5/22/12 Ed of year update

I am working on two projects right now. For CosmoCurls I have registered a URL and am currently looking into designing a website with the help of my dad. I am going to have interviews, tutorials, product reviews, etc on my blog. I have interviews in like, and have already filmed and Edited several tutorials. I am currently developing a list of interview candidates and questions. On my second project I am working with Jacob to make a fitness and diet blog, and we have made a blog. In the next few weeks with CosmoCurls, I am hoping to haw basic information under each tab and hopefully begin to advertise and spread the word. With the fitness blog, we hope to have some instructional videos, recipes, and advice contet up. With CosmoCurls, I know the information will help other people deal with their curly hair and create a greater acceptance with it. The market for curly hair slo is huge, and I have the opportunity to provide a place to share all of the tips am tricks I have learned with others. With the fitness blog, it will help people of all ages get into good shape a kickstart a healthy lifestyle.

Progress

As I have grown up I have learned to appreciate my naturally curly hair, and have encountered tonssss of hair tutorials, products, and methods. I realized that on YouTube and blogs across the internet, curly hair help is in high demand. Thus, I have decided to start a website giving advice on the things I have learned to care for my special hair. My objective is to help other people appreciate themselves. I have already bought and registered the website name and filmed tutorials. My plans for the next few weeks are to start and finish a website that my dad will help me with, and I will film and edit interviews. I assume this will take about a week. To present my finished work to my colleagues, I will show the website and will hopefully begin to have traffic on my website on such a short amount of time.

AP Studying Continued

Studying for the AP exam this past week has consisted of studying literature terms with my younger siblings and writing thesis sentences for a couple AP prompts a night. I have also been discussing AP literature with my peers to refresh my memory on the books I have read.

Paragraph

Today at school, I looked over several essay prompts and created outlines and small pre writes during AVID when we had a study day. During sixth period, I studied the Literary terms for the upcoming test. I have also been discussing literature books with my peers.

My Plan

I plan to make flash cards and study the literary terms, and also study the available study resources on the class blog.

Macbeth Notes

Macbeth Notes • No situational irony in Macbeth and no sharing of inner thoughts (indirect characterization) • Porter scene-no humor besides porter • Murder of Duncan- death results from Macbeths unhappiness. • Some say he’s “ambitious” or evil desires • Witched give him 2 titles. King.. although there is already a king . He thinks that’s weird, but probably wanted that anyway • Ex: Act 1 Scene7 • Deceptive and socially savvvyyyyyy • He is bloody, but also cares about his appearance • Believes only way to throne is murder • *animus-masculine • *anima-feminine and nurture • Lady Macbeth is evil and degrading • She influenced, but it is still Macbeth’s fault • Chooses to do versus wants to do • Sees the dagger and follows it • EX: Black Boy, wrong place wrong time in a way.. except Macbeth already had the intention • “obstacles cannot crush me… he who his fixed to his star cannot be adverted.” –Di Vinci • Lady Macbeth is “The Instigator” convinces Macbeth to murder the king through taunting and challenging his manhood • Macbeth- determination and focus • Macbeth is pathological. He kills someone and thinks “it’s the occupation we chose… family business.” • “She should have died hereafter…” speech after wife’s death • wanted to control the outcome of his death so throws himself into battle • witches signify the evils of the earth • monkeys paw story- get $$$, but son is killed

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Macbeth Quiz

Part 1
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. C
10. A
11. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth frets over his plans to kill the King. After his wife persuades him to go on with the plan, he becomes a power-hungry murderer.
12. Macbeth is motivated by his ambition to be king. He stops at nothing to protect his crown.
13. Macbeth begins to plan his acts according to the prophecies of the witches.
14. Banquo is skeptical at the witches' prophecy that his children will become kings. He then cannot get these things out of his mind. Macbeth seems to brush off what the witches told him, but in reality he begins to act based on what was prophesied.
15. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth at first act as equals, planning to steal the crown as one. Once King Duncan dies, Macbeth becomes power hungry and is then the dominant figure in the relationship.


Part 2
1. B
2. B
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. C
9. B
10. B
11. This line in the first scene tips us off that things will not be what they appear to be. Macbeth will become king, and in doing so he will commit himself to a path of evil which will mean his death, and ironically, Banquo's.
12. This struggle is shown in Macbeth's character, as he goes from being an honest hero to a tyrant who loves power and wealth.
13. When Duncan and his party arrive at Macbeth's castle, they are unaware of the wicked plans that are being made. Their lighthearted, joking mood is ironic to us, because we know what they are really walking into. It is also depicted in the last act of the play.
14. Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth's manhood and even devises her own plan on how he should kill King Duncan. She is finally able to persuade him to go through with the act.
15. Macduff is deeply grieved by the loss of his wife and children. Macbeth on the other hand is too focused on protecting his crown to care or really show emotion about the death of his wife.

Macbeth Notes

-Macbeth a villian
-sinister, evil, bloody death
-king james 1 was fascinated by witch craft, so shakespeare wrote the "3 wierd sisters" into the play
-performed for king james at the Hampton court palace
-of 14 kings, 10 were murdered
macbeth was a real man
-shakespeares story wasn't completely real, for example how macbeth kills his king, rebels against God and creation, and becomes inhumane
-his crime is punished by debt
-lady macbeth is evil!
-asked to turn her breast milk into bile to kill the baby
-wanted her man to kill the king
-horses go wild and devour eachother alive
chief source was Holinshed's "Chronicles"

Top 3 Blogs

Arianna Farmer's blog is very up to date, and has a clean easy set up.
http://afrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/

Jolissa Jiles has a nice blog set up and it is easy to follow
jjrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com

Kari Griego has a nice eye catching blog, and I really like the character and humor she added to each post.
http://kgrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/

Literature Analysis: My Antonia

http://youtu.be/0_2QoOao0tM

Mindmap link

I am using a quick, simple, and free website called spicynoodles.org

http://www.spicynodes.org/yournodes_view_nodes.html?nodemapNum=0

Literary Analysis: My Antonia

1. My Antonia is the story of a boy who is orphaned and forced to move in with his grandparents. He meets a bohemian family, and becomes close to their daughter, Antonia. They grow up together and become good friends, but they grow apart during high school, the boy, Jim, goes through college, and ends up a successful lawyer in New York. He goes back home to visit and sees Antonia again. They reconcile and the circle of his life is complete.
2. Similar to the Disney story, The Lion King, My Antonia’s theme is the circle of life. Through a persons life, they experience highs as well as lows. Through these challenges though, life always goes on. Whether you are orphaned like Jim, or left by your fiancé like Antonia was, life always continues.
3. The author’s tone played off of the new frontier and immigrants in the United States. Quote one: “Why aren’t you always nice like this, Tony?”
“How nice?”
“Why, just like this; like yourself. Why do you all the time try to be like Ambrosch?”
She put her arms under her head and lay back, looking up at the sky. “If I live here, like you, that is different. Things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us.”
The second quote: During that burning day when we were crossing Iowa, our talk kept returning to a central figure, a Bohemian girl whom we had both known long ago. More than any other person we remembered, this girl seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood.
The final quote: “I never know you was so brave, Jim,” she went on comfortingly. “You is just like big mans; you wait for him lift his head and then you go for him. Ain’t you feel scared a bit? Now we take that snake home and show everybody. Nobody ain’t seen in this kawn-tree so big snake like you kill.”

4. Five literary terms that helped me better understand the novel motif, symbols, character, plot.
5. A motif is a reoccurring element in the story. An example would be the huge contrast between childhood and adulthood, and also the obvious sign of immigration to the united states. : “Why aren’t you always nice like this, Tony?”
“How nice?”
“Why, just like this; like yourself. Why do you all the time try to be like Ambrosch?”
She put her arms under her head and lay back, looking up at the sky. “If I live here, like you, that is different. Things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us.”

Socratic Seminar Questions

1a.These concepts can enhance my learning as I arrive at the time when my grades no longer matter because it has taught me that my learning process should begin with first understanding the “system” and the way things work. Once I completely understand the building blocks of the society or problem, then I can begin to add my own so-called “pizzazz” to it. The grades will no longer matter because I am not in school, but I will then be measured by my success and understanding.

1b.These concepts that we spoke about in our Socratic seminar have enhanced my ability to master content for the AP exam because I know that now I must master the multiple choice section. I know that I have to work on my literary terms and their direct definitions because that is where I have trouble. I have an easy time writing the essays, but I need to add more of my personality into the content

1c. I can use these concepts to better collaborate with and inspire other to improve the information exchange and overall value of our learning work by sharing what I know. I think now I will conduct meetings in a softer environment where people feel comfortable to share their ideas and point of views.

NOTES:

• adults find it harder to be imaginatice
• 1st walk and talk.. then sit and be quiet
• play can be anything, but with no rules
• free play and free learning
• we are all built for a purpose and if we work hard and diligently we can accomplish many things.
• some people associate all learning with school
• understand the building blocks before youwant to try and change the system

Poetry Remix

The Chimney Sweep by William Blake

-Dramatic situation- young poor orphan boy who lived during the age of chimney sweeps

-Poems Structure- 4 lines. 6 stanzas. AABBAABBAABB

- Theme- a poem of hope

-Grammer and Vocab- shortened words such as ”shav’d”

-Images and Figures of Speech- paints a bald sad young boy dirty from soot. Then a perfect heaven

- Important Single Words- names of the boys: Tom

-Tone- sad and hopeless in the beginning, then happy, bearable, and hopeful

-Lit. Devices and Techniques

-Procody- rhymes AABBAABBAABB rhyming scheme

The Tyger by William Blake

-          Dramatic Situation- the speaker sounds like a person who is interested in and respects the tiger

-          poems structure- parallel lines. 4 lines and 6 stanzas

-          theme- curious and interested person who enjoys tigers

-          grammer- tiger is spelled tiger

-          images- a strong dangerous but disrespected tiger.

-          Important single words- tiger. Symmetry repeates

-          Procody- rhymes

The Lamb by William Blake

-          The lamb not knowing its creator

-          Every 2 lines rhymes AABBAABB

-          Theme- knowing ones origins

-          Diction- simple

-          Tone- curiosity

-          Lit techniques- personification and repitition

Literature Analysis: The Loved Ones

1. The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh is a story about a British poet who moves to Hollywood, California trying to pursue a career as a poet. Unfortunately for his dreams, he is forced to take a job as a mortician at a local pet cemetery. One day he is planning a ceremony and meet a girl named Aimee Thanatogenos. She is a cosmetician, and he tries to woo her by reciting British poetry that he claims is his own. The conflict arises when Mr. Joyboy enters the picture and both men have to compete for Aimee’s love and affection.
2. The theme of the novel is disillusionment and dreams. The protagonist, Dennis, is an expatriate from Britain who moves to Hollywood trying to fulfill his dream of being a poet. He does not know that Hollywood is also known as the “City of Broken Dreams” and is disillusioned by his naive hope.
3. The author, Evelyn Waugh, had a comedic but dark tone in this novel. She spoke grimly of death and painted detailed pictures using grotesque adjectives, but displayed it in a comic way. For example when she described Dennis, “A young man of sensibility rather than of sentiment. He had lived his twenty-eight years at arm’s length from violence, but he came of a generation which enjoys a vicarious intimacy with death.” The second example is, “As he said this there came vividly into Dennis’s mind that image lurked there, seldom out of sight for long; the sack or body suspended and the face above with eyes red and horribly startling from their sockets, the cheeks mottled in indigo like the morbid end-papers of ledger and the tongue swollen and protruding like an end of a black sausage.” In this last example, the author describes Dennis’s first thoughts of Aimee. “Her hair was dark and straight, her brows wide, her skin transparent and untarnished by the sun. Her lips were artificially tinctured, no doubt, but not coated like her sisters’ and clogged in all their delicate pores with crimson grease; they seemed to promise instead an unmeasured range of sensual converse. Her full face was oval, her profile pure and classical and light. Her eyes greenish and remote, with a rich glint of lunacy.”
4. Five literary elements in this novel include protagonist, minor character, plot, setting, and narrator. The protagonist in this novel is Dennis. He is the hero and main character of this novel.

Q and A after Practice AP Essay Exam

• What was easy/expected?
• What was difficult/unexpected?
• What did you learn about the AP questions?
• What did you learn about your own performance under pressure?
• How will this experience influence your preparation for the actual exam?

I am happy that we became well acquainted with the books enough to draw from the literature to write the essay, so it was easy to do that. The difficult part was organizing the the essay and deciding how to structure it. From the AP questions, I learned that we should not merely summarize the plot. Also, they ask multiple questions within the prompt, so you have to find a way to organize them. I worked well under pressure and was able to outline my entire essay and write an introduction. This experience has taught me that I need to work on essay structure, considering the prompts were organized in a very similar fashion. If you can be the boss of one AP English Lit prompt, then you can be the boss of all of them.

A Tale of Two Cities Notes

• Luicie was very similar to his wife, the blond actress (ellen turner)
• ATTC was very similar to his play, The Frozen Deep
• 1857- Frozen Deep was published
• 1858- began Public Readings for profit, which established a new relationship with his readers
• divorced, separated from publishers, and established a new journal having majority of ownership
• London, England and Paris, France. Major 2 cities. “extensive and peculiar way of the city” or described as “magic lantern”
• London- everything is there, but everything is disconnected
• Prison city, dust heeps. He described London. And he liked France when he visited.
• Bastille, theres a white bridge that has white brick that used to build a prison “Blood of a forgotten prisoners”
• “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.. We had everything before us, and we had nothing before us.’ Year 1775-1794. Written 1859.
• Victorians haunted by the French Revolution. Doesn’t like revolutions nor mob rule.
• The novel was made as a warning to Victorian Rule, warning about mob rule and revolutions. It showed that the pre-revolution France, was very similar to the contemporary England and times. Possible books meaning?
• Historical narrative- says that it is the best story he had ever written
• Storming of the Bastille- echoing footsteps
• “headlong, mad, and dangerous footsteps.” Bloody, and fighting.
• Men and woman alike stormed the Bastille
• Boom, smash, and rattle
• De Farge at the door of his wine shop
• Then he got swept out and into the tower
• Saved the prisoners. Some dead, and some found alive
• “prisoners long dead of a broken heart”
• riveting public theme, and inevitability of history
• secret of individuality
• Jarvis Darvey dreams of the “recall to life” of Mr.Manette, the recalled prisoner
• “far far better thing, and a far far rest than I have ever had”

First 100 pages notes

• France starting a revolution. For example: Cask of wine breaks and everyone scrambles to drink the wine drops because they are so poor and thirsty
• diction, apostrophe (Lorry was speaking to the ghost, an abstract concept and being)
• antithesis- "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (page 13)
• Setting- uses England and France to address the theme. Also, the time period (Pre French Revolution)
• theme- rebirth. Revolutions change a country. (example: "Recalled to Life")
• symbolism
• syntax- death and fate creating a metaphor
• anaphora- repeating first phrase in the beginning of the book.
• tone-creepy, gloomy, and dark (example: talking about death and destruction)
• genre- historical fiction
• dialect- "aint" and "holla" and "do ya"
• metaphor- wine cask

A Tale of Two Cities Study Question (First 100 pages)

1. What does the first paragraph represent? (ex: It was the best of times and it was the worst of times..)
A: It represents confusion, contrast, and contradiction.

2. What to countries are mentioned in the beginning?
A: England and France

3.Who is the horseman looking for?
A: Jarvis Lorry of Tellson's Bank

4. What message does Jarvis send to the horseman?
A: He tells him to respond to the message saying "Recalled to Life"

5. What thought keeps returning to Lorry's mind?
A: that he has to dig someone out of a grave.. very mysterious if you ask me.

6. Who is Lorry talking to?
A: Lorry is talking to an imaginary ghost asking if he should "recall to life"

7. What does the ghost respond?
A: The ghost sometimes says that he does not want to see the woman, but then at other times he cries for the woman's companionship.

8. Why is chapter 3 called "The Night Shadows"?
A: The title refers to the ghost and intimate time that Lorry spends with him.

9. Who does Lorry meet at the hotel?
A: He meets Lucie, a pretty girl who has just been notified of the death of her father, and now has to deal with his estate (a small property).

10.So far from reading, what do you think is the authors tone?
A: His tone is gloomy and dark. Death is present, and this is obvious because it is mentioned many times in the story. For example with the ghost, midnight rider, cryptic messages, and the death of Lucie's father.

A Tale of Two Cities

I am reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and I believe that the first several pages are very interesting, and relate to Charles Dickens’s life. After today’s lecture in class about the life of Dickens, I came to better understand his motives and tone behind this novel. It begins by explaining the similarities and differences between France and England, and how it was a state of confusion, and where the strong were practicing injustice. Confusion is shown by the famous opening lines of “It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.” Then is later supported by many examples, including the example of a man who plays a robber at night, but a businessman by day. He even explains how two criminals of wildly different crimes are sentenced to the same fate. The murderer is beheaded on the guillotine, and so is the man who stole pennies to keep himself from starving to death. This is obviously unfair, and as I learned from today’s lecture, Charles Dickens believes in equality and a level playing field because he grew up disenfranchised.

Literary Analysis: The Catcher and the Rye

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.


....

1. The plot of J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher and the Rye is a story about a wealthy boarding school boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden is going through the internal struggle of loneliness. He gets kicked out of his school and sent home for fighting, but on the way home decided to experience New York City alone for the weekend. He spends his entire time battling loneliness and trying to cope. He debates over calling a girl friend for some company, and even hires a prostitute just so she can help him verbalize his thoughts. Unfortunately, Holden does not find relief.

2. A theme in The Catcher and the Rye is the fear of growing up. Before getting expelled from school, Holden is criticized for immature. I even felt myself being annoyed with his character’s lack of maturity. While in New York, Holden visited places from his childhood, and thought of adulthood as a world filled with phonies and fakes. He also identified best with his little sister, Phoebe.

3. The authors tone, I believe, is similar to that of Holden Caulfield because of the strong message. He is a cynic. Examples from the novel would be his assumption of Catholics, that they always try to find out if you’re Catholic or not. Another example would be his quote, “People never believe you.” And then my favorite quotes, “If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late? Nobody.”

4. One. Protagonist; Holden Caulfield is the protagonist, and he helped me understand the author’s tone. I know that in many instances, the narrator and the author may have different views, but in this case, I feel like they were one in the same. Holden is very sarcastic and cynical, and wants to stay young forever because he believes that adults are “phonies”. Secondly, I believe that diction played a huge rule in developing and conveying the tone and theme because of the type of wording that J.D. Salinger used to convey his character’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Thirdly, syntax is very similar to that and is added for the same reasons. Fourthly, minor characters play a big role as well. For example, Phoebe, Holden’s little sister acted as a portal into Holden’s mind. He liked Phoebe better than his parents and older brother because he did not think of her as a phony or fake person. This shows that he likes people who you can accept at face value. Finally, the largest literature term used to convey the tone and theme would be the plot because it drives the story and is the purpose meant to straightly convey the theme. The plot of this story was about a boy searching to find himself and accept the inevitable of growing up and maturing.

A Tale of Two Cities

From  learning about Charles Dickens, and examining the title of his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, I expect that the novel will be about social unrest in two cities, as well as confusion. For the book starts out with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" I am excited to read this piece of literature and see what it has in store between its pages...

Cited sources

"A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Discoveries." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .

"Martin Luther King - Biography." Nobelprize.org. Official Site of the Nobel Prize. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html.

Tutani, Conway. "Muhammad Ali: Still The Greatest at 70." Newsday Zimbabwe: Everyday News for Everyday People. News Day, 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-01-19-muhammad-ali-still-the-greatest-at-70/.


Adams, Russell, Great Negroes Past and Present, pp. 106-107. Chicago, Afro-Am Publishing Co., 1963.

Bennett, Lerone, Jr., What Manner of Man: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.Chicago, Johnson, 1964.

I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King in Text and Pictures. New York, Time Life Books, 1968.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., The Measure of a Man. Philadelphia. The Christian Education Press, 1959. Two devotional addresses.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Strength to Love. New York, Harper & Row, 1963. Sixteen sermons and one essay entitled "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence."

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Stride toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York, Harper, 1958.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., The Trumpet of Conscience. New York, Harper & Row, 1968.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? New York, Harper & Row, 1967.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Why We Can't Wait. New York, Harper & Row, 1963.

"Man of the Year", Time, 83 (January 3, 1964) 13-16; 25-27.

"Martin Luther King, Jr.", in Current Biography Yearbook 1965, ed. by Charles Moritz, pp. 220-223. New York, H.W. Wilson.

Reddick, Lawrence D., Crusader without Violence: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York, Harper, 1959.

"Great - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 29 Jan. 2012.

Big Question Introduction

BQ Introduction

"Our Greatest Fear" by Marianne Williamson

it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

...

I first heard this poem on the movie Akeelah and the Bee. A story of an innercity girl who went on to win the National Spelling Bee. I posted this because it has encouraged me through many situations, and I find its words to be truth.

Big Question Abstract

How does one reach greatness?
Many mainstream rappers or even TV hosts are proclaiming themselves "The Greatest". Muhammad Ali is known as “The Greatest Boxer of All Time”. Historically greatness has been measured by accomplishments, whether it is holding the gold medal at the Olympics or winning a Nobel Prize. So now my question is, how does one reach greatness? This question is important because in answering it, it will allow everyone to become the greatest version of themselves. Achieving greatness has always been a dream of mine because in doing so, I believe it will make the world a better place. To find this I will research individuals who have achieved greatness, and analyze their lives to see what aspects they have in common.