Vocabulary #2

Accoutrements: accessory item of clothing or equipment
The accoutrements on the car aided in finding the restaurant.


Apogee: point of orbit of an object, furthest or highest point
Britney Spears reached her apogee in the 90s.


Apropos: at an opportune time
Darla’s arrival would not be described as apropos, she found herself in the middle of the couple’s fight.


Bicker: petulant quarrelling
The siblings were constantly bickering over meaningless things.


Coalesce: to grow together
The roots of the two trees coalesced and intertwined as time went on.


Contretemps: an embarrassing occurrence or situation
It seems that teenagers or prone to contretemps when at school.


Convolution: complication in design
The convolution in the outline caused confusion later on.


Cull: select from group, choose
She culled the best recipes in her mother’s cookbook to post on her blog.


Disparate: made of up of different, dissimilar elements
The disparateness of Carl’s outfit did not go over well at dinner.


Dogmatic: expression of opinions as if they were fact
Lara’s dogmatic insistence on the benefits of wellfare caused her to get into many arguments.


Licentious: lacking legal, moral restraint
His licentious behavior caused many of his coworkers to be uncomfortable.


Mete: to allot
The banker’s job in Monopoly is to mete out money.


Noxious: harmful to human beings
Gas masks are used to combat noxious fumes.


Polemic: aggressive attack on beliefs of another
The documentary was a polemic on George Bush’s political career.


Populous: densely populated
The populous city housed all walks of life.


Probity: uprightness
Sarah’s probity was admired by her peers.


Repartee: quick and witty reply
The student’s repartee surprised the arrogant teacher.


Supervene: to follow or an unlooked result
No one suspected that the aftershock that supervened the earthquake would cause so much damage.


Truncate: to cut short
The host truncated the nominees acceptance speech after two minutes.


Unimpeachable: reliable beyond a doubt, unquestionable
The evidence was labeled unimpeachable because it proved the suspect’s guiltiness so clearly.

Beowulf Comprehension Questions

I split up the questions with a group of 5 including myself. Meghan Martella was responsilble for the first eleven questions, Taylor Duguran for 11-21, Zach Roy for 34-45, and Bailey Wineman for the last two sections. As you can see I completed questions 22-33.

Beowulf Fights Grendel’s Mother (lines 1383-1650, pg.63-68)

3 In preparation for his battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf dresses in his new armor he was given by Hrothgar. Beowulf brings with him a sword borrowed from Unferth.

4. When Beowulf enters the mere Grendel’s mother reaches out and pulls him under with her claws. She pulls him far enough down so that other sea monsters will not interfere with their fight.

5. When Beowulf uses the sword it is unable to cut Grendel’s mother and she remains unscathed.

6. Beowulf is protected from Grendel’s Mother largely due to his armor. To combat her attacks he uses his bare hands to break free.

7. In battle, Beowulf sees the sword of Eoten’s and uses it to slay Grendel’s mother. He then proceeds to cut off her head and a bring it back with him. The sword is melted because of the monster’s blood.

8. The men had been mourning before Beowulf returned because they thought he had failed below. The men rejoiced at the sight of their hero.

Further Celebration at Heorot (lines 1651-1798, pg. 68-71)

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of his sword as a symbol of his victory.

2. Hrothgar praises Beowulf but tells him that in order to be successful he needs to be a fair ruler and give wealth to the worthy. He tells the story of Heremod who was a cruel ruler who soon lost the support of his followers. The king was murdered by his people. Hrothgar urges Beowulf to not follow in his footsteps.

3. Beowulf returns Unfeth’s sword, Hrunting.

Beowulf Returns Home (lines 1799-2199, pgs. 71-79)

1. Hrothgar predicts Beowulf will remain a hero and rule the people.

2. Hygd is a queen who differs from Modthryth because she does not kill her people for simply looking at her.

Beowulf Reading Notes

Prologue- Chapter 10

• Originally in Old English, passed down orally
• Blend of fiction and non fiction, elements of both
• Beowulf son of great king Scyld
• Grendel monster who eats the sleeping men
• Beowulf wants to prove his strength and bravery

Trista by Ovid

• exiled, understood by no one
• longs to be in Rome
• hates people surrounding him

Far Corners of Earth by Tu Fu

• feels hopeless, lost cause

Beowulf
Wrath of Grendel

• celebration at Herot, Grendel the monster waits outside
• snatches 30 men, Herot deserts

Coming of Beowulf

• hears of Grendel and heads towards kind
• call themselves the Geats, men who follow Higlac

Battle with Grendel

• Beowulf wins using bare hands

Mother's Lair

•  Beowulf vows to kill Grendel's mother in underwater lair

Battle with Grendel's Mother

• weapons are useless at first, uses sword on wall to defeat her
• returns home and grows old as king, dragon invades

The Last Battle

• Sword breaks, men flee
• Wiglaf helps Beowulf kill dragon
• dying Beowulf asks for Dragon's treasure

The Spoils and The Farewell

• Beowulf buried with treasure, denounced Geats bitter over death
• The Spoils and Farewell

My Opinion Isn't (A) Right

 "Right to Your Opinion”

• Declaring that you have a right to your opinion is a fallacy and irrelevant in an argument
• People only willing to accept that their opinions are wrong are in cases like not seeing an oncoming car (when in danger)
• We do not have the right we think we do, cannot do anything we want to our bodies because could potentially harm others
• The words entitled and rights are thrown around and not taken very seriously anymore

Socratic Seminar

• Our world embodies interdependence: everyone is dependent on everyone else
• Drunk drivers have laws not to protect only them but others
• Rights: create obligation for someone else to listen and respect and take into consideration what you are saying
• Limbic: emotional parts of brain (defensive, angry), the terrible twos
• Schema: way of thinking that makes things the most economically pleasing, efficiently causes us to look at things certain ways
• We don’t have right to opinion because of the definition of right
• Allowed to have our own opinions but others are not obligated to respect them

Reflections on Week 1

1. I believe I have many beneficial factors that will affect my performance in this class. Over the summer I purchased an iphone so now I have access to the internet wherever I go which will allow me to view my blog on the move. In addition, I am familiar with many of my class members which means collaborating and communicating will be very easy. However, one major element I am worried about is my schedule. I need to find a way to balance this class, soccer, volunteering, and my job,

2. My best learning experience is a little unorthodox…. Junior year I came home around eleven due to a CIF championship soccer game and I begged my mom to let me stay home from school the next day. She replied that my the lackluster effort I had been putting into my work did not deserve such a vacation. She then proceeded to tell me that I was allowed to stay home the next day but I would have to be grounded that following weekend. Due to my exhaustion and love for sleep I decided to sacrifice my weekend and stay home. That Friday, Saturday and Sunday I dedicated to becoming a person “worthy” of a vacation, I vowed to become someone people look at and respect not label as mediocre. I learned that going through the motions was bullshit and then I needed to start putting in effort and getting the most out of opportunities but in front of me. I can proudly say I finished the year with a room that stayed clean, solid grades that did not just scrape by, and a positive determined new outlook.

3. Like I mentioned before I am concerned with balancing this class with my schedule but beyond that I can’t say I am very scared for anything else. I am excited that we will be doing a lot of reading in this class because it is a hobby that I have unfortunately shelved (pun kind of intended). I am also excited because this is the first time I have actually gotten to see and read my peers’ work. I think it is very beneficial to be able to see their ideas and communicate and collaborate through the blog. I think this class with make a practical difference in my life because hopefully it will prepare me better for college and ultimately all writing and speaking I will do later on in life.

Vocabulary #1

Adumbrate: to outline, give faint indication
apotheosis: elevation to divine status
ascetic: rigorously abstinent, austere
bauble: showy, cheap ornament
beguile: influence by trickery
burgeon: grow or develop quickly
complement: something that completes or makes perfect
contumacious: stubbornly rebellious
curmudgeon: bad tempered person
didactic: instructive
disingenuous: lacking in sincerity
exculpate: free from blame
faux pas: slip in manners
fulminate: explode with loud noise
fustian: bombastic language
hauteur: fancy
inhibit: to prohibit, restrain
jeremiad: mournful complaint
opportunist: one who takes advantage of any opportunity presented
unconscionable: not guided by conscious

The adumbrative picture shed light on what the model car would look like when completed.

Some monks claim to have reached an apotheosis after attending Buddhist monasteries for long periods of time.

To some the Mormon way of life seems ascetic.

The bauble she wore around her neck make her look trashy and cheap.

Laura tried to beguile her English teacher into giving her no homework for the night.

The burgeoning garden was home to fresh flowers and squash.

Philip told everyone that his fiancé complemented or completed him.

Heather’s parents blamed her contumacious attitude on the fact that she was going through the teenage years.

Nobody wanted to take the professor’s class because word around school was that he was a curmudgeon.

Packaged furniture often comes with didactic booklets.

The mayor’s disingenuous speech left most of the crowd dissatisfied.

When the thief confessed to the crime, the previous suspected was exculpated.

Wearing your hat at the dinner table is a well known social faux pas.

The chemicals fulminated when put into the same tube.

The author’s fustian essays had superfluous words and quotes.

The actor’s hauteur was almost tangible.

The hungry travelers were full of jeremiads.

Henry was an opportunist, he stove to take advantage of everything presented to him.

Bethany’s unconscionable actions were almost unforgivable in the eyes of her peers.

AP Essay 1987 #2

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is the compelling story of a family’s physical and emotional journey through the unforgiving African Congo. Interlaced into the family’s journalistic encounters are political under tones of a Congolese rebellion against the unfair Belgian and American rule. In this political allegory, we see western insensitivity and blatant cruelty through Kingsolver’s bleak depiction of the average struggling Congo citizen. It is clear that Kingsolver, is disgusted by American and Belgian greed and wishes to bring justice to a situation that was kept quiet for so long. She conveys a call to action and emotional appeals to the audience through strong metaphors and symbolic personification.

 Metaphors are prevalent in the text even from the very beginning. When Reverend Nathan Price arrives in the Congo he is set on converting the Congolese people to Christianity. Even though it is clear within the first few days that his forceful, offensive tactics will not heed success he fails to compromise with the Congolese. Nathan feels as though these people are so beneath him their opinions are the equivalent of a child’s and worth even less. His arrogant, demeaning attitude is a metaphorical representation of the West’s attitude toward Africa. Kingsolver employs this extended metaphor to show her audience how terrible the West treated the Congo. Later on in the novel the youngest of the Price daughters dies due to a snake bite. Ruth May’s mother, Orleanna Price, is consumed with guilt for standing by and letting her husband keep them in the dangerous Congo. This is another metaphor for the guilt the American people felt when America’s cruelty was brought to light. This metaphor serves as a reminder that although faulted, the West does recognize their offensives and regret and guilt plagues some.

 Personification also plays a large role in influencing the audience. Insensitive, vain, materialistic Rachel Price personifies the West as a whole. Her selfish actions and egotistic attitude are similar to the way America and Belgium were acting. In contrast, Leah Price serves as the Congo’s representation acting unselfishly and living on a very small budget for the later part of her life. She embodies the life of a true Congolese and the audience is consumed with compassion when she depicts her struggles with Anatole. Kingsolver uses Leah’s journey as an emotional appeal to resonate feelings of empathy towards Leah and ultimately all of the Congo.

Kingsolver not only entertains an audience but also educates them about previous wrongdoings between nations. She sheds light on the injustice of the Belgian and American dealings with the Congolese and makes it clear that this type of cruelty in disgusting and unacceptable. She conveys a call to action and emotional pleas through different metaphors and extended personification.

AP Question 1987 #1

A nostalgic George Eliot reminisces about the better days when leisure meant enjoying the little things and being content with being idle. She feels as though this “Old leisure” has been lost among the hustle and bustle of the new age only to be replaced a disappointing new standard. This new leisure does not seem to be leisure at all, there is no stopping and smelling the flowers, no sitting on the porch with tea. Instead the new age leisure is eager to find entertainment, to move around, to participate. Gone are the days when pointless strolls and idle hands are acceptable, and because of this Eliot grieves. Eliot expresses her disappointment and longing for “Old Leisure” through personification and vivid imagery.

Eliot personifies Old Leisure to make her argument more convincing. She describes him as an innocent, agreeable fellow and instantly the reader feels a sense of compassion and connection. “He lived chiefly in the country, among pleasant seats and homesteads, and was fond of sauntering by the fruit tree wall and scenting the apricots when they were warmed by the morning sunshine, or of sheltering himself under the orchard boughs at noon, when the summer pears were falling,” depicts a warm inviting scene that appeals and resonates with the audience. Because Eliot describes Old Leisure as a person, the audience is able to picture walking along side him on this pleasant summer afternoon. Her views and grievances that these Old Leisure days have now passed are conveyed through the constant use of personifying sentences like these.

Playing off her personification, Eliot also employs vivid imagery to convey her feelings. By describing Old Leisure in great detail we can see her affection and appreciation for it. Her carefully chosen wording shows how much she values Old Leisure and how disappointed she is that it is now only a thing of the past. Her attention to detail by including things  such as port wine , and summer days helps the audience imagine these days she is so desperately longing for.

 George Eliot is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that that her favorite type of leisure, Old Leisure, has been replaced with a new active, energized variety. Her nostalgic attitude and notable longing are expressed through personification and vivid images.

1987 AP Exam

Similar to the AP English test we took last year, this test was straight up hard. Usually reading comprehension is a strong suit for me in things like the SAT and state testing but AP exams have much more complex passages.

One area I struggled in most was poetry, I had the same problem when I took the SAT subject test. I often times fail to comprehend the implied meanings and symbolism for the poems and therefore unfortunately never understand the intended effect.

Some poetry questions I struggled with:

25. I had difficulty following the poem therefore had trouble identifying the author’s purpose.

52. This poem seemed especially long and I didn’t follow the effect of the breeze very well apparently.

I also struggled with vocabulary not only in the passages but also words in the questions, making some of them nearly impossible.

Vocab questions I struggled with

32. I didn’t know what any of the answers meant. That’s a problem.

Study :Terza rima, Ballad Meter, Blank verse, Dactylic Hexameter, Rhyme royal, or Heroic couplets

61. This question again involved technical poetry terms that I didn’t know.

The other very common problem I had was I felt some of the questions had answers that were very similar and you had to choose what test writers and teachers call “the most right”. This is so frustrating because it seems as though they could all be possible!

Questions I found easy

1. Woohoo confidence booster! I was able to use my context clues and choose correctly.

11. The questions were you just look back and the answer is there are my favorite.

20. I liked how this question was logical and easy to understand.


Side note: I don’t know if we were supposed to comment on the difficulty of the essay question but I might as well. I felt at a big disadvantage for these questions because I have not read any of the suggested texts.

Montaigne/Austen Essay

David Foster Wallace believed that literature does not do our vast, rapidly moving minds justice. Words are menial when compared to the almost limitless, time oblivious thinking that goes through our heads every second of everyday. Montaigne exemplified Wallace’s quote in his collection of essays that merely scratched the surface of a wide breadth of topics, seemingly writing whatever came to his mind in a particular instant. There is a bleak difference between Montaigne’s scattered thoughts and Jane Austen’s methodical, well organized style of writing.

Montaigne’s essays serve as an almost fossilized representation of his deceased mind. Personality and opinion come through in almost every line of his vast collection of writings. A somewhat pioneer of the stream of consciousness technique, Montaigne’s essays feel as though you are inside his head listening to his jumbled thoughts. Constant topic changes, are common and he often strays far away from the previously intended subject. Although brilliant quotes and gems are sprinkled throughout his writings, they are often buried by what seems like irrelevant rambling. Montaigne is the master of barely brushing the surface on just about everything there is. From smells to education, Montaigne provides opinions and thoughts on everything although professing to not be an expert in anything. Rather than going in depth on one subject, Montaigne thinks as he goes allowing his mind to stray following it wherever it pleases. There seems to be no method to the madness, no planning and no big picture. Choppy sentences, run on sentences, cursing, sexual references, political opinions, controversial thoughts are common for Montaigne as for us all, he just chose to expose himself by putting it on paper.


The sporadic rambling of Montaigne’s text is in stark contrast to Jane Austen’s romantic, picture perfect writing. In Austen’s writing things seem to fall perfectly into place, all the pieces fit together. She puts her pen to paper with a plan, and an intricate plot in mind. Although dialogue is prevalent in Austen’s writing, her characters are often times too preoccupied with what others think of them to truly express their minds. Because Pride and Prejudice is written, in third person omnificent point of view we do see the characters in their most exposing states of mind. However, even the characters in their most vulnerable states seem to have censored, watered down thoughts. Unlike Montaigne, Austen and her characters seem to have boundaries on what they choose to share with society. The characters' pruned thoughts fail to support Wallace’s theory that our minds are too wild and active to tame.

Austen and Montaigne are at two different sides of the spectrum when it comes to styles of writing. Montaigne is the text book example of David Foster Wallace’s claim, while Austen contradicts and proves that harnessing the mind is possible, at least for her and her characters. Methodical vs. madness, it’s the battle of the minds.

Poetry #1

1. This commercial uses Charles Bukowski’s poem The Laughing Heart.

2. The fact that a big corporation such as Levis is using this poem is ironic because the whole point of the poem is to not be influenced or submissive, but be strong and an individual. However, while this poem is playing the corporation’s goal is to actually bend your will and make you give in to their persuasion.

3. Bukowski has a reputation for being a harsh realist and often incorporating offensive themes into his poems like drugs sex and alcohol. The Laughing Heart seems to be uncharacteristically upbeat for Bukowski.

4. For question one I went on Google and typed in a couple of the lines I heard on the video. The first website that came up had the whole poem written out and I recognized various line from the clip. For question four I first typed in Bukowski’s reputation on Google and that seemed to result in many bias opinions from different authors so then I tried just Charles Bukowski and a biography on his life came up. I then checked to see if my answer was somewhat similar to what my peers posted on their blogs.

For question one I used http://milan-poetry.blogspot.com/2007/03/laughing-heart-charles-bukowski.html..

For question two I used http://bukowski.net/.

Essay #1

In what can almost be deemed a contradictory statement, Edward Said discusses the detrimental as well as the enlightening effects exile can have a person. Said's description of a deeply saddening yet utterly enriching exile experience is exemplified by Leah Price in the novel Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. At the tender age of fifteen, Leah is uprooted from her life in Atlanta, Georgia and roughly tossed into the unforgiving Congo. Leah does not only feel the harsh effects of her environment but also the painful drifting apart of her and her family members. However, the Congo does not solely take, it also benevolently gives. What Leah had lost in comfort and respect for her family she gained in intelligence and new prosperous relationships. Exile was a catharsis of an experience that undeniably left Leah Price forever changed.

Arriving with an optimistic attitude, Leah had unwavering respect and faith in her father, Reverend Price. However, the harsh realities of the Congo slowly begin unveiling her father’s unforgivable faults. The Reverend selfishly fails to compromise or even negotiate with the Congolese often times leaving him and his family alienated in a land they nothing about. Back in Georgia, Leah admired her father’s devotion and commitment to his faith but in the Congo it becomes blatantly obvious that he could care less about the future of his family as long as his missionary goals get completed. Losing a relationship that once seemed so solid and reliable was devastating for a Leah who already felt excluded by her unfamiliar environment. The weak string that was holding the pair together finally broke when the Reverend failed to support his daughter’s desire to shoot in the village’s hunt for food. This put the nail in the coffin for an already diminishing relationship. Besides being alienated by her father, Leah also feels the distance between her and her twin growing all because of events during her exile. When Adah narrowly escaped being eaten by a lion the strain between the pair is exemplified. Leah is aware that her sister blames her for going on ahead and not stopping for her handicapped companion to catch up. Although the pair were not extremely close in Georgia, tension between the twins seems to be highlighted due to the fast paced nature of their surroundings.

The alienation Leah feels from her family is almost completely alleviated by the new relationships she makes. Leah’s most notable relationship gained from her exile was her once friend and later lover, Anatole. Anatole provided her not only love and comfort when she needed it most but also priceless inspiration and knowledge. Anatole educated Leah on the political and social problems that plagued the Congo and gave a naïve sole guidance and a purpose. With her new relationships and education, Leah began to find her self and create an identity. She now felt less like an American and more like a relative to the Congolese. Although she once saw it as exile, Leah truly found the Congo a place be called home.

The drastic pros and cons of Leah’s journey serve to illustrate Kingsolver’s work as a whole. The Poisonwood Bible tells the story of a family all deeply but differently affected by a journey into new, uncharted territory. Kingsolver showcases how each member drew their own conclusions from the same experience. The Reverend shows undying faith, Orleanna consuming guilt, Rachel unaffected arrogance, Adah altered pessimism , Leah eye-opening revelations and Ruth May terminal bliss. One family, one exile, a million and one consequences.

Big Question

Why are we as humans so dependent on love? Is it possible to live a fulfilling, rewarding life without loving or being loved in return?