What's the story?

Most people write about their thoughts and hopes and dreams, mostly to make them seem like a reality to other people who desire the same things. So I think Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations because there was a woman he wanted to win over at some point in his life. He could even be the character Pip, maybe it was even a story about him as a child. 

College lecture notes: Dr. Tony William

• Wrote a play shown in Manchester; (The Frozen Deep).
• Sydney Carlton was talented.
• Sacrificed himself for love so the woman who he loved could live with her husband.
• Dickens said he likes Carlton and would have called him Richard/Dick as parallelism from a character in The Frozen Deep.
• In 1858, Dickens began a series of public readings for profit. Became a greatest reader/writer of the age. Went on tours.
• In 1858, Dickens separated from his wife.
• April 30, 1859- A Tale of Two Cities was published in installments.
• Takes place in London and Paris. Dickens had to move to London when his father moved there for work and had deprivation and suffering in these years. These experiences gave him an extensive and peculiar knowledge of the city. 
• London was his inspiration and when he was away found it more difficult. Was a city of extremes in wealth and poverty and a labyrinth, developed a darkening image of the city in later age.
• Visited Paris for the first time in 1844 on the way to Italy. Was the most extraordinary place in the world to Dickens, felt like he couldn't conceive any other place so wonderfully expressive of its character. 
• Paris was about half the size of London
• Dickens visited Paris at least 15 times between 1844 and 1868. Rented apartments; public readings for charity, spanned a period of political change. 

lit terms list 3

Expressionism: a style where the author seeks to express emotional experience.

Fable: a short story with animals as characters that has a moral.

Fallacy: a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument.

Falling action: part of a story after climax, action starts to slow down.

Farce: a comic dramatic work typically including crude characterization and improbable situations.

Figurative language: words that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of component words.

Flashback: an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point.

Exposition: the beginning of a narrative.

Foil: a subsidiary character that emphasizes the traits of the main character.

Folk tale: a story originating in popular culture.

Foreshadowing: a literary device where the authors hints at what may come later in the story.

Free verse: poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.

Genre: a category of literature characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject manner.

Gothic tale: a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and romanticism.

Hyperbole: exaggerated statements.

Imagery: visually descriptive language.

Implication: the conclusion that can be drawn from something, although it is not explicitly stated.

Incongruity: the state of being out of place.

Inference: a conclusion reach on the basis of reasoning and evidence.

Irony: an expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite.

lit terms 2

circumlocution: roundabout or indirect way of speaking
classicism: adherence to such principles
cliche: a trite, stereotypical saying
climax: highest or most intense  point in development or resolution of something
colloquialism: a word or phrase that is not formal & used in normal conversation
comedy: a play, movie. etc. of light or humorous character w/ a happy or humorous ending
conflict: to come into collision or disagreement
connotation: something suggested or implied by a word or expression
contrast: to compare in order to show unlikeness or differences
denotation: the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression
denouement: the final resolution of the intricacies of the plot, as of a drama or play
dialect: a provincial, rural, or socially distinct variety of a language that differs from the standard language
dialectics: the art or practice of logical discussion as employed in investigating the truth of a theory or opinion
dichotomy: division of two parts, kinds, etc.
diction: style of speaking or writing as dependent on the choice of words
didactic: intended for instruction; inclined to teach too much
dogmatic: asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner
elegy: a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead
epic: noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style
epigraph: an inscription, especially on a building, statue or the like
epitaph: a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument about the person buried at the site
epithet: any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actuated or attributed quality
euphemism: the substitution of a mild, indirect or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt
evocative: tending to evoke

AP prep post 1: siddhartha

Question 1:
What is the relationship between the internal and exterior worlds of Siddhartha?
The interior world of Siddhartha is much more complicated in the beginning than the exterior. He thinks too much about what he should do with his lost mind when he could easily go back to his father in his exterior world.

Question 2:
How does enlightenment relate to or have to do with knowledge?
Enlightenment is a breakthrough of knowledge, to me. Whenever I feel enlightened, I feel refreshed and feel like I know things that I didn't previously understand.

Question 3:
1. In paragraph 2, the word “asceticism” is referring to Siddhartha’s
a. Failed undertakings.
b. Hedonism.
c. Repeated achievement of inner peace.
d. Prior religious experience.
e. Pious detachment from the physical world.


 Question 4:
2. Which of the following best describes the author’s purpose at the end of paragraph 3?
a. Show Siddhartha giving up on his search
b. Further explain Siddhartha’s worries about Govinda
c. To show Siddhartha’s confusion within himself
d. Show Siddhartha’s inability to communicate with those whom he meets
e. Reveal the resolute path that Siddhartha now seeks

Question 5:
1. Which figure of speech used in paragraph 1 helps to illustrate Siddhartha’s sudden standstill?
a. Metaphor
b. Simile
c. Alliteration
d. Personification
e. Irony

hacking my education

1. What do you want to know by the end of this course that you don't know now?
I want to know what I want to do with myself for college and be prepared to take it on.

2. What skills do you want to demonstrate on your blog?
I really want someone to see how important words are to me, if that makes any sense. I like writing down what I want and writing down what goes on in my head.

3. What experiences do you want to get under your belt before you graduate?
The experience of success in my final semester as a high school student. Being a senior is bittersweet. I want to be able to say that I did my best in this class and my other classes when I graduate.

what's in this for me?

I've decided that this semester is going to be all about me and shaping myself as a graduating high school student. I want to be able to finish this year off the best I can without distractions, I just want to be happy with myself. I also want to decide where I want to go as far as having a career in the distant future. Figuring out what college fits me best is in the agenda as well. I am hoping that this English class will help me out with these things as I finish my senior year. I don't want to regret anything when I look back on my final semester.