Thursday, January 27, 2011
This week
I emailed some scientists to see if they would be willing to talk to us about the singularity and the future of neuroscience. I don't know how that will go, but we have one response so far! I'll update with the questions I ask him and his responses. We'll see. I have really awful senioritis. Like it's terrible. I need to seek help, hahaha. Anyways, we have a 3 day weekend so that's awesome!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
This week
Over the weekend, I had an audition at UCLA. The college process is truly closing in upon us and it's definitely a surreal experience. As the end of the year approaches, our lives are truly laid out in front of us, depending on where we choose to attend school. I'm a little bit nervous, but hopefully everything will work out fine.
As for English? Well, we're having an exam on Beowulf and also we are beginning to read our choice study group novels. I have yet to acquire the Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (my first book). We will see when I get it. I'm a pretty fast reader, so a few nights of dedicated reading and I should be able to plow through it.
As for English? Well, we're having an exam on Beowulf and also we are beginning to read our choice study group novels. I have yet to acquire the Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (my first book). We will see when I get it. I'm a pretty fast reader, so a few nights of dedicated reading and I should be able to plow through it.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Beowulf
I read Beowulf in class this week. It was very long. Also rather unrealistic, considering Beowulf could breathe underwater for many hours. It was pretty interesting. We also watched a snippet of the movie, in which Grendel is a mucus covered giant baby. It's awesome. I love listening to people read outloud. Especially the ones we listened to because they all had sweet Scottish accents. Next week, I believe we start focusing more on reading our books! I'm reading the Singularity and suuuuuuch other novels.
Friday, January 7, 2011
New semester!
We watched this really awesome video in Friday's class about the origins of the English language from a college lecturer. We are also apparently going to begin reading Beowulf. I've done some research and read some excerpts of it. It seems to be quite a difficult read, being that it was the first book...ever. However, it is definitely easier to understand than Shakespeare (I love Shakespeare). I didn't see the Beowulf movie, but perhaps I will do so whilst we read the story in class....we will see
Happy week-after-winter-break!
Happy week-after-winter-break!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
End of the Semester Post
1) “Most Beautiful Work Award” - Which piece of writing (formal or informal) are you most proud of and why? What other skill or habit have you developed (maybe as a reader?) that you are proud of?
I believe that the best piece of writing that I did for English class this semester was my personal statement. I feel like I was really able to refine my writing style and make something that is able to be submitted on an application. The fact that we were forced to edit our papers made it so that we produced quality work. I feel that I have also developed analytical reading skills - specifically the ability to analyze poetry. I had never written a paper about a piece of poetry before, so this was new for me.
2) “Lesson Learned” - What content do you feel you have mastered? Or, which skill(s) did you enjoy learning and feel that you have had some success in developing? How so?
I feel that I have been exposed to a numerous amount of new content and material throughout the course of this semester. I believe that I have improved upon my ability to write formal and expository essays. My editing skills have also greatly improved.
3) “Lessons I’d Like to Learn” - Which skills would you like to develop before graduation? What content do you feel that you need to know in order to feel ready for college? Do you have any project ideas?
I would like to expand upon my ability to create an essay in a very short amount of time. I feel that this skill will help prepare me for college and my life after formal education. Although at times I see formal education as a conglomerate of herders shuffling sheep from one pen to the next, this class is most definitely one of the useful courses in school. I, however, do not have any project ideas. My apologies.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Dinosauria, We Essay. Tell me what you think!
Naomi McPherson
Stephanie Lytle
English 4
4 Dec 2010
In Dinosauria, We by Charles Bukowski, he highlights the idea that as humans, are functioning within a modern dystopian society that we have inherited. He rages with misanthropy towards the human species in general, and hints that this is only one cycle of destruction that is doomed to be repeated.
The title of the poem, at first glance, is nonsensical. After reading the poem, the title suggests that we, as a society, are going to become extinct - and, in fact, be the cause of our own downfall and eventual destruction. The line “Born into” is repeated throughout the poem, suggesting that although we are not solely the causes of our grim societal state, we can do nothing to combat its digression because we are merely the inheritors. The concept of what the ‘this’ is can be interpreted many different ways. The readers individual concept of what the ‘this’ truly is helps to shape the poem as the reader views it.
The poem seems to take place in many different time periods - present, past and future. Bukowski addresses the futility of government and education in the first section “As political landscapes dissolve / As the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree / As the oily fish spit out their oily prey / As the sun is masked” The beginning of the poem seems to detail how the end begins, oddly enough. The downfall of political power, the uselessness of education and extreme pollution are all things that have been topics in dystopian literature. In this poem, Bukowski sets it in the present in order to drive in the fact that we, as we are, function within a dystopian setting. A real live 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. Although he does not go into detail of the cause of the downfall, one can relate his tone to just a general feeling of misanthropy towards humankind. He conveys a feeling of negativity harbored towards people in general, possibly believing that their inherent flaws have always caused this world to be a dystopia.
The short, choppy and fragmented flow of the poem conveys the feeling of desperation that it intends to portray. Bukowski makes use of a list-like format, detailing the effects on humans, rather than the effects on the whole. He speaks in one section about drugs replacing God because God does not provide necessary support for the people within society. “The fingers reach for the throat / The gun / The knife / The bomb / The fingers reach toward an unresponsive god / The fingers reach for the bottle / The pill / The powder / We are born into this sorrowful deadliness”. He also depicts that humans will become inherently more violent towards each other as a means of coping, survival, recklessness. Murder will run rampant and people will have no morals or self-control. This section also foreshadows a downfall of the masses into drug dependence - much like the prominent use of the drug soma in Huxley’s Brave New World. The dependence on drugs, and the emphasis (or non-emphasis) on religion are both prominent topics within Dystopian literature. Just as soma was used to repress the presence of feelings within the World State society in Huxley’s novel (the drug once being referred to as “Christianity without tears”), Bukowski alludes that tangible, recognizable pills and other drugs will be used as a alternative to religion and the “unresponsive god”.
Bukowski concludes the poem by stating blatantly that the cycle is doomed to be repeated, whether it be by humans or another society of beings. He alludes to some sort of solace found in the aftermath of man’s self-created decimation in the final few lines of the poem; “And there will be the most beautiful silence never heard / Born out of that / The sun still hidden there / Awaiting the next chapter.” The circle of life and optimism are crushed by Bukowski’s blatant pessimism throughout this poem and his idea of, essentially, a cycle of destruction. The self-perpetuating, inherited flaw that mankind possesses creates his own destruction. The poem conveys an overall theme of helplessness, and the hopelessness of life itself – all qualities that are most certainly depicted in all dystopian novels.
Stephanie Lytle
English 4
4 Dec 2010
Sorrowful Deadliness: an analysis of Dinosauria, We
In Dinosauria, We by Charles Bukowski, he highlights the idea that as humans, are functioning within a modern dystopian society that we have inherited. He rages with misanthropy towards the human species in general, and hints that this is only one cycle of destruction that is doomed to be repeated.
The title of the poem, at first glance, is nonsensical. After reading the poem, the title suggests that we, as a society, are going to become extinct - and, in fact, be the cause of our own downfall and eventual destruction. The line “Born into” is repeated throughout the poem, suggesting that although we are not solely the causes of our grim societal state, we can do nothing to combat its digression because we are merely the inheritors. The concept of what the ‘this’ is can be interpreted many different ways. The readers individual concept of what the ‘this’ truly is helps to shape the poem as the reader views it.
The poem seems to take place in many different time periods - present, past and future. Bukowski addresses the futility of government and education in the first section “As political landscapes dissolve / As the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree / As the oily fish spit out their oily prey / As the sun is masked” The beginning of the poem seems to detail how the end begins, oddly enough. The downfall of political power, the uselessness of education and extreme pollution are all things that have been topics in dystopian literature. In this poem, Bukowski sets it in the present in order to drive in the fact that we, as we are, function within a dystopian setting. A real live 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. Although he does not go into detail of the cause of the downfall, one can relate his tone to just a general feeling of misanthropy towards humankind. He conveys a feeling of negativity harbored towards people in general, possibly believing that their inherent flaws have always caused this world to be a dystopia.
The short, choppy and fragmented flow of the poem conveys the feeling of desperation that it intends to portray. Bukowski makes use of a list-like format, detailing the effects on humans, rather than the effects on the whole. He speaks in one section about drugs replacing God because God does not provide necessary support for the people within society. “The fingers reach for the throat / The gun / The knife / The bomb / The fingers reach toward an unresponsive god / The fingers reach for the bottle / The pill / The powder / We are born into this sorrowful deadliness”. He also depicts that humans will become inherently more violent towards each other as a means of coping, survival, recklessness. Murder will run rampant and people will have no morals or self-control. This section also foreshadows a downfall of the masses into drug dependence - much like the prominent use of the drug soma in Huxley’s Brave New World. The dependence on drugs, and the emphasis (or non-emphasis) on religion are both prominent topics within Dystopian literature. Just as soma was used to repress the presence of feelings within the World State society in Huxley’s novel (the drug once being referred to as “Christianity without tears”), Bukowski alludes that tangible, recognizable pills and other drugs will be used as a alternative to religion and the “unresponsive god”.
Bukowski concludes the poem by stating blatantly that the cycle is doomed to be repeated, whether it be by humans or another society of beings. He alludes to some sort of solace found in the aftermath of man’s self-created decimation in the final few lines of the poem; “And there will be the most beautiful silence never heard / Born out of that / The sun still hidden there / Awaiting the next chapter.” The circle of life and optimism are crushed by Bukowski’s blatant pessimism throughout this poem and his idea of, essentially, a cycle of destruction. The self-perpetuating, inherited flaw that mankind possesses creates his own destruction. The poem conveys an overall theme of helplessness, and the hopelessness of life itself – all qualities that are most certainly depicted in all dystopian novels.
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