Unless you have been under a rock as a self-sufficient amoeba for the past several years (or don't live in America), you would have at least heard the term "gun control" once within that time span. Whether it came from someone for gun control, against it, or merely heard of the national walkout that happened because of a recent shooting in Florida, you would be able to tell that it is quite a hotly-debated topic throughout the United States. The main reason for these talks is in light of the amount of mass shootings there have been in the United States since the Columbine Massacre in 1999, particularly similar to the massacre in that many of the shootings have happened at elementary, middle, and high schools all throughout the country. However, even with a stacking death toll, people from any perspective on the issue have yet to fully and effectively react to the reoccurring incidents.
There are many sides to the issue of gun control, as there are with anything involving citizen rights. One side of the argument wishes to ban guns outright in the United States, with an argument consisting of phrases like "People do not need access to their own guns if police and national guard forces have the job of protecting the citizens." This side of the argument seems rather unpopular, since many realize that police and national guard are often too few to respond to every small occurrence and situation that happens within any major center of population in a timely manner. This is most definitely not a positive attribute, especially in situations where time is of the essence to have a desired outcome through police forces. This side also has the ridiculous notion that "Guns kill people". While there is truth to the phrase, the context they use it is rather perverse in a sense that they do not see the person behind the firearm doing the killing, but the gun itself as if it were some sentient being of its own. This only ends up adding to the reasons why this side is found to be unpopular with many.
Another side of the argument on gun control hold the notion that the civilian population deserves to have access to all guns ever to be made by human beings in order to be compliant with their second amendment rights in the United States Constitution. This side also believes in the timely delivery of guns and that everyone has a right to them, meaning no background checks should be required. This side has support from a fairly large group of people and organizations, such as the NRA and even some Republican-aligned politicians.
The final well-known and recognized side of this debate is the one I personally find to be the most able to settle the issue with compromise and justice. This side advocates that the civilian population does, in fact, deserve to own firearms. However, before receiving them they should be subject to a background check (to see if they have a criminal record or a mental health issue) and a relatively long wait period after purchase (such as 2 weeks to a month). I find this to be the most reasonable side to find a compromise with since it would lower gun accessibility for potential murderers while also allowing unsuspicious persons to own guns that they may use within appropriate reason. In other words the entire basis of their argument is the compromise that would settle the debate and appease the majority of both sides.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Sunday, March 4, 2018
AP Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 1-5 involve the passage from The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
1. The first paragraph is mainly in the pattern of
A) question then answer
B) point, counter point
C) statement, rebuttal
D) Dialogue, interruption
Answer: C
Godfrey never truly asks a straight-forward question and Peregrine never gives an actual answer to Godfrey's statements, ruling out A. While Godfrey does make points as to why he must know the nature of Peregrine's relationship with his sister, Peregrine's response is less like a counter point and more like a glancing response with a slight undertone against Godfrey once he becomes persistent, ruling out B. Peregrine never stops Godfrey in the middle of a sentence or during his dialogue in any way, ruling out D. Godfrey says a statement to Peregrine, to which he responds with simply refusing to answer fully or answer at all.
2. The second paragraph differs from the first in that
A) It uses repetition of actions to mimic the first paragraph's dialogue
B) It reveals the men's raw emotions toward each other
C) It foreshadows what will happen next in the story
D) It reveals how both characters are not truly honorable
Answer: B
In the first paragraph, much of the dialogue was more reserved in emotions and rather refined to the point where it seemed both characters weren't truly fighting with each other. However, the second paragraph, with its physicality, is able to reveal the true emotions of the characters through their actions (i.e. Peregrine's rage when he is superficially wounded) making B correct. This causes A to be false, since the dialogue was rather reserved in emotion. There is no evidence of foreshadowing what's next in the story, removing C. The fight does not seem to involve any underhanded maneuvers, nor is there any mention of a dishonorable act, scratching off D.
3. The dominant technique in paragraph 2 is
A) Imagery
B) Dialogue
C) Metaphor
D) Euphemism
Answer: A
Dialogue is very little and is not shown in the traditional sense and there is hardly anything more graphic happening during the fight than what is described, eliminating B and D. Metaphors are hardly present as well, eliminating C. Imagery can be seen throughout the passage, with things like Peregrine's cut sending him into a rage potentially showing he is ill-tempered. This makes C correct.
4. In context, the word "jealous" (line 7) most nearly means
A) Envious
B) Intolerant
C) Protective
D) Suspicious
Answer: C
Protective is the only clear choice in context that works with the sentence.
5. What is the shared irony between paragraphs 1 and 2
A) Paragraph 2 shows a barbaric way of ending a dispute while paragraph 1 shows a civilized way
B) Paragraph 1 uses traditional dialogue while paragraph 2 uses narrated dialogue
C) Paragraph 2 uses physical injuries as opposed to mental ones
D) In paragraph 1 Peregrine seems able to win the confrontation due to his wit while in paragraph 2 he becomes overconfident and loses
Answer: D
B and C do not follow the definition of irony and can therefore be eliminated. While sword fighting is physical, at the time the book was written dueling in civilization was a social norm and was acceptable as being a civil dispute, eliminating A. D is correct due to Peregrine having the edge in the beginning yet experiencing a downfall after the author has built him up to be the one rooted for by the reader.
1. The first paragraph is mainly in the pattern of
A) question then answer
B) point, counter point
C) statement, rebuttal
D) Dialogue, interruption
Answer: C
Godfrey never truly asks a straight-forward question and Peregrine never gives an actual answer to Godfrey's statements, ruling out A. While Godfrey does make points as to why he must know the nature of Peregrine's relationship with his sister, Peregrine's response is less like a counter point and more like a glancing response with a slight undertone against Godfrey once he becomes persistent, ruling out B. Peregrine never stops Godfrey in the middle of a sentence or during his dialogue in any way, ruling out D. Godfrey says a statement to Peregrine, to which he responds with simply refusing to answer fully or answer at all.
2. The second paragraph differs from the first in that
A) It uses repetition of actions to mimic the first paragraph's dialogue
B) It reveals the men's raw emotions toward each other
C) It foreshadows what will happen next in the story
D) It reveals how both characters are not truly honorable
Answer: B
In the first paragraph, much of the dialogue was more reserved in emotions and rather refined to the point where it seemed both characters weren't truly fighting with each other. However, the second paragraph, with its physicality, is able to reveal the true emotions of the characters through their actions (i.e. Peregrine's rage when he is superficially wounded) making B correct. This causes A to be false, since the dialogue was rather reserved in emotion. There is no evidence of foreshadowing what's next in the story, removing C. The fight does not seem to involve any underhanded maneuvers, nor is there any mention of a dishonorable act, scratching off D.
3. The dominant technique in paragraph 2 is
A) Imagery
B) Dialogue
C) Metaphor
D) Euphemism
Answer: A
Dialogue is very little and is not shown in the traditional sense and there is hardly anything more graphic happening during the fight than what is described, eliminating B and D. Metaphors are hardly present as well, eliminating C. Imagery can be seen throughout the passage, with things like Peregrine's cut sending him into a rage potentially showing he is ill-tempered. This makes C correct.
4. In context, the word "jealous" (line 7) most nearly means
A) Envious
B) Intolerant
C) Protective
D) Suspicious
Answer: C
Protective is the only clear choice in context that works with the sentence.
5. What is the shared irony between paragraphs 1 and 2
A) Paragraph 2 shows a barbaric way of ending a dispute while paragraph 1 shows a civilized way
B) Paragraph 1 uses traditional dialogue while paragraph 2 uses narrated dialogue
C) Paragraph 2 uses physical injuries as opposed to mental ones
D) In paragraph 1 Peregrine seems able to win the confrontation due to his wit while in paragraph 2 he becomes overconfident and loses
Answer: D
B and C do not follow the definition of irony and can therefore be eliminated. While sword fighting is physical, at the time the book was written dueling in civilization was a social norm and was acceptable as being a civil dispute, eliminating A. D is correct due to Peregrine having the edge in the beginning yet experiencing a downfall after the author has built him up to be the one rooted for by the reader.
Personal Choice
There are plenty of different ways one can perceive just about anything in the known world. For instance, one person could find certain joke or pun hilarious while another might find it plain stupid or even overtly rude. One might find a particular author to be a master of his craft while another might find him absolutely terrible. These differences in perception, however, are not all bad. Actually, they are quite the opposite. Varieties on perception of a specific thing not only leads to new points of view on a subject being discovered, but can also lead to artistic inspiration to help further put the minor points of view into the limelight which can then have drastic affects on the overall situation of the world. A particularly specific example of this event would be Joseph Conrad's very own Heart of Darkness. In the novel, a new and seemingly naive seaman sets out to Africa to assist with the management and shipping of trade goods from Her Majesty's colonies in Africa. However, the sailor soon learns that ,where he went to find adventure, there is nothing but tragedy, corruption, and evil in the darkness of the jungles in Africa. During the time period the book was written in, the majority of the European powers and their people ,in the terms of imperialism, perceived themselves as being righteous and just for having imperial ambitions in Africa. They would carry that notion so far as to say they were even liberators to the African and other colonial peoples from their original, "barbaric" ways of life and sought to instill true, "good" European culture in their colonial states. However, Heart of Darkness would prove to be quite the wrench in the gears of those ideas and perceptions by giving the true point of view of the situations of European colonies, specifically those under British rule. Heart of Darkness showed the public the truth of just how corrupted, evil, and disgusting the colonies were. They were not pieces of land that were continually invested in to better the lives of non-Europeans. No, they were instead invested in only for the betterment of the Europeans themselves. They were created solely for profit by any means necessary, nothing more. With this new perception reaching more mainstream attention, the vast political attitude towards colonies in other parts of the world changed in Britain. There wasn't much clamor for reform or anything like that on the mainland, but suddenly the arguments for colonization slowly became more and more invalid. Eventually, as we know, Britain lost support for keeping it's overseas land and allowed for the independence of just about every square inch, saving a few islands, to pass through its government with hardly any opposition from anyone save a select few. These kinds of events that completely shift the world stage have happened and, hopefully, will continue to happen throughout world history. It is very good when in a society the few can be heard and have the potential to become the many which in itself would have endless possibilities for things like political reform and technological growth. All with a simple scribble from a pen.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
16th Century Poem
(goes with Nick's The Passionate Shepherd to his Love)
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a 16th century author who is very well-known for his time. He wrote this poem in response to another poem by Christopher Marlowe titled "The Shepard to his Love". In Marlowe's poem, a shepherd is trying to woo a beautiful woman into being his lover because of the passion he has for her. He promises her a bed of roses and several other trinkets that would have sentimental value to attempt to reflect the girl's infinite beauty. However, as we see in this poem, she is unamused by his offer of material possessions that he himself cannot hope to procure for her. This is best shown by the lines " If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee and be thy love" These lines spell out for the shepherd that the girl knows he's making promises he can't keep just so he can get her to like him more and that she would rather have him tell what he can truly give her if he ever expects to woo her. She then follows this statement up with reasons why, even if the shepherd was able to provide these material possessions, he would still be unable to woo her since everything he has promised either breaks or withers after a time. This is directly said in the lines "Thy gown, thy, shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten." While most would see this as the shepherd's utter rejection, however, in the last stanza the girl gives the shepherd hope by basically stating that if time stood still and everything was preserved she would accept his gesture. This is quite the turn around, in my humble opinion. At first, it looks like all hope is lost for the shepherd. However, even though he is still rejected in the end, the shepherd is told that he has given a fair proposal that would even be considered acceptable to the common girl. It's just that the shepherd had come across one who is more into the long-term side of relationships and love, someone who is focused on building something to last eternity, rather than some simple trinket lover. This speaks volumes about the time period, where women were still being put forth to marriages and relationships they didn't want to be in and therefore never experienced true love. The poem shows what most of those girls would have wanted: relationships built upon foundations of mutual respect and trust that would blossom into the love of their life.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a 16th century author who is very well-known for his time. He wrote this poem in response to another poem by Christopher Marlowe titled "The Shepard to his Love". In Marlowe's poem, a shepherd is trying to woo a beautiful woman into being his lover because of the passion he has for her. He promises her a bed of roses and several other trinkets that would have sentimental value to attempt to reflect the girl's infinite beauty. However, as we see in this poem, she is unamused by his offer of material possessions that he himself cannot hope to procure for her. This is best shown by the lines " If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee and be thy love" These lines spell out for the shepherd that the girl knows he's making promises he can't keep just so he can get her to like him more and that she would rather have him tell what he can truly give her if he ever expects to woo her. She then follows this statement up with reasons why, even if the shepherd was able to provide these material possessions, he would still be unable to woo her since everything he has promised either breaks or withers after a time. This is directly said in the lines "Thy gown, thy, shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten." While most would see this as the shepherd's utter rejection, however, in the last stanza the girl gives the shepherd hope by basically stating that if time stood still and everything was preserved she would accept his gesture. This is quite the turn around, in my humble opinion. At first, it looks like all hope is lost for the shepherd. However, even though he is still rejected in the end, the shepherd is told that he has given a fair proposal that would even be considered acceptable to the common girl. It's just that the shepherd had come across one who is more into the long-term side of relationships and love, someone who is focused on building something to last eternity, rather than some simple trinket lover. This speaks volumes about the time period, where women were still being put forth to marriages and relationships they didn't want to be in and therefore never experienced true love. The poem shows what most of those girls would have wanted: relationships built upon foundations of mutual respect and trust that would blossom into the love of their life.
Community Read Progress (Act 1)
For my community read book I chose Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The book follows around the Loman family, specifically the character of Willy Loman as he sees where he is now and remembers the good old days of promise and hope. What makes this book interesting is the audience is given Willy's entire way of thinking and mental state throughout the play. This, however, is not like the audience is getting everything translated from Willy's mind, however. What the audience truly gets is the completely raw, hysteric information that runs through Willy's head at any given moment, mainly being a flashback to the past and the thought of how things used to be so good for Willy back then with a comparison thrown in from the reality he lives in currently. This consistent and sometimes unexpected jolting from past to present, then back to the past soon reveals Willy's true psychological condition that his family sees to the audience and just how it feels to be in the middle of that hysteria. Constantly being reminded of failures that prevented the metaphorical gold medal of life for him from ever being reached, of how the going was so good that overconfidence caused several missteps, and how all of those missteps have led to Willy crashing down the stairs, so to speak. His warped psychological state is truly shown when Willy contradicts himself in his own speech and yet fails to realize it. This is best reflected when Willy tells his wife, Laura, that "Biff [his son] is a lazy bum!" (Miller 5) yet just a few seconds later he says "There's one thing about Biff-he's not lazy." (Miller 6). Laura doesn't even give examples of how Biff isn't lazy, Willy just changes his mind right on the spot without even acknowledging or realizing what he said previously. In the play, it's unknown up to this point what specifically causes this seeming mental discourse inside Willy's mind. It's evident to the audience that it's because of his inability to be successful, but the book has yet to reveal what specifically made success completely unobtainable. This method of approaching the plot is very intriguing to say the least. It leaves the audience 'in the dark', forcing them to reflect on what they would define as a personal world-ending event which brings out the same amount of fear and dread in the audience that Willy Lowman has for his family and the future. The book is able to put the audience in the same desperate circumstances as Willy without ever requiring the audience to have experienced a similar ordeal in the past. This makes the book fantastic to read and all the more enveloping for the audience. It's able to hit close to home just enough to make everyone concerned if they might one day experience the same fate as Willy Lowman; unsuccessful and washed-up to the point where there is seemingly no way out of this endless pit of grief and despair.
New Yorker Short Story
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/whoever-is-there-come-on-through
The short story Whoever Is There, Come On Through by Colin Barrett is a very vague and intriguing story that is able to force the mind to wonder what kind of tensions and strains exist within the characters as well as what are the strengths and hardships caused by friendships. The story mainly focuses on two specific characters: Eileen and Murt. Both of them are young adults and both of them live in the same small town together (as they have for seemingly their whole lives). They have also been good friends for a while now, ever since secondary school. Right out of the gate, however, it is definitely clear that Eileen and Murt have sort of this mutual awkwardness going on between them since they are both apparently picky about what they are asking and they both select subjects to talk about for specific reasons and are not completely open to one another on everything they want to ask. This already foreshadows that, despite being good friends, some time has passed that has caused Murt and Eileen to become a bit more distant from each other. This is further revealed when the book states that after Eileen takes Murt to his uncle's from the bus stop he doesn't even invite her in even though, once she gets the courage to go in herself, Murt's family wouldn't mind her company at all. This series of interactions reveals to the reader that the largest hardship of friendships is keeping in touch and catching-up with each other on a regular basis. Distance does no make the heart grow fonder, and regularly scheduled communication will ensure a last comfortableness in the friendship between the two people involved. The story right after showing the reader this, however, reveals that friendships and fondness never truly go away, since once Eileen invites herself in, Murt actually begins to come out of his seemingly depressive state a bit more and shows progress back towards that comfortable, friendly relationship with Eileen. A little later, another weakness of friendship is revealed. when Murt enters Eileen's house, he seems to almost immediately go to the bathroom only to climb out the back window to see if he could. the weakness shown is that, for a friendship to last, both parties need to want it to last. Murt's sudden disappearance from the scene for relatively no reason at all shows that his depressive state means that he can't just become best friends with Eileen again right away and will either be required to get out of this state or never rectify what the two had previously. Further into the story, however, the text is able to show another major hardship of friendship: being able to be there for each other. When Murt's brother, Jamie, is going to be a dad he throws a little gathering at the local bar to celebrate. Murt wonders if Eileen will join them, and she does. She then proceeds to get unfortunately wasted. During this time it's revealed to her that Murt is only staying with his uncle for a little while and is actually going with his mother after the party. This broods in Eileen's mind as a bad idea, since that would mean there friendship might never reach it's prime again when she feels Murt could use it most now after just getting out of the hospital. While this does end up ruining the two character's build-up, it just goes to show that friendships are fantastic to have, but do require a certain amount of maintenance to continue to function.
The short story Whoever Is There, Come On Through by Colin Barrett is a very vague and intriguing story that is able to force the mind to wonder what kind of tensions and strains exist within the characters as well as what are the strengths and hardships caused by friendships. The story mainly focuses on two specific characters: Eileen and Murt. Both of them are young adults and both of them live in the same small town together (as they have for seemingly their whole lives). They have also been good friends for a while now, ever since secondary school. Right out of the gate, however, it is definitely clear that Eileen and Murt have sort of this mutual awkwardness going on between them since they are both apparently picky about what they are asking and they both select subjects to talk about for specific reasons and are not completely open to one another on everything they want to ask. This already foreshadows that, despite being good friends, some time has passed that has caused Murt and Eileen to become a bit more distant from each other. This is further revealed when the book states that after Eileen takes Murt to his uncle's from the bus stop he doesn't even invite her in even though, once she gets the courage to go in herself, Murt's family wouldn't mind her company at all. This series of interactions reveals to the reader that the largest hardship of friendships is keeping in touch and catching-up with each other on a regular basis. Distance does no make the heart grow fonder, and regularly scheduled communication will ensure a last comfortableness in the friendship between the two people involved. The story right after showing the reader this, however, reveals that friendships and fondness never truly go away, since once Eileen invites herself in, Murt actually begins to come out of his seemingly depressive state a bit more and shows progress back towards that comfortable, friendly relationship with Eileen. A little later, another weakness of friendship is revealed. when Murt enters Eileen's house, he seems to almost immediately go to the bathroom only to climb out the back window to see if he could. the weakness shown is that, for a friendship to last, both parties need to want it to last. Murt's sudden disappearance from the scene for relatively no reason at all shows that his depressive state means that he can't just become best friends with Eileen again right away and will either be required to get out of this state or never rectify what the two had previously. Further into the story, however, the text is able to show another major hardship of friendship: being able to be there for each other. When Murt's brother, Jamie, is going to be a dad he throws a little gathering at the local bar to celebrate. Murt wonders if Eileen will join them, and she does. She then proceeds to get unfortunately wasted. During this time it's revealed to her that Murt is only staying with his uncle for a little while and is actually going with his mother after the party. This broods in Eileen's mind as a bad idea, since that would mean there friendship might never reach it's prime again when she feels Murt could use it most now after just getting out of the hospital. While this does end up ruining the two character's build-up, it just goes to show that friendships are fantastic to have, but do require a certain amount of maintenance to continue to function.
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