Friday, November 29, 2013

Lit Group Post #2

Chapter 17:
- Guinea: an English coin
- Sluice: a passage for water
- Untoward: improper

Chapter 18:
- Evince: to show or demonstrate clearly
- Pugilistic: having to do with boxing

Chapter 19:
- Amalgamation: consolidation
- Clemency: mercy
- Flaccid: soft

Chapter 20:
- Confectioner: a person who makes or deals candy
- Guileless: candid, innocent

Chapter 21:
- Disgorged: spit out

Chapter 22:
- Acquiesce: to comply passively with another's will
- Shod: wearing a shoe
- Circumjacent: in the surrounding area
- Imbue: to influence fully
- Languor: laziness

Chapter 23:
- Baronetcy: a rank of honor
- Vellum: a fine parchment made from a lamb or calf

Chapter 25:
- Bijou: a delicate trinket
- Tarpaulin: a tarp

Chapter 26:
- Nigh: near

Chapter 27:
- Blusterous: like a loud violent wind
- Pettish: fretful

Chapter 28:
- Choleric: hot-tempered
- Incommoded: bothered

Chapter 29:
- Dormouse: a small rodent
- Sinewy: lean and muscular
- Yore: a distant past

Chapter 30:
- Akimbo: hate
- Victualling: gathering food
- Engender: to produce or cause

Chapter 31:
- Diadem: crown
- Primeval: relating to earliest ages

Chapter 32:
- Portly: stout

Chapter 36:
- Aback: unexpectedly
- Per annum: by the year

Chapter 37:
- Jorum: a large drinking bowl
- Rubicund: having a healthy appearance

Chapter 38:
- Avowal: an open admission
- Leer: to stare maliciously

Chapter 40:
- Dandle: to pamper
- Uncouth: ill-mannered
- Mire: deep slimy mud

Chapter 43:
- Loiter: to linger purposely
- Blundering: Clumsy

Monday, November 25, 2013

Lit Group Post

In my lit circle, I have the job of finding any vocabulary words, so here it goes...
Chapter 1:
- Beacon: signal or guidance device
- Elude: to escape
- Lair: den of a wild animal
- Pollards: trees cut back so the lower branches are removed and the upper branches form a ball

Chapter 2:
- Forge: blacksmith
- Larceny: the wrongful taking of someone's personal goods
- Squally: stormy; threatening
- Decant: to pour gently

Chapter 3:
- Rimy: covered with rime (ice particles)
- Ague: a fit of fever or shivering
- Imp: a little devil or demon

Chapter 4:
- Prodigiously: extraordinary in size
- Declamation: exercise in oratory or elocution
- Penitentials: pertaining to the expressive of repentence

Chapter 5:
- Cravat: necktie
- Manacled: handcuff

Chapter 7
- Epistle: a letter of written communication
- Anvil: a heavy iron block with smooth face

Chapter 8:
- Disdain: attitude of arrogance
- Farinaceous: having a powdery texture
- Recluse: someone who lives in seclusion

Chapter 9:
- Adamantine: hard and unyielding
- Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality
- Reticence: reserved

Chapter 10:
- Ophthalmic: relating to the eye
- Refractory: resisting control

Chapter 11:
- Sanguinary: bloody
- Dexterous: skillful use of hands

Chapter 12:
- Depreciatory: lowering in estimation or esteem
- Homage: official expression of high regard

Chapter 13:
- Abject: the most miserable kind
- Augur: to look for and read signs of omens
- Vagary: unpredictable action

Chapter 15:
- Hermitage: a retreat
- Maudlin: excessively sentimental
- Plume: to preen or show off

Chapter 16:
- Aberration: eccentricity or abnormality
- Vagabond: a vagrant wanderer

Thinking Outside the Box

Compare how Plato and Sartre describe the limitations of our thinking and imply solutions to the problem.  Be sure to analyze their literary techniques, especially their use of allegory and extended metaphor.
Plato describes our limitations of our thoughts on reality through an extended metaphor and an allegory. Each prisoner believes that the shadows are reality, but they're not. All they have to do is turn their heads and see the real reality but they don't know any better. Plato also tells us that in order to become enlightened someone who knows the real reality has to set you free. Sartre believed that our vision is based on other's evaluation of us. In "No Exit", Estelle had to rely on Inez approval because she had no mirrors to see herself. He believes that we have to put our trust in other's which is extremely hard to do because "Hell is other people." They both use dialogue and didactics to get their points across and the characters play an important part in each of their ideas.

No Exit Notes/ Study Questions

-Written by Jean Paul Sartre
- known for existentialism: existence precedes essence
- fan of cognitive dissonance

- "People are condemned to be free."

- How easy is it for people to be free?
- Citizens need structure

- Hell is other people

- "I am therefore I am."

No Exit:
- 3 people in afterlife
- names of people are occupations

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Study Questions:

Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois, like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it would feel to live there endlessly, night and day:
I definitely think my hell would be like Dante's Inferno with endless torture. Physical pain would be much worse for me than emotional or mental pain would be. I believe that the mind can be hell, and many would choose that as their worse hell. If you are constantly overthinking and stressing, it's common to have mental breakdowns and that could very well be someone's endless hell. I don't think you can find peace in a hellish place. I do think you can have temporary peace like Garcin tried in this story but it didn't last long and the fact that this hell your in is never-ending would just get to you.

Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break? Are variety, moderation and balance instruments we use to keep us from boiling in any inferno of excess,' whether it be cheesecake or ravenous sex?
I think too much of anything could easily be Hell. I can't stand being able to only do one thing, even if its watching TV; I eventually need a change. Humans have short attention spans and too much of anything just becomes boring and begins to drive us insane.

How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feels like to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place? How does GARCIN react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities around so that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforces the experience of hell?
With the conversation between Garcin and Valet the reader can see his take on this new life and his disgust with the room. And with the additions of Inez and Estelle doesn't help. I think it would horrible to have to spend the rest of your life in a tiny room with other people especially. Your are bound to get annoyed with them eventually and there is no escape. At the beginning, he tries to keep to himself in hope that that would ease the pain, but he eventually breaks down and tries fiercely for an escape. I think just repeating one of your daily activities nonstop would be the worst Hell.



Thursday, November 21, 2013

Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

Prisoners linked by their shackle
Stuck staring at shadows
While footsteps behind them crackle
Oblivious to the upcoming battle

Hidden from the light
Though the sun was wide
It was hard to sight
They needed a guide

Their guide, the freed
Now filled with glee
Would be the one to lead
The prisoners to the free.

However, they did not understand the actuality
Of this new reality.

Brain With 14 Legs

My literary circle is reading "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. Hannah, Taylor, Annette, Ian, Meghan and Serena are in the group. Because we all have a different schedules, we didn't choose a particular schedule to read. Our goal is just to have the reading done by December 1, so then we will discuss it and we also all want to complete the literature analysis. Over the days we have to read it, we communicate using our blogs, emails or phone. Once we finish the reading, we will discuss the novel and use discussions questions that Hannah is writing.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Allegory of the Cave Response Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
- Socrates believes that the cave represents how we perceive reality and what we think it is. What we understand to be reality is the only reality we can understand.

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
- The prisoners and their chains because they are tied to what they believe is reality, the shadows of the puppets behind them which represent false realities, the dark cave, and the fire and first seeing the outside (light) which is the actual world.

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
- Plato says that everyone is given the capacity to learn in their soul when they are born. He also suggests that it is a difficult struggle that takes time.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
- The shackles represent the restriction we have because of our thoughts, and the cave represents the imagination we have and the reality we believe because of it.

 5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
- Today the thing that shackles the mind in my opinion is how others are going to perceive and accept us. We are constantly worried about what others think of us and it binds us down.

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
- The freed prisoner represents an opportunist because he stepped out of his comfort zone and is now experiencing "real life." The prisoners can't understand what he describes to them because it is
extremely different than their version of reality, so instead he turns into just another shadow on the wall.

 7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
- The first way lack of clarity occurs is the prisoners not being able to see the actual "reality" because they are restrained by the chains. The second way, it when they choose not to listen to the freed prisoner and understand the information he is telling them.
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
- The prisoners can only be freed by someone else who has been freed, meaning that they can only be enlightened by those who have been enlightened.

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- This goes hand in hand with not judging a book by its cover. First impressions gives us an idea of the person but its not the "full" person (reality). So basically, appearance is a part of reality but they aren't exactly the same.

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
The first alternate assumption is that people will see what they believe. The second would be that their isn't an actual "reality" because everyone has their own version of reality.

Allegory of the Cave Notes

- A cookbook for a successful society

- Socrates is a hero because he doesn't lead by dictation

- Socrates is talking to Glaucon

- Plato is writing this to document Socrates' ideas

- Glaucon is used as a prop for Socrates

- Theme is to determine/show "how far nature is enlightened and unenlightened"

- Individual is the authoritative voice

- The cave is an illustration of a concept we have to deal with

- What we think is real is up to our own interpretation

- Plato thought that everything we saw is just a pale representation of something ideal.

- The prison house is the world of sight

- The power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already

- Three stages: imagination, belief, understanding

- Both agree that the prisoners would rather suffer this newfound fate than to return to their old lives

- The released prisoner returns and describes what he has seen outside but the others just laugh at him because they can't understand


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

We Hang Together

-Interdependent: Not exactly an alliance but each keeps the other in the public eye, and each keeps its own people sharp by referring to the competition.
-Interdependence is reached unintentionally, like with Coke and Pepsi

-Business research and trends consider inter-organizational relations in terms of both competition and collaboration.
 
-in 1980's, many focused the business world on models of competition but then shifted to corporate strategy and association.
 
-Strategic alliance: limited control where there is no one strategy
 
-Should view struggle to attract a resource rather than to fight its absence
 
-How many executives and companies are deploying their resources to fight the drought when they
should be looking for ways to attract the moisture
 
- Individualism is encouraged at a young age
-Self- sufficient human being is an unattainable goal
 
-Human factors play a significant role in the successful implementation of any interdependent effort
 
- Society has become increasingly selfish
 
-basic truth of strategic relationships: We need each other.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Monday, November 11, 2013

Hamlet Essay Remix

For my remix, I took pictures off of Google and replaced them for the words in the essay I wrote to provide a visual way of seeing what I was trying to get across to the reader.

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/183446458/visual-for-hamlet-essay

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A Poetic Inquiry

No man need fear his Destiny's bad course,
When challenges, he meets resolutely;
Defying it and hitting hard with force;
with prudent action, that is done timely.

Who cares about destiny's monstrous face,
If man can take refuge in God's Love-shield?
Why worry of Destiny's losing case,
When God gives grace and much wisdom to field.

You must refuse defeat in many things;
Just labour hard towards success by heart;
Yet, patiently take whatever life brings;
The Creator will surely do his part.

No Destiny threatens a Lion-heart;
Nor earthly wealth to Heaven do we cart.

Big Question

I'm reposting this because the way I posted it before, the only way you could see it was if you decided to click "view my complete profile" which I doubt none of you did. So here it is...
 
BIG QUESTION
To what extent do you shape your own destiny, and what part is left to fate?

Proof!

To be or not to be soliloquy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK2Sadvs4FE

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Hamlet Essay


             Many are capable of “talking the talk,” but few are able to actually “walk the walk.” As humans, we can create an impact on our outcomes by thinking through our strategies beforehand and rationalizing the best choice. However, when justifying our decision, we have split personalities: rational and irrational. This performative utterance victimizes Hamlet throughout the play. The actions Hamlet takes in response to his soliloquys takes a strong impact on the plot and makes the play dependent on his “self-overhearing.”  

            When the play begins, Shakespeare gives the reader the impression that Hamlet is indecisive, where he talks about what he wants to do but rarely ever acts upon it. DeBoer, however, believes his soliloquys are performative utterances, meaning that when Hamlet is speaking, he is not just describing what is happening, but changing it. The most prominent example of this is how Hamlet was able to convince everyone that he was mad. Everyone in the play gets involved thinking they know the source to his madness, when in reality, Hamlet is not even mad. Polonius is convinced that the reason for his insanity is because of Hamlet’s love for his daughter Ophelia. The king states that “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.” Polonius becomes so preoccupied in sorting this conflict out, that he gets himself killed and Hamlet’s “madness” serves as a justification for this mishap.

            Another example of Hamlet’s performative utterance is when he swears to kill the king. The reader can see how much thought he puts into this delicate situation. Hamlet considers everything; when to do it, how to do and where to do it. He wants to complete this action in way, where his father will achieve the revenge he deserves but also that King Claudius will still go to hell and get the punishment he deserves. After the play inside of the play, a perfect opportunity comes up for Hamlet to complete his deed to his father, but he is able to compose himself and not strike because Claudius was kneeling asking God for forgiveness and would go to heaven if he was killed in that instant.  

            In conclusion, Hamlet’s self-overhearing shapes the play into how it unfolds. It made a large impact on how other characters thought and reacted and how the plot developed. In DeBoer’s paper, he discovered and showed that Hamlet is a man who uses the performative power he has in his tasks he needs to accomplish during the length of the play.