Monday, August 26, 2013

Vobulary # 2

accoutrements: accessory: an accessory or piece of equipment associated with a specific object, task, or role
Every basketball player needs the appropriate accoutrements in order to set foot on the court.

apogee:culmination: the best or greatest point
After several teachers checked her resume and multiple revisions, she believed it reached its apogee.
 
apropos:just right: appropriate in a specific situation
I have the habit of saying something that is not apropos with the current topic.

bicker:argue: to argue in a bad-tempered way about something unimportant
My mother gets annoyed of constant bickering among her children, so she goes in her room to block us out.
 
coalesce:merge or unite things: to merge or cause things to merge into a single body or group
My sister and nephew think its funny to play with glue and coalesce everything together.
 
contretemps: mishap: an unfortunate occurrence, especially an awkward or embarrassing one
Its every high schooler's fear to have a huge contretemps while presenting in front the class.
 
convolution: twisted shape: a curve, coil, or twist
She was speechless, then a convolution of words that made no sense came pouring out
 
cull: to gather, to collect
The group culled together their answers for the comprehension questions
 
dogmatic:expressing rigid opinions: prone to expressing strongly held beliefs and opinions
My parents have dogmatic beliefs of superstitions especially with umbrellas.
 
licentious:sexually immoral: pursuing desires aggressively and selfishly, unchecked by morality, especially in sexual matters
Her parents freaked out because of her licentious out fit that barely fit her.
 
mete:Dispense or .measure out
In group projects, we try to mete out the work equally
noxious:physically harmful: harmful to life or health, especially by being poisonous
Mixing unknown chemicals may create noxious fumes.
 
polemic:passionate argument: a passionate, strongly worded, and often controversial argument against or, less often, in favor of somebody or something
Many individuals make a polemic stance on religion.
 
populous:highly populated: with a large number of inhabitants
The populous mall on big sale days such as black Friday is overwhelming.
 
probity:moral integrity: absolute moral correctness
My parents embedded in me ideals of fairness and probity.

 repartee:witty talk: conversation consisting of witty remarks
My sister made a quick repartee that she was sitting and lying instead of sitting there and lying.
 
supervene:to follow or come about unexpectedly, usually interrupting or changing what is going on
The frail old man's health was fleeting but a supervening stroke was his end.
 
truncate:shorten something by removing part: to shorten something by cutting off or removing a part
The teacher requested that I truncate my run-on sentences in my essay.
 
unimpeachable:impossible to discredit: impossible to discredit or challenge
The man is the founder and president of the club; therefore unimpeachable.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Oh joy, Beowulf

[Beowulf Returns Home] (lines 1799-2199, pp. 71-79)
1.What future does Hrothgar predict for Beowulf?
- The future that Hrothgar predicts is that Beowulf will get cocky since he was able to kill Grendel and Grendel's mother while he got so much recognition from people.
2.Who is Hygd and why is she not like Modthryth
- Modthryth is an evil queen  who is brutal while Hygd is a beautiful and kind queen of Geat
3.Beowulf reports to Hygelac that Hrothgar may marry his daughter Freawaru to Ingeld. Why does he plan to do that? What does Beowulf expect the result will be? (Remember the Finn story, lines 1070-1158.) How does Beowulf think the peace will be broken? Is this the type of report we expected from the hero Beowulf, or are we seeing a new side of him?
- He tells him because he wants him to be aware that Ingeld and Dane can betray Geat. Beowulf expects that the fighting will continue on instead of saying yes to the agreement. His pride disappears and a darker side of his personality is revealed.
4.How does Beowulf report about his own adventures? Does he report accurately?
- He tells everyone of his adventures in great sugar coated detail. The monsters are "bigger" and "badder" and the riches he gains are exaggerated.
5.What does Beowulf do with the treasure he was given? What does Hygelac give him?
- He shows it to Hygelac. Beowulf gains a sword, hides, land, a hall and a throne.

 BEOWULF AND THE DRAGON (lines 2200-3182, pp. 79-99)
[The Dragon Wakes] (lines 2200-2509, pp. 79-86)
 
1.How much later does Part 2 take place? What kings have died in the meanwhile? What danger now exists?
Hygelac dies and He has been in control of the tribe for 50 years. The new danger is a dragon who has been sleeping has now waken.
2.Why is the dragon angry? Why did the man take a cup? How did the treasure come to be there in the first place? (The speech of the lone survivor, the one who put the gold in the barrow, is in a typically Old English elegiac tone.)
-The dragon is angry since he woke up to find that his goblet was missing and footprints of the person who took are remained. The cup is stolen because it was the thief's master's order to take it. The treasure comes to be because a person without any children to give it to, scatters them. 
3.What did the dragon destroy that evening?
-That evening the dragon comes out to destroy Geat and the individuals' property.
4.Why does Beowulf think his home was burnt? Why does he order a new shield? How will he fight this battle? What will happen to him?
- He believes his home is burnt because he angered the gods. He orders a new shield so it cannot be burned by the dragon. He plans to fight this battle without a weapon/sword. He is going to risk it all fighting the dragon but he is sure of himself.
5.How did Hygelac die? (The description in lines 2354-2379 begins one of several versions of Geatish history and Hygelac's death we will get.) What did Beowulf do after Hygelac's death? What happened when he returned home? Did he accept Hygd's offer to become king?
- Hygelac dies in the battle of Friesland. Beowulf gets the offer to be king but he declines after he returns home. He assumes the authority position until Heardred grows older and wiser.

 
  
  
  
  

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Right To Your Opinion

 The phrase I'm entitled to my opinion really means, It is my opinion you can't change it. I'm right. Be Quiet.

People use it to close and argument that they can't back up or prove.

What about the topics one cannot prove? Like people arguing over the best color, or the best place to visit, how should this be solved?

If one has the right to an opinion, then its another's duty? So if you're always entitled to your opinion meaning other person has to listen so one is always right.

The phrase has a different meaning than the literal words.

*Up to your own definition of rights and opinions, have the right to having an opinion but not the right to changing someone else's

1987 AP Exam Essay 2

     In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover, she presents a social issue through the eyes of a girl girl and contrasts the social issue in two different settings, the United States and in the Congo, Africa.
     The social issue present is the role of women in a culture from two different regions.  In the Congo women are not allowed to participate in a man's duties, like hunting. The people of the Congo immediately refused since it is custom that women help clean out and cook the kill. Leah was able to get a kill, perfectly enough for someone else to try to take credit. Leah was clearly capable of being useful during the hunt, but due to her gender and the custom of the people she is confined to their rules. Leah was never use to this kind of treatment in the U.S. she was only exposed to racism for the color of the individuals skin, even though it never affected her.
     In the Congo, Leah felt different due to her gender as well. In the United States women still had more rights than the colored, it was because of color you couldn't have as many privileges. Now she experiences the lack of privileges or luxuries because of her gender and color. She felt out of place since the village people looked at her odd, or she never had friends since girls her age had the roles of married women already.
     The social problems one placed compared to another really allows the reader to see how the social problems differ. It always allows to see how fast one region has fixed theirs while others are still behind.

1987 AP Essay 1

     George Elliot finds that old leisure and comp temporary leisure vary immensely. Old Leisure is calm and and  time is spent alone to be productive. The new leisure she describes is actively involved in the surroundings.
     Old leisure, she describes it as a calm and passive activity. One who partakes in old leisure does the simple things as in reading a newspaper or is content in not knowing the reasons why something occurs. He refers to old leisure, different from modern standards "he never went to Exeter Hall or heard a popular preacher.." This describes old leisure as learning from texts, or learning by yourself, not being exposed to the outside as much.
     Contemporary leisure is not passive, it is more involved in preaches or in the hall of Exeter. Montaigne said, "book learning is the worst kind of learning." meaning that it is better to learn from another individual than it is to learn from a book. Being actively involved and participated serves as a better learning source and is considered the new leisure due to the changing times with new advances.
     The main difference between current and old leisure, is one is more passive, learning from books and to one's self while modern leisure involved more interactions with others and surroundings.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Reflections On Week 1

1) The only factors that maybe effect my experience or participation in this class would be if the computer randomly breaks or the internet has problems, which only happens every once in a while. Other than the few technology problems that may occur, I should be fine.

2) The best learning experience for me was being able to watch a type of stomach surgery on the monitors while they used scopes. I learned about what they had to take out of the stomach and why, what the inside of the body actually looks like, and what a stomach FEELS LIKE. The tech just allowed me to hold it and transfer over the stomach into the container as the surgery was finishing up. It taught me that if its able to keep me interested, I can remember a lot of it. The visual of the surgery captivated me, and made me really believe I'm a visual learner.

3) I'm most concerned about fixing how I write, since I know the style, grammar and spelling will have a major impact on these next few months since I will be applying to colleges. With those minor mistakes I could have lost a major opportunity. This will make a practical difference to me, since I'll be able to address other people in a professional manner without messing up on simple things.

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate: to give an incomplete or faint outline or indication of something
apotheosis: the highest point of glory, power, or importance
ascetic: austere person: somebody who is self-denying and lives with minimal material comforts
bauble: something that is small and decorative but of little real value
beguile: charm somebody, to win and hold somebody's attention, interest, or devotion
burgeon: to flourish or develop rapidly
complement:  something that completes or perfects something else
contumacious:
very resistant to authority: flagrantly disobedient or rebellious
curmudgeon:
somebody who is irritable or stubborn
didactic:
tending to give instruction or advice, even when it is not welcome or not needed
disingenuous: withholding information, not genuinely sincere
exculpate: prove somebody innocent: to free somebody from blame or accusation of guilt
faux pas: social blunder, an embarrassing mistake that breaks a social convention
fulminate: to express forceful criticism of somebody or something
fustian: written or spoken with pretentiousness or pomposity
hauteur: arrogance,  haughty manner, feeling, or quality
inhibit: to stop something from continuing or developing
jeremiad: lengthy complaint: a long recitation of mournful complaints
opportunist: unprincipled resourceful person: somebody who takes advantage of something, especially somebody who does so in a devious, unscrupulous, or unprincipled way
unconscionable:
morally unacceptable

1)The wilting lilly in the beginning of the movie adumbrated that death would be a theme.
2) The apotheosis of the Greek hero finally accomplishing his quest.
3) The way the mother spoke ascetic when she told her child to behave and listen.
4) My younger sister wanted some tiny baubles from the swamp meet.
5) The mistress beguiled men into doing what she wanted, and buying her whatever her heart desired.
6) Lilies around this time of year usually  burgeon
7) The colors light blue and dark blue really complement each other to create a calm effect.
8) The contumacious daughter ignored her parents about late night curfew, and snuck out anyways
9)She considered her mother a curmudgeon, she was stubborn and believes she was right always.
10) The speaker made sure his speeches  became increasingly didactic as the time progressed.
11) It was very disingenuous of him to not wish his sister happy birthday.
12) The lawyer's goal is to give enough evidence for the jury and judge that it will exculpate his client.
13) Causing a fight during church would most definitely create a faux pas.
14) When the teacher graded her essay he fulminated at how many grammatical mistakes there were.
15) The Montaigne essays were hard to comprehend because of the old English fustian and wording made it difficult.
16) The new student looked at the class with hauteur of someone who knows  he shouldn't be in that class.
17) I inhibited my nephew from throwing away his food that he barely touched.
18) The class let out a jeremiad as they heard another essay was due on Friday.
19) The appealing young woman was an opportunist for taking advantage of a man's attraction towards her so she can get a few gifts.
20) It is an unconscionable rule that women shouldn't be granted their suffrage.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

1987 AP Exam

1. e / c Funeral just threw me off. She was SUPPOSED to be sad.
2. a
3. c Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
4. e
5. a / d Funeral through me off.
6. d
7. d/ e I don't even know why.. thought it was seem "useful"
8. b
9. e
10. c
11. d
12. b easyyy
13.b GUESSING!
14. c easy
15. e/a Hard.. who know the "the market place" was figurative
16. a / b Vocab is bad..
17. c
18. d / e Hard didn't know what a few choices meant.
19. a
20.d / b
21. a / e Hard, seemed he wanted to be better.
22. c / e Hard didn't know what all words meant
23. c / a
24.  a
25. c
26. e
27. d YAY FOR GOOD GUESSING! between b and d though. Hard.
28. a? c
29. c / a hard vocabulary
30. a? / b Poem thing is hard
31. d
32. c guessed cause I knew what a ballad was. Lucky guessing.
-
-
-
47. b  EASY "sweet" is used
48. a easy, clouds referenced line directly above
49.  a/ c
50. d
51. b/ c breeze and maiden just seemed logical, flowy? I don't know.
52. c? / b guessed meaning of desultory?
53.e?
54. b
55. c
56. b
57. c
58. a / d
59. e
60.b
61. a! thank you Ms.Dolan! haha probably the one thing I remember from Robert frost.

I think about half were okay.... Half were kinda hard but a few pretty easy ones in there about mood when they used "sweet" or personification, looking at this makes me noticed how BAD my vocabulary is.

Montaigne/Austen Essay

     "..barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." Wallace refers to thought as quick, too swift for the thought to be transferred onto paper. Montaigne's style takes this form to the best of his ability while Austen shapes her writing completely opposite.
      Montaigne's essays demonstrate a clutter of ideas like stream of consciousness where the ideas flow as they come. Montaigne supports Wallace's observation, how thought comes so fast its hard to keep up with it using a pen but Montaigne managed to complete his thoughts into a series of essay varied in length. Montaigne was able to probably capture the majority of his thoughts while not being capable of writing every thought as it crossed his mind, supporting Wallace's observation. His thoughts never got around to the point of what he was trying to say, but more of a glimpse what went on inside his mind.
     Austen's form of writing differs immensely from Montaigne's. Pride and Prejudice took on the form of a story, with logical connections to clearly see how the author got from point A to point B, where Montaigne's essay topics don't need a specific order for you to comprehend what he's trying to get across. Austen's plot was well thought out using the relationships of the characters, the reader was able to figure out how they changed through the course of the story for example Darcy, "..She's not handsome enough to tempt me." While towards the end Darcy, proposes to Elizabeth, there has to be something to change the character's mind during the course of the plot.
     Montaigne and Austen's style support Wallace's observation of thought being too swift for one to write, as it crosses your mind. Montaigne tries to accomplish this, while Austen gets her ideas and backtracks to explain to the reader how it happened or why.

 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Essay Assignment # 1

                   
 
     A gap between one's home, or one's family and them can create revelations for the better or it can turn out for the worse. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Leah Price experiences a shift when she reaches Congo, Africa with the rest of the Price family. The shift includes the culture shock from being away from the United States and Nathan Price changes from slightly mad to insane as he begins to be cut off farther and farther from his family.
    Nathan Price believes he is doing good work, pure of heart but he is so blinded by his almost near death experience he doesn't realize he forces his beliefs on everyone including his daughters. He goes as far as disregarding the well being of the family to keep them there in the Congo after the incidents such as the ants, all for the salvation of his own soul. This shows his lack of compassion as he further drifts away from the relationships he's had with the family to begin with. When his wife and child, Ruth May became ill he had no interest, but interest on his soul's security. Leah stops idolizing her father since he's had no success in changing the natives' faith and for Nathan's lack of sympathy to the ill Oreleanna and Ruth May. Oreleanna realizes long before that Nathan's only desire was to stay in the Congo, so she is left with guilt of not being able to save her daughters. Nathan's "good" deed of trying to save the African children's souls ends up backfiring and he sends them onto the point of no return. Later on in the story, the family has moved on with their lives without a father in the picture, he becomes so distant the only time they hear of him is when he was put to death.
     Leah's separation is between her and the United States. In the Congo, customs are based on what gender you are, not the skill you have. Leah wishes to partake in the hunting, but since she is a female it is decided she isn't allowed to be apart of a man's sport. While in the States the only separation was between skin color, while in the Congo it's on sex and now she is separated for her skin color. In the United States she was use to being "normal" for her skin color since where she lived was predominately white skinned, now the role shifts while she is in Africa.
     The Price family undergoes separation from family and from their home. Their cut off leaves a major impact on the character Leah letting her view someone's position on life and how it is to be treated differently and live with customs of another place.  Nathan Price consistently creates a gap between him and his family to selfishly "save his soul" while putting his family in danger.
 
 

Who am i?

Simply





 1)My name is Elisia Estrada, younger sister of three siblings and older sister of one. My house consists of my little sister, my nephew, my 3 cousins, my cousin's girlfriend, my aunt, and myself. My packed house is my kind of normal called strange.

 2)I'm taking this course to change my perspective on things in life, hopefully able to look at concepts with more of an open mind. I wish to become a better writer while being able to get pushed as far as possible during this course.

 3)Out of this experience I hope I can be more willing to share my thoughts and opinions even if I believe they aren't good. I want to become an independent thinker, a great writer, and an overall intelligent being who isn't left in the dark when it comes to application time for college or how high-tech college classes can be

4)What gets me nervous about next year is college, the acceptance letters, the thought of being gone from home to be independent after 18 years of being someone's responsibility I become my own responsibility. The transition is what scares me, we are always going from the little fish in the big pond then a few years later and its your turn to be the big fish in the pond all to start over AGAIN.

 5)I give it my all in my school work, art work and my family are what I strive to do well in or what I care about extremely.

6)This course can help me achieve my goal of being accepted into university as the first member of my family to attend university without dropping out within two weeks haha. It can make my application look competitive so I can get accepted into a good four-year university and get a job that interests me.

Poetry 1

" There is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness. "
 
 
1.  The commercial for Levi's borrows the poem called The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski.
 
2. In this commercial I find it ironic that they use the line "your life is your life" meaning you can make your OWN choices, but this is advertising a product, they're not directly telling you to buy the product, but they sure are showing a lot of peoples jeans.. So I guess "subconsciously" they're telling you to buy the product.
 
3. I think the poem reflects the reputation of his work. He is known for "relying on experience, emotion, and imagination.." When he talks of light, not a lot but its there and it beats darkness it makes me think if its someone how connected to the alcohol, the abuse, or the Great Depression, Charles still sounds hopeful. These connections with light and dark demonstrate his imagination on how to present this to us, his emotion present in the writing and the experience he connects the poem to.
 
4. To find the answers to question 1 I typed in a few lines of the video into the search followed by Levi's commercial, then the name of the poem and author comes up in this link:
 http://www.gosee.de/news/film/levi-s-your-life-is-your-life-there-is-light-somewhere-die-ersten-globalen-werbespots-sorgen-fuer-aufruhr-11586?gos_lang=en#.Ugq-Mqbn-1s

To find the answer to question 3, I looked up a biography of Charles Bukowski to find out some information about, I was able to see that he had problems with his father, alcohol and the love of his life dying to alcohol consumption, or him experiencing the Great Depression. Next I looked up his typical style for his works I found he relied on experience, imagination, and emotion which was present in his work The Laughing Heart.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001977/bio

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-bukowski

 

Monday, August 12, 2013

My Big Question


Youth

 

"We all care too much about not caring enough, 'cause we're all too scared to leave behind our youth." - Deaf Havana
 
 
Why is the generations to come so quick to have the desire to grow up and think, " I can't wait to grow up." Why is youth always tied into a worry free attitude and innocence? It is not what it always seems.