Quote of the day

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!"

-Audrey Hepburn

I think that this quote is relevant to the class of 2014 because we are getting ready to make some of the biggest decisions in life and we need to be inspired and know that we can do it! It is really intimidating applying to certain prestigious universities because there is always that factor that you receive a rejection letter.  Knowing that we have each other, and that no matter what we can make life what we want can really help us throughout the process. Everything in some ways is possible it may not be in the present but in time everything will fall into place.

 

Vocabulary #2

1. Accouterments: (noun) personal clothing, accessories.
- The soldiers wore the accouterments when they were out at battle.
2. Apogee: (noun) highest or most distant point; climax.
-In a story the apogee occurs when the most dramatic part happens and the story takes a turn.
3. Apropos: (adverb) fitting; at the right time; to the purpose; opportunely. appropriate to a specific situation.
- The mail comes apropos  as usual everyday.
4. Bicker:  (verb) argue about trivial and petty matters.
- The brother and sister bicker about who gets to watch their television show.
5. Coalesce: (verb) come together and form one whole or mass.
- Study groups coalesce the night before a huge exam.
6. Contretemps: (noun) an embarrassing, or unfortunate situation.
-When someone forgets their lines in a play there can be a bit of a contretemps. 
7. Convolution: (noun) a complication or intercity of form, design, or structure; coil, twist, twirl.
- The art sculpture has a convolution because it is modeled off the DNA molecule.
8. Cull: (verb) to select from a group; control the size of by removal of the weaker.
- To find the correct answer to the question I culled through various websites, until finding one that worked best.
9. Disparate: (adjective) containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incompatible elements.
- The two kings always acted disparate around each other because they had very different views on situations.
10. Dogmatic: (adjective) Characterized by or given to the expression of opinions very strongly or positively as if they were facts.
- When people get into arguments some people are very dogmatic and refuse to let go of their opinions.
11.Licentious: (adjective) lacking legal or moral restraints; especially disregarding sexual restraints.
- People who act licentious are often rude and no respected because of the way they act.
12. Mete: (verb) To distribute by or to give out by measure.
-The teacher mete out the papers so each student received 3 assignments.
13. Noxious: (adjective) physically harmful or destructive to living beings;  constituting a harmful influence on mind or behavior.
- A fire in a neighborhood can be noxious, because it can lead to many houses getting destroyed or injuries.
14. Polemic: (noun) an aggressive attack on, or refutation of the opinions or principles of another.
-During a debate the politicians use polemic words, and phrases to go against their opponents.
15. Populous: (adjective) densely populated, filled to capacity.
- Los Angles is a very populous city, it is also very diverse because of the amount of people that live there.
16. Probity: (noun) the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
- The man spoke with great probity, it was obvious he wanted what was right for the people.
17. Repartee: (noun) a quick and witty reply, clever retorts.
- When listening to the radio I noticed that the guest speaker answered with repartee, which isn't unusual for someone who wants to keep their image.
18. Supervene: (verb) to follow or result as an additional, or unlooked-for development.
- Smoking will lead to supervene lung cancer.
19. Truncate: (verb) to shorten something by the top or the end.
- I had to Truncate some of the cake because it didn't fit in the container.
20. Unimpeachable:  (adjective) not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized; entirely trustworthy.
- When you are going to get married your husband should be unimpeachable, so you always know you can rely on him.

BEOWULF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

For this assignment I worked alone. I normally would of went and did it with a group but I did it Thursday night because I was going camping and wouldn't have Internet access durring the weekend. It took a while because the questions were very in depth about details and I had to find the answers by reading an online source translator. These questions helped me  understand the overall sorry better. 

1.Realize that this prologue introduces the Danes, not Beowulf or his people the Geats. What was unusual about the way Shield came to be ruler of the Danes? What was his funeral like? What relation is Hrothgar to Shield?
- The unusual thing about his death is he dies at the time he was told he would. For Shields funeral they place him in a vessel and send it into the sea, like he asked. Shield is the great grandfather of Hrothgar.

1.What magnificent work did Hrothgar undertake? Who attacked it, and with what result? How long did the attacks last? What was the response of the Danes?
-Hrothgar builds the hall or Heorot for his army. After a celebration while all the men are asleep the Grendel comes and kills everyone in their sleep. The attacks continued for 12 years. The Danes were unsure of what to do since they couldn't stop the anger of the Grendel.

1. What does Beowulf do when he hears of Hrothgar's problems with Grendel?
-When Beowulf hears of Hrothgar's sorrow he gathers 14 of his bravest men to take sail to help the Danes.
2. Whom do the Geats first meet when they arrive in Denmark? What does he do, and what do they do?
-They come across the watchman when they first arrive in Denmark. The watchman asks who they are and to prove to him that they are not just pirates, or spies. Beowulf tells him his name and the task they wish to accomplish and help the Danes.
3. They next meet Hrothgar's herald. Who is he? What does he tell them? What does he tell Hrothgar? What does Hrothgar respond? Are you surprised that Hrothgar knows Beowulf so well?
-He is the Danish king. He tells them the horrors of Grendel and that it wont be easy. Beowulf states that he isn't scared. Hrothgar knows Beowulf from their youth which is mentioned in the prologue.
4.What does Beowulf tell Hrothgar when he enters? What did Hrothgar do for Beowulf's father?
-Hrothgar tells them of the horrors that Grendel has been causing for the Danes. He helped Beowulfs father by helping end a feud he once was in. Hrothgar says that Beowulf can now repay him.

1. What does Unferth accuse Beowulf of? How does Beowulf answer him? How is this episode relevant to the poem as a whole? What does Beowulf accuse Unferth of?
-Unferth accuses Beowulf of not being strong, because he once lost a swimming match. It shows how Beowulf is reluctant to keep his name and title as being fearless and strong. Beowulf accuses unferth of drunkenness and killing his own brother.
2. What is Queen Wealhtheow doing during the feasting?
-The Queen is in the hall and takes a goblet around for everyone to drink, she thanks god for sending Beowulf and his men.

1.Heroic poetry normally has a scene in which the hero arms for battle. What is different about Beowulf's preparations for his fight with Grendel?
-He sets all his armor aside because he considers himself as dangerous as Grendel.
2.What happens when Grendel enters Heorot? How does Beowulf fight with him? What happens when Grendel tries to leave? Does Grendel escape? What does he leave behind?
-Grendel begins killing and eating some of the Geat men, Beowulf observes and then starts to attack when Grendel goes for him. Beowulf uses his strength to wrestle with Grendel. Grendel gets scared and tries to leave but Beowulf rips off the monsters arm. Grendel does escape back to his lair but only to die down there. He leaves behind his arm.

1.When the Danes and Geats return from following Grendel's tracks to the mere, someone sings in Beowulf's presence, comparing him to Sigemund and saying that he was not like Heremod (lines 883-914). How is Beowulf like Sigemund? How is he not like Heremod? (Be alert for inserted stories such as this one. Beowulf contains many of them, most much more complex that this one.)
-They sing because they are happy that he defeated Grendel. Beowulf is like Sigmund because he didn't give up and he did what he said he would do.
2.How does Hrothgar respond to Beowulf's deed? What does he offer to do for him? What does Unferth have to say now?
-Hrothgar gives Beowulf many extravagant gifts and tells him his name will live forever.Unferth disclaims the weakness he claimed Beowulf to have.
3.The singer sings of Finn during the feasting (lines 1070-1158). The exact details of the Finn story are not clear, but in general, what happens? What does it suggest about the wisdom of using a woman as bride to heal enmity between tribes?
-You can marry into a tribe and therefore somewhat fix things between tribes.
4.When the feasting resumes, what does Wealhtheow ask Hrothgar not to do?
-Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar not to give Beowulf the thrown to the danish kingdom.
5.Wealhtheow gives Beowulf a large, broad necklace. What later happens to it? What does Wealhtheow ask Beowulf to do?
-Wealhtheow asks Beowulf to look after her sons after Hrothgar dies. Beowulf puts it on his vessel.
6.Why do so many men remain in the beer hall to sleep? Why is it a mistake?
- They don't believe that there is any more danger. It is a mistake because they are wrong that there isn't any danger left. Grendel has a mother, who is looking for revenge.

1.Why has Grendel's mother come to Heorot? Is it the same reason Grendel had?
-She has come to kill the people who had taken her sons life. She is going for vengeance not just for slaughter.
2.What is Hrothgar's response? Whom has Grendel's mother killed?
-He is in sorrow when he kills some of the people closest to him. He offers Beowulf more treasures if he can slay this monster as well.
3.What sort of place is the mere?
-The mere is the lair for Grendel and his mother. It is under the lake but it is very hot and the water is like fire. There is a lot of creatures in this lake at the bottom, which is why no man has ever gotten close to going near it.

1.How does Beowulf tell Hrothgar to respond?
-Beowulf wants Hrothgar to send him and his men to fight Grendels mother and get rid of the monsters endangering the Danes.
2.What happens at the mere before Beowulf enters it?
-He and Unferth talk and he gives Unferth his sword.
3.How does Beowulf prepare for the battle? What sword does he take with him?
-He doesn't prepare for the battle because he is taken into the lair. He takes the sword that hasn't failed a man in battle but only because he couldn't give in to Unferth in time.
4.What happens when Beowulf enters the mere? What is surprising about where Grendel and his mother live in the mere?
-Beowulf is not burned by the lakes hot waters. Or attacked by the monsters in the lake.
5.What happens to the sword Beowulf borrowed from Unferth?
-He tosses it aside because it is useless against Grendels mother.
6.At one point Beowulf is on the floor, with Grendel's mother sitting on him and drawing her knife. How does Beowulf escape?
-The armor Beowulf wore wouldn't allow the end of the sword to penetrate him, allowing him to get free of her grip.

1.What does Beowulf give to Hrothgar?
-He gives Hrothgar the head of Grendels mother along with the sword used to cut it off.
2.What message does Hrothgar have for Beowulf? What and why does he tell us about Heremod? Why and how did Heremod die? What lesson does Hrothgar teach with the Heremod example?
-That he will protect his people.Heremod died because of how unfair he was to the people. He teaches the lesson that Beowulf will Be a strong leader.
3.What does Beowulf give to Unferth as he leaves?
-He gives back the sword Unferth let him borrow when going to fight Grendels mother.

1.How much later does Part 2 take place? What kings have died in the meanwhile? What danger now exists?
-Part two takes place 50 Years later.Dragons are the new danger.
2.Why is the dragon angry? Why did the man take a cup? How did the treasure come to be there in the first place? (The speech of the lone survivor, the one who put the gold in the barrow, is in a typically Old English elegiac tone.
-The dragon is angry because the cup is stolen from him.The man took the cup because he was poor and hungry.
3.What did the dragon destroy that evening?
-It scorches homes and villages on its rampage to find the goblet.
4.Why does Beowulf think his home was burnt? Why does he order a new shield? How will he fight this battle? What will happen to him?
-He thinks he might have done something wrong in the eyes of God. He orders a new shield to protect him from the hot flames of the dragon. He thinks that he is brave enough to only need the shield.
5.How did Hygelac die? (The description in lines 2354-2379 begins one of several versions of Geatish history and Hygelac's death we will get.) What did Beowulf do after Hygelac's death? What happened when he returned home? Did he accept Hygd's offer to become king?
-Hygelac died against the Fristians. Beowulf rejected the thrown because he respected hygelac.
6. What happened to Hygelac's son Heardred? (That's the story in lines 2380-2390.) How did Beowulf plan to revenge Heardred's death (lines 2391-2396)?
-Heardred dies fighting the sweeds. He plans to avenge his death by promising to fight the dragon.
7.How many men accompany Beowulf as he goes to meet the dragon?
-His men bid him goodbye before he meets the dragon.
8.What happened to Hygelac's oldest brother Herebeald? Who killed him? What did this do to his father King Hrethel? (This passage, lines 2425-2509, is the second account of Geatish history and of the death of Hygelac.) What happened between the Swedes and Geats after Hrethel's death? What happened to Haethcyn? How die Beowulf revenge Hygelac's death?
- Hygelac’s oldest brother Herebeald was killed by Haethcyn. War between the Swedes and Geats starts because the father is so devastated. Beowulf avenged Hygelacs death by killing  Daeghrefn.

1.What does Beowulf tell his companions to do?
-He tells them to stay back as he fights the dragon. He is probably the only one who could kill it.
2.What happens the first time Beowulf and the dragon fight? What do his companions do? How is Wiglaf different? What does he tell the others? What does he then do?
-Beowulf is wounded after the first time they fight. Everyone leaves because of the dragon except for Wiglaf. He tells the others that they should stick by him in the time of need.
3.What happens the second time Beowulf meets the dragon? What happens to Beowulf? Who kills the dragon?
-The dragon happens to bite Beowulf's neck, Wiglaf goes to help him and kills the dragon, but the venom from the dragons bite kills Beowulf.

1.What happens when the companions return? What does Wiglaf say to him? What does he expect will happen in the future?
-Wiglaf is angry with them for not helping them in the time of need. He thinks that the Geats will be destroyed.
2.What does the messenger tell the city? (This passage, lines 2900-3027, is the third account of the history of the Geats and the death of Hygelac. These are the enemies that will attack the Geats when they learn of Beowulf's death.) What happened overnight in Ravenswood after Ongentheow killed Haethcyn? What happened the next morning? What happened to Ongentheow? What does the messenger say to do with the gold? What is the final image (animal) of the messenger's speech?
-The messenger announces the news of Beowulf's death. The messenger states that the treasure was cursed, and that Beowulf was never greedy. The last image is of the Dragon.
3. What does Wiglaf tell the crowd that comes to see the dragon and Beowulf?
-Wiglaf tells the crowd how wonderful Beowulf was at fighting.
4.What happens to the dragon?
-They pushed it over the cliff into the oceans because it was evil and didn't need to  be buried.
5.What happens during and after the funeral celebration?
-They celebrated Beowulf, but were very sad that he was gone.
6.What did the Geats say about Beowulf in the last three lines of the poem? Are these the terms one would expect to be used to describe a military hero?
-They said that he was a great man, and that no one was as deserving and great as him.I would expect this to be said of any hero because you think of them being brave and deserving of praise because they put their life in danger to save ours.

4.What does the dying Beowulf ask Wiglaf to do? What happens when Beowulf sees the gold? How does Beowulf want to be buried?
-Beowulf wants to be buried so everyone can celebrate him, which is what everyone does when it is his funeral.

Beowulf (prologue-chapter x)

My opinion isn't a right

Reflections on week 1

1. Are there any factors that you think are going to affect your participation or experience in this class? Access to a computer?  Mobile/smart phone?  Transportation?  Friends/family? Schedule?
- I feel that keeping up with the blog is going to be my biggest challenge. This is mainly just because it is a new thing that I have never done before. FFA may be another factor that might affect my participation, because we do many events throughout the year. I will just need to work more diligently then I have in the past. The way the class is more interactive will help me speak up and be more engaged in learning.

2.Think of an awesome best ever learning experience that changed you. What did you learn? Where were you? What happened? Who else was there? Did it teach you anything about how you learn (or pay attention... or remember, or think?) How did you know what was happening?
- Overall I do not remember an exact "awesome best ever learning experience" but I have experience little things in different places. Interactive classrooms catch my attention more then just the teacher lecturing for 50 minutes. There is something about allowing the whole class to weigh in on things that makes learning seem less like a chore. Another thing that has helped me with learning is when the teacher is fair. When a teacher doesn't treat the class fairly on certain things the class begins to shut down and not perform as well as a whole. I also took a financial aid class last year and she called her class " The Money Game" she essentially made the class a "game" just by doing simple things to help us remember the facts she was teaching us.

3.What are you most [excited/concerned] about in this class? What do you look forward to in learning?  How do you think it can/will make a practical difference in your life?
- I am most concerned about keeping up with the blog, I feel that it can be easy if you keep checking it, but if you procrastinate at all it can be a huge problem. I am excited about experiencing this new way of learning. It seems to be very interesting, and I want to get everything I can out of my last year in high school. I think that it can teach me a lot more skills that are going to be necessary when doing work in college! I am really excited about Dr. Preston helping us with the college, and scholarships because, I am very nervous about that and its comforting to know he will support us and help us through it !

Vocabulary #1

Adumbrate: to outline, or foreshadow.
-In many novels the author will adumbrate a major event that will happen in the future.
Apotheosis: the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of god; glorification.
-The priest at a church can be held to apotheosis, when preaching to the people.
Ascetic: a person who dedicates their life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self denial for religious reasons.
-A nun chooses to live a reserved, and ascetic  life.
Bauble: a showy, cheap ornament.
-On the Christmas tree we hang many baubles because it is tradition.
Beguile: to influence by trickery; mislead.
-A magician can  beguile their way through a show.
Burgeon: to grow or develop quickly.
-A small business can burgeon in just a matter of years.
Complement : something that completes or makes perfect.
-Barbecue sauce and chicken nuggets really complement each other in a meal.
Contumacious: stubbornly perverse, or rebellious; disobedient.
-When you first get a puppy they can be very contumacious, until they get trained.
Curmudgeon: a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
-When I first found out I had her for a teacher I was nervous, because she has a reputation of being very curmudgeon.
Didactic: teaching, or intending to teach a moral lesson.
-When making a documentary the director speaks to many didactic people to figure out all the facts.
Disingenuous: insincere; lacking frankness, or candor.
-When she apologized for being rude it seemed very disingenuous , which led me not to believe her.
Exculpate: free from blame, free from charge or guilt.
-If you are charged with a crime you didn't commit you want to exculpate your name.
Faux pas: a slip in etiquette, manner, or conduct.
-While she was at a ball she seemed very reserved, but she didn't want have a faux pas .
Fulminate: to explode with a loud noise.
-On the Fourth of July dogs become scared because the fireworks fulminate all night.
Fustian: inflated or turgid language in writing or speaking.
-We watched a fustian movie, and felt that it was quite strange.
Hauteur: haughty manner or spirit; arrogance.
-The man was very hauteur, which is why he no longer had any friends.
Inhibit: to restrain, hinder, arrest, prohibit.
-Schools inhibit students from chewing gum in class.
Jeremiad: a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint.
-When students are assigned a big project they feel the need to have a jeremiad.
Opportunist: policy of adapting actions, decisions to effectiveness regardless of the sacrifice of ethical principles.
- People who are eager to find, and try new things in life can be known as opportunists.
Unconscionable: not in accordance with what is just or reasonable.
-Murder is an unconscionable crime, it is hard to understand how someone does it.

Montaigne/ Austen Essay

       Montaigne and Austen styles

     Its shocking how authors techniques and styles can be so similar even though they are from two completely different lives, and have different attitudes. David Foster wrote"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." I feel that you can relate this quote to some of Montaigne's thoughts because it is very insightful and of Fosters opinions. Fosters point is that what we think is so big that its almost impossible to be able to speak what we actually mean at any moment. The essays of Micheal de Montaigne and Pride and Prejudice are two books that have very different meanings and techniques.

      Montaigne in his writing uses a very different technique then most authors, he uses his own personal aspects on life. His essays reflect the things he believes and the reasoning behind his feelings. At some points the reader gets the feel that he is rambling and it is hard to follow. Montaigne talks about his own life as well as past philosophers. This is much different the Austen because she uses a more common way of writing. She has a plot, with characters. She develops the characters based on what she wishes them to be like, and what actions she wants them to do. The two authors in my opinion don't have much in common because the stories hardly relate.

   

      The Essays of Micheal de Montaigne are meant to persuade you to think more like Montaigne. Whether its on the topic of Friendship, or Cruelty his main purpose is to give his input on how he feels about the specific subject at hand. Throughout his work you find him contradicting himself, which also makes is work difficult to understand. Austen's technique is also to persuade the reader, but in a different way. She focuses more on persuading the reader to like characters more then others, for example she makes Elizabeth very likable to many of her readers. The reason this is different then Montaigne is because his is own thoughts, and Austen uses characters such as Elizabeth and Darcy to help her thoughts on certain subjects come to life. I think that this is only a slight similarity since they use different actions to persuade their audience.

   

      Both authors focus is on depicting human nature and why people do certain things in life. Montaigne uses rhetorical questions, logos, and metaphors to contemplate why certain things happen in life. On the other hand Austen uses her characters actions and other rhetorical devices to help her readers focus on the characters as they make certain decisions. They both stress their own opinions but, again they do it through different manors. They both have themes in their works Austen's is more clear and precise and about love, and Montaigne's is all over the place because he feels strongly and makes points about several things in his work.

      Montaigne and Austen don't not share many of the same techniques in my opinion. They both have a clear way they want their work to look like, but they use different strategies to make their work come to life. Austen uses a more traditional way of writing, and Montaigne uses his own thoughts also known as stream of consciousness. They both are unique authors but aren't very similar in their techniques.

     

1987 AP exam: notes

While I was taking this AP test I was not thinking it was easy! The text that we had to read in order to answer the questions seemed outdated, and different from what was on the AP test we took last year. Most of the questions seemed quite challenging especially for the poems. While I was reading the poems I felt as if it was the most challenging part of the test, for the questions associated with the poems I found myself guessing more often then not. The essays were also challenging because the passage we had to read for question one felt outdated and a little hard to understand, and for question two I couldn't give precise detail because I read The Grapes of Wrath a while ago and didn't remember much. I gave this test my best effort but I felt lost for a very big portion of the test. Next time in order to reflect on the questions I don't understand I shouldn't guess, because that doesn't give me the opportunity to go back and review it.

Poetry #1

1. The comercial borrows the poem "the laughing heart" from  Charles Bukowski
2. The poem is ironic for the Levis company to use as a comercial becuase it says in the poem " your life is your life" but the company is trying to pursuade the viewers to buy their jeans from Levis, acting as if your life can only be your life if you wear their jeans. Another factor that makes this peom ironic for the companys choice would be the fact that in the poem it says " dont let it be clubbed into dank submission", ultimately if you listen to their comercial and buy their jeans you submitting to the power that Levis has over their customers. Because that line is in the poem Levis is basically telling their customers not to give into this comercial and do not buy their product.
3.I think that this peom does go with his reputation as an author. He wrote things about his personality and how he veiwed things in his life. when he first started off writting he was rejected many times and his life was going terrible until he finally got published. " you cant beat death but, you can beat death in life, sometimes" I think that he is refering to when he almost died but he finally found a spark of insperation that willed him to find life again. He reflects his change around in life multiple times throughout lots of his work. 4. I typed in the quote " your life is your life" and found the poem that way. After I found out who the author was I did more research on him to find out his life story and background information to see if this peice of work was out of the ordinary. Most sites I viewed talked about his early writings and how he began as an author, thus allowing me to figure out if it was unique or not. The main source I used was http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-bukowski I found it to have the best sumarization of his life story.

Essay # 1

Orlenna Price's Exile 

   Exile makes adapting to new enviorments much more difficult, unless you learn to overcome it and make the alienation work to your benifit. In The Poisonwood Bible by kingsolver Orlenna Price and her family move to a village in the Congo from Georgia, becuase they were white her and her family were treated disrespectfully. The Congolese felt that her and her family shouldnt of came to their village and try to change things. while living in the Congo, Orlenna is faced with many obstacles that make her feel completly exiled. She is faced with having to figure out a new way of surviving all by herself, and she is faced with a husband who is reluctant to take her side. These are things that lead to her breaking down because of the isolation. On the other hand becuase of the feelings she has, she makes and change and ultimately changes her life for the better. Her exile helps illuminate the theme becuase, she feels guilt that she let her, and her familys life in the Congo go so terribly. 

     Orlenna is left to deal with all the burdens of the new world they have moved into. She begins to realize that simple things as getting water for the family is no longer simple after Mama Tataba left them to fend for themselves. She begins to have no options and can no longer figure out how to help her family once the droughts start to happen. On top of adapting to the new enviroment the Pice family was not welcomed. She starts to not be able to care for her family, and later begins to feel guilt. Guilt is a major theme in this book because every member of the family does things to one another or to others that makes them feel out of place. Orlenna price begins to feel guilt when she realizes bringing her family to the Congo was not a good idea. One can feel exile from people they dont know, or from the people they know and love, and this is what happens to Orlenna to make her have a break down in the middle of the novel. Exile is something that someone must overcome in their personal feelings in order to feel a sense of community within themslef. 

   Realationships can have a sense of exile within them. Orlenna and Nathan Price in the novel have exile problems. Nathan feels like he should be the one that makes all the decsions for the family, and doesnt listen to her thoughts. This is another factor that leads to Orlenna having a break down. Orlenna realizes that it was a mistake to bring her fmaily to the Congo, and wants to go back to Georgia, but nathan refuses and sends her into a deeper feeling of issolation. Without equal resposibilities in a family some may feel that they have no control in what happens.Thus leading to guilt later on. Natan Price exiles Orlenna from every decsion making thing, and makes her feel unimportant to the family. Overcoming the feeling of exile, and finding a new sense of community is what the truly difficult part of exile is about. Working through all the hardships in life and becoming a better stronger person because of it. 

    

    Orlenna Price gains the strength after Ruth Mays death to finally take initiative and over come her exile from her husband, and the community. She takes her kids and begins to leave the Congo to go back to Georgia. She overcame her weakness of feeling exiled and alone and took action to change her life for the better. Leaving Nathan allowed her to move and get invovled in the things she loved before he took over her life. She felt guilt for putting her fmaily through all of that, and when Ruth may died she realized she couldnt let anything else effect her family. This is a big reason why guilt is a major theme in this novel. At the very end Ruth May forgives her mother, and ends the story with the guilt being alright in the end. 

    Exile is somthing that people can feel on a day-to-day basis. Orlenna Price let exile consume her life, but then took action and let exile shape her life into something much greater then it was before. Feeling alienated can feel terrible but the most important thing is to try and overcome all the bad things and allow it to have a good impact on your life. Orleanna fought her lonliness and guilt and sought better things in life and that is what she accomplished.

My Big Question

If we all lived in a "perfect" world would there be such a thing as true happiness, or would it just be considered the normal day-to-day feeling? Would life be boring if nothing went wrong, and there was no excitement? Does having rough patches in life truly help us become better and wiser individuals?