#RIPbreetheG

My heart has sank. Social media does its job in letting people know what is happening. You were in my English class last year and sat near the door by the wall. You sold brownies. I had Spanish 3 with you after that class and we even were Spanish partners for a quarter, thinking about it. We did the art presentation with Cameron and used Kandinsky's painting because we thought his name was cool. You were putting the Yosemite trip together with Haley and Elizabeth and I went to the lunch meeting on Wednesday and talked with you. I don't specifically remember seeing you at the game tonight, I took a group picture of the war zone and you might be in it. I am kinda afraid to look. I think I saw you, walking behind the boys' bench. You did make everyone smile and I liked your voice, style, and handwriting. I don't know all of the details but I guess even if you mess up, leaving everyone here is rough. You're in heaven and looking down at all of us. I woke up this morning from a weird dream, but I had that thought of "if I was in an accident and wet to the hospital, who would visit me?" I didn't want to tweet it in the fear of it sounding morbid. Who would have know you were to have that happen to you? Mark in the fall and now you, it's strange to think that we will never speak again and I'll never get to hear your reactions or see your writing on Nesper's board. I wonder what Monday at school will be like. Every class period will probably start with the story and how everyone is shocked. I'm predicting tears and I might choke up, too. I think this is uniting the school, and our class of 2015 especially. I think we are going to make tshirts and do other things to commemorate you. You were loved, even though I didn't know you too well, we shared memories. Prayers do go out to everyone and I want to go like you have- loved and cherished. This is so strange and unfamiliar, but we all will remember you through what you've left behind. Your tweets, blog, and memories live on as you do in paradise. #RIPbreetheG

Masterpiece ?¿

vicpicss.tumblr.com 

I put photos here, I think this is part of a masterpiece creation 

Lit Term Remix Pt. 1

IN PROGRESS

Circumlocution

Classicism

Cliché

Climax

Colloquialism

Comedy 

Conflict

Connotation 

Contrast

Denotation 

Denouement

Dialect 

Dialectics

Dichotomy 

Diction

Didactic 

Dogmatic

Elegy

Epic

Epigram

In Class Convos w/Liz

2. We don't really know much about the book yet, but we were still able to answer to the best of our abilities. She compared contrasted a class with good evil and the rich. She used Jagger to show that the rich is evil and I used joe to show that the poor are good. He was rich in what money couldn't buy. I think dickens didn't like materialism. Pip was not wealthy since he was an orphan and wasn't treated that well. He didn't have a sense of materialism yet. Shows through actions and reactions, jaggers is cruel and mean to the mother, but joe is nice and humble. The contrasting is significant. 

3. I liked going through the whole book and knowing what is coming helps with giving a good overview of what to expect. I thought it was interesting how all of the characters names had to do with what they were like. Liz liked the quick evolutions of the characters. Estella and pip's relationship and that transition. 

In a week maybe have a more interactive conversation. 

ALL THAT DAVID COPPERFIELD KIND OF CRAP

     I think that Salinger didn't want to add anything other than what was necessary for Catcher in the Rye and Holden's personality, in particular. What I see is that Dickens uses a lot of words to describe what he's trying to say. The full title of David Copperfield is The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account), how much wordier can you get? Dickens does such a thorough job vividly describing everything, from the setting to the simplest of actions that the characters do, all of the words provide for an acute depiction. Dickens also uses so many characters to bring together stories like David Copperfield and Great Expectations. He creates all of these people to produce a story that holds symbols everywhere you turn, and there's a lot to be said for a novel that can hold a number of characters with a good plot. Dickens also began Great Expectations with Pip describing who he was and where he came from; his parents were dead and he lives with his sister who raised him by the hand.
    I think that to truly focus on Holden starting at one point and finishing at another in character development, Salinger didn't need to recall his upbringing and add background. J.D. Salinger wants to show that Holden isn't as flowery as David Copperfield. He was a kid who was so narrow-minded, hypocritical, and full of himself, yet very naive and vulnerable. I personally love Catcher In the Rye for several reasons. It was a book that I couldn't put down and finished before it was even assigned. Holden is such a relatable character, but he is so, so flawed in his assumptions and thoughts. You can't help but finish the book knowing that you are a 'phony,' too, and I hate how he couldn't see how phony he was, acting like something he isn't. Although we all want to grow up and leave everything behind, start a new life, avoid the consequences of our actions, we need to live in the moment and remember where we belong and come from. It's tough, sure, and especially comforting, I guess I could say, to read something like this at this point in our teenage lives. I marked down page 173 and pinned it on my wall, I think that's the part where the book gets its name. It's a personal favorite part of the story. If you haven't read it, you should. With not many people I know who have read it, I dislike keeping all of my reading opinions to myself and not being able to share. If you didn't read it, you won't understand why I was sobbing at the end even when I'm telling you why it hit home. 
     J.D. Salinger didn't want to write another coming-of-age novel for the purpose to be compared to Charles Dickens, he wanted to tell his own story and go against the grain, and that's what Holden Caufield did.
  

Cop Caught on Dashcam: A 'Shake It Off' by T.Sizzle Confession

This is really fun to watch. Don't act like you don't do this either.
Found this with Taylor and Elizabeth while looking for articles for our current events project. Of course not everything goes as planned, but we are done with the assignment and don't have to worry about it anymore!

Good ol Fashioned "Great Expectations" notes

Dickens serialized characters

Bildungsroman- coming if age, maturity, childhood to adulthood

In this society we don't have a ceremonial ritual to adulthood, important to think culturally 

Now a matter of psychology

Imagining of what his life could be like, but he doesn't see what I will require from him. Childlike- idealism. Pure, mysterious. 

Pip strong sense of unwanted. More sensitive and intelligent than others. 

Normal life isn't going to fulfill him and doesn't wan the short end of the stick. Doesn't have a normal expectation. 

Adopts adult males to see what father is like:

Magwhich- threat of adulthood, not governed by civilization, capacity for wickedness and brutality. Animal need to survive. Threat of abandonment. Pip will be alone w/o him, says something about what pip might become. 

Haveasham- fraud, shame. Which like. Horrible decay. Hughes poem. Shining promise, potential to fairy godmother character. Dedicates her life to preservation of loss, memorial to dead hope, everything left the same in her house. Trained Estella to be a destroyer of men. Duel possibility of adulthood. They're not what they see. Dichotomy. Doesn't speak truthfully about either of them bc they remind him of his beginnings. 

Pip's name- seed. Not what he's become yet. 

Wanting to be of something more. Relates back to society and wanting. 

Give and take. M&M are gone. He has to be active. Meets joe gargery and jaggers. J in Roman alphabet." I ". Pip identifies with each of them. Joe- blacksmith. Honest work, physical power. Lives by feeling. Goes with heart. Doesn't judge by appearances. Romantic. Poetic view. Emotions and metaphors. Don't see him a financial success, rich emotional life and content. Jaggers- knows things about people, it can hurt them, holds that power over people to keep them. Lives by letter of law. Evidence an logic. Cold. Not emotions. Needs others to spell things out. Makes it hard on others. Estella, Molly, early magwich, ms havasham. He doesn't believe in people and ideas. Only facts. Both come across mother and baby in need of help. Joe keeps both jaggers splits them for personal gain. Foils. Jagger's to pip businessman. 

Wemmick off of jaggers. Foil to himself.  At home, old nostalgic. Ability to maintain both philosophies during day. Pip tries to identify, good friend but robot. Magwich represents pip under worse circumstances. Orphan, too. Took fire and left cold. Double life, evil life of childhood and happy life after pip enters. 

Begins to create a resolution. Multiple conflicts, less action and more mindset of protagonist. 

Miss Haveasham not fairy godmother. Estella not for him nor pure, daughter of bad. Magwich has created Pips expectations. Pip understanding recycled   Intergenerational conflict. Must find out for himself. Things aren't that simple. 

He doesn't think like jagger, flower from dung. Joe already realized this. Moral universe is complicated. Worth not like money.  Caste system. Pip shows his change in attitudes toward jaggers and joe. He is not like them bec he is a fantasist. 

Joe and jaggers ready to accept consequences of actions. Pip responds with difficulties by avoiding and not committing. Like Holden. He talks about things and see that he's not perfect. Pip doesn't get it yet. His autobiography is a confession. Pain of what he didn't go through then. Reminds himself of own history so no repeating. Now, pip doesn't  end up with Estella. Returns to the forge   There's a child named pip. New seed. 

Reflection. Pip has to sort. 

Changing it Up

Working on a new layout.
Time for a change up.
Oh, and I made a tumblr page for favorite pictures that I take (and the occasional ones that are taken of me)
http://vicpicss.tumblr.com/

Discovery: previous class's blogs

http://mnillorhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
http://minicreasian.weebly.com/

Miranda Nillo's blogs have kept me sidetracked, but in the best way.

I wanted to make an artistic attempt at showing what I have spent the last half hour or so doing. Reflections are cool and so is Australia.

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

1. The main purpose of the first-person point of view in the passage, “I am no longer what I was, I am no longer an ascetic, no longer a priest, no longer a Brahmin” is to make clear?
   a. The change in Siddhartha’s physical lifestyle, in order to follow his spiritual one
   b. Show Siddhartha’s anger at the corruption present in his father’s position
   c. Reveal the frustration in Siddhartha’s journey toward enlightenment
   d. The views and beliefs of his family and his religion
   e. Draw attention toward the excitement that Siddhartha feels now that he has less responsibility
•  A I would choose because he is physically n that social class and he wants to leave his life behind, along with those titles
2. In the beginning of the book, Siddhartha rebels against his father. Later on in the book, Young Siddhartha often rebels against Siddhartha. Which literary technique best describes this?
   a) metaphor
   b)anthropomorphism
   c)allusion
   d)foreshadowing
   e)irony
• I'm stuck because I can make an argument for foreshadowing, the first time foreshadows the second, but I'm also leading towards irony, because I don't think Siddhartha was expecting his son to do that
3. What does it mean to be “newly born” from Siddhartha’s point of view? pg 40
   a) To be enlightened, or to have found Self
   b) To be reincarnated, to have started life again in a new body
   c) To be awakened, or having a new understanding
   d) To have been educated, the feeling after you had met the Buddha.
   e) To get to a new town and meet new people
• C, because of the passage we  read together in class

1. Essay Prompt:  2013 Free Response: "A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole." 
• (5/37 of the book options I had read before, but trying to recall the exact moment in each novel was really difficult. I need to master like five novels before the exam and know them inside and out like Mrs. Byrne had suggested.)
2. Essay Prompt: Explain Siddhartha’s journey in terms of a “quest;” at the same time explain how Siddhartha is an allegory for Buddhism itself.
•  (I would need to remember what Buddhism is about. Recall what I had learned in AP world history two years ago.)

The skills and content aren't used/recognized as so in daily life so it's hard to understand a lot of the time. I think I need to spend more time being careful, that would help. I need to be a more conscious critical thinker when I do everything. I like to read, but nit-picking is really difficult for me, even just trying to explain how the book made me feel is hard. I need a broader vocabulary, too.

It is kind of funny, I copy and pasted the literal phrase  "AP Literature questions Siddhartha" off of the class blog and on yahoo, I think, and the last link on the page was Miranda Nillo's post for this same assignment! I borrowed her multiple choice questions. I also love her blog!

http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_frq_eng_lit.pdf

http://snobles.grads.digitalodu.com/blog/groups/ap-english-2012-2013/forum/topic/siddhartha-multiple-choice-questions/

http://www.kcparrish.edu.co/newkcp2/images/pacing/APLiterature.pdf

Siddhartha

theme, tone, plot, characterization... from excerpt here

• metaphors
• Brahmans: highest class in India
• self realization and self discovery
• individuality isn't the same as American culture
• put others before yourself
• asking questions is frowned upon
• hard to break away
• it's the start of his transformation
• snake paralyzing him in his steps
• symbol
• he come to terms and is okay with what's happening, really happy
• tone: 
• overwhelmed, doubtful, optomistic

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Literature Analysis

Literature Analysis (Fiction)

Here are the questions to guide your first Literature Analysis

(post title: LITERATURE ANALYSIS #1)

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

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

On page 24 Bill, Charlie's English teacher, tells him, "Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve." This is key throughout the whole novel. Charlie's sister 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

I felt it was lighthearted, solemn, honest

1. pg 67 "Do you know what I mean? That nice feeling when you look in the mirror, and your hair's right for the first time in your life? I don't think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it's nice. It really is."
2. pg 93 "I made a mix tape for the occasion. It is called 'The First Time I Drove.' Maybe I'm being too sentimental, but I like to think that when I'm old, I will be able to look at all these tapes and remember those drives."
3. pg 100 "I feel like a big faker because I've been putting my life back together, and nobody knows."

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.)

1. "I gave Patrick On the Road Again, Naked Lunch, The Stranger, This Side of Paradise, Peter Pan, and A Separate Peace. I gave Sam To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Walden, and The Fountainhead." pg 193 . 
2. "I decided then that when I met someone as beautiful as the song, I should give it to that person." pg 68 Simile.
3. "Looking sharp, Charlie," pg 101 Metaphor. 
4. "I wondered if they had a choice or not if they wanted to be successful." pg 117.
5. "Even people that think it's a 'joke' can't stop talking about what a 'joke' it is." pg 168
6. "So, I just sat there with a bottle of champagne near the CD player, and I changed the songs to fit the mood of what I saw." pg 171
7. 
   
8. 
   
9. 
   
10. 
    

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)?

1. DIRECT "His name is "Nothing." And he is hilarious." pg 13 
2. DIRECT "'He's a wallflower.' ... 'You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.'" pg 37
3. INDIRECT "I almost didn't get an A in math, but them Mr. Carlo told me to stop asking 'why?' all the time and just follow the formulas. So, I did. Now, I get perfect on all my tests. I just wish I knew what the formulas did. I honestly have no idea." pg 165
4. INDIRECT "Despite everything that my mom and doctor and dad have said to me about blame, I can't stop thinking what I know. And I know that my aunt Helen would still be alive today if she just bought me one present like everybody else. She would be alive if I were born on a day it didn't snow. I would do anything to make this g0 away." pg 92

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

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.

Masterpiece talk: Melissa

Masterpiece talk: Daniel

Masterpiece talk: Haley and Elizabeth

Reading Goals for This Year

      I'm setting a goal of reading two books per month this year. I have so many that I've collected and want to read. I think actually getting yourself to open the book and start the very first page is the hardest part of reading.
     So I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower in less than 24 hours just for fun and I'm going to do my literature analysis on that book. At first I didn't want to do it on this book because it seemed too YA and had inappropriateness, but then again so many other books do and this has meaning. I have had books on my desk for weeks and weeks but I went to the library, saw it, checked it out, and the day later I began. I need to see the movie now. After reading a book I tend to obsess over it a little bit.
     This is a favorite quote of mine by John Green, I don't know about falling in love, yet, but this seems to reign true.

"Teenagers have more intense reading experiences because they've had fewer of them. It's like the first time you fall in love. You have a connection to that first person you fell in love with because it was so intense and unprecedented."

New Year

     A day late and a dollar short, happy New Year to all. It's been a crazy year in many ways; it was filled with highs and lows and self-discovery. Yes. Welcome to the year of my high school graduation, to my transition to adulthood.

     I think it's weird how the new year starts in January, we start the second half of our school year in January, my half birthday is in January, what I' trying to say is that the new year is like a division in the thirteenth year of my schooling and in the seventeenth year of my life. I like the balance and symmetry here, but when I say, "earlier this year," I have to specify with which "year" I'm talking about. That's tiresome. I don't know, it is just something that bothers me. 

     Changes happen within us in the calendar year as well as in the academic year, and when you've been in school so long you start to measure things in 'weeks until the grading period ends' and 'before the next unit begins' so that you don't even recognize what the date is, even though you're putting it in the right hand corner of your page every single day at least three times. 

     It might be like this for adults, too.Time is something I want to be more conscious of this year- I actually hadn't even thought about a resolution this year until writing that sentence. I guess I can just roll with it. I want to be conscious of time, try new things, learn to accept, do what I am afraid to do, speak up, be more confident, keep up with my schoolwork at the same time, do what I want to do and be who I want to be. Okay these might sound super cliche and unoriginal, but they're good things to always keep in mind. I feel like there's a person who I would like to see, but she's not who I am now. I'm working on the baby steps to get there. 

     Side note- I have about a week to get my homework done, crossing my fingers it goes well. This definitely falls into the 'conscious of time' category. I am going to try my best to really crack down on myself and not lollygag as much or waste hours of time here and there. I done messed up my last semester and I can understand how others do, but it was so unlike myself. A part had to do with my choosing that health is more important than the work, so I'd sleep, partially because my body was no longer capable of staying up anymore. It was definitely a learning experience, everything is, but seeing my report card makes me want to come back this semester and get straight A's again, even though it won't really matter, it matters to me. The best part about my B and C at the semester was that my class ranking was at 3 still for accumulative grades, ha, lovely. I'm content with it all. I'm ready to kick butt this semester and all of 2015.