Friday, February 28, 2014

Song of the Day or Should I Say Songs of the Week?

This week has been absolutely….insane. There are so many things going on and happening.

Saturday: Cough Syrup by Young the Giant.
Sunday: Let Yourself Go by Green Day.
Monday: Butterflies by Zendaya.
Tuesday: Want You Bad by The Offspring.
Wednesday: Ribs by Lorde.
Thursday:Starlight by Muse.

Today: First Date by Blink-182 :)

Friday, February 21, 2014

Song of the Day

Uh today has been a confusing day… I decided the song of the day is Temporary Bliss by The Cab because I absloutely adore this band and their new album called Symphony Soldier. They are alternative with some pop and rock influences, so if you like that type of music… I would recommend you check them out on iTunes! Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Song of the Day

The song of the day is… Sweet Dreams by Beyonce :)!

Brave New Essay Topic


2010 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Question 3
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)

Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience.
Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. 

Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
The American
Angle of Repose Another Country
As You Like It
Brave New World Crime and Punishment Doctor Zhivago

Heart of Darkness Invisible Man Jane Eyre Jasmine
Jude the Obscure
King Lear
The Little Foxes
Madame Bovary
The Mayor of Casterbridge My Ántonia

Obasan
The Odyssey
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich The Other
Paradise Lost
The Poisonwood Bible
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The Road
Robinson Crusoe
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Sister Carrie
Sister of My Heart
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Tempest
Things Fall Apart
The Women of Brewster Place Wuthering Heights


Source: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap10_frq_eng_lit.pdf

Bernard Marx is perfect character to use for this prompt about how exile can be alienating and enriching.


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I AM HERE

Honestly, I lost a little bit of focus in the beginning of this semester, but now I feel more motivated to attack the future especially after my official visit. Visiting my university helped me realize the importance of this last semester. It's a chance to learn and grow without the stress of other factors such as college debt. Now, as for my senior project….. I want to incorporate Jerry's Retreat somehow, but I'm still trying to figure it out. Jerry's Retreat is an amazing opportunity and I feel so honored to be invited to such an event. Originally, I just was going to go and listen, but now I want to take full advantage of this opportunity. I began to think about what I would do if I wasn't afraid, so I asked Dr. Preston if we could do a presentation in front of everyone at the conference, which is now happening. Intimidating? Yes. Nerve-wracking? No doubt. Exciting? Absolutely. This is going to be a challenge for me, but I know that it's a challenge worth taking. Overall, I'm excited for the next few months and I look forward to what the rest of this course has to offer.

Song of the Day

The past few days have been super busy, so I haven't been able to post a song of the day for a while now.  Luckily, this post will make up for all those days I missed. :)

Friday: Is This Love by Bob Marley
Saturday: Liquor Store Blues by Bruno Mars (one of Bruno's best songs!!)
Sunday: Cardiac Arrest by Bad Suns (the lead singer has an awesome tone in his voice).
Monday: Bridges by Broods.
Tuesday: Can't Stop by One Republic.
Today: Bad Boy by The Holdup & Square by The Holdup.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Literary Terms #6

simile: a phrase that uses the words like or as to describe someone or something by comparing it with someone or something else that is similar.
example: Life is like a box of chocolate. 
soliloquy: a long, usually serious speech that a character in a play makes to an audience and that reveals the character's thoughts.

example: "To be or not to be."
spiritual: relating to either one's spiritual or religious beliefs.

example: The main theme in Siddhartha is the spiritual journey in which he takes. 
speaker: someone who is speaking or talking.

example: The narrator is often referred to as the speaker.
stereotype: to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same.

example: Blondes are stereotyped as stupid due to their hair color.
stream of consciousness: the continuous unedited chronological flow of conscious experience through the mind.

example: Montaigne's essays are perfect examples of this term.
structure: the way that something is built, arranged, or organized.

example: The structure of a piece is often the foundation in which the plot is built on.
style: a particular form or design; author's diction.

example: Each author as a different style in which they write in.
subordination: less important than someone or something else.

example: The minor characters are subordinate compared to the major characters.
surrealism: a 20th century art form in which an artist or writer combines unrelated images or events in a very strange and dreamlike way.

example: Salvador Dali was a surrealist artist.
suspension of disbelief: suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.

example: Comic books such as Spiderman.symbol: an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality.
example: The conch in Lord of the Flies.
synesthesia: a condition marked by the experience of such sensations. 

example: music.
synecdoche: a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole.

example: The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer to workmen.
syntax: the way in which words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences.
example: diction.
theme: the main subject that is vein discussed or described in a piece of writing, cinema, etc.

example: The Kite Runner has a theme of redemption.
thesis: main point or objective.

example: A thesis is the central motif that runs throughout an essay.
tone: a quality, feeling, or attitude expressed by the words that someone uses in speaking or writing.

example: The tone in Brave New World is cold and lacks any kind of emotion.
tongue in cheek: in a way that is not serious and that is meant to be funny.

example: Knock knock jokes .
tragedy: a very bad event; or something that is serious and has a extremely sad ending.

example: Romeo and Juliet.
understatement: to say that something is smaller less important, etc.

example: Romeo and Juliet is often said to be amazing, but that is an understatement.
vernacular: of or relating to the common style of a particular time, place, or group.

example: What's up?
voice: the ability to speak.

example: The voice portrays the tone and mood.
zeitgeist: the general beliefs, ideas, and spirit of a time and place.

example: Henry Goddard.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

HAFTA/WANNA

Explain similarities/differences you see between your life during high school and life after high school.  Is there a significant difference?  Will people somehow magically transform the day after graduation, or will they take their current habits of mind/word/deed into their next set of daily activities?  How do you balance the things you want to do and the things you have to do, and what are your expectations of yourself and the world around you as you move on?

My life after high school is going to be different due to the fact that I will have a new point of view. Most things will remain the same, but the way I interpret them will be different. The day after graduation is not going to magically transform anyone, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't change their current habits. Honestly, it depends on the individual. I plan on balancing the things I want to do and the things I have to do by being time efficient. In addition, the world around me is going to change as I move on, but I wouldn't forget about my past as I look to the future. 

Launch/Draft

My original copy is a hard copy, so this is the revised one.

  • What am I passionate about?  What do I want to do?
  • How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
  • What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
  • What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
  • How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
  • Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?

  • I am passionate about various aspects of my life. I care about my family, my friends, my academics/learning experience, my volleyball career, and my future. I want to become a CEO of a large company and help volunteer in poor third world countries.
  • The tools from last semester have provided me with connections and a new way of understanding. For example, Jerry's retreat is going to be such an amazing experience and I wouldn't have been able to make that connection without this course.
  • I need to continue to word hard and push myself academically.
  • Honestly, I want to be able to help myself grow and become better rather than trying to impress or convince others.
  • I will move from "What If" by taking the risk and challenging myself. "What could you accomplish if you weren't afraid?"
  • My classmates, teammates, teachers, and experts such as Jerry will be a part of my personal learning network.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Literary Terms #5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function.
Example: "Like mother, like daughter."

Parody: an imitation of mimicking of composition; making or poking fun at something.
Example: "YouTube is filled with parodies of various songs."

Pathos: elicit emotions from the audience.
Example: "The Kite Runner uses various forms of pathos to create emotional connections."

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.
Example: The usage of unnecessary vocabulary words or facts in conversations.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Example: The hands of the clock moved beautifully.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
Example: The plot is the map in which a story follows.

Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
Example: The Kite Runner was poignant at times since I cried various times.

Point of View: the view at which the story is told.
Example: 1st person; 3rd person.

Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary. 
Example: Kafka (author).

Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern. 
Example: Nonfictional prose.

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction.
Example: Katniss is the protagonist of the Hunger Games series.

Pun: play on words.
Example: Drivers who speed in the snow often find themselves a drift. 

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.
Example: Themes represent the purpose of most pieces of literature.

Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightfoward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Example: Moby Dick.

Refrain: a chorus; something that reverses.
Example: La La La by Naughty Boy.

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead. 
Example: Native Americans would perform various requiems during funerals.

Resolution: denouement.
Example: The resolution happens after the falling action.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.
Example: Nothing is impossible! Nothing is impossible!

Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade. 
Example: Shakespeare's plays are filled with rhetoric language.

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer.
Example: Are you serious?

Rising Action: plot build up, leading to the climax.
Example: The events that set up the future of the novel.

Romanticism:  Imagination was valued over reason and fact. 
Example: Edgar Allan Poe.

Satire:  Ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals or humanity in general. 
Example: Family Guy.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter. 
Example: Meter and Iambic pentameter

Setting: the time and place of a piece of literature.
Example: The cave is the setting of The Allegory of the Cave.














Song of the Day #23-27

Song of the Day:

Thursday: Got Your Back by T.I
Friday: No Control by Pepper
Saturday: Rich Girl by Gwen Stefani
Sunday: Set You Free by 3OH!3
Monday: What I Got by Sublime

Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Time of My Life

Friday's class period was really helpful since I was able to hear details about both stories. Daniel and Jake went up and talked about The Tale of Two Cities, which was the book I read, but it was still awesome getting another person's point of view. In addition, I forgot to turn in my journal and notes, so I will turn them in as soon as possible. :)

Song of the Day #20-22

Opps….I accidentally forgot to post again! I was at Disneyland, which turned out to be very fun :)  Anyway, here are the three songs!

-Happy by Pharrell Williams
-1985 by Bowling for Soup
-Batter Up by Mike Stud