vocabulary #2

accouterments: When you ride a skateboard, it is advised that you wear various accouterments, such as knee pads and a helmet. 

apogee: In it's apogee, the moon is a quarter of a million miles away from earth. This is the farthest the moon is from earth.
 
apropos: The general's speech to his weary soldiers was very apropos on the eve of a crucial battle.
 
bicker: I passed by an old couple bickering over which movie to see.

coalesce: When news of bin Laden's death reached the American public, a good amount of people coalesced in back of the White House to celebrate.

contretemps: It was quite a contretemps when I tripped in front of my crush.

convolution: From all the convolutions of the building, it was tough to find your way out.

cull: They culled the world's greatest thinkers together to think of a way to deflect the asteroid that was barreling towards earth.

disparate: Although everyone in the group had disparate backgrounds, we all managed to get along and work together.

dogmatic: He was so dogmatic with his beliefs, he refused to listen to any ideas that countered his own.

licentious: Miley Cyrus's performance at this year's VMAs was quite licentious; she was near-naked, twerking on Robin Thicke, and using a foam finger as a faux penis.

noxious: The noxious fumes of the carcass soon engulfed the entire house.

polemic: The senator's polemic against same sex marriage was disgusting. It was condemned by many as a hateful tirade.

populous: New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong are all extremely populous cities.

probity: Someone with the utmost probity should become president of this country.

repartee
supervene: Riots supervened the jury's decisions to acquit the police officers who savagely beat Rodney King.

truncate: The gardeners had to truncate the top of the tree because it was getting too big and started to become a hazard.

unimpeachable: His alibi was unimpeachable; there was no way the prosecution could have tied him with the crime.

Beowulf Comprehension Questions

(Continued from Edmond Yi's blog)

[Further Celebration at Heorot] (lines 1651-1798, pp. 68-71)
1. When Beowulf returns to Heorot with his men, he presents Hrothgar Grendel's head and the hilt of the ancient sword he used to slay Grendel's mother. The reason he returns with only the hilt is because the monster's blood had melted away the blade.
2. Hrothgar tells Beowulf the story of Hermond to provide an example of what Beowulf should not become. Hermond was a ruler who slaughtered both friends and foes indiscriminately. Hermond was banished to the Jutes by his people for being such an evil leader. He was betrayed by the Jutes, which lead to his death. Hrothgar is essentially telling Beowulf to not let his success get to his head and make him a corrupt leader.
3. Unferth is a Danish warrior who doubted Beowulf's ability and bravery. Before Beowulf leaves, he hands Unferth his old sword, Hrunting.

[Beowulf Returns Home] (lines 1799-2199, pp. 71-79)
1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will be a wise and worthy king. He also predicts that both the Danes and Geats will prosper together.
2. Hygd is Haereth's daughter and the queen of the Geats. She is kind, unlike Thryth, who used to sentence men to death simply for looking at her.
3. They're marrying her off to prevent any further fights between the two clans. Beowulf isn't that optimistic, stating that he believes that rival feuds might inhibit peace. This is out of character of Beowulf, as he is usually more confident and optimistic.
4. Beowulf stretched the truth a good amount when he recounted his stories.
5. Beowulf gives his treasures to Hygelac as a form of respect. Hygelac gives Beowulf a very powerful sword, a large house, a hall, and land. Beowulf also becomes king of the Geats.

(Continued at Eli Esparzas blog)

REFLECTIONS ON WEEK 1

1. Transportation might be a problem if we do out-of-school activities but I'm sure I'll either be able to drive and have my car by then or at least be able to get a ride. Other than that, I have reliable internet, two computers, and a smartphone. If all that fails, then I have great friends that will help me out.
2. This past summer I went to a business leadership camp at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. I learned the basics of business and economics as well as what it takes to make it in the world of business. This camp was attended by about 50 other high-school juniors from around the country. I learned a ton there and made me seriously consider majoring in some type of business in college. It opened my eyes to the opportunities, and money, that can be made. A lot of the business and economic concepts are based and derived off of human nature, which made it much easier to understand. I did learn how to brand myself and make myself stand out and be more memorable, crucial skills when meeting someone in power such as a future employer. 
3. I'm excited for all the networking we're going to do and doors that those connections will open. I am looking forward to having an intelligent conversation with you and my peers. I'm a bit afraid of Shakespeare because I have always found archaic language a little tough to read and comprehend. I'm also a little worried about memorizing poems or soliloquies or monologues, since I usually procrastinate way too much on that. I vow to change that... tomorrow. 

MY OPINION ISN'T (A) RIGHT

Rather than retyping my notes and putting them on my blog, I scanned them.

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate: The violence that has recently occurred in Egypt adumbrate future tension between the military and the protesters.

apotheosis: Members of cults believed their leader was the reincarnation of Jesus and treated him like an apotheosis.

ascetic: Buddhist monks live such an ascetic lifestyle to become extremely disciplined.

bauble: When I went to New York, I got various little baubles at souvenir stores for my family and friends.

beguile: The waitress at the restaurant beguiled  me into believing she genuinely cared about me to leave her a bigger tip.

burgeon: The company burgeoned quite quickly; within a a couple years of its founding, it was already a Fortune 500 company.

complement: Girls tend to brush off complements, even if they are completely genuine.

contumacious: The contumacious teenager tried running from the police. When that failed, he was tackled to the ground but that didn't prevent him from spitting in the officer's face.

curmudgeon: When I do not get enough sleep, I become a curmudgeon, threatening to rip people's heads off.

didactic: The talks we have in Dr. Preston's class are often extremely didactic; I never leave his class without knowing something new.

disingenuous: Many people at Righetti are extremely disingenuous, they form facades to conform to the social norms for fear of being ostracized.

exculpate: No matter how hard Atticus tried to exculpate Tom Robinson from the seemingly impossible crime he couldn't have possibly committed, the jury found Tom guilty.

faux pas: I commited a terrible faux pas when I told my close friend I was not too fond of Erik, who happened to be standing behind me.

fulminate: The Republican politician began to fulminate as soon as someone proposed a tax hike.

fustian: You could tell by the speaker's fustian that he was full of himself as well as hot air.\

hauteur: Kanye West has such a hauteur to him, he entitled a song "I am a God".
inhibit: They placed the man in handcuffs and sat him down to inhibit him from escaping.

jeremiad: The soap box preachers on street corners often read a jeremiad that laments the state of current society and damn us all to hell.

opportunist: Many entrepreneurs are opportunists; they look at the market and make decisions that maximize their profit.

unconscionable: The police showed unconscionable force on the peaceful protesters.

austen/montaigne essay

Michel de Montaigne is often credited as being the father of the modern essay. In his chief work, Essais de Michel de Montaigne, he covers a wide range of topics and tries to describe man as well as his own thoughts. His stream-of-conscious style coupled with his tendency of moving from topic to topic as they popped in his mind, bolster David Foster Wallace’s claim that “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’”. His Essais (literally attempts or trails) offer a better look at his thought process and outline of the world around him. They, much like Jan Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, also offer a form of social criticism of the time they lived in.

Montaigne wrote his essays in a stream-of-conscious style, which is used to depict the various thoughts and emotions that flow through the mind. In this technique, he covers an extremely wide variety topics; from natives in the Americas, to Christianity, to love and the necessity of marriage to procreate. He was alive and writes his essays during a great time of upheaval and enlightenment in Europe, known as the Renaissance, so his mind was flooded with new ideas he wanted to question. By writing his essays, he was able to sketch a rough outline of society and his thoughts. Despite that his essays span the entirety of three complete books, he barely manages to scratch the surface of his consciousness, human nature, and why do we do what we do. Montaigne acknowledges his lack of certainty and knowledge by living by his motto of “What do I know?” Michel de Montaigne was also renowned skeptic, questioning his knowledge. He denounced commonly accepted ideas, which spurred his skepticism.

Through his essays and inner monologue style of writing, we are given a peep into how he approaches problems that surround him. He is very analytical and tends to ramble on, much like most people do in their mind. He lays out his every thought and emotion on just about everything and doesn’t refrain from getting into the nitty-gritty of his mind and the society he is criticizing and examining. Montaigne and Austen are similar in the way that both their chief works serve as a criticism of society at their respective times.

Austen wrote in a time where a woman’s entrance into the public light meant a loss of her femininity. There were also deep socio-economic stratifications of classes which dictated who you married based on your family’s connections and wealth. These are all evident themes in Pride and Prejudice, in which the main character, Elizabeth Price, along with her sisters are under constant social pressures to marry (or not marry) certain people just because they are lower on the social ladder than other families. Montaigne opposed the colonization of the Americas and made us think who were truly barbarians; the “sophisticated” Europeans, or the “backwards” natives of the Americas. He provides solid evidence in his essay “On Cannibals”, citing that Europeans are quick to label different cultures and lifestyles barbaric simply because they are different. He goes on to say that natives go to war for noble purposes as opposed to Europeans, who war for the need to conquer new lands. He also adds that cannibalism is much more humane than the cruelty performed in Europe, such as the Spanish Inquisition.

“What do I know?” is a relevant quote Montaigne often found asking himself. Through his essays, which can’t be contained to a single topic, we are able to take a peek into is thought process and the society around him. Both Montaigne’s and Austen’s writing serve as a social criticism in their style of writing. Montaigne understands he doesn't know it all, or even a minuscule fraction, but he is trying to outline it and make sense of his mind through written word.

1987 AP Exam Multiple choice answers and commentary

Correct answers are designated by a check mark (✓)while incorrect answers will be designated by a cross (✖). 1.C✓ 2.E✖ 3.C✓ 4.E✓ 5.A✖ 6.B✖ 7.E✓ 8.B✓ 9.E✓ 10.C✓ 11.C✖ 12.A✖ 13.B✓ 14.C✓ 15.E✖ 16.B✓ 17.C✓ 18.E✓ 19.B✖ 20.B✓ 21.E✓ 22.C✖ 23.A✓ 24.A✓ 25.D✖ 26.B✖ 27.E✖ 28.C✓ 29.A✓ 30.B✓ 31.A✖ 32.B✓ 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.c✖ 47.B✓ 48.A✓ 49.C✓ 50.E✖ 51.C✓ 52.A✖ 53.E✓ 54.C✖ 55.E✓ 56.B✓ 57.C✓ 58.D✓ 59.C✖ 60.D✖ 61.E✖ (I could not find questions 33-45 so they will not be counted). I got a 28/48, which is a 3. The poem used for questions 16-32 had a strange syntax and style which was a bit confusing and convoluted. Occasionally, I wasn't sure what the authors were trying to covey or didn't catch the symbolism they used. I definitely need to brush up on my vocabulary and literary/poetry terms as well as learn the different poetry rhyming stanza forms. The questions I found the easiest were the ones that you can directly infer from the text and were more straight-foward in what they were asking.

POETRY #1

1. This commercial by Levi's® borrows Charles Bukowski's "The Laughing Heart". 2. The poem, in a way, is expressing to the reader for them to be themselves and be an individual by saying "your life is your life". The irony is that Levi's® is advertising jeans and making their jeans look extremely cool and if you buy them you will be a total BA. So while the poem is vouching for uniqueness, the commercial is trying to make you conform and buy jeans that nearly everyone (at least in the western world) has. 3. Yes, the poem does reflect Bukowski's reputation. Bukowski had a tough life and often found his experiences as his inspiration for his writings. He is known to write from experience and write with emotion. He is also known to write about the oppressed and underground. 4.I typed in the words that were said on Google and "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski showed up. I then clicked a link that redirected me to a poetry blog and sure enough, it was there. I then did a little digging on Bukowski's life and poems by searching "Charles Bukowski life and style" on Google. A website about poetry showed up and it had biographical information and Bukowski's style of writing.

essay assignment #1

Being alone can truly be a frightening thing. Devoid of human contact, left desolate with only your thoughts and brain as company. It is such a powerful phenomenon to be exiled from others or even to be separated from one's place of comfort that we even use it as a punishment for inmates in correctional facilities, known as solitary confinement. While it can drive a man insane, being alone can also be used to further and better oneself. This is evident in The Poisonwood Bible, which is a story in which a family goes to the Democratic Republic on a missionary trip.
Going to a completely different country is a rift in itself. The fact that the family is the only English-speaking Christian westerners in the village they are staying compounds this alienating rift. The fact that the family, specifically Reverend Price, is trying to impose western customs and religion on the natives only further alienates them. Their customs and refusal to change and adapt, cause distrust between the community and them, to the point in which even their live-in helper, Mama Tataba, leaves them. The family is estranged in a land very different from their own. Other families also try to warn the Prices to leave before it’s too late and the natives start purging westerners. The women of the family become disillusioned with the purpose of their mission and they soon begin to lose hope in what they’re doing to the point that Orleanna, the wife of Reverend Price and one of the main narrators, crawls into bed and neglects her duties around the house.
  When Orleanna awoke from her slumber, she returned a changed woman. When before she wouldn't dare question her husband’s decisions, no matter how foolhardy they were, she know openly defies him and questions his rash choices. She quickly tries to make an escape plan for her and her daughters out of the Congo, where she feels they will find their untimely death. Being alone has given Orleanna the ability to think the situation she and her family are in thorough and form her own rational decision.  During this time her conviction fermented inside her and she grew a backbone to set her husband straight to prevent the family from barreling down the path of destruction any further.
The experience of being placed in a completely alien world contributes to the overall meaning of the book; one of dealing guilt and how to deal with it. Being alone allowed Orleanna to think and try to save her family, but it was too little too late. Her youngest daughter was bitten by a snake and died, leaving Orleanna with the guilt of not having acted earlier.
We all need our own time and space to reflect and to think. This time is crucial before we do any rash decisions based on others cramming their opinions down your throat. While being alone might be frightening and harmful, it can also serve as a time to reflect and think for yourself.

MY BIG QUESTION

Are we alone? In the universe and in life itself? What's worse: apathy or ignorance? Why is there more loud idiots than quiet geniuses?