Lit Terms #3

exposition - (noun) (music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur; an account that sets forth the meaning or intent of a writing or discourse; a systematic interpretation or explanation (usually written) of a specific topic; a collection of things (goods or works of art etc.) for public display
expressionism - (noun) an art movement early in the 20th century; the artist's subjective expression of inner experiences was emphasized; an inner feeling was expressed through a distorted rendition of reality
fable - (noun) a short moral story (often with animal characters); a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events; a deliberately false or improbable account
fallacy - (noun) a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning
falling action- (noun) part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
farce - (noun) a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations; mixture of ground raw chicken and mushrooms with pistachios and truffles and onions and parsley and lots of butter and bound with eggs; verb fill with a stuffing while cooking I
figurative language - (adj.) (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; consisting of or forming human or animal figures
flashback - noun a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story; an unexpected but vivid recurrence of a past experience (especially a recurrence of the effects of an hallucinogenic drug taken much earlier)
foil - noun a light slender flexible sword tipped by a button; a piece of thin and flexible sheet metal; picture consisting of a positive photograph or drawing on a transparent base; viewed with a projector; anything that serves by contrast to call attention to another thing's good qualities; a device consisting of a flat or curved piece (as a metal plate) so that its surface reacts to the water it is passing through; verb cover or back with foil; enhance by contrast; hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
folk - noun people in general (often used in the plural); the traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of people in a community; people descended from a common ancestor; a social division of (usually preliterate) people
tale - noun a trivial lie; a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
foreshadowing - adj. indistinctly prophetic; noun the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand
free - adj. not literal; unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion;able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint;not held in servitude; not occupied or in use; not fixed in position;not taken up by scheduled activities; costing nothing; adv. without restraint; noun people who are free; verb free or remove obstruction from; grant freedom to; free from confinement; free from obligations or duties; make (information) available publication; make (assets) available; let off the hook; remove or force out from a position; part with a possession or right; relieve from; grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to
verse - noun a piece of poetry; a line of metrical text; literature in metrical form; verb familiarize through thorough study or experience;compose verses or put into verse
genre - noun a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic form or technique; a kind of literary or artistic work; an expressive style of music; a style of expressing yourself in writing
gothic - adj. characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque; of or relating to the Goths; of or relating to the language of the ancient Goths; characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German; as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened; noun a style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed arches; a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries; extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths; the only surviving record being fragments of a 4th-century translation of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas
tale - noun a trivial lie; a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
hyperbole - noun extravagant exaggeration
imagery - noun the ability to form mental images of things or events
implication - noun an accusation that brings into intimate and usually incriminating connection; a relation implicated by virtue of involvement or close connection (especially an incriminating involvement); a logical relation between propositions p and q of the form `if p then q'; if p is true then q cannot be false; something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied); a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
incongruity - noun the quality of disagreeing; being unsuitable and inappropriate
inference - noun the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation
irony - noun incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs; witty language used to convey insults or scorn

*definitions from easydefine.com

Lit Terms #2

Circumlocution - (noun) an indirect way of expressing something; a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
Classicism - (noun) a movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that favored rationality and restraint and strict forms
Cliche - (noun) a trite or obvious remark
Climax - (noun) the decisive moment in a novel or play; arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness; the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding; the most severe stage of a disease; the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse; verb end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
Colloquialism - (noun) a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
Comedy - (noun) light and humorous drama with a happy ending; a comic incident or series of incidents
Conflict - (noun) an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); an incompatibility of dates or events; opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings; opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot); a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests; a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; a disagreement or argument about something important; verb go against, as of rules and laws; be in conflict
Connotation - (noun) an idea that is implied or suggested; what you must know in order to determine the reference of an expression
Contrast - (noun) the act of distinguishing by comparing differences;the range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness); the perceptual effect of the juxtaposition of very different colors; the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared; a conceptual separation or distinction; verb put in opposition to show or emphasize differences; to show differences when compared; be different
Denotation - (noun) the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; the act of indicating or pointing out by name
Denouement - (noun) the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work; the outcome of a complex sequence of events
Dialect - (noun) the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
Dialectics - (noun) a rationale for dialectical materialism based on change through the conflict of opposing forces
Dichotomy - (noun) being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
Diction - (noun) the manner in which something is expressed in words; the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience
Didactic - (adj.) instructive (especially excessively)
Dogmatic - (adj.) characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
Elegy - (noun) a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
Epic - (adj.) very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale); constituting or having to do with or suggestive of a literary epic; noun a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
Epigram - (noun) a witty saying

*definitions from easydefine.com

allegory - (noun) an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor; a short moral story (often with animal characters); a visible symbol representing an abstract idea
alliteration - (noun) use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse
allusion - (noun) passing reference or indirect mention
ambiguity - (noun) unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning; an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context
anachronism - (noun) an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
analogy - (noun) drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect; an inference that if things agree in some respects they probably agree in others; the religious belief that between creature and creator no similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is always greater; language can point in the right direction but any analogy between God and humans will always be inadequate
analysis - (noun) an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole; the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations; a branch of mathematics involving calculus and the theory of limits; sequences and series and integration and differentiation; a form of literary criticism in which the structure of a piece of writing is analyzed; the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., `the father of the bride' instead of `the bride's father'; a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud
anaphora - (noun) using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier; repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
anecdote - noun short account of an incident (especially a biographical one)
antagonist - (noun) a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug; a muscle that relaxes while another contracts;someone who offers opposition
antithesis - (noun) the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance; exact opposite
aphorism - (noun) a short pithy instructive saying
apologia - (noun) a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly
apostrophe - (noun) the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word; address to an absent or imaginary person
argument - (noun) a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable; a summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie; a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true; a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal; a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
assumption - (noun) the act of taking possession of or power over something; the act of assuming or taking for granted; a hypothesis that is taken for granted; (Christianity) the taking up of the body and soul of the Virgin Mary when her earthly life had ended; celebration in the Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary's being taken up into heaven when her earthly life ended; corresponds to the Dormition in the Eastern Orthodox church; audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to; a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn
audience - (noun) a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance; the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment; a conference (usually with someone important); an opportunity to state your case and be heard
characterization - (noun) the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features; acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture; a graphic or vivid verbal description
chiasmus - (noun) inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

*definitions from easydefine.com 

My Masterpiece

My masterpiece this semester is on world hunger and malnutrition. Every year more than 850 million people suffer from hunger worldwide. This is a staggering statistic. Proper nutrition is necessary especially for children for their growth and development. Living in the United States, we don't notice, but food is such a luxury for us. Most of us eat three square meals a day. Some people skip breakfast, but they are still fed adequately.

The reason I came to be interested about world hunger is from my English class my sophomore year. That's when I realized that I was taking my whole life for granted, and that I have so much, compared to what other people have around the world. I was watching a video on YouTube and it said if you have a roof over your head, a refrigerator for your food, and a computer, you are automatically richer than 75 % richer than the rest of the world. When I watch and see videos of children and families suffering because they don't have enough food, and I see people throwing away food, it makes me evaluate what's really going on. I throw away food I don't finish, but we waste so much food it's ridiculous. A 2005 study from the University of Arizona says that fast food restaurants through away 85,063,390 lbs. daily. While it is estimated that 49,296,540 lbs. of food is thrown away daily in dine in restaurants. 

Learning about this topic will help enrich my life because it will open not only mine, but everyone's mind to a whole new way of thinking. I know that when Mrs. Byrne introduced this to me my sophomore year, I began thinking a different way, and I began to count my blessings. Hopefully I am able to persuade other people in the community about this, because the more people that participate will lead to less and less people being affected by world hunger. 

So far I don't really have a plan for research for my masterpiece. If I have any questions I have just been looking them up. 

I think Mrs. Byrne will be a big resource for me. I think a lot of our views are similar and we are on the same page in what we think so I think she will be a big asset. I also know that Kurt has a foreign exchanged student from Mozambique and he might have some information that is useful to me. I also know that Bre is doing something similar to me, so we can collaborate on our masterpieces and help each other find new ideas. 

For my masterpiece I'm just going to continue with my previous blog. I'm just going to post all my assignments and my masterpiece on the same blog. I will use other media I find online to remix and hack my masterpiece. My topic isn't black and white so I'm able to remix media to enhance my learning. 

For my masterpiece, I want it to be a solution to world hunger. Finding a least costly way to distribute food to starving children and families is my ultimate goal. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do that, but I think if I collaborate with Mrs. Byrne and come up with ideas. This is something I have time to do right now, but I think I'll pick it back up when I graduate from college. While I'm in college I think I will be to busy with basketball on my school work to be as much involved, but after I graduate, I will be able to pick up where I left off in high school. 

HACKING MY EDUCATION:

This semester I want to make the most out of my senior year. I'm used to the normal flow of high school, and the normal curriculum, but I would like to switch it up. I would like to do what I want to do in my last semester of high school before I head off to college. 

Literature Analysis #3-The Pearl

1. Setting: The book takes place in a small town named La Paz, which is located in Mexico on the Baja Peninsula.

Exposition: The story is set of a poor Native American family, couple who have a young a baby. The father is named Kino, the mother named Juana, and the baby boy is named Coyotito. They have almost the same routine every day, however one day everything changes.

Inciting incident: Coyotito is playing in his crib and is stung by a scorpion. Kino tries to prevent it, but is too late. Juana tries to suck the venom out, which is unsuccessful. Kino and Juana try to take Coyotito to the doctor, however during that time the doctor saw the Native Americans, and didn't want to treat them because they didn't have enough money, and they were Native Americans. 

Kino goes back to the ocean shore, and dives in. After awhile he comes back with a marvelous and enormous pearl. The whole village is an awe of Kino's new pearl, and that night the doctor comes back and gives Coyotito medicine, and Kino promises to pay 

him as soon as he gets money for his pearl. 

That night someone tries to take the pearl, but Kino he isn't successful. The next day he tries to sell it, but he's unsuccessful. Then Kino wakes up seeing Juana close to throwing the pearl back into the ocean. He beats her, than kills another man who burned their hut down and tried to take the pearl. Scared, he and his family flee to the capital to sell the pearl, but then discover people following them. After awhile, Kino tells Juana to take care of Coyotito, as Kino approaches the men who were following them. Coyotito cries and the men shoot a rifle in the direction of where they hear the cry. Then Kino attacks them and kills all three of the men, but only returns to see Coyotito dead. The next day Kino and Juana return to their village where Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean. 

2. The main theme of the novel is that your personal greed and pride can lead to your downfall. 

3. The tone of the book is a melancholy one, but is also belligerent. 

"They came to the place where the brush houses stopped and the city of stone and plaster began, the city of harsh outer walls and inner cool gardens where a little water played and the bougainvillea crusted the walls with purple and brick-red and white."

"He struck her in the face with his clients fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side. In the pale light he could see the little waves break over her, and her skirt floated about and clung to her legs as the water receded. Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared. He hissed at her like a snake"

"He was an animal for now, for hiding, for attacking, and he lived only to preserve himself and his family." 

4. Symbolism: The pearl symbolizes hope when Kino first discovers it, but then towards the end after all his bad events with the pearl, it symbolizes evil.

Irony: When Kino discovered the pearl, I thought that Coyotito was going to be healed, and that it would bring great fortune to their family, however the exact opposite happened. 

Simile: “And the music of the pearl rose like a chorus of trumpets in his ears.”

Imagery: Steinbeck uses imagery throughout the book, describing the pearl that Kino discovered, and the mountainous regions. 

Personifaction: "The nerves of the town were pulsing and vibrating with the news.”

Foreshadowing: Coyotito being stuck by the scorpion was a sign that his death was eminent. 

Metaphor: "He was an animal now, for hiding, for attacking, and he lived only to preserve himself and his family." 

Allusion: The spirituality used in the story alludes to those used by Native Americans during the time when America was being colonized. 

Characterization: 

1. Direct Characterization: Kino and his family are all described with physical qualities. In the  first few pages it describes them and the house they live in. It is also used to describe the doctor and the people who live in the village. 

Indirect Characterization: Kino's true character is revealed as the story continues. His struggle with the pearl, and willingness to not give it up showed that he was persistent. It also showed that even though it looked like he was putting the pearl before his family, he was only doing it to make money to take care of his family. 

2. When the author is using dialogue, the characters speak in a more direct and simplified dictionary and syntax. However, when Steinbeck is describing places, or describing the scenery, he tends to use more of a figurative language. 

3. The protagonist is dynamic and round. When he discovers his fortune, he is very stingy and greedy. However towards the end when his son dies he changes. He listens to Juana throws the pearl in the ocean. It is just sad that it took the death of his son for him to realize that. 

4. After coming away from the book, I felt like I had met Kino. I admire his ambition and his desire to take care of his family. He was also relentless in the pursuit of trying to sell his pearl. I was saddened of the loss of his son, however I still admired his character throughout the book. 

 

Comparing Poems Essay

I'm comparing our poem "The Place Where We Are Right" to "Out Beyond Ideas". 

Bloodshed, hate, and violence are human beings' worst qualities. War and killing always seems to be the answer. If two countries are continually having problems with each other, most of the time it ends up in war. The way that these two poems are similar, is because they both involve wrong solutions, and the consequences of those solutions. 

The main idea in "The Place Where We Are Right" is how man fights and kills each other, and we build houses over our fallen foes. This is significant, because when immigrants first moved to America and took the land, they killed the Native Americans, and built houses over their dead bodies. The main idea in "Out Beyond Ideas" is that when we meet in the middle of a field of wrongdoing and right doing, ideas, language, and each other don't make sense. Everyone has to make certain decisions everyday that will impact their lives in various ways. Some decisions we regret, while others are some of the best we've made. How we make decisions everyday apply to ourselves and lives and shape them, whether they are right or wrong. 

The question become, how we deal with our  conflicts. While it seems easy to just go to war, it's not always the best decision. Millions and millions of lives have been lost in war, and our mentalilty is that lives goes on. It's time to unite. Humans all desire and want things, but working together is best suited for us. Compromise is key. We can't live in a world where everyone gets everything they want. That's why we need to meet somewhere in the middle, so everyone can be happy. The field beyond wrongdoings and right doing is the field that we need to meet, to stop war, bloodshed, and violence. Instead promote peace and love.