literature analysis #2



The Night Circus

1.  The Night Circus is about a magical traveling circus that is secretly hosting a competition between two magicians who have to prove who had the better teacher. Their reward? Life. The only way to win is to survive. Celia, a little girl whose mother dies when she is only five years old is taken to live with her father who is also a magician. He is known to be the greatest of his time, when Celia is introduced to him, he immediately doesn't like her. She gets mad at the way he treats her and she uses her 'powers' to break his hot tea cup. This intrigues Prospero, her father. Her father then sets up a meeting with an old friend and it is them that arrange the competition between Celia and Marco (the chosen competetor). The two do not know who they are competing with until Celia catches Marco performing and then everything starts to crumble. The two have fallen in love and now they are refusing to continue the competition knowing one of them will die. The problem with just stopping the competiton? The circus and the people in it will die off and the two lovers won't be the only ones suffering the consequences.Celia figures out a way for the two to live together and keep the circus running without letting anyone else get hurt. Celia and Marco kill themselves, but find a way to stay in spirit and keep the circus alive.
2.  Theme: It is very similar to The Hunger Games themes, anything and everything over love, to die with you would be better to die alone, a competition for survival.
3. Tone: its bitter and knowing. The author has a lot of sass and you can see that in the main character Celia, the most. She makes it seem as if she were using her story to vent out her hate for someone and her longing for another.
4. Foreshadowing:

In the beginning Marco explains that he loves to love and he loves to be in love and it always happens so quickly, but he doesn't know what being IN LOVE is really like, therefore he'd do anything to be with her. This is setting up his attitude towards how is going to feel about Celia and the situation they get put in having to kill eachother.

Prediction:

Celia grabs the wrong umbrella, but she notices that the umbrella she did grab has some sort of spell on it and this is how she discovers and predicts that Marco is her challenger.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Direct characterization

Celia: The author directly explains how she looks feels and acts. There is no asuming or guessing on how she felt towards something, the author is very direct with her.

Marco: The author also explains everything Marco feels directly and we know from the very beginning how he looks and what his morals are.

Indirect characterization

An example of this is a teenager named Bailey who is brought up very little and then at the end becomes the protagonist all with one feeling. The author indirectly tells you that Bailey has this passion and dedication towards the circus that will essentially save everyone. The author then refers to two twins who live in the circus and will be helping Bailey save it. This is dropped by hints such as dreams and fortune tellers.

The indirect characters are all the smaller characters that we don't get to read about directly.
2. The authors syntax changes when she concentrates on a different part of the story. The novel jumps around from character to character and you can tell whose side of the story it is when the sentences get longer or shorter and the it goes from first person to third person.
3. The protagonist is very round and dynamic, he starts off seeming useless to the storyline, but then their is a plottwist and it all starts to make sense. It is part of his destiny to either save or destroy the circus and it all comes down to one decision; does he chase after a circus or give up on it all together. He chooses to chase after it and that is his first step to saving it.
4. I did not feel as if I had just met someone after reading this story. I think that because the storyline was something I was not use to. However, I understand what it is like to not want to do something because the decision is too hard to make and it might hurt someone else. Overall I didn't make any easy connections with this book, too ficitonal and unrealistic.

master piece essay #1

For my essay topic, I decided to write more about being an athlete versus being a coach. I want to continue swimming in the future, so I want to write about what it is being a student-athlete. Once I'm older, I wont be an athlete anymore but I want to continue being involved in swimming so I am going to coach. I don't know what its like being a coach but I have resources I have found online and I will personally talk to coaches I know about how they got to where they are.:)

personal vocab: sports medicine

 anti-inflammatory Drugs that reduce swelling and inflammation

 antipyretic Agent that reduces fever

 apophysis Bony outgrowth to which muscles attach

 arthroscopy Viewing the inside of a joint through an arthroscope using a

small video camera lens

 atrophy Decrease in size of muscle or tissue

 avascular Lack of blood circulation

 avulsion Forcible tearing away or separation.

 axilla Armpit

 bradycardia Slow heartbeat

bursa Small synovial sac located over bony prominences that aids in

reducing friction.

 bursitis Inflammation of a bursa

subluxation Partial or incomplete dislocation of an articulation

 

 symptom Subjective evidence of an abnormal situation within the body

syndrome Group of typical symptoms or conditions that characterize a

deficiency or disease

 

 systolic The blood pressure exerted by the pumping of the heart

 tachycardia Rapid or abnormally high pulse rate

etiology Science dealing with causes of injury or disease

 eversion A movement of turning the foot outward

 fascia Fibrous membrane that covers, supports, and separate

muscles

 fasciitis Inflammation of fascia  

Personal Vocab: Athletic Training

Xerostomia- having a dry mouth
Rehabilitation- to restore to a healthy condition after injury
Tendinitis- inflammation of the tendon
Myositis-  inflammation of muscle tissue
Hypoxia- lack of oxygen
Cryotherapy-  Treatment in which cold is used
Conversion- heating by other forms of energy
Apnea- Absence of breathing
Range of motion- the movement of the joint
Plantar flexion- Ankle movement  pointing the foot down
Active range of motion- movement of the athlete
R.I.C.E- rest, ice, compression, elevation
Contraindicate- To warn against a particular treatment
Hypertrophy-increase in muscle or tissue size
Anesthetic- an agent that reduces or eliminates the sensation of pain
Retraction- Movement in posterior direction
Articulation- a joint between bones
Anatomy- The study of structure of the human body
Kinesiology- The study of human movement
Physiology-the study of the functional process of a body

Literature analysis #1

 THE FIFTH CHILD BY DORIS LESSING

 

Characterization

1. Direct Characterization is used to describe Ben and the other four children's personalities. You never get the chance to know what Ben is actually thinking for feeling because he can barely talk at all. You really only have this picture of him from what every one around him thinks and says. Indirect characterization is used to describe Harriet and David because you really get to see who they are through their communication between each other and those around them. 

2.The protagonist is Harriet and she is a dynamic, round character. She does develop and change throughout the story because she begins this normal lady with normal dreams and hopes for her family. When Ben comes into the picture she changes dramatically, one who was always so happy and dedicated to her other four children and husband begins to become depressed; paying little to none attention to any one other than Ben. She also develops as a mother, really proving her loyalty to her troublesome son.

3. Lessing's syntax and diction remains consistent no matter what character is being focused on except for Ben. He rarely talks but when he does it's different than most. He uses very short sentences that get directly to the point. His first words were "I want cake." He never carries on a conversation, just talks when he really needs to.

4. After finishing this book I definitely felt like I read a character instead of meeting an actual person. Although this story was very interesting it was nearly impossible for me to relate at any level. I didn't find myself connecting on a personal level with any of the characters

1.- Exposition: The beginning of the story explains how Harriet and David first met one another and how quickly they fell in love. It showed them during their happiest of times plan the life the both of them had always wanted. They talked about their future with a house full of kids and they very quickly made that dream come true.

 -The rising action took place much deeper into the story than I am used to reading. It didn't occur until Harriet and David received the news of  their fifth child. Before that, nothing extreme happened. The first four children were perfectly healthy and normal and they made up a very happy family of six. As soon as Harriet got pregnant with the fifth, she sensed something was different. The pregnancy was not easy like the first four, she was in constant pain and couldn't control the strength of the child growing inside of her. She knew something was wrong and when the child was born she knew she had been right. He was monster like; big and strong and not delicate or fragile like her previous children.

-Climax: One day after years of struggling with this child, David's parents decided to mention putting Ben into an institution. They had been watching him drain the life out of Harriet and how David and the rest of the children didn't matter anymore. He was a danger to every living thing that came into that household and was not in any way normal. They arranged for him to be taken away one day. A van arrived at the house and David carried Ben out of the house to be taken away forever. Harriet felt so guilty hearing him screaming as the van drove off and not helping him but the guilt was mostly caused from the huge sense of relief she felt. Soon after that her home life and family went back to normal and everyone was so happy again. 

-Conflict: The conflict began as soon as she brought ben, the fifth child, home. Everyone was scared of him for he was extremely different. No one knew what to think, especially Harriet. As he grew into a toddler he became more and more dangerous. He would harm the house hold pets and he had to be supervised at all times. The family stopped coming around for the holidays because of how they feared Ben. The main conflict was Harriet's struggle to love this child. She hated him for what he had done to the family. He took her away from her four perfect children because she had to keep an eye on him 24/7 and he had to have special care. He tore her marriage apart. He created so many problems but he was still her biggest concern and she spent most of her time with him, trying to help him the best she could.

-Falling Action: Even though everything went completely back to normal in the household, Harriet couldn't stop thinking about Ben. One day she got the huge urge to go see him. She got out of bed and demanded the information of where she could find him. Once she learned where he was she left immediately. She drove for hours to find him in some hospital like place with kids just like him being drugged and tested and treated horribly. She couldn't stand to see him in such an awful place and took him home. Her family felt so betrayed when they saw that she had brought Ben back into their home. Things were really difficult since being in that situation had made Ben even worse and he needed even more of Harriets time and attention than before. 

-Resolution: Surprisingly, once Ben started highschool he found a group of friends that looked up to him and they became inseparable. The group he was hanging around would come to his house all the time and these teenage boys terrified Harriet. She soon began hearing of crimes being committed everytime the group would disappear for hours at a time and deep down she knew it was Ben and his friends. The book ended without really saying what had happened to Ben. The family was destroyed and he was still such a destructive creature. Nothing got resolved and I just felt empty at the end of this book. 

2. The theme of this novel is unconditional love, or the lack of it. Ben was hated by his own family because of how different he was from all of them. They never even took the time to build a relationship with him. They had decided from the very beginning that he was not and could not be one of them. Harriet felt these things too due to the destruction Ben caused in her life but she also loved him. She devoted her life to him. She went back for him even though she knew how much harder it would make things. She did the best she could being the mother to something or someone so incapable of loving her back.

3. Tone: the tone is very cynical at times. Ben's condition really questions the humanity in those around him. 

" 'It's either him or us,' said David to Harriet. He added, his voice full of cold dislike for Ben, 'He's probably just dropped in from Mars. He's going back to report on what he's found down here.' He laughed- cruelly, it seemed to Harriet, who was silently taking in the fact- which of course she had half known already- that Ben was not expected to live long in this institution, whatever it was."

"One morning when people were sitting around having breakfast, Harriet for some reason turned her head and saw the dog, asleep, and Ben going silently up to him in a low crouch, hands held out in front of him... 'Ben!' said Harriet sharply. She saw those cold eyes  turn towards her, caught a gleam of pure malice."

 

 

Launch Pad

What am I passionate about and what do I want to keep doing in the future? My answer has to be continue swimming. I have been passionate about swimming ever since I was a little girl. I honestly don't know where I would be in life without swim. Swimming has shaped me into the person who I am today. To many people, when they ask me what I want to do in the future and hear my answer, they kind of think about it. many people tell me it's crazy how I am so passionate about swimming. When they say that, it makes me wonder if they are passionate about something?
obviously I cant be competing my whole life in swimming, but I can go into coaching. I have looked at many resources online to see what it takes and its a lot of work. I am willing to work hard to be a great coach. There are many articles I can read on the internet and I can personally sit down with successful coaches and interview them about coaching.
I know I have a lot of supports. I still have a lot of steps to come because its a long process, but I am willing to sacrifice a lot for swimming.

vocab #4

accolade-
an award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit. 
acerbity-
a sharp bitterness
attrition-

the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.

 bromide-
a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate.  
chauvinist- 
 a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.
chronic-
persisting for a long time or recurring
expound- 
present and explain an idea or theory systematically and in detail.
factionalism-
the splitting of a group into fractions
immaculate- 
perfectly clean, neat, or tidy esp. person or their clothes
imprecation-
a spoken curse
ineluctable-
unable to be resisted
mercurial-
subject to unexpected changes of mood or mind
palliate-
make a disease less severe without removing the cause
protocol-
the official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions.
 resplendent-
attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous
stigmatize-
describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval
sub rosa-
happening or done in secret
vainglory-
inordinate pride in one's self or one's achievements
vestige-
a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists
volition-
the faculty or power of using one's will