A Dream Within a Dream

After reading this poem its hard not feel like this is just another love poem about how being in love could feel like a dream. Yet, getting deeper into it, I feel like when the narrator says, "Is all that we see or seem /but a dream within a dream?" This made me think of the phrase, " it's too good to be true," because when something either really good or bad happens it feels like things like this only happen in movies, not to mention dreams. Then when the poem starts off with taking a kiss, when you feel in love or that kind of intimate feeling, you suddenly want to stay in reality because now your reality is suddenly better that being in a dream. I think the part when he can't keep hold of the grains of sand is referring to how you can't really decide what you want to dream or when you want to wake up. Everything just falls into place on its own.

essay revision/ improvement

My strategy to improving my next essay would be to organize it more, and try to have a more structured essay. I think prewriting would help out a lot, just by setting out all my ideas and examples ahead of time to see which ones would work toward my thesis. Also trying not to summarize that much, and just sticking to the prompt would make my essay better, and after talking to Dr. Preston I realize that most of my essay was based on summarizing.

vocab #5

1. allude-to refer to something the author thinks you should know, call attention to indirectly 

• The point of the mentioning how the staff in Young Goodman Brown was to allude the reader to connect it with the devil.

2. clairvoyant - able to read mind

• The little girl wanted to see if the psychic clairvoyance was real.

3.conclusive - final or decisive,  to conclude

• I always hate the conclusive part of a story I really enjoy reading. 

4.disreputable - of a poor reputation, not considered to be respectable in person or a character

• Its depressing to see people treat homeless people in a disreputable way. 

5.endemic - native to an environment, regularly found among particular people or in a certain area

• Diseases that had been contagious had become endemic in the Europeans states. 

6.exemplary-Serving as a desirable model; representing the best of its kind

• The student's representation was so exemplary it made the other students nervous. 

7.fathom -  measure of depth. to understand

• It was hard to fathom what his thesis was in his essay. 

8.guile-trick,  sly or cunning intelligence:

• The guile of the picture was that if you flipped it over you can see an old mans face in the trees.

 9.integrity- integrating thought speech and action, having strong moral principles; moral uprightness

• The teacher wanted to see who had the integrity to pick up whoever left trash by the desk.

10.itinerary - schedule or plan

• The camp leader tried to follow the itinerary so they could fit in all the activities before lunch. 

11.misconstrue-to misunderstand, interpret wrongly

• The student didn't realize he misconstrued the whole lesson until he got home to try to do his homework. 

12.obnoxious-rude, loud. abrasive

• His obnoxious attitude caused him to work on the project alone. 

13.placate- to calm down or satisfy

• He tried to placate his angry wife by buying her roses. 

14.placid- calm, not easily upset or excited

• The new mom wish her baby could be more placid, so she could have time to sleep. 

15.plagiarism-taking someones writing without permission

• The teacher warned the class that if they used plagiarism they would fail for the entire semester. 

16.potent- having great powerful, or influence

• Kings in the 1700s thought that if they were more potent they would have a stronger better country.

17.pretext- an excuse. text before the text

• The student tried to think of a good pretext to why he was five minutes tardy. 

18.protrude-to speak out, extend beyond or above the surface

• The little kids protruded among the fence to see the new neighbors moving in. 

19.stark-easy to see, sever or bare in appearance 

• The phone bill was a stark reminder of how much in debt the family was in.

20.superficial-shallow, existing on the surface

• Everyone thought the cheerleaders were superficial, and rude. 

Journal september 12

Finishing the essay I didn't feel like I did such a good job on it, and realize what I could done better to use the time given in a more useful way.  I know I had good ideas but I struggled putting them together into words, and constructing a good thought out sentence. It was challenging organizing my ideas and picking the right ones that would support my thesis. Once I realized how much time I spent trying to figure out what ideas to use and making my intro, I panicked and didn't even bother laying out my essay. For next time, I know that I should layout my ideas before hand, to get a better idea of what and how I should write out my essay.

Vocab #4

Melancholy: feeling depressed, typically with no obvious cause.

• Megamind was feeling melancholy when he had no superhero to challenge his villainies.

Exemplary: a desirable model, representing the best of its kind

• The student was exemplary in all subjects.

Peculiar: strange or odd, unusual 

• The fact that is was snowing in the summer seem very peculiar.

Dread: anticipation with great apprehension, or fear

• Everybody dreaded not knowing who was going to give their speech first.

Bough: the main branch of a tree 

• The bough of the tree was strong enough to hold the tire swing.

Pious: devoutly religious 

• Young Goodman Brown's pious attitude was shattered by the end of the story.

Communion: sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings on a religious level

• Most kids go through their hold communion by the age their 10. 

Auditor: a person who conduct an audit

• The auditor told the company they needed to try new methods to get more customers. 

Multitude: a large number

• The multitude of teens getting into car accidents has increased due to texting and driving.

Eloquence: fluent or persuasive speaking or writing 

• The eloquence of the foreign exchange student was incredible.

Despair : complete loss or absence of hope

• Goodman Brown was in complete despair when he found Faith in the woods.

Hoary: grayish white 

• The sky had a hoary color implying that it might rain later on.

Vocab #3

1. Encomium- A formal expression of high praise; eulogy.

• The principles encomium of the class of 2014 was very touching, and inspirational.

1. Coherent- Logically connected; consistent.

• Einsteins theory of relativity was very interesting and coherent to the college class.

1. Belabor- To argue, or elaborate

• The debaters jobs were to belabor on different topics, and see who came up with better evidence.

1. Eschew- To abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid.

• Everybody eschewed from having to use the old worn out text books.

1. Acquisitive- Tending or seeking to acquire and own, often greedily.

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1. Emulate- To try to equal or excel.
2. Arrogate-To attribute or assign to another.
3. Banal- Devoid of freshness or originality.
4. Excoriation- To strip the skin of a human or an animal.
5. Congeal- To curdle; coagulate, as a fluid.
6. Carping- Characterized by fussy petulant faultfinding.
7. Substantiate- To establish by proof or oe competent evidence.
8. Temporize- To treat or parley so as to gain time.
9. Largesse- Generous bestowal of gifts.
10. Tenable- Capable of being held, maintained, or defended.
11. insatiable-Incapable of being satisfied or pleased.
12. Reconnaissance- The act of reconnoitering.
13. Germane- Obsolete. Closely related.
14. Ramify- To divide or spread out into branches.
15. Intransigent- Refusing to agree or compromise

Young Goodman Brown Symbols

1. Faith's pink ribbons:  I think faiths pink ribbons refer to her innocence, and cheerful personality, just recognizing the ribbons themselves makes the reader associate them with someone who is caring, loyal,  and an overall good person. Yet, I think the pink ribbons are in a way a use of irony, because when she is seen at the forest and her ribbons are flowing in the air all her innocence is strip from her.

2. The old man's staff: The staff seemed like the devils key to entering the dark side, and the old man used it to tempt Goodman into using it and in the end it got the best out of Goodman. The devil kind of bribes Goodman with the staff, saying that it will help him, and that soon he will get tired and the staff will guide him, but it ends up guiding him in the wrong direction. The way the author described it as resembling a serpent, it automatically connects it to the devil, since the devil is symbolized as a serpent in a religious point of view.

3. The old man: I think the old man was referred to as the devil himself, and he played out the Adam and Eve scene, telling Goodman that it's ok if he follows him to the forest, saying that he wasn't the only one doing it, that all the other holy towns people were in his same position.

 4. Dreams: In the beginning of the story Faith mentions how she was scared of having bad dreams because she would have to sleep alone, and that she had a dream that warned her of what was going to happen that night. Then at the end of the story Goodman doesn't know whether to believe what he thinks happened, or if it was a just a dream. I think the dreams symbolized their way of communicating, because it gave the first hint that the night wasn't going to be ok, then in the end, the dream was their only way of finding logic.

Online security

Ian's ( Im not sure if thats how you spell his name) presentation about online security was very helpful and informative in many ways and made me realize how important it really is to know about it. The part about passwords stood out a lot because I have the same password for all my devices, and websites, that I didn't know how easy it was for someone to break into my personal information. Seeing how effortless it was for someone to get hold of all that information, with just spending a few minuets on the computer was quiet shocking. I know now that I should be more creative with making a password, and more cautious, of what i decide to put on the internet.