In Class Essay #2

This was not my best essay. :/ At all.

In this poem "Thou Blind Man's Mark," the speaker has a distinct dislike for the feeling of desire in his mind. With poetic devices such as diction, tone, repetition (pleonasm/anaphora), and details, the speaker reveals his complex attitude towards desire.

"Thou Blind Man's Mark" has a very formal diction, yet a tone that is quite unsatisfied lies beneath it. Lines 1-4 describe desire in a very detailed way, and hints at what the speaker thinks of when it comes to desire. "Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care": there is no sense of kindness towards this feeling. Later on in the poem the speaker goes on to say how "in vain" desire made him do things that he did not wish to do. "In vain" and "too long" are examples of pleonasm, so as to emphasize how angered the speaker as at his weakness. It also emphasizes how much control desire tries to take of him.

With these clues revealed to us throughout the poem, we can understand how much that overwhelming feeling of desire that overcomes the speaker angers him as well.

Essay #2

In Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth was prophesied to become king. After deciding that this shall only come true if he takes things into his own hands, he has to wrestle with the guilt and anxiety going on inside his head. Can he pull off this evil dead? Or does he let his guilt overcome him, and wait for a prophecy that might not come true otherwise?

The prophecy foretold by the three witches was an enticing one. Macbeth was told he was to be king, but was not told at what time it would happen. His thinking process moved towards killing King Duncan, and receiving the kingship right away. Once he had his wife, Lady Macbeth, involved, she pushed him even further into that direction. The path he was creating for himself was filled with glory as a ruler. But once he becomes king, he would have to eliminate competition like Banquo, who also received a prophecy that his sons would be kings. To keep in that path of being a king, he would have to kill Banquo, a close colleague.

Then there is the other side to this rise to power: the guilt and regret. Even before killing the king, Macbeth questions his decision to do it. He's not sure that he is able to accomplish such a feat. Later on in the story, Macbeth is not as restrained when it comes to killing Banquo, but his guilt manifests itself in another way. He sees the ghost of Banquo at dinner, while no one else can. Even though he is telling himself that what he's doing is justified, seeing things such as Banquo's ghost is telling him otherwise. He is trying to be pulled away from evil by his own guilt.

This conflict within Macbeth between good and evil helps portray Macbeth as a truly unique character. He is a protagonist consumed by evil, even after his guilt tries to dissuade him from that.

Passage Essay #1

In this passage from Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing, the main character goes through a dramatic experience of having to bury a wolf. With the use of his solemn and somber tone, his visuals created by imagery, and the syntax of the passage, we are able to see how much this experience affects the protagonist.

Imagery is the most powerful tool used in this passage. The narrator describes the settings with phrases such as "tall escarpments" and "dark shapes of the rimlands." He also describes his bloodied clothes, and the wolf that he carried. Accompanying the visual imagery is the imagery to create sounds. The howls and "yapping" of the coyotes are mentioned throughout the passage, as the main character can hear them all around him. The main character touches the wolf's body, closes it's eyes that "gave no light." All these images are created for the reader so as to understand how much of an impact this is to the main character. These descriptions and details are so articulate, trying to get the reader to see the whole picture in and out.

The syntax and mood of the passage also helps to convey the feelings going on inside the main character. There narrator uses polysyndeton to show all the things the main character does to take care of the wolf's body, who seems to be have some strong connection to the main character. He then goes on to reflect and ponder on what the wolf's life was like: "running in the mountains, running in the starlight where the grass was wet," with a "rich matrix of creatures." This brings the reader into the mind of the main character, and his sad thoughts, sad that the wolf lost its life when it enjoyed so much. It's letting the readers follow his thoughts just as he is making them.

With these literary techniques one feels the sadness and awe the main character feels. The wolf's death means so much to this character, and McCarthy's intent was to convey this meaning to the audience.

Poetry Essay #2

To Paint a Water Lily is a beautiful poem that describes a lily pond and it's surroundings in nature. The speaker, who is trying to paint a picture of a water lily by the title, observes the nature around him. With the use of imagery, structure, and even personification, he is able to portray this picture of nature to the reader.

The speaker initially is observing his main attraction, the lily, when a dragonfly comes into his sight. He admires it, how it eats and how it "stands in space to take aim." As the dragonfly flies away, the speaker seems to take notice of something else going on under the trees. He hears "battle-shouts and death cries everywhere." This use of imagery and personification of nature creates the image of an ongoing battle in nature, yet also how unnoticed it goes by the flies and the lily itself. In the speaker's eyes, there seems to be so much more in the surroundings of the lily, and the lily seems to be unaware of what is going on.

The structure of this poem also gives an insight on to how the speaker is thinking. The stanzas, all made up of  verses of two, seem to be the speaker gathering his thoughts slowly. It's as if he is slowly realizing the reality of what is going on in nature. But it must come to an end. As the poem is almost finished, he comes back to what he is doing, the mission he had in the first place: painting the lily. He focus on it, and even though the battle is inaudible, he is still aware of the presence of it surrounding him. 

The author is clearly intrigued and a bit in awe by the nature that he was surrounded by. His role as an artist is not only to take note of the lily, but the surrounding chaos as well. 

Poetry Essay #1

Helen of Troy, a woman whose beauty ultimately caused the Trojan War, is a figure many people know of. These two poems seem to take this single woman and change her into two by the very way they describe her. One poem is full of admiration for her, and the other despises the person she is. Diction, imagery, form, and tone help create a completely different picture of Helen of Troy in the eyes of the spearers.

In the poem To Helen by Edgar Allan Poe, it begins with such a love and admiration of her beauty, comparing her to the "Nicean barks of yore." Poe goes on to use more imagery to describe her beauty, such as "hyacinth hair" and "statue-like." The tone and form of the poem also convey his sense of admiration of Helen. The poem is written in the way a love letter is written to a loved one. His tone shows how in awe Poe is of Helen's beauty, how her beauty has brought him to her. Even the title itself "To Helen" shows how he's writing this poem not only about her, but to her, as he would want her to see how he thinks of her.

The other poem is completely different when it comes to Helen. Strictly titled Helen, this author speaks in a very solemn tone, with a slight hint of disgust and hate for her. The author uses imagery to describe the way she looks, with "still eyes in the white face," "the wan face when she smiles." This changes the description of Helen of Troy as to someone with a pale, sickly unattractive look about them. The author even goes on to explicitly saw how Greece hated this woman, is reviled by her, and would only love her if "she were laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses." The tone and imagery show how strongly Helen is disliked by not only by Greece, but by the author.

These two poems are examples of how literary elements such as tone and imagery can make such a difference. Helen of Troy, one woman, went from being a most beautiful woman who a man adored, to being a woman most hated by an entire country. A single person can be drastically changed by a few words, for words are more powerful than one thinks.

Groupthink

As much as talking with others is supposed to help, it doesn't. I enjoy figuring the poems out on my own, and even though their grids helped explain their poems a bit better, I'm sure I didn't understand it on the same level as they did, since they spent more time reading it. But I did see some interesting types of poems, and some familiar ones as well from my group. We also agreed on how the poetry part will probably be the most difficult for all of us on the AP exam, but using the grids helped organize the poem into parts so we can understand it better.

Gridlock

 Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath

TPCASTT:  Poem Analysis Method:  title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme
Titleof poem means	Blackberrying: the act of picking blackberries, as the speaker of Sylvia's poem is doing
Paraphraseparts of the Poem	The first stanza the speaker (maybe Sylvia) is walking alone through blackberry fields, and she talks about the berries and how they look. The next stanza the speaker notices choughs that looks like bits of paper in the sky, and realizes she won't see the sea. She goes up to another blackberry bush and describes it. The last stanza she doesn't mention blackberries at all. She walks between two hills, calling them green and sweet. She turns and sees a huge orange rock, and hears metal clanging against metal.
Connotationof some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values	Blackberry alley - a single path surrounded by blackberry fields on both sides; dumb as eyes - the color of the blackberries are dark?; blood sisterhood - could mean like blood brothers, where you cut your thumb and press it against another person's thumb, squeezing blackberries would show something like that; bits of burnt paper wheeling in the sky - the choughs? are being referred to as bits of paper fluttering in the sky
AttitudeWhat is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?	The attitude of the author is very solemn and observant. The author has a strong emotional tie to the blackberries at the beginning of the poem. But as it progresses, we don't see that attitude again. The rest of the poem seems to be more somber, and the blackberries aren't even mentioned in the last part.
ShiftAt first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift:  identify the shifts and explain them	The first shift happens between the first and second stanzas. The speaker ends the first stanza with "I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood; they must love me/They accommodate themselves to my milkbottle, flattening their sides." Very simple description of the blackberries. Then it shifts to "Overhead go the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks-/Bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky/Theirs is only the voice protesting, protesting./I do not think the sea will appear at all." It is quite a change from the last two verses of the first stanza.
Title revisitedAny new insights on meaning or significance of title?	There is some deeper meaning of the title. "Blackberrying" isn't really about the literal action that the speaker is doing. Blackberrying means something more. But I'm just not sure what.
Theme	Nature?

Seventh Reading

Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath

At first, this poem confused me. The first stanza I seemed to understand a little, since it seemed to be referencing the title. But then the next two stanzas had nothing to do with it. After reading it for the seventh time, I was able to pick out the difference between the first and the last two stanzas. The first is so happy, and the last two have such a somber tone. Ordinarily I wouldn't have been able to find something like that reading a poem once. But reading it over and over again actually helps the comprehension of the poem!

My Poems!

Here are the three poems I've picked:

Digging by Seamus Heaney

Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing by Margaret Atwood

I shall start reading!

Analysis of my Test Performance

As I'm thinking about it right now, I actually think I did quite well. Surprisingly, pre-writes actually help me! And I know, people always are saying how helpful they are, especially Preston, but I wasn't really into listening about it. Now that I actually organize my thoughts before writing the essay, it doesn't take time away, but actually increases the rate at which I'm writing. I'm pretty sure that it will help my performance on the AP Exam. A successful essay, I'd say. As for the multiple choice... I'm probably going to have to speed up. I know I can't take forever on each question and all their choices, but 15 seconds is... well.. I don't know. Not enough time. But I will definitely work on my speed!

Responses to Lit Circles: Essays

As I wasn't here this Friday, and have tried to look for as much info as these books as I can, I'm only attempting prewrites and not the essays themselves.

Slaughterhouse Five

Explain how war affects modern life and society as it did in Slaughterhouse Five.

Slaughterhouse Five - how war affected main character Billy Pilgrim
Modern Society - rallies people -> people help by rationing, donating, etc.
                          - disgusts people -> protest, try to disuade govt from being involved, complain
                          - strikes fear in people -> panic



Kafka on the Shore

Throughout the novel the “primary character” Kafka struggles internally, these internal struggles by novel’s end characterizing the character. Write an essay wherein you identify Murakami’s use of shifting (or static) style/rhetoric/prose to characterize Kafka (or any supportable character within the novel). Try to support with examples of indirect/direct characterization.


Life of Pi (I)

Is there a relationship between religion and story telling? Is religion a form of story telling? Is there a theological dimension to story telling?

Religion and storytelling are indeed related, in a way. And I don't mean it in an offensive way, as in religion is just a story, or stories have to have a deep meaning involving religious. But both can utilize each other to help their cause, just not in every religion or ever story. For example, in the Bible, there were a few parables Jesus told to his disciples to teach a lesson. Every AP student should know, of course, that a parable is basically a story teaching a lesson or a moral. Parable is the best example of the relationship between religion and storytelling.

Life of Pi (II)

Write an essay about a novel (Life of Pi) that reveals a sense of self identity through a momentous plot of hardships and obstacles.  Identify the self awareness, and explain its significance to the work as a whole.

Life of Pi - protaganist: Piscine, self-awareness moment- "?", how it could be significant to the whole - major turning point in the story

Responses to Lit Circles: Multiple Choice

Slaughterhouse Five

1. D
2. C
3. D
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. C
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. C
14. B
15. B
16. A
17. C
18. B
19. C
20. A
21. C
22. A
23. A
24. D
25. A
26. D
27. A
28. C
29. A
30. B
31. B
32. D
33. D
34. C
35. B
36. D
37. B
38. D
39. A
40. B
41. A
42. C
43. B
44. C
45. A
46. D
47. B
48. D
49. A
50. C

Kafka On the Shore

1. C
2. C
3. A
4. D
5. A
6. C
7. B
8. D
9. D
10. A
11. C
12. B
13. A
14. C
15. D
16. C
17. A
18. C
19. A
20. A
21. D
22. B
23. A
24. C
25. C
26. A
27. A
28. B
29. B
30. A
31. C
32. D
33. A
34. A
35. B
36. B
37. A
38. B
39. C
40. D
41. A
42. B
43. A
44. A
45. B
46. C
47. B
48. B
49. C
50. A

Life of Pi (I)

1. B
2. D
3. C
4. E
5. C
6. A

Life of Pi (II)

1. A
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. B
6. A
7. C
8. A
9. A
10. B

Life of Pi (III)

1. C
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. C
6. C
7. B
8. C
9. C
10. A
11. C
12. D
13. C
14. C
15. C
16. D
17. B
18. B
19. A
20. A
21. B
22. C
23. C
24. B
25. D
26. B
27. B
28. A
29. A
30. A
31. C
32. A
33. B
34. D
35. A

Prose Essay Prompts

1. Analyze the protaganist Carrie, and how Stephen King uses literary techniques to reveal her character's development.

2. Stephen King is famous for his many horror stories. Carrie was his first novel published. How does King create such a terrific story about bullying? What literary elements are used? Does the supernatural aspect increase the horror?

3.  Carrie is on a list of the most banned books in history. Are King's elements/devices/techniques/stories too graphic for schoool?

4. Analyze the techniques that help instill horror when reading about Carrie and her mother's relationship.

Jane Eyre Question Answers

1. B
2. B
3. D
4. D
5. E
6. A
7. B
8. C
9. B
10. E
11. E
12. A
13. E
14. D
15. E
16. B
17. D
18. E
19. C
20. C
21. C
22. A
23. C
24. A
25. B
26. D
27. A
28. D
29. C
30. E
31. D
32. A
33. B
34. E
35. C
36. C

1. D

2. A

3. B

4. D

5. C

6. A

7. D

8. C

9. B

10. D

11. A

12. C

13. B

14. A

15. C

16. D

27. E

28. A

29. C

30. C

Macbeth Active Reading Notes 1

Scene V
Messenger announces Macbeth's arrival to Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth seems to be want to be full of cruelty and evil?
   "And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it!"
Macbeth returns
They discuss Banquo's coming
"Your face, my thane, is a book where men may read stranger matters" What does that mean?

Scene VI
Setting: outside of the castle
Lady Macbeth joins the men outside, greets each other
The men ask of Macbeth, where he is and say they will be their guests tonight
Lady Macbeth denies?/accepts? them
They exit

Scene VII
Macbeth speaks of murdering and assassinating (Duncan?)
He does not bear the knife himself?
Lady Macbeth enters
They talk of someone eating, and Macbeth has asked if he has asked for him (Duncan?)
Lady Macbeth seems to be berating Macbeth, to get the deed done
They ARE talking of killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade her love that he is not going to fail
They talk of using daggers

Multiple Choice Answers for Practice Test 1

1. E
2. A
3. E
4. C
5. A
6. A
7. D
8. D
9. D
10. B
11. A
12. E
13. E
14. D
15. D
16. C
17. A
18. E
19. D
20. C
21. B
22. C
23. B
24. B
25. C
26. C
27. A
28. C
29. B
30. C
31. D
32. D
33. D
34. D
35. C
36. D
37. E
38. C
39. D
40. D
41. B
42. C
43. A
44. C
45. C
46. E
47. B
48. E
49. A
50. D
51. B
52. C
53. C
54. E

Joy Luck Club Lit Analysis

1. The Joy Luck Club involved multiple Chinese daughters and mothers facing obstacles such as conflict between each other and the American world they live in. It mainly focuses on Jing-mei trying to find her long-lost sisters, born from a different father and left in China. The story is told in a unique way, with the four mothers first telling their stories, talking about their lives and relationships with their daughters. It then transitions to the daughters and their points of view, their lives and their relationships with their mothers.

2. I think ethnic and cultural differences and similarities are the main themes of this story. The mothers did not grow up in America, and still have much stronger ties to their homeland in China. They do try be involved with American culture, they do learn English, but their ties aren't as strong as their daughters. The daughters are much more confused as to who they are. They are Chinese, but at the same time American, and it kind of creates an identity crisis. In the Joy Luck Club, both mothers and daughters feel safe, and feel connected to each other.

3. The tone throughout the book varies quite a book. At times there is a happy, remembering type of tone. But at other times, the tone can be sorrowful and thoughtful.  Examples:


“It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flaw with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was easy to get confused and pick the wrong thing.”

“I raced down the street, dashing between people, not looking back as my mother screamed shrilly ‘Meimei! Meimei!’ I fled down an alley, past dark, curtained shops and merchants washing grime off their windows.

“My breath came out like angry smoke. It was cold…The alley was quiet and I could see the yellow lights shining from our flat like two tiger’s eyes in the night.”

4. Symbols: The coy fish the mother loved, and the goldfish that the daughter loved
    Simile:"...she backed out of the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless."
    Metaphor:"I see it right away: the marble end table collapsed on top of its spindly black legs... 'Fallen down,' she says simply...'It doesn't matter,' I say and I started to pick up the broken glass shards. 'I knew it would happen.' 'Then why don't stop it?' asks my mother. And it's such a simple question."
\   Allusion: Mention of the Ed Sullivan Show
    Rhetorical Questions:"I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these things do not mix?"
    Foreshadowing:"'What use for?'" asks my mother, jiggling the table with her hand. 'you put something else on top, everything fall down. Chunwang chihan."
    Parable: The parable of the Queen Mother of the Western Skies
   

1. Indirect Characterization - Since the story is told through the views of the mothers and daughters, everything they say can be used as an indirect characterization of themselves.
    Direct Characterization - the author uses the elements to describe the daughters. An-mei and her daughter Rose were compared to "wood", as they bend easily to other's opinions.

2. The author's syntax and tone changes with each character she focuses on. The mothers speak English in a broken manner, while the girls are more instructed on the English language.

3. Jing-mei is dynamic and round. Throughout the story, she grows from a person who clashed with her mother, a static, flat character, and comes to understand her after her passing.

4. I think I came away knowing people. These women have had to face many obstacles that seem familiar to what Mexican Americans can sometimes go through. It's easy to relate to these women, Chinese or not.

BNW Essay Draft 1

Pre-write

   Character: Bernard Marx

 >Alienation<

Physical Appearance   Thoughts and Beliefs

Physical: Small in stature, not considered attractive                                                                                                   Thoughts/Beliefs: Isn't promiscuous, doesn't like soma, wants to be individual   

Essay

      Aldous Huxley created an entirely new society with vastly different morals and values in his novel Brave New World. Writers in his position tend to use their characters to demonstrate what their society thinks and believes. Huxley manages to use this technique in the opposite way, providing characters alienated by the society, and how the society treats them. Bernard Marx is one of the best examples, for he is not only alienated on a physical level by his colleagues, but he isolates himself due to his own personal thoughts and beliefs.

      Bernard is introduced as small Alpha male, insecure about his size. Being an Alpha, he was placed into one of the higher parts of his caste. Yet people gossiped about his peculiar size, saying it was caused by alcohol in his blood when he was a baby(embryo?). The way people treat Bernard because of his appearance reveals how physicalities are important to the World State. Lower castes are programmed to associate higher castes to be bigger, as we can see how he has trouble telling the lower castes what to do. Bernard also betrays his jealousy of his friend Helmholtz, a man who shares his same views but is large and very handsome. Helmholtz attracts many females. Bernard's insecurity of his size shows how important they find looks.

      The other part of Bernard's alienation is his thoughts and beliefs. Now, Bernard doesn't share these outright with his colleagues, but the readers are able to see what is going on in his mind. Bernard is disgusted with the promiscuity that goes on in the world, and tries to control his urges as well as he can. He also can't stand the technology the government uses to keep the people happy, such as soma or the categorization into the different castes. It is obvious, for the first half of the book, that these things disgust him. He wants to have no part in it, and secretly tries to defy it. 

      All of these parts of Bernard's character come together to show one thing: Bernard is different, and different is not okay in the World State. Being individual is not encouraged at all.The condemnation and ridicule Bernard receives shows how society shuns the individual. Bernard tries as hard as he can to isolate himself, feel emotions, be different, but in the end becomes a hypocrite, striving to be what he despised. 

March Lit Analysis

I've chosen the Joy Luck Club as my lit analysis book. I've heard of it before, and I wanted to choose one from the list that wasn't in too many AP tests, just to try something different. So far I'm being drawn into the story of these four Chinese women. My mom saw me reading it and started reminiscing on when she read the book, but I told her not to spoil anything! I shall continue my reading. :)

Brave New World (II & III)

Chapter 2

• Foster is left behind in Decanting Room (no scene)
• Director leads boys to Nursery. ( INFANT NURSERIES. NEO-PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING ROOMS)
• Experiment conducted
• Books with colorful pictures of flowers and other things showed to eight month old babies (Delta, khaki)
• Babies crawled to pictures, delighted by them
• Alarm sounds, babies terrified
• Babies are SHOCKED?!?!, filled with fear of the pictures
• Boy asks why they're taught to hate flowers, has to do with consumption of goods and use of transportation
• At first, taught to love flowers to use transportation, didn't work
• Then taught to hate flowers and country, but love country sports
• Director tells story of Reuben Rabinovitch
• Had regular parents (considered sexual and boys uncomfortable using terms such as mother and father)
• Heard English speech on radio while sleeping (He's Polish), was able to repeat it word for word when woken up
• Called hypnopaedia, sleep teaching, A.F. 214
• Early experimenters tried using it for educational purposes
• Child listened to information about the Nile, could recite information word for word but could not ingest the information
• Now they use the information correctly
• Eighty babies sleeping, have voice talking to them in their sleep, talking about how Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons are below them, Alphas are smarter and better, and how they love being Betas
• Corrected the use of hynopaedia to ingraine their category into their minds, every day
• Whenever Ford is mentioned, they talk about him as if he was a god. "Oh, Ford! I've woken the children!"

Chapter 3

• Director and students watch hundreds of young boys and girls play
• Watched a game of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy, the tossing of a ball on top of a tower, which spins it around and shoots it out randomly to be caught
• Director comments on how things were so simple back then, but now no game can be approved unless it contains complicated machinery to improve consumption
• They go on to watch a boy and girl fooling around (ew) when they hear a boy crying
• The boy is uncomfortable with the "erotic play" going on around them, and the nurse says she will take him to the Assistant Superindent of Psychology to see if there is any abnormality
• The Director explains how in the past it was considered immoral and inappropriate for children and teens to act sexually with each other (they laugh at this)
• The Controller Mustapha Mond (fordship) appears (the leader of this futuristic government?)
• Narrative switches to Foster and Lenina
• Foster stands in a lift (elevator) with Assistant Director of Predestination and Bernard Marx from Psychology
• Also switches to Lenina
• Back to Mond, revealed he is one of 10 controllers of world, controller of western Europe
• "History is bunk"
• Director asks Foster if he's going to see a feely (erotic film?)
• Rumors that Mond has forbidden books in his study "Ford knows what"
• Bernard Marx offended by Foster and Director's talk
• Students don't know what a "home" is
• Lenina goes to Dressing Room
• Mond describes how terrible "homes were"
• Lenina washes herself in the weird bathrooms, talks to Fanny, Fanny mentions Pregnancy Substitute?
• Basically, Mond is describing the world before the World State, how people were unstable from emotions, disease, and more. When the caste system, hypnopaedia, and artificial birthing introduced, it was fought against, but then won. They decided to make the new era around the birth of the Model T
• Everyone in this world hooks up, all the time, with all different kinds of people
• Foster and Lenina have been at it for four months, but Lenina has only been with him
• Lenina starts to try to be more promiscuous, decides to try being with Bernard
• Soma = drug

Internet Problems!

So my internet has been kinda difficult these past few days. That's why I'm having some lag when it comes to posting things and doing assignments. But hopefully it's getting back on track, and I'll be back to regularly updating soon! :)

Brave New World I

Now this book is pretty interesting. And by interesting I mean KINDA WEIRD. I wasn't expecting this to be a science fiction kind of book! It makes me much more eager to read more. A quick summary of the first chapter seems to begin with a tour of a factory that is in charge of making human beings starting with the embryos and continuing on to make thousands of boys and girls to be separated into different castes. This tour is being given to a group of boys, and since they don't seem to react in an astonished or frightened way, I assume this has been going on for a long time. The style of this writing is so descriptive, and even used some words that I had to look up to remind myself of what it meant. One of the first sentences in the chapter was really descriptive and drew me in. "Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic gooseflesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory." I mean, come on! That's a work of art there. Looking forward to reading more!

First Quarter Review

I think this first quarter has had it's ups and downs. The ups have been how well I've been doing on vocab quizzes, I'm totally ready for the vocab final next week. The downs have been my writing and some of my blog posts. My internet has been really bad, and I don't want to use it as an excuse, but it's hard to post things from my phone with the app. I prefer to do it on a computer. ANYWAYS, I'm hoping the next quarter will go by a little better. I've been working on my senior project, and I think I have a definite idea, and I hope to start actually starting to work on it ASAP (no hints!). My goal is to work on my writing and keep working diligently!

BOB I

I really don't like rating people's blogs. I find it to be more disheartening than to be taken as constructive criticism, no matter how positive or helpful you sound. But I shall do it. It goes from best to still good. No worst here. 

Socorro: I actually like the look of Socorro's best. It's really unique-looking, I like it probably the most!

Josh: I like Josh's because he puts in so much more extra effort into updating it, with quotes and everything.

Sarah G.: One of the best blogs, it's so simple yet different looking. Something about it is just more interesting than the rest.

Ubi: Another good one. Always has interesting posts, plus it plays good music!

Kathryn: Kathryn's blog is one of my go-to blogs if I ever feel like I'm behind. She has a music player, and helpful posts!

Beka: I like Beka's blog because you can obviously see her personality come through her posts.

Ryan: I like the song it plays, first of all. Then I like the extra tabs for his story and the lit terms.

Michelle: Updates blog pretty regularly, and looks pretty neat. Also, very pretty background! I like Hello Kitty.

Hayden: Kind of a trippy background, makes me dizzy. Other than that, pretty nice.

Kasie: Interesting background, and detailed posts. Very nice.

Katelyn: I like the background, purple's my favorite. I like the layout!

Kayla: Cute blog! I like this design, it's so cute. Updated regularly.

Jackie: I'm actually surprised that this is the only background with the person's face! She also plays Home by Phillip Phillips on her blog!! 

Rocio: Really cute-looking blog. Simple, and updated.

Justice: Pretty good, nice simple layout, seems to put up posts pretty regularly.

Kelli: Simple design, but I do like the tab she has for the AP Lit Terms!

E'Ana: Very simple. Needs to update a little, but she did do all the vocab words so props to her. Check it out!

Ruth: Very interesting layout, I haven't seen this kind before. It's very modern-feeling.

Jenna: Pretty pink background! 

Madi: Updates pretty frequently. I like the orange color. 

Laura: Okay blog. Pretty simple, but updated.

Ryland: Pretty simple. Gets his work done. Nice blog.

Landon: Cool background, I like the colors. Updates pretty frequently.

Paul: Pretty background, but needs to be updated.

Will: Nice looking, but needs more stuff.

Owen: Post more, mister! Needs more stuff.

Dylan: Needs to be updated.

I am here.

This first grading period has been a little weird. In fact, this whole year has been off for me. I've gotten sick a couple of times, and it's messed up with my routine. Despite that obstacle, I think I've been doing pretty good this first grading period. I'm proud of my lit terms quizzes. I'm really getting the hang of those words (except for that slight mishap this Friday!) I have been working on being more organized, but I slipped a little bit when I got sick. I'm working to get back on track for that! My senior project is laggin' a bit... I don't wanna reveal what it is yet, so don't bug. :) Hahaha, just messin' around. Preston did point out one thing that I've been thinking about lately, about my writing. Sometimes, I write like how I talk. My tone is way too familiar and filled with a sort of slang when I should be formal and more intelligent sounding. I'm gonna work on that for sure (another SMART goal maybe?)

Lit Terms 57-81 Remix

Yay more lit terms! Link to definitions!

Gothic Tale:

Well, sadly I couldn't really see Harry Potter applying here. There's some violence and depressing times, but that's not the overall theme of the book. Pretty much everything written by Edgar Allan Poe would be considered a gothic tale. Which reminds me, is anyone watching The Following? Edgar Allan Poe is a strong theme in this show. I think you should totally watch it..

Hyperbole:

Let me take a look. Aha! Found one! "..mountains of roast and boiled potatoes." pg. 203 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. As much food as there is on the first day of Hogwarts, I'm preeeetty sure they wouldn't conjure up literal mountains of food!

Imagery:

Imagery is important in the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling describes the castle, the forest, the people in such a vivid way, and I believe it wasn't hard for the people making the movie to create these things on the big screen. It seemed to match perfectly with what the book was like.

Implication:

I think in the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the implication is the location of the last few Horcruxes. When I was reading the story for the first time, I had a gut feeling that the last Horcrux HAD to be close to Voldemort, in the event that all the others were destroyed. I was in fact close to the truth. One was Nagini, Voldemort's snake, and there was a hidden seventh Horcrux inside of Harry himself! Trippy. 

Incongruity:

Something that marks me as incongruous is the whole part that Barty Crouch Jr. has in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As Mad-Eye Moody, Crouch assists Harry as much as he can, to make sure he gets to the final round in the tournament. It is then revealed that the Goblet is a Portkey, transports Harry and Cedric to a weak Voldemort, and with Harry's Blood Voldemort is born again. So with all the assistance, Moody aka Crouch was really bringing Harry closer to his enemy instead of the winning prize.

Inference:

From all the crazy fandom to the quiet yet devoted readers of the series, I can INFER that the series is one of the best, if not THE best, book series of the 21st century. Anyone wanna argue with me, you know where I'm at, punk! Just kidding. :)

Irony:

I couldn't think of any myself, so I went to Google. "Mrs. Weasley always scolds her children to behave and not be foul and other things, but when Bellatrix tries to kill Ginny, she says one of the only two swear words in the series." That's actually kinda funny, if that whole battle scene wasn't so sad. :(

Interior Monologue:

Here's a funny one of Harry's. 

"She’s Ron’s sister.

But she’s ditched Dean!

She’s still Ron’s sister.

I’m his best mate!

That’ll make it worse.

If I talked to him first—

He’d hit you.

What if I don’t care?

He’s your best mate!"

Inversion:

Sorry, no Harry Potter here. :( But here's an example from JFK's inaugural address!

"United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do." This is an example of inversion, specifically the part where he says "United there is little we cannot do..."

Juxtaposition:

One time, as I was scrolling through countless Harry Potter links to find what I was looking for, I saw one! A juxtaposition. In fact, the word was in the title. It was the Harry Potter/Twilight Juxtaposition Blog. The "Harry Potter/Twilight" part of it was juxtaposition enough. Although there are some, myself included, that enjoy both series, a lot of the fans hate the other series, and the fans of the other series. Not pretty.

Lyric:

Hmmm not sure what to put here. How about a barely relevant song? Introducing Harry Potter by D.O.P.E. ft. T.I. :)

Magical Realism:

HARRY POTTER IS ALL ABOUT THAT MAGICAL REALISM, DAWG.

If you don't understand, I'm pretty sure you've been either living under a rock, or have no idea what MAGICAL or REALISM or those two words TOGETHER mean. :) Sorry, I'm calm now...

Metaphor:

The Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a metaphor. It's a metaphor for multiple things. Perception, as each character has a different view in the mirror, and human greed, as Harry wanted desperately for his parents to believe no matter if they came back not the same.

Metonymy:

Pure-blood and Mudblood are examples of this. These two are substitutions for wizards that keep their bloodlines separated from Muggles and Squibs, so that it will remain Wizards generation from generation, and for those wizards that have Muggle parents and other relatives, respectively.

Mode of Discourse:

Since I've addressed the three other parts of the definition, I shall comment on narration. It's in third person. For the other three, scroll up to find Argument, Exposition, and then Google the description if you have absolutely no clue what this series is about.

Modernism:

No Harry Potter here either.. But here are some great authors that came from that literary movement! F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.E. Cummings, and T.S. Eliot!!

Monologue:

Oh my gosh, Neville's speech! Perfect!! See for yourself. :) It's a good scene!

Mood:

I think the mood changes a lot, but overall it seems to be serious and dramatic, with a few light-hearted, comical times intertwined.

Motif:

In almost all of the books, House points acquired for the House championship is repeated again and again. Sometimes points are taken away, like when McGonagall punishes them for leaving the castle at night, or awarded, when Harry does some spectacular thing (I can't remember, haha).

Myth:

Harry Potter kind of has a mythical style. With the hero and his destiny decided by him years ago, it's as if it was styled like one of the old myths from ages ago. Hmm, who knows.

Narrative:

Mind's running blank...too broad a definition... agh! Here's the definition, and if you come up with a fun example, I'll change it!

A story or description of events.

Narrator:

The third person narrator is unknown and unaffected by the events going on in the story. (Back to Harry Potter by the way)

Naturalism:

When I think naturalism, I think Call of the Wild. I used to love this book. Who else remembers it?

Novelette/Novella:

Since I'm Mexican, I can tell you lots of things about novelas. Ha, not really. In all seriousness, Animal Farm by George Orwell is a good example of a novella. Look it up!

Omniscient Point of View:

HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER, YEAH! I think I was just typing about how the narrator is third person, and they seemed to know all things. Yeeaaaaah.

Well that concludes this week of Lit Terms. Stay tuned for 82 to 100! :)

Lit Analysis #1 (Spring Semester)

So for the first lit analysis of the year, I was going to do some big remix or something that would be different. But, unfortunately, I didn't set time aside to brainstorm a good remix. So I thought, you might as well start off in the traditional style, and answer some questions. Here it goes!

1984 by George Orwell

GENERAL
1. The story is set in the year 1984, with a protaganist named Winston Smith. He's the typical Party member, goes straight to work then back home again, day in and day out. To the Party, he's one of many. Yet inside his mind, he secretly rebels against the Party and its leader, Big Brother. It starts out with Winston writing down his thoughts, a dangerous crime already, to having an affair with a young woman named Julia, to actually joining the rumored rebel group The Brotherhood. In the end, all turns to be a lie, and the Party reveals that there is no Brotherhood, and that Winston has been under surveillance the whole time. After a long period of torture and re-learning, he is set out in the public again, back to being the Party member no one cares about. This narrative could have been written to prevent this sort of tyrannical government from coming to power, and written as a sort of possible future if this came to pass.
2. There are plenty of themes that all fall under the big one of this totalitarian government. Orwell's intention is to show the dangers brought on by this government. They controlled the minds and the physicalities of their citizens, and left the proles to rot. By continuously participating in war, they brainwashed their citizens to hate and to rejoice in wartime victory. Also there is the control of every thing that the Party members see: newspapers, TV, books, music, all kinds of information. The government controlled the past, present, and eventually the future.
3. The tone varies throughout the book, depending on Winston's mood. Sometimes, Winston sounds anxious  and stressed, knowing that what he's doing and thinking is criminal. "He could not help feeling a twinge of panic. It was absurd, since the writing of those particular words was not more dangerous than the initial act of opening the diary; but for a moment he was tempted to tear out the spoiled pages and abandon the enterprise altogether." pg. 20 Other times, during the period of his affair with Julia, he sounded at peace and even happy, but most definitely caring for Julia. "He had the feeling that he could get inside it, and that in fact he was inside it, along with the mahogany bed and the gate-leg table, and the clock and the steel engraving and the paper-weight itself. The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal." pg. 154 There was also at times where he sounded angry but at the same time was cool. "He had got to plunge into the filthiest of filth. What was the most horrible, sickening thing of all? He thought of Big Brother."
4.  Irony - ex. The names of the four ministries in relation to their jobs: Ministry of Truth covered up the past and changed it, Ministry of Love had to do with policing and torture, Ministry of Plenty worked on rationing, Ministry of Peace had to do with war affairs. Also the slogan of the Party: "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
    Allusion - ex. the book alludes to previous totalitarian governments such as the Nazis, Mussolini, and the Soviet Union.
    Foreshadowing - ex. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Foreshadowing of something wrong, since clocks don't strike thirteen.
    Motif - ex. a recurring feature would have to be the Newspeak word doublethink, which is a major part of the Party government. Newspeak itself is also a motif.
    Colloquialism - ex. the dialect and accents of the proles "'Beg pardon, dearie,' she said. 'I wouldn't 'a sat on you, only the buggers put me there. They dono 'ow to treat a lady, do they?' She paused, patted her breast, and belched. 'Pardon,' she said, 'I ain't meself, quite.'"
    Symbolism - ex. The Chestnut Tree Cafe, The Bells of St. Clemens nursery rhyme
    Juxtaposition - ex. Newspeak words such as goodsex, crimestop, bellyfeel, doublethink
    Paradox - ex. Doublethink
    Flashback - ex. Winston has flashbacks of his childhood and his marriage to Katherine.
    Climax - ex. Winston and Julia getting caught by the Thought Police
    Tragedy - In a way, 1984 does remind me of a tragedy. The ending isn't as disastrous as you'd think, but if the Winston of the past saw what would happen to the Winston of the future, I'm sure he'd find it disastrous.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Examples of indirect characterization are the times when Winston writes in his diary. "April 4th 1984...there was a middleaged woman might have been a jewess sitting up in the bow with a little boy about three years old in her arms. little boy screaming with fright and hiding his head between her breasts as if he was trying to burrow right into her and the woman putting her arms round him and comforting him although she was blue with fright herself, all the time covering him up as much as possible as if she thought her arms could keep the bullets off him." pg. 10 Also every time he looks at a picture of Big Brother, you can see his secret dislike and harboring fear come out. Examples of direct characterization would be like after his first journal entry. "He wondered again for whom he was writing the diary." and "He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that no one would ever hear."
2. The syntax and diction change when Orwell focuses on Winston. Every other character is described normally and unextraordinarily. But when the focus is on Winston, it changes to more philosophical thoughts and writing.
3. Winston Smith is a round and dynamic character. He starts out as a cautious yet secretly rebellious citizen who is afraid of the Party and Big Brother. He then changes to a more relaxed and ready for action person, having an affair and joining the Brotherhood. Then, thanks to physical and psychological torture, he turns into the desired Party member, follower of Insgoc, and lover of Big Brother.
4. After I was done reading the book, it felt as if I had just learned  a sort of history or government lesson. This book showed a very good representation of what a world run by totalitarian governments could be like, and how they take control psychologically and physically.
   

Tale of Two Cities Lecture Notes

Lecture Notes on Tale of Two Cities

Link to the video here.

• Third city- Manchester
• Dickens conceived his first idea to write this book when he was acting
• 1857 – Dickens assisted his writer friend Collins in writing a play called The Frozen Deep
• Also participated in the play
• The love triangle in the play modeled the love triangle in ATTC
• Fell in love with a woman Ellen, separated from his wife (May 1858)
• Lucie Manette represents Ellen, has her appearance
• 1858 – Dickens  began public readings for profit instead of charity readings
• 1859- Ch. 1-3 of ATTC were published
• Two cities are London and Paris
• At the end of ATTC, he reminds the readers of a change in Paris, the destruction of a bastille
• Dickens fascinated by the light and dark sides of the city of Paris
• Dickens makes it clear in his opening that the worlds of Paris and London are similar
• Using historical setting for modern parallel
• ATTC moves between England and France in that turbulent time period
• Time period 1757-1793
• Victorians haunted by memory and example of the French Revolution
• There were fears that a revolution could happen in England
• Novel is a warning about the revolution

What's the Story?

So as you know, I'm re-reading/reviewing Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. What was the reason he was writing this story for? Who, why, when, where?

Well, if I had to take a wild guess, I think Dickens was writing to the people of England, and he was using Darnay as his own voice. Charles Darnay was an ex-aristocrat who was imprisoned wrongly by the government, and he despised the way England was running things. Maybe Dickens was trying to hint at the unrest going on in England at the time, so that they avoid the unnecessary violence that happened during the French Revolution. So I believe Darnay was supposed to be a version of himself. At the same time, maybe Sydney Carton was the ugly version of himself. The side that he didn't like, but embraced. Sydney's infatuation with Darnay's wife could also have been a mirror of some love relationship going on in Dickens' own life.

Dickens Map

The Dickens book I chose was Tale of Two Cities. I had already sort of read it last semester, but I didn't really get into it too much. It's like I barely skimmed the surface of what the book is about. So this time I'm going to read it in depth, and comprehend it better! :) Every night I'm going to read at least 5 chapters, slowly but surely, and take notes as well to help me later.

Here are some questions I think I'll be able to answer when I'm done.

1. Trace the development of the major theme of the story-rebirth through sacrifice-as it applies to:

• Dr. Manette
• Sydney Carton
• Charles Darnay

http://www.getbookee.org/get_book.php?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5wcmVzdHdpY2tob3VzZS5jb20vUERGL1NBTVBMRS8zMDEzMDAucGRmCkEgVGFsZSBvZiBUd28gQ2l0aWVz

2. What allusions does Dickens make to the approaching French Revolution?

http://www.getbookee.org/get_book.php?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5mbGF0aGVhZHJlc2VydmF0aW9uLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvcGhzL1RhbGVUd29DaXRpZXMtU3R1ZHlHdWlkZS5wZGYKQSBUYWxlIG9mIFR3byBDaXRpZXM=

3. Dickens seems to have great sympathy for the poor, the sick and the powerless, but not all such characters are portrayed sympathetically. What does that say about his sympathies? Where does he intend our sympathies as readers to lie?

http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/A-Tale-of-Two-Cities-by-Charles-Dickens-Reading-Questions-Oprahs-Book-Club

4. Describe parallelism in Dickens' style and identify examples of it in the novel.

http://www.getbookee.org/get_book.php?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5wcmVzdHdpY2tob3VzZS5jb20vUERGL1NBTVBMRS8zMDEzMDAucGRmCkEgVGFsZSBvZiBUd28gQ2l0aWVz

5. How do Dickens' characters conform to the literary conventions of his day?

http://www.getbookee.org/get_book.php?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5mbGF0aGVhZHJlc2VydmF0aW9uLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvcGhzL1RhbGVUd29DaXRpZXMtU3R1ZHlHdWlkZS5wZGYKQSBUYWxlIG9mIFR3byBDaXRpZXM=

I think we should have essay questions and prompts to write to about the Dickens' books, that way we can demonstrate our understanding of the two novels. Hopefully once I finish I'll be able to post my answers to these questions to show how well I understood it myself. :D

Lit Terms 31-56 Remix

The continuation of my Harry Potter nonsense. :) Again the link to the definitions if you don't already know them.

Dialect:

Harry Potter and the gang all talk in British dialect, since this is set in England kind of. Just listen to 'em!

Dialectics:

Now, the definition on Preston's website says that it means "formal debates usually over the nature of truth." But this person, JordynH2012, wrote this quick little bit about Harry Potter and Voldemort. She mentions dialectics quite a bit, although I'm not sure if it's in the correct way. You decide!

Dichotomy:

I believe all of the houses in Hogwarts could be considered dichotomies. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin are all separate places a student can live in, yet they are still a part of the school Hogwarts itself.

Diction:

Okay, here's one I wanted to throw out there. I think the diction of Fred and George in the movie is very difficult to understand sometimes. Their British accents can be so thick that when they say something too fast I'm like what?? See if it's that hard for you.

Didactic:

Here's a sort of didactic line from the book! "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies." 

Dogmatic:

The word was used in the book! Here's an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

"'I bought it,' said Xenophilius dogmatically, 'two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew of my interest in the exquisite Snorkack.'"

Elegy:

As you might have had noticed, there was a lot of sadness when the series was finished. This person with the username of StrangeJade wrote a touching elegy for the ending of the Potter series titled "Elegy for Potter." Very touching.

Epic:

An interesting question could be: Is the Harry Potter series considered an epic? Let's weigh our options. There is a central hero, whose destiny is to fight a strong enemy and defeat him. He partakes in battles and fights against other beings as well. Harry is a wizard, like most of his peers and comrades, but at times his nation is not sided with him. Let me know what you think. :)

Epitaph:

One of the saddest, simplest, and truest epitaphs I know.

"Here lies Dobby, a free elf."

Such a strong moment in the book and the movie.

Epithet:

A real popular epithet used in the book would be Mudblood. Draco Malfoy, a bully, hurls that name at Harry's good friend Hermione countless times. A Mudblood is a wizard who was born from Muggle (non-wizard) parents. It is definitely not a nice term. A nicer epithet would maybe be "The-Boy-Who-Lived," which is what people call Harry since he survived Voldemort's death spell.

Euphemism:

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" could be an example of a euphemism. This is what people say when referring to Voldemort. It's not exactly insulting, although I guess Voldemort could take it that way if he wanted to. 

Evocative (Evocation):

In the story, Harry definitely goes through a lot of evocation, especially in his dreams. He has a lot of nightmares of Voldemort and the death of his parents, which he witnessed as a very little boy. He usually wakes up in a sweat because the sensations are so real feeling. And in a way, they are a bit real, since he sees these visions and memories because of the tie that he has with Voldemort.

Exposition:

The beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has the Dursleys in their house, and they sort of set up the scene talking about other random stuff. Then McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Hagrid show up in the night, with a young Harry Potter swaddled in a blanket, and they discuss the death of his parents and what to do next.

Expressionism:

Okay so I couldn't really figure one out for Harry Potter, but here's this painting as an example of expressionism!

Fable:

Hermione receives a book called the The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which is a kind of storybook for wizard children. In it, there is a fable about the three Peverell brothers who receive gifts from Death. It's an interesting read. There's a good synopsis on the Harry Potter Wiki page.

Fallacy:

Since I couldn't think of a good fallacy myself, I went to Google for help. This girl Mayrone Negash (here's her English blog!) pointed out that Dolores Umbridge used many fallacies when speaking to others. When someone was negative to her, she would turn things around in such a way that her horrible attitude would be dismissed and instead would focus on the other person being unprofessional. She would also come to conclusions with little or no facts. If someone was against her, she came to the conclusion that they were also against the Ministry of Magic. All credit goes to Mayrone. :)

Falling Action:

The most memorable falling action I could think of in the series is when Harry had just been transported back with Cedric Diggory's body. He is hysterical, and all the audience can see is him clutching Cedric's corpse, crying out about Voldemort returning. The big climax before was the murder of Cedric by Voldemort.

Farce:

Oh goodness, I've been waiting for this word. :) Ladies and Gentlemen, if you don't watch ANY of the videos on this post, I urge you to still view this one. It is THE best.

Figurative Language:

Here's some examples of figurative language from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

"On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare…"

(figurative language: split)

"Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, “The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around."

(figurative language: shot, sharp)

Flashback:

Here's an example of flashback being used in the movie, but Hagrid telling the story is also in the book.

Foil:

I consider Draco Malfoy to be a huge foil for Harry. He is just an overall rotten kid, who doesn't do one good thing until the very end of the book. And even then I'm not even sure I can call it a "good thing."

Here's his face.

Folk Tale:

Well, we first hear the story of the Three Brothers when it's retold by Xenophilius Lovegood to Harry and his friends. So in a way, it kind of is a folk tale in the story since it is told by word of mouth.

Foreshadowing:

There are lots of little bits of foreshadowing that you really have to pay attention to, especially since the future events could happen in any of the 7 books. In Prisoner of Azkaban there are two examples. One is in the beginning, where Harry dreams of following a silver figure in the woods, which turns out to be the Patronus of a doe in Deathly Hallows. Towards the end, Dumbledore asks Harry "You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us?" which could be taken as a foreshadowing of his own death and maybe others'.

Free Verse:

Here's a cute little poem titled "An Ode to Harry Potter" written by user NicoleS from Philadelphia. Check it out! :)

Genre:

I would classify the Harry Potter series as a fantasy/adventure genre. It's full of magic and creatures, and plenty of adventure throughout the story. 

Alright well there's vocab 31-56! If my examples did not help you at all, make sure to click on the link to Preston's page and memorize that vocab! Have a good day/evening. :) 

My SMART Goal

Okay so I'm a very picky person. It takes me forever to come to decisions on almost everything. So you probably shouldn't ask my opinion or my choice on something. Just a warning. ANYWAYS. After changing my mind countless times, and writing and rewriting what I want to make my goal, I have finally picked one.

Drumroll please.....

I want to be able to have a good working routine by the time I start college. This includes organized notes and work, good timekeeping for working, relaxing and having fun, and sleeping. Using this last semester of high school as my trial period, I shall focus on keeping all my papers organized in my notebooks and binder. I will also start my homework no later than 3:30, so I will have enough time to finish all of it before my appropriate bedtime rolls around (10:00). Hopefully, by staying on this schedule and continuing this mindset, I can ingrain it into my brain, and when I'm in college, I won't need anybody to remind me to do my work or tell me to be more organized. :) I'm going to stick with it and be successful!

AP Lit Terms 6-30 Remix

I'm in a bit of a Harry Potter mood, so let's remix this business. :) I'm also not posting the definitions because come on. We're in AP English, we should already know all of these. But if you need a refresher, check out Preston's page.

Analogy: 

Lion is to Gryffindor as Snake is to Slytherin.

Fred is to George as Parvati is to Padma. 

Analysis:

This website proclaims itself to be "the ultimate Harry Potter analysis source." Check it out for yourself!

Anaphora:

Okay so it's hard to find Harry Potter related anaphora. I'm sure J.K. Rowling uses it in her book, but it would take me a little while to find it. Here's a song that uses anaphora: Pushing Me Away by Linkin Park. The word "why" is repeated at the beginning of a couple of verses.

Anecdote:

Here's an anecdote a person submitted for a Harry Potter anecdote contest. I personally think it should have deserved 1st place instead of 2nd! See for yourself!

Antagonist:

I'm sure you all can guess this one.

Antithesis:

I would say that the characters Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort are good examples of antithesis. They are exact opposite character types, and emphasize the good and bad in each other.

Aphorism:

So there is no aphorism that I can think off the top of my head from Harry Potter, and skimming through the book did not help either. I do know of one by Benjamin Franklin that I do like. "Lost time is never found again." :)

Apologia: 

I was able to find an apologia written by a woman named Nancy Flanagan Knapp titled "In Defense of Harry Potter: An Apologia." In this work, she defends the books, saying they should be kept in schools and librarys as they are engaging to read, great literary works, and bring forth questions of great significance to children. It's a good read! 

Apostrophe:

This reminds me of Harry conversing with the Sorting Hat in his first year. Although the hat talks back, Harry still is talking with an inanimate object. 

Argument(ation):

J.K. Rowling is having been quoted to say that the books "comprise 'a prolonged argument for tolerance, and they should question authority'". (source)

Assumption:

I know quite a few people who assume that Harry Potter is too violent and too full of death for it to be suitable for children. As a person who started reading the series at age 10, I don't think it's the case at all. I was not at all negatively affected reading the books. As for the movies, I don't think that they're too violent or too graphic for younger people.

Audience:

Potterheads! :D

Characterization:

I think the characterization of Harry Potter himself is most apparent throughout the series. He starts off as this young boy with an unfortunate life who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to attend Hogwarts. Through all his adventures he is revealed to be a strong leader, courageous and caring.

Alright, I know there's a lot more lit terms, but I have to go eat dinner and do some other stuff. I'll be back to do more later! :)