Vocab #2

1. Accoutrements: Personal clothing or accessories

"She had her accoutrements all packed up for the trip."

2. Apogee: Highest or most distant point, climax

"I was on the edge of my seat around the apogee of the movie."

3. Apropros: Fitting, at the right time

"The length of the lesson was apropros because the bell rang as soon as the teacher was done."

4. Bicker: A peeving arguement

"The two were bickering over where to put the new couch."

5. Coalesce: To grow into one body

"The two lakes coalesced into one after a few years."

6. Contretemps: An embarrassing mischance

"He caused small contretemps when he spilled his drink."

7. Convolution: Rolled up or coiled condition:

The aluminum foil was now in a convolution form when it was rolled up

8. Cull: To choose, select

"He had to cull what to get on his sandwich."

9. Disparate: Essentially different

"His shirt with red stripes was quite disparate than the others."

10. Dogmatic: Pertaining to

"That is the shirt of Steve"

11. Licentious: Unrestrained by law

"He was licentious to kill a man."

12. Mete a limit or boundary

"He had a set mete, and was not allowed to go to certain locations."

13. Noxious: Harmful or dangerous to health

"Being a coal miner is quite noxious because of what you breath in."\

14. Polemic: An argument about a certain opinion

"There's been a long time polemic about the rights of same-sex marriage."

15. Populous: Large population

"Los Angeles is quite populous with over 4,000,00 people."

16. Probity: Honesty

"He had much probity to say his true feelings."

17. Repartee: A quick, witty reply

"He gave quite a repartee to end the argument and win."

18. Supervene: To occur unexpectedly

"It was quite supervene when the light went out in the classroom."

19. Turncate: To shorten by cutting

"He turncated the banana by using a scissor."

20. Unimpeachable: Above suspicion

"Since he was telling the truth, he was quite unimpeachable of telling any other lie."

Beowulf Questions

These questions were answered by myself, working alone

(Heorot Is Attacked)

1. It was Grendel that attacked it. It was about 12 years. The Danes bailed and left.

(The Hero Comes To Heorot)

1. Beowulf starts an army of 14, and sails over to fight.

2. They meet Hrothgar lieutenant. He demands to know who they are. Beowulf informs him that they are going to help the king.

3. Higlack is who stops them. Beowulf tells Hrothgar how he will defeat Grendel.

(Fight With Grendel)

1. He goes into battle without any armor.

2. Grendel enters, and eats one of Beowulf's soldiers. He disarms Grendel by bounding his claws. Grendel tried escaping, but was too wounded and died. He left behind an arm.

(Another Attack)

1. She shows up to claim Grendel's arm.

2. Grendel's mother killed a close friend of Hrothgar.

(Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother)

3.He takes Hrunting, his sword.

4. Grendel and his mother lived in a battle hall.

5. The sword does no damage, and he throws it aside.

6. He escaped because of the metal on his chest.

7. His kills her with a sword on the wall. Her body fell to the floor lifeless. He took Grendel's head. The sword he used to kill her dissolved.

8. They were excited to see him because they thought he wouldn't return.

(Beowulf Attacks The Dragons)

2. The dragon melts his shield, and his sword does no damage. His companions ran for their lives into the woods. Wiglaf stood with the king and slayed the dragon. He told them how disappointed he was. He then helps slay the dragon.

3. Beowulf and Wiglaf slay the dragon, and Beowulf is very wounded.

4. Beowulf wants Wiglaf to get the treasure from the dragon's lair. When he sees the gold, he thanks god. He wants to be burned, and he wants a large tomb built in a tower.

Reading Notes (Pages 30-61)

Tristia:

Talks about changes in weather and amount of daylight during the day since he's arrived in his new home

Goes on to talk about the people who live in the area, calls them words like "barbarians" even though they own more of the houses in the area

He say that in his opinion, everyone else thinks he's the barbarian, and how he's mocked because of the latin he speaks, and the fact he was exiled from Rome

Beowulf:

Grendel is a monster that lives in the darkness, who was born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by god

Grendel came to Herot and killed 30 men

Went on fighting many wars and winning, nothing could get him to start a truce 

Beowulf gathers an army of men to defeat Grendel

After a long battle, Beowulf, and his army kill Grendel

Beowulf is now informed about the lurking of two other monsters, one being Grendel's mother

He goes out on a journey to kill Grendel's mother

Beowulf goes and defeats the two other monsters

Beowulf becomes honored Hrothgar, and then becomes king

He goes off to fight a dragon

He defeats the dragon, but becomes very wounded and dies, The Geats burn Beowulf's body

Beowulf Notes

We're written in old fashion English

Had much more impact when said orally

Had no real distinction between history or myth, can't be accurately described as fact or fiction

A narrative composed with episodes, people, creatures, praise, blame, or comedy

Makes an icon of a former age

Built between the Pre-Christian, and Christian worlds historically

MY OPINION ISN'T (A) RIGHT

Introdependance- Having responsibility not only to yourself, but others

Limbic- The part of your brain that controls emotion

Schema- The routines or structures we use to go on with the world

"Fiction is the lie that tells the truth."

Reflections On Week One

1. Right now, there is nothing that can affect my participation in this class. I have all the tools necessary to be sure that work gets accomplished.

2. I am sad to say that I have yet to experience a changing learning experience yet. However, I hope that this class will change that for me.

3. One thing in this class to look forward to is improving my experience taking the AP exam, in hope to get a good score on the AP exam

Vocabulary #1

1. Adumbrate- To foreshadow

"The teacher adumbrated to his class that there would be homework based on what they read in class."

2. Apotheosis- Elevation to divine status

"This is the literary apotheosis of a 'fish out of water' story."

3. Ascetic- Strict self-denial as a measure of personal discipline

"Feeling fat, Jim went on an ascetic diet of nothing but fruits and grains."

4. Bauble- Trinket

"I bought a couple little baubles at a tent at the fair."

5. Beguile- To lead by deception

"She was so persuasive, she was able to beguile her friends to do most of her homework."

6. Burgeon- To send forth a new growth

"The market for smart phones has burgeoned in recent years."

7. Complement- Filling up, or completing something

"His hat was a perfect complement to his shirt."

8. Contumacious- Stubbornly disobedient

"The young buy was rather contumacious when he refused to pick up the piece of paper when his mother asked him."

9. Curmudgeon- An ill-tempered old man

"The curmudgeon that lives down the street does nothing but sit on his front porch, and yell at the kids that go on his lawn."

10. Didactic- Designed or intended to teach

"Long after the death of Poe, his work became didactic to show students dark romanticism."

11. Disingenuous- Giving a false appearance

"He thought Bill was a nice guy, but it turned out he was quite disingenuous, and was quite a rude person."

12. Exculpate- To clear from alleged fault or guilt

"The man was exculpated by the court when it was proved he was not guilty."

13. Faux Pas- A social blunder

"He made quite a faux pas when he accidentally arrived early to the party."

14. Fulminate- To say or send out with denunciation

"The speaker was quite fulminating when talking about the dangers of smoking."

15. Fustian- High-flown or affected writing or speech

"The writing of the author was quite fustian because of his past experiences."

16. Hauteur- Arrogance

"She looked at him with the hauteur of someone who is usually obeyed."

17. Inhibit- To prohibit from doing something

"Most grocery stores inhibit people riding skateboards nearby."

18. Jeremiad- A prolonged lamentation or complaint

"A jeremiad was filed to the manager of the local hardware store by an angry customer who was unsatisfied with customer service."

19. Opportunist- One who likes to take many opportunities

"He was quite an opportunist, and wanted to try to strive for the manager position."

20. Unconscionable- Not guided or controlled by conscience

"He was rather unconscionable when he went out and blew his money on a new car."

1987 AP Exam

1. E
2. A
3. D
4. E
5. B
6. D
7. D
8. B
9. B
10. E
11. D
12. B
13. D
14. B
15. E

Seemed pretty simple so far, though a little trouble was had on 15

16. B
17. C
18. D
19. C
20. E
21. E
22. B
23. D
24. A
25. C
26. E
27. E
28. D
29. A
30. D
31. D
32. E

I found these ones to be a bit harder.

47. E
48. B
49. E
50. D
51. B
52. B
53. D
54. D
55. D
56. C
57. C
58. A
59. D
60.E
61. E

Essay 1

   We live in a different time now. Our definition of leisure back then, and leisure now are quite different. Eliot's thinks her view of leisure is now gone in society. So let's look at her view of leisure, and how she states her views.

  Eliot's view of the word "leisure" is quite different to what we think of today. We think of it today as a weekend, or just free time after school to do certain activities like hanging out with friends, or whatever else we would do to spend our free time. But her definition of leisure is the old fashioned Sunday morning that mainly consists of the classic waking up, reading the newspaper, going to church, and then go on with normal chores of the day with their free time. So as shown, there has been quite a change in the word "leisure" since back in the day.

   To talk about old leisure, Eliot describes what old leisure was like, however, she describes it like a human being. Eliot calls old leisure "he", and describes him as "contemplative", "stout", and having a jolly conscience. She then went on to talk about what a daily routine would go like, and talk about the simple schedule. As mentioned before, the usual schedule included waking up, reading the newspaper, going to a church service, and go on with the rest of the day.

   So this is George Eliot's definition of  "Old Leisure". Just like mentioned, and having the thought probably coming to mind, our definition and the old definition of leisure are very different. It is also agreeable that old leisure is gone, and that we have our new definition of leisure that we have and enjoy to ourselves now.

Essay 2

   Out of a all the works listed, one that is a good example of change in traditions would have to be The Grapes Of Wrath, due to it's story line of a family having to frequently moving for work, and having to deal with new people. So here are some examples from the story that show how the book has changes in tradition and social attitudes.

  First, we look at how the story shows changes in tradition. In the story, the Joad family have to move off and go work in fields in order to obtain money. This was a complete change for the Joad family, and was something that they've never done before. They weren't used to or experienced in working in fields, or having to frequently move across the country. The whole story easily depicts having to blend in with the new life of working and moving frequently.

   Not only does the story show changes in tradition, but it also shows changes of social attitude. This is shown along with the changes of tradition, and the family frequently moving. In the story,when the Joad family have to move to a new location for work, this also means having to blend in with a new society, and new people. The Joad family have to adjust with new co-workers often due to the frequent moving. They frequently have to blend in with each new location that they move to, which is shown as a challenge.

   So those are two examples of how The Grapes Of Wrath shows social attitude changes, and changes of tradition. The two are shown by the family's frequent job moving, and growing into new locations all the time. The book is a good example of such theme.

 

Montaigne Essay

    After reading David Foster Wallace's quote, I would have to say that the writing of Michel De Montaigne contradicts what Foster says in his quote. Montaigne's writing is about a full on opposite on Wallace saying "...words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it...". But here are some explanations and examples on why this is.

   One way that Montaigne's writing contradicts Wallace's quote is that Montaigne's essays tend to be quite extensive. Now, we could just end it there and say that it contradicts Wallace's quote because he has long essays, but there is more to it that makes his essays long. First off, Montaigne makes many references to quotes of ancient Greeks to former kings in Europe to help support a point or an argument. When he makes a reference any of these people, he goes the distance of quoting them, and naming source, almost like a works cited page on an essay, but in this case, it's actually in the essay or paragraph.

  To answer the next question of his style providing a window to his thinking, it's the quotes and references from either ancient Greeks, or others that help show his thoughts and perspectives. Montaigne's usage of them show where he's get's his thoughts and opinions from, which will help try and get his readers a better understanding of his perspective. 

   Now comparing Montaigne's writing to Austen, one thing that both authors have in common are both their usage and references to other people, or other literature in their writing. In Pride And Prejudice, Austen makes a few allusions and references to other works of literature in the story itself. Austen makes allusions from a few old English books.

  So this sums Montaigne and his relation to Austen's writing, and Wallace's quote. Both authors using either quotes, references, and allusions throughout their writings, and both contradicting Wallace's quote saying how words barely sketch the outline of  anything at any given instant.

Poetry #1

1. The commercial uses the poem "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski.

2. The irony of using the poem for a commercial is the fact that the poem has a "choose the way you live your life, and do whatever you want to do" message, while Levi's is trying to sell you their product.

3. It reflects greatly on Bukowski's reputation. The positive message in the poem made him more of a praised author.

4. For research on question #1, I read the article on how the Levi's advertisement was banned in the UK because of the riot police scene. The article stated that Bukowski's poem was used.
For #3, I had to do some research on Bukowski, and read reviews on his writing, which showed that he was a praised author.

Big Question

They say that music can affect one's personality and the way they view the world. My question is, how? I feel like the music I listen to has no real affect on me, so does it on others?

ESSAY #1

The Posionwood Bible is a good example of Edward Said's quote of experiencing exile and how it is terrible, yet an enriching experience, because the Price family had to experience such exile when moving from their home to Africa. So here are examples of how the Price family had that relates to the quote, with one example showing the view of "enriching", and the other being "terrible"

First, daughter of Nathan, Rachel was one daughter that at first was not to happy of the move to The Congo in Africa, and also has no faith in her father's purpose of moving there, as the same with a few of the other Price daughters. She begins to start disliking the move even more after her father fails at supporting the family, trying to spread his word of Christianity, and the death of her sister, Ruth May, from being but by a poisonous snake. However, after her sisters and her mother leave Kilanga, she is flown into Johannesburg and later marries three men, the last one leaving her a hotel in the French Congo. So while she might have disliked the move, in the end, she continues with a good life, which probably wouldn't have happened if the move to Africa didn't happen. The same with her other sisters, all having better lives.

However, there is one character that experiences the opposite, of what was thought to be an enriching experience, which was the father, Nathan Price. In the story, he thought that the move to The Congo, Africa to spread the word of Christianity would be a good idea. He looks at it brightly, and thinks it will be successful, but ends up failing with events happening like the failure to grow food, and failure to baptize villagers of Kilanga. Then after the death of his daughter, Ruth May, his family leaves him and move to various locations. So unlike his daughters, Nathan did not have a good experience going through exile with the move to Africa.

So these are two examples of exile in The Poisonwood Bible that relate to Said's quote about exile and it being a terrible and enriching experience with Rachel's experience being happy in the end, and Nathan's good idea becoming a bad idea, which helps prove Said's point about exile.