Scrapbppk 2

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a45344e6a45794d44413d0d0a&blogview=true

Scrapbook link

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a45344e6a41344d6a6b3d0d0a&blogview=true

Weekend progress

This weekend I finished the hard copy of the scrapbook and am using smilebox for the computer version. I am using different and more pictures for the digital one and will be adding my favorite dances from junior and senior year.

Scrapbook update

I will finish by putting the finishing touches on the scrapbook. I am planning to be done by Monday. On final week I will bring it in on either a disk or a flash drive also I will have the physical version off scrapbook.

My progress

So far I've collected pictures and have an outline for each page. I still need to finalize the scrapbook and put it on to the computer where I will add video. I will benefit me because it is something I can have forever. I think it will be cool for my family and friends who are in the book because they can see how they grew over the years.

My scrapbook goals

My goal is to create a digital and physical scrapbook. I will be using a scrapbooking web site and my aunt will help me with it. I have printed out pictures to use for the scrapbook and plan on finishing it by next weekend then I will start working on the web version. I will be able to present both version to the class and post the 2.0 one to my blog

AP test prep in class today

Today in class me Katie E. Lizzie and Kaley studied vocab words for tomorrows test which will also help prepare us for the AP test. We also went over the basic requirements of an essay and how to improve them. Esspecially how to correctly and efficiently write the thesis sentence.

"A Reflection on Unstructured Learning"

The theme I took away from the text was to not give up on something you believe in.  For whatever reason the narrator was determined to make the costume he is talking about.  The first few lines sound optimistic but then is goes steadily downward for the narrator.  But then he finds the perfect name for the costume from the person he had been avoiding.  The text is ironic because of this, and is a perfect example of unstructured learning for that reason.

Prompt 1: 1975B     Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and
only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to
character and action.  Select a play you have read and write an essay in
which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his
audience's respnses to the central characters and the action.  You might
consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of
comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to
each other.  Support your argument with specific references to the play.
Do not give a plot summary.

Prompt 2:1976 The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of
the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays.
Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society;
or, from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional
character who is in opposition to his or her society.  In a critical
essay analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications
for both the individual and the society.  Do not summarize the plot or
action of the work you choose.

Prompt 3: 1983 From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who
is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character s
villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not summarize plot.

Preparing for the AP test

I plan on reviewing parts of the practice AP tests and seeing what I need the most help with. From there I will review what I need to study the most. I believe this will best prepare me for the AP test.

MacBeth Soliloquy

Sarah Stevens, Bailey Wineman, and Caitlin Stevenson recorded me reciting the soliloquy.

MacBeth Part 2 Lecture Notes

• Lady MacBeth is animus, manipulative, and determined.
• After the coronation of MacBeth, him and his wife go on separate paths
• MacBeth doesn't tell his wife of the murders he is planning. (Banquo's and his sons)
• At this point MacBeth is murdering his way to peace of mind.
• He tells himself that if he kills there people it will be better for him, this makes him less human.
• The speech MacBeth gives after Lady MacBeth's death shows the empty mockery his life has become.
• The witches compel MacBeth but it is ultimately his choice to murder,
• They exist to tempt and torment people
• Their promises come true but not in the way people intend them to
• Banquo responds differently to the witches. His kid might be king but his pride is more important so he doesn't act to make the witches promise come true.
• the witches appeal to what MacBeth wants to hear.
• The witches are marked by being outside of the community.

MacBeth Lecture Notes

-MacBeth the tragic hero
Is king is act 3, 5 acts total
No long soliloquies like Hamlet
MacBeth is a tragic hero, his flaw being he can't be content with what he has he always wants more.
Chief function of Lady MacBeth is to keep the vision of being king alive for MacBeth.
Animus is masculine and lady MacBeth is animus. Anima is feminine and when MacBeth shows anima sides of him Lady MacBeth ridicules him.
Lady MacBeth and the witches support him to kill but it is ultimately his choice to kill and continue to kill.
The danger of killing Duncan is pulling him toward the kill.
Since MacBeth violated all rules of community by killing Duncan, he might as well kill more.
The murder as cost him what made him great in the beginning.
As Lady MacBeth continues to kill and do evil but it ultimately kills her.

Macbeth notes

Characters:

Macbeth- He is an honorable Scottish general who defends his king and country in battle. After he hears the three weird sisters’ prophesy that he will one day rule over Scotland, he begins to commit murders to ensure his place as future king.

Lady Macbeth-
However, their shared alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, does not bring them closer together, but instead seems to numb their feelings for one another.

Macbeth’s wife, she is very power hungry and encourages her husband to kill, and tells him he is not man enough to. She uses her sexuality to persuade Macbeth to kill. Later in the story she feels guilty for her actions and commits suicide.

The Three Witches- Plot against Macbeth by using spells and prophecies. Whether or not the witches prophesies come from is never revealed

Hecate- Goddess of witchcraft helps the witches mess with Macbeth.

Banquo- He is a general whose children, according to the witches' prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Banquo is ambitious but does not act upon his ambition like Macbeth does by killing people and betraying others. It is his ghost that haunts Macbeth. Has a son named Fleance who Macbeth attempted to murder.

King Duncan- He is a good role model king. His death is a symbol of chaos until his line, Malcolm, occupies the throne.

Malcolm- Son of Duncan first appears weak and questions his power but with help from Macduff he becomes a stable man and a huge threat to Macbeth. Him being king symbolizes an end to the chaos the death of his father caused for Scotland.

Donalbain- Duncan’s youngest son.

Macduff- He is a nobleman who dislikes Macbeth right away. He becomes a leader of a group called the crusade that fights to put the rightful king; they believe this person to be Malcolm, on the throne. He is also after Macbeth because he killed his wife and son.

Lady Macduff- She is Macduff’s wife who is killed by the murderers along with her young son.

The Murderers- A groups of people who Macbeth has kill Macduff’s wife and child, Banquo, and Fleance, Banquo’s son. They succeed in all cases but Fleance’s.

Plot summary:

Macbeth and Banquo are on there way home from battle when they run into three witches. The witches, referred to as the weird sisters tell them a prophesy.  They tell Macbeth that he will rule Scotland and that Banquo will be father to a line of kings himself. Macbeth decides that if it is fate he will be king and scorns himself for even thinking of murder as a way to get to the throne faster. Later on King Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be his heir to the throne.  Macbeth once again ponders the possibility of murder and wrights to his wife.  Lady Macbeth jumps at this and immediately begins to scheme.

King Duncan is visiting the Macbeth’s when Macbeth second guesses himself she turns on him telling him he is not man enough to kill. Macbeth goes and kills King Duncan in his sleep after drugging the guards the couple blame the guards for the kings death. When Donalbain and Malcolm hear about their fathers death they flee Scotland in fear that they will be next to be murdered.  Macbeth is then named king and begins to worry about Banquo’s prophecy that his son will be king.  Macbeth then hires The Murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Fleance escapes but they kill Banquo. During a dinner party Banquo’s ghost comes and haunts Macbeth.

Macbeth goes to the weird sisters and they give him three more prophesies. The first, he should be careful around Macduff and keep a close eye on him. Two, “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth” Macbeth takes this literally. Since everyone is born from a woman, nobody shall harm Macbeth. And lastly, there is nothing to worry about until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane. Everyone is suspecting Macbeth had something to do with the murders of Duncan and Banquo. 

Macduff and Malcolm are in England with King Edward when they find out that Macbeth has had Macduff’s wife and kids murdered. The two begin to plot how to over throw Macbeth with the help of England. Lady Macbeth is beginning to go crazy; having visions of blood on her hands and is sleepwalking. She eventually dies. When Macbeth hears word of his wife’s suicide however he is self absorbed and criticizes her departure for being at an inconvenient time for he was preparing for battle. Macduff and Macbeth are on their way with a huge army when Malcolm orders they cut branches from the Birnam Wood forest for camouflage. Macduff corners Macbeth in the castle and tells him he was cut from his mothers womb, so was not really born to a mother. These three events fulfill all three of the prophesies the witches gave Macbeth. Macduff then kills Macbeth and presents his head to Malcolm who is to become king.

The Great Gatsby

1. Daisy's cousin moves to a town named East Egg, where he meets a man named Jay Gatsby. Garsby is a strange man who has huge lavished parties that everyone hopes to be invited to. Nick goes to visit his cousin Daisy where she lives in West Egg with her well off husband Tom, and their daughter. While visiting Nick meets an athlete, Jordan Baker, and also disvovers that Tom is cheating on Daisy with a woman named Myrtle. The next day Tom and Nick go to the Valley of Ashes and meets Myrtle at her husbands garage. They go to their apartment next and Myrtle is talking about Daisy, Tom feels that his mistress is not of class to speak of Daisy so he hits Myrtle and ends up braking her nose. Nick later goes to one of Gatsby's parties, at his parties Gatsby himself doesn't show himself. Nick runs into Jordan and they decide to try and find out what Gastby is doing instead of mingling with his guests, during their search they find out about Gatsby's love for Daisy. Nick, wanting to reunite Gatsby and Daisy invites them both to tea at him house. Tom becomes suspicious of Gatsby and invites him to New York to learn more.  While Gatsby is driving he happens to run over Myrtle. George, Myrtle's husband mistakes Gatsby with Tom, her once lover, and shoots him. Nick is the narrator of the story, the author chose him rather then Daisy or Gatsby because you were suprised by every discovery made. That Gatsby loved Daisy, that she also loved him, and that Tom was cheating on his wife. 

2. There is two themes in the novel. One is that there is always hope. Gatsby always believed that him and Daisy were meant to be together and every party he had was for her and when he finds her it is clear that she has always loved him to. The second is that ignorance is bliss. Daisy believes this enough to wish it upon her daughter hoping she will always wear a pretty face and not look into the horrible things going on in the world and this will give her a better, happier life.

3.  The tone is very ironic. Examples of this are through out the book, like how Myrtle who is of low class looks down on her husband who is of the same class. How Tom cheats on Daisy with someone of a lower class and breaks her nose for even speaking his wife's name. And how Daisy believes ignorance is bliss when some would say she is rather ignorant herself and yet not very blissful.

4.Literary Techniques:
              A) Symbolism- The green light at the end of the dock symbolizes hope for Gatsby that his love is still very much alive.
              B) Repetition- Optimism and the level of insanity when it comes to Daisy and their future together.
              C) Irony- Gatsby uses a fake identity to keep hope alive with Daisy but it is his optimism that leads to his death.
              D) Simile- Nick says, "In his blue garden men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."
             E) Foreshaddowing- through out the book Fitzgerald hints at the downfall of Garsby.

Exceptional Member Blogs

Katie Enstad:
http://kerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Lizzie Level:
http://erlrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
Shannon Fahey:
http://sfrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
I chose these three blogs because they were up to date and all of them put in extra work to make sure they were great blogs, none of them took the easy way out and did the bare minimum and for that they stood out from the rest!

I chose this dance becasue it is about a girl trying to find someone so the singer symbolizes Gatsby and he is trying to find Daisy his entrie life since the day they parted.

Active Reading Notes- Great Gatsby

To download Mindmap onto my computer I have to log onto the administrator and we misplaced the password so here are my notes the old fashion way!!

The Great Gatsby:

Character List-
Daisy: she is married to a cheating husband, Tom. She used to be in love with a man named James Gatz. She is the key character in keeping Gatsby alive.
Gatsby: Intriguing man is called “new money” looking to make connections with “old money”. He throws lavished parties where a lot of important people hope to be invited to.
Nick: Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor. Sees a lot of peoples secrets.
Tom: Very aggressive and angry man. He is married to Daisy and cheats on her with Myrtle.
Myrtle: Always looking to get ahead. She is married to George and not satisfied with anything they have.

Literary Elements-
Irony: Gatsby uses a fake identity to keep hope alive with Daisy. This is ironic because it is his optimism that eventually leads to his death.
Symbolism: The green light at the end of the dock is a symbol of hope for Gatsby that his love is still very much alive and that one day him and Daisy will be together.
Repetition: Optimism and level of insanity when it comes to Daisy and their future together.

Plot Summary-
Nick mover to East Egg next to a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby who throws huge parties. He decides to visit Daisy and Tom to West Egg for dinner and meets the athlete Jordan Baker. He learns that Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle.
The next day Nick goes with Tom to the Valley of the Ashes and meets Myrtle at George’s garage. They go to their apartment where they have a little party and Tom breaks her nose because she says Daisy’s name.
Jordan does to one of the Gatsby’s parties and sees Nick, they conspire to find Gatsby and they end up learning of his love for Daisy.
Nick sets up a tea at his house and reunites Daisy and Gatsby. Tom becomes suspicious and invites Gatsby to go to New York with them. Gatsby runs over Myrtle and George shoots Gatsby because he confuses him with Tom.

Socratic Seminar Notes:

o Learn from your OWN mistakes.
o Must be a happy medium between doing things on your own and having your parent’s guidance. This will teach you what works and what doesn’t work
o How can you take bits of wisdom and apply them to real life?
o What value does wisdom have if you’re not using it?
o Majority of classrooms have a ‘testing environment’. It is more helpful when teachers show other ways to connect the same material to our lives and how to use it later in life. (building blocks)
o Apply practical knowledge to your actions.

1. I think, especially in college when we are taking specific classes for our job, that applying what you know to real life will be necessary to prepare ourselves for our future career. Just like before you can become a surgeon you have to have an internship, and teachers must student teach. You’re not doing it for a grade, you’re doing it because your goal is to become the surgeon or teacher etc. and you must apply your knowledge or you’ll never reach your goal.
2. Relating the material you know to know to pass any class or test is one hundred times easier if you are truly engaged and interested in what your learning, and if your teacher cant get you excited about it then you must take in the knowledge in a way that works for you, like relating it to your own life, or remixing it so you have a better understanding for it.
3. I think confidence alone can inspire someone, so if you are confident in what you do and know others will aspire to be that comfortable with applying their knowledge to their actions as well. When a group collaborates in class it will improve the content of the material because you gain other views and ideas on the topic. Everybody has a different thought process and if you take the one, or few, strongest, best views of each person you will have an unbelievable network to work with.

Active Notes: 3/20

Video Notes:
o Internet allows people to communicate with anyone around the world.
o People have come to rely on the internet for a main source of communication, and to learn worldly things.
o To change the world, you must first ask questions
 Are brands more powerful than government?
 Why some states are less developed than others?
 And what do you want to see change in the future?
Article Notes:
o Play time is important for development.
o People with less fortunate childhoods are more likely to become unstable adults
o Free play helps people cope with stress and develop social skills but is seen less and less with kid’s busy schedules today.
o Playing should be relatively unstructured so that the child’s imagination is put to use.
o Helps immensely with social skills in young children.
o Children must have the opportunity to play to become fully functioning adults.

Animal Farm

1. Summary: Old Major tells everyone they should come together as one in an inspirational speech in the barn. He dies three days later. “Animalism” is formulated from Old Majors ideas by the remaining pigs. The animals run Mr. Jones, the farmer, off of the farm. Snowball steps up as a teacher while Napoleon takes the puppies to educate them in Animalism. Tension rises between Snowball and Napoleon and how things should be run. Napoleon arranges his puppies, which have turned into strong body guards by now, to chase Snowball from the meeting of the windmill votes off the farm. Napoleon now goes crazy with power and blames every mishap on Snowball saying he sabotaged everyone. In the end Napoleon is sleeping in a bed, wearing clothes, and trading with other farmers. All of these things go directly against the original rules of Animalism. By the end of the novel the only remaining rule is that, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” The author gets his point across through the dramatic change in Napoleon from being a pig to the animals not being able to tell the difference between him and the humans.
2. Theme: The theme of the novel is how Napoleon becomes power hungry and goes against all of the things he promised the animals he would never do.
3. Tone: The tone is ironic. The way that in the end the animals look though the window of the house and cannot tell the difference between the humans and pigs when the entire point of the rebellion was to change the way things were. Also, the saying “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” because if all were really equal Napoleon wouldn’t be put above everyone else. Lastly, that Napoleon runs Snowball out during the windmill because his opposition to it, but then later builds it out of selfishness.
4. Literary Elements:
a. Paradox: Is a phrase or saying that contradicts itself. “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
b. Allusion: A reference an author makes and expects the reader to understand. George Orwell expects his readers to understand that the book is really about the Russian Revolution.
c. Allegory: a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically. The entire book is an allegory of the corruption of the Czar’s and the Revolution.
d. Symbols: Something that stands for, or represents something else. The farm represents Russia under communist rule.
e. Foreshadow: To indicate something is going to happen later on. There are many examples through out the novel of foreshadowing, but the major one that starts everything is old Major’s speech about animals being in control. It shows that later on the animals will have control.

Open Essay Questions

Prompt 1: 1972 In retrospect the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel
or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the
work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first
chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way. In
your essay do not merely summarize the plot of the work you are
discussing.

In Animal Farm by George Orwell the main themes are how corrupt the society is, and how the person, or animal, in charge abuses their power and treats others unfairly. This is presented very quickly into the novel through Old Major’s speech. He paints a picture for the animals of a world not controlled by Mr. Jones or any other human. Old Major says animals live a life that is, “miserable, laborious, and short.” And if the animals could over through Mr. Jones and treat each other with dignity and respect they could lead healthy long lives.


Prompt 2: 1984 Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem,
orplay that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify
the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is
found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness. Do not base your essay on
a work that you know about only from having seen a television or movie
production of it. Select a work of recognized literary merit.

Animal Farm often points out how corrupt society can be. Specifically it is referring to Russian Revolution (1917- 1945) and how it was ruled by a Czar . “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Is a quote that could have easily described the Communists who rebelled against the Czar during this time period as well as the chaotic ruling in the novel.


Prompt 3: 1997 Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and
othersocial occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and
thesociety in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene
and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the
meaning of the work as a whole.

In Animal Farm, there is often meetings for the animals. The first to occur is the opening of the story where Old Major lays out his dream of animals being in charge and treated fairly, not just used for the benefits of humans. This lays out the foundation for the rest of the story. The next most significant meeting is the vote for the windmill plan. Snowball and Napoleon are set against each other on weather to go forward and build the windmill, that will provide electricity, or not. Snowball gives a passionate speech on why they need it, and Napoleon retaliates with a brief couple of words and then has his dogs chase Snowball away. This sets the rankings for their government. Napoleon sends a message of not to cross him and puts himself above everyone else in their “equal” ruling.

Great Expectations Questions

Questions:
1. What is the relationship between Pip and the narrator?
2. What is the difference of Pip as a character and Pip as a narrator?
3. How did he acquire the name Pip?
4. What similarities does Pip have to Charles Dickens?
5. Who does Pip live with?
6. Why was Pip in the cemetery?
7. What did the man in the graveyard request Pip to bring him?
8. How does Pip emphasize how his sister brought him up?
9. What does Joe Gargery do for a living?
10. How would Pip describe his sister and brother-in-law?

Answers:
1. They are the same person.
2. The story is about Pip’s life and him growing up, Pip as a narrator is a result of what happened through out his life, or what is happening to Pip in the story.
3. His father’s family name is Pirrip, and his Christian name is Philip so he called himself Pip.
4. They both grew up poor and had to support their families.
5. He lives with his sister and her husband Joe Gargery.
6. He was visiting his mother and fathers graves.
7. A file and wittles
8. He says she brought him up “by hand”
9. He is a black smith.
10. Pip’s sister is mean and beats him. On the other hand, Joe Gargery loves Pip as if he were his own son and they have a much better relationship then the one Pip has with his actual blood sister.

Lord of the Flies

1. The Lord of the Flies is about a group of British schoolboys whose plane gets shot down stranding the kids on an island with no adults surviving the crash; they are forced to take care of them selves. Ralph is elected to be the leader of the group and he appoints Jack to be leader of the hunting group. Ralph is adamant about keeping the signal fire lit and maintained, and it is the hunting group’s job to control it. Jack and the hunter boys focus is on hunting and playing rather then the importance of getting rescued. One day a ship sails by and Ralph is infuriated when he sees that the hunters have let the fire go out. He calls together a meeting that doesn’t go as planned. The younger boys have been having nightmares and many of the boys believe that there is a beast living on the island. When the kids are asleep there is an air battle and a man falls out of his plane and his parachute lands in the trees of the forest. Sam and Eric wake and see it and tell everyone that it is the beast. Jack and Ralph make a journey to see what is going on and believe it to be an animal of some sorts. At the meeting Jack calls Ralph out and appoints himself the leader and encourages people to join him. They violently slaughter an animal in the new tribe and put its head on a spear as an offering to the beast in hopes that it will not attack the boys. Simon sees it and has a delusion where the head, the Lord of the Flies, tells him that he lives inside him and he will never escape. He passes out and when he awakes he goes and discovers the parachute. After his discovery he realizes that the beast is not an animal but an evil inside. When he goes to inform the boys he is attacked and killed by them. The following morning everything goes chaotic. Jack and Ralph fight and Ralph is forced to run and hide in the forest. The boys go to smoke him out and he is forced to go back to the beach. Knowing he will be killed soon he faints. When he wakes up he looks up to see a British naval officer. When the other boys arrive they are taken aback and they all cry and become like little kids again.
2. The theme of the book is that good and evil live with in side of everyone. The boys go crazy with out the adults and structure of their normal lives. The “beast” is not a physical thing like they believe it to be but rather something inside them that has made them act as savage as they do on the island. When the naval officer arrives he is presented as a sign of good. The effect of the presence of an adult is immediate on the boys and they stop fighting at once.
3. The tone of the book is chaotic because the author, William Golding, is graphic and blunt about how savage the boys become with no order.
• “He began to laugh and his laughter became a blood thirsting snarling.”
• “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!”
• “The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.”
4. Literary Techniques:
• Symbolism: The beast is a symbol of evil, and you find out that the evil is inside all of them.
• Allegory: The entire story is an allegory. The island represents the world and the tribes, Jack’s versus Ralph’s, are like to countries at war.
• Setting: The setting is on a deserted island and with no adults. They have no technology so they must fend for themselves off the island. This story would not have worked if it were in any other place.
• Irony: The fire for Ralph is very important because it’s the only way he knows they will be rescued. For Jack it hasn’t been of importance, hunting has. But in the end it is the fire Jack lights to smoke out Ralph and kill him that gets them rescued.
• Style: The style Golding uses is perfect for this book and helps the reader capture each character. The fact that it’s not told from the perspective of one of the boys is key in this story because it gives a bias view of all the characters.

"Great Expectations"

I chose this book because I have heard many good things about it and my partner wanted to read "A Tale of Two Cities" so it worked out perfectly.

Research Paper: International Language

Language is the world’s biggest means of communication. Why then, is there not a universal language so that people could understand each other flawlessly everywhere? Foreign affairs concerning all types of matters would be made much simpler. However, we would lose parts of every culture, except for one. Now the question becomes, is it worth sacrificing so much historic culture to make life a little easier; or would having a universal language take away from part of the experience of traveling, working, and studying abroad.
Many modern languages weren’t spoken thousands of years ago. There are “Language Families” meaning that many modern languages all evolved from an older language. According to Merritt Ruhlen there was one language that began all the languages. His findings are based on comparing similarities of different languages and language families. It is proven that we have a common ancestor from Africa “Early Modern Homo sapiens” states that, “Current data suggest that modern humans evolved from archaic humans primarily in East Africa”. If this is true it would be that the mother of the language families is an old African language.
The language families have blossomed into “6912 living languages listed on the Ethnologue language database”. The English Language as a Global Force informs that only Mandarin is spoken by more people than English. Judging by the large quantity of people in Asia, I think it would be fair to say that English is the widest spreading language in the world today. English is taking the world by storm so shouldn’t it them be the universal language? How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think? By Lera Boroditsky says that proven by tests Boroditsky has been involved in that Stanford University and MIT, the language we speak effects the way we see the world. This would be a reason to have a universal language. If we view things similarly wouldn’t it be much easier to solve conflicts of all kinds. On the other hand, there would be less diversity in the world and ideas, inventions, and some creativity would be lost.
Technology is widely programed in English. “The birth of the Internet in an English speaking country has also had a huge impact on this global evolution of the language, with almost 80% of the worlds’ digital information now stored in English.” Is stated in The English Language as a Global Force they bring up the point that the computer languages are based from English. Undeniably this gives English speaking countries and people an advantage with technology and “communicating with the world as a whole.” To conclude, if everyone, English or any language, spoke in a common tongue there would be no one to a disadvantage because of the language they spoke. This could accomplish an array of amazing new thing
Collaboration would be easier than ever. Being able to share ideas with people who are of different dialects is near impossible without a third party. If everyone could easily learn about what others are trying to invent or improve, technology and many other things could develop much faster. People wouldn’t have to take their time getting whatever formula right that someone else has already perfected it. The world could be farther along in terms of technology, medicine, learning abilities and pretty much everything you could think of. It would be much better if the inventers of the world weren’t restricted by communication.
On the contrary, what are the effects of English being so widespread? “I find myself annoyed when Americans tour the world expecting to be understood whenever they speak in English.” States Terri Dip, author of Should English be the Worlds International Language? He goes on to say it is even worse when people from none English speaking countries go to other none English speaking countries and attempt to communicate in English. He believes that, “the prevalence of English is one of the biggest reasons the majority of America’s youth know next to nothing about the outside world.” At first I couldn’t help to be offended by this statement. How does this man know what I know? And then I realized it is true. Many Americans, not age group specific, only know one language, and although you can learn about other countries and say you know all about it, you may know facts but you know nothing of how their culture truly is until you experience it.
Before writing this, I was thinking of the advantages and disadvantages of having a universal language would be. And for obvious reasons, the loss of culture was the biggest bullet point of a disadvantage. And in my opinion, and I discovered also in many others, this would be a huge loss in the world. “If you speak multiple languages, you start to see things in many more shades because some concepts just cannot be translated, directly or indirectly.” States Dip. He continues on to describe how when translating phrases and words from language to language it doesn’t always make much sense from one to the other. He sums it up perfectly by saying, “Our different languages have shaped who we are, our history, our heritage, our culture, our identity. Why should the world have one language when it can have many?” An article by Janafadness called English is NOT the “International Language” really caught my attention because it features a Youtube video of a boy saying why he thinks that English might by very useful for some things, but go out of the tourist attractions and step into the average life of people from other countries, many do not know English, or do not know it well enough to have a full on conversation.
So, in the end, there is no real conclusion. There are just many different opinions that all make very valid and reasonable points, making the topic that much harder. Not one of the citations are wrong in their thinking, but not all of them agree. The topic of an international language has many shades of grey. Whether it will ever happen or not is unknown at this point, but all I can offer in my personal opinion. It was much harder to find reasons of why not to have an international language then why to have one but I hope there will never be one. The consequences are too great for the advantages to ever overtake them.

Essay

Actions speak louder than words. But it is the occurrences that lead up to actions that sometimes make the action so unthinkable. This is defiantly the case in Jodi Picoult’s book, Nineteen Minutes. Peter Houghton, a seventeen year old high school student is bullied to the point where he brings upon a school shooting. The book goes back and forth between his current life and his past. Picoult finds a way to make her readers sympathize for Peter although he has committed an inexcusable crime.
At first, you simply despise Peter for bringing chaos to everyone, and taking lives of his fellow classmates. But as the book continues, you learn how he was so fed up with being harassed all his life that when he reached his braking point unnoticed, he felt like he had no other way to express his hatred for the people who literally made his life a living hell. Picoult makes your feel sorry for him as you would an abused puppy that learns to bite back. Peter has one person he looks to as a friend, Josie Cormir, and even she is so caught up in popularity that she has shoved him aside in order to keep her status as “cool”.
Although Peter has a tough essence about him during the trial, his true character becomes apparent during the chapters of his childhood up until the day of the shooting. He never provoked anyone to be mean to him, and yet he was the punching bag from the start. By Picoult showing an elementary boy getting picked on for the way he looks, it really gives the reader no choice but to sympathize for him and even to justify his actions. He had done nothing wrong to these kids and yet they never let up on him. Picoult shows Peter at his weakest, which happens to be most of his life, to make one feel bad for him. She obtains something many can not, she makes her readers want to defend a killer.
One could argue that Peter felt so trapped and abandoned by everyone in his life that he wasn’t mentally stable and what he did wasn’t really his conscious self’s fault. Even as the book talks about the ones who were killed and their families, you wonder if their parents knew what kind of person their child really was. How they would be ashamed of them if they knew what they did to make Peter take such drastic measures. Picoult artfully wrote Nineteen Minutes so that the reader would have polar opposite feeling about the same person. Peter is both an innocent child who is bullied everyday and a knowledgeable being who took people’s lives from them.
In the end, Peter is found guilty, as he should be. But you can’t help but still have that little part of you that wishes he got the benefit of the doubt and got a short sentence. Picoult is an amazing writer because of this reason; she makes you feel for someone who did something awful. Over all, actions do speak louder then words and horrible ones blind all the little incidents leading up to them.

Big Question Abstract

Language is the worlds biggest means of communication. Why then, is there not a universal language so that people could understand eachother flawlessly everywhere? Foriegn affairs concerning all types of matters would be made much simpiler. However, we would loose parts of every cultures, except for one. Now the question becomes, is it worth sacrificing so much historic culture to make life a little easier; or would having a universal language take away from part of the experience of traveling, working, and studying abroud.