Group+7+-+2

"Widows and orphans aren't hard to find, they're home missing daddy to saving the planet tonight. Wish your drinking would hurry and kill you-sympathy's better than having to tell you the truth: You are the patron saint of lost causes..."-(*Fin)  Lauryn, Leah, and Liz


 * __"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift__**

2. Explain how Swift characterizes the poor people of Ireland utilizing SPECIFIC examples from the proposal. (Look specifically for a pattern of images beginning in paragraph 4.) Jonathan Swift condescendingly characterizes the poor people of Ireland in "A Modest Proposal." Swift treats their way of life as inferior. This can be seen through his talk of using the abundance of babies to feed the starving population. Starting in paragraph four, Swift describes his idea for savagery as a means for advancing the economy in Ireland. For example, Swift talks about his conversation with an American aquaintance in which he says, "a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled..."(paragraph 8). Swift goes on to say that the children of the peasants can be used for breeding as you would an animal. Also like an animal, one can use their skin for clothing and accesories. At the end of his proposal, Swift divulges a final sarcastic opinion, stating that this solution is an "innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual (pg 1119)" way to solve the economic problems plaguing the Irish people, but he has no babies to support the cause any further along. Check out these websites: ~[|Discussion Topics](don't use it to study, but it brings up interesting points for discussion) ~[|Forgot Your Text?! It's Right Here!] ~[|Sondheim's "Modest Proposal"] (youtube video)

Walking through the streets of Kijabe, children dart back and forth trying to steal a mouthful of food to fill their aching stomachs. In Kingston, people stand on the outskirts of the market hoping someone will throw them a leftover scrap of food. Here we sit all nice and cozy in our plush living rooms staring in horror at the image depicted of starving children on the seventy-inch flat-screen television. It can't be true, no one can suffer that much and survive. It must be a scam by the government to give up money to fund some little-known organization. It's impossible for nearly thirty thousand people to die from malnutrition daily. I could spend that "donation" money so much better on my own. For example, Anberlin is coming out with a new CD and it's going to be amazing. I could buy that instead. And why can't the hungry work for their money to buy food like I do? Why should I give them my hard-earned money when I can spend it on things I really "need", but I just don't know about at the moment?
 * __Our Modest Proposal For World Hunger __**

Not to mention the fact that it takes so much effort on my part to send them my hard-earned money. I mean, really, I have to find an envelope. Then I need to write out a check and log it in my ledger. Then I need to go to the postoffice and buy a stamp to send the donation. On top of all that, I'll be expected to donate again later. At this rate, I'll never get that CD. Who says they can't live on bananas or something along those lines? Wouldn't it be so much more worthwhile to give my money to prevent global warming? I mean the government spends twenty billion dollars a year to try and prevent and reverse global warming. If they  could be saving that one person who dies from starvation every 3.6 seconds, why should I do their work for them? So anyway, I'm sitting here pondering what I should have for lunch today because I have money and all this food readily available that so that I can make a choice. How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to save the world? I mean first off, it would help take care of that pesky global warming issue everybody's worried about. Then they wouldn't have to make the decision over saving one starving person every 3.6 seconds or saving the entirety of life on earth as we know it (government funds given to slow global warming vs to stop world hunger). A meatless lunch could save both. I mean, ever stop to think where that meat came from? First the grain needs to be grown to feed the livestock, then the livestock is slaughtered and fed to people. As a matter of fact, every year in the UK they feed their livestock enough food to feed 250,000,000 people while 30,000,000 die of starvation elsewhere. It takes several pounds of corn and soy to produce one pound of meat because animals eat the feed and then use it to stay alive, and in the end relatively little of what is spent feeding them is then turned into meat for us to eat. So why not cut out the middleman and just eat plant-based foods? It would make sense all around to eat that peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of getting some factory farmed chicken at KFC. But nobody stops to think about what makes sense anymore, as I said before they are selfish and grab what is easiest right at the moment which usually means pulling up to the nearest drive-through, ignoring all those starving people in the world.  [|Picture Source]

[|PB&J Campaign] [|101 Reasons to Go Vegetarian] (stats about how vegetarianism can help the world end hunger) [|Click Here To Learn More About World Hunger] [|How Much Money The Government Wastes]

__**//Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"//** __

 2. Pope adheres to the conventions of an epic. Which conventions does he use? How does he use of these conventions to a satiric end? Provide specific examples from the text. To answer the question, one should first know what epic conventions are. Epic conventions include: an ideal hero, invocation to the muse, journey to the underworld, catalogues, in media res, supernatural, monsters, long perilous journeys, ascent to the afterlife/ heaven, weaponry, rituals/ceremony, arming for battle, long speeches, and epithets. Pope uses all, if not most of these conventions, in "The Rape of the Lock." By using these epic conventions, Pope creates a mock epic which uses satire to mock the vanity of the upper class during the Age of Reason.

In "The Rape of the Lock," Pope makes Belinda the epic hero meaning she is the epitome of upper class society during the Age of Reason. At the beginning of the mock epic, Pope invokes an invocation to the muse. The muse in this case is Caryll, the man who encouraged Pope to keep writing and expanding on his idea for "The Rape of the Lock." This can be seen in Canto 1, Line 3, when he writes, "I sing-This verse to Caryll, Muse! is due." Another convention associated which epics is a journey to the underworld. In "The Rape of the Lock," the journey to the underworld is referenced to when it talks about the journey to the "gloomy Cave of Spleen" in Canto 4, Line 16.

The next epic convention on the list are catalogues or lists of things. An example of a catalogue in "The Rape of the Lock" is in Canto 1, Line 121 when Pope lists the list of things in the box. In media res is utilized in Pope's writing, because the story line begins after the lock of hair has been stolen. Sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders are all examples of supernatural creatures and are referenced to throughout the entire text. Monsters are next on the list and is portrayed by the baron who has the lock of hair.

As we keep moving along, long perilous journeys is next on the list. This journey is referenced as the journey to Hampton Court over the Thames in Canto 3, Line 2. Ascent to the afterlife/ heaven is seen through the deaths at the end and the sylphs lofty positions. Weaponry is included through the bodkin in Canto 5, Line 87 and the scissors in Canto 1, Line 115. In this case forfex is another word for scissors.

The primping for the party seen in Canto 2 can be associated with the rituals or ceremony common in epics. Another ceremony or ritual is when they have tea in Canto 1, Line 62. Arming for battle is also played out to be the primping for the party. Long speeches characteristic of epics are given by Clarissa, Belinda and the baron throughout the text. The last epic convention on the list is epithets or metaphors used to rename a god or character. These are scattered throughout the text and are not to hard to discern.

Pope uses all of these conventions mentioned above to satirically explain the lives of the upper class. Belinda is just one example of an upper class citizen and he uses her and an exaggerated day in her life to make a point about society during the Age of Reason. At the end of "The Rape of the Lock," Pope uses satire when he says the lock of hair was turned into a constellation, so the people would forever see Belinda's name and remember the story.

[|Forgot your book? Click here!] 

 **  //Ten Words Every High Schooler Knows//      **  **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> //(or should know if they don't already)// Read carefully...there will be a quiz following these definitions.
 * "If Reality's an ocean you're a puddle, if clothes were all that mattered you'd be queen-but you've got to understand there is a struggle between doing what you want and doing the right thing//..."-//Flatfoot 56 **

1. Bored **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> - (adj) Used when a person cannot think of anything better than to complain about how much he or she lacks in things to do, or is too unmotivated to find something worthwhile to do. Vowels are generally long and drawn out. Example: "Man, I am so boooooreeeed!" <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> **2. Stupid**- (adj) Shorter way of saying "My way's better, so just shut up and listen to me now" or "I don't like that." Example: "That's stupid-we should do it this way."

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> **3. Rents**- (n) Parental units you need to put up with on a daily basis (Alternate definition: the people who gave you life and you now have to live with). Usually only good for giving money and/or permission for one to do something. Example: "Dude, my 'rents are so embarassing."

Example: "...and it was the most awkward event of my life." "lol."
 * 4. LOL/ROFL**-(v) Acronyms used to express humor when too lazy to come up with a better response to something moderately interesting that was said. Also may be used to make sure others know the subject is laughing.

Example: "OMG-the craziest thing ever happened on Tuesday-I aced that BoZo test I didn't even study for." <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**6. Love (<3)**- (v) Applied to almost any noun, whether it be a new car, chocolate, or the kid that just asked you out. Used very loosely, it may sometimes be interpreted to actually mean LOVE, in which case the listener is severely mistaken. Loosely translates to "extreme attatchment to a certain item (for the moment at least)." Not to be confused with the almighty "LIKE". Example: "I LOVE my new car. It's a convertible Mini Cooper..."
 * 5. OMG**- Generally accompanied by high-pitched screaming and/or raucus laughter, denotes surprise, joy, or very high amounts of discontentment. May also mean "I have something I NEED to tell you, but I have to put this ridiculous little acronym out in front to show you just how important this is."

Example: "Leah, what are the three pythagorean identities?" "Huh?"
 * 7. Huh/What**-Almost always followed by a question mark or hyphen, these terms are used to denote the fact "I was too lazy to listen to you the first/second/third time you said that...please repeat?" (Recent statistics show that teachers hear this most often from the student in the front row with their head on the desk that said teacher randomly decided to prey on.) Can also be a shortened way of asking somebody to expand upon what they had just said because the listener did not understand them.

Example: "For the fifth time, clean your room or you aren't going to that party this weekend" "(sigh) whatEVER, mom."
 * 8. Sure/Whatever**-Response utilized when the person is too braindead to formulate an actual coherent answer. Can mean "I don't really care one way or the other," but may in some cases translate to "I don't really want to do this, but since you've threatened me so severely, I have no choice but to comply." syn: yeah, uh-huh, OK, or just a long, drawn-out grunt/sigh.

Example: "I just won tickets to that Switchfoot concert on the boardwalk May 1 and I want you to come with me!" "SWEET! I've always wanted to see them in concert!"
 * 9. Sweet!** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Used to express extreme amounts of joy, almost to the point of ecstacy (moreso than previous entry "love/<3") about something that was just said. Must always be accompanied by an explanation point, or else the "ee" must be long and drawn out ("sweeeeeet") and usually followed by the start of a new sentence. NEVER to be followed by a comma.

Example: "OMG, I LOVE that awesome new CD. It's sicknasty!"
 * 10. Cool/Awesome/Sicknasty**-(adj) Expressions used to describe anything especially fantastic or out of the ordinary. Often seem to appear in the same sentence as (and usually directly after) "love"(see number 6).


 * There is no quiz, but we're willing to bet you actually read all of this rather than just skimming over it and reading every third word (or whatever pattern one uses when skimming).**   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">

__Thoughts on Addison's essay "On Female Vanity"__ Addison utilizes a series of metaphors to address his point that females will do anything possible to make themselves look like anything but what they really are. He also makes it a point to reference some of the popular fashions of the time -- the patterned bodices, the use of powders on the face, and other such techniques women used to make themselves look "beautiful." This applies quite well to today's society (especially the high school social system). People are very influenced by those around them whether it be by what others say, what they look like, or what influences others are influenced by. Now this may sound absolutely ridiculous to you, but hear me out. Think about why the "People" and "Seventeen" magazines sell so well. We really want to see what the stars and celebrities are doing so we can replicate their actions/style/life in general. Then, we figure, we can replicate these people and if our friends know we are acting/dressing/living like a celebrity, then they will want to do what we are doing and before you know it, everyone will be doing whatever we are doing! Sounds good, does it not? Too bad about five thousand people had the idea before. What Addison is really trying to say with his essay is something that we could all take something from: be yourself for once, and don't worry about what everyone else thinks.

__Addison's "On Witchcraft"__ In this essay, Addison writes about a specific experience with the town's reputed witch, Moll White. He begins his anecdote by saying that he does not have a firm belief one way or the other about the existence of actual witches/evil spirits, but he comes across an old woman who looks like the stereotypical witch. Everybody in the town believes her to be a witch, and every little thing she does "proves" this point, for example if she says "Amen" at the wrong part in a prayer she is saying her prayers backwards. However, Addison points out that she has never actually done anything to deserve this horrible reputation (everybody in the town fears her), she is more likely nothing more than an old senile woman. He goes on to say that every town has a "Moll White," or somebody who is feared for their possibly unorthodox behavior, and seems to feel sorry for the people who are the subjects of such stereotypes and blame ("If the dairy-maid does not make her butter come so soon as she would have it, Moll White is at the bottom of the churn"). This relates to the concerns of today because we still stereotype people who are different, and usually secluded from people, as having something wrong with them whether it be that they are evil or they are just generally feared. This is just an example of people trying to put a face to evil, because it is far easier to attach fear a specific person or object that can be seen than for it to just linger in the air, unknown. Strange, quiet people are probably more apt to such stereotyping because since they are not "normal" and they keep to themselves, less is known about them, and humans as a species have always shown fear of the unknown. (You're not like me, so you must be evil)