Maui Trip

Aloha,
My family and I are on the lovely island of Maui this winter break and the experience is too great to not share it with someone. Here are some pictures and videos:

our hotel-

my sister and I-

hotel pool-

View of the pool and the beach-

I tried to get a selfie with a fish...didn't quite work

Cool fish-

Here's a video of me blowing O's (I recommend highest quality)

All photos and videos were taken with my sister's GoPro
Mahalo :)

Transmedia Literary Analysis

I'm going to try to pave a new path for a style of literary analysis so we'll so how well it goes.

"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

The play opens with Willy coming home from a hard day of work and talking to his wife about his work and problems around the office

Willy's biggest concern is providing for his family.

Willy's wife is very caring and supportive of him and their two sons who are eager to make it big in business although one is disillusioned and the other is irresponsible.

Willy must commute to Chicago everyday which is tiring for him especially in his old age,

Since the story takes place in the 1940s, the American Dream is thriving and Chicago and New York is the epicenter of big business.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2585431/My-kind-town-Long-lost-footage-Chicago-1940s-surfaces-yard-sale-offering-rare-glimpse-Windy-City-70-years-ago.html

Willy talks to himself a lot and suicidal because of how sad he is that he is not as good of a salesman as he used to be. He also changes mood rapidly and lashes out on his family.

He wants the best for his family but he is frustrated because his job doesn't get him much pay. Willy likes to reminisce about his brother Ben who died some years ago. He hallucinates about Ben and has conversations with him. Willy can be heard by his family who develop a deep concern with him.

It sounds like Willy may have schizophrenia

In the end, Willy decides to take his own life and crash in his car. 

Death of a Salesman is about family and traditional values like the American Dream.

Although Willy may not be an emotionally stable person, I would call him a static character for the way he is constantly changing attitude. 

"WILLY (corning out of The Woman’s dimming area and going

over to Linda): I’ll make it all up to you, Linda, I’ll...

LINDA: There’s nothing to make up, dear. You’re doing fine, better

than...

WILLY (noticing her mending): What’s that?

LINDA: Just mending my stockings. They’re so expensive...

WILLY (angrily, taking them from her): I won’t have you mending

stockings in this house! Now throw them out!"

Biff and Happy are under a lot of pressure to become great businessmen like how their father was. There is an awkward situation between Willy and his sons because they want to be the great businessman he was but Willy is doing poorly in the business world now. He gets fired near the end of the story which makes it difficult for him to be a role model for his sons. Willy wants what's best for his sons and gives them all of his knowledge of business and pushes them to achieve greatness in the business world.

Poem Comparison Essay

          All poems are not created equal. Poetry has the ability to morph into any type of subject based on the poet's style of writing. That being said, there can also be parallels drawn between just about every poem ever written. Summons by Robert Francis and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot have many similarities in their literary elements as well as differences.
          T.S. Eliot is known for his rich literary works and provocative writing. In  The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot can make the reader think beyond the words written on the paper and beyond the context it is written in. The same goes for Francis' Summons. In Francis' poem, their is a tone of desire for companionship and love. The tone is very hopeful and optimistic in its diction:"...And let you in and light a light..." and "...Come wake me up. Come any hour of night..." The narrator longs for a companion in which to explore the world with, to conquer fears with, and to be exposed to new cultures with. Much of the same thing could be said about Eliot's work. In Eliot's poem however, there is a much darker and disconsolate tone. Eliot's diction casts a dark atmosphere on the topic of the poem by using phrases like, "...I know the voices dying with a dying fall..." and, "...I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker..." (The "eternal Footman being death.) So both poems basically talk of similar topics, but what sets them apart is their underlying tone. 
            Another way Eliot and Francis are both similar and different is in their perspective about the subject. Both poets had the character's outlook towards the topic made a certain way to force the audience make inferences about them. For example, when Eliot writes "...And time yet for a hundred indecisions, /And for a hundred visions and revisions, /Before the taking of a toast and tea..." he has the audience make the inference that the narrator is an incredibly uncertain person. To be that cautious and calculated for eating toast and tea would lead the reader to believe that the narrator is near the point of  having mental issues. When Francis writes, he has his character much more optimistic and definite. With writing like, "...Make me get out of bed..." and, "You know I'm not too hard persuaded." gives the reader assurance that the narrator would definitely go out and do all these things when the opportunity presented itself. Just by changing the perspective of the character, both poets are able to get inside the reader's head to make them characterize the narrators.
          Another interesting element to the poem are how both poets insert minute details that would probably go by undetected until further analyzed. For example, the fact that Eliot has the narrator named J. Alfred Prufrock is something special. Usually big names with lengthy titles are seen in celebrities or successful big business owners. A name like J. Alfred Prufrock sounds like the lead singer of a band or a famous author. However, J. Alfred Prufrock has amounted to nothing (according to J. Alfred Prufrock.) There is irony just in the title of the narrator. That's the kind of provocative writing Eliot injects into his work to get the reader to analyze deeper. Francis does similar actions how he titles the poem "Summons." The word "summon" literally means to draw someone forth with authority leading to the idea that the narrator isn't asking for a comrade but rather demanding one. All while maintaining a very congenial and kind tone. Irony strikes again. Minuscule details in a poem are sometimes the most important in an analysis and all poems have them if you dig around deep enough. 

Transmedia Poetry

Summons
by Robert Francis

"Keep me from going to sleep too soon" Like this:


"Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night." Sounds like he wants this:

"Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door."
wikiHow: How to Kick Down a Door
"Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.

Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. 

Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.

See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all."
Why Do We Need Sleep?
"Tell me the walking is superb.
Quotes about walking:
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, Or, How to Philosophize With the Hammer
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” 
― John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
"My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the heck she is."
― Ellen DeGeneres
"Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded." 

INTRO TO POETRY

1. The title is appropriate because of the fact that he is asking someone else summon him from his room. In a way he is summoning someone to summon him. Yeah
2. The tone of the poem actually seems pretty cheerful and optimistic
3. My mood when i read it was hopeful and curious because i thought that this guy has the desire to be exposed to beautiful things and he just needs a mysterious hand to come and open the door for him.
4. The shift would probably be at the end where he says, "You know I'm not too hard persuaded." This was a shift because the poem shifted to a more personal side where the narrator reveals something about himself that could have more meaning when looking back upon the things he said earlier.
5. The theme of the poem seems to be adventure and not fearing the unknown, but being optimistic about it. It could also be friendship and the value of having a companion.

Hamlet Quote Essay

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

-Marcellus

          This quote is important because it is the first instance where a character addresses the conflict in the story. Although the conflict is not directly addressed, it still notifies the reader that the plot is developing and a problem will soon present itself. 

          The quote is uttered by a somewhat of a minor character which is probably done on purpose by Shakespeare to open up the play for the major characters. The scene that follows (almost immediately after the quote) involves the ghost of King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet who further move the plot by creating the scheme to expose the corrupt King Claudius for all of his wrong-doings. It is almost as if the plot was a small pebble on the top of a massive snowy hill and Marcellus' quote was the small nudge to get it rolling into the monstrous snowball it became.

          Not only does the quote carry much meaning and purpose, it also has complex syntax and diction that contains even more significance. First off, the fact that Marcellus only says "something" and not a particular problem leaves a lot of space for the audience to picture what the story could unfold later on. Shakespeare was also very clever to have used the word "rotten" in the quote. Of course the figurative sense is aimed to mean that an element in the story is not as it should be, but there is also a very critical literal sense. The word "rot" originates as a Germanic word and refers to the decomposition of organic matter. By saying "something is rotten" there is a literal meaning that some sort of organic matter is decaying away. This of course refers to the body of King Hamlet, but the audience doesn't know the story behind that yet, which is what makes the quote so brilliant. The syntax of the sentence is also something to be analyzed as it is (like many of the sentences in the play) ordered unusually. "State" is meant as condition obviously, but there is a reason Shakespeare didn't put it, "Something about the state of Denmark is rotten." The original syntax of the quote casts a dark atmosphere on the play and sort of nudges the audience about the play being a tragedy.

HAMLET (THE MADMAN?)

Most people would consider a murderer to be a person of the deranged or insane, and most would be right. The act of murder, even out of a hot-blooded act, is see as a rash, sudden, and superfluous. In the tragedy of Hamlet by the world renown William Shakespeare, Hamlet is an extremely misunderstood man trying to avenge his father's tragic death while dealing with several other irritating problems, especially for a person of his age. While Hamlet may be a killer, his is certainly not nuts. If anything, he is a genius, and even shows his own side of Shakespeare.

Hamlet is a normal teenager much like the rest only with much bigger problems on his plate. Not only is he the former king's son, but his own mother decided to marry the same guy who killed his dad. Aside from that being an incredibly awkward dinner each night, that would take a serious mental toll on any adolescent. Emotions ranging from sadness to anger and to confusion, Hamlet has a lot going on in his head. It would be very understandable to see Hamlet lose his head and lash out on everyone and everything around him, yet, he manages to keep calm throughout the story and bottle his rage so he can formulate a plot to cleverly avenge his predecessor's death. Hamlet's ability to control his madness and lock it behind the curtains of his poker face is a major reason why he is not the madman most believe him to be.

Some may argue that Hamlet is indeed mad for the fact that he acts so strange to the other characters. For example, when Hamlet speaks to Lord Polonius about his daughter in Act II, Scene II. Hamlet acts so odd that is make Polonius say, "...he is far gone, far gone..." While most would argue that the text here is evidence of Hamlet's madness, Hamlet is merely using the mask of madness as a ploy. When around Horatio, or the actor later on in the play, he is completely normal and charismatic. He wants to make sure all of his enemies' guards are down for when he chooses to initiate his diabolical plan. Another argument could be made about Hamlet's reaction to when he kills Polonius. Rather than being shocked at the sight of a different man bleeding to his death, Hamlet's reaction is completely indifferent. Hamlet is more angry about Polonius' intrusion than frightened by how he just killed a man who he did not intend to. While one would say Hamlet is crazy for committing an act of such lunacy, I argue back that he is simply reacting to his environment and bodily emotions. When Hamlet finally talks to his mother about everything he has been bottling up inside him, he explodes in fury. Adrenalin took over as he spewed out vulgar words of hate and disgust giving his mother the thought that he was going to kill her. Hamlet had been so quiet and calm for so long that when he finally got to vent his emotions, he couldn't hold back, much like many other teenagers will tend to do when holding a certain emotion back for too long. So when Lord Polonius show up out of nowhere, Hamlet doesn't take it as much of a shock to see him fall to the ground after stabbing him to death. His eruption of anger, frustration, and adrenalin numbed his ability to empathize at all with the "wretched, rash, intruding fool."

Hamlet is a man with many problems and issues. His psychology however, is still sound. Although he may be a killer and a devious schemer, his "crafty madness" is what makes him such an intelligent character. He is mad, but he is not a madman.

Class Notes

Performative Utterances

• deBoer expands upon J.L Austin's theory of performativity and relating it to Hamlet
• Hamlet has a negative tone throughout the entire story
• When a thought or idea is made in the mind, actions are done to reinforce that that idea
• Hamlet is unsure about his destiny to kill Claudius and reinforces his uncertainty with the soliloquies he utters
• The paper is trying to explain how words can alter a personality or thought or idea
• Raises the question of who we are and if we can truly control our fate
• Polonius is the character who controls the traffic of language in the story and manipulates characters through verbal exchange
• The scene where Hamlet catches Claudius in prayer is important because it shows what Hamlet wants 
• Hamlet didn't kill Claudius yet because he wanted to kill him in a sinful act
• Claudius has sinned so his prayers are not valid to God but Hamlet doesn't want Claudius to die while committing a holy action
• Claudius was confessing his sins to God and how he felt guilty for his actions

Act III Notes

Scene I

• Polonius, Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, Gertrude and Ophelia are all together talking about Hamlet's madness
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern reveal that Hamlet has a lot of interest in the actors for the play which raises a red flag for Claudius although he does not know what Hamlet is is plotting, or if he is even plotting anything
• All but Ophelia exit as Hamlet enters without noticing that Ophelia's presence and delivers his "to be or not to be..." speech
• Hamlet has a short conversation with Ophelia in which he questions her thinking and pretty much leaves her confused
• Polonius and Claudius have been spying on the two, and when Hamlet exits, they come out, talk to Ophelia and decide to send Hamlet off on an educational trip put pf the country to save themselves from whatever trouble Hamlet may be devising

Scene II

• the play begins and Hamlet sits with his family and by Ophelia and has Horatio(who is in on Hamlet's plan) sits in a seat where he can easily observe the king's reaction to the play
• the play goes on and Claudius gets so angry at the play that he orders it to end and Hamlet and Horatio laugh aside from the scene
• After the play, Hamlet's mom wants to speak with him in the chamber and Hamlet plans to be very cold to his mother

Scene III

• Claudius furthers his plan to send Hamlet away to England by having Rosencrantz and Guildenstern give him a nicely written envelope granting Hamlets departure
• Hamlet knows what Claudius is trying to do and spies on Claudius who is praying and admitting to the fact that he killed Hamlet Sr.
• Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius but decides against it because Claudius is praying and will most likely be sent to heaven in the middle of a prayer and decides to kill him later when he is performing some other sinful act

Scene IV

• Hamlet goes to his mother's chamber to talk to her and Polonius hides to spy on them
• Gertrude starts to speak to Hamlet with authority but Hamlet replies back with more fury and scares her making her scream
• Polonius also screams for help and Hamlet hears the voice and thinks it is Claudius and stabs him through the curtain
• Polonius falls dead on the ground and Hamlet just calls him a "rash, intruding fool"
• Hamlet continues to talk to his mother comparing Claudius to Hamlet Sr. and condemning her for her foolish decisions
• The ghost of Hamlet Sr. shows up and sternly commands Hamlet to stop torturing his mother and to focus on the true objective: to kill King Claudius

The Performative Utterance Notes

• Hamlet is a very vocal character and is saying rather than doing for most of the play
• The performative ability of language is divided into three forces: locutionary(ability to deliver a message), illocutionary(what is done in being said), and the perlocutionary force(what is done in being said)
• Shakespeare's characters learn from their own utterances in a play
• The moment when Hamlet meets the ghost of his father is important because  it demonstrates how the "illocutionary force can influence or compel the prelocutionary force."
• Apparently, when the text is read closely, it is found that Hamlet doesn't necessarily swear to avenge his father
• "Hollow performatives" can still "spur" actions that can greatly affect the outside world
• "Hollow performatives" are performatives that don't have much reason behind them and are done with little motive
• The story of Hamlet is sometimes described as the play about a man who cannot make up his mind
• according to deBoer, Hamlet is a play about a man who could not make real what was found in his mind
• for much of the play Hamlet is able to speak but not do
• when instructing the players on how to act, Hamlet is insistent that they do not overact. He wants the passion to be smooth and sound unscripted. 
• this exemplifies the use of self performance to create a social context which supports a visage of sincerity. 
• to over do a self performance would be to undercut the socially excepted notion of a sincere emotional state, taking away your power to create a performative utterance that relies on a context of emotional appropriateness 
• as Hamlet is instructing the players to not overact he needs to be mindful to not overact himself, as he is putting on a show of madness. According to Hamlet, madness is defined by the kind of exaggerated actions in movements associated with poor acting or overacting
• Hamlet suggests that the goal of the theater has been to "hold up a mirror to nature"

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

1. This book is told from the third person point of view although the first chapter is first person. The book doesn't have a chronologically correct sequence of events so it is mostly just a collection of memories. The book resembles the structure of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Billy is a war veteran who has a mental condition where he will have a breakdown if he is reminded of his days at war. The story begins as Billy describes how he has tried to write a book about his experiences in Dresden but just couldn't piece it all together. Billy studied to be an optometrist when he got out of the war and married a woman named Valencia Merble. Billy's mental breakdowns were "treated for" in a mental hospital. Years go by and they have kids and get wealthy. This is where the story gets weird. Billy talks about these aliens that captured him and how they see things in four dimensions and time is perceived differently by them. He is studied by the aliens.
2. The theme of the story was how war can destroy physical things as well as nonphysical things. Like how Billy has a mental breakdown whenever he gets deja vu from some certain war event.
3. The author's tone was very matter-of-fact and sarcastic. "O'Hare remembered one guy who got into a lot of wine in Dresden, before it was bombed, and we had to take him home in a wheelbarrow. It wasn't much to write a book about." "He was sentenced to six months in prison. He died there of pneumonia. So it goes." "A lot of people were being wounded or killed. So it goes."
4. Literary devices

• Amplification- "It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East." p.82
• Allegory- the war was an allegory to the hardships of life and fear a man must live wit his whole life.
• Anecdote- "O'Hare remembered one guy who got into a lot of wine in Dresden, before it was bombed, and we had to take him home in a wheelbarrow."
• Foreshadowing- "This one is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt. It begins like this: Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. It ends like this: Poo-tee-weet?"
• Personification- "During the night, some of the locomotives began to tootle to one another, and then to move."

1. Characters are described with indirect characterization: "Billy Pilgrim went on skating, doing tricks in sweat-socks, tricks that most people would consider impossible-making turns, stopping on a dime and so on." and direct characterization: "Roland Weary was only eighteen, was at the end of an unhappy childhood spent mostly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had been unpopular in Pittsburgh. He had been unpopular because he was stupid and fat and mean, and smelled like bacon no matter how much he washed. He was always being ditched in Pittsburgh by people who did not want him with them."
2. Vonnegut uses consistent syntax and diction throughout the book. He insults characters in a very dry and nonchalant way.
3. Billy is a static character. He stays as his typical everyday guy character throughout the book and doesn't change much.
4. By the end of the book I didn't really feel like I had met an actual person because I never really saw things through Billy's eyes. Everything was just described to me and I didn't connect with him at all.

HAMLET ACT I SCENE II

Here's the sitch:

Hamlet's parents were the king and queen of Elsinore but King Hamlet died in battle. Less than two months after her husband's death, Queen Gertrude gets married to her brother-in-law: Claudius. Hamlet is pretty upset about how quickly his mother remarried.

• Hamlet talks to Claudius who notices he is still grieving over his father's death
• Hamlet hides his despisement for Claudius because he doesn't want to appear upset before him
• once alone, Hamlet vents his anger and reveals his feeling about his mother and Claudius
• Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo enter to tell Hamlet about what they saw the previous night
• Hamlet was intrigued but swallowed his excitement in front of the guards

HAMLET ACT I SCENE I

• two guards (Bernardo and Francisco) are swapping positions for the next shift in a castle platform in Elsinore
• Bernardo converses with Horatio and Marcellus who claim to have seen a ghost of some sort for the past few nights around the castle
• The ghost reappears and Horatio attempts to communicate with it but fails
• they conclude that the ghosts resembles King Hamlet and decide to alert young Hamlet of their findings the next day

Vocab #6

abase	verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of ex: Don't abase the child about his bed-wetting issue- he is very self-conscious about it
abdicate	verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations ex: The ruler abdicated his authority when the people voted for a representative democracy.
abomination	noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust ex: The "No Selfie Act of 2014" was an abomination
brusque	adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness ex: The brusque comment infuriated the teacher.
saboteur	noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader ex: The saboteur left a traffic jam lying in his wake.
debauchery	noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
proliferate	verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly ex: The proliferation of the use of hashtags has done great wonders for alerting America's attention to pressing matters.
anachronism	noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred ex: The watch posed as an anachronism on the model's wrist.
nomenclature	noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline ex: The nomenclature of the physics class was demonstrated by the aerospace engineer.
expurgate	verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate ex: Although the essay was long and sophisticated, the professor suggested the student to expurgate some parts of it for the sake of simplicity
bellicose	adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight ex: The irresponsible barfly was bellicose after a few rounds
gauche	adj. lacking social polish ex: The prepubescent boy was very gauche around girls.
rapacious	adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey ex: Now five weeks into her pregnancy, the woman grew rapacious.
paradox	noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself ex: The Liar paradox is demonstrated by the statement, "this sentence is false." If it were false, then it would be true, but it can't be true because it says that is is false, and so on.
conundrum	noun a difficult problem ex: The mystery behind Stonehenge is a true conundrum.
anomaly	noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule ex: The power outage at the school was an anomaly, seeing as they are powered by solar panels, and it was perfectly sunny.
ephemeral	adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form ex: To everyone's delight, the business meeting was ephemeral.
rancorous	adj. showing deep-seated resentment ex: The student was rancorous towards the teacher for locking him outside the classroom for being one minute late.
churlish	adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish ex: The substitute teacher saw the kids as a bunch of churlish brats because of the silly way they pronounced their names.
precipitous	adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation ex: The precipitous work of the assailant let him get away from the scene, but not the crime.

UNPHOTOGRAPHABLE

A photo not taken.
An overcast sky paints the scene gray and disconsolate. The crowd in black gathered in silence, staring. Their stomachs torn with sorrow, vision blurred by the tears they dare not wipe away. The pain is unbearable. A slow drizzle began, made noticeable by the pitter-patter sound on the umbrellas. The mound of dirt absorbs the moisture, emitting the smoky and dark odor. They stand for what seems like hours, frozen like statues. The heavens are now sobbing uncontrollably. A loner stands apart from the assembly, his throat clenched, chest screeching in pain, lungs in breathless agony, yet emotionless on the surface. Drops pound on his hood, dripping over his numb face. He knows what the rest do not, a burden that makes life impossible worth living. No one will understand. The loner exits as the crowd disperses. The deluge soaks into softened soil. The sky darkens deeper, the mound lies alone.

CANTERBURY ONLINE

Knights Tale

1. I picked Knight's Tale because I liked how it was a love story yet it had violence
2. Arcite is the brother of Palamon. Both are disillusioned lovers and blinded by their passionate love for Emily. They are both very determined to obtain the hand of her, whatever the cost.
3. Chaucer's tone is created through the conflict between the two characters over Emily
4. Chaucer characterizes the protagonists through their actions (indirect characterization)
5. The genre is romance because of the battle over the love of Emily.
6. The fight between the characters reveals the larger theme of love being a battlefield and sometimes having a negative and hurtful outcome.
7. I would give the female a bigger role on the tale and make the battle include Theseus.
8. It would have been more violent with the females as the main characters would have been more vocal with their feelings and jealousy would be more prevalent in the story. That being said, i think that the fight would've gone down in the tower because girls don't like to wait to settle their differences. #shovelgirl

GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET

A) I don't actually know that much about Hamlet at all. I know that it has to one of the most referenced literary pieces of all time but I have unfortunately been left out of that loop. However, I do know that melancholy means gloomy and I am 50% Danish so there's that
B) I know that Shakespeare was and is a world renowned playwright. I also know that he likes to write his plays with the iambic pentameter rhythm.
C) I think students "involuntarily frown" when they hear Shakespeare's name because they know that a truckload of reading, character analyses, and biological analyses are headed straight for them.
D) I think we can make the study of this play most memorable by acting out some of the parts and getting into heated debates over the characters themselves. I think there are going to be some hardcore discussions in room 606 for the next few weeks to say the least.

CANTERBURY TALES (II): WHAT A CHARACTER!

Palamon

Chaucer used both indirect and direct characterization for Palamon. Palamon's reaction to seeing Emily for the first time was actually pretty funny because of the way it intrigued Arcite. It also revealed how when Palamon has a personal issue, he likes to gain attention from others so he can have others connect with him. Direct characterization was shown when the characters were first introduced. Chaucer described Palamon as young warrior who was hurt in battle. This reveals how Palamon is a loyal warrior and will die beside his comrade to honor his friendship. Chaucer's tone when describing Palamon's feeling toward Emily is very urgent and shocked to show what Palamon is experiencing. The way Chaucer portrays Palamon's reaction to Emily is very comical because he acts as if he is struck with sorrow with makes Arcite worry that he is hurt. Palamon is a passionate lover and an attention seeker.

THE POINT OF CANTERBURY TALES IS...

Canterbury Tales is about about social hierarchy and the characterization of others through their actions/behaviors, or information received from others.

CHARACTER STUDY (I)

A plucky young adult slides into his clothes for the day and rushes out of his dorm room door to make it to class on time.With both shoes carried in one hand, one sock halfway up his ankle, and backpack slung around one shoulder, he scurries to his first class of the day: astronomy. He stumbles into class and sits down at an open desk before narrowly missing the start of the lecture. Once the lecture had begun the student was absorbed in the curious topic of wormholes. It wasn't easy for him to get to this stage of education. The University of California San Diego does not accept many with an aerospace engineering major, but through stellar SAT scores, consistent academic excellence, and a lot of help from others, he has earned a spot in the honors program the the beautiful college. After class, he meets with one of his friends to play a friendly but competitive match of tennis. After playing for a couple hours, he comes back to his dorm, showers, and plays a very competitive ping-pong match with his roommate. Naturally, the tennis player and awesome pong stud wins the match. After a solid two hour nap, he heads off for his second and final class of the day: aerospace engineering. This class is very difficult for him, but his desire to learn and use creativity to design new aerodynamic figures is what keeps him motivated.

MY DASHBOARD

Netvibes is a website that helps the computer user have access to all of his or her favorite websites all on one page. I don't find it all that useful just because I'm used to having all my favorite sites pinned as bookmarks in my web browser. I use google chrome and just open up different tabs with whatever pages I need to have open. Here's my dashboard.

PHONAR14 VIDEO

• a photographer could be anyone with the the passion and ability to take a picture
• phonar is about habits
• a photograph is physical, fixed in time, 2D
• there is a difference between the photo and the image
• the photo is more about the experience than the evidence
• most photographers keep their photos on the internet
• photos aren't really rectangular or square, they make them that way for convenience
• "the mode of delivery has shaped the way we perceive the mode of information"
• the mode of info is photography
• "we travel looking in a rearview mirror"
• more experienced photographers have a better perspective
• digital literacy is different than photography
• trans media is when a story is told on multiple platforms: fan fiction, video games, ect.
• trust is a large element of an image

VOCAB #4

obsequious	adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery ex: The presidential candidate was obsequious in his campaign.
beatitude	noun one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); a state of supreme happiness ex: The squirrel was is beatitude when he was surrounded by acorns.
Bête noire	Noun a person or thing strongly detested or avoided ex: The weird kid in math class was a béte noire and nobody wanted to sit next to him
bode	verb indicate by signs ex: The third base coach boded to the batter, secretly telling him to bunt.
dank	adj. unpleasantly cool and humid ex: The wedding was a disaster thanks to the dank weather.
ecumenical	adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions ex: The new film gave a ecumenical approach to the tragic 9/11 terrorist event.
fervid	adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion ex: The conductor fervidly boded to the orchestra.
fetid	adj. offensively malodorous; having a strong, offensive smell ex: The locker room radiated a fetid odor after the football team were done changing.
gargantuan	adj. of great mass; huge and bulky ex: The gargantuan gargoyle gargled green grapes while grinding gears in his garage.
heyday	noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity ex:
incubus	noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream
infrastructure	noun the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; the basic structure or features of a system or organization
inveigle	verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
kudos	noun an expression of approval and commendation
lagniappe	noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
prolix	adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length
protege	noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
prototype	noun a standard or typical example
sycophant	noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
tautology	noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true
truckle	noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering