Beowulf Intro Notes

• It is difficult to know much about how Beowulf was written because it was written in 1000 A.D.
• We don’t know who the author is or the authors exact actual thoughts.
• It is strange and familiar due to connections with ancient classical literature such as Homer.
• There have been many reworks of it over time, so it is not the exact same.
• The Old English used in Beowulf presents a difficult translation to modern English.
• Old English is similar to Latin or Russian where grammar is expressed by inflection.
• Learning to translate the Old English takes a lot of experience and work.
• The story use to be told through oral tradition
• The fact that it was mainly used through oral delivery makes it harder to translate.
• The historical accuracy of Beowulf is unknown.  No one knows if it is true or just a story or mixed.
• Beowulf is an icon of their historical culture.

Textbook Notes (p.31-60)

Tristia-Ovid translated by L. R. Lind

• Ovid has been exiled by the king of Rome so he is forced to live with the Getae people
• He is the only one who speaks Latin
• They are in the middle of war so the region he describes is full of fear and he explains that the farmers are on guard all the time in fear they might get attacked.
• He talks down to the people believe in that the Roman race is far superior

 Far Corners of Earth by Tu Fu translated by David Hinton

• Once again it describes exile
• He describes everything as gloomy and there is much sorrow in him words

About Beowulf

• Beowulf by the Anglo Saxons is a story about a monster slaying hero
• Beowulf aids King Hrothgar by slaying the evil monster Grendel
• it was passed down orally and wasn't written down until the 11th century
• carries many similar elements of Celtic and Scandinavian folklore; thought to have taken place in southern Sweden
• later versions were influenced by Christianity

The Wrath of Grendel

• God drove out the demons to exile 
• They split into a thousand forms of evil
• When darkness dropped Grendel went up to Herot to find the warriors sleeping
• Grendel killed thirty men in their sleep
• Hrothgar, lord of Herot, mourned for the loss of his men
• He feared the demon would come back
• Grendel came back the next night
• Warriors fled because Grendel attacked while they slept
• Grendel took over Herot and ruled over it for years
• He continued to kill
• Didn't dare to touch Hrothgar's throne due to it being protected by God
• The Coming of Beowulf
• Far away Beowulf heard of Grendel's horrors
• Beowulf got a crew together and sailed to Hrothgar
• Hrothgar's men question Beowulf and his men
• Beowulf tells them why he is there and is escorted to Herot to meet the King
• Beowulf ask for permission to kill Grendel

The Battle with Grendel

• Grendel enter Herlot looking for victims to attack
• Beowulf caught Grendel and began to battle him
• Grendel scared only wanted to flee
• Beowulf injured Grendel badly enough that the demon escaped to go die in his hole
• The Monster's Lair
• Grendel's mother attack Hrothgar's closest friend and took his kid
• Hrothgar tells Beowulf about the lair in the swamp

The Battle With Grendel's Mother

• Beowulf  talks about how sad he is about Hrothgar's death
• He swears that he will have vengeance over Hrothgar's death and declares his revenge with Unferth
• Beowulf jumps into the lake where Grendel's mother lives and finds her at the bottom
• She contains him by holding him tight so he could not get out his weapon and carries him to a fighting arena
• A witch-like creature rings an iron bell to signify the start of the fight
• Beowulf's chain mail armor keeps him from being torn apart by Grendel's mother and he tries to cut her with his sword, but the sword will not have any affect on her
• Beowulf becomes enraged and decides to fight with his bare hands and attacks Grendel's mother by throwing her to the ground
• Grendel's mother replies by tackling him to the ground and trying to stab him, but Beowulf's armor saves him
• Beowulf got up and found a sword crafted by giants with magical properties and slew he by cutting off her head
• People were at the surface of the lake seeing bubble and feeling tremors from the fight, worried that Beowulf was being killed
• After killing Grendel's fierce mother, he took the sword and her head to the surface
• The Geats help him out of the lake and back to the royal hall where Beowulf is honored, becomes King, and shows off Grendel's Mother's skull to the Danes 

The Final Battle

• Beowulf has aged to an old man and a dragon threatens the well being of his kingdom
• Beowulf pursues the dragon and goes to strike it with his sword
• As he stabs the dragon, it hits him with a blast of fire and mortally wounds him but a loyal warrior named Wiglaf comes to help him and the two of them fight the dragon and kill it

The Spoils

• as Beowulf dies, he asks Wiglaf to get the treasure the dragon was protecting
• Wiglaf hurries to grab the treasure and sprints back to make sure he can back before Beowulf dies
• He gets back just in time to hear Beowulf's final words which thanked God for his life and wonderful adventures

The Farewell

• The Geats burn Beowulf's body and mourn his death
• They leave all of the treasure and his battle gear with his ashes

1987 AP English Exam Essays

Question 1

I would describe Eliot's view of old leisure as a normal day. My intro would be about how we all get into a routine in our lives and that's is what Eliot describes when he writes about leisure. The body of the essay would talk about what we perceive as leisure and what we perceive as work. I would also talk about how those who love their job never work a day in their life. My thesis would be this: What some people perceive as a stressful job, others could perceive as a leisurely activity. 

Question 2

For this essay I would choose "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck because it is the only book I have read on that list. I would talk about how Steinbeck promotes the immigrations of new people to new areas by showing the struggle they much overcome. Through ethos, he reveals how courageous the "Okies" had to be to travel all the way across the country to look for jobs only to be discriminated everywhere they went. My thesis would be: Through ethos and the revealing of courage, Steinbeck shows how he advocates the immigration of minorities to new areas. 

Textbook Notes (p.4-14)

Historical Background

• Britain was conquered by many civilizations. First the Celts who were overpowered by the technologically advanced Romans who remained the rulers of the land for over 300 years
• Britain was then conquered by the Anglo-Saxons from Germany
• The Romans adopted Christianity as the religion of their civilization
• A long time after the Romans, the Danes from the east made their way through England and conquered the northern, eastern, and central regions of England
• The Normans also squeezed themselves in England and when King Edward died, William of Normandy took the throne
• Britain took on a feudal society :
• 
• The plantagenets ended up taking over the rule of England and kept feudalism as the structure of the government
• as time went on, the lower classes began to revolt and gain some respect and at least money for the jobs they were doing

Literature of the Period

• Anglo-Saxon literature was mainly poetry
• A popular example would be Beowulf but the author is unknown due to poor record keeping
• Many different works were produced from the Anglo-Saxons in mainly Latin and some in Old English
• Geoffrey Chaucer was a great poet from the Medieval Ages, he produced works that portrayed the life and times of the Middle Ages, knights doing good deeds, and romance
• Many plays were made after stories from the bible
• Johann Gutenburg created a printing press through typing which sparked new literary works
• Chaucer was just below and aristocrat in terms of social class which gave him a great viewpoint for his poetry
• Chaucer changed the game of literature for the Middle Ages
• He wrote about things that were compassionate and included humor in his work
• A great Celtic Hero named King Arthur was highly written about in Medieval Times as a heroic and courageous icon
• Historians aren't completely sure if King Arthur ever existed and some think he was just a fictional character like Spider-Man or Huckleberry Finn
• Tales of King Arthur spread all throughout Europe, changing the image of him
• the ballad was another popular expression of love or admiration
• A famous ballad is of Robin Hood, a bandit-like character that robbed the rich to help the poor

The Changing English Language

• around 449 B.C., the Celts, Danes, Angles, Normans, and Romans all occupied around the same area in Britain began mixing their languages together in a Frankenstein-like creation called "Englisc"
• After about 100 years, the Normans took over more of England and introduced more French influences on the growing language

Preparing to Read The Seafarer, The Wanderer, The Wife's Lament

• Britain's Anglo-Saxon's period had lots of entertainment in the forms of plays or storytellings
• many stories came about from legends or tall tales told down from generation to generation like the Native Americans
• In the Anglo-Saxon society, women had few rights, and men were the more dominant gender

"Blurred Lines" Parody

Thoroughly enjoying Weird Al Yankovic's new album. So educational! "Word Crimes" By Weird Al Yankovic

MY OPINION ISN'T (A) RIGHT

"Right to Your Opinion" Socratic Seminar Notes

• Though you may have an opinion, it is never valid to the argument
• You don't have the right to your opinion because what matters in an argument are facts
• Anytime someone tries to argue with you by using opinions, just be like:

• Other rights such as your rights to life is very debated
• people have a right not to kill others, but does that mean that they also have to make sure you are healthy, well-nourished, safe, ect.?
• if someone starts to cross the street while a car is speeding down the road at them, is it your duty to save them? 
• I believe yes in the moral sense but perhaps in this discussion over rights, no
• You would not only put yourself at risk, you would be "intruding" on their opinion that it is a safe time to cross the street
• Then again, the facts matter, not the opinions, therefore, you should save them
• BUT
• it is not your duty to do so
• Question: If someone starts to cross the street while a car is speeding down the road at them, should you save them or watch them get splattered all over the road?
• Answer: Yes
• Matters concerning the right to health are very similar 
• If someone enjoys injecting themselves with heroin, why shouldn't he/she be allowed to do so?
• The argument here is "It's my body I can do what I want with it."
• The law says no though, and society wants some freedom
• These kinds of things intrigue me because I think that you should be able to do whatever you want with your body because nobody makes the choices other than you, and you aren't affecting others by doing it
• Furthermore, you have to pay the consequences of your choices, no one else does

"The Laughing Heart" Recitation

"The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski

Reflections on Week 1

1. The only thing that might inhibit my participation on class is my sport. It is unlikely, but their might be days where I will have to miss school for tournaments, games, etc. Other than that, I am completely ready to participate to the max.
2. The greatest learning experience I've ever had was perhaps at the swim prelims last year. It was hosted at the Arroyo Grande pool and I had been training all season for the 200m Free. I had to get a time under 2:00 and my best time was a 2:05.7. I also promised my coach I would do it in under 2:00 because he needed me to score points for the team at the meet. So much fear and preparation went into the race and when I finally swam it, i got a 1:58.9. I learned that I could believe in myself and accomplish my goals as long as I could put in the work necessary.
3. In this class, I am most excited about all the collaboration we as students can use to our advantage on all the assignments we are given. I am concerned about keeping up with the blog, but I think I can handle it. I am most interested in learning about other topics like "The Right To Your Opinion" and how what we most commonly think isn't always true. I am also excited to learn how to become a better writer.

Vocab #1

adumbrate	verb give to understand; describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of ex: I will adumbrate the movie to my friends and ruin the whole story for them.
apotheosis	noun the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god); model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal ex: Jestun's lawn is an apotheosis compared to his neighbors'.
ascetic	adj. practicing great self-denial; pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline; noun someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline ex: McGargol's ascetic attitude really put a damper on all the fun we were having at the party.
bauble	noun a mock scepter carried by a court jester; cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing ex: The attentive fan put Lil' Wayne on blast for wearing baubles all over himself.
beguile	verb attract; cause to be enamored; influence by slyness ex: Brie was beguiled by Ben's big bent broom. Weird.
burgeon	verb grow and flourish ex: The sweet smelling Musa had burgeoned in just a few weeks.
complement	noun something added to complete or make perfect; either of two parts that mutually complete each other; a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction verb make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to ex: The sharp cheddar cheese was the perfect complement to the juicy quarter-pound burger.
contumacious	adj. wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient ex: Willy's contumacious personality made his parents regret ever meeting each other.
curmudgeon	noun a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas ex: They start out young and innocent, but seven decades go by like that-and you're left with a curmudgeon.
didactic	adj. instructive (especially excessively) ex: The didactic art teacher drove the students mad.
disingenuous	adj. not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness ex: Don't be disingenuous, people want to know the real you. Ha!
exculpate	verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges ex: The criminal didn't even try to exculpate after being caught red-handed eating all the Krabby Patties in the food storage locker.
faux pas	noun  an embarrassing social mistake ex: Johnny's faux pas was noticed by EVERYONE.
fulminate	noun a salt or ester of fulminic acid; verb cause to explode violently and with loud noise; come on suddenly and intensely; criticize severely ex: The perfect hit with the proton cannon from Luke's X-Wing caused the Death Star to fulminate and scatter debris all over space.
fustian	noun a strong cotton and linen fabric with a slight nap; pompous or pretentious talk or writing ex: The only thing supporting Bane's weight as he dangled over the edge of the cliff was a fustian.
hauteur	noun overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors ex: She looked at him with the hauteur of someone who is accustomed to being instantly obeyed.
inhibit	verb limit the range or extent of; to put down by force or authority ex: My sister must inhibit her data usage or else she will run out before the month is up.
jeremiad	noun a long and mournful complaint ex: The parent's jeremiad was a huge waste of time for the teacher.
opportunist	adj. taking immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible benefit; noun a person who places expediency above principle ex: It takes a true opportunist to think it is possible to correctly guess how many licks it takes to get to the center of a toostie pop.
unconscionable	adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; lacking a conscience ex: His decision to swim across Crater Lake was unconscionable.

I CAN READ!

My time was 4'40'' with a whopping 23 mistakes! Not for those who are fainthearted, that's for sure.

Essay #2: Montaigne/Austen

          Anyone who has ever zoned out or been caught daydreaming has experienced the incredible power and velocity their minds travel at. One second, you're thinking about rhubarb pie, and the next you're thinking about porcelain fountains. The Spanish idiom describes this situation perfectly: "Estoy en la luna." Although the rough translation of this phrase is "I am on the moon," it is meant as "My head is in the clouds," which flawlessly explains how we can go from the earth to the moon in a matter of seconds--all in our head. American novelist David Foster Wallace once described the human train of thought as something that is "too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." However, the Renaissance Era philosopher known as Michel de Montaigne captures his thoughts in a collection of essays he produced throughout his life. In his essays, he manages to accurately contain his thoughts and ideas and prove Wallace wrong. Something very amusing is comparing a "messy" writer (Montaigne) with an organized writer by the name of Jane Austen, most famously known as the author of the classic novel Pride and Prejudice. These two authors couldn't be more different in their style, as it is portrayed in their works.

          Just like everyone else, Montaigne gets incredibly distracted and branches out on tangents that aren't directly related to the essay he began to write about. An example of such tangents would be in the essay entitled "On Liars." He begins this essay discussing how "evil minds" are ones that lie to others or even to itself. By the end of the essay, however, he ends up discussing memory and his own personal experiences with forgetting something important to him only to remember when it was too late. Montaigne's train of thought is painted all over the page with disorganized thoughts and ideas which is the polar opposite of Austen. Austen's work is very well organized and descriptive, sometimes taking a few paragraphs just to paint the scene of a certain part of the book. While Montaigne can go from zero to sixty then back to zero again all in the same sentence, Austen occupies an entire chapter just to hold a conversation. Chapter 8 in Pride and Prejudice is entirely a conversation between Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley, and Elizabeth. The rate at which Montaigne and Austen complete their thoughts in their work is so distant, they make literature extend it's limits even further.

          Wallace's claim that our minds are too sporadic with thoughts too be contained on paper or even verbally can be contradicted by just the diversity of topics Montaigne covers in his collection of essays. One of the topics Montaigne covers is simply about smells. Writing an entire essay about smells is not something most wouldn't ever do or even have the motivation to do. It takes a string of thought to be stretched to it's ultimate tensile strength in order for an entire essay to be written on smells and yet, Montaigne does it with total ease. The only way he could write about something so pointless and boring is if he were writing his every thought that came into his head at that precise moment in time--which he was. Compare that to Jane Austen, and it's a cocaine-fed cheetah vs. a napping sloth: in terms of expression of thought. All of the ideas and thoughts are still there, its just a matter of organization and filtering out the irrelevant ones.

          As American novelist David Foster Wallace writes, "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." This quote is perhaps the best way to describe what is seen in Michel de Montaigne's collection of essays. From an insightful outlook on sadness, to a spacey string of thoughts about smells, Montaigne never kept his mind on the leash and could have truly said, "Estoy en la luna." On the other end of the spectrum sits Jane Austen, an organized author who composes her thoughts and ideas like a maestro during an elegant symphony. The two couldn't be more different, but both are extremely influential on modern literature.  

1987 AP English Exam

1.      B, kinda hard to choose.

2.      B, not sure what that question meant.

3.      B, this question seemed easy

4.      E, one of those question where they all seem right and I hate that.

5.      D, easy… I think

6.      D, easy

7.      B, tricky

8.      B, easy

9.      C, couldn’t really find a right answer…

10.   C, easy

11.   C, easy?

12.   B, easy

13.   D, hard

14.   C, hard

15.   E, easy

16.   B, hard

17.   A, meh

18.   A? I have no clue.

19.   E, freakin hard

20.   B, meh

21.   A, easy

22.   A, meh

23.   A? that one’s hard

24.   C? Very hard for me

25.   E, meh

26.   E, easy

27.   E, hard

28.   B, meh

29.   E, very hard

30.   A, hard

31.   D, easy

32.   B, easy I think

47.   B, easy

48.   C, ehhh

49.   E, hard

50.   D, easy

51.   B, kinda hard

52.   B, hard

53.   B, kinda hard

54.   B, confusing

55.   E, kinda hard

56.   B, very hard

57.   C, kinda hard

58.    D, hard

59.   B, Very hard

60.   D, medium

61.   E, kinda hard

Score

21 correct = 2

My Big Question

What happens after you die? Is there really "life after death" or reincarnations? It can't just be pure darkness can it?

Poetry #1

1. The commercial borrows the poem The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski
2. The irony behind the poem being used by a corporation is that the whole message of the poem is to be the person you want to be and to not be ashamed to do so but the company is saying, "Yeah but wear buy our clothes and wear them because we told you to." You can't be your own self when some exterior power is commanding you to be a certain way.
3. No, the poem does not reflect the reputation of the author because he was not a rebellious kid at all. His father was very strict and believed in discipline. Because of his restrictions he was locked in the confines of his fathers boundaries. However, after being relinquished from his fathers grasp, he led on a life of drinking and mischief. His work portrayed audacious topics with sinful messages. His work does not reflect his childhood, but rather, his adulthood.
4. To answer #1, I watched the actual video on YouTube by copying the URL from the post. From there, I scrolled down to the comments to see what i could find. One of the comments mentioned the name Charles Bukowski which sounded googleable to me. I googled his name and found lots of his work. To narrow it down, i searched "charles bukowski levi commercial" and found the poem on poemhunter.com. To answer #3 I simply googled "charles bukowski bio" and read his biography from poetryfoundation.org.

Essay #1

          When most people think about getting banned from their favorite restaurant or club, or even their home, they won't think of the silver lining of the event. The Price family from the novel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver are no different. Four young girls and their loving, yet shortsighted parents were separated from their homeland of the beautiful United States by the decision of the father, Nathan, to spread the word of god to the Congolese people. As one would expect, the family face plenty of hardships in the Congo, and as a literary therorist by the name of Edward Said once said, "[Exile] is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home; its essential sadness can never be surmounted."Paradoxically, he also states that it can be a "potent, even enriching" experience. How can this be? Read on to find out.

          

          For slightly handicapped and shy Adah Price, the Congo expedition was seen as nothing but an obstacle. Adah was was nothing but a prepubescent young girl when she arrived and had a very cynical outlook on life despite her natural intelligence and brilliant observation skills. On top of all that, she suffered from a disease called hemiplegia which paralyzes an entire side of her body. Like any kid her age, she was afraid of change, especially one this monumental. Having to endure great hardships like witnessing her sisters death and watching her parents neglect each other had a engraved an insurmountable sadness in her heart. As she progressed, however, she matured greatly and changed the way she thought about the world. It may have taken a life threatening situation to get her to realize how much she valued her life, but hey, whatever works, right? With her scholarliness and dedication, she managed to make it into a college in the Congo and study her passion in the medical field. Her experience of exile may have scarred her deeply, but the accomplishments made and the personality changes achieved are things that could have never occurred if she were to never have the experience.

          

          The novel reveals its inner message of enduring hardships to advance to the next chapter of your life in a very discreet way. In a way, Kingsolver hides that message beneath others of culture or faith and loyalty to religion, etc. The importance of overcoming hardships is what enables the novel to extend its reach to the audience and try to relate to the reader. We all face some form of exile or banishment from something. Whether it be our home, our family, or some other sentimental place, it takes willpower to enrich the experience and make our lives benefit from such an event.