Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Journal Entry: May 14, 2009




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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Journal Entry: April 30, 2009

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923)

-used "stream of consciousness" (Horton 706)
-New Zealand writer

Noted Works:
-"The Fly"
-"Miss Brill"
-"Feuille D'Album"

Analysis of "Miss Brill"
"Miss Brill," is a story of a woman who, on the outside, seems physically and mentally content with herself. At the beginning of the story, she puts on her fur with all the pride she posessed. She then goes out, and she watches the people around her. She sits there by herself and listens because she just loves people. She observes an old couples and young couples. One young couple in particular who were "beautifully dressed" ("Miss Brill") sat in Miss Brill's vicinity of hearing. She overheard them ask, "Why does she come here at all - who wants her?" ("Miss Brill"). After Miss Brill usually goes to the Bakery to enjoy a honey-cake. This time she skips it and goes straight home to cry. The moral of this story can go two ways. Either one could say that Miss Brill shouldn't be eavesdropping, or different people are still people nonetheless. Even though she's alone in all the events taking place, Miss Brill is still a happy person. She's so content that one might think that no mean word can hurt her. However, in the end, we find out that she's still human like everyone else.

Application
I think we've all been here: in a place that you don't feel loved or openly accepted. Either if it was for an entire school year or for a couple of seconds, it's not a good feeling. For me, I'm really blessed to have my friends because their presence makes me feel accepted and loved. It makes me feel almost guilty that I have companions when other people like Miss Brill don't. We all know that's why, which of our classmates sit alone at lunch. For the past couple of weeks, every other day I've been trying to make it a point to talk to a person whom God has put on my heart to talk to. We have our differences, but I think it's getting close to a new friendship.



Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Mansfield, Katherine. "Miss Brill." 30 Apr. 2009 .

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Journal Entry: April 22, 2009

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
-"Greatest modern poet (Horton 694)."

Noted Works:
-"Adam's Curse"
-Where Nothing is, There is God

"Adam's Curse" Analysis:
"Adam's Curse" entertains the idea that since the fall of man, anything worth beautifying now requires some level of labouring. According to Yeats, poetry has to be "of a moment's thought." According to Maud Gonne, "Although we never heard of it at school, women must labor to be beautiful." And again, according to Yeats, in the aspiration to obtain love, the results may vary. In the end, all the efforts might pay off or one might "be thought an idler by the noisy set (Horton 694)."

Personal Application:
I think I like the idea of blaming all my faults and hardships on Adam's curse because I don't have to take responsibility when it comes down to it. Through doing my presentation, I've come to realize that it doesn't matter if Adam sinned or not. I must try hard in everything I do so I can earn the things worth while. With that mindset, I believe that I'll not only achieve much more, but I will be more grateful in the end.

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

April 16, 2009: Journal Entry

A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

-"One of the most gifted of late-Victorian and early-modern poets (Horton 677)."
-"Academic failure" to "leading classical scholar (Horton 677)."

Noted Works:
To An Athlete Dying Young
-theme: cruelty of the world is unjust
8 'O Clock
-execution

Analysis of When I Was One-And-Twenty
When Housman was "one-and-twenty," he had heard a wise man's advice. The man's advice was to, if anything, give everything away but his heart. Of course, Housman only being a young bachelor of twenty one would never listen to advice from anyone. However, he does learn his lesson at the end. He is taught not to gamble his heart away like a gambler would "give crowns and pounds and guineas (Horton 678)."

Application

I believe that I should take careful caution while dealing with the heart. For my life, the foolish actions that I have taken with "love" was of the most dire consequences. One of my teachers from my old school put it this way: don't give your love away to too many people. If you do, once you get married, the pieces of your heart will be with two, six, or eight people instead of wholly with your husband.



Here's my poem that I wrote in class (my advice that I'd give).

Hello, my younger brother
Here's my advice to you:
Listen to our mother,
Not like how I would do.

Don't be one of those boys
Who hang around Town Center
With your devices and expensive toys.
I know you can do way better.

Here's my other advice to you:
Don't you dare wear your pants too huge.
I'm telling you, it's not cool.
It will never be cool if you do.

Aaron, this is my last advice:
Treat all girls with care.
Be gentlemanly, kind, and nice.
If you don't, then beware!

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

April 9, 2009: Journal Entry

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

-"he makes it his mission to disillusion the world" (Horton 656)
-agnostic

Noted Works

-The Darkling Thrush
-The Respectable Burgher
-The Three Strangers
-the role of fate

Analysis of The Respectable Burgher:

The Respectable Burher mentions quite a few times of the skepticisms within the church. For example, "Solomon sang the fleshly Fair, / And gave the church no thought whate'er (Horton 658). Solomon, one thinks, is the one of the most memorable "man of God." He asked for wisdom, yet he practiced polygamy, a practice looked down upon God. The poem also talks about Esther and Daniel's hardships. Why do good people suffer? What Hardy is trying to say is that that the "message for mankind" (Horton 658) is marred due to disbelief of Scripture.

Application:

For me, I may sometimes think that Christianity is confusing as well. I ask, "Why does God let this happen to good people?" The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter if I understand it or not. I'm in no place to question God or His actions.


Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April 2, 2009: Journal Entry

Gerald Manley Hopkins (1833-1889)

-"run-on rhyme has heavily influenced modern poetry." (Horton 674)

Noted Works
-"Pied Beauty"
-has unusual diction

Analysis of "Pied Beauty"
"Pied Beauty," at first glance, may seem like a poem about a cow. However, the poem goes imensely deeper than that. It states, "He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change (Horton 675)." With this phrase, Hopkins emphasizes God's love for all His creatures both imperfect and even more imperfect. What Hopkins wrote is true. God loves the "strange," "fickle," and "dappled" things (Horton 675). He even declares so Himself in Genesis when He pronounces His creation "good."

Application
The one lesson that I'm taking away from this poem is the lesson to not be superficial. I have countless "spots" and imperfections that is way past change, and God loves them all. It's a good reminder to not look at other's faults but to look at them with the unconditional, non-judgmental love God bestows upon me.


Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Feb. 26, 2009: Journal Entry

Charlotte Bronte

Noted Works:
-Jane Eyre

Analysis of Jane Eyre:
Probably what caught me the most through reading the first couple of chapters of Jane Eyre was when she was pouring her life story out to Helen Burns. Helen noted that Jane remembered every single bad thing that Mrs. Reed did against her. Helen "scolds" her and says, in other words, to not let the pessimistic things people do or say affect you so negatively that it ruins your life. So many times people dwell in misery because one bad thing was caused by their enemies. Letting them get you down may sometimes bring satisfaction to the wrong-doers, which may sometimes encourage them to repeat the same action again, if not the same, maybe worse. God teaches us to return, not evil for evil, but evil for good. It's a lesson that was taught to a ten-year-old, but it's one that still has to be learned and practiced by all.

Application:
It's funny how I can also remember all the bad things people have done to me, but I can barely remember all the good they've done for me too. I think it's because the "evil" things had a greater effect on me because of my lack of appreciation of the good things. I'm going to make it a subconscious goal to return evil for good even though I love to seek revenge and give people what they deserve. But I know that God gives me a ton of grace, so the least I can do is try to love my neighbors (enemies) as myself.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Feb. 19, 2009: Journal Entry

Charles Lamb 1775-1834
-"prince of the English Essayists" (Horton 554)
-He has a romantic reverence, "nostalgia for the past," "splendid sadness of youth"

Noted Works:
-"Oh China" - "superiority of the old days of youth" and appreciation (Horton 555)

Analysis of Oh China:
This essay talks about having more happiness when you're poor versus having more money and being not as content. The society that we live in exemplifies money as an idol--money equals happiness. According to Lamb, this isn't true. It seems as if Lam and his sister had a much better time while contemplating whether or not to buy something when they were poor rather than just going out and buying it when they had a lot of money. It's possible to find joy in the simplest and dire of circumstances.

Application:
Sometimes I think that more money means more happiness, but money isn't everything. Money can buy things to satisfy the desire for happiness. However, my Salvation was free for me, and that makes me happy beyond measure. I need to remember that God promised in His word that he will supply all my needs.
Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Vocabulary

allegory: a story with a literal and an inmplied level of meaning
apostraphe: addressing an inaminamte object
burlesque: entertainment of broad and earthy humor

blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter
closet drama: plays written to be read
didacticism: instruction in literature
elegy: formal poem lalemtning the death of a particular person or meditating on the subject itself
empiricism: the philosophical view that all knowledge originates in sensory experience
epigrams: a short, highly compressed poem making a wise or humorous point

familiar essays: the personal essay perfected by Charles lamb and his successors, as distinct from the more formal and public neoclassical periodical essay
herioc couplet: couplets of iambic pentameter
neoclassicism: a cultural attraction to the art and thought of ancient reece and Rome
odes: a long, highly stylized lyric poem written in a complex stanza on a serious theme and often for a specific occasion
personification: iving characteristics to an inanimate object
poetic diction: artificially selected and refined languiage
poet laureate: the official poet of a nation or region

primitivism: the preference for an uncivilized life
progressivism: belief in the importance and possibility of social and material progress
rationalism: the belief that human reason rather than revelation or authority is the source of all knowledge and the only valid basis for action

realism: the attempt in fiction to create an illusion of actuality by the use of seemingly random detail or by the inclusion of the ordinary
satire: constructive ridicule in literature

soliloquy: self-revalation overheard
traditionalism: a reverance for tradition as a source of authority or values in religion, morality, or art
tragedy: a drama that ends unhappily

transcendentalism: set of religious concepts
utilitarianism: an ethical system developed by jeremy Bentham based on the human desire for pleasure rather than pain and, politically, on the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number
verisimilitude: the inclusion of minute, or even superfluous, details to create an illusion of realism


Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Frankenstein

In a way towards the end of the story, Frankenstein is like what Jesus is to us, and the monster is kind of like what we are. Frankenstein is the creator, and Jesus is our creator. At the end of this story, the monster goes off to die after he mourns over the death of his maker because he really has nothing else to live for. If Jesus were to suddenly die or stop existing, Christians or any being wouldn't have the slightest reason to keep on living (and that's not just because everything exists because of God and only by God).

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

February 5, 2009 Journal Entry


Isaaw Watts 1674-1748
-Father of the modern hymn
-"The Protestant Reformation returned church singing to the laity" (Horton 425)
Noted Works (Horton 427-431)
-"Heavenly Joy on Earth"- religion was never designed to make our pleasures less.
-"The Christian Race"
-"Breathing After the Holy Spirit"
-"Against Idleness and Mischief"
-"The Day of Judgment"
Analysis of "Heavenly Joy on Earth"
Some people say, "just shoot me already," or "I just want to die". When people say that, they usually don't mean it literally. Others may say, "I'm afraid of death," or, "I don't want to die". People say that because they are either afraid of death because no one has come back to tell us about it or they are too selfish to give up what material things they have accumalated here on earth. Every God-fearing Christian knows that Heaven is going to be a place of "amazing bliss" (Horton 427), yet we still (most of the time) want to stay here on earth. Some Christians, or maybe it's just me, feel guilty for sometimes wanting to stay here. However, is earth really that bad? I think one of the things Isaac Watts is trying to say in this work, is that it's okay to enjoy this world even though the Bible tells us not to be a part of it. The eart itself isn't evil; it's the people and sin that cloud the earth from it's "Utopia" state (like the Garden of Eden).
Application
"Heavenly Joy on Earth" talks about, in a way, being grateful to our "awful God" (Horton 427) for giving us such a great world to dwell in. I need to remember to thank Him once in a while for giving us His best by giving my best to Him.

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

For Exam

Neoclassical Period

John Dryden 1631-1700
-"first of the moderns" (Horton 377)
-field preacher, and a history royal
-poet laureate, wrote occasional verse (Horton 377)
-he could also write prose

Noted Works:
-To My Honored Friend, Dr. Charleton - "expresses his faith in the new science" (Horton 379)
- Of Satire - "justifies satire as a constructive force in society" (Horton 383)

Daniel Defoe 1660-1731

Noted Works:
-Robinson Crusoe - man finds out all he really needs is God to survive

Joseph Addison and Richard Steele 1672-1719 & 1672-1729
-Journalist-playwrights
-transformed journalism into a serious literature

Noted Works:
-The Tattler - "improvement of the reader" and "combines drama criticism with moral reflection" (Horton 396)

Jonathan Swift 1667-1745
-“defense of dispassionate reason” (Horton 405)

Noted Works:
-Gulliver’s Travels
-“supreme neoclassical satire in prose fiction” (Horton 407
-one of the greatest world literatures.
-“to vex the world, rather than to divert it”
-A Modest Proposal

Alexander Pope 1688-1744
-chief poet of his age
-satirical poetry – memorable and beautiful

Noted Works:
-Rape of the Lock – mock heroic burlesque (Horton 420)
-An Essay on Man – summon man to moral duty (Horton 420)
-Essay on Criticism

Isaac Watts 1674-1748
-Father of the modern hymn
-“The Protestant Reformation returned church singing to the laity” (Horton 425)

Noted Works: (Horton 427-431)
-“Heavenly Joy on Earth” – religion was never designed to make our pleasures less
-“The Christian Race”
-“Breathing After the Holy Spirit”
-“Against Idleness and Mischief”
-“The Day of Judgment”

James Thomson 1700-1748
-Scotsman, poet, playwright (dramatist)

Noted Works:
-Wrote a collection of seasons

John and Charles Wesley
John:
-field preacher (evangelistic)
-Journal of John Wesley – series of bulletins from the front by one of God’s greatest warriors in the church militant
Charles:
-Hymns and Sacred Poems – for the anniversary day of one’s conversion, behold the man

Samuel Johnson 1709-1784
-moral essayist (Horton 454)
-monumental pronouncer of conservative common sense

Noted Works:
-Dictionary of the English Language
-Rambler – “vice must always disgust”, “representations of evil have a place in literature” (Horton 456)
-Lives of English Poets – describes Addison and Pope

James Boswell
-one of the world’s greatest biographers (Horton 462)

Noted Works:
-Life of Samuel Johnson – monumental scholarship as well as literary artistry

Thomas Gray 1716-1771
-first mood poetry

Noted Works:
-Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard – focuses on the need to be remembered; deals with universal truth

Oliver Goldsmith
-comedy of manners, sentimental comedy
-most versatile writer of Johnson circle (Horton 481)

Noted Works:
-The Deserted Village

William Cowper
-mentally unstable (suicide attempts)
-poetry marks the passing of neoclassicism among major English poets
-heaven taught plowman

Noted Works:
-Olney Hymns – written in common meter and ballad stanzas
-The Castaway – severe emotional depression of Cowper, strengthened by a recurring sense of guilt, non-assurance of salvation (Horton 494)

Robert Burns 1759-1796
-Scottish, heaven taught plowman (Horton 497)

Noted Works:
-A Red, Red Rose – ‘tis about love (Horton 502)


Romantic Period

William Blake
-man born free is everywhere in chains
-“eccentric mystic”, madman, thorough going (Horton 516)
-songs of innocence and songs of experience

Noted Works:
-The Lamb
-The Tyger – contrast to the Lamb
-The clod and the Pebble
-London
-The Garden of Love: sex
-Proverbs

William Wordsworth
-treat common subjects; ordinary people (Horton 523)

Noted Works:
-Prelude – most important achievement of Romanticism
-Expostulation and Reply – enjoy nature
-The Tables Turned
-The Lucy Poems – Lucy is Dorothy.
- I Wandered as a Lonely Child – common things in an uncommon light
-“Sonnets” – civilization impoverishes man by destroying his sensitivity to nature; it also expresses the romantic myth of the happy pagan (Horton 531)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Noted Works:
-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - “natural eloquence is a myth”; “exalts imagination over reason”, “organic over mechanic” (Horton 534)
-the uncommon appears to be believable
-it immediate end is pleasure, ultimate end is truth (Horton 535)
-circular journey
-crossbow: crucifixion

Percy Bysshe Shelley
-“most fervent rebel of the English Romantics (Horton 565)
-His disciple is Robert Browning (Horton 567)

Noted Works:
-Ozymandias – about pride; it’s a statue
-England in 1819 – evil will perish
-Ode to the West Wind – refers to all seasons; wind brings change


Charles Lamb 1775-1834
-"prince of the English essayists" (Horton 554)
-He has a romantic reverence, "nostalgia for the past," "splendid sadness of youth" (Horton 555)
Noted Works:
-"Oh China": "superiority of the old days of youth" and appreciation (Horton 555)

George Gordon, Lord Byron 1788-1824

Noted Works:
-Don Juan: "notable example of the romantic self-projected hero"
-On This Day I Complete My 36th Year
-She Walks in Beauty - admires someone from afar

John Keats 1795-1821
-"The romantic triumvirate: Byron, Shelly, and keats" (Horton 573).
-agnosticism; aestheticism

Noted Works:
-Eve of St. Agnes - sonnet, in the winter, Romeo and Juliet
-On First Looking into Chapman's Homer - Illiad and Oddyssey. Theme: excitement of literary discovery; considered only second to Shakespeare in command to the English Language (Horton 575)
-Lamia, Isabella


Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Presentation Tips


1. Know your content well
-Researching the topic that I'm going to present is one of the most important. It's important because just in case I get stuck, it won't look like I messed up so bad
2. Be prepared
-This goes with knowing the content well. Preparation also shows professionalism. I think a person is never too young to start practicing professionalism.
3. Know who your audience is
-I hear pastors have to do this all the time: adjust their messages according to their audience. The pastors that I've heard speak do a great job; so, knowing who the audience is seems like a very important tip.
4. Keep it simple
-If things are too messy and complicated, the audience might give up on trying to comprehend what is being said.
5. Keep it short (to the point)
-Attention spans in high school supposedly don't last too long. Enough said.
6. Tell stories (make it interesting)
-
I enjoy hearing stories during a long and boring chapel. Telling stories may help make the presentation seem less "factual." It's also a good way to communicate a moral or a point.
7. Use imagery (creativity)
-One idea can lead to another which will lead to another which will lead to an idea that will change the world. You will never know.
8. [However...] Have a balance
-I think it's important to incorporate all of these tips into a presentation but have a balance because I think it's possible to achieve rookie professionalism through all of this.
9. Mistakes are a part of it (confidence)
-My piano teacher told me this past week that if I'm trying to achieve perfection while playing my song for the recital, I will make mistakes. Since we're human, mistakes is part of our perfection.

10. Have fun!
-I think it's important to try to have fun in everything you do. I recently have set my mind to a mindset of not having to do something but getting to do it.

Citations:
1-4. Reynolds, Garr. "Organization and Preparation Tips." Garrreynolds.com. 8 Jan. 2009 .

5. Reynolds, Garr. "Top Ten Delivery Tips." Garrreynolds.com. 8 Jan. 2009 .

6,10. Young, Scott H. "18 Tips for Killer Presentations." Lifehack. 8 Jan. 2009 .

7. Rayburn, Scott. "The Information Imperative." Presentation Coach.

8 Jan. 2009 .

9. Reynolds, Garr. "Zen, Jazz, and Creativity." Presentation Zen. 11 Jan. 2009 .



Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Digital Footprint and Creed


I have come to the conclusion that a digital footprint is the unfortunate occurrence that Internet users have for trying to expand horizons by trusting in the privacy of the Internet (or it's the evidence of any use of everything in the digital world).*

I've recently realized that it's hard to not put a lot of my personal information on the Internet. From entering my full name to sign up for a website or filling out college surveys online, I now know that the Internet holds where I live, my full name, and possibly many private conversations I've had with my best friend Kayla. I don't have a Myspace or Facebook anymore, and it's creepy to know that all that information is still floating somewhere in cyberspace.

I think it's important to set standards for myself while using the Internet. It's such a big part of our society that it can be used for good and evil, and I need good ethics and major caution to guide me through. I need to use common sense when putting which information and how much information. If I don't, I am really afraid that my life might turn into a teen rape story that will end up on the headlines of the news. My standards are listed below.

My creed for:

Email/IMing: I usually don't fill out any more information than my name, country, and state. When other things are required, I fill in fake numbers or names. I try not to put my cell number in Emails or chats because you really never know who's on the other side collecting the information. I didn't realize that the digital footprint also includes full text Emails. Which leads me to...
-Online gossip: I thought Email would be more private than talking in person because the person who you're talking about can't possibly find out (unless they're a really good hacker). I guess there's always a way people can find out; so, it's better just not to say anything bad (like "Oh my goodness, do you know what she did?!" kind of thing) because according to Galatians, you will reap what you sow.

Social sites (i.e. Blogger, Wix, etc.): None of "What time are we going to meet at Ala Moana tomorrow?" for everyone (like sick rapists) to see. I would never put my daily routine on there either because you never know who wants to know (for a sick reason).

Filling out college apps./surveys online: When entering my address is required to be able to receive information on a college, I always make sure it's not a fake website. For college-help sites like Fastweb, I usually just enter my real name, enter "U.S.", "HI", and for the rest, I leave it blank or just enter a zip code for another city.

Illegal downloading: I haven't watched/downloaded illegal movies on the Web. I just don't.


"Digital Footprint." Wikipedia. 13 Jan. 2009 .
"Digital Footprint." Webopedia Computer Dictionary. 13 Jan. 2009 .