Friday, February 22, 2013

First Quarter Review

My performance so far this semester has been fair/sufficient. I've done all the assignments, minus the literature analysis so I definitely deserve a ding in my grade for that. It just kind of blows that my smart goal is reading more books, and I haven't even done my first literature analysis. BUT I WILL. I love reading. It's just been a time issue. I also just finished moving so I've been searching for my box of books.

 As for my senior project, Elizabeth and I have definitely progressed in the German language. Sure we're not experts, but compared to before we've definitely improved.

Suggestions for the course would be more AP style things. Have in class essay days. I know people don't like them, but they're much better than sphinx says write. Just like how you know when the AP test is, you'll know when the essay day is in class, yet still maintain the spontaneity of a random prompt. Much more efficient and realistic.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

First Quarter Review

My performance so far this semester has been fair/sufficient. I've done all the assignments, minus the literature analysis so I definitely deserve a ding in my grade for that. It just kind of blows that my smart goal is reading more books, and I haven't even done my first literature analysis. BUT I WILL. I love reading. It's just been a time issue. I also just finished moving so I've been searching for my box of books.

 As for my senior project, Elizabeth and I have definitely progressed in the German language. Sure we're not experts, but compared to before we've definitely improved.

Suggestions for the course would be more AP style things. Have in class essay days. I know people don't like them, but they're much better than sphinx says write. Just like how you know when the AP test is, you'll know when the essay day is in class, yet still contain the spontaneity of a random prompt. Much more efficient and realistic.

Monday, February 18, 2013

I Am Here

I've started practicing German with Elizabeth and we're getting pretty good with the basics! Also, Kelli Griffith wants to join our group, so I'm excited about that. I'm a little behind in my literature analysis, but I plan on catching up quick seeing as how that's my SMART GOAL, so I can't very much flake on it. At the moment I'm reading the Awakening by Kate Chopin, and I'm halfway done. After that I'd like to read Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka afterwards, and I already have a copy so getting one shouldn't be hard at all. Here's hoping I do well!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Lit Terms 83-108

Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox

Pacing: rate of movement; tempo

Parable: a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth

Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.

Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist

Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose

Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing

Postmodernism:  literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness, and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary

Prose:  the ordinary from of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern

Protagonist:  the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.

Pun: play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications

Purpose:  the intended result wished by an author

Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead

Resolution:  a point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis

Rhetoric:  use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade

Rhetorical Question:  question suggesting its own answer, or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Lit Terms 56-81


Genre:  a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content

Gothic Tale:  a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence

Hyperbole:  an exaggerate statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point

Imagery:  figure of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the sense

Implication:  a meaning or understanding that is to be arrived at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author

Incongruity:  the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other

Inference:  a judgement or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to the facts already available

Irony:  a contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be happening and what is actually happening

Interior Monologue:  a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character; the recording of the internal, emotional experiences of an individual; generally the reader is given the impression of overhearing the interior monologue

Inversion: words out of order for emphasis

Juxtaposition:  the intentional placement of a words, phrase, sentence or paragraph to contrast with another nearby

Lyric:  a poem having musical form and quality; a short outburst of the author's innermost thoughts and feelings

Magical Realism:  a genre developed in Latin America which juxtaposes the everday with the marvelous or magical

Metaphor:  an analogy comparing two different things imaginatively; can be  extended, controlling, or mixed

Metonymy:  literally "name changing" a device of figurative language in which the name of an attribute or associated thing is substituted for the usual name of the thing

Mode of Discourse:  argument, narration, description, and exposition

Modernism:  literary movement characterized by stylistic experimentation, rejection of tradition, interest in symbolism and psychology

Monologue:  an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem

Mood:  the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece

Motif:  a recurring feature (name, image, or phrase) in a piece of literature

Myth:  a story, often about immortals, and sometimes connected with religious rituals, that attempts to give meaning to the mysteries of the world

Narrative:  a story or description of events

Narrator:  one who narrates or tells a story

Naturalism:  extreme form of realism

Novelette/Novella:  short story; short prose narrative, often satirical

Omniscient Point of View:  knowing all things, usually the third person

Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Time of My Life

Today in Preston's I wrote my journal, I spoke to Elizabeth about what we should do for our Senior Project, and then we decided on learning German. After the decision, we looked up some basics of the German language, wrote them down, and began to practice.