Vocab #3

accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
The celebrity received an accolade from his home town.

acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner
Her acerbity was shown through the sharpness of her eyes.

attrition - noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice; erosion by friction
Should one of these teeth be destroyed the opposed one loses its natural means of attrition and becomes a remarkable, curved tusk-like elongation.

bromide - noun any of the salts of hydrobromic acid; formerly used as a sedative but now generally replaced by safer drugs; a trite or obvious remark
Some people still believe and act on the old bromide that "misery loves company.

chauvinist - noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind
My male coworkers are all chauvinists who feel that a woman should stay at home, have children, and certainly not manage a Fortune 500 company.

chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering
He was diagnosed with a chronic disease.

expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state
From that time he gave up all worldly learning and laboured solely to expound spiritual things.

factionalism - of a faction or factions.
I answered that both groups were suffering from serious defects and advised him to take measures to liquidate factionalism.

immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error
What was the date of Mary's Immaculate Conception?

imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation
If you really don't like someone you can shout out an imprecation at them.

ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"
Ineluctable downhill slide.

mercurial - adj. relating to or containing or caused by mercury; relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change
They can be very mercurial, one minute docile the next skittish.

palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
But the political dangers to be apprehended from the disruption of the English Church were sufficiently serious to palliate the fraud.

protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data
Thus far, Mr. Tim was not following typical protocol for emergencies.

resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor
Resplendent in scarlet liveries and silver badges.

stigmatize - verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
Stigmatized minority.

sub rosa - confidentially; secretly; privately.
Still, it would always have to be sub rosa.

vainglory - noun outspoken conceit
He did not hesitate to flaunt his great personal vainglory in public.

vestige - noun an indication that something has been present
Work finally lost the last vestiges of appeal that it had.

volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
Her arms slid around his neck of their own volition and she eagerly returned his kiss.

Literature Analysis 1

Catch 22

1. This story did not follow the typical plot line and was jumps of flashbacks to present time, leaving the story line messy, yet real.  The beginning of the story introduces the main characters and their feelings on war, whether its Yossarian's view of hating or the Texan's of it being the best thing ever. The story is based around the conflict of Yossarian wanting to leave the war, but the minimum mission count to leave keeps getting raised to keep the pilots there.  The army uses their dogmatic rules to justify what they order.  Yossarian tries to find the loopholes, but once he finds it the close it off before he can get away. As the story progress Yossarian neglects his duty and flees from battle to avoid getting killed.  He once pretends to have a broken radio and lands away from the bombing site and doesn't bomb anyone.  His friends begin to get killed on missions increasing his desire to get out before he suffers the same fate.  Colonel Cathcart tells Yossarian he will be let free to go home if he does not report him increasing the minimum mission requirements for leave, this leave Yossarian stuck morally of helping himself and leaving his squadron or staying.  When he finds out his friend Orr actually faked his death to escape and flee to Sweden, upon hearing this, Yossarian gets out of there to go join his friend in Sweden.  

2. The Catch 22 is a ruling saying pilots will be grounded if they are crazy, but declaring your crazy proves you sane.  This makes it impossible to escape the army unless you complete your number of mission, that they increase continuously, or ignore it completely.  This follows the theme that everything is controlled by a higher power that you can't prevent, but only learn to live with.  

3. Heller writes this almost as a satirical to war, because he uses humor to depict a serious issue with the toll of war on soldiers.  

"It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."

This explains how Yossarian believes the war and its winners are pointless because in the end every man who died will not have truly won, but lost the true war of life.

"They were the most depressing group of people Yossarian had ever been with. They were always in high spirits. They laughed at everything."

They were always to happy that it brought Yossarian's spirits down due to the fact he felt like he was the only one who still remembered what was going on out there.

"I may outrank you, sit, but you’re still my commanding officer."

The army had many confusing rulings and procedures that end up with complications and mishaps, this is one of them because they may outrank the other, but do to army procedures he is actually under the lower ranked officer.

4. Situational Irony

"Clevinger was a genius... a Harvard undergraduate... [going] far in the academic world... In short, he was a dope" (p. 68)

Dramatic Irony
"Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn't quite jaundice" (p. 7)

Allusion
"John Milton is a sadist" (p.97)

Alliteration

"If the colonel says we have to fly fifty-five missions, we have to fly them" (p. 65)

Foreshadowing

"Do you remember... that time in Rome when that girl who can't stand you kept hitting me over and over the head with the heel of her shoe? Do you want to know why she was hitting me?" (p. 25)

Paradox

"If he flew [planes] he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. " (p.46)

Verbal Irony

"I don't have nightmares" (p. 54)

 Symbolism

"He never sends anyone home, anyway. He just keeps them waiting around waiting for rotation orders until he doesn't haven enough men left for the crews, and then raises the number of missions and throws them all back on combat status. He's been doing that ever since he got here" (p.102)

Motif

"I don't want to fly milk runs" (p.103)

Repetition

 “Major Major Major Major” (p. 82)

Characterization

1.Indirect Characterization: We are told in the beginning of the book, Yossarian's feelings on the war and the people around him.  You learn how he hates being in the war and only wants to get out alive, "I’m not running away from my responsibilities. I’m running to them. There’s nothing negative about running away to save my life.”     Dunbar is also directly characterized through his feelings and thoughts we get to know him, we find he is very similar to Yossarian in the way he acts and feels,   "Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?" Dunbar repeated to Clevinger. "This long." He snapped his fingers. "A second ago you were stepping into college with your lungs full of fresh air. Today you're an old man." Heller uses this approach so you feel connected to these characters.

Direct Characterization: Heller uses indirect characterization so you learn straight forward what the character is like compared to the other characters. The Texan is one of the first characters you meet this way  We learn he is a patriotic soldier, but he his actions make everyone leave they ward because they were annoyed by his presence, "The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him."  Even the man in the white gauze is characterized in a few short sentences, "The soldier in white was encased from head to toe in plaster and gauze."

2.  Heller's way of writing doesn't change as he moves from character to character, using vivid imagery to help us picture the old and new characters in our minds.  An example of Heller's imagery would be, "Colonel Cargill, General Peckem's troubleshooter, was a forceful, ruddy man. Before the war he had been an alert, hard-hitting, aggressive marketing executive. He was a very bad marketing executive. Colonel Cargill was so awful a marketing executive that his services were much sought after by firms eager to establish losses for tax purposes. Throughout the civilized world, from Battery Park to Fulton Street, he was known as a dependable man for a fast tax write-off. His prices were high, for failure often did not come easily. He had to start at the top and work his way down, and with sympathetic friends in Washington, losing money was no simple matter. It took months of hard work and careful misplanning. A person misplaced, disorganized, miscalculated, overlooked everything and opened every loophole, and just when he thought he had it made, the government gave him a lake or a forest or an oilfield and spoiled everything. Even with such handicaps, Colonel Cargill could be relied on to run the most prosperous enterprise into the ground. He was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody."

3. Yossarian is a dynamic, round character.  From the beginning of the story he is trying to find ways to keep him from war such as staying in the hospital, but in the end he is faced with the decision to leave the army and let everyone suffer for his choice or stay.  He decides to stay so people don't face the consequence of his choice even though he leaves on his own in the end.

4. After reading the book, I feel like I have met a new group of friends that no one else has, because through Heller's figurative language I was able to picture myself there with them in many scenes.

The middle-aged big shots would not let Nately's whore leave until they made her say uncle.
"Say Uncle," they said to her.
"Uncle," she said.
"No, no. Say uncle."
"Uncle," she said.
"She still doesn't understand."
"You still don't understand, do you? We can't really make you say uncle unless you don't want to say uncle. Don't you see? Don't say uncle when I tell you to say uncle. Okay? Say uncle."
"Uncle," she said.
"No, don't say uncle. Say uncle."
She didn't say uncle.
"That's good!"
"That's very good."
"It's a start. Now say uncle."
"Uncle," she said.

Beowulf Essay

There are many difference in how heroes were portrayed in the period where Beowulf  was written. Beowulf was shown as an extremely confident, brave, and strong hero. These were the main heroic traits of that time period, but since then the traits have changed drastically in my opinion.  A contemporary hero now would be Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of The Rings.  Sam is one of the most over looked hero in our time, with out him Frodo would have never survived to destroy the ring because Sam was determined, caring, faithful.  These three traits are almost rare in Old English heroic stories, but are seen a lot in Modern English.   Although they are both considered heroes, they have more differences than similarities.

Beowulf was the main hero in the epic, Beowulf.  He was considered one of the strongest, bravest men around.  His confidence would almost be considered arrogant if he didn't have the acts his had completed to back it up.  The epic was written in Old English, therefore it uses a different language then we are used to, which leads us to seeing the story a different way because language is defined by the culture it is from.  With Old English we can tell that there was a lot of value in heroes being brave, strong, and confident enough to take on anything they faced and how they did not expect the women of the culture to be able to have any of these traits, instead be protective and take car of their families.  The men were considered the leaders and protectors of society, while the women were the supporters of the families. Beowulf strength is considered the strength of thirty men because he was able to slay the mightiest of beast, which include Grendel, who was killed by Beowulf ripping his arm of his shoulder. Strength is a trait for this old society that is shown in the strongest men of their time, very few are truly considered strong, but the few that are have almost God-like strength.  When faced with any challenge Beowulf was brave and took the challenge up whether he thought he was going to make it or not.  He never backed down from anything until he died, this could show how at the time men were expected to have no fear and protect the things around them.  While these traits are still seen in modern literature and cultures nowadays, they are no longer the biggest ones seen.

Although Samwise Gamgee isn't considered the main hero of his story, I believe he is the most important of them.  His determination is what got Frodo to the top of Mt. Doom, Frodo was dying due to the burden of the Ring and all of his injuries so Sam threw him on his shoulders and carried him all the way up the mountain.  Determination is now a trait considered valuable by almost all of modern culture, without it when people struggle they would quit and never preserver. Being faithful can save some ones life, because it means you will be there to protect them even when they don't expect it.  Frodo was tricked into thinking Sam had been selfish and ate all the remaining Elvish bread for the trip and sent him away from the quest, but as Sam was going home confused he found the truth and turned around to protect Frodo.  He came in time to slay the spider and protect the poisoned Frodo from the greedy Smeagle and the Orcs.  Caring comes in many forms such as: compassion, love, and protection.  Throughout the entire story Sam shows all of these qualities.  He is compassionate about helping Frodo complete this quest to destroy the Ring, loves and protects his homeland of the Shire by going on this quest because if succeeded, it will vanquish the evil seeking to take over "everything that good and light in this world." Sam is truly a modern hero, although he isn't recognized for what he has done, he has traits that support and save other people's lives.

Beowulf and Samwise are from two different eras of writing and culture.  This differences are shown in how they are portrayed and how the literature is written.  Their differences show the change in time of what we consider heroic and how society affects literature.  

Vocab #2

accoutrements-noun  additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity
The models accoutrements were just for fashion and had little value.

apogee - noun apoapsis in Earth orbit; the point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth; a final climactic stage
The story had reached the apogee after the murder was caught.

apropos - adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time
The base runner stole home at the apropos time because the catcher lost the ball.

bicker - noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things
The two girls bickered over what color lipstick is better.

coalesce - verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements
The tree began to coalesce with the fence because it was to close.


contretemps - noun an awkward clash
The two guys always had contretemps over the girl who didn't like either of them.

convolution - noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain; the shape of something rotating rapidly
The convolution in water was pulling leaves in and sucking them down.

cull - noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected;look for and gather
The cull, younger son always was stuck watching his brother from the sidelines.

disparate - adj. including markedly dissimilar elements;fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind
The disparate foods were served in the same meal.

dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
The Catholics dogmatic religious views were argued by atheist.

licentious - adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained
The licentious kids nowadays are doing things no teenager should do.

mete - noun a line that indicates a boundary
After their argument the couple creates a mete in the house until they are even tempered.

noxious - adj. injurious to physical or mental health
Their noxious behavior almost injured the man on the sidewalk.

polemic - adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)
The adults got in a polemic while drunk in the bar over the best tap beer.

populous - adj. densely populated
The populous city has a million more people then the city ten miles away.

probity - noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles
My mother raised me with probity.

repartee - noun adroitness and cleverness in reply
After the snide remark made to him, he came up with a repartee.

supervene - verb take place as an additional or unexpected development
I am following this path unless someone supervenes and points me to another.

truncate - adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane
The speech was truncated due to the power outage.

unimpeachable - adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame
The unimpeachable act of knocking out the shooter saved a mans life.

Textbook Notes

Beowulf questions 11-20

11. Beowulf share traits with Sigemund, like loving war, battles, and killing.  Heremod and Beowulf are different because Beowulf is only look for treasures and fame, while Heremod sees no value in treasure and almost chooses to exile himself.
12.Hrothgar is joyous about Beowulf's deed, giving Beowulf the treasure leaving Unferth proven wrong.
13.The Finn sings about a battle between the Danes and the Frisians, the battle is a blood bath, but they use an arranged marriage to fix the problem between the two tribes.
14. Wealhtheow ask Hrothgar not to give Beowulf the throne.
15. Beowulf give the necklace to Hygelac, who dies with it on.  Later Wealhtheow ask Beowulf to protect his two daughters and give them guidance.
16. So many men slept in the beer hall because the sleeping halls were full and this was a mistake because Grendel's mother came looking for revenge.
17. Grendel's mother comes for vengence of her son's death, while Grendel only came for destruction and mayhem.
18. Grendel's mother kills Aeschere, Hrothgar's adviser, and he sends Beowulf  to kill her.
19. The mere is a swamp where Grendel and his mother resided.
20. Beowulf has Hrothgar take care of his men and to send his belongings to Hygelac if he is killed.

Beowulf Chapter 10

• Hrothgar set a guard for Grendel while he slept
• Beowulf gave his weapons and armor to a friend to guard
• Beowulf challenges Grendel to fight with out the use of armor or weapons 
• All of Beowulf men slept knowing they would live to go home because of Beowulf's protection
• Beowulf was the only one awake because he awaited the battle with Grendel