LAQ 1984

Nineteen Eighty-Four

GENERAL:

1. Winston is the protagonist living in a dystopia. He is not happy with the fact that everyone is watched and monitored. He questions the credibility of the Ministry of Truth. He is a Party member so he works at the office and he corrects newspapers that appear faulty. This world does not allow freedom of thought or liberty or anything for that matter. If you want to have sexual intercourse with your husband, you must go through the paperwork and ask for permission. If you want to fix a leak in the pipes, you have to go through the paperwork and even then you might not get permission for up to

Tools That Change the Way We Think

How does extensive Internet/media/technology use change the way you think?
--I feel like I have become attached by the hip with technology. When I get an assignment and I don't remember the notes of that day, I just look up notes online because its fast and usually there are websites that describe something a different way in which I can understand. I think technology is great to have for a quick answer to info, also for reports and other data. 

Compare yourself with older people who did most of their formal learning before smart phones and 2.0 existed
--Well, I feel bad for those that didn't have the internet at their fingertips. They either had to go to a library and read mounds and mounds of library books and mostly likely only get a modicum of the information they were looking for.  I, on the other hand, can simply connect to the internet and find data in under a minute. If I do get frustrated, it might be because of slow internet or cheese-ball information that is obviously fake. Our ancestors searches may have been more reliable if they found the information they were looking for. 

Compare yourself with contemporaries who don't use those tools much today
--If I were to compare myself with contemporaries and see how much technology has affected me, I would be a kid on a crutch about to run a race and our contemporaries would be like runners that have been training for years. Definitely if our power ever magically went off completely, the world will definitely struggle to reboot. 

Notes on Hamlet

      I initially thought Hamlet was about a tragedy in which many people died. I wasn't too far off but the theme focuses on revenge not tragedy. Once we started the unit on Hamlet, I knew what the story was about. Preston had instructed the students to read a brief summary so I knew the jist of what was going to happen. I knew everyone basically dies so technically Hamlet is a tragedy. 

Who Was Shakespeare?

      Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Warwickshire, England. People don't know his birthday which is troubling considering people even doubt he ever existed. In 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway and had a daughter with her a year later. He also had twins two years later. 

      1588 was the turning point in Shakespeare's career. In this year, he and his family migrated to London and his career expanded. He acted and was a poet and play-writer. He wrote and was involved in a total of 38 (!!) plays and works. That is what truly made his career. Not only that but he used a difficult form of presenting dialogue, iambic pentameter. Based on dictionary.com, iambic pentameter is "a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html

      At the mere mention of Shakespeare's name, most students gasp! Students know that Shakespeare's works are known for their difficulty in comprehending what is being said. The texts and plays are almost five hundred years old so yeah they would be difficult to decipher at times. There are many words I do understand just from context clues or the fact that I know the definitions. There are words that are really old so I would still be confused.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

 
      I have been using Facebook since freshman year, I think. I don't post personal things, like "Oh my gosh that ho slept with that guy like ten times and her shirt is too low." Yeah I don't post things like that. I post when I hang out with friends, but even then I barely post anything.
      Even before reading the article, I knew that facebook had its defects. Ian May has been very pro-active in his discussions and they are quite informative. From him, I learned that facebook basically sells the users' contact info to companies. This is outrageous but its one of those things where you can't really stop it. You can stop using facebook but then you will be cut off from the biggest social media known to man. Being connected and able to stay ahead with the times is why I joined facebook. As long as you don't put any intense info, like your social security number, then you should be fine.

Vocab remix

Well I didn't know exactly how to remix vocabulary for list 9, just I conversed with Erika and she gave me the idea of a picture dictionary.

Abortive

Bruit

contumelious

Dictum

Ensconce 

Iconoclastic

In medias res

internecine

Maladroit

Maudlin

Modulate

Portentous

Prescience

Quid pro quo

Salubrious

Saturnalian

Touchstone

Traumatic

Vitiate

Waggish

Vocab List #9

1. Abortive-failing to succeed; unsuccessful; born prematurely imperfectly developed; rudimentary.
2. Bruit-to voice abroad; rumor (used chiefly in the passive and often fol. by about ); clamor.
3. Contumelious; scornful and insulting; insolent.
4. Dictum-an authoritative pronouncement; judicial assertion; a saying
5. Ensconce-to settle securely or snugly; to cover or shelter; hide securely
6. Iconoclastic-characterized by attacks on established beliefs.
7. In medias res-into the middle of affairs; into the midst of things.
8. internecine-destructive to both sides in a conflict; murderous; deadly
9. maladroit-ineffective or bungling; clumsy; awkward
10. maudlin-self pityingly or tearfully sentimental; sentimental; mawkish
11. Modulate-exert a modifying or controlling influence on; vary the strength, tone, or pitch of.
12. Portentous-done in a pompous or overly solemn manner.
13. Prescience-the power to foresee the future.
14. quid pro quo-a favor or advantage granted in return for something
15. salubrious-pleasant; healthy-giving
16. saturnalian-the festival of Saturn, celebrated in December in ancient Rome as a time of unrestrained merrymaking 
17. touchstone-a standard by which something is judged or recognized.
18. traumatic-emotionally disturbing or distressing 
19. vitiate-spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of; corrupt.
20. waggish-humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner; jocose; jocular

Ophelia Remix

       Okay so this is Ophelia, to be loved or not to be loved. The women is Ophelia and she is pondering, like any girl in her teens, whether the first guy that shows her affection truly loves her. She is ambivalent whether to return his forward remarks because her father says his feelings aren't legit. With the help of photoshop and other tools, I created this image because this is my interpretation of Ophelia's thoughts in Act 3 and virtually the entire play. Plz comment, and thanks!!

Midterm Autopsy

Yeah I did as well as I had expected. I got a hundred percent or so I'm quite happy with my performance. I contribute my performance to flash-cards. Flash-cards are my friends when it comes to studying for a quiz. I always rely on them and I always make some for an exam. Considering I did quite well on the exam, I can't really improve if my knowledge of the vocabulary is at its apogee.

Hamlet More websites

In case people are confused with Hamlet, there are ways around the confusion. First, if you need a word for word translation, just use Sparknotes translation. Translation will only get you so far, and you shouldn't always rely on pure translation from Sparknotes to understand the story. I found this really good scene by scene summary website. A very good breakdown of the intents of the characters or hidden meaning. Check it out!

Vocabulary Sentences List 8

1. My iPod is in a state of abeyance because I got an iPhone so an iPod isn’t quite as useful.
2. I am ambivalent whether I should go to the football game or not because I really want to see it but I also want to study.
3. The U.S. rushed to provide support and supplies to the beleaguered West Berlin after it had been cut off by Germany.
4. I did a favor for Sally in exchange for a carte Blanche, in the future, a favor of my choice. 
5. The discovery of Josh's embezzlement was the cataclysm that brought new rules and regulations.
6. Tyler was a debauch to Sally because he was a drug dealer who led her astray.
7. Actors try to get as much éclat as possible, and they don't care if its good or bad.
8. One must be fastidious when conducting heart surgery.
9. One day, I would love to gambol along the beach with my love.
10. Every time I see his face, he imbues a nauseating feeling.
11. University of California Riverside has an inchoate biochemistry program so I am hesitant to attend UCR for fear that it is too young and inexperienced.
12. David letterman has been known to lampoon artists that make outrageous public stupidities.
13. Henry is gullible and malleable sometimes. When Stacy says to wait patiently, he waits. If he is democrat, she will turn him republican.
14. My favorite character from The Resident Evil franchise is Nemesis.
15. When given the option to stay with the one I love or receive criticism, I will opt to stay with the one I love because this person gives me great happiness.
16. Sometimes I feel that critics are philistine towards art because of their extreme remarks of degradation.
17. Hancock is an example of a picaresque hero because he is dishonest and an irresponsible brute, yet he saves the day.
18. I love horror movies but some gory movies really do make me queasy, for example Saw.
19. My patents are an example of refractory parents because they make one decision and stick with it even if their argument is full of fallacies.
20. Politicians must be very good at Savoir-faire and smoothly incorporating fallacies into their arguments or else people wouldn't vote for them.

Vocabulary Definitions List #8

1. Abeyance: temporary disuse or inactivity
2. Ambivalent: simultaneous and contradictory feelings; having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone
3. Beleaguer: trouble, harass; surround and harass with difficulties
4. Carte blanche: full discretionary power; Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best; a blank check
5. Cataclysm: event that brings great changes; A large-scale and violent event in the natural world; A sudden violent upheaval, esp. in a political or social context
6. Debauch: to lead away from virtue or excellence; (noun) A bout of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, esp. eating and; (verb) Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt; deprave
7. Éclat: ostentatious (pretentious) display; publicity; Brilliant display or effect
8. Fastidious: having high and often capricious (fickle) standards; difficult to please; Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail.
9. Gambol: to skip about in play
10. Imbue: Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality
11. Inchoate: Just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary
12. Lampoon: (verb) Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule or sarcasm; (noun) A speech or text criticizing someone or something in this way
13. Malleable: Able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking; easily influenced
14. Nemesis: The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall.
15. Opt: Make a choice from a range of possibilities
16. Philistine: A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them
17. Picaresque: Of or relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero
18. Queasy: Nauseated; feeling sick
19. Refractory: (adj.) Stubborn or unmanageable;
20. Savoir-faire: The ability to act or speak appropriately in social situation

Midterm Reflection

This guy embodies my emotions during and after the exam.

A) The vocabulary midterm went really well. I studied twenty minutes each day rotating lists. I had the vocabulary down and memorized when I walked into room 608. I mean, multiple choice is a cake-walk. Multiple choice exams, especially for vocabulary, are always easy because you use process of elimination. 

B) I didn't find that anything went bad. I just didn't like the fact that you would give us 15 minutes for each section and I would finish each section in under five minutes. By the end of class, I had drawn doodles on my hand to entertain myself. 

C) I'm pretty sure the content will stay embedded into my mind. I studied pretty well and I was only uncertain on one or two words out of all the vocabulary. 

D)Honestly, I felt really comfortable with this exam. I was expecting a final section where we create a story with as many vocabulary as you can. Because I expected more and was prepared for more, I wasn't affected in a negative way when the exam ended up being easier. 

Advice Column Letter

Dear Ophelia,
Ophelia my dear you are not alone! Calm thy soul. I empathize that you have such feelings but don't rush to kill thy bigot parents. You cannot cull who you love that is very understandable. You do not choose love, love chooses you and some day your parents will understand that. You live in a dogmatic society where parents don't budge very easily. Who are we kidding?! In any society, parents don't budge very easily. They give you fustian speeches and command that you only look for a certain type of person. Your at the age where you burgeon into a woman and so does love. When parents command you to do something it is very understandable to be contumacious. To hell with them! They can advise you but they can't order you to live a certain way. Especially when you are courted by someone who is considered polemical, then they will really want to control who you mete your time with. It's your life not theirs, they have already lived their life. Bickering with them is pointless because they are essentially children with adult bodies. They won't try to reason because they think that they are right because they are so many years old. I agree with what you did Ophelia, just nod your head for now, but as soon as you are independent enough, leave them and live your life. If they truly gave a damn about you, they would try to understand your feelings for Hamlet and make the effort to accept you two as a couple. And if they truly loved you, they will suck up their hauteur and stop being a curmudgeon. If they care about your happiness someday they will coalesce well into your life. If they choose not to agree then obviously they don't deserve to be in your life. In this chaotic life, where balance is fleeting, you should always hang on to that beacon of hope and find the person that truly makes you happy. Hang in there!

AP Reading List Book #2

       For my second reading book for my literature analysis I chose George Orwell's 1984. Last time I had chosen a love story that was forbidden because of social class. This time, I am going to go with a more science fiction choice. From what I know, 1984 is a story about a civilization that is watched by "A Big Brother". There are certain things you can and can't do. I don't think you are allowed to feel emotion either, or at least show it. I get the feeling that this book is a mixture of Fahrenheit 451 and the movie Equilibrium. If when I'm done reading 1984 and you like my synopsis of it, I definitely recommend these titles, one is a book and the latter is a film.