Applied Modernism

Rough Draft

"Richard Corey" is a modernist poem. The way that the author describes the bleak futures of everyone around Richard Corey who are looking at him knowing that their lives will never be that good is a form of modernism. When you have those people working hard to earn their money to support their families and then Richard Corey goes and commits suicide. It must mean that he was not happy. Money can't buy happiness is a key modernist phrase here. You can also see the whole "inner world vs outer world" phrase after Richard kills himself. On the outside he looks happy and contempt with his fine clothing and wealth pouring from his pockets yet something wasn't right on the inside. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

"Fahrenheit 451" is definitely a modernist style novel, even after reading the first page you can tell. The way the world is depicted in a sort of chaotic and destructive way with the war and a bleak future as well as the burning of books. He might as well have been burning knowledge. Montag's thought process can also be a modernism factor. The way his mind is dead set on one thing and one thing only, doing his job and slaving away day after day. Another contributing factor to this being a modernist novel is how Montag and Faber stick it to the man by breaking the rules just like T.S. Elliot did with his writing style of layering meaning.

"The First Seven Years" is a modernist story. Just like I have stated previously, there is rebellion in this short story too. The daughter of Feld does not want to go to college or rely on a man to keep her safe. She wants to be independent and find a job to begin her life after high school. Although it may be hard to see it, this story has an "unreliable narrator" that is changing his decision as the story progresses, just like a modernistic writing style. Lastly, it shows the inner world of Sobel, the man in love with Feld's daughter. It shows his thoughts and struggles as the story continues.

LAQ for February

General:
1. There is no real plot to the novel that I am reading. It is an autobiography of a the U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.
2. The theme (in my opinion) is that war is an awful thing.
3. The author's tone changes through the story. Mainly he consistently talks about wanting to be in the action.
Excerpts: "She was too blinded by evil to consider them. She just wanted Americans dead, no matter what."
"We were excited, we figured we were going to war."
"Newcomers - always called new guys - are treated like hell until they prove they belong."
4. The author experiences flashbacks of his childhood in Texas.
Just about 100% of this story is nonfiction, straight from the mouth of a Navy SEAL.
Imagery: "The desert wasn't entirely empty. While there were long stretches of wilderness, there were also towns and very small settlements strung out in the distance."
Simile: It was so hot that day it was like the road was the surface of the sun and melted our boots.
the antagonists here are the local insurgents who will do anything to kill an American.
Dynamic: "Every guy who survived through BUD/S was changed dynamically."
Direct Characterization: "Marines are gung ho no matter what. They will all fight to the death."
First Person: The narrator tells the story through his eyes using I, we, me, and us.
Irony: The people that the narrator and friends are trying to protect actually try to kill him too.
Characters: The book has many characters. Mostly Military personal working with the narrator.

Characterization:
Since this story is an autobiography describing the narrator's accounts in the Middle East, there is only really direct characterization.
1. "I grew up on the farm and have always been a cowboy, from the time I put my first pair of ranch boots on to when I roped my first cow."
"I have always loved guns, I practiced with them often and had quite a few of my own."
2. The author really does not focus on character all that much, since most of the time is in combat and doesn't have the time to describe what the guy next to him is like.
3. The narrator is a dynamic round character, with each experience he changes and grows stronger while fighting in the war.
4. I feel like I have met a person coming away from this book. Since the whole book was about him and it was all nonfiction.

My Modernist

I chose Mark Twain as my modernist because he wrote the Adventures of Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer. Those are 2 of my favorite books and describe a setting that I would have loved to been born into.

Spring Vocab 5

Sorry Dr. Preston, I was a little late on this one because my internet was down yesterday and I did not see the blog.

1. Deference- Submission or courteous yielding to the opinion, wishes, or judgement of another.

2. Enigmatic- Difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.

3. Definitive- Conclusion or agreement reached decisively and with authority.

4. Bumptious- Self assertive or proud to an irritating degree.

5. Choleric- Bad tempered or irritable.

6. Bulwark- A defensive wall; a person, institution, or principle that acts as defense.

7. Adamant- Refusing to be persuaded or to change one's mind.

8. Curtail- Reduce or restrict of a quantity; deprive someone of something.

9. Profligate- Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources.

10. Mawkish- Showing too much emotion.

11. Thwart- To prevent someone from accomplishing something.

12. Onus- Used to refer to something that is one's duty or responsibility.

13. Requisite- A thing that is necessary for the achievement of a specified end.

14. Mollify- To appease the anger or anxiety of someone.

15. Sartorial- Of or relating to tailoring clothes or style of dress.

16. Presentiment- An intuitive feeling about the future. One of foreboding.

17. Impromptu- Done without being planned, organized, or rehearsed.

18. Forbearance- Patient self-control; restraint and tolerance.

19. Remit- Cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting punishment/ debt.

20. Brouhaha- Overly excited response.

21. Demeanor- Behavior toward others.

22. Cloy- To cause distaste or disgust by supplying with too much of something originally pleasant, especially something rich or sweet.

I Am Here

So far this course has been challenging. Especially because I have never had to post homework online before. A part of my smart goal is to take the SAT test and Dr. Preston has helped me with that a little so I will be getting there soon. As far as a senior project, this is the first time I have heard of one and I am not sure what it is about so hopefully I will get more info on that.

In Mildred's Parlor

Mildred keeps begging him to destroy the books because it is very dangerous to have them. They could lose their home and be locked away in an insane asylum if they're caught. Although when Mildred's friends show up and they start talking about how much they hate children and everything. Montag decides to step in. He reads the poem Dover Beach out of a book. Mildred tries to cover it up by saying that every year firemen get to bring home one book. Montag reads:

The sea is calm tonight, 
The tide is full, the moon lies fair 
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light 
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, 
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. 
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!

Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Agean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

This brings Mrs. Phelps so much emotion that she is used to locking away that she bursts out into tears because she cannot handle the feelings that she has been hiding. Both of Mildred's friends leave her house.

I was not able to film anything because I was gone all weekend on a hike. My apologies.

Essay PostGame Analysis

I think that I did well on my essay. I did not expect to have one when I walked into class though. There are a few things I could improve on, one would be to make my point more clear when writing. Next time I will definitely study the book a little more. I probably earned a B+.

Parlor Poetry

Montag chose the poem Dover Beach because it brought up so many emotions that the women in the parlor try to hide on a daily basis and he knew this so it affected them deeply.

Spring Vocab

Praetorian- A member of the Praetorian Guard

Sieve- A utensil consisting of a mesh held in a frame, used for straining solids from liquids.

Veiled- Cover with or as though with a veil.

Saccharine- A sweet tasting synthetic compound, used in food and drink as a substitute for sugar.

Harlequin- A mute character in traditional pantomime, typically masked and dressed in a diamond patterned costume.

Toil- Work extremely hard or incessantly.

Delinquents- Young people that commit minor crimes and/or neglect their duties.

Gibbering- Speak rapidly and unintelligibly, typically through fear or shock.

Insidious- Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects.

Strewn- Scatter or spread things untidily over a surface or area.

The Time of My Life

I used the 35 minutes of my time to read my book and catch up on the work that I missed when I was absent for 3 days.