Michael Rossi
November 20, 2010
Advanced Placement British Literature/ Mrs. Turick
Choice rationale For the Perfect Society: What do you value in society and how does your construction reinforce those values?
My perfect society would consist of Scott Brown, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Cheeks, Mother Mary, Lewis Black as they would each be key societal contributors, in their own right.
Scott Brown serves the role of leader and representative of the society. Scott brown is a very versatile political leader whose dedication to the good of his people supersedes his dedication to his political party. Brown voted for his party’s line only eighty percent of what he did in the senate, but broke with the GOP on voting for an early version of the democrats banking reform bill, but forced them to drop a tax clause which would harm our local economy. Also, it is unlikely that Brown’s leadership would be contested as he holds a fifty five approval rating, compared to Barrack Obama whose approval rating is at fifty four percent.
Muhammad Ali is a the first three time Heavy Weight champion. He is known for his boxing proficiency and strength. He is the protecting and military of the society as he is a virtually undefeated warrior. His strength could also be used for labor.
Sandy Cheeks is a main character in the television program, SpongeBob Square Pants. She is known as an inventor and scientists in the series as she has created: A teleporter, spaceship, cloning machine, and so much more. Also, she has undergone many adventures with SpongeBob exploring the depths of their underwater town, known as bikini bottom. She can put these adventuring skills to use as the society’s explorer.
Mother Mary is a divine addition to an ideal society. Mother Mary is a nurturing mother figure who would have no trouble nurturing the other members of society, as she had the challenge of nurturing Jesus, the son of God. In stories such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Mother Mary’s image was put on a shield, emphasizing her worth as a protector. Naturally she would be society’s healer as she would protect everyone’s health.
Lastly, author and comedian Lewis Black is a comedic necessity for an ideal society. Black has hosted the laugh Detroit comedy festival, and is famous for many comedy acts of his own such as: “Red, White, and Screwed”. Black has a unique and an uncanny talent for satirical comedy covering many current topics from Gay marriage to his opinion on social networking sites. Also, Black is an intellectual who has written many books such as Me of Little Faith and Nothing’s Sacred. These books offer entertaining insight to some of life’s most peculiar dilemmas and trivialities and demonstrate Black’s talent as an enlightener.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Create your own chivalric code with ten steps
1) A man in the military should always defend their country and be willing to sacrifice his own life.
2)A man in the military should always treat prisoners of war with respect.
3) A man in the military should never allow a fellow woman solider to enter a dangerous environment before himself.
4) A man in the military should share his income with his family.
5) A man in the military should never leave a fellow comrade behind to preserve his own safety
6) A man in the military ought to kill an enemy in order to protect his own men.
7) A man in the military should never loot enemy houses for spoils of war.
8) A man in the military should never kill unarmed civilians even if they support the opposition.
9) A man in the military should never except a bribe in any form.
10) A man in the military should retreat with honor when a battle is lost.
2)A man in the military should always treat prisoners of war with respect.
3) A man in the military should never allow a fellow woman solider to enter a dangerous environment before himself.
4) A man in the military should share his income with his family.
5) A man in the military should never leave a fellow comrade behind to preserve his own safety
6) A man in the military ought to kill an enemy in order to protect his own men.
7) A man in the military should never loot enemy houses for spoils of war.
8) A man in the military should never kill unarmed civilians even if they support the opposition.
9) A man in the military should never except a bribe in any form.
10) A man in the military should retreat with honor when a battle is lost.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Essential Question #4
Hrothgar's parting words to Beowulf attempt to remind him to stay away from one particular vice: arrogance. Hrothgar claimed, "He suffers no setbacks until the seed of arrogance is sown and grows within him, while still the watchman slumbers; how deeply the soul's guardian sleeps when a man is enmeshed in the matters of this world; the evil archer stands close with his drawn bow, his bristling quiver" (Lines 1702-1708). Here Hrothgar claims that arrogance is the root of setbacks and avoiding life's inconveniences is as simple as remaining humble. Hrothgar similarly commands Beowulf to be weary of his pride: "Arm yourself, dear Beowulf, best of men, against such diseased thinking; always swallow pride (Lines 1742-1743). This once again reinforces the necessity that Beowulf's self esteem is kept at a healthy murmur. Due to the nature of Beowulf, I believe this speech by Hrothgar is foreshadowing the very downfall of Beowulf. So far, Beowulf has slain numerous sea dwelling creatures and all of Cain's demonic lineage. Any physical adversary has proven insufficient to bring about Beowulf's downfall. The author would need to make Beowulf physically weaker in order to have him defeated. If Beowulf were to become arrogant and lose the will to train, another opponent who has been diligently training could potentially defeat him. A death of such a seemingly unbreakable hero would serve as the ultimate warning from the author to help his reader understand just how important Christian virtues are.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Essential #3: How is Wealtheow portrayed? What does she do? can we expect of Anglo Saxon Women
Wealtheow is like high ranking slave. The fact that she serves the king his mead demonstrates her secondary nature.The author refers to her as, "excellent in mind" (615). In other words, a woman who serves a man is the ideal anglo saxon woman. We can expect very little from her due to to her subservient nature. We discussed in class, that a large part of being a hero involves gaining respect from others. The food and drink that she provides for Beowulf and his men are a token of her respect demonstrating that all women ought to offer tokens of their gratitude to men who look to protect them.
Monday, September 20, 2010
What are the social obligations of a hero?
The social obligations of a hero are to weed out injustice where ever it may lie. The difference between a true hero and a good person is the manner in which they go about dealing with this injustice.In the story of the good Samaritan, a man was robbed and badly beaten, left to die by his aggressor. Men of high credibility who were particularly good in speaking what they believe were simply unwilling to aid a dying man. A priest and a Levite pass the man while a socially shunned Samaritan finally resolves to help the dying man. Here in the gospel of Luke, we are given a demonstration of the hypocrisy that can occur when believes do not coincide with corresponding actions.This would be an example of a good person who gives charity to the poor. While Jesus would be the Christian hero as he died to eliminate structural sin within the hearts and minds of the romans. Jesus's death gave way to the catholic as he died in the hopes to bring justice. In other words, Heroes are required to pluck the roots injustice rather than simply trim its branches.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
How do we create division in our society?
Michael Rossi
September 9th, 2010
Advanced Placement English Literature
How do we create division in our society (Respond in 15 sentences)
Division occurs on a small level, within the educational system. Students often organize themselves into cliques that share a similar interests or physical features such as the nerds, jocks, Blacks, Caucasians, Hispanics, Skaters, or any other kinds of cliques. Each of these groups are different organs in the student body that are magnificent on their own, but ultimately exist to give life to the student body. Just as an animal cannot survive with only seventy eight of any one organ, a student body would perish without variety. The more these groups try to focus on the differences between each clique, the more difficult brotherly unity becomes and the cancer of disunity begins to eat away at the student body clique by clique.
On a larger scale, countries are often guilty of spreading this cancer through foreign policy. A supreme example of this would be the tension that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war. The United States government felt the need to contain communism as they considered it a grave threat democracy worldwide. The government portrayed communists are grotesque looking men whose heads were as blank as their hearts. America was thrown in to such hysteria that (for a short time) they began the red scare, hunting communists as puritanical Massachusetts had hunted witches.
Both large scale and small scale division often call for those who alien others to first dehumanize them. Rather than think of the soviets as our brothers from Russia or Kazakhstan, we were first ready to call them communists. Rather than recognize our peers as a community as brothers and sisters, one is often quick to categorize outsiders at school into a stereotype or clique, rather than try to welcome him or her as a brother. This connection emphasizes the fact that even modern world leaders are not exempt from a childlike form of alienation against their foreign brothers and sisters. If not put in check, a rugged sense of individualism can result in individual insanity or give rise to tyrannical rulers of an entire nation.
September 9th, 2010
Advanced Placement English Literature
How do we create division in our society (Respond in 15 sentences)
Division occurs on a small level, within the educational system. Students often organize themselves into cliques that share a similar interests or physical features such as the nerds, jocks, Blacks, Caucasians, Hispanics, Skaters, or any other kinds of cliques. Each of these groups are different organs in the student body that are magnificent on their own, but ultimately exist to give life to the student body. Just as an animal cannot survive with only seventy eight of any one organ, a student body would perish without variety. The more these groups try to focus on the differences between each clique, the more difficult brotherly unity becomes and the cancer of disunity begins to eat away at the student body clique by clique.
On a larger scale, countries are often guilty of spreading this cancer through foreign policy. A supreme example of this would be the tension that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war. The United States government felt the need to contain communism as they considered it a grave threat democracy worldwide. The government portrayed communists are grotesque looking men whose heads were as blank as their hearts. America was thrown in to such hysteria that (for a short time) they began the red scare, hunting communists as puritanical Massachusetts had hunted witches.
Both large scale and small scale division often call for those who alien others to first dehumanize them. Rather than think of the soviets as our brothers from Russia or Kazakhstan, we were first ready to call them communists. Rather than recognize our peers as a community as brothers and sisters, one is often quick to categorize outsiders at school into a stereotype or clique, rather than try to welcome him or her as a brother. This connection emphasizes the fact that even modern world leaders are not exempt from a childlike form of alienation against their foreign brothers and sisters. If not put in check, a rugged sense of individualism can result in individual insanity or give rise to tyrannical rulers of an entire nation.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Use a character to reveal the writer's feelings about a place or a group of people.
Michael Rossi
May 17, 2010
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
My Front Is On Fire, I’d Better Stop, Drop, and Roll
My first week of high school started with a bang and ended in flames. All of the fellows from my old school had abandoned me to enlist in upper echelon schools, while I had attended a small school in Newton, expecting everyone to be Newtonians whose wealth is exceeded only by their intelligence. I had imagined that the student body’s most common names would include Charles and Darwin. I waited to be woven into the aristocratic fibers of Newton’s tapestry, however my imaginative tapestry was chewed to shreds by the infestation of hood rats.
A hood rat was the title that many of the inner-city student body labeled themselves as. The term stuck the moment that I heard it. As the year progressed I found hood rats to be an appropriate title as poison kills rats, and this brand poisoned themselves. I recall a group viewing a disturbing collection of photos and them shrieking like rats when they noticed the face of an educator lamely peering over their shoulders. The corner on the upper floor of the building reminded me of the arched hole that rats are often shown living in. Little did I know, in this playful analogy I was the rat food.
Within the first month I worked like a slave, and I treated my academics as if it was manual backbreaking labor. I was furious that I had not been placed in honors English so I figured I could do one of two things to demonstrate my protest: First, I could either do no work in order to demonstrate that I did not accept the class as my own. Second, I could do everything to absolute perfection, and read all my books ahead of time so that when the teacher went around asking us our initial thoughts about the book I would demonstrate a deep literary knowledge down to each book’s most subtle nuance. I chose the latter, as I felt it emphasized my class placement as their mistake, not mine. While I excelled academically, my social life was largely neglected. This never really struck me as a problem, until English class, where my class was reviewing vocabulary words for the weekly quiz. The teacher was reviewing the vocabulary, I guess to ensure that we were mentally capable of typing words into Google. As I had completed the assignment a day or two in advance, (and fairly confident in my ability to use Google) my mind was adrift in some far off land: “What class did I have next?”. I saw my classmate named Kalie turn to me and whisper, “Hey mike what was the last word”. I lunged for my paper underneath my chair and read the word that I had thought we were on, so as to seem like I had been following along the entire time. I said, “Commemorate means to observe semicolon (yes I actually said semicolon) to respond to memory” at the exact same time as the teacher. It sounded like a horrible duet. Kalie simply glared at me in astonishment so as to say, “Are you fucking serious?”. Apparently, I had said this a tad louder than a whisper, and the entire class was glancing to the back of the classroom where I had been sitting. After a dreadfully long wide- eyed pause of blankly starring at me, Kalie simply let out a languid, “Damn”. It was as if the verbatim recitation had sapped any fun she was having right out of her day. I actually felt quite badly and realized that a social life would do me quite a bit of good.
Later that day there was a boy named Sammy whose locker was directly next to mine. I decided to step outside of my comfort zone. He dropped a black pen behind him where I was following. He had absolutely no idea that he had dropped it as he had been storming towards our history class. “Hey man! You dropped your pen”, I said. He turned to face me as I handed him a pen. He did not extend his hand to withdraw the pen, but rather he stared at it and looked at me as if I had three heads. I looked at the pen I was handing him and it was blue. I laughed at the stupidity of the situation, as did a few bystanders. Apparently Sammy did not take it this way. He believed that I was laughing at his ability to distinguish his own black pen from the random blue one. Hey closed the proximity between his face and mine and yelled: “Step off dog, you’s fronting”. I was fronting? What the heck was fronting. I examine the shirt on the front of my body, It was immaculately clean. What else was wrong with my front? I looked a tad lower than my shirt and noticed that the metal part of my zipper protruded into the cloth part of the pants. Did he mistake this for an boner? That must be what fronting is! I cleverly responded, “No it’s actually just my zipper”. The peanut gallery behind me chimed in with a hysterical laugh, followed by numerous finger points in my direction. Sammy apparently deduced that I was not through with my verbal assault. He grabbed me by the collar of my polo and flung me up against the locker. The sharp pain in my neck set off waves of adrenaline and I was shaking with rage. My mind went wild with an infinite number of ways I could free myself from his clutches and use my knowledge of karate to make him beg for mercy. I resisted my bestial urges and simply uttered a barley audible, “sorry” through my teeth.
As the late bell rang Sammy issued a punch to my chest and ran into history. I hobbled closely after him only to have a door shut in my face. After the teacher let me into the classroom, I took up my seat in the front of the class only to be greeted by Sammy, who decided that his seat was not nearly as comfortable as the one right next to mine. Mr. Salvato resumed his discussion of World War II. Mr. Salvato asked if anyone knew the location where the atomic bombs were dropped. Without missing a beat I raised my hand answering Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I had not learned a thing from English class. Sammy recognized this display of historical knowledge as a challenge. Mr. Salvato resumed and spoke of the inescapable destruction of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was known to leave entire cities in smoking craters, leaving absolutely no life left in its destructive path. The atomic bomb would obliterate anything in a split second and reduce a victim to atoms. Trying to exceed my level of intellectual contribution, Sammy felt the need to question anything more impressive than himself when he cried out and the atomic bomb certainly stole the spotlight:“Wait couldn’t you just stop drop and roll!?”. The whole class roared with laughter. I did not even chuckle. I was shocked. Was that really a question? Mr. Salvato dully responded, “You can’t stop drop and roll if you’re completely incinerated”. Awakening from my stupefied comma I broke out in laughter based solely on the seriousness of Mr. Salvato’s response to such a ridiculous question. I was in for quite a year.
May 17, 2010
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
My Front Is On Fire, I’d Better Stop, Drop, and Roll
My first week of high school started with a bang and ended in flames. All of the fellows from my old school had abandoned me to enlist in upper echelon schools, while I had attended a small school in Newton, expecting everyone to be Newtonians whose wealth is exceeded only by their intelligence. I had imagined that the student body’s most common names would include Charles and Darwin. I waited to be woven into the aristocratic fibers of Newton’s tapestry, however my imaginative tapestry was chewed to shreds by the infestation of hood rats.
A hood rat was the title that many of the inner-city student body labeled themselves as. The term stuck the moment that I heard it. As the year progressed I found hood rats to be an appropriate title as poison kills rats, and this brand poisoned themselves. I recall a group viewing a disturbing collection of photos and them shrieking like rats when they noticed the face of an educator lamely peering over their shoulders. The corner on the upper floor of the building reminded me of the arched hole that rats are often shown living in. Little did I know, in this playful analogy I was the rat food.
Within the first month I worked like a slave, and I treated my academics as if it was manual backbreaking labor. I was furious that I had not been placed in honors English so I figured I could do one of two things to demonstrate my protest: First, I could either do no work in order to demonstrate that I did not accept the class as my own. Second, I could do everything to absolute perfection, and read all my books ahead of time so that when the teacher went around asking us our initial thoughts about the book I would demonstrate a deep literary knowledge down to each book’s most subtle nuance. I chose the latter, as I felt it emphasized my class placement as their mistake, not mine. While I excelled academically, my social life was largely neglected. This never really struck me as a problem, until English class, where my class was reviewing vocabulary words for the weekly quiz. The teacher was reviewing the vocabulary, I guess to ensure that we were mentally capable of typing words into Google. As I had completed the assignment a day or two in advance, (and fairly confident in my ability to use Google) my mind was adrift in some far off land: “What class did I have next?”. I saw my classmate named Kalie turn to me and whisper, “Hey mike what was the last word”. I lunged for my paper underneath my chair and read the word that I had thought we were on, so as to seem like I had been following along the entire time. I said, “Commemorate means to observe semicolon (yes I actually said semicolon) to respond to memory” at the exact same time as the teacher. It sounded like a horrible duet. Kalie simply glared at me in astonishment so as to say, “Are you fucking serious?”. Apparently, I had said this a tad louder than a whisper, and the entire class was glancing to the back of the classroom where I had been sitting. After a dreadfully long wide- eyed pause of blankly starring at me, Kalie simply let out a languid, “Damn”. It was as if the verbatim recitation had sapped any fun she was having right out of her day. I actually felt quite badly and realized that a social life would do me quite a bit of good.
Later that day there was a boy named Sammy whose locker was directly next to mine. I decided to step outside of my comfort zone. He dropped a black pen behind him where I was following. He had absolutely no idea that he had dropped it as he had been storming towards our history class. “Hey man! You dropped your pen”, I said. He turned to face me as I handed him a pen. He did not extend his hand to withdraw the pen, but rather he stared at it and looked at me as if I had three heads. I looked at the pen I was handing him and it was blue. I laughed at the stupidity of the situation, as did a few bystanders. Apparently Sammy did not take it this way. He believed that I was laughing at his ability to distinguish his own black pen from the random blue one. Hey closed the proximity between his face and mine and yelled: “Step off dog, you’s fronting”. I was fronting? What the heck was fronting. I examine the shirt on the front of my body, It was immaculately clean. What else was wrong with my front? I looked a tad lower than my shirt and noticed that the metal part of my zipper protruded into the cloth part of the pants. Did he mistake this for an boner? That must be what fronting is! I cleverly responded, “No it’s actually just my zipper”. The peanut gallery behind me chimed in with a hysterical laugh, followed by numerous finger points in my direction. Sammy apparently deduced that I was not through with my verbal assault. He grabbed me by the collar of my polo and flung me up against the locker. The sharp pain in my neck set off waves of adrenaline and I was shaking with rage. My mind went wild with an infinite number of ways I could free myself from his clutches and use my knowledge of karate to make him beg for mercy. I resisted my bestial urges and simply uttered a barley audible, “sorry” through my teeth.
As the late bell rang Sammy issued a punch to my chest and ran into history. I hobbled closely after him only to have a door shut in my face. After the teacher let me into the classroom, I took up my seat in the front of the class only to be greeted by Sammy, who decided that his seat was not nearly as comfortable as the one right next to mine. Mr. Salvato resumed his discussion of World War II. Mr. Salvato asked if anyone knew the location where the atomic bombs were dropped. Without missing a beat I raised my hand answering Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I had not learned a thing from English class. Sammy recognized this display of historical knowledge as a challenge. Mr. Salvato resumed and spoke of the inescapable destruction of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was known to leave entire cities in smoking craters, leaving absolutely no life left in its destructive path. The atomic bomb would obliterate anything in a split second and reduce a victim to atoms. Trying to exceed my level of intellectual contribution, Sammy felt the need to question anything more impressive than himself when he cried out and the atomic bomb certainly stole the spotlight:“Wait couldn’t you just stop drop and roll!?”. The whole class roared with laughter. I did not even chuckle. I was shocked. Was that really a question? Mr. Salvato dully responded, “You can’t stop drop and roll if you’re completely incinerated”. Awakening from my stupefied comma I broke out in laughter based solely on the seriousness of Mr. Salvato’s response to such a ridiculous question. I was in for quite a year.
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