Masterpiece Essay

May 1

Jeffrey Walter May

Dr. David Preston

AP English Literature

9 June 2015

Masterpiece Essay

Marriage is the union of two things (typically man and woman) that love each other and this can be said about one and learning. Someone can fall into love with learning and how much that one can take in and process into their own interpretations. But also one of the biggest burdens with marriage is the fact that divorce is always an option after it, it is the cause of the love no longer being there and once again this can also be said about learning. Someone can no longer feel as strongly as they once did to learn in the first place and I can say I honestly had a hint of both throughout the year, I would go in and out of marrying and divorcing my love for learning. I have always loved to learn and have new ways to figure things out but at times I get stressed out and break down to the point where I want to divorce learning.

Fiction is my most favored to read, not only because it is the widest genre of literature but because it allows for so much that CAN fall into its category and has a huge range of what can be written for it. I enjoy it because although it is a fictional piece it still holds a lot of information and truth into it with the many ways that the reader can interpret. As we studied Brave New World this year I had really enjoyed it as my top 3 reads ever. A new way of

May 2

interpreting the world is something that truly intrigues me a lot, I like to find new ways that our world can be ran or shown the different things that could have changed the world and that is one of my favorite (that is also why I love Harry Potter a lot because it is about wizards and those, for as far as we know, don’t exist so it’s just something new that intrigues me). I had also read Catcher in the Rye as a literature analysis book and I had really enjoyed that one, and not just because I am related to JD Salinger, but because the book gave a lot of meaning to it. It was packed in with all of the sarcasm by the main characters and I use sarcasm a lot as my own thing so I can totally relate to that and that had definitely made me laugh while I was reading the book.

Although there was quite a few presentations I had missed I still had the opportunity to see a lot too and there had been a few where I didn’t take as much in as some of the other presentations. One I had really enjoyed was Laike’s presentation on art because as she presented I could totally see the passion she had for drawing and how much it truly inspires her. When she told us how cool she thought it was that someone had contacted her to buy one of her pieces, I could totally see that she was really excited her artwork is getting out there and not just staying in her art books and paintings she had done. Terry’s presentation on nature was the same and it showed just how much he has a love for nature and it actually inspired me to get a group of friends together and plan a backpacking trip for a few days in the summer. Terry truly has a great passion for what he does and it helps him to be who he really is. Millie had a great passion for finding out the information about her family tree and how it could be related

May 3

back to basketball. Although I’m not a huge basketball fan, I still very much enjoyed learning about everything that she also learned about with the pairing of day to day and yearly family births and everything else that had regards to basketball. Megan had a fantastic presentation on journalism and although I knew she liked it, I didn’t know it was that much of a passion of hers. She really went up there and blew my mind with how much it inspired her and how much she truly loves it and I can’t wait until the day I can see her name on the news or in a popular article and I can reflect on how she once gave us a presentation that lead her to be where she is. Sean getting into politics is a great thing for him because I can tell it totally moves him. Once again with this word, the passion I saw in him (although he presented while feeling very sick) was still tremendous and he had well thought out, real, straight to the point but also well rounded topics. He will make a great person in the field of political science and I can see him going very far with that one day.

As I went through the process of my masterpiece, I ended up taking in my brother as my mentor because nearly everything I have learned about computers has been through him, a lot was self-taught with online tutorials and what not but I truly learn most from him. It had helped me to bond and get closer to him through my process of completing everything not only on my masterpiece itself but for anytime I have computer problems I don’t know how to deal with but any time anyone asks me for help. I am often known to people as the tech guy because I help a lot of people with the problems they experience and then my name gets passed around that I

May 4

can help with stuff like that. And honestly I really enjoy it, I love tinkering with little things and putting in codes to get things to work and it is something I can wait to do in my future.

All in all, I really took a lot from this course and am really glad I took it. I had been debating whether to take AP English again because I didn’t have the greatest year in it during my junior year but I decided to and am glad I did. The amount of life skills I have to go on into college and my life with are amazing and I would not want to trade it for anything else. And in this moment, I would like to thank you Dr. Preston for everything you have done and I appreciate it a lot.

Donuts and Dragons

Process of Donuts and Dragons

As I went through the process of coding this game to work, I hit a bunch of bumpy roads, lots of anger quitting and closing my laptop because it sucked to get done, but the work was worth it. Below is the different amount of coding that went into it, with each segment being on the right.

Donut

Dragon 1

Dragon 2

Dragon 3

Dragon 4

Masterpiece/reason I haven't been posting

If you know about coding, or even if you don't, you probably know how difficult it is or how difficult it looks. That statement is very true, but the worst part of it all is the frustration it brings to you when something doesn't go right. Personally when I get frustrated I throw things and walk away and I have done that so many times with making this game. I have focused almost all of my attention onto coding this game and it's still in beta version with flaws. I plan on having it done by the end of the week but it may be done sooner. 

Sonnet

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

I believe this is a Shakespearean sonnet, with the shift being on the line of "I love to hear her speak, yet well I know" because he is no longer describing the things he loves about her but rather straight out confessing the love he has.

'Out, Out' by Robert Frost

‘Out, Out’ by Robert Frost is a poem of a young boy cutting some wood on his buzz saw, to eventually cutting his hand off in the process. It has a nice tone throughout the poem until the end when everything takes a shift to an almost dark sense. The poem itself has an overall theme that life is short and can be lost in the blink of an eye, or in the mishap of a table saw.

The speaker throughout the poem has a moderate tone that is in an almost a callous sense. He starts off describing the scenery around him, talking about the buzz saw as though it is an animate object. It “snarls and rattles” almost as if it is controlling itself throughout these first couple lines. It goes on to tell us of the imagery of mountains and the sun setting into Vermont. He then goes on to tell the story of a boy cutting some wood as is his job. The poem starts to say that it is just an ordinary day and that the boy is about to call it a day. As his sister comes to call out to him that supper is ready, is when the saw seems to take a leap of its own, as if it had its own mind, and jumps out to cut the boys hand. The boy doesn't want his sister to call the doctor but she called him anyway, as he was losing too much blood. He then gets put under with ether and that is when the boy passes away.

            It is here where the tone of the poem just changes, makes a drastic shift.

“No more to build on there. And they, since they

Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.”

It is almost as if no one cares that this boy just passed away, no one has any care in the world at all that a young child is gone. Just because it is not them who passed away they don’t seem to want to give any attention to it. The death doesn't stop anything for this town, besides the work that the boy is doing. No grieving was done just a whole lot of moving on. The speakers view on everything changes with these lines, originally going from a normal tone to just a complete change to blunt ending within the last couple of lines. It is most likely a reference to seeing bodies in a battlefield and how you just have to watch them go down and do nothing about it.

Poem essay prompt

1974 Poem Prompt: Write a unified essay in which you relate the imagery of the last stanza to the speakers view of himself earlier in the poem and to his view of how others see poets.

In 'Out, Out' by Robert Frost, the ending of the poem results in a change of tone that is different from that of the rest of the poem, so I feel like this prompt can relate to it.

TPCASST

TPCASTT:  Poem Analysis Method:   title, paraphrase, connotation, diction,  attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and  theme
Titleof poem means	'Out, Out' is literal to the poem, of the boy dying by cutting his hand off.
Paraphraseparts of the Poem	A boy is outside cutting things on his hand saw when his sister comes out to tell him it is time for supper, he gets way too excited and the saw slips, cutting his hand. The doctor comes and puts him under with ether, and the boy dies. Since everybody else lived, they all returned to what they had been doing.
Connotationof some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values	When the boy looks at his hand it is said "The life from spilling" where the life in this is referring to the blood gushing out of his hand.
AttitudeWhat is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?	In the beginning the attitude was calm, almost a callous sense. Once the boy cuts his hand it turns to a gloomy kind of feel and ends with a feeling of hate.
ShiftAt first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift:  identify the shifts and explain them	The Shift would be towards the very end after the boy dies when it starts to say that "No more to build on there. And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs." because it is when the poem starts to change in its tone where the other people do not care for the boy anymore and go on with their lives.
Title revisitedAny new insights on meaning or significance of title?	The title is an allusion to Macbeth.
Theme	Life is short, you can lose it in the blink of an eye. Or in the meantime of being excited for supper and having a hand saw in your grasp.

tobermory explained

The last sentence is a bit of comedic relief, with Appin having already taught his cat how to speak and now that it is dead he may have the opportunity to teach the elephant the same. But instead mentions that it will use German irregular verbs which are hard to learn. So thus being hard to reteach an animal to speak.

Laptop repair

After long tedious hours of pulling apart my laptop, I have successfully gotten the whole thing opened up so I could take a look into what was wrong with it:

 and so I finally found what the problem was, and it was this huge dust bunny in the fan causing it to keep overheating

and let me tell you; in most laptops, the fan is often the VERY LAST thing you will get to. I had to take nearly every inch of it apart, pulling the keyboard out, taking ram, hdd, wifi card, and even the whole motherboard out just to simply get to the fan(luckily I didn't have to take off the screen).

p.s. if anyone ever needs computer help(cleaning, repair, any troubles, etc.) I can be that guy and help with whatever it may be.

seeking mentor

Mentors are a great thing to have. They are there to show you the right path to take and guide you through things that you need help with, which they should have from their own experience. Mentors could be someone you know, or may not know, but will keep looking up to as they show you into the path of greatness. Regarding a mentor to my masterpiece, I can look towards my brother who has been there to help me with teaching me all that I know about computers. Although he does computer work for people on his own, he isn't at the professional level. Possibly a mentor that has graduated with a degree in computer engineering/computer science would be good to have also. Someone that has been in the business of coding/programming for awhile and has a little more knowledge.

masterpiece update:

After changing the idea of my masterpiece multiple times, after either getting stuck or not wanting to go forward with an idea, I think I have decided on the one I would like to do. With my intentions on going into computer engineering in college, I thought why not get a head start on stuff that I will most likely be going over or doing then. So I decided that I want to code something(that part not entirely sure yet) possibly an app, or game in that sense. Basics will be to learn html, so starting with that is where I am at. So far this seems like the masterpiece I will most likely be going full force into accomplishing, it highly interests me and will also be beneficial so I feel that it is just a win win situation.

Brave New World essay intro(up to criticism)

Technology has advanced to a point where one has to morally question himself everyday. In Brave New World, Huxley writes about a world taken over by technology and ran in a sense that no one thought imaginable. With the drug "soma" to incite happiness in its users and the process of making identical children through laboratory processes on the conveyor belt shows the new aspects of technology in his book. Huxley uses techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and allusion to Shakespeare to write about this "Brave New World" in an entirely technology driven era.

Misc. BNW notes

ASK ME NO QUESTION, I'LL WRITE YOU A THESIS

Huxley uses techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and allusion to Shakespeare to write about this "Brave New World" in an entirely technology driven era.

Lit terms 6

simile -  a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')

soliloquy - noun a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections; speech you make to yourself

spiritual - adj. lacking material body or form or substance;concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul; resembling or characteristic of a phantom; concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; noun a kind of religious song originated by Blacks in the southern United States

speaker - noun someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous); the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly; electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance

stereotype - noun a conventional or formulaic conception or image;verb treat or classify according to a mental stereotype

stream - noun dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas; a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth; something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously; the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression; a steady flow (usually from natural causes); verb exude profusely; flow freely and abundantly; to extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind; move in large numbers; rain heavily

consciousness - noun an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation; having knowledge of

structure - noun a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts; the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts; a particular complex anatomical part; the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations; the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships; verb give a structure to

style - noun a slender bristlelike or tubular process; a particular kind (as to appearance); editorial directions to be followed in spelling and punctuation and capitalization and typographical display; (botany) the narrow elongated part of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma; a pointed tool for writing or drawing or engraving; distinctive and stylish elegance; how something is done or how it happens; the popular taste at a given time; a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; verb make consistent with certain rules of style; designate by an identifying term; make consistent with a certain fashion or style

subordination - noun the quality of obedient submissiveness; the grammatical relation of a modifying word or phrase to its head; the state of being subordinate to something; the act of mastering or subordinating someone; the semantic relation of being subordinate or belonging to a lower rank or class

surrealism - noun a 20th century movement of artists and writers (developing out of dadaism) who used fantastic images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams

suspension - noun a temporary debarment (from a privilege or position etc); the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely); a mechanical system of springs or shock absorbers connecting the wheels and axles to the chassis of a wheeled vehicle; an interruption in the intensity or amount of something; a mixture in which fine particles are suspended in a fluid where they are supported by buoyancy; temporary cessation or suspension; a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something

disbelief - noun doubt about the truth of something; a rejection of belief

symbol - noun something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible; an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance

synesthesia - noun a sensation that normally occurs in one sense modality occurs when another modality is stimulated

synecdoche - noun substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa

syntax - noun the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences;studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences; a systematic orderly arrangement

theme - noun a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; (music) melodic subject of a musical composition;(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; an essay (especially one written as an assignment); the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; verb provide with a particular theme or motive

thesis - noun an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument; a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research; usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree

tone - noun (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages; the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author; a steady sound without overtones; a musical interval of two semitones; the quality of a person's voice; a quality of a given color that differs slightly from a primary color;(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound; the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people; the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli; verb give a healthy elasticity to; change to a color image; change the color or tone of;vary the pitch of one's speech; utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

tongue - noun the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot;a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity; a manner of speaking; the tongue of certain animals used as meat; any long thin projection that is transient; metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side; a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language; a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea; verb lick or explore with the tongue;articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments

in - adj. currently fashionable; directed or bound inward; holding office; adv. to or toward the inside of; noun a state in midwestern United States; a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot; a rare soft silvery metallic element; occurs in small quantities in sphalerite

cheek - noun either side of the face below the eyes; impudent aggressiveness; either of the two large fleshy masses of muscular tissue that form the human rump; an impudent statement; verbspeak impudently to

tragedy - noun drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity; an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

understatement - noun a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said

vernacular - adj. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; noun the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language); a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)

voice - noun a means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated; the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech; the ability to speak; the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract;something suggestive of speech in being a medium of expression; a sound suggestive of a vocal utterance; (metonymy) a singer;(linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes;the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music; expressing in coherent verbal form; an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose; verb give voice to;utter with vibrating vocal chords

zeitgeist - noun the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation

AP impression

Honestly, looking at the ap tests I get scared. I haven't taken an AP test yet, due to financial reasons last year, so I don't know what to fully expect out of them besides everything that I have ever done on practice tests and practice problems. I know its basically natural to feel scared for the tests, but I am overly scared and nervous to take not only the AP test for this class but my others also.

Lit Terms 5

Parallelism - the use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning,etc. 

Parody - in use, is an imitative work created to imitate, or comment on an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation. 

Pathos - a quality that evokes pity or sadness.

Pedantry - excessive concern with minor details and rules.

Personification - the attribution of human natureor character to animals,inanimate objects, or abstractnotions, especially as a rhetoricalfigure.

Plot -  is a literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, how the reader views the story, or simply by coincidence.

Poignant- evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret.

Point of view- from where a readers perspective is taken 

Postmodernism - is a late-20th-century movement in the arts, architecture, and criticism that was a departure from modernism

Prose- written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

Protagonist- the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

Pun - the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words. the word or phrase used in this way.

Purpose- the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

Realism- the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.

Refrain- stop oneself from doing something.

Requiem- a musical composition setting parts of a requiem Mass, or of a similar character, an act or token of remembrance. 

Resolution - the action of solving a problem. 

Restatement- of the Law are a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law.

Rhetoric- the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. 

Rhetorical Question- is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer

Lit Terms 1-4

allegory - an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor; a short moral story (often with animal characters); a visible symbol representing an abstract ideaalliteration - use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verseallusion - passing reference or indirect mentionambiguity - unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning; an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its contextanachronism -  an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurredanalogy - drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respectanalysis - an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole; the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relationsanaphora - using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier; repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clausesanecdote - short account of an incident (especially a biographical one)antagonist - a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug; a muscle that relaxes while another contracts;someone who offers oppositionantithesis - the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance; exact oppositeaphorism - a short pithy instructive sayingapologia - a formal written defense of something you believe in stronglyapostrophe - the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word; address to an absent or imaginary personargument - a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; a summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie; a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is trueassumption - the act of taking possession of or power over something; the act of assuming or taking for grantedaudience - a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance; the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment; a conference (usually with someone important); an opportunity to state your case and be heardcharacterization - the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features; acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesturechiasmus - inversion in the second of two parallel phrasesCircumlocution - noun an indirect way of expressing something; a style that involves indirect ways of expressing thingsClassicism - noun a movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that favored rationality and restraint and strict formsClimax - noun the decisive moment in a novel or play;arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness; the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfoldingColloquialism - noun characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speechComedy - noun light and humorous drama with a happy ending; a comic incident or series of incidentsConflict - noun an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); an incompatibility of dates or events; opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings; opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot);  the reference of an expressionConnotation - an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaningContrast - noun the act of distinguishing by comparing differences;the range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness); verb put in opposition to show or emphasize differences; to show differences when compared; be differentDenotation - noun the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; the act of indicating or pointing out by nameDenouement - noun the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work; the outcome of a complex sequence of eventsDialect - noun the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of peopleDialectics - noun a rationale for dialectical materialism based on change through the conflict of opposing forcesDichotomy - noun being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclassesDiction - noun the manner in which something is expressed in words; the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audienceDidactic - adj. instructive (especially excessively)Dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritativeElegy - noun a mournful poem; a lament for the deadEpic - noun a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deedsEpigram - noun a witty sayingexposition - noun (music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur; an account that sets forth the meaning or intent of a writing or discourse; a systematic interpretation or explanation (usually written) of a specific topic; a collection of things (goods or works of art etc.) for public displayexpressionism - noun an art movement early in the 20th century; the artist's subjective expression of inner experiences was emphasized; an inner feeling was expressed through a distorted rendition of realityfable - noun a short moral story (often with animal characters); a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events; a deliberately false or improbable accountfallacy - noun a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoningfalling - adj. becoming lower or less in degree or value; decreasing in amount or degree; coming down freely under the influence of gravityaction - noun something done (usually as opposed to something said); the most important or interesting work or activity in a specific area or fieldfarce - noun a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situationsfigurative - adj. (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; consisting of or forming human or animal figureslanguage - noun the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communicationflashback - noun a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the storyfoil - noun anything that serves by contrast to call attention to another thing's good qualitiesfolk - noun people in general (often used in the plural); the traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of people in a community; people descended from a common ancestortale - noun a trivial lie; a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television programforeshadowing - adj. indistinctly prophetic; noun the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehandfree - adj. not literal; able to act at will; not hampered;verse - noun a piece of poetry; a line of metrical text; literature in metrical form; verb familiarize through thorough study or experience; compose verses or put into versegenre - noun a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic form or technique; a kind of literary or artistic work; an expressive style of music; a style of expressing yourself in writinggothic - adj. characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque; of or relating to the Goths; of or relating to the language of the ancient Goths; characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German; as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened; noun a style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed arches; a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuriestale - noun a trivial lie; a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television programhyperbole - noun extravagant exaggerationimagery - noun the ability to form mental images of things or eventsimplication - noun an accusation that brings into intimate and usually incriminating connection; a relation implicated by virtue of involvement or close connection (especially an incriminating involvement)incongruity - noun the quality of disagreeing; being unsuitable and inappropriateinference - noun the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observationirony - noun incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs; witty language used to convey insults or scorninterior monologue- thinking in wordsinversion - noun the act of turning inside out; turning upside down; setting on end; a term formerly used to mean taking on the gender role of the opposite sex; (counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versajuxtaposition - noun the act of positioning close together (or side by side); a side-by-side positionmetaphor - noun a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarityomniscient point of view- A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowinglyric - adj. expressing deep personal emotion; of or relating to a category of poetry that expresses emotion (often in a songlike way); relating to or being musical drama; noun a short poem of songlike quality; the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number; verb write lyrics for (a song)magical realism- a genre where magical or unreal elements play a natural part in an otherwise realistic (often mundane) environmentmetonymy - noun substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')modernism - noun practices typical of contemporary life or thought;genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres; the quality of being current or of the presentmonologue - noun a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor; a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation); speech you make to yourselfmood - noun verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker; a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; the prevailing psychological statemotif - noun a design that consists of recurring shapes or colors; a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music; a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic workmyth - noun a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a peoplenarrative - adj. consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story; noun a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television programnarrator - noun someone who tells a storynaturalism - noun (philosophy) the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations; an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual descriptionnovelette/novella - noun a short novelonomatopoeia - noun using words that imitate the sound they denoteoxymoron - noun conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')pacing - noun walking with slow regular strides; (music) the speed at which a composition is to be playedparable - noun (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; a short moral story (often with animal characters)paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

Graduation

As much of my time this semester has been overwhelmed with wrestling, I take as little downtime that I have to rest and often find myself pondering about life as graduation comes close to becoming a reality. Growing up as a kid I always wanted to get through and graduate high school so I could be moving on and live on my own/go to college/have a job but now that it is so close I wish it would go away and not be happening. As cliche as it is, I want to stay a kid forever. Moving on with life just seems so unreal. It didn't hit me this year until I was playing in my last game of football, a sport that I grew up playing, that I will soon be leaving for college and doing all new things. Now that I am in wrestling season, a sport that I only picked up on last year, and will be the last sport I will probably ever play as a teenager throws me into a tough situation. As a lot of kids grow up on sports, a lot don't follow through with them in high school but I chose to and they have been a huge part of my life. A big part of me will be leaving when I finish playing sports. It still seems unreal that within 4 months I will be graduating high school and within 6 or so months off to college and moving forward with life on my own. Time has really flown by and I wish it could slow down.