Literature analysis #3

 The Hunger Games: 1. Summary-Protagonist = Katniss Everdeen. she's a teenager, a tough hunter, emotionally strong. Her father is dead and she lives with her mother and sister Prim in District 12 in the country of Panem. Every year the Capitol of Panem hosts an event called the Hunger Games where two "tributes" – a boy and a girl – are drafted from each of the twelve districts to be brought to an arena and fight to the death. Only one person can win. This is to remind the country not to rebel, as well as entertainment. This year, Katniss's little sister is selected for the Hunger Games, so Katniss volunteers to take her place. Peeta Mellark, the baker's son, who maybe has a huge crush on Katnis is also selectedAfter the reaping (that's the tribute selection process), Katniss and Peeta are whisked away to the Capitol to prepare for the Games (and primped for live TV). The support team  is comprised of Haymitch (a former Hunger Games winner and also a drunk), Effie (their wrangler), and Cinna and Portia (their stylists). During the opening ceremonies, Cinna and Portia dress Katniss and Peeta in flames and they draw much attention to themselves. During training, Katniss reveals her archery skills to the Gamemakers and scores an amazing 11 out of 12, while Peeta gets a lower score and asks to be trained seperatly. The game begins as all 24 participants fight for their lives. Katniss teams up with Rue. Rue gets killed. Katniss now looks for Peeta after the announcer announces that there can be 2 winners in this years hunger games. Katniss nurses Peeta back to health. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato are the only ones left when the get chased by genetically enhanced wild dogs. Katniss shoots Cato and he is eaten by the pack of dogs. Announcer says there can only be 1 winner. They fake like they are going to commit a double suicide with poisonous berries and the announcer changes his mind and announces them both winners. Katniss isn't really in love with Peeta eventhough he tells her he wasnt acting.

2. Theme-
 The Hunger Games is a novel about the "haves" and the "have nots" that is, the people who have money and the people who don't. While the Capitol is wealthier than all of the districts, some districts are more privileged than others, so they can train their tributes to do well in the Hunger Games a competition they see as a way to gain glory and fame. The poor districts have no advantage at all. District 12, Katniss's district, is an impoverished coal mining region that never stands a chance in the Games. They view the Games as a punishment that must be endured,something that robs them of their children. The novel asks you, then, to think about how money can change things for you and change how you see the world.

3. Tone-
 In my opinion, there are multiple tones for The Hunger Games. Katniss exhibits strength and courage but the games are dark and saddening. Some could argue that Katniss falls in love with Peeta and that love and hope could both be a tones but I disagree. I think the tone is much more serious, since the capitol is cruel and since there is little hope she will survive Katniss' desperate attempt to win the games is present.

4. Five Literary Elements/Techniques:

1. Imagery: After the death of Rue Katniss gives her a proper burial in which the author paints a sad picture. "The cold hit me from all sides as i placed the last flower delicately into the bundle that was Rue."

2. Irony: How the capital's constant idea that they can do whatever they want is thwarted in the end by Katniss and Peeta when the capital announces both of them winners.

3. Epiphany: When Rue died and Katniss suddenly understood what Peeta meant about being “more than just a piece in their Games.” This is when she truly decides to fight against the Capitol.

4. Symbolism: Katniss wearing the mockingjay pin that represents all districts is symbolizing that she is the chosen one.

5. Diction: Collins uses powerful diction throughout The Hunger Games to convey Katniss' shifting attitudes toward the Capitol and the games.

Literature analysis #2

1. Life of PI: So in the novel Pi is telling the story to an author who wants to document his experience and so he begins with the beginning. Piscine was born and was made fun of at school because his name sounded like “pissing” and that is why he changed his name to Pi. He grows up and he gets on a boat to travel with all the zoo animals his father owns. But something bad happens. A terrible storm sinks the boat except for Pi, a bengal tiger, an orangutang, a hyeina, and a zebra. The hyeina kills the zebra and the orangutang and the tiger eventually kills the hyena, leaving just Pi and the tiger on the boat, who Pi calls Richard Parker. Now Pi realizes in order to survive he has to tame the tiger which he for the most part successfully does and they go through many hardships. After a while at sea they eventually come across an island which has a weird feel to it. During the day it is an unlimited source of food, water and shelter but at night some chemical turns all the water into poison and makes it hard to live there so Pi and Richard Parker set sail again. They eventually make it to an island and Pi is interogatted on the events that occured during his journey. The Japanese interogators don’t believe this story and so Pi decides to tell a different one. The other one involves his mother, a cook, a sailor and himself that are trapped on the boat and only he survives. We are left wondering which is the true story and it is up to us to decide.
2. I believe the theme of this novel is somewhat odd and ill explain. I couldn’t think of a better word than belief. Our beliefs dictate who we are and there are two sides to this novel; one a believable one and one that is not so believable. So which one is the truth? The theme belief is the belief of religion and belief in what you believe to be true.
3. The tone in this book is very serious but also has something else that i can’t quite put a finger on. Its very serious in the fact that so many things go wrong and Pi has to go against his beliefs in order to survive and he has to kill and survive. But on the other hand it also has a “storytelling” tone and sometimes humorous tone to lighten the mood. 
4. The literary techniques I recongized most in this novel are symbolism, tone, figurative language, setting, theme, imagery, point of view, diction and i guess you could say personification.

Literature analysis #1

1)The Kite Runner is a novel about the journey of boy named Amir. With the story being told by Amir, the novel begins with a flashback about twenty-six years back in time, to when Amir was a little boy growing up in Kabul. This point of the story told us about Amir's life as a child, with his father, who was a businessman, and two servants to his family. One of the servants was Amir's best friend, named Hassan. When hassled by the town bully, Hassan hit him with a rock shot from his slingshot. From there, the story jumps to winter time, and a kite fighting contest takes place. There is this tradition that the kids have called 'kite running' and they try to get the losing kite that fell from the sky. When Amir is fighting in the contest, Hassan goes to look for the fallen kite, who is then followed by Amir some time after. Amir finds Hassan in an alley way with the town bully and some of his buddies, watching as they take advantage of Hassan. Drifting apart, and overcome with guilt, Hassan and Amir leave each others' lives after Amir planted items in Hassan's bed, accusing him of thievery. Time goes on, and things start to get bad with the invasion of the Soviets in Kabul. Amir and his father flee the country, and after a long period, they soon go to Fremont, California where Amir attends school, and his father working at a gas station. In time, Amir finds a lovely girl, and soon marries her. After his marriage, Amir's father dies. Further into his life, Amir receives a call from his father's friend, and it was about Hassan. Amir, still holding the guilt of what had happened when he was a kid, goes to Kabul. Hassan's child is missing, and Amir goes to look for him. Nearly getting himself killed, he manages to save the kid and redeems himself of his wrong doings done to his best friend.


2) One of the themes for The Kite Runner is the search of redemption. Best shown by Amir and his guilt that was carried thoughout his entire life ever since the incident with Hassan. This is probably the main theme that drives the novel.

3)The tone o the author is also related to the theme itself, which is being the confessional tone. Throughout the novel, it is portrayed all through Amir's actions, feelings and decisions. One example would be the pomegranates being throw at Hassan, just so he would throw them back at Amir. Amir wanted to be punished for his actions-- or lack of. Not only did he wanted to be punished, but he also pushed away his best friend. Amir built up too much guilt all to the point of framing Hassan for a thievery he didn't commit just so that he can get away. Lastly, when Amir encounters Assef again near the end of the novel, he starts laughing only because he is getting punished for it, getting beaten to near death by Assef.

4) The literary elements of The Kite Runner all have a slot within the machine that is this book. The foreshadowing in the story raises question about the surrounding events with the Islamic fundamentalists, and even when Baba questions Amir's ability to stand up for what is right. The overall feel of the book happens to be like that of a spring. It is felt all throughout the novel, even at times where it didn't appear to be as such.

Masterpiece Academy/Open source learning

My Experience In Open Source Learning

 

            Open source learning has changed me. I went from 3 years of basic boring english which i failed each and i think every singe one, to a class that i certainly enjoy being in and most probably will pass. I had a passion for this class, but sadly that only started toward the end of the year and i wish i had realized the true benefit of this class sooner because it has helped me in many things i deal with now and may deal with in the future. I have grown from taking this course, i now truley have experienced a way of learning that works for me that i hope to use in the future. This class was the best class i have had in all of my schooling the past 4 years of my high school career, the fact that i feel so comfortable around all my classmates and they may feel the same around me means a great deal when you have to be in a class with then 50 miutes a day for about a year, and when you have a teacher as great as Dr. Preston is, with his vast knowledge, passion for teaching, great resouces and over all with kindness for wanting to help each and every one of us to progress in our futures, i cant think of another person that has put out so much in helping others succeed in their lives through teaching in a classroom, hats off to you for being an amazing individual that cares so much about others.

 

          This course has improved my reading, writing and thinking skills. now when i read things, i not only can connect all the information, but i can think and feel what the writer may have been thinking when they were writing the piece. And i now can transfer that infortation into a responce and explanation of my understanding to what was written.

 

           Given a high level of trust and choice in this course, i greatly apreciate that, not only did i use it, but i benefitted from it. I myself did not deserve it at first, because i was still in the old english class mood not caring about anything that had to be said. But at the end i do believe I deserve it because i took part in what was taking place in the course. As for others, i think if they had a passion for participating in the great oppertunity that was given to us i do believe they deserve it. I also did earn it in my belief, because i showed that i understood the meaning of the course. as for others, its up to them to decide if they earned it, because generously it is offered to all. I myself do now honor this way of learning, it has changed the way i look at learning as for i think it has for many others, so i think that all may not honor it, but most all should.

 

           What i did with this course is i conected it with my passion for water polo, i thought if we were alowed to choose what we work on in that class why not. That really helped me with actualy doing the work. I will continue learning about my passion through my future years playing in college, and also i might be making a new blog to follow other water polo players and post things that i learn to help out others.

 

           This class always made me laugh, it may not always be out loud, but i find it hilarious when you cuss, that may be a little immature, but when you have a teacher do that i find it pretty cool and funny. Also when you are aguing with someone its hilarious that the other person thinks that they can win, cause i know you could outsmart them and use words to your advantage since you have a huge vocabulary. those may not be nice things to laugh about, but thats juse something that came to mind. my big thing that makes me laugh is Johna and Alicia, they can be pretty funny at times when they're not being sarcastic to me.

 

            5 presentations that i find fit together well, if not go with all presintations were by Alex-Senioritus and how it effects your fashion. Rachel-Singing. Judith/Amparo-Compation. Austin-Stand up comedy. Alicia-People and their feelings. I believe all these fit together because you have to be passionate for them, like i wouldnt sing if i didnt like it, I wouldnt stand up in front of people and make a joke of everything i do, and for people, i dont like having to deal with people some times because it can get annoying, for compassion, you have to be a super great person in wanting to help others, and last im not that big into fashion. but with all of these, they may look different, but they all mean something to someone, like i could add water polo in there and it would fit because i am passionate for it. An example of this is like when Judith somewhere to aply to help people out for free, i couldnt just do that to random people and that shows that she really cares about what she is doing.

 

          In my opinion i am not a hero. I may be in the eyes of others, but i dont see myself as being that important in helping others. I took a long while to respod to the call of adventure, but once i did i was impressed in what you can do when you want to do something for yourself that will help you pass the class and help you in the future. My mentors have always been my coaches, and i conquered a challenge, it was for passing the class.

 

          

 



Beginnings 2

With making up a story to go along with the provided quote, it help us use our imagination to think of different scenarios in which will catch the readers eye and make him or her want to read more about it without the worry of the story getting boring or just coming to a stop of interest. I feel as if this is a good practice for us all, but especially for me in the sake of it helping out with my masterpiece. I believe that if I take and use this knowledge of getting readers attention, that I can put it towards using it in a set practice plan for a water polo practice. There for me being a coach I would have to draw up endless plans and being able to keep the practice from getting boring or repetitive, I would able to use the skills bring grown to be successful in developing practice plans that are of interest and benefit to the team.

Beginnings

My masterpiece is working me towards bettering myself at the sport I love, and educating me in a very possible future career pathway. First off I learn things just about everyday looking around on different websites about nothing but water polo, and furthermore it can contribute to my masterpiece of becoming  a water polo coach.

Saving young people from themselves

It's obvious to us that most young people don't take an interest in taking aside their own spending money and putting it aside for a later time in their life. Most young people this day in age are starting to get jobs earlier and earlier, and in this case they are obtaining money to do as they please with, like going out to eat or going to the movies or getting new things to put or their cars ect. But what they don't realize is that in these upcoming years they're going to be having to pay for college and the books and materials that go with it, along with if they're planning on buying/renting a house. And if so living away from home they're having to pay for food. It's going to be a huge change for most and for many a struggle. So the sooner we can get in the habit of saving and putting aside money, the better off we'll be. Because if you have a job now and are always able to take off and spend it how you want, that means that you also have the chance to set aside what could possible be what you depend on in the near future. As for your later years in life you may have a steady job and pay check, upon saying that, you should take the opportunity to take part in which I think is a great idea if you are financially stable, is to go by the Australians superannuation way of thinking by putting a percentage of your pay check away into your retirement account. Although many of you think I don't need you need to worry about this as of right now, you should absolutely start as soon as possible to be prepared for what to come in your future.

THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN SHOULD AND MUST

The crossroads between should and must have different paths in which you use to go about your life, but I feel as if their is a hidden middle path leading you through both using should and must. Many seem to go by should because it's easier and helps them get along better with others as they go about their daily routeen. But if you can find it in yourself to become a must, it will help you out in the long run guiding you through what is really true to you. If you go by must and are able to find others like you and can fit in with, then you have overcome what was being used before trying to fit in with others but not truly bring you. I'm currently more towards must, in which I am being myself around others and am fitting in no problem because they are just like me in various ways. But I see myself in the near future drifting towards should because I'll be going to a different school and will be on a different team, therefor will be having to adjust to new and different people. The way I see it, there is no right or wrong path. Whatever way you go, you can make it your own and be happy and successful in what you do.

LOOK AT MY BRAIN

            Although I don't have enough posts to show what I'm working on for my masterpiece, I still have a wide variety of information and resources to help and guide me to achieve my goal of becoming a water polo coach. I have been on a highly successful team the past four years and have achieved the highest possible awards to be given to an individual of a high school sports team athlete. I plan to use all of what I know to help individual(s) gain needed knowledge and skill sets to prosper in the sport and to prevail from other players and conquer opposing teams.

Resources 1

My first and best resource is playing and excelling in the sport the past four years and having coaches at my disposal to teach me more about what make a good coach since they're the coaches of the year in our division. The past month I was able to come and help at their practice teaching the younger goalies techniques and skills that will help them in the future, which gave me a better experience of coaching at a small level.

Vocab Spring list #1

Adumbrate-report or represent in outline

Apotheosis-the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax

Ascetic-characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of 
indulgence, typically for religious reasons.

Bauble-a small, showy trinket or decoration.

Beguile-charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way.

Burgeon-begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish.

Complement-a thing that completes or brings to perfection.

Contumacious-stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority

Curmudgeon-a bad-tempered or surly person.

Didactic-intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive

Vocab Spring list #2

accouterments- additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity.

apogee- the highest point in the  development of something; the climax or culmination.

apropos- with reference to; concurring

bicker- argue about petty and trivial matters

coalesce- come together and from one mass or whole.

contretemps- an unexpected and unfortunate occurrence.

convolution- a coil or twist

cull- select from a large quantity: obtain from a variety of sources.

disparate- especially different in kind; not allowing comparison.

dogmatic- inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.

licentious- promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters.

mete- dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment.

noxious- harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.

polemic- a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

populous- having a large population; densely populated.

probity- the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.

repartee- conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.

supervene- occur later than as specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation.

truncate- shorten (something by cutting off the top or the end.)

unimpeachable- not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized; entirely trustworthy.

Vocab Spring list #3

apostate- a person who renounce a religious or political belief or principal.
effusive- feelings of gratitude, pleasure, or approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner. 
impasse- a solution in which no progress is possible, esp. because of disagreement; a deadlock
euphoria- a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.
lugubrious- looking or sounding sad and dismal.
bravado- a bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate. 
consensus- general agreement
dichotomy- a division or constant between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
constrict- make narrower, esp. by encircling pressure
gothic- of or relating to the Goths or their extinct East Germanic language, which provides the earliest manuscript evidence of any Germanic language.
punctilio- a fine or pretty point of conduct or procedure. 
metamorphosis- the process of transformation form an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. 
raconteur- a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
sine qua non- an essential condition; a thing that is absolutely necessary. 
quixotic- exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impartial. 
vendetta- a blood feud in which the family of a murdered person seeks vengeance on the murder or the murder's family. 
non sequitur- a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. 
mystique- a fascinating aura of mystery, awe, and power surrounding someone or something. 
quagmire-a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot. 
parlous- full of danger or uncertainly; precarious.

Vocab Spring list #4

accolade- An award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledge of merit. 
acerbity- A sharp bitterness.
attrition- The action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure. 
bromide- A trite and unoriginal idea or remark; typically intended to soothe or placate.
chauvinist- A person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism. 
chronic- (Of an illness) persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.
expound- Present and explain (a theory or idea) systematically and in detail. 
factionalism- The splitting of a group into factions; conflict between factions.
immaculate- Perfectly clean, neat, or tidy.
imprecation- A spoken curse. 
ineluctable- Unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable.
mercurial- Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.
palliate- Make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause.
protocol- The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions. 
resplendent- Attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.
stigmatize- Describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval. 
sub rosa- Happening or done in secret. 
vainglory- Inordinate pride in oneself or one's achievements; excessive vanity.
vestige- A trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.
volition- The faculty or power of using one's will.