Group Discussion

My group and I discussed this image after Lili had sent it to Naiomi; we all started laughing because we knew it was true that we were always supposed to look more closely at the big picture to take something meaningful out of it but sometimes there might just be nothing to take out of it. I guess this also gives us a good example of how it will be on the AP test, because we will have to have a critical eye for literary techniques. Usually I have trouble with that though because when I read I focus on the story rather on its techniques and I know I shouldn't really do that but usually the only way I feel I have a chance of staying awake during a test is if I'm reading for fun, which means just paying attention to the story.

Charles Dickens Notes

• What makes children a child is idealism
• Blacksmith isn't satisfying enough for Pip
• Pip asks himself " Am I wicked?"
• Pip doesn't know what normal is
• Magwitch represents what Pip may become 
• Havisham is a witch like figure and her house is a memorial to dead hope, since she was leftin the alter
• Havisham and Estella aren't what they seem
• Pip is like a seed
• Some characters embody different morals of the universe.

Hacking My Education

I actually really do feel like I am hacking my education because ever since winter break I've been thinking of how I'm going to focus on relaxing and enjoy my senior year but since I went to Mexico during that time it gave me more of a reason to slack off. Now I'm regretting it and booking it to try to catch up on my work, senioritis really has got me and while I attempt to leave this feeling of laziness, I struggle with trying to figure out my priorities. I would've never thought myself of actually saying I have senioritis but I do or did not sure whether it done with me yet. I feel this post is like a wake-up call for me to get off me butt and work. Which I will do.

Lit. Terms #1

allegory - noun an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor; a short moral story (often with animal characters); a visible symbol representing an abstract idea
alliteration - noun use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse
allusion - noun passing reference or indirect mention
ambiguity - noun unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning; an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context
anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
analogy - noun drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect; an inference that if things agree in some respects they probably agree in others; the religious belief that between creature and creator no similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is always greater; language can point in the right direction but any analogy between God and humans will always be inadequate
analysis - noun an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole; the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations; a branch of mathematics involving calculus and the theory of limits; sequences and series and integration and differentiation; a form of literary criticism in which the structure of a piece of writing is analyzed; the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., `the father of the bride' instead of `the bride's father'; a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud
anaphora - noun using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier; repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
anecdote - noun short account of an incident (especially a biographical one)
antagonist - noun a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug; a muscle that relaxes while another contracts;someone who offers opposition
antithesis - noun the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance; exact opposite
aphorism - noun a short pithy instructive saying
apologia - noun a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly
apostrophe - noun the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word; address to an absent or imaginary person
argument - noun a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable; a summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie; a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true; a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal; a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
assumption - noun the act of taking possession of or power over something; the act of assuming or taking for granted; a hypothesis that is taken for granted; (Christianity) the taking up of the body and soul of the Virgin Mary when her earthly life had ended; celebration in the Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary's being taken up into heaven when her earthly life ended; corresponds to the Dormition in the Eastern Orthodox church; audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to; a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn
audience - noun a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance; the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment; a conference (usually with someone important); an opportunity to state your case and be heard
characterization - noun the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features; acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture; a graphic or vivid verbal description
chiasmus - noun inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

And My Masterpiece Begins.....

My topic would be trying to bring city life into small towns or cities and try to figure out why people are more prone to act to a cause if there is more people around.

Since I was in Junior High I 've always wanted to do a flash mob so I tried to find something that goes along with what I wanted to do and lucky I thought of something that goes along with that but is also broad enough for me to learn about other aspects of city life.

I think that I will gain more confidence out of this experience and maybe even create great connections with people. I think if everything turns out alright I feel by the end of this I will have good experience on managing events that consists of many people.

I think this topic will music, psychology, people skills, math, and time management.

I'm planning to recruit people to bring attention to the Eric Garner incident and hopefully my partner and I will be able to pull it off by mid-February. Then I'm hoping to began my flash mob idea and start with small groups of people and then accumulate as  time goes by hopefully I'm able to accomplish this by late May.

For my first project I would like to have enough money to get about 50 T-shirts that say I can't breathe. For my second project I would have to contact people and recruit them to be in a flash mob then search for a location on where to have it and hopefully in a very public place, like maybe the mall.

I don't think I'm going to do another because I think it would be best to have all my work together in one place, so my course  blog.

Literary Analysis #3

1. Edna is in the cottages of Madame Lebrun  in Grand Isle with her two sons and her husband. Edna is friends with Adele who helps her open her eyes to some emotions and desires that she didn't even know she had. Then Edna meets Madame Lebrun's eldest son, Robert Lebrun; who has the reputation of choosing one women who most of the times is married and attends her. Robert and Edna start off as friends but then begin to have feelings for eachother and in the end Robert leaves to keep himself from making a mistake with a married women. Then Edna returns to New Orleans but different and her husband is worried so asks for guidance from their family physician, Doctor Mandelet. He suspects that Edna might have had an affair but doesn't say anything and tells Leonce (Edna's husband) to let this phase run its course. Edna then moves by herself and then cheats on her husband  with a man named Alcee Arobin but since she is still in love with Robert she only uses Alcee for her sexual needs. Edna meets a women named Mademoiselle Reisz her encourages her art and is a  pianist. Mademoiselle Reisz is the only one to know of Robert and encourages Edna to act upon her feelings. Robert goes to New Orleans and tells her what he feels but tells her that they cant be together. she tries to convince him, but he doesn't want to enter an adulterous affair. Adele has a difficult childbirth and Edna goes and speaks to her and Adele reminds her of her children and so does Doctor Mamdelet. So she starts thinking that she was acting selfishly. Robert leaves her unable to do such a relationship, then Edna moves to Grand Isle. She ends up killing herself in the sea.
2.  I felt the theme of this book is to always follow your heart rather than what society wants you to do, but from the beginning.
3. The author's tone is considerate and understanding of a women who has been blind to what she wanted for herself and what other people wanted for her. Even though the author knows that this will cause some suffering, so maybe even a little apologetic.

• “The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.”  
• “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.”  
• “She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.” 

4. Foreshadowing: Robert was known to choose one women, often a married one and attend her. 

Personification: “The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude.” 

Metaphor : “Goodbye -- Because I love you.” IF you truly love something let it free if it comes back its your if it doesn't it never was.

Simile: “She was flushed and felt intoxicated with the sound of her own voice and the unaccustomed taste of candor. It muddled her like wine, or like a first breath of freedom.” 

 Imagery : “She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself.” 

Diction:  “A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her,—the light which, showing the way, forbids it.” - The way she said " forbids" in the end in really bringing out how women are oppressed.

Gradation: “He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.” 

Hyperbole: “I love you, only you; no one but you. It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long, stupid dream.” 

Symbolism: That could be the sea in which Edna learned hoe to swim with Robert it could be refer back to the first time where she felt free.

Incongruous: “Who can tell what metals the gods use in forging the subtle bond which we call sympathy, which we might as well call love.” 

Poetry Comparison

Poetry isn't done the same way nor do they have to have similar ideas, but it's funny to see how similar poems can be to each other when you analyze them. For example the poem that my group analyzed was "Everything is Going to be Alright"- by Derek Mahon, but when we were going over what we  wanted to do our essays on and we decided on "Where the Sidewalk Ends"- by Shel Silverstein. If you would have noticed the titles seem like total polar opposites, one is talking about continuing no matter what while the other one sounds like there is going to be an end of the road. These two poems have a lot of things in common like the message they are trying to get through to people, and the desire for something better and perseverance.
I feel that Mahon's poem had the message or idea of what his poem was going to be about in the title while in the second poem you actually have to go out of your way and try to look for what the author means by "Where the Sidewalk Ends". At first I thought that the poem had something to do with death but it wasn't until I broke down the poem that I started to realize some similarities. They are both positive even though I still feel that the second one is talking about death. I feel both of these are motivating and reassuring because of the author's tone and when they use lines like,"and the far cities are beautiful and bright" which is from, "Everything is Going to be Alright" and "And there the sun burns crimson bright" from "Where the Sidewalk Ends". Like I mentioned before I feel like its motivating the reader to try to go further or at least to notice the beauty in our surroundings.  In hope of taking as much as you  can get out of life.
Although I'm not saying that they're trying to give you the same message. The messages might be positive and relatively close but I feel like "Where the Sidewalk Ends" talks more about how you should enjoy the present as much as you can get because we are all going to die at a point but me will only be able to take with us our memories and what we learned to the grave. That's why I feel like the author mentioned youth in the end because usually those are the most memorable, fun, or happiest times of someones life.