Project Update.

I have decided to make my whole scrapbook project using media. With using the traditional method, it will take a lot more amount of tim and using the media, there more creative ways in presenting it.

Project Update.

Lately I have begun to get materials for the scrapbook project. I've been trying to get pictures printed and figure out a way to make a part of it using the media.

Project Plan.

• Goals: To demonstrate my accomplishments, challenges, and memories in high school by creating a scrapbook.
•  Materials/resources/information I require: Scrapbook materials, a scrapbook website, video materials and personal information.
• Your timeline/production schedule, including work you've done so far: finish a few pages a week. So far I have gotten pictures selected and will print them out soon.
• How you will present your finished product to your colleagues: I will present my work by showing them my scrapbook and presenting a video with it. The video may be of my fellow friends or of important moments I have experienced.

Today's progress 4/30

Today I was able to get a head start on studying for the Literary Terms test. Yes my group may have been a little talkative, but we were able to get the literary terms written down and able to help each other out on defining each term. This will help me on the AP exam by using some of the terms in my essays for evidence in answering a passage. Also in knowing what the terms mean when asked in a multiple choice question.

"A Reflection on Unstructured Learning"

The passage The Watchmen has a major theme of self doubt. The protagonist in the passge is trying to find himself and figure out who he is. He is trying to find his "costume" and a name for himself. He thinks of himself as stupid for every name he comes up with. The man is also trying to figure out where he fits in by him trying to figure out his "costume." He is unsure of the type of person he is and unsure of himself which shows his self doubt.

Plan for the AP Test.

My plan on studying for the AP test is to study, study, study! I plan on getting focused and practicing essay prompts, multiple choice questions and studying the Literary Terms. I plan on doing this by taking the tests seriously and using the ones that Dr. Preston has given us the option to use.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow Soliloquy.

Macbeth Lecture Notes.

• Indicated characterization in the beginning
• Macbeth becomes King in Act III
• Indirect characterization: He does not share his thoughts. See characterization in his actions
• Scene with Porter: Dark humor (Is the only humor)
• Tragic hero: Seen as a noble character, has lovely wife, hear of his battles in the beginning. Makes it seem as if his future will be great. In the end he has no friends; wife’s dead and is alone.
-Good future=>Ends up alone.
• Macbeth is considered an architect of his own destruction

Murder of Duncan
• Why wasn’t he happy/successful?
-Flaw: ambition
• Showed in Act I Scene 7 lines 25-28
• Macbeth calls himself ambitious
-Thinks of surface impression. Not of why
-Sees something is wrong when witches tell him he will be King because someone is already King.
-Macbeth does not blow it off
• Many say because that’s what him and Lady Macbeth wanted
• Act I Scene 7 lines 48-49
• Macbeth is not a hypocrite: he knows there will be a price to what he wants
• “But in these cases we don’t have judgements..”

Lady Macbeth
• Pure evil in first part of the play
• She tempted Macbeth to be King
• She’s animus and anima
• She taunts Macbeth to keep the dream alive
• Anima: Connection with other people (Macbeth)
• Animus: No care for others (Lady Macbeth)
• When Macbeth sees the bloddy dagger he is filled with horror before the killing of Duncan
-Thinks he is being pushed
• He feels guilty for the murder
• Lady Macbeth does not (shows her type of character)

Macbeth as King
• No one likes him
• Attempts to remove each source of pain by killing every person
• As he becomes more dependent, Lady Macbeth falls apart
• He does not tell his wife his plans

Macbeth Test Answers.

Part One:
1. A-Act I Scene 2
2. B-Act I Scene 2
3. A-Act I Scene 3
4. C-Act I Scene 3
5.
6. B-Act I Scene 4
7. B-Act I Scene 5
8. B-Act I Scene 7
9. B-Act I Scene 7
10. B-Act I Scene 7
11. He was a good man in the beginning, but once given the Thane of Cawdor he cared for the throne.
12. Give the Thane of Cawdor
13. They tell him hi future
14. Macbeth asks for more information and Banquo also tells Macbeth that he will be king.
15.

Part Two:
1. B-Act II Scene 1
2. B-Act II Scene 1
3. C-Act II Scene 3
4. C-Act II Scene 3
5. A-Act III Scene 3
6. A-Act III Scene 4
7. A-Act III Scene 5
8. C-Act III Scene 5
9. B-Act IV Scene 2
10. B-Act V Scene 1

Macbeth Notes.

Barbaric Era
Macbeth means "son of life"
Christian
Father: Ruler of Moray Mother: unknown
Died in 1057 by Malcolm
Play written in 1605-1606
Main source: Holinshed Chronicles of Scottish History

Top Three Remixes.

Jessica Parra: jpdrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com
Nicole Montoya: nmrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com
Rebecca Patterson: rprhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com

The Great Gatsby Remix.

Mind Map.

Literature Analysis.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Notes

Nick:

*A young man from Minnesota who characterizes himself as highly moral and highly tolerant. Thinks of Gatsby both negatively and positively.

Setting:

*West Egg (wealthy place) and East Egg (not so wealthy) --Theme: Social Statuses.

Nick:

*He is different from all of his neighbors, more like the people in East Egg.

Daisy and Tom:

*Daisy is Nick´s cousin, Tom Buchanan is the husband. Part of Nick´s club at Yale.

Jordan Baker:

*Daisy´s friend. Tells Nick that Tom has a lover in New York.

Nick:

*Sees Gatsby for the first time.

Tom:

*Takes Nick with him to where his lover is at-- Myrtle.

Jay Gatsby

*Many rumors are made up of him like him being the nephew or cousin of the ruler of Germany during WWI

Myrtle:

*She gets too drunk, starts chanting Daisy´s name, Tom gets mad, he breaks her nose.

Gatsby:

*Known for his crazy, big parties. Invites Nick to one.

Nick:

*Meets Gatsby, recognizes him from WWI and becomes impressed with this man. Nick is also attracted to Jordan.

Gatsby:

*He is a mysterious man and seems to Nick that he is involved with Wolfshiem (criminal?) Also in love with Daisy and have had some kind of passionate contact while WWI but then she married Tom and it all ended. He wants Nick to reunite them both. Nick is willing to help him.

Jordan:

*Begins to date Nick.

Gatsby and Daisy:

*At first reunion is awkward, later they end up falling for each other again and it becomes a success.

Nick:

*He finds out that all the rumors about Gatsby´s life are made up as well as the story he told him. His real name is James Gatz. He had said he was born in San Francisco but was born in North Dakota. He said he went to Oxford but went to St. Olaf in Minnesota and then dropped out. He was unwealthy. Worked as a janitor.

Cody:

*He is the man Gatsby worked for. He gave him the name of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby would watch him as he´d get drunk and from there learned not to drink. Later Cody died and inherited Gatsby $25,000.

Tom:

*At Gatsby´s taking a drink, they talk about Daisy for a bit. He becomes suspicious of Daisy and Gatsby because of their visits. Daisy goes with him.

Nick and Gatsby:

*He tries telling Gatsby that him and Daisy will not end up together but Gatsby hopes that with money, everything will work out. Gatsby stops throwing parties because he´s worried about Daisy´s love. Also fired his servants so that gossip will end.

Daisy:

*Jordan, Tom, Gatsby are all at her house. Soon she brings out her daughter which she lacked attention to. It was awkward for both her and Gatsby. Later invites him to New York.

Tom:

*He begins to notive Daisy´s and Gatsby´s love, decides to volunteer everyone to New York and everyone joins.

Wilson:

*He decides to move Myrtle to the west since he found out about her love affair.

Tom and Gatsby:

*They all get asuite in the hotel and while there, Tom and Gatsby begin to argue. Tom keeps bringing up Gatsby´s past and later brings up Daisy. Tom later sebs Daisy back home with Gatsby.

Myrtle:

*She has been run over and it was Daisy who did it but Gatsy decides to take the blame for her death.

Nick:

*He finds Tom and Daisy at their happiest like nothing had happened. He tells Gatsby about Daisy but he refuses to forget her. Gatsby confesses to him that he lied about his past so that Daisy will find him worthy. They had even made love and that´s what made their love so much stronger.

Wilson:

*He finds out Gatsby was blamed for his wifes death, killed him, and then killed himself.

Literature analysis 5.

Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
    -The novel, "Tortilla Curtain" the autor distinctly descibes the two different situations between an American and a Mexican. The American is named Delaney Mossbacher and is a middle-class man. The Mexican is a thirty-three year old man named Candido Rincon who is an illegal immigrant. The novel begins with Delaney's point of view of hitting Candido with his car. When Delaney goes to look, he sees that Candido is hurt badly and offers him help, but the first things on his mind was about the damage to his car and the insurance. Candido does not take the offer of going to the hospital, but takes twenty dollars from the American. Candido returns back home and his wife uses those twenty dollars to buy medical items to help her husband. Delaney on the other hand calls his wife and tells her about the accident and says that it is no big deal becaue it was a Mexican. Throughout the novel, Delaney expresses his thoughts and shows how selfish and careless he can be. With Candido's point of view the author shows his struggles in his life and the situations he must encounter to get by. At the end of the novel Candido goes to look for a job during a flood and his wife dies. His daughter was drowing when Delaney saved her.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
    - Some may live the American dream while others are in hope of it.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
    - The author's tone is sympathetic. The author expresses sympathy in the car accident, the different situations in Candido's life, and at the end of the novel when Candido's wife passes away.

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.
    -Imagery: Delaney's description of Candido which he explains as, "red-flecked eyes, the rictus of the mouth, the rotten teeth and incongruous shock of grey in the heavy black brush of the mustache." This gives the reader a good description of how the character looks and foreshadows his type of life.
    -Diction: This helps give the reader an idea of each characters thoughts. This is shown a lot in Candido's thoughts of his struggles and this contributes greatly in giving the theme of the novel.
    -Protagonist: Candido is a major protagonist in this novel in which his thoughts and his life situations show his hope for living the American dream.
    -Atmosphere: The living situations and the weather at the end of the novel show the different variety of struggles the characters have.
    -Tone: Shows sympathy in the different struggles of the characters.

"A Poem Worth Loving" with literary elements.

1) Dramatic Situation: The speaker is in first person and can be inferred as a woman or man.
2) Structure: The first part talks about the speaker trying to figure out which road to take. The next part talks about one of the roads. The next part states the similarities of both roads. The last few parts speak about the speakers decision.
3) Theme: It may be hard to choose the path you want to take. Can be for your future or for one day.
4) Grammar and meaning: In modern time writing
5) Images and figure of speech: Describes how one path looks and the difference between two roads. "Because it was grassy and wanted wear." shows the imagery of one of the roads.
6) Important words: Travel, two roads, leads, difference. Important because they give the effect of how different the roads are and the difficulties in choosing which to take.
7) Tone: Thoughtful in which may be better to take.
8) Literary devices/techniques: Imagery, diction

Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities - Dr Tony Williams - Gresham College Lecture Notes.

• Third city (Manchester)
• Came up with story while acting
• Dicken's says that he has done and suffered everything written in his pages- personal identity
• 1857- assisted in writing "The Frozen Deep"
• Played Richard Water (hero)
• Inspired by 1845 Franklin expedition to Arctic in finding NW passage
• Sacrifice shown with Lucy, Charles and Sydney in "Tale of Two Cities"
• Believed public performance should not be done by friends and family, but professional players be engaged
• Met Ellen Turnen and fell in love
• She played character in "The Frozen Deep" named Lucy
• Makes her Lucie in "Tale of Two Cities"
• Got ideas from "The Frozen Deep" ?
• 1858- began public reading for profit
• Became greatest reader of greatest writer
• 1858- separated from Catherine
• Main cities are London and Paris
• 10 year old boy in London-privation and suffering gave extensive and peculiar knowledge of city
• Refers to London as a newspaper
• London was a maze for him
• 1844- first visit to Paris
• Good view towards Paris
• Reminds readers of Prevision landscape
• 1844-1868: visited Paris 15 times
• Drawn to visit the morgue
• Uses historical setting for parallels
• "Tale of Two Cities" brings out real revolutions and violence
• Book came out in weekly parts
• Good friends with a guy named Carlise who was a writer
• Storming of Bastille- demonstrates how he can build up momentum and mobility
• Goes in description of violence and refers to the novel

Notes on Presentation Plan.

My group discussed on our presentation for "Great Expectations" and the different literary techniques that would be pointed out which are:

Diction
Imagery
Syntax
Symbolism
Theme
Mood
Tone
Allusion
Indirect
Direct

We gave each person a role and what they would discuss. We reviewed the chapters, asked questions and gave different opinions.

10 Study Questions.

1) What is Pip's real name?
    - Philip


2) What did the old man look like?
    -"all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with am old rag tried round his head."


3) What did the old man tell Pip to get?
    - A file and wittles


4) Why did Pip feel bad for taking the food?
    -Because it was his sisters food and he didn't like stealing

5) What became of the prisoner Pip helped?    -The escaped prisoner is captured and then sent off to a prisoner ship. Before he leaves, he claims to be the one to have stolen the food from Pip's house so that Pip is not blamed for it.


6)  How does Estelle behave towards Pip?
    -Pip says "she is very insulting." She behaves in a very rude matter. According to Pip, she treated him as if he were a dog. By the time Pip leaves, he is crying.


7) Pip happy that he is given the opportunity to kiss the beautiful Estelle?
    -Pip says, "But, I felt that the kiss was given to the coarse common boy as a piece of money might have been, and that is worth nothing." He is still ashamed that Estelle thinks he is common.

First 10-15 pgs. of Dickens.

In the first ten to fifteen pages of Dickens novel "Great Expectations" we learn about a young boy named Pip. In the begging he tells how he came to be called Pip because he couldn't really pronounce his real name. By the way he is described and how he has very little knowledge of certain things show how he's from a lower class. He's in a church yard and meets and old man who tells him to get him good and a file or else he would feed him to the boy. Pip runs home to his sister where he gets in trouble and he takes some food. He also sneaks into his brother in laws tools and steals a file. At the end he runs back to the church yard. From this we learn that the young boy is poverty stricken with his family. This relates to Dickens by how Dickens grew up himself in the lower class.

Introduction to Big Question.

Literature Analysis 4.

"Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo A. Anaya

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
    The story takes place during World War II in a small town called Guadalupe which is in New Mexico. It is about a young boy named Antonio Márez who is trying to figure out his identity. His family has taken in an old healer named Ultima who uses folk magic in service of the community and has healing powers. Antonio's mother is a Catholic and his father is a cowboy of the great plains of New Mexico. Due to such a difference of who they are, they bump heads about what their expectation of Antonio's future would be like. His mother hopes he would become a Catholic priest and his father hopes he will become a cowboy like him. Ultima takes great part throughout the novel. She teaches him much about nature and the Native American religion. By spending so much time with Ultima, Antonio begins to realize what he wants to do for himself in his own future.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
    Independence. You must have your own opinion of what you want to do in the future because it's your own life ahead of you.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
    The authors tone is very serious and somber. We can see the seriousness when Antonio is trying to figure out his moral decisions and which path to take for his future. Another excerpts is when Ultima is trying to cure the illness of Lucas, but one of Tonorio's daughters passes away. Another example is the ending when Ultima is killed due to the fact that Tonorio killed her owl that helps with her magical healing.

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.
    -Symbolism: The author uses the Ultima's owl as a symbol of her life and powerful folk magic. The owl helps comfort Antonio which ties into the theme by helping him decide what he wants to be.
    -Imagery: Antonio encountering the golden carp.
    -Foreshadowing: When Antonio hears a voice of the river which foreshadows that the peacefulness is about to end.
    -Magical realism: The author portrays the realistic story of Tony coming of age and figuring out his future and combines that with the fantasy of the Ultima.
    -Mood: The mood of the novel is very curious in which Antonio keeps wondering about himself and his future.

Charles Dickens.

The novel that I have chosen to read is "Great Expectations"  by Charles Dickens. The title to this novel simply means that the main character in this book has many great different expectations of things, but they are not all what he thought they would be like. Such as his expectations of people or even expectations of himself.

A Poem Worth Loving.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-This poem caught my attention due to the message behind it. I was able to relate to it in which I myself am not sure of what road to take. There is always that curiosity of "what if I went this way?" or "what if I did this instead?" With much of the college talk going around and many different ideas on what to do and what my next step is going to to be, this poem is a great way of showing that wonder.

Big Question Abstract.

There are many thoughts and ideas on how the Earth was initially created. Many believe God created the entire Earth himself and many believe that it was all science that created the Earth. This is a question many ask and wonder about. The need for finding the information is to get an idea of how everything began. Finding this information will help clear the thoughts and wonders of others. It will also help answer the questions many have. By going to the library and looking up different pieces of literature on creation myths or searching up different reliable websites on the same idea will help with the research. This research will compare the two different sides of many peoples opinion which are religion and science.

The Open Question Essay.

Prompt: "By their deeds shall ye know them." We often judge people by what they do; therefore, we consider people who commit cruel or reprehensible acts corrupt, base or amoral. In literature, however, authors often introduce us to characters whom we learn to like or even respect, despite their deeds.

Write an essay about one such character for whom you developed admiration or compassion. Briefly explain why you felt his or her behavior to be condemnable or contemptible, and how the author's techniques influenced you to admire that person. Do not summarize the plot. (40 minutes)


Practically every author tends to create a character(s) who can relate to the reader. This helps the reader connect and feel admiration for them. In the novel "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker for example, I had developed compassion and admiration for the main character Celie due to her experiences and the use of the author’s techniques.

Throughout the novel, Celie’s actions and her personal experiences played a major role on developing compassion and admiration for this particular character. Reading about her experiences of being raped and having the children of the man who raped her are such tragic situations to imagine. This developed compassion for her because for someone to go through this is unimaginable and tragic. While reading about her situations I was also able to realize how strong of a person she is. This is what made me begin to feel admiration for her. For someone to have these types of experiences in reality and continue to keep their head up shows how strong of a person they are.

The author’s techniques also played major role. The style that the author used showed how much hope the main character had. By the way of her writing letters to God expressed how she hoped for everything to get better and was her way of asking for help. This created a sense of compassion in the way of wanting to help her get out of the problems she was going through. Another technique was the author’s tone which was a sense of misery that expressed how much these situations affected her life dramatically and helped create a sense of compassion towards her.

In conclusion, the main character in the novel "The Color Purple" was a character in who I gained a sense of compassion and admiration for. By reading the types of situations she had to experience and the use of different techniques the author used were different ways in gaining such feelings towards the character.