My Big Question

What does our future hold for us? How should we prepare ourselves for it? 

Roman, Kyle and Alyssa's Postmodernist Presentation

They showed a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air segment where Will Smith looked at the Camera and broke the 4th wall. They also show the set (stage) during the episode. That also broke the rules by show long the stage when you're not supposed too. Great job guys! 

My Slaughterhouse

 When you hear Postmodernism, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Postmodernism is a really cool and interesting literary style of writing.  I think that postmodernism can be anything that breaks the rule of the old style of writing or it can have random scenes that don't relate to one another. In other words, a story that has no order of sequence and jumps around to different time or situations.  Slaughter House 5 was a great example of what I'm talking about right now. 

In the story of Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut a man named Billy that is imprisoned by the Germans during WWII and at one point in the book, Kurt is talking about how Billy is in this prison and then next thing you know he's talking about Billy during his childhood. This is an example of how the author uses Postmodernism in this book by not following the rules and putting the story in random orders. 

Another example of why Slaughter House 5 is a Postmodernist story is when the author would humor a situation by saying "So it goes" after something bad would happen to someone.  This is another example of how this story is a postmodernism story. Instead of being heartfelt about a tragic moment that just happened, he breaks the rules and makes the situation funny or joyful. 

And this is why Slaughter House 5 is a great example of a Postmodernist novel. It shows how to break the rules by not writing in order and how he uses irony by saying "So it goes" whenever something bad happens and he decides to humor the situation. 

Slaughter House 5 Reading Notes: Chapter 6

Billy is back again in the war, lying down in his hospital bed talking to Derby and Lazzaro. Lazzaro is talking about how he has his own hit list and that revenge is the sweetest thing. As he's talking, he tells Billy how he's on his hit list for killing his best friend. Billy already knows how he's going to die and says how he'll be talking to a crowd in Chicago and that Lazzaro will keep his promise to kill Billy. Then, moments later, Billy is shot in the head. Later, he travels back in time to the war and an Englishman tells the Americans that they are traveling back to Dresden. When they got there, they described it to be very beautiful. From then on, they were talking to Slaughter House 5.

Slaughter House 5 Translation - pg. 18

At the top of the page where everything is written in German, I translated it so everybody could understand it.

"From the dome of the Frauekirche (Church of our Lady) I saw this unfortunate debris between the beautiful urban order sown. Then I praised the sexton art of the builder, which church dome and a case had been set up as unwanted and bombproof construction. The good sacristan then pointed me to the Ruinene (a place that is in ruin) to all sides and said laconically concern: An enemy has done!

F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography Video

Here's the link to the video of F. Scott Fitzgerald. http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald-9296261

Vocabulary: Spring List 6

Chronic: persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.

Sentiment: a view of or attitude toward a situation or event: an opinion.

Morality: principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

Remorse: deep regret or guilt for a wrong comitted.

Defect: a shortcoming or inperfection.

Acquaintance: a persons knowledge or experience with something.

Sanity: the ability to think and behave in a rational manner.

Implication: the conclusion that can drawn from something, although it is not explicitly stated.

Alternative: one of two or more available possibilities.

Savage: a member of people regarded as primitive and uncivilized.

Phenomenon: a fact or situation that is observed to exsist or happen.

Vocabulary: Spring List 5

Brouhaha: an over excited response to something.
Cloy: to disgust or sicken someone by being so nice.
Demeanor: outward behavior.
Deference: humble submission and respect.
Enigmatic: difficult to interpret or understand.
Definitive: done or reached decisively.
Bumptious: self assertive or proud to a certain degree.
Choleric: Bad tempered or irritated.
Bulwark: a defensive wall.
Curtail: To impose restriction on.
Adamant: Refusing to be persuaded.
Profligate: Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in use of resources.
Mawkish: Sentimental in a feeble or sickly way.
Thwart: Preventing someone from accomplishing something.
Onus: Someone's duty or responsibility.
Requisite: Mass necessary for some circumstances.
Mollify: To appease the anger of someone.
Sartorial: Relating to tailoring, clothes or style of dress.
Presentiment: an intuitive feeling about the future.
Impromptu: Done without being planned.
Forbearance: Self-restraint.
Remit: To send.

Spring Vocabulary #2

Toil: hard working
Saccharine: excessively sweet or sentimental.
Gibbering: speaking rapidly or speaking gibberish.
Delinquents: neglectful or failing.
Insidious: intended to in-trap someone or something.
Strewn: to scatter or spread out.
Harlequin: conventional comedian.
Praetorian: resembling a roman guard.
Sieve: a utensil consisting of a mesh held in a frame, used for straining solids from liquids.
Veiled: in disguise.
Patronage: the act of buying something.
Kadence: the pace of something(metronome, a steady beat).
Profusions: an abundance or large quantity of something.
Vessel: a ship or large boat.
Sufussed: gradually spread through or over.
Centrifuge: a machine with a rapid spinning container.
Dentifrice: a paste or powder for cleaning the teeth(toothpaste).
Leisure: free time.
Phonograph: a record player.

Spring Post 1: Music is Literature

I think Music can be considered music. If you think about it, they're pretty similar to each other. The difference between a novel/poem and a rap or a song is that the rap is in a music form. The only difference I see is that one has tone/noise/sound to it and the other doesn't. Most songs usually have a story behind the sound. If you actually read the lyrics instead just listening to the music, you'll see that the song is a story. So music can be considered Literature.

Vocabulary: Fall List # 9

Bosom: the breast of a human being
Prudently: careful in providing for the future.
Inveterate: settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling or the like.
Propensity: a natural inclination or tendency.
Repose: to pose again.
Stripling: a youth.
Sequester:  to remove or withdraw into solitude or retirement.
Apparition: a supernatural appearance of a person or thing.
Purport: to present, especially deliberately, the appearance of being.
Imbibed: to consume (liquid) by drinking or drink.
Incessant: continuing without interruption; ceaseless; unending.
Cognomen: any name, or a nickname.
Reverie: a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing.
Gambol: to skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic.
Spectre: specter.
Tarry: to remain or stay, as in a place.
Hessian: a German mercenary during the Civil War era.

Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The tone that's set is like all horror movies.  They start of on a regular mood and they don't seem like anything bad is going to happen.  That is until they start getting them selves in something they're not supposed to.  For example, the Blair Witch Project (trailer) started of the girl doing a couple of video logs, asking people if they've heard of the Blair Witch.  One older lady says that she has encountered with the witch and the others didn't.  It was all fine until the loose the map while they were in the woods, then that's when they start getting themselves into bad situation.  So I think that the tone in the beginning of the story is set at a normal, average day.  Then when the group starts to get curious or the main character(s) get curious, that's when the trouble starts to begin.

Midterm review/study strategy

My strategy to study for the midterm test will be to use flash cards and to review the vocabulary with the vocabulary lists that I have posted on my blog.

Vocabulary: Fall List #6

Adroit: skillful, successful or ingenious. 

Amicable: characterized by or showing goodwill; friendly. 

Averse: having a strong feeling opposition, antipathy, repugnance, etc. 

Belligerent: warlike; given to waging war; of warlike character. 

Benevolent: desiring to help others; charitable. 

Cursory: going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty.; superficial. 

Duplicity: an act or instance of such deceitfulness. 

Extol: to praise highly; laud; eulogize. 

Feasible: capable of being done, effected, accomplished.

Grimace: a facial expression, often ugly or contorted, that indicates disapproval, pain, etc. 

Holocaust: a mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life. 

Impervious: not permitting penetration or passage; impenetrable. 

Impetus: a moving force; impulse; stimulus. 

Jeopardy: hazard or risk of or exposure to loss, harm, death, injury. 

Meticulous: taking or showing extreme care about minute details. 

Nostalgia: a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life. 

Quintessence: the pure and concentrated essence of a substance. 
Retrogress: to back into an earlier and usually worse condition. 
Scrutinize: to examine in detail with careful or critical attention. 
Tepid: moderately warm; lukewarm. 

Vocabulary: Fall List # 5

Allude: to refer casually or indirectly. make an allusion.
Clairvoyant: having or claiming the power to read minds.
Conclusive: serving to settle or decide a question.
Disreputable: not reputable; discreditable or dishonorable.
Endemic: natural or characteristic of a specific people or place.
Exemplary: worthy of imitation; commendable.
Fathom: to not understand the depth of someone or something.
Guile: insidious cunning in attaining a goal.
Integrity: adherence to moral or ethical principles.
Itinerary: a detailed plan for a journey, especially places to visit.
Misconstrue: to misunderstand the meaning of; take in a wrong sense.
Obnoxious: annoying or objectionable due to being a showoff or attracting undue attention to oneself.
Placate: to appease or pacify, especially by concessions or conciliatory gestures.
Placid: pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled.
Plagiarism: an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work.
Potent: powerful; mighty; having or exercising great power of influence.
Pretext: something that is put forward to conceal a true purpose or object.
Protrude: to project.
Stark: sheer, utter, downright, or complete.
Superficial: being at, on, or near the surface; shallow.

Vocabulary: Fall List #4

Melancholy: a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged.
Exemplary: worthy of imitation; commendable.
Peculiar: strange; queer; odd.
Dread: to fear greatly; be in extreme apprehension.
Bough: a branch of a tree, especially one of the larger or main branches.
Pious: characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion.
Communion: interchange or sharing of thoughts or emotions; intimate communication.
 Auditor: a person appointed and authorized to examine accounts and accounting records, compare the changes with the vouchers.
Multitude: a great number of people gathered together.
Eloquence: a practice of art or using language with fluency and aptness.
Despair: loss of hope; someone or something that causes hopelessness.
Hoary: gray or white with age; ancient or venerable.

Vocabulary: Fall List #3

Encomium: a formal expression of high praise; eulogy.
Coherent: logically connected, consistent; sticking together.
Belabor: to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary.
Eschew: to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid.
Acquisitive: tending or seeking to acquire and own, often greedily.
Emulate: to try to equal or excel. imitate with effort to equal or surpass.
Arrogate: to claim unwarrantably or presumptuously assume or appropriate to oneself without right.
Banal: devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed.
Excoriation: the act of excoriating.
Congeal: to make or become fixed, as ideas, sentiments, or principles.
Carping: characterized by fussy or petulant faultfinding.
Substantiate: to establish by proof or competent evidence.
Temporize: to be indecisive or evasive to gain time or delay acting.
Largess: generous bestowal of gifts; generosity.
Tenable: capable of being held, maintained, or defended against an attack or dispute.
Insatiable: incapable of being satisfied or appeased.
Reconnaissance: the act of reconnoitering.
Germane: closely or significantly related; relevant; pertinent.
Ramify: to divide or spread out into branches or branchlike parts; extend into subdivisions.
Intransigent: refusing to agree or compromise.
Taciturn: inclined to silence; reserved to speech.
Invidious: calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense.

Vocabulary: Fall List #2

Intercede: to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition. 

Hackneyed: made commonplace or trite; stale; banal.

Approbation: Official approval or sanction.

Innuendo: an indirect intimation about a person or thing, especially of a disparaging or a derogatory nature.

Coalition: a combination or alliance, especially a temporary one between persons, factions, states, etc. 

Elicit: to draw or bring out or forth; educe; evoke. 

Hiatus: a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, actions, etc. 

Assuage: to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate.

Decadence: the act or process of falling into an inferior condition or state.

Expostulate: to reason earnestly with someone against something that person intends to do or has done.

Simulate: to create a simulation, likeness or model of something. 

Jaded: dulled or satiated by overindulgence. 

Umbrage: offense; annoyance; displeasure.

Prerogative: an exclusive right or privilege, etc. 

Lurid: gruesome, horrible, revolting, terrible intensity, fierce passion. 

Transcend: to rise above or go beyond; overpass; exceed. 

Provincial: belonging or peculiar to some particular province. 

Petulant: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance. 

Unctuous: Characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor especially in an affected manner. 

Meritorious: deserving reward, praise, esteem, etc.