Senior Project

Senior Project Update

Today's the day!

We are all ready to go, presentation starts at 1.

Stay tuned to the full video in the next week!

Senior Projects

Amanda Arnold, Rheanna Crawley and I are going into our junior high and talking to them about high school and open source learning. Talking about how technology that can really help in the class room. We are presenting this on Monday. A video is to come!

In class essay

Pros essays

  Macbeth is known as one of the most infamous Shakespearean plays due to its tragic ending and back stabbing plot. Macbeth the main character is given two different roads to take, one in which he is a non-harmful person and another where he and his wife gain power in the ranks of Scotland ultimately killing people along the way. He encounters many struggles throughout the play that the author so craftily put in. Macbeth written by William Shakespeare stars Macbeth who is forced to make his decision of good versus evil, Shakespeare shows his work through characterization and theme.
Macbeth is often faced with different characters giving him different direction. One of the first challenges he faces is his wife telling him to kill he king. Macbeth struggles with this decision and ultimately decides to do it. Lady Macbeth is a very strong character in this play that evidently swayed Macbeth's thoughts and actions. She is a very vindictive person who knows what she wants. Another character the author puts in is the three witches; they tell Macbeth his different options. Macbeth thinks they are trying to persuade him in certain directions but in reality it is all up to him making this a interior conflict between him and his-self. Macbeth ends up choosing a side to take, knowing if it is the right on is up to the readers self.
This play is known for tragedy but also for the power struggle. One sees throughout the play there is power struggle with the different characters. Killing one another just to get to the top and have the most power in Scotland. What the reader can also see is the power struggle between Macbeth and himself. When Macbeth is deciding weather or not to kill the King, where he should kill Duncan and of course how to betray Banquo. In the end of course no one really wins seeing that all but a few die from each other’s insanity for the power. Yet one does see that Macbeth is troubled with his inner struggle of right and wrong. This theme is one of the most predominant due to it being such a big part of good versus evil in the main character helping make the play more significant.
In this tragic play Macbeth has two differing sides to choose from; one being taking the high road and not gaining power, yet staying out of the killings or gaining the power and taking some lives along the way. In the end Macbeth does kill and does gain power, not without the struggle between the two. Although he did choose one side it didn't work out exactly as planned, being a tragedy the main character even though he is a protagonist does not get to live. Macbeth is a strong play that puts importance on proving to one self who is in all more powerful.

Poetry Essay's

Essay 1:


Two different writers can look at one thing  and see many different things. When H.D. and Edger Allen Poe look at Helen from Greece they come up with totally different viewpoints of the same person.  H.D. poet of Helen and Edger Allen Poe poet of To Helen come up with two totally different contrasting ideas of Helen through tone, imagery, and structure.

“All Greece Hate ” and “hating it deeper still” in H.D.’s poem sets a violent sense in the readers mind. Obviously he was not happy with Helen and believes that Greece has a negative perception of this women, the character in this poem is “the beauty of cool feet and slenderest knees”. Not showing off her good attributes making her unappealing to the reader even after there is a shift in the poem. Then you look at Poe’s poem and see that “Helen, thy beauty is to me” putting Helen on a pedestal making her seem like the god that she is.  Poe makes his character come to life with beauty and grace making the reader’s opinion softens of the character. This contrast makes the reader go from a dark poem to light all in about six stanzas.

H.D uses imagery conveys what Helen looks like to all of Greece, “white ash amid funereal cypresses”. This tries to portray that everyone in Greece is basically disgusted with her and her looks. Reading that makes the reader not want to care for his character. Yet in Poe’s poem he writes “Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, Thy Naiad airs have brought me home” showing the reader that this character is someone to rely on for comfort. Then goes on to explain  that she is  “To the glory that was Greece” which shows the reader that it is something to miss and long for the hope of Greece. When the author wants to portray a character and their actions and characteristics it is now in authors hands to show the character in the way they want. Especially with only having such few words to use it may be hard to paint a picture for some but both poets’ do the job of telling a story and painting a good picture.

When structuring a poem you only have a few ways to turn yet both poets took a similar root. Although H.D’s poem is longer they both have stanzas of five and use some rhyming scheme. Poe’s poems use a more rhyming consistently where H.D’s does not and are shorter per line. Each still tell a story and get the message across yet you can see more detail in Poe’s poem explaining further while H.D’s goes for less is more.

Both poem have great structure, tone in which they were looking for, and imagery to compliment that.  The reader can take one side or another on Helen as a character but there is no reason not to compliment both poets on their writing. Each has their own style and feelings to the subject and even though they don’t have too many words to portray it they do the job.


Essay 2:

1998 Poem: “It's a Woman's World” (Eavan Boland)
Prompt: The following poem was written by a contemporary Irish woman, Eavan Boland. Read the poem carefully and then write an essay in which you analyze how the poem reveals the speaker’s complex conception of a “woman's world.”

When you read a poem you can come from it with an overall feeling and figure out by context clues how the author’s feelings were of the subject as well. “It’s a Woman’s World” written by Eavan Boland goes through the struggles and restraints society hold to being a woman. The speaker had a complex with it being a “Women’s word” and you can see that through diction, imagery and symbolism.
Boland uses strong diction such as “burning plume” and gored its basket grim harvest,” to set an example of the complex she possess. When the author talks about the gored head she is proving that in all of women’s time they were never at the scene of the crime nor be put up for accusation. The author does not take this lightly wanting to be put on the same standard as men. A great example to compare this to is in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth is the mind behind the whole operation of killing the king. Her character along with the speaker wants to have the same control as men are for bad or for good. The author is trying to convey with her diction that she wants her point across in the poem that women don’t have to be set under what they can accomplish.
There is a lot of imagery in this poem, yet one of the recurring pieces is fire. The speaker brings it up many times such as “and what we never will be: star-gazers, fire-eaters.”  and “moth our children to the flame of hearth not history.” The fire imagined as the fire that the author is set under to want to change women’s role in society. Painting the picture of her passion and longing for throughout the poem, She then ends the poem with “she's no fire-eater, just my frosty neighbor coming home.” Acknowledging that even though she wants all these things for her and her gender something’s may not happen, especially since this had to be written at least 50 years ago.
The speaker talks about the wheel in the first stanza, “Our way of life has hardly changed since a wheel first whetted a knife” this could be symbolized as the wheel being all of women kind. One can say the speaker is talking about all of women kind in the poem and that could be connected with women actually making the world go round. The speaker points out “Appearances reassure: that woman there, craned to the starry mystery,” exemplifying that really even though women stay the same in some ways that they are changing in others.
Throughout the whole poem the speaker has a definite mood and author has a specific tone. To prove that the women race can do more and shouldn't be held to such standards when they can do more than what mankind says they can. The speaker has a complex towards to the “Women’s World”  being that she wants it to change and be viewed at the top of society.

GROUPTHINK

After Rheanna and I collaborated on the gridlocks together, we both agreed on most things about the three poems. Yet after reviewing on our own we found a few different things that brought up some interesting conversation.

1. Where the shift is in Mr.Pope; if it is where he dies or if it where he goes missing

2. In Poe's poem Alone; the theme of the poem and if there is a deep underlying meaning that we are missing.

3. In Plath's Poem, why the title was named after it was and why it ended with a question. (Personally this one was the hardest for me to destruct)

After Rheanna and I had a few conversations I feel much more ready for the Poetry part of the AP Test now.

GRIDLOCK

TPCASTT:  Poem Analysis Method:  title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme
Title of poem means	Mr. Pope as a title is to represent the memory of main character and how he is now gone
Paraphrase  parts of the Poem	"For Pope's tight back was rather a goat's than man's" -scared others "Than skeletons provide for speedy dust, The urn gets hollow, cobwebs brittle as stones" -  he was brittle and old and then passed away
Connotation  of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values	"dribbled couplets like a snake" - loved to write poetry
Attitude What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?	The author is showing remorse for the character. He is a sad unloved man who never got attention and even in his afterlife he disappearing  with no one noticing.
Shift At first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift:  identify the shifts and explain them	"Is missing. The jar is empty; you may break It only to find that Mr. Pope is gone." - even though he already passed he was still physically there. Then his shifts to where he is gone and not tangible.
Title revisited Any new insights on meaning or significance of title?	Nothing really else strikes being such a simple name with it being named after the main character
Theme	The tone is dark and mysterious seeing as it involves death and the body disappearing.

"SEVENTH READING"

Step 1:

My group: Rheanna and I

Step 2:

Sylvia Plath: http://allpoetry.com/poem/8498431-Conversation_Among_The_Ruins-by-Sylvia_Plath

Allen Tate: http://allpoetry.com/poem/8572655-Mr._Pope-by-Allen_Tate

Edgar Allan Poe: http://allpoetry.com/poem/8448407-Alone-by-Edgar_Allan_Poe

Lit Circle Responses

Life of Pi:

Multiple Choice

1.     E

2.     D

3.     B

4.     B

5.     C

6.     A

7.     B

8.     B

9.     C

10. A

11. A

12. C

13. A

14. D

15. D

16. B

17. D

18. B

19. B

20. C

21. D

22. B

23. B

24. B

25. B

26. D

27. C

28. D

29. C

30. A

31. B

32. D

33. B

Act 2- Act 4 of Mcbeth

Mcbeth history/active reading notes act 1

Fahrenheit 451 Lit Circle

My section was to research and make 2 open prompt essay questions. Here they are:

1. In the "Sand and Sieve" section of Fahrenheit 451 Faber tells Montag that he believes three things are necessary in order for books to be able to make a difference in society. In a well-developed essay, discuss whether or not you agree with his assessment? Support your answer with anecdotal evidence from the novel as well as your personal life. You must specify what Faber's "three things" are.

http://mikesell128-c.blogspot.com/2011/05/pre-ap-sand-and-sieve-essay-prompt.html


2. Fahrenheit 451 is about burning books, why is this book then known as a Classic in English classes? What is the significance? Use 3 literary elements to help your reasoning.

3.Bradbury broke the book up in three sections, how are the names of each section important to the book and why should they be emphasized when reading?

BNW: Chapter 3

-during "play" time they have different stimulating games and erotic play.
-when a boy doesn't want to have sex with a young girl he is seemed as trouble and taken to see if anything is wrong with him
-Mustapha Monda: the controller
- no one is taught any history
- in this world no one had a home or family.
-Ford also called himself Freud (showed the dangers of family)
-no romance in this world
-don't want to have sex with people who are under their rank
-don't want them to have emotions
-talked about all the history of America and what Ford did as well as all the other things that don't exist any more (god,Christianity, libiatisim, democracy, ect.)
-introduced to characters Lenina an Frany
Lenina has been having sex just with Henry Foster for a few months now and is getting attached

BNW: Chapter 2

- all different races in the infant nurseries
- children were brought out
-8 moth old babies were playing with books and flowers and got electric shocked for touching them
-there was screaming, then did it again and the screams for even louder and more horrifying.
-also came with sirens and bells
-have instinctive hatred of books and flowers
-when they liked nature it kept them from working in factories
-cant like the country. But can like country sports
-hypnopaedia: principle of sleep teaching
-made to not like the idea of family.
- Delta, Beta and Epsilons all are separated into a basic class system.
-alpha wears gray. Delta wear khaki. Epsilons wear black. Gamma wears green

Brave New World: chapter 1

-Set in London in 632 AF (after ford)
-Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre
-opens in the Fertilizing room where the Director is showing new students the factory
-Bokanovsky Process: egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. produce 8-96 embryos with one egg. Every bud will grow into a full sized human
-major instruments of social stability
-only keep 30% of girls
-rest are either boys or freemartins
-half the products become workers other half become world leaders
-mr. Foster helped toured the students around.
-saw the embryos at all different stages
-making them advanced humans who are full sexually matured creatures at 6 (like animals)
-doing this to advance the world

First Quarter Review

A) This semester so far I feel like I have been on top on my assignments. This week is the only week I have gotten a little behind. Having long weekends is not helping.
B) This next quarter I plan to work on my senior project with Rheanna and Amanda. We are very excited about going back to our old school and sharing wisdom with younger kids. I expect myself to be hard working as ever and keep my best foot forward. I want to have our senior project perfected and get ready to present.
C) What I have seen this course is that it is either to breathe. Probably because we have gotten use to the course. But what I can say is that I have been taking it seriously and like to see more AP prep as well as senior project work. I really enjoy this semester a lot.

BOB 1

Mackenzie- her post are always filled with great information. I feel like I can always learn from her.
Bernardo- content on his blog is great to learn from
Rheanna- she always posts everything right on time
Christa- she has more then one blog and updates it with collaborative working stuff along with content
Elizabeth- most everything is updated
Liz H- most everything is on there plus a few more extras
Michelle- good content
Iliana- I really like the look of her blog
Will- great content
Alex- I enjoy her post
Eddie- has some good content
Liz E- well done
Rosa-blog is well done
Amanda- not to much on there
Taylor- need to have more up
Skaggs- not sure if he is even in the class still?

Dickens Map

 1) your reading schedule to complete your reading/review of the book by Monday, February 4

Plan of attack: I have been reading up to 5-7 chapters a night. By this spead I should be a good way through the book. With that said if by sunday day I don't have it done I will catch up then and then also do my review of the book as well.

 2) five AP questions (with source URLs) that you intend to be able to answer by the time you finish

1.How does Dr. Manette react when he is asked if he wants to be ¨recalled to life¨?
http://marisolzpd13.blogspot.com/2012/02/study-questions-tale-of-two-cities-by.html

2.What is Mr. Lorry's conversation like with the specter?
http://derhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/2012/02/tale-of-two-cities-questions.html

3.Dickens seems to have great sympathy for the poor, the sick and the powerless, but not all such characters are portrayed sympathetically. What does that say about his sympathies? Where does he intend our sympathies as readers to lie?
 http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/A-Tale-of-Two-Cities-by-Charles-Dickens-Reading-Questions-Oprahs-Book-Club#ixzz2JJUaBx3r

4.One of the novel’s most important motifs is the figure of the double. What is the effect of Dickens’s doubling technique? Does he use doubles to draw contrasts, comparisons, or both?
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/study.html

5.Are the characters consistent in their actions? Which of the characters are fully developed? How? Why?
http://classiclit.about.com/od/taleoftwocities/a/aa_tale2citques.htm

3) how you think you should be tested on these ideas, and/or how you intend to demonstrate your expertise on your blog.

My plan is to not only put my notes of the book on the blog but to also create some type of review of the book to show that I know and fully understand the concepts of this novel. Also to answer all these questions and to maybe answer more questions I find.

Lit Terms 31-56

Dialect: the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons; the sounds , grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
An example of Southern American dialect, from Uncle Remus: Br'er Fox, he lay low= Brother Fox is hiding.

Dialectic: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.


Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.

Example: pride vs. humility
              sacrifice vs. selfishness


Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.


Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.


"Four-score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Abraham Lincoln

Dogmatic: rigid beliefs and principles.

Dogmatic that the universe is meaningless, especially when so few people around you really believe it.

Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.

"Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear,/Compels me to disturb your season due:/For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,/Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer"-"Lycidas" by John Milton

Epic: a long narrative poem unified be a hero who reflects the customs, morals, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).

An example would be The Iliad or The Odyssey by Homer.

Epigram: witty aphorism.


Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.

"Gone, but not forgotten"

Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics.


"The Prince of Peace" is an epithet for Jesus Christ.
"The Queen of Soul" is an epithet for Aretha Franklin.
"The King of Pop" is an epithet for Michael Jackson.



Euphemism: the use of indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one though to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.


Passed away instead of died
Correctional facility instead of jail
Departed instead of died
Differently-abled instead of handicapped or disabled


Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensation; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.

Geoff brown was showing his three books, which are wonderfully evocative of life in the last century.

Exposition: the beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.



Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling.


Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.


Fallacy: a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.


RED HERRING: attempting to hide a weakness in an argument by drawing attention away from the real issue. A red herring fallacy is thus a diversionary tactic or an attempt to confuse or fog the issue being debated. The name of the fallacy comes from the days of fox hunting, when a herring was dragged across the trail of a fox in order to throw the dogs off the scent.

example: accused by his wife of cheating at cards, Ned replies "Nothing I do ever pleases you. I spent all last week repainting the bathroom, and then you said you didn't like the color."


Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the falling action is when Harry talks to Dumbledore in the infirmary, the banquet, and the train ride home

Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.

Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest" is a good example of farce in which the characters are stereotypical English upper-class through which Wilde made fun of the elite.

Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech.


busy as a bee
clean as a whistle
brave as a lion
stand out like a sore thumb
as easy as shooting fish in a barrel


Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.

Effective black and white flashbacks show the missing person's life before the disappearance.

Foil: a person that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.

Good examples are Watson (from Sherlock Holmes) or Ron & Hermoine (from Harry Potter).

Folk Tale: a story passed on by word of mouth.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.

He didn't know what was in store for him she will soon find out the truth. He felt a cold chill as he walked through the dark alley ( foreshadowing something bad will happen).

Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.

Tech. Forward

Even cats can get swamped in all the work to get done. At least she has the right attitude about it all... Just tuckered out.

1-30 Lit Terms

Abstract- refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images.

Ad Hominem- In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man."

Allegory- a work that functions on a symbolic level.

Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Allusion- a reference contained in a work.

Ambiguity- the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Amplification- involves repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it, in order to emphasize what otherwise might be passed over.

Analogy- a literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison. It is assumed that what applies to the parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. In other words, it is the comparison between two different items.

Anaphora- the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Anastrophe- transposition of normal word order; most often found in Latin in the case of prepositions and the words they control. (a form of hyperbaton)

Anecdote- a story or brief episode told by the writer or a character to illustrate to a point.

Antanagoge- placing a good point or benefit next to a fault criticism, or problem in order to reduce the impact or significance of the negative point.

Antimetabole- reversing the order of repeated words or phrases (a loosely chiastic structure, AB-BA) to intensify the final formulation, to present alternatives, or to show contrast.

Antiphrasis- one word irony, established by context.

Antistrophe- repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

Antithesis- the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. "To be or not to be..." "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country..."

Aphorism- a terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author's point.

Apophasis- (also called praeteritio or occupatio) asserts or emphasizes something by pointedly seeming to pass over, ignore, or deny it.

Aporia- expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.

Aposiopesis- a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion (fear, excitement, etc.) or modesty.

Apostrophe- a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. William Wordsworth addresses John Milton as he writes, "Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee."

Appositive- a noun or noun substitute placed next to (in apposition to) another noun to be described or defined by the appositive.

Archaism- use of an older or obsolete form.

Argument- a single assertion or a series of assertions presented and defended by the writer

Assonance- repetition of the same sound in words close together.

Asyndeton- lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Atmosphere- the emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the atmosphere. Frequently, atmosphere foreshadows events.

Attitude- the relationship an author has toward his or her subject, and/or his or her audience.

Brachylogy- a general term for abbreviated or condensed expression, of which asyndeton and zeugma are types.

Cacophony harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.

SPRING SEMESTER PLAN 1

I am always looking to improve on my leadership skills, so since I've started a new job and working with new people I really want to focus on being a positive leader that is the kind of leader people want to follow. I over all want to be thought of a nice fun person with a good work ethic. Tonged there I just need to put my best foot forward, work as hard as possible, and be that all around friendly person that I am. I want to work on being positive all the time and have a game face on when in dire situations.

The other thing I would like to do this semester is plan events, I want to prepare myself for college and the real world and make connections with new networks that can help me out later in life. I have a lot of drive and think that should help me. I want these soon to be colleagues  to see all that I am worth and I would like to earn their respect.

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

1.Discuss this quote: “One must find the source within one’s own Self, one must

possess it. Everything else was seeking—a detour, error.”

http://mrsvernonsapclass.blogspot.com/2011/09/siddhartha.html?m=1

2.How does his father show both patience and wisdom in dealing with his son?

http://www.studymode.com/essays/Siddhartha-Reading-Questions-641015.html

3. In your own words, identify symbolism involving the caged bird, the river, the ferryman, and the smiling face. Dedicate no more than two pages (one side is one page) to this.

 http://www.hawthorne.k12.nj.us/attachments/140_2012%20AP%20and%20English%20IV%20Honors%20Summer%20Assignments.pdf

4. What are Qualities Young Siddhartha and Siddhartha share? 
http://ahirzel.weebly.com/4/post/2012/10/siddhartha-socratic-seminar-ch-11-12.html

5.How does Hesse use figurative, poetic, structural, and rhetorical devices to convey the effects of Siddhartha's experiences?

http://jneff.wikispaces.com/Siddhartha