Thinking Outside the Box

I learned that Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave" and Jean Paul Sartre's "No Exit" shows that our thinking has limits and that it can be influenced from what other people think to what we have to see for ourselves.  Plato's and Sartre's characters were both secluded and had limitations on knowledge.  The cave men did not believe the freed man that saw the truth about what was going on.  They were comfortable with their shackles; they did not care for being free or escaping the shackles that kept them from the knowledge.  The characters from "No Exit" were each other's "shackles".  They influenced each other's thoughts and they couldn't think for themselves.  They were each other's knowledge.  The characters did not bother to look further than what was already there.  I think that to escape from other people's thoughts of influence, we have to not listen to what the person right next to us has to think or say and we have to think for ourselves.

Lit Term: Colloquialism

Definition: 
folksy speech, slang words, or phrases usually used in informal conversation


-It's everyday speech.  How you communicate with your friends.  You shouldn't use this type of language with a teacher.


Example:
Tonight's gonna be a good night.  (Tonight is going to be a good night.)
I wanna go get some grub.  (I want to get some food.)
He just sat down and dozed off.  (He just sad down and took a nap.)

Literature Analysis #3

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

1. The main character in The Awakening is Edna Pontellier who is twenty-eight years old.  Her family goes on a vacation from New Orleans to Grand Isle in the Gulf of Mexico for the summer.  When Edna's husband, Léonce, goes on his business trips for work, she spends her time with Adèle.  Adèle reminds Edna her duties as a wife and as a mother.  At the resort in Grand Isle, Edna meets Robert Lebrun, one of Madame Lebrun's sons.  Robert usually devotes chooses one woman in the summer that he devotes himself as an attendant.  That summer he chose to devote himself to Edna Pontellier.  Adèle told him to "let her alone."  Edna soon noticed that Robert started to distance himself from her.  One night when everyone at the resort went to the beach, Edna walked home and Robert soon caught up with her.  When they arrived to her house, they sat on the porch in silence.  Later on in the novel, Robert takes Edna to a cottage to rest because Edna felt drowsy.  That night, Edna noticed that she changed since they have stayed at Grand Isle.  She starts to desire to be with Robert and for social freedom.  When the vacation at Grand Isle is over, the Pontellier family returns to their home in New Orleans.  After they returned home, Edna starts to pull away from everybody and stop with her traditionally duties.  Léonce soon has to got o New York for business and their children stay with his mother.  Edna visits Madame Lebrun and she lets Edna read the letter Robert has written her.  She admits that her feelings for Robert are nothing like her feelings for her own husband.  Edna writes Léonce a letter telling him that she is moving out to a smaller house nearby. Eventually, Robert returns to New Orleans and he admits that he is in love with her and thought that the relationship would never work.  Adèle is in labor and she wants Edna with her, so Edna leaves Robert reassuring him she will be back.  When she returns to her little house, Robert isn't there; a note that said "I love you.  Good-by - because I love you."  Later that day Edna goes to the place where she first learned how to swim.  She swims out into the Gulf of Mexico and lets the water overtake her.
2. I think that the theme of this novel is woman and femininity.  Throughout the novel, Edna is constantly reminded of her duties as a mother, wife, and as a woman.  She has other desires: artistic and financial.  
3. The Awakening has different tones such as seriousness, sincere, and gloomy.
• "The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded."
• " Edna looked straight before her with a self-absorbed expression upon her face. She felt no interest in anything about her. "
• "She let her mind wander back over her stay at Grand Isle; and she tried to discover wherein this summer had been different from any and every other summer of her life."
4. Literary elements that helped me convey the theme:
• Symbolism:  various homes throughout the novel  "The pigeon-house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual."
• Diction: formal language "This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight"
• Syntax: long descriptive and flowed  “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” 
• Character:  their actions and words  “I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give up my life for my children; but I wouldnt give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something I can beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.” 
• Imaginary:  descriptive  “She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself.” 

Big Question

WHY is the English language the official language in the United States of America?

Hamlet/Epics/Language Essay

The use of language in Hamlet differentiates him from an epic hero such as Beowulf.  Hamlet and Beowulf both were in battles and were well known.  Beowulf fought monsters and because of his strength and bravery, people all around knew of him.  Hamlet didn’t battle monsters like Beowulf, but his inner thoughts.  Hamlet lived in the palace and has royalty in his blood, so the hoi polli knew Hamlet.


In the poem of Beowulf, the main character can be described the complete opposite of the main character in the play Hamlet.  Beowulf wouldn’t think too much of what he would do; he took action.  Hamlet on the other hand had to think a loud to make his decision before he took any action.  Beowulf would kill a monster as soon as he could.  He would not think of how he should kill it or what the monster might do.  Hamlet on the other hand thought about what he should do.  It was not til the end of the play that Hamlet finally took action.


The two actions of the heros were for different reasons.  Beowulf killed for the glory and the peace; Hamlet’s actions were out of revenge.  Before Hamlet was able to take this revenge for his father, he struggled with what he should do.  In the poem Beowulf, the scenes were action.  There were hardly any, if any, scenes of him thinking of what or struggling with himself.  The play Hamlet did not show any action until the last Act.


Epic heros are usually thought of as strong, brave and courageous.  Hamlet’s problems are internal; the audience can’t see what is going on.  Therefore, Hamlet is more language oriented than action oriented.  Without the action scenes, the audience might see him a little crazy (I know I did).  Beowulf’s and Hamlet’s language are different because of the characters thoughts and actions.

What Have I Learned?

Hmmm.  What have I learned in AP English?  Well, I have learned that analyzing something is about ten times better than just skimming through something and then taking a test on it.  I also learned that getting a full grasp and understand the information on something is a lot more beneficial than just completing an assignment just to get it done and move on in the class.  Before, I would study something to get a good grade on a test, and forget about whatever it was I learned.  Now, I put to practice the new information I learn. 

Roy Christopher

   ·              “The medium is the message”

o   Medium is the most important thing

·             Didn’t plan to be in the computer business

oMagazines for BMX caught his eye on the internet

·             “Hip-hop culture the starting point for the twenty first century culture”

·             Technology offers a mixture of cultures

·             Older generations don’t trust younger generations

o   Internet is not only used for social networking and games; my generations (this class) also uses it for academic reasons

·              Technology challenges or opportunities in younger generations?

o   Younger generation can help the older generations with the technology that they don’t know

·              Multitasking?

o   Typing an essay and being on  Facebook – the essay would be more academic if a person is not on Facebook

o   Effects a quality on a certain task