The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Notes

Today we discussed:

how the story was being told, but in different parts

 bottoms of trousers were rolled, then he went to the beach

he thought he should have been a crab instead of a person, because if he switched bodies with a crab, the crab would enjoy life, unlike him, who kept on regretting the what ifs

in the end when it talked about waking up from voices, I thought about if that really happened.

maybe Prufrock did live the crazy, packed to the brim glamorous life that he was unable to escape from. So in his dreams he wished his life, was simple, easy, boring to the point of just listening to women talk about Michelangelo. I got this idea from the last words, "...we drown." If he was woken from his sleep and he is forced to return to the hubbub that he so desperately wanted to escape, then it would be similar to drowning in so much "life" it means no life. It is like a royal family trying to take a break for two seconds, but that is impossible because there are schedules and deadlines. The same comes around senior year, when we are bombarded with so may things, to do lists that never end, it seems that only in sleep and dreams are we able to escape it for a minuscule second, but then wake up from the alarm to "drown" in another day like Prufrock possibly did. 

Poem Comparison Essay

Working together

Tangible and intangible things work together to create somethig better amazing. It is us working with the intangible, things that don't really work and it is the tangible 

Tone is optimistic and positive. 

It makes it seem like everything is right but it puzzles you too

From the flying part to the next part

Trust is theme

Hamlet essay

"To be or not to be".... I feel like this embodies all of Hamlet's internal struggles. He is deciding what he wants to do on the outside and wrestles with that inside his head. The play is filled with dynamic situations, unexpected twists and turns that Hamlet leads those in the play and those reading the play on. He is very mindful of all of his actions and the overall image he puts out. Hamlet is one of the most complex characters to have  developed in a book through direct characterization. He describes himself and helps readers understand where he is coming from through his soliloquies and other bits of dialog he shares. "Thus conscious does make cowards of us all.." The tone is apprehensive or indecisive. never knowing if he will make the move. I know he will make a move, but its the tone in his mind that baffles him as goes back and forth between believing if it will really happen.

The soliloquy takes place right before Hamlet gives Ophelia a lot of advice, such as " Get thee to a nunnery.." It also happens after Guildenstern and Rosencrantz spill that Hamlet is a little wound up about the play to Claudius. It is where Hamlet is really going back and forth if he can actually carry out the act. In his speech, Hamlet is speaking what his mind is thinking. He is talking himself through a difficult situation. Hamlet learns about himself and his thinking through the speech, and makes it maybe a little clearer that he will be able to do what his father asked him to do. Even though he is pondering it a lot recently, and the more you think about something, sometimes the less likely it seems it will happen, in the audience's eyes, they are able to see how much this means to him. For me, as I was up studying at 3 am the night before the biology test, I was thinking what a failure I was. I still had so much to read, takes notes on and review. But as I had those little moments in studying for it, I would continually be getting closer to the end. Hamlet took a break to stress and reveal to himself that he was a failure at the moment. But each time he did that, he reinforce to himself how important it was not to fail. Feelings of failure and inadequacy come as you are moving to success. For me, success was getting a good grade on my biology test, Hamlet's success was the fulfillment of his father's wishes for Claudius to be killed.
Performative Utterance has to do with the mental configuration of an idea and what has to happen for the physical results to happen. Locutionary force was the transfer of understanding from Hamlet's dad to Hamlet that he wanted Clauduis to be killed. The illocutionary force was Hamlet accepting that he will kill Claudius. The perlocutionary force was Hamlet carrying out his father's orders and killing Claudius.

Act 4

Gertrude describes hamlet as nuts

Claudius wants to see hamlet away

They are goin to make it look like it was on purpose 

Get inner circle around to help them make it work 

Claudius knows the only one knows is hamlet 

He wants hamlet out of the picture 

Hamlet isn't trusting guildenstern as Rosenchrantz 

You are sponge, I may the prince 

Act like a prince, he use to be one of the boys but not now

Polonius is with his dad. Polonius is not with Claudius 

Fox is polonius 

Claudius is painting thing for hamlet, pretending doing this for hamlet, pretend it was what Hamlet wanted them to do

Hamlet combines elements of character

Witty, political, complexed, through galet to Claudius 

Hamlet reminds Claudius he is not more human than anybody else

Hamlet is being sent to England

Claudius is having Hamlet killed in England

Hamlet Essay

After reading up to act three, we have seen hamlet change from a lost boy, to a mind bending man, then into someone with very little control. It reminds me of myself when studying. First I look at very thing I have to do and sigh," this is going to take so much work...", then I get to the point I have studied so much I could practically quote the book, then I get to the point of ," what do I even know anymore?" "I just need to take this freakin test and get it over with!" I think Hamlet and I go through the same phases similarly. And I think part of his crazy mode know everything mode started when he and Ophelia were watching the play and he starts spewing his knowledge and letting her know he knows what will happen before Irene happens, maybe to impress her or show himself off, be a little cocky. Then the next part when he finally sees Claudius react he knows he got him. He worked so hat to get to this point, just about the time the bell rings for me to get to my class and take the test. Then he is somehow delayed, but then goes to speak to his mother and his adrenaline is coursing through his veins, about the part when I sit down and put everything away. Then as he starts going off on his mother, I start flying through my test like no body's business. I have studied so hard and worked my butt off to get here and so has Hamlet. Then all the sudden he sees the curtain rustle and his chance, one shot, to get back at what Claudius did to his father. As he stabs his knife into Polonius, the fire bell goes off and water starts sprinkling all over my just finished test. And as polonius falls my answers from blots to smears to nothing. The class screams with joy as I start planning some studying to ace this test, even though I am bitter. Hamlet drags the body out of the thing the got in his way.

Hamlet shows a lot of evidence of being human, not crazy sociopath. He did reach a breaking point by some means, but in some ways he would become more frustrated with himself rather than others and kill himself because of those frustrations of not being able to honor his father or get te revenge he has been waiting so long to hand on a platter. The fact that Hanelt isn't suicidal shows how even though he is failing in his own mind, he is still most focused on the task at hand, not his feelings of despair and non self worth. With some many attempts and plans and obstacles, most would give up, but because Hamlet is so willing to do what the ghost tells him, he is un phased by the possible feelings of defeat, he is fueled by them which makes sense. However I think about a hurdler in a competition. They have their eye on the prize which is the finish line. The tension and focus builds, "On your mark, get set, go!" The gun fires twice, misfire, but being a rookie, you start going and nothing can stop you because all you can see if that waving finish line and no one in your periforal vision. And as you cross the finish line and throw your hands in the air, you see everyone else at the starting line and the staff motioning you to head back and do it all over again. Hamlet is in the place of that hurdler running back to the start and feeling defeated and cheated and not wanting to go on because you just spent everything you got and now have to do it all over again. 

I think hamlet thinks he has a purpose that he is focused on with the ferocity of a lion on a antelope. Whatever holes he stubbles in, edges that snag his clothes, he will show up half naked with twiste ankles and a dead Clauduis at his feet to present. 

Personal Statement

Put personality behind the facts

Bring facts listed on your application to life

Solve mysteries on your application 

Somethig really interesting on your application, write about it and not something boring

Uc's looking for

Leadership not always elected, shows them you get something done, make something happen, continue making changes

Explain what kind of leader, how you led, start to dig first, show what you made happen, leadership style. Take initiative, make things happen that wouldn't have if you weren't around. You stepped up and took command. Actions are guided by being role model, show them how to t

Overcoming obstacles if nothing is able to stop you, then you can never be stopped. No depression, if hard, you'll work twice as hard. Context for your achievements. Ran fast time, with crutches. How could she do without crutches. Had obstacles and still had good gpa. What could she have done if she didn't have obstacles. Didn't see obstacles because everyone you know has that. Ask people that know you for ideas

Feel like whining. Didn't whine to get over it. Tell about obstacle for what you did about it. You want to know. Tell them what you did. Rescued self, this is what I faced, why made stronger, nothing can stop you

Diversity see world differently. Understanding of ideas is escalated. Anything culture experiences that goes you a different perspective. Different mindset, other people don't see, questions. Interesting things to contribute. Something changing who you were. Learn you need to change. Different ways he thought and acted. Differet perspective. Act differently than peers and the way thinks. Different way of thinking. Might have something to tech other students. 

Passion/ commitment. Obstacles for students have none. What did you do. Passionate about something. Obstacle you chose for yourself. Learned form it and hard work. Commitment to somethig, don't give up, important care about it

Goals why you want for future. Don't know. Makes world better. Motivate me to make world better. Challenges you makes you better like feeling that pushes you past your limits. Change world. 

Additional comments

Extra essay, activities

They want to know facts, answering the prompts

 Looking for how you have chosen to have life be about 

Show how far you have taken science or sports

Theme of life, obstacles in life and overcoming them. 

Chose two different topics

Choose story that shows three different things, now they get a better picture of who you are

Common application 

 Turn for horrible to awesome. 

Topic 

Make it about self. What she did about obession. Made website, tried to find their CDs. She'd be up until 2 on school night working on website. Towel by door. Monderating website, with 1000 people. Actually contacted her

Learned about her and what it meant. 

Tell what you want them to take it away

And that's what you need to know. What you need to do is make things crazy do what others think it is impossible to do

What it means for future. Up in formt asking questions, cure cancer. Do it over the top, crazy, make things happen. 

Tell meaning and what means for life 

Hamlet Essay Notes

Throughout the play, the reader can see Hamlet already convinced of what her must do, but also his inability to turn what his mind tells him to do, into actions in real life

Performative ability of language into three

Locutionary force, the ability of language to deliver a message

Illocitionary force, what is done in being said, denying request, giving an order

Perlocutionary force, what is achieved by being said

Influence the surrounds reality, not just to describe reality

"Self-overhearing"

Overhear self thinking and gain self knowledge through it

Real self seen through it or is it self creating

Speech may have power to create change in world

Language not only describes, but does

Shakespeare's characters had to present selves to audience through speech

Hamlet meets ghost father

Perlocutionary force swears to do somethig and does that something

Illocutionary force having sworn has compelled that action

Locutionary meaning of utterance

Thought to language to action

A

Act 3

Indirect madness

It turns into crafty magic

Hamlet is forcing his actions

Polonius says outward good looking projections, we can see even the devil can look innocent

Claudius agrees

Claudius says he feels guilty

Ophelia is being set up to get info about hamlet

Rosenchrantz and guildenstern to look into hamlet too

Rosenchrantz and guildenstern are in Claudius' side

Not hamlets friends and confidants

Hamlet is not fooled by them

Hamelt talking to Ophelia

He doesn't trust here

He is thinking of his mom and beauty corrupts honesty than be honest and be hued by that honesty

He doesn't trust anyone

He doesn't rust polonius

Hamelt says women corrupt men

Go to a nunnery

Madness can imply insanity or just mad and angry

Claudius and polonius are listening to Hamelt

Hamlet is not about love, awkward, not madness

Keep friends close and step son enemy closer

Now it is get rid of him

Polonius says whatever he is going through now, it was because he was going after his daughter

Polonius says Gertrude should talk to hamlet, and he will be listening 

If polonius' daughter married hamlet, then she would be queen

Gertrude wants polonius I get to point

Hamlet has turned director, tells players how he wants them to act, act naturally

Hamlet says don't underplay it either

Make it seem authentic

Hamlets director of play shows he is not mad

Shakespeare comments on play. Then play within the play

Tells actors don't improvise and go off script

Hamlet is shown in his real plan. He wants Claudius to go to hell

Claudius can see part of hamlets real plan 

Claudius realizes that Hamlet is not going away and he must get rid of him now

Ghost only tells hamlet to kill Claudius

Why does hamlet blow his cover with Ophelia 

Hamlet starts interpreting te play to Ophelia. 

Chorus on side of play, sings explication

Hamlets is helping Ophelia understand play like chorus helps her understand

Hamlets starts feeling cocky

Hamlet is wrestles with internal difficulties 

Polonius is foil to hamlet both people of words

Hamlet says he will set her up a mirror to see who she really is to mom

Hamlet has not guilt when he talks to his mother

Says she has no heart

Mom did everything, don't talk to me about rules

Moves plot from words to action. Killing Polonius

Hamlet and Gertrude thought Claudius was behind the curtain but it happened to be Polonius 

Ghost shows up to mediate Hamlets conversation with mom

Murder shows hamlet real self

Ghost tells hamlet to remind mom he loves her and he is her son 

Hamlet doesn't want mom to run to Claudius . He wants her to stay on his side 

Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2

"What a piece of work is a man"

Become cliche, theme of the play. 

We are capable of inhuman and amazing things all at the same time

The players haven't lost their art, they lost the attention of the audience

Hamlet is testing whether guilderstern and rose charms can be trusted

Hamlet tells he paler to tell a story about a king who was unrighteousness his wife and was killed

Hamlet is starting to hatch a plan

He is going to insert some lines in the play as a beginning of the plan

"The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king"

Hamlet soliloquy 

Now that time is going on, he is stating to beat himself up for not killing Claudius yet

He compares himself to actor can get self to cry where hamlet is unable to act.

the player can make mind change, hamlet is unable to speak publicly about loud about this, asks if he is a coward

Hamlet is calling self on it because he is the only one who knows what is going and to keep working on it

Says he should be cut up and fed to the birds. 

Even if he could speak, talk is cheap and actions are the only thing that mean something

Integrity is word act and deed

If Claudius and Gertrude are at play and feel guilt, they will act

"Play within play"

Hatch plan of play to reveal Claudius and Gertrude 

Hamlet wants to show parents that maybe he is weak and will be unable to do anything, when he is really strong and building up plan

Hamlet wants to seem crazy, Claudius is making him out to be crazy, Claudius isn't looking out for him 

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 4

The king is having a party and is drinking.  

The other countries are looking at them and laughing 

Hamlet ready to go where ghost is

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

Vocab

Matin

Ubique- appearing everywhere

Porpentine
Hamelt meets and talks with ghost

Dad in purgatory is what ghost said

Died from murder from Claudius, not snake( metaphor)

Claudius seduced Gertrude, she abandoned her husband, knew Claudius killed him

Uncle poured poison in his ear while taking a nap in the orchard

Ghost says don't punish mother, punish Claudius 

"I have sworn't"

Hamlet made up his mind

Pressure is put on Hamlet to fill his obligations, weighs on him. 

Hamlet knows truth, validated with proof from ghost

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy 

Hamlet says Horatio and Marcellus can say nothing about this 

Horatio and Marcellus swear

"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"

He feels he was born to avenge his fathers death

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 3

Hamlet likes Ophelia

A you in blood, of passion, feeling

It's feels good but not a good idea

Watch out, hamlet is going after ophelia, but he has duty to a crown

Laertes protects Ophelia , he knows hamlet has lots of responsibilities

You will take this personally, fear Hamlet

Stay away from him

Don't fall in love

She's going to listen to him a little

If you are going down the path of temptation, you need to take your own advice

Lord polonius gives laerates advice

Family of advice givers

Cautel

Have good friends, hold onto them

Literary Fiction and Empathy

I quickly skimmed the article because it is one in the morning, but what the researchers found out was pretty cool. It is especially encouraging to keep reading literary fiction, which I am assuming Hamlet is a part of, because I am really enjoying it so far. It is hard for me to pick meanings out of thin air, but when I listen to the class's and Dr. Preston's interpretations and we watch a movie clip, it really ties it together for me. I think reading about someone else allows you to understand a different perspective other than your own, therefore when interpreting another person's perspective, you not only can use your life as a reference but also Hamlet's or Elizabeth Bennet's or anyone else's. It is similar to reading your friends blogs. When they post their thoughts, you get to see them, know them on a level deeper than others, and can better understand why they make certain decisions, what type of a person they are or what interests them. The similarities between Hamlet and I are striking. We are bother very careful about perceptions that are being put out for onlookers to judge. He and I "bottle", meaning, instead of letting a little emotion out now and then at appropriate times, such as when a scummy step dad is being mean to you (Hamlet, not me), then you have a right it yell and scream and show how upset you are. As opposed to that, there is the option to show nothing but indifference, when you are feeling everything but. Hamlet's cool, I am cool, and I will enjoy learning more about him and lengthening my list of our shared characteristics.

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 2

The king dies recently

Hamlets dad was king, his mom married claims which was Hamet's dads brother

Painfully Clausdius and Hamlet's mom move on to rile the kingdom

They are at the gathering where Claudius introduces Hamlet

Hamlet says " A little more than kin, and less than kind."

Claudius asks Hamlet why he is still grieving

Hamlet denies Claudius assumption

Hamlet says grieving is just rituals

He doesn't show his emotion on his face

He is saying you can't tell how someone is feeling on the outside, hiding his emotions, and implicating the people who are pretending to be mourning

Starts by saying yes you are sweet Hamlet, then goes to say don't go to school, snap out of it 

King makes Hamlet out to look like he is unmanly 

King wants to keep friends close and enemies closer

Hamlet says he will try to stay in the place

First time get to see into protagonists mind, Hamlet

Usually direct or indirect characterization, not straight from character and his mind

Hamlet speech

Trying to say he doesn't want to live, wish I didn't have to see this, just leave

He wished suicide wasn't a sin, kill self that he was so angry

Anger towards Claudius rather than self

Was bashing on her mom, had no right to cry, sleep with Claudius. 

If she really felt her husbands love and loved him back, then he would have mourned longer

Hamlet went form playing parents to baring sole in conversation

In his conversation with horatio and Marcellus, like detective, asks about details, intelligent savvy person. 

Don't stop him from having logical conversations. 

Mature person

Starts putting things together

Experience

My experience reaching out for the first time was strange. just randomly looking for someone who had something to do with Hamlet felt weird. I, however, tweeted to one teacher and wrote on two blogs asking about how those teaches and students could get to the real meaning of what Hamlet meant. After reading about Hamlet, i understood what Dr. Preston had said about it being misinterpreted. Spark notes said exactly what he said it would say. Which didn't surprise me but made me wonder if the teachers and students i talked to would be able to help me unveil a new meaning behind Hamlet, different than everyone else.

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1

• it has been a quiet cold night and Francisco is thankful for Bernardo relieving him
• Francisco has had nothing happen during his shift guarding
• Marcellus and Bernardo think they have seen something before so they brought Horatio to confirm or deny its existence
• Bernardo, Marcellus and Horatio see the ghost, ask it what its there, but then it leaves because they think they angered it
• its looked like the king
• Ghost comes back and then leaves

Vocabulary List #6

abase - verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust
brusque - adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness
saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
debauchery - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight
gauche - adj. lacking social polish
rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself
conundrum - noun a difficult problem
anomaly - noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule
ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment
churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish
precipitous - adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep;done with very great haste and without due deliberation

Vocabulary List #5

shenanigans- mischief; prankishness; trickery
Halloween shenanigans.
ricochet - noun a glancing rebound; verb spring back; spring away from an impact
schism - noun division of a group into opposing factions; the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences
eschew - verb avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
plethora - noun extreme excess
ebullient - adj. joyously unrestrained
garrulous - adj. full of trivial conversation
harangue - noun a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion; verb deliver a harangue to; address forcefully
interdependence - noun a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)
capricious - adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; changeable
loquacious - adj. full of trivial conversation
ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
inchoate - adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
juxtapose - verb place side by side
perspicacious - adj. acutely insightful and wise; mentally acute or penetratingly discerning
codswallop - noun nonsensical talk or writing
mungo- noun- a low-grade wool from felted rags or waste. 
sesquipedelian- adj given to using long words (of a word) containing many syllables.
wonky - adj. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect; turned or twisted toward one side
diphthong - noun a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another

Unphotographable Phiction

This is not a picture of me flying down a trail for a pre-ride the day before a mountain bike race. This is not a picture of my face as I take a line that I figure out quickly, is the wrong one. This is not a picture of me bracing for impact. This is not a picture of me getting wrenched sideways,  hitting the ground as my leg gets pinned and my skin scrapes along the hard rock. This is not a picture of my hands shaking, trying to drag myself off the trial so I won't get run over. This is not a picture of my elbow and leg bleeding as I dust myself off and get back up. This is not a picture of  my expression as I get back on my bike and keep riding.

Post fall that is a picture

Canterbury Outline

In Canterbury Tales, the Narrator shares with the readers the stories he has been able to experience, each having different morals or ideas that helps depict the society during the time the book was written.
The Clerk's Tale shared a message to face what ever is placed in front of you with a brave face

music to listen to when reading

Paragraph 1
introduce clerk's tale
characters
their role, what we might learn from them
thesis

Paragraph 2
evolving characters
dynamic
round
flat
any changes made by reader
how Griselda was found
how characterized, proved?

Paragraph 3

how setting, surrounding influenced story
hoe it was told
why certain things happened
why Walter chose a poor girl

Paragraph 4
different techniques/tone/voice author used
irony
straight forward
wants you to understand (last paragraph)
how structured
what type of tale
similar tales
what was learned
what author wants you to learn

Paragraph 5
conclude thoughts

Green Eggs and Hamlet

1. I don't know very much about Hamlet, I think a guy wants to commit suicide, and I learned that in class a day or two ago.
2. I know Shakespeare wrote many profound stories or plays, I think Romeo and Juliet was one of them.
3. I didn't know students frowned when they heard Shakespeare. I don't, but maybe because I have accepted that I will have to understand it, whether it is easy, hard or anything in between. I don't necessarily categorize it as hard, yet, so we will see.
4. Maybe have people act out what is happening, everyone has parts so they study their one section and when we read that section, they act it our for us.

The Point of Canterbury Tales is....

In Canterbury Tales, the Narrator shares with the readers the stories he has been able to experience, each having different morals or ideas that helps depict the society during the time the book was written.

Character Study 3

Combined narrative 

I finally arrived, its nearly what I imagined it to be... but where are all the hot college boys? Alright Elizabeth, you are here to get an education, eye on the prize!Okay I'll fix my hair just in case I find this mythical creature.  I think I will take a stroll up to my new dorm! I mean, I might see a college boy or not, but if I do at least my hair is perfect. Okay, here i go, me, my suitcase, and I, walk, walk ,into the lobby, walk, walk, walk, push elevator button, ding, into the elevator, doors close. Oh, there's elevator music, I like it! I start a small celebratory dance that i made it and I'm on my way to my DORM. It's like I was just in Preston's class a year ago with all my friends and now I am here alone. Okay, fifth floor, here it goes! Oops, forgot my suitcase, ninja skills, and it is snatched from the elevator as the doors try to take my arm with it. then of course the doors open, elevators these days, just awful. Okay back on track, to the room! My roommate will probably be my best friend so I hope she's just not crazy. If I set my hopes low, then i can't get let down right? Yes, lets just aim for not psycho. Such little belief in humans, come on Elizabeth, have some faith! But honestly how can you know these days? Here it is! 518! Door opens and.... wow, this is anticlimactic. Everything is so bare and naked. If only I was crafty, but I'm not, sigh. Well there is a note with a goody bag. Extra points if there is food in it... I trot over like a happy college student and read the note. Take the goody bag, your suit case, and meet in the front of the bus station, more directions will be dispatched once you arrive. Ohhh a scavenger hunt, I like it . I reach in the bag, I feel something metal. What? What could it be? I pull it out and to my shock its a gun. My heart starts pounding and I look around. Am I in the right room? I am so confused. Wait this can't be for me. I look at the note and at the end it says, don't say anything Elizabeth, to anyone. Oh my goodness. I think I am going to faint. I need to collect myself, just like in Taken, I have to do what it says. My family is here and I don't want to put them in danger. This is obviously some cruel joke or something seriously crazy and is this a movie? My phone rings and I almost pee my pants. I make myself look at it even though i just want to hide. It's my mom. I reluctantly answer with a questioning hello? Mom is rambling as usual but I am listening with my full attention because this could be the last time we talk. She and my dad have all my suitcases and are bringing them up. I say okay and hang up quickly. I have got to move. It will be hard to explain things that are in here and escape once they see me. I grab the gun, goody bag and my heavy suitcase that feels light now as my adrenaline kicks in. I start running down the hallway to the elevator, hoping i might run into a set of stair because i defiantly don't want to run into my family. My luck there are stairs across from the elevator. I shove open the door and drag my bag through just as the elevator dings to let someone off. I scurry  down the stairs as fast as I can, trying not to fall on my face. I make it to the bottom after so many flights of stairs, I can't count, at least it was going down. I fast walk to the bus stop, trying not to look suspicious or let people know i am about the cry. I sit on the bench and wait for the bus. It speedily arrives and I jump on. I stow any extra "goodies" in my suitcase and sit down. My legs and hands are shaking but thankfully no one is on the bus because they are all unpacking they stuff in the dorms. I wish i could be doing the same. Then my phone rings, I glance at it and its an unknown number. Oh no, I am going to throw up. How yourself together Liz! You are strong and whatever happens, good thing you have muscles. You can do it, answer the phone. So I do. A warbly voice is on the other line. They say everything i need is in the bag and remind me not to tell anyone or they will kill my family, my pets, my friends, you get the picture. I start crying in the middle but they threaten me again which makes me stop for fear of everyone I love. They said I am going to Paris and I have to do everything they say before I can return home.....

I am on a plane now, everyone seems perfectly content except me. There is a bunch of turbulence but I am holding completely still and can't seem to move very much out of fear. After the call ended on the bus, I checked the goodie bag and it had directions to get to the airport from the bus stop and a ticket for that night to Paris. There was also a phone inside the bag because I had to smash my phone. A bag was inside for the gun to get it through security. The turbulence has now turned from bad to worse. I would throw up but i hadn't eaten for hours, not that i was hungry.

Now I am wandering through Paris. They hadn't told me what to do once i got here. I got off the plane three hours ago and I had been walking ever since. It was getting cold and I didn't know exactly what I should do. I still had my suit case which thankfully had a heavy coat in it because I am a terrible over packer. I found a bench and huddled under my jacket. I felt uneasy but the exhaustion overruled everything else and I fell asleep.

The next thing I know, Alec, Victoria, Daniel and Matthew are looking over me. Um, is this a dream? I start to come to my senses and sit up. Yep, it is them, all the way from California too. They have the same terror in their eyes that I'm sure I have right now too. I hug them and ask them what is happening. Alec tells me he got woken up in the middle of the night with directions to get on a plane and come here, same with Victoria, Daniel and Matthew. I asked how they found me and they said they had followed their GPS right to my location. At first they thought I was a homeless person because of my rough appearance, but if they looked int he mirror, they would say the exact thing about them-self. That must be some advancement on this phone i have so the people in charge can track me too. "So we are supposed to be on a mission, what is it?" Matthew said," I don't know, but I am hungry, lets go get food." We all gave him a look and Daniel said, "Are you out of your mind!?" Matthew was however insisted on getting a meal, its the most important meal of the day he says, and off we go.

"AHHHHHH!" I am screaming at the top of my lungs. I am holding on with one hand, dangling off the side of a bridge. On our way back from breakfast, I made the executive decision that i would live life on the edge. Literally, I was walking on the edge of the bridge and slipped. "AHHHHH!" Alec and Daniel were pulling me up but I couldn't stop screaming. As Alec and Daniel carry me, they make fun of my lack of balance as I am crying of happiness and scariness. After I was firmly planted back on the ground off the bridge, I pulled myself together as Victoria's cellphone rang.

We are in complete darkness. I am directly behind Victoria with a death grip on her arm. Alec is leading the pack through the catacombs. Our mission is to get into a secret vault to retrieve a box. The tough part is finding it. All we have for light is our cellphones which don't help very much. I don't want to see anything but I have to help search for the vault. It is marked with an "X" made of skulls and their is a faint voice singing as you get close it it. We are all silent as we scavenge for the vault. I am wondering how many people get lost in here and die. you couldn't tell them from the original bodies anyway.  Just as I think all hope it lost, we hear it, the singing. We walk quieter as we get closer and closer. Them our phones all got dark. I get even closer to Victoria as we start feeling the walls. With absolutely no light, that is all we can do to find the vault. Matthew finds the X and we all gather around. We agree it is the spot. We all had to work together to turn all the skulls 90 degrees at the same time. It was like a life or death vertical twister because if I hadn't mentioned before, there are traps to catch grave robbers like us.

Now we are running as fast as we can! The vault was successfully opened and Daniel braved the danger to get the box. It was in a coffin, but when he opened it, he found the box, but also a coffin full of creatures that started climbing up him. He yelled for us to go and leave him, as if he wasn't holding the box that we came for. Matthew rushed in and grabbed a hold of him and pulled him out as the creatures started coming for Victoria and me. Alec was at the head of the pack, them Victoria and me, then Matthew and Daniel. Then we hear something start rolling, and all the creatures start to squeak and squish. We felt the air start to whoosh and we realize it is a boulder coming for us. A booby trap must have gotten set off. We keep running and running, and running. Thank goodness for school sports and that we are all athletic. We start to see light and keep going. We reach the surface as the boulder comes slamming into the hole we just ran out of, sealing the catacombs for good.

Canterbury Tales 2: What a Character

Student's Tale

• simile
• sophism- fallacious argument
• told by scholar
• light-hearted tones
• marquis- above count, below duke, is a noble man
• people speak to marquis about getting marries
• they want him to rush to get married, so he will have an heir to the throne because they like him as their ruler so much
• the servants like the marquis rule and they don't want a stranger to take over
• he doesn't want a wife and doesn't want them to choose
• God will choose
• she doesn't have to be rich

My Dashboard

Over the past two weeks, i have been successfully falling behind in my classes. Ever since a small excursion to Illinios, I have been working to catch up. I currently have a list of everything I need to complete turn in and hopefully get some credit but I did find a cool idea on Pintereset that looked fun and a good way to organize. This is similar to what I saw. Colorful and pretty is always nice.

Phonar14 Video

• to be photographer you need passion, camera
• habits, you become a slave to habits, you have to abide by a system that is  a solution to a problem
• systems make us not think for ourselves
• photographs- physical, colors, 2D, fixed in time, it ages
• Kodak- worth 28 billion, 100,000's workers
• Instagram- 1 billion, 13 workers
• Snapchat- knows different between image and photograph
• everyone's a photographer with their phone
• photograph is circular, bound by edges if frame, images is actually bigger
• mode of delivery shapes way mode of information
• commerce is shaped way we understand it
• we travel by looking int he rear view mirror
• if you want to change the world, star describing it differently
• stories will be told in a different way
• everyone's a photo supplier
• different perspective for different photographers
• some have a broader understanding than others
• whose version will be authority
• told from different platforms, stories by people who watch or know about something
• stories that explode from different directions
• linear story from students, start, journey, end
• add everyone's journeys together
• connected and trusted
• trusted source, credible perspective
• everyone's connected, challenge is to be heard
• when trusted, people will tell you their stories
• military story connector for families with soldiers in war
• visual culture

Character Study 1

I finally arrived, its nearly what I imagined it to be... but where are all the hot college boys? Alright Elizabeth, you are here to get an education, eye on the prize!Okay I'll fix my hair just in case I find this mythical creature.  I think I will take a stroll up to my new dorm! I mean, I might see a college boy or not, but if I do at least my hair is perfect. Okay, here i go, me, my suitcase, and I, walk, walk ,into the lobby, walk, walk, walk, push elevator button, ding, into the elevator, doors close. Oh, there's elevator music, I like it! I start a small celebratory dance that i made it and I'm on my way to my DORM. It's like I was just in Preston's class a year ago with all my friends and now I am here alone. Okay, fifth floor, here it goes! Oops, forgot my suitcase, ninja skills, and it is snatched from the elevator as the doors try to take my arm with it. then of course the doors open, elevators these days, just awful. Okay back on track, to the room! My roommate will probably be my best friend so I hope she's just not crazy. If I set my hopes low, then i can't get let down right? Yes, lets just aim for not psycho. Such little belief in humans, come on Elizabeth, have some faith! But honestly how can you know these days? Here it is! 518! Door opens and.... wow, this is anticlimactic. Everything is so bare and naked. If only I was crafty, but I'm not, sigh. Well there is a note with a goody bag. Extra points if there is food in it... I trot over like a happy college student and read the note. Take the goody bag, your suit case, and meet in the front of the bus station, more directions will be dispatched once you arrive. Ohhh a scavenger hunt, I like it . I reach in the bag, I feel something metal. What? What could it be? I pull it out and to my shock its a gun. My heart starts pounding and I look around. Am I in the right room? I am so confused. Wait this can't be for me. I look at the note and at the end it says, don't say anything Elizabeth, to anyone. Oh my goodness. I think I am going to faint.

Canterbury Tales 1

Why do they do the first 18 lines of the Prologue in Middle English?

Is it to give the reader a taste of the sophistication of the language and our lack of understanding of it? (i understood maybe three words out of every line)

My Masterpiece 1

My idea so far for the masterpiece is the Happiness Project. General idea is to make people happy. hopefully to male someones day fabulous when it has been terrible. It just "one of those days" where something bad after something bad happens, and that is the perfect time to make someone's day perfect. There is a grant program called Youth Making Change that might allow me to get a little bit of money to buy something for the project. I am not exactly sure what I would do with the money or how I could convince them I needed it but who knows. Also, so my main ideas to to get happy physically (body image, confidence), mentally (less stress?), and emotionally (hopefully happy), where you can smile and say today was a good day. that is the very rough idea of what I wish to do with the Happiness Project, which can hopefully grow into something amazing.

Prologue to Canterbury Tales pages 90-115

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

• had a humble beginning, and was slowly able to work his way up in the aristocratic society
• wrote about a husband's late wife, then later was able to master his ability to display his insight to human character
• inspiration for Canterbury Tales might have come from a pilgrimage to Canterbury
• story encompasses medieval literature- romance, comedy, rhyme, prose, crude humor and religious humor
• only 24 of intended 120 stories were finished
• Chaucer was first to "rain the gold dewdrops of speech and eloquence" into English literature

Chaucer's Guided Tour of Medieval Life and Literature

• the rich, poor, old and young are participating in this journey to Canterbury
• 29 pilgrims are going to be on the trip
• Bailey, the host at the inn, proposes they each tell two stories there and two stories on the way back and whoever tells the best story wills a feast from everyone else
• Bailey tags along on the trip to be the judge
• Chaucer describes characters in order of their nobility
• popular genres include 
• romances (tales of chivalry)
• fabliaux (short, bawdy, humorous stories, basic human needs)
• stories of saint's lives, sermons and allegories (narratives in which characters represent abstractions such as Pride or Honor
• Chaucer wrote Tales with heroic couplet, a pair of rhyming lines with five stressed syllables each

The Canterbury Tales- The Prolgue

• Canterbury was a popular religious pilgrimage site because an archbishop was murdered there and people went there to pay their respects
•  The narrator says he will be taking a pilgrimage to Canterbury
• At the inn, he finds 29 people who also are on their way to take the pilgrimage and he requests to join their group
• Knight tale
• chivalry, trust, honor
• fought in war and many mortal battles
• he was humble, wore cloths as clothes and had son
• Squire tale
• 20 years old
• was in the cavalry, could ride a horse, wanted to win a woman's heart
• was talented, educated, couldn't sleep if something exciting was happening
• Yeoman tale
• servant, forester
• he had lost of weapons, arrows, shield, sword
• had a metal of St. Christopher
• Nun (Prioress) tale
• she sang, spoke French
• good manners, was sad when a mouse died
• Nun (Chaplain) tale
• Three Priests
• Monk tale
• hunter, had greyhounds
• lived lavishly, fancy clothes
• fat and personable priest
• Friar tale
• 
  

Bede Notes Pages 74-82

From A History of the English Church and People
by Bede

Describes Britain's setting, where it is located relative to other geographical locations.
Bede talks about the land, what grows on it, the species that live in the area, the minerals that are in the ground and the castles that speckled the land.
Pictich sailors wanted to settle on what was land of the Scots, but the Scots refused to grant them a settlement.
The Scots told them about a close island which the Picts moved to and settled.
Some Scots migrated over too.
Britain has large amounts of species, diversity, and life, where the Scots land is very bare and without other species.

Declaration of Learning Independence

I think sometimes as students, we are wary of sharing our opinion because we know someone wont agree or will be hurt by what we say, therefore we are sometimes timid to share something that will make us different from others. However, we can be united by learning and listening to one another. We all think, act independent for ourselves, but what if we were able to make into a cohesive learning environment rather than an environment that caused students to repel each other like magnets. The Declaration of Learning Independence binds us to working as a united group. We all want the best for each other, for everyone's opinions and thoughts to be heard and expressed. As we all learn together, we can collaborate and make our learning environment more pungent than ever before. 

Vocabulary #4

obsequious - adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
beatitude - noun one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); a state of supreme happiness
 bete- a person or thing strongly detested 
noire- French for "black film"
bode - verb indicate by signs
dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid
ecumenical - adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions
fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion
fetid - adj. offensively malodorous
gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky
heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
incubus - noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream
infrastructure - noun the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; the basic structure or features of a system or organization
inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation
lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length
protege - noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
prototype - noun a standard or typical example
sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true
Truckle - noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering