Thursday, May 16, 2013

Senior Project

After taking the AP test for English its nice to just relax with friends and make a video for remembering our high school year. We are making a compilation of funny moments that we had during our high school. This will be a nice cherry on the top of a great four years.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

In Class Essay - Thou Blind Man's Mark

"Desiring naught but how to kill desire". The idea that one has to get rid of all desires would be a tough challenge. As Sir Philip Sydney describes the troubles that a blind man has he uses tone, diction, and shift to make his point stronger.

As one might think becoming blind is the end of the world, they would use a depressing vocabulary to describe how they feel. Sydney used phrases like "mangled mind" and "worthless ware" to show just how hard it can be to be blind. He also repeated the word "vain" in an attempt to really get the point across of how hopeless things are.

The poem starts off as a sort of rant about how miserable things are. When several reasons are given he switches the mood to be more accepting to the idea. "But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought". In this line the author begins to fuel acceptance for the condition and begins to start a new life.

Between the rant and depressed beginning and the acceptance of a new life, the author has fulfilled in getting his point of view across. Sydney created an overall sense of what it feels like to have a desire. When one form of desire takes place, like the blind man wanting to see again, another will soon form overpowering the old, "desiring naught but how to kill desire."

Sir Philip Sydney used an overall tone about desire by his use of a shift to separate two feelings and by his use of word choice in creating a better sense of how he feels.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Party Like It's 1999

The prompts can be found here.

Question 2:
_________

When a death occurs that someone is close too it becomes a hard thing to grasp. As the character described is responding to the death of this animal it means that the wolf must have been a very important part in his life. McCarthy used several different techniques including diction, imagery, and point of view to get an emotional response from the reader. This emotional response shows just how well written the section of the story was in order to keep the reader interested.

McCarthy used specific words to create a sense of attachment to the wolf that the main character had. One of the lines that stands out about this is "He cradled the wolf in his arms". The word cradled is something you would associate with a newborn baby or some small creature that you have to care for. "He touched the cold and perfect teeth" the word perfect is describing something as being the best and he is talking not only about the teeth but the wolf in general. McCarthy used a certain diction to pinpoint the feelings that the main character has about the wolf.

A main feeling in the spectrum of human emotion is an image. One image can be described with thousands of words but there are some words that can let your imagination run wild with emotion. "Running in the starlight where the grass was wet and the sun's coming as yet had not undone the rich matrix of creatures passed in the night before her." this one sentence describes the entire feelings of the main character about the wolf. When McCarthy mentions "runnning in the starlight" he is referring to the beauty that is the wolf. Images help give the reader a greater attachment to the main character's feelings towards the wolf.

McCarthy used a third person point of view and constantly mentions the main character with the word "he". This constant mentioning of the word "he" is used to make sure the reader still thinks of the connection with the wolf between the main character and the wolf. This constant mentioning of the main character is very strong at making a connection.

McCarthy used several different ways to get the emotional response from the reader about the main character and his wolf. He used literary techniques such as imagery, point of view, and diction. The main character is was a great example of how McCarthy can create such an impressive bond between two characters.

Question 3:
_________

Macbeth is the quintessential character of conflict within their own minds. Shakespeare created a wonderful character with the dilemma of whether or not to kill the king. The entire point of Macbeth making a decision is that on one side he can either stay where he is in life as a fairly high up position and live a good life, or kill the king and become the new king but live with that decision for the rest of his life. Shakespeare used this dilemma to convey a set a choices to the reader and get them to think about their actions.

Macbeth's first choice is to become the Thane of Cawdor and live a nice life in the honor of his fighting skills on the battlefield. Shakespeare had this be one of the options that Macbeth had to choose from because it shows that even if someone could have a perfectly fine and peaceful life more often than not a person will want more. The main thing that is influencing him to choose this option is the fact that he really does not want to betray people he knows just to move up in the social ladder. This choice really shows how if you just follow the natural rule of life than things will be just fine.

Macbeth's second choice is to kill the current king in order to become the new king. Shakespeare led Macbeth down this path in order to create the story in the first place but to also show the consequences of an action that is horrible against another person. Lady Macbeth is almost seen as the little devil on Macbeth's shoulder saying "do it, do it". She convinces him to do the unthinkable and kill the king in search of more power. If you choose to do something like this Shakespeare is sure to make you think about your action with the guilty mind being a powerful tool.

Both of these options that Macbeth had are used a lesson by Shakespeare. In one you can either betray friends and gain power at the cost of a your conscience or you can live a life where you don't have to worry about anything but what you are going to eat and where you will work. Having Shakespeare pick the option for Macbeth to start killing everyone should be seen as a lesson to anyone who may think about doing something in a manner that will make you regret it for the rest of your life.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

At Least Two Essays

POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #2

Promp: 1983 Poem: “Clocks and Lovers” (W. H. Auden)

Prompt: Write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the attitude of the clocks with that of the lover. Through careful analysis of the language and imagery, show how this contrast is important to the meaning of the poem.

Poem I am used: Eldorado

"In sunshine and in shadow," the power that this one line has throughout this poem is very strong. It is the beginning of a search for a place called Eldorado. Poe uses imagery and language against one another to create a better sense of emotion in the reader. Eldorado is just the dream of something better than reality that cannot be attained even after a lifetime of searching. 

The first stanza starts out with an image of an energetic young knight who can't wait to start on their adventure for a place called Eldorado. As the story progresses Poe uses phrases like "and o'er his heart like a shadow," and "as his strength failed him at length" to convey a sense of hopelessness in the knights search of a better place. This shift of the poem is very important to create an emotion bond with the reader and the journey that the knight is on.


Poe uses repetition to make his point clear about the changing of the knight. The word shadow is used in all four of the stanzas, but they all have different meanings in each one. In the first stanza the meaning is that the knight is going to search knight and day for this place, while in the second one he has given up hope as a shadow covers his heart. In the third stanza shadow is used to represent a person or spiritual being giving the knight information. Finally in the last stanza "Valley of Shadows" means after death. With all these different meanings of one word Poe is able to create a vibrant emotional connection between the reader and the knight.


Poe used imagery and language throughout this poem to tell a tale of a knight through his search of a place better than reality. Eldorado is the essence of a dream place where this knight is trying to reach which after a lifetime of searching for finds the answer after death.



POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #1

[1994] Poems: “To Helen” (Edgar Allan Poe) and “Helen” (H.D.)
Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.


With all great works of art there are multiply ways to interpret them. As we see in the two poems "To Helen" and "Helen" there are two very different viewpoints. These viewpoints are both very well said and can be right either way. Edgar Allan Poe and Hilda Doolittle both share their opinions on Helen by their use of diction, tone, and imagery.

Poe talked about Helen as a part of something beautiful and elegant. He imagined it like a wondrous place and referred to it as the “Holy Land”. On the other side Doolittle talked about how after what had happened Greece was now a thinking of evil that had happened to them.

The way Poe embraces his words as a lovely array of symbols and warmth is very different compared to the harsh and cold way Doolittle sees it. With the first line in both poems you can tell which way their viewpoints are. “Helen, thy beauty is to me” Poe just embraces every part that is good in Helen. “All Greece hates the still eyes in the white face” Doolittle immediately shows how much she hates what has happened. Both of these poems tones are drastically different.

The images that are produced through the powerful words of Poe and Doolittle can be seen throughout their text. Poe’s words describe and immediate sense of serenity with the world that is Helen. Meanwhile Doolittle’s words create a sense of coldness and depression. Both of these images are very strong within the work.

Both Poe and Doolittle have very strong opinions about Helen and are shown through the powerful images and diction which create a powerful tone. These two authors both shared great opinions on Helen through their work.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Practice Poetry MC Questions

These are my answers to the questions here.

Do Not Gentle Into That Good Night
1.B
2.A
3.C
4.C
5.A

Departmental
1.C
2.D
3.D
4.C
5.C
6.B
7.B
8.A
9.A
10.E

Groupthink

In class today I talked with my group about the three poems we did and it really helped me understand the meanings of the poems. For the poem Eldorado we talked among each other and came to an understanding that the shadow's meaning changes throughout the poem which creates a deeper sense of emotion. For the poem Enigma we found out that what Poe meant to do was reference influential writers in every other line. This was the whole point of the poem to appreciate the work the authors had done. Finally the last poem we did was Epigram for Wall street and I found out that the point was to make fun of the people who think there is an easy way out of doing things when in reality you are going to always have to work for what you get.

The ironic part about groupthink is that we actually used everyones minds to make a solid understanding for each of us about the poems. Rather than there only being one opinion we had several that we used to make one comprehension.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Inspirational Video

I have realized that I have been way to irresponsible with the amount of work I have put into this semester. Grades came and a realization hit me of what I was doing wrong. I remembered back to when I saw this video that inspired me about starting new things and decided to watch it again. As I was watching it he says that there are two mistakes that people make: Not Starting, and Not FINISHING. This last part really caught my attention this time because I realized that I had become just another person who did not finish. There is still time left in this school year that I will do everything in my power to finish as best I can and not feel like I could have done better.