AP Lit. Term

Paradox- a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or 

absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth

 

• A statement contrary to received opinion

• An opinion that conflicts with common belief

• Contradictory qualities or phases

Examples:

• It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often, since they are meant to save people time and energy

• The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.

Thinking Outside the Box

In  "Allegory of the Cave", Plato describes a group of people chained together, whom believe what they see and experience to be truth due to that being all they have known. Plato describes people unable to think for themselves, because hey have been merely confined from knowledge and reject new ways of thinking and ideas.  When the man is able to go out of the cave and learn of other things, no one believes him. We tend to reject new things, which is ultimately what is holding us back from blossoming.

Sarte described in, "No Exit," the experiences of three people in hell. These people don't come to the terms of being in hell because their expectations of hell are much different than their experiences. They unconsciously decide not to help each other figure out what is going on. Instead they create a personal hell, and begin torturing each other. These stories are similar in their characters struggles. They are unable or unwilling to figure out their problems and reach out into new possibilities and knowledge.

 Sartre and Plato use different writing techniques and to get there message and purpose to the audience. Plato’s allegory uses dialogue within the story to illustrate his ideas. The people are limited to their thoughts not by force, but because it is their own personal choice. The “shackles” in the story represent the characters themselves, and even after the man escaped and came back to teach them, they refused his knowledge. The problem of the people isn't that they are incompetent  but that they  refuse to branch out and grasp knew knowledge presented before them. Humanity tends to set their own limitations.
 Sartre's writing on the other hand uses an actual conversation between characters  to set the tone and theme in action. In a similar way, the characters in, "No Exit" have there own limitations they have set, but also have been set for them. They perceive hell to be a certain way and don't even think twice to look for the answer.The limitations being set for them being them being placed there without a further word of instruction.

There are such distinction in the writings of these author, and yet they have a similar purpose. The purpose being the limitations we set or have been set on the human mind.

The House on Mango Street

1.The House on Mango Street is about a young girl named Esperanza who has moved with her family into a house on Mango Street. The family is of Mexican heritage and struggles economically. Esperanza does not understand her family struggles and ultimately resists the move. The time span of the novel was her first year living on Mango Street, and Esperanza speaks nothing but negative things to the town, house, and people living on the street. Within that year it is seen Esperanza making new friends, Rachel and Lucy, whom she always fights with yet can not separate from. Within the novel it is seen Esperanza ultimately maturing into a young lady. Her feelings of the move has not changed, but ultimately finds other things to think about. She  fantasizes about boys and discusses leaving the town to find love. Esperanza finds a friend named Sally whom has the same wishes. With influence from Sally, Esperanza begins to feel neglected by her family and wants to leave Mango Street more than ever before.  As the time came, Esperanza feels that it's time for her to leave home on Mango Street but she just can not bring herself to do so. She looks to writing as an escape. She writes to avoid the truth that she'll never be able to leave Mango Street.
  2. The theme of the novel is the fight between physical and mental decisions. Throughout the novel Esperanza wants to grow up and be like the other older kids she observes on Mango Street. Though she does not want to live there she wants what the other kids have. Esperanza fight the physical decision to leave Mango Street. When the time came for her to do so, sh couldn't follow through. From the beginning Esperanza wished to leave and make a life of her own away from Mango Street. She comes to the conclusion that she is physically and mentally unable without he family.

• Someday I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them. Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor. (3.4)

• When I am to sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. […] Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be. (29.4)

  3.Sandra Cisneros's tone in the novel is desirable, hopeful and earnest. You see this in the novel when Esperanza hopes to to leave Mango Street, the reasons for it, and how to make it possible. It is made clear that Esperanza dislikes Mango Street and is tired of seeing the families in a wealthier, more comfortable lifestyle than her.
  4.Sandra Cisneros's uses various literary elements, being personification, similes, allusions, and hyperbole.

• "Sally is the girl with eyes like Egypt and nylons the color of smoke. The boys at school think she's beautiful because her hair is shiny black like raven feathers and when she laughs, she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl over her shoulders and laughs"

•  " They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger."

• "The kids bend trees and bounce between cars and dangle upside down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you can't replace."

Big Question.

Is there a genetic quality or environmental factor to
make someone more likely to commit murder?

Hamlet

   Performative utterance and self-overhearing play a major role in the play, Hamlet and its plot. Performative utterance, being the speaking of statements that fulfill an action rather describing the statement. Not only does his self-overhearing affect his choices, but impacts the other characters in the play.

  The whole plot of the play is dependent on Hamlet’s thoughts and decisions to act upon those thoughts. Hamlet as seen in his, “To be or not to be,” soliloquy was to show his indecisiveness about his decisions. Though, he does talk out his thoughts, what he wants to do, and how to proceed with it. This soliloquy gives us an insight to Hamlet’s inner workings

   

   When Hamlet speaks out loud it affects the plot because he not only gives us more insight but also foreshadows what is to come. We receive a glimpse of what a possibility could happen. With him saying these words out loud he not only helps the reader to see a clear picture, but is able to resolve his personal issues.

  That is where Hamlet’s and my own self-overhearing are similar. I feel my decisions are more clearer when they are spoken out loud and thoroughly. Without performative utterance things always have the possibility of turning out differently, and that is seen clearly. The plot might have turned out differently if Hamlet did not expose and think out his decisions. That is why it makes such a similar impact on our own lives.

Hamlet vs. Beowulf

When comparing novels, characters and character traits must also be compared. The novel is nothing more than its characters,and when it comes to Beowulf and Hamlet, the characters couldn't be any more different.  A few centuries apart, the novels were written in different styles and overall influences among the authors, which allowed room for differentiation.

In the poem of Beowulf, this heroic Beowulf was portrayed as a courageous warrior and a reliable king. His flaws were minuscule, but his ability and ambition was grand. Beowulf was a man, even in his young years, you wanted to protection from. As a king he was noble in his ways of protecting his kingdom from those who apposed a threat.

In contradiction we have a young Hamlet, who at a time in the play was very confused, mournful, and revengeful. He had many things weighing heavily on his head and he couldn't find a way to simply solve them out. When it came time for him to follow through with some of his decisions, it seems he was indecisive in his decisions he knew he must make. "To be or not to be." he begins his soliloquy. As young and inexperienced with near death situations as Hamlet was, he was well advanced in the understanding of possibilities in this world. He thought of situations and life decisions. As seen in the soliliquy, " To grunt and sweat, under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death." Hamlet had more than the ability to think through and make decisions for himself.

I think what makes Hamlet so much more different than Beowulf, is their life positions. Yes, they are both placed in a high society position, but their roles couldn't be any similar. Hamlet is a young man who lost his father, betrayed by his mother, looked to be killed by his uncle, and through all of this is alone. Beowulf on the other hand is a well known warrior/king who has fighting skills that allows him to fight against the monsters.

"The undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?" Hamlet's struggles is much different than that of Beowulf's. In their speech alone it is seen their differences and overall demeanor is not similar.

AP English Literature

The concepts I will take from this class will be the general one taught about the internet. For years I have spent time on the computer without fully understanding this new technology that has brought us many beneficial things. There was no visible problem, so I never felt the need to question it. That wasn't until I enrolled in this class that is. Throughout the first couple of months, we began learning the underlying manipulation, and problems with the internet and the company of Google. I began to look to other things, and think of how other things may be run in the same way.  In a way, we began to re-learn how to use the internet.

This class has gone beyond the edges of the normal lesson plans of an average English class. Yes, this class is tough, hard work, and at times an all consumerist of time, but I feel its benefiting my peers and I. We have learned things we never questioned before, solely because that's been all we have known. We have tackled Hamlet, participated in  video conference with some of the most intelligent males, and I am sure there is more to come that will set us up to grow as individuals and prepare us for the years to come. We are learning lessons for life, rather for the upcoming test. I am now realizing the differences between my other classes and their routine lessons, and this class.

Roy Christopher video conference

Notes/Highlights

1. Medium Picture- Changing of life with technology
2. How can we train ourselves to participate in the network?

          -Sometimes we will, sometimes we won't
          -Learning the backhand isn't necessary. You don't need to know how
            the car works to drive it
          -Program or be programmed
     
      3."The older generation has no trust for the youth wit this stuff (new technology).
           People are smarter than you think they are."

      4.  Should we be embarrassed by our behavior or the older generation?
            -We should be embarrassed by their unwillingness to trust
            - The embarrassment should not and most likely will not stop the advances

      5.  Multitasking:
          -There is no multitasking. It is merely adjusting.
          -More complex than we try to make it
          -When focused on multiple tasks at a time, the quality plumets
  
The end is up to you.
 

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

1. Generally, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is about a 1964 couple who are pregnant with twins. While stuck in a blizzard, Dr. David Henry has no choice but to deliver his own babies. While his wife, Norah, was in labor he called upon his nurse Caroline for help. Norah first gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Paul, but when the baby girl came into the world, it was apparent that something was wrong. The baby girl was born with Down Syndrome, and Dr. Henry made a split decision that would change their lives forever. He had the baby taken immediately away and proclaimed dead before Norah found out that there was different problem. Caroline was put in charge of taking the baby, Phoebe, to the correct facility, but can't bare to leave the baby to grow up in a place with such horrible living conditions. So, she decided to keep her and ultimately start a new life she has always wished for with his baby. Ultimately, life with Phoebe turns out well. On the other hand, as life goes on for the Henry family, it isn't as fortunate. Norah is forever haunted from the daughter she lost, and finds comfort in burying herself in her job. David looks to photography and being the "memory keeper", with the secret weighing heavy on his heart. He keeps track of Phoebe and her where abouts, keeping photos from Caroline, as she grows up. Paul, the son, feels to be a disappointment to his father and looks to music for comfort. Norah and David's marriage ultimately leads to a divorce.As the secret unravels, hearts are hurt, anger lingers in the air, and a sweet reunion of mother and daughter, brother and sister brings a greater love that could ever be experienced. But after David's sudden heart attack leaving him dead, Norah discovered his memory keeping photos of Phoebe growing up which leaves her to see a side of her husband she never knew.
2. A theme discovered in The Memory Keeper's Daughter would have to be deception. Kim Edwards does a great job of showing how lies and deception can be destructive within a family. Somewhere under that decision it was for a good cause, but ultimately pulled this family apart.
3. The overall tone in the novel was very solemn, grave, and melancholy. This was an issue weighing heavy on everyone. A father deceiving his wife into believing their child is dead, and a mother going through life believing her baby girl is dead.

• "This was her life. Not the life she had once dreamed of, not a life her younger self would ever have imagined or desired, but the life she was living, with all its complexities. This was her life, built with care and attention, and it was good." (page 254)

• "Lately, the world felt fragile, like a blown egg, as if it might shatter beneath a careless touch." (page 375)

• "You can't stop time. You can't capture light. You can only turn your face up and let it rain down." (page 319)

4. Kim Edwards used literary elements and techniques that helped me to understand the theme. Edwards did an excellent job using imagery, figurative language, syntax, and symbolism. Imagery and figurative language is used throughout the book, especially in describing people and objects. When the thoughts of David and Norah were evident, being descriptive let the reader be exposed to their pain.
The author's syntax includes speaking in the first person, which allows you to see all the pain behind the characters and what they are experiencing.

•  "You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy." (page 249)

• "Either things grow and change or they die." (page 376)

Tools That Change The Way We Think

I have noticed that by using extensive internet, media,and technology it has really impacted the way I think. I'm more interested in getting the quick facts rather the whole background information. In a matter of seconds, I have the information I need, and I don't feel the need to look any further or dig deeper to confirm if the facts are true. I am willing to admit that my concentration is repeatedly broken. I am focused on a researching task, but then a new tab is opened, and suddenly I find my attention focused else where. Whether it be Facebook, Tumblr, or Youtube, my attention is there rather getting the information. With these daily distractions, researching is getting harder for people to do. It is becoming a bothersome thing, and something they aren't willing to spend time on. It's unfortunate that it had come to this, but its something we all struggle with.

Notes on Hamlet

Taking notes in general is a difficult thing for me. It's picking out the certain things that are important which is difficult and not writing down useless things. I felt Hamlet was a hard task to take notes on this, because to take notes, I feel you have to have a full understanding of the characters and the situations. That was something I didn't have. I though Hamlet was some psycho youngster who was getting crazier by the second, but ultimately he is smarter and wittier than I expected, than anyone expected. I don't know what lies ahead for Hamlet in the future, but I'm guessing it will be good.

Who was Shakespeare?

There is only a limited amount of strong background information on William Shakespeare. It is agreed that he was born in 1564 and lived in England.  His parents were John Shakespeare who was a landowner and glovemaker, and his mom was Mary Arden.  He was married at 18 to Anne Hathaway, and they had a daughter and another girl who was once a twin.  He died in 1616 and had collaborated 32 total plays.  I essentially googled "Who was Shakespeare?" And I was sent to this website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html 

Shakespeare was a complex writer, that leads people to different translations and  understandings of his writings. I found the material hard to understand as it was without the iambic pentameter, and Old English writing. Once I read it slowly, studied it I found it easier to understand. Of course, it is still quite difficult to understand, and most likely always will, but I'm getting the hang of it.

To Facebook or not to Facebook?

With teens waiting and wanting to be wrapped up in the next big thing, it was nothing different when Myspace was dropped for Facebook. I was always careful of what I put on Myspace, due to stories and situations linked to exposure on Myspace. I found myself having the same want of security and privacy.

You can find both benefits and not so many fortunate things involved with Facebook. Little did I know, slowly and deceitfully my privacy was being taken from me. My information, I though was being kept private was slowly being leaked to the public. Reading an article on Facebook, made me realize the real issues going on with Facebook and those who are head of it. CEO of Facebook knew the problems with privacy and he was told to quiet up and ultimately left the company. These people are looking to make money and invading children's privacy is something they are willing to take advantage of.

Facebook is very beneficial and convenient to reunite old friends, stay in contact with long distant friends. You are able to see your friends and event going on at your finger tips. You stay in contact whether you talk to your friend constantly or not.

Facebook has good and bad things going for it. I don't think people should boycott it because there are certain things on Facebook that are enjoyable, but I feel you should be careful. Be careful what you put, click on, and say on Facebook, or any website.

(Don't) be Hamlet

To continue to exist or end it all, is the dilemma, Hamlet struggles with. To commit suicide or go on with the struggles one ill be forced to bare is something he can't seem to make a firm decision on. It isn't necessarily his personal decision to commit suicide, but a general thought of the process whether to or not. He contemplates it all.    

Hamlet is struggling with his father's death, his mother's marriage to his uncle, appearances from a ghost, and the murder of his father coming from his uncle. This would drive anyone to insanity and for Hamlet is not much different. He contemplates suicide in general, in a way of sorting all these issues out. What needs to be known is that it won't solve the problems that are still left on earth, you are merely removing yourself from the equation.

By Hamlet coming suicide, it would not show a good example to those who look up to him. He has been given a privilege at birth, and with that privilege comes responsibility. He will not only be hurting himself but all who love him. He will hurt his mother, his friends, and the girl, Ophelia, he has formed a bond with. With suicide he would be put into the category of might I say, coward. He would rather take himself away from the equation rather himself figuring it out. Suicide is not an option for Hamlet. He has too much ahead of him, and struggles to deal with. n the end he will come out victorious.

Literature Analysis

 Emma ~ Jane Austen

1. The novel Emma, is set in the early 19th century, amongst England. The novel is centered around a privileged young woman named Emma Woodhouse, her dearest friends, and those she comes into counter with. Though she vows never to marry, she takes pleasure in trying to match her friends and acquaintances up with who she believes to be a perfect match. While going through her charade of match making, she finds her good intentions to back fire and ultimately hurt her good friend, Harriet. Throughout the novel, it is seen those who find marriage to be something less than important, those who find marriage sacred, a way of tradition, and a fortunate way to build up your social status. In the end as predicted, everyone ends up happily in love with the one they were ultimately, "meant to be" with. Emma breaks her vow of never marrying, and finds herself in a fortunate marriage, with the foundation of love.
2. The theme of Emma would have to be marriage and social status issues. Throughout the whole novel it is made known of those who are married, engaged, or the blossoming of engagement. Marriage was absolutely a big deal in society at this time. The men who had land and a good income were in look and want of a wife, and it wasn't only a man in want but also a woman. Woman didn't have much say in the matter of land and building up a home, and they looked to marriage as a sense of security. Most abused this notion, only looking to this as a way to build up their status in society.  Those who were privileged married privileged people. Emma was a prime example of resiting this notion of tradition.
3. Jane Austen's tone throughout the novel was satirical and also sympathetic. Austen made it known how things ran for a woman in society. On the satirical side came to be known while Emma was match making and trying to set up people for marriage. It did not matter if they were really in love, marriage was seen as something different in this era. And that's also where the sympathetic tone came about, for some people, it wasn't about love, but merely looking to get that security and follow tradition.

•  " A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he is attached to her, and can write a tolerable letter." (7.31)

• "It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body who asks her." (8.34)

• "It is fit that the fortune should be on his side, for I think the merit will be all on hers." (48.13)

4. The literary devices that helped me to understand the themes would be foreshadowing. It was hinted of certain events within conversations to happens, and ultimately the did end up coming true. Also, her tone, diction, and syntax had proved and brought forth her intention in the themes.

• "It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, making light of what ought to be serious, a trick of what ought to be simple." (16.10)

• "Emma's very good opinion of Frank Churchill was a little shaken the following day, by hearing that he was gone off to London, merely to have his hair cut." (25.1)

• "Can you trust me with such flatterers?—Does my vain spirit ever tell me I am wrong?" (38.47)