Vocab list #11

Affinity n.- a natural attraction or liking to a person, thing, idea etc.
Bilious adj.- peevish; irritable; cranky.

Cognate adj.- allied or similar in nature or quality.

Corollary n.-  a natural consequence or result.

Cul-de-sac - a dead end, closed at the end
Derring-do n.-  daring deeds; heroic daring.

Divination n.- the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means
Elixir- A substance capable of prolonging life indefinitely
Folderol n.- a useless accessory
Gamut n.- the entire scale or range
Hoi polloi- the common people
Ineffable- incapable of being expressed in words
Lucubration- laborious work, study, thought, etc., especially at night.

Mnemonic- intended to assist memory
Obloquy- abusive language
Parameter- an independent variable used to express the coordinates of variable point and functions of them
Pundit- a learned man
Risible- provoking laughter
Symptomatic- having the characteristics of a certain disease but arising of a different cause
Volte-face- a reversal in policy



Sentences
When she met her husband there was an instant affinity between the two.
Her bilious attitude towards the customers was a distinct indicator that she had received no sleep the night before.
They were both so girly that it was obvious that they had a cognate friendship.
The damage done to the East Coast was corollary to hurricane Sandy.
Once you enter the street you must make a 180 degree turn if you want to leave because her street was a cul-de-sac.
The derring-do pulled the car off of the small child just in time to save the day.
People claim that hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters are a divination to the end of the world.
As the witch was about to take her last breath, the elixir was luckily in reach to save her.
Her numerous rings were obviously all folderol items while she was kneading the dough.
The gamut of emotion varies from grief to excitement to fear.
The king looked down upon all of the hoi polloi in the market place.
When she won the million dollar grand prize the expression on her face was ineffable. 
 

November

A new start. A new idea. A new approach. I was given a second chance that I have already slacked on. The idea of what was to make up scared me away from taking action. A new start in November because I have so much to be thankful for why should I throw these opportunities away? Music has recently been my savior to bring up my mood when there is nothing left. So what if when I start to slack off I play an upbeat song or watch a video about what I want to do? Get myself pumped and refocused. Worth a shot right?

And they say the internet isn't encouraging....

I always wondered how people got bad grades because it was always so easy to just do the work. I feel like it's the opposite of cigarettes or drugs, once you stop, it's harder to re-start. Trying to find encouragement is difficult. When everything else is going wrong why would you just add one more thing to stress you out? However, when I least expected it..." If you're not ALL IN, expect to get none out. There is no substitute for hard work." which I found that Adam Braun tweeted while I was procrastinating. Hopefully keeping this in mind will help me re-gain what used to be.

Vocabulary List #5

acumen (noun)- keen insight.
adjudicate (verb)- to settle or determine.
anachronism (noun)- something or someone that is not in its correct historical time.
apocryphal (adj)- of doubtful authorship or authenticity.
disparity (noun)- inequality
dissimulate (verb)- to disguise or conceal under a false appearance.
empirical (adj)- derived from or guided by experience or experiment
flamboyant (adj)- strikingly bold or brilliant; showy
fulsome (adj)- offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive;overdone or gross
immolate (verb)- to sacrifice
imperceptible (adj)- very slight, gradual, or subtle.
lackey (noun)- a servile follower
liaison (noun)- a romantic contact for sex
monolithic (adj)- consisting of one piece; solid or unbroken
mot juste (noun)- the exact, appropriate word
nihilism (noun)- belief in non structured view of the universe
patrician (noun)- a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat.
propitiate (verb)- to make favorably inclined; appease; conciliate.
sic (verb)- notation in quoted work so that the reader knows the mistake was in the original text
sublimate(verb)- taking energy from one cause to another

Do we have the right to our own opinion?

I can honestly tell you that I'm on the fence on this one. Maybe not so much on the fence, as being able to see others retorts to what I have to say about my view on the subject. If I say that I do believe we have the right to our own opinion then of course someone will say they don't believe so. Here's where it gets tricky to me, isn't this whole debate a matter of opinion? I think an opinion is a hard to thing to describe completely so it gets sticky. This is pretty much where I'm at. Everyone will never agree. Everyone will always think differently due to their own experience and so on. That being said, why am I going to try to convince you to think my may until I am blue in the face just for you to say, that it didn't affect you one bit? The "taboo" subjects especially. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy conversing over those things and hearing peoples opinions and so on, but after so long of trying to shove something down someones throat is just going to be pointless. Now the article that this all sparked from is where it get's tricky as well. Her example of you having the right to live so the car has the obligation not to hit you, to me at least, is completely different. Those are physical things that can actually be grasped. Someones thoughts on the other hand, not so much. I know this isn't very well organized because I get confused just thinking about it because I can see both sides of the argument, where I stand is different. It's babbling and going back and forth but it's part of the reason I didn't say as much as I would have liked to in class. I'm still very confused on the whole matter.

Numero Dos

Not having read the book I'm hoping to twist this a little to bit to fit my current knowledge. So here goes nothing.

       What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant.

To me this isn't too hard to decipher if you break it down. What is happening inside you, your body, and mainly, your mind, is way beyond anything that can truly be put into words. There are so many things happening simultaneously that it's hard to even comprehend how are bodies are capable of doing so.  That being said, I do agree. I think that you can explain it if you really wanted to, yes, but that's not what I'm looking at. It's more of something that you can't even begin to comprehend. Yes, you could have a list of things that happens and how so, but can you really comprehend all of that happening at the same time? I'm not so sure.
     Like I said, I didn't read the book nor was I there for the essay so I'm still winging this. Interruptions affect pretty much everyone's thought process. You are on a roll and your brain is finally working and cranking things out and then the teacher announces "Sorry to interrupt you all, but we have about five minutes left in class so try to wrap up your final thoughts." No one thinks, oh back to my train of thought without actually having to consciously do so. You think for a moment, recall, and if you're good under pressure or almost done then you proceed. Either way, it's been interrupted.
    Since most of the time that I write an essay on demand they all go the same I'm confident when I say that I would have liked to reread, edit and do a final copy that was nicely written. It's always the same, and actually seeing it in writing makes me realize that I should probably do something about it. Like I said in the first assignments post, you learn about yourself when you think and write.
     

Assignment 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KHmwawEiBkc

*Credits to Michelle Arriaga*

              I'm taking this course because I wanted a challenge. I feel like if the classes I take are too easy then I lose interest in them and don't put as much effort into it, for some odd reason. Also, for the short amount of time that I was in Dr. Preston's class sophmore year I loved it! I'm not trying to be a sycophant either. I truly do enjoy the way that he teaches and goes about things. He doesn't treat you like a kid like every other teacher that insists they are readying you for college, but then treats you like you're a five year old.
            I'm excited about taking this class to challenge myself. I feel like the things that this class makes you think about makes you have to actually think! Who could have though, right? Plus, the kids in this class are okay with doing just that so you know that your thinking won't be a waste of time since "No one did the project, let's move on." I'm nervous because I think of myself as a pretty intellectual person, but when I'm put beside some of these people I feel like I don't always meet up to some of the accomplishments they've had. The thought scares me. No one likes to feel inferior to anyone.
         My goals for this course is not to get an A. I want to actually learn something more than just the typical English 4 curriculum and I think I'll do just that. Like I said, this class actually makes you think. I feel like when I do the journals that I get to know myself better too because I actually take the whole thing into consideration. I think my knowledge and thinking will be improved because things will be shown to us in a new light. We will be able to see that school doesn't have to be just pen and paper and that school really is changing, and changing fast. It will give us a better understanding on what learning really is. I also think that it will motivate most of us to do things not just for ourselves, but for others. It's already made me think twice about my future career and if there was something else that I could to that could reach more people. The world is a huge place and I don't want to be just another person who doesn't help the problem, I want to be part of the solution.