Abuse of Language in Animal Farm

Poetry Out Loud

After watching several performances off of the Poetry Out Loud website, the one that grabbed my attention the most was Allison Strong, reciting "Sonnet CXXX My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun", by William Shakespeare. The most prominent aspect of this performance was her voice and articulation. Throughout the entire poem, Allison had a loud and clear voice which completely grabbed the listener in. With the challenging rhyme scheme in this poem, she also did an excellent job of keeping everything smooth, and not reciting in a song like way. Also, Allison had a fantastic physical presence, because she constantly had confidence.

Personally, I believe this poem is trying to show that poetry usually has false comparisons which sugar-coats everything, completely skipping out on reality. By comparing his mistress's lips to coral and saying the coral is redder, and saying her hair is like black wires, Shakespeare is showing that she simply isn't perfect, however this isn't necessarily a bad thing to him. By the end, he says "And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, As any she belied with false compare". In my opinion this is saying that no matter what he says about his mistress, it doesn't affect the way he loves her. From his poem, I believe he wants to convey that false comparisons aren't necessary in poetry. Allison helps to show this meaning by changing the dramtization level in her voice during certain parts of the poem. For example, at the beginning she had a loud, and almost mocking tone in her voice, but by the end she became thoughtful, showing the contemplation of why anyone would create unrealistic comparisons.

Motif

After learning the term motif for the summer assignment, I had an extremely basic understanding of the word but I didn't necessarily know of specific examples. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird has an obvious motif, and one that most definitely gave me a better idea of how much motif can enhance a novels theme and meaning. In this book, it would have been impossible to completely understand the theme of innocence, which was something that many of the characters had, and ended up being one of the main components of the story.
In the novel, the mockingbird was the motif, and it was that killing a mockingbird is a sin because it is such an innocent creature. Tom Robinson was an example, because he didn't rape Mayella Ewell, but was convicted of it anyways. This enriched both the theme of innocence and prejudice. Another example was of Boo Radley, on the night of Halloween, Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout, and because they were young children they had little defense. Boo Radley stabbed Bob Ewell, saving both Jem and Scouts lives. After this, Atticus didnt want to lie to the justice system and wanted to turn in Boo, but Scout understood that taking Boo Radley to court was the equivalent to killing a mockingbird. This use of motif demonstrated the idea of the maturity theme, and obviously innocence.

Symbolism

These overalls represent that the main character Scout is not a typical girl. Throughout the story, she always runs around with her older brother Jem and friend Dill. Scout is a young girl, and usually people have the sterotype that all little girls are quiet and play with dolls, but Scout is quite the opposite and is always active and curious.

Life Lessons

From the moment I began school my mom constantly gave me the best advice, and still does, sometimes I don't know what I would do without her input. One of the sayings she constantly told me when I was younger was "Dont sweat the small stuff." This was usually spoken when someone around me was having a bad attitude or I was somehow involved in drama that was unnecessary and in somehow I was upest about it. At the time, I remember it being hard to understand how I could possibly forget and issue I was going through at school, but now I have a completely different view.


This particular saying I remember almost daily because there is absolutely no reason to fall into the drama and fights that most girls thrive on. I know now, that in a friend you don't want someone judgmental or dramatic because these types of people really do like to cause problems and bring you down to make themselves feel like a better person. The types of arguments that occur in high school are extremely pointless and honestly are the absolute least important thing I could deal with, which is why I don't sweat it when people act in certain ways. There are many more important things I focus on such as, school work, the friends that matter, and family. I now really understand the importance of my moms saying. So I remember that if I don't sweat the small stuff, I will be able to get through life a little easier.

My Best Friend

The closest friend I have I met in the sixth grade, and now looking back to just three years ago, I remember how instantly we became friends. While sitting by her in block, it was literally minutes before we were able to talk as if we had known each other for a long time. I knew right away we were going to be great friends.
This friend I am talking about happens to be named Rachel. Her appearance is an athletic build, most likely because she plays goalie in soccer. She has meduim length blonde hair that is very curly and she had greenish blue eyes, and one of them had a large brown spot in it. Usually, she enjoys attending movies and talking to people all the time. Overall, after talking to her it is easy to tell that she has a wide variety of interests from video games, reading, watching shows like Glee, and excelling academically in school.
Rachel is a very outgoing person with a huge span of friends, making her an extrovert. She is also hardworking because she always tries her best on all tasks she is faced with. Although she is hardworking, she is definitely not serious all the time, but quite the opposite. Constantly she is a goofy and exciting person to be around. We have countless inside jokes and so many great memories and I hope there will be many more to come in the future.

Earliest Memory

I am in the front row on the end on the right side. :)

This is me!

When I was four years old, ballet, one of the things I still enjoy today, came into my life. It was 1999 and I started taking lessons at the Johansen’s School of Ballet. We learned many things, such as first, second, third, and fifth positions, and also some different types of leaps. This was probably the most important year of dance because it gave all of us a foundation of ballet technique so we could continue learning in the future. All of the girls were so excited to come to dance each week so we could learn all types of new things, and get to know each other better.

By the following spring, all of the little girls, including me were ready for our first recital. The dance was called Ribbon Candy. We wore a little tutu and a top that had layers of ribbon in pastel colors, it was a very cute costume. In the routine, we had to use little flowers and perform to a song where the lady would tell us what to do, such as “run across the stage, pick up your flower, smell the flower, now throw the flower to the audience.” This was an audience favorite because even though the routine was simple, all of us would still make little mistakes. After this performance, I remember feeling so happy and joyful because of the exhilarating feeling of performing at the Washington Center for the first time. This was the first time of many performances for me, but it is still on of the memories that is very important to me.

The Metamorphosis/Imagery

Franz Kafka, the author of The Metamorphosis, heavily uses imagery to describe Gregor, the main character. Imagery is used to provide the reader with an insight of the struggles that Gregor must face while living his life as a cockroach. The images give a deeper view, create a connection with the main character, and because he is a cockroach this was a very important element of the novel.

It seems like it would be impossible to build a reading connection with a cockroach, and it would have been without all the intense struggles stated in such a graphic way. In the beginning, Gregor receives help from his caring sister in many ways imaginable, such as food and a clean room, but eventually she begins to deprive him of those things, which obviously are necessary for him to survive. After this occurs, the furniture is removed from his room, and the hateful feelings that come from his father are more greatly expressed. Throughout all of these negative events, imagery is the main literary element that makes everything make sense on an emotional and realistic way for the reader. Without the images, this particular novel would only be about a man who turned into a bug, but when his life is so vividly described, it has the same storyline, but a much deeper connection and thrilling story is created.

Outside Reading

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was an extremely intriguing novel to me, which explains why I chose it for the outside reading assignment. This book immediately drew me in, even after the first sentence. The author wasted no time when beginning to describe the life of Gregor, the main character. It’s rare for a story to begin without any background information, but Franz Kafka did an amazing job of instantly drawing you and having it be possible to understand everything that was taking place.
Imagery is the absolute most prominent literary element used in The Metamorphosis. Within the first ten pages, every kind of element was imagery, and without it, the book would be extremely confusing. Sometimes a book that has a lot of descriptions, can seem boring and slow, but this statement is definitely untrue in this particular novel. I believe the author used this kind of element to simply enrich and give the reader a more graphic image of the challenges and upsetting events Gregor is forced to endure while living as a gigantic bug.
Although I have not fully completed with the story, so far the tone has been somber and dramatic. Gregor is having to deal with both internal and external struggles, and his family is of little or no help. It’s actually almost frustrating to read at points, because you feel for Gregor, and just want to help him through the tough situation. The tone is obvious throughout what I have read, because it’s a very depressing story line with many intense events and descriptions.

Writing About Reading

Reading is a captivating and wonderful experience. When you open the pages of a book, you enter a fantasy world and can become enthralled with the life of another character. You can forget about what is happening in your life for a short amount of time, and worry about the problems of someone or something else. It’s especially great to read when I am feeling stressed, because it is a very relaxing kind of activity.
Reading on my bed and snuggling in my blankets, is my favorite way to become fully into the experience and completely fascinated with my book. This is a great location, because there are few distractions, and I can put my full concentration into the words written on the page. On the other hand, reading in the car is something that is not possible for me to do, because I get nauseous. So definitely, a nice, quiet comfortable place is the best for me.
Usually I enjoy reading books of my choice, but if there is a book that I have trouble getting into, I set personal goals for myself on how many pages I will have to read a night, in order to finish the book. Even if I have trouble becoming engrossed in a book, I try and remember that I need to do my best to stay focused, and have a full understanding of the intentional meaning of the novel. Fiction, is obviously my favorite type of books, but of course there are good and bad ones. Certain times, a book is so amazing you can read a mile an minute while retaining every minor detail, and there are the times, when it is necessary to read slowly, and occasionally even reread a page to get all the information. There is a reason for me being in honors, and it’s because I love to read and write, and when a class offers a challenge while doing these things, I am definitely up for it!