websites and if we don't end up finding one, we will just use blogger.
       Once our website is up I will be sure to make another post and attach a link to it! :)
   

Brave New World: Completed

      I actually finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley a few weeks ago. I read this book sophomore year and after the first few chapters I found myself reading ahead because I had forgotten what happened at the end, and it was bugging me. Before I knew it I had finished the book so I ended up doing my last literature analysis on it. The ending surprised me once again! I had forgotten that Bernard, John, and Helmholtz all got sent away, and that John committed suicide.
      My overall thoughts on this book was that it is a very interesting, well written book. Huxley did a really good job at predicting what the future would be like as a lot of things that he predicted are occurring today. Here is a link to an article I found a while ago that I also mentioned in a previous post, that explains some of these occurring predictions. All of this left me feeling a little bit fearful about our society quickly evolving into one where nobody has control over their own lives. I began thinking about how it is possible today for parents to pick out their babies hair color, eye color, height, and even personalities. Though it is very uncommon among parents because of the outrageous prices today, I predict that, unfortunately, in the future a lot more people will be using this process.
      This week during class while we had a substitute, I talked about the book with Caroline. We were both in the same English class sophomore year when we read the book together. Our old teacher used a variety of different techniques to help us understand the book and Caroline and I ended up reviewing everything he said. In conclusion, I am feeling very good about the book and will be ready for any quizzes or tests.

Tasty Resource of the Day

My group and I decided to get together after school to start putting up our website, and what better place to do it at than Starbucks? My resource of the day is this tasty "Shirley Temple" drink I ordered off the Starbuck's secret menu. (A blended strawberry lemonade with orange mango instead of strawberry, and one pump of raspberry affigato) 

Resource of the Day "Weebly"

My group and I finally came up with a name after days of brainstorming. We decided to name our website "ClassyU", which was one of Rachel's suggestion. Sarah and I came up with a lot of tab names when we were brainstorming and since they sound kind of elegant and classy, this name was perfect. The U stands for university which helps present the fact that this website is about college. The website we planned to use to set up our website on ended up costing money so Rachel and Sarah suggested we use Weebly after they remembered someone in their class talking about it.
http://www.weebly.com

Resource of the Day #2

http://thesaurus.com/

Yes, my resource of the day is a thesaurus. So many of the names my group and I have come up with are taken so we are trying to exchange some of the words with a synonym. I have actually found a lot of really neat words that I never thought of using in our website name. I forgot how handy a thesaurus can be!

Resource of the Day #1

My group and I are having a hard time coming up with a name for our website. We want it to be really creative and catchy. Before we can even make our website, we have to have a name picked out so we have been brainstorming out ideas through a group message on our phones. I found this cool website that helps generate names. Here is the link.

Super 5

Identify 5 potential experts who can serve as role models and/or endorse your work.

1) Mrs.Dirkes could help endorse our website once we get it all sorted out and perfected. We can giver her flyers or a link to our website so she can put up in the career center or on the website.

2) A lot of my college friends can serve as role models for the project. They can give me tips they have learned in college and I could then put them on our website.

3) My group and I were also planning on using our social media sites to send out a little post introducing our website when it was finished to our senior friends directly. This can gain us a lot of followers because these are all people who will be going to college in a few months.

4) Another person who can help endorse our website could be a counselor directly from a college. Once I or any of the other members from the group decide on the college we are planning to attend, we can contact our counselor from their and tell them about our website.
 
5) I am incorporating my choice of major into this project (marketing) by being the person who plans on how to go about advertising our website. I have been researching different guerrilla marketing strategies and found a cool website about gorilla marketing. Here is the link. Steven Severn seems to be the marketing manager of the site so he could be a good role model for marketing ideas and strategies.

Masterpiece Resources

Masterpiece: A Guide to College Life 

Members: Myself, Caroline Mantoura (Period 3), Sarah Stevens (Period 4), and Rachel Nolan (Period 4)

Resources:
1) One resource I have include all of my friends who are currently in college. I will be able to ask them questions regarding college and see if they have any helpful tips that I can put into our guide.

2) My group and I have decided to put our guide on a website. I found a really cool website that allows you to build your own website for free with step-by-step instructions. Here is a link to the website. I found it by simply using Google to type in "How to make a website",  and then looked through the different options in order to find the best one.

3) While I was researching for different college tips and topics to include in the guide, I found a lot of really helpful website posts. I found these also by using Google. I simply typed in different phrases like "College Tips" and then scrolled writing down different posts I found helpful. Listed below are some of the websites and posts I thought were very insightful.
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201008/50-tips-college-students
- http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_life/college_survival.htm
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-lando/36-tips-for-the-college-f_b_3823492.html
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-lando/36-tips-for-the-college-f_b_3823492.html

My Team

The members of the group I am working with for my senior project includes Caroline Mantoura, Sarah Stevens, and Rachel Nolan. Our plan is to make a guide to college life. We already have a pretty good outline and set ideas for our project. We also have a lot of resources that will help us like some friends who are in college currently, that we can interview. Also, we have decided to put all of this onto a website with different tabs to keep everything organized and put together.

Launch

 Here is a link to my launch/draft post.

I am teaming up with Caroline Mantoura and both Sarah Stevens and Rachel Nolan from period 4 to work on my senior project. We are going to create a guide to college life and independent living. We will be researching on money saving tips as well as the lifestyle and social aspects of college. Also, we are going to try and incorporate all of our majors into the project somehow (Sarah Stevens= Business/Accounting, Rachel Nolan= Liberal Studies, Caroline Mantoura=Cosmotology).

I, Jury

Two of the essays I read used the same prompt as the one I wrote my essay on. I enjoyed reading these essays because they answered it using different characters. It was cool to compare and contrast the different points we all wrote about. I was able to see different ways Lenina was affected by the world which is something I could mention in my next essay.

Music Monday?

My friend Sarah Stevens just introduced me to these songs and I literally just bought them off itunes. Be sure to check them out!
- Goodness Gracious by Ellie Goulding
- Let it go For the Night by The Foxes

Brave New Essay

Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole.  Do not merely summarize the plot. (Found this prompt on Allison Brown's blog but I'am going to change it up and describe how it affects two characters; Bernard and John)


      Where you come from profoundly shapes who you are. Whether it's the community of people you interact with or the physical environment in which you live, they've all helped mold you into the person you are today. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huxley creates a futuristic society filled with advanced scientific practices.  Things like books and nature are shunned while polygamy is encouraged. This society has a great impact on human individuals such as Bernard Marx and John the Savage.
         From the second Bernard Marx was hatched he was conditioned into the top caste class of Alphas whom of which are designed to be the perfect human beings. Unlike the other Alphas, however, Bernard is short like the lower class castes which makes him feel weak and inadequate. Insecure due to his inferior physical stature, Bernard Marx spends most of his time alone criticizing the world. In Brave New World, spending time alone is rather peculiar so the other characters keep a safe distance between themselves and Bernard, aiding in Bernard's insecurity. Nevertheless, when Bernard sees the opportunity to call out the Director, he immediately takes it and soaks up the attention. "'And I had six girls last week', he confided to Helmholtz Watson. 'One on Monday, two on Tuesday, two more on Friday, and one on Saturday. And if I'd had the time or the inclination, there were at least a dozen more who were only anxious...'" This shows how the caste system of this world greatly affects the personal identity of Bernard Marx.
          Only having heard stories of this World State, John the Savage is exhilarated to have the opportunity to visit. Having said that, after a few days of exposure to the citizens' ways John is horrified and disgusted. "'Don't you want to be free and men? Don't you even understand what manhood and freedom are?' Rage was making him fluent; the words came easily, in a rush. 'Don't you?'" Alternating from his religious savage reservation to this new world, John finds himself going against his values and morals when he gives himself away to Lenina. Disgusted with himself, John rebels against the World State and throws soma bottles out the windows in hopes to free the people. He purges and whips himself in order to cleanse his body of the sins he's committed and of the negative society he has associated with. In the end, John is unable to deal with his guilt of giving into the new world's ways and having sex with Lenina, that he commits suicide so that he can free himself. 
          The World State's caste systems subdued its citizens and left them with no identify. The biologically engineered bodies and excessively conditioned minds of the people left no room for individual thoughts. Unable to deal with these ways of the new world or the fact that they have changed their personalities, Bernard and John rebelled. In conclusion, the psychological and moral traits of both Bernard Marx and John the Savage were significantly influenced by Huxley's new world.

 

Quote I came Across...

"It always seems impossible until it's done." -Nelson Mandela

Brave New Essay Topic

Essay Prompt: Compare and contrast our modern world with the world described in Brave New World.

After today's journal topic, I really started to think of all the differences and similarities between the two worlds. I feel like I would be able to write a really good essay with this prompt. First, I would compare the human characteristics of the people today with Huxley's characters. The main difference would be how humans today are mostly born through childbirth while the characters from Brave New World were made and conditioned in test tubes. Next, I would talk about the effects of technology to both societies, as well as the types of governments from each world.

As I was researching more information online, I came across a really cool article that lists some of the predictions Huxley made about the future that are actually occuring today.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100247159/five-things-that-brave-new-world-got-terrifyingly-right/

Literary Analysis #2

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1) Brave New World is about a futuristic society where everyone is told and programmed how to act. There are five different groups of castes which include (in order of highest to lowest) Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. The last three classes were oxygen deprived in their test tubes and the Epsilons were greatly deprived and even poisoned with alcohol in order to keep "stupid". The Alphas, on the other hand, are tall, beautiful, and smart. As kids, the people are encouraged to engage in sexual activities which helps to keep their emotions in control. Bernard Marx is one main character we meet who is an Alpha-Plus but unlike the other Alphas, he is short. Because of this, he feels isolated and different than one another. Helmholtz Watson is another character who is both an Alpha and a man who feels out of place. Lenina is a beautiful woman who is adored by every male. Bernard takes an interest in Lenina because he feels like she is different and takes her on a date to the Savage Reservation. The Director reveals that he has visited this place and met a woman whom he ended up losing so he came back alone. When Bernard finds out that the Director wants to deport him, he freaks out and takes a lot of soma, the drug constantly used by the citizens of the book. Meanwhile, Lenina is horrified by all the dirty people and the horrific smells. They meet a white man named John who has been raised on the Reservation as well as his mother Linda. Bernard then realizes that John's mother is the missing woman the Director met and John is his son. He gets excited as he can use this to blackmail the Director so he won't get sent away. Lenina and John start to have feelings for each other and both John and Linda come back home with Lenina and Bernard. When Bernard introduces the Director to John and Linda, John starts to shout "Dad" which is a vulgar word in the book and runs out of the room covering his ears. John is worried about Lenina becomes she seems to be in a "soma-coma" which is going to kill her if she keeps it up but nobody else cares. John also spends time bonding with Helmholtz over Shakespeare books and Helmholtz realizes that it is indeed possible to write passionately. When Lenina tells John to have sex with her he becomes horrified and calls her a whore because where he comes from, people save themselves for marriage. John leaves after when he receives a call saying his mother is dying, and she dies shortly after he arrives. John is grief-stricken and everyone around him is confused with this strange emotion which angers John even more. He causes a riot by throwing soma out the windows and Bernard and Helmholtz quickly rush over before the police come. The three guys are taken to Mustapha Mond's office where Bernard rats out his two friends. Mustapha talks to Helmholtz and tells him that he may actually like being sent to the island where he can meet others who are like him, and he agrees. John and Mustapha then talk about literature and emotions. However, Mustapha won't let John live with Helmholtz because he wants to continue his social experiment. John has had it with everything and runs away to an abandoned lighthouse and starts making himself throw up to cleanse himself of the horrible civilization he just witnessed. Eventually, he hangs himself not being able to deal with all the reporters watching him freak out and Lenina when she tries to show up to talk to him. 

2) Two of the big themes in the novel were the dangers of an all powerful world and the advancement of science as it affects human individuals. Huxley wrote this book during the Industrial Revolution when many life-changing inventions and techniques were created like the assembly line with cars. Aldous Huxley used this assembly line method with eggs and sperm in order to create numerous beings who were made and put into certain castes. The humans were conditioned to have no emotions and love whatever job that came with their caste.

3) The tone throughout the whole book was very satirical/ironic. "Roses and electric shocks, the khaki of Deltas and a whiff of asafoetida – wedded indissolubly before the child can speak. But wordless conditioning is crude and wholesale; cannot bring home the finer distinctions, cannot inculcate the more complex courses of behaviour. For that there must be words, but words without reason. In brief, hypnopaedia." "In the Bottling Room all was harmonious bustle and ordered activity. Flaps of fresh sow's peritoneum ready cut to the proper size came shooting up in little lifts from the Organ Store in the sub-basement. Whizz and then, click! the lift-hatches hew open; the bottle-liner had only to reach out a hand, take the flap, insert, smooth-down, and before the lined bottle had had time to travel out of reach along the endless band, whizz, click! another flap of peritoneum had shot up from the depths, ready to be slipped into yet another bottle, the next of that slow interminable procession on the band." "The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber. The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Only from the yellow barrels of the microscopes did it borrow a certain rich and living substance, lying along the polished tubes like butter, streak after luscious streak in long recession down the work tables."

4) Literary Terms:
- Imagery: "The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north. Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory."
-Parallelism: "One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide."
-Exclamation: "Bokanovsky's Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!"
-Onomatopoeia: "Whizz and then, click!"
-Simile: "'Embryos are like photograph film', said Mr. Foster waggishly, as he pushed open the second door. 'They can only stand red light.'"
-Rhetorical Question: "Could the effects of this germinal mutation be undone? Could the individual Epsilon embryo be made a revert, by a suitable technique, to the normality of dogs and cows?"
-Dialogue: "I've had it nearly three months." "Chosen as the opening date of the new era." "Ending is better than mending; ending is better..."
-Flashback: "Lenina suddenly remembered an occasion when, as little girl at school, she had woken up in the middle of the night and become aware, for the first time, of the whispering that have haunted all her sleeps"
-Setting: London
-Rhyming Scheme: "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."

Characterization: 
1) Direct- ""Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room. He had a long chin and big rather prominent teeth, just covered, when he was not talking, by his full, floridly curved lips."
Direct- "On the fringe of the little group stood a stranger-a man of middle height, black-haired, with a hooked nose, full red lips, eyes very piercing and dark."
Indirect- "'We can electrify that whole strip of floor,' bawled the Director in explanation." The Director is shown electrifying infants so people classify him as heartless and cruel.
Indirect- "'Suffer little children,' said the Controller." The Controller is shown as a cruel person because who wants little kids to suffer?


2) I don't think Huxley changes his syntax/diction when he talks about the different characters. He keeps a neutral satirical tone throughout the whole book.

3) Bernard Marx is definitely a dynamic character. At the beginning of the book Bernard was so unique compared to the other characters that you couldn't help but like him. He was rebellious, smart, and cared about Lenina as a person rather than "a piece of meat". However, as we progressed further into the book Bernard started to act different. By the end of the book when he decides to uproot John and his mother, he proved himself to not be the guy he was characterized in at the beginning of the book. Instead, he just wanted to excel socially up the ladder and did whatever he needed to do to climb higher.

4) After reading I did feel like I met Bernard Marx. I felt he was more like a person than a character. For example, when he blackmailed John and his mother his true self came out. He was shown as a true human being who has imperfections and can be selfish. Just like a lot of human beings, Bernard was out for his own selfish-needs which, in his case, was to progress to a socially high Alpha label.

I Am Here

In a post entitled I AM HERE please explain your progress in this course during the first grading period.  Have you begun thinking/working on your senior project, big question, collaborative working group, or other endeavor/venture that shows how you're putting this course to work for you? Document and explain your performance.

I believe I did really well in this course during the first grading period. I made sure to finish and post any homework to my blog before the due date and studied hard for any tests and quizzes. Because of this, I was able to learn a lot about how the blog works and learn a lot of information that has helped me grow during this current semester. I have begun thinking about different ideas for my senior project but haven't committed to one idea yet. One thing I was thinking about doing was relating my project to my career choice which is business management/marketing. Another thing I have been thinking about was relating my project to something we have learned about this year in the course. I have been focusing a lot of my attention the past few weeks on the final touches to my college documents and scholarships so I haven't had time to really sit down and brainstorm on this. However, now that I have finished all this, I will be sure to take some time out to choose/start my senior project.

Quote:

"If the plan doesn't work, change the plan but never the goal."

WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Interdisciplinarity: combining two or more academic disciplines into one activity

I will be going into the business/marketing field which involves knowing a numerous amount of various skills. Math will be one skill I need to be extremely good at in order to calculate different numbers, percentages, and estimates. Psychology will be helpful in knowing what kind of things will catch peoples' attention. This will help because marketing is all about finding creative ways to spread your product to people so they will buy it. Something cool I recently learned was different colors bring out different emotions in people which is why restaurants paint their walls and buildings the colors that they do. For example, blue and purple will create a loss of appetite while red will draw attention to your restaurant and catch peoples' interests. Other classes that will help prepare me for my career are history, art, and economics.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Notes

Tone: Satirical

Setting: London, Britain 

Theme: dangers of an all powerful world; the advancement of science as it affects human individuals

Foreword:

-never regret your mistakes; learn from them
-Savage's two alternatives: an insane life in Utopia or the life of a primitive in an Indian Villiage
-Huxley would give him a 3rd alternative if he could go back= live in a community of exiles and refugees from the Brave New World
-book about future about how the future can interest us only if its prophecies look if they were to come true
-book has no reference to nuclear fissions

Chapters 1-2:
-setting: London
-World State's Motto: "Community, Identity, and Stability"
-Director gives new students a tour while they take notes
-Incubators hold eggs and sperm
-Bokanovsky's Process= for Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons that makes one fertilized egg divide until you get 96 humans and then are poisoned with alcohol until near death
-advantage of hundreds of identical people=social stability

-freemartins: sterile females,
-Alphas (top class)>Epsilons (bottom; stupid because they are engineered to be by oxygen deprivation and alcohol treatments)
-men are conditioned to love whatever job they do (men in mine in tropics hate cold and men who hang upside down to do rocket repairs are only happy when upside down)
-Mr. Foster (who has explained some of this) has a 'thing' with Lena one of the nurses
-in the infant nurseries the nurses set out bowls of roses and books for the kids to play with  but they are electrified so they will have no interest in flowers or books
-Director tells a story about "Our Ford" a boy named Reuben Rabinovitch and his parents played a tape about the Nile River and when they asked him what it was he still didn't know he could just repeat it word-for-word
-Director had to explain what parents were and it is a vulgar word as is "Mom" and "Dad"
-Analogy: Water can wear through rock over time but the lessons that are repeated over and over during sleep aren't like water but like wax; they pile up on the rock and harden until the rock is one big crusty blob

-Alphas (grey) > Betas (mulberry) > Gammas (green) > Deltas (khaki) > Epsilons (black)

-Class consciousness is where recorded voices whisper to sleeping children... Hypnopaedia


Chapter 3:
-little kids are engaging in sexual games and the Director tells the students of a time when people weren't allowed to
-Mustapha Mond is one of the ten "World Controllers" and is nicknamed "his fordship"

-rumors he keeps a safe with bibles and poetry
-The Controller tells the students what a "home" was and about emotions and one kid almost gets sick
-Fanny is introduced; one of Lenina's friends
-Bernard is introduced; one of Henry's friends and an Alpha
-Fanny is shocked Lenina is going to meet up with Henry again and has dated him for 4 years
-Monogamy is good; pre-Ford monogamy doesn't make sense because everyone should belong to everyon
-This keeps everyone's emotions stable and you need individual stability because it leads to stability and without it everyone will die
-Lenina says she is interested in Bernard but Fanny is concerned because he spends too much time alone; and he is shy around her; but she will accept his invitation to a date to the Savage Reservation

-Fanny says there's rumors someone accidentally injected him with alcohol

-Fanny compliments Lenina on get belt of contraceptives from Henry
-Bernard thinks everyone is an idiot for repeating the same things over and over; he wants to punch some guys who talk about Lenina as if she were a piece of meat
-Nine Years' war brought devastating chemical and biological warfare and people had no choice but to accept world control as the only solution
-Controller says after illegal substances they need to conquer old age so men can work their whole lives without worrying about retirement which is dangerous because it leads to thinking
-Controller- "Suffer little children." like Jesus's famous quote "Suffer the little children unto me."

Chapter 4:
 -Lenina talks about her plans with Bernard out loud and he blushes and doesn't want to talk in front of others
-an Epsilon-Minus-Semi-Moron gets tot he roof of the elevator and goes "Ah the roof the roof" over and over (programmed to only be happy when he gets to the roof)
-Lenina declares how she hates khaki (aka she is glad she's not a Gamma)
-Bernard is sad that Lenina talked about their date in public because he though she would be different
-Bernard has a flaw= he is short like the Delta-Minus workers; he is suppose to be tall like Alphas
-there's a newspaper for each class of people except Epsilons (they can't read???)
-we meet Helmholtz Watson who is an Alpha-Plus and lectures at College of Emotional Engineering; super smart so he feels like an outsider like Bernard
-Helmholtz says he is dissatisfied and wants something more but he doesn't know what; he asks Bernard if he has ever felt like there was something inside waiting to come out like a feeling to say something important (foreshadowing maybe??)
-Helmholtz says words are like x-rays because they can pierce through anything and he thinks he can do something more instense and more violent if only he knew what
-Bernard tells him to be quiet and check to make sure nobody was listening in

Chapters 5 & 6:

-Henry and Lenina fly back home after golf and there are adult corpses that are burned with no rituals to help plants grow 

-Henry says everyone is equal chemically and jokes even Epsilons are useful and Lenina says she is glad shes not an Epsilon but Henry says it's because of her status and if she were one she'd be happy about it

-Soma is the drug they all take

-when click strikes 9 it says "Ford, Ford, Ford..." 9 times

-Bernard goes to a meeting and they listen to music, take soma, and chant a song 12 times

-Bernard isn't in the mood even though he took soma and he is more miserable than he has ever been
- Bernard is an Alpha-Plus psychologist
-Lenina accepts Bernard's invitation to go to Savage Reservation in New Mexico but she is horrified by it while Bernard is fascinated and he wishes he could be "free" which freaks Lenina out
-When Bernard requests permission to go to Savage Director starts thinking aloud about a time when he met a women but she got lost and he left without her
-Director embarrassed and reprimands Bernard and tells him he doesn't like his behavior and he better stop or he will be sent to Iceland
-Helmholtz like Bernard to talk to but he thinks he is too proud and has too much self-pity
-On helicopter ride Lenina talks Bernard into taking 4 soma tablets (that's a lot for them)

Hafta/Wanna

I definately see myself significantly changing after I graduate high school. My life will change of course mostly because I will be moving out on my own and will become more independent. I will have to learn to do a lot of things by myself and not be reliant upon my parents. Other than that, I think I will still hold the same characteristics and values as I do now. I believe people will take their current habits with them to college. Depending on the significance of their lifestyle change, others will realize they need to step it up and change, while others will find themselves adapting well. It can be difficult to balance the things you want to do with the things you have to do. It is important to get the things that need to be done, done. It is also important to give yourself a break every once in a while and have fun so you don't get overwhelmed and too stressed out. As I move on I would like to see myself become successful in my career.

Lit Terms #6

Simile: comparing two things using the word "like" or "as"

Soliloquy: a long speech given by a character in a play to the audience that reveals their thoughts

Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme

Speaker: the person who is speaker; narrator
 
Stereotype: a fixed idea of a character/idea which does not allow for any individual prejudices

Stream of consciousness: a style of writing that portrays the inner workings of a character's mind

Structure: framework of a work of literature

Style: the distinctive way in which a writer uses language; use of diction, tone, syntax

Subordination: words, phrases, and clauses that make one element of a sentence dependent on another

Surrealism: movement that replaces conventional realism with the full expression of the unconscious mind

Suspension of disbelief: suspended not believing in order to enjoy it

Symbol: a person, place, thing or event that had meaning in itself and also stands for something more than itself
- BNW: soma= need to control the citizens; Shakespeare= love, beauty (things new world stays away from)

Synesthesia: to present ideas, characters, or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell, at the same time

Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole

Syntax: the way an author chooses to join word into phrases, clauses, and sentences

Theme: the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work
-BNW: dangers of an all-powerful state

Thesis: the sentence or group of sentences that directly express the author's opinion, purpose, or meaning

Tone: the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience

Tongue in cheek: cleverly amusing in tone

Tragedy: any literary composition dealing with a somber theme

Understatement: the ironic minimizing of fact; presents something as less significant than it is

Vernacular: everyday language; slang

Voice: the author's style that makes his or her writing unique and conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character

Zeitgeist: the general cultural, intellectual, or spiritual climate within a nation or even specific groups

Launch/Draft

1) One thing I am passionate about is designing things which is why I am majoring in the marketing/business. I want to be able to create different ways for a certain product to be advertised to people. I always thought it was really cool how whenever people saw that certain shade of blue, they immediately thought of Tiffany and Co.

2) I can use the skills I have learned from this class about our blog and collaborating. I have learned a lot about blogs and I can use this technique to interact with people using the internet.

3) In order to "feel the awesomeness and no regrets" by June, I need to stay focused on school and not get lazy as we reach graduation. I don't want my grades to slip due to the fact that I just don't care about school anymore.

4) In order to impress people I think I need to stay focused and put my all into everything I do. If I do this and end up receiving good grades for the semester, it can be really impressive to colleges Also, if I keep up with my blog, it can be a good thing to include on resumes. 

5) To bring my ideas into reality, I will remind myself of my goals whenever I start to feel myself slipping. To make my career dreams become reality I will try and keep an open mind through college and really try and expand my networks.

6) The peers in my learning network can be my friends and future classmates because they might be the people who I will be working with during my career. The public will be just everyone who I will be aiming to advertise to. I have some family and friends who have gone into the business career so they can help guide me.

*Looked over and didn't find anything to revise