Pre-AP English 1

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YMCGtrorAcu5PxEVJmByqCoSek7Zw2TVpxVFg9KKN6E/edit#slide=id.p

May 12, 2015

Perseverance

      A fact most people don’t know about volleyball is that the players are constantly coming in contact with the hard, wooden gym floor. Being thrown into this kind of abuse takes perseverance: when people push through mental instability and self-doubt. Through stability and confidence, perseverance is a key to success. 
      Not only is it important to be physically stable when it comes to everyday life, but also mentally stable. For example, in the Holocaust memoir “Night,” when Elie Wiesel and his father were making the treacherous forty-two degree hike, not only did hey have to keep persevering from falling into the warm snow, but had to believe that they could survive. Their mentality could not have a negative aspect or they would have become victims to the german goal of extinction. Similarly, when Dr.Jekyll started changing into Dr.Hyde, his emotional appearance would take a toll of great measures. With no mental stability, the changing became uncontrollable causing a loss of self-control. Mental stability is important to maintain so that people can persevere through life’s battles. Metal stability also allows for self-control, a needed key factor for Dr.Jekyll. Without mental stability people would lose their ability to have self-confidence as well. 
      The way a person carries himself through confidence and attitude is also an essential for perseverance. For example, during Super Bowl XLIX, Seatlle Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson carried himself in a way of such confidence to show the world that he was ready to take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. His confidence helped his team carry their perseverance against the Patriot’s defense to defeat and take home the hardware. Unfortunately, the Seahawks decided to throw the ball one yard away from the end zone when they should have run it in,but the confidence and perseverance that the Seahawks possessed redeemed them from their mistakes. 
      Whether it be volleyball, a harsh hike in the snow, an emotional disaster, or a football championship, perseverance is key to success.

May 17, 2015

“Unknown Citizen” & “Richard Cory”

     Many people in today’s society fantasize over their appearance and if they’ll be remembered. “Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are both powerful and distinctive condemnations of the importance of appearance before and after death. Robinson’s narrative poem speaks of a man who appeared to be well with his health and riches but then had a tragic turn for the worse. Auden’s poem focuses on a man who was a normal by the peoples’ means and had not much effect, such as creating an awe when he walks or talks like Richard Cory, during his time. Robinson’s poem follows Auden’s because based on the diction, Robinson’s poem is more moderate in language than Auden’s, a fact which accounts to both differences and similarities. The importance of appearance may be compared on the basis of the characters’ point of views, inability of self-assertion, and their social rank among their peers. 
      Both poems, even though having the same basis, have very different point of views. Robinson’s second statement, “We people on the pavement looked at him:” suggests that the speaker of the poem, or point of view, was a common, or townsman, who envied Cory for his wealth and riches. This point of view shows how Richard Cory did well in life through his riches, public appearance, and ability to deceive the appearance of his health which was overrun with depression and sickness. On the other hand, Auden’s point of view came from a government official who “sits behind a desk all day” just like the citizen did before passing. To show the normality of the unknown citizen, a government official with facts and stats was used as the speaker to put emphasis on the uncertainty of who the man was because he was not important and had not much effect throughout his life. Both “Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” use first person plural points of view, a fellow citizen and a federal bureaucrat, to show the standing of the characters among their peers. 
      A similarity between Auden’s and Robinson’s poems is the character’s disability of self-assertion. For example, Richard Cory, even though “admirably schooled in every grace” and “richer than a king,” he was “always quietly arrayed.” Never being boastful or bragging about his lavish lifestyle, Richard Cory never let anyone else into his personal life to activities unseen. Similarly, the citizen was the exact same way. A “saint” to the government, always being obedient like a dog, doing what he was told with “no complaints,” the citizen lived normal, average life as a man with a job and family. His lack of self-assertion however, lead to his unknown personality by the Greater Community or State because he was well-liked and favored by his fellow citizens, according to the poem. All that he would be considered as now is a statistic “found by the Bureau of Statistics.” Together, both Cory and the citizen lacked the ability of self-assertion causing their deaths to not have much affect on their peers except to leave a question of how or why. 
      Likewise, both poems explore a sense of social rank for each character through their social standards. For example, Richard Cory, well with riches, was well admired by the townsmen who “looked at him” when he “glittered while walking and fluttering pulses when he spoke.” The townsmen envied him because they thought “he was everything” with a life full of riches, wealth, and happiness. The citizen, a normal man who “was named and had five children” was not as bountiful in money nor admired as much as Richard Cory. Just a simple man full of love and happiness for his family, had no greater effect. Even though expressed differently, both poems showed a social rank that affected the reaction of people towards the deaths of Richard Cory and the citizen. 
      Similarly, the poems share a major theme: that no matter the social or physical appearance of a person, people are imperfect and everyone has something eating them from the inside out. Both characters played a role in society representing that whether someone is full of life and family or full of riches, everyone is equal and can suffer from “attributes” that can either speed up or stall the circle of life.
      Even though sharing the same “bottom line,” both poems are very individual and distinct. From a man who had everything going for him to a man who lived an average life with a wife and children occupied with a desk job, the poems express their point of appearance before and after death based on social and physical rank and appearance.

April 22, 2015

 

Dr.Jekyll & Mr.Hyde

Movie review with insight of the book

     When I first read the book “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, I expected not to enjoy it because I was “judging it by its cover.” Turns out, I enjoyed it more than I thought. Similarly, with the movie, I made my own hypothesis of how I would not enjoy it, but once again, I was wrong and was surprised of how interesting it actually was to take a look back into time and how movies were in the forties.

Negatives:

• Mr. Utterson, the main character from the novel, was not present, so the comprehension was harder for me to understand because it was easier for me to learn through the prospective of Mr. Utterson.
• In the film, I based my thought of the transformation from Dr.Jekyll into Mr.Hyde from the book and to be more dramatic and not as “risqué.” I was almost lost in the weirdness of the transformation that I forgot what was actually happening.
• Also, I pictured the differences in appearance between the two to be a greater amount. I figured Mr.Hyde would be more of a freak with a less intelligent look while Dr.Jekyll was more sophisticated and carried himself in such a way.
• Finally, there were certain parts in the film that I felt weren’t needed and could have been replaced with something that is a key to the storyline from the book. For example: the scene with Ivy before Mr.Hyde comes to kill her, I feel as though it was unnecessary to have the woman (Ivy and Beatrix) because it changes the storyline into a love story instead of an insane case of a mad man and a crazed scientist.

Positives:

• The cameramen did an excellent job keeping the movie going with different angles so the film wouldn’t get boring at a side angle or a view straight on. It adds “voice” just like sensory details do in the book.
• For a film made in the forties, even though it was black and white, there were times throughout the movie that I could imagine what the colors would be like and the expressions that they would have on the movie and the emotions given from the film towards the viewers.
• Director Victor Fleming did a fantastic job of setting the scenes based on the book details. For example: the laboratory was filled with liquids and substances, beakers, and other tools to make the body changing concoctions.

Overall, I believe that both the book and movie resemble each other very well and follow pretty much the same bases of a storyline. I also agree that even though they may seem boring and “too old” for someone of today’s time, both the movie and book are worth a read and watch.

April 24,2015

You might think I’m just

fresh meat waiting to age

with brown hair

and brown eyes

But I know I am more

way more than that

not a vampire or book

not a picture or equation

A firecracker

an annoyingly loud firecracker

When I’m incomplete

or in pain

When I go home and cry

looking at old camp photos

I am a firecracker with no fuse

not exploding

children disappointed

waiting for excitement

But when I’m complete

my bangers are strung correctly

filled with glitter and joy

Little children’s faces light up

and present their pearly whites again

I become an energetic

attention-grabbing firecracker

with massive and exotic decorations

shocking everyone with my loud bangs and pops

I’m one booming explosion

Until I’m all used up

and that’s when I’m out of business

I refurbish in a new body and start over again

and again

and again

The brown hair, brown-eyed piece of fresh meat

is a firecracker

a tropical, amusing, roaring firecracker

all in one burst

November 4, 2014

Career Choice Comparative Essay

 

Even though being a high school student has always been something for me to look forward to, minus the amount of stress, I’ve started looking into the future possibilities of occupations: judge, psychiatrist, and aerospace engineer.

I examined the earnings, work hours, level of education, aptitude, and job benefits of each career. Based on the information I have learned from my research, I would choose judge because I have studied law before since my father is a state trooper. I’ve listened to many cases on child protection, DWI’s, and other legal formalities from criminal justice shows such as: Law & Order, Criminal Minds, and NCIS. Even though these are just television shows, they are portrayed just as it would be in “real life.”

The chart below is the criteria I used to conclude my decision:

Judge                            Psychiatrist               Aerospace Engineer

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov . 25 October 2014

 

By examining this chart and considering income, a psychiatrist has the highest earning potential starting at $54,500 and maxing out at $396,233 if having medical specialties. The work schedule of a psychiatrist is full-time self-employed unless you work underneath someone else. Then you usually work 3-4 days out of the week. Yet, this is still on your own time. Since I have to have skills of: oral comprehension, oral expression, problem sensitivity, written comprehension, and written expression, I must have a degree in English Language, know the basics of dental and medical health, know how to diagnose and treat someone, a Biology degree, and a Doctoral degree. Overall, this job seems to have the highest payment and educational expectations based on the given information above.

A defense, financially, can be made for an Aerospace Engineer coming in third with a salary low of $34,650 and a high ranging from $103,720 to $110,860. With aptitude requirements of analytical, business, critical-thinking, math, and writing skills, I would have to possess a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, physics, algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. With all this education, there’s a draw back; TONS of extra hours to meet deadlines and full-time work with very few days off. Even though I would be one of the smartest kids on the block, I would love being able to spend quality time with my future family and an Aerospace engineer does not allow this requirement for me.

Even though the increased income is very tempting in the psychiatrist and Aerospace engineer fields, I would have to pick judge because it fits my obsession with criminal justice and the law.

To set up this choice in pursuing a new career, I would have to take you back to my childhood where I spent every day after school at the Sheriff’s Office with my mom. I think the privilege of going to go visit other workers in the office and the occasional eavesdropping of officer’s conversations about the person they just arrested, is where my obsession with the law and criminal justice started. I am very aware of the pressure and personal emotions that a judge has to avoid during a case, but I think my love and passion for this field would demand these unwanted traits to be pushed to the side.

If I pursued a law degree, which requires 7 years after high school (4 years of undergraduate and 3 years of law school), I could make a satisfactory amount of $87,240 and also help the innocent get their justice. With more experience, I could not only move to courts with broader jurisdiction and more complex cases, but rack $115,760 a year. Just as an Aerospace engineer, I would have to work full-time with a reasonable amount of off days. I would also have to be on call for emergency cases such as search warrants and restraining orders. This means that no matter when or where, I have to be able to come to the court to settle a case. Even though there are extra hours and on call requirements for off days, my drive to want to do well in everything I do would push me to the courthouse even on days I don’t have to or need to be there.

All three careers I have researched involve critical-thinking as an aptitude as I attempt to diffuse the draw backs and focus on the positive to make a decision with the slightest input from the negative. All three careers interest me whether it’s getting justice on the bad, helping a disturbed lost person, or creating aircraft for the future air industry. However, the occupation that has already stolen my heart and I’m willing to pour my energy and time into would be a judge-helping the innocent get justice, deciding which parent is actually fit for taking care of the child, or putting a restraining order on a “crazy-ex.” Six years ago, those unforgettable days spent with the Sheriff’s Office employees will forever leave an impact on my life and decision in job pursuing. It’s time to listen to my heart instead of my gut.