APEnglish–Los Al

Period 5

There’s not much to write about today because we took a practice test for most of the period…so yeah, we started the period with the more practice for the ap test. We kind of got our stuff out slowly, so Eldridge got all up in a few kids’ grills, so now we have to keep our packets in class so that it doesn’t take us so long to get it out next time.  Jay left the class an unusually large amount of times today, including once when he went to get his minder binder.  Apparently Shaina didn’t know switched days with her for scribe despite the fact that she commented on the blog of the day she was absent.  We were then assigned a bunch of stuff out of that yellow packet. I know…yay more work! Don’t get too excited now zach.  Everybody kept asking what “SG.” Although it seems like it would stand for “study guide”, it actually stands for “surgeon general.” So, therefore our homework tonight is to  read “Are Women Human” and then become the surgeon general. Then everybody for some reason started complaining about how the packet is put together, with all that weird stapling in stuff. it’s whatevs.  Then finally we got to going over the answers for the practice test, which you need to get 9 right on in order to pass. Some random stuff that I remember from going over the test.

• -delineate = define
• -Phoenix is a traditional symbol of rebirth (if i heard that correctly)
• -we went off on a random tangent about Eudora Welty, who wrote the story about that devil-woman librarian and her dragon eye.

Then the bell rang, and class was over, and we all left the room. (<—- polysyndeton) so yeah, thats it.

Dessouky’s syllogism:

All college basketball teams that lose by at 20 points in the NCAA tournament SUCK.
UCLA lost in the NCAA tournament by 20 points.
Therefore, UCLA SUCKS!.

Fight on.
Dessouky

Period 4

Happy Monday!!! (NOT) But hey, only 4 more full school days until Spring Break!!!
-Class started out with Sean climbing a chair to retrieve his Sigg bottle from the overhead projector box conveniently located on the ceiling. Then Mr. E told Sean to get to work on the practice AP Eng packets…       although we weren’t really working on them since Sean was providing entertainment.
-two odd Eldridge quotes that I think need explaination:
“Don’t shirk” [to Andrew when he was cutting up index cards for the extra-credit of the week]
and
“Oh yeah, he has a big mouth and a soft stick” [in reference to Ed Guo, who laughed pretty hysterically]
-Ethan devoured two peanut butter flavored South Beach Living High Protein Cereal Bar to “keep his  metabolism going” and Coleen had angel food cake.

-The passage in the practice AP Eng packet was written by Eudora Welty, who wrote the passage we used for the library essay from first semester.

-The passage described an “adventure”/journey of Old Phoenix, who is a personable, (not entirely) senile, presumably black, old woman
-The passage was an allegory [a string of metaphors and symbols that takes an abstract things and turn them into bodies and character] in which the abstract thing was death and Old Phoenix’s vitality and determination to   keep on living despite the multiple morbid omens, hence her name “Old Phoenix”.

-Phoenix= mythical, sacred firebird which originated in India and spread to other cultures.
-It was the bird of the Hindu god Vishnu
-Symbolizes fire and divinity
-It has a 500 to 1,000 year life span, at the end of which, it ignites, reduces to ashes, from which it is reborn
-The phoenix is virtually immortal and invincible, as is can heal itself
-The Chinese phoenix was the second most highly praised mythical beast (second to the dragon, which is its male counter part that it is commonly paired with). Their Chinese names, FengHuang and Long, have come to symbolize the union of yin and yang.
-The Japanese version of the phoenix literally translates to “Immortal Bird”
-In Catholic art, literature, and symbolism uses the phoenix as a symbol of Christ (and his resurrection, immortality, and life after death)

- Buzzards = Vultures = eat dead animals (and people!) = bad omen

Score should have be 9/15 or better. To attain that goal, one must read meticulously and eliminate all the incorrect answers that were lame mistakes.
- Simply put, we are a youth worshiping society, everything has to be young, new, fresh, and visually appealing
-Example of this: actors, with the exceptions of Morgan Freeman and Dick Clark, who apparently never gets old.
-Another Example: embalming bodies that are going 6-feet under so they look good while they are rotting, all in hopes that their -somewhat- youthful, or at least visual appeal can remain for when the grave robbers dig them back up…. Are there still grave robbers?
-Eric was grabbing at the air like he was picking berries, and Mr. E noticed that Eric looked like he hadn’t gotten sleep all weekend, and in Eric’s words, “I don’t feel good.” Hang in there Eric! Only 4 more days!

-Mr. E told used the Old Phoenix passage to show that there is always a temptation to quit, but if you quit, you will never be able to achieve your ultimate goal, or even get close to it.
-Eldridge used [young] Magic Johnson as an example: he woke up early every morning and dribbled two basketballs up and down the street. And also a football quarterback that threw a football into his bedroom ceiling until he made a hole.
-Ergo: Success = Commitment = Less social life (prime example: AP students, especially those taking 2 or more)

Two things I couldn’t fit in:
-Reality shows have too much emotion, but that’s how they are mass produced “I feel that…” “I think that….” (We still need to see Mr. E’s reality television debut)
-Mr. E’s dog must be really smart if it can comprehend Mr. E.
Then again “What do you expect its Mr. E’s dog.” (Ethan)

Homework (Yellow Packet)
Focus on the Three Appeals
(Don’t forget Logos, because without logic, the argument is just narcissistic and pathetic)

M – Are Women Human? + SG
Mindless Menace of Violence
T  – Fed No. 10 + SG
W – Letter From Birmingham  + SG
R  – Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural
JFK Inaugural
F   -Civil Disobedience (Due after Spring Break… AKA 4/13)

Also: Reading Assignment due Friday

Good luck and don’t procrastinate.

-Stejones