Sunday, February 3, 2013
The Time of My Life
Today during class I decided to work on my SMART Goal by choreographing the solo piece I will be auditioning with next Sunday. It may look like gibberish to anybody besides me, but I promise their is a heartfelt dance in there somewhere.
SMART Goal
Everybody around me seems to already know what they want to do with their lives, but as of right now I have absolutely no idea. Because of that, I have a short term SMART Goal that I am very proud of. Simply stated, I want a solo in this years dance show that the Los Olivos Dance Gallery presents every year. This is my tenth year dancing there and I feel I have deserved it. I am going to work harder than ever and use my time to improve on anything and everything to reach this goal.
What's the Story?
"What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way you want to stretch yourself into other people's hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you're playing. It becomes almost an obsession to touch other people. To write a song that is remembered and taken to heart is a connection, a touching of bases. A thread that runs through all of us. A stab to the heart. Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack." -Keith Richards
Why did Charles Dickens write the novel you're reading/reviewing? What in your analysis of literary techniques led you to this conclusion?
Response:
I think that Dickens wrote the novel Great Expectations because he wanted to show that there is good that can come from a horrible situation. Pip lived his life, completely alone and this is what drew him to a life of imagination and fairy-tale. With these thoughts he was able to get passed all the bad stuff that was going on around him and create his new reality. Now this only worked when he was a child, but that was the most important time for it to be so. He grew up, found what was real, and lived on striving for the best. Dickens in a way supports the cliché that 'good always overcomes evil.'
Why did Charles Dickens write the novel you're reading/reviewing? What in your analysis of literary techniques led you to this conclusion?
Response:
I think that Dickens wrote the novel Great Expectations because he wanted to show that there is good that can come from a horrible situation. Pip lived his life, completely alone and this is what drew him to a life of imagination and fairy-tale. With these thoughts he was able to get passed all the bad stuff that was going on around him and create his new reality. Now this only worked when he was a child, but that was the most important time for it to be so. He grew up, found what was real, and lived on striving for the best. Dickens in a way supports the cliché that 'good always overcomes evil.'
Dickens Map
1) Well since I was sick for an entire week of school I was able to somewhat focus on the book Great Expectations, but now I have so much other work to catch up on that I will squeeze any reading time in when I can.
2)
2)
- Analyze the character of Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella, and Magitch and their relationships to each other.
- Explain the impact of a first person protagonist narrator on the story.
- Discuss Dickens's use of humor, pathos, and occasionally bathos.
- Identify and explain Dickens's social themes as expressed in this book.
- Analyze how Dickens creates suspense.
http://www.enotes.com/documents/great-expectations-ap-teaching-unit-79127?action=preview&pg=3
3) I think AP style multiple-choice questions would help us prepare, but I don't think that's how we should be tested. Test-taking has never been a strong point of mine so I would rather do some sort of project to help explain what I know.
Literary Terms 31-55
Dialect: the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons; the sounds , grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.
Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.
Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.
Dogmatic: rigid beliefs and principles.
Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.
Epic: a long narrative poem unified be a hero who reflects the customs, morals, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).
Epigram: witty aphorism.
Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics.
Euphemism: the use of indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one though to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensation; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.
Exposition: the beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.
Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling.
Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.
Fallacy: a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech.
Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
Foil: a person that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
Folk Tale: a story passed on by word of mouth.
Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.
Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.
Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.
Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.
Dogmatic: rigid beliefs and principles.
Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.
Epic: a long narrative poem unified be a hero who reflects the customs, morals, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).
Epigram: witty aphorism.
Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics.
Euphemism: the use of indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one though to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensation; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.
Exposition: the beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.
Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling.
Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.
Fallacy: a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech.
Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
Foil: a person that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
Folk Tale: a story passed on by word of mouth.
Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.
Literary Terms 6-30
Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities.
Analysis: a method in which a worker or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts are given rigorous and detailed scrutiny.
Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Anecdote: a short story used to illustrate a point.
Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative.
Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness.
Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.
Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine , piece of writing, or action; also apology.
Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly.
Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by either the truth or falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself.
Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted a thing one does.
Audience: the intended listener or listeners.
Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character's personality.
Chiasmus: a reversal in the order of words so that the second half or the statement balances the first half in reverse order.
Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have sufficed.
Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome; tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance.
Cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society.
Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the point of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved.
Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words, or phrases usually used in informal conversation.
Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed to provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter.
Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension.
Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition.
Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.
Denotation: plain dictionary definition.
Denouement (day-new-mahn): loose ends tied up in the story after the climax, closure, conclusion.
Analysis: a method in which a worker or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts are given rigorous and detailed scrutiny.
Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Anecdote: a short story used to illustrate a point.
Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative.
Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness.
Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.
Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine , piece of writing, or action; also apology.
Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly.
Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by either the truth or falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself.
Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted a thing one does.
Audience: the intended listener or listeners.
Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character's personality.
Chiasmus: a reversal in the order of words so that the second half or the statement balances the first half in reverse order.
Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have sufficed.
Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome; tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance.
Cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society.
Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the point of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved.
Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words, or phrases usually used in informal conversation.
Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed to provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter.
Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension.
Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition.
Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.
Denotation: plain dictionary definition.
Denouement (day-new-mahn): loose ends tied up in the story after the climax, closure, conclusion.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Literature Analysis - The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
GENERAL
1. The basic idea of this book is that it's about a man, known simply as Stevens, who is a butler for another man named Mr. Farraday. However he receives a letter from a Miss Kenton and decides to take a five day trip to go see her. (She worked in the same manor as Stevens 20 years prior.) The present isn't exactly what Stevens focuses on though, he looks back at his life to see if he believes he truly lived up to the 'dignity' he thinks he needs to live a fulfilling life (basically be perfect in every aspect, hide your feelings, and obey your masters no matter what), and also the life he may have had with Miss Kenton if he had done things differently. When he finally arrived and met with her, he realized nothing with her was going to change. They both expressed the feelings they once had, which was a huge step for Stevens, but both knew they could not dwell on the past. So Stevens begins to revise his definition of the word dignity and chooses to move forward in his life.
2. The main theme that I see throughout this novel is regret. It's expressed mainly with the life that Stevens could have had with Miss Kenton. On the journey to visit her, he looked back on his life to several different occasions where he believed that if he had done something differently, if he had shown his true feelings then they could have been together and lived a happy life. Stevens then also shows regret when he looks back at how faithful he was to his previous master, Mr. Darlington. Stevens believed he was a good man and in his mind was willing to do anything for his master in hopes of gaining dignity. However Mr. Darlington was a man who dealt with Nazis during WWII. Stevens knows he could have done something, but at the time was to caught up in his vision of perfection that he couldn't swerve away from it.
3. The author's tone was extremely proper and formal. The narrator spoke in a way that would match the setting of this time. This is why it is easily understandable for the character to be so strict, in a sense. He was very focused and set on the path he was in. Also being a butler he wanted to show the people he waited on that he was a gentleman and worthy to be their server.
4.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. The author didn't use direct characterization all that much because the main character wasn't a very open person so it seems fit that the audience isn't given much to go on. There are brief descriptions of the people here and there, but that's about it. The author uses indirect characterization when he continually has Stevens walking away from Miss Kenton's door when she's inside crying. Normally people would wait outside or even burst inside to see what was wrong. Stevens was not like them though. He was straight on his path towards gaining dignity. Also we see indirect characterization when Stevens is given a handkerchief at the end of the book. He doesn't outright say that he is crying, but through this simple token we can tell he is sad by that days turn of events.
2. I believe the syntax and diction remains the same throughout the book because it solely about the character, Stevens. It's his life and his thoughts we are exploring. Stevens was proper and a gentleman so the author wrote the book in the way that would match this character.
3. The protagonist is basically static and flat throughout the entire story up until the very end. He lets go of the perfect version he envisions himself to be and is simply a man. He expresses his feelings and shows his emotions. He grows in this stage of his life and changes so as to become the man his sees with his new definition of the word dignity.
4. I believe I read a character mainly because I have never met anybody like this. I have never seen a man so focused on one path that he shuts out anything that might get in the way of that. Also butlers aren't really needed in America so I don't quite understand their lifestyle.
GENERAL
1. The basic idea of this book is that it's about a man, known simply as Stevens, who is a butler for another man named Mr. Farraday. However he receives a letter from a Miss Kenton and decides to take a five day trip to go see her. (She worked in the same manor as Stevens 20 years prior.) The present isn't exactly what Stevens focuses on though, he looks back at his life to see if he believes he truly lived up to the 'dignity' he thinks he needs to live a fulfilling life (basically be perfect in every aspect, hide your feelings, and obey your masters no matter what), and also the life he may have had with Miss Kenton if he had done things differently. When he finally arrived and met with her, he realized nothing with her was going to change. They both expressed the feelings they once had, which was a huge step for Stevens, but both knew they could not dwell on the past. So Stevens begins to revise his definition of the word dignity and chooses to move forward in his life.
2. The main theme that I see throughout this novel is regret. It's expressed mainly with the life that Stevens could have had with Miss Kenton. On the journey to visit her, he looked back on his life to several different occasions where he believed that if he had done something differently, if he had shown his true feelings then they could have been together and lived a happy life. Stevens then also shows regret when he looks back at how faithful he was to his previous master, Mr. Darlington. Stevens believed he was a good man and in his mind was willing to do anything for his master in hopes of gaining dignity. However Mr. Darlington was a man who dealt with Nazis during WWII. Stevens knows he could have done something, but at the time was to caught up in his vision of perfection that he couldn't swerve away from it.
3. The author's tone was extremely proper and formal. The narrator spoke in a way that would match the setting of this time. This is why it is easily understandable for the character to be so strict, in a sense. He was very focused and set on the path he was in. Also being a butler he wanted to show the people he waited on that he was a gentleman and worthy to be their server.
4.
- analysis: explored when looking back on his life
- dialect: the author wrote in the way Stevens would think is best
- dogmatic: Stevens had a set definition for the word dignity and did what he did to gain it
- flashback: different situations Stevens thought about
- foil: Mr. Darlington next to Mr. Farraday
- imagery: author used great details to explain each situation
- interior monologue: all of Stevens memories
- motif: Stevens often spoke of learning how to banter
- pathos: audience feels when it's learned that Stevens cries about his life
- poignant: how Miss Kenton feels when learning of her aunt's death
CHARACTERIZATION
1. The author didn't use direct characterization all that much because the main character wasn't a very open person so it seems fit that the audience isn't given much to go on. There are brief descriptions of the people here and there, but that's about it. The author uses indirect characterization when he continually has Stevens walking away from Miss Kenton's door when she's inside crying. Normally people would wait outside or even burst inside to see what was wrong. Stevens was not like them though. He was straight on his path towards gaining dignity. Also we see indirect characterization when Stevens is given a handkerchief at the end of the book. He doesn't outright say that he is crying, but through this simple token we can tell he is sad by that days turn of events.
2. I believe the syntax and diction remains the same throughout the book because it solely about the character, Stevens. It's his life and his thoughts we are exploring. Stevens was proper and a gentleman so the author wrote the book in the way that would match this character.
3. The protagonist is basically static and flat throughout the entire story up until the very end. He lets go of the perfect version he envisions himself to be and is simply a man. He expresses his feelings and shows his emotions. He grows in this stage of his life and changes so as to become the man his sees with his new definition of the word dignity.
4. I believe I read a character mainly because I have never met anybody like this. I have never seen a man so focused on one path that he shuts out anything that might get in the way of that. Also butlers aren't really needed in America so I don't quite understand their lifestyle.
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