1987 AP Exam essay prompt

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate - verb give to understand; describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of

apotheosis - noun the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god); model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

ascetic - adj. practicing great self-denial; pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline; noun someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline

bauble - noun a mock scepter carried by a court jester; cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing

beguile - verb attract; cause to be enamored; influence by slyness

burgeon - verb grow and flourish

complement - noun something added to complete or make perfect; either of two parts that mutually complete each other; a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction;number needed to make up a whole force; a complete number or quantity; one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response; verb make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to

contumacious - adj. wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient

curmudgeon - noun a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas

didactic - adj. instructive (especially excessively)

disingenuous - adj. not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness

exculpate - verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges

faux - adj. not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article

pas - noun (ballet) a step in dancing (especially in classical ballet)

fulminate - noun a salt or ester of fulminic acid; verb cause to explode violently and with loud noise; come on suddenly and intensely; criticize severely

fustian - noun a strong cotton and linen fabric with a slight nap;pompous or pretentious talk or writing

hauteur - noun overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors

inhibit - verb limit the range or extent of; to put down by force or authority

jeremiad - noun a long and mournful complaint

opportunist - adj. taking immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible benefit; noun a person who places expediency above principle

unconscionable - adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; lacking a conscience

Reflections on Week 1

1. The only thing that may affect my participation in class would be playing sports and missing due to that. And also limited time at night after practice to do some work.
2. I don't really have a 'best ever' learning experience but I do have an overall great learning experience going through Mrs. Byrne's honors english class. I felt that year I had a major break-through in my not only my writing but in the way I prepared myself for assignments/tests.
3. I am excited to be able to experience this new form of teaching because I have never been opened to it before and it really intrigues me. I think that it will help me to be more open about what I will and will not post on the internet and help me to advance my peer to peer interactions about my work.

1987 AP Exam

1.C

2.C A

3.C

4.E

5.D

6.D

7.E

8.B

9.A E

10.C

11.D

12.B

13.D B

14.C

15.A

16.A B

17.C

18.E

19.B A

20.B

21.E

22.D E

23.A

24.A

25.E C

26.E

27.D

28.C

29.E A

30.B

31.D

32.B

47.B

50.D

51.B C

52.B

53.E

54.B

55.B A

56.A B

57.C

58.D

59.D E

60.C B

61.C A

The vocabulary was the hardest struggle for me, some of them contained words that I have never heard before and couldn't really piece together what they might mean.

I Can Read!

Fox in Socks by the one and only, Dr. Seuss. I had about 11 mistakes and wow is that a huge tongue twister when trying to read fast. It took me 4:51 to read whereas Dr. Preston took around 4:30.

poetry #1

1. The Levi’s Go Forth campaign uses Charles Bukowski poem, "The Laughing Heart."

2. It is ironic because it talks about not giving into submission when the point of the commercial is to buy Levi’s jeans from them. Which in the end, it is quite ironic.

3. It reflects Bukowski’s reputation in the sense that he writes about being free in the poem and that’s how he has lived his life, not really caring what others think of him and doing what he wants to do.

4. To find out my answers, I simply did an easy google search of the first line of the video and up came Bukowski’s poem, so there I knew who the author was. I then did another search to research briefly on Bukowski’s background.

Open Source Learning

At first, Open Source Learning seemed odd, but mostly because I have never been opened up to teaching like that before. From the get-go I thought that I probably wouldn't like it, but after thinking about it for some time, I realized that I will in the end regret thinking that I wouldn't because why make up my mind on something that I haven't given a shot yet? I like the fact that its not looked down upon to use the internet as our source of study because in this day and age, everything is ran by technology and we need to start taking advantage of it. It is also a burden to lug around a huge textbook when most of us have a 5 ounce computer in our pockets that can research way more than most textbooks can give us. I am pleased to be a part of the class and to be a part of Open Source Learning. Lets see where this year takes us!

Essay #1

            I, along with probably most of the class, blew off most of the summer homework until the last minute. But in truth, I mostly blew the entire thing off. I know my mind set is better than to just completely ignore a task, but I chose to do so anyway. In return I regret it due to the fact that I now have less time to complete my work than I would have if I attempted to do so during the summer. I kept putting it off until the last moment and had to choose which of the assignments I would end up actually trying to do, and I chose to read Pride and Prejudice because the other two just did not peak my interest to indulge into. That may also be a reason why I chose not to do my work, because the readings did not seem to be of something I would find enjoyable to read, but I understand my responsibility was to get those done and I highly regret it now and will do my best to catch up to where the rest of the class is. But for now, I will write my essay on something I am familiar with, The Odyssey.

            Being alienated from a place you once called home, whether it be forever or a short amount of time, will always be a big struggle for the person doing the leaving. In the Odyssey, being an ancient Greek epic, the main character, Odysseus, is lost on his journey back to his home in Ithaca. Odysseus is stuck with this long journey ahead of him to return to the place he once called home and to his wife and son.

            Odysseus’s journey leaves him struggling on the path to find his way back to his home. He encounters numerous complications throughout this journey but never once has the urge to give up and keeps on fighting through everything he faces. Being stranded from your home for over ten years in different desolate places would probably lead most people to give up and try and live on with what they now have, but not with Odysseus’s struggles. Odysseus’s story can be taken as a life lesson for anyone interested enough to listen about it because Odysseus faced some tough challenges like when he visits the kingdom and retells his story of what he went through and having to fight the Cyclops and the sea monster, all while still not giving up on his hopes to return home, is a perfect example for a story to be told over and over to inspire people to do what they can to achieve something and even if they don’t to keep fighting for it too. Even when Odysseus does make it back to his home of Ithaca, he still has to deal with the suitors to fight; luckily he is alongside his son with that battle.