Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Thanatopsis Questions (Brooke and Kristen)

1.  thanatos ("death") and opsis ("sight"). The poem is about death and seeing nature as something that needs to be protected.

2. Shroud- a burial sheet that covers the body, Pall- a cloth spread over a coffin, Narrow House- the grave, Sepulcher- a small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried. These words make you think of death, maybe even a funeral. They add a comforting feeling that comes with death because it is by nature.

3. This poem is about both life and death. Death is a part of everyday life. While overall it seems like it is more about death, but since death is a part of life this poem is about both.

4. The tone at the beginning is forbidding and then it shifts to being comforting when you get to line 30: "Shall send his roots abroad and pierce thy mold."

5. Elegy- a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. The conventions of the elegy is the shift from mournful to comfort.

6. Some images from the poem would be sad and depressing or dark and gloomy. Also it would have the setting in nature because the poem is related to the transcendentalist. 

7. This poem is an example of historical piece because it was made in the early 19th century. This is a romantic poem because it reflects on personal feelings and focuses on the supernatural and talks about death and gloom. This is a Calvinist poem because Bryant was in the Calvinist environment.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Poem about my cocky self

Confidence
never have I been put down
I roam these halls as a leader
as someone that everyone looks up to
looking at me, everyone knows that I am above them
when I walk by they whisper about my greatness
I receive compliments from the observers
they gawk over my pleasant aroma
I have no competition
my personality is unique
I am straight forward
I am a strong willed woman
no one can bring me down
why have a few friends, when you can have many
I never show weakness
I always succeed
I am the most athletic
I push myself to my limits
people look at me as someone independent and strong
I am a big deal.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Web Quests (Kristen and Brooke)

Web Quest One

1. In the beginning, I thought everyone was on my side. I was the one accusing others of being witches and now everyone is calling me one. I fell so betrayed. Everyone I love and care about think I am someone I am not. Why is this happening to me? I am so depressed and sad.
2. The differences are: In The Crucible Reverend Paris left and was never heard from again and in the Salem Witch Trials his life was documented until his death and saying that John Proctor had an affair with the girl. Miller took the most freedom with saying that John had an affair with Tituba because it is not proven that it ever happened. We think that his death not being documented is a minor difference because that is not a major part of the story.
3. Caporael's theories adequately explain the hysteria in Salem. We think that Ergot is a legitimate explanation for all of the craziness in Salem. Other forces that could have been at work are that there are really witches, because no one knows for sure whether they are real or not.
4. Both Miller's description of "McCarthyism" and the Salem Witch Trials is that they both falsely accuse people of being bewitched. It was disturbing because so many people were found guilty that were really innocent.
5. They are similar because in the Salem Witch Trials people were scared of the power of the witches and the "Red Scare" everyone was afraid of the rise of communism. They are different because it is the rise of two completely different things.
6. They were both being accused of something. The stories were about the hard times and how they had no freedom.
7. This quote means that if we do not learn about history and talk about its consequences then it will happen all over again. We think that the Crucible tells the history very well.
8. We cannot think of any other witch hunts off the the top of our heads from history.
9. It was interesting to see how badly innocent people were treated because they were accused of something and how many innocent people were killed for that same reason.

Web Quest Two

1. Arthur Miller
  • He graduated in English in 1938
  • He got married and had two children
  • His first play on Broadway "The Man with All the Luck"  in 1944
  • "All My Sons" won the NY circle award and two Tony awards
  • "Death of a Salesman" brought Miller internal fame and became one of the major achievements of American theater
  • His first novel was about anti-semitism (hatred of jews)
  • Communist
  • "HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties" (gw.edu)
2.  New England in the 1690's
  • Massachusetts was settled by Puritans
  • Lived off the land
  • Worked hard
  • They were afraid because of the past. Fire, ship attack, earthquake, drought, locust
  • Puritanism is what surrounds there social status, rankings through the churc
3.McCarthyism and the crack-down
  • The Cold War in political and military tension between powers in the Eastern region and the powers in the Western region.
  • McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty or treason without evidence.
  • Joe McCarthy was an American politician and was known mostly in the Cold War tensions.
  • He said there were communist and soviet spy's in the federal government
  • Tactics were to attack people with McCarthyism
  • His victims were higher powers like the federal government
  • He was monitored since he said there were spy's
  • The Army-McCarthy hearings led to his downfall.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Reading Iroquois

1. Yes to would, they give lots of complements and make you feel like the top dog
2.a)  the tree
   b) peace and strength
3. a)They offer thanks to where men dwell
    b) that they care about their land
4.
5. a)Good hearted person, tender but strong, and no anger or hatred
    b)If every leader had these qualities, our would would be a better place
6. Yes, it states he should live by the constitution. That's how it should be

Monday, February 3, 2014

The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism

            In this story, the wallpaper is the center of attention. It antagonizes the woman the entire time and eventually turns her mad. The wallpaper has a much deeper meaning than is perceived and throughout the story is revealed. The wallpaper represents the woman’s situation where she is trapped mentally and physically and is trying to become free again.
            First, in the beginning the woman is locked in this room with only the wallpaper to stare at. Right off the bat the woman does not like the wallpaper and thinks it is a horrible color and the pattern drives her crazy. The wallpaper started as nothing but this little thing. As she stayed in the room longer it interested her more and more. She starts to right about it more often in her journal and begins to study the pattern. All of a sudden the woman is obsessed with this wallpaper. As she begins to study the wallpaper, she begins to see a faint figure trapped behind it. The more studying she did, she began to see a woman trapped behind the wallpaper and the wallpaper was perceived as bars.
            During this time her husband has her locked in her room, treating her like a child. The husband will not listen to her and acts like the woman has no chance of getting better. By doing this, the husband doesn't realize he is actually the one driving her into insanity. The husband is treating her this way because in that time, men were always superior to women and women had no say in anything. Even the husband’s sister goes along with it and keeps her locked up in the room obsessing over the wallpaper. With this said, the wallpaper symbolizes her family trapping her in this room and being mentally trapped inside herself from all of the stuff she has experienced.
            Finally, the woman finally turns on her family on locks them out of the room. Her goal is to tear off all of the wallpaper so she can set the woman free that is behind it. By turning on her family and destroying the wallpaper, it symbolizes her trying to set herself free. After she tears off the wallpaper, she is still in this rut and can’t get out. So she thought tearing down the wallpaper would help set herself and the woman free but she physically was still not set free. By doing this, her husband and family thought she was insane which meant they were still going to keep her locked up.

            In the end, the woman might have been mentally free but she was still physically trapped inside the room. The wallpaper was the only thing she had to keep her somewhat stable and now it is gone. She has now completely gone insane. The wallpaper is gone and she is “set free” from the bars.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

My name is Brooke Carswell. I was born in Valdese, NC and I lived there for 5 years. I moved here when I was started kindergarten and went to Shuford Elementary. I love Conover even though it can be boring sometimes. I am very athletic and tough. If a guy can do it, I can do it. My favorite sport is basketball. I am very opinionated and I tell it how it is. Either people don't like me because of it or they love me for it. I have a large family but it's split up. I live with my mom, step dad, and brother. I am determined to have my brother be an amazing athlete. My favorite subject is history and science. I  plan on attending a university and either becoming a orthodontist or something in the medical field. The reason for these careers is because, one, I am obsessed with perfect teeth and I would love to make that happen for as many people as possible, two, the medical field is so interesting and hands on. I wanna be something big. I don't wanna go into business like most people. I want to help people. I am not going into the field for the money. I'm going into it because I know I would love it. I am serious but I also love to have fun and I love to hangout with friends and family. I love SUMMER and I can't wait until it is back. I think I shared everything that matters, bye!