Super 5

My five potential experts have been chosen carefully. Bailey, my partner in crime for the rest of the year, is one. Dr. Preston, obviously. And can I use inanimate objects? I'm gonna anyways. My three books that Bailey and I are going to analyze thoroughly: Looking for Alaska, The Fault in our Stars, and The Host.

Literature Analysis #2

Brave New World

1. There is so much to the plot of this book, so I can only hope that I do it justice. Huxley sets the book in A.F. (after Ford) where the point of A.F. is that people are created by mass production, are trained to be in castes, trained to know only what they are told, and are matured by the age of four. And sexual activity is encouraged. The story is about Bernard, an alpha who does not fit in physically or mentally to the "brave new world". He rebels, meets "savages" outside of his world, brings them back to live in the world he disgusts so much, and soon one of the savages, John, gets too overwhelmed by the non-feeling, twisted world of not-so-free thinking.

2. The theme of the novel that I caught was freedom of the mind, and the ability to think and feel freely. Everyone takes something different from a book they read, depending on their standpoint and personal experiences. In my mind, while reading, Huxley proves how important our own humanity and feelings are to society, and how nothing would be normal without it. It occurs over and over in the book, so it just makes sense.

3. The tone that Huxley carries throughout the novel changes sometimes, but he is pretty dramatic and wise about most of the situations. “I am I, and I wish I weren't.” “No social stability without individual stability.” “...most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution.”

4.

• Personification: “I ate civilization. It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then," he added in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness.” 
• Allusion: "You got rid of them. Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it. Whether 'tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows or outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them...But you don't do either."
• Parallelism: “I want God, I want poetry, I want danger, I want freedom, I want sin.” 
• Rhythm and rhyme: “Ending is better than mending.”  
• Alliteration: "Mustapha Mond"
• Oxymoron: “Pain was a fascinating horror” 
• Simile: “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” 
• Verse: “The more stitches, the less riches.” 
• Imagery: “A squat gray building of only thirty-four stories.” 
• Amplification: “Words can be like x-rays if you use them properly - they'll go through anything.”

Characterization

1.Indirect: “All alone, outside the pueblo, on the bare plain of the mesa. The rock was like bleached bones in the moonlight. Down in the valley, the coyotes were howling at the moon. The bruises hurt him, the cuts were still bleeding; but it was not for pain that he sobbed; it was because he was all alone, because he had been driven out, alone, into this skeleton world of rocks and moonlight. At the edge of the precipice he sat down. The moon was behind him; he looked down into the black shadow of the mesa, into the black shadow of death. He had only to take one step, one little jump.. He held out his right hand in the moonlight. From the cut on his wrist the blood was still oozing. Every few seconds a drop fell, dark, almost colourless in the dead light. Drop, drop, drop. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. He had discovered Time and Death and God.”
Direct: "A squat gray building of only thirty-four stories."

Huxley uses the indirect to build up the feeling that you are actually there, while using direct characterization to paint an image for you in your head.

2. Huxley's syntax stays constant, and his diction changes based on the situation at hand. During the beginning of the book, he used bugs at one point to describe the dystopia and the people that were living in it. Different characters called for different words and descriptions. He described Bernard as a too-small-for-his-own-good Alpha who doesn't belong as much as Hemholtz does.

3. The protagonist, Bernard, is definitely a round dynamic character. He changes throughout the book from someone who is closed minded with his thoughts to someone who is capable of speaking his mind and setting forth his feelings about the twisted world they live in.

4. After reading this book, I feel like I understand the constant breakdown of emotions and feelings encompassing John and his constant battle against the confusingly robotic world that Bernard resides in. It made sense to me from the very beginning how frustrating the dystopia was without common ideals and differences of opinion.
"He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of." Here, Huxley is describing what John is feeling as Lenina seduces him; he feels so lost in himself and the world he is living in. But somehow, he conjures up the power of resistance.

My Team

My go to people are Taylor, Bailey. Hannah, Ian, and Meghan. We really understand more of any book when we discuss it and connect elements of the story to other stories and real life situations.
While we were talking about chapters 5 through 7 of Brave New World, I was confused by why the Director all of a sudden now decides to exile Bernard when he has been acting strange his whole life. Was it because he told Bernard too much about himself when they last saw each other, or is it because Bernard is a potential threat to their society? And is it even going to change anything that Bernard gets exiled considering there might be more people out in the world just like him? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Launch

Most people who know me would expect me to say that I am passionate about tennis. This is not true. Being passionate about something to me means that it's just so important to you that you can't picture yourself without it. I am actually really passionate about writing. I really like words, and putting my thoughts into something that people can understand and relate to, because everyone is just looking for words that make them feel less alone in the world. That's why I read. I relate to the words, and I feel understood by the author. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing to become what I want to be, but I think I want to be some sort of writer, maybe even a photographer for a magazine. That would make me so happy. It's ridiculous that I want to do these things, because I've been confused for the longest time with what I want to do when I get older. The tools from last semester, such as the essays we wrote, and our vocabulary lists could both be extremely helpful in writing. I write practically every day, I just don't tell anyone. So sh. To "feel the awesomeness", I'll just need to do anything to get an A. A's always make me feel like I did everything correctly. I think just letting people read the things I write down could convince people that I can write and write things that are relatable to others. That's all writing is really about, to me. Writing what could make other people feel understood in their heads, because that's all anyone really wants. Is to be understood. Well, I definitely DON'T want anyone to read anything I write down. But I think that some of the essays I write are decent enough to show to people to get to where I want to be. Not sure what this means, but my friends will probably be the ones I ever let read my words, so they'll be the critics of it all.

That was my previous ideas regarding the questions we answered, but I don't really feel like the idea I have now connects with what I want to do with myself in the near and distant future. But then again, I didn't know how to connect those two in the first place. What Bailey and I decided to do with ourselves is take our favorite, most relatable books we've read and analyze them like we would any AP listed novel. A lot of people might be like "woah that's a lot of work" or "why would you want to read MORE?", yeah, we like to read ok? I think it might be sort of fun anyway. It's like telling people about your passions and beliefs, but not directly, since it's someone else's books, and someone else's words. But it's a start to using my own words and speaking my own beliefs.

Brave New Essay

Doesn't it sound nice to be able to shut off emotions, to feel absolutely nothing? Wouldn't it save you a world of pain and sadness to be endured? Think of all of the benefits of having no feelings towards the people you do, let alone anything. Because everyone knows that the less you care, the happier you will be, right? Wrong. No feelings means no happiness, sadness, fear, joy, excitement- nothing. That is what Huxley tries to capture in Brave New World. He screenshots a world where no one feels anything, bad or good.

Too many people neglect the fact that we need processed and personal thoughts and feelings to function as a stable community. Without these scattered emotions flying everywhere, no one would have motivation, or drive to succeed. No one would have a purpose. Huxley brings to life what we all want, and shows us why we shouldn't. The lack of personalized thoughts in Lenina and Henry's minds exemplify why they are so important in everyday life. Bernard is the only normal person in the novel, which is ironic, considering he technically is not. People have the ability to think freely and outside of the box, but they are so shut inside their society's bubble of emotionless robots that no one realizes that they are being wrongly controlled. 

Brave New World Essay Prompt

I really liked this essay prompt, just because there's so many possibilities and branches to write about. 

How does the substitution of lack of feeling instead of unhappiness affect the morale and ability of the future community to function.

I AM HERE

This grading period, Bailey and I came up with an awesome idea for our masterpiece project, (technically, she did.) we decided to take all of the books we've read, not on the AP list, the ones that we actually enjoyed reading, and explain why they are important too. Of course the AP books are all so filled to the brim with enlightening information, but these books we read really meant something to us. I think I've been doing fine this grading period, not as full speed as previous ones though. It's finally hitting me that I am a senior and that school will be over and college will start soon. I still don't feel like a senior, but I feel that downtime is coming up soon, and that happens every year around this time.

Lit six

Simile: a literary technique used to describe things in comparison using the words like or as
soliloquy: a speech given by one character to themself
spiritual: a higher feeling that goes beyond ones senses
speaker: who is telling the story
stereotype: a label or category given to a person based on common trends that may or may not be relevant to race and preference. Almost like an assumption based on what you think you know about someone. 
stream of consciousness: Performative utterance. A way of writing without a filter about what is going on in one’s mind.
structure: how the story is set up.
style: the technique to how an author writes
subordination: to place in a lower rank
surrealism: create potential of the unconscious mind
suspension of disbelief: human interest and truth blended into truth
symbol: something that refers to a bigger meaning
synesthesia: a senses impression
synecdoche: part is made to represent a whole
syntax: how a sentence is written to create a deeper meaning
theme: what is a common occurring subject that comes up
thesis: a sentence or two that summarizes the selection
tone: the voice in which an author is writing in.
tongue in cheek: not meaning what is written, being literal?
tragedy: dramatic type of event that shocks both audience and characters in story
understatement: stating something that doesn’t add up to the full potential of a subject
vernacular: spoken language
voice: who is speaking

Zeitgeist: the mood of a period through beliefs and ideas

hafta/wanna

I've never really been one to just slack off completely, but I've noticed my fair share of people who give up before they even start. I always wondered, why are you doing this to yourself? You could do so much more. In high school, you don't really seem to care what happens academically until the very last year, and once that last year comes, it's either too late, or you have senioritus and don't want to participate in anything. You start thinking about the future, grimacing at all the decisions you have to make and all the paperwork you have to fill out.
I was contacted right before my sophomore year of high school by one of the tennis coaches at Cal. Lutheran University. It wasn't allowed yet to start recruitment, but I wrote back anyways. I started thinking way to hard about college, and the future, and I was just a sophomore, what was I supposed to know? How was I supposed to know what I wanted to major in? Then my junior year, all the emails and letters and phone calls started filing in, and it was even WORSE. My parents asked me constantly, "Did you reply to that coach from that college yet?" No, mom. Thanks for reminding me that my future is calling though. I didn't want to deal with it. But I think it helped me with starting sooner, and getting athletic scholarships before anyone ever did. And it pushed me to do what every student didn't want to do until the very last minute. It feels better now because I've narrowed down the colleges I want to go to.
I think that once graduation hits, everyone will be ready to go to college. I know I'm ready right now. There's no point to high school anymore, I feel, except to go to prom and wear the cap and gown and all that senior crap. I DON'T CARE JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE.

Launch/Draft

• 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?

Most people who know me would expect me to say that I am passionate about tennis. This is not true. Being passionate about something to me means that it's just so important to you that you can't picture yourself without it. I am actually really passionate about writing. I really like words, and putting my thoughts into something that people can understand and relate to, because everyone is just looking for words that make them feel less alone in the world. That's why I read. I relate to the words, and I feel understood by the author. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing to become what I want to be, but I think I want to be some sort of writer, maybe even a photographer for a magazine. That would make me so happy. It's ridiculous that I want to do these things, because I've been confused for the longest time with what I want to do when I get older.

The tools from last semester, such as the essays we wrote, and our vocabulary lists could both be extremely helpful in writing. I write practically every day, I just don't tell anyone. So sh.

To "feel the awesomeness", I'll just need to do anything to get an A. A's always make me feel like I did everything correctly.

I think just letting people read the things I write down could convince people that I can write and write things that are relatable to others. That's all writing is really about, to me. Writing what could make other people feel understood in their heads, because that's all anyone really wants. Is to be understood.

Well, I definitely DON'T want anyone to read anything I write down. But I think that some of the essays I write are decent enough to show to people to get to where I want to be.

Not sure what this means, but my friends will probably be the ones I ever let read my words, so they'll be the critics of it all.

Lit terms 5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.

Parody:  an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist. 

Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.

Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.

Point of View: the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.

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

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

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.

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 straight forward 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.

Lecture notes

Dickens:

•romanticism

-doubleness of character

-"streaky bacon": the author combines sentiment and humor

•subject matter

•themes/tones 

Heller (Catch 22)

•Postmodernism: used humor

<WAR

-hopeless despair

-humor

•narrative structure

•diction/syntax

A catch-22 is that you need money to go to college, but you need to go to college to get money. 

Quote:

"Moral was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them."

•quite ironic in the second half of the sentence

Lecture notes

Dickens:

•romanticism

-doubleness of character

-"streaky bacon"

•subject matter

•themes/tones 

Heller (Catch 22)

•Postmodernism

<WAR

-hopeless despair

-humor

•narrative structure

•diction/syntax