Monday, August 27, 2012

vocabulary: fall list #3

accolade- any award, honor, or laudatory notice
sentence: The play recieved accolades from the press.

acerbity- harshness or severity, as of temper or expression
sentence: Her acerbity was shown through the sharpness of her eyes.

attrition- a wearing down or weakening of resistance, especially as a result of continuous pressure or harassment
sentence: The enemy surrounded the town and conducted a war of attrition.

bromide- a person who is platitudinous and boring
sentence: The boy was bromide and just plays videogames all day.

chauvinist- biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause
sentence: When she was not given the job, she accused the manager of being a chauvinist.

chronic- constant, habitual; inveterate
sentence: You're a chronic liar.

expound- to set forth or state in detail
sentence: The scientist expounded his theory.

factionalism- to split or divide into factions
sentence: Some countries suffer from factionalism of their land.

immaculate- free from fault or flaw; free from errors
sentence: The text was immaculate.

imprecation- the act of imprecating; cursing
sentence: With all the loudness I only heard my own imprecations.

ineluctable- incapable of being evaded; inescapable
sentence: She has an ineluctable destiny.

mercurial- animated; lively; quick-witted
sentence: She can be very mercurial when surrounded by crowds.

palliate- to relieve or lessen without curing
sentence: The doctor used strong medicines to palliate the patient.

protocol- a supplementary international agreement
sentence: All of the parties must ratify the protocol.

resplendent- shining brilliantly; gleaming; splendid
sentence: The troops were resplendent in their white uniforms.

stigmatize- to set a mark of disgrace or infamy upon
sentence: The crime of the father stigmatized the whole family.

sub rosa- confidentially; secretly; privately
sentence: The was sub rosa, so that no one would find out.

vainglory- excessive pride over one's own achievements
sentence: He flaunted his great personal vainglory in public.

vestige- a mark or trace of evidence of something that's no longer present
sentence: A few columns were the last vestiges of a Greek temple.

volition- act of willing, choosing, or resolving
sentence: She left of her own volition.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Beowulf Questions

 I worked with Paul Kim, Laura Trenev, Landon Brown and Madison Mather.

1. It was unusual because Shield was a small abandoned child and became a powerful character.  His funeral was sad because they put his belongings in a boat and sent them out to sea. The relation of Hrothgar and Shield is that Hrothgar is a father figure to Shield. 
2. Hrothgar undertook building the hall Heorot. Grendel attacked it killing thirty men. The Dane’s responses are terrified and they try to stay away from the hall.
3. When Beowulf hears of this he creats an army to go help Hrothgar defeat Grendel.
4. The Geats first meet a nameless watcher who was guarding the shore.
5.     Hrothgar’s Herald is the guard mentioned in number 4 and he tells them the arrival of the Geats and that he should let them visit. Hrothgar responds by agreeing. I'm not surprised because he knows his father. 
6.  Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he plans to fight Grendel. Hrothgar protected him after he killed a man.
7. Unfirth accuses Beowulf of losing a swimming contest.Beowulf responds by telling him that he lost because he ran into sea monsters and had to kill them. It's relevant to the story because it shows that Beowulf has courage. Beowulf accuses Unfirth of being weak.
8. During the feasting Queen Wealhtheow is saluting the warriors, and offering them a goblet to drink from.
9. His preparations are different because he takes off all of his armor.
10. When Grendel enters he attacks a warrior and drinks his blood. Beowulf fights him just using himself and no weapons. When Grendel tries to leave Beowulf tears his arm off. Grendel finally leaves, and leaves his arm.
11.They're similar because Sigemund was a dragon slayer and Beowuld just beat a monster. He's not like Heremod because he was a coward.
12. Hrothgar responds to the deed by adopting him and Unfirth has nothing to say about that action.
13.In general the Danes lost a fight to the Finn's and after they realize their defeat they offer a truce. Using a woman to unite the tribes shows wisdom because it causes a common ground for both tribes. 
14. Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar to not have Beowulf be the heir.
15.   The necklace was later stolen from his corpse. Wealhtheow asks Beowuld to protect her son. 
16.  The men stay at the beer hall to sleep because they want to protect Hrothgar and their land. This was a mistake because Grendel could come and burst in again at any moment.
17.  Grendel’s mother came to Heorot as revenge for her sons death which is not the same reason as Grendel's.
18.  Hrothgar’s response is grief and pain because she killed one of his close friend's.
19.  The mere is a terrible place where monsters live.
20.  Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he should fight in vengeance instead of sadness. 
21.  Before Beowulf enters the mere, he sees and sea monster and kills it.
22. Beowulf prepares by putting on his chain-mail armor, his golden helmet, and takes out his sword that was given to him by Unfirth.
23. When Beowulf enters the mere he tries to find Grendel's mother. It's surprising where they live because there's no water.
24. The sword melted.   
25.  Beowulf is protected by Grendel's mother because he's wearing his chain mail. 
26.  Beowulf uses the sword to decapitate Grendel’s mother. When she dies he sees Grendel's body and then cuts his head off too. His sword soon melts away after he kills him. 
27.When   Beowulf returns to the surface his men were waiting at the top for him surprised to see him because they expected him to have been defeated.
28.  Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the sword.
29.  Hrothgar tells Beowulf that he was brave and courageous for what he did and told him not to be like Heremod. He reminds Beowulf that everybody dies because God is in charge.
30. Beowulf gives Unferth the sword.
31.  Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will come back as a ruler.
32.  Hygd is kind and not like Modthryth because Modthryth who have people imprisoned just for looking at her.
33.  Hrothgar hopes that the marriage will end the hate between the Danes and Heathobards.  Beowulf believes it will do nothing to benefit the families. This is a new side of him because he never thinks through situations like this.
34.  Beowulf reports his adventures by telling them in stories where he tells of his success.
35.  Beowulf gives his treasure to Hygelac, who in return gives him a sword, hides, land, a hall and a throne.
36.  Part 2 takes place 50 years later and King Hygelac dies and Heardred. A dragon was awakened.
37.  The dragon is angry because he was awakened. The man took the cup because he was poor and wanted to give it to his master. The treasure was there in the first place because someone had treasure but had no one to leave it to so the dragon guarded it.  
38.The dragon that evening destroyed the Geatlands due to his anger.
39. Beowulf believes his home has been burnt because he has offended the gods in some way. He orders a new iron shield so he can protect himself from the dragon’s flames. Beowulf believes this will be his last battle and it does end up being his last.
40. Hygelac died during the battle. Beowulf swam to safety along with thirty battle dresses. Beowulf declines the seat of king because he believes Headred should have it.
41. Headred ended up dying in battle. This is because he took in exiled Swedes who were King Onela’s brothers. King Onela attacked Geatlands in order to kill his brothers and Headred died in the mix up. Beowulf avenges Headred by killing King Onela.
42. Twelve men accompany Beowulf as he goes to slay the dragon.
43. Herebeald was shot with an arrow by his brother Haethcyn while hunting. King Hrethel was overwhelmed with the death of his son and died of grief. This left the kingdom to Haethcyn and Hygelac. After Hrethel died the Swedes and Geats kept on fighting. This resulted in Haethcyn and Hygelac’s death. Beowulf avenges them by killing Dayraven.
44. Beowulf tells his men to wait outside and to not attack.
45. When Beowulf starts fighting the dragon he is barely able to pierce through the dragon’s tough skin. Beowulf retreats with the dragon in pursuit. All his men flee in fear except Wiglaf. Wiglaf tells the men to stand in fight because Beowulf has put his trust in them. Wiglaf is the only one that help Beowulf
46. On the second encounter Beowulf’s sword breaks when he tries to pierce the dragon’s neck leaving him wide open. Wiglaf stabs the dragon in the stomach giving Beowulf the opportunity to stack the dragon in the neck with his knife and killing it.
47. Beowulf asks Wiglaf to bring back some of the treasure so he can see it before he dies. When he sees the gold he thankful because now he can give the treasure to his people. Beowulf wants to be buried in a tower that is built by the sea.
48. When the companions return they see Wiglaf burying Beowulf. Wiglaf blames them for abandoning Beowulf when he needed them most. Wiglaf believes the Geatlands will be attacked in the future by other kingdoms.
49. The messenger announces that Beowulf is dead. Ongentheow makes fun of the Geats in Ravenwood. Hygelac comes the next morning and kills Ongentheow. The messenger says the gold is cursed and that no one should possess it. The final image is a dragon.
50. Wiglaf tells the crowd how heroic Beowulf was. He tells them he was a great warrior and a great king and that he will never be forgotten.
51. The dragon was pushed off a cliff into the ocean. It wasn’t given a burial because it was believed to be evil.
52. After the funeral people cried and sang.
53. The Geats describe Beowulf as a memorable, kind, and beloved hero. To use the word kind to describe someone who fought a dragon and killed many men seems weird to me. You wouldn’t describe Rambo as a kind man.

peer feedback #1

essay #1

       Leisure from then to now has made a dramatic change. Our society today has let go of the leisure there used to be. In the older leisure and older society people actually kept up with their daily tasks and were in a way more social to each other.
       I feel that the leisure has changed by people no keeping up with their daily tasks because George Eliot explains his leisure now as practically lazy. He mentions how people decide to remain sleeping when it's not necessary. People in older times had to make money whether they were rich or poor. He brings another example by explaining alot about his opinions of church. His opinions are that he prefers the shorter masses and sleeps during the sermons. Leisure like this wouldn't be so common in older times.
       Another way I feel leisure has changed is that were less social in society today. Eliot tells of how people used to bring bargains to the doors on sunday afternoons. This is a way of people trying to socialize and be friendly. Also we've lost the ways of education through literature. Sure we have to learn about it in school, but we don't choose to on our own. In older times everyone was social and did most of it at church where they studied their literature. Most people don't even go to mass every sunday because they're "too tired" which Eliot described.
       All in all leisure from then to now has made a significant difference. We've lost our touch to God by being lazy instead. Our leisure has aloud us to rather sleep than anything.


essay #2

       A novel that I feel shows particular attitudes or traditions is The Grapes of Wrath. This novel shows attitudes of the people who lived in the Great Depression and had to experience hardships. They had traditions that they grow all these crops to sell and then they just got ruined. The author seem to try to bring this to the reader's views by portraying a family's life during the time, and what they had to go through as workers.
       The way the author describes a family during this time really influences the reader's views. This is because obviously the family actually had to experience this and you truely get to understand what they had to go through. You realize that they relied on their crops for everything in order to survive. Without their crops they don't have an opportunity to make the money they needed at that time. Actually reading the little things they had to go through changed my views on people with farms alot. 
       Also it changed my views by how hard they had to work. Yeah I know farming wasn't easy, but by the way the author brought about their work made it seem way harder. If their crops got ruined they had to replant and fix up  all of those crops. For example in the novel there was no rain which caused the crops to die. As farmers they had to try and keep them alive and that was hard because they didn't have alot of money to afford to fix up their crops. By the way the author describes their situation it really makes the reader think of how hard it must have been, and makes your attitude change.
       The author does a great job to influence the reader's views by describing to the audience how hard it was for them back then, and how their attitudes helped them overcome their obstacle.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

1st Assignment: Orientation Video



I enrolled into this class because I love the challenge of an AP class. There's so many benefits while taking the class such as getting more experience with writing, a weighed grade, and a feel for a college environment. Taking this class sophmore year encouraged me to take it again this year because I learned so much in the class. The techniques used to teach in this classroom are so interesting and I'm excited to find out what's in store for the class this year.

My goals being in this class are to better my writing skills and expand my vocabulary. I want to go into college knowing the most I can know as a new freshman.  This is why I'm looking forward to writing projects and public speaking in the class because I know it will benefit me in the future. I'm hoping to also become more confident by the end of this course with my writing, public speaking, and my judgement as well.

additional thoughts to the essay

  • what would you have written if you had more time?
  • what occurred to you after you left?
  • how did the interruption affect your thought process?


  • If i would've had more time to write the essay I would've organized it better. I feel like I just wrote a bunch of stuff in order in the first paragraph or so and then rambled on in the last paragraphs. Having to leave half way through the class period made me lose my thoughts and I forgot alot of what I was going to write when we returned to class. Before we left I was going to write all of my thoughts down on a piece of paper, but instead decided to just write because of the shortage of time.

    poetry assignment #1


    1.  The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski
    2. It might be considered ironic because it's telling us what to do. They're getting us to make the decision to buy their product, but yet they're telling us to make our own decisions. "your life is your life." This is said twice in the poem, but at the same time they're trying to tell us what to choose.
    3. I think it reflects the reputation of the author because he had a hard life growing up. The poem speaks of trying to look on the bright side of things and to stay strong which relates to how his life must have been. I'm sure since he was abused and experienced miserable times he had to learn to find the ways out and search for his own light.
    4. I found the information by first typing in your life is your life into google then I picked the first one and it showed the poem with the author. Then I googled the author, Charles Bukowski, and read up on him.

    Research quote

    dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude, incipe

    translation: who has begun has half done: dare to be wise, begin

    I feel it's a very motivating quote for the start of a new school year. To begin on a good start and stay focused this year. Also to try to be as smart as we can be and learn as much as possible.

    vocab makeup quiz

            My first week of school actually wasn't that great. The first day I was a bit overwhelmed and afraid that our senior class would burgeon and that it would be over too fast. I was first only excited to beguile the day seeing my friends. I'm hoping my friends don't let senior year get the best of them and become contumacious. It was nice though to see all my friends dressed up, wearing baubles and new clothes. Also inspiring to hear my new teachers be didactic all day.
            My week began to worsen on wednesday, the day of volleyball tryouts. We first show up to tryouts and our coach tells us we have to run on the track. That brought about a jeremiad from everyone at the tryout. After our run we started playing volleyball and I realized I forgot my ankle brace. This kind of adumbrated me hurting my ankle. When I actually hurt my ankle an hour into practice I quickly became curmudgeon. I laid there fulminating and trying no to say any fustian words I'd regret. I tried to inhibit myself because it was such a faux pas. To complement me getting hurt I had to walk on crutches the next day. It was nice to know though that there wasn't one disingenuous person at the school. I finally had to exculpate the girl who in a way caused me to fall.