Vocabulary #2

accoutrements-An accessory item of equipment or dress
His outfit was complimented by a hat, lanyard, and other accoutrements.

apogee-the highest point in the development of something; the climax or culmination
He reached the apogee of his career; from there it was downhill.

apropos-with reference to; concerning
How do you feel apropos of the new gun-control laws?

bicker-argue about petty and trivial matters
Siblings will always bicker.

coalesce-come together and form one mass or whole
The team coalesced into the huddle.

contretemps-an unexpected and unfortunate occurrence
Her ex-husbands arrival was a contretemps.

convolution-a form or shape that is folded in curved or tortuous winding
The river was a convolution of water.

cull-select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources
Our class was culled from the seniors at Righetti.

disparate-essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison
Apples and oranges are said to be disparate but I disagree-they're both round fruit.

dogmatic-inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true
His dogmatic manner put him in to a lot of arguments.

licentious-promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters
Her licentious dress had parents shield their children's eyes.

mete-dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment
The king meted out the day's execution like it was nothing important.

noxious-harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant
His presence was noxious and for that reason he was kicked off the team.

polemic-a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something
His campaigns consisted on solely polemics on the opposition.

populous-having a large population; densely populated
The city was populous.

probity-the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency
Her probity made her the apotheosis of a good child.

repartee-conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies
Our repartee was sharp enough to be televised.

supervene-occur later than a specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation
The retaliation supervened the attack and has changed my opinion.

truncate-To shorten by or as if by cutting off
His recital of the Laughing Heart was truncated by the bell.

unimpeachable-not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized; entirely trustworthy
You can't argue with these unimpeachable facts.

Beowulf Comprehension Questions

[Prologue]*

[Heorot is Attacked]*

[The Hero Comes to Heorot]*

[Feast at Heorot]*

[The Fight with Grendel] *

[Celebration at [Heorot] *

Beowulf and Grendel's Mother

[Another attack]

1. Grendel's mother comes to Heorot to avenge her son's death, she comes with an intent to kill and murders one of Hrothgar's closest friends. This is much different then Grendel's reason for killing, because he was so angry at all the noise and celebration.

2. Hrothgar's response is to tell Beowulf all about the two monsters and their lair, he is so upset because Grendel's mother killed his friend.

3. The mere (or lake) was a terrible place and Hrothgar was barely able to get through his description. It was a dark, cold place where the "heavens weep", however the moonlight shines on the lake to make it appear that it is on fire.

[Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother]*

[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the sword.

2. Hrothgar tells Beowulf about a hauteur king that let his pride in his own wealth lead to his demise. He tells Beowulf about this king, named Heremod, to warn him about the danger of trusting in your own power and that Beowulf needs to be concerned about the afterlife and not about this world.

3. He remembers at the last second that he needs to give back the sword named Hrunting back to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]*

Beowulf and the Dragon

[The Dragon Wakes]

1. Part 2 takes place 50 years later. Hygelac and Heardred have died.  Now there is the danger of a dragon.

2. The dragon is angry because a cup was stolen from its treasure.  A man stole the cup to exchange it for his freedom.  The dragon was protecting the treasure for an ancient civilization that had died out.

3. The dragon destroyed the homes of the kingdom.

4. Beowulf believed his home was burnt because he angered God.  He orders a new shield because he knows wooden ones would be useless against the fire-breathing dragon.  He fought this battle armed and felt no shame in doing so.  He will bring the dragon with him to the end of his days.

5. Hygelac died fighting the dragon.  Beowulf swam home after his death.  When he returned home, he was offered to be king and he served as a regent.

6. Heardred was killed by Onela.  Beowulf planned to avenge him by assembling an army to hunt down Onela.

7.  Twelve other men accompany Beowulf.

8. Herebeald was killed accidently by his brother Haekythn.  This depressed King Hrethel and made him focus less on the kingdom and more on his sorrow.  After his death, the Swedes and the Geats waged war.  Haethcyn was killed in battle.  Beowulf avenged Hgyelac’s death by killing the dragon.

[Beowulf Attacks the Dragon]*

[Beowulf's Funeral]*

*Done by  Kylie Sagisi, Edmond Yi, Jacob Fowler, Taylor Duguran, Lesther Valenzuela, or Miranda Nillowulf avenged Hgyelac’s death by killing the dragon.

My Opinion isn't (a) Right

Are you morally obligated to change someone's incorrect opinion?
If it endangers their well being, certainly.  The best course of action is to present the facts and allow them to make an educated choice.If they insist on their opinion, then you have done all that you can.  Ultimately, it is the individual's responsibility to make an informed decision.

Can you not have an opinion?
Initially I believed you could not, that you must have some type of leaning with any topic.  But after discussing it I believe that you can remain neutral or just not have the knowledge to dignify a belief.

"I am entitled to my opinion."
Perhaps it is true, perhaps not.  Two things are for certain: you are not entitled for your opinion to be right and saying so is a fallacious way to end an argument.

Interdependence-relationship in which each member is dependent on the other(s)
Schema-routines created for efficiency
Limbic-part of brain controlling emotions
When told your opinion is worth nothing, don't think with the limbic part of your brain.  That doesn't mean that you are worth nothing.

Reflections on Week 1

1.  Are there any factors that you think are going to affect your participation or experience in this class? Access to a computer?  Mobile/smart phone?  Transportation?  Friends/family? Schedule?
I don't think there are any major problems that will inhibit my participation.  While I would like to tell my parents that I need a smartphone for this class, that wouldn't really be honest.  As long as I can make time for the work I should be fine.

2.  Think of an awesome best ever learning experience that changed you. What did you learn? Where were you? What happened? Who else was there? Did it teach you anything about how you learn (or pay attention... or remember, or think?) How did you know what was happening?
A great learning experience for me was going to the outdoor school.  There I learned about nature and living in the wilderness.  All my friends were there with me, so that made it easy to have fun.  That was definitely the best part, learning and having fun at the same time.  I was interested and engaged so it was easy to pick up something new from the camp.  I learned from the camp that if I can be engaged then I will learn and I will enjoy it.

3.What are you most [excited/concerned] about in this class? What do you look forward to in learning?  How do you think it can/will make a practical difference in your life?
I am most excited with all the writing.  I think that by the end of this class I will be a much more effective writer, even if by only an abundance of practice.  I look forward to seeing more cohesiveness in my ideas.     Writing can make a big difference in my life.  It can help me with my college application essay,but also practically in the real world.  Writing is one of the most prominent forms of communication, and by utilizing it I will be spreading my message out to everyone.

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate -indicate faintly,report in outline
I was adumbrated for a surprise, but nothing of this caliber.

apotheosis - glorification to a divine level
Ancient monarchies had rulers who underwent apotheosis.

ascetic -one who renounces comforts in pursuit of self-discipline, often for religious purposes.
She was a austere ascetic; denying herself the pleasures of even reading too flowery of writing.

bauble -a showing ornament of little value
Their Christmas tree was loaded with baubles.

beguile -charm, enchant, or trick someone into doing something
On a cold winter day, I have to beguile my dog outside.

burgeon -flourish, rapidly increase
The views of my blog are starting to burgeon.

complement -completes or brings to perfection
An Alaskan quarter would complement my near-finished coin collection.

contumacious-stubbornly disobedient
The unruly 3-year-old was very contumacious

curmudgeon -a bad tempered or surly person
He was brilliant but his teachers marked him as a curmudgeon.

didactic- intended to convey instruction as well as pleasure and entertainment
I liked his sermons; they were very didactic.

disingenuous- insincere, usually by pretending one knows less than they actually do
He answered me disingenuously; he and I both know what happened to the last piece of cake.

exculpate -declare one as not guilty of wrongdoing.
The jury exculpated George Zimmerman of and crimes.

faux pas-a social blunder
I made the faux pas of asking her age.

fulminate -express vehement protest
I fulminated against my new curfew.

fustian-pompous language
Darcy's fustian speech turned Elizabeth against him initially.

hauteur-pride, haughtiness
Her manner was uninviting and hauteur.

inhibit-hinder, restrain, or prevent
My eyesight inhibited my acceptance to the air force.

jeremiad -a prolonged lamentation
He presented us with a jeremiad about how nothing was going his way.

opportunist -one who takes advantage of opportunities often at the expense of ethics
Looters are the worst kind of opportunists.

unconscionable-not reasonable, excessive
I felt the punishment was unconscionable.

Montaigne/Austen Essay

David Forster Wallace believed that thought was too rapid to be captured by pen.  The two authors Montaigne and Austen have different approaches to combat this dilemma.  Montaigne’s writing is most well-known for trying to keep up with his thoughts in a stream-of-consciousness narrative.  Austen’s style, on the other hand, seems to be thought-out and conservative.  The two authors use very different methods to convey their thoughts; Montaigne writing them down before he loses them and Austen organizing them until they made perfect sense.  
Montaigne’s techniques and flow between topics seem to serve as a counterexample to Wallace’s observation.  His writing flows from topic to topic as his mind draws connections.  His essays rarely end anywhere close to where they began.  Just look at the titles and the amount of time he actually focuses on that topic.  That being said, I believe that Montaigne would actually agree that your mind is too quick for the pen to keep up with.  While Montaigne certainly attempted to capture his thoughts as the rushed past him, probably wouldn't go as far to say that he captured all of them.  He could only scratch the surface and hope to give the reader a peek into his thoughts.
Austen’s conservative style of writing contradicts the style of Montaigne.  She organized her thoughts into a chronological story, making it very easy for the reader to follow.  Her developed characters face real problems, illustrating concrete themes.  She is a writer who probably made multiple drafts and made every sentence and every word count.  Margaret Drabble’s preface to the book credits her writing process.  Though Austen says the book “wants to be stretched out here and there,” she is credited for her novel’s “poise and coherence of subject and style.”  For example, she plans Elizabeth’s initial reaction to Darcy to be negative, she sees him as haughty and arrogant.  Her haste in judgment develops the plot by putting more history between her and Darcy.  The first impressions like this all carry weight throughout the novel, demonstrating Austen’s planning process.
When writing, an author must make a decision how to make sense of the explosion of synapses going on in their mind. Montaigne tried to capture each explosion and put it on paper before it was gone.  Austen let the explosions pass and forced her thought out through a sieve, weeding out whatever was incomprehensible or unnecessary.  Both techniques deserve their merits.  Clearly you cannot transcribe every single thought onto paper, but you can choose a method to make a portion of them last.

1987 AP Exam

As all AP level questions, the questions on this test were pretty difficult.  Usually I can narrow down the choices and be fairly confident in my answer.  On this test I struggled on the poetry.  I actually did really well on the first passage, but not so much on the poetry passages.  I don't recall seeing as much or as difficult poetry on last year's AP exam, so that should be a focus for me this year.  Here is my take on a couple of questions from the exam.

10.  I thought this was an easy one.  The passage had just compared the human soul to glitter and said the angels "beat him down into nothing but sparks."  So, by little sparks, the author meant the human soul.

19.  I had no idea what the author meant by "wearing the Bays."  "Bays" was capitalized so I guessed that it was some type of clothing relevant to the time period, but I was incorrect.  Using context I could have guessed correctly that it had something to do with poetry.  Clearly it was an allusion that I did not get the reference to.

27.  These are the type of questions I like.  Basically by rereading the passage, I could see that poets lack greed, seditiousness, fraudulence, and gluttony.  All of these were supported by the text.  Nothing is mentioned about vanity, so the correct answer is D.

55.  There was just too much going on for me to follow on this one.  Retrospectively, I can see that muse serves as an adjective modifying "I," but while taking the test I couldn't trace it back that far.

56. On this one I struggled to follow the text.  I narrowed it down to A or B, almost went with B then changed it to A.  Next time I should question both answers and stick to my initial feeling if there is not a good reason not to.

Poetry #1

1. The Levi's commercial borrows from the poem The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski.
2.  It is ironic for a large corporation to be promoting a poem that celebrates individuality and freedom and encourages to seize your opportunities, when they are trying to tell you what to do by advertising their product.
3.The poem reflects Bukowski's reputation of writing from the perspective of the ordinary people.  Most affluent people do not have to worry about being " clubbed into dank submission" and probably receive more than there share of chances from the gods.
4. My research for answers #1 and #3 started with a simple Google search of the phrase "your life is your life" and of the name Charles Bukowski.  I then found the website titled The Best American Poetry which had the title, author, and lyrics on the site.  After searching Bukowski's name I found a website addressed http://www.poetryfoundation.org which had a bio of Bukowski on its site.

Essay #1

Exile in Africa

                In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Orleanna Price experiences an exile. Through the will of her husband she and her family are dragged into the destitute land of the Congo.  The family must overcome physical and physiological barriers they have never come across before.  The exile creates positive and negative effects in Orleanna Price.  She tasted the sweetness of freedom from her husband as well as the bitterness of the loss of her daughter. These contrasting feelings add depth to her character.  They pose the question: how did Africa change her?

                Orleanna experiences alienation in many ways while in Africa.  Most obviously was her removal from the society she had lived with her whole life.  But she could overcome that relatively easy.  The more biting alienation was the one she experienced from her family.  Her husband did not respect her or treat her as an equal, with none of her other housewife friends, she had no merit in Africa.  Initially her children did not particularly look for her direction.  Leah was busy being her father’s shadow, Adah always had her own thing going on, and Rachel couldn't get along with either of her parents.  Her kids do not turn to her until things started going wrong and their father’s audacity had to be second-guessed.  Orleanna tried to cling to the world she knew by packing cakes for her children’s birthdays.  The failure of baking the cakes is symbolic of the fact that Africa has changed her, even if she wants to pretend that it hasn’t.

                Orleanna also experiences enlightenment of sorts from Africa.  She gains an appreciation for nature that followed her home to the United States.  She gardens and daydreams of the okapi she spied in Africa.  She also owes her liberty to her exile.  Her husband’s persistent obstinacy leads to the death of her youngest child, which sets her over the edge.  At that point she can tolerate him no longer.  She rounds up the children and takes matters into her own hands.  They are leaving Africa.  It took a great shock like the loss of her daughter to push her into action.  Had she never been exiled, she would have tolerated her husband’s subjugation all her life.

                Africa changed Orleanna price.  At first, it took her away from the community she knew and loved.  It created a wedge between her and her daughters.  Then things went awry.  She lost a daughter.  She then saved herself and her daughters from the dangers of a religious zeal to passionate in Nathan Price.  She gained her freedom and a appreciation for nature, as well as the struggles of the third world.  She experienced enrichment and alienation and came out a different, more complex person.

Big Question

How are people capable of finding happiness in destitute conditions, yet are also able to find misery or at least discontent in the most optimal of circumstances?