Character study #2 and #3

     The plane landed and I got into the first taxi I laid my eyes on. Once I got settled into the taxi, the driver, a very bulky, brown haired man started talking. I thought to myself as he was talking that he looked as if he played football by the way his body was shaped. He went on, and on about how he attended Stanford University, but dropped out to become a taxi driver, and live a simpler lifestyle. After rambling on and on about himself he finally told me his name was Ozamataz Buckshank. I had never heard of a name so unique in my life, he had an interesting character and something about his persona made me invite him to the huge party Quatro-Quatro was throwing tonight.
    We finally arrived at the college and I was thrilled to see my three best friends Kylie, Kendall, and Lindsey! I ran up to the dorms and met up with them. I introduced my new friend Ozamataz to them, he seemed to make the wrong impression on Kylie, But I refuse to let that ruin the night we are about to have. Eventually  Kendall and her cousin Xmus Jackson Flaxon-Waxon arrive and we head out to the football game.
   When we arrive the football game is about to end, But thats okay because we just want the party to begin. Once the game ended Jacob and his friend Quatro-Quatro (ironically number 44 on the football team) head towards us to take us to the Fraternity party! We are all super excited and nervous, none of us had ever been to a party before while we were in high school.
    The party had already started before we arrived. It was insane, people were acting crazy and the smell of alcohol was overwhelming. Xmus is the first of our group to pick up a drink, he was getting out of control, and started drinking everything in sight! Then we all picked up drinks of our own but none of us seemed to be as into the drinking as Xmus. Quatro-Quatro leads all of us, but Xmus to another side of the Frat house to show us around and tell us about what it's like being a huge football star. After about 2 hours have passed Kendall started freaking out. She continuously kept saying she was in a hurry to get home, but she couldn't find Xmus anywhere. We all begin looking frantically for Xmus, we all know that at the state he is in he shouldn't be left along, let alone wondering the streets so late in the night. As a group we finally decide that getting in the car to go search for him is the best idea. All 7 of us crowd into Ozamataz small taxi. It dark, and cold outside, but we know that we must start the search for Xmus, and make sure he is safe.

Canterbury Tales #1

I didnt realize that Chaucer was using irony in all the characters until we discussed it in class. I like how Chaucer described every character, his humor is at first hard to read, but after reviewing the poem I understood the irony in most of the characters. I like how it is wrote for the common people and everyone is supposed to be able to relate to it, this is because not many older authors did this. I feel like there might be conflict between some of the characters as they continue on their journey, this is because there is always conflict when so many people come together. I found the monk most memorable, this is because monks are supposed to be innocent, and reserved. In The Canterbury Tales the monk is a hunter, who is easy going and laid back. This is just one example of the irony in the story. I feel that I understand the gist of the story, but mainly just from the discussion in class. I didnt understand a lot of the characterization meanings on my own.  I would want to further read on either the monk, or the cook. This is because I understood the irony in these characters from the start.

Character study #1

I knew I would be leaving Friday morning to visit my friends who went away for college, but yet again I found myself waiting to pack until Thursday night. My family was going to take me to the airport early the next morning. I find myself packing all the things I feel are essential, and even over packing things that I will never need no matter where I am headed. I keep running over the questions in my head trying to decide what is best to pack.. Will it be hot or cold? Will I need fancy clothes, or casual clothes? I am so indecisive, choosing to bring 20 shirts when I am  only going to be gone for 3 days. I look at the clock, and I know I need to get to bed soon, we are heading out early in the morning so I can get a start on the journey. I finish putting the final items into my suit case and zip it up, excited to get the packing out of the way. I lay in bed, listening to the tick of the clock  and think about what me and my friends are  possibly going to do when I arrive. Anxious to find out the specifics upon my arrival, I have difficulties falling asleep. I wake up eager to get started and see my friends after such a long time, we get in the car and in a couple of minutes arrive at the airport.
(this is different then my original story, I had to edit it to work better with our groups theme)

Creating a dashboard

I just created my dashboard on Netvibes. I didn't really care for the experience, I felt confused on what I should include on the dashboard. I posted my blog, and the weather and then after that I wasn't sure what else to put up. I was also confused about the part about making the dashboard public, or not. I have no idea if my dashboard is public. I dont see myself ever using this to help me stay organized, since I have an iPhone and all the apps available on my phone allow me to access this information but in a way I know how to operate.

Vocabulary #6

1. Obsequious (adjective) : obedient or attentive to and excessive or servile degree.
- The Sham wow salesman is very persistent and obsequious that you buy his product.
2. Beatitude (noun) : A state of utmost bliss, or happiness.
- After winning first in my class for market hogs I was filled with beatitude, and I felt like I was on top of the world.
3. Bete Noire (noun) : A person or thing strongly detested or avoided.
- When picking groups in psychology the bete noire's were the people that wouldn't accomplish much in the groups.
4. Bode (verb): to announce beforehand, to indicate by signs.
- Every morning the news reporters bode the weeks forecast.
5. Dank (adjective): unpleasantly wet or moist.
- The dank swamp scared everyone away, no one wanted to live in the wet enviroment.
6. Ecumenical (adjective): worldwide, or general in extent influence or application.
- The argument presented was ecumenical, people all over the world were discussing the same topics.
7. Fervid (adjective): very hot, or marked by extreme intensity.
- The child became very fervid, when the mom told him he couldn't have another cookie, he began throwing a temper tantrum.
8. Fetid (adjective): having a very heavy or offensive smell.
- Everyone covers their noses when a fetid smell comes across the room.
9. Gargantuan (adjective) : tremendous in size or volume.
- The wedding cake was so gargantuan the couple was eating cake for days.
10. Heyday (noun): high spirits, the period of ones greatest popularity.
- After the FFA competitions when our team one we were in great heyday, and celebrated for hours.
11. Incubus: a nightmarish burden.
- Studying for finals is an incubus, its hard to concentrate on all the things you have learned.
12. Infrastructure: the basic services needed for a functioning community.
- Skyscrapers are the infrastructure of New York city.
13. Inveigle (verb) : to win over by flattering, tempting, or persuading.
- Many people try inveigle their way into getting a better grade on school projects.
14. Kudos (noun) praise given for achievement.
- Kudos to all who have taken the SAT this year.
15. Lagniappe (noun) : something given as an extra.
- Many companies give lagniappes so you will buy more of a certain product.
16. Prolix (adjective) : unduly prolonged, drawn out.
- The speech was a bit prolix, the critic said it could be a little shorter to not bore the audience.
17. Protege (noun) : one who is protected or trained by a professional.
- Everyone in Dr. Preston's class is a protege of him.
18. Prototype (Noun): an original model on which something is patterned.
- When building new technology, scientists use prototypes to start inventions.
19. Sycophant (noun): a person who acts obsequiously towards someone in order to gain an advantage.
- Sycophant's, can be described as teacher pet's because they both try to gain an unfair advantage through flattering.
20. Tautology (noun): to restate something twice in different words.
- When teachers want to high light certain topics they use tautologies.
21. Truckle: to yield out to weakness.
- the man had a truckle personality, always giving in to peoples ways.
22. Accolade (noun): a ceremonial embrace, a mark or acknowledgement.
- The assembly is full of parents who accolade their children for a job well done.
23. Acerbity (noun) : the quality of being acerbic(sour, sharp mood or temper).
- The passengers on the airplane made their displeasure known with great acerbity.
24. Attrition: the act of weakening through constant bombardment.
- The students treated the teacher with such attrition he finally let them turn in their assignments a day late.
25. Bromide (noun): a common place, or hackneyed statements.
- Students in college are all bromides after taking their midterms.
26. Chauvinist: someone who displays fanatical devotion to something like race or gender.
- The chauvinist male activist, refused to let women have any more authority.
27. Chronic (adjective): marked by long duration of frequent recurrences.
- The parents are chronic liars, their children never know when they are telling the truth.
28. Expound ( verb): to set forth or to state, defend with argument.
- The sister expounded her brother when the parents began to blame him for something.
29. Factionalism: The splitting of two groups.
- In the book Divergent the characters practice factionalism.
30. Immaculate (adjective): having no stain, or flaw.
- The bedroom was immaculate, not a single thing was out of place.
31. Imprecation (noun): a curse.
- The witch put a imprecation on everyone who went against her wishes.
32. Ineluctable (adjective): not to be avoided, changed, or resisted.
- The SAT is ineluctable, one must take it in order to go to college.
33. Mercurial (adjective): characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood.
- The pregnant woman was always mercurial, her husband never knew if she was happy or upset.
34. Palliate (verb): to reduce the violence of, to ease with out curing the underlying disease.
- After a long dispute the daughter palliated her reasoning's for sneaking out of the house.
35. Protocol (noun): the official procedure, or system or rules governing affairs of state of diplomatic occasions.
- It is protocol to read a book that is assigned in class.
36. Resplendent (adjective): splendid, or dazzling in appearance.
- Every one's senior pictures are resplendent, most people look their very best.
37. Stigmatize (verb) : to make something seem bad or disgraceful.
- One may stigmatize certain characteristics of a character in a book.
38. Sub rosa (adverb) : in private, secretly.
- lets have a conversation sub rosa, that way no one knows are plan for the party.
39. Vainglory (noun): excessive pride, especially in ones achievements.
- Articles wrote after war show lots of vainglory towards the winning side.
40. Vestige (noun): a trace, mark, or sign left by something.
- Graffiti is also known as vestige, you can find it on many buildings in the city.
41. Volition (noun): an act of making a choice or decision.
- The man made his choice of his own volition, no one else helped him decide.

WHAT A CHARACTER

A character that has stuck in my mind since reading the book is Tom Joad from The Grapes of Wrath. I find myself constantly relating things to him in essays prompts and to other characters in literature. Tom Joad is memorable to me because he is family orientated. He is constantly thinking about what would be best for his family, and even in the end he knows that if he keeps himself hidden that it will protect everyone, even though he doesn't want to lose his family. Tom Joad goes through so many hardships through out the novel, but he keeps motivated and knows the importance to keep going in order to make the family successful. He comes from a rocky past but only wants to move forward and forget about the mistakes people have made in the past. Tom Joad is a relateable character, which is why I find him intriguing.  Symbolism, imagery, and metaphors are just a few ways that Tom Joad is expressed in the novel through literary techniques. I feel that if you haven't read The Grapes of Wrath that you definitely should, it is a moving book that keeps you intrigued and wanting to know what characters will do what next.

DECLARATION OF LEARNING INDEPENDENCE

Learning independence is something that we all eventually need to do, which is why creating goals can help us attain certain things in our lives. One of my SMART goals is to get accepted to the University of California Santa Cruz. I believe that this goal is measurable because there is a deadline to turn in the applications. This goal is attainable, I have been striving through out high school to keep up my GPA and so I hope that UC Santa Cruz will accept me. I think this goal is reinforceable because besides the admissions people it is totally in my control if I get in, this is because I need to study hard for the SAT and maintain my GPA. Timely, well considering there is a deadline for the applications to go in I know this goal is timely.
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?
I think that thinking about my Big question can relate to learning independently. Independent learning for the most part is trial and error. One must try multiple things in order to see which options work the best for that unique individual. Once they find the perfect outcome they have figured out what works best for them. Because we don't live in a perfect world we all don't live independent learning lives, we are told what to learn and then we learn it.

vocab #5

1. Obsequious (adjective): obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
- When you go to a car dealership you expect to deal with very obsequious people, who are persistent that you buy a car.
2. Beatitude (noun): A state of utmost bliss, or happiness.
- One can have all the items they could ever desire in the world, but they may not ever have beatitude.
3. Bete Noire (noun): A person or thing strongly detested or avoided.
- After the man killed his three children he was a Bete Noire and no longer had any friends or family on his side.
4. Bode (verb): to announce beforehand; to indicate by signs.
- Every morning the news reporters bode the forecast for events and weather, so the people of the community know what to expect.
5. Dank (adjective): unpleasantly wet or moist.
- Sarah was dared to go into the basement, but it look to creepy and dank so she refused.
6. Ecumenical( adjective): worldwide or general in extent influence or application.
- The argument presented was ecumenical, people all around the world were dealing with the same thing.
7. Fervid (adjective): very hot, marked by often extreme intensity.
- The man became very fervid when no one agreed with his proposal. He worked very hard on it and it made him very upset.
8. Fetid ( adjective): having a very heavy or offensive smell.
-When you drive by a dairy farm you get a very fetid smell, that makes everyone cover their noses.
9. Gargantuan (adjective): tremendous in size, volume, or degree.
- The gargantuan sized book scared everyone off, no one chose to read it for the literature analysis #2.
10. Heyday (noun): High spirits, the period of ones greatest popularity.
- The star football player can be having the best time of his life in high school, which can be considered his heyday.
11. Incubus (noun): an oppressive or nightmarish burden.
- The SAT can be an incubus, which makes studying for it near impossible at times.
12. inveigle ( verb) To win over by flattering, tempting, or persuading.
- During the interview the lady inveigle to her best ability, which evidently got her the job.
13. Kudos ( noun): praise given for achievement.
-Kudos to everyone who received a Golden Warrior award during their high school career!
14. Lagniappe (noun): something given as a bonus, or extra gift.
- Many companies give lagniappes if you buy so much of a specific product, that's their way of rewarding you.
15. Prolix (adjective): unduly prolonged, or drawn out to long.
- Sometimes at FFA meetings the length of the overall meeting can seem a bit prolix, maybe they should try and shorten it a little.
16. Protege (noun): one who is protected or trained, or whose career is furthered by a person of experience.
- A student teacher can be considered a protege, they study the ways that a professional teacher teaches and then applies it later on.
17. Prototype (noun): an original model on which something is patterned.
- When building new technology, scientist often use prototypes to help them start off with an idea.
18. Sycophant (noun): a person who acts obsequiously towards someone in order to gain an advantage.
- Teacher pets can also be called sycophants, because they both use flattering to get ahead.
19. Tautology ( noun): saying the same thing twice in different words , considered to be a fault in style.
- Some authors use tautology to emphasis certain aspects of their work.
20. Truckle: to yield out to weakness, or be submissive.
- The man had a truckle personality, always giving in to peoples ways.

Literature Analysis #1 A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks

1. The book starts off with Miles (the main character) smoking and grieving for his wife who was killed two years ago in a hit and run car accident. Johan (miles son) later brings him a note to talk to his 1st grade teacher Sarah Andrews. Sarah and miles being going on dates and seeing each other more often, This would be the exposition of the story because it is leading up to the events yet to happen. Through out the exposition there are chapters were an anonymous character is talking about how guilty he feels for getting in the "accident" with Miles wife. This is the highest point of the story because you are trying to figure out who this character is that is responsible for so much pain for Miles. Eventually you find out who is responsible for the " accident" which is the climax of the story because the story has reached its turning point. After Miles finds out about who hit his wife he is furious and does many things to try to figure things out on what he should do about the situation. While Miles is figuring this out this is considered the falling action since all the events of the story are coming to an end and you know almost everything. The resolution is really shocking and his decisions made about the car accident are revealed and the story comes to a close.

2. The theme of A Bend in the Road is grief. Overall there are many themes in the romantic novel but the one that stuck with me  most is the one about grief. Almost every character in the book was grieving for something and they all did it in many different ways. The book is meant to portray that even though we grieve in different ways we should always weigh the consequences of certain actions before we go about fulfilling them. Another theme would be about forgiveness, Miles learns to forgive the man who hits Missy with the car because he understands the new reasoning's behind how it happened. The readers are supposed to learn that forgiving people is important no matter what they did because you cant move on in life unless you forgive.

3. Nicholas Sparks's tone changes through out the novel. The first tone I caught was of sympathy  “It's okay to be sad. Everyone gets sad now and then. Even me.” This quote is when Miles is taking to his son about his mothers death, every time he talks to him about her the tone becomes very sympathetic because you feel bad for the situation they are in.
"I couldn't escape the image of Missy Ryan, her eyes focused on nothing, and because of that, I became someone I'd never known before." This quote is from the person who hit Miles wife in the car accident. He throughout the book is saying things that reference back to that night that he killed her, and feels terrible for doing it.
Another tone in the book is mysterious. "There are some simple truths in life, and this is one of them: Whenever someone dies young and tragically, there's always interest in the story, especially in a small town, where everyone seems to know each other." I consider this part of a mysterious tone because the author is mentioning the fact that the person who hit Missy is most likely someone who Miles knows. Throughout the book characters are talking about who they think did it, and because it is such a small town everyone is curious who actually did the crime.

4. -Imagery: " Hours passed. Dark now. Outside the window, the winter sky was black and ominous." page 334 Imagery is used in this novel to help describe many events that occur, it helps bring the reader to visualize the event clearly.
-Symbolism: " He created a file, one concerning Missy's death, one that he created after her funeral to remind him of the work he still had to do." page 10  The file Miles has represents how he never wants to give up the past. He continuously keeps going back to the night Missy died and rehashing the event, in hope that he will find out who killed her.
-Flashback: " I remember turning the radio on and fiddling with the dial, but I didn't really take my eyes off the road, my mind was on the drive after that." page 187 This is when the man driving is thinking back to the night he hit Missy.
-Foreshadowing : "Every now and then people say they see the two candles burning in the window seal which is the symbol of love for Kathryn and Harris presser, whether or not you two will see the candles depends on your feelings for each other. " page 155 This is foreshadowing because at the end of the book Miles puts two candles in Sarah's windows as a sign that he is sorry and still loves her.
-Similes: " Her hair caught fragments of light and cast them off like a halo." page 161 Similes are used throughout the story to help the reader visualize and think about certain things.
-Conflict: the conflict isn't just the difficulties Miles has in trying to find who killed his wife, but also he comes to a cross roads after he finds out who did it and has a internal conflict with himself over the matter. "  It was time to let it go, I have already lost two years of my life, and couldn't see the point in prolonging it anymore. Once I realized that.. I don't know.. it just seemed like it was the only right thing I could do." page 356
-Setting: The setting of the story New Bern, North Carolina is a small town. This adds to the plot a lot because everyone knows all the secrets and news about every ones lives. This is found in the beginning of the book as well as various moments throughout the book like page 40.
-Characterization: The characters are very well rounded and different. Each character is unique and they each have different personalities. Miles is a stern father but soft when it comes to everything else as seen on pages 2-5. Sarah is a sweet 1st grade teacher who wants the best for each of her students as developed in the parent teacher conference pages 38-43. Johan is a child who is interested in many aspects of life, seen throughout the whole novel.
-Metaphor: " she was acting like the devils advocate about the situation." This is Miles trying to figure out why Sarah isn't taking his side when he was action irrationally, even though he was the irrational one he thought that she was being crazy and not listening to him.
- Irony: The whole ending of the book is ironic, The man who killed Miles wife is the brother of the woman Miles is now in love with. The irony in this is that Miles wanted the killer and the killers family to suffer in the way that he had to suffer, but in the end that's not what he winds up deciding because overall he loves Sarah more then he hates the fact that her brother killed his wife. You are clued into this twist in the plot around pages 288 to the end of the book page 368.

All of the above

During the 1987 AP test I was pretty confused. Most of the poems and short stories were pretty difficult to understand. I found myself going over the allotted time just so I could better understand what the story was about. I felt that I could of done much better with a test that seemed more in the time period. I feel that I might not of been putting my best effort into some parts of the test because after reviewing my wrong answers I understood why my answers were wrong. I am not very happy with my performance because I feel that I could of worked harder to better understand some of the poems and short stories.

vocabulary # 4

1. Accolade(noun) : a ceremonial embrace, a mark of acknowledgment.
- After the Renaissance assembly my parents gave me accolades for my hard work.
2. Acerbity (noun) : the quality of being acerbic (sour/sharp mood or temper).
- The substitute teacher made his displeasure known with lots of acerbity.
3. Attrition : The act of weakening through constant bombardment. 
-  After the students treated the teacher with such attrition about the project being due so early, the teacher finally gave in and changed the date.
4.Bromide (noun) : a commonplace or a tiresome person, or a hackneyed statement or notion.
- People in college after finals are all bromides, they just need some rest to get back into their normal routines again.
5. Chauvinist: somebody who displays frantical devotion to something like race, and gender.
-The female chauvinist was always trying to find reasons why females can be considered superior over men.
6. Chronic (adjective) : marked by long duration of frequent recurrences, always present.
- The student is a  chronic procrastinator, she is constantly putting assignments off until the last possible moment. 
7. Expound (verb) : to set forth or to state, defend with argument.
- Critics expound their reasoning for giving a bad review, that way people understand why they didn't like it. 
8. Factionalism: The splitting of a group into factions; conflict between factions.
- In the book Divergent factionalism is practiced, the groups are split by the emotions you feel about certain events that occur in your life. 
9. Immaculate( adjective): having no stain, flaw, or error.
-An essay receiving a score of 10 on the AP test must be immaculate, because if it wasn't perfect it would receive a lower score. 
10. Imprecation(noun) : A curse.
-The prisoner was yelling imprecations at the other inmates for pranking his room. 
11. Ineluctable(adjective): not to be avoided, changed, or resisted. 
- After the student missed a couple of days of school for being sick she knew as soon as she felt better she must go to school because it was ineluctable after so many days of being absent. 
12.Mercurial( adjective) : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood. 
- The pregnant woman was always mercurial, her husband never knew if she was happy or angry. 
13. Palliate (verb) : to reduce the violence of, to ease without curing the underlying disease; to cover by excuses and apologies. 
- After the long dispute between the mother and daughter, the daughter palliated her reasoning for sneaking out the night before. 
14. Protocol ( noun) :  the official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions. 
- When President Obama is giving a public speech, it is protocol that his speech is read multiple times to ensure that it is immaculate. 
15. Resplendent ( adjective) : splendidd or dazzling in appearance. 
-When taking your senior pictures you want to appear as resplendent as possible.
16. Stigmatize (verb) to make something seem bad or disgraceful.
- When you don't like someone because of one habit they have you often stigmatize all the other habits they have as well.
17. Sub rosa (adverb): in private, or secretly.
- The FFA officers had a meeting sub rosa that way the other members didn't know the surprises that would occur at the general meeting.
18. Vainglory (noun): excessive pride especially in ones achievements.
- After the war many articles were wrote with lots of vainglory towards the winning side.
19. Vestige (noun) : a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something.
- In each locker at Righetti there is lots of vestige, it can also be known as graffiti.
20. Volition (noun) : an act of making a choice or decision.
- Kendall picked her senior picture of her own volition, she refused to take any ones opinion on the matter.

beowulf essay

Beowulf and Iron Man

     Heroes have been idolized everywhere throughout history. A hero is one who steps up to the plate when people are in need of assistance. Most heroes just do good deeds for the sake of the people, but others such as Beowulf and Iron Man do it for the fame of being a hero. Even though the two characters come from different time periods they have many things in common that the author illustrates in different ways.

    

     Beowulf is a character who is symbolized as the strongest man alive. The authors draw attention to this when he is first introduced in the poem. They talk about how whenever he comes across anyone new that they stare in bewilderment at his strength. Symbolism is a major technique used in Beowulf because they convey the messages through intense symbolism and imagery, since the poem was originally supposed to be told orally. Iron man is a movie, and was created to be told visually which slightly changes the effect of the symbolism and imagery. In Beowulf you create what you think is an accurate version of the characters but in Iron Man you are given the image of how visually strong he is. Nonetheless Iron Man is still symbolized as a character who is virtually indestructible because of his high tech suit which protects him form harm. This is a difference between Iron man and Beowulf as well, because Iron man is not the same with out his armor, but Beowulf finds himself a stronger warrior with out his armor on to protect him from danger.

    

     The authors  of both stories help set the tone and mood of each story by the way they make the characters act and respond to certain things that happen. In Beowulf the character Beowulf is enthusiastic to take on the task of help the Danes kill Grendel, but you cant help but feel that he had a second agenda. The time period from which Beowulf comes from the "family name" was very important to people and it makes you wonder if he was helping the Danes just for the fame and advertisement of his families success. In my opinion he is portrayed both ways and either vibe can be felt from the text which is why the tone and mood can be interpreted differently. On  the other hand Iron Man is portrayed immediately as cocky and arrogant. He lives an extravagant lifestyle and is all about the fame of being Iron Man. The mood of Iron man is action-packed but also comedy, because of this it helps the viewer to understand Iron Mans motives for helping citizens in the first place.

      Between the two characters there is a lot of irony. Its almost as if the creators of Iron Man had influences from Beowulf. Its also ironic how so many things can be different between the two characters but then at the same time they are also very similar. The two stories were wrote in two different time periods and meant for different appeals but still amount to the character becoming a hero. The irony is only seen when you look at the two stories  as a whole, each story individually is not ironic.

     Even though Iron Man and Beowulf come from completely different time periods they have many things in common. Their reasoning for becoming a hero is the biggest thing that makes them alike. And the mood of each story is the biggest comparison. Throughout history there has been many characters like Beowulf and Iron Man that can be considered arrogant or just confident, and the author basically leaves it for the reader or viewer to figure that out through the imagery, symbolism,and moods they set up in the  story line.

    

Will study for food!

Going to a 4 year UC or a CSU has been one of my dreams for a while. Although this has always been one of my dreams, I never really did any thinking about how I was realistically going to pay for a University. The average cost to attend a UC or a CSU and live on campus for one year is about $32,000. I have been working part time while in high school to start saving up money for college but havent even made a dent in what just one year of college is going to cost! It is this reason why I am going to apply for scholarships and finacial aid. I signed up for scholarships.com over the summer and book marked various scholarships so that they will notify me when the applications open. I am hoping to get as many scholarships as I possibly can, because I will be applying for student loans for the rest of the money. I dont want to get accepted to a UC or CSU that I worked so hard to get into, and not be able to go because of financial issues, thus the reason that I am going to be on top of all the scholarship opportunities. I am involved in many different clubs and organizations for the community, so I hope that this allows me to stand out when applying for scholarships. I hope that I am very lucky and am fortunate enough to receive a lot of scholarships that help me attend a UC or a CSU to further my education as an idividual.

Vocabulary #3

1. Apostate: (noun) one who forsakes his/her religion, party, or cause.
- One can be an apostate if they change their beliefs because of marriage.
2.Effusive: (adjective) marked by the expression of great or excessive emotion or enthusiasm.
-When you arrive home from a long trip you are greeted by family members who are very effusive, and excited to see you.
3.Impasse: (noun) A situation/predicament having no obvious escape, an impassable road or way.
-In court the judge came to an impasse the convict was going to jail for what he had done with no bail. 
4. Euphoria: (noun) a feeling of well being, or great happiness.
- After completing the SAT and receiving my scores I was in a state of euphoria, and couldn't stop thinking about how well hard work paid off.
5.Lugubrious: (adjective) mournful,gloomy, especially exaggerated or affectedly mournful. 
- On test days students act very lugubrious towards the teacher, thinking they can complain their way out of taking the test.
6. Bravado: (noun) A pretense of bravery, A display of false courage.
- When the man talked about swimming with sharks we all assumed it was just a bravado he was putting o for the attention.
7. Consensus: (noun) A general agreement, the judgement arrived at by most of those concerned.
-  After a few hours of discussion the jury came to a consensus that the man was not guilty of theft.
8. Dichotomy: (noun) A division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups.
- The way the girl presents her self is a dichotomy, she is intelligent but can be perceived as lacking clear thoughts.
9.Constrict: (verb) to make narrow or draw together, stop or inhibit.
- Your throat constricts when you swallow allowing the food to go down properly.
10. Gothic: (adjective) relating to the goths, mysterious or violent incidents when referring to literature. 
- The book was a Gothic novel, which was filled with mystery and excitement.
11. Punctilio: (noun) a minute detail of conduct in a ceremony or in observance of a code, or form.
- When peer editing an essay one must look for every punctilio, in order to give good advice.
12. Metamorphosis: (noun) A change in physical form, structure, or substance, especially by supernatural means.
- Caterpillars turn into butterflies because of metamorphosis.
13. Raconteur: (noun) a person who is great in telling anecdotes.
- Teachers are often called raconteurs because they go on tangents and talk about life stories.
14. Sine qua non: ( noun) something absolutely essential.
- In order to get into your dream school it is sine qua non that you have great SAT scores.
15.Quixotic: (adjective) foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals, unpredictable.
- One can be considered quixotic if they are always changing up the way they act around certain people.
16.Vendetta: (noun) an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, hostile acts, or exchange of such acts.
- Before my parents got a divorce it was a complete vendetta every night at the dinner table about who was right or wrong.
17. Non sequtiur: (noun) an inference that does not follow from the premises, a statement that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said.
- In an argument my brother will often use non sequtiurs, throwing the conversation completely off.
18. Mystique: (noun) an air or attitude of mystery and reverence developing around something or someone.
- When there is a new student at school many people have a mystique towards him since they don't know anything about him.
19.Quagmire: (noun) soft miry land that shakes or yields under the foot. A difficult, precarious or entrapping position/ predicament.
- Quick sand is also a quagmire, since they are both unsafe to walk on.
20.Parlous: (adjective) Obsolete, dangerously shrewd or cunning, full of danger or risk.
-  Painting the outside of a skyscraper can make a person seem very parlous.

WHY THIS BOOK

I chose A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks because love novels interest me the most. I know they are always cheesy and ultimately you know what is going to happen at the end, but it still sparks my interests when I read the back cover. The thing that made me want to read this book is because it has a little mystery in it, so you cant exactly plan out in your head which events are going to lead them to falling in love. With out even planning it the book also relates back to my big question, does rough patches in life really make us stronger and wiser individuals. This book is about a mad coping with the fact that his wife was killed in a car accident and his life is falling apart. It will be interesting to see how he copes with this and how it helps him become stronger as a person/character.
Nicholas Sparks books are always smooth and never dull, this is why I enjoy reading his books because they keep me interested, to the point where I don't want to put the book down. This is a good thing because if the book is interesting then I wont have problems making the deadline for the assignment.
Ultimately I chose this particular book just because of the genre. Romance and mystery are the two types of genres that I personally enjoy the most and this is a combination of the two so therefore it was a win, win in my eyes.