Breathing Dreams like air- blog 13

     The American Dream is defined as the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Despite this, I believe that the American Dream is different for every person living in the United States. Everyone has different goals they are pursuing and different aspects of life bring them happiness. Personally, I would describe the American Dream as the freedom to do whatever I want and follow my personal dreams. My definition of wealth is not material goods. I value material goods and understand that money is a necessity, but only consider money as a means to facilitate my happiness. To me, wealth is found in experiences and moments in my life where I am very happy. This happens the most when I am outdoors or spending time with people I love. A wealthy person is someone who lives a fulfilling life and is always happy. Most americans tie wealth into money. The average person views wealth based on the paycheck someone takes home. Someone is wealthy if they have a lot of money and they are poverty stricken if they do not have much cash. I disagree with this common belief because there are many people with a huge amount of money are not happy while there are many people with almost no money who are a joy to be around and love life. Money is a means to happiness, but being rich is not the same as being wealthy. A wealthy person is someone who is happy because they love what they are doing with their life. I believe that monetary wealth and poverty play a small role in the whole scheme of things. As long as someone has a positive outlook on life and are doing what they love, I would consider them very wealthy.  

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in IB Language & Literature Year 2 blog post 15

It was sunny yet cold outside as I tied into the rope and patted climbing chalk onto my calloused hands. Today was the day I would retry Arms Control at Pilot Mountain. The last time I climbed this route, I could not finish the roof and fell nearly twenty feet. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I placed my hands on the cool, rough rock and then moved my feet onto the wall. The first few moves were very hard. I grasped the tiny crimps and strained to move myself up the route. Soon, I was past the difficult start and onto the easy and juggy holds midway through the climb. Smoothly, I clipped each bolt and clambered closer and closer to the intimidating roof climb. I got to the rest stop on the route and sat back to steady my breathing before I attempted the roof. After a few seconds, I began to climb again and moved up right under the roof. I grabbed the huge jug and set my feet before the big move. I gritted my jaw, moved my right hand out to the slippery crimp and jumped with all my might for the big hold on the edge of the roof. Got it! Excitement surged throughout me, but I remembered that the climb still wasn't done. I clipped the bolt on the roof and traversed along the jugs until I was right below the chains at the top of the climb. I reached up for a great hold right by the chains and pulled myself to victory. I had completed the climb and had gotten my first 5.11 outdoors! Extremely happy, I lowered myself down the rope to the praise of the climbers below. Arms Control had given me a great deal of trouble, but I finally climbed it. 

Here I am on the crux move of Arms Control (5.11d)

Blog Post 14 Witty Whitman

Step 1: Reading Whitman's notebook was an interesting experience. Often, his notes were different to make out. I appears that this notebook was a place for him to write down any idea that comes to mind before he forgets it. The notebook hosts a wealth of ideas and poems such as "The Hills of Brooklyn" and "The Ship of Libertad." Among the notes, Whitman also had various drawing and sketches of men, possibly those mentioned in his poems. It appears to me that the sketches and poems all represent ideas and theories that Whitman had throughout his life. The notebook was the foundation for the poems he wrote and he used it to record all of his ideas, so he could later organize them into cohesive poems. After looking throughout Whitman's notes, it is obvious that he is very creative and used poetry to express his ideas and beliefs.

Step 2: After taking a deeper look at the notebook through the helpful translations, I concluded that my original opinion of Whitman's notebook was mostly accurate. Whitman's priceless notebook was a place where he could absorb in his thoughts and record notes and bits of poetry that were based on his lifetime experiences and the people he idolized or interacted with. Lincoln, Whitman's favorite president was mentioned in the notebook because of Whitman's enormous respect for him. After reading the yellow notes of Whitman's book, I observed that many of his notes were based of the time period he lived in. Whitman experienced the brutality of the civil war and a great deal of his notes were melancholy accounts of the bad emotions that arose on either side during the civil war. Whitman used the civil war as grounds for a great deal of poems. A deeper look at the notebook revealed that Whitman was very observant, and similar to a sponge, absorbed details from his surroundings and used them in all of his poetry.

Blog Post 12, Nothing Really Mattress

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
Syntax- uneasy, transformed, gigantic, insect
Imagery/details- He slept poorly, and and transformed into a strange creature
Structure- simple, concise
Other stylistic/figurative elements- introductory sentence
#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
Syntax- uneasy, changed, giant, bug
Imagery/details- Reader can picture Samsa as a giant bug
Structure- short, concise
Other stylistic/figurative elements- doesn't provide much information, short intro sentence 
#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.
Syntax- troubled, transformed, enormous, bug
Imagery/details- more detailed, reader knows he awoke in his bed
Structure- longer, but not run on
Other stylistic/figurative elements- leaves the reader asking why 

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

Syntax- agitated, transformed, monstrous, vermin

Imagery/details- included the most detail, reader gets a mental picture

Structure- choppy, wordy

Other stylistic/figurative elements- introduction sentence, hook

How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

     Word choice plays a very import role in determining the meaning of a sentence. Each translation provided covers the exact same scenario, but word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery make the sentences a little bit different than each other. In every sentence, different words are used to describe Samsa's sleep and the creature he changes into. The different word choices make the sentences have slightly different interpretations by the reader. Some of the sentences provide a more detailed description of setting, while others are simpler and leave the reader asking even more questions. Word choice is the most effective way of manipulating the meaning of a sentence because changing one word could leave the sentence meaning something completely different. Good word choice is vital if an author wants to effectively convey the intended meaning of a sentence or text. 

     This exercise shows that translating texts can be a very difficult business. If even a slight mistake is made, then the meaning of the sentence can be lost or changed. Different translations can cause the tone of the sentence to be altered. By changed a word from one language into a similar but not exact word from another language, the entire tone of the sentence can shift from passive to aggressive or interested to passionate. Each word was specifically chosen by the original author and is extremely important to the overall meaning. Translators need to be careful they do not make mistakes that could alter an author's original intention. 

Blog Post 11- Freebie!!!!

FREEBIE!!

I've got you covered

I decided to compare the bottom two covers of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. These images cover the same story, but show it a two very different angles. The cover on the left captures a beautiful part of the story where Ruth, Kathy, and Tommy go visit a boat that washed up near one of the donation clinics. This is a very emotional scene, and the three friends share a heartwarming moment where they connect one last time before Ruth passes away.  The cover mimics the warm glow of a sunset at the beach and is very calming. The cover on the right is a much bleaker cover that focuses on the purpose of the clones. It brings out the gruesome side of the story and reminds the reader of the bleak outcome the clones are destined for. They will eventually donate their organs until they "complete." This cover uses much bleaker colors and, while it covers the same story as the cover on the left, it is centered around the sad side of the story.

Left Cover:
1. Peaceful, Beautiful, Calming. This cover makes me think of my summer trips to the beach where I get to relax with friends and spend time with family. I love relaxing on the beach and watching the majestic sunset, and this cover evokes many memories of evening beach strolls.
2. If I didn't read the novel, I would think it was a love story about a fisherman and his wife. He would go out in dangerous weather to catch fish, and she would always be afraid he wouldn't make it back. This image captures a beautiful part of the actual story by Ishiguro where the three friends are sharing a moment together before they all complete.
3. The boat washed up on the shore is depicted on the cover. It is pictured from the same view the three friends would have had when they visited. They sat on the beach and admired the sun set over the boat.
4. The cover depicts the book constructed as a love story. It shows a beautiful scene in the story.
5. People who enjoy writing about love stories would right this book. People who enjoy reading about heartwarming love stories would read this book.

Right Cover:
1. Bleak, Sad, Melancholy. This cover makes me think if the Holocaust. It depicts a skinny human torso silhouetted with barbed wire.
2. If I didn't read the novel, I would think it was a bleak love story, centered around two Jews in concentration camps. They would be separated by the Nazis, but would always try to survive, so they would be reunited after the war.
3. The skinny torso depicts one of the clones. It shows their organs and focuses on their sole purpose of existence. We are looking at the viewpoint from the non-sympathetic humans. They only look at the clones as organ factories.
4. This cover depicts the book as a melancholy story.
5. People who enjoy writing sad stories would right this book. People who enjoy reading about sad, but touching stories would read this book.

Blog Post Nine, Once Upon a Time

https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_sabia_the_technology_of_storytelling

     TED talks are a very interesting way for speakers to convey revolutionary ideas and speeches. In the Technology of Storytelling, Joe Sabia explains the evolution of storytelling and how new technologies changed it over thousands of years. He speaks to an enlightened and interested audience. The people at TED talks are usually well educated and eager to hear the speaker. Sabia begins by introducing Lothar Meggendorfer, the creator of the first pop up book. This is an excellent lead into his presentation, and throughout the video, he tells us how storytelling was revolutionized and has become more interesting and interactive as more technology was created. He explains that the stories often remained consistent and the messages behind them were generally the same, but the human race has progressed from "depicting hunting on cave walls to depicting Shakespeare on Facebook walls" (Sabia). His presentation was very interactive and drew the viewer in because he gave the whole talk using his iPad as the background. He referenced funny pictures, provided real examples, and maintained the audience's attention. He spoke relatively fast and kept his presentation concise, yet full of information on the subject. He did a great job of including the audience, and there was never a dull moment. I picked this talk because of the intriguing title. I actually thought it was going to explain the methods behind telling a good story and was surprised when Sabia instead talked about the actual technology used to portray stories. I can really relate to this talk because I have used a great deal of technology when reading or listening to stories. I love books on tape because they make car rides shorter, and I can work out while listening to them. When I was smaller, I loved picture books because they kept my attention and allowed me to see what was going on in the story. Sabia's presentation was very interesting and included a wealth of information of the progression of the methodology behind storytelling.