Thursday, December 12, 2013

Totally Wicked Promo Code Jan. 2014

This blog was about my english lit class before this. Now I think I'll just post whatever I want on it when I feel like it :)

The Promotional code for January 2014 is: NY2014
for a 25% discount :)

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Essay on Surroundings Effect On Character



Another Country transports the reader to the New York of the 1950's. A city ahead of its time, struggling to close the gap between the outdated morality and racism of the first half of the century, and the imagined utopia of today. Set amidst daunting skyscrapers and harsh city streets, the book brings the city to life, and makes it a character as dangerous as anyone who may prowl the dark city streets at night. Each of the other characters must deal with the psychological effects of the city in their own way; some will make an uneasy peace with New York City and others will be crushed under the weight of its looming towers.
     For the struggling writers and artists in the book, the city is their muse. A microcosm of cultures, representing a brave new world of change and revolution. These souls live in a self-imposed world of struggle and anonymity. Each day that passes brings them one step closer to the life they believe they want, and one step farther from the people they believe themselves to be. They find themselves trapped between a desire for success and the realization that success may come at the price of their values, and perhaps even their souls. They search their lives for every problem and every sorrow the world has to offer. The city bustles around them. People come in and out of their lives, but no person can take the place of New York itself. The city cannot survive without its people, nor the people without their city.
     For those characters that have come to New York to escape the quiet pleasant world in which they grew up, the city is a rebellion. The sirens’ call of the unknown draws them to the dangers and challenges of a world they've never experienced. Their struggle is interior. Not forced to live in the abject poverty of many of their fellow inhabitants, they are free to imagine themselves as accepting and open minded. They view the streets from a distance, and falsely believe they understand the suffering of those who cringe under the city's harsh lights. They attempt to convince themselves they are struggling, searching, and trying to achieve success. In truth, their searching is half-hearted; the success they long for is the very thing that will turn them against themselves and each other. The city has called to them as a place of sacrifice; demanding their blood and their tears. When they have no more to offer, the city will turn them out, and their rebellion will be over.
     For a beleaguered few, the city lures them into an oasis of acceptance. In a world not yet ready to accept those who are gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual, New York opens its concrete arms and welcomes them in. The city is no kinder to them than to its other victims. The introspective aura, and streets filled with the walking dead, soon overpowers them. They are given the freedom to express their sexual identity, but in return they must give the city their souls. Relationships become complicated, confused, and painful. Many search for love, only to find the search endless, and the cost of searching very steep. Those who find love, balance it carefully on a precipice as steep and dangerous as the ledges of the spiraling skyscrapers. They feel trapped in a city as cold and unfeeling as the river that flows beneath its bridges. They have no choice but to remain there, refugees from a world of intolerance.
     For those who struggle against poverty and racism, the city is a harsh task master. It's cracked and dirty streets hold little compassion or promise. Each generation of New York's poor struggles through life, just as the generations before. They find their hopes crushed, and their dreams shattered. The cold streets and impersonal structures hold no solace for them. They sell their bodies, and their souls, with little hope of redemption or absolution. Forced to survive on their wits and courage, they do what it takes to put food on their tables. Their fellow inhabitants may try to befriend them, and may even venture to love them, but the city knows their history. It is carved into the stone of each building in Harlem, never to be forgotten. The city holds few surprises for them. Its cavernous streets are a dark and dangerous jungle, where they can trust no one, and no one can trust them. New York is the only home they have ever known; a city that is both their guardian, and their captor.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Multiple Choice Questions on Another Country

1. "The beat--in Harlem in the summertime one could almost see it, shaking above the pavements and the roof." This passage is an example of:
a. Hyperbole
b. Synethesia
c. Personification
d. Zeitgeist

2. "If the world wasn't so full of dead folks maybe those of us that's trying to live wouldn't have to suffer so bad." What literary element is present in this passage?
a. Paradox
b. Allusion
c. Apostrophe
d. Hyperbaton

3. "the teeth of the world are sharp." This excerpt from Another Country is an example of:
a. Personification
b. Metaphor
c. Metonymy
d. Chiasmus

4. What literary element is present in the following sentence: "Tum-ta-tum, tum-ta-tum, tum-ta-tum, tum-ta-tum! went the music."
a. Simile
b. Onomanopia
c.  Epizeuxis
d. Induction

5. "(as though her mind, for a moment, were a clear pool, and she saw straight down into its depths).." This excerpt is an example of:
a. Oxymoron
b. Allusion
c. Zeugma
d. Metaphor






Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Lit Terms



Omniscient Point of View:  knowing all things, usually the third person


Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox                                     .

Pacing:  rate of movement; tempo.
Parable:  a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth.
Paradox:  a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.
Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.
Parody:  an imitation or mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.
Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.
Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.












Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.
Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.         
Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.













Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.
Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word to emphasize different meanings.
Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.
Realism: writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.
Requiem: any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.
Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.
Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
Rhetorical Question:: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.

BNW Essay Intro Just



I hate my writing so much...

The separation of Savage and Civilization illuminates The Brave New World’s ignorance and contorted morals. To leer and scoff at something individual and self-sustained such as the savage’s existence proves the need for structure and loss of individuality within “civilized” society. The savage shows the reader that brainwashed, drugged, and judgmental society can be acceptable if it’s part of the majority’s way of life. We value the name brand regardless if another product is more effective; the savage is the store brand, not well known and not popular but still a big part of how society functions as a whole.