Young Goodman Brown Essay

Goodman was deceived by the appearances of those around him and even though I am saying this he wasn't the only one, it took me a while to realize what was going on and to this point I'm still not sure if I read/interpreted the story well enough. Yet the story brought out a really good point; which is that all humans have a dark side to themselves and although we try to prevent that side from making an appearance it causes problems and even destruction within us or to those we love. I feel that everyone tries to accommodate or at least make themselves seem really good or at least present themselves as best as they could, so would it mean “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” Personally I have asked myself if that dark side of myself is truly me and even though I don't want to admit it, it is a part of me that I still try to improve on it but it's only an extension of who I am, they're my imperfections.

We have a tendency to put those that we admire or believe to be amazing on pedestals we always compare ourselves to one another and become blind to what can be right in front of us. I felt that Goodman Brown had too high of regard for these people that the shock of seeing them do such evil turned his whole world around and practically made him question everything in his world. Even waking up the next morning and not knowing if it were a dream or not brought him into further madness. Probably because while he tried to put together his thoughts he realized or at least believed that he was the one to sin for after that night he was "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man."

He was unsure on how to react after that because he felt his community was lieing to him about who they were, it's practically like waking up one day and realizing that your family isn't your family. Everything was different form then on and he no longer seemed to trust, "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom."

Jiro & Mr.G

Mr. Gabaldon like Jiro are two really successful men that have completely emerged themselves in their work in order to create something great. Through all the years they have worked they always seek improvement in their work because they are so passionate in what they do. Yes, they can be hard at times on their employees, sons, and students, but only because they hope to push people to a point where they are passionate about their work/performance as they are. They are very dedicated to what they do and even when they have days off all they do is think of work or ways of improving it. Mr.G along with Jiro have passed on their legacy to their children in order to continue it and fill the hole that they will be leaving. I was lucky enough to work with both Mr. G and his son Senor G and I’m glad to say that they have done very well in what they do; they have inspired me to go on and do something similar; I want to be as passionate about my work as they are.

Spring Break Poem

I choose the poem by Maya Angelou, "Woman Work", and I decided that it would go well with the 1971 prompt that reads- " In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected in the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the

poem." 

Angelou seems to be wanting to bring attention to a large group of people that have been over looked and not appreciated for the work they have done; yes and staying at home and taking care of everything in the house is a job and can also be an extension if you have another on the side. Angelou captivated my attention just by her title as I read I saw how passionate she was to make others realize that women don't have it easy. " I've got the children to tend"- Angelou, in that part of her poem she was specific to say "I've", meaning that she has to take care of the children, because she has no other choice. It is always assumed that the women have to stay home and take care of the children, and be the care givers. I'm not saying that we don't love or children but why is it expected of us to always tend to the children. I am also not close minded enough to say that no man takes care of his child because that is not true either. We have grown up thinking that certain jobs are for males and others for females. My teacher once gave me a riddle and the answer was that the doctor was the mom but it took us a while to figure out that the doctor wasn't a male. If I were to read a portion of Angulou's poem for example, "The floor to mop, the food to shop" we would most likely assume that the person speaking was a women. Angelou not only brought into attention that women DO work, but also, what society thinks a woman's role should be within the household. 

Literary Analysis #1 for 2nd semester Great Expectations

1. Pip  was orphaned at a very young age and had to live with his sister and her husband. One day after he goes to visit his parents an criminal surprises him and make Pip steal from the house food and a file. Eventually the convict is captured but doesn't rat out Pip. Afterwards Pip is taken to Miss Havisham's house by his uncle Pumblechook and he meets a girl that he falls in love with even though she treats him bad. Miss Havisham is a a weird and almost witch type character that wears an old wedding gown and has he clocks all set up at the same time.......

2. Throughout the story you could tell that Pip really wanted to do what would be best fo rhimself and even though his motif was to become a rich gentlemen to win over Estella, he was working on improving himself and always seeked guidance from those around him and tried to rap his head around what type of person they are and what type of person he wants to be.

3. He seems to have a triumphant and understanding tone in voice.

• “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.”
• “We need never be ashamed of our tears.” 
• “There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”

4.

•  “In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.” - simile
• “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”- pathos
• “So, throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.” - irony
• “Ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies.”- aphorism
• Pip and Estella ended up together in the end. -resolution
• Magwitch and Joe would be an example of- foil
• "In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.” - figurative language
• “So, I must be taken as I have been made. The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me.” -incongruity
• “All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself.”- Hyperbole
• “So new to him," she muttered, "so old to me; so strange to him, so familiar to me; so melancholy to both of us!...” -tone

Characterization                                                 

1. Indirect: "I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too"."I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse hands and my common boots." 

Direct: A young orphan boy being raised by his sister and brother-in-law in. He is also a romantic, passionate, and ambitious. Pip is very impressionable and seems to care about appearances.

2. He does but to show the amount of education and what type of class they are in. For example Magwitch and Miss Havisham.

3. Pip is a dynamic round character because he does overcome an important change and grows into a different person as time passes by even though it takes time to finally have a change in mindset.

4. I feel I met a character because Pip could literally be a portrayal of today's youth and the journey that it is to try to find yourself.  “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.”

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.