Character Study (III)

We were just about to enter through the giant gates of Candy Land when we saw a hitchhiker but this wasn’t just a normal human, this was a three headed human. Out of curiosity we pulled over to ask them how they became conjoined, they told us that a dragon had bitten the three of them and that the dragon had magical venom. The venom had morphed their bodies together. After knowing this, we thought that since they had faced the dragon before they could help us defeat it. So they hopped into the motor home and told us their names. Their names were quite odd, they were Dan Smith, EEEEE EEEEEEEE, and Tyroil Smoochie Williams. Then we continued on our way.

Character Study (II)

Now let me elaborate a little bit on how my companions and I got together to create the one of a kind group known as the Revengers. We were called together by our queen, Queen Sarah. She calls on us every time our great country, Ice Land, is in dire jeopardy. This time we were called together to risk our lives to save the kingdom of Candy Land which is ruled by Queen Rachel. The kingdom is currently being over run by an evil dragon. So now that you know what our mission is and how my companions and I were called together, I will now introduce you to the members of the Revengers. There is Professor A, who to be completely honest, is the brains of the operation. Ninja Whitney and her horse Thunder are the swift sneaky ones that have the ability to get into anywhere and of course there is me the Human Bird Fish. Now back to the story, Queen Rachel and her driver, Connor, has come to pick us up and take is into Candy Land in her candy motor home. As we were making our trek across the land of Ice Land we found out a few interesting details about the dragon. Apparently, Connor gave it to Queen Rachel as a baby to thank her for sparing his life. We continued on our journey, but little did we know the twists and turns this adventure would take from here.

Character Study (I)

Hi, my name is Breanna I am a human bird by day and a human fish by night. I look like a human on land but I can grow wings and fly but when night falls I lose the ability to fly and gain the ability to swim and breathe like a fish in water. I am preparing to embark upon a journey to a far off land and in preparation I plan to make sure that I have companions that will help me during my journey. They will be creatures with special gift much like myself. I will not have to worry about packing food because I can catch food myself. This journey I am about to embark on will be an adventurous one that my companions and I are excited to begin. 

My Cool New Dashboard!

The dashboard that i created is way more cool than i thought it would be. I was making the dashboard because it was an assignment but i actually found it to be really useful. I have two columns the one on the left contains the stuff that is relevant to my life...stuff like a what to do list, my email, and scholarship opportunities. On the right side, i had stuff like the news, the weather, sports updates, and the TV Guide. I made this my browser launch page and i think its really pretty and really easy to create.

Vocabulary 4+5=6 Study Guide

Accolade: An award or privilege granted for special honor.

* Think of winning a trophy because you won the tournament.

Acerbity: A sharp bitterness.

* Think of acid and that if you ate it it would be bitter.

Attrition: The act of weakening by attack or pressure.

*Think of attacking and that after awhile it weakens you.

Bromide: An unoriginal idea or remark.

*Think of bromide as a chemical and that its unoriginal because it was discovered along time ago.

Chauvinist: A person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.

*Think of activist and that they over exaggerate their cause.

Chronic: Persisting for a long time.

*Think of having chronic headaches because they last a long time.

Expound: Present and explain systematically in detail.

*Think of explaining by the pound(in detail).

Factionalism: Relating or belonging to a faction (group).

*Think of coalition and that it is a group.

Immaculate: Perfectly clean and tidy.

*Think of Whitney’s immaculate room.

Imprecation: A spoken curse.

*Think of a curse should make you cautious.

Ineluctable: Can't be resisted or avoided.

*Think of delectable and you can’t resist delectable food.

Mercurial: Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes in mood or mind.

*Think of if you eat mercury it will cause a sudden change in mind because its poisonous.

Palliate: To make less severe or unpleasant.

*Think of alleviate and that should make you think of making things less painful.

Protocol: The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state.

*Think of maintaining protocol to get the job done.

Resplendent: Attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.

*Think of splendor and that splendorous things are bright and colorful.

Stigmatize: Described or regarded as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval.

*Think of dramatize and that dramatic people are disgraceful because they create drama.

Sub rosa: Happening or done in secret.

*Think of sub being underground so its done in secret like the underground railroad.

Vainglory: Excessively vain.

*Think of vain being vain.

Vestige: A trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.

*Think of a vest and that they are no longer trendy but people still wear them.

Volition: The faculty or power of using one's will.

*Think of volt and voltages have a lot of power.

Obsequious: Obedient

*Think of obedient because the first letters.

Beatitude: Supreme blessedness.

*Think of Matthew 5 in the bible because it talks about the beatitudes and God blesses.

Bete noire: A person or thing that one particularly dislikes or dreads.

*Think of betting someone and you want to beat them so you dislike them.

Bode: To predict.

*Think of I don’t know you will just have to memorize it.

Dank: Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.

*Think of the bottom of a tank that has not been cleaned and its cold and musty.

Ecumenical: Representing a number of different Christian churches; nondenominational.

Fervid: Intensely enthusiastic or passionate, to an excessive degree.

*Think of being fervid for a college degree.

Fetid: Smelling extremely unpleasant.

*Think of stinky feet.

Gargantuan: Enormous.

*Think of gigantic and gargantuan kind of sounding the same and gigantic is something that is big.

Heyday: The time of a persons greatness in success, popularity, or vigor.

*Think of when you find the needle in the hay you have reached your greatest success. 

Incubus: Something that weighs upon or oppresses someone like a nightmare.

*Think of the band incubus and that they sing songs about sad stuff and nightmares. (I think)

Infrastructure: The basic structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

*Think of structure and in infrastructure and that you need a structure to create an enterprise.

Inveigle: Persuade to do something by means of flattery or deception.

*Think of finagle and inveigle because they rhyme and finagle means to try to get something.

Kudos: Praise and honor received for an achievement.

*Think of kudos as kidos(like kids) and that they receive praise for doing things.

Lagniappe: Something given as a bonus or extra gift.

Prolix: Using or containing too many words, tediously lengthy.

*Think of 

Protégé: A person who is guided by an older wiser person.

*Think of 

Prototype: A first model of something.

*Think of

Sycophant: A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.

*Think of to sync with someone in order to gain from them. 

Tautology: The saying of the same thing twice in different ways.

*Think of taunting someone and that makes me think of copying what someone else says; repeating the words twice.

Truckle: To submit.

*Think of tucking in your shirt and its like submitting the bottom of your shirt to your jeans. 

What A Character

A fictional character that made the biggest impression on me was Scout from To Kill a Mocking Bird. She left an impression on me because she wasn’t what society thought she should be. She was intelligent and always does things with the best intentions. Literary techniques that contributed to the overall effect is the authors use of imagery.

Vocabulary #5

Obsequious: Obedient

Beatitude: Supreme blessedness.

Bete noire: A person or thing that one particularly dislikes or dreads.

Bode: To predict.

Dank: Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.

Ecumenical: Representing a number of different Christian churches; nondenominational.

Fervid: Intensely enthusiastic or passionate, to an excessive degree.

Fetid: Smelling extremely unpleasant.

Gargantuan: Enormous.

Heyday: The time of a persons greatness in success, popularity, or vigor.

Incubus: Something that weighs upon or oppresses someone like a nightmare.

Infrastructure: The basic structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

Inveigle: Persuade to do something by means of flattery or deception.

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.

Protégé: A person who is guided by an older wiser person.

Prototype: A first model of something.

Sycophant: A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.

Tautology: The saying of the same thing twice in different ways.

Truckle: To submit.

Declaration of Learning Independence

My goal as of right now is do to my best I can in my classes this year and graduate. I will be going to Seattle University to play softball. I am not sure what i want to major in so i am hoping that this year i will discover what truly interests me and go for it in college.

Literature Analysis #1

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same). 

• The plot begins with Silas entering the town of Raveloe because of being accused of stealing a large amount of money. While in Raveloe he keeps his distance from the town and doesn’t make any real connections with the towns people. He lives in a small cottage while the rich cass family lives in a big red house. Many think of Silas as an outsider with wealth. Godfrey cass and his brother Dunsey are wealthy heirs to the cass fortune. One night when Silas is not home Dunsey steals his money. So he is left poor and lonely. That is until one night when Godfrey’s wife (that nobody knows about) arrives to town to prove that she is his wife and has his baby. However, she dies before she makes it and the young girl finds her way to Silas’s house. He takes care of her (he names her eppie) and she loves him as a dad.  Years later when Godfrey’s brother is found at the bottom of Silas’s well with the money that was stolen from Silas thus making Godfrey tell his current wife about his dead wife and daughter. Godfrey wants his daughter back but she chooses to stay with Silas. Silas is happy and eppie serves as a link between him and the community. Silas later visits the town he once left a long time ago and realized how much it changed and that the accusation of him being a thief was no longer important. The inciting incident of this story is when Godfrey’s younger brother Dunsey is found at the bottom of the well with Silas’s money. 

1. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

• A theme in this novel is the difference between classes and how they can rise above it. Silas is poor but takes care of a girl who belongs to a rich man and that kid bridges the gap between both classes.  

1. Describe the author's tone. 

• The authors tone is strong but understanding.

1. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

• Foreshadowing- The disappearance of Dunsey and the fact that Dunsey walked by the house and though of robbing Silas was foreshadowing that Dunsey died with Silas’s money.
• Protagonist- The protagonist is Silas Marner
• Motif- Class is the motif because it plays apart throughout the entire novel. It is the basis for everything that happens.
• Irony- The irony in this book is the death of Dunsey. “No he fell in… Dunsey is the man who robbed Silas Marner”  page 162. The irony is that he stole from Silas and then he fell into a well and died.
• Tragedy- There are several tragedies in this story. One is the death of Eppies mother, “The mother’s dead, and I reckon its got no father.” Pg. 188
• Point-of-view- The point of view is third person omniscient. “Godfrey bit his lips and clenched his fist.” page 26

All Of The Above

On the AP Practice Test I did not do as well as I would have liked. I got most of the hard questions wrong and I missed a few easy ones just because of silly errors in reading. When I went back and looked at the questions that I missed, I wondered how I got some of the ones wrong and I guess I need to make sure that I focus on the question at hand rather than worrying about the time and the amount of questions that I still have to answer. I also think that learning more vocabulary will help me answer the harder ones as well.

The one’s I missed w/correct answers:

1/c 2/a 6/d 7/e 9/e 13/b 15/a 19/a 21/e 22/e 25/c 30/a 32/d 49/c 52/b 55/a 56/b 59/e 61/a

Vocabulary #4

Accolade: An award or privilege granted for special honor.

-She received many accolades because of her good grades.

Acerbity: A sharp bitterness.

-Her acerbity towards her parents was very noticeable. 

Attrition: The act of weakening by attack or pressure.

-I could sense my parents attrition towards buying me a new bike after I kept asking for hours.

 Bromide: An unoriginal idea or remark.

-I could tell her essay was bromide because I heard the same thing in someone else’s paper.

Chauvinist: A person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.

-I saw a chauvinist veteran in the parade on Veterans’s Day.

Chronic: Persisting for a long time.

-I knew this girl who had chronic headaches that drove her mad.

Expound: Present and explain systematically in detail.

-In order for the students to understand the new topic the teach had to expound the topic several times.

Factionalism: Relating or belonging to a faction (group).

-There is factionalism in clubs at school.

Immaculate: Perfectly clean and tidy.

-My friend always keeps her room immaculate. I’ve never seen it messy.

Imprecation: A spoken curse.

-As Mercutio laid their dying he put a imprecation on both Romeo and Juliet’s households.

Ineluctable: Can't be resisted or avoided.

-Trying not to hit any red lights was ineluctable.

Mercurial: Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes in mood or mind.

-My parents can be mercurial about things.

Palliate: To make less severe or unpleasant.

-The girl was in so much pain everyone just tried to palliate the pain.

Protocol: The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state.

-It was protocol for the public to vote before a president could be selected.

Resplendent: Attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.

-Her resplendent dress stood out amongst the rest of dresses.

Stigmatize: Described or regarded as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval.

-His mother stigmatized hers sons new girlfriend because of the way she dressed.

Sub rosa: Happening or done in secret.

-In order to throw a surprise parter, one must do things sub rosa.

Vainglory: Excessively vain.

-After winning all of the prizes, she was vainglory and nobody wanted to be around her.

Vestige: A trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.

-The missing girl left a vestige of things that led me straight to her.

Volition: The faculty or power of using one's will.

-Her volition is what drove her to winning the dance contest.

Beowulf Essay

“Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things” Heroes from across each decade, culture, society are all cut from the same cloth. They always defeat evil because of their unnatural abilities. Heroes are the imagination of the society that creates them. Both Beowulf and Iron man share similar characteristics, not only as characters, but as symbols of the times in which they were created.  They both posses traits that hurt and helped those around them. Each hero is portrayed through a series of literary techniques.

Iron man and Beowulf are both confident in their abilities and use that to defeat evil. Although, their confidence can be misconstrued as cockiness and sometimes even hurts them; it makes them who they are. Beowulf is so confident that it ultimately what brings him to is death. He tells his companion to wait and let him go kill the dragon but by doing so he gets himself in to trouble. Iron man is similar to Beowulf in that he doesn’t think that he needs any help from anyone and that gets him into trouble. The authors of both heroes use allusions to tell their stories. Beowulf alludes to the Bible and Iron man alludes to Stark’s father and his creations. 

Beowulf and Iron man are both the creation of the society which thought them up. Beowulf represents an older time with kings and queens. They had a medieval outlook on things or what we would consider medieval. Iron man came from an age of technology and technology that keeps evolving. Therefore, Iron man is a genius who creates something so unique and so advanced, that it is his super power.  We can see the difference in era’s in which these stories were created. We can see it through the authors use of imagery. The authors describe things in such detail such as the celebration hall in Beowulf and everything that takes place in it. In Iron man they use imagery to depict the battle scenes. 

Heroes are what a society makes of them. Beowulf is what his people wanted him to be, they needed a person who had an immaculate amount of strength who could defeat whatever stood in his way. Iron man is what America needed; a normal person who was had a gifted and used it to protect the country. They may have been from different time periods but they resembled many of the same characteristics; strength, courage, and confidence. 

Will Study For Food

I have utilized websites such as Fastweb.com and Scholarships.com. I have applied for two scholarships so far. One was by college prowler and the other was a scholarship that you can apply for ever Monday with chances of winning and all it takes is just your name and information. There are more scholarships that I found but require an essay. So I need to start writing them and applying. Knowing that I already have a 60% scholarship for college through athletics, I am hoping to pay off the rest of my college with scholarships.

Vocabulary #3

Apostate- abandonment of one's faith, political party, or principle.

Effusive- unrestrained in emotional expression.

Impasse- a road or passage having no exit.

Euphoria- a feeling of great happiness.

Lugubrious- exceedingly mournful or sad.

Bravado- a show of courage.

Consensus- a general agreement.

Dichotomy- a diversion or contrast between two things.

Constrict- make narrower, restrict.

Gothic- language, architecture style, type of style.

Punctilio- a fine point of conduct.

Metamorphosis- a change of the form or nature of a thing. 

Raconteur- a person who tells an anecdote in a skillful or amusing way. 

Sine qua non- an essential condition, absolutely necessary.

Quixotic- idealistic, unrealistic and impractical.

Vendetta- bitter quarrel against somebody.

Non sequitur- a conclusion that does not logically follow a previous argument.

Mystique- a fascinating aura of mystery.

Quagmire- a soft boggy area of land that gives way under foot.

Parlous- full of danger or uncertainty.