The Laughing Heart

My Opinion Isn't (A) Right

-People often use "I have the right to my opinion" as a defensive move in an argument
-The dispute is often left with this statement but it does not actually resolve the dispute in anyway, it actually changes the topic completely
-Why do we feel that we can't change our minds on something while in an argument even if we know that we are wrong?
-Why do we feel that our opinions are so precious and that we must protect them?
-Rights are only made possible if other people do their duty to give you that right
-We don't have the "right" to our opinion because it is not other people's duty to give others this right
-Is ego the reason why we guard our opinions so strongly
- There is no circumstance in which you have the right to your opinion
-If there was a car coming and you wanted to cross the street and it was your opinion that there wasn't a car there. Do I have a duty to give you the right to your opinion and let you get hit by the car?

Reflections on Week 1

1. I don't think that there is anything that is going to inhibit my participation in this class. I think that with the ability to see other students work on their blogs I am going to be able to participate in this class more than I ever have in any class that I have ever been on. I think that it will allow me to see what my fellow students are thinking and how I may be able to help them and how they might be able to help me. I think that the incorporation of technology in learning is a step in the right direction because our world is so dependent on it that we should teach kids how to really take advantage of it.
2. In math my teacher just taught us a way of easily remembering the entire unit circle and I just remember thinking, "Wow. Is it really that easy?" It really was amazing because I have been struggling to remember that for almost 3 years now, and I couldn't believe that no one had taught me that simple way to remember it. This took place just last week in Calculus and my whole entire class was just as stunned as me. I knew what was happening because everyone's faces just lit up with excitement around me.
3. I am most excited and concerned about the idea of open source learning in this class. It is both exciting and concerning for me because it is completely new. I'm also excited about the blogs that we have to set up because I think it is very useful to see what other people are thinking and how you might be able to help them. I think it adds a level of connectivity that is not found in the normal classroom environment. I look forward to learning how to really get my essays dialed in. I think this will make a practical difference in my life because it will help me to better communicate my ideas to people over written text rather than talking directly to them.

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate: report or represent in outline; indicate faintly; foreshadow or symbolize
     Ex: What qualities in the character are adumbrated by the blue curtains?
apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax
     Ex: The main character killing the bad guy was the apotheosis of the movie.
ascetic:  characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of                indulgence, typically for religious reasons
     Ex: He has an ascetic study routine.
bauble: a small, or showy trinket or decoration
     Ex: Do you like this bauble that my grandma gave me?
beguile: charm or enchant (someone)
     Ex: I tried to beguile the beautiful woman.
burgeon: begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish
     Ex: The flowers began to burgeon after the rain we had.
complement: a thing that completes or brings to perfection
     Ex: The color of the floor really complements the curtains.
contumacious: stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority
     Ex: I am good and never contumacious.
curmudgeon: a bad-tempered or surly person
     Ex: Don't be such a curmudgeon.
didactic: intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive
     Ex: What can be learned from the didactic novel?
disingenuous: not candid or sincere
     Ex: The was an disingenuous gesture.
exculpate: show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing
     Ex: The news article exculpated the president.
faux pas: an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation
     Ex: Don't make a faux pas in front of the crowd.
fulminate: to issue denunciations or the like
     Ex: The minister fulminated against any sins.
fustian: thick, durable twilled cloth with a short nap
     Ex: That cloth is very fustian.
hauteur: haughtiness of manner; disdainful pride
     Ex: The hauteur of the man was unbelievable.
inhibit: hinder, restrain, or prevent
     Ex: The rain inhibits us from doing things outdoors.
jeremiad: a long, mournful complaint or lamentation
     Ex: I don't have time for your jeremiad.
opportunist: a person who exploits circumstances to gain immediate advantage rather than being guided by                        consistent principles or plans
     Ex: I am an opportunist because I make the most out of what I am given.
unconscionable: not right or reasonable
     Ex: Burglary is an unconscionable act.

Montaigne/Austen Essay

            The inner workings of human beings are undoubtedly complicated. We are obviously made of organs, muscles, and the things we can physically see, but what is truly spectacular and enigmatic about us is the part we can’t see. Our ability to think and have a consciousness is what truly makes us human but we have yet to really know why this is. As humans we even have a hard time explaining it with words. As David Foster Wallace once said, “What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant.” An example of literary that supports this statement very well is the work of Montaigne. He uses many techniques and topics to support what is being said by Foster in his essays that he wrote about human nature and how we act.

            

             The essays that are written by Montaigne truly do support Foster’s notion. Montaigne’s essays try to decipher the reasons that humans do what they do but he finds that there is no way to explain it because it is too complicated for us to comprehend. Montaigne writes down what he observes about people in generally and tries to describe it but it’s not that simple. Every human is different and we all act in our own ways and no amount of words can describe the reason why we act in a certain way. This is why Montaigne’s essays definitely support the notion made by Foster and his way of thinking about the inner workings of humans.

            

             Montaigne uses stream of consciousness to provide a window for the reader into what he is thinking. This is the reason why Montaigne’s thoughts seem disconnected. We as humans naturally get distracted and begin to start thinking about random things and there is no order to the way we think. This is completely different compared to the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen does not use stream of consciousness but instead uses third-person limited in the story. This offers readers insight on the most important things that the characters need to discuss and it also has a way of thinking that stays on topic unlike Montaigne. We only know what Elizabeth thinks of Darcy and marriage because she discusses it with her sister and that is often the topic of their conversations. In Montaigne we have more insight to the way humans think and do things because of the way it is told to the readers.

            

            The human mind will always be a mysterious place that we will never be able to describe with words as David Foster Wallace says in his notion. Montaigne’s support his notion but mainly due to his writing in a stream of consciousness style. It would be impossible for Montaigne to write what he wanted to if he wrote in like Austen did in Pride and Prejudice. It might have been impossible for Montaigne to support the notion if it were written any differently.

             

1987 AP Exam

My Answers to Multiple Choice:

1. C

2.A

3.E

4.E

5.A

6.D

7.A

8.B

9.E

10.A

11.D

12.C

13.D

14.D

15.E

16.B

17.C

18.E

19.B

20.A

21.E

22.E

23.E

24.D

25.B

26.E

27.C

28.A

29.A

30.B

31.D

32.C

47.B

48.A

49.A

50.E

51.A

52.B

53.E

54.C

55.A

56.B

57.C

58.D

59.A

60.D

61.A

Notes:

I thought the problems that were the easiest were the ones that were basic comprehension of the passage.

Some of the questions that were a little more difficult for me were the ones with analyzing what the quote meant or what the text meant. Finally, I thought the toughest questions were the ones that had to do with literary terms because I honestly don't know them very well and didn't know what some of them were, so that made it very difficult.

Essay Question #1

            It is often said, that leisure lost its place in our society awhile ago. It lost its place when we began to strive for bigger and better things and forgot about the simpler things in life. In a short passage by George Eliot, she explains her views on “Old Leisure” and on leisure in the society of her own time by using many different literary strategies. The author uses personification, metaphors, and imagery to convey her ideas and views to the reader.

            One of the literary strategies used by the author is personification. In this passage Eliot gives “Old Leisure” human traits to show her view on how leisure time was a long time ago. One of her views on “old leisure” is that they took the time to read the news while in her time people are too busy to stop and read a newspaper. When she says, “He lived chiefly in the country”, it shows that she thinks that cities are really what has taken away the leisure time that people should have had in her time. She conveys all of this very well with her use of personification.

            The metaphor that the author mainly uses in this short passage to show her views is when she compares “Old Leisure” to the things that an old man might do in his leisure time today. She uses this technique to show that the older generation knows how to spend their leisure time. Eliot is also saying that we should maybe look towards the past for how we should spend our lives because back then things weren't so complicated. The author effectively used metaphor to convey her views to the readers in this short passage.

            Another technique that was used by this author shows the audience her views was imagery. Eliot constantly uses imagery so that the readers may picture how beautiful the world is when you stop to take a look at it. She is saying in the old times we used to sit in the shade of a tree and enjoy the world but in her time and in today’s world it is very hard to find the time. An example of this imagery is, “sauntering by the free-tree wall, and scenting the apricots that were warmed by the morning sun.” This shows what “Old Leisure” is to the author and how this is what she probably wishes leisure looked like in her time.

            In this short passage George Eliot effectively used personification, metaphor, and imagery to show the readers her views on “Old Leisure” and on leisure in the society of her own time. Her main view is that we are distracted by the cities and the busyness that we have created for ourselves. We should take a break everyone once in awhile and enjoy the beautiful and smaller things in our life.

Essay Question #2

            Changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions seem to be advocated in some plays and novels. Authors often use many techniques to influence the reader’s or audience’s views. One author who seems to do this is John Steinbeck in his book The Grapes of Wrath. Some of the main techniques used by Steinbeck include irony, exaggeration, and characterization.

            Steinbeck uses irony to try and greatly modify the traditions of the family in The Grapes of Wrath. The biggest use of irony to change the traditions of the family is when they are forced to move from their farm where they are used to growing everything, to California where everything is different and they can’t even find a house or work in anyway. The family’s traditions completely changed when they did not expect what was in store for them in California. This is how Steinbeck cleverly changed the traditions in The Grapes of Wrath using irony.

            To greatly modify the social attitudes of the family in the book, Steinbeck used both exaggeration and characterization. In order to change the social attitudes of the family, the author used exaggeration. When the author uses exaggeration he mainly exaggerates the feelings that the family has for one another and in this it greatly changes the way the readers perceive the family’s social attitudes. This vast change in the family’s social attitudes is also due to the characterization by the author. Steinbeck makes some of the characters more difficult for the family to handle when they are going through a rough patch so ultimately the social attitudes of the family do change while in and on their way to California.

            Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in tradition. Steinbeck uses irony, exaggeration, and characterization to accomplish this in his book The Grapes of Wrath. These techniques don’t only modify social or political attitudes but it also changes the reader’s point of view very effectively.

Notes:

I found that the first essay was easier because we actually had some text to work with while on the second essay we had to remember one of the books and it was kind of difficult to remember what happened in the book I was trying to write about. I felt like I left a lot of important details.

I CAN READ!

Time: 4:26
Mistakes: 6

Big Question

Why does our society make certain things "normal" and then why do we feel like we must obey the these things to fit in?

I've always wondered this and I have always tried to do what I feel like I should do and not what society has programmed in my mind to be "normal". Dare to be different.

Poetry #1

1. The commercial uses the poem "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski
2. The use of this poem by a corporation in a commercial seems ironic because the commercial is trying to entice you into buying their product and live the life they want you to live while the poem says we should live the life we want to live.
3. I believe that this poem does reflect the author's reputation because he was well know for living his the life the way that he wanted and didn't trouble himself with trying to fit into society and being normal.
4. I found this information by googling part of the poem that I heard in the video. After that i googled the authors name and I found biographies that talked about his life and how he lived.

Essay #1

            People often say that they want to travel and get away from home, but what if once you traveled you could not return home? This is the basis of exile. Never returning and being completely barred from your native land that you call home. Edward Said says that, “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience,” but he also says that it can be “potent, even enriching”. This idea of exile is experienced dramatically by one of the characters in the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver named Adah who is both alienated from her home but also finds that she is enriched by the struggles that she experiences.

            Adah is a young girl that lives with her family that is very religious and follows the Christian faith very closely. She also has a mental condition that doesn’t allow her to use the left side of her body at all. This means that she is constantly watched and cared for by her family. This all changes when the family is “exiled” to the Congo when they go on a mission trip. While they are there the village is attacked by ants and Adah has trouble getting away from them because of her limp. While struggling to save herself, Adah is left by her family. Adah is not only alienated from her native land at this point but she is also alienated from the family that she thought cared for her.

            Even before she was exiled Adah decided that she didn’t want to talk unless it was an emergency because she was always more keen on observing what was happening around her than actually involving herself. This starts to change when Adah becomes “enriched” through the daunting struggles that she must overcome while exiled from her home. She becomes enriched while the village is under attack by ants and she realizes that she wants to actually save herself and do something for herself. At this moment Adah decides that she may no longer want to be the observer that she once was in her native land. The experience that Adah goes through changes her entire mentality so much that she eventually overcomes her handicaps that she has and decides that she wants to study science and get involved with the way the world works around her.

            While being exiled from her home and forced to live somewhere else, Adah overcomes strenuous challenges that have both enriched her mentality and alienated her from not only her home but also her family. In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver we can truly understand what is being said about exile by the Palestinian literary theorist Edward Said. Alienation from one’s native land and enrichment of oneself is what truly can be expected from exile.  

Poisonwood Bible Notes

Essays of Montaigne Notes

Pride and Prejudice Notes