Masterpiece Bildungsroman

Me and my classmates do deserve to be trusted. We will be trusted with much larger things in the future. This includes saving lives, building, constructing, managing, and owning. I worked as well as I could under honor, considering how often I was left alone trusted. I identify well with Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Album, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I feel that some qualities and friendships are worth a lifetime. There are important people and memories that can be held onto through college. People will try to manipulate me and control my thinking, however my eyes are very open. My thinking will not be conditioned especially after considering these works. I've connected with my GoPro better now that I have done my master piece. I can't wait to explore its possibilities and edit videos/pictures over the summer and in college as well. This year when Miles told the Jewish story about what food he brought to the major pot luck, I definitely laughed out loud. It was so relate able and I didn't understand his weird food choice either. A unifying theme throughout the presentations was to make someone else happy. This was present in Liz's masterpiece with the donating of hair. Victoria's masterpiece and Melissa's about what makes people happy. In addition, mine and Melanny's about photography and connectivity. They all uncovered truths about people and searched a deeper understanding of happiness. I'm not a hero. I'm a character in a story that will one day become so. I'll save lives and make an impact one day, but I am not yet finished with my schooling. The future is bright.

Macbeth Act 3.

The further we go into Macbeth, the more I am becoming confused. Is anyone else on this same boat? Well.. Regardless, I'll attempt to analyze what is going on.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have been continued foils throughout the play. In the beginning, she wanted her husband to kill others to get himself to the throne. He doesn't seem convinced and strays from her plans. In act. 3, they completely switch roles on that perspective (or at least maybe that is a ploy for Lady Macbeth to seem innocent). Macbeth again visits the witches, who plan to portray false information to him (of some sort). The witches seem to symbolize a change of events or a catalyst. They also foreshadow death and betrayal. For example, Macbeth hires three people to kill Banquo and his son. (originally it was Lady Macbeth who wanted Macbeth to kill people). I also picked up from the play that maybe Macbeths attempt on Banquo's son's life is the event that seeds his revenge. Or possibly he will ironically be the man to kill Macbeth, but only because Macbeth 'started it'. In any event the theme of power hungriness is present in the play and it showcases how it can turn a person towards evil.

Act 1 Notes

Questions 1.5

1. Macbeth was honest with his wife when he informs her of his new title as "Thane of Cawdor." He refers to the witches as "weird sisters" probably because he doesn't want her know that he is associated with the "evil servants."

Lady Macbeth responds by saying that she thinks Macbeth is playng things off as if everything is fine. By saying "but be the serpent under't", she describes him as someone that lies to make everything appear under control. This doesn't really match the characterization of Macbeth so far in the story which implies that there is something the audience doesn't know about him. 

2. The wife was confident about the guests visit. She also seemed prepared and a little cocky about the way her and her husband would handle it.

3. Lady Macbeth. Yes she wants to kill Duncan. No, he isn't sure whether he wants to follow through with Lady Macbeths orders or not. She tells him not to let Duncan see tomorrow. 

4. The question appears to answer itself. 

Pictures

Masterpiece

Reasons behind my masterpiece

"I owned every second that this world could give. I saw so many places and things that I did. Yeah with every broken bone, I swear I lived." One Republic

I chose my topic which involves  photography and perspective, because I wanted to expand on something that I'm passionate about and normally don't have time to do. My masterpiece may just be more of a hobby, but it is a way for me to express myself. Also, I've decided I want to create a hard copy once I figure out how I can print and use these pictures!

Spring Break Work-Prose

The fear that everything you believe to be true is actually a lie encompasses the theme of Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He exploited this emotion, which is common and yet still provided an interesting perspective. The authors purpose was not to divulge in a detailed and novelist writing, but to advance on an idea to provide a moral truth. One of the truths that he infers to is that of inward questioning and outward conformity. With the use of the character Goodman Brown, the inter workings of the moral of the story is better understood. In the case of this writing, the characters questioning took control of his sanity.

One idea that is portrayed well through Goodman Brown is the power that emotions have and how quickly a character can change from flat to round. He has an underlying suspicion that those around him are evil, which also is ironic when putting into comparison that his name has 'good' in it. The walk in the forest symbolizes the turning point in which he looses himself within the vast forest of emotion inside his mind. He succumbs to a false reality and decides to live in the exclusiveness of himself. It seems as though his quality of character has easily shattered which took him off the straight path he was headed on. Although it adds more depth to his character, Goodman Brown becomes shackled by his fear.

 

Spring Break Work-Poetry

A comparison between "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," by T.S Eliot and "The Convergence of the Twain," by Thomas Hardy (2002 prompt).

2002 Poem “The Convergence of the Twain” (Thomas Hardy)

Prompt: Read the following poem carefully. Then, taking into consideration the title of the poem, analyze how the poetic devices convey the speaker’s attitude toward the sinking of the ship.

The title "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a direct contrast to the actual theme. This contributes to the meaning of the poem with the usage of literary techniques such as irony and foil. It is ironic because the title leads you to an imagery displaying a romantic sunset or maybe the day the anonymous Alfred Prufrock meets the love of his life. However, to the contrary, he watches the waves and days as they crash past him. He has given up on love and merely gives up to fade away to nothing. His optimistic character described in the title is the direct opposite of the longing man that he actually is. Similarly the title "The Convergence of the Twain" seems to provide a sense of a sort of coming together. In reality, the ending lines show cases an attitude toward a sinking ship. Both these titles relate, as they are misleading to the realism and hidden tones.

Poetry Analysis of 'Out, Out' by Robert Frost

1. Meaning- The poem tells a story of a boy working with a saw. He gets called for dinner in which, the saw rumbles and cuts his hand. When the boy is taken to the doctor he tells his family to not let him cut his hand off completely. Then the doctor places some kind of drug on the boy which kills him. His family is unaffected since it wasn't them and "turned to their affairs."
2. Antecedent Scenario- The boy had been out cutting wood with a saw that had human qualities (personification). Everything changed when his mom called out for dinner time. It seemed as if the saw corresponded dinner with the boys hand.
3. The poem can be divided into what seems as a tone that is unattached.. literally and physically. The theme that I derived was to always stay conscious. It also had an undertone that people are only out for themselves. The scenario reminded me much of The Black Box.
4. What makes the poem stand out is the absurdity of the whole situation. The boy and the saw seem to be the only two who have any emotion and their emotions are foils of each other.

Tobermory explained

If he was trying German irregular verbs on the poor beast," said Clovis, "he deserved all he got."

This story is categorized as existentialism which means that there is no true plot or theme. It is open to interpretation. The tone is almost a desert dry humor or mockery.

Materpiece

What is a masterpiece?

Huxley Interview Essay

The color black is actually quite the opposite of what it seems. By simply looking at it, one could easily point out that it is a color that is similar to all other colors. The truth is that black isn't a color at all; it's the absence of color that makes it visually look as if it is black. This principle, that what you think you're seeing is actually something else, can be used to apply Huxley's A Brave New World, to today's world.

Today's society is living in a mindset that is leading further into a Utopian society, although they think that they are not. For example, people would in general say that they are not being mind controlled. They are probably being negligent to the subconscious brain washing that occurs through commercials and advertisements. It affects your feelings towards the product, even if slightly and even if the person denies it. Media, technology, and science have all vastly grew and changed the way the world was. We think that were seeing the color black, but we actually are slightly dipping into what could be considered "A Brave New World."

Analysis-- Ch.2-3 of A Brave New World

Ch.2

• As the students are in their tour, the obvious future control is present through the "conditioning" of the citizens
• This program is an attempt to create a generation who is identical to the next, which is a form of control and order
• Human beings are being programmed to have certain qualities and to follow orders
• The importance of the individual is lost 
• Support leads directly to the World State, even off work hours

Ch.3

• The society and its sexuality is almost embraced
• Bernard seems to secretly not agree with the transformation sex has taken on
• Citizens are kept into check with criticism and a standard of how things should be and how they should work
• Adults and children are constantly monitored to detect that they are continuing to follow the conformation ideologies
• The system relies on supply and demand and keeps the focus between the citizens and the World State, which keeps them from disbanding or rebelling against the system and continuously thinking about their own life 

Literary Terms #6

Simile: A figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

Soliloquy: An extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

Spiritual: A folk song, usually on a religious theme.

Speaker: A narrator, the one speaking.

Stereotype: Cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

Stream of Consciousness: The style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

Structure: The planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style: The manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.

Subordination: The couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language.

Surrealism: A style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.

Suspension of Disbelief: Suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.

Symbol: Something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.

Synesthesia: The use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.

Synecdoche: Another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.

Syntax: The arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

Theme: Main idea of the story; its message(s).

Thesis: A proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea.

Tone: The devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author’s perceived point of view.

Tongue in Cheek: A type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan.”

Tragedy: In literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed.

Understatement: Opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis.

Vernacular: Everyday speech.

Voice: The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s persona.

Zeitgeist: The feeling of a particular era in history.

Vocab terms

exposition-beginning

expressionism-movement of expression
fable-animal story
fallacy-lie
falling action-wrapping up
farce-fake
figurative language-descriptive
flashback-back in time
foil-black and white
folk tale-local myth
foreshadowing-alluding to future
free verse-unstructured poetry
genre-category
gothic tale-dark tale
hyperbole-exaggeration
imagery-visual
implication-unsaid but known
incongruity-not the same
inference-knowing without being told
irony-very appropriate

Literature Analysis #2 (Inheritance)

What's the story?

I think that Charles Dickens wrote The Great Expectations as an opportunity to cast a fictional character (Pip), who somewhat mirrors his own life. There are many common attributes between the author and the character. Dickens lived in Kent, England as did Pip. He then moved to London, which Pip also does. He doesn't always follow his own life, but does in some ways create a different world for himself with different characters. Charles Dickens does use literary techniques (as does every author), but the technique that I found the most unique was almost basing the main character off of himself. Maybe more authors do this themselves, but this is the first time I have ever heard/noticed it before. In this sense, Pip is almost the box inside a box. An inside look into how Dickens perceives himself when written into a story. Then again, maybe I'm missing the authors original intent, but I find it very interesting.

Literature Analysis #1

No Exit, by Jean Paul Sartre.

General
1. The play is about three people stuck in hell, in an unconventional manner. They are simply put into a room together, and forced to be like that for all eternity. Inez, Garcin, and Estelle have individually created hell for one another. Each one with a character flaw which the others exploit. Inez is cruel and jealous, and envies Estelle's beauty. Estelle is lustful and desires only the attention of Garcin. Garcin is cowardly, and only wants the respect of Inez. At first they don't find the pain or torture in the situation. Then slowly they tell why they were sent to hell. They try to ignore one another, but eventually the inevitable happens, and they slowly start tearing each other apart. Garcin finds a way out of the room, but is stuck there in an effort to change his flaw, which will never happen. The three are trapped, forever. 
2. As Sartre is famously quoted for, "Hell is other people."
3. The author has a dark tone in his writing. It grows progressively throughout the story as the hell unfolds itself and shows the terror of human company later in the story. "Estelle: Oh, leave me in peace. You haven't any eyes. Oh, damn it, isn't there anything I can do to get rid of you? I've an idea. (Spits in Garcin's face.) There! Inez: Garcin, you shall pay for this."
4. Literary devices
1. Symbolism: The room is symbolic as hell, and is treated as such. "In hell! Damned souls-- that's us, all three" 
2. Dialogue: Since this is a play, dialogue reigns. The interactions between the characters makes the plot what it is. "GARCIN: To help ME. It only needs a little effort, Inez; just a spark of human feeling.
INEZ: Human feeling. That's beyond my range. I'm rotten to the core."
3. Theme: The story reveals that the true torture that we must face is the company of one another. "Hell is other people."
4. Setting: "Then it's by chance this room is furnished as we see it. It's an accident that the sofa on the right is a livid green, and that one on the left's wine-red. Mere chance? Well, just try to shift the sofas and you'll see the difference quick enough. And that statue on the mantelpiece, do you think it's there by accident? And what about the heat here? How about that? I tell you they've thought it all out. Down to the last detail. Nothing was left to chance. This room was all set for us" 
5. Allegory: The whole story is an allegory, as it can be seen on different levels of understanding. The room itself is understood to stand for hell itself, and each of the characters stand for a different trait. The whole situation also signifies how humans torture one another.
6. Metaphor: "Of course, I used to spend my nights in the newspaper office, and it was a regular Black Hole, so we never kept our coats on."
7. Mood: The mood in the story drastically shifts from a light one, to an incredibly tense, hateful mood as they delve into each others faults. 
8. Foreshadowing: The story from the beginning gives slight indications of what the room is going to be all about.  "GARCIN: Quite so. But I say, where are the instruments of torture? 
VALET: The what? 
GARCIN: The racks and red-hot pincers and all the other paraphernalia?"
9. Conflict: The three main characters create conflict for one another. "ESTELLE: Kiss me, darling---then you'll hear her squeal.
GARCIN: That's true, Inez. I'm at your mercy, but you're at mine as well.
INEZ: Oh, you coward, you weakling, running to women to console you!"
10. Diction: The diction is fairly straightforward, switching slightly from character to character slightly, as explained in part two of the analysis. "ESTELLE: You looked so--so far away. Sorry I disturbed you. 
GARCIN: I was setting my life in order. You may laugh but you'd do better to follow my example. 
INEZ: No need. My life's in perfect order. It tidied itself up nicely of its own accord. So I needn't bother about it now."

Characterization 
1.Direct Characterization:
  "I'm Joseph Garcin, journalist and man of letters by profession."
 "You're lucky. I'm always conscious of myself-- in my mind. Painfully conscious."
Indirect Characterization:
"But really! Everything here's so hideous; all in angles, so uncomfortable. I always loathed angles"
" So it's you whom I have to convince; you are of my kind. Did you suppose I meant to go? No, I couldn't leave you here, gloating over my defeat, with all those thoughts about me running in your head."
 The author uses direct characterization to explain the basics of the characters backgrounds, and how each views the other, and indirect characterization to show their fatal flaws.
2. Yes, the author's diction changes from character to character. Inez has a very strict tone, with lots of harsh words. "If you could see his big paw splayed out on your back, rucking up your skin and creasing the silk." Estelle tries to act innocent, and often apologizes, or asks for others attention. "You looked so--so far away. Sorry I disturbed you". Lastly Garcin progressively grows weary about himself, and asks questions. " What do you want of me?"
3.The three protagonists are all flat characters. They do not change in the story, just the way that the audience views each one of them.
4. No, I did not feel as if I had met a particular person, as the play was fairly short, and the inner thoughts of the characters were not put on display for the audience.

Lecture notes (Great Expectations)

-Jagger's doesn't believe in other people

-joe comes across mrs joe and adopts the child (generous)

-Jagger's puts the child up for adoption takes the highest bidder and black mails the mother

-joe and Jagger's are foils 

-wenwick navigates back and forth between two value system

-magwich has a double life as well.

-pip has a positive influence

-the great expectations brings to create resolutions and help people

-pip begins to process with miss ha ashram not being his fairy mother. estella is not meant for the love and her origin is worse than his. What pip has thought were his own thought were influenced. He comes to understand that it is something that is recycled. He sees things as a dung heap that can fertilize things around him.

-in conclusion, one way is to view the writer towards the novel

What book am I reading??

Over break I had the opportunity to actually read something that I wanted to read. I ended up reading three books of the four book series titled Inheritance (Eragon). It probably ended up being between 1,000-1,500 pages. I've chosen to do a literature analysis on either the first book of the series or the last book (which I have yet to read). These books are very diverse and contain many literary techniques, moods, insights, and also a hidden plot line. It relates to my masterpiece because it dips into emotions about (War, love, hate, vengeance, violence, grief, etc.) It is not a literal photograph or video, which is what my masterpiece mainly focuses on. It does, however, paint pictures with words and a moving scene of the story. It dives into what people feel and why they feel how they feel. Also it talks about why someone has the outlook that life sucks and contains characters of varying qualities. It has altered my perspective and is definitely a book that is easier to understand by reading than a mere description.

My Masterpiece Experience (Winter Break)

This break I got a closer look into what it feels like to be open to yourself. I shared things about myself to others, even if they were depressing or embarrassing or even funny. Some people got to know me better than before, while I also got to know others more personally than before. During winter I felt happier than I've been in a long time. I thought that when I was doing this "masterpiece" I would come across at least some misery or some pictures that weren't uplifting. But I truly had a great break. My friend had a foreign exchange student last year (who became a close friend of mine) and she surprised me by visiting (picture by Christmas tree). A close friend visiting from college went on a hike with me and I got a chance to share some personal things about myself and go to the beach. Cal poly accepted me and I achieved my goal! HARD WORK PAYS OFF. I went ice skating with a great group of friends. Later I went on that same hike with two friends. In that experience I reconnected with an old friend who I thought would be a friend no more. At the close of winter break, I listened to an event that was taking an emotional toll on a friend and was there to share a heart to heart moment. Over all of this I learned that I can make people happy and myself happy, even when life feels like shit. Maybe if people opened up to each other as I did and what I experienced this break, then people wouldn't have to fake being happy, but actually be happy. I'm there for anyone who needs to talk, with 100% confidentiality. You can't trust what you tell people it seems, but there are some people out there... and you can find them. A fake smile can easily be turned into a real smile.

My Masterpiece Pictures (winter break)