So my main point was..

In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer mocks the upper class for the general public to read, using irony, direct and indirect characterization in The Cook's tale and Prologue to demonstrate reputation versus character.

Green eggs & Hamlet

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?
To be brutally honest, I have no idea about Melancholy Dane but I can assume It is about a ghost since references about Hamlet on TV and some ghost appears. Although I am unsure if it is about this specific work.
b) What do you know about Shakespeare?
I know that Shakespeare wrote a famous play such as "Romeo and Juliet" or "Julius Caesar." His work was known for using play on words. I also know that he wrote in iambic pentameter or he created some of the words used in his works.
c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?
I think students frown and groan when they hear the name "Shakespeare" because the language is really difficult to understand. When something is difficult to comprehend, it brings frustration and one can end up hating the subject/matter. I know me especially, I have trouble even getting the gist of the readings due to the way words are formatted or the odd words such as thy, thou and so on, so I end up being frustrated and looking up modern versions of the text.
d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
In order to make studying this play amazing, I would love to understand the themes, or the language in a simple manner. Having the definitions of the commonly used words of thine, thy, thou would be a good tool to understand and break down the sentences to contemporary English I understand. I would like to do some of the reading in class or going over the events that occurred from the previous reading that was done at home so I can be assured I did not miss any key events.

Vocabulary #7

shenanigans: trick or prank: a playful trick, mischievous prank, or other display of high spirits
The meddling kids along with their dog Scooby, always got in trouble for their shenanigans.

ricochet:rebound: to hit a surface and bounce, traveling away in a different direction.
The bullet ricocheted off the fence and shot my cousin in the leg.

schism: a major split within an established religious denomination, usually on the grounds of differences in belief or practice, leading to the setting up of a separate breakaway organization

eschew:abstain from. to avoid doing or using something on principle or as a matter of course
Elisia attempts to eschew from Kevin, but he persists on bugging anyways.

plethora: large or excessive amount or number: a very large amount of something or number of things, especially an excessive amount
Velma was filled with plethora when she found the final clue to solve the mystery.

ebullient: lively and enthusiastic: full of cheerful excitement or enthusiasm
Ebullient Daphne clapped when she realized it was the very first mystery, she was not caught by the villain.
garrulous: talking too much: excessively or pointlessly talkative
Garrulous Elisia would not stop stammering on about how much she could use a cup of joe.

harangue:  a scolding or a long or intense verbal attack
When Elisia is displeased with Kevin's behavior she begins a harangue on Kevin.

interdependence: depending on each other: unable to exist or survive without each other
Kevin and Elisia's relationship could be described as interdependence, he needed her to cook the food and she needed him to pay for the food.

capricious: given to sudden changes: tending to make sudden unexpected changes
Capricious Elisia went from being completely content to foaming with rage.

loquacious: talkative: tending to talk a great deal
The loquacious Kevin we know today was not like that until he met Elisia.

ephemeral: short-lived: lasting for only a short period of time and leaving no permanent trace
Did you hear that a man spent $10 on stick of gum everyone considered it ephemeral, and stupid.

inchoate: chaotic: lacking structure, order, or organization
Kevin's inchoate hair was all over the place!

juxtapose: put side by side: to place two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them.
The author juxtaposed the social status of rich and poor by having the two brothers be placed on opposite extremes.
 perspicacious: perceptive: penetratingly discerning or perceptive
The perspicuous of the AVID classes' situation was not looking bright, missing three days of school took a toll on their grades.

codswallop: Nonsense.
Her codswallop just cost us the entire game.

mungo: wool-like fabric made from recycled materials.
The colorful and gaudy sweater was made from mungo I believe.

sesquipedalian: using long words
Tom was considered a sesquipedalian speaker whose speeches confused the crowd to the point no one could understand.

wonky: wrong, crooked.
Her tooth appeared wonky, so she decided to ask the dentist about braces.

dipthong: gliding speech

Midterm exam relfection

In order to do better for the midterm simple as that, study more. I found myself during the exam remembering the definitions more than the words. I used the words as a trigger for the definition. But in the end, I could remember what the word started with but couldn't spell it close, for ex lugubrious I was like lu- and lost from there knowing it meant gloomy but couldn't spit out the words. From now on I should learn the words both ways, looking at definition and looking at the word.

The Comparison Tale

The theme of the cook's tale was about thieving, drinking, gambling, and prostitution while in the tale of the miller the themes were tricks, adultery, and thieving. The common themes is thieving in the tale of the miller, Nicholas stole the carpenter's wife while the cooks tale had thieving from the master. Both had characters that should have been easy characters to trust, your apprentice, or your colleague/friend, In the end Chaucer makes both characters betray the master/colleague for their own personal desires. Loss of trust takes place after the master finds out and the gullible carpenter finds out. I find these stories to follow the same themes, people one should have been able to trust, but ended up deceiving for personal gain/pleasure. While they were supposed to be trusted personalities/characters reputation vs. one's character plays a role in this story.

Tale of Canterbury Tale (absent work)*

The Cook's Tale

 

Summary: The cook was a happy man, short, good-looking, a good dancer so much that he was called  Perkin the Reveller also he was full of love and game. He loved to dance, so when the processions arrived he would not go to the shop. At night he reveals himself, chasing women, gambling and thieving. Due to Reveller's  thieving, his master lets him go. Then, Perkin the Reveller meets an accomplice.

 

 Explain the central character of the tale by analyzing five (5) examples of indirect characterization:

 

"he loved the tavern more than the food-shop" Was he a drunk? Tavern a place to drink?

 

 "At every wedding party he would sing and dance" He was sociable with others, and lively.

 

 "no apprentice in the town who could cast a pair of dice more handsomely than Perkin " This demonstrated that perkin was a gambler,

 

 "apprentice that spends all his time with dice, reveling, and chasing women," He attempted to ignore work, but want to go out and have "fun."

"who had a wife who kept a shop for the sake of appearances, and made her living as a prostitute" He had no values or didn't sanctify marriage.

 

The purpose of Chaucer's characters was to demonstrate reputation versus your character. Your personality may be extremely vary from the reputation, or what you're expected to be due to your family or you job title. Which is demonstrated by the cook and other characters such as the nun, the filthy cook and materialistic nun were not as their reputation.

Literature Analysis # 2 - The House on Mango Street

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
The book beings with a young girl named Esperanza, constantly moving from place to place but no place to call hers. She describes the run down neighbor hood throughout the story, the house and the people who live in them for example Earl the jukebox repairman. Along with her day-to-day experiences of playing with Rachel and Lucy, she slowly becomes aware of women attributes, and the loss of innocence. Her younger sister, along with their friends learn from older girls about cosmetics or how girls get pregnant, or what are hips supposed to be for. Eventually she gains more experience with her sexuality, a kiss, crushing on boys, etc. While this goes on, Esperanza decides to become a women who attracts all the men, then refuses them. Esperanza meets Sally, a beautiful girl who gets beat by her father due to the record of the past sisters who ran off with men, and brought shame. In an attempt to save Sally from boys, Esperanza undergoes sexual assault. But due to this experience she wants to leave the neighborhood and have her own house. She will come back someday for the ones who cannot out themselves.

Exposition:
When Esperanza describes the house and the rundown neighborhood, I knew problems were going to arise.

Inciting Incident: When the boys tells sally he will give the keys to her for a kiss. Esperanza is angered by this quickly causing her to act and end up in trouble herself.

Conflict: Esperanza versus the neighborhood. Esperanza verses her puberty/loss of innocence.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
I believe the theme of the novel is losing innocence, and becoming aware of womanhood. Throughout the novel the young girls, Nenny Lucy, Rachel and Esperanza learn about make up,  how girls get pregnant, how high heels influence the way men look at them and also how negatively men look at their role as 'making tortillas early in the morning for school lunches." After Esperanza explores the heels and hips she get interested in other things, such as boys, kissing and soon gets her innocence taken by force.


3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author's tone is always changing, but throughout the novel it is accepting, frightened The tone is There is no tone that continues through the entire novel. The author's tone changes with her mood hence the name of some of the chapters, "Our Good Day" "Beautiful and Cruel" "Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes"

Frightened/helplessness: "Sally, make him stop. I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't do anything but cry." pg. 100

Happiness: "Down, down Mango Street we go. Rachel, Lucy me. Our new bicycle. Laughing the crooked ride back." pg. 16

Curiosity: "Sire. How did you hold her? Was it? Like this? And when you kissed her? Like this? " pg. 73
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.) 

Imagery-"Its small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath.  Bricks crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in."  pg. 4.This quote has a specific diction where the house is seen in a negative light, from this the audience knows Esperanza wants a home nothing like the house on Mango Street. She has the ambition, along with her family to have a nice house down to their preferred detail. Characters with ambitions make them appear to be realistic.

Simile-  "My papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air." pg. 6 This quote is not only used to describe the hair of her father, but she describes each of her family members hair and her own.

Symbolism- "My papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air." pg. 6 The comparison of hairs between the family is not just a comparison it is a characterization of the family's personality. When she compares his hair to broom, she compares his personality. He is strict, and stiff.

Foreshadowing- "She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow" pg. 11 This foreshadows the life of  women that appear in the book such as Sally. This shows the life women were expected to have during this time if they were married.

Personification- "...windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath." pg. 4 This is used throughout the novel to make the objects disliked intensely or liked intensely, by Esperanza.

Humor- "A very fat lady crossing the street says, you sure got quite a load there ( three girls on a bike ). Rachel shouts, You got quite a load there too. " pg. 16 The characterization of Rachel is present here. Her witty remarks is used to give the reader an idea of her clever, yet somewhat rude attitude.

Rhetorical questions- "Friends and neighbors will say, What happened to that Esperanza? Why did she march so far away?" pg. 110 These questions show how Esperanza desperately wants to get out of the neighborhood to find her own home.

Hyperbole- "They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out." pg. 110. Also characterizes her personality, but she is not just going to back to bring them out of the bad neighborhood, but to let them escape the hardships/problems that lay within there.

Repetition- "Sally, you lied. Why did you lie to me? Sally, you lied, you lied." " He said I love you, I love you, Spanish girl. " pg. 100 This is just after Esperanza goes through a dramatic change due to the sexual assault. She feels betrayed since she was left there without the help of Sally.

Setting- "I knew then I had to have a house. Its small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath"

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
"She was a horse woman too." This was used to describe Esperanza's grandmother who also has the name Esperanza.
"She is very sassy." used to talk about Rachel's comment about the fat woman's wide load.

"... first annual Tarzan jumping contest. Meme won. And broke both arms." From this you can infer that Meme was extremely reckless and paid the price.

" He worked two jobs. He came home late and left early. Everyday." From this you can infer that the man is a hard worker, and he does what he can to support his family with two jobs.

The author uses both approaches in order to make the character realistic, when people talk about them selves they have direct approaches, "I am lazy, stubborn" and from their actions you can infer other attributes of their personality. The lasting impression of the characters were realistic, they had thoughts, flaws and you were able to create your own opinion about them.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
The author's syntax/diction changed when focusing on characters, it went from longer and more lengthy sentences, to shorter sentences with more periods. She wrote this way involving indirect and direct characterization.
"She is sassy." straight forward, cutting out the unnecessary words.
"... first annual Tarzan jumping contest. Meme won. And broke both arms." This demonstrates how in her characterization of characters she types. a specific. way. < ex.


3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
The protagonist Esperanza is a dynamic and round character. One who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude. Esperanza undergoes a change in innocence. The older girl explains to her about women's clothes, make-up. Esperanza starts off only associating with girls, then begins to crush on boys, and soon a kiss is stolen from Esperanza. Lastly the most dramatic change in Esperanza is after she was sexually assaulted, she declared to be a women wanted but refused to ever give in to a man.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 
After reading the book, I felt like I had met a person. Esperanza like anyone else had flaws, ambitions, observed others' lives, and went through a change. Someone her character traits were closely related to mine or they were the same, making Esperanza appear to be more realistic.

"I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for." When reading this quote feelings of being wanted or loneliness come right off the page. At some point everyone can relate to the feeling, and made her a relatable and a realistic character.