Women's Rights in 2013 (As seen by Mia Levy)

Women gained a lot of rights for their gender during the Civil rights movement. They altered the way America was run from redesigning the constitution to allow women the right to vote to persuading the military to allow women to join them. Yet after those few rights were won over the boycotting and petitions have slowed down. Which makes sense, women are allowed to do almost anything they aspire but there are still an alarming amount of things underground that our society simply overlooks.

If you have the time and interest please spend the next three minutes and forty seconds of your life watching this video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NswJ4kO9uHc

This gender debate is considered a huge quagmire which is understandable. If we choose to completely eradicate gender stereotypes then we get rid of not only the bad but the good too. Men should be allowed to hit women for example even though the stigma is that this is forbidden because of the evident strength difference. This strength difference is something controlled by genetics, there is nothing we can do to make that equal. Take for example how women are not allowed to fight in the armed forces and the reason for this is that they simply do not have the strength or stamina that a man does, combined with the problems sexual tension could cause during attacks (Its instinct for a man to protect a women before another man). There’s a very thin line between getting rid of gender roles and getting rid of the difference between the x and y chromosome.  We can’t forcefully alter one of those, but there are a lot of stigmas we can. 

Why haven’t we ever had a women president? Just think about that for a little. Because no women has run before that possesses the capabilities? Or because the comfort of a man in an authority position is what America gravitates too? As seen in the video I do think it boils down to the way the media portrays them, for example in recent years using sex to advertise has burgeoned in America.

Take for example this song:
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/17/from-the-mouths-of-rapists-the-lyrics-of-robin-thickes-blurred-lines-and-real-life-rape/
or this one:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/girls-education-campaigner-calls-for-ban-on-sexualised-bruno-mars-song-8216gorilla8217/story-fngr8i1f-1226717666010
or the criticism said to this newscaster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOpqd0rQSo

Yes these references we all know are considered morally wrong, but the upsetting thing is not enough people take physical action. Why haven’t people stopped going to Jack in the Box or buying AXE body spray as a way of telling them their commercials are offensive? Why doesn’t society stop listening to artists such as Bruno Mars or Robin Thicke as a way of telling them their work is disrespectful? 

I believe the stigmas starts at young age where we subconsciously ingrain these roles into our children. The princess needs to be rescued, a man needs to provide. “You’re a man, stop crying.” “You’re a lady, cross your legs” and as a child gets older it only becomes worse. A man should pay for his date, a women should wear makeup to make her face flawless to attract a man.
Take a look at this article for more information:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html
or take a look as to why girls are undervalued:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michaela-haas/oh-boy-the-antigirl-bias-_b_884399.html

Yet it’s not just men who undervalue women, but we do as well. Take for example the certain craze adolescent girls partake in, which they stalk male celebrities such as Justin Bieber or One Direction. There are plenty of instances where young girls say extremely sexual things towards these men, where the spend hours trying to get one of these boys to follow them on twitter. They ignore the dignity and respect they’re entitled to. You do not need a man to feel whole. The first step in earning respect from others is to respect yourself

We have the power, now let’s just make the change."

To find more articles like this one please checkout:
http://inlocopolitico.wordpress.com/

Fight or Flight

             Plato's Allegory of the Cave and Sartre's No Exit both deal with major character flaws in the human race that have transcended from generation to generation. Both author's use humans placed in unsatisfactory situations. One being stuck in a cave for eternity and the other stuck in a hotel room. The interesting thing about these two stories are the characters themselves. When placed in their unsuitable enviorment a denizen from the cave reacts much differently then Garcin in the hotel room, the two different outlooks further along their specific author's theme, tone, and philosophy.
               Take for example a slave witnesses one of his fellow slaves defy their metaphysical situation and venture out of the cave. Now this is unheard of, the slave will retreat into a state of shock. The instant reaction will be to flee to the humans placed next to them. Even if the freed slave is happy the other slaves have such an addiction to codependency that they lack the skill set to leave the comfortable cave. It all leads back to the human tendency to fear change. This ultimately proves another point Plato is saying through his allegory, that we do not know the reality of the world we live in until we have seen others. So does this prove the point that maybe our reality is completely different then the man next to us is? This also settles the continuous tone of uncertainty carried out by all the slaves. 
                Now Garcin would take a much different approach. Watching a counterpart exit the "hell" he is placed into would almost anger him. He would take the 'fight' approach and demand to know why he would not be allowed to leave as well after his certain try to follow. This is the difference between Sartre and Plato. Sartre's characters describe a completely different flaw, that their independency does not provide them with the skills to live comfortably with others. Even to the point where they are so arrogant that being forced to spend 24 hours a day with themselves almost makes things unbearable, their so disgusted with the human race that they are unable to be around it. This provides evidence to the point that, "Hell is other people."
This also adds onto the vainglorious tone carried throughout the entire story.
               When analyzed it seems as though Plato and Sartre told completely different stories that showcased different flaws in ourselves. Yet this by itself is another flaw we have. The ability to over think. Sartre and Plato told the same story, a story about a tragic human flaw. A flaw that makes us less of a person. Even though these flaws are different, does it really even matter?

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

Questions in Text:
Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois,
like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like
Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace
in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it
would feel to live there endlessly, night and day:

My hell is very close to Satre's . The most powerful torture instrument is the human mind, going insane is the quickest way to desingrate a person's mentality. Although the human mind is also our biggest allie. If you can harvest the power of the mind such as Monk's do then you have the ability to reach enlightenment and therefore you are not in hell at all.

How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feels 

like to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place? 

How does GARCIN react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities around 

so that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforces 

the experience of hell? 

Through his dialogue he uses imagery in the character's language and the stage directions to convey the setting. Garcin takes almost a pompus approach to the whole situation. It's as if he has no fear of hell and he has lived through this all already, he almost expects more then what he is placed in. Doing the SAME thing everyday with the same results quickly becomes hell. School, Work, Repeat. 

Both Satre and Plato describe humans as almost a dumb and ignorant race. Take for example Satre's use of placing these people in a room and these people don't even realize their in hell. Plato shows a group of humans so fearful of the outside that they refuse to even look at it. Not the main difference here is in Satre's story his group does eventually realize where they are and how terrible it is.

BRAIN WITH [x] LEGS

My group (so far) consists of Kevin, Sam, Javier, and myself. We are reading Great Expectations.

Our plan is to finish the story in 14 days.
Taken into consideration if we read at least 4 chapters a day we will be able to accomplish our goal.
Our main form of communication will be through facebook and in person, mainly to discuss what we had previously read and what questions we may have had.
We will discuss the story at least two days a week through this forum to ensure everyone is on the right track.

Plato's Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
It's the transitioning of ignorance in ones life to seeing and understanding knowledge and the truth. An example would be when the prisoners are not allowed to see reality because they are chained up. so the only "reality" that they perceive to be "reality" would be what they know from being inside the cave all there life.

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
The raging fire that stands behind them is the representation of the natural "sun". The shadows present themselves to be the images of or figures of animals, people, any outside living. The shackles/ chains represent the restriction of life that prevents us from seeing and knowing what is real. Darkness is the lack of truth/Knowledge that the prisoners know.

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
Shouldn't people accept the truth when they are exposed to it? The thing is that ignorance isn't so wrong when reality hasn't really been available to them. People should go and put themselves out there in order to seek the education, so they will become informed and have the knowledge of the truth rather than metaphorically living in darkness without the knowledge that is being given so close.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The shackles represent that the prisoners are not completely ignorant, because the prisoners were born into  the darkness. They were just simply physically unable to seek the outside knowledge because of the restraint they were in. The cave is dark with a muggy feel to it, and  is very closed off. It personifies the ignorance as something unpleasant because of its dark feel to it. Turns out to be complete opposite of the feeling towards light and brilliance.

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Technology plays a key role in our lives today. Ever since the invention of electronics we have relied on its advancements more and more. I would say that we are slowly loosing the rich knowledge of knowing how to depend on natural resources, learning how to work with nature to benefit ourselves or others, compared to the dependency of technology. Our minds are becoming shackled because you can see little babies playing with toys that are filled with technology to enhance the play for the kids. There are video games that will "enhance" the learning at an even earlier age. Children are being born into the "cave"  and are slowly shying away from the works of life.

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
The perspective of the cave prisoner was much more closed minded because they haven't had the chance to be enlightened like the freed prisoner. The cave prisoners are much more likely to shy away from the opportunity because it is out of their norm. That are already accustomed to what is comfortable for them and if it comes to adjusting to something new, then they'd feel outside of there "reality". For the freed prisoner who feels enlightened by what new world there is out there compared to being inside the cave. He feels that there is something new outside and is willing to learn about the reality outside the cave in order to enhance his knowledge of what the world has to offer.

7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
You can either choose to accept the truth and enhance your knowledge about such things. Or you can also shy away from the truth and choose to now accept the truth. But by not accepting and learning from the truth then you will not become enlightened with knowledge.

8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
Someone lead a prisoner outside in showing them reality. He was able to learn and adjust to something new. By learning from others he is able to teach others and share the knowledge he now holds. It is just like a teacher student relationship. The teacher shows his ways to the student and he learns off of them to soon lead for himself, and then lead others in teaching what he has learned. It is like a cycle.

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Yes I do agree. For instance many fail to see the reality in many common things. When getting to know somebody first impressions are almost ALWAYS judged on appearance.

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?

We Hang Together

• Inter-organizational skills can be competitive, inter-dependent, or a combination of the two
• Interdependent example: Coke vs Pepsi companies.
• Today we can not depend on ourselves to make our own successes. We must take into account other industries and even within our company must keep an eye on human resources.
• By survival of the fittest Darwin meant those who adapt. We suceed by networking, making relationships.
• Human factors such as trust and communication play a huge role in have successful interdepence.
• By considering ones culture and background a leader is more adept to lead his group the right way.
• Schooling teaches students the independence is key to success while collaboration is often catergorized as cheating.
• Western heros and modern business men are idealized for their independence but rarely is this seen in modern day. Everybody needs help sometimes.
• Internet allows companies to create interdependent networks. 

Oh and one more thing

One more thing. This is my current song obsession this week. LISTEN.

Que Bonita

Today I received a poem from a friend who chooses to remain anonymous. His poetry was thoughtful and special so I wanted to share on my blog with everybody. Enjoy!

My
Intense
Affection
Lingers
Even if I'm
Very far from
You

Sonnet Analysis #1

• A sonnet contains fourteen lines which can be broken into four sections called quatrains.
• First quatrain-establish the subject of the sonnet
• Second quatrain-develop the sonnet
• Third quatrain-round off the theme of the sonnet
• Fourth quatrain-the conclusion of the sonnet

Poetic Inquiry

So I decided to change my big question. The new one is.. *drumroll*

Why do people find comfort in security although it may lead to dullness? What's the appeal of working a dead end job because "it pays good"? We should travel more, explore the world, how come a rarity of people see life fulfillment in that?

Here is a sonnet I found about traveling :

Travel is life’s little delights
Cruising down the Thames
Tokyo’s beckoning neon lights
Most rejuvenating some claim
A moment of pure bliss
A means of uplifting the soul
An opportunity one cannot dismiss
Who needs to be cajoled?
The best way out of a funk
Is when one is in nature
From the cool temperate which oft smells of skunk
To the hot tropical of the equator
Travel should be every man’s desire
That’s why I can’t wait to retire
\
By Smasher62 on Teenink.com

HAMLET REMIX

Hello. Welcome!
You're reading this to get a better understanding of performance utterance and Hamlet right? Well even if you aren't you are now. So settle in and relax.

Hamlet is a old-school Shakespearen play while Performance Utterance is a paper written by Fredrik DeBoer in modern times. What could these two random pieces of literature have to do with one another? Well, DeBoer brings a new perspective to the style Shakespeare uses in Hamlet by comparing it with the ideas of Austin's theory of performativity and Harold Bloom's ideas of "self-overhearing".

This is J.L. Austin, the creator of the theory of performativity which was so perfectly stated by DeBoer is ,"certain language does not merely describe action but acts in being spoken." He then splits it up into three parts: Locutionary, illocutionary, and prelocutionary. An example of Locutionary in Hamlet is when he is giving a soliloquoy to the audience, it's the ability to get an emotion across through language which is exactly what Hamlet does in all of his speeches. Take for instance to be or not to be, do you not feel a huge sense of suicidal thoughts afterwards? I did. An Illocutionary example is basically when King Claudius orders around Rosencratz and Guildenstern to do his dirty work or when Hamlet tells Ophelia they can never be. Its a statement said between characters that forces them to act upon in later scenes. Preloctuionary is what happens after the illocutionary language appears, when ophelia commits suicide when Rosencrats and Guildenstern bombard Hamlet with questions to try and relay info back to King Claudius.

"Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare's characters frequently develop through "self-overhearing."Shakespeare's characters, in this argument, overhear themselves speaking and in doing so gain self-knowledge." This quote said by DeBoer directly relates how Bloom's theory serves purpose in Hamlet. An example of this is when Hamlet is upset after the actor gives a speech at the end of Act 2. Hamlet gathers from this information that he is not passionate enough about life and after hearing himself talk it through he makes plans to take action against his Uncle.
These two relate in this quote said by DeBoer, "If Hamlet is a character who engages in this self-overhearing, and he is a man who, for most of the play, demonstrates a disconnect between what he says and what he does, it then becomes useful to consider the impact of his performative language on his overhearing self." Which basically states the thesis for DeBoer's entire paper. Which goes on to try and relate the two theories to each other and give himself a better understanding of the purpose of Hamlet.

Hamlet Essay

Language is the only barrier we have with our thoughts. It's the only way we are able to convey to others what we need. In Shakespeare's Hamlet we witness the evolution of his characters through the soliloquies they give to the audience and the dialogue they share with other characters. Language helps not only the audience understand what is going on in the play but Hamlet learns through his own soliloquies at the same time. This illustrates the point that the way we word an experience later leads to the way we remember that moment.
Prince Hamlet has an abundance of soliloquies throughout the play to give the reader a better understanding of his thoughts, yet throughout these speeches we watch Hamlet's ideas of his own actions also evolve. Take for instance his speech in regard to the actor that was so vehement in his fictional speech that he moved himself to tears. In the beginning Hamlet is simply commenting on the beauty of the actor's words but as it progresses we watch it evolve into a self-reflection, scorning himself on his inability to have such passion.
 "Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing—no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damned defeat was made."
This part of the play is where Hamlet is scolding himself. Another example is in Hamlet's famous soliloquy at the end of Act 3 where he contemplates whether life is worth it. In the beginning he is very unsure and very pessimistic. It is obvious that Hamlet is figuring suicide is the only way out but carry on further we watch him "self-overhear" and realize that to kill himself now would be a waste and he must make something of his before taking such drastic measures.
The way we retell a memory has certain effects on the memory itself. Take for instance I had a recent experience where I retold my first day of work to my family members. My boss had made a few rude comments but other then that was it was pretty uneventful, therefore I only told the rude comments part to my family and that moment is now a considered a bad memory in my mind even though over all it wasn't that bad. Same goes for Hamlet, he tells of made up stories to others to convey the fact that he is insane. Yet the repetition of insanity actually starts to drive Hamlet insane.
Overall Hamlet's ability to self-overhear benefits him while his retelling accountability hinders his rational thinking further providing evidence that maybe Hamlet really is insane. Modern day people have trouble with the self-overhearing concept and often resort to drugs of therapists to sort out our problems while in the other department we know all to well, with an incredible reliance on lying to put ourselves ahead in life.

Vocabulary #9

aficionado- a serious devotee of some particular music genre or musical performer
browbeat- to discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
commensurate- able to be measured by a common standard
diaphanous- Of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent
emolument- Payment for an office or employment
foray- A sudden raid or military advance
genre- A realistic style of painting that depicts scenes from everyday life
homily- An inspirational saying or platitude
immure- To confine within or as if within walls; imprison
insouciant- carefree or unconcerned; light-hearted
matrix- a substance, situation, or environment in which something has its origin, takes form, or is enclosed
obsequies- A funeral rite or ceremony
panache- A bunch of feathers or a plume, especially on a helmet.
persona- The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self
philippic- a bitter or impassioned speech of denunciation; invective
prurient- unusually or morbidly interested in sexual thoughts or practices
sacrosanct- Regarded as sacred and inviolable
systemic- Of or relating to systems or a system
tendentious- Marked by a strong implicit point of view; partisan
vicissitude- A change or variation

Tools that Change the Way We Think

In class we had to read an article
Below are my thoughts on it:

The internet has changed our generation. Take for example myself. I'm constantly anxious, there is something going on out there that I am missing. There is so much information out there that I have yet to encounter but I NEED to know in order to be the best version of myself that I can be. I can't simply have 'downtime' I need to be on social networking, reading a book, reading the news. I am also extremely impatient, going at such a fast pace while searching the web I become terribly anxious while waiting for a page to load.
I looked up what some celebrities might have to say and found this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/celebrities-technology_n_1322020.html#s780582&title=Ray_Bradbury
Which makes perfect sense that Ray Bradbury is against the Internet. In an interview he stated :
"To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.' It's distracting. It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere."

Ur A What?

Have you heard about what is recently going on in Uruguay? You know, that tiny country in South America you studied once in 7th grade? Well that “insignificant” country is currently revolutionizing the way our world thinks.
In the past six months Uruguay has legalized not only same sex marriage for their whole country but has also legalized marijuana, two major feats that has taken America years to legalize and is still not allowed throughout the country.
It all has to do with their President, Jose Mujica, a man who donates about 90% of his salary to charities. He is considered an “anti-politician” because of his focus on the opinons of the people. Mujica has taken a giant step in legalizing Marjiuana and selling it for one dollar a gram in want to end the an underground drug ring located throughout the country.
Uruguay is constantly on close watch by countries from all over, especially America. If their country ends up benefiting by the new laws then we can expect to see a considerable increase in support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization worldwide.

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THOUGHTS ON HAMLET (IN PROGRESS)

When I first started reading this place I found it confusing and boring. I've seen horror movies before, a ghost showing up out of no where for no reason and scaring people.. isn't that all of their plot lines nowadays? Then we got more in depth into the plot and all the schemes started happening and I became overwhelmed with the amount of information spewed out at me. It was all talk and no action. Then Act 3 came along, finally the plotlines crossed and action started happening. We are just now beginning to read Act 4 and I can same I am invested in this story and and interested to see how it turns out.

Filter Bubbles

Dr. Preston showed us an incredible video today that can be found here

a)What new information did you learn from the video?
I learned exactly what this TED talk was meant to teach me. The internet is ridding of information we might not want to see by looking at our past sources. Google, Facebook, and Yahoo News are all different for each person that reaches them.
b)How does this information make you think differently about what you see online?
I thought I saw what everybody else saw, but after watching this video I now realize that what I am viewing is biased and if I were to really want an unbiased opinion on a subject I would need to find a new source.
c)What questions does this video raise about the Internet in general?
If the internet is doing this now, then what harm will come to us in the future? Will we all become codependent closeminded drones?
and d)How can you improve the effectiveness of your searches?
You need to become specific. If you want to learn more about modern egypt you cannot just type in the word egypt because it might give you hotels avaliable there. You need to type in such things as: the egyptian economy 2013.

WHAT I THINK ABOUT WHEN I THINK ABOUT ACT III

I really enjoyed Act 3, far more then I did the other two acts. Act 3 contained a lot of action which was nice to see after spending weeks studying the build up. I would hate to be sadistic and say I enjoyed reading about Polonious's death but the scene reminded me of the excitement I have found throughout the other Shakespeare works.

Literary Analysis #3

For this one I choose... *drumroll*

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni


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).
This story takes place from 1975-2001 mainly in Kabul, Afghanistan. We follow the story through the eyes of Amir, starting when he was a young boy all the way until about his mid-40s. We witness how his relationships with his 'best' friend and father change based on certain events and how this affects his personality and overall course of life. I believe Hosseni was trying to convey human nature with his story and basically it is us against ourselves, we are the only one holding ourselves back. He achieves this purpose by the story of Amir. Amir lets his instincts overtake him, he takes the easy road out on whatever the cause, trying not to face his fear. In the end Amir is swallowed up by his guilt and cannot fully live his life because of it.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
As stated above I believe the theme of this novel his.
Humans vs. Themselves.
We are our own worst enemy (CLICHE. I know. I know.) But it's true in the fact that we only complicate our lives. Take for instance Amir's father. Baba lives his life in debt forever to his servants which is extremely ironic. Baba cast this upon himself when he slept the his servants wife and she had a child who also became his servant. This forced Baba to focus less of his time on his son and more on repaying his servants for his wrongs which ultimately leads to Amir believing he is not good enough of a son and spending his life trying to prove himself to his father.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
I believe the author uses a very forgiving tone throughout the story as shown in these quotes:
"There is a way to be good again"
(Rahim Khan says this to Amir in his phone conversation with him.)
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering it things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
"Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most importantly, forgive yourself."
4. 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.)
I am not going to answer this question so I can spend more time working on inlocopolitico

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
An example of indirect characterization is when Amir witnesses Assef assault Hassan and does nothing about it, this shows he is a coward and afraid.
Another example is when Amir says this quote, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite, Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and all that his son was worthy” This quote shows Amir constant pleading for his Father's approval.
An example of direct characterization is:
"I can still see his tiny, low-set ears and that pointed stub of a chin, a meaty appendage that look like it was added as a mere afterthought. And the cleft lip, just left of mid line, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had grown tired and careless"
and
"Born to a German mother and an Afghan father, the blond, blue eyed Assef towered over the other kids"
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
I don't believe so. The author's tone does change though. For example when Hassan is talking the tone is suddenly for calm and joyful while when Amir is talking it's often frantic and condescending.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Amir is a Dynamic and Round character. We watch Amir avenge his guilt by adopting Sohrab and in the end realizing he never should've had the guilt the in the first place, that he was not a bad son. We also witness Amir as he is obedient around his father, fearful around Assef, and powerful towards Hassan.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
Yes I have met a character. We witness the story through Amir's eyes. When he has a major event happen to him we are with him when it happens and for the most part we react the same way he does. I will end this Literary Analysis with my favorite quote from the story:
""She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, "Why?,' and she said, "Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you,' and I said, 'Hush up, now. Enough of this silliness.'"

DEAR OPHELIA

Dear O,

Quite a predicament you've gotten yourself in to isn't it? I believe family is a huge priority, they have opinions about your personal life because they care about you, you should know why they do not like this boy before. But in the end YOU are you're first priority and if you are 100% in love with this boy then I say go for it.
Do what makes you happy.

Best Wishes,
M

Khaled Hosseini, thank you.

The fact the strangers can put into a words a thought I've had for ages is comforting.
Excerpt from The Kite Runner:

""She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, "Why?,' and she said, "Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you,' and I said, 'Hush up, now. Enough of this silliness.'"

But of course the happiness of her new child ultimately took her life. The catharsis of this story is incredible.

Hamlet Shmamlet

Today was a tough day. It was a Wednesday, need I say more?

So when asked to contact a stranger. To contact a stranger with knowledge far above mine. My first reply was no thank you.
But I did it, and I have never felt anything so gratifying.

At first I contacted,
http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20041013134453/http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~iandel/index.html
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listhamletma1.html

And after I was having so much fun that I even contacted
http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/Shakespeare.html

I was nervous at first, how do I work this be a good "host" as stated in The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online By Howard Rheingold but also let the creator know that I really meant what I was trying to tell them. I wanted to create a short statement that would let one walk away feeling better about themselves and if the littlest hint of happiness came out of my response then I had accomplished my goal.

So I wrote out my first email,
Dear Mr. Friedlander,

My name is Mia Levy and I am a high school senior at Ernest Righetti High School in Santa Maria, California. Recently my english teacher assigned us with the dauntless task of reading, memorizing, and analyzing Hamlet and I have yet to find a site as helpful as yours is. I wanted to let you know that although it hasn't been altered in almost 4 years it's still being used as a wonderful resource to high school students all over the country. Thank you for existing.

Sincerely a stressed out high school student,
Mia Levy

Reread it about 20 times and then sent it. Then I immediately kicked my self for using the word dauntless instead of daunting. Imagine my surprise when almost immediately I received a reply .

You are very welcome.  It is actually the OLDEST site devoted to the play that's still in existence.  I hope that as a young person, you find meaning in never compromising with wrong, just as Hamlet did.  Best wishes.

To be perfectly honest that simple paragraph turned my day around. Somebody important, somebody who had a very accomplished life took time out of their day to email me back.
I made all my emails personal, I really wanted to convey the fact that the countless hours of work these authors did were noticed and appreciated.

GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET

a) Things I know about Hamlet:

• It's confusing plot line
• A lot of people die, there's a ghost involved.
• Is this the one where they hold the skull and say "to be or not to be, that is the question?"

b) From reading Romeo and Juliet I know that Shakespere created his own literature. He made up words, and sentence structures. He used inappropriate phrases and was the first to step out and present contreversial plot lines.

c) When reading Romeo and Juliet our teacher had to go through and stop after every sentence to explain what it meant to us. This is why children frown.

d) There's a lot of pressure associated with providing a task which will make Shakespere unforgettable. Perhaps making it into a FUN project. For example the Odyssey project, which allowed us to plan a trip to Italy but something not as time consuming as that.

WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS

Through his characterization and contreversial topics Chaucer proved Canterbury Tales to be truely unique by evoking emotion from the audience of the time and the audience of today.

Vocab #7/ Character Study.

shenanigans: secret of dishonest activity
Many teenagers are given the stereotype that he partake in a lot of shenanigans
ricochet: a shot that bounces off something
The ball ricocheted off the wall and hit her in the heard. 
schism: a split between two strong parties
The schism between democrats and republicans caused  the government shutdown.
eschew: delibritely avoiding
I eschewed my teacher in class because I did not do the assignment.
plethora (MY WORD) :an abundance of
I have a plethora of dolls and I don't know that to do with all fo them.
ebullient:cheerful
I do not understand how she can always be ebullient.
garrulous: excessively talkative
harangue : lengthy aggressive speech
interdependence: dependent on each other
capricious: given to sudden changes.
loquacious: talkative
ephemeral: lasting for a short time
inchoate (MY WORD) : undeveloped
juxtapose
perspicacious: having a ready insight
codswallop: nonsense
mungo: cloth made from recycled material
sesquipedelian: long
wonky: crooked
dipthong: coin, loud.

After Javi's harangue the group felt ebullient because they had defeated the rats. Unfortunately the eschewed the real problem before them. The vast desert before them, no direction in sight. Suddenly because of the lack of perspicacious among them they felt a sense of interdependence. They were lost. Not a soul in sight. Everyone considering their imposing doom did not say a word for knowledge that any words would just be codswallop in this situation. Suddenly a Wizard appeared.

" Greetings all, I am Wizard Noserp. I am told you need help on your journey so I have for you a
plethora of clues to decipher,
Hi diddle diddle,
It's time for a favorite riddle:
The entrance to Thebes is not for plebes.
You have a choice but only one voice
And talking to stone makes you feel quite alone
Biddle o'skiddle play fiddle. "

With that the ephermal wizard disappeared. Everyone looked around, completely confused at the wonky riddle. They had no clue as to where the final destination was. Suddenly Cuatro Cuatro spoke, " It's at the Sphinx of course!"

Those would be the only words I would ever hear him say.

If I only had more time

I procrastinated. As always. I figured that I had practiced these words long enough that if I saw them on a page I would know immediately the definition. Unfortunately the test was not what I was expected.  It's not the I didn't know the definitions, because I, for the most part, did. But I didn't know the words, all this time I've only studied definitions so when the test came all these words were scrambled up in my head and I couldn't tell which ones were actual vocabulary words or not.
I know now for the next vocabulary tests I should probably study the words, possibly even make flashcards because those are always a big help.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS 2

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

I'm under the impression that we only have to do the characterization portion because of how Dr. Preston's blog was formatted.
Characterization

1.Direct Characterization
"This toast is in honor of my disassociation of you two creeps. Disassociation from you, coony captive cunt of king's county. And you, the dreary dregs of dixie." This quote is said by Nathan and directly shows his dislike for Sophie and and Stingo. It's very obvious how hostile he is.
"I am a pole! I was born in Cracow! I am not a Jew. Neither are my children! They're not Jews. They are racially pure. I am a Christian. I am a devout Christian." This quote is Sophie simply declaring who she is and is a perfect example of direct characterization.
Indirect Characterization
"Don't you see? We are dying. I longed desperately to escape, to pack my bags and free, but I did not." This is another quote by Sophie that shows a very pessimistic side of her which is then carried on through out the rest of the story as we get to know Sophie better.
"So, we'll go to that farm tomorrow. But please, Stingo, don't talk about marriage and children. It's enough that we'll go down there on that farm to live... for a while." This is another quote said by Sophie. This one shows how her past still deeply affects here and that any mention of family causes her depression.
The author really only uses direct for very little circumstances, it's not really seen throughout the story. Because of the amount of dialogue the indirect characterization really shines through, it let's you make inferences about the characters. With indirect the reader becomes more attached to the character because they really get to know them.

2. Yes, each character has their own distinct voice in this story.
For example Sophie is perceived as innocent and because her english isn't very good her dialogue is usually broken or incorrect grammar.
"Yeah umm it looked like something that the... the scares the birds... you know... what is that... umm scur... scrul... I had scurbutt!"
Nathan is direct and powerful. His dialogue is full of profanities and there is nothing subtle about him.
"You spent the whole fucking afternoon with him, or should I say, you spent the whole afternoon fucking him."
Stingo is very well reserved, he also has an innocent air around him. Because in the story he is told as a professional writer his grammar is always immaculate.
"I let go the rage and sorrow for Sophie and Nathan... and for the many others who were but a few of the butchered and betrayed and martyred children of the Earth. When I could finally see again, I saw the first rays of daylight reflected in the murky river. This was not judgment day. Only morning; morning, excellent and fair."

3. Stingo is definitely a dynamic character and very round. When we first meet him he is very pessimistic, very naiive. He hates almost everything around him and doesn't really try in his profession. Throughout the story we watch him change with the addition of his new friends Sophie and Nathan. He becomes and independent thinker not only in his thoughts but his actions as well. By the end Stingo is confident in himself.

4. Yes I definitely did. The whole story was told through the eyes of Stingo and he broke the fourth wall in most instances. The story was amazing in that you went on the journey with this character. When Sophie told her story to Stingo, she told it to you as well. You were Stingo. Therefore at the end it was difficult to say goodbye to a character who had almost become a part of you.

"It... you know, it cost...a great deal of money. More than I could afford. Anyway, who cares? Today, money doesn't seem very important."

The Comparison's Tale

Today in class we were given two comparisons for our story, the Monk's Tale. The first being The Miller's Tale. Our tales were similar in that Chaucer was criticizing the hierarchy by giving them bad characteristics. Although in another sense they were complete opposites with The Miller's tale being raunchy and full of affairs and lust while The Monk's tale were stories that were from the bible so there was no sense of that. The other story told was The Cook's tale which was different in ours that The Cook's tale was a main focus on displaying the Cook's characters while The Monk's tale was displaying humanities character in general, yet again these two stories criticized those who had higher standing in nobility.

TALE OF A CANTERBURY TALE

My group decided to the read The Monk's Tale. The Monk told a religious story as a warning to the rest of the characters to be careful because at a given moment you can experience misfortune:
"Let no man trust in blind prosperity;
Beware by these examples true and old."
He first describes very short stories from the bible such as Lucifer falling from heaven and Adam eating the forbidden fruit. Then he tells a prolonged story about Samson and goes on to tell many different stories about well known characters from the bible.

1.Indirect Characterization
                 From the previous quote, "Let no man trust in blind prosperity;Beware by these examples true and old." we can gain the fact the the Monk does not believe that humans are evil but that bad things happen to everyone. This quote shows his faith in the church and shows he lives by the bible.
                When the Monk is made fun of by the host in the story he simply reacts in this way, " This worthy Monk took all of this in patience," which shows the Monk does not believe in violence.\
                 " tragedies I'll tell, Of which I have a hundred in my cell--," this quote exemplifies the idea that the Monk spends countless hours studying the contents of the bible.
                  "As they may come back now to my remembrance, That you'll excuse me for my ignorance." this quote gives the idea that the Monk is a bit older and therefore forgetful. It also shows that he is wary of those around and wants them to listen to his story.

2. I believe Chaucer told this story in a way to satirize society. By giving the Monk to tell the people ANY type of story and he chooses tragedy it gave the church a pessimistic characteristc. But I do also believe that Chaucer told this story for the same reason the Monk told it," For surely when Fortune may choose to flee,    There is no man who may her course withhold." Because the Monk makes a very logical point that sometimes actions happen to us not because we are bad people but simply because we are unlucky, we are human. we make mistakes. 

CHARACTER STUDY 3

Mia looked out before her and felt uneasy. Tribes of warring rats, she obviously had never seen this before and there was no way they were going to get through.
"HOW WILL WE GET PAST THIS," questioned Javi in a frantic tone.
We look to the football players for help but they all had this clueless look on their face. This made me start to get nervous. There was noway we were going to be able to get through this.
I finally broke the science," Okay guys. Don't look at me weird but I have an idea. This morning something happened where when I got made I grew really huge, maybe if you all just got me really mad we could recreate it and I could step on all of them."
"That's a little cruel," mumbled Andrew.
Javi pondered for a while and then joined in," Okay, I agree with Andrew that is cruel but I have another idea. There are posters all around promoting this world's leader, Colonel Sanders. If we force the rats to all focus their hatred on them then we can get them to stop warring."
"YES," everyone agreed in unison, except 44, he didn't talk much.
Javi climbed on top of a near by table and said in an extremely loud voice,"Friends, Strangers, Country  rats lend me your ears." And from there he continued into the most persuasive speech I had ever heard, even my self at the end was angry at the Colonel. By the end the rats were joined together paw in paw singing kumbaya. They had forgotten all their angst against each other at last.
Mia, Javi, Andrew, Donkey Teeth, D'jasper, and 44 were able to sneak through the crowd and out onto the other side. They now stood facing a deserted desert that went on for miles.

CHARACTER STUDY 2

After her big event everything went black in Mia's brain. When she awoke she was back to normal size but suddenly found herself in the Equipment room down my the football stadium. Over to her left awoke Javier Solis and on her right was Andrew Alcazar, that was strange she barely even knew these two boys. There seemed to be a cohesive grogginess among the students as they tried to assess their surroundings. Before they were able question one another a voice suddenly roared.

"Hey youngins. I'm Donkey Teeth, over to my right is my best friend D' Jasper, he dont talk much but when he does his voice sure is lovely and on my left is 44."
Before Mia stood 3 gargantuan men dressed in football attire. The one in the middle by the name of Donkey Kong was the largest and obviously overtook the other two. While D'Jasper and 44 were almost too difficult to tell apart.
"What are we doing here, where are we?" piped up Javi.
"Like you don't know, you're here to escape and you're going to help us escape too," said Donkey Teeth.
"Escape from where," questioned Andrew.
"Aw come outside we'll show ya."
The three were then lead outside to what they believed to be an average football field but then turned out to be not. There was a fencelike dome incompassing their surroundings, the air was grey and the football field looked like nobody had played on it in years. They were lead pass rickety stairs and torn up ashphalt. Up half-reconstructed stairs and trash covered floors.
"We need to escape this place and to do that we must pass our first obstacale," said Donkey Kong.
"The rats," all three football players said.
Mia looked out infront of her and saw a desert that stretched for miles. At the beginning of the desert sat thousands of rats warring with one another. Greasy balls of what seemed like pizza were hurled at one another.
This was going to be difficult.

Canterbury Tales 1

I didn't have many questions with Canterbury Tales that weren't already answered. Here were a few things I still wonder about:
Did Chaucer really embark on a pilmarage?
Where was the irony found in the Knight?

The most common literary technique used was that of irony which was extremely helpful because it made the work story interesting in that I had to search for every piece of irony in all the characters.
The use of many characters is really what stood out for me in this story, it kept my attention throught out and made me eager to read more.
 Out of all the characters I am most looking forward to The Friar's story because from his description they sound like they will include plenty of romance and betrayal.

Character Study 1

She grabbed her favorite pair of boots on her way out of the house. It was a normal day for Mia, late for school and constantly in a rush. She reached for the car door, arms full of books, food, etc. and suddenly reached back. "OW," she exclaimed dropping all of her things. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, figuring it was her immature sister throwing something at her. she grabbed her things and rushed off to school.

Once there Mia raced out of her without a worry in her mind of hitting the ceiling, that was the beneifit of being 5' 0". As height comes Mia saw hers as an advantage at time but stuck in a judgemental highschool her height caused her to never really to be taken seriously and that up set her. Who would ever listen to the angry elf? She ran to her 0 period only to find the gate to school locked. This made her angry because her height limitation made her unable to the hop the fence.

Unlike before though, storming off to the other side of school Mia suddenly began to grew. She witnessed herself becoming eyelevel with the top of the fence, then the top of the buliding, then she was at a level where she could see the whole school. Mia grew to where she was atleast 30 ft tall...

To be continued.

I apologized for the indirect characterization and the direct characterization through out the rest. I'm not really that great with creative writing.

Dashboard

I used Netvibes to create my dashboard and so far I've been overwhelmed. I set it up in the following catagories Selling, Giving, Spending, and Passing time. I think I may have gone a little over board because each section has atleast 7 widgets and that might not seem like much but when you open your computer and 28 different little boxes are calling for your attention it's a little difficult. I'm sure after awhile I'll get used to it because it does provide extremely helpful to have one place with all my information instead of opening up 1700 tabs at a time.

Vocabulary 6

Beatitude: It is beatitude to live in America with free public education.
Spiders and cockroaches are my bête noire because I just cringe at the site of them.

Bode: Dogs are bodes of earthquakes because they always bark before an earthquake hits.

Dank:My cellar is dank because there is no are no lights and there is a pipe leak.

Ecumenical: Milk is an ecumenical grocery to find inside a fridge. 
It feels as if every encounter is fervid and the atmosphere is electric.
Sometimes I detest living in Los Alamos because of the fetid smell of manure ever present.

Gargantuan:Gargantuan only begins to describe the Great of China.

Heyday: Eighth grade year was my heyday because I was involved in ASB, sports, and I was also valedictorian.

Incubus:One of my brothers' favorite bands is incubus and they love the song "Threshold".

Infrastructure:Employees are the infrastructure of a business. If the employees don't do their jobs, then the business will crumble.

Inveigle: Prostitutes usually inveigle a customer by sexual arrousement.

Kudos: Kudos to Jon for figuring out how to add music to a blog and for showing me as well.

Lagniappe: People who attend the VIP party will acquire a lagniappe which varies from an iPod to a certificate to a day spa.

Prolix: I found Hemingway’s writing style to be prolix when compared to Faulkner who used fewer words to describe a setting.

Protege: Joshua is my Protégé and I am his patron. I have bestowed him with my skill as a student and he has granted me his attentive ears.

Prototype: Terminator was only the prototype of the X9's that will invade the earth in the future.

Sycophant:Mycha is a sycophant known for kissing up to the teacher around grading period.

Tautology: Lance psyches me out sometimes with his tautology because he asks me if I want him to arrive at 12 am or to land at midnight at my doorstep.

Truckle:I truckle to any question or favor under her mesmerizing gaze of beauty.

Accolade: an award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit 
I was given an accolade for my perfect attendance.

Acerbity: sourness or acid of taste, character, or tone
There was acerbity in his mother-in-law’s tone.

Attrition: a rubbing away or wearing down by friction
Tires have to withstand great attrition.

Bromide: a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe, boring
She was a bromide while giving her presentation because of her monotone voice.
                                                  
Chauvinist: a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism
The chauvinist showed aggression towards his peers.

Chronic: marked by long duration or frequent recurrence
.     Chronic back pain makes me insomniac.

Expound: present and explain a theory or idea systematically and in detail
The professor expounded his new discovery to his passionate students.

Factionalism: a group of persons forming a cohesive
The factionalism of white male Republicans are held in the House of Representatives.

Immaculate: perfectly clean, neat, or tidy
The criminals made sure they were immaculate with their plan.

Imprecation: a spoken curse
The witch spelled an imprecation on her evil twin sister.

Ineluctable: unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable
The poor man was in an eneluctable situation; there was no way out.

Mercurial: changeable, volatile, having the quality of eloquence
I am mercurial when I give a speech about my life.

Palliate: make a disease or a symptoms less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause
The cream just palliated the rash, it didn’t fix it entirely.

Protocol: an original draft, minute, or record of a document or transaction
The protocol for the CIA is to call a number for an extraction.

Resplendent: attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous
The painting was very resplendent and attracted many viewers.

Stigmatize: describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval
I had a great stigmatize for cheating on test because it’s unfair.

Sub Rosa: happening or done in secret
The birthday surprise was sub  rosa which was done by my friends.

Vainglory: inordinate pride in oneself or one’s achievements
.Her vainglory attitude drove away her friends.

Vestige: a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists
Footprints are an example of a vestige.

Volition: the faculty or power of using one’s will

People use volition to get what they want. 

WHAT A CHARACTER

I've been ashamed of my favorite book since the 5th grade. I won it in 3rd grade and I've read atleast twice a year ever since and the worst part is it is at 4th grade reading level. Flipped by Wendelin van Draan contains my favorite character, who goes by the name of Julie.

Julie was the first person who introduced the idea that yourself is the best self. From the age of seven she did not change herself to make others like her and in the end. Reading this at such a young age really inspired me to not conform to society. I grew up with her character and through it I learned to stand up for what I believe in.
The author tells Julie's part of the story through 1st person this allows the diction to become very specified for that person which allowed a window into her thoughts.
Julie's tone is friendly and fearless, for the most part she is extremely optimistic through the most difficult of situations which again is a real inspiration.


On a side note, the movie for this book was an upset and I wish it was never made.

DECLARATION OF LEARNING INDEPENDENCE.

Because of the vague assignment I'm going to infer that this post is directed torwards taking my actions into my own hands.
Therefore,
For right I will show my independence by leaving you with this quote from Charles Bukowski:

“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”

Vocab 5

obsequious: obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree
Her boyfriend was so obsequious towards her that he was deemed "clingy".
beatitude: supreme blessedness.
I felt a sense of beatitude when I earned an A on a test I did not take.
bete noire:  a detested person
Nobody liked her so she was given the nickname bete noire.
bode: to be an omen of a particular outcome
Many say that a using a wiji board can lead to a bad bode.
dank: disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold
The swamp was so dank it was hard to see.
ecumenical: worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
The royal wedding was so ecumenical that many tuned in from all around the world to witness.
fervid: intensely enthusiastic or passionate, esp. to an excessive degree
My friend is considered fervid because he started his own club on campus.
fetid: smelling extremely unpleasant
The fetid odor kept me from entering the room.
gargantuan: enormous
The gargantuan chair made me feel smaller then I already am.
heyday: The period of greatest popularity, success, or power; prime
I believe America had it's heyday during the 1960s
incubus: a nightmare
Last night my incubus included me not getting in to college.
infrastructure: is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise
It is certain for a building to be built it needs a sturdy infrastructure first.
inveigle: persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery
He inveigled her to do his homework by giving her compliments
kudos: fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement 
I gave him kudos for doing that, it took a lot of guts.
lagniappe:something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure
He was awarded the scholarship lagniappe because of his tremendous work.
prolix: (of speech or writing) using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy
His prolix made the rest of the story boring.
protégé: a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person
Ben Franklin was a protege to a newpaper editor when he was younger.
prototype: an early sample, model or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from
The Iphone released a prototype to allow users an userface interaction.
sycophant: a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage
I consider him a sycophant but everyone else just calls him a teacher's pet..
tautology: needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word
I need the tautology of vocabulary words to really remember them.
truckle: To be servile or submissive.
Every student is truckle to their teacher.