DECLARATION OF LEARNING INDEPENDENCE

      Looking back at the past years in school I have come to the conclusion that nobody has ever taught me to think or to question the information that has been presented to me. Nobody has ever taught me how to be successful, wealthy or smart. I declare to be curious about learning, to seek more than one answer and to think beyond of what I have been taught.
      It has given us only one way to think, presented us with little sources of evidence, and given us fifty minutes to "learn". It has made us think that there is only one way to do things. It has made us feel unworthy, limited, restrained and most of all untrusted.
      I, therefore, declare to take action in my learning experience by being curious, asking questions and viewing things from multiple perspectives.

VOC. #5

1)Obsequious: obedient, dutiful

Up until high school it had been quite easy to be obsequious to all the house rules.

2)Beatitude: exalted happiness

Annie admitted that she had never experienced of beatitude.

3)bete noire: disliked person or thing

Just like I find math to be very difficult so do many others; it is bête noire in our society.

4)bode: predict, announce before hand

As a young child Paul was taught to bode what was going to happen in the novels before he read them.

5)dank: moist, humid, damp

The car was so dank that my hands became sticky with sweat after a few minutes.

6)ecumenical: general, universal

The topic of education is a ecumenical topic.

7)fervid: enthusiasm, burning in spirit

After the church retreat Andrew felt a fervid feeling in his heart.

8)fetid: bad odor, stinky

After finishing his triathlon Nick could not fetid more.

9)gargantuan: gigantic, enormous

I strongly dislike people who make a gargantuan problem out of a small situation.

10)heyday: stage or period of success, strength, high spirits

By the time the homecoming game rally was finished the football players were in a heyday.

11)Incubus: evil spirit, nightmare

When people I do not know come out in my dreams they turn out to be incubus instead of dreams.

12)infrastructure: the underlying framework of a system

The infrastructure of the building needs to be figured out before we actually start the building.

13)inveigle: to entice by flattering talk

John tried to inveigle Betty to be his girlfriend, but she rejected him.

14)kudos: honor, glory

“Kudos to you for starting you Odyssey project on the first day”, I told her.

15)lagniappe: bonus, tip

If I were to work as a waitress I would be extra nice just so I can get a lagniappe.

16)prolix: long, wordy and unnecessary

Mr. Rec prohibited the students to make their thesis prolix, but encouraged them to have straightforward and clear thesis.

17)protégé: under patronage, protection

I am under the protégé of the United States of America.

18)prototype:  model or something that is used to illustrate

The prototype in our science class is tall and bony.

19)sycophant: self-seeking flatterer

He forgot about his family and decided to become a sycophant person.

20)tautology: needless repetition of something

Even though the Mr. Dine knew the class understood the concept and did not need tautology he kept talking about it.

21)truckle: passive, willingness, submissive

I was taught to not truckle to anything without giving a fight

WHY THIS BOOK #2

 For my literature analysis number 2 i will be reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. I choose this book because my peers  have told me a lot of great things about it. They have praised it so much that i refuse to miss out on the fun. I actually have no knowledge of the background, but i picked it up from the library this week and have high expectations of it so i hope it won't disappoint me.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #1)

"The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells

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 novel takes place in England in 1890. The exposition begins with the stranger Griffin moving to a small inn in Iping. His straightforwardness and rudeness allow the reader to quickly understand the king of character he is. The conflict is that Griffin is invisible and does not really know how to cope with his situation. Nobody understands his persona, yet he does not attempt to help anyone understand him. He goes from bad to worse. He goes from being confused for being invisible to wanting to use his invisibility for the bad. The climax is when Dr. Kemp one of Griffin’s professors in college betrayed him by calling the police on him. The resolution is when the police catch Griffin and kill him.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

In my opinion the theme of the novel is fear of the unkown. Many people in our society are creatures of habit, they do not like too much change. It is quite ironic considering that change is constant. The characters and people in the novel wanted to finish Griffin because he was invisible. There are others such themes like science within humanity and corruption and/or advantage of power.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

*Mysterious: The title itself hints the reader that the novel will be a mystery. The first sentence of the novel also creates a scene of mistery and imagery for the reader.

 “The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.”

*Whimsical: The whole novel in general is just plain odd. I mean just think about it a man who turned himself invisible with an experiment. “Then he put his open palm over his face and withdrew it. The centre of his face became a black cavity. “Here” he said. He stepped forward and handed Mrs. Hall something which she, staring at his metamorphosed face, accepted automatically. Then when she saw what it was, she screamed loudly, dropped it, and staggered back. The nose- it was the stranger’s nose!”

*accusatory/judgmental: Like I mentioned above people tend to fear what they do not know, more likely than not they accuse and judge those who are different.  “It’s strange perhaps, but it’s not a crime. Why am I assaulted by a policeman in this fashion? “Ah! That’s a different matter,” said Jeffers. “No doubt you are difficult to see In this light, but I got a warrant and it’s all correct. What I’m after ain’t no invisibility- It’s burglary. There’s a house been broken into and money took.”

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.) 

1. Imagery: Pg. 143 “ Kemp made three swift steps to the door, and forth-with the invisible man-his legs had vanished-sprang to his feet with a shout. Kemp flung the door open. As it opened, there came a sound of hurrying feet downstairs and voices. With a quick movement Kemp thrust the invisible man back, sprang aside, and slammed the door.”

2. Theme:  Back cover of the book. To entertain, Science and humanity, fear of the unknown etc… “My fantastic stories do not pretend to deal with possible things. They aim indeed only at the same amount of conviction as one gets in a gripping good dream.”  

3. Tone: Pg. 38 whimsical- “Then he put his open palm over his face and withdrew it. The centre of his face became a black cavity. “Here” he said. He stepped forward and handed Mrs. Hall something which she, staring at his metamorphosed face, accepted automatically. Then when she saw what it was, she screamed loudly, dropped it, and staggered back. The nose- it was the stranger’s nose!”

4. Point of view: Third person, almost like an omniscient point of view.

Pg. 45 “The eight chapter is exceedingly brief, and relates that Gibbins, the amateur naturalist of the district, while lying out on the spacious open downs without a soul within a couple of miles of him, as he thought and almost dozing, heard close to him the sound of a man coughing, sneezing, and then swearing savagely to himself…”

5. Hyperbole: The fact that the main character Griffin turned himself invisible with an experiment is ridiculous. There is no specific evidence that I could find of this in the book.

6. Characterization: Pg.3 “ It was the fact that all his forehead above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose. It was bright, pink, and shiny just as it had been at first. He wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black linen-lined collar turned up about his neck. The thick black hair, escaping as it could below and between the cross bandages, projected in curious tails and horns, giving him the strangest appearance conceivable.”

7. Foreshadowing: Pg. 141 “ You have told no one I am here?” he asked abruptly. Kemp hesitated. “That was implied,” he said.” The reader has an idea that something bad is going to happen because of the hesitation and insecurity of Kemp’s reply.

8. Personification: Pg. 32 “ –the bed-clothes gathered themselves together, leapt up suddenly into a sort of peak, and then jumped headlong over the bottom rail.”

9. Dialogue: Pg. 11 “The weather” – he began. “Why don’t you finish and go?” said the rigid figure, evidently in a state of painfully suppressed rage.  “All you’ve got to do is to fix the hour-hand on its axle. You’re simply hum-bugging.”

10. Setting: Iping, England Pg. 1 “A guest to stop at Iping in the wintertime was an unheard-of piece of luck…”

ALL OF THE ABOVE

1987 AP Exam  Reflection:

Going into the test i did not have a positive expectation for myself. To no surprise i did not do well. The questions that i found to be more difficult than others were the ones that had similar choices, but only had one answer of course. Those really got me frustrated because i had a fifty/fifty chance of getting them right. The other difficult ones were the ones that asked about literary techniques and vocabulary.

VOC. #4

1.Accolade: award, honor, laudatory notice

Marco’s final goal received accolades not only from his fans, but also from the newspaper and television the next day.

2.Acerbity: sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste

I had a really hard time swallowing the food on my plate, its acerbity made my throat itch.

3.Attrition: a reduction or decrease in numbers, size or strength

The boss decided to make an attrition on all of the employees monthly wage.

4.Bromide: flat, dull remark

I felt pity for the girl for she only came up with bromides in her argument.

5.Chauvinist: person aggressively and blindly patriotic

I find chauvinist people quite ignorant sometimes, because they are so focused on their own country.

6.Chronic: constant, habitual

Kelly does not like change she much rather enjoys her chronic life as it is.

7.Expound: state in detail, explain, and interpret

Mr. Leal really knew how to take a subject and expound it in a way that was so simple.

8.Factionalism: practice of a faction (group, clique within larger group)

Factionalism is a daily thing on a high school campus.

9.Immaculate: free from spot, pure, perfect

To many Catholics the Virgin Mary is seen as immaculate, because she is said to be born without sin.

10.Imprecation: curse, malediction

Sarah had never believed in imprecations, but after the scary movie she could not take her mind off them.

11.Ineluctable: incapable of being escaped, ignored or avoided

His bright yellow shoes flashed under the sun’s gleam that he was just ineluctable.

12.Mercurial: changeable

What I love about my house rules is that they are mercurial.

13.Palliate: to relieve, alleviate

The Advil was able to palliate the pain for a couple of hours before it came again.

14.Protocol: regulations and customs pertaining to diplomatic formality, etiquette

Sonny thought she knew about protocol until she met Josh.

15.Resplendent: shining, gleaming

She was completely in awe when he went down on one knee and presented her with the resplendent ring.

16.Stigmatize: to set a mark of disgrace, brand, and stigma upon something/someone

Many people have a tendency of quickly stigmatizing something they know very little of.

17.sub rosa: confidentially, secretly, and privately

There are many issues that are kept sub rosa by my parents.

18.Vainglory: vain, excessive pride over one’s achievements

Jake has so much vainglory and I t is really getting on my nerves.

19.Vestige: surviving evidence or remainder that is no longer present

The tablets of unknown language served as vestiges to the people of that town.

20.Volition: exercise of willing, choosing, resolving, etc.

People practice volition everyday.

BEOWULF ESSAY

“Different Nonetheless Heroes ”

            The hero should not be give a time period, so long as they were heroes once, they will be heroes forever. The man who leaves his life behind to protect the life of another is a hero. Beowulf earned his title as a hero because he fought for his people. Soldiers help maintain our freedom and peace. They are our modern heroes.

            The soldier symbolizes the ongoing peace and freedom that many countries are able to practice each day. The soldier is able to voluntarily enlist. He/She does not seek to alter their ego, but simply to keep our everyday practices alive. Like Beowulf and his “…mightiest…bravest and best…” men, Soldiers fight in troops. They are not afraid of protecting the people for they are highly trained to do what they do. On the other hand Beowulf symbolizes the Danish communities and how they lived. He was all they had to capture their time.

            Beowulf and the soldier are similar characters in that they willingly fight for what is right while protecting others. The irony that ties these heroes together is the fact that both may be accused of having a sense of bravado to them. In Beowulf it is the characters and the readers that are debating whether or not he is cocky or simply confident. That debating specially came up when Beowulf decided to fight the monster without armor. As for a soldier there are often times where people address that some soldiers are cocky. Is it confidence? Did all their victories go too deep into their heads? It is safe to assume that Beowulf was willing to fight not only because he wanted to protect the people, but also because he had a name to live up to. His father was the great and respected King so we (the readers) know that some influence came from that alone. Many times it occurs that if someone in the family has served or is serving in the military there is a desire or expectation to do the same, to follow the tradition.

Despite the time and era difference between Beowulf and a soldier they are both heroes. They are heroes of different times, Beowulf orally told in the years of 500 to 1100. On the other hand the soldier is well known and traced many battles and wars back. Many traits unite these familiar characters, but one unites them and that is the will to fight and protect their people.