LITERATURE ANALYSIS #1

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

1. Catch-22 is different than most books by how it doesn't have much of a main plot. The story is mostly fragmented thoughts or stories from different characters in the book. Most of the story is about a group of bombardiers who are fighting in the second world war. The exposition is the time Yossarian and his crew are in the hospital pretending to be hurt because they don't want to go back to the war. The inciting incident would be when the Texan drives everyone out of the hospital because of how annoying he is and they all go back to fighting in the war. The rising action is when Yossarian and his crew are completing all of the missions required to be discharged from duty, but the amount of missions keeps rising throughout the story. The climax occurs when one of Yossarian's close comrades dies on a mission which take a big mental toll on him. The falling action/resolution is the end when Yossarian leaves the air force and lives his life away from the war. The narrative fulfills the authors purpose of a satire on the war crazed people who are so dedicated to the war, that they are blind to the damage they are doing.
2. The theme of the novel is honor and dignity. The definition behind Catch-22 is what embodies this theme, and the whole book leaks the message of the theme through the anecdotes in hte story.
3. The author's tone is a bit laid back and relaxed. He is pokes fun at some characters and sometimes narrates something incorrectly through a character's thoughts for comedy.

• "'One hand washes the other. Know what I mean? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.' Yossarian knew what he meant. 'That's not what I meant,' Doc Daneeka said, as Yossarian began scratching his back."
• "Yossarian and Dunbar were busy in a far corner pawing orgiastically at four or five frolicsome girls and six bottles of red wine, and Hungry Joe had long since tramped away down one of the mystic hallways, propelling before him like a ravening despot as many of the broadest-hipped young prostitutes as he could contain in his frail wind-milling arms and cram into one double bed."
• "Late that night Hungry Joe dreamed that Huple's cat was sleeping on his face, suffocating him, and when he woke up, Huple's cat was sleeping on his face."

1. Paradox:"Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to." -p.33
2. Repartee: "'Who, specifically, do you think is trying to murder you?' 'Every one of them,' Yossarian told him. 'Every one of whom?' 'Every one of whom do you think?' 'I haven't any idea.' 'Then how do you know they aren't?'" p.10
3. Synethesia: "There was nothing funny about living like a bum in a tent in Pianosa between fat mountains behind him and a placid blue sea in front that could gulp down a person with a cramp in the twinkling of an eye and ship him back to shore three days later, all charges paid, bloated, blue and putrescent, water draining out through both cold nostrils. p.10
4. Situational Irony: " Clevinger was a genius... a Harvard undergraduate... [going] far in the academic world... In short, he was a dope" p. 68
5. Personification: "They couldn't dominate Death inside the hospital, but they certainly made her behave. They had taught her manners. They couldn't keep death out, but while she was in she had to act like a lady.” p.126
6.  Dramatic Irony: "Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn't quite jaundice" p. 7
7. Imagery: "An intense heat flashed through the area. Even in Yossarian's ward, almost three hundred feet away, they could hear the roar of the blaze and the sharp cracks of flaming timber. Smoke sped past the orange-tinted windows."
8. Foreshadowing: "Do you remember... that time in Rome when that girl who can't stand you kept hitting me over and over the head with the heel of her shoe? Do you want to know why she was hitting me?" p. 25
9. Alliteration: "If the colonel says we have to fly fifty-five missions, we have to fly them." p. 65
10. Verbal Irony: "I don't have nightmares" p. 54

Characterization

1. Heller characterizes Yossarian and Dunbar indirectly because they are two main characters in the story and he wants the readers to interpret the character based on their actions since they will be doing most if the actions during the story. The warrant officer and the Texan was characterized directly because they are minor characters so the author doesn't want to waste time describing their actions when he could just say what their characteristics are like. Also, the Texan and warrant officer are described a bit from the perspective of the main characters which get their impression of the characters easily.
2. The author is pretty much consistent when describing a character and an event. Many times in the story, especially during dialogue, a certain word or subject will come up and that word or phrase will be repeated several times over. Heller uses imagery to describe characters usually. Example: "She was a tall, strapping girl with long hair and incandescent blue veins converging populously beneath her cocoa-colored skin where the flesh was most tender, and she kept cursing and shrieking and jumping high up into the air on her bare feet to keep right on hitting him on the top of his head with the spiked heel of her shoe."
3. The main character is a dynamic/round character. This is shown in the beginning of the story when Yossarian wanted to stay in the hospital to avoid risking his life in battle. By the end of the story, when he is given the offer to leave the air force on honorable discharge at the expense of others having to complete more missions, he decides to pass up on the offer to save the lives of the innocent. (Even though he escapes the air force in the end.)
4. I felt like I have met a new person because Yossarian has so many qualities that i can relate to or see in friends that I have. An example of the behaviors he shares with my friends would be:

"'One in each cheek,' Orr said. 

'Why?'

Orr pounced. 'Why what?'

Yossarian shook his head, smiling, and refused to say.

'It's a funny thing about this valve,' Orr mused aloud.

'What is?' Yossarian asked.

'Because I wanted -'

Yossarian knew. 'Jesus Christ! Why did you want -'

'- apple cheeks.'

'- apple cheeks?' Yossarian demanded."

The way Yossarian reacts to this kind of conversation is something I see myself in and many of my friends.

VOCAB LIST #3

accolade	noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
acerbity	noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner
attrition	noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice; erosion by friction
bromide	noun any of the salts of hydrobromic acid; formerly used as a sedative but now generally replaced by safer drugs; a trite or obvious remark
chauvinist	noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind
chronic	adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering
expound	verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state
immaculate	adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error
imprecation	noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation
ineluctable	adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"
mercurial	adj. relating to or containing or caused by mercury; relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change
palliate	verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
protocol	noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data
resplendent	adj. having great beauty and splendor
stigmatize	verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
sub	noun a submersible warship usually armed with torpedoes; a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States; verb be a substitute
rosa	noun large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses
vainglory	noun outspoken conceit
vestige	noun an indication that something has been present
volition	noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

Beowulf Essay

          They just don't make 'em like they used to." Although the prolific use of this phrase may describe the generation we live in today, the case is not so with contemporary heroes. When we look at the way the icon of a hero is portrayed in Beowulf, we find that he is quite confident and courageous. In modern portrayals of heroes however, we almost see the opposite.

          Beowulf is a very confident character as he demonstrates when makes bold claims like fighting a giant mutant monster with his bare hands. Beowulf's "cocky" personality can come off in modern times as arrogant which is a negative character trait. Back when Beowulf was written however, the trait of full confidence in one's self could have been viewed as an admirable trait. When we look at heroes in modern stories like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, the main character, Harry, is not very confident at all. Harry must overcome many dangerous tasks that he is very scared to do, things that Beowulf would do without a second thought. For example, when Harry must play in the Quidditch match, he was intimidated by the opposing team, Slytherin. Rather than cower in fear upon seeing Slytherin, Beowulf would have challenged their best player to a one-on-one brawl. Between now and the time Beowulf  was written, the way a hero is constructed in literature has "flip-flopped" in terms of character traits. 

          Another difference between modern heroes and ancient ones is that modern heroes have some sort of back story. In Harry Potter's case, his parents were murdered by Voldemort and he was saved by a special spell his mother set on him. He lived with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. Harry was neglected and unaware of his wizard powers until an old friend came to take him off to wizarding school. The back story to a hero has become a must for modern stories because it gives the audience a better understanding of that characters' actions and behaviors. Since Beowulf didn't really have any sort of introduction or back story, the audience doesn't receive a good connection with the character. The lack of these of elements reveals that society didn't much care for a history lesson about the main character and they just wanted to get to know the character through his/her actions.

          A similarity between modern and contemporary heroes is that they both follow the classic hero story outline. They both have the call to an adventure. For Beowulf, it's Hrothgar calling him to help be rid of the evil and monstrous Grendel, and for Harry, it's Hagrid who literally calls out to him to join the wizarding world. Both characters are tested on their journey that make them learn some sort of lesson. In Harry's scenario, he must defeat the evil and convoluted Voldemort and for Beowulf, he must defeat Grendel and his ferocious mother. 

          The differences in the ways heroes are constructed in modern literature and ancient literature are plentiful and show how society has changed its values. The character traits of new heroes to old ones are completely flipped revealing that modern society likes to root for the underdog and not the defending champion. Literature has remained steadfast however, in the structure of the hero's journey. All heroes are called by some sort of outside force and are tested throughout their journey which always has some sort of insightful meaning behind it.

WILL STUDY FOR FOOD

One thing about me is that I love to learn new things trying to apply those things to be inventive or  creative. I enjoy learning about new technology or incredible accomplishments in engineering. I aspire to one day be an Aerospace Engineer and create new designs for airplanes or spacecraft. I wish to further my education by going to a four-year university and maybe even getting a degree higher than just a bachelors degree. I hope to get a scholarship of around $5,000. While I know that a scholarship like that takes a lot of work and commitment, I think it is still within by reach.

Vocab List #2

accoutrement	noun a piece of clothing or equipment that is used in a specific place or activity ex: The custodian was excited by all the cleaning accoutrements he was offered.
apogee	noun apoapsis in Earth orbit; the point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth; a final climactic stage ex: At the very apogee of the movie, the main character did something very important that changed the outcome of the story.
apropos	adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time ex: The young boys’ notion were apropos murder trial.
bicker	noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things ex: The kids bickered over who had the better Yu-Gi-Oh! deck.
coalesce	verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements ex: Carbon fiber and titanium are very strong when coalesced into “Carbo-tanium”
contretemps	noun an awkward clash ex: The nerds performed contretemps over who they thought was the coolest Yu-Gi-Oh! player.
convolution	noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain; the shape of something rotating rapidly ex: The convolution of putting Christmas lights on a Christmas tree is very complicated.
cull	noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather ex: The last pick for the dodgeball game was the cull of the team.
disparate	adj. including markedly dissimilar elements; fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind ex: The disparate population of the US is what makes the country great.
dogmatic	adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative ex: The dogmatic statement that we are the center of the universe was accepted my many.
licentious	adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained ex: Terry’s licentious pit bull violently humped the unsuspecting victim.
mete	noun a line that indicates a boundary ex: You crossed the mete!
noxious	adj. injurious to physical or mental health ex: The carbon monoxide gas was noxious to the students but they pressed on… and died.
polemic	adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology) ex: There is much polemic about the whole “Climate change” topic.
populous	adj. densely populated ex: My crib is populous with chicks, homie.
probity	noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles ex: The probity of the young boy took many by surprise.
repartee	noun adroitness and cleverness in reply ex: The students’ repartee to the teachers insult was followed by a unanimous, “OOOHHHH” by his fellow classmates.
supervene	verb take place as an additional or unexpected development ex: Don’t supervene the boring day with hours of watching paint dry.
truncate	adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane ex: I will truncate this sentence by-
unimpeachable	adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame ex: The thought that Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time is unimpeachable.

Beowulf Questions

1. Before Beowulf enters the mere, the group of warriors he is with gathers around the lake and shoot a sea monster dwelling in the water. They drag it out and stab it to death and look at its enormous body in amazement.
2. To prepare for the battle, Beowulf put on his chain mail armor and his golden helmet. He takes an ancient sword called the Hrunting which has never lost a battle according to legend.
3. When Beowulf enters the mere, he swims all the way to the bottom only to be seized in the clutches of Grendel's mother. She takes him to a battle arena where all kinds of sea beasts have gathered to watch the battle. It is surprising how they live in a cave which is underwater.
4. The ancient sword Beowulf borrowed from Unferth could not hurt Grendel's mother because her demonic body could not be sliced by any sword. Beowulf throws it aside and wrestles with her instead.
5. Beowulf is saved by his chain mail armor from the dagger Grendel's mother attempted to stab him with.
6. Beowulf spots a giant sword that was made by giants and cursed with magic. He grabs it and cuts off Grendel's Mother's head with it. When she dies, the light from heaven illuminates the lair and he sees Grendel's dead body. He cuts his head off and takes it with him as a trophy to the surface along with many other treasures. The sword he killed Grendel's mother with melted like water, "disappearing like ice."
7. When Beowulf surfaces, his group of warriors are overjoyed because they thought he died when they saw the blood from Grendel's mother as they thought it was his.
8. Beowulf gives to Hrothgar the hilt of the sword he killed Grendel's mother with which was bejeweled, and the head of Grendel.
9.  The message Hrothgar has for Beowulf is that he is very wise and strong and he shouldn't let his power be his weakness. The comparison of him to Heremod was to make him realize that sometimes power can cause people to make dumb decisions. Heremod died because he let his power and success take control of him and died by taking on a battle he couldn't win. The lesson is to not let your power get the better of you and to stay humble and wise.
10. Beowulf returns the sword Hrunting that he borrowed to Unferth.

Beowulf Reading Notes

Chapter 9

• Unferth speaks about how he wishes he could be as heroic as Beowulf
• Unferth continues to talk about how big of an ego Beowulf has because of him going out to fight Breca in the stormy winter sea
• He says that if you couldn't beat Breca, then he won't stand a chance against Grendel
• Beowulf replies to Unferth by saying that his version of the story is much different and says that he is getting drunk
• Beowulf retells the story but in much greater detail
• Beowulf and Breca raced each other in the ocean but the storm was too violent and sea monsters attacked Beowulf
• He fended them off with his sword and was protected by his chain mail armor
• Eventually, he made it to shore in one piece