In case you were wondering...

...this is what I recited today. Y'all's reactions were priceless ^_^

Adventures in Computer Code

When I told Dr. Preston how I created the "To Be Or Not To Be" practice test on the Random Absence Mentoring website, he asked me to write a quick post about it on my blog. Here's why:

I wrote entire thing in JavaScript, but I don't know JavaScript. I know HTML and CSS, which are nowhere near as complicated. All I did was skim through the JavaScript tutorial at the World Wide Web Consortum (or, as techies like me call it, W3). Then I went back to the lesson with an example that looked closest to what I was trying to do, and then screwed with the code in the lesson's tryit editor until it worked. That's it.

Dr. Preston pointed out that this was a pretty close parallel to what he's doing; he said to me something to the effect of, "All the other teachers think I'm some kind of genius because of this Open Source Learning thing that I'm doing. But really, it's crazy how simple it actually is."

The moral of the story is that you don't have to know everything. The Internet is overflowing with FREE resources, available to anyone who seeks them. If you want to create something but don't have all the technical knowledge, chances are you can find some way around it, either by learning what you don't know, finding something to copy-[modify]-paste, or connecting with an expert on whatever it is you need. Now that I think about it, I suppose that's what Open Source Learning is all about.

VOCABULARY #7

Here's Vocabulary #7, because I know that if I don't do this assignment I won't remember the words ^^;

DEAR OPHELIA

Dear O,

Wow, that sounds tough! It's hard for me to tell from just a brief letter what you should do, so ultimately, you'll have to make this decision yourself. However, I do have some advice for how you can make that decision: first, make a list of everything you like about your prince/reasons you want to date him. Next, make a list of what your father and brother don't like about him/why they don't want you to date him. If you can (this is the hard part) try to objectively decide which side is more reasonable. Finally, if you had a little sister, would you let her date him? If the answer is no, then maybe isn't a very good idea for you to date him, either. If the answer is yes, then you'll probably be fine.

I wish you luck, O!

LITERARY FICTION & EMPATHY

I think it makes sense. Reading fiction is like listening to someone else's thoughts (depending on the POV) so we can empathize with the narrator, which would logically allow us to empathize with others in real life.

I actually clicked the link at the bottom of the article to take the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test. It was difficult; half the expressions looked like they were just kind of staring off into nothing. I did pretty well, though-- I got 29 out of 36 of the expressions right. I was expecting to be given a passage to read before the test, but there wasn't anything. However, after the test there were several questions about demographics and reading preferences (or lack thereof). I've done a few online psychology tests like that before (for example, the uber-detailed sorting hat test and a ton of different ones at personality-testing.info). I think they're cool because it's interesting to learn about myself, and plus I get to help the studies at the same time.

I tend to empathize with characters rather quickly-- I'm the type that immediately says "Don't listen to them, Ophelia! Follow your heart!" Even this three minute youtube video made me genuinely sad for the characters. I just watched it again... so tragic...!

GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?

I know next to nothing about Hamlet. The only thing I can think of is a quote from a video we saw in LeClair's class three years ago, where Ophelia (is that her name?) is screaming, "Cut the crap, Hamlet! My biological clock is ticking and I want babies now!" ...or something like that.

b) What do you know about Shakespeare?

Shakespeare wrote a LOT of plays, most (all?) of which are in iambic pentameter. In his plays, he made up words and phrases which have become quite commonplace today, although in many cases people don't know that the word or phrase in question originated with Shakespeare. His plays are also repeatedly referenced in art, literature, and pop culture (how many songs can you think of that use the names Romeo and Juliet? I can think of three right now); in other words, Shakespeare continues to be verrrry influential.

c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?

Shakespeare is difficult to read because of all the crazy wordplay and puns he uses, many of which refer to archaic figures of speech that confuse modern audiences. For example, I specifically remember having noooo idea what was going on during the Nurse's monologue in Romeo and Juliet (14-year-old Lisa says, "Okay, I guess that makes sense, if you fall backwards you won't get dirt on your face or whatever, but why is that so funny? I don't get this..."). Also, trying to READ the plays sometimes doesn't make much sense; seeing them performed clarifies things immensely when you actually get to see/hear the actors' blocking, gestures, intonation, etc.

d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?

Maybe it's just 'cause I'm a drama person, but I love reading plays out loud in class (but Dr. Preston if you decide to do it this way PLEASE assign characters by volunteering only! Read-throughs by people who don't want to read are bad. Besides making the victims uncomfortable, it also takes lines away from the people who actually WANT to read who would do a better job anyway.)

SO MY MAIN POINT WAS/WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS

...because I think those two are actually the same assigment (?)

In my BS'd Chaucer essay (I missed the day in class where each group presented their tales, and didn't know Chaucer was going to be on the midterm/didn't have the foresight to think to myself "Oh I should read people's blogs since I missed class today," that would have been really smart), my thesis was pretty much "Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales about a variety of characters and used a variety of genres to effectively appeal to a wide audience, trancending class distinctions and hundreds of years."

...Y'know now that I think about it I can't even remember if that answered the prompt or not O.O

IF I JUST HAD MORE TIME

Before the midterm, instead of studying vocabulary, I decided to spend (sell?) my time studying for my SAT Subject Tests on Saturday. Y'know. 'Cause it's like, my future. And stuff. Luckily, I'm generally pretty good at vocab, and writing stories for every vocab list prepared me very well for the test, even if I didn't do any cramming the night before.

However, I thought the midterm was going to be entirely a vocab test, so I was really mad when I saw the Chaucer essay prompt on the board. I was absent the day that each group presented their tales to the class, so the only tales I was familiar with were the Prologue and the Cook's Tale (not very good preparation AT ALL). When I saw the two questions, I thought to myself it's not like I could write a good essay anyway, so I might as well devote extra time to racking up points on the vocab section and then BS a paragraph about Chaucer in the last 10 minutes. Aaaaand that's basically what I did. I haven't seen my score yet, so I'm not all that sure how well my strategy worked out for me. If I knew that Chaucer was going to be on the midterm, I would have read several of my classmates' Tales of Canterbury Tales to make up for missing the aforementioned day in class.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2

Given that I love theater so much, I knew I had to do a literature analysis on at least one play this year. So, without further ado, here is my second literature analysis, on Tennessee Williams' famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire.

I just typed so many captchas

I basically scoured my contacts for working email addresses to invite people to the Google Group (which I am now shamelessly promoting, to the point of adding a completely unnecessary parenthetical comment to this link so you get a wall of blue text that glows on scrollover if you have a COOL browser), except I had to type a captcha EVERY TIME. I missed a bunch too. I think I'm only 95% human O.O

Side Note 1: if you didn't get an invite, it just means I don't have your email. The "apply for membership" button works just as well :)

Side Note 2: I couldn't resist posting this comic ^_^

TALE OF A CANTERBURY TALE

In The Cook's Prologue [lines 4325-4364] and The Cook's Tale [lines 4365-4422], the Cook comments on the Miller's tale, and then starts his own (which was left unfinished by Chaucer).

Summary

The Cook is amused by the Miller's tale, and introduces his tale as "a funny thing that happened in our city" [line 4343]. The Host tells him to make sure his story is interesting, and sort of insults his cooking skills. The Cook good-naturedly acknowledges that what the Host has said is true, and then begins his story.

His tale is about a victuals apprentice who was such a good dancer that he was called the Perkin Reveler. The Reveler was handsome, energetic, a ladies' man, and good at singing and gambling as well as dancing. Whenever there was any kind of party or gathering he couldn't resist going, causing him to often shirk his apprentice duties. The Cook comments that it wasn't fair to his master, because while the apprentice is off having fun, it's the master who suffers the loss of work. So, the master recalled the "bad apple" proverb, and accordingly fired the Perkin Reveler so he wouldn't spoil the other apprentices. Now without a job, the Reveler went to live with a like-minded friend, who had a wife and a shop. Here, the tale is cut short.

Indirect characterization

• the Cook likes stories (as opposed to getting really bored at listening to other people talk), shown by how much he enjoyed the Miller's tale [lines 4325-4326]
• he is probably a Christian because he references God [line 4335]
• he is a bad cook, based on the Host's list of dishes he's ruined [lines 4346-4352]
• he likes giving advice and has a strong sense of morality, based on his repeated use of sayings ("Into your house not every man invite" [line 4331], "true jest, bad jest" [line 4357], and "A rotten apple's better thrown away before it spoils the barrel." [lines 4406-4407]) and his comments on how the Reveler's partying is unfair to his master
• however, he probably also likes dancing himself, because his initial description of the Reveler [lines 4365-4387] is a positive one

Chaucer's purpose

I'll admit that I'm aaaaaactually not sure what Chaucer's purpose is here. The Cook has this weird double-irony thing going on: he's a cook, except he's all sloppy and disgusting, except that he's actually really good-natured and happy all the time. I don't really get it. Coupled with the fact that his tale is unfinished, and it's not even about the Cook anyway (unless it was going to be revealed at the end that the Perkin Reveler IS the Cook, dun dun dunnn), I don't think I have enough information to state Chaucer's purpose for telling his tale.