My Masterpiece 1

My intended masterpiece is to learn the Mixteco (Tu'un davi/ Tu'un savi) dialect to the best of my abilities by the end of the year. However this masterpiece will not end after merely one year, it will continue until I have not only learned the language but have learned the culture, heritage, and traditions that accompany this dialect and have immersed myself in them. The world is full of so many different cultures and languages, so beautifully diverse that we must not let them die out. It is our duty to preserve our identities and to cherish our variety of cultures which in the end have more in common than we think.

I have already begun my Masterpiece and with the help of a good friend have learned key phrases, words, the alphabet, and the numbers. Although at times my masterpiece seems daunting, for it is completely different from Spanish or English, I will continue to invest my efforts in this task. My friend and I spend 10 minutes of our lunch everyday going over new words and phrases and the meaning behind them, and I know that little by little I will get closer to my goal.

Declaration of Learning Independence

I pledge to allow my curiosity and passion teach me more than any textbook, they will guide me to the real learning experiences. I will utilize my new-found freedom to explore the depths of knowledge, education, and learning. I will feed my burning desire to learn everyday, even if I do it in small increments. I will observe every moment, every situation as an opportunity to broaden my mind.

Vocab #4

obsequious - adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery

-          Her obsequious manner made her an agreeable and pleasant host to the guests.

beatitude - noun supreme blessedness; a state of supreme happiness

-          The degree of her joyfulness and beatitude, although a little confusing, was a pleasant surprise.

bête noir- noun a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded; bane

-          Corrupt lawyers and politicians are often seen as bête noir figures.

bode - verb to announce beforehand; predict; indicate by signs

-          The rising tensions within the group did not bode well for either of their futures.

dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid

-          The dank, dark cave was home to many winged bats that dwelled in dark crevices.

ecumenical - adj. general, universal; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions

-          His ecumenical personality forbids him from leaving any issues unresolved.

fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion

-          The fervid speech worked effectively and roused the crowd to action. 

fetid - adj. offensively malodorous; offensive odor

-          After many weeks of living under the bed, the rotten fruit began to give off a fetid scent.

gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky

-          The gargantuan figure of the middle age man intimidated all whom passed under his shadow.

heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity

-          The inauguration of the new business proved to be quite a heyday.

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

-          The accumulating debt was the incubus in the young student’s progress.

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

-          The faulty infrastructure of the organization was the cause for the many complications that sprung through the passing of the years.

inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering

-          It was not exceedingly difficult to inveigle the necessary information from the suspect.

kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation

-          Kudos to all the returning university students for completing yet another year of rigorous academics.

lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)

-          The toddler left the store delighted after she had received a lagniappe from the cashier worker.

prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length

-          Although she had spent many hours attempting to perfect her essay, her thoughts were not articulated clearly and came off as prolix.

protégé - noun a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his or her career or welfare.

-          The protégé was well under way to becoming as skillful as his instructor.

prototype - noun a standard or typical example

-          Although a tad bit primitive, the first prototype served its intended purpose.

sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

-          When one observes a sycophant they find them inclined to agreeing with absurd ideas.

tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true

-          It is best to avoid using tautology on an important essay for it can greatly harm its quality and eloquence.

truckle - noun verb yield to out of weakness; to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering

-          Even before the first stage of the competition had begun the competitor had already truckled.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #1

Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
1. Exposition: The novel opens with our nameless protagonist recounting his experiences twenty years back and starting with his grandfather's dying words, words that would continue to haunt him throughout the whole novel." I want you to overcome 'em with yesses, undermine 'em with grins..." Then he continues to describe what occurred when he gave a speech at a town gathering of white male citizens, where many young African Americans (including him) were forced to blindly fight and humiliate one another.

Inciting Incident: The one event which serves as a catalyst is the expulsion from college Dr. Bledsoe administers to our protagonist and his forced move up north, where Bledsoe supposedly will have employment waiting for him. In reality Bledsoe does not intend on helping him at all and actually has no intentions of allowing him to return to college, he simply wants to put distance between them.

Conflict: The main conflict in the novel is the lack of identity and the invisibility of our protagonist and his futile attempts to conform to society. The lack of his own name portrays the lack of his identity.

Rising Action: Our protagonist delivers his first speech in defense of his people from dispossession and draws the attention of the Brotherhood. He is recruited, introduced to much knowledge, and experiences the great power of words and emotions. However, he soon discovers that his ideas clash with those of the Brotherhood, Tod Clifton is murdered, and the tensions in Harlem begin to rise.

Climax: The climax occurs with the riots of Harlem, where the African American people took to the streets and revolted. This is when our protagonist realizes that this was exactly what the whites wanted, to have an excuse to slaughter as many black lives as possible. They were no match for them.

Falling Action: Our protagonist falls into a deep, dark hole and remains here for an indefinite amount of time, "... and I slept on and on until finally I was aroused by hunger." His hopes of reaching Mary have vanished and he lets the darkness consume him.

Resolution: After his period of "hibernation" he comes to accept the fact that to others he is a "transparent as air" and that he must learn to live with it. However he also admits that we are all lost in  this world with no direction and no identity. This does not stop him from continuing to love, hate, denounce and defend and he decides to become a new man, and although he knows he will continue to be invisible he still has a role to play in society.

2. There are various themes embedded in this novel: living with no identity, ideology versus emotion, shame and guilt, invisibility, etc. Throughout the entire novel our nameless protagonist struggles with his identity, or lack of one, and is often in a state of confusion. He is trained by the Brotherhood to utilize ideology when speaking to his people so that he may organize them effectively, however he finds that this is in constant conflict with what he is truly feeling and often his ideology is powerless against his true emotions. Many times throughout this novel certain smells of yams, cabbage, and carbolic acid transport him back to his past, which at first he despised remembering for he would feel shame, but as he began to lose this shame he was overcome with guilt for suppressing his childhood and true self. And the biggest theme of all is his invisibility, which he comes to realize and accept in the closing of the book. He realizes that all his life he was only being utilized for others needs and selfish wants and that even when they showed interest for him, they didn't truly see him, they only looked past him.

3. The tone established in this novel is a surreal and sardonic tone. The nameless protagonist seems to constantly observe situations in which he is part of, from the outside, as if he himself were not truly living in that moment. He is also always awakening from a dreamlike state only to face a horrific reality. Some excerpts which illustrate this point would be, “… I was understanding something fully and trying again to answer but seemed to sink to the center of a lake of heavy water…”pg 230; “… I had the feeling that I had been talking beyond myself, had used words and expresses attitudes not my own, that I was in the grip of some alien personality…” pg 249; “Now it was as though I had suddenly awakened from a deep sleep.” pg 422.

4. Literary Elements/ Techniques

Gradation

“He was standing and he fell. He fell and he kneeled. He kneeled and he bled. He bled and he died.” Pg 456

“…recording the crowd swerving around me: legs, feet, eyes, hands, bent knees, scuffed shoes, teethy eyed excitement; and some moving on unhalting.”  pg 251

Antithesis

“I’m in New York, but New York ain’t in me, understand what I mean?”  pg 255

“”…They’re living, but dead. Dead-in-living…”” pg 290

Metonymy

“…without church or congregation, without bread or wine...” pg 256

Symbolism

“He frowned and I laughed. “They picked poor Robin clean,” I said.” pg 248

“The odor of Mary’s cabbage changed my mind.” Pg 296

“”That is your new name,” Brother Jack said.” Pg 309

Paradox

“…that frozen virtue, that freezing vice.” pg 259

“… men and horses of flesh imitating men and horses of stone.” Pg 460

Anaphora

““Meaning HOPE!

“Of hardship and pain:

“Meaning FAITH!

“Of humbleness and absurdity:

“Meaning ENDURANCE!

“Of ceaseless struggle in darkness…” pg 125                                                                              

 Imagery

“A single wild rose tossed farewell, bursts slowly, its petals drifting snowlike upon the reluctantly lowered coffin.” Pg 131

Repetition

“Black, black, black! Black people in blacker mourning…” pg 131

““We’re a law-abiding people and a slow to anger people.”” Pg 275

Enumeration

“… replacing the articles: a bent Masonic emblem, a set of tarnished cuff links, three brass rings, a dime pierced with…” pg 272

“Maybe she wants to see me sweat coal, tar, ink, shoe polish, graphite.” Pg 303

Allusion

“”… the old heroes are being called back to life- Jefferson, Jackson, Pulaski, Garibaldi, Booker T. Washington…” pg 307

“You hear a lot of arguments about Booker T. Washington…” pg 306

Personification

“The clock ticked with empty urgency, as though trying to catch up with the time.” Pg 317

Onomatopoeia

“… I could feel my eardrums throbbing with the old, hollow, gut-vibrant Doom-Dong-Doom.” Pg 451

Foreshadowing

“”But don’t you think he should be a little blacker?”” pg 303

“Something was certain to happen tomorrow… I received a letter from Mr. Emerson.” Pg 171

Bonus!!
Vocabulary #3
""This is an outrageous example of unconscious racial chauvinism!" Jack said." pg 312

"... independent objects that could of their own volition lead me to safety or danger." pg 335

CHARACTERIZATION

1. Direct characterization:

“A man of striking ugliness; fat, with a bullet-head set on a short neck, with a nose much too wide for its face, upon which he wore black-lensed glasses.” Pg 117

“… was small, wiry and very natty in his dirty overalls. And as I approached him I saw his drawn face and the cottony white hair showing behind…” pg 207

Indirect Characterization

“”But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by the morning if it means staying where I am.”” Pg 143

“… it ain’t costing you a penny and I don’t want to git in your business, I just want you to lay down till you rested and then you can go.” Pg 252-253

Ellison utilizes both direct and indirect characterization in order to provide us readers with a better and complete understanding of the characters. Direct characterization serves the purpose of directly shaping the character with words and descriptions while through indirect characterization we are exposed to the inner person of the character and are able to observe their behaviors, thoughts, and responses. For example through Ellison’s indirect characterization of Bledsoe, I learned his true traitorous self and grew to despise him deeply.

2. Yes the diction does change and provides us with a range of American language, from southern African American to northern white. For example we are given dialogue from Trueblood in the beginning of the novel, “Seems like I heard a whippoorwill callin’, and I thought to myself, Go on away from here, we’ll whip ole Will when we find him.”, and this is in great contrast to the dialogue we receive from the Brotherhood scientists, “A consummate example of skilled theoretical Nijinskys leaping ahead of history.” However the author alters the diction to give authenticity to the characters and to attempt to make them realistic.

3. The protagonist is dynamic for he came a long way in this novel. He began full of illusion and ignorance and as he lived through much disappointment learned that he was only attempting to conform to a pattern and thus was truly invisible. He was awakened from his dream and was reborn time and time again, living through different identities but never finding his own.

4. I definitely felt as though I knew the protagonist and on various occasions could identify bits and pieces of myself within him. I feel as though I can relate some of my emotions with his, although on different levels, and in certain occasions his own voice became mine. One specific characteristic which makes him realistic is the fact that he remains blind until he experiences pain, defeat, humiliation. “They were me; they defined me. I was my experiences and my experiences were me…” pg 508. 

Vocab #3

accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction

-          Despite having received many accolades for her accomplishments, she did not yet feel satisfied.

acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner

-          The acerbity of his manner was enough to convince them that they wanted nothing to do with him.

attrition - noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; erosion by friction

-          The war soon became a matter of attrition and took much longer than expected.

bromide - noun a trite or obvious remark

-          He was often eager to deliver bromides despite the fact that it exasperated many of his peers.

chauvinist - noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind

-          The extremely ignorant mindset of the chauvinist left many dumbfounded.

chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering

-          The mother often suffered from chronic migraines which imped her from accomplishing her tasks.

expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state

-          The students were asked to expound on their idea for their presentation and were therefore led into a deep discussion on what should be culled out and what should remain.

factionalism – noun the existence of or conflict between groups within a larger group

-          The religious factionalism added to the mounting tensions of the time.

immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error

-          The young lady took care to not tarnish her immaculate reputation among her peers.

imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation

-          Although her imprecation had been a trifling one, care should still be taken in order to remain safe from any wrongdoing.

ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"

-          The ineluctable consequences of his foolish acts arrived relatively fast.

mercurial - adj. relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change

-          Her mercurial moods left everyone perplexed and caused them to leave her alone for a short period of time.

palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

-          He attempted to palliate the punishment on his nine year old daughter, but his wife was firm in her decision.

protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data

-          The protocol for any job requires that you treat all costumers with respect.

resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor

-          The resplendent gown drew many eyes forth to admire its delicate beauty and elegance.

stigmatize - verb to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful

-          Many have stigmatized against individuals with tattoos, claiming that they will never be employed and thus will not contribute to society.

sub rosa – adj. happening or done in secret

-          His mission was carried out sub rosa in order to protect his dear ones.

vainglory - noun outspoken conceit

-          The young man’s vainglory impeded him from establishing healthy relationships with others.

vestige - noun an indication that something has been present

-          The vestige of a mysterious celebration was enough to convince the mother that they were hiding something from her.

volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

-          Of his own volition, he decided to drop out of college and move back with his parents.

Just A Thought

Sometimes the more we widen our eyes, the less we see.

Beowulf Essay

              The endeavors of any hero require courage and fortitude, despite the time in history in which they are situated. However it is an undeniable fact that our perception of heroism has been altered through the passing of the years. An apparent example of this occurrence is present in the epic poem Beowulf and the heroic traits it exemplifies. The traits which are illustrated in the poem no longer apply to heroic figures of modern times and this in itself allows us a glimpse of the traditional beliefs and workings of an era many centuries ago. Beowulf is the central character in this monomyth, whom is influenced by the greater forces of fate, God, and human actions. We are introduced to his strong characteristics through the literary techniques utilized and are able to make comparisons to contemporary heroes.

                This epic poem includes various allusions to both biblical and mythological references which demonstrate the important role religion and mythology held in their society.  Such references include Cain and Abel, Sigemund the Dragon-Slayer, and The Saga of Finn. These allusions assume that the lector holds enough knowledge to make the connections to such references and thus can comprehend its content. Other literary techniques present in the poem include symbolism and imagery. Symbolism can be found often within the story, in instances such as the battles with Grendel’s mother and the dragon. In both battles the swords utilized are destroyed and are used to no avail thus symbolizing the futility of weapons and the strength of Beowulf. Also the monomyth and its greater forces are present in the poem; Beowulf is called forth to adventure, faces hardship, and undergoes change while giving back to his people. He manages to do such feats through his heroic traits of immeasurable strength, great confidence, and an assertive manner. He is characterized as a powerful male whom holds both fame and glory due to his great battles with beasts and monsters.

                The traits which characterize heroes have undergone much change since the time of Beowulf. The majority of contemporary heroes do not hold great strength nor are they extremely confident in their abilities, whether mental or physical. These individuals can surge forth from any situation or setting and can be of any age, social class, or gender. A hero in present time is simply one who through a benevolent act either saves or improves someone’s life, which means that almost anyone can become a hero. This is up to one’s own perception, we are now able to see a seven year old little girl as a hero and are no longer limited to preconceived notions of what a heroic figure should be.  Additionally there are many contemporary heroes in our world which prefer to remain hidden and anonymous and yet continue to do compassionate acts every day to make a difference in someone’s life. We are now also able to give a female perspective in heroic actions, something which in Beowulf would be exceedingly difficult and would consist mainly of relating the hardships faced due to being female and attempting to break free from their chains. Women are no longer hiding in shadows and are capable of voicing their opinions and taking action when they feel it is necessary.

                Although the traits which embody heroic figures have been altered, the fact that great courage and fortitude is needed to be a hero has not changed. Our society now has the ability to perceive flawed individuals as heroes and recognize their efforts and bravery in providing others with help. Heroes can go by unnoticed yet continue to affect each and every single one of us with their greatness.