THE NOSE

Yup. The Nose.

1. What does Ivan Yakovlevich do for a living?

He's a barber! (on a side note, Kovaloff's valet is also named Ivan. That had to have been intentional...?)

2. What does Ivan find in a loaf of bread?

A nose! *gasp*

3. How does his wife respond to Ivan's discovery?

She's all like, "You drunkard!" (not sure how that's relevant but according to our oh-so-reliable narrator, it's true)

4. What does Ivan set out to accomplish?

He wants to get rid of that stupid nose!

5. When Ivan tosses the "package" in the river, for a brief moment he is happy; then he is arrested. What does this scene suggest about the role of happiness in Ivan's life/community/society?

Happiness is fragile, and subject to the arbitrary will of authorities (in this case, the policeman)

6. Where does the title object belong, and how does it finally get there?

on Kovaloff's face
it just magically fixes itself back on one morning
y'know, 'cause that makes so much sense
THE END

WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Despite my previous post being organized into two columns, this one will be formatted in rows! Hope no one like, freaks out or anything.

Drama/Romeo & Juliet

Disciplines include:

• English (analysis of storyline, deciphering archaic English, etc.)
• history (provides insight into 16th century England's culture & values; research on 14th century Italy required for costumes & set design)
• psychology (interpreting characters' emotions; also improves empathy skills by literally putting yourself in your character's shoes)
• public speaking (which, as I'm sure everyone knows, is according to polls scarier than death)
• memorization
• working as a team

Study of hiccups

Disciplines include:

• human biology (study of hiccup mechanism, which involves several different organ systems, including nervous, muscular, respiratory, and digestive)
• human evolution (hiccups are thought to be a remnant of ancestral regurgitation process that we never quite evolved out of)
• chemisty/pharmacology (to prescribe medication)
• application of scientific method
  • hypothesis of cause/cure -->
  • test (blood work, MRI, etc.)/perscription of medication -->
  • did it work? -->
  • restart from the beginning
  • repeatedly

Personally experiencing over two years of chronic hiccups have also brought me into the following disciplines:

• psychology (individuals react to my hiccups in a variety of ways, including:
  • concern
  • pity
  • shock
  • utter consternation
  • mistaking them for something else [most common guesses are sneezing, choking, and seizure/random spazz-out]
  • laughing
  • turning really awkward
  • freaking out about how cute these girl's hiccups are [nice little perk]
  • suggesting that I drink water [luckily people don't do this often, because when they do I struggle to contain myself]
  • and FINALLY
  • acceptance [standard protocol has become saying "bless you," because it allows other people to acknowledge the hiccup without having to think of something original every time])
• study of consciousness (one of the theories my doctors have given as to why I've had persistent hiccups with no apparent cause [even after extensive testing] is that it's a conflict between my conscious and subconscious minds [i.e. I'm too stressed and my subconscious is saying "Hey Lisa, quit your AP classes and calm the hell down" and I'm like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU'RE MAKING THINGS WORSE" and so the vicious spiral continues])

LAUNCH/DRAFT

I have two concurrent goals (one relatively short-term and more immediately important, thought not lasting; the other is more long term and arguably more important, although less immediate), so I'm gonna write about both, in two columns!

What am I passionate about? What do I want to do?
I want to be an amazing Juliet for our production, and at the same time deepen my knowledge of Shakespeare so I can kick some AP test butt in May :D	I want to cure myself and others of chronic illness. No doctor has cured me yet, and I'm sure there are countless others facing the same impasse. I'm confident that once I acquire the knowledge necessary to understand my illness and others' (which I'd like to say is only a matter of individual research, but I think it's more realistic to say it will take years of study. Good thing I'm going to college), I have both the intelligence and the personal sympathy (gained only by experience) to be an outstanding doctor.
How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
I can personally say that our study of Hamlet has (indirectly) helped me immensely in my study of Romeo & Juliet. As compared to the first time I read the play in LeClair's class, this time around it looks so much more like English! And our adventures in memorization have definitely improved (and helped me codify) my strategies: see both my original and follow-up posts on the topic.	I know that the Internet contains an immense amount of educational and informational resources about almost everything. I've learned that the problem is not whether or not information is available; it's whether or not we seek it. (I used to stare at ingredients lists and be like "carr-a-gee-nan? what's that? well, whatever" but now [especially considering the advice I've gotten from my nutritionist] I'm like, "Dude! I'm not ingesting that if I don't know what it is" so I look it up and FIND OUT. Granted, the Internet [in this case, a virtually unlimited supply of "facts" and oftentimes conflicting advice] is no replacement for actual experts on anything, but it's certainly better than being completely clueless, especially on subjects that you wouldn't ask an expert about anyway [which includes pretty much anything that doesn't kill you, i.e., almost everything].)
What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
I guess I need to figure out how to tailor my schedule in order to accomodate this commitment. In other words, I need to make sure that everything that I really need to do (such as homework, and getting enough sleep) gets done so I don't regret committing to the play (especially because I almost didn't: in order to focus on school, I haven't done a spring play since freshman year. I debated for a long time about R&J, but I had several compelling reasons that I did not have for either of the spring plays that I missed, including the fact that I can count it as part as my English curriculum [Shakespeare = excellent literature analysis and AP essay fodder], and that this is my last chance! My swan song!).	This question may not be entirely relevant to this particular goal, since it will span many years. In fact, this goal might actually have to suffer in order to achieve my other, more pressing short-term/high-school goals such as the play (see left) and my multiple AP classes.
What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
If I'm lucky enough to get a prompt on my AP test that I can work to fit Romeo & Juliet, I'm gonna be able to refer to every scene by name, I'll have a complete understanding of Juliet's emotional conflicts throughout the play (having almost literally lived them myself), I'm gonna have an arsenal of Juliet monologues on command, and I'll probably have half of everyone else's lines memorized too. If the gods offer me the proverbial chance, I'm gonna write a Shakespeare essay like the AP graders wouldn't believe!	I can see the newspaper headline now: Sick Girl Cures Self After X Years Of Hiccups (where X = at least 2.5 [in other words, clearly too many]). You would read it, wouldn't you?
How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
Lucky for me, I've already started this one! I even have 5 of my monologues memorized already :D	This goal is a little tricker. It's a bit hard to define the start point here: I've kind of already started my research. I've been focusing on researching all the medications I've taken (9 total) to see if the comparisons between the medications that did and didn't work shed any light on the cause of my hiccups. However, I've been stumped because the information I'm trying to work with is extremely technical, and honestly over my head. This is where I need intensive study, so I intend to major in neuroscience or a related field to get the education I need. So, I may be unable to move forward with this very much until I'm enrolled as a college student, but I doubt my motivation (or the cause thereof [heh]) will disappear by then, so I'm fine with waiting on this one.
Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?
For Romeo & Juliet, I have two sets of peers. First of all, there's my fellow actors in the cast, and secondly there's everyone in Dr. Preston's AP English class. If Dr. Preston likes this idea (which I'm sure he will), I hope to give a refresher presentation on the play sometime in March for everyone who has read the play already, but might not remember it well enough to write an essay on it for the AP test. And then, hopefully you guys can come to the play to see it LIVE!	In my study of hiccups and/or neuroscience, I have (at the moment) all my doctors, plus my brother (who is majoring in neurobiology). As soon as I get to college, my learning network will expand immensely — I'll have all my professors to learn from, plus all the other students in the major. If I wanted to, I guess I could probably try to expand my learning network into that sphere even sooner, but for reasons stated before I think I have enough on my plate for now. This is still an important goal for me, and I will revisit it this summer.

THE TIME OF MY LIFE

Admittedly, I was a little uncertain at the ability of a large group of teenagers (even AP ones) to self-organize a discussion about Dickens, and rather cynically expected to bullcrap some discussion notes for the assignment and spend the rest of the period working on calculus. However, I was proven wrong! I believe Daniel was the main mastermind of 3rd period's discussion, in which a few volunteers from each book (Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities) summarized the plot for the readers of the other. I actually found this REALLY helpful, because during Dr. Preston's lectures on Great Expectations, I heard a lot about the different characters' personalities/relationships/etc. but not much about the plot, which is just as important to understanding the novel. So, I consider it time well spent!

WHAT'S THE STORY?

It seems to me that Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities to show that all people are basically the same, regardless of their country of birth or social class. By that, I don't mean to say that all people are good; the novel has plenty of "bad" characters, such as (by the alignment system) the Marquis St. Evrémonde (Neutral Evil), Madame Defarge (Lawful Evil [I say "lawful" because I'm using the revolutionaries' cause, not the aristocrats', as a point of reference]), and Barsad (Chaotic Neutral). I guess what I really mean to say is that you can never use "always" to apply an alignment to all members of a specific country, caste, or job; every individual turns good or evil based on what's in their heart (wow that's cheesy), not their birth. This is why Charles Evrémonde (French aristocrat) turns out to be a stand-up guy, while his uncle (also a French aristocrat) is a total jerkface; and why Sydney Carton (an English lawyer) goes from being unsuccessful/lazy barrister to giving his life because of his love for Lucie, while Mr. Stryver (also an English lawyer) goes from being a successful barrister to... being a successful barrister (even though he also loves Lucie, he still fails to give a crap about anything). Even events can't be blamed for characters' good/evil tendencies; Doctor Manette was (arguably) harmed more personally/severely by the Marquis St. Evrémonde than Madame Defarge was (by my count, 18 years in the Bastille > sister's death), but he still manages to forgive Charles by allowing him to marry into his family, while Madame Defarge swears death on all the Evrémondes, including the perfectly innocent Lucie.

In one of our earlier lectures, I believe Dr. Preston said that during his life, Charles Dickens had the opportunity to observe almost all levels of the social hierarchy in England. My guess is that he saw hearts of gold as well as hearts of stone everywhere, not just concentrated in one group. To bring this message to more people, he wrote A Tale of Two Cities to contrast (or I guess a better wording would be to show similarities between) Londoners and Parisians, aristocrats and commoners, and haves and have-nots.

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

So, I'm pretty sure I can objectively say that I'm pretty good at searching the web, and as far as I can tell Siddhartha has only appeared on the actual AP exam once. Here is the question:

"A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole."

Source: College Board

Given that the assignment asks "[w]hat... these questions tell [us] about the AP exam," it would be kind of pointless to list questions here that weren't on the actual AP exam. Therefore, I'm only listing this one question because it is the only relevant question I have found.


This is actually the perfect question for this assignment, because the one passage we read from Siddhartha looks like it is the "single pivotal moment in the... development of the protagonist" referenced by the question. In this moment, Siddhartha is finally awakened completely as he realizes he is now nothing but himself. He has relinquished his entire social status in favor of his awakening, and at the end of the passage he seems to have realized his ultimate purpose. However, the last part of the question asks us to analyze "how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole," which I am unable to do because I haven't read the book. In order to fully answer this question, I'd need to know about Siddhartha's development both before and after this passage, so I could write about how this moment fits into his character development as a whole.

This question shows that the AP exam may reference some less-common literary terms (in this case, "bildungsroman"), accompanied by short explanations. Therefore, as test takers we are not necessarily required to know these more obscure terms, but if we are already familiar with them it may give us an advantage over others who are seeing them for the first time.

Also, this question shows that AP prompts may have multiple parts. In this case, we must describe the "single pivotal moment" in the character's development, "the meaning of the work as a whole," and how the two are related.

LIT TERMS REMIX 1-5

I recently started playing Magic the Gathering, so when I saw this remix assignment, I thought, "Hey, what if I turn the lit terms into Magic cards?" For anyone who doesn't play Magic the Gathering, this post probably won't make any sense at all, but oh well :P

HACKING MY EDUCATION

1) What do I want to know?

• I want to know how to control my illness instead of it controlling me.
• Furthermore, I want to learn how to help others with the same.
• I want to know if there's shame in taking pills to fix my problems.

2) What experiences do I want to have under my belt?

• I want to have the experience of a return to my pre-illness competency/success so I don't have to consider myself handicapped anymore.

3) What skills do I want to demonstrate?

• I want to find the skills necessary to manage my illness, and demonstrate that I can function just as well as a healthy person.

WHAT'S IN THIS FOR ME?

From my comment on Dr. Preston's post:

"My ultimate goal for this semester is actually a bit more general, and applies to all my classes, not just English. My struggle with my health has made it very difficult for me to keep up in school, and this semester I will make a determined effort to use every possible tool available to me (that includes not cheating on my stupid diet that I hate, I'll even exercise if my doctors say I have to *shudder*) to maintain my health so I can avoid falling behind."

Besides my chronic hiccups (which I really can't do anything myself for), I've also been struggling with my blood sugar (which, luckily, I actually do have some control over). When I was eating a normal diet (which really wasn't that unhealthy), I continually suffered from energy crashes which my doctors and I finally figured out were associated with carbohydrates. I went low-carb about four months ago, but it was only about two and a half months ago that I went radically low-carb. At first I only cut out the obvious carbs, like bread, cereal, potatoes, candy, etc. and allowed myself a limited amount of "treats," like a quarter of a muffin if that's what my family was having for breakfast, and bittersweet chocolate for dessert. It helped, but it wasn't enough.

Two and a half months ago I cut out almost ALL carbs: in addition to everything I cut out before, my new diet dictated no fruit, no dairy, and absolutely no cheating lest I relapse. To my surprise, the change not only prevented crashes after meals, but also allowed me to actually wake up in the morning without the assistance of coffee. I had felt like a zombie every morning for literally years, so as sad as this sounds, suddenly feeling "good" came to me as a shock.

However, sticking to the diet was a challenge. It was terrible at first — each morning I jealously eyed my mom's orange while I ate carrots, and every evening I fled the table after dinner so I wouldn't have to see the dessert the rest of my family enjoyed. It got easier over time, though. You can get used to almost anything if you try hard enough. The one time I decided I couldn't take it anymore and started eating fruit again, my condition got worse immediately, so I'm no longer seriously tempted to eat anything forbidden.

Even if I can't do much to ameliorate my main illness, I'm glad I can at least do SOMETHING to improve my health. So, maintaining my diet is one of the things I plan to do this semester to avoid falling behind in my classes because of my health. I'm also taking some new medicine, which I'm hoping will improve my energy and ability to keep up in school. Hopefully, 2014 will be a good year for me.

LIFE AFTER THIS BLOG POST

Earlier during the break, I wrote my letter to my future self at FutureMe.org. Two, actually. I sent the letter to myself one year in the future, and then decided to send it to myself ten years in the future, too, with a short postscript.

It was actually sort of a theraputic experience for me. There's been a lot on my mind lately, and that's what I wrote about. All I set out to do was tell a story, but soon enough I realized I had written seven pages. I don't think it really matters WHAT you write about, as long as it's natural. Y'know, stream-of-consciousness style. Then, in the future, you not only receive the actual content of your message, but also the connotative information about your past self's thinking style, emotional state, and all the subtext that you might not even know you were communicating. Beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and identity are all things that change so gradually that you might not be able to tell when, or how, they changed. Those, even more than memories, are likely to be lost in time if they aren't recorded.

I know I'll always remember the sequence of events that happened because of my chronic illness, but I don't know if I'll always remember how I felt during the time I was sick if I become healthy in the future. And it's VERY important to me that I remember, because I know I'm not the only one who's suffering. I might be going to college to become a neuroscientist, because I dream of curing chronic illnesses like mine. If I can remember my frustration at my illness and desperation for a cure, it will make me that much more motivated to help those who are in need like I am now.

A POETIC INQUIRY

Since my Big Question is mostly about serendipity (and not like, love or flowers or nature or other typical sonnet fodder), I wasn't sure how to find a sonnet related to it. After unsuccessfully scouring an online sonnet database (organized by author — not very helpful in my case), I tried again with a web search for "sonnet serendipity." I had to sift through what probably amounted to three standard Google search pages of results, and visited about six different websites until I found this huge page of sonnets. One in particular caught my eye, but I couldn't find any details about the title or the author. So, I went back to the search page and searched the first line of the poem. That got me to this page at PoemHunter, which revealed the poem as "Coincidence Coins Serendipity" by Johnathan Robin:

More than before she finds felicity
At hand, within, without, without a doubt.
Unfortunate conditions round about
Divert attention from her need to key
Emotions into opportunity,
Coaslescing energy to flout
Man made blocks, internal locks, whose rout
Appears essential for heart's harmony.
Unperturbed, frustration fought, she
Defeats dismay, demands free flight. Love's drought
Ends offering expansion, joy throughout.
Coincidence coins serendipity.
Meaning, which below horizon hid,
Comes clear: fears, tears, fade, open inner lid.

In this poem, I saw a lot of myself. Maybe a sugarcoated version of myself, but that can be dismissed by either (a) I see my situation as worse than it actually is, or (b) what else do you expect from a sonnet? Either way, I can still see a lot of parallels between this sonnet and my slow, halting recovery from my illness. For the first, I'm absolutely sure this isn't what the author meant, but the phrase "she finds felicity at hand" reminds me of my amulet bracelet that I've been wearing for months. It brings me calm, and in a way, happiness. Lines 3–5 ring especially true for me, as my illness has redirected so much of my time and energy towards necessities, and away from life's real opportunities that I would have taken in health. However, the rest of the poem is more disconnected from my story. The remainder speaks of joyful perserverence and a final victory, which (I struggle to phrase this; I don't know whether to say "...which I haven't achieved" or "...which God hasn't yet granted me", and I find myself getting emotional. I guess I'll just have to put it in the vaguest terms possible) is not true of my life. Still, for a girl two and a half years into waiting for a miracle, the title phrase "coincidence coins serendipity" offers the most precious commodity: Hope.

ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE SONNET

The dwellers of the cave all have no sight
With which to understand reality;
The shadows of the cave are all they see,
Forever isolated from the light.
As metal chains hold them all at the site,
None of them could ever decide to flee.
None of them even think of going free:
Too, shackles on their minds prevent their flight.
But if somehow by stroke of fortune fair
One of these prisoners is then released,
The world of which he had been unaware,
The water and the sunrise from the east
Would certainly reveal to him the truth,
And finally free him from his despair.

SONNET ANALYSIS #1

I was absent the day we learned about sonnets, so for this assignment I'll be posting what I've learned about sonnets from the interwebs (and of course the gratutitous xkcd comic of the day)

• sonnets usually compare two or more contrasting ideas, emotions, beliefs, actions, events, images, etc.
• usually in iambic pentameter
• there are three main types of sonnets:
• Petrarchan/Italian
• first 8 lines are called an octave, and have a rhyming scheme A B B A   A B B A
• next 6 lines are called a sestet and can have either 2 or 3 rhyming sounds, with much more freedom in how they can be arranged (like CDCDCD, CDECDE, CDDCEC, basically whatever! Even unpaired lines are okay [sometimes])
• however, they usually don't end in a couplet (as in, last two lines can't rhyme)
• often, the transition from the octave to the sestet signals a change of subject (called a "volta," or "turn")
• Spenserian
• invented by Edmund Spenseras
• pattern A B A B   B C B C   C D C D   E E
• 14 lines: 3 quatrains and a couplet
• like the Petrarchan sonnet, the different divisions usually talk about distinct ideas
• volta often goes at the beginning of the final couplet
• Shakespearian/English
• pattern A B A B   C D C D   E F E F   G G
• 14 lines: 3 quatrains and a couplet (like Spenserian, but without the overlapping rhymes)
• most flexible of all the sonnet structures because each line only has one rhyme, and there aren't strict rules about the placement of the volta (Shakespeare usually puts it after the first two quatrains, like the Petrarchan structure, or at the beginning of the final couplet, like the Spenserian structure)
• source: Sonnets.org

Furthermore, as promised:

THE BEST SONNET REMIX EVER

(Shakespeare's original here)

UPDATE: check out my Allegory of the Cave sonnet. Can you guess which rhyme scheme I used?

THE PERFORMATIVE UTTERANCE IN HAMLET

As I was reading "The Performative Utterance in Hamlet," I noticed that since it's a 20-page essay, there are more levels than just intro paragraph > topic sentences > rest of paragraph, which is what we're used to with our standard 5-paragraph essays. Instead, there are actually like, sub-intro paragraphs (I'm sure there's probably a word for that which sounds SO much smarter) which introduce the next 3-4 paragraphs on the same topic. So, I took notes by outlining all the paragraphs in a hierarchy.

• Intro (thesis: "For much of the play Hamlet is able to speak but not do.")
• Austin's theory of performativity
1. self-overhearing in Hamlet
1. qualification of self-overhearing
2. scene w/ the ghost
3. problem w/ scene w/ ghost
2. drama/playacting
1. "hollow performativity" & its implications
2. emotional contexts of utterances
3. "perceived legitimacy of the emotional context of utterances"
4. what Hamlet considers good acting, based on his speech
3. pretending
1. Hamlet's madness & Polonius
2. Polonius's gullibility
3. Hamlet's madness—allows him to free himself of his restricted place in society
4. …and also recognizes that his own identity is also fake in a way
4. if Polonius pre-modern, & Hamlet modern, Claudius in between (esp. w/ his failed prayer)
1. rules for successful utterances & why Claudius failed
2. Claudius's failed prayer vs. Hamlet's conversation w/ Horatio
• Hamlet & Laertes both get their revenge, but because of Laertes, not Hamlet; ∴ Hamlet's performative utterance is not toward revenge, but "realization of the self"

TOOLS THAT CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK

From Dr. Preston's post, "tools that change the way we think":

Answer this not-so-simple question: How does use of the Internet, media, and/or technology change the way you think? Focus on your memory, your ability to concentrate, your sense of time and priorities, and the subjects/topics that interest you most. If you find "thinking about your thinking" difficult to assess, try the following strategies: compare yourself with older people who did most of their formal learning before smart phones and 2.0 existed; compare yourself with contemporaries who don't use those tools much today; read up on what education leaders and thinkers have to say about generational differences in thinking (and remember to cite your sources).

First off, I'm going to link to the XKCD strip Extended Mind because it's relevant but mostly because I just like linking to XKCD



...anyway, I know that for myself personally, the Internet has given me almost a sort of disdain for unevidenced "conventional wisdom" and faith in facts and statistics instead, all of which are readily available to me within a few clicks. At the moment I'm under some rather severe dietary restrictions for my health, and I'm never satisfied with reasoning like, "Well this is a vegetable, it must be ok for me to eat." Before eating anything I always look up the nutrition facts, glycemic load, how it's made if it's a processed food (ex. I can't eat anything fermented, so turns out I can't eat chocolate. Did you know chocolate is fermented? I didn't. Thanks Wikipedia), etc. Such immediate access to facts makes me question statements with the imperative "Prove it."

However, I know that the Internet has probably also shortened my attention span, because I'm ALWAYS tab surfing. Even when I'm doing homework, at any given moment I probably have Listube, Pandora, my email, XKCD or Dinosaur Comics or something, and a Google search of whatever I just thought of 10 seconds ago open in other tabs. The Internet has made it so whenever you think of something (ex. "Hey, I wonder if I have any new emails since I checked it an hour ago?") you can and probably will search/check/access it, regardless of the task at hand. Given the ubiquity of computers, as desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, smart glasses, and according to a commercial I saw last month, smart watches (!), the status quo really isn't that much different than the hypothetical Google search in your brain mentioned in the passage.

(Also, I just have to say this. When the article mentioned "computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information" I was like, "OH GOD. NAVI." Otakus in the house will get it.)

FILTER BUBBLES

a) What new information did you learn from the video?

This video IMMEDIATELY reminded me of XKCD's Umwelt (by Mr. Munroe's definition, "Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.") The page I linked to actually displays one of about 40 comic strips; the one shown to you is determined by your computer model, your OS, your browser, your window size, your location, even how you navigated to the site. I thought it was a pretty cool novelty... until I watched the "Filter Bubbles" video and realized, "OHMYGAHD. IT'S UMWELT. Except it's real and it's EVIL."

b) How does this information make you think differently about what you see online?

This makes me feel like I can't trust the Internet anymore, especially since I use Chrome... that means Google can see EVERYTHING I DO, not just my Google searches... oh god >.<

c) What questions does this video raise about the Internet in general?

I was aware that services like Adsense were collecting information about me based on the sites I visit, given the obvious evidence of whenever I visit a shopping website (for example, my favorite clothing brand Express) I get ads for that brand (and sometimes related brands) for a few weeks. However, I was convinced that Adsense was doing a pretty crappy job of it. For example: I go to Express.com, therefore I am an 18-24 year old female who likes Express in particular and fashion in general, therefore I get ads for Express clothing and a few other clothing brands. I visit a lot of anime websites, therefore I am an 18-24 year old heterosexual male who likes Asia, therefore I get ads for Asian women from ChinaLoveDate.com. Everything is really direct and isolated from everything else. It seems to me like it wouldn't be that hard for Adsense to put 2 and 2 together, and conclude from my browsing activity at BOTH websites that I am an 18-24 year old female who likes Asia, and therefore give me ads for Asian men, not women. Even better, I like fashion and Asia, so why not show me ads for Asian clothing companies? C'mon Adsense, I'm not clicking on the Asian women! Haven't you figured it out yet? Aren't you trying to make money off of me?

However, I realize that Adsense is only what I can see; this video raises the question of how my online experience is altered in ways I CAN'T see. The problem is that I don't know what I don't know, and that bothers me. Especially since I've used Google countless times for some EXTREMELY IMPORTANT searches, given that none of my doctors have been able to cure me (obviously, I'm still hiccupping) and I've basically resorted to doing my own research and trying to figure it out myself in my spare time. If there's something that I've missed because it's been "filtered out," I would be really really really mad, let's put it that way.

d) How can you improve the effectiveness of your searches?

I can... install the DuckDuckGo extension for Chrome! Hey look! I just did :D

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