What is to come in Literature: Questions.

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?  
Absolutely nothing at all. The only thing I know is that Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

b) What do you know about Shakespeare?  
I know his writing was very different in his time period and that he wrote Romeo and Juliet. Also that he wrote many other great stories and wrote in Iambic Pentameter.

c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?  
I think this happens because his reading is a little harder to read. If his stories were movies then every kid would love them. However many think that since his style is different it is harder to comprehend or get through.

 d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
Rein-act the play....or have group project on the modern take of the play like Romeo and Juliet was done with Leonardo Decaprio in it. 

Vocab List #7

Aberration - the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.
 Her family was the opposite from what she wanted to be so she decided to take aberration from them and become her own person.

Ad hoc- for the special purpose or end presently under consideration
Ex: The ad hoc committee disbanded after making its final report.

Bane - something causes misery or death, a person or thing that ruins or spoils:
Gambling was the bane of his existence.

Bathos - triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one
The saga of this family brings forth so much indescribable empathy and bathos.

Cantankerous - stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate(disagreeable to deal with)
The boy was always getting in trouble for not paying attention and being cantankerous.

Casuistry - moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
Ex: Alas, nothing in this barrel of casuistry holds water.

De facto - in fact; in reality, actually existing, especially when without lawful authority
 Although his title was prime minister, he was de facto president of the country.

Depredation - a destructive action; the act of preying upon or plundering; robbery; ravage(damage)
His depredation actions caused him to go to jail multiple times and have many people dislike him and his past decisions.

Empathy - understanding and entering into another's feelings
 The neighbor had empathy for the boy who’s dog died because he had his dog die two years ago.

Harbinger - a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another
 No one likes a harbinger person because people like to make choices for themselves.

Hedonism - an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good
But it generates a gentle buzz of pleasure that matches the lazy hedonism of late summer.

Lackluster - lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
The wife was very unhappy with her wedding ring because it lackluster.

Malcontent - discontented as toward authority; not satisfied or content
Ex: The malcontent do not feel satisfied, and seem to be preparing for a sudden violent attack of some kind.

　
Mellifluous - pleasing to the ear
They only reason he always was so mellifluous was because he wanted to get her to like him in a romantic way instead of just a friend.

Nepotism - favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
 She was accused of nepotism when she made her nephew an officer of the firm.

Pander - someone who procures customers for whores (a pimp); arrange for sexual partners for others; give satisfaction to
But interpretive development need not pander to the former, nor seem impoverished to the latter.

Peccadillo - a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling(insignificant) fault
 Compared to the many hells they have done this was a peccadillo act.

Piece de resistance - the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, of a series or group; special item or attraction.
She fell in love with this man and called him her piece de resistance.

Remand - the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial. Refer to another committee or authority or court for decision; lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
 The chance that a given remand prisoner will end his or her life in prison is not unusually high.

Syndrome - a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder or disease
Irritable bowel syndrome may be a lifelong condition.

Literature Analysis #1

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

First of all the name of the main character is Antonio. Ultima is a curandera(healer) that uses herbs and sympathetic magic to help and cure people. She comes to live with Antonio and his family. Ever since Antonio was born his parents have argues whether he will be a Luna like his mom and follow in the steps of becoming a priest or a vaquero (cowboy) like his father. Him and Ultima get a long well and he helps her gathering plants and doing little jobs for her. Antonio is the witness of the death of a man named Lupito who was shot. He then begins to wonder about religion, sin, heaven, and hell. Gabriel (Antonio's father) and Maria (Antonio's mother) argue a lot because Gabriel does not believe in the religious ideas of Maria and he wished to live out in the llanera (prairie) but Maria prefers to live close to church. One day his brothers come back home from the war they are in but they let Gabriel down because instead of staying as a family they are ready to move out and keep exploring and they are also traumatized by the war. Through the rest of the story Antonio faces obstacles that once again make him think twice as to who he shall becomes. Him and Ultima establish a great relationship and her soul becomes an owl that takes care of him. At the very end of the story Tenorio was angry and shot the owl because he knew it was Ultima and thought she was the cause to all the bad that was going on in his life with his daughters. When the owl is shot Antonio begins the process of burying the owl as Ultimas wishes. With herbs and so on Ultima dies peacefully in the proper burial of Antonio. That is where it ends with a new Antonio full of new knowledge.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

To me personally I think the theme that screamed at me was that no matter how much others wish to control you and the person you are to become they can not and you control who you become. Sometimes those people that try to control your future don't know about half the things that you experienced in your life time and therefore they can't have much say. I feel that in this story in particular that is a theme that is not a prominent but is consistent through out and should be noticed. You are who you wish to become no matter how much others say that you sill become something that they want you to be.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

I feel the authors tone is very serious but very thoughtful at the same time. Also I feel the tone progresses with the main character of the story because Antonio starts off as a young innocent boy and after begging to see the real world he becomes very mature and so does the tone of the story. For example when Ultima first moves in it talks about the happy times they spend out collecting the plants for all of her remedies and how close they were becoming. After the first  killing we then notice a change as Antonio goes to reflect on his own and wonders all about life and what he should do in his future because he starts to wonder about sin and religion. The last part is towards the very end when Tenario becomes very angry with Ultima there is a lot of seriousness and very uptight writing leading up to the incident.

4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthen your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts (for each element) that will help your reader understand each one.

One literary device that I found that helped me was imagery for example that Antonio had at the very beginning of the story which was a dream:

"I do not mean the beginning that was in my dreams and thestories they whispered to me about my birth, and the people of my father and mother, and my three brothers"

This really gave me an idea as to the controversial dilemmas the story would carry.

The other elements I used were the sophisticated diction Anaya(the author) used in the book. I feel that by using the actual Spanish words for some areas like curandera, el llano, and so on give you a different outlook to the story and make the setting change.

I also really like the description of the surroundings. The reason I feel this helps further my understanding of the theme is because you need to know he is not in a big city like L.A. were killing might be common but in a small town of very religious morals where killings are not aloud and you will be punished if you commit a murder. 

One last tool that really helped me to understand this story was the symbolism that was used. The use of symbolism was so great from beginning to the end it really put an emphasis on the type of story this was. It was fictional but at some points realistic. I feel the owl as a representative of Ultima was one of the best uses of symbolism in this story.

Some American Pride!! :)

Here is our tune from Thursday in class!!

Vocabulary list #6

1.Beatitude- Supreme blessedness

• After my session in the spa I was in a state of beatitude.

2.bete noire (anathema)- someone or something which is particularly disliked or avoided; an object of aversion, the bane of one’s existence.

• Doing taxes is a bete noire that haunts every young adult when they become independent.

3.Bode- Be an omen of a particular outcome; announce beforehand

• The clouds did not bode well for our picnic!

4. Dank- unpleasantly damp, musty, and typically cold

• The weather was so dank in the morning that the hairstyle I worked on for an hour fell flat in two minutes.

5. Ecumenical- general; universal; Promoting or relating to unity among the world's Christian churches

• The ecumenical prayer service preceded what is expected to be a busy day focusing on national security and economic matters.

6. Fervid- Intensely enthusiastic or passionate; heated or vehement in spirit or enthusiasm. 

• She was such a fervid supporter of the cause that she stayed outside the building day and night during the protest, for a whole week.

7.Fetid- Smelling extremely unpleasant or having an offensive odor

• After three months of being in the jungle Jerry had such a fetid smell no one would approach him until he showered.

8. Gargantuan- gigantic; enormous; colossal:

• Even after gargantuan amounts of rain the houses remained standing and in perfect condition.

9. Heyday- The period of a person's or thing's greatest success, popularity, vigor, strength, or success; an exclamation of cheerfulness, surprise, wonder

• Even after Michael Jackson's so called heyday, he was still very praised and loved throughout his whole life. 

10. Incubus- A male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; a cause of distress or anxiety like a nightmare

• The psychiatrist concluded that the woman was hallucinating her nightly visits with an incubus.

11. Infrastructure- the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization

• The infrastructure of the building had to be reinforced three times in order to meet the earthquake safety requirements. 

12. Inveigle- to acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods

• The guy used his charming features in order to inveigle the answers he wanted from the girl who knew them all.

13. Kudos- Praise and honor received for an achievement  

• The whole school gave her kudos after she won the international competition at the gymnastic meet that was aired worldwide.

14. Lagniappe- Something given as a bonus or extra gift.

• The Christmas gift from his boss was a great lagniappe for Bob that aloud him to buy extra Christmas gifts for his lovely kids.

15. Prolix- Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy

• His essay became so non sequiter and prolix that after the second page I could no longer read it.

16. Protégé- a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his or her career or welfare

• An elderly monk and his young protégé are in the temple praying and fasting.

17. Prototype- the original or model on which something is based or formed

• As soon as they realized the prototype was not working correctly they decided to not go on to mass production.

18. sycophant-A person who acts obsequiously toward someone in order to gain advantage; a servile flatterer

• The sycophant student decided to spend all his free time in class helping his teacher in order to receive an A in that class.

19. tautology- A phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words

• My brother has a tautological view on life believing that the world is either black or white.

20. truckle- to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely; A small barrel-shaped cheese

• Don't truckle to unreasonable commands.

Reading Notes: Until Now!

I feel like this test was a big eye opener for me. I never really focused on taking in detail notes because I never really needed them in my other classes. However this class is so focused on the insight and details that I can no longer do that.

My first set of notes were basically five to ten basic points for each story but now I know that I can't do that. I think the page numbers should be a big duh factor to include now. I think my notes meant nothing to me but now that I see how resourceful they could have been I know how much value I should put in my notes. I think this was definitely my first eye opener to this situation which is strange but I feel like no other class really focused on this aspect of being an individual that will be successful in studying on their own.

Vocab

acumen (noun)- keen insight.

• Capable Lawyers with business acumen are the valuable employees to any firm.

adjudicate (verb)- to settle or determine.

• It is important to adjudicate an argument in a debate in order to have a winning side.

anachronism (noun)- something or someone that is not in its correct historical time.

• The dinosaur walking down the street was a total anachronism to this time period.

apocryphal (adj)- of doubtful authorship or authenticity. 

• When someone sounds more like a wise person online then in person, they can be very apocryphal.

disparity (noun)- inequality

• There will always be disparity of wealth within this society.

dissimulate (verb)- to disguise or conceal under a false appearance.

• In order to have the surprise part be a success, we had to plan and dissimulate all the plans in front of Kate.

empirical (adj)- derived from or guided by experience or experiment

• In order to be a successful scientist you must be an empirical learner that is not afraid to take risks!

flamboyant (adj)- strikingly bold or brilliant; showy

• The man who had a PHD in mathematical education was very flamboyant and never humble about his work.

fulsome (adj)- offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive;overdone or gross

• The fact that the terrorists decided to crash a number of three planes on 9/11 was very fulsome and depressing.

immolate (verb)- to sacrifice

• In order to please gods, some religions require you have an alter and immolate items to keep the gods happy.

imperceptible (adj)- very slight, gradual, or subtle.

• The onions were so well cooked that their taste in the dish was very imperceptible.

lackey (noun)- a servile follower

• K-pop fan girls are the most lackey out of all fan girls anywhere around the world. 

liaison (noun)- a person who initiates and maintains such a contact or connection. 

• A boss is responsible to make a contract and commit to a liaison with his employees.

monolithic (adj)- consisting of one piece; solid or unbroken

• When you buy a box of eggs you want to make sure all the eggs are monolithic.

mot juste (noun)- the exact, appropriate word 

• In order to speak your mind clearly you must find all the mot juste that will fulfill your thoughts.

nihilism (noun)- total rejection of established laws and institutions.

• When a criminal decides to commit nihilism he makes the decision to spend a long time in jail.

patrician (noun)- a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat. 

• When kings existed they were a patrician on the pyramid of rank.

propitiate (verb)- to make favorably inclined; appease; conciliate.

• In order to have a successful club you must have all your decisions propitiated as a leader.

sic (verb)-to incite to attack 

• A bear will sic you without warning if you have food it wants.

sublimate(adj)-to make nobler or purer

• Monks live in ministries  in order to become more sublimate.

Translation

Beowulf ond Godsylla

Meanehwæl, baccat meaddehæle, monstær lurccen;

Fulle few too many drincce, hie luccen for fyht.

Ðen Hreorfneorhtðhrw, son of Hrwærowþheororthwl,

Æsccen æwful jeork to steop outsyd. Þhud! Bashe! Crasch! Beoom! Ðe bigge gye

Eallum his bon brak, byt his nose offe;

Wicced Godsylla wæld on his asse.

Monstær moppe fleor wyþ eallum men in hælle.

Beowulf in bacceroome fonecall bamaccen wæs;

Hearen sond of ruccus sæd, "Hwæt ðe helle?"

Graben sheold strang ond swich-blæd scharp

Stond feorth to fyht ðe grimlic foe. "Me," Godsylla sæd, "mac ðe minsemete."

Heoro cwyc geten heold wiþ fæmed half-nelson

Ond flyng him lic frisbe bac to fen

Beowulf belly up to meaddehæle bar,

Sæd, "Ne foe beaten mie færsom cung-fu."

Eorderen cocca-cohla yce-coeld, ðe reol þyng.

\

Beowulf and Godsylla 

Meanwhile, back at mead-hall, (the) monster lurked;

Full of few too many drinks, he lurked for (a)  fight.

Then Hreorfneorhtðhrw, son of Hrwærowþheororthwl,

Asked (the)  awful jerk to step outside. Thud! Bash! Crash! Boom! The Big guy

All of his bones break (broke?), bit his nose off;

Winced Godsylla wailed on his ass.

Monster mopped (the) floor with all men in (the)  hall.

Beowulf in backroom (was making a)  phone call back home was;

Hear the sound of ruckus say "What the hell"

Grab the shield strong and switch blade sharp.

Stand forth to fight the grim like foe. "Me," Godsylla said, "make the mince meat."

Hero quick getting held framed half-nelson.

And flying him like a Frisbee back and forth.

Beowulf belly up to the mead-hall bar,

Said,"No foe beaten my fearsome kong-fu."

Ordering a coca-cola ice cold, the real thing.

Hero's Journey: Odysseus

1. Departure
1. The Call to Adventure-  Odysseus' call to adventure takes place while he is still in his ordinary world. Hermes travels from Mt. Olympus to tell Calypso that Zeus has declared that Odysseus is to be set free from her detainment of him. She assents to what her fellow immortal has told her, and she grudgingly relates the news to Odysseus that he is at liberty to finally leave her.
2. Refusal of the Call-  At first Odysseus refuses this invitation because he does not want to leave his quiet and peaceful homeland and leave behind his wife and his newly born son.
3. Supernatural Aid-    Pallas Athena, the bright-eyed goddess. Athena helps Odysseus innumerable times throughout his travels. The daughter of Zeus endows Odysseus with advice for which he is greatly faithful and devoted to her.
4. The Crossing of the First Threshold- Odysseus' first threshold is agreeing to leave the island of Calypso, after he has collected her binding oath, and as he sets sail for Ithaca. The strong and just Prince begins his voyage home with the thought in mind of stopping off at some benevolent land and making friends and peace with those people, who will then help him furnish a ship and crew to finally assist him in his voyage home. 
5. The Belly of the Whale-  Odysseus shows the Belly of the Whale archetype when he is on the island with Calypso.  The goddess said, “Every day for the last seven years he’s sat on the same rock gazing out to sea, weeping for home and Penelope.”  This shows he’s hit bottom and there’s no where for him to continue his journey.  Odysseus just stays and wishes for home and his wife.  The light in his darkness comes when Hermes gives the message of freeing Odysseus.  he is finally able to continue on his journey home.
2. Inititation
1. The Road of Trials-  Odysseus' trials segment of his journey does not consist of many events. Although he faces many enemies and feats that he must overcome throughout his struggles getting home from Priamís city of Troy, at this point he faces only one major foe whom definitely provides a non-superficial test for him to pass, and only one entity, being the Phaecians, as his ally. As he begins his journey, Odysseus travels safely for many days, however the immortal curse bestowed upon him by the relentless and unforgiving Poseidon, god of the seas and earthquakes, is yet to befall him.
2. The Meeting with the Goddess-  He has his wife in mind and doesn't really meet any other but Athena who is his aid and is protecting him from bad Goddesses like Calypso.
3. Woman as the Temptress- Odysseus was protected by the love that he held for his wife Penelope back home. Even though there was Calypso, and the siren mermaids he would not fall in order to reach his destiny back with his true love.
4. Apotheosis-   At around the 29th day into the story of the "Odyssey", Poseidon is seething up on high about the release of Odysseus from the caption of Calypso, and still upset by the transgression that the hero waged against his son Polyphemus the Cyclops, he wrecks his raft and Odysseus drifts to the shores of Scheria. He is then helped to get back home by the Paecians.
5. The Ultimate Boon-  Odysseus approaches his inmost cave when he returns to his homeland and finally touches the ground of Ithaca once again. As he wakes up, after being dropped off by the Phaecian sailors, he is immediately confronted by Athena and she drapes him in the guise of an old man, and advises him to first go to the swineherd Eumaeus' field and home. He is now back finally on his own land, the homecoming that he has longed for intermittently, for the past twenty years!

3. Return
1. Refusal of the Return- In this story there is no refusal to return. This whole journey was taken upon so that Odysseus could get back home and be able to go back to his wife and his son. 
2. The Magic Flight-  It must be with great concentration and self-control that he can keep himself from running to his palace and proclaiming his return, an act which would probably have been fatal for him. So he learns from his loyal Euameus all that has befallen his kingdom during his absence, primarily the troubles of the suitors lying in wait to marry his bride Penelope. After learning all this, and meeting his son Telemachus for the first time grown-up, these two lay a plan and trap so that they may slowly test the suitors and all the servants of the palace for their loyalty and their resolve before finally slaying all that have wronged the great and now returned Odysseus.
3. Rescue from Without- Od ysseus' supreme ordeal is obviously facing the suitors and all those that have wronged him. He scrupulously and painstakingly draws out the time between when he first arrives and when he will attack. He remains under the guise of the old man, even up until the time when he kills the first suitor. Only he, the hero, knows when the time will come for the attack. The only other person that knows it is coming is Telemachus, and he is only told to be ready for the sign from Odysseus, whenever he decides that he will wreak his ultimate revenge and unfurl his rage. Eventually Odysseus finds out who is loyal to him and who is not, then finally decides to do the deed that he has waited for with thoughts of blood for about two or days. He kills all of the suitors in a battle in the main courtyard of the palace, then has the disloyal maids also executed.
4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold-  His reward is winning back his place of power and being able to be with his wife again, his son, and his surviving father.
5. Master of the Two Worlds-   I believe that Odysseus' road back can be symbolized by his journey on the road to see his father Laertes and bring him back so that he may live with him finally in peace in the palace. Odysseus has to face his last enemy in this denouement section of his journey in the object of the suitor's angry fathers who come after him with a hord from the city to kill Odysseus for his slaughter of the suitors. Odysseus, Telemachus, and even Laertes, of course with the help of the mentor Athena, fend of these aggressors and kill them too.
6. Freedom to Live-  The return with the elixir is when Odysseus and his loyal friends finally defeat his last threat to their survival, and peace is wrought over the entire place of Ithaca by Athena and the rest of the immortal gods up on high.

Joseph Campell's Hero's Journey

Here is the break down I found online and what I used as my guide.

1. Departurece.
   1. The call to adventure is the point in a person's life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not.
   2. Often when the call is given, the future hero refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.
   3. Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known.
   4. This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known. 
   5. The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. It is sometimes described as the person's lowest point, but it is actually the point when the person is between or transitioning between worlds and selves. The separation has been made, or is being made, or being fully recognized between the old world and old self and the potential for a new world/self. The experiences that will shape the new world and self will begin shortly, or may be beginning with this experience which is often symbolized by something dark, unknown and frightening. By entering this stage, the person shows their willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, to die to him or herself.
   
   
   
   B Inititation
   1.  The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.
   2. The meeting with the goddess represents the point in the adventure when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. It is also known as the "hieros gamos", or sacred marriage, the union of opposites, and may take place entirely within the person. In other words, the person begins to see him or herself in a non-dualistic way. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely. Although Campbell symbolizes this step as a meeting with a goddess, unconditional love and /or self unification does not have to be represented by a woman.
   3. At one level, this step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which as with the Meeting with the Goddess does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. For Campbell, however, this step is about the revulsion that the usually male hero may feel about his own fleshy/earthy nature, and the subsequent attachment or projection of that revulsion to women. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.
   4. In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power. For the transformation to take place, the person as he or she has been must be "killed" so that the new self can come into being. Sometime this killing is literal, and the earthly journey for that character is either over or moves into a different realm.
   5. To apotheosize is to deify. When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. This is a god-like state; the person is in heaven and beyond all strife. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.
   6. The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.
   
   
   
   C  Return
   1. So why, when all has been achieved, the ambrosia has been drunk, and we have conversed with the gods, why come back to normal life with all its cares and woes?
   2. Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon, if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey as it was to go on it.
   3. .Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience. Or perhaps the person doesn't realize that it is time to return, that they can return, or that others need their boon.
   4. The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult.
   5. In myth, this step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.
   6. Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

Vocabulary Sentences List #4

Apostate: One who has abandoned one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause

• They considered all sinners apostates, as well as all those who opposed them. 

Effusive: Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy

• From when I first read the script I was looking for a part that was not particularly effusive and affectionate.

impasse:  A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate

• On the positive side, his proposal would also provide an avenue out of a political impasse.

euphoria:  A feeling of great happiness or well-being

• One dictionary defines marijuana as the leaves and flowering tops taken to induce euphoria.

lugubrious:  Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree.

• The rest of the movie is even heavier and more lugubrious.

bravado:  a pretentious, swaggering display of courage. 

• Skill practices and on-the-spot defensive driving techniques help change bravado to confidence.

consensus:  majority of opinion:

•  The consensus of the group was that they should meet twice a month. 

dichotomy:  division into two parts, kinds, etc. 

• There is a way to bridge the dichotomy between science and religionthat brings into question blind beliefs on both sides.

constrict:  to draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink; compress. 

• She is worried about talk that the music  program might constrict with the economy.

gothic:   noting or pertaining to a styleof architecture, originating in France in the middle of the12th century and existing in the western half of Europethrough the middle of the 16th century, characterized by theuse of the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, by the use offine woodwork and stonework, by a progressive lightening ofstructure, and by the use of such features as flyingbuttresses, ornamental gables, crockets, and foils. 

• The gothic building give an eerie feeling do to their age and condition.

punctilio:  a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony,or procedure. 

• They really seem to show a readiness to stand on punctilio andceremony.

metamorphosis:   A transformation, as by magic or sorcery. 

• A caterpillar must go through metamorphosis  in order to become a butterfly.

raconteur:  a person skilled in telling stories 

• When books did not exist, selected individual were selected and named raconteurs due to their magnificent skill.

sine qua non:  An essential element or condition 

• The perfect cake is the sine qua non of the carefully planned modern wedding.

quixotic: Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.

• At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious.

vendetta:  A feud between two families or clans that arises out of a slaying and is perpetuated by retaliatory acts of revenge; a blood feud. 

• It was almost as if she had a personal vendetta against the machine, but she was a very pleasant lady.

non sequitur: An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence.

• Evidently his voice, language and mannerism were consistent with his looks; even the apparent non sequitur.

mystique:  An aura of heightened value, interest, or meaning surrounding something, arising from attitudes and beliefs that impute special power or mystery to it 

• He has retained a certain mystique which makes him such a compelling character.

quagmire:  . A difficult or precarious situation; a predicament. 

• The rules governing eligibility for international representation have created a political quagmire for several sports in northern ireland.

parlous: Perilous; dangerous:

• The lebanon situation looks parlous despite an apparent ceasefire.

Literature Analysis Choice

The book I am going to be reading will be Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. The reason that I will be reading this book is because when I got it as a summer homework assignment I did not actually read it. To be honest I used spark notes to be able to get credit for my notes. I feel that I must now go back and actually give the story a shot in order to analyze the story and actually read it. That is my honest reason as to why I chose a book that I should have already read but didn't at that point. I feel that it is actually a good story so that is also why I am going to read this book.