Sunday, December 4, 2011

Literature Analysis #4 Lord of the Flies

1) In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a story of a group of fleeing British school boys escaping the troubles of a war terrorizing their homes. The plane thy are escaping on ends up crashing on a deserted island. The boys find that their pilot and all adults are dead and only the young school boys are still alive. At first the boys are very happy and spend much of their time playing and having fun on the island. Then a leader emerges from the group named Ralph (the protagonist) voted to lead by all of the boys because of his seniority and age old then most boys. Also another potential leader is Jack (the antagonist) whose ideas often clash with the main leaders Ralph. Ralph's right hand man is Piggy a chubby but smart young man who is often bullied by many of the boys on the island because of his size and how nerdy he is. Jack and Ralph's ideas eventually cause them to split the group of boys up with some following Ralph and a majority of them following Jack because Jack is all about having fun. The two groups fight constantly often ending in Jack's group winning and killing some of the boys. eventually Ralph is the last boy in his group with many of his members dead or deserting him for Jack's group. Jack seeks ultimate power on the island and attempts to take Ralph out of the picture by killing him, as Jack's group is chasing Ralph through the island they almost catch him when he stumbles and falls at the feet of a commander and is eventually saved.

2) The main theme in Lord of the Flies is the loss of innocence. As the boys before they crash on the island they are a bunch of law abiding, rule obeying private school boys. but as time progresses and they live longer on the island without an adult figure they are forced to grow up and make their own decisions and make their own laws. Thus forcing all the boys to grow up, even though  many of their choices are not very good and end up hurting many of the boys the fact that they had to grow up so fast is an example of the theme of the loss of innocence.

3) William Golding's tone in the book Lord of the Flies is very serious but at times very joking. He has to be  very serious at times because they boys are growing up into what they think are men. Also many of the boys are dying and being bullied so Golding 's tone at those times and most of the book is very serious. Golding also is very joking in many parts of the book too. When the boys are playing  or telling jokes Golding shows his tone through the lighter part of things happening on the island.

4) Four of the literary elements in the book used by Golding are; protagonist, antagonist, symbolism, and foreshadowing. The protagonist in the book is Ralph, a very loving, intelligent and born leader. The audience automatically falls in love with his character is the stand out protagonist in the story. The antagonist is jack also a clear antagonist. The audience sees right away that jack is a manipulative and evil person. He is always clashing with Ralph and is a clear choice for the antagonist. There are many symbols in the book, the fire/Piggy's glasses are seen as a symbol of hope and keeping the kids alive. Also the "monster" on the island is a symbol that represents all the boy's deepest fears. When the boys see the monster first it is an example of foreshadowing, once they see it and start making sacrifices to it you can just foreshadow that more bad is going to come of the boys being on the island.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Literature Term (extra credit)

Spiritual-a folk song, usually on a religious theme.

a spiritual song "As we Gather at His Table"

Literature Term (extra credit)

Classicism-art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of Ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, and balance.

http://www.bing.com/url?source=images&rch=Jy2-NppQKWhiBkqVIwb1CcJcsxErt6p&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arthistoryguide.com%2Fimages%2F42.jpg&urltarget=_blank&q=Classicism+art&view=detail&&id=CAEA267EC944EB549981D662BF0FDEEB3135FF70&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR&ssIG=a58468d4b2764acab70fd8e8c7726adc
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that is an example of classicism art

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/picpl/bhamth.jpg
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an example of classicism architecture

Literature Term (extra credit)

Connotation-implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition.



ex: Denotation is the definition of a word. For example, a cat is a furry animal with four legs and a tail.
The connotation is what you think of when you hear that word. For example, some people think of how cute cats are and their first cats, etc...some people hate cats, and that's what they think of when they hear the word. Here's another example: thin and scrawny. Which one has the more positive connotation? Thin. Scrawny sounds like a malnourished and ugly thing to be, but thin sounds attractive and positive





Literature Term (extra credit)

Epithet-A short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics.

An example of an epithet is a British comedian Spike Milligan carved on his tombstone "I told you I was ill"

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thinking Outside the Box

Both Plato and Sartre describe through their writing the limitations we have in our thinking/knowledge. Plato uses  the "Allegory of the Cave" and depicts people shackled in a cave. The cave representing "peoples material world" and that many believe what they see is all that exists. The shackles represent the closed mindedness of people, thus giving examples of the limitations to the cave dwellers knowledge (people in general). Things like the  sun and fire represent the knowledge that people wish to seek. In Sartre's No Exit, Sartre shows that the limitations to knowledge is through isolation. Sartre describes the "Hell" (room they are trapped in) as very miserable psychologically and mentally. Sartre shows that the four characters are trapped in the room thus being isolated from the world. Isolation through not knowing is a limitation of knowledge because people who do not seek knowledge from others and isolate themselves do not truly get the knowledge they seek. If one is not isolated then one is more knowledgeable.

AP Lit Term: Denotation

Denotation- Plain dictionary definition.



http://dictionary.reference.com/
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that website gives you straight dictionary examples of almost any word.

ex: if you search, Cull- (you will see the dictionary definition is)- To choose, select or pick.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Literature Analysis #3 The Namesake

1) Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake, is about a immigrant from India who deals with the hardships of being an Indian migrant growing up and living in the United States. Ashoke and Ashima the parents of Gogol have to raise their son in Cambridge and fight against all the controversy and problems they face for being a immigrant in the United States.

2) The main theme of this novel is family control. Gogol is constantly confronted by his parents about the new American customs he is getting used to. His parents want him to have a more traditional lifestyle following their Indian culture and ways, but Gogol is pressured by his other friends and made fun of for not fitting in. So Gogol often has confrontations with his parents on how to live his life.

3) Lahiri's tone in the novel is very serious. Gogol describes both of the cultures he grew up in (Indian and American). Often stating the culture his parents want for him, and then the more familiar American culture.

4) Lahiri uses flashbacks a lot when Gogol is comparing the American culture with his Indian culture. Also Gogol voice is compared to a Husky's bark, which is uses of Personification. Foreshadowing is used, all the ways Gogol reacts to how his parents are towards the American culture shows us what his actions will be. Last Lahiri uses irony, it is ironic how Gogol is just a nickname, but then ends up being his official name on his birth certificate.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Allegory of the Cave

In Plato's book The Republic, there is a passage "Allegory of the Cave" in which Plato describes a scene in a cave, which is a metaphor for many things. He depicts people in a dark cave that have shackles around their neck that only let them see shadows of certain symbols that the fire behind them projects. Plato uses these objects/people as symbols to represent a bigger picture. The fire in the cave represents knowledge or the ideas in which we have to relearn, both the cave and the shackles represent the lack of knowledge or being closed minded. The people who are shackled in the cave are us, or the people in a society that are lacking knowledge. The allegory of this passage is that as a society we sometimes find ourselves very closed minded, and we have to "free ourselves from the shackles" in order to seek the knowledge in which we wish to relearn.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Refined Hamlet essay

Hamlet‘s character in the play subconsciously displays examples of “performative utterance. Performative utterance is when someone says something and it already has an action to it without having to complete such action. He consistently displays performative utterance with his “To be, or not to be“ soliloquy. When he recites his “To be, or not to be” soliloquy he states actions such as suicide and murder that we the audience take as an action he will carry out. Using performative utterance and self utterance helps me decide about a situation that I would be having trouble with, so seeing Hamlet do it shows us how smart and deep his character really is. Hamlet’s “To Be, Or not to be” soliloquy lets us see Hamlet’s true character for the first time. The audience sees Hamlet’s raw emotions and how much dept he has to his character. It lets the audience put a sort of trust into Hamlet, the way Hamlet speaks to himself in such a deep and intelligent manner makes the audience strongly believe that he will do exactly what he is saying. The way Hamlet uses performative utterance lets the audience see Hamlet in a very intimate way. Thus also letting the audience predict what Hamlet’s next move will be.
Hamlet has many examples from the play that display performative utterance, his “to be or not to be” soliloquy as well as many other of his soliloquies. Each time Hamlet uses performative utterance in his soliloqies it gives the audience a unique picture of Hamlet’s soon to come actions, just as if you were to hear someone in real life speak aloud to if they would commit suicide or not, it would give you a side of that person that you would have to believe just because they were so deep into their thought of “performative utterance,” so when Hamlet uses performative utterance the audience believes that the things Hamlet is saying he will actually do. Making the audience see a special side of Hamlet that the rest of the cast does not get to see giving the audience a more in dept relationship with the character. People who read Hamlet often take his performative utterance and have no choice but to believe him because of his signs of “madness,” but this shows a very intelligent side of Hamlet not a sign of madness.
People use performative utterance every day and never even notice it. Words like “I love you” and “I now pronounce you Joe and Shmoe” have actions in themselves. They mean all these different things to people but really mean nothing with out an action. You say you love someone but how do you prove that? Words mean nothing without an action to prove what you really mean. People subconsciously use examples of performative utterance in everyday life.
Hamlets use of perfromative utterance throughout the play, which shows his inner most thoughts which imply certain actions thus letting the audience know something about Hamlet that the rest of the cast does not know. This use of performative utterance is seen by many critics as a sign of madness, but in reality it’s really is a sign of intelligence, Hamlet puts a lot of thoughts into his actions and words in a way that not one word is used in a way he does not intend it to be.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hamlet/Beowulf language Essay

Shakespeare was a writer far ahead of his time, he wrote his literature in such a way that differentiated his writing language greatly from the common way of writing or writing used before him such as Beowulf. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s language in a way that was much different then the language used in Beowulf. In Hamlet, Shakespeare focuses tremendously on having Hamlet's character be formed through self overhearing. Where as Beowulf’s Character is not much of a deep thinker, like Hamlet, Beowulf is more focused on his reputation and honor thus lacking a sense of formation in his character through his language.

Shakespeare formed Hamlet’s character in a way that was not used during that time, he was not formed through his actions like most epic heroes were but instead through his thoughts and language. Shakespeare did that through the use of self overhearing consistently used by Hamlet when faced with a dilemma. Hamlet’s “To be, Or not to be” soliloquy is a prime example of Hamlets use of self overhearing. In the soliloquy Hamlet not only debates on taking revenge on Claudius (even though he has already made up his mind to kill him) but also he contemplates whether or not to commit suicide,
“To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to.”
Shakespeare lets the audience form their own opinion of Hamlet by showing them through self overhearing what Hamlet’s true intentions are, something never before used by a writer/poet.

Beowulf unlike Hamlet is a character completely formed by his actions and epic battles. Beowulf’s character is seen by the audience only by what his actions are and how he performs in battle. If he defeats the monster Grendel (which he does) then he is seen by the audience as honorable, brave, and noble. However if he does not succeed in his battles he would not be seen as such an honorable character. Thus further explaining how Beowulf’s character is completely based on his actions not at all by how he uses his language to describe what he is feeling, like Hamlet.

Shakespeare formed his characters in a way no other writer/poet had ever done in the past. He used the language of the character to define themselves, rather than having their actions do the talking like many of the epic heroes from Beowulf and The Odyssey. The use of self overhearing by the character Hamlet gave great depth to his character, the audience got to see inside of Hamlet and what he was thinking something that had never be used before. The audience got to decide how they felt about Hamlet instead of having the image put in their heads by the characters actions like the writers/poets of Beowulf did.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Major Concept

The single most important thing we are currently learning in AP Literature is the use of technology. The use of technology in AP Literature is very crucial to not only success in the class but also in future years leading up to the constant use of it in a University. I believe that that is one of the most crucial and important concept that we will all take from this year. It is a tool we will all use throughout our whole life, and even though most of us know how to use it not all of use use it for anything more than ordering clothes online, Facebook, Twitter, or our e-mail. This class teaches us tools on how we surf the web on browsers like "Google" and teaches us that our cyber image is viewable by everyone. AP Literature is more than just another "English" class its also a skill builder and common life class, it goes way deeper into our lives then we could ever imagine.

Major Concept

The single most important thing we are currently learning in AP Literature is the use of technology. The use of technology in AP Literature is very crucial to not only success in the class but also in future years leading up to the constant use of it in a University. I believe that that is one of the most crucial and important concept that we will all take from this year. It is a tool we will all use throughout our whole life, and even though most of us know how to use it not all of use use it for anything more than ordering clothes online, Facebook, Twitter, or our e-mail. This class teaches us tools on how we surf the web on browsers like "Google" and teaches us that our cyber image is viewable by everyone. AP Literature is more than just another "English" class its also a skill builder and common life class, it goes way deeper into our lives then we could ever imagine.

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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Roy's Chat Highlights

Roy's chat conference today in class was very interesting. It taught me many ways to utilize the internet to the greatest benefits for me. He does notice that the internet is struggle for people who do not constantly use it, and in order to be proficient with it you have to constantly use it to understand it for the most part. Its also very interesting to see how Roy is very interested in the hip hop culture and mash ups, he enjoys all the cultures that are being put together in order to form on genre of music and one type of movement. Also how Roy referred to the hip hop culture  as the blue print of the 21st century is very interesting not many people would agree with that but its cool to see some ones perspective that way because I have never heard some one refer to it that way. Also Roy stated how technologically it will be hard to surpass the current medium, I do not know if i agree with that because I believe there will always be a new and better technology. I am very interested to use this new technology and see what Roy will achieve in the next 5 to 10 years...... Program Or Be Programed.

"Shouldn't see future as so bleak"

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Literature Analysis #2 The Sun Also Rises

1) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is a love story that takes place in South America and Spain (Madrid and Pamplona). The main character Jake shares a distinctive love for Miss Lady Brett although she does not share the same affection that he has towards her, because Jake was injured in WWI he cannot have sex (something Lady Brett is not willing to give up). Jake is madly in love with Lady Brett, and when his friend Robert asks him to leave South America and go to Spain he declines until he finds out lady Brett is going to Spain. Once in Spain Jake, Robert, Lady Brett and others decide to go to a fiesta in which major bullfighters display their talents. When watching the bullfighters Lady Brett (who constantly jumps from guy to guy) takes a special interest in the 19 year old prodigy Romero. She falls in love with him, and tells Jake to introduce her to him, once they meet they spend the night together which makes Jake very jealous. Jake then leaves and seeks to have time to himself outside of the busy city of Spain. Once he does make it out of Spain Lady Brett sends him a telegram asking him to meet her in Madrid, Jake agrees and leaves right away to meet her. Once there Lady Brett explains to Jake why her and Romero did not work out. She tries to sweet talk him and say that they should have spent more time together in Spain, showing how she wants Jake now that no other man is around, however Jake finally realizes what he really wants which is not Lady Brett.

2) The main theme is Love and how blind it may be. Lady Brett says she falls in love and throughout the novel she falls in love with three different guys. She thinks she is falling in love with all these men but is blindly crushing on them like a school girls does. She does not see what her actions can do to the other men and friends around her. All these love interests Lady Brett has hurts hers and Jakes friendship. Jake feels he is in love with Lady Brett but as he continues to see her true character realizes that he is not in love, showing the blindness of love throughout many characters in The Sun Also Rises.

3) Ernest Hemingway's tone in The Sun Also Rises is both compassionate and stern at times. When Robert fights Romero in his drunken rage Ernest Hemingway displays his tone as angry. Showing how Robert is so easy to snap and resort to violence shows how Hemingway's tone is very stern. He also shows a compassionate tone, the novel's main premise is love so Hemingway constantly shows a compassionate tone when he talks about the love situations with Lady Brett and Jake.

4) Through Hemingway's use of dialogue helped me understand his tone better. He used dialogue a lot when two characters talked mainly in situations where love was trying to be displayed. He also uses Jake's flashbacks from his WWI experiences to help explain his character better, why he is so compassionate and loving towards Lady Brett. Hemingway also uses irony, it is ironic how once Jake finally gets over Lady Brett is when she finally sees that she might be interested in him. In the last chapter Lady Brett says that they should have spent more time together in Spain and Jake just says "Yes, isn't it pretty to think so" not showing much emotion toward her comment. He also uses hyperbole almost over emphasizing how easily Lady Brett falls in love with all these men. Also Hemingway's descriptions of settings help show his tone. When Jake and Robert go fishing the way he describes how the river was so peaceful and how lushly green the grass was showed how peaceful his tone was at that point in the novel. When he describes the bull fights he describes them as very gracious and delicate, (showing the love inspired tone) this was where Lady Brett first "fell in love" with Romero.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Tools that change the way we think

The extensive use of Internet/media/technology makes everyone a little bit lazier. People often take for granted the internet and other technologies used for finding out information. People do not put much thought into what they are trying to find out, they just think "i can just search it on the internet and it will not take more then 5 minutes." Although the internet is a very fast, easy and efficient source to get your information from it does not require much work. Back in the day when my mom was in high school she used what seem like ancient methods of finding information, like a dictionary or encyclopedia. Many kids in this day and age have yet to even pick up an encyclopedia let alone use it. I feel that with such an efficient way of getting information we often as human beings become very lazy and dependent on such a reliable source.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

In Search Of

a)I learned that filter bubbles on google and other search engines filter your search to what they think you want to see. Google is trying to make are lives easier by showing us most popular searches it thinks we will need, but what if its wrong?
b)This makes me think differently because its not what everyone is seeing. So the information you are getting is completely different then the information someone else is getting.
c)If the internet can predict what we want to see, do we have people who monitor what websites we are on for how long?
d)The only way i can see us improving our filter bubble is to be more specific on what we want to see.

 When I re-did the Shakespeare search I made it more specific. I searched "Shakespeares life compared to De Vere" since that was what i was most interested in. Instead of just searching "Shakespeare"

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Notes on Hamlet

From the beginning of the play Hamlet seemed like a very calm and under control guy, but as the story progresses and Hamlet finds out more about the death of his father Hamlet becomes more unstable. You find out his true love for his father, mother, and ophilia. He finds it hard to cope with his loss and is internally battling the thoughts of suicide and murder. Since Hamlet has murdered Polonious I can see the whole community viewing Hamlet as a murder. He will be charged for not only his fathers death but his Polonious as well. Hamlet battled with a lose lose situation so chose the best way he thought would turn out best for him.

Who was Shakespeare

I knew before searching him that he was known as one of the greatest poet/writers ever. I knew he wrote many plays and was married to Anne Hathaway. However i did not know people were giving credit to Edward de vere for writing some of Shakespeare's works. I also find it interesting how we do not know much about when he was born or even exactly what looked like. You would think that someone of such fame with his literature would have had a picture of himself painted by a very famous artist. I think that when kids think of Shakespeare they are not thinking of him in the great writing he created, I think they just think to themselves "oh great, I have to read the most confusing piece of work." They are to mad about having to read old English and how confusing his writing is that they do not see the significance in reading his writing.

"To Facebook, or Not to Facebook"

Facebook varies a lot person to person, from people who use it for just communicating to people who are constantly on it as it becomes a necessity to those people. When i was a freshman Facebook was a necessity but as i progressed in years it has become less and less important to me. My first impressions of Facebook was "this could hands down be the best invention known to man kind" however my new impression is this is not that great and thus becomes more distant to me. It surprises me to see that 7.5 million kids under the age of 12 are using Facebook. Personally I do not see what a 12 year old would be doing on facebook. I do not think its safe for a 18 year old to be putting up personal stuff on their facebook, let alone a 12 year old. At such a young age people do not see the danger in the internet, they do not believe that they will be the one getting "creeped" on by older people. As I get brighter and older i begin to see all the dangers in online communication, and do believe kids so young should be monitored by their parents on what they put on Facebook and other social networks such as Twitter and Myspace.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Literature Analysis #1 Death of a Salesman

1)  Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, is a story of a father Willy Loman, who is a struggling salesman who is constantly commuting long miles for his salesman job. He is always in an argument with his son eldest Biff who is throughout the book made to seem like failure. Willy gets along pretty well with his youngest son Happy. Willy is constantly getting harassed by his wife Linda about his job, and when Willy finally goes to talk to his boss about changing where Willy works, his boss fires him. Willy throughout the play is getting harassed by Linda and Biff. His wife linda finds out he has been trying to commit suicide but he always denies it. Willy constantly day dreams of talking to his older brother who is a richer man and is always offering Willy a job, but Willy takes this offer to offense. The end of the play concludes with Willy diving off and getting into a car cash and dying.

2) One of the main themes in Death of a Salesman is "betrayal" because throughout the play Biff is constantly butting heads with his father Willy who is only trying to help his son out. He does not take his advice and shuns his dad off showing no respect for him, and doing what he wants to do.

3) The tone in the play at times is very harsh or disrespectful. Biff whenever he talks to his father never shows him any respect and it is always an argument. Harsh because Willy always thinks of his son as a failure so the tone to the audience is often very harsh.

4) One literary technique is hyperbole Willy often exagerates how much of  a failure Biff really is when in reality he is not that much of a failure. Imagery is used when Willy day dreams of his life years back with colorful descriptions of his dreams. Its also very ironic that willy dies in a car crash instead of him committing suicide, in the story he tries to commit suicide many times but fails so its ironic that that was not hte way he "kicked the bucket." Symbolism is used in the story when Willy's brother talks about making money and describes diamonds, it represents Willy's lust for wealth and material items. the story uses flashback when Willy daydreams about when Biff was back in highschool as a star football player.