Monday, October 29, 2012

To sleep. Perchance to weigh less

This could be a cause of many obese people in the US. Its commonly known that people perform at a completely different level with a good nights sleep rather than the very common 6 hours or less. College is known to have a "Freshman 15" curse where you gain 15 pounds in your first year of college. Is it really the good cafeteria food? Or could it be that all these students are so deprived of their sleep that they put on a few more pounds. I figured this was another reason for people to be motivated to sleep more, especially me.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Never Let Me Go : Kazuo Ishiguro

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
  •  Never Let Me Go is set in a dystopian society where children are bred as clones in order to donate all possible organs to other human beings once they get old enough. The novel starts off as a flash back that the main protagonist, Kathy, has while she is at Hailsham, the primary academy where children are grown. At Hailsham, Kathy grows up with two other students that become her best friends once they come out of Hailsham. Along with Ruth and Tommy, Kathy grows up until they are old enough (16) to be released into the outside world. In Hailsham, they discover secrets that are not supposed to be told to the clone. Things like the purpose of their life or that they cannot bare children because they are clones. Once outside, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy live at the cottages where the clones are free to live as they wish until they are due for their donations. At the cottages, the children are able to choose between being a carer and a donor. The donors go straight into giving donations to clients, but the carers get to care for the donors during a certain period of time before they themselves have to donate. Once the donations start, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are separated from each other. Kathy gets word from a source that tells her Ruth gave her donations and she is doing poorly so Kathy goes and visits Ruth. While Kathy is there, Tommy is not to far from the center so they are all reunited once again. After this encounter, Ruth dies, and Kathy takes it upon herself to become Tommy's carer. At this point Tommy has given three donations and in order to prolong his life, they try to get a extension (rumors). The extensions turn out not to be true and Tommy dies after his fourth donation. Now the novel returns to the beginning of the book before Kathy's flashback and ends with Kathy awaiting her due dates for donations.
  • The book is narrated from Kathy's point of view, and the reason for that, I believe, is because out of all the three main character (Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth), Kathy holds the strongest personality. She strengthens the theme with her attitude towards life. When Kathy decides to become a carer, she makes it apparent that she doesn't wish to believe in the purpose of her life.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
  •  Individualism is a huge component in the novel because the children that are raised as clones are not their own unique selves. All of the children are curious either in a hateful or emotional manner with their "originals" (what they call the person they were cloned from). Nonetheless, there is a huge feeling of individualism that mostly Kathy seeks because she despises the thought of her being someone else and not herself.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
  •  The author's tone is sad, almost depressing. When I read this book, one thing that really popped out at me was the way the author would show a variety of emotions in the novel yet keep that sense of sadness and longing for real life. Along with that sadness comes rage.
    • “Why did we do all of that work in the first place? Why train us, encourage us, make us produce all of that? If we’re just going to give donations anyway, then die, why all those lessons? Why all those books and discussions?” -Kathy p.259
    •  “If you’re to live decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you, every one of you.” -Miss Lucy p.81
    • “Didn’t we all dream from time to time about one guardian or other bending the rules and doing something special for us? A spontaneous hug, a secret letter, a gift?” -Kathy p.60
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.)
  •  Symbolism- Kathy's music tape that she loves so dearly gives a connection the to outside world, maybe the only connection.
  • Flashback- Kathy's narration starts at Tommy's fourth donation, and then she flashbacks all the way back to when she was a child in Hailsham.
  • Direct Characterization- In the beginning, Kathy starts off her narration with "My name is Kathy H. I am thirty-one years old, and I've been a carer now for over eleven years."
  • Indirect Characterization- Kathy shows a really motherly/caring side to her when she tell Tommy that his favorite polo shirt is all muddy and that he should take care of it.
  • Bildungsroman- Throughout the whole book, Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy all discover new things about their like (that they are clones), and that changes all their personalities. They all developed a sort of careless, angry attitude of life.
  • Conflict- Kathy and Tommy try to fight having to give donations, but its an inevitable purpose for the clone children. 
  • Foil- Kathy and Ruth can be determines as opposites because Kathy is really nice and caring, but Ruth is shown as carefree and she doesn't care as much.
  • Point of view- Ishiguro uses first person point of view in order to tell the story through Kathy's eyes.
  • Setting- The setting is interesting because it isn't the norm of dystopian societies that we generally think of. Instead, the novel is set in older more recent and modern times with that dystopian feel.
  • Stream of consciousness- Kathy's thoughts are constantly shown throughout the book. She constantly points out personal thoughts of matters at hand.
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)?
  •  Direct Characterization
    • In the beginning Kathy starts off her narration by stating her name, age, and current position. 
    •  Kathy describes Ruth as charismatic, but manipulative and dishonest.
  • Indirect Charcterization
    • Kathy shows her caring personality by pointing about how Tommy dirtied his favorite polo shirt.
    • Kathy is given a jealous personality at the cottages when Tommy and Ruth start dating. Kathy started out with a unselfish attitude, but as Tommy and Ruth begin to love each other, that changes.  
  • Using both direct and indirect characterization strengthens the each character as the plot pursues. Direct characterization established an initial character and indirect establishes the long term evolution of each character. 
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
  •  When the author is in Kathy's focus, his diction changes into softer and sadder words or more caring words; however, when the focus changes to someone like Ruth, there is always room for anger or arguments between Kathy and Ruth.
    • “We all know it. We’re modeled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps. Convicts, maybe, just so long as they aren’t psychos. That’s what we come from. We all know it, so why don’t we say it?” -Ruth p. 166
    • “Something in me just gave up. A voice went: ‘All right, let him think the absolute worst. Let him think it, let him think it.’ And I suppose I looked at him with resignation, with a face that said, ‘Yes, it’s true, what else did you expect?’” -Kathy p. 195
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
  •  The protagonist is dynamic and round. Kathy definitely changes throughout the book because in the beginning she is very nice and caring, but towards everyone's death, she becomes emo. She gets really sad and welcoming of death. She also shows a lot of selfishness, rage, and jealousy as the plot ensues. 
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.
  •  I wouldn't say that I have met a real character because they don't reach my standard of what a real person is, but the protagonists have a lot of real qualities. When Kathy is jealous of what Ruth and Tommy have going for each other, I, as well as many others, could related to Kathy's situation. It is really easy to find yourself sitting on the sidelines while you see the person you like with another person, and sometimes you just have to respect what they have. In a way I think Kathy did respect Tommy and Ruth's relationship.

*

Friday, October 26, 2012

"Skinnier on Campus"

This really caught my eye. I don't know if it was the fact that I'm a huge mind geek or that I found it to be so related to what we have going now. If all guys said they liked girls in sundresses then I can bet more girls would wear sundresses.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Tools That Change the Way We Think

I can hardly say that this generation thinks for itself anymore. We base our thoughts on others and others base their thoughts on other and so on. It's a never ending chain of information taken from one another through the internet. I'm not talking about going through an informative book to get the information. People see what people think and think it as well. It might be just me but when I see how fast "swag" or "yolo" travels from one another, its incredible. We no longer control what we want to think because all the thinking that we need is already done for us regardless of whether or not we want it or not.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Notes on Hamlet

At the beginning of reading Hamlet, I was uninterested in reading another piece of Shakespeare because, frankly, it is hard to understand most of the time. As I got further and further into the book, I noticed that I had a stronger connection to the book than before. Now after reading Act III, I'm genuinely enjoying the plot of the play.

Hamlet is finally starting to get piece of his revenge together, first, with the kill of Polonius. By saying that, I mean that there are more pieces to be found and put together; therefore, there will be more bloodshed and craziness about the play.

Who Was Shakespeare?

Firefox.
Searched "Who was Shakespeare?".
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html

A lot of information about Shakespeare is a giant mystery to people. His name is extremely popular and well-known for the great playwright that he was, but this like his birthday or even a real image of what he looked like is guessed.

Most students, like I, know Shakespeare as a legendary writer of plays in the 16th century. His work is a big controversy between many scholars that either hate him or love him. My perception of Shakespeare has not changed since I first read some of his works because at the age that I was, I could understand him a lot better than a child still in their primary schooling years. As I read Hamlet, I noticed that Shakespeare makes a lot of references to things and uses a lot of crude and hidden humor that only people that understand the words would comprehend.

To Facebook or Not To Facebook?

The fact that I HATE Facebook, but yet I'm so addicted to it doesn't make any sense to me. It's just a way to pass time for me, but in doing so I have gotten into the habit where I am constantly on Facebook whenever my computer is turned on. It's very good for talking to friends, collaborating on school work, passing time, an staying connected with other people through the internet. But like I have learn through my experience on this hellhole of a social networking site, It provides instant addiction and Facebook eventually controls your life on the internet by letting you see what you want to see. I really knew about all this web filtering business before I watched the TED Talk on Facebook mainly because I spend most of my hours on the internet and somehow I came across an article explaining the concept. The article just proved how I felt about Facebook.

Vocabulary #9

Abortive: failing to produce the intended result
  • An astronaut was abortive in his attempts to step foot on a different galaxy.
Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
  •  Brutal Bruce bruits everything he experiences in his life.
Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
  •  Conner's contumelious comments generates a lot of hate towards his reputation.
Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle
  •  The dictator's dictum dictated that he would not step down from his leadership.
Ensconce: establish or settle
  • He ensconced his role in the movie by staying in character throughout the time they filmed.
Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions
  • Many atheists demonstrate iconoclastic behavior by trashing Christians.
In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
  • Julian Smith uses in media res in his films to explain events.
Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
  •  The trick question asked by the audience was internecine to both candidates.
Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy
  •  Extremely erudite people sometimes come off as socially maladroit.
Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
  •  The maudlin old man emotionally cried in the bar because his failure in life.
Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
  •  Many older peers modulate teenagers into negative habits.
Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
  •  The interview for the bodyguard job was portentous.
Prescience: the power to foresee the future
  •  I honestly believe I have prescience because of all the dreams I have been having.
Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
  •  A man from my past offered me a quid pro quo which ended up benefiting my life greatly.
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down
  •  The new iPhone 5 is a salubrious piece of technology.
Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
  •  The ancient Roman village celebrated all night on their Saturnalia.
Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized
  •  The touchstone for all basketball players is generally their skill and height.
Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
  •  The happy girl turned into a dark, lonely girl after the traumatic event.
Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of
  •  I hate when people watch a movie and vitiate the movie by talking about it.
Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
  •  Jesse and I have very waggish personalities because he find humor in pranks and jokes.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hamlet. r-r-r-remix

When I think of Hamlet acting crazy in front of people and more importantly deceiving the people around him, it brings to mind a particular topic that is popular in our society. Trolling. Trolls, for people who don't already know, are people that commit certain acts to invoke certain responses from other people. Generally, the responses that trolls desire are ones of anger or frustration. This is closely related with the commonly known phrase "u mad bro." (sic).

So I took both photos (Hamlet and Trollface) off of Google and merged them together.

Hamlet's behavior gives him the title of troll.

Midterm Autopsy

I did a lot better than I expected on the midterm. A 77 isn't far away from a perfect score, so I would attribute my success to just studying the words like I do before every vocab test we have. I also received a lot of help from Kathryn. Sooner or later the final is going to hit us so I need to continue reviewing the words of past weeks and learning/reviewing the words to upcoming weeks. When that final day comes, I'll be ready.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Vocabulary #8

Abeyance-(N.) A state of temporary disuse or suspension.

Ambivalent- (Adj.) Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

Beleaguer- (V.) Beset with difficulties

Carte blanche- (N.) Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best.

Cataclysm- (N.) A sudden violent upheaval, esp. in a political or social context

Debauch- (V.) Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt.
(N.) A bout of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, esp. eating and drinking

éclat- (N.) brilliant or conspicuous success

Fastidious- (Adj.) Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail

Gambol- (V.) Run or jump about playfully

Imbue- (V.) Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality: "imbued with deep piety".

Inchoate- (Adj.) Just begun and so not fully formed or developed

Lampoon- (V.) Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule or sarcasm.
(N.) A speech or text criticizing someone or something in this way

Malleable- (Adj.) Easily influenced; pliable

Nemesis- (N.) The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall

Opt- (V.) Make a choice from a range of
possibilities

Philistine- (N.) A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

Picaresque- (Adj.) Of or relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero

Queasy- (Adj.) Nauseated; feeling sick

Refractory- (Adj.) Stubborn or unmanageable

Savoir-faire- (N.) The ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Dear Ophelia

A part of me is saying to go with Hamlet because he is royal, and that is every little girls dream. But I say to trust your bother and father because they are your family and they would not encourage negative action in your life. They hold no empathy towards Hamlet, which is a great factor as well, and generally family is very malcontent with things that they do not agree with. IF you don't do as the family wants then that usually leads to a very unwanted split. Don't be obsequious and give into the dank submission from your mind. But it is hard to come to a consensus with a personal vendetta on the head of Hamlet by your brother and father. I know how much you might not want to give up on him, but I see a parlous harbinger as the outcome of this situation. To cull such an option would bring about bickering at apropos.

Sincerely,
Ubi Kim

Monday, October 1, 2012

Vocabulary Midterm Study Strategies.

My initial strategy is to just write out the list (learning from writing) then just look over them over and over until I get them. I might write out more sentences because reading teacher of mine told me the best way to study vocab for the SATs was to try and make sentences off the fly because that shows complete understanding of the words.

I might even study with some friends because that would be more fun than just self studies.