Thinking Outside the Box.

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and Sartre's "No Exit" there are many similarities in describing the limitations of knowledge. In both of these passages there are characters in which are trapped in a place and don't have enough knowledge of the world or knowledge of what is really going on.

The both use the form of dialogue which helps give the sense that the characters are trying to figure out what is happening. For example, in "Allegory of the Cave" one of the characters escapes and gets to see the outside world unlike the people in the cave who think the shadows are what the world really looks like and they don't want to hear what the man has to say. In "No Exit" the characters are in hell and they can't get out. They both show that the characters are just settling with what they know.

In conclusion both of these pieces of literature show how the characters are limited of knowledge. Also how some things are hidden from them. They think these things they see are what things are really like and they begin to just settle for what they know or for what is given to them. A solution would be for people to search for things they don't know and not just settle for what they know.

AP Lit Terms.

Alliteration: Repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words
Ex) Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.
Sally sold sea-shells by the sea shore.

Analogy: A comparison made to show similarities between two things. Similes and Metaphors are two types of analogies.
Ex) She feels like a fish out of water.
She was as quiet as a mouse.

Antagonist: A person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative or commonly known as the evil character.
Ex) Such as the Joker from Batman, the stepmother in Cinderella or Voldemort from Harry Potter.

Cliché: A phrase or situation overused within a society.
Ex) Live and learn, What goes around comes around, As bright as the sun

Hyperbole: An exaggerated statement
Ex) She's so hungry she can eat a horse. Shows how hungry she is, but in reality she can't really eat a horse.

Literary Analysis 3.

1. The novel, "The Color Purple" it begins with a young girl named Celie describing her life situations. She begins by explaining how her father is raping her and she has his children, but he kills them and steals them. Soon comes a man named Mr. ____ who in hopes of marrying Nettie who is Celie's sister. Their father forbids Nettie to marry him and instead arranges Celie to marry him without her desire to. Throughout the story she explains how she is continuously abused and unhappy. Shug Avery becomes one of Celie's closest friends who was also Mr. ____'s lover. Nettie soon leaves and Celie does not hear from her in a long time that she believes Nettie is dead. Soon she finds letters from Nettie that Mr. ____ has been hiding from her.

2. The theme of this novel is to have freedom. There are many things that are going to have people trapped, but it is up to them to get out of those horrible situations because there is a way out.

3. The tone of this novel is very somber. In describing the different types of situations such as Celie being raped, her having to marry Mr. ____, and her having to stand up for herself. These situations how serious the problems in her life are and how they are impacting her tremendously.

4. Different literary elements which helped me understand the theme and the tone of this novel is style (her writing in the way of a letter), diction (her misspelling shows how little knowledge she has of things), and symbols (her writing to God shows her faith in gaining her freedom).

The Big Question.

What empirical evidence is there that helps human beings understand how planet Earth was created and how life as we know it began?

Hamlet Revised.

There are many different ways in which a main characters thoughts impact other characters and the story itself. In the play Hamlet, the performative utterance and self-overhearing of Hamlet the character impacts the characters and the plot in many different ways. Such as other characters thinking that he is crazy and it sets off the plot due to him not going through with his plans.

From Hamlet's performative utterance and self-overhearing it impacted the play tremendously. This is what impacted other characters and changed their own view towards Hamlet. By him keeping his own thoughts to himself and thinking of what he was thinking of made him seem like he was going crazy. This impacted the characters by them trying to figure out what was wrong with him. For example when Ophelia's father thought Hamlet was going through a hard time because of Ophelia, he wanted to spy on Hamlet and see if it was true. This shows how Hamlet's performative utterance and self-overhearing has impacted other characters.

Not only has performative utterance and self-overhearing made an influence on the characters, but also on the plot of the play. Throughout the play Hamlets lack of going through with his plan of revenge conflicts with the plot of the play by him being sent away and by it ending the way it did. If Hamlet would have gone through with his seek of revenge in the first place instead of waiting and him thinking of every little detail, then many of the characters would not have died in the end.

This is something in which I can compare to my own experience. From self-overhearing I think about certain situations and how they will go. Such as my experience with Hamlet's "To be or not to be." From this experience it was plenty of thinking of what I was thinking. I had to push myself in memorizing it as much as I could and keep thinking of how my presentation would go the next day.

Throughout the play we can see how much performative utterance and self-overhearing has impacted the play. It showed how much Hamlet's thinking impacted other characters and influenced the plot of the play. It makes Hamlet's thoughts get the best of him and the characters think he is crazy which changes the whole direction of the play.

Hamlet vs. Other Epic Heroes.

There are many different types of epic heroes throughout literature. Many as we know are the type that are brave and have so much self-confidence, but Hamlet is a different type of epic hero. Hamlet’s use of language is what differentiates himself from other types of epic heroes. It differentiates him by giving characteristics of being indecisive, showing lack of confidence, and show his own “self-overhearing.”

A good comparison of epic heroes is Hamlet and Beowulf. In the play Beowulf, Beowulf is a character of confidence and goes through with his plans. He says he will defeat the monsters and protect the people, which is what he does. Hamlet on the other hand is the exact opposite. Hamlet’s language in his soliloquy “To be or not to be,” shows how indecisive he is. He keeps going back and forth in his decisions he is trying to make. Once he figures out what to do he does not know how to go through with his plan. For example, his want in killing his uncle, but unsure of when and how.

Another way in which Hamlet is different from other epic heroes such as Beowulf is that Hamlet shows his “self-overhearing.” Not many other epic heroes explain what they are thinking. In the play Hamlet, this is a major concept. By Hamlet explaining his thoughts and seeing how he feels, the audience can see how much Hamlet thinks about his own thoughts and showing how him being so indecisive is affecting him. A great example of this is when he is about to kill his uncle, but notices that he is praying and thinks his uncle will go to Heaven if he kills him at that time. This shows how deep in thought Hamlet goes.

In conclusion, Hamlet’s use of language is a great way in determining the different qualities he has compared to other epic heroes. From his “To be or not to be” soliloquy and his plan on getting revenge, we can see how Hamlets character is indecisive, how he has lack of confidence, and his “self-overhearing.”

Major Concept I have Learned.

Wow that's a really tuff question to answer. Well the major thing that I have learned would have to be how much technology is becoming a bigger part of my education. I would have never expected to use a blog to turn in assignments or for checking homework. I thought it was going to be a traditionally English class in which we would use pen and paper for assignments or essays. From this class it has really gotten me prepared for college courses that I may be taking in the future that may be needing technology to turn things in. From this it has taught me that there is not only Facebook or Youtube throughout technology, but there is a way to get my high school education and be able to communicate with fellow classmates on different questions. It is crazy how much the generation is using technology for so many things than what the older generation had. Things have changed dramatically!

Talk with Roy Christopher.

The other day all of our AP English classes got to experience a video conference with Roy Christopher. We got to talk a lot about how technology is beginning to have a huge impact on us and how it is affecting our future as not only teenagers but also students. Here are some major points that I got from this interview:

-What caught your attention to technology?
     -A friend doing web design.

-What got you more involved?
     -Writing for magazines
     -Computers caught his attention, but didn't want to get too caught up in them.
-How can we reach digital maturity?

     -The more we know the better prepared we are on digital maturity. (Interesting question in which I agree with Roy's answer.)
-Are we able to multitask?

     -Multitasking is a myth. (I agree, it is very difficult for people to really consider them multitasking. Can relate form own experiences.)

-What is the end to all this technology?
     -The end is all up to ourselves. We don't have to keep up with technology or adapt to it.

-Other:
     -Went from BMX to media (interesting how that changed)
     -He thinks its difficult with all the distractions in technology (such as other sites)
     -Working on new books about how technology is changing and influencing people.

Comments:
     -I agree with a lot of what Roy was talking about and I think that for older generations to trust our younger generation, we have to show that technology is not only used in bad ways or just for sites like Facebook and all that, but for our own education. This class is a great example because we can show how much digital maturity we have in using it for our own education.

Literary Analysis 2

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
-"The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros is about a young girls life. The young girl in this novel is named Esperanza and she explains all the different things that happen around her. She has moved many times and is now living on Mango Street which she explains as the house she never dreamed of living in. She always dreamed of living in a huge white house with trees all around it, a huge yard, it would have "real stairs", three washrooms and a basement. Not only was this her dream home, but also her families. Throughout the novel she explains her different experiences she has living at that house and all the different people she meets.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
-The theme of this novel is that you may not get what you want, but make the best of what you have.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
-The author's tone would be disappointment. In the novel, Esperanza is very disappointed of not living in the house she dreamed of. For example when she says, "But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all." she is disappointed that from everything her parents told her and how they explained the house they would be living in wasn't what she expected it to be. Another example is when she explains how she doesn't like her name.  "I would like to baptize myself under a new name," is what she says in explaining how much she's disappointed in inheriting her great-grandmothers name and didn't want to be like her sitting at window all the time. One situation that is another good example of disappointment is when she goes to the fortune-teller. "She comes back and can tell I'm disappointed." which she was because the lady wouldn't tell her if she saw a house in her future.

4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/ or your sense of the tone. Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.
-Five literary elements/techniques would be setting, imagery, symbols, description, and the view of the protagonist. Setting helped my understanding of the theme and tone by show how the young girl moving to that house on Mango Street was not what she wanted. Imagery and description helped by how the author explained how the house on Mango Street looked compared to what Esperanza expected her house to look like. This showed a big part of disappointment she had. The protagonist point of view also helped because her view of how everything happened and the different situations she went through, gave a sense of how she felt throughout the novel.

Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)

Comments:

By using extensive Internet/media/technology it makes think about how it caused less of a motivation for me to actually learn about something. When I use the computer and different websites to look up something it doesn’t actually stick to my memory. I just look up the topic and in just a matter of seconds answers pop up for me. This media also messes up my concentration. Sure like any other person, there are times when people are doing research on a homework assignment and think to themselves “I’ll just check my messages really quick no big deal” but in reality it distracts us from trying to get homework done. Then time is running out, so people just look up something really quick and find the easiest answers they can get. From this distraction of loses our concentration, it has made it harder for people to actually get something out of their research. These kind of things have made us lazy on wanting to learn about something we have never known before. By learning about the filter bubbles it makes me feel like when I am doing research, I am not learning everything I am supposed to know. Since the filter bubbles limit me from certain information because they “think” they are giving me what I want, I feel like there is a lot more information out there that I should know of. When comparing myself to older people without smart phones or contemporaries who don’t use the tools we use today, shows how much easier it has gotten for everyone. With just typing in a certain topic we receive many answers that they would not have gotten back then.  

In Search Of

When watching the video on Filter Bubbles, some new information that I learned was that even though our computers are logged off or shut down, there are websites that use about 57 signals to try to figure out what kind of information we want.  From all this information it makes me think that the information I may be looking up right now for a certain research project for a class can be totally different than someone else’s that is doing the exact same thing as me. Also how what I may be looking up on a website isn’t the only information that may be out there, but it’s the information they give me because they think it’s what I want.  Is there truly no privacy that we “think” we get on the Internet? Since when did this filter bubble begin and how is it improving people’s way of researching information?  How I can improve my effectiveness of my searches is to look up on different websites or computers to see what information matches. When re-doing the research on Shakespeare, I noticed how totally different websites began coming up and how there are a lot more pictures that what I saw before. On the second time I got more of his biography's and pictures compared to the first time when I got more of a list of the different types of work he did.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

My initial impression towards Facebook was that it was another form of Myspace. A site where I would be able to get in contact with my friends and be able to communicate with different people. These would be the benefits to me, that I would be able to talk to family and friends that I am not able to see face to face everyday and even to meet new people. Of course there are many great risks associated in using Facebook, such as not knowing who is actually seeing the different things that you are posting, getting tracked down by how much information you put out there for everyone to see and many others. By reading the article that was discussed in class really informed me a lot about how Facebook really works. I never thought that they would actually be selling my own personal information and how things I think are private aren't so private after all. From this it began to make me think more about the stuff I would post on the site and how a business is making profit from my own information.

Who was Shakespeare?

When talking about Shakespeare, it is interesting to me to see how much people don't know about him. From doing a bit of research I found out that he was born in 1564 and was the son of a merchant and glove maker. He married the daughter of a farmer and had a child with her. Of course may of his works are well known in explaining the nature of humanity. I would have never thought that people were questioning his works and saying that someone else wrote the plays for him. In the article we read and discussed in class, it is interesting on seeing how people are stereotyping him since he came from a lower class and think that someone from a lower class could not have written such great works of writing.

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

Notes on Hamlet

From my thinking throughout the play so far has came to a conclusion of how much of a dilemma Hamlet is in. It must be a very difficult situation on trying to confront not only his uncle but the King on what he has done. Since the ghost showed up at midnight my view on Hamlet has changed. To me now he is a very smart guy on creating the play in order to get some kind of reaction from Claudius and I can see how much he thinks about certain situations and tries to outweigh the pros and cons.

(Don't) Be Hamlet

          

            Many people throughout their life time have at least once tried to find an easy way out of certain situation. They believe that if they do, everything will get easier from that point on. Hamlet is a great example of this type of situation. In Act lll scene l, he is facing a dilemma of whether or not to commit suicide. From my own opinion suicide is not the answer to problems, people just think it is. 

            In this scene of Hamlet, we can see how much his father’s death, his mother’s marrying of his uncle, and his findings of his father’s murder have all impacted him tremendously. These are a couple of situations that have brought him to committing suicide, but what is that going to solve? Sure he might be free of the heartache and the stress of trying to keep his thoughts to himself, but it will not eliminate the main problem as a whole.

His uncle Claudius will still have all the power and will get away with murdering Hamlet’s father. Throughout the play Claudius tells Hamlet to get over his father’s death as if it wasn’t a big deal. Hamlet needs to stay strong during this period of time and figure out a way to get Claudius back or how to confront him about the situation.

All the problems that unravel throughout time are what make a person stronger. This applies to Hamlet. He should not commit suicide just because he is in pain and does not know what to do. He should continue with his life and find solutions and answers instead of finding the easy way out.

Literary Analysis 1

1) Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

     The plot of The Kite Runner takes place in Afghanistan. A young boy named Amir reminisces about a tragic event in which he witnessed when he used to live there. He remembers of the time when he would be in the annual kite-fighting tournament with Hassan (the son of their servant). During that time he remembers when he saw Hassan getting raped and he did nothing about it. As time goes by he gets a call and awhile later he finds out that Hassan and his wife were shot.

2) Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

     An important theme of the novel is how much guilt from the past can affect your future.

3) Describe the author's tone. Include three Excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

     The author's tone is guilt. Throughout the story it shows how much guilt Amir feels when he didn't help Hassan. For example after eating dinner and everyone is asleep, Amir cannot go to sleep with such guilt and begins to stay up throughout the nights. Also when he tries to avoid Hassan by rejecting him in going to the bakery and instead he stayed home to read. Another important example is when Amir sets Hassan up in falsely accusing him of steeling just so he would get kicked out and leave.

4) Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone. Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

     Five elements that helped me understand the theme/tone is symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, expressing the thoughts of the characters, and setting. For example when Amir cannot sleep anymore after what he witnessed foreshadows how much that event will affect his life. Another example are the stories they would ready which symbolized heroic qualities.