Vocab Remix #9

bosom: close to the heart

prudently: acting with or showing care and thought for the future:

inveterate: having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change

propensity: an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way

repose: a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility:

stripling: youth

sequester: isolate or hide away

purport: appear or claim to be or do something

imbibed: drink

apparition:  a vision of something supernatural 

incessant: ongoing

cognomen: a name

reverie: daydream

gambol: frolic, play

spectre: ghost

tarry: linger 

[Hessian]:  german missioner from the civil war

Legend of Sleepy Hollow technique description

A story telling technique used in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was indirect characterization. In the forth paragraph Irving explains the dominant spirt who lurks through Tarry Town, and he describes what kind of ghost he is. He doesn't explain him directly, but it is said that the apparition is a Hessian troop from the Revolutionary War, and roams around on a horse without a head. He lurks around on a quest to find his head, and rushes back to the grave yard before daybreak.

Novel Synopsis

This past week Patricia, Jasmine, and I got together to discuss the book and came down to the idea of writing a book about three different girls that each of us create. Basically, our characters each have some kind of problem or struggle, and we have to write about how they deal with, their lives, and in the end each girl solves their problem and they all tie up in a way.
Im not sure if were sticking to this idea still, but here's my synopsis of my part in the book. Just a quick sneak peak :)
My character's name is Adriana, she is a 16 year old in high school, and is just like any other teenage girl. Except, her problem isn't probably what most people would expect for a teenage girl. Most girls are struggling with weight, their insecurities of their physical appearance, grades, friends, and of course boys. However, with Adriana she's living it pretty good. She has a caring family, good grades, friends, a boyfriend, and even a well paying job. From someone else's view it would seem like she has a perfect life, yet something still feels missing for Adriana. She's always wanted people to see her as the smart, respectful, classy young lady, who was destined to be successful! This was especially important to her family, and so Adriana always tried to lived up to these high expectations. Then there came a point where she felt torn between what people except her to be and what she wanted to be. However, she's not totally sure who or what she wants to be. As she goes on from junior to senior year she tries to experiment with new people, new classes, new hobbies, and struggles to see what really mattered to her, and what was just given to her by her parents, teachers, and friends.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

"FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER. "

 From the note above, it sets a tone of suspicion, and mystery, because it makes it seem like the papers have been lost for some time, and are probably meant to be confidential. Yet, there being let loose to the reader. This is also used in the old horror movie, "The Blair Witch Project" as the movie opens saying that the footage in the movie was found in the woods, by teens who were trying to make a movie about the Blair Witch.  By using this technique, it makes the audience feel on edge about what they'r about to see/ read, and not being sure if they should expose them self to it. 

Presidential Debate and Logical Fallacies

• Ad hominem (directing the person and not the argument) : both candidates kept addressing each other in things they did and wouldn't answer the questions for themselves. Obama points out how Romney is always changing his answers, and is confusing others

• Argumentum ad misericordian ( argument to appeal to pity) : Obama talks about how kids in Israel have bombings in their towns, and Obama really wanted to help stop that.

• Argumentum ad nauseam ( argument to the point of disgust; i.e., by repetition): Romney keeps bringing up the subject about needing more troops in the Iran.

• Argument or appeal to numbers: Romney talks about how his states had the highest test scores in education 

Vocab #8 remix

Flout: Openly disregard

Caveat: A warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations

Blazon: Display prominently or vividly.

Filch: Pilfer or steal (something, esp. a thing of small value) in a casual way.

Fractious: Easily irritated; bad-tempered: 

Equitable: Fair and impartial.

Autonomy: The right or condition of self-government 

Addendum: An item of additional material

Amnesty: An official pardon for people who have been convicted of political offenses.

Axiomatic: Self-evident or unquestionable.

Extricate: Free (someone or something) from a constraint or difficulty.

Soporific: Tending to induce drowsiness or sleep.

Scathing: Witheringly scornful

Unwieldy: Difficult to carry or move because of its size

Vapid: Offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging

Prognosticate: Foretell or prophesy

Sepulchral: Of or relating to a tomb or interment

Salutary: Producing good effects

Straitlaced: priggish: exaggeratedly proper

Scourge: A whip used as an instrument of punishment.

Precept: A general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.

Transient: Lasting only for a short time; impermanent.

Remix part two?

 Soooo I went to the movies today and I saw this trail of a movie called The Croods, and it made me think of the self reliance essay in a way. Sure the trailer looks kind of kid-ish, but I think it relates to the course because the family has always been stick under the dad's rule and the way he thought the world was if you wanted to do something new. And so, the family would follow the dad scared of the thought of trying something new, and not living to what life really could bring them. However, the daughter feels like there's something different, and makes her own decision to go beyond what her family thought, and breaks through to find that there's so much more to life than living in a cave.

So Im not totally sure if this is a remix to self reliance, but it made me connect to it so here it is :)

http://youtu.be/4fVCKy69zUY

Remix to Self Reliance

In Emerson's self reliance essay, he's trying to break through to society and let them know that you have the power and the right to think for your self. In his essay he explains how people feel in a way chained to this routine of how society has conformed mankind based on how they should act, speak, and even think to fit in to the rest of the crowd. Emerson describes how people feel like their thoughts or ideas aren't good enough if they don't match up to what others feel or follow the status quo. Yet, this essay shows us that we should trust our self, in the essay he says, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string....Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny." By saying this he explains how no one is any better than someone else. We are all equal, and if we let our natural thought, ideas, and way of thinking take over, we can all accomplish so many things. We need to allow our self to be and think by our self. We shouldn't allow others to seep into our minds and change us into something that's not naturally us. 

Ricky and Uriel's Connection

The video Nothing but the Beat was really interesting, and it was actually amazing to see how Dvid Guetta did make a change in the music industry. The connection between David Guetta and the course is based on how David broke away from the routine of hip hop, and jumped into this world of a reestablished type of house music. David wanted to go beyond of just being a DJ, and he wanted to make something that wanted to make people dance, and feel free from the world, and just get into the beat of the music. He wanted to make something of his own, something that would change the way of music, and have people listen to the get into the beat rather than just the lyrics. I see how Ricky and Uriel connected this to the course, because we've been studying how people like Thoruea and Emmerson had this idea of being your own person, and not letting the conformity of society take over of who you are. In the video David meets Chris Willis, who is a gospel singer and a preacher, and asks him to take part in this new transformation. Chris was hesitant at first saying that he could go to hell for singing to this type of music, but then David tells him to think of it as preaching to a new crowd of people. This definitely falls into the course because in the late 1800s or so whenever there was a change or someone thought differently than society, they were declared a witch at the stake. And most people would think that would change by now, yet there's still that fear of being someone different or putting out something new to the world. One of David's key to starting this new house music was to create a bridge from Europe to America, electronic to urban, and whites to blacks. Music for David didn't depend on who you are or where you came form, all he wanted to do was create something that could get into peoples heart,  make dance like no ones business, escape from the routine of music, and listen to nothing but the beat.

Ad Hominem

Ad Hominem: attacking an opponent’s motives or character rather than the policy or position they maintain

• From what the List of Logical Fallacies says about Ad Hominem, I think these are the kind of arguments that take place the most everyday. Just yesterday after watching the debate my mom and my aunt were talking about who they thought won and why. It turned out that my aunt kept pointing out how Romney wasn't a good enough or reliable person to choose for president, mainly because she believes that his plan is only to help out wealthier people. Not even listening to his answers to the questions, or his ideas, she automatically shut him down based on the fact that he was only there to help rich people. 

self reliance

1. Discuss the meaning of the verse preceding the essay.

• everyone is their own person, and they should have their own thoughts
• the shadows that walk beside us are like the people we let influence the way we think

2. Looking at the entire essay, what does Emerson mean by self-reliance? Objectively summarize Emerson's major points.

• One of Emerson's main points that he kept bringing up was that the need for an individual to avoid conformity and false consistency and follow his or her instincts and ideas. He states that each persons voice can be as strong as the great man of history, saying that as long as you speak your own thoughts then you've already won.

3. Interpret the first sentence. What does every person realize at some moment of his or her education?

• The first sentence,"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance, " is referring to how some people feel that its unfair of the knowledge some people have, and they envy that about them. 

4. Interpret the following quote, "The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray."

• That what ever you put your focus on thats going to be your strong point. 

5. What does Emerson mean by the "divine idea which each of us represents"?

• The divine right Emerson mentions is that we have the right to our own thoughts, and that we should just let our natural way of thinking take over, rather than let other shape it for us.

6.  Explain the significance of the "iron string." Why do you think Emerson used iron and not silken, golden, or silver string?

• I think the Iron string is significant because iron is strong and shard, yet it can be formed into many different shapes. Just like iron, you need to be strong in your own thoughts, but you can't let people shape you into something you'r not.

7. Define Transcendentalism.

• Transcendentalism was a time of literature independence, where writers like Thoruea were in rebellion and wrote what they wanted.

8. Interpret this quote, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members."

• This quote interprets that society is against the natural way of thinking of manhood, and feel he need to change the way people think to something thats not real, of natural.

9. Explain the quote, "The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion."

• What is expected now of people on the way they think or act is all based conformity, and is not really a natural way of thinking, so people are all stuck on this one idea of how things should or shouldn't be that no one is their own person anymore. Yet self-reliance is the key to break away from this robot state of mind. 

10. Interpret the metaphor, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines."

• This metaphor is saying that peoples mind are controlled by this little mischievous imp that make it feel like they should follow what the statesman says, or what the philosophers had thought.

11. Discuss the use of the simile, "Words as hard as cannon balls."

• I think this refers to how criticism can be hard sometimes, and can have a big effect good or bad.

12. Respond to the Essay. Write a paragraph expressing your reactions to the essay.

This essay was quite challenging for me to follow and stay on track of, but discussing it with the calls made me get a better understanding of it. It was interesting to see how I don't apply Emerson's topic of self reliance to myself, and at first I didn't notice it but now I see how influenced I am by others. I liked how he explained how people are to afraid or quiet to share their own thoughts and live by them, just because that's not how everyone else seems to act. 

vocab sentences and definitions #7

ad infinitum- to infinity; having no limit.

• The math teacher explained that the number line was ad infinitum.

Apportion- to divide and assign according to a plan.

• The group leaders tried to apportion the class so everyone could get to experience each section.

bona fide - genuine, real

• The store guaranteed an 100% bona fide diamond necklace.

Buoyant- able to stay afloat, cheerful or resilient.

• It was hard for the little boy to stay buoyant in the water because he kept panicking.

clique- a small exclusive group of friends or associates.

• There are so many cliques in high school it's hard to choose where to go.

Concede- to admit something is true or valid after denying it at first

• The suspect finally conceded after hours of interrogating. 

Congenial- having the same tastes, habits, or temperament; sympathetic.

• It wasn't easy to tell the twins apart because they were both very congenial

lofty- of imposing height 

• 
  

migration- the act or instance of migrating.

• The migration  of the birds are always around the same time every year.

perceive- to achieve understanding of something.

• It was hard to perceive the meaning behind the story.

perverse- directed away from what is right or good.

• The kids actions seemed very perverse compared to how they usually behave.

prelude- introduction

• The prelude of the musical was very beautiful.

rancid- having the disagreeable odor or taste because of being old or stale

• The food that was in the back of the cupboard was very rancid and had to be thrown away.

rustic- related to country side, rural

• Thoruea wanted to get away from the rustic life style. 

sever- to set or keep apart; divide or separate.

• Since the kids wouldn't stop fighting the teacher had to sever them to different corners. 

sordid- filthy or dirty

• The little kids were not allowed to see sordid movies.

untenable- being such that defense or maintenance is impossible

• 
  

versatile- capable of doing many things.

• The musician was very versatile with instruments. 

vindicate- to provide justification or support for.

• The attorney was able to vindicate with client. 

wane- decrease in power size or intensity

• The popularity of the scary movie waned over a couple months.

Reflect on Midterm

a.) Overall I think the midterm went well and I knew most of the words from the first list, and i think the part that went well for me was that I felt confident and writing out the definitions first help me remember each word.
b.) The part that went wrong for me was that some of the options didn't match the definition I had studied for some of the words, and that made it a little confusing for me.
c.) From all six vocab list the first three list will definitely stick with me because I had recognize those words from previous vocab test.
d.) I think actually sticking to my midterm strategy would've helped a lot haha, but I learned that making time to study is really important even if its just 15 minutes it would've helped a lot.

From Thoreau's Walden

You Might Want To Scruntinize Life In A Differant Way. To Transcend From Your Past Mistakes. You Don't Want To Live Life In A Cursory Way. The Retrogress Shouldn't Be Based On How You Live Now. You Also Don't Want To Be Superficial About Yourself, But You Want To Be Protrude. You Don't Just Want To Be Conclusive, But Fathom Every Moment Of Nature And Enjoy It. Discover And Admire, And Be Potent, Be Fearless, But Remember To Be Exemplary. :)
Sometimes You Need To Escape The Real World And All The Daily Routines And Acually Enjoy What The World Really Has To Offer.

Midterm review strategy

The way I usually study for vocal test is I usually study the day I get the vocab words just by making the sentences and my flash cards on my iPod then maybe during class when we get a little free time. Then the night b3fore I'll just take about 30 minutes to review them. Although, for this test I think Im going to have to plan it out a little better. For monday Im going to just look over all six vocab list and mark the words that I know for sure, and the words that I've forgotten. Then tuesday I'll review the words I don't know for about 30 minutes before I go to bed. On wednesday I'll go over the words I know for sure before I go to bed, just so I know they'll stick to me better. Then on thursday and friday ill go over all six list and hopefully by then al the words would come naturally.

Romanticism Walk

Im usually not allowed to go on random walks, nonetheless by myself. So I decided to take my walk during school, early in the morning when hardly anyone is there. As most people at Righetti know, it can get pretty loud in the hallways, so I typically put on my headphones to just be in my own world. Yet, when everyone was gone and my only company was the cold misty air, and a soft breeze, everything seemed at pause. It was weird to be incomplete silence, and just listen to the birds hanging out on the phone wires, or hear that one car's tire screeching as it was probably late for work. Yet, at the same time it was fascinating to see that all my stress of high school, people, and work suddenly seemed so small in comparison to what was really happening in the world. At times it feels like everything is coming down on me, but then I hear the soft sound of the wind, the birds chirping, and see the sun raising in the sky and instantly the world seems to put some of its peace in me.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5670