Friday, April 3, 2009
"The Shining Houses" By Alice Munro
I think Mary is the victim of social oppression in this story because her "friends" are trying to force her to take their side against Mrs. Fullerton. When Mary refuses to sign their petition for a lane, she realizes that she has served herself up as a "conversational delight for the next coffee party". Because of this, her group of friends do not respect her opinions and did not even listen to her side of the story. In this story Mary does not really have the freedom to do as she chooses because she knows that there will be consequences for her doing what she thinks is right. She does not really have freedom of speech either because none of them even listened to her and they all just thought she was being ridiculous and will most likely talk about her behind her back as soon as she leaves. They "listen" to her politely but don’t really listen, and as soon as she’s done they ignore her opinion and start trying to convince her that their way is the right way and the only way. Her group of friends think that they are the victims because they have to look at an ugly old eyesore house and they can’t make the old lady get rid of it. Mrs. Fullerton, if she knew what was going on, might think she is the victim because she is being driven out of her home by a bunch of unfriendly neighbors who don’t like her because her house isn’t geometrical. However, I think Mary is the victim of social oppression in this story because she isn’t given what should be her right to voice her opinions or do what she thinks is right without paying the price for it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
"Ode to a Nightingale"
Why does Keats bother with seeking out the bird to write his poem?
Keats wants to immerse himself in nature. He wants to feel all the things that the nightingale’s song makes him feel without interruption from any other thoughts of his.
How?
Keats’s poem seems to be all about the nightingale and how it’s song makes him feel. There are no apparent outside influences on this piece of poetry other than the nightingale. Keats achieves this by engrossing himself with the nightingale’s song and the feelings it creates. He pays no attention to the outside world in his poem because there is nothing mentioned about the things happening in his life that make him feel the way he does.
Keats uses rhetorical devices to make his poem flow smoothly and to give it a sad and beautiful tone. Alliteration is common in his poem such as “deep-delved”, “breezes blown”, “self-same song” and “still stream”. Assonance such as “beechen green” also achieves the same effect.
Keats wants to immerse himself in nature. He wants to feel all the things that the nightingale’s song makes him feel without interruption from any other thoughts of his.
How?
Keats’s poem seems to be all about the nightingale and how it’s song makes him feel. There are no apparent outside influences on this piece of poetry other than the nightingale. Keats achieves this by engrossing himself with the nightingale’s song and the feelings it creates. He pays no attention to the outside world in his poem because there is nothing mentioned about the things happening in his life that make him feel the way he does.
Keats uses rhetorical devices to make his poem flow smoothly and to give it a sad and beautiful tone. Alliteration is common in his poem such as “deep-delved”, “breezes blown”, “self-same song” and “still stream”. Assonance such as “beechen green” also achieves the same effect.
Informal Essay
I would say that I am a typical teenager. Monday through Friday I attend school, followed by volleyball practice, and I also play basketball for Kitchener. Between practices, tournaments and homework I should still have time to go out and have fun, right? Wrong. My hectic schedule makes it a rare occurrence for me to get the required 8 to 9 hours of sleep at night, and even more unlikely for me to show up to school with all my homework completed. It may not be obvious to most, but there is an immense, superfluous amount of stress that burdens the average student athlete.
It is an infrequent circumstance for me to be prepared for all of my classes. I seem to always be finishing up an assignment or homework at lunch, and see others doing the same. This is not because I don’t budget my time wisely. I do budget my time, but there is just not enough of it. I haven’t gone out with my friends since the short break after first semester exams. I feel that taking a break to have fun is a very important thing for kids my age to do, and I wish very much that I could do it more often. Every night I ask myself ‘should I go to practice and get behind on my homework, or skip practice, complete my assignment, and get benched at the next game? Or should I do both and get 3 hours of sleep?’ The question ‘should I take a break and go out tonight?’ is one that has not be pulled from the back of my mind in quite some time.
The pressure and anxiety of being a senior student athlete does not rest when I do. In the few hours when I am eating, driving or sleeping, I am constantly concerned about university acceptances and paying tuition, and wondering ‘what do I want to do with my life?’ It seems like every time that question is posed, (which is often as it has become the new icebreaker for conversation) I have no answer. This worries me. Some adults tell me not to fret, that I have ages to sort it out. I don’t have ages. The deadline for university applications has already passed, seeing me applying to the programs I think I want. Even now I do not know if I chose the right ones. I feel nervous not knowing, not having a plan, and appearing lost. This making it up as I go along didn’t used to scare me. That used to be the rule I lived by: one day at a time. My opinions, desires, likes and dislikes varied with the days. It did not matter because I had no important decisions with looming deadlines attached.
Now I am back to one day at a time, but instead of just living that way, it feels like I am struggling through day by day. Like I can only make it through a tough basketball practice by knowing I can sleep after. Like I can only finish a mountain of homework by not thinking about doing the same thing tomorrow. Like I can only make my way through school, volleyball, basketball, and then homework by not looking more than one hour ahead, and not focusing on doing the exact same thing the next day. It is a strategy that works for me, but I don’t like it. Living day by day because it is the only way to avoid a mental breakdown is much, much different from living in the moment because I have no decisions, no troubles, and no cares.
It is an infrequent circumstance for me to be prepared for all of my classes. I seem to always be finishing up an assignment or homework at lunch, and see others doing the same. This is not because I don’t budget my time wisely. I do budget my time, but there is just not enough of it. I haven’t gone out with my friends since the short break after first semester exams. I feel that taking a break to have fun is a very important thing for kids my age to do, and I wish very much that I could do it more often. Every night I ask myself ‘should I go to practice and get behind on my homework, or skip practice, complete my assignment, and get benched at the next game? Or should I do both and get 3 hours of sleep?’ The question ‘should I take a break and go out tonight?’ is one that has not be pulled from the back of my mind in quite some time.
The pressure and anxiety of being a senior student athlete does not rest when I do. In the few hours when I am eating, driving or sleeping, I am constantly concerned about university acceptances and paying tuition, and wondering ‘what do I want to do with my life?’ It seems like every time that question is posed, (which is often as it has become the new icebreaker for conversation) I have no answer. This worries me. Some adults tell me not to fret, that I have ages to sort it out. I don’t have ages. The deadline for university applications has already passed, seeing me applying to the programs I think I want. Even now I do not know if I chose the right ones. I feel nervous not knowing, not having a plan, and appearing lost. This making it up as I go along didn’t used to scare me. That used to be the rule I lived by: one day at a time. My opinions, desires, likes and dislikes varied with the days. It did not matter because I had no important decisions with looming deadlines attached.
Now I am back to one day at a time, but instead of just living that way, it feels like I am struggling through day by day. Like I can only make it through a tough basketball practice by knowing I can sleep after. Like I can only finish a mountain of homework by not thinking about doing the same thing tomorrow. Like I can only make my way through school, volleyball, basketball, and then homework by not looking more than one hour ahead, and not focusing on doing the exact same thing the next day. It is a strategy that works for me, but I don’t like it. Living day by day because it is the only way to avoid a mental breakdown is much, much different from living in the moment because I have no decisions, no troubles, and no cares.
Persuasion
Monday should not exist. I do not know of a single person who enjoys Mondays. If everyone hates them so much, then why do we have them? Good question. I don’t think we should have them. If there were no Mondays, there would be no students sleeping through classes and being late to first period at the beginning of every week. This, in turn would mean less grumpy teachers. One could deduce that less grumpy teachers will dish out less homework. Less homework would be wonderful. For those people with full time jobs, they would not have to endure that sinking feeling of dread every Sunday night. I know that feeling and it can really ruin a Sunday night. Instead of showing up reluctant and huffy to work on Mondays, we could all show up energetic and cheerful on Tuesdays. If the whole wide world detests Mondays, can’t we just get rid of them and take one small step towards making our world a better place?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Argument
The sport of volleyball is a difficult, demanding, competitive sport that requires incredible speed, quick thinking and the drive to win. It is by no means a ‘sissy’ sport, but by the way the girls who play it dress, it is seen that way. There is absolutely no advantage to wearing skin tight and extremely undersized spandex shorts to play volleyball. I can, however, think of many hindrances of this impractical attire. Jumping, diving, or even walking causes them to ride up and that is both uncomfortable and in many cases unattractive. It can be a distraction while playing the game to worry about whether or not your shorts are covering your bottom, and picking at them during play can result in your missing a ball you should have gotten up. I believe that the skill in this game is often overshadowed by the exhibitionism that has unfortunately become a very large part of the sport. Its is a fact that any girl wearing a pair of long, loose, nylon shorts can hit, pass, set or serve a ball just as well as anyone wearing nearly nonexistent spandex shorts, and they can do so without the wedgie.
"Science and Beauty" by Isaac Asimov
1. a) What is the thesis of Asimov’s essay?
The thesis is stated near the end of the essay in the statement ‘And all of this vision – far beyond the scale of human imaginings – was made possible by the works of “learn’d” astronomers.’
b) How is this essay organized: inductively or deductively?
This essay is organized inductively.
3. Identify and explain the significance of the following rhetorical devices in the essay:
a) rhetorical question
“Should I stare at a single leaf and willingly remain ignorant of the forest?”
The significance of this rhetorical question is o engage the reader and force them to think along the lines that the author is thinking. The question has only one simple answer, but it makes the reader think about other possible answers, and realize there are none, which proves the authors point effectively.
b) imagery
“worlds with pink and desolate deserts”
The imagery in this quote sparks curiosity about these other worlds that the author speaks of. The audience pictures the “desolate desert” in the mind and tries to think of what another world in our galaxy might look like.
c) metaphor
“stars that pulsate endlessly in a great cosmic breathing”
These metaphors contribute to the essay similarly to the imagery. They relate the beauty of the stars and planets that most people admire but don’t think too much about to the intriguing scientific views of the galaxy.
d) personification
“hurricanes that could gulp down the whole earth”
Personification gives human qualities to nonhuman things such as, in this case, stars and planets. This helps the audience to think about new aspects of the stars and planets, and from different points of view.
4. Asimov’s essay is an excellent example of coherence in writing – each part of the essay is seamlessly linked to the parts before and after it. Select any two consecutive paragraphs and explain how Asimov accomplishes the effective transition.
The transition from paragraph 8 to paragraph 9 was particularly smooth. Paragraph 8 begins with “Those bright spots in the sky...” and describes planets in a way that they appear as fascinating undiscovered worlds. Paragraph 9 is then introduced with the words “Those other bright spots...” and illustrates stars in an original and interesting way. The similar beginnings to these paragraphs link them both very well to paragraph 7 which stated that we should look up at the sky and see more than pretty lights.
The thesis is stated near the end of the essay in the statement ‘And all of this vision – far beyond the scale of human imaginings – was made possible by the works of “learn’d” astronomers.’
b) How is this essay organized: inductively or deductively?
This essay is organized inductively.
3. Identify and explain the significance of the following rhetorical devices in the essay:
a) rhetorical question
“Should I stare at a single leaf and willingly remain ignorant of the forest?”
The significance of this rhetorical question is o engage the reader and force them to think along the lines that the author is thinking. The question has only one simple answer, but it makes the reader think about other possible answers, and realize there are none, which proves the authors point effectively.
b) imagery
“worlds with pink and desolate deserts”
The imagery in this quote sparks curiosity about these other worlds that the author speaks of. The audience pictures the “desolate desert” in the mind and tries to think of what another world in our galaxy might look like.
c) metaphor
“stars that pulsate endlessly in a great cosmic breathing”
These metaphors contribute to the essay similarly to the imagery. They relate the beauty of the stars and planets that most people admire but don’t think too much about to the intriguing scientific views of the galaxy.
d) personification
“hurricanes that could gulp down the whole earth”
Personification gives human qualities to nonhuman things such as, in this case, stars and planets. This helps the audience to think about new aspects of the stars and planets, and from different points of view.
4. Asimov’s essay is an excellent example of coherence in writing – each part of the essay is seamlessly linked to the parts before and after it. Select any two consecutive paragraphs and explain how Asimov accomplishes the effective transition.
The transition from paragraph 8 to paragraph 9 was particularly smooth. Paragraph 8 begins with “Those bright spots in the sky...” and describes planets in a way that they appear as fascinating undiscovered worlds. Paragraph 9 is then introduced with the words “Those other bright spots...” and illustrates stars in an original and interesting way. The similar beginnings to these paragraphs link them both very well to paragraph 7 which stated that we should look up at the sky and see more than pretty lights.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Cause and Effect
You know how everyone has that one thing that terrifies them? Maybe it’s spiders, or clowns, or heights. Joe Joman is afraid of earth-bound projectiles. He is afraid of something falling on his head. He can’t explain it. It is not a rational fear unless the object that strikes him happens to be large enough to severely injure him. Then again, many fears are not rational, for example being afraid of long words, or the monster under your bed. Joe knows his fear is illogical, but that does not keep him from pausing underneath the large oak tree at the edge of the park. There are dangerous airborne projectiles everywhere at the park. Joe decides to take the long way home, avoiding the danger zone. He is about to turn around when suddenly an acorn falls from above and strikes him one the very top of his bald head. Joe is stunned, and scared silly. The acorn falls to the ground. Instead of realizing that this experience wasn’t so bad, and being cured of his irrational fear, Joe sprints all the way back home to his apartment where he locks himself in and swears to never leave the safety of his roof again as long as he lives. To this day Joe only emerges from his apartment every third Friday to venture across the street to the grocery store with a protective metal bowl on his head.
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