"Pre-Will" Questions

A. What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane?"
- I honestly don't know anything about it. I barely know about Hamlet. I just knows he's a really respected writer but i haven't personally read any of his work. It's kind of embarrassing to say that but on the other hand I've never had to read it, and because it's so hard for me to just pick up a book and read.

B. What do you know about Shakespeare?
- I actually know quite a handful about Shakespeare. I've seen movies about him beginning his journey to a great writer. Every ones read, or should be reading Shakespeare's Tragedy Romeo and Juliet. I haven't talked to a group of people that share the same feeling after reading it. Shakespeare basically created his own language of writing and has a certain pattern that it goes by.

C. Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare?"
- Personally, i dislike Shakespeare because i found his writing useless and boring. He uses to many letters in a word that he could just say bluntly and without regard. I can't speak for anyone else but i just know that most people are confused by the writing and don't understand what the heck they're reading.

D. What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
- I think if we studied Shakespeare's style and actually understood what he is saying, then if would make our experience more fun and enjoyable

Fall Vocab #7

Aberration - (noun) an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Ad Hoc- (adverb) for the special purpose or end presently under consideration

Bane - (noun) something causes misery or death

Bathos - (noun) triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos

Cantankerous - (adj.) having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate

Casuistry - (noun) 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 - (noun) in fact; in reality
 

Depredation - (noun) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive action
 

Empathy - (noun) understanding and entering into another's feelings
 

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

Hedonism - (noun) an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good; the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle
 

Lackluster - (adj.) lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
 

Malcontent - (adj.) discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
 

Mellifluous - (adj.) pleasing to the ear

Nepotism - noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
 

Pander - (noun) someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to
 

Peccadillo - (noun) a petty misdeed
 

Piece de Resistance - (noun) the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
 

Remand - (noun) the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial (or the continuation of the trial); verb refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision; lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
 

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

Literary Analysis #1

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Written by Kim Edwards

1. The story was honestly very backwards and twisted and made me think twice. The father, Dr. David Henry, is forced to deliver his own twins due to a blizzard in 1964. The only other person in the delivery room, besides his wife, is the nurse Caroline. His son is perfectly healthy but when his daughter comes out, he immediately notices something wrong with her. She has Down Syndrome. Remembering his childhood and his own sister dying of mental illness, he quickly decides to give his daughter up. He asks to the nurse to take ehr a special home and tells his wife, she died. Except the nurse doesn't have the strength to give up a baby girl like that and keeps her and continues to raise her as her own child. The father knows about this and sends quite a bit of money to them each month. David, dying from guilt, can't stand to make love to his wife in fear of inpregnanting her. She then becomes tired of this and  over a century, she begins having random affairs. Their son, Paul discovers this and this forces Norah to confess to David. Years after their divorce, Paul is now 18 and in college. David dies of a heart attack and left all of his inheritance to his son. As Paul and Norah are looking through all of David's pictures they come across a locked drawer that has pictures of a little girl throughout her childhood and into her teen years. They also fin letter from Caroline that describes everything about the hand off. Norah is furious and tracks down Caroline and then confronts her about it and meets her long lost daughter, Phoebe.

2. As any good novel, they're many themes. For this particular novel, the themes could be argued as the burden of secrets, heartaches and heart warmth of raising children, and the need for mentally disabled children to be accepted into society. If i had to choose just one theme i would have choice the need for mentally disabled children to be accepted into society because kids back then didn't have the opportunity to get the education they needed to succeed. Instead they were either forced to go to public school and fall behind in class or have to stay home and not learn anything because their parents are too busy to teach them or just don't know how to teach them.

3. The author has a soft, gentle tone to her. Everything that is read makes you feel like you could relate and feel the emotion within the story. She uses a lot of adjectives and many specific words to describe a scene. For example, the chapter when Dr. Henry is in bed with his wife and she tells him he doesn't want another child and she's surprised because it's been so long. You would think that section of the chapter would be slightly awkward to experience, but it feels so real and inviting.

4. Obviously diction and syntax played a big role in my understanding of every part of this book. Onomatopoeia was used in the novel especially when Paul fell off the wall and broke his arm. The way the author described it was very vigorous and surreal. Norah also used many hyperboles when her character described things because most of them were suppose to come off as tragedy's but were just bad luck. This story is also a tragedy in some ways because Norah lives her life wondering what could be if she had a daughter yet not realizing that her husband is living with a different kind of guilt. The readers understand what is really going on and continue to read about Norah's sad life without her baby girl, while her husband is living with that guilt of basically killing his own daughter.  

Fall Vocab #6

beatitude- Supreme blessedness
bete noire- a detested person (disliked or avoided)
bode- Be an omen of a particular outcome
dank- Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold
ecumenical- universal
fervid- Intensely enthusiastic or passionate
fetid- Smelling extremely unpleasant
gargantuan- of great mass
heyday- The period of a person's or thing's greatest success or popularity
incubus- A cause of distress or anxiety like a nightmare
infrastructure- The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation
inveigle- Persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery
kudos- Praise and honor received for an achievement
lagniappe- Something given as a bonus or extra gift
prolix- Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy
protege- a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
prototype- A first or preliminary model of something, esp. a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied
sycophant- A person who acts obsequiously toward someone in order to gain advantage; a servile flatterer 
tautology- The saying of the same thing twice in different words
truckle- Submit or behave obsequiously

Fall Vocab #5

Acumen: Keen insight; shrewdness

Adjudicate; To settle or determine an issue or dispute judicially

Apocryphal: Of doubtful authenticity

Disparity: Lack of similarity or equality

Dissimulate: To disguise or conceal under a false appearance

Empirical: Provable or verifiable by experiment or experience

Flamboyant: Strikingly bold or brilliant

Fulsome: Offensive to good taste; sickening; repulsive

Immolate: To sacrifice

Imperceptible: Very subtle; slight

Lackey: A footman ( Someone who runs errands or does favors for others)

Liaison: A connection or contract iniated by others

Monolithic: Consisting of one solid piece; unbroken

Mot Juste: The appropriate word or expression

Nihilism: Total rejection or destructiveness

Patrician: A person of high rank

Propitiate: To make favorably inclined

Sic: To attack; incite to attack

Sublimate: To modify the natural expression of in a socially acceptable manner

Beowulf and Godsylla

Meanehwæl, baccat meaddehæle, monstær lurccen;
Fulle few too many drincce, hie luccen for fyht.
Ðen Hreorfneorhtðhwr, son of Hrwærowþheororthwl,
Æsccen æwful jeork to steop outsyd. Þhud! Bashe! Crasch! Beoom! Ðe bigge gye
Eallum his bon brak, byt his nose offe;
Wicced Godsylla wæld on his asse.
Monstær moppe fleor wyþ eallum men in hælle.
Beowulf in bacceroome fonecall bamaccen wæs;
Hearen sond of ruccus sæd, "Hwæt ðe helle?"
Graben sheold strang ond swich-blæd scharp
Stond feorth to fyht ðe grimlic foe. "Me," Godsylla sæd, "mac ðe minsemete."
Heoro cwyc geten heold wiþ fæ.

med half-nelson
Ond flyng him lic frisbe bac to fen
Beowulf belly up to meaddehæle bar,
Sæd, "Ne foe beaten mie færsom cung-fu."
Eorderen cocca-cohla yce-coeld, ðe reol þyng.

 Meanwhile, back at the Meade hall, a monster was lurking,
Full of too many drinks, he was looking for fight.
Then Hreorfneorhtðhwr, son of Hrwærowþheororthwl,
Askined awful jerk to step outside.

Thud! Bash! Crash! Boom! The big guy
His bone broke, bite his nose off;
Wicked Godzilla wailed on his ass.
Monster mopped the floor with all the men in hall.
Beowolf in backroom was making a phonecall;
He heard sound of ruccus said, "What the hell?"
Grabbing strong shield and sharp switch blade
Stand forth to fight the grim foe.
"Me," Godzilla said, "make the mincemeat."
Hero quick getttin' hold with famed half-nelson
And flying him like frisbee back to fen
Beowulf belly up to meadhall bar,
Said, "No foe has beaten my fearsome kung-fu."
Orderin' coca-cola ice cold, the real thing.

Erika Snell gave me permission to use her translation of the quote. 

A Hero's Journey

My favorite Hero is probably Marlin from Finding Nemo because he your typical over protected father and is afraid of watching his son grow up. He's extremely pushy and irritating and has trust problems. But when it came to Nemo's safety he didn't hesitate to protect him. He put up with a talkative fish with memory loss problems that only made his trip much longer, basically high sea turtles, a big school of fish that didn't like him very much, sharks that wanted to eat him, and above all the big ocean on his quest to find his Son that was taken by humans. Even after all of that, he learned to trust and let go and his son will come back. Parents are the best heroes out there because there is no bigger challenge than parenting.

Fall Vocab #4

Apostate- A person who forsakes his religion.

Effusive- unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve

Impasse- A position from which there is no escape.

Euphoria- A state of intense happiness

Lugubrious- Mournful, dismal, gloomy, especially in an exaggerated manner

Bravado- A pretentious, swaggering display of courage

Consensus- Majority of an opinion

Dichotomy- Division of two parts

Constrict- To draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink

Gothic- Pertaining to a style of architecture originating in France

Punctilio- A fine point, particular to detail

Metamorphosis- A complete change in form, structure or substance

Raconteur- A person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly

Sine Qua Non- An indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential

Quixotic- Extravagantly chivalrous or romantic

Vendetta- A prolonged and bitter feud

Non Sequitur- An inference or conclusion that does not follow the premises

Mystique- A framework of doctrines constructed around a person or object

Quagmire- An area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread

Parlous- Dangerous, clever, shrewd