In Class Essay

In Kikongo, the language of the people of Kilanga, the word bängala has three meanings: most precious, most insufferable, or poisonwood. In the Congolese context, opposites are necessarily bound forever in definition; nothing can exist without its antithesis. The righteous and the heathen, the foreign and the familiar, devastation and redemption -- each half is a component of the whole, relevant only by comparison. The Price family, arriving in the Congo in 1959 to fulfill Reverend Nathan Price's evangelical mission, comes to understand that what they hold most dear can also be what they despise the most; the thing closest to their hearts can also be poison.

Through the voices of four sisters and their mother, the story of the Price family's tragic destruction is juxtaposed with the political disintegration of the Congo itself from a colonized territory to an autonomous democracy to a nation run by a CIA- installed dictator. As Nathan's attempts to save both himself and the Congolese "heathens" become all-consuming, the Price women struggle to find their own brand of freedom. Through the hardships suffered at the hands of Africa's powerful natural forces, politicians both in the village and around the world, and even those they hold closest to their hearts, each woman eventually finds her own way to liberation. Much like the Kikongo word bängala, "liberation" for the Price women has multiple -- and contradictory -- meanings. Whether through an outright rejection of the Congolese culture or a redefinition of "home," each ultimately regains the autonomy denied her in her forced relocation to Africa.

Kingsolver depicts the Congolese culture with a measure of respect not often seen in fictional novels written by foreign authors, and sets an important example for today's global community -- a world in which fluid borders and technological advances make intercultural exchanges inevitable. With The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver has created an intelligent and powerful story about the tensions between love and hate, destruction and redemption, nation and nation, man and woman, and nature and beast -- and the women who learn to understand and embrace these tensions.

1999 Essay Question 3

Life of Pi
The important thing isn't that we can live on love alone, but that life isn’t worth living without it. In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the author shows that Richard Parker is part of Pi, and is necessary for his survival. This is shown at the end of the novel when Pi reaches Mexico with Richard Parker’s help of survival. However, there are two different versions to Pi’s story, and there is no physical proof of Richard’s existence other than his word. Life isn't worth living without hope, Richard Parker is necessary for Pi’s survival because he gives him a reason to survive, provides companionship, keeps him from feeling hopelessness.
Firstly, Richard Parker is essential for Pi’s survival. He is essential for Pi’s survival because Richard Parker has the strength and viciousness necessary to survive. In the end of the book it is revealed that Richard Parker is Pi. Richard Parker is just a figment of Pi’s imagination a creation of Pi’s mind to help him cope with seeing his mother killed and the rest of the bad experiences he had after the ship sunk. Pi created Richard in order to conjure up those traits that he needs in order to survive; Richard is strong, fierce, and terrifying, whereas Pi is complete opposite. He creates a strong fierce animal with a personality that is capable of doing things he can't, but has to in order to survive. Richard Parker is just Pi’s dark side. He keeps Pi sane, despite of his terrible deeds. In other words, he imagines that the tiger is talking to him, showing that he and Richard share one mind. It is not possible for an animal to talk, thus it is Pi’s collective imagination that manifests this conversation. However, the two share many of the same needs and wants, so therefore their minds are able to collaborate subconsciously.

Question 2 From 1999

In the passage written by Cormac McCarthy in the novel The Crossing, the author expresses the experience of a character as he experienced the loss of a wolf. Cormac described the actions as the young man cared for wolf's corpse as it suffered a bloody, and unfortunate death. McCarthy used elements such as metaphors and personification in order to give the descriptions of the experience more life and more impact to the reader. He also used pathos in order to allow the reader to feel a little for the main character in his loss. McCarthy also used a lot of imagery in order to make the reader most easily picture this dramatic experience

In the passage, the author states, "-he could see her running in the mountains, running in the starlight where the grass was wet and the sun's coming as yet had not undone...". This quote proves that the wolf will be missed, as the character reminisces on her life as she knew it. It also shows the negative impact it had on him as he reminisces in mourning, and not in celebration of her continuing life. These flasbacks prove that the loss has had a strong impact on the character as he gets lost in his memories of the wolf, and what her life could have been like had she survived.

In conclusion, the author conveys the impact on the character through the use of flashback and characterization. These elements clearly expressed the negative impact the passing had in this character as he experienced the wolf as a corpse and not a lively creature.

Poetry Essay 2

The Broken Heart, by John Donne, portrays someone’s broken heart from an unequal reply of love. Donne uses varied imagery throughout the poem to reveal the speaker’s attitude toward the nature of love.

Various imagery is used throughout the poem which symbolize the condition of the speakers heart. Images of digestion, such as “devour” (line 4) and “swallows chaws” (line 14), show, how love, takes control over the heart. An image of a fire, such as in line 8, shows the agony of the speaker as his heart was broken day by day. Donne reveals the speaker’s feelings of his heart’s death in line 15, “chain’d shot.” Other images such as “broken glass” (line 29) and “rags” (line 31) reveal the weakness and unwholeness of the speaker’s heart.

Through these images there is an attitude that is revealed about the speaker towards the nature of love. Images of pain, death, and darkness reveal an attitude of sorrow and hopelessness. The sorrowful attitude comes from the pair of a broken heart. However, the hopeless attitude is from knowing if this one person does not return the love the speaker has sent, the speaker will never be able to love another person.

The images represented in this poem are symbols of the condition and feelings of the speaker’s heart. From these images, one can determine the attitude of the speaker toward the nature of love

Poetry Essay Prompt #1

Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.

Helen

BY H. D.

All Greece hates 

the still eyes in the white face, 

the lustre as of olives 

where she stands, 

and the white hands. 

All Greece reviles 

the wan face when she smiles, 

hating it deeper still 

when it grows wan and white, 

remembering past enchantments 

and past ills. 

Greece sees unmoved, 

God’s daughter, born of love, 

the beauty of cool feet 

and slenderest knees, 

could love indeed the maid, 

only if she were laid, 

white ash amid funereal cypresses.

To Helen

By Edgar Allan PoeHelen, thy beauty is to me

Like those Nicean barks of yore

That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,

The weary, way-worn wanderer bore

To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,

Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,

Thy Naiad airs have brought me home

To the glory that was Greece,

And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche

How statue-like I see thee stand,

The agate lamp within thy hand,

Ah! Psyche, from the regions which

Are Holy Land!

Although H.D. and Edgar Allan Poe each wrote a poem with the same name of "Helen", they both demonstrate very opposite esteem for the subject and couldn't be more divergent. In Poe's writing Helen come across as a very beautiful and inviting women, whereas, H.D. downsizes Helen's beauty with the use of simile and imagery.

Poe writes in three stanzas of five lines that have definite rhyming pattern. The first stanza has the pattern a/b/a/b/b. Poe uses a simile to compare his Helen's beauty to that of Helen of troy, who was considered one of the world's most beautiful women. With tone of reverse and imagery Poe portrays Helen like a goddess. Poe uses the simile and alliteration to show compare Helen beauty's to the emotions of a log that is traveling back to its homeland to be reunited.The poem is a tribute to a beautiful woman, held in high regard.

On the other hand, the Helen of H.D.'s poem is hated by all of Greece.In this three stanza poem, a couple of the lines in each stanza rhyme and the stanza length increases by a line as the poem progresses.H.D. contrasts with a tone of abhorrence and imagery that paints the picture of a monster. H.D. uses parallelism in the first two stanzas and anaphora to convey his attitude toward Helen is that of hatred and bitterness towards her beauty. As the poem progresses, Helen is blamed for past tragedies and the description of her appearance changes to the appearance of a pale unmoving form, resembling death. There is no regard or sympathy for the Helen who was so widely accepted as a symbol of beauty and love.

   H.D. and Poe have different views about Helen's beauty, these portrayals of Helen in these two poems are examples of two extreme interpretations of the physical appearance and symbolism of a historic figure.

Poem Analysis (TPCASTT )

'The Road Not Taken'
Title: I believe the title means that there are two different paths to choose from and that one of them, more often than not, isn't taken.
Paraphrase: This poem could literally be about two paths in some type of forest, but I believe its really just about two choices going around in someone's head. Either path leading to the same place but one traveled on every day and the one only once in a while. One may contain a better story to tell at the end of the journey.
Connotation: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by" This means that there were two options in this persons life and they had to make a difficult choice. They chose to go where many don't, probably because it wasn't the easy way out.
Diction: I think the words chosen by Robert Frost were smart and eloquent because this poem can be understood by many because it doesn't have big, scary words that you need a dictionary for. He wanted his message to be clear and heard by all, young and old.
Attitude: The person in the story seemed determined to find whatever he/she was looking for.
Tone: This poem is very calming which I think is needed because it really makes you think about life and which paths you want to pursue.
Shift(s): The person seems to be intrigued by the path that most people take, but in the end he decides to take the one most people avoid, noting how much work may be involved it would be worth it.
Title revisited: The title now seems to explain that there is a path that isn't followed, but it should be and that's what the person in this poem decides.
Theme: The central message I believe is to know every option you have and to pursue the more difficult one because in the end it could change your life.

4 Essay's

Seventh Reading

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Act 4

Scene 1:



The three witches are making some kind of potion with a bunch a weird/crazy ingredients
Macbeth has come to visit the witches to ask about his future :

An armed head appears first and all is said is to beware of Macduff

A bloody child next that says none of woman born shall harm him

A crowned child says Macbeth shall be till Great Birnam comes against him



Macbeth wishes to know if Banquo's prophecy will come true and 8 kings are shown last followed by Banquo. All of his kind
Lennox enters after the witches vanish and tells Macbeth that Macduff has escaped to England and therefore Macbeth has decided to take immediate action against him

Scene 2:



Ross visits Lady Macduff and she explains how upset she is that Macduff left in such a haste
The son and Lady Macduff are talking and Lady Macduff tells her son that his dad is dead and he begins to argue intellectually with her
A messenger enters and tells them they are in danger but before they can run away the murders enter and kill the son and chase after Lady Macbeth


Scene 3:

Macduff and Malcom have a conversation that brings them to peace with each other and talk about the army that is ready to launch their attack against Macbeth and Scottland
The kind is said to cure the sickness of people with the touch of his hand
Ross enters and when pressed releases the sad story of the death of the family of Macduff leaving him sad and in shock
This makes Malcom puch Macduff to take action against Macbeth even more

Lit Circles Multiple Choice

Slaughterhouse Five

D
C
D
B
A
B
C
B
A
C
C
D
C
B
B
A
C
B
B
A
C
A
A
D
A
D
D
C
A
B
B
D
D
C
D
D
B
D
A
B
A
C
B
A
A
D
B
D
A
B

Kafka On the Shore

C
C
A
D
A
C
B
A
D
A
C
B
A
C
D
B
A
C
A
A
C
B
B
C
C
A
A
B
B
A
D
D
A
A
B
B
A
C
C
D
A
B
C
A
B
C
B
B
C
D

Life of Pi 1
B
D
C
A
C
A
Life of Pi 2
A
C
C
B
C
A
C
A
D
B
Life of Pi 3
C
C
B
A
C
D
B
C
C
B
C
D
C
C
C
D
B
B
A
B
B
C
C
B
D
A
B
A
A
D
C
A
C
D
A

Multiple Choice Questions: Section One Anwers

E
A
E
B
A
A
D
D
D
B
E
C
E
D
D
C
A
E
C
C
B
C
B
B
C
C
A
C
B
C
D
D
A
B
A
D
E
C
D
D
D
C
A
C
B
E
B
D
A
D
B
C
C
E

Active reading notes

Act 2, Scene 2:


After killing Duncan, Macbeth enters his private chambers where Lady Macbeth is anxiously awaiting him. The shrieks of owls and the cries of crickets, both evil omens, pierce the air as Macbeth narrates to her the gruesome details of the murder. He tells his wife that Donalbain cried "Murder!" and that Malcolm laughed in his sleep while Macbeth killed Duncan, but they both said their prayers again and went back to sleep. Macbeth also tells his wife that he was unable to bless himself when he "had most need of blessing." (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 31) He thinks that he heard a voice saying, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep." (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 34-5) From this point on in the play, neither Macbeth nor his wife are able to have a good night's rest as they are plagued by the memories of their ghastly crime.
Suddenly, Lady Macbeth notices that her husband's hands are covered in blood and that he is still clutching the telltale dagger. She orders him to wash up and hide all incriminating evidence. Macbeth, however, is incapable of doing anything because he is in a state of shock, so Lady Macbeth is forced to take over. She smears blood over the faces of Duncan's servants so that they will seem guilty of the crime. When she returns, she promptly washes her hands and orders Macbeth to be calm. The couple hears a loud knocking at the south entry and they fearfully retire to their chambers.


Act 2, Scene 3:


A drunken porter stumbles through the hallways to answer the knocking at the gate. By comparing himself to a devil-porter and the castle to the residence of Beelzebub (the devil), he implies that Inverness is an evil and sinister place. Macduff and Lennox enter the castle and ask for Macbeth. They ask to see the king, as Duncan had requested that he be awoken at a timely hour. Macduff goes to the king's room to wake him up. In the meantime, Lennox explains to Macbeth how there were earthquakes and storms raging the whole night. In Elizabethan times, people believed that Nature mirrored human events; thus in this case, Nature has reflected the horrible murder of King Duncan. Macduff reenters the room pale and shocked-he wakes up the whole castle to report the news that King Duncan has been murdered.
Lady Macbeth enters the room, feigning the countenance of one newly awoken. She pretends to be horrified by the news that the king has been murdered in her own house and faints. Malcolm and Donalbain are informed of the tragic news. Instead of openly grieving for their father, they escape respectively to England and Ireland. The heirs feel that the court thinks them to be the main suspects of the crime. In addition, they risk their own lives by staying in Inverness, as they could be the murderer's next targets. Thus, the royal heirs quickly flee Scotland. Macbeth asks the rest of the court to reassemble in the hall to discuss this strange turn of events.

Active reading notes

Act Three, Scene One

Banquo suspects Macbeth but gains comfort from the second part of the Witches' prediction — that his own children will be kings. Having announced his intention to go riding with Fleance, Banquo is persuaded by the Macbeths to return later that evening to their new palace at Forres for a special feast. However, Macbeth realizes that the Witches' prophecy regarding Banquo represents a threat to his own position. Unable to endure the thought of Banquo's descendants claiming his position, Macbeth summons two hired murderers and confirms with them prior arrangements for the killing of Banquo and Fleance.

Act Three, Scene Two

This short scene allows the audience once more into the private thoughts of the murderous couple, while holding the action momentarily in suspense. As the hired killers make their way toward Banquo, Macbeth and his wife meet secretly. His wife attempts to soothe his troubled mind but ironically feels the same doubts herself. Killing the king has provided them with many more difficulties than they first envisioned. To the astonishment of his wife, Macbeth reveals his plan to murder Banquo.

Act Three, Scene Three

The hired murderers meet as arranged. On hearing approaching horses, a signal is given, and Banquo and his son Fleance are attacked. The murderers' lantern is accidentally extinguished, and the job is left half-done: Although Banquo is killed, Fleance escapes.

Act Three, Scene Four

At Forres, Macbeth and his wife welcome the thanes of Scotland to the banquet. Immediately prior to the feast, one of the murderers appears at a side door and reveals to Macbeth the truth about the mission: their success in the killing of Banquo and their failure to murder Fleance. Macbeth recomposes himself and returns to the table. As he raises a toast to his absent friend, he imagines he sees the ghost of Banquo. As with the ethereal dagger, the ghost of Banquo appears to come and go, propelling Macbeth into alternating fits of courage and despair. Lady Macbeth invites the thanes to depart and, once alone, tries one last time to soothe her husband. But Macbeth's paranoid mind is already on to the next murder, that of Macduff. To ascertain his future with greater certainty, he makes clear his intention to visit the Weird Sisters once more.

Act Three, Scene Five

Hecate, the classical goddess of the lower world who represents the spirit of ancient witchcraft, calls the weird sisters to her to complain that her own part in Macbeth's downfall has been overlooked and that she now wishes personally to make his downfall complete. The scene is unnecessary to understanding the play and was probably not written by Shakespeare.

Act Three, Scene Six

Meeting with a rebel lord, Lennox reveals his doubts concerning Macbeth. His argument is that those who might be immediately suspected of murdering their kinsmen are less likely to have done so than Macbeth, who had killed the guards of Duncan's chamber so hastily. Although Lennox is prepared to accept Macbeth's actions, he cannot help feeling deeply suspicious of him. The other lord reveals to Lennox that Macduff has fled from Scotland to join forces with Malcolm in England. Moreover, they have requested help from England's King Edward the Confessor. Both Lennox and the other lord pray that God's vengeance may swiftly fall on the tyrannical Macbeth and that Scotland may return to peace once more.

active reading notes

Scene 1
In a cavern with a bubbling cauldron in the middle
Thunder and the three witches enter
They speak in rhyme and cast a spell
Enter Hecate
She commends the three witches for a job well done.
Exit Hecate
Enter Macbeth
Macbeth asks how the witches know what they know. He wants to see more.
They call apparitions for him to see.
The first says beware the thane of Fife!
Macbeth says thanks
The second is a bloody child, he speaks Macbeth, no man born from a woman shall harm Macbeth.
The third is a child crowned with a tree in his hand he says that when the forest comes to the castle Macbeth would be undone. Macbeth laughs on these premonitions saying that no man shall ever touch him for all men are born of women, and the forest will never meet the castle because trees cannot move themselves.
The witches warn him not to want to see more but he will not be swayed.
Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and a line of eight kings. He asks how should Banquo bear a line of kings?
The witches vanish with Hecate.
Macbeth throws a bit of a fit.
Enter Lennox
Macbeth asks if he saw the weird sisters and lennox answers no.

Scene 2
Fife at macduff’s castle
Enter Lady macduff, her son, and Ross
Ross tells lady Macduff that her husband has fled. Lady Macduff is very upset at her husband’s running away. She tells her children that their father is dead. Her son questions her and they discuss it a bit.
Enter a messenger
The messenger tells lady Macduff that she should leave and take her children with her. She does not know where to go and she does not think that anyone would come to kill her and her children because they have done nothing wrong.
Enter murderers
The first asks where Macduff is, there is some argument and they kill young macduff and then the rest of the family.

Scene 3
England before the king’s palace
Enter Malcolm and Macduff
Macduff tries to talk Malcolm into returning to scottland, but Malcolm is afraid. He thinks that if he returns he will be a worse king. Macduff assures him that there is not a demon in hell that could make a worse king than Macbeth. Malcolm confesses feelings of greed and fears he would cause ruin. Macduff tells him that Scotland is already in ruin.
Enter a doctor
He is asked if the king comes to see them, he is told yes, and they speak of the king.
Enter Ross.
Ross is asked about the current affairs of Scotland. He tells of an evil place full of greed, malice and violence. Where people are dying all the time. Macduff asks after his family to which Ross tells him they were alive when he left. Macduff tells Ross of how the king of England has granted them ten thousand men to use to defeat Macbeth. Macduff asks Ross why he seems to be hiding something. Ross tells him that it is something for his ears only. Ross tells Macduff of the rumor that Macbeth’s men have slaughtered Macduff’s wife and children. Malcolm tells Macduff to turn his sadness and anger into rage to use against Macbeth.

Exit

BNW ESSAY DRAFT

Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using
characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender,
race, class, or creed. Choose a play or novel (BRAVE NEW WORLD)
in which such a character plays a significant role, and show how that 
character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and 
moral values. 

"But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.": The Savage in chapter 17. Here the Savage explains the old world reasoning. He asserts that true life requires exposure to all things, good and evil. John one of the main characters in the novel has grown up in this way, he was raised by the savages. John is the outcast of the World State and hadn't been raised on the consumer conveyor belt that has brought the world of which he lives in close to perfection. In this conveyor belt world of one person is different they are ostracized from the general population. Not only is John an alienated character but so is Bernard Marx who is faced with this taunting society that has alienated him because of his appearance and moral values. Through this we are given an insight into a world that may be closer then we think it is.

Bernard Marx was the Alpha Plus, which pretty much defined him as short and heavy set. These characteristics alone made him inferior to society, he didn't fit in with all the other male alpha who were made to specifications of Brave New World. Bernard was a mistake and accident, when he was created the creators put alcohol in his blood surrogate thus resulting in his unusual structure of his caste level. For something such as that to happen on accident and then he is outcast-ed because of it is disgusting and wrong and make the whole Brave New World a very unwelcoming place. His simple alienation shows this society's lack of conformity and proves how don't value or embrace individuality.

When Bernard visits the Savage Reservation he is somewhat at ease and nearly feels at home even among a foreign setting. Although quickly disgusted by Bernard’s attitude as Lenina is, the reader understands that Bernard knows how much different he is from the world he had just come from and how the world he has just entered could seem more welcoming and new with fresh ideas. Lenina serves as a counterexample to the idea of Bernard’s alienation from the rest of society. She immediately begins to make crude comments about the Savages, disregarding the fact that they are just as human as she. Lenina also represents a being who feels stronger within her own caste than as a separate individual. She can't stand the fact that their could be such Savages and that they are even aloud to live on an prosper. This is where Lenina and Bernard greatly differ, the intended utopia society makes individuals need the stability and comfort of a caste in order to prosper in the new world. Bernard and the Savages obviously contradict this idea in that the Savages have no apparent social structure along with Bernard. In part because of rumors and of his own beliefs,  it seems to always be on a path to find true self and individuality.

Bernard stayed true to his morals and himself at the beginning of the novel and although these were great qualities to possess, the thought of utopia and a perfect world ostracized him. There are example through the novel such as when Bernard goes on his first date with Lenina and is offered soma, a popular and powerful drug. He rejects the offer because he wants to be himself. This was an unheard thing in society, as no one new different. Another example which he did fall for peer pressure was when he did "orgy-porgy". He finds himself lost among all of the sexual emotions. He feels a great emptiness by the time they are finished. The rest of society has been conditioned to believe the normally illegal and immoral activity is just the norm.

Through Bernard the reader is able to see the evils revealed of a society that depends on too much of the belief that that everyday aspect can be controlled. Bernard’s isolation is spawned by his disgust with immediate satisfaction, his acceptance of the Savages simply fills that hole of emptiness of trying to fit in. This alienation proves the lack of morals, acceptance, and self-pride that the world state individuals have in their society. Their assumptions that anyone unlike them is inferior is insulting and proves their ignorance, but is justified to them.

BNW Chapter 8

This chapter primarily deals with John. Bernard is asking him to recall his youngest memories.
He would find his mom sleeping with other men.
Women would attack her because she was sleeping with their men
She didn't understand and would cry because she was used to getting whomever she wanted when she wanted
Everyone would ridicule John and Linda at celebrations or just in general
Linda tries to teach John to read but he has many questions, like any child would
He questions the other place, doesn't quite understand it yet.
Bernard asks John to come back with him but he agrees only if Linda could come to.
Bernard agrees because he wants to use Linda and John like leverage against the director.
Bernard does not want to get sent away so he is formulating some sort of plan to use them.

BNW Chapter 7

Lenina sees the buildings of Malpais from a distance and condemns it as queer, along with the Indian guide who is taking them to the pueblo, or town. She complains about having to walk, and about how he smells. She is disgusted and incredulous when she sees the garbage and the flies where people are living. "Cleanliness is next to fordliness," she says, and Bernard responds sarcastically with another piece of sleep-taught wisdom, "Yes, and civilization is sterilization."  She sees an old man for the first time and wonders what is wrong with him. Bernard explains that old age is prevented outside the reservation through inoculations and the artificially constructed chemical balance of youth which scientists create. Lenina searches her pockets and discovers with horror that she left her soma in the hotel. She is horrified to see women nursing, and more horrified when Bernard is touched by its intimacy. He even goes as far as to suggest that she has missed out on a wonderful experience, having not been a mother herself. She sees a ceremony and hears drums and mistakes it for an orgy-porgy. But soon the similarity disappears, as naked painted dancing people emerge, shrieking, with snakes, and crucifixes, whipping a young man until he bleeds. Lenina begins to sob.

They meet a young man,John, in Indian dress. He seems out of place because he speaks faultless English and has straw-colored hair and white skin. He asks Bernard and Lenina if they have come from The Other Place. He tells Bernard and Lenina that he wishes it had been him who had been whipped, because he wanted to be the sacrifice to Pookong and Jesus to make rain come and corn grow. Lenina stares at him, admiring his body, and he blushes. He explains that he and his mother Linda are strangers in the Reservation, and that she had come from The Other Place before he was born, with a man who was his father. Bernard listens intently. Linda fell while walking alone and was rescued by members of Malpais. The young man tells Bernard that the man's name was Tomakin. Bernard remembers that the Director's name is Thomas.

They go to meet Linda. Lenina is beyond disgusted with the wrinkled, filthy woman. She is revolted as Linda, reeking of alcohol, embraces her and even kisses her. Linda is absolutely ecstatic to see pieces of the Other Place, and she touches Lenina's clothing and babbles, reminiscing about aspects of World State life like the buildings, the contraception, and how much she has missed the sterility of civilization. She whispers about the madness of the Malpais society: they mend, they wear hard wool, and they practice monogamy. She does not understand a society in which everyone does not belong to everyone else, that is, have sex with everyone else, and all the women have turned against her because all the men used to come and have sex with her. She complains that her son John seems more influenced by the Indian society in which he has been raised than of the society of The Other Place, which she still holds as the ideal, and indeed, only way to live.

Lit Terms Applied

I had a hard time with the lit. terms quiz this morning. I wasn't prepared to read a passage and then try and find the lit term inside of it. Then trying to figure out why the author used this lit term. It was difficult and I am reviewing my terms all week to be ready for Thursday.

BNW Chapter(5&6) Notes

Summary: Chapter 6

Lenina convinces Bernard to attend a wrestling match. He behaves gloomily the entire afternoon and, despite Lenina’s urging, refuses to take soma. During the return trip, he stops his helicopter and hovers over the Channel. She begs him to take her away from the rushing emptiness of the water after he tells her that the silence makes him feel like an individual. Eventually he takes a large dose of soma, and has sex with her.

The next day, Bernard tells Lenina that he did not really want to have sex with her the first night; he would have preferred to act like an adult instead. Then he goes to get the Director’s permission to visit the Reservation. He braces himself for the Director’s disapproval of his unusual behavior. When the Director presents the permit, he mentions that he took a trip there with a woman twenty years before. She was lost during a storm and has not been seen since. When Bernard says that he must have suffered a terrible shock, the Director immediately realizes that he has been revealing too much of his personal life. He criticizes Bernard for his antisocial behavior and threatens to exile him to Iceland if his impropriety persists. Bernard leaves the office feeling proud of being considered a rebel.

A gramme in time saves nine . . . One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments . . . Everybody’s happy nowadays . . .

Lenina and Bernard travel to the Reservation. When they present themselves to the Warden to get his signature on the permit, he launches into a long series of facts about the place. Bernard suddenly remembers that he left the scent tap on at his apartment, an oversight that could end up being extremely expensive. He endures the Warden’s seemingly endless speech and then hurries to phone Helmholtz to ask him to turn off the tap for him. Helmholtz has bad news: he tells Bernard that the Director is planning to carry out his threat of exiling him to Iceland. Bernard is no longer proud and rebellious now that the Director’s threat has become a reality. Instead, the news crushes and frightens him. Lenina persuades him to take soma.

Brave New World Reading Notes (4 & 5)

Here is a little summary of the chapters:
The world that Bernard and Lenina know is somewhat frightening. Bernard understands the artificial world he lives in and it seems as if Lenina wants to know, but because of pressure from society she holds her defiant thoughts inside. I found it interesting how Huxley constantly had a stream of different dialogue for at least five pages that kept the reader questioning themselves about who exactly was talking. By doing this I believe Huxley kept the reader involved while also creating a conflict in the beliefs between three main characters.

Here are some of literary techniques I found in the book:
Opening Statement: "Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment."
Basically he is saying that being regretful is the worst feeling to have.

He felt that regretting the work he had done on Brave New World would mean that he would have to rewrite the book and being a different person as he was when he first wrote the story he would not only get rid of the faults and flaws but also of the great parts it originally possessed. For this reason he did not let chronic remorse affect his story.

He felt the biggest defect in his story was the fact that the Savage was only offered two alternatives which were an insane life in Utopia or the life of a primitive in an Indian village.
The author feels that if he could change that detail he would give the savage a third option which would be the option of sanity!

Setting: Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (D.H.C.)
A.F. (After Ford ~Symbolism) 632 : This was the year that the story takes place in.

The italics that Huxley uses through chapter one on the story represents the ideas that are supposed to catch the readers attention. Not only that but also the ideas that the students, who are ferociously scribbling away, should/will take away from the lecture tour.

The Greek letters in the story represent the fact that individualism does not exist in this new world. The fact that all humans are categorized into Alpha, Beta, or Epsilon. These categories allow individuals to be filed along with others like a stack of papers.

The idea that the embryos where like the photographic film represents the fact that the embryos can be developed however the creator decides. So whatever mold is given to them is what the embryo will become.

On page 64, I found indirect and direct characterization of Bernard.

On page 78, there is an allusion to the clock-tower in London, but in the case of the book it is called Big Henry

On page 85, personification of Big Henry by saying the clock sung 11

Brave New World (I)

A. F. 632----current year
Bokanovsky's Process----some kind of sterilizing technique----"One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality.

But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress."
"Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!"---the future of science.... no originality or imaginative running free....just order like a dictatorship... 

Planetary motto-"Community, Identity, Stability."
Mr. Foster-scientist at the factory. He is ecstatic to beat gamete producing ovary records. 

"Made them taste the rich blood surrogate on which it fed."----Disturbing....
'"We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future…" He was going to say "future World controllers," but correcting himself, said "future Directors of Hatcheries," instead.'-----Again like a dictatorship because class rank already established from birth based on genes. This slighty reminds me of Gattaca.
"The surrogate goes round slower; therefore passes through the lung at longer intervals; therefore gives the embryo less oxygen. Nothing like oxygen-shortage for keeping an embryo below par."---Again, this is the factories way of ensuring there are certain humans with defects. Decrease oxygen will lead to mental and physical defects which will be evident later in life. This is a way of ensuring some humans will be better than others.

WRITINGAS5PECTATORSPORT

First Quarter Review

a) I think I have done pretty well this quarter after all the school I did miss because of extracurricular activities, but those did pay off in a big way so I am glad I participated in them. I have kept up with almost every assignment and have had them all done in time. I am moving slowly on my Senior Project, but I have a great idea that will put all my skills to the test.
b) Next Quarter I plan on apply alot more of my attention to all my AP class to get me prepared for the AP Exams. Even more so then I have been. I plan on taking the Calculus, Physics, and English.
c) I enjoy the course work that we are doing now but I would like to do a little more writing stuff to help us prepare for the AP Exam.

BOB I

Top Five in the Class

1. Isiah Mabansag

Isiah had significantly more content than many other people in the class.  It more of his own personal blog, then just a class blog. He really puts in the extra time need to make his blog in the top five.

2. Matthew Patel

Although Matthew did not have all the content. Matthew’s blog was legitimately enjoyable to read. He had written in his own unique style and was just good quality work.

4. Samantha Garrison

Samantha’s blog is a good hybrid of quality content and extra posts.  The occasional humorous post keeps the atmosphere light.

3. Felicitas Ruiz

Felicitas has one of the more informative blogs.  Out of all the blogs in class, hers is perhaps the most consistently quality.  Posts are done to completion and in a a timely matter.

5. Josh Ng

Honestly just quality work. Does all the assignments with in depth AP quality writing while adding an occasional hyperlink and all the time using his own unique interesting writing style.

All the other blogs I listed are graded out of a ten point scale:

1. Cassidy Ashlock: 4
2. Ming Chen: 8
3. Reed Conforti:7
4. Brittany Cunningham: 2
5. Danielle Galindo: 7
6. Samantha Garrison: 9
7. Valerie Gonzalez: 7
8. Kristofer Green: 3
9. Sebastian Guillen:6
10. Megan Hardisty: 7
11. Alicia Hernandez: 7
12. Haleigh Jones: 6
13. Ryunhee Kim: 8
14. Travis Knight:  7
15. Carly Koertge: 7
16. Abby Kuhlman: 8
17. Alex Lane:2
18. Lacey Mougeotte: 2
19. Bailey Nelson: 2
20. Josh Ng: 8
21. Nathan Oh: 6
22. Matthew Patel: 9
23. Conner Patzman: 4
24. Troy Prober: 6
25. Brady Redman: 4
26. Jason Reinwald: 5
27. Felicitas Ruiz: 8
28. Erika Snell: 7
29. Justin Thompson: 8
30. Devon Tomooka: 7
31. Tanner Tuttle:8
32. Dulce Vargas: 8
33. Ashley Wilburn: 6
34. Chanel Yamaguchi: 6

Vocab 101- to the END

Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.

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

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.

Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.

Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.

Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.

Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.

Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.

Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.

Simile:  a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

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

Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.

Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style:  the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.

Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language.

Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.

Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.

Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.

Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.

Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.

Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

Theme:  main idea of the story; its message(s).

Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved

or disproved; the main idea.

Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the        

author’s perceived point of view.

Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan”

Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed

Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis

Vernacular: everyday speech

Voice:  The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.