Tolls that change the way we think

I completely forgot to post this, so here it is.

Technology, such as the internet and Google, has definitely made an impact in my life and the way I think. Every day, I am connected to technology,whether it is through my iPhone or my computer. I am always connected. Even with responsibilities I have with volunteering are all connected through the internet. A lot of the things that I know how to do now all came from searching through Google on how to do them. The world, as we know it, is now switching over to the technology world. So we have to be influenced by technology in order for us to get ahead in life. My parents always keep asking me why am I always on the computer, but my answer is that life nowadays is connected to the technological world than it was back in the 50's, 60's, etc when my parents were growing up. The world has ventured on a different route than it was back then. Although, I have gotten way too dependent on my technology because I noticed that I tend to tune someone out when something doesn't go in the way that interest me. With technology, sometimes, I am able to get something that is in the way that interests me to help me move forward with just one click. In other words, technology has its positive side where it helps us in so many ways whether it be learning something new or giving us resources to prove our point, but technology has its negative side where our way of thinking and our way of knowing other things have become so dependent on technology that we tend to filter out the things that we don't want to know, hear, or understand in real, face-to-face, life.

VOCAB #9

aficionado-

1. an ardent devotee; fan, enthusiast.

• Mark was an aficionado for the Righetti Warriors because he went to every single event Righetti participated in.

browbeat-

1. to intimidate by overbearing looks or words; bully

• Jack was such a browbeat towards John because he kept blackmailing John about John's most embarrassing moment, and if John doesn't give his candy to Jack, then Jack will tell all of their classmates.

commensurate- 

1.having the same measure; of equal extent or duration.

2.corresponding in amount, magnitude, or degree: Your paycheck should be commensurate with the amount of time worked.

3.proportionate; adequate.

4.having a common measure

• Your job description should be commensurate with the responsibilities you actually have on your job.

diaphanous- 

1.very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.

2.delicately hazy.

• The new curtains were diaphanous because you could see a lot of the backyard through it.

emolument-

1. profit, salary, or fees from office or employment; compensation for services

•  A fast food employee's emolument isn't as high a the emolument of a CEO.

foray-

1.a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder: Vikings made a foray on the port.

2.a quick, sudden attack: The defenders made a foray outside the walls.

3.an initial venture: a successful foray into politics.

     verb (used without object)

4.to make a raid; pillage; maraud.

5.to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure

• The burglars made a foray at the jewelry store.

genre-

1. a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

2. Fine Arts.

a. paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.

b. a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.

3.  genus; kind; sort; style.

adjective

4. Fine Arts. of or pertaining to genre.

5. of or pertaining to a distinctive literary type.

• Brave New World by Aldous Fuxley can be classified as a utopian genre.

homily-

1. a sermon, usually on a Biblical topic and usually of a nondoctrinal nature.

2.an admonitory or moralizing discourse.

3.an inspirational saying or cliché.

• The officiate made a homily at the memorial service.

immure-

1.to enclose within walls.

2.to shut in; seclude or confine.

3.to imprison.

4.to build into or entomb in a wall.

5.Obsolete . to surround with walls; fortify.

• Every single day, we are immured in the four walls we call a classroom.

insouciant-

free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.

• People who skip class and don't worry about their grades are insouciants.

matrix-

1.something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops: The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization.

2.Anatomy . a formative part, as the corium beneath a nail.

3.Biology .

a.the intercellular substance of a tissue.

b.ground substance.

4.Petrology . the fine-grained portion of a rock in which coarser crystals or rock fragments are embedded.

5.fine material, as cement, in which lumps of coarser material, as of an aggregate, are embedded.

• A slate and a piece of chalk was the matrix of school.

obsequies-

1. a funeral rite or ceremony.

• The obsequies was such a great remembrance for the one who passed.

panache-

1.a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair: The actor who would play Cyrano must have panache.

2.an ornamental plume of feathers, tassels, or the like, especially one worn on a helmet or cap.

3.Architecture . the surface of a pendentive.

• The rich who stay at very expensive places have such panache.

persona-

1. a person.

2.personae, the characters in a play, novel, etc.

3.the narrator of or a character in a literary work, sometimes identified with the author.

4.(in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality (contrasted with anima ).

5.a person's perceived or evident personality, as that of a well-known official, actor, or celebrity; personal image; public role.

• People who have multiple personalities for different people have different personas.

philippic-

1. any of the orations delivered by Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, in the 4th century b.c., against Philip, king of Macedon.

2.( lowercase ) any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation.

• John made a strong philippic against Jack, and then Jack backed off.

prurient-

1. having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.

2. causing lasciviousness or lust.

3. having a restless desire or longing.

• Those who cheat in relationships are prurient.

sacrosanct-

1. extremely sacred or inviolable: a sacrosanct chamber in the temple.

2. not to be entered or trespassed upon: She considered her home office sacrosanct.

3. above or beyond criticism, change, or interference

• A priest and/or a nun is a sacrosanct because they must be holy in life.

systemic-

1. of or pertaining to a system.

2.Physiology, Pathology .

a.pertaining to or affecting the body as a whole.

b.pertaining to or affecting a particular body system.

3.(of a pesticide) absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests that feed on it.

• The art of creating an event must involve a systemic approach so that everything will go smoothly.

tendentious-

1. having or showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose

• If you frequently stereotype others because of their looks or actions, then you are tendentious because you have a tendency to stereotype people that they are not of just because of what you see and/or hear.

vicissitude-

1. a change or variation occurring in the course of something.

2.interchange or alternation, as of states or things.

3.vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: 

4. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.

5. change; mutation; mutability.

• From talking to someone you like, then creating a relationship with them, and then loving them in the future are all significant vicissitudes.

Thank you dictionary.com for the definitions!

The Performative Utterance in Hamlet

Here are my notes from reading Performative Utterance in Hamlet by Fredrik deBoer

• Hamlet is trapped in a cognitive paralysis due to not figuring out what is real and what is not.
• Certain language cannot describe action but can describe from being spoken.
• Three forces of performative ability of language
• the locutionary force- the ability of language to deliver a message, the force of mutual intelligibility
• the illocutionary force-what is done in being said, such as denying a request
• the perlocutionary force- what is achieved by being said
• The performative utterances in Hamlet is based on what the performative language tells us about its characters.
• Is there some "real self" revealed through self-overhearing?
• "It might be said that a man incapable of realizing the power of his own agency, but fully capable of using the spoken word, could come to learn of his agency by realizing that his speech has power to create actual change in the world."
• Characters of Shakespearean literature must present their inner selves/thoughts through speeches, soliloquies, etc.
• "the illocutionary force of having sworn has compelled him to that action"
• "Hamlet's self-loathing stems from his falling in to language and not into action."
• "The central problem of the play is that people represent their feelings and thier intentions in ways that are contrary to reality."
• "While in this context Hamlet is speaking specifically of actual, stage-bound drama, it is reasonable ot assume that he would apply his vision of convincing acting to his own performance as a man gone mad."
• "Madness is defined, generally, by precisely the kind of exaggerated or hysterical actions and movements that Hamlet associates with poor acting."
• "Hamlet's fictionalization of this structure permits him the space to engage in a favorite activity, verbal play, and in doing so his belief in the power of language can only be reinforced, as mentioned."
• Polonius symbolizes the premodern man.
• Hamlet symbolizes the modern
• Hamlet realizes that is own identity is a construct.
•  rules to comply with for utterance of being happy
• There must be an agreement that will be effective
• The circumstances must be appropriate for the agreement
• The agreement must involve all participants to render active
• Agreement is designed to cover all aspects of conflict
• The participants must complete the agreement
• What does Claudius' prayer show? 
• Claudius act of repent comes from a lack of agency.
• Hamlet uses performative power to realize his self.
• "Self-acualization and performance and agency become all one"

THOUGHTS ON HAMLET (IN PROGRESS)

When we first started the play, I felt that, maybe, the ghost who showed up is a fake. Maybe, the devil is the ghost and is posing as Hamlet's father. Maybe, the devil is trying to make Hamlet do something in spite of something that he knows not of. What if Hamlet kills Claudius, but Claudius wasn't the one who killed his father? What if Hamlet died from natural causes and not murder? These things have gone through my head until reading to the end of Act III. After Act III, now we know everything from the start of the story is all coming true. Now, I can finally put my doubts aside.

To Be or Not To Be Analysis

While memorizing Hamlet, I analyzed different parts of the soliloquy to get a better understanding so that parts will stick to my mind. Some parts a little bit fuzzy, but I am trying my best to recite the whole thing in a video that I will post here when I finally am confident enough of my video.

I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I have tried to practice on my video editing skills to put this video together. I am in a collaborative working group in which we, as a class, would have a video conference with certain people, and I must be able to record and edit the footage to create one, beautiful looking video, so here was my jab at it. I assure I did not cheat; when I get nervous, my eyes tend to move everywhere.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

(The section above, I feel, is talking about his inner conflicts and what to do about them. I feel like he is deciding whether or not to submit to his troubles. Also, Hamlet is saying that "sleeping on it" might not have the greatest effect as working the problems out.)

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;

(I think he is saying that we, as human beings, are vulnerable to all kinds of conflicts in life. Sometimes, those conflicts are not what we want, and if we allow it to continue, then we are pretty much letting it take over lives.)

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make

(I think Hamlet is saying that it isn't worth your life to deal with the "whips and scorns" or the troubles and negativity of life. Especially, it isn't worth to bottle up your feelings inside without showing any signs of desperation and depression.)

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?

(This section I feel like Hamlet is talking about how some other people are not considerate of our feelings, and then that they rather have us bear our problems by ourselves than to take the time to help us in our times of need.)

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment

(In this section, I feel that Hamlet is saying that everyone will feel their conscience guilt tripping them. I feel like he is saying that after feeling the guilt, those people, who didn't help before, will now take the next opportune moment and help us resolve our problems.)

With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

(I think Hamlet is saying that some people's conscience will keep telling them what they did wrong, but yet they still don't act on it. I'm not sure why he mentions Ophelia. But, "be all my sins remember'd", I think that this is about if he commits suicide, he still wants to be remembered.)

What I think about when I think about Act 3

I think about Hamlet's plan to get his Uncle to show signs of guilt. I also feel like maybe he is taking things too far when he plots to kill his Uncle. I mean, yes, he murdered your father, but is it really worth it to kill another person? I dont know, but thats my feeling...anyways i also think about how short tempered he was when he stabbed the curtain thinking that it was his Uncle, but then he killed an innocent man, Polonius, well maybe sort of innocent. *But, my thinking might be off so bear with me.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #3

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

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)?
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.

DISCLOSURE: I was kind of disturbed when I read the book so bear with me as this is going to be a rough literature analysis. The book was alright, but I think I need to read the book again to actually get comfortable with the characters and the plot.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley focuses on this utopian society where humans are born identically from different groups of fertilization. Yet, within their group, the fertilization is the identical which reproduces identical humans. Each group is then created/taught to do one specific thing. There are five groups which are the Alpha, the Beta, the Gamma, the Delta, and the Epsilon. This all a part of the process to populate and make the World State (utopia) successful. Then the story heads on to the lives of the characters and how they are all connected somehow. The second part of the story starts out with Lenina being attracted to an Alpha male, named Bernard. But really, she is dating Henry Foster, another alpha male. Later on in the story, Lenina and Bernard head off to another part of the World State where they meet John. The story then shifts and focuses on John. Bernard, Lenina, and John head back to London where Bernard and Lenina were initially from. When they head back to London, John then sees the difference in society between London and where he was from. From seeing what the World State has become, he questions the values of the World State's rules and regulations. He questions that why does the World State allow such experimentation to happen. He asks why do they allow the newly born humans to be taught a certain way or scientifically/genetically changed to have one viewpoint in life. John doesn't want to be a part of the World State and all of its questionable actions. The end of the story takes us to see that John goes to a lighthouse where he finds his solitude. When people found out where John is, because he was popular, the people pressured him to whip himself. After being pressured, the next morning, John then commits suicide because he gave in to the World State society and the pressure of the people. 

2. The theme of this novel is that society can take over your life easily, but it is our job to make sure that we submit to their desires that may go against our belief.

3. I feel the author's tone is straightforward and distressed.

• "Halting for a moment outside the door of the Director's room, Bernard drew a deep breath and squared his shoulders, bracing himself to meet the dislike and disapproval which he was certain of finding within."
• "With a faint hum and rattle the moving racks crawled imperceptibly through the weeks and the recapitulated aeons to where, in the Decanting Room, the newly-unbottled babes uttered their first yell of horror and amazement."
• "The mother and father (grotesque obscenity) forcing the daughter to have some one she didn't want!"

4. Ten Literary Elements and Techniques

• Plot- The plot connected altogether in some way. It could be that the characters evolved from the first part of the story.
• "One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality." P.17
• Narrator- The narrator was Huxley himself because it was in the third person omniscient POV.
• Still leaning against the incubators he gave them, while the pencils scurried illegibly across the pages, a brief description of the modern fertilizing process." P.17
• Mood- The book seem to be nightmarish, like it was some nightmare that had a frightening society.
• "Bent over their instruments, three hundred Fertilizers were plunged, as the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning entered the room, in the scarcely breathing silence, the absent-minded, soliloquizing hum or whistle, of absorbed concentration. P.16
• Theme- The theme of this book was that society and technology will somehow change the way of life.
• " But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide...Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress." P.17
• Conflict- The conflict of this story was that John was pressured by society and was disgusted by how society has changed.
• "Drawn by the fascination of the horror of pain and, from within, impelled by that habit of cooperation, that desire for unanimity and atonement, which their conditioning had so ineradicable implanted in them, they began to mime the frenzy of his gestures, string at one another as the Savage struck at his own rebellious flesh, or at the plump incarnation of turpitude writhing in the heather at his feet." P. 230
• Imagery- The imagery of the chaos of society helps build the purpose.
• "Hungrily they gathered round, pushing and scrambling like swine about the trough." P.230
• Narrative method- With the narrator being third person omniscient POV, we get to understand the story from an all-around point of view.
• "With an infinity of precautions she opened the door a quarter of an inch; peeped through the crack; was encouraged by the view of emptiness; opened a little further; and put her whole head out' finally tiptoed in to the room; stood for a few seconds with strongly beating heart, listening, listening; then darted to the front door, opened, slipped through, slammed, ran." P.179
• Dialogue- The dialogue between the characters helps characterize the characters who are speaking.
• "'But I don't want comfort. I want God. I want poetry. I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." (Savage)
• "'Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer, the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakably pains of every kind.'" (Mustapha Mond) P. 215
• Gothic- The Gothic parts of this book help to show how the book is really kind of dark and ominous.
• "Moreover, she wasn't a real savage, had been hatched out of a bottle and conditioned like any one else: so couldn't have really quaint ideas." P. 142
• Motif- The motif was a Brave New World where this society becomes a whole new world.
• "In a few minutes there were dozens of them, standing in a wide circle round the lighthouse, staring ,laughing, clicking their cameras, throwing (as to an ape) peanuts, packets of sex-hormones chewing-gum, pan-glandular petits beurres... As in a nightmare, the dozens became scores, the scores hundreds. P.227

Characterization

1. The author uses both approaches to inform the reader of who John really is.

• "The Savage meanwhile wandered restlessly round the room, peering with a vague superficial inquisitiveness at the books in the shelves, at the sound-track rolls and reading machine bobbins in their numbered pigeon-holes." This is an indirect characterization that John (Savage) is curious.
• "The Savage looked at him. He had been prepared to lie, to bluster, to remain sullenly unresponsive; but, reassured by the good-humoured intelligence of the Controller's face, he decided to tell the truth, straightforwardly. 'No.' He shook his head." This is an indirect characterization of who John is again. 
• "The bell rang, and the Savage, who was impatiently hoping that Helmholtz would come that afternoon." This is a direct characterization that the Savage is impatient.
• "His movements and the expression on his face were so menacing that the nurse fell back in terror. With a great effort he checked himself and, without speaking, turned away and sat down again by the bed." This is a direct characterization that the Savage can be frightening.

2. The author's syntax and diction stay the same whether or not he focuses on the characters.

• "In the Bottling Room all was harmonious bustle and ordered activity."
• "'And the bottles come in here to be predestined in detail.'"

3. I feel the protagonist is dynamic and round because John learns about the World State in London and is affected by all of the things he discovers with society.

4.After reading the book, I felt like I've met a person who is organized and has his own beliefs about society.

• "Of the money which, on his first arrival, John had received for his perosnal expenses, most had been spent on his equipment...Looking at the tins now, he bitterly reproached himself for his weakness. Loathsome civilized stuff! He had made up his mind that he would never eat it, even if he were starving."