Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Vocab list #3


Accolade: an award or privilege as a special honor or an acknowledgement of merit
Acerbity: a sharp bitterness
Attrition: the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something
Bromide: a commonplace remark or notion
Chauvinist: showing or relation to such excessive or prejudice support or loyalty
Chronic: persisting for a long time or recurring
Expound: to present and explain systematically and in detail
Factionalism: the splitting of a group into factions
Immaculate: free of flaws or mistakes
Imprecation: a spoken curse
Ineluctable: unable to be resisted or avoided
Mercurial: subject to sudden or unpredictable changes
Palliate: to make less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause
Protocol: the established code of procedure or behavior in any group
Resplendent: attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous
Stigmatize: to describe as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval
Sub rosa: happening or done in secret
Vainglory: inordinate pride in oneself 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

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Beowulf Questions


I did the questions with others of my group so not all the answers are mine. Will Veroski probably helped the most though.

Prelude:
1. Shield became the ruler of the Danes despite being an orphan. He got the throne through he strength in battle. When he died he was cast out to sea on a boat filled with treasure, and everybody mourned his death. Shield is Hrothgar's great-grandfather.
Heorot is attacked:
1. Hrothgar's magnificent achievement was the hall that he had constructed, Heorot. It was attacked by Grendel with horrible results. Grendel the nightmarish beast would attack the hall every night killing the men inside, and terrorized Hrothgar's rule for twelve years. The Danes tried to offer him gold to stop, but he still continued as the Danes prayed to Pagan gods for the attacks to stop.
The Hero Comes to Heorot:
1. When Beowulf hears of Grendel he decided to go try to stop him, so he sailed off with a group of warriors to help Hrothgar.
2. When the Geats first reach Denmark they meet one of Hrothgar's guards on the coast. He questions the group of armed warriors and they say that they will help Hrothgar, so they are allowed to land.
3. Hrothgar's herald is Wulfgar who tells them that they are very brave men. He tells to same to Hrothgar, specially mentioning Beowulf's strength. Hrothgar is very happy to hear the news and trusts Beowulf to help him. Yes, it is surprising that Hrothgar knows Beowulf since they come from different cultures separated by the sea.
4. Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he will kill Grendel with his bare hands. Hrothgar settled a feud that Beowulf's dad had started.
Feast at Heorot:
1. Unferth accuses Beowulf of vanity and losing to Breca in a contest. Beowulf explains that he was busy killing nine sea monsters, and declares his strength. Then he accuses Unferth of being responsible for the death on his family. This does indeed show Beowulf's arrogance and will to prove himself to others.
2. During the feast Queen Wealhtheow greeted everyone including Beowulf, and she thanked god he had come.
The Fight With Grendel:
1. Instead of arming for battle Beowulf disarms for battle, removing his armor and putting away his sword.
2. Grendel kills a man grotesquely when he enters the room then goes after Beowulf. Beowulf grabs Grendel and Grendel thrashes around trying to break free. Beowulf tore off Grendel's arm as he tried to escape. He does escape, but loses his arm, a fatal wound.
Celebration at Heorot:
1. Beowulf is like Sigemund because he is a hero who saved others from a monster and he's not like Heremod because Heremod was a selfish king who never protected his people, unlike Beowulf.
2. Hrothgar considers Beowulf as a son, and gives him a sword, a shield, a golden set of armor, and a helmet. Unferth has nothing more to say as Beowulf is clearly a hero.
3. Finn's (leader of the Frisians) step brother (leader of the Scyldings) dies in battle, and his second in command makes truce in the war with the Frisians. With the truce the Scyldings stayed with Finn over winter, eventually killing him and leaving back with his sister Hildeburh. Using a woman to heal relations is not a good idea.
4. Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar not to give the throne to Beowulf.
5. The necklace Beowulf is given, Beowulf eventually gives to his uncle Hygelac. Wealhtheow asks Beowulf to look after and care for her sons.
6. So many men remain in the beer hall because they don't know the danger to come, that Grendel's mother is soon coming to find revenge.
[Another Attack]
1. Grendel’s mother comes to Heortor seeking revenge for the death of Grendel, killing several warriors and making off with Grendel’s arm.
2. Hrothgar’s response is to send Beowulf to kill Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother killed Aeschere, Hrothgar’s trusted adviser.
3. The mere is a sort of lake filled with monsters and all seem afraid of it. It appears to have sort of a magical quality.

[Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother]

1. Beowulf reassures Hrothgar that Grendel’s mother will not escape and asks him to take care of the Geats if he is to die.
2.Beowulf and company observes the mere and the monsters of the mere. Beowulf shoots one with an arrow, killing a monster.
3. Beowulf prepares for battle by arming himself and donning what armor he has. Unferth gives him his sword Hrunting which has never failed him and in return Beowulf gives Unferth his sword.
4. As Beowulf enters the mere, Grendel’s mother lunges at him dragging him down into the depths of her lair. Her lair is a hall shielded from the heat of the mere.
5. The sword, Hrunting, that Unferth gave to Beowulf is ineffective against Grendel’s mother and Beowulf resorts to fighting Grendel’s mother hand-to-hand.
6. Beowulf escapes when Grendel’s mother’s knife breaks on Beowulf’s armor.
7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a sword that was hanging in her hall. It was a sword forged by giants. When she dies a great light fills the hall. Beowulf then decapitates the dead body of Grendel using the sword of the giants. He takes the head of Grendel and the hilt of the giant’s sword, the blade was desolved by Grendel’s blood, with him as he leaves the hall.
8. Beowulf returns at great surprise to his companions, no one expected him to survive especially after that long in the mere.

[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
1. Grendel’s mother comes to Heortor seeking revenge for the death of Grendel, killing several warriors and making off with Grendel’s arm.
2. Hrothgar’s response is to send Beowulf to kill Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother killed Aeschere, Hrothgar’s trusted adviser.
3. The mere is a sort of lake filled with monsters and all seem afraid of it. It appears to have sort of a magical quality.
[Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother]

1. Beowulf reassures Hrothgar that Grendel’s mother will not escape and asks him to take care of the Geats if he is to die.
2.Beowulf and company observes the mere and the monsters of the mere. Beowulf shoots one with an arrow, killing a monster.
3. Beowulf prepares for battle by arming himself and donning what armor he has. Unferth gives him his sword Hrunting which has never failed him and in return Beowulf gives Unferth his sword.
4. As Beowulf enters the mere, Grendel’s mother lunges at him dragging him down into the depths of her lair. Her lair is a hall shielded from the heat of the mere.
5. The sword, Hrunting, that Unferth gave to Beowulf is ineffective against Grendel’s mother and Beowulf resorts to fighting Grendel’s mother hand-to-hand.
6. Beowulf escapes when Grendel’s mother’s knife breaks on Beowulf’s armor.
7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a sword that was hanging in her hall. It was a sword forged by giants. When she dies a great light fills the hall. Beowulf then decapitates the dead body of Grendel using the sword of the giants. He takes the head of Grendel and the hilt of the giant’s sword, the blade was desolved by Grendel’s blood, with him as he leaves the hall.
8. Beowulf returns at great surprise to his companions, no one expected him to survive especially after that long in the mere.

[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
[Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother]
1. Beowulf reassures Hrothgar that Grendel’s mother will not escape and asks him to take care of the Geats if he is to die.
2.Beowulf and company observes the mere and the monsters of the mere. Beowulf shoots one with an arrow, killing a monster.
3. Beowulf prepares for battle by arming himself and donning what armor he has. Unferth gives him his sword Hrunting which has never failed him and in return Beowulf gives Unferth his sword.
4. As Beowulf enters the mere, Grendel’s mother lunges at him dragging him down into the depths of her lair. Her lair is a hall shielded from the heat of the mere.
5. The sword, Hrunting, that Unferth gave to Beowulf is ineffective against Grendel’s mother and Beowulf resorts to fighting Grendel’s mother hand-to-hand.
6. Beowulf escapes when Grendel’s mother’s knife breaks on Beowulf’s armor.
7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a sword that was hanging in her hall. It was a sword forged by giants. When she dies a great light fills the hall. Beowulf then decapitates the dead body of Grendel using the sword of the giants. He takes the head of Grendel and the hilt of the giant’s sword, the blade was desolved by Grendel’s blood, with him as he leaves the hall.
8. Beowulf returns at great surprise to his companions, no one expected him to survive especially after that long in the mere.

[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
1. Beowulf reassures Hrothgar that Grendel’s mother will not escape and asks him to take care of the Geats if he is to die.
2.Beowulf and company observes the mere and the monsters of the mere. Beowulf shoots one with an arrow, killing a monster.
3. Beowulf prepares for battle by arming himself and donning what armor he has. Unferth gives him his sword Hrunting which has never failed him and in return Beowulf gives Unferth his sword.
4. As Beowulf enters the mere, Grendel’s mother lunges at him dragging him down into the depths of her lair. Her lair is a hall shielded from the heat of the mere.
5. The sword, Hrunting, that Unferth gave to Beowulf is ineffective against Grendel’s mother and Beowulf resorts to fighting Grendel’s mother hand-to-hand.
6. Beowulf escapes when Grendel’s mother’s knife breaks on Beowulf’s armor.
7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a sword that was hanging in her hall. It was a sword forged by giants. When she dies a great light fills the hall. Beowulf then decapitates the dead body of Grendel using the sword of the giants. He takes the head of Grendel and the hilt of the giant’s sword, the blade was desolved by Grendel’s blood, with him as he leaves the hall.
8. Beowulf returns at great surprise to his companions, no one expected him to survive especially after that long in the mere.
[Further Celebration at Heorot]

1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
[Further Celebration at Heorot]
1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.

[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
1. Beowulf gives Hrothgar the hilt of the giant’s sword and Grendel’s head impaled by a spear.
2. Hrothgar instructs Beowulf on how to be a good leader using Heremod as an example of how not to lead. Hrothgar teaches Beowulf to choose eternal rather than earthly rewards.
3. Beowulf returns Hrunting to Unferth before he leaves.
[Beowulf Returns Home]

1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
[Beowulf Returns Home]
1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.
1. Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf will have a great future as a ruler.
2. Hygd is a the queen of the Geats and is wise yet young who is directly constrasted to Queen Modthryth, an evil queen who tortured and killed innocent people because she imagined they were offending her.
3. Beowulf plans this to prove that the desire for vengeance will always overcome peace through intermarriage. Beowulf doesn’t expect the result to be anything less than fighting between the clans because the sight of ancestrial possessions will cause the feud to return. Beowulf in this shows the audience a more violent and skeptical side of himself.
4. Beowulf over emphasizes portions of his adventure when he retells it.
5. Beowulf gives more than half of his treasure to the King and Queen of the Geats and in turn Hygelac gives Beowulf some treasure and a portion of land for him to rule.

[The Dragon Wakes]

1. Part 2 takes place 50 years after part 1. A dragon has risen up and is terrifying the land of the Geats.
2. The dragon is angry because a man stole a gem-covered goblet from it. The treasure is there because long ago the last survivor of an ancient race buried it there when he realized that the treasure would be no use to him.
3. That evening the dragon destroys Beowulf’s hall.
4. Beowulf believes that the burning of his throne-hall is an act of God and orders a new shield that will stand up against fire so that he may fight the dragon one on one.
5. Hygelac died in battle against the Swedes. Beowulf escaped due to his extreme swimming skills. When Beowulf returned he was offered the throne but denied it not wanting to interrupt the chain of succession.
6. Heardred dies in a skirmish against the Swedes and then Beowulf ascends to the throne. Beowulf plans to avenge the death of Hygelac.
7. Eleven men accompany Beowulf as they head out to meet the dragon.
8. Herebeald was killed in a hunting accident by his brother. The king feels a great deal of sorrow because of this death.

[Beowulf Attacks the Dragon]

1. Beowulf bids farewell to his companions and sets off to fight the dragon.
2. Beowulf runs out of strength to fight the dragon and all but Wiglaf charge at the dragon trying to kill it instead of helping Beowulf.
3. Beowulf tries to fight the dragon but the dragon bites Beowulf on the neck. With the help of Wiglaf Beowulf is able to stab the dragon and kill it.
4. Beowulf asks Wiglaf to bring him some of the treasure and asks to be buried in a barrow called “Beowulf’s Barrow”.

[Beowulf’s funeral]

1. When the companions return Wiglaf yells at them for their cowardness and predicts that foreign warlords are sure to attack their nation now.
2. The messenger tells the city that they are sure to come under attack with the death of Beowulf. Ongentheow’s army surrounded the Geats but the Geats were rescued by Hygelac with fresh reinforcements. Ongentheow was killed in battle.
3. Wiglaf relates Beowulf’s last requests and the proceeds to build the barrow that Beowulf requested.
4. The dragon is pushed into the water.
5. The Geats adorn the barrow with treasures and all weep for their fallen king, especially one unnamed woman. Warriors sing in honor of Beowulf.
6. The Geats call Beowulf a beloved leader, a mild prince, and a deserving man. It seems like they are not honoring him as a military leader but as a great king.


Peer Feedback #1

Most of the peer feedback is under the comments section of the essays post

1987 AP Essays

Here are my essays for the 1987 AP exam, I made sure to time myself and do them in the 35 minute writing time.



1987 Ap essays -

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Essay Conclusion

Now the conclusion to the in-class essay we were assigned today, this is literally just the last sentence of the essay:

In the end neither author was able to provide a full image of themselves to their audience because of their writing styles.

     That was a really limiting writing period we had today, with interruptions such as textbook checkouts, and journal writing it was difficult to fit an essay into the time we had. We were posed with several questions about how we felt about the content of our essay and if we would have done better with more time. And my answer to that is no. I operate calmly in a pressured environment and I stand behind my thoughts. Sure the essay would have been more detailed given more time but other than that it would generally have been the same, interruptions and distractions aside.