Character Study (II) and (III)

Maddie was packing her clothes and any other necessary items for her upcoming new journey. She was jamming out and dancing to music, which showed her excitement for the trip she was about to embark on. Before her trip, Maddie began looking through old pictures, letters, and even texts to remind her of the ones she cared and loved deeply. She packed some of those valuables for comfort and support while on her new journey. Maddie was dressed in a teal Nike dry-fit t-shirt, black yoga pants, and a pair of solid black tennis shoes with teal accents. This outfit was comfortable and would be absolutely perfect for the trip she was soon to embark on, but Maddie also packed her more stylish clothing just in case. She was about 5'10 with curly brown hair that hung right beneath the shoulders. She was athletic, intelligent, kind-hearted, and wanted to do what was best for those around her and even herself. Now, as for appearance, Maddie wore very stylish clothing that had a bohemian chic vibe to it, but she also wore a fair amount of workout clothes due to her involvement with volleyball. She had big brown eyes with winged eyeliner that made her eyes even more noticeable than they already were and full lips.  After she finished packing, she printed out her boarding pass online in order to avoid the massive lines at the airport. Once she arrived at the airport by taxi, Maddie was filled with excitement and the bright new future ahead. For her trip, She was heading to Costa Rica for a huge beach volleyball tournament and would get the opportunity to play with absolutely amazing player, who had been her role models since she was a little girl. After picking up a chai tea and a bagel, Maddie went to her terminal and sat quietly while reading a magazine she picked up on the way there. The terminal was filled with people of various cultures and ethnic background, which caused Maddie to get a little more excited since she new that this was going to be the opportunity to meet new people and to learn more about the cultures around the world. "Calling boarding group 2" She looked at her ticker and was disappointed to see that she was in boarding group 3, but she decided to get up and wait in line in order to avoid the huge rush of people. Maddie carefully made her way through the crowd and decided to stand near the end of the line.  There was a guy right near the end of the line, who stood at about 6'3 and looked as if he was hiding something. Once Maddie finally made it to the end of the line, the man looked directly in her eyes with his light blue eyes that displayed a certain level of innocence and despair. After the quick second of eye contact, the man grabbed his suitcase that said "Dan Smith" and bolted as if he had seen a ghost. At first, Maddie was shocked about his reaction, but didn't really think into in that much since it wasn't worth her time over analyzing it. "Oh a UCLA football player is on the flight with us. How wonderful..." The words rolled of his tongue with such sharp sarcasm that it could have probably cut glass. The man was massive and wore a bright crimson red USC football jersey that would have probably been a dress on her even with her tall figure. The number on his jersey was four and his last name written on the jersey was quarto, which she found odd, but soon forgot about that as soon as the argument started to heat up. "You bastard. I can't believe you would have the audacity to even talk to me after what you did." The man stood tall, but had a slight limp on his right leg. He was dressed in a blue UCLA t-shirt that had Torque written in big, bold letters that stood out from a mile away. Soon the argument got so heated and intense that it felt as if the area had become the beginning of a boxing match. "Wow, that is intense." said a blue-eyed, bleached blonde haired guy, who looked about the same age as Maddie. He was wearing a pair of vans and a cool surf shop t-shirt. Maddie replied "Yeah... this is crazy, I can't believe this is happening.". "Yeah me too, I'm Colter by the way." He stuck out his hand, waiting for a hand shake and it took a second for Maddie to realize what he was doing since she was so focused on the fight, which was being broken up during that period of time. She tried to give a good hand shake,but failed miserably and said "Nice to meet you, I'm Maddie." As soon as she responded the speakers above blared out "Boarding group 3 is now being helped". By this point in time, Maddie couldn't contain her excitement any longer. She made a dead sprint to the entrance and as soon as the airport employee scanned her ticket, she continued to run until she reached the plane.

CHARACTER STUDY (II)

Sadly, my group was unable to come together to discuss our story or the addition of new characters since we were at college boot camp, but I will post tomorrow about our emerging story once I have gotten the opportunity to discuss it with my group.

Netvibes

I forgot to post this yesterday accidentally, but I created a Netvibes dashboard and so far I'm still pretty confused by it. At this point in time it is very simple due to the fact that I still have no clue how to work the site, but I am going to continue to try to figure it out because I believe that this will be a very helpful tool in the future. My dashboard has the weather, cooking recipes, sport updates and various news channels around the world. I would like to add shortcuts to other websites that are school related such as my AP English course blog and AP Microeconomics course blog. Overall, I like the dashboard and look forward to using it more.

CANTERBURY TALES (I)

The Canterbury Tales: Prologue:
Written by Geoffrey Chaucer:

The Prologue was quite interesting due to the fact that it was based on characterization. The usage of characters was huge because Chaucer used them to show that each person had their similarities and differences no matter what their social standing was. In addition, he also poked fun at reputations and how  they can be nothing like the actual individual's personality. Due to his usage of irony, satire, and imagery, I am most looking forward to reading more about the Monk because he is not your typical monk. He likes to hunt, enjoy expensive luxuries, and doesn't follow the traditional stereotype of a monk. Now, I was originally interested in this character because of the humor, but his story can go in so many different directions both positive and negative, which is makes me excited to continue with The Canterbury Tales.

CHARACTER STUDY (I)

First of all, the definitions for indirect and direct characterization are:
- Indirect characterization is the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc.
-Direct characterization is the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives, phrases, or epithets.

The definitions are very necessary in this post because I am writing a fictitious character with both forms of characterization and I'm also developing a fictitious character that is identical to me.

-Maddie was packing her clothes and any other necessary items for her upcoming new journey. She was jamming out and dancing to music, which showed her happiness in that particular moment. Before her trip, Maddie began looking through old pictures, letters, and even texts to remind her of the ones she cared and loved deeply. She packed some of those valuables for comfort and support while on her new journey. Maddie was dressed in a teal Nike dry-fit t-shirt, black yoga pants, and a pair of solid black tennis shoes with teal accents. This outfit was comfortable and would be absolutely perfect for the trip she was soon to embark on, but Maddie also packed her more stylish clothing just in case.

-Maddie was about 5'10 with curly brown hair that hung right beneath the shoulders. She was athletic, intelligent, kind-hearted, and wanted to do what was best for those around her and even herself. Now, as for appearance, Maddie wore very stylish clothing that had a bohemian chic vibe to it, but she also wore a fair amount of workout clothes due to her involvement with volleyball. She had big brown eyes with winged eyeliner that made her eyes even more noticeable than they already were and full lips. In addition, she had an amazing work ethic and would always work herself to her absolute hardest to achieve her goals and to help others. Maddie also had a great sense of humor and she was the type of person to always be either smiling or laughing even if the joke was terrible, but she also had her own flaws. The biggest flaw she has is the fact that she is so stubborn and at times a bit of a stress ball. These flaws are the imperfections that she has and each human being has a type of flaw that is not considered to be"perfect", which is why flaws make use human.

Vocabulary #6

1. obsequious: adjective: marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness. -Obsequious service at a gas station is expected due to their high ranking and awards.
2. beatitude: noun: a state of utmost bliss. -I was is a state of beatitude after taking my grandpa to Disneyland for the first time in his life.
3. bete noire: noun: a person or thing strongly detested or avoided. -For Christmas, the fruit cake were a bete noire due to the other choices of delicious food on the table.
4. bode: transitive verb: to announce beforehand. -These rain clouds don't bode well for our outdoor beach volleyball match.
5. dank: adjective: unpleasantly moist or wet.- The lawn was dank and quite a quagmire.
6. ecumenical: adjective: worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application.-The new ideas of the economy by Jerry Michalski areecumenical and will benefit everyone.
7. fervid: adjective: very hot, burning. The stove was fervid, which could boil water with in seconds.
8. fetid: adjective: having a heavy offensive smell. The gym locker rooms were fetid and disturbing.
9. gargantuan: adjective: tremendous in size, volume, or degree. -The Staples Center was gargantuan and could fit thousands of people within it in order to watch sports and concerts.
10. heyday: interjection: used to express elation or wonder. -Heyday of the coal trade was in the early 16th century.
11. incubus: noun: an evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep, nightmare. -After watching Psycho, I felt like I had an incubus within my dreams.
12. infrastructure: noun: the underlying foundation or basic framework. -The infrastructure allowed the rest of the building to be build without any problems.
13. inveigle: transitive verb: to acquire by ingenuity and flattery, entice. -The mad scientist inveigled various innocent people to join his evil plan.
14. kudos: noun: fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement, prestige. After winning the tournament, my teammates and I received kudos from various individuals.
15. lagniappe: noun: a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase. -Since it was my birthday, a small dress shop gave me a lagniappe when I made a purchase.
16. prolix: adjective: unduly prolonged or drawn out. -The practice was prolix, boring, and tiresome. 
17. protege: noun: one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence. -The coach had a protege, who was very talented and gifted in the sport of basketball.
18. prototype: noun: an orignal model on which something is patterned. -The toy company created various prototypesbefore picking a final product to sell in stores all across the country.
19. sycophant: noun: a servile self- seeking flatterer. -The woman was a sycophant within her friend group.
20. Tautology: noun: needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word. -The teacher idea of chemistry and anatomy was informative at first, but turned into a tautology.
21. Truckle: intransitive verb: to act in a subservient manner. -Don't truckle to many unreasonable demands.
22. Accolade:noun:a ceremonial embrace.
    -After the tough MMA fight, the fighters received accolades for their technique and strength.
23. Acerbity:noun:the quality of being acerbic, which means to be acid in temper, mood, or tone. -The customer made his displeasure with the service within the restaurant known with more acerbity than was needed.
    
24. Attrition:noun: sorrow for one's sins; the act of rubbing together; the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack; a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death.-The gears of the contraption began to collapse due to attrition in the system, which was caused by lack of oil.
25. Bromide:noun: a binary compound of bromine with another element; a commonplace or tiresome person(bore).
    -The chemist used bromide to create a chemical reaction, which led to an explosion!
26. Chauvinist:noun: a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.-On Fourth of July, there are many chauvinists running around displaying there love for America.
27. Chronic:adjective: marked by long duration or frequent recurrence; always present or encountered; being such habitually.
    -In hospitals, there are many chronic smokers, who for years have tried to stop their addiction, but end up not being able.
    
28. Expound:transitive verb: to defend with argument. -Newspaper writers expound their points of views in order to influence their readers' minds.
29. Factionalism:noun: the state of quality of being partisan or self-interested.
    -The pompous prince was stuck in a sense of factionalism, which caused him to lose the crown to his younger brother.
30. Immaculate:adjective: having no stain or blemish (pure). -The model had an immaculate face that looked as if she was a goddess.
31. Imprecation:noun: curse.
    -The imprecation left the family and their loved ones in a state of depression.
    
32. Ineluctable:adjective: not to be avoided, changed, or resisted. -The new painting was ineluctable and glowed with color and texture.
33. Mercurial:adjective: having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness; characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood.
    -Due to her illness, she was mercurial and couldn't control her moods or even her body movements.
34. Palliate:transitive verb: to ease or reduce the violence; to cover by excuses and apologies. - After their huge fight with her sister, she tried to palliate the disagreement in order to resolve the issue.
35. Protocol:noun: an original draft, minute, or record of a document or transaction.
    -The demo was a protocol that later turned into a huge hit that turned platinum.
36. Resplendent:adjective: shining brilliantly. -The sunrise was resplendent and filled the sky with color and light.
37. Stigmatize:transitive verb: to describe or identify in opprobrious terms (brand).
    - Dior and Burberry have been stigmatized which allows them to over price their items in order to gain more profit.
    
38. Sub Rosa:adverb: secretly.
    -The collaboration on the new song was held sub rosa in order to prevent the track from being leaked to the public.
    
39. Vainglory:noun: excessive or ostentatious pride or vanity.
    -The vainglory within our societies around the world has caused unnecessary conflicts, which lead to chaos and destruction.
    
40. Vestige:noun: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something.
    -The vestige on the side of Cindy Crawford's face made her even more attractive and allowed her to soar in the modeling industry.
41. Volition:noun: an act of making a choice or decision; the power of choosing or determining.
    -Bill Gates worked his way to the top through his own volitions and power.

VOCABULARY QUIZ #5

The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, which was an ecumenical piece of poetry that allows reader to experience the various social levels within medieval times. Geoffrey Chaucer deserves kudos  for his literature since he is considered the father of poetry and had various heydays in his career. This piece of literature had a simple infrastructure, but due to the simplicity, readers from various social classes were inveigled by this particular piece. Luckily, it wasn't a tale of prolix topics and doesn't constantly use tautology to express the themes, tones, and moods. Now, an important fact that is necessary to know is that Canterbury is a small town where various religious individuals pay their respects to a saint, which causes them to be in a state of beatitude. They also wanted to avoid incubuses and live a full life. Basically, The Canterbury  Tales: The Prologue  is a combination of various stories that were told on their way to the pilgrimage, which were fervid and gargantuan. The tale begins will imagery and allusions such as the dank and fetid fields changing into the beauty of spring. As the piece continues, the audience began to truckle to the characters in order to fully understand them on a deeper level. In addition, The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue wasn't just for the sycophants or the privileged. This seemed like a lagniappe  to their society considering there wasn't many resources, but Chaucer was able able to remain obsequious in hopes of not being in a bete noire. This piece of literature also had many aspects that boded well with the characters and plot. Before Chaucer finished these tales, he wrote a bunch of prototypes and got resources from various proteges in order to create the best story possible.

WHAT A CHARACTER

There are so many characters that have influenced me within literature due to the fact that I read a lot, so I've been exposed to various types of characters. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an absolute fantastic historical fiction novel and the main character named Amir was very influential to me. Amir changed from a spoiled, selfish child to a helpful, selfless man. This change was monumental and showed me the importance of helping others before helping yourself in order to achieve a much deeper happiness. In our society, we are all focused on ourselves, which is sad, but it's the truth. Sometimes we don't even realize how selfish we are until we look back at the actions we made previously.

Now, the source of Amir's desire to be selfless was due to his guilt, which caused Amir to not be able to be truly happy. His guilt was from events that happened during his childhood such as the rape of his childhood best friend, Hassan. In addition, Hosseini uses allusions, imagery, similes, and pathos to connect his readers to Amir on a deeper, emotional level. The literary techniques caused me to see and understand Amir better as a character.

Declaration of Learning Independence

This course is not your average English class because it allows you, the student, to build your own learning experience. I absolutely adore that I will be able to build, create, and design my own way of learning in order to prepare myself for the future. My big question for this cousre was how do we determine what is right and what is wrong? Each and everyday we are faced with choices that can determine our path of life and what we could or will become in the future. Decisions we make at different points in time may seem right in that moment, but is it really the best choice? This question is very difficult and it may never be answered, but I will make goals that allow me to try to figure out this question to the best of my ability. I have various goals that I want to achieve that will create a better future for myself. My first goal is to be all-league first team MVP this year for volleyball due to the fact that I want to be the best I can be and I know I can achieve this goal if I work hard enough. Now, this goal and the other I set during this year are going to be tough, but with the support of the curriculum and the sources provided in this course, I know I can achieve those goals in order to prepare my next step in life.

Vocabulary #5

1. obsequious: adjective: marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness. -Obsequious service is expected, one generally leaves a tip.
2. beatitude: noun: a state of utmost bliss. -I was is a state of beatitude after visiting my future university.
3. bete noire: noun: a person or thing strongly detested or avoided. -For Thanksgiving, the string beans were a bete noire due to the other choices of delicious food on the table.
4. bode: transitive verb: to announce beforehand. -These rain clouds don't bode well for our picnic.
5. dank: adjective: unpleasantly moist or wet.- The lawn was dank and quite a quagmire.
6. ecumenical: adjective: worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application.-The new ideas of the economy are ecumenical and will benefit everyone.
7. fervid: adjective: very hot, burning. The stove was fervid, which could cause burns to anyone who touched it.
8. fetid: adjective: having a heavy offensive smell. The old jerseys were fetid and disgusting.
9. gargantuan: adjective: tremendous in size, volume, or degree. -The stadium was gargantuan and could fit thousands of people within it.
10. heyday: interjection: used to express elation or wonder. -Heyday of the tin trade was in the early 16th century.
11. incubus: noun: an evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep, nightmare. -After watching various scary movies, I felt like I had an incubus within my dreams.
12. infrastructure: noun: the underlying foundation or basic framework. -The infrastructure allowed the rest of the building to be build without any problems.
13. inveigle: transitive verb: to acquire by ingenuity and flattery, entice. -The evil witch inveigled various innocent people to join her devious plan.
14. kudos: noun: fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement, prestige. After winning the contest, Hannah received kudos from various individuals.
15. lagniappe: noun: a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase. -Since it was my birthday, Sephora gave me a lagniappe when I made a purchase.
16. prolix: adjective: unduly prolonged or drawn out. -The meeting was prolix, boring, and tiresome. 
17. protege: noun: one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence. -The Sensei has protege named Grasshopper, who was very talented and gifted.
18. prototype: noun: an orignal model on which something is patterned. -The computer company created various prototypes before picking a final product to sell in stores.
19. sycophant: noun: a servile self- seeking flatterer. -The woman was a sycophant within her society.
20. tautology: noun: needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word. -The teacher idea of mathematics was informative at first, but turned into a tautology.
21. truckle: intransitive verb: to act in a subservient manner. -Don't truckle to many unreasonable demands.

Literature Analysis #1

Slaughterhouse-Five

By: Kurt Vonnegut

1.  First of all this book is written out of order and everything is happening all at once. The story begins with Vonnegut expressing his times in World War II, which was absolutely brutal and ineluctable. Basically, this should be considered the introduction of the story since the plot revolves around the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim. For this summary, the events will be order, but in the book they are not in order once so ever. Billy is portrayed as young man, who was completely not ready to be a soldier. He was confused on what to do or what was going on. In addition, he was sent to the Battle of the Bulge even though he had barely any training. During that battle, he is in a pure state of bewilderment and ends up running into enemy land. While on enemy ground, he is helped by an American recruit named Roland Weary, who was an abusive individual and even tried to murder Billy since he thought Billy didn't care about saving his own life during the battle. Soon, the two men are captured and Roland Weary ends up dying in jail, which he blames Billy for since he believed that Billy was the one who got them into prison. Once Billy arrives to the prison, he notices how the captured soldiers were fed well and in shape. While in prison, Billy meets Edgar Derby (a teacher, who was injured) and Paul Lazzaro, who is completely crazy and threatens to have Billy killed since he believes that Billy just let Weary die without trying to help him. Billy and Derby are then sent to another prison located in an abandoned slaughterhouse in Dresden (a direct connection with the title and the story). During that same period of time, Dresden is bombed by American forces, so the town is demolished. After all of the bombing, Billy and a few others has to dig themselves out of the remains of the city in order to survive and it was Billy, who had to pick up all of the corpses.Once the war finally ended, Billy was released and returned to the United States to be a teacher once again. He soon becomes engaged to a woman named Valencia and later has a mental breakdown, which causes him to be go to a hospital and is helped (kinda). As years go by, Billy ends up having a one daughter and one son named Barbara and Robert. Billy then ends up being in a plane crash and everyone dies except for him, but he got a bad head fracture. While recovering, Valencia dies in her car for carbon monoxide poisoning, which is heartbreaking. Billy soon begins to talk to the local news about how he was abducted by aliens from the planet Tramlfamadore. The biggest lesson he learned from them was about time and how there are four dimensions that are a part of our vision. Time will be the same whether that moment is in the past, present, or future. This is why the novel is written in pieces because of this Tralfamadorian way of thought. Think of it as puzzle pieces that scattered everywhere and even though they are not connected, yet they still form one big picture. The story ends with the opening of stable doors since they were sent there after Billy had cleaned up all the dead bodies in Dresden to burn.

2. Themes:
-War: This book doesn't glorify war once so ever and shows how bad war can truly be such as being a prisoner spending each and every day having no idea what is going to come at you next.
-Time: Time is a huge theme in this book, which is seen by the lack of order and the Tralfamadorian way of thought. Textural evidence of this theme are "There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at once time." and "All time is all time. Its does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber."
-Free-will:As a prisoner, Billy had no choice on what he could and couldn't do. He believes free-will is nothing and the future can't be changed, which is why he always says "so it goes" because he feels like nothing he can't do anything to change or alter time.

3. The tone of the narrator lacks emotions and often focuses more on the details. Now, we, as readers, see the narrator express some emotions especially when discussing war due to the fact that he is talking about his own personal experiences.
Examples:
-"How nice--to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive."
-"All tis happened, more or less."
-"People aren't supposed to look back. I'm certainly not going to do it... anymore."

4. Literary Techniques and Devices:
-" The view was still blocked by an venetian blind, which he hoisted clatteringly. Bright sunlight came crashing in." (pg.72) This quote shows the usage on imagery in this story due to the the fact that it allows the story to be better seen and understood by the audience.
-"Their bellies and upper arms were like washboards." (pg.119) This quote shows the usage of similes to create comparisons that provide a new point of view and understanding.
-"The Germans carried the corpse out. The corpse was Wild Bob. So it goes" (pg.88) This quote expresses the tone of the narrator and how he lacks free-will to change his future.
-"Hooray for the good people of Genoa." (pg.21) This quote expresses a tone of sarcasm within the story since the narrator was discussing how good the children had it while in Genoa for the slave ships.
-"--and that their pathway was one of blood and tears." (pg.20) This quote is used to elicit pathos from the audience and get them to connect with the story on an emotional level.
-"So it goes" (pg. 253 and various other pages) This quote alludes to the idea that their is no way to change the future and what will happen, will happen whether you like it or not.
- This book is a satire, which is show when the narrator brings up the book called The Gutless Wonder because the particular books makes fun of Human actions and behaviors.
-An example of irony is when Edgar Derby is killed due to the fact that he stole a tea pot after the bombing of Dresden, which left the city in ruins. "One guy I knew was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his."
-"So it goes" (refer to pages above) This quote also is an example of the narrator's dark humor since he used the line when ever anyone died or something absolutely tragic happened.
-"Poo-tee-weet?" (pg.275) This is an example of onomatopoeia and also causes the reader to think about how life would be like after the war had ended.

ALL OF THE ABOVE

The 1987 AP exam was very helpful because it allowed me to see the things I need to focus on during this course in order to better prepare myself for the AP exam this upcoming May such as poetry and vocabulary. Now, I took the test with my expectations set low and I tried my hardest while taking it. Overall, I didn't do that good on the exam, but it was a great learning experience.

Vocabulary #4

Vocabulary #4:
1.Accolade:noun:a ceremonial embrace.
-After the tough battle, the warriors received accolades for their bravery and courage.
2.Acerbity:noun:the quality of being acerbic, which means to be acid in temper, mood, or tone.
-The customer made his displeasure known with more acerbity than was needed.
3.Attrition:noun: sorrow for one's sins; the act of rubbing together; the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack; a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death.
-The gears of the machine began to collapse due to attrition in the system.
4.Bromide:noun: a binary compound of bromine with another element; a commonplace or tiresome person(bore).
-The chemist used bromide to complete his experiment and prove his hypothesis.
5.Chauvinist:noun: a person displaying agressive or exaggerated patriotism.
-On Fourth of July, there are many chauvinists running around displaying there love for America.
6.Chronic:adjective: marked by long duration or frequent recurrence; always present or encountered; being such habitually.
-In hospitals, there are thousands of patients who were chronic smokers for years despite their attempts to quit.
7.Expound:transitive verb: to defend with argument.
-Various political writers expound their points of views on thousands of topics that interest the people.
8.Factionalism:noun: the state of quality of being partisan or self-interested.
-The pompous prince didn't care about others and was stuck in a sense of factionalism.
9.Immaculate:adjective: having no stain or blemish (pure).
-The model had an immaculate face that made it effortless to take her picture.
10.Imprecation:noun: curse.
-The imprecation left the family in a deep depression and without hope due to the death of some of their close loved ones.
11.Ineluctable:adjective: not to be avoided, changed, or resisted.
-The new mural was ineluctable and glowed with colorful images that showed the community in a honest manner.
12.Mercurial:adjective: having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness; characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood.
-Due to her illness, she was mercurial and couldn't control her moods.
13.Palliate:transitive verb: to ease or reduce the violence; to cover by excuses and apologies.
- After their huge fight with her sister, she tried to palliate the disagreement in order to make things better and peaceful.
14.Protocol:noun: an original draft, minute, or record of a document or transaction.
-The demo was a protocol that later turned into a huge hit that toped the music charts all over the world.
15.Resplendent:adjective: shining brilliantly.
-The sunrise was resplendent and filled the sky with light.
16.Stigmatize:transitive verb: to describe or identify in opprobrious terms (brand).
-Gucci and Prada have been stigmatized which allows them to over price their items in order to gain more money.
17.Sub Rosa:adverb: secretly.
-The meeting was held sub rosa in order to not cause problems and gossip.
18.Vainglory:noun: excessive or ostentatious pride or vanity.
-The vainglory within various countries around the world has caused unnecessary battles and even wars.
19.Vestige:noun: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something.
-The vestige on the side of his face made him even more attractive.
20.Volition:noun: an act of making a choice or decision; the power of choosing or determining.
-The successful CEO worked his way to the top through his own volitions and power.

Vocabulary Quiz #3

In gothic times, there was a mystique monster named Mal, who was parlous, lugubrious, and quixotic at times. His disgusting appearance left those who saw him in a complete impasse. He looked like a decaying corpse with claws that oozed sticky venom. Mal had a personal vendetta against raconteurs due to the fact that he felt that each of them had a massive bravado, which was a trait that he despised. In addition, his father was a raconteur and he was the one who cause Mal to go through a metamorphosis that turned him into the horrid creature he was. Mal was an apostate to his original morals and became a cold-blooded killer, who felt a sense of euphoria each time he constricted his victims' necks. His effusive reactions also caused a dichotomy between those who wanted to help him and to those who wanted to kill him. This was quite a quagmire between the people of the village and those who were related to Mal. Overtime, the people of his small village made a consensus that it was sine qua non that they help him ,which is non sequitur, but they thought that all he needed was someone to be his companion. His loneliness was able to be seen through a small punctilio that showed his love for candy. Candy symbolized childhood to Mal and since his father ripped his childhood away from him, Mal used candy as a connection to his young, innocent self. 

Beowulf Essay

        Power, money, fame, and social reputation have been large parts of societies for centuries. From the past to the modern world, these desires have plagued our culture, but yet we, as the modern people, can’t imagine a world without those things due to the fact that we often connect them to success. Each of us craves success or to be thought of as successful. Some of us even say that their biggest fear is not being successful or failing on the way to success. Now, modern society uses heroes to depict these successful individuals just like ancient societies did. Tony Stark (Iron-man) is a perfect example of a modern day hero just like Beowulf is to ancient times. These two heroes struggle with their pride, social reputation, and ultimately doing what is right for those they are trying to protect. Alliteration, assonance, imagery, and symbolism are used to display these qualities especially in Beowulf. Tony Stark and Beowulf each symbolize the societies in which they come from and have various similarities that show how despite the time difference, our societies are a like. 

The world is filled with heroes that set the standard to our modern society even if we don’t realize it.  Tony Stark is one of the many heroes we look up to despite the fact that he is a fictional character from a comic book. Tony Stark is intelligent, handsome, rich, and thought of as bigger than life both to the people and to himself. These traits are huge desires within our modern society since it’s thought that those lead to happiness, respect, and success. He symbolizes our culture and even displays its faults such as being blinded by pride, the need for praise, his selfish nature, and craving things he can’t or shouldn’t have. Now, Tony Stark may be a pompous, egotistical individual, but he always wants to what is right for the people in which he protects just like Beowulf. “This formal boast by Beowulf the Geat pleased the lady well and she went to sit by Hrothgar, regal and arrayed with gold.” Beowulf wanted to protect and save those who were in danger, but he also wanted the praise, the rewards, and the reputation. In addition, Beowulf followed the rules because he wanted to be thought of as angelic to his culture standards while Tony Stark didn’t due to the fact that he really didn’t care about that, which the idea of not caring what others think about you is a constant desire within our modern world. Beowulf and Tony Stark are very much a like, but they are not identical due to where they came from.

“Marshes, and made his home hell.” Alliterations and assonances were used in Beowulf to show the need for Beowulf’s help due to the idea that both Grendel and Grendel’s mother were pure, untainted evil. By using these literary devices, it shows how ancient society always needed heroes or leaders to protect them from dangerous threats, which is why our modern society wants heroes and leaders so badly in order to protect and fix problems even if they are impossible or ludicrous. “The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf’s triumph’s and feats in well-fashioned times, entwining his words.” Both Beowulf and Tony Stark are symbols in which society looks up to and dreams of becoming. These two heroes are far from perfect, but through imagery and allusions, they are spoke of as gods. 

Beowulf and Tony Stark are heroes from two different eras of history. Each posses traits that both help and hurt those around them. Through imagery, allusions, alliterations, and various other literary techniques, these two heroes are used to show the best and worst of their culture. Despite the differences in their societies, they symbolize what their culture should be and this causes society to expect the heroes to be perfect, but they are just human with flaws and impurities. We, as society, can’t forget about the importance of individuality even though heroes and leaders are our role models. 

Will study for food.

College is expensive and recently I've been looking at various scholarships in order to avoid too much college debt. I have seen looked into the Elks scholarship so far, but I still have to search for many more scholarships to apply for. Luckily, I have earned a scholarship to a university in New Hampshire for volleyball and academics combined. Now, even though I have received this scholarship, my goal is still to reach $10,000 in scholarship money.

Vocabulary #3

Vocabulary #3:

Definitions:

1.apostate: one who commits apostasy.

2.effusive: marked by the expression of greator excessive emotion or enthusiasm.

3.impasse: a predicament affording no obvious escape; deadlock.

4.euphoria: a feeling of well-being or elation.

5.lugubrious: mournful; especially exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful.

6.bravado: blustering swaggering conduct; a pretense of bravery.

7.consensus: general agreement.

8.dichotomy: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities.

9.constrict: to make narrow or draw together.

10.gothic: medieval, uncouth, barbarous. 

11.punctilio:  a minute detail of conduct in aceremony or in observance of a code; careful observation.

12.metamorphosis: a change of physical form,structure, or substance especially bysupernatural means.

13.raconteur: a person who excels in telling anecdotes.

14.sine qua non: something absolutely indispensable or essential <reliability is a sine qua non for success>.

15.quixotic: foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.

16.vendetta: blood feud; an often prolonged series ofretaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts orexchange of such acts.

17.non sequitur: an inference that does not follow from the premises; specifically: fallacy resulting from a simpleconversion of a universal affirmative proposition or from the transpositionof a condition and its consequent.

18.mystique: an air or attitude of mystery and reverence developing around something or someone.

19.quagmire: soft miry land that shakes oryields under the foot; a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position.

20.parlous: obsolete: dangerously shrewd or cunning.

 (Definitions found on the Webster Dictionary App.)

Sentences:

1. The Buddhist monk became an apostate due his new change in beliefs of the Catholic faith.

2. My family and I received an effusive welcome when we visited my relatives for Thanksgiving.

3. The Los Angeles traffic was in a compete impasse.

4. After winning the close game, the team felt think they were a huge sense of euphoria.

5. The funeral caused many lugubrious reactions within the crowd. 

6. The heroic knight had a huge ego and a very high sense of bravado.

7. After ten minutes of discussion, the group finally came to a consensus on what movie they were going to watch.

8. There was a huge dichotomy between African Americans and Whites during the early eras of American history.

9. She wore a turtle-neck sweater that kept constricting as the day went on.

10. The gothic cathedral was absolutely gorgeous. 

11. The police officers made various punctilios when visiting the crime scene.

12. The caterpillar went through a complete metamorphosis and turned into a beautiful butterfly.

13. The comedian was an raconteur, who made his audiences cry with laughter.

14. Schools supplies are a sine qua non in order to take notes, to complete homework, and to learn what is being taught.

15. The Odyssey project was a vast and perhaps quixotic assignment. 

16. The villain had a personal vendetta against the hero due to his terrible childhood and experiences. 

17. The final chapter of the book was a non sequitur and didn't make sense.

18. The new kid in town had a sense of mystique that followed his every move.

19. The rain storm causes the farming fields to turn into a quagmire.

20. The economy is in a parlous state that scares most citizens.

Why This Book?

For my first literary analysis book, I have decided to read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut because I've heard so many amazing things about this book. In addition, when I went to the public library in order to find a literary analysis book, the librarian recommended me this book and after hearing her review on the novel, I knew that I had to read it for myself.

My memories of an old, cluttered book store.

Today, I found this little used book store in town and I absolutely fell in love with it. I love book stores and I always have ever since I was little. That may be a little weird, but I can literally spend hours in a Barnes & Nobles or in any book store. Reading is enjoyable for me and I would rather read than watch television most of time because books allow my imagination to run wild. Every person is different and books allow a sense of individuality since we, as the readers, can picture the characters or anything in the story as anything we desire.
Now, the modern era is all about technology, but I do not like kindles or electronic reading devices at all. I understand how helpful they are, but I love the feel of books, the way the pages bend, the smell of books, and the flipping of the pages. There is something about a book that is just wonderful. When I was younger, there was old book shop in my home town up north and I will never forget that book store. The book store was very small, cluttered, filled with books, and smelled of cigars since the owner had a collection of cigars that she would sell. My grandma and I would spend hours in there looking for new or interesting books in which I would read to her and my grandpa later on. I always go to that book store whenever I'm in my home town in order to relive those memories, find new books, and visit the owner, who knows me by name even though I moved away almost eight years ago. Now, I didn't write this post to be sappy, but the fact in the matter is these memories have influenced my love for books and allowed me to be a better student because of it, which gives me more chances to succeed in the future.