Bright Future Requires Shades

Beings that I did a blog post on the end of school and what not, I deemed that it was necessary to write a little something something about plans for the future... Not the near future (as in Senior year), but more of your college years and beyond to infinity, as Buzz Lightyear would say.
Personally, I want to pursue a career in the military (hopefully either USMA/West Point Military Academy, Air Force Academy, or the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD). This military isn't like being drafted... I wouldn't be on the front lines. I would be more of a leader or higher up officer. Why? Because I would go to college at the academy. I would get my schooling paid for and get paid even while I'm in there for extras. How sweet is that? Scholarship and money for whatever I want? NICE! And the cool thing about it is, I could get any schooling after my four year degree paid for. Me, personally, I want to go Pre-Med and then continue into Med School to become some sort of a doctor. The military academy would pay for that! They are the elitist of the elite to say the least, but it comes at a price. You must give x number of years to them after your schooling is finished. You would more than likely be deployed in those years of service, if the United States was in some sort of a foreign war/dispute. Being someone that has always wanted to travel all over the world my whole life, I might enjoy this! My parents on the other hand are naturally a little concerned as they don't want anything happening to me. I very much like the discipline that you get at these academies. They prepare you to be the best that the country has to offer academically, athletically, and in any other aspect. I can't wait to see if I can go through this avenue to pursue a nice career in my future.
If I got the awesome opportunity to go to one of the military academies, I would play basketball there! Division 1 women's NCAA college basketball to be exact. I've always wanted to be a college basketball player on scholarship, and what better way to do it! If I didn't go to the military academy, and went to a regular four year state or private university or college, I would still play basketball on scholarship! I have always dreamed of playing in an NCAA championship in early April.
No matter where I go, I want to become a doctor. Specifically a surgeon as of right now, but who knows how I could change my mind. I'm particularly interest in specializing. I think it would be so rewarding if I could perform heart surgery on a baby that wasn't even a month old, or brain surgery on a person that suffered injury and head trauma from an unfortunate accident.
Whatever I plan to do or wherever my future takes me, I hope it is bright! I can't wait to set off into it and see where I end up! I didn't even discuss a husband or kids! ;) (530)

Crime is Pride

            In the excerpt from Antigone, Sophocles displays a very factual message to not only the Greeks reading his work at the time, but for all of mankind to come centuries later. His moral in the excerpt is very timeless and applies to today’s world so well. Many other Greek playwrights and philosophers were ahead of their times, needless to say. The wise Teiresias was an extremely humble person, and you can tell in his writing, because he was able to analyze all of humankind, himself included.

            When he wrote that “all men make mistakes (line 1),” he was telling us, the reader, something we have always heard. It has been a cliché parallel to “nobody’s perfect,” and others. I don’t know about your mother, but I learned from my mom, growing up, that mishaps are inevitable, but it is how you bounce back from it that counts. And more importantly, accept your imperfections. When something goes wrong, don’t keep covering your tracks. Go back to the problem, fix it, and move on in the right direction. When you don’t you can become something you aren’t: vain, cocky, unrealistic, and unsure of how to problem solve.

            Sophocles refers to the people that accept themselves as sinning human beings as “good” men (line 2). When these good men stop and recognize that they are doing something wrong, they must come to terms with themselves and that they were mistaken in their choices (line 2). When they are able to do this, they know that their course is wrong (line 3).

            It is one thing to know that you are wrong, but it’s another thing to change for the better, or fix the evil (line 4). Some may just play it off and hope that it doesn’t impede any more of their progress, but the only thing standing in their way is themselves. Some people are just too proud to show everyone else that they messed up. Their egos get a shot in the face, and the bad man thinks way too much of himself to let anything reshape his reputation (line 5).

            Sophocles uses diction involving criminals. To people (men especially), a mistake made known to everyone (themselves included) is considered an evil. But the real crime is when they don’t go back and fix it. Not all mistakes are crimes and evils, but we, as people, look at them more seriously because they affect our appearance to others. (407)

End of the Year/Line

                Just a quick rant sesh.

                End of the year stuff. Yes. It is an exciting time.

                There are graduation parties to attend and shorts to wear, but before you get all your Speedo flippy floppies out, I advise you to listen up!

                It is extremely hard to get/stay motivated the end of Semester 2, Trimester 3, Quarter 4, END OF THE YEAR (you get it). May comes and everybody just loses it. Nobody wants to come to school, and if they do they don’t want to do anything while there.

                I have AP Exams, regular Trimester 3 class exams, SAT test, ACT test, and 2 SAT Subject tests to take. Yea. Junior year sucks. But what is even better is that you can see a little light at the end of the tunnel; you know that your Senior year of school will be even harder with ALL AP classes.

                I’m just looking forward to a little time off to play some basketball, swim, and workout! Tanning here I come! I’m not about wishing my life away, but why does the Summer vacation have to creep to get here, and then zooms right past us like we are all standing still! Not cool, Summer vacay! (204)

The Voice

                The Voice is a great hit show on America’s TV station NBC. There have been four seasons so far since December of 2010, compiling a grand total of 82 episodes. If you don’t know what it is… I’ll tell you. It’s a reality series for competitive singing. Duets or solos can apply and compete, but you must be 15 years of age or older. It was based on the original concept from The Voice of Holland where there are blind auditions, and if the judges like it they will hit a button if they want you on their team.

                The show is created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, presented by Carson Daly, Christina Mililan (seasons 2-on), Alison Haislip (season 1), and judged by Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera (seasons 1-3), Usher (season 4), Cee Lo Green (seasons 1-3), and Shakira (season 4). Needless to say there are lots of popular, successful artists that are judges, coaches, and mentors. The chance to get up on stage and perform in front of these singers has to be what makes this show the greatest! They tell you that you are awesome, or what you need to work on. The shows are anywhere from 44-104 minutes depending on if it is a special “battle round” episode.

                The winner of the show, voted in by the audience via SMS text, telephone, or the Internet and partly by judges, receives one hundred thousand dollars, a record deal with Universal Republic Records (season 1-2), and Universal Music Group record deal (seasons 3-on). Past winners include: Javier Colon, Jermaine Paul, and Cassadee Pope. You don’t even have to win the season’s competition to be famous, when they perform their adaptations to the songs they are automatically available on the iTunes store to purchase by the public.

                In the last few years, it has been the lead-out program to the Super Bowls and Olympics. It had many sponsors of the past few seasons such as: Kia Motors, Sprint, and Starbucks. There have been many guest performers during Battle Rounds over the past seasons such as: Adam Blackstone, Alanis Morissette, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige, Reba McEntire, Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Michael Buble, Monica, Kenny “Babyface Edmonds, Ne-Yo, Rob Thomas, Sia, Jewel, Lionel Richie, and Billie Joe Armstrong. Since season three, you, as a judge or team, could “steal!” What a steal is, is when another teams’ two performers battle, and one of them loses, you can pick that person up on their team instead of them going home. This has made it nonetheless interesting between the judge’s humorous competitiveness.

                I hope that you tune into The Voice whenever you can, because there are lots of really talented singers and performers out there. This show has said to be extremely similar (or better) than America/Britain’s Got Talent, American Idol, and The X Factor. (477)

Advanced Placement Exams are Coming!

Welp. Party’s over. You know what that means.

That’s right. Advanced Placement exams are coming up.

Now, not only are these more important than my actual third trimester/end of the year exams, but

they are more time consuming.

Great. Just what I need.

            First off, I’d like to say that I’ve never taken any AP tests before, and I am terrified. My mother forced me to sign up back in April for the AP exams in May, and I am not looking forward to them. I don’t feel that I know what I’m doing, and it will probably just be a waste of $180 ($90 a pop). I wish that I could drop out of the exams just like you can drop out of the classes, but, unfortunately, I can’t. It is too late.

            I took two Advanced Placement classes this year in the forms of: Advanced Placement United States History and Advanced Placement Language and Composition (this class). Maybe I’m just freaking out because these topics are exactly the most favorite of everyone’s. APUSH (American History) is basically just remembering a bunch of facts, dates, people, and wars. Ah? Presidents… not my forte. Hopefully I can learn that president song in a weekend. From the colonization of our great country til’ 9/11 (my birthday). A lot of shniz went down in this time period. The crazy thing is I’d almost rather learn what happened with the empires back in Europe from the beginning of time until now! To me, it is more diverse culturally. I guess I’ll just enjoy Advanced Placement World History next year that much more!

            Moving on the Advanced Placement Language and Composition. This is the class that I am doing this blog out of. It has been a very nice class to be in this year… full of discussions, documentaries, analysis of texts, reading, and creative writing! I am pretty good in all of these except… analysis of texts and reading. I have trouble focusing on passages and answering ten to fifteen questions on what the author’s reasons were for writing what and how they did. I am more of a comprehension gal, myself. I could tell you what the colors of the stripes of the boy’s jacket in the third row of the Michael Jackson concert, but I don’t know if I could tell you why the author chose to use parallel structure, extended metaphors, or zeugmas. (What are these?... Still don’t know.)

            Anyway, I’d like some prayers for these next few weeks. Hopefully God will give me the strength and motivation to study a little at least. I was originally planning on not studying at all, and just seeing how well the classes have prepared me, but I’m thinking I might get a fail (0,1, or 2) if I follow through with that. You can be dang sure I didn’t go out and waste $50 at Barnes and Noble buying Advanced Placement study books. 1) Those things are too long to read. 2) Those things are overkill. 3) You won’t have time to read it all and retain anything. 4) Too expensive!

            Wish me luck guys! Hopefully I can get a 3,4, or 5. (I can only get credit for college courses if I get at least a 4… maybe a 5!) Guess I’ll be taking it in college anyway… (557)

Original Poem by Muah Plus the List of Literary and Rhetorical Techniques Used

“You’ve Found Me”

I’ve been here all along.

Right under your nose.

Hide and seek champion for all eternity.

I trekked long and hard through chocolaty snack wrappers and crumbled math assignments.

Oh, the impossibility that I would ever see a reader’s face again.

Don’t get me wrong,

I wanted to be there for you.

But my pride was hurt, and I was ashamed.

From humble beginnings of ink smudges to the final draft,

I grew staples like a young son taller.

And you were the proud mama.

In your mind I was ready,

Ready and perfect for inspection.

But soon after our return, I felt like I had somehow failed you.

The disappointment now in your eyes was excruciating.

I couldn’t bear it,

So I sought refuge in a dark place filled with no pain nor red ink.

With a zip of a bag, I was safe.

I dreamt long and hard of days where I would be published

And cherished by all.

Worry no more, as I have appeared,

Facing my fears, and bearing my bold.

Ready to start anew.

Maybe one day, I can fulfill my potential as you desired.

And with a little work,

Become what she expected.

I’d like you to give me another chance.

A second shot at redemption.

·         Symbolism- Throughout the whole poem, I created a poetic letter from my missing “A Second Shot at Redemption” Argument/Persuasive essay to myself. It should appear to the reader that the letter is from an actual person based on the human traits and feelings coming from the paper. The author of the poetic letter is a symbol for my misplaced paper.

·         Irony- This is an ironic topic and style that I chose. I misplaced a paper that I’ve been looking a week for, and, once I finally found it, I was inspired to write about the paper. The paper had quite a few corrections and marks from the teacher on it, so I gave life to the paper. It felt ashamed of its performance so it hid from me. I associate this type of style to Mr. Atticus’s because I didn’t write about normal poetic topics such as nature, music, or feeling. I wrote a humorous, spoofy letter to myself from an item I had misplaced. I also mentioned the teacher (Mizzay) in the poem to give the poem some personal meaning to the class and myself. Of course we know that papers don’t hide from students; students often misplace them, and it is there fault. But I am placing the blame on the paper by writing its apology.

·         Diction- I chose a few words that I thought stood out and were interesting. In line 4, I use the word “trekked” to show how exciting my paper’s journey was in my book bag and locker. Although there were a few others that I could have mentioned, I really liked my idea for line 23’s “anew.” This gives the poem a touch of classical poetry. The word “anew” sounded like a phrase from Shakespeare’s time. It sounds very poetic and sophisticated when referring to the fresh start the paper is seeking.

·         Imagery- “Chocolaty snack wrappers and crumbled math assignments” in line 4 is a really descriptive phrase. “Chocolaty snack wrappers” appeals to the reader’s smell (olfactory) and taste (gustatory), while “crumbled math assignments” appeals to the reader’s visual (sight) and auditory (hearing) senses. They will be able to taste and smell the cocoa of the chocolate and hear the crumbling of the paper, while seeing the wads of homework.

·          Hyperbole- In line 3, I use the phrase “for all eternity,” quite figuratively. I don’t mean that the essay will be reigning “hide and seek champion” forever, but I use it to fully convince the reader that its hiding spot was exceptionally good, and I couldn’t find it for the life of me.

·         Personification- Through the clues that hint at my symbolism (like “staples” (line 10) and “red ink” (line 17)) the reader knows that I’m talking about some sort of an assignment. Paper cannot win at “hide and seek,” trek, “see a reader’s face” (line 5), be “ashamed” (line 8), have a hurt pride (line 8), fail people (line 14), dream (line 19), or face fears (line 22). All of these traits or actions are possessed or carried about my human beings. Through personification, I was able to make a further connection to my symbolism: that in fact, my paper was human to some degree.

·         Simile- In line 10, “like a young son taller” compares how the paper grew staples (like a paper would if it became long enough) with how a young boy has a growth spurt. I continue to make a connection with the essay and a human being.

·         Metaphor- In line 11, “you were the proud mama” is the essay telling me that I was proud of it right before I turned it in for a grade. I was the proud mother of the son that was growing tall in my simile in line 10. Both of these together were a good choice.

(857)

 

United 93 (4/7)

                United 93 (2006) is a movie revolved specifically around the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and (supposedly) the White House. United 93 is the name of the flight that was targeted for hitting the White House. Though it never hit the White House, it was very close to making the day an even bigger disaster.

                The movie starts out with the three terrorists in their hotel rooms praying before they boarded United States Airline Flight United 93 at Newark Airport. Knowing what we know now (and did know in 2006) we are able to have compassion for the people loading the plane. We know that they would never come off the plane alive.

                The plane starts out and people begin to get comfortable for the flight ahead when suddenly news breaks out that the Pentagon and North and South Towers have been hit by hijacked planes. The passengers become scared and start to make phone calls home. The pilot and staff get orders to land the plane (as do the rest of the planes flying that day).

                The three hijackers appear; one with a bomb strapped to his stomach, one with a knife and red bandana, and the other (the brains) flying the plane in the cockpit that they took over by force. The shocked and scared people flee to safe spots in the back of the plane and are held hostage.

                Knowing that they are trying to crash the plane into the White House, they come up with a plan to attack the two hijackers, diffuse the bomb, and attempt to fly the plane. They managed to kill one of them with fire extinguishers, food carts, and pepper spray. The other two are in the cockpit trying to hold them off until they can hit their target.

                One of the people who were trying to safely gain control of the plane ended up snapping the second terrorist’s neck. Just before they got into the cockpit, the smart terrorist shakes the plane to disrupt the people’s balance. The plane takes a nosedive, and the screen goes black.

                They landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania in a field. The people that fought the terrorists didn’t win, but in my mind they did. They saved many more lives by corrupting the terrorists’ plans to bring down the nation’s capital. They did not die in vain. (397)