1987 AP exam

I thought the easier questions were 1-15 because the passage that we had to read from was easy to understand, not written like it was the first century. I missed 4 out of those. The last two sets of questions (33-46 don't seem to exist) were way more difficult because the language was more advanced and I didn't understand the last one. That one was the hardest.

My Opinion Isn't (A) Right

Reading notes:
The idea that you don't have the right to your opinion is really weird. Most people would probably disagree, and if I tried to explain it to my mom she'd look at me like I was crazy and say "That doesn't make any sense" because it's kind of a crazy thought. I don't think it makes much sense, either. I get what the author of the passage was trying to say, but the example about a car and someone walking into the street was really bad and another example should have been used. No one in that situation is going to be mad about being pulled back from getting hit by a car and say, "Well, I have a right to my opinion." That will never ever ever ever ever ever happen. A more realistic example should have been used. The one about the Bush and Iraq or whatever it was about was good, I guess, but honestly I think the author was totally wasting his time writing a stupid piece about something that most people won't understand or will disagree with anyway. Furthermore, why having an obligation to let someone have their opinion is a bad thing, is beyond me. It's an opinion. It can't be wrong, and it can't really be right, either. Getting hit by a car, for example, is rarely a matter of opinion. Am I missing something? I feel like there's something to get, but the fact that I don't understand it should tell you that it's really a crappy idea anyway. It shouldn't be so hard to understand if it's in any way plausible.

Seminar notes:
We didn't seem to cover any ground in our seminar, we pretty much  just talked about religion and racism. But if someone is religious and that's their opinion that they have a right to, then that means, by definition of that stupid article, that we have an obligation to let them have it. The Constitution of the U.S. would agree, since we have freedom of religion. So.. what's the point he was trying to make, again?

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate-sketchily indicate something; to give an incomplete or faint outline
She adumbrated the plans for the construction of the new school.
apotheosis-highest level of glory or power
In order to reach apotheosis, he had to complete the missions he was given.
ascetic-choosing or reflecting austerity and self-denial as personal or religious discipline
The monk chose to live an ascetic life.
bauble-something that is small and decorative but of little real value
Baubles were given out at the wedding as mementos.
beguile-charm someone; win and hold someone's attention
He was able to beguile her and achieve his goal of asking her to prom.
burgeon-produce new growth
With the upcoming spring, flowers are expected to burgeon.
complement-something that completes or perfects something else
In geometry, there are complementary and supplementary angles.
contumacious-very resistant to authority
Some protestors these days are very contumacious.
curmudgeon-someone who's irritable or stubborn
After the death of  her husband, she became a curmudgeon and went out of her way to avoid others.
didactic-with message; containing a political or moral message
Many fables from the Native American culture are didactic, meant to teach a moral to those who hear it.
disingenuous-withholding or not taking account of known information
She was disingenuous in saying she didn't understand what they meant.
exculpate-prove somebody innocent; to free someone from blame
The jury exculpated the defendant.
faux pas-social blunder; an embarrassing mistake that breaks a social convention
Getting drunk at the annual company Christmas Party was a faux pas.
fulminate-speak scathingly; to express forceful criticism of someone or something
The teacher fulminated the student that never did their work and failed all their tests.
fustian-bombastic
The congressman displayed fustian at the meeting.
hauteur-arrogance
The king displayed great hauteur.
inhibit-to stop something from continuing
The great flood of  rain inhibited the draught.
jeremiad-lengthy complaint;  a long recitation of mournful complaints
The plaintiff had a great jeremiad against the defendant.
opportunist-unprincipled resourceful person: somebody who takes advantage of something, especially somebody who does so in a devious, unscrupulous, or unprincipled way
He was a known opportunist who took good situations for other people and got from them what he could for himself.
unconscionable-morally unacceptable; shocking
The treatment of Jews in the Holocaust was unconscionable.

Reflections on week 1

1. There is nothing preventing me from doing a good job in this class, except for maybe the fact that I never use computers because I don't understand them and they're kind of scary

2. An awesome teaching experience would be my freshman year English class. My teacher was really funny and used personal stories to get us to relate to what he was teaching. The main thing I remember from that class was how he told us that your thesis in an essay is your "roadmap". I think his way of teaching worked for most of his students because he was just super friendly and everyone loved him.

3. I'm a little concerned about how 90% of this class is online because it means I'll have to learn to use computers for more than just typing an essay, but it's a useful skill to have nowadays anyway. I didn't come into this class with any expectations other than it would be more difficult than a college prep class. I want to be challenged, and I hope that I'll learn something that will help me in the future at some point.

Poetry #1

1. The Levi's commercial took the poem "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski, without credit.

2. It might be ironic because the poem talks about taking control of your life and being free with it, and corporations are sometimes known for taking things over.

3. The poem is the opposite of what Bukowski was in some ways, but the same in others. He was isolated and withdrawn, and a lot of things in his dark past contributed to this. His poem mentions darkness and finding a light, which may relate to a struggle he once felt in his life. At the same time, it is a poem about freeing yourself  and living your life the way you want to, but it seems like he never did.

4. I found the answer to #1 by Googling the first line of the poem, which took me to a Charles Bukowski fan group, basically. To find #3, I looked up Bukowski on Wikipedia.

Summer Reading Notes, Pride and Prejudice

Plot: Mrs. Bennet is occupied with finding her five daughters all wonderfully rich husbands. When Mr. Bennet dies, the nearest male relative will inherit all of the Bennets' money and property, and can throw the rest of the family out of the house. The husbands are to insure the entire family's well being after Mr. Bennet's death, and two of the daughters are lucky enough to marry for love. Lizzy meets Mr. Darcy, who is rather stuck up and they don't like each other at first. Jane meets Mr. Bingley, who is a kind man and falls in love with her easily.

Mr. Bennet: He's sensible and funny and doesn't care much for his wife, who is the complete opposite of himself. He loves his oldest daughters very much, particularly Lizzy, because of how level headed they are. He wants his daughters' happiness but doesn't seem too concerned over the prospect of them losing the house and money after his death.

Mrs. Bennet: She can be really rude. She's very over dramatic and too nosy and likes to insult other people's daughters, and sometimes her own. Looks matter the most to her, so she's happy that her daughters were, mostly, very pretty. She's the driving force between the daughters getting husbands, and she's the reason why Bingley and Jane ever met.

Jane: She's very quiet and timid and not nearly as strong willed as her mother or Lizzy, who's her best friend. She's inclined to think the best of everybody, including Bingley's sisters, who kind of like her at first but don't later on. It was easy for her to fall for Bingley and she had her heart broken by him and found it rather difficult to get over.

Lizzy: Very strong willed, and sensible, like her father. She sees no reason to think of Darcy in a romantic way after his first rude proposal, whereas most women might still be really flattered  by the fact that a very rich man wanted to marry them. She can hold a grudge, too, as she wasn't really wiling to forgive him and wouldn't have if he hadn't been so nice the next few times she saw him. Instead of knowing instantly that she loved him, like Jane did with Bingley, it crept up on her until she finally realized that she may have feelings for him.

Kitty and Lydia: They are "two of the silliest girls in England", absent minded and all that matters to them is soldiers. They're annoying.

Mary: Really smart. She doesn't excel in the things that ladies are supposed to be accomplished in. She can't sing, and she's smarter than most girls her age, and she has no interest in boys. 

Jane Austen's writing style is a little dry, mainly because of how old it is. There's a lot of higher level vocabulary in it. There are a lot of long boring passages.

Summer Reading Notes
The Poisonwood Bible

Plot: The Price family goes to the Congo because the dad is a preacher and they are going to be a missionary family. They learn the hard way that Africa is much more different than  their comfortable life in Georgia, and failure to adapt well enough results in the death of a daughter, which isn't an uncommon occurrence there, anyway.

Nathan: He's a selfish man who doesn't love his family or anyone else. He doesn't even seem to love himself. I don't think he loves God, either, he fears him. Nathan's past is a big factor in the way he acts and that plays a moderate role in the book. As time goes on, he becomes disillusioned with everything that happens, especially with he death of Ruth May, and stays long after his family leaves him so that he can continue to bring salvation to societies that didn't grow up with a religion.

Orleanna: She cares about her children, and her husband (until he goes totally wacko). She hurts for Nathan, because she knew him when he was different and loved her, so she sees him from a completely different point of view than her children. She's very timid, it seems like, because she won't really stand up to her husband and do what's best for her kids.

Rachel: She reminds me of me. She's very materialistic and wants things that remind her of home, and honestly I think she has more common sense than the rest of the family. She doesn't want to be in Africa at all, she wants to go home which is a good way of thinking because of how dangerous the Congo was, even before it was in a war. I don't really know why she decided to stay in Africa after all they went through, even if she was in Johannesburg, because I would've been on the first flight back to America.

Leah: Leah is way too attached to her dad. She doesn't realize that he doesn't love her and probably never will, so she's a total suck up and only wants to make him happy and proud of her. She's the most open minded in the family,  next to Adah, because she stuck it out in Africa and learned to live there for the rest of her life and even married a black man, which was weird back then. Leah's a good person but I really don't like her character and I'm not sure why.

Adah: Adah is my favorite character. She makes fun of people in her own way and they have no idea, which is hilarious. She's good at seeing things the way no one else does, and she sort of plays mind games with herself. I think it has to do with her disability. She takes her experiences in Africa to heart and goes on to become a doctor, and studies some of the diseases that are common in Africa.

Ruth May: She sees everything with the simplicity of a child. Nothing is complicated to her, she even got to the African children to play with her, something her sisters had a lot of trouble with. I think she resembles the only innocent thing in a country that is entirely corrupt and dangerous. Death is a normality there, no matter who it is that dies, and she provides a break from that reality.

Kingsolver uses very colorful language and descriptive passages to show the reader what the land looks like. It is as beautiful as it is deadly, and she did a good job conveying that. She uses symbolism, too. I think the snake that bit Ruth May symbolized all of the bad people trying to take over the Congo and Ruth May was the symbol for the good people who got run over by those who were rising up to take control of the country.