Monday, October 29, 2012

Vocabulary: Fall List #10

Aficionado- an ardent devotee; fan; enthusiast
sentence- The giants had many supporting aficionados at their stadium when they won. 

Browbeat- to intimidate by overbearing looks or words; bully 
sentence- The boys browbeat him into agreeing.

Commensurate- having the same measure; of equal extent or duration
sentence- I was hired at a position commensurate to my ability. 

Diaphanous- very sheer and light
sentence- The curtains we have are very diaphanous.

Emolument- profit, salary, or fees from office or employment; compensation for services
sentence- Tips are an emolument in addition to wages. 

Foray- a quick, sudden attack
sentence- The defenders made a foray outside the walls. 

Genre- a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique
sentence- I enjoy the genre of epic poetry.

Homily- an inspirational saying or cliche 
sentence- A homily used today is "Just do it". 

Immure- to shut in; seclude or confine
sentence- When I got in a fight with my mom  I immured myself in my room. 

Insouciant- free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant
sentence- On the last day of school my mood was insouciant from school. 

Matrix- something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops 
sentence- The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for western civilization. 

Obsequies- a funeral rite or ceremony
sentence- You're supposed to wear black when attending obsequies. 

Panache- a grand or flamboyant manner; style; flair
sentence- The actress must have had panache in the audition.

Persona- a person's perceived or evident personality, as that of a well known official
sentence- Her persona, fashioned over three decades of self portraits. 

Philippic- any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation
sentence- During the debate the presidential candidate used a scathing philippic in his advantage. 

Prurient- having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires
sentence- The boy had a prurient curiosity in the universe. 

Sacrosanct- not to be entered or trespassed upon
sentence- She considered her home office sacrosanct. 

Systemic- of or pertaining to a system
sentence- Systemic efficiency of the energy supply is of more concern than actual energy use. 

Tendentious- having or showing a definite tendency
sentence- In supporting a cause his reports were tendentious in helping. 

Vicissitude- a change or variation occurring in the course of something 
sentence- given the vicissitudes in life my future can change at any time. 

Tools That Change the Way We Think

I never truly thought about the effect that the internet has made on me. Now that I'm thinking about it I've realized that it's made me more forgetful. I'll research something on my phone that I'm thinking about at that moment then forget the information fairly quick. Knowing that I can research information at any given moment makes me feel that I don't need to remember it because I could just look it up again later if I need to. It shouldn't be that way though, we should want to learn the information that we're researching. Before the internet and smartphones people had to actually process information. I don't think the internet is bad, I just think we need to process information more into our brains.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Notes on Hamlet

My thoughts have changed a lot since the beginning of the play to now. I used to feel so sorry for Hamlet because he went through so much in a short period of time of having his dad die and his mom remarry to his uncle and then found out that his uncle killed his dad. Everyone pushed him to get over it, but no one really understood him so I felt like he was just so upset with life. After he killed Polonius though my perspective on Hamlet changed. It changed because he didn't exactly care and he said that he shouldn't have been spying. Now he seems to be so focused on killing his uncle that he cares about nothing else and that makes me feel no sympathy for him anymore. I know he's angry with his uncle, but he shouldn't let that get in the way of his other relations with people. I think he's just going to keep pushing everyone else aside until he gets the satisfaction of killing his uncle.

Who was Shakespeare?

Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist who ever lived, is very much a mystery. Most of his life is questionable and there's not much definite information on him. There doesn't have to be though because his plays describe much of who he is and that's what everyone knows him by.

What is known about William Shakespeare is that he was born as the third child and first son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in 1564 in Stratford, England. He was baptized on April 23, 1564. Later at age eighteen he married Anne Hathaway in 1582. They had a daughter in 1583 named Susanna and then twins in 1585 named Hamnet and Judith.

He began his success in 1588 when he and his family moved to London. In 1594 he became a charter member of a theatrical company. When his creative output lessened after 1608 he moved back to Stratford and settled his family. In 1616 he died at age fifty-two and was buried in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html

To Facebook or Not to Facebook

I personally enjoy Facebook because it's a way to socialize with friends and family. When you have friends and family in other countries and states it keeps you connected. For instance when I was in Italy, I wasn't aloud to text because of the international cost so I used Facebook each day to communicate with my friends.  I've learned now though that Facebook has risks I wasn't  aware of, which is that it can access our private information even if we think it's private and protected. It's obvious that much of our information as a user is already visible to others like a picture of us, age, and our name. Now I know that even though my profile is stated as private my information can still be seen.  After reading and discussing this information I feel I should be more cautious and careful on Facebook.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Vocabulary: Fall List #9

Abortive- failing to succeed; unsuccessful
sentence- The villain planned an abortive scheme.

Bruit- to spread a report or rumor widely
sentence- The report was bruited through the town.

Contumelious- scornful and insulting behavior
sentence- I choose not to hangout with people who are contumelious.

Dictum- an authoritative pronouncement; judicial assertion
sentence- One of the scientists' dictums was to make things simpler.

Ensconce-to settle securely or snugly
sentence- I was found in the living room, ensconced on the couch.

Iconoclastic- characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions
sentence-

In medias res-in the middle of things
sentence- My job became in medias res with my school.

Internecine-of or pertaining to conflict or struggle within a group
sentence-  There was an internecine feud among my friends.

Maladroit- lacking in adroitness; unskillful; awkward
sentence- The performance was played out in a very maladroit way.

Maudlin- tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental
sentence- My mom will be a maudlin mess when I go to college.

Modulate- to regulate by or adjust to a certain measure or proportion; soften; tone down
sentence- I had to modulate the noise of the party so that my brother could sleep.

Portentous- ominously significant or indicative
sentence- After the fight there was a portentous defeat among the two.

Prescience- knowledge of things before they exist or happen; foreknowledge; foresight
sentence- The boy would have prescience of dreams each night.

Quid pro quo- one thing in return for another; substitute
sentence- I gave my friend my shirt quid pro quo.

Salubrious- favorable to or promoting health
sentence- We need to create a salubrious air by less littering.

Saturnalian- The festival of Saturn, celebrated in December in ancient Rome
sentence- Romans used to attend the Saturnalian in December.

Touchstone- a test or criterion for the qualities of a thing
sentence- Doubt is the touchstone of  truth.

Traumatic- emotionally distressed or disturbing
sentence- There was a traumatic car accident outside of my house.

Vitiate- to impair the quality of; spoil
sentence- The criminal tried to vitiate his plan.

Waggish- roguish in merriment and good humor; jocular
sentence- I like to read books by waggish writers.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Autopsy: Vocab Midterm

On the midterm I felt I did really well, but I didn't get the score I wanted. I felt I studied very hard for the test and next time have to try harder than that. My study technique of using flashcards really benefited me though because I felt I had a very good understanding of the words. Majority of the words I knew on the test except for a few I drew some blanks. I'm sure next time I'll get the score I hoped for.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Vocabulary: Fall List #8

Abeyance- temporary inactivity or suspension
Sentence- Let's hold that issue in abeyance for a week.

Ambivalent- having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone
sentence-I am ambivalent about moving too far away from home for college.

Beleaguer- to surround or beset, as with troubles
sentence- I don't mean to beleaguer the point, but you need to clean your room.

Carte blanche- unconditional authority; full discretionary power
sentence- I gave the designer full carte blanche to redo my room.

Cataclysm- any violent upheaval, especially  one of a social or political nature
sentence- If we don't change the homecoming group then there could be some serious cataclysm.

Debauch- to corrupt or pervert; sully
sentence- His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.

Eclat- brilliance of success, reputation
sentence- The eclat of a great achievement.

Fastidious- excessively particular, critical or demanding; hard to please
sentence- You're a fastidious eater.

Gambol- to skip about; frolic
sentence- Sometimes I want to gambol through the fallen leaves.

Imbue- inspire, as with feelings, opinions
sentence- The political leaders were imbued with the teachings of past political leaders.

Inchoate- not yet completed or fully developed
sentence- We had an inchoate load of ideas on the topic.

Lampoon- to mock or ridicule
sentence- My brother lampoons me when I get him mad.

Malleable- adaptable or tractable
sentence- When you're a child you're the most malleable.

Nemesis- something that a person cannot conquer, achieve
sentence- History is my nemesis in school.

Opt- to decide to leave or withdraw
sentence- I decided to opt out of the contest.

Philistine- person who is lacking in or indifferent to cultural values
sentence- The indian philistine chose not to join in the rain dance.

Picaresque- pertaining to a form of prose fiction in which heroes are described in a series of humorous or satiric episodes of everyday life of the common people
sentence- The character was a typical picaresque hero.

Queasy- uneasy or uncomfortable, as feelings, the conscience
sentence- I became queasy to tell my mom that I broke the lamp.

Refractory- hard to manage, stubbornly disobedient
sentence- I struggled to put my refractory cousin to bed.

Savoir-faire- knowledge of just what to do in any situation
sentence- My mom provides a savoir-faire for me when I have a problem.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Midterm Study/Review Strategy

My strategy is to create flashcards and review them daily until the midterm. Also I'm going to try to use the words in my vocabulary as much as possible this week so that I can get more comfortable using them.

Pre-Will Questions

Hamlet

1. So far I know that Hamlet is the son of King Hamlet who died.
2. I don't know much on Shakespeare except that he's written many memorable plays.
3. Students frown at the name of Shakespeare because we know that his reading his harder to understand and complicated due to the period of time it was written in.
4. I think we can make this experience interesting by showing videos of some of the scenes and acting and reading them aloud.

Literary Analysis: Part 2

Characterization

1. The author uses direct characterization in describing the point that Edna uses her independence. She does this by stating she felt independent and by Edna moving away from her family and living on her own. Another example of direct characterization is towards the end the book when Edna finally admits her love to Robert. An example of indirect characterization is the describing of Edna's feelings towards both her husband and Robert in the beginning of the novel. She never admits to Robert that she even likes him in the beginning or to her husband whether or not she's mad or unhappy with him. I think the author uses both direct and indirect to make it interesting to figure out by expression or actions how the character feels or wants instead of just telling you how they feel or who they are. It gives you your own sense of guessing the characters personalities.

2. The author's diction changes slightly when speaking as Madam Adele it becomes more formal. Also Robert tends to speak french at times so occasionally it has french lines.

3. The protagonist, Edna, is a dynamic character in this novel. She starts off as a respectful women who doesn't really know her true self. Later throughout the book though she learns how to love things and experience life happily. In the end she's not just living life to settle, but to be happy and do what she really wants.

4. After reading this book I felt like I'd met another person because I became so into the story. It makes you realize that you need to live life without regrets and the way the author told the story made me feel like I was in the scenes experiencing the same things. For example when she first learns how to swim, but when she comes out her husband wasn't supportive of her. This scene allowed me to relate to her because sometimes you have friends like that and the picture created by the author really put me in the scene with her. She definitely felt real to me.

Vocabulary: Fall List #7

Aberration- an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image

Ad hoc- for the special purpose or end presently under consideration

Bane- something causes misery or death

Bathos- triteness or triviality of style; change from a serious subject to a disappointing one

Cantankerous- having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate

Casuistry- moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading

De facto- in fact; in reality

Depredation- an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; a destructive action

Empathy- understanding and entering into another's feelings

Harbinger- an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage

Hedonism- an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good

Lackluster- lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality

Malcontent- discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted

Mellifluous- pleasing to the ear

Nepotism- favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power

Pander- someone who procures customers for whores; arrange for sexual partners for others; yield; give satisfaction to

Peccadillo- a petty misdeed

Piece de resistance- the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, of a serious or group; special item or attraction

Remand- the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial; lock up or confine, in or as in jail

Syndrome- a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease