In the 1960s, a popular theme is frequently used by writers in their novels: heroism. More specifically, a hero is generally characterized by the attainment of superhuman powers suddenly and accidentally. He is one exceptional being among ordinary people. Moreover, the person is forced to use his powers for greater good. In the end, after numerous hardships and fights, the hero defeats the villain and saves the world. In the novel Dune, written by Frank Herbert in 1965, we see the birth of a savior. However, Paul Atreides, the hero in this story, is unlike the usual superhumans created in those years. He has not gained his godlike status spontaneously and, in that way, he shows how ordinary people can become great.
Although Paul has many differences with the typical hero, he is similar by his unfortunate circumstances forced upon him. From the beginning of the book, he realizes he will not live a normal life : «Paul felt that he had been infected with a terrible purpose. He did not know yet what the terrible purpose was.»(p.11) In these sentences, it is clearly shown how little power the character has on his future. The word «infected», signifying being contaminated or being invaded by an unwanted agent, refers to Paul’s awareness of slowly being forced to take on a horrible task without the possibility of backing out.
However, as it was mentioned before, he is not the usual superhero. He has gained his strength of mind, spirit and body by slow and painful personal progress : «But strongest in Paul so that he felt it with his entire body was training and the instinctual reaction mechanism that had been hammered into him day after day, hour after hour on the practice floor.»(p.301) This is the biggest dissimilarity betweem the main character and the heros of the 1960s. As we can see in this quotation, Paul has trained since infancy to develop his skills in combat and his mental capacities. They have not appeared out of thin air.
The previous paragraph demonstrates how the hero is not a unique individual. Hope blossoms in the readers after realizing how they too can become a superhero if they choose to work for it. The author finds it extremely important to show his fans that anyone can become strong, smart or skilled in any domain if they work hard enough and put some effort into it . A parallel with our time can be made with this quotation : « All of them, she thought, an entire culture trained to military order.» (p.288) In the book and in our world, the army has always been seen as a group of powerful and strong humans, capable of surviving extreme conditions. Also, all of the citizens know how they have gained such force. It is through long and hard training. The military is one case of exceptionally strong humans, but many more can be seen in more common and less physical domains. In other words, everyone who works hard can become a hero.
In conclusion, Paul Atreides is another superhuman character in a novel which follows the heroism trend of the 1960s. He is forced to free his people on his desert planet and, in the end, he defeats the evil Harkonnens. However, he differs from the stereotype when he gives hope to the people reading this book by showing them how an ordinary person can become exceptional. This is what makes him an outstanding hero and is one of the many elements that causes Dune to be the best-selling science fiction novel of all times.
Word count: 600
Friday, December 12, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Sentence pattern 12, 13
S.P. 12 : Short, simple sentence for dramatic effect or relied used 1) after several long sentences. 2) to summarize what you just said. 3) to provide transition between 2 or more ideas.
ex: Well, I wonder.
ex: Minutes passed.
ex: It was magical.
ex: That's not my style.
ex: Perseverance pays.
ex: Everything changed.
Ex: But then it happened.
Ex: Just consider this.
Ex: And this is true.
S.P. 12 A : Short question for dramatic effect. used 1) to arouse interest. 2) as a topic sentence ( = main idea) in a paragraph. 3) in a paragraph for variety. 4) to end a text.
ex: What caused the change?
ex: Why did she?
ex: And why not?
ex: Well, who cares?
ex: What comes next?
ex: When ( or How) will it end?
S.P.13: A dependent clause as a subject, object or compliment using: Who, whom, which, that, what, why, where, when, how.
ex: How he could fail, is a mystery to me.
ex: Who assassinated JFK, is still debated. ( got assassinated himself.)
ex: My fellow Americans. ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
ex: Well, I wonder.
ex: Minutes passed.
ex: It was magical.
ex: That's not my style.
ex: Perseverance pays.
ex: Everything changed.
Ex: But then it happened.
Ex: Just consider this.
Ex: And this is true.
S.P. 12 A : Short question for dramatic effect. used 1) to arouse interest. 2) as a topic sentence ( = main idea) in a paragraph. 3) in a paragraph for variety. 4) to end a text.
ex: What caused the change?
ex: Why did she?
ex: And why not?
ex: Well, who cares?
ex: What comes next?
ex: When ( or How) will it end?
S.P.13: A dependent clause as a subject, object or compliment using: Who, whom, which, that, what, why, where, when, how.
ex: How he could fail, is a mystery to me.
ex: Who assassinated JFK, is still debated. ( got assassinated himself.)
ex: My fellow Americans. ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Formative work: Complete
course 1: Grammar practice exercise 1
Interest level: It was quite interesting. It helped me see what were my biggest difficulties.
Difficulty level: It wasn't very hard, even though I didn't get a great score. It was a perfect degree of difficulty to discover what are the things I have to improve, as I said at number 1.
What you learned ( examples) : I learned that I have to use "my" in front of the verb taking, as it's considered a noun in this specific context. I also learned that I have to use the adjective " fewer" if I can count the objects. In general, I learned that I have a lot of trouble with punctuation and no trouble at all with verbs. I still have some improvements to make on my use of adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. I also have to review the basic rules for capitalization.
Score: I got 77%, which is not bad for someone who hasn't worked on her english skills for the past 2 years and a half. But, I do wish to have at least 80% by the end of my exercices.
RATING: 6/10
course 2 : Grammar Skills 1: Using Punctuation in Sentences
Interest level : One of the things I liked less was that there were a lot of parts that had to be printed out to do the exercices. I don't think it was worth the trouble. The course was divided in five lessons and was very long to finish. Also, at the end of the lessons we don't get a score. In other words, I didn't officially finish the course.
Difficulty level : In general, it was much too easy for me. However, I did find it interesting to review some of the basic rules of punctuation. Still, I wouldn't recommend this particular course to anyone in this class.
What you learned ( examples) : I reviewed my capitalization rules, which was very useful. I also learned that a restrictive clause is not set off by commas, and a nonrestrictive clause is. I also realized that I am lacking the skills to use commas correctly in sentences. I will have to keep on working on that particular problem.
Score : As I said before, there isn't a score in this course; there are only numerous small exercices that are corrected right after you've finished them.
RATING: 3/10
Course 3: Fundamentals of Writing 4: Editing I
Interest level: Very interesting. There are different types of exercices. I would recommend this to the students who have problems writing coherent sentences. It teaches you how to watch out for common mistakes while writing.
Difficulty level: It wasn't very hard, but it helped me a lot. I wouldn't change for a harder course. It was a perfect difficulty level for me to start. I think I will try the next course for the next formative work.
What you learned ( examples) : I learned to watch out for run-on and run-together sentences, and I learned how to correct them. I learned that neither is always singular. I learned the importance of referring correctly to indefinite pronouns while writing. I learned a very easy trick to help me with pronoun case agreement.
Score: There isn't a score given at the end of this course.
RATING: 8/10
Course 4: Fundamentals of Writing Course Prompt: Persuasive 1
Interest level: It is interesting to see how much I can write in a short period of time. I think I lost a lot of points in the length of my text. It is not indicated how long our essay must be. I think we should be given a general idea of how many words we should write. Next time, I will write a longer essay and take more time in writing it.
Difficulty level: It takes time to write. I wrote quickly and did not review my text. It was easy for me because I did it very quickly, but I should have taken more time to write my essay and work harder on it.
What you learned: I learned that I have to take the time to write clearly. My sentence structure is weak. My use of punctuation is not very good either. I have a lot of work to do to be able to write clearly and coherently.
Score: 3/6
RATING: 5/10
Vocabulary and Spelling Course 1
-Interest level: I found it very interesting. I had a lot of fun doing this course. Even though it's long, I didn't see the time pass by and I really enjoyed it. I found it interesting to try to give the definition of words I already knew. I realized it was hard to explain a word even though I'm able to use it in a sentence.
-Difficulty level: It was the perfect difficulty level to start off. I knew most of the words in the course, but I still learned new ones and tricks to learn their meaning.
-What you learned: I learned how to separate a word into syllables. I learned the meaning of a great number of words like probate, bemoan, compulsory, psyche, slough and epitome.
-Score: There is no score at the end of this course
RATING: 9/10
Synonym & Antonym Practice Exercise 1
-Interest level: It was very interesting to find out for how many words I knew synonyms and antonyms. I realised it's harder to find the opposite of the meaning of the word than a replacement for it.
-Difficulty level: It was a little difficult. It made me look up definitions in the dictionary and take the time to see what I didn't know. I think the exercise is more worth doing if you check out your mistakes afterwards and look in the dictionary for what you didn't understand.
-What you learned (examples): I learned there are a lot of words I though I knew the meaning, but I only vaguely understood what they ment. I learned that placid means serene and calm, irascible means easily angered, impartial is to be without prejudice or bias, abate is to reduce in degree or intensity.
-Score: 75%
RATING: 8/10
Interest level: It was quite interesting. It helped me see what were my biggest difficulties.
Difficulty level: It wasn't very hard, even though I didn't get a great score. It was a perfect degree of difficulty to discover what are the things I have to improve, as I said at number 1.
What you learned ( examples) : I learned that I have to use "my" in front of the verb taking, as it's considered a noun in this specific context. I also learned that I have to use the adjective " fewer" if I can count the objects. In general, I learned that I have a lot of trouble with punctuation and no trouble at all with verbs. I still have some improvements to make on my use of adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. I also have to review the basic rules for capitalization.
Score: I got 77%, which is not bad for someone who hasn't worked on her english skills for the past 2 years and a half. But, I do wish to have at least 80% by the end of my exercices.
RATING: 6/10
course 2 : Grammar Skills 1: Using Punctuation in Sentences
Interest level : One of the things I liked less was that there were a lot of parts that had to be printed out to do the exercices. I don't think it was worth the trouble. The course was divided in five lessons and was very long to finish. Also, at the end of the lessons we don't get a score. In other words, I didn't officially finish the course.
Difficulty level : In general, it was much too easy for me. However, I did find it interesting to review some of the basic rules of punctuation. Still, I wouldn't recommend this particular course to anyone in this class.
What you learned ( examples) : I reviewed my capitalization rules, which was very useful. I also learned that a restrictive clause is not set off by commas, and a nonrestrictive clause is. I also realized that I am lacking the skills to use commas correctly in sentences. I will have to keep on working on that particular problem.
Score : As I said before, there isn't a score in this course; there are only numerous small exercices that are corrected right after you've finished them.
RATING: 3/10
Course 3: Fundamentals of Writing 4: Editing I
Interest level: Very interesting. There are different types of exercices. I would recommend this to the students who have problems writing coherent sentences. It teaches you how to watch out for common mistakes while writing.
Difficulty level: It wasn't very hard, but it helped me a lot. I wouldn't change for a harder course. It was a perfect difficulty level for me to start. I think I will try the next course for the next formative work.
What you learned ( examples) : I learned to watch out for run-on and run-together sentences, and I learned how to correct them. I learned that neither is always singular. I learned the importance of referring correctly to indefinite pronouns while writing. I learned a very easy trick to help me with pronoun case agreement.
Score: There isn't a score given at the end of this course.
RATING: 8/10
Course 4: Fundamentals of Writing Course Prompt: Persuasive 1
Interest level: It is interesting to see how much I can write in a short period of time. I think I lost a lot of points in the length of my text. It is not indicated how long our essay must be. I think we should be given a general idea of how many words we should write. Next time, I will write a longer essay and take more time in writing it.
Difficulty level: It takes time to write. I wrote quickly and did not review my text. It was easy for me because I did it very quickly, but I should have taken more time to write my essay and work harder on it.
What you learned: I learned that I have to take the time to write clearly. My sentence structure is weak. My use of punctuation is not very good either. I have a lot of work to do to be able to write clearly and coherently.
Score: 3/6
RATING: 5/10
Vocabulary and Spelling Course 1
-Interest level: I found it very interesting. I had a lot of fun doing this course. Even though it's long, I didn't see the time pass by and I really enjoyed it. I found it interesting to try to give the definition of words I already knew. I realized it was hard to explain a word even though I'm able to use it in a sentence.
-Difficulty level: It was the perfect difficulty level to start off. I knew most of the words in the course, but I still learned new ones and tricks to learn their meaning.
-What you learned: I learned how to separate a word into syllables. I learned the meaning of a great number of words like probate, bemoan, compulsory, psyche, slough and epitome.
-Score: There is no score at the end of this course
RATING: 9/10
Synonym & Antonym Practice Exercise 1
-Interest level: It was very interesting to find out for how many words I knew synonyms and antonyms. I realised it's harder to find the opposite of the meaning of the word than a replacement for it.
-Difficulty level: It was a little difficult. It made me look up definitions in the dictionary and take the time to see what I didn't know. I think the exercise is more worth doing if you check out your mistakes afterwards and look in the dictionary for what you didn't understand.
-What you learned (examples): I learned there are a lot of words I though I knew the meaning, but I only vaguely understood what they ment. I learned that placid means serene and calm, irascible means easily angered, impartial is to be without prejudice or bias, abate is to reduce in degree or intensity.
-Score: 75%
RATING: 8/10
Sentence pattern 10, 11
S.P. 10 : interrupting modifier between S and V using two : commas (,) , dashes (--), or parentheses ( () ).
Ex: American fast food is very popular and steakhouses ( not to mention McDo and KFC) are in most countries.
S.P. 10A: using a full sentence, -- or ( ) : a statement, question mark, or exclamation point.
Ex: Narcissus ignored Echo so completely( how could he?she was such a lovely nymph!) that she faded away.
* no capitalization within the parentheses and no period.
Ex: Narcissus ignored Echo so completely (he was pretty stupid) that she faded away.
S.P.11 : Introductory or concluding participles ( past = verb ends in ''ed'' or is irregular, present= verb ends in ''ing'')
Ex: The spotlight focused on Maggie walking on stage.
( bad = Walking on stage, the spotlight focused on Maggie.)
Ex: Going on an errand, I almost got my bike stolen by three boys.
( bad = The three boys tried to steal my bike going on an errand.)
Ex: Remove the pizza from the oven, when browned and bubbling.
( bad= When browned and bubbling, remove the pizza from the oven.)
Ex: American fast food is very popular and steakhouses ( not to mention McDo and KFC) are in most countries.
S.P. 10A: using a full sentence, -- or ( ) : a statement, question mark, or exclamation point.
Ex: Narcissus ignored Echo so completely( how could he?she was such a lovely nymph!) that she faded away.
* no capitalization within the parentheses and no period.
Ex: Narcissus ignored Echo so completely (he was pretty stupid) that she faded away.
S.P.11 : Introductory or concluding participles ( past = verb ends in ''ed'' or is irregular, present= verb ends in ''ing'')
Ex: The spotlight focused on Maggie walking on stage.
( bad = Walking on stage, the spotlight focused on Maggie.)
Ex: Going on an errand, I almost got my bike stolen by three boys.
( bad = The three boys tried to steal my bike going on an errand.)
Ex: Remove the pizza from the oven, when browned and bubbling.
( bad= When browned and bubbling, remove the pizza from the oven.)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Writing Journal : November 21
The Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson and that caused a lot of controversial reactions after its first publication in the magazine The New Yorker on June 26, 1948. Some citizens wanted to know where they could go to see this ritual while others felt targeted by the accusations in the story. Americans being model citizens, they were very mad at reading about something so cruel. In resume, the story is about a small village having an annual lottery which is in fact a barbaric ritual consisting of picking out a family in the community and then choosing one of the family members. The person having chosen the piece of paper with the black ink spot is stoned to death by all the other villagers. The purpose of this sacrifice being to assure the people of a good harvest for the coming year.
After reading this story, we were shocked to see that human beings could actually be voluntarily so cruel with each other. There were no words to express our astonishment of realizing that an event like the one presented in The Lottery could actually be true, that similar things like this did really happened. The author said that she inspired herself from her own village and that the meaning of this story was to show people a dramatization of general inhumanity and pointless violence in their own lives. She really did accomplish her goal, people couldn’t be insensitive before such violence. It shows us how tradition and rituals that have been implanted and practiced for decades can be, with an outside vision, completely immoral, but for someone used to it, totally normal.
A part of the story that was quite shocking was when the gentle Mrs. Delacroix picked up a huge stone and said to her neighbor: "'Come on,' ... 'Hurry up.'" before heading off after the victim. It is hard to imagine how people can consciously kill a friend by throwing stones at that person. What's even more horrible is that the kids joined in this event with enthusiasm. This allows us to understand how education is an important part in one's life. Having been brought up in this environment, these villagers do not realize the barbarism of their annual lottery. It is a fact that shocks the reader even more: they are not conscious of their actions. For the students reading this story, it is clear how wrong these people are behaving, but how can they change if they do not know they should? I think, having realized this, it brings us to a new understanding of the world and shows us how a bad education can lead to a wrong way of living.
Finally, the short-story The Lottery, with all the controversy around it, has become a classic in American’s literature. With the message of human cruelty and unconscious violence caused by ancestral traditions, Shirley Jackson has touched a contentious topic in American’s culture and really made a change in people’s mind.
teammate: Camille Michon
word count: 500
After reading this story, we were shocked to see that human beings could actually be voluntarily so cruel with each other. There were no words to express our astonishment of realizing that an event like the one presented in The Lottery could actually be true, that similar things like this did really happened. The author said that she inspired herself from her own village and that the meaning of this story was to show people a dramatization of general inhumanity and pointless violence in their own lives. She really did accomplish her goal, people couldn’t be insensitive before such violence. It shows us how tradition and rituals that have been implanted and practiced for decades can be, with an outside vision, completely immoral, but for someone used to it, totally normal.
A part of the story that was quite shocking was when the gentle Mrs. Delacroix picked up a huge stone and said to her neighbor: "'Come on,' ... 'Hurry up.'" before heading off after the victim. It is hard to imagine how people can consciously kill a friend by throwing stones at that person. What's even more horrible is that the kids joined in this event with enthusiasm. This allows us to understand how education is an important part in one's life. Having been brought up in this environment, these villagers do not realize the barbarism of their annual lottery. It is a fact that shocks the reader even more: they are not conscious of their actions. For the students reading this story, it is clear how wrong these people are behaving, but how can they change if they do not know they should? I think, having realized this, it brings us to a new understanding of the world and shows us how a bad education can lead to a wrong way of living.
Finally, the short-story The Lottery, with all the controversy around it, has become a classic in American’s literature. With the message of human cruelty and unconscious violence caused by ancestral traditions, Shirley Jackson has touched a contentious topic in American’s culture and really made a change in people’s mind.
teammate: Camille Michon
word count: 500
Formative work: November 28
Vocabulary and Spelling Course 1
-Interest level: I found it very interesting. I had a lot of fun doing this course. Even though it's long, I didn't see the time pass by and I really enjoyed it. I found it interesting to try to give the definition of words I already knew. I realized it was hard to explain a word even though I'm able to use it in a sentence.
-Difficulty level: It was the perfect difficulty level to start off. I knew most of the words in the course, but I still learned new ones and tricks to learn their meaning.
-What you learned: I learned how to separate a word into syllables. I learned the meaning of a great number of words like probate, bemoan, compulsory, psyche, slough and epitome.
-Score: There is no score at the end of this course
RATING: 9/10
Synonym & Antonym Practice Exercise 1
-Interest level: It was very interesting to find out for how many words I knew synonyms and antonyms. I realised it's harder to find the opposite of the meaning of the word than a replacement for it.
-Difficulty level: It was a little difficult. It made me look up definitions in the dictionary and take the time to see what I didn't know. I think the exercise is more worth doing if you check out your mistakes afterwards and look in the dictionary for what you didn't understand.
-What you learned (examples): I learned there are a lot of words I though I knew the meaning, but I only vaguely understood what they ment. I learned that placid means serene and calm, irascible means easily angered, impartial is to be without prejudice or bias, abate is to reduce in degree or intensity.
-Score: 75%
RATING: 8/10
-Interest level: I found it very interesting. I had a lot of fun doing this course. Even though it's long, I didn't see the time pass by and I really enjoyed it. I found it interesting to try to give the definition of words I already knew. I realized it was hard to explain a word even though I'm able to use it in a sentence.
-Difficulty level: It was the perfect difficulty level to start off. I knew most of the words in the course, but I still learned new ones and tricks to learn their meaning.
-What you learned: I learned how to separate a word into syllables. I learned the meaning of a great number of words like probate, bemoan, compulsory, psyche, slough and epitome.
-Score: There is no score at the end of this course
RATING: 9/10
Synonym & Antonym Practice Exercise 1
-Interest level: It was very interesting to find out for how many words I knew synonyms and antonyms. I realised it's harder to find the opposite of the meaning of the word than a replacement for it.
-Difficulty level: It was a little difficult. It made me look up definitions in the dictionary and take the time to see what I didn't know. I think the exercise is more worth doing if you check out your mistakes afterwards and look in the dictionary for what you didn't understand.
-What you learned (examples): I learned there are a lot of words I though I knew the meaning, but I only vaguely understood what they ment. I learned that placid means serene and calm, irascible means easily angered, impartial is to be without prejudice or bias, abate is to reduce in degree or intensity.
-Score: 75%
RATING: 8/10
Friday, November 7, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)