Brave New World Essay

Conforming outwardly while questioning inwards can be causes because they are afraid of loss; loss of oneself; loss of something you are accustomed to,or the loss of losing someone else. In "The Awakening" the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, struggles to find herself while trying to accommodate to her normal social life. Edna as well as Bernard from "Brave New World", tries to conform to an ignorant society that sets aside those who may think differently. Which is why its hard for someone to step outside of societies boundaries and try to free themselves from conformity.

Society can have a very tight grip on how it influences us and in what to believe, but  these two characters find themselves questioning the social norms. The author uses juxtaposition to compare the type of characters in the book and the protagonist in order to see the difference between those character and the ideas. For example Bernard wants to build an actual relationship between himself and  Lenina , instead of just a "fun" sexual pastime. The author uses tone to set his own opinion about that type of utopian society, he uses irony to make fun of a certain way of thinking that's those that are conformed, live by. The author seems to be saying that the majority my not always be right and are rather blind of their humanity.

As we grow up we seem to be finding ourselves more and more but as mentioned before those around us influence and it takes time and maybe a little distance in order to figure out what we truly believe and who we are. Personally I have always found it difficult to try to set aside societies of what is right and what is wrong but sometimes you just feel like you want to be accepted which may require you sometimes to set aside your own beliefs. In "Brave New World" that would mean having to abandon your emotions which is what makes you humane. 

Stepping out of societies thoughts of right and wrong can be  really difficult, and only a few are able to escape those ideas but those that do, don't leave unscathed. Sometimes its just easier to lie to yourself rather than those around you.

Lit Terms #2

Circumlocution - noun an indirect way of expressing something; a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
Classicism - noun a movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that favored rationality and restraint and strict forms
Cliché- an over used phrase
Climax - noun the decisive moment in a novel or play;arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness; the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding; the most severe stage of a disease; the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse; verb end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
Colloquialism - noun a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
Comedy - noun light and humorous drama with a happy ending; a comic incident or series of incidents
Conflict - noun an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); an incompatibility of dates or events; opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings; opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot); a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests; a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; a disagreement or argument about something important; verb go against, as of rules and laws; be in conflict
Connotation - noun an idea that is implied or suggested; what you must know in order to determine the reference of an expression
Contrast - noun the act of distinguishing by comparing differences;the range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness); the perceptual effect of the juxtaposition of very different colors; the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared; a conceptual separation or distinction; verb put in opposition to show or emphasize differences; to show differences when compared; be different
Denotation - noun the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; the act of indicating or pointing out by name
Denouement - noun the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work; the outcome of a complex sequence of events
Dialect - noun the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
Dialectics - noun a rationale for dialectical materialism based on change through the conflict of opposing forces
Dichotomy - noun being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
Diction - noun the manner in which something is expressed in words; the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience
Didactic - adj. instructive (especially excessively)
Dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
Elegy - noun a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
Epic - adj. very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale); constituting or having to do with or suggestive of a literary epic; noun a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
Epigram - noun a witty saying

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.