Monday, August 27, 2012

Vocabulary List #3

Accolade - any award, honor, or laudatory notice
     He received an accolade for his exceptional work
Acerbity - roughness or harshness
     She asserted her dominance with acerbity
Attrition - wearing away
     The mountainside began to attrition from the river
Bromide - a platitude or trite saying
     That man was full of bromide.
Chauvinist - someone who has biased devotion to a group such as a military group
     The chauvinist strongly argued his devotion to the US Army
Chronic - constant; habitual
     The pattern was very constant and chronic.
Expound - to explain, interpret
     The teacher expounded all the questions the students had
Factionalism - a faction or functions
     The factionalism was created for all the brilliant young minds of the century.
Immaculate - free from flaw, stain or blemish
     The new car was perfect because it was immaculate.
Imprecation - a curse, malediction
     The witch but an imprecation on the lonely human.
Ineluctable - incapable of being evaded
     Oxygen is an ineluctable source on the earth
Mercurial - animated, lively
     The TV show was mercurial and funny
Palliate - to relieve or lessen without curing
     Although he was in pain they were only able to palliate his injuries.
Protocol - customs dealing with etiquette
     It was protocol to check all the boxes before the start of the day.
Resplendent - shining brilliantly
     The valedictorian was resplendent in front of his class.
Stigmatize - to set mark of disgrace or infamy upon
     The villain was stigmatized for his villainy upon the town.
Sub Rosa - confidently; secretly, private
     The man showed up to his job interview with much sub rosa.
Vainglory - excessive elation or pride
     The overly cocky hero was filled with vainglory.
Vestige - mark, trace of something that is no longer in existence
     Although the man was gone there was a slight vestige of a smell left.
Volition - act of willing, choosing or resolving
     The man was in volition to do the job.



Beowulf Questions

Prologue:
1. It was an unusual way to come to power but Shield came to rule the Danes through fear, because no one questioned against his power. When Shield died he was sent off into the ocean on a boat of riches. Hrothgar is Shield’s grandson and heir to the throne.

Heorot is attacked:
1. Hrothgar made a magnificent hall for feasting and for festives but Grendel kept attacking the hall killing many Danes with every attack, and for fear of their lives the Danes fought back but eventually left when they could not beat Grendel.

The Hero Comes to Heorot:
1. Beowulf heads to Heorot when he hears of the Grendel attacks to fight and beat Grendel for glory.
2. The Geats are greeted by a watchman who demands to know who they are and Beowulf replies telling him that he is here to fight Grendel.
3. Hrothgars Herald is Wulfgar. He askes Hrothgar to see his men. Hrothgar knows Beowulf because of his father, Ecgtheow. This is not surprising because a warriors name or a person of great importance usually gets around.
4. Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he had beaten 5 giants before and will beat Grendel without armor. Hrothgar helped the Geats pay and survive through a war.

Feast at Heorot:
1. Unferth acuses Beowulf of foolishness because he is trying to do what many Danes have failed to do. Beowulf states that he will make Grendel pay for what he has done to the Danes, whom Beowulf seeks no feud with. This gives a slight view of Beowulf's motives and shows how strong his resolve is.
2.Queen Wealhtheow is offering drinks from the cup of the hall to everyone.

The Fight With Grendel:
1. Beowulf takes off all his armor in order to fight equal to Grendel whom also has no armor.
2. Grendel enters and kills a man. Beowulf then grabs Grendel with great strength, but when Grendel tries to escape, Beowulf who rips off one of Grendel’s arms. Grendel then runs to die in his moor.

Celebration at Heorot:
1. Beowulf is like Sigemund because they both fought monsters and won glory, but unlike Heremod who seized the treasue and power in greed and did not get glory.
2. Hrothgar is very happy, thanking God, Beowulf, and Beowulfs mother. Hrothgar gives Beowulf many riches of gold, weapons armor, and horses.
3.
4. Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar not to take Beowulf as his son because he already has sons.
5.
6. The men felt safe and guarded with Grendel gone.

Beowulf and Grendels Mother:
1. Grendels Mother comes to Heorot because she wants revenge for her sons death, which is not in the least why Grendel had gone.
2. Hrothgar calls for Beowulf because Grendel’s mother killer Hrothgar’s favorite thane.
3. The mere is a strange place where fire is seen upon the water. It is an icy lake with many visible sea monsters.

Beowulf fights Grendels mother:
1. Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he should act and not sit around and do nothing.
2. The warriors and Beowulf kill a serpent.
3. Beowulf puts on his armor and gets ready. He takes the sword, Hrunting.
4. Grendel’s mother drags Beowulf to her undersea.
5. The sword has no effect on Grendel’s mother.
6. Beowulfs armor saves him from Grendels mothers knife.
7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a sword that he found that was crafted by giants. Beowulf takes Grendel’s head and his own sword. The sword was useless by the hot blood of the monsters.
8. Beouwlf returns to a few loyal warriors. They had doubted that he would return victorious.

Further Celebration at Heorot:
1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the sword he used to kill Grendel’s mother.
2. Hrothgar talks about Heremod who abused his power by being ruthless and not rewarding the deserving. He warns Beowulf not to make the same mistake, and to bane the thoughts of selfishness.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth.

Beowulf Returns Home:
1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will become king of the Geats.
2. Hygd is the queen of the Geats, and is unlike Modthryth because Modthryth was a very cruel queen.
3.
4. Beowulf tells the story honestly.
5. Beowulf offered his treasures to his leader Hygelac. Hygelac gives him a suit of armor and sword given to him by Hrothgar.

The Dragon Awakes:
1. Part II takes place 50 years later after the death of Hygelac. There is the new danger of a dragon.
2. The dragon is angry because its gold cup was stolen by a man that had been there since the dragon likes treasure.
3. The Dragon destroyed Beowulf’s home that evening.
4. Beowulf believes he angered God in some way and thus his house was burned down. He orders an iron shield to protect against fire. He plans to fight the dragon or die trying.
5. Hygelac died in battle in the land of Frisian.
6. Headred was killed by Onela, and Beowulf was left to be king and pursued to kill Onela.
7. 11 men.
8. Herebeald was accidently killed by Haethcyn. King Hrethel was forced to punish Haethcyn so he was always mournful making him a bad king. The Swedes and the Geats had a feud and had been at war ever since.

Beowulf attacks the Dragon:
1. Beowulf tells his companions to not interfere.
2. Beowulf is almost beaten by the dragon. His companions flee except for one named Wiglaf and unlike the others he is brave and stands beside his king. He yells for his king to fight for his life.
3. The second time Beowulf meets the dragon, Wiglaf hides behind Beowulf’s shield for protection and Beowulf strikes the dragon on the head with the sword, but it brakes. The dragon bites Beowulf in the neck. Beowulf kills the dragon by striking its unprotected belly.
4. Dying Beowulf asks Wilgaf to show him the riches. When Beowulf sees the gold he thanks God for these gifts for his people. He askes to be buried in the lair so as his people will remember him.

Beowulfs Funeral:
1. The companions see Wiglaf trying to revive Beowulf.
2. The messenger tells the city of their kings defeat.
3. Wiglaf tells the crowd who came to see Beowulf that the hoard of treasure was theirs and that the Beowulf had died for it.
4. The dragon was dragged to the sea.
5. The people mourned and built a mound around Beowulf. They all honored Beowulf as the most noble of al the Geats.
6. The last three lines of the poem describe Beowulf as a caring and honorable person, but they do not talk about his ferocity in battle. I guess these would be the terms except that maybe they would add in more about his achievements.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

1987 AP Exam

Questions

1. B     2. E    3.  B   4. E    5. D    6. A    7. A    8. C    9. B    10. E    11. A    12. B    13. D  
14. C    15. A    16. B    17. C    18. B    19. E    20. B    21. E    22. E    23. D    24. A    25. E  
26. A    27. D    28. C    29. A    30. C    31. C    32. B    33. D    34. B    35. E    36. E     37. B  
38. A    39. C    40. C    41. D    42. A    43. B    44. A    45. E     46. E    47. A    48. D    49. C
50. B    51. C    52. A    53. E    54. C    55. A    56. B    57. A    58. D    59. D    60. D    61. A

Essay Question 1

     Leisure is gone -- gone where the spinning-wheels are gone, and the pack-horses, and the slow waggons, and the pedlars, who brought bargains to the door on sunny afternoons." Leisure is supposed to bring relaxation to the world, but there is no more relaxation. George Eliot describes 'leisure' as the creator of "a vacuum for eager thought to rush it". And sure this is true because once the leisure rushes in we as humans start to think that we know have time to much more. But real leisure is relaxing without any pressure at hand and no worries, which is more 'old leisure'. Eliot prefers the old leisure over the leisure that he observes in his time and shows it through personification.
     "Old Leisure was quite a different personage." Eliot describes the old leisure in a very unique way by personifying it as a human. In this way he is able to fully describe what the old leisure was and why, to him at least, it was a more appropriate and a better way to live your life with leisure. "He lived chiefly in the country, among pleasant seats and homesteads, and was fond of sauntering by the fruit-tree wall, and scenting the apricots when they were warmed by the morning sunshine, or of sheltering himself under the orchard boughs at noon, when the summer pears were falling." This extended description of the old leisure as a human shows how relaxed he was and how he lived life in peace and harmony out in the countryside. He wasn't rushing to the trains every morning to go do something, but to enjoy the peace that was bestowed upon him through the old leisure and relaxation.
     As you can see Eliot deeply believed that the old leisure was a far better way to use the time of life than the newly constructed idea of leisure where you are frantically running around trying to get more things done. In her society she truly thought this to be true and to show it, she personified it, giving it human qualities of that of a man who lived in the way of the old leisure to get her point across. And in a way it is one of the most effective ways because many people can relate to the 'Old Leisure' and his life of rest and relaxation as the key way to live.


Essay Question 2
  
     Animal Farm by George Orwell is a great example of a novel that advocates changes in political attitudes and traditions. Orwell turns an ordinary farm of animals into one of the greatest and most historic novels in history because it shows the flaws in the communist idea. He definitely uses personification of the animals to show the undying flaws of communism.
     In Animal Farm the farm animals impeach there old ruler and start up a new life with their own government which happens to closely resemble communism. By personifying the farm animals more and more throughout the story and having them slowly become more human, Orwell shows that slowly but gradually in a communist nation that eventually there will be another ruler that rises to power from the ground up. The pigs in the story soon appear as the dominant race of the lot because of their intelligence and become known as the leaders. In the story the animals vow to never become like the people who once ruled them, humans, and that all the animals would be treated alike and fairly. But slowly and gradually the pigs start to become more and more like humans by gaining more and more power. This is just like the start of communism because it is based around the idea of equal rights and at first communism was that way. But in time there soon began to be people who would rise to power in the communist nation that would be much higher in status and wealthier than all the rest. These were the pigs who slowly gained power by becoming more human.
     In the end, Orwell tried to show the flaws in communism by showing the flaws in the government run by the farm animals. By personifying these farm animals and giving them human thought processes he was able to show the great differences that were once unknown to the world. And how the change from one political idea turned into one that was far from what once expected.





Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Socratic Seminar

The right to your own opinion. I remember this one from a couple years ago but I don't remember it ever being more insightful and varied, as in different ideals, as it was the last time. And it actually stayed on topic pretty well this time around. I also learned a lot on how I am toward the subject, because I mean that is what a socratic seminar is, a learning experience. Its all about learning more about something by having a debate about it. Anyway my "opinion" on a subject is yes, you do have a right to your own opinion. Now although I say you have a right to your own opinion I am not saying that if you act on your opinion, that there won't be consequences. Everything in life has its good and bad consequences including opinions. But however you think is your way of thinking and no one can physically change that. People or things can influence your opinions but they are still your opinions. So once again yes I do believe that you have a right to your own opinion, but it is after all only my opinion.

Monday, August 20, 2012

The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski



Reflections on Week 1

1. So basically this year my schedule couldn't be more full with almost all AP classes and a grueling sports schedule but that is the only thing that could give me a hard time with the class. And I believe that having my friends take the same class helps me with the many assignments I see in the future.

2. Well I wouldn't call it an awesome experience but I'd say one of the most eye opening experiences for learned would be today in class when I realized that my normal approach to classes wouldn't be enough for this class and that I need to step up my game in order to do what I want to do in the class.

3. I am concerned but excited about the class this year because its going to be a lot of work but I also believe that i will get a lot out of the class. I think that since this is a one of a kind class that the practical but big difference will be that it will help to prepare for college and to help me pursue that goal of getting into a good college.