Pre-Will Questions

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"? 
Not much, only that The Lion King is based off of Hamlet!
b) What do you know about Shakespeare? I don't know much about Shakespeare as a regular person. I've only read some of his work.
c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?
Most students have trouble understanding that kind of language and it is a very long process to read and then break down what he is saying and all the possible interpretations.
d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
Help me understand it completely!!

Vocab #7

aberration; the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.

Dying her hair purple was an aberration.

ad hoc; for the special purpose or end presently under consideration.

The committee was formed ad hoc to solve the mystery.

bane; a person or thing that ruins or spoils.

The negative girl was a bane on the whole party.

bathos; sentimentality, mawkishness.

Her speech had a lot of bathos.

cantankerous; disagreeable to deal with, contentious, quarrelsome.

Some cats are nice and others are cantankerous and crazy

casuistry; oversubtle or misleading reasoning.

Her explanation had casuistry and she was not trusted. 

de facto; in fact, in reality. something agreed upon without favor. 

Nobody was elected, so he became president de facto.

depredation; robbery

He performed depredation on the woman when she was walking home.

empathy; The understanding of another's feelings.

I felt empathy for her when I saw her crying.

harbinger; anything foreshadowing something else. sign or omen.

The car crash was a harbinger that she should not go to Las Vegas.

hedonism; the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good.

He was notorious for his practice of hedonism.

lackluster; lacking brilliance or radiance, dull.

Her prom dress was pretty but also very lackluster. 

malcontent; not satisfied or content with current prevailing conditions or circumstances.

She was malcontent at her current job.

mellifluous; sweetly or smoothly flowing.

The honey was mellifluous.

nepotism; favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship.

Her mother expressed nepotism when she hired her daughter on the spot.

pander; a person who caters to or profits from the weaknesses or vices of another.

The cigarette shop was a pander.

peccadillo; a small offense

Dropping the glass was a peccadillo

piece de resistance; prized feature

The turkey was the piece de resistance at Thanksgiving.

remand; to send back

He had to remand the waiter to the kitchen because he got his order wrong.

syndrome; a group of symptoms that together are characteristics of a specific disorder or disease.
Her constant mood swings and depression were a syndrome of depression.

Literature analysis

1. Winston Smith is the main character and the year is obviously 1984. He lives in Oceania in London and is a part of the ruling party there. The party is watching everything he does and basically frowns upon all individuality. The book details how he gets really frustrated with the oppression and then eventually has to accept it.

2. One theme from 1984 is loyalty. Everyone is expected to be loyal to the party even if they do not agree with their actions.

3. The author's tone is pessimistic. "He sat back. A sense of complete helplessness had descended upon him. To begin with, he did not know with any certainty that this was 1984." p.94 "At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration, and Big Brother seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector..." p.101 "He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether he himself was a lunatic. Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one." p.162

4. Foreshadowing is used when O'Brien glances at Winston and that makes Winston think that he is a part of the brotherhood. Narrative when telling what happens to Winston, Julia, and the big brother agents who capture them. Irony is used when Winston is tortured but then he loves the party by the end of the story. Simile is used when he says "Life was like a restless dream." p.192 Imagery is used on page 146 when he writes "She was standing near a doorway in the wall, under a street lamp that hardly gave any light. She had a young face, painted very thick. It was really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of it, like a mask, and the bright red lips."

Vocab # 6!

Obsequious; 

characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning.

obedient; dutiful.

The fan was obsequious and loved the famous singer.

Beatitude; supreme blessedness; exalted happiness.

When her boyfriend proposed to her she experienced beatitude.
Bete noire; a person or thing especially dreaded or disliked.

He criticized everyone and was considered a bete noire.
Bode; predict

She asked the fortune teller to bode her future.
Dank; unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and often chilly.

The towel was dank and did not keep me warm.
Ecumenical; universal

His angst was ecumenical and all the kids his age were experiencing it.
Fervid; enthusiasm.

She was fervid about the school trip.
Fetid; having an offensive odor

The dead body was fetid and made the coroner feel sick.
Gargantuan; gigantic; colossal.

The pancake was gargantuan and the size of my head!
Heyday; the stage of greatest vigor, strength, and success.

The business experienced its' heyday when they started a sale.
Incubus; a nightmare.

He experienced an incubus when he was very stressed out.
Infrastructure; foundation.

Communication was the infrastructure of their relationship.
Inveigle; to entice, lure, or persuade.

He tried to inveigle the teacher into giving him a better grade.
Kudos; honor, glory, acclaim.

He received kudos for scoring the winning touchdown.
Lagniappe; a gratuity or tip.

She gave the waitress a lagniappe.
Prolix; long and wordy.

The teacher said the essay was prolix and should be revised.
Protege; a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his or her career or welfare.

The singer was a protege and under the care of his manager.
Prototype; the original in which something is based off of.

The doll was a prototype and still in the process of being perfected.
Sycophant; a self seeking, servile flatterer.

The teacher's pet was a sycophant and only wanted to get a better grade.
Tautology; repetition.

The song was heavy in tautology.
Truckle; to submit tamely.

She decided to truckle because she was afraid of getting in a fight.  

Vocab #5!

Acumen; keen insight, sharpness, the ability to judge well, shrewdness.
The girl had an acumen for choosing her friends.

Adjudicate; to settle or determine judicially.
The judge had to adjudicate the case.

Anachronism; Something or someone that is not in correct historical time or chronological order.
The girl felt she was an anachronism and should've been born in the 60's.

Apocryphal; Of doubtful authorship or authenticity.
The teacher thought the paper was an apocryphal.

Disparity; Lack of similarity or equality.
Her fingerprint was a disparity.

Dissimulate; To disguise or conceal under a false appearance.
He didn't want the girl to know his feelings so he had to dissimulate them.

Empirical; Derived from experience
Her advice on boys was empirical.

Flamboyant; Strikingly bold or brilliant, showy.
The dress was flamboyant and had many bright colors and designs.

Fulsome; Offensive to good taste, excessive, overdone.
Her makeup was fulsome and tacky.

Immolate; To sacrifice, to kill by fire.
He had to immolate his happiness for his family.

Imperceptible; very light, subtle, gradual.
The weight loss was imperceptible, but improved over time.

Lackey; A servile follower, person who is treated like a servant.
He didn't want to do his homework so he forced his lackey to do it for him.

Liaison; Communication and contact between two or more parties; intimate relationship.
The class had a liaison about the novel.

Monolithic; Consisting of one piece, solid or unbroken.
The rock was monolithic.

Mot juste; The exact, appropriate word.
He found that "Sorry" was the mot juste in that situation.

Nihilism; Total rejection of established laws and institutions.
The rebel found that nihilism was a better route for him than conforming to the man.

Patrician; A person of noble or high rank.
The queen was a patrician.

Propitiate; To appease.
She tried to propitiate her friend by giving her advice.

Sic; Written parenthetically to denote that a word or phrase has been written intentionally strange or incorrect or has been quoted verbatim.
"We are very excited for the season and we hope your (sic) excited too!"

Sublimate; To make nobler or purer.
She decided to sublimate all the influences in her life.

Beowulf and Godsylla

\Beowulf ond Godsylla

Meanehwæl, baccat meaddehæle, monstær lurccen;
Fulle few too many drincce, hie luccen for fyht.
Ðen Hreorfneorhtðhwr, 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.

Vocab list #4

Apostate; a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.

Many politicians apostate their positions when they are caught in scandalous situations.

Effusive; pouring out, overflowing.

She gave effusive and enthusiastic greetings to her guests.

Impasse; no escape.

She was at an impasse in her relationship and had to break up with her significant other.

Euphoria; a state of intense happiness or self confidence

He was experiencing euphoria when he won the talent show.

Lugubrious; mournful or gloomy.

He was feeling lugubrious when his grandfather died of lung cancer.

Bravado; a pretentious display of courage.

Beowulf displays bravado when he thinks he can conquer the dragon alone.

Consensus; majority of opinion.

The consensus was that Karen was the new weather girl.

Dichotomy; division into two parts.

The frog experienced dichotomy when it was cut in half.

Constrict; to draw in.

The snake started to constrict around the girl's neck.

Gothic; pertaining to middle ages,medieval times.

The architecture of the old house was very gothic.

Punctilio; a fine point or detail. strictness.

The teacher's note taking instructions were punctilio and precise.

Metamorphosis; any complete change.

The girl experienced a metamorphosis in the summer and became stunningly beautiful.

Raconteur; a person who is skilled at reading stories interestingly.

He was a raconteur and he brought his stories to life.

Sine qua non; something essential. "without which not"

Having a dr.pepper around is sine qua non if you're going to have a good time.

Quixotic; extravagantly chivalrous and romantic. Impulsive and unpredictable.

Her boyfriend was quixotic and often took her on spontaneous trips.

Vendetta; any prolonged and bitter feud.

My parents have had a vendetta against each other ever since their divorce.

Non sequitur; a thought that does not follow what has just been said.

Her statement was a non sequitur in the in-depth conversation.

Mystique; a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.
2.an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit

The fortune teller had a certain mystique about her that intrigued her customers.

Quagmire; a situation in which extraction is very difficult.

Her weight problem was a quagmire in her life and she needed to work hard to alleviate it. 

Parlous; dangerous, perilous.

The haunted house was parlous for the children to be in.

AP reading list

I am choosing to read 1984 by George Orwell. I wanted to read this book because I've been told that it is great and it will be easy for me to get it. The story sounds very interesting and I look forward to reading it. It has a reasonable number of pages so I can get it done in a reasonable amount of time.