Vocabulary #2

accoutrements:(Noun)Personal clothing, accessories, etc.
Many seniors add quirky accoutrements in their picture ID because it doesn't go into the yearbook.
apogee:(Noun)the highest or most distant point; climax.
Reaching the apogee of the mountain was a journey worth enduring.
apropos:(Adverb)Fitting; at the right time; to the purpose; opportunely
Lydia's proposing of seeing a movie to cheer her friend up seemed apropos to the occasion. 
bicker:(Verb)To engage in petulant or peevish argument; wrangle.
I'm surprised Tidus and Lindsay are still together, they always bicker about the little things.
coalesce:(Verb) To blend or come together.
The two lovers souls seemed to coalesce in their music as they spent many days and nights performing together.
contretemps:(Noun plural)An inopportune occurrence; an embarrassing mischance.
I seem to cause contretemps on a daily basis especially since I'm clumsy.
convolution:(Noun) A rolled up or coiled condition.
The snake was in a state of convolution and did not move for hours.
cull:(Verb) To choose;select; pick.
My friends have a hard time choosing an activity so I usually cull for them.
disparate:(Adjective) Distinct in kind; essentially different; dissimilar.
Her writing was very disparate compared to all the other contestants.
dogmatic: (Adjective) Asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated.
My friend loves to argue but delivers his points in a dogmatic manner that tends to upset everyone.
licentious:(Adjective)Unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral.
Living a licentious life increases the risk of getting in trouble with the authorities.
mete:(Verb) To distribute or apportion by measure; allot; dole
Principals usually mete the punishments to students.
noxious:(Adjective) Harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being.
Participating in illegal activities can be noxious to friends and family.
polemic:(Noun) A controversial argument, as one against some opinion.
Socratic seminars are perfect for polemics because they help students critical think and understand different perspectives.
populous:(Adjective) Full of residents or inhabitants, as a region; heavily populated.
Cities near large universities are typically populous.
probity:(Noun) Integrity and uprightness; honesty.
Helena admitted to helping her friend cheat on her finals; a true act of probity.
repartee:(Noun) A quick, witty reply.
I love texting my friend Zack because he comes up with funny repartees.
supervene:(Verb) To take place or occur as something additional or extraneous (sometimes followed by on or upon).
Not only did we see Weezer but All Time Low made a supervene appearance!
truncate:(Verb) To shorten by cutting off a part; cut short.
Janor's speech was so explicit that Principal Marley had to truncate her speech.
unimpeachable:(Adjective) Impossible to discredit; impeccable.
Frederik's heroic act of kindness seemed unimpeachable in the eyes of adults.

Melody Monday #2

It's that time of the week again everyone... Melody Monday! Today marks our first last early out of our high school career, and to continue on the greatness of this week, I thought I should revolve this Melody Monday around the serene sounds of island music. This week features the artist Josh "Wawa" White (click on the name and it leads you to a biography about him). He is a Utahian who lives by the motto ‘You live to learn and learn to live.’ and really captures the essence of good vibes. Fun fact: He could've been a Division I athlete in track but felt the need to pursue a life in music.

So, if you're just having a really good day or want some mellow good vibin music, I suggest you give a listen to this song.
P.S I do not advocate the practices of these actions mentioned in the song (:

I also want to give credit to my friend Cody for introducing me to this artist, thanks for being my music sharing buddy since fourth grade (:

Beowulf Comprehension Question Answers

I had the great opportunity to collaborate with Jacob Fowler, Kylie Sagisi, Colter Knight, and Lesther Venezuela on these comprehension questions. This made the process of understanding Beowulf and completing the questions easier on everyone. The main resource I used was this website. To get a better understanding of the text I used the website shmoop.

Beowulf and Grendel

[Prologue]

1.  The way Shield became ruler of the Danes was unusual because he was an orphan. Although he came from rags, his funeral was one to be admired. It was on a ship at sea with his most loved companions and filled with treasures. Shield is Hrothgar's grandfather.
(Credits to Lesther)

[Heorot is Attacked]

1.       The magnificent work that Hrothgar undertook was the construction of the spectacular mead hall, Herot. The monster Grendel attacked Herot, killing thirty warriors; unable to fend for themselves. The attacks lasted twelve years. The Danes did nothing and continued to suffer.
(Credits to Lesther)

[The Hero Comes to Heorot]1.       When Beowulf hears of Hrothgar's problems with Grendel, he sails out with 14 of his bravest warriors to Herot.
2.       When the Geats arrive in Denmark they first meet a Danish watcher. The watchman asks what business they have in this specific area. Beowulf explains their intentions are not to harm the Danes, but to bring peace by slaying Grendel.
3.       The name of Hrothgar's herald is Wulgar, a messenger. He asks the Geats their business, impressed with their appearances and manners, relays the message to Hrothgar who realizes he had known Beowulf prior to this meeting. I am not surprised Hrothgar knew Beowulf so well because he was well-known across many people for his bravery and nobility.
4.       When Beowulf enters, he tells Hrothgar that he is ready to fight and kill Grendel to protect the kingdom. Hrothgar settled the dispute Beowulf started with the Wulfing’s by paying with old treasure.

(Credits to Lesther)

[Feast at Heorot]

1.       Unferth accuses Beowulf of being too proud, and that Beowulf cannot handle battling against Grendel. Beowulf replied back by describing his perspective of the story Unferth told. He also told about how he killed the sea beast that pulled him down to the bottom of the sea. This episode is relevant to the poem as a whole because the whole poem is about Beowulf battling in different situations. Beowulf accuse Unferth of not participating in any battle.

2.       During the feast, Queen Wealhtheow attended to everyone in the banquet hall and welcomed the Geats.

(Credits to Lesther)

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[The Fight with Grendel] 

1.)  Beowulf prepares for his fight with Grendel by disarming himself which is different because heroes are usually described to have prepared themselves to fight by arming themselves.

2.) When Grendel enters Heorot, Beowulf watches Grendel attack the vulnerable. Beowulf fights Grendel by gripping Grendel’s hand first. When Grendel tries to leave, Beowulf’s men tried to slash Grendel with their swords, but their swords didn’t do much. Grendel escapes to his lair, critically wounded. He left his shoulder and arm behind.

(Credits to Lesther)

[Celebration at [Heorot] 

1. Both Beowulf and Sigemund have defeated a dragon and shown their fearless attributes. Beowulf and Heremond differ in the way that they treat their people. Heremond was a cruel and heinous king and eventually turned on his own people.
2. Hrothgar showers Beowulf in numerous and lavish gifts, and he says that it will bring him happiness. Beowulf proves that he is not mentally weak against Unferth.
3. When the Danes lose against their battle with the Frisians, they propose the idea that the Danish princess will marry the king of the Danes, Finn. This arranged marriage happened often in old times for political reasons rather than attraction and love. They did for the well being of both their kingdoms. For instance if one were to be attacked the other kingdom could help them and vice versa
4. Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar not to give the throne to Beowulf. He wants him to give to his biological son.
5. Beowulf's uncle, Hygelac, receives the necklace, and Wealhtheow asks Beowulf to serve as a guardian figure to her sons.
6. The various men's downfall is when they choose to remain in the hall because they want to continue celebrating Beowulf's victory. This gave Grendel's mother the opportunity to spot them in the hall, and kill them to get back at them for Grendel's death.

(credits to Kylie)

Beowulf and Grendel's Mother 

[Another attack]

1.) Grendel's mother comes to Heorot to avenge her son's death, she comes with an intent to kill and murders one of Hrothgar's closest friends. This is much different then Grendel's reason for killing, because he was so angry at all the noise and celebration.

2.) Hrothgar's response is to tell Beowulf all about the two monsters and their lair, he is so upset because Grendel's mother killed his friend.

3.) The mere (or lake) was a terrible place and Hrothgar was barely able to get through his description. It was a dark, cold place where the "heavens weep", however the moonlight shines on the lake to make it appear that it is on fire.

 (Credits to Jacob)

[Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother]

1. Beowulf doesn't want Hrothgar to worry because he thinks that it is useless to mourn over a friend. So he will seek revenge by killing Grendel's mother.
2. Beowulf see's a head floating on the shore of the lake. It turns out to be the head of one of Hrothgar's friends, Aeschere.
3. He uses his new armor from Hrothgar and Unferth gives his sword, Hrunting, to Beowulf.
4. Grendel's mother pulls him into her underwater layer. As they are traveling down, he sees numerous monsters down there that are trying to attack him as well. Beowulf's armor protects him from the she wolf's vicious claws. It's weird how long it takes to get to the bottom of the lake because it takes over a day.
5. When Beowulf goes to strike Grendel's mother, the sword is shattered.
6. His armor saves Beowulf from being killed. He uses his strength to over power Grendel's mother.
7. Beowulf slits Grendel's mother's throat with the Sword of Eotens. When she's dead, Beowulf decapitates her head. Her blood is so toxic that the sword disintegrates and only the hilt of the sword is left.
8. Nobody is at the surface at the lake because everyone thought that he would be killed by Grendel's mother.
(Credits to Kylie)

[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1.) Beowulf gives Hrothgar the sword.

2.) Hrothgar tells Beowulf about a hauteur king that let his pride in his own wealth lead to his demise. He tells Beowulf about this king, named Heremod, to warn him about the danger of trusting in your own power and that Beowulf needs to be concerned about the afterlife and not about this world.

3.) He remembers at the last second that he needs to give back the sword named Hrunting back to Unferth before he leaves.

(Credits to Jacob)

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1.)  Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will help the Danes by protecting them.

2.)  Hygd is the noble queen of Higelac and daughter of Hæreth. She’s not vain like Modthryth because she won’t kill people for a simple look at her.

3.)  Hrothgar plans to marry his daughter to Ingeld so she can mend the relationship between The Danes and Heathobards and bring them peace. Beowulf expects that it will not be successful and the relationship wouldn’t seem genuine. Beowulf thinks the peace will be broken by wars because of the treaty. This is a new side of Beowulf because he usually thinks unconscionable and thinks more about himself and what he can do then putting thought into others.

4.)  Beowulf reports about his adventures in a very fustian way to boost his self image and glory. But he doesn’t leave any details out and is accurate about the report.

5.)  Beowulf gives his gifts to Hygd and Hygelac. Hygelac gives Beowulf 7,000 hides, a jeweled sword, land, a hall and throne for himself.

Beowulf and the Dragon

[The Dragon Wakes]

1.Part 2 takes place 50 years later. Hygelac and Heardred have died.  Now there is the danger of a dragon.

2. The dragon is angry because a cup was stolen from its treasure.  A man stole the cup to exchange it for his freedom.  The dragon was protecting the treasure for an ancient civilization that had died out.

3. The dragon destroyed the homes of the kingdom.

4. Beowulf believed his home was burnt because he angered God.  He orders a new shield because he knows wooden ones would be useless against the fire-breathing dragon.  He fought this battle armed and felt no shame in doing so.  He will bring the dragon with him to the end of his days.

5. Hygelac died fighting the dragon.  Beowulf swam home after his death.  When he returned home, he was offered to be king and he served as a regent.

6. Heardred was killed by Onela.  Beowulf planned to avenge him by assembling an army to hunt down Onela.

7.  Twelve other men accompany Beowulf.

8. Herebeald was killed accidently by his brother Haekythn.  This depressed King Hrethel and made him focus less on the kingdom and more on his sorrow.  After his death, the Swedes and the Geats waged war.  Haethcyn was killed in battle.  Beowulf avenged Hgyelac’s death by killing the dragon.

(Credits to Colter)

[Beowulf Attacks the Dragon]

1.)   Beowulf being his hauteur self, instructed his companions to let him kill the dragon alone and wait outside.

2.)   The first time Beowulf attacks the dragon, his weapons fail him again which left him with nothing except his bare hands for combat. Wiglaf is different because he is kin to Beowulf and does not flee from the dragon like all the rest of Beowulf’s companions. He reminds his companions of the promise they made to Beowulf and his accomplishments to show them how cowardly they were being. He then joins Beowulf into battle.

3.)   The second time Beowulf encounters the dragon, he fatally wounds himself with the dragons poison. Both Wiglaf and Beowulf kill the dragon but Beowulf ultimately had the last strike.

4.)   The dying Beowulf asks Wiglaf to plunder the dragons treasure and bury him in it to keep status of who he was. Beowulf becomes super excited to see the treasure. Beowulf asks Wiglaf to be buried with the treasure and on a hill so his people know his importance.

[Beowulf's Funeral]

1.       When the companions return, they see Wiglaf trying to revive Beowulf.  Wiglaf scolds the company for not standing by the great Beowulf in his last battle, and he predicts that the Geats will be terrorized by rival clans once again.

2.       The messenger tells the city of Beowulf’s death, and begins to predict things that will happen due to the death of their king.  Overnight, Ongentheow’s army verbally terrorized the Geats, and the next morning, Hygelac returns with a Geat army.  Ongentheow killed a man named Wulf, whose brother, Eofor, ended up killing Ongentheow to avenge his brother’s death.  The messenger tells the Geats to put the gold on Beowulf’s funeral pyre as to melt with his burning body.  The final image of the messengers’ speech is the freshly slain dragon, from Beowulf’s last stand.

3.       Wiglaf tell the crowd that comes to see the dragon and Beowulf? Wiglaf tells the crowd that it is bad to sacrifice yourself on your own will, and warns that doing this will hurt many.

4.       The dragon is left alone, but its hoard is taken by the Geats to use in Beowulf’s funeral pyre.

5.       While Beowulf and all of the treasure from the burrow burn on the pyre, a woman sings a song about the fall of the Geats, and the Geats build a tower over Beowulf’s pyre over the next ten days.

6.       “Said he was kindest of kings under heaven,

Gentlest of men, most winning of manner,

Friendliest to folk-troops and fondest of honor.”

In these lines, the Geats talk of Beowulf’s kindness, friendliness and gentleness.  These are odd words to describe military heroes, at least by today’s standards, because today, military men are portrayed as manly men who do not show much emotion, just stoically save people

(Credit to Lesther's Blog)

My opinion isn't (a) right

-interdependence
    -everything has a ripple effect
    -ex.drugs-> where did you get money -> stealing -> so on
- right creates an obligation to someone else
- you give them the obligation to respect it
-comes down to defining the meaning
- "obligating you to shut up your thoughts"

Limbic- emotional parts
It develops before  reasoning
Schema- routines of thinking to make our lives economic

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate:verb [ with obj. ] formal report or represent in outline: 
Ex. My science teacher made me adumbrate  my findings of social darwinism in a portfolio.

apotheosis: noun the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax
Ex. The apotheosis of the movie 500 Days of Summer was when Summer became engaged.

ascetic: adjective characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons: 
Ex. Buddhists tend to live an ascetic type of life to fulfill their duties of suffering.

bauble:noun a small, showy trinket or decoration. 
Ex. In the movie Inception, the baubles used in the movie symbolize the current state of presence of the mind. 

beguile: verb [ with obj. ] charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way: 
Ex. It was not long before the customer knew she was beguiled into buying the useless book. 

burgeon: verb [ no obj. ] begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish
Ex. The seeds planted during Biology class burgeoned in less than two full days.

complement :noun a thing that completes or brings to perfection
Ex. Shelly had to agree with Marco, Jenna's necklace did complement her use of color blocking.

contumacious: adjective archaic or Law (esp. of a defendant's behavior) stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority. 
Ex. Teenagers sometimes get the idea that being contumacious is the fun way of living life.

curmudgeon: noun a bad-tempered or surly person. 
Ex. Everyone has that one friend that is curmudgeon towards every little mishaps in life.

didactic: adjective intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive: 
disingenuous 
Ex. When I attend leadership camps, the speakers usually are didactic when chosen to speak to us.


exculpate: verb [ with obj. ] formal show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing
Ex. My friend Leila loves to exculpate her friends even though they influence her to make bad choices.

faux pas:noun an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation.  
Ex. I don't remember a day where I haven't had a faux pas moment, I'm awkward everyday.

fulminate: verb express vehement protest: 
Ex. Many kids in AP classes tend to fulminate to their friends about the workload given.

fustian: noun thick, durable twilled cloth with a short nap, usually dyed in dark colors. 
Ex. Boys around town tend to buy more fustian clothes than dri-fit cotton clothes.

hauteur: noun haughtiness of manner; disdainful pride. 
Ex. I know of a person who carries too much hauteur for being in his type of situation.

inhibit: Verb, hinder, restrain, or prevent (an action or process)
Ex. Due to unknown circumstances, the growth of my hair was inhibited.

jeremiad: noun a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes. 
opportunist 
Ex. People who tend to let their jeremiads rule their days, will not understand life in general.


unconscionable: adjective not right or reasonable:
Ex. Whenever I argue with people, my points used in arguments are usually unconscionable compared to the other side of the argument's points.

Melody Monday #1

I've always been a sucker for music, whether it fits the mood or not. So when Dr. Preston handed out our CD's today, I could not have been any more than thrilled to share and express the type of music that I listen to. Personally, my music isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if I could interest the mind of one person, then my day would already be made (: To everyone who reads this, I'm going to start a weekly post about a certain song/artist/genre that I feel should be shared. Every monday is what I am hoping to aim for.

I've been known to have a mellow type of music taste, but I will literally listen to anything and everything. I mean, you never know what you're going to like until you experience it. So, to start off the weekly musical posts, I wanted to provide your ears with the lovely music of the Strokes. They're a band based from New York City and perform rock music. Here's their official site http://www.thestrokes.com/us/home. The song below is called You Only Live Once. The original Y.o.l.o. before this new generations concept of YOLO.

 Enjoy (:

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 knew this class would be a challenge for me but I never knew it would be this much of a challenge. Although I've stacked my plate very high with this class, I feel like it's manageable still. There are several factors that do come to mind though when I think about this class. The fact that I'm constantly busy with sports on the weekends and during the week especially with cross country weekends coming up, I feel like I might have to manage my time better. ALTHOUGH, I am definitely managing my time better than I did last year. Another factor that could affect my participating or experience in this class is the fact that I'm also trying to save up for senior year expenses and going to look for a job. This may not be the best idea to make money, but it's the only one I could think of at the moment that is a steady constant of making money. All in all, I feel that with this class I will have to make difficult choices in what to sacrifice whether it's hanging out with my family and friends, or being a sleep deprived zombie.

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? 

I could think of several moments that have been positive life changing events to me especially since  I've been to numerous leadership camps with outstanding inspirational speakers and gone to hell and back with my best friends a few times. The most recent learning experience that changed me was when my role model Jim Brogan spoke to my RYLA camp, in Ojai with about 200 other kids around the Santa Barbara area, about setting goals and being persistent in life. One of the things I remember the most is his speech about the quote, "Ask and you shall receive." As simple as a phrase it is, not many people have the courage to go beyond a thought or question; simply leaving it as a lost thought. What I learned from that moment on is, that things should not be made more complicated than they already are. A reason as to why people hold back on many questions are because of that inner self conscious voice that tells them wild assumptions about what other people might think of them. If people could learn to put that voice to rest, life would be less difficult then it is. I learned a good lot about my self that day, how I am that person that holds back, when really it's only me against myself. His speech taught me that for a portion of my life I let my inner self conscious voice take control. I still have it today, but I've learned to manage it much better than I used to be.   

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'm excited about everything in this class. I feel like everyday I learn something new either about myself, life, or the class in general. I'm ecstatic for the wide variety of opportunities I could use my imagination and ideas to better my learning and help others too. There's just so much I could so about what I look forward to in learning that I don't think I can put it in words just yet. Although, my only concern is that I won't have enough time... I have a good intuition that I will thoroughly enjoy this class, but sometimes I feel like I won't have enough time to give towards the work in this class. But, this will only be another lesson in my life and this course will play a significant part in my life by being a building block to me learning how to use resources correctly.

Montaigne/ Austen Essay

Not every writer can ramble on into their own thoughts and still make enough sense for the readers to get a gist of what the writer is trying to accomplish. Montaigne is not your average type of writer. He invented the essay, to which many teenagers today despise. Besides that point, Montaigne is a vey unique writer in a way that he speaks,or in this event, writes before he thinks. This statement is quite contradicting on it’s own because to write includes a thought, but Montaigne is the exception because he is the perfect example of stream of consciousness writing. As Wallace states, "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge..." which is how Montaigne's writing style is. In comparison to Jane Austen's writing style, Jane makes Montaigne look mentally insane.

 Montaigne’s biggest literary technique used in his writings is his famously known stream of consciousness. Most of his essays have a point hidden deep down as long as the reader can keep up. Sometimes Montaigne’s essays titles may not even be relevant to the actual essay’s topic, which goes to prove how sporadic his writing can be. At some points he also starts talking about one subject but then switching to another at the end of his spiel like in Of Custom, And That We Should Not Easily Change A Law Received. But, most his essays like That To Study Philosophy Is To Learn To Die keep on the same page as what he is trying to come across, even though through that essay too he gets distracted. This goes to show that the way Montaigne’s writing proves Wallace’s idea of so many ideas in such a little time to express them.

Jane Austen and Montaigne are great writers with the obvious difference that they wrote in two different time periods, which makes them slightly incomparable. The most comparable subject between the two is their writing style. While Montaigne has a general idea that can be lead and go in many directions, Austen has a central idea and builds the story around it. For example, Jane Austen has a couple themes set up in Pride and Prejudice such as family traditions and male roles while Montaigne has a million little different themes through out his book. But, both authors do share the old English diction in their writing which makes both stories more difficult to understand. Both writers try to approach and write about life themes, Austen in a more story like way while Montaigne writes it as his thoughts. Overall, both authors do achieve getting a point across in their writings whether it’s a fictional work of art or like a man writing in his journal.

In conclusion, Montaigne’s expressive way of writing is similar to a scattered brain person with a hint of actually having a purpose. Though as confusing and random his writings may seem, he brings up many great points that not many people today think of consciously. His uniqueness in writing makes him a one of a kind person and brings him out from the rest.