Knowledge

Knowledge can be attained through an infinate amount of resources.  It is the very thing that enables us to perform tasks, and disallows us to accomplish them when absent.  A popular saying states that knowledge gives us power.  This is very true since the more we know, the more we can see and accomplish.  On the other hand, ignorance is something that haunts many of us.  It blind folds us of the truth and restrains our ability to prosper.  This is a product of the absence of knowledge.  You can acquire knowledge by picketting through the most barren depths and trenches, or even just by simply observing something as puny as an ant.  It is vital that people have a hunger for absorbing knowledge to better themselves and the atmosphere that they relay to their associates.  "Knowledge pries open one's eyes.  Ignorance only permits one's view to the back of their eyelids."

Malnutrition

78.6 million american adults are haunted by obesity.  This disturbing fact is caused by several different factors that include lack of education, poverty, and media.  It is vital that this disease gradually inches it's way to extinction for the wellfare and health of the generations to come.  Nutritional education must be prioritized and exposed to students and parents in order to enlighten obesity's current or eventual subjects.  Most people are not aware of the necessity of the consumption of essential vitamins and nutrients which affects the physical and mental development of the human body.  People are also not precarious of the harmful affects generated from the consumption of unhealthy foods.  The emphasis of these factors must be practiced.  Poverty is also a very major suspect when disecting this issue.  The clenches of poverty have been grasping people ever since the initial formulation of civilization.  In modern society, nutritious food is often very expenive in comparison to junk and fast foods.  It is easier and cheaper to order five items from the McDonald's dollar menu than to purchase ingredients to prepare a fresh hot meal at home. This predicament is often viewed upon as one that can only be tackled politically. Although there is a solution applicable to some instances that retraces back to the first topic involving education.  If more people are educated and have an abundance of occupation opportinities in their grasps, then they will flourish financially enabling them to consistantly posses quality foods for themselves and their family.  The last antagonist of this plague is the media.  Everywhere we go we are constantly exposed to advertisments that influence and convey the weak minded to purchase their product.  Unfortunately, unhealthy food is notorious for occupying this luxury.  Companies constantly brainwash society with shallow, yet affective, propaganda. In order to be immune from these entrapments, one must develop a very strong mindset that disallows these tactics to impact and penetrate their perspectives. Obesity is evidently one of society's most dreadful illness but can be cured with education, economic strength, and mental superiority.

Literature Analysis #3

            In life, every single person’s behavior differs depending on who is in their presence.  This is inevitable, even if just for a subtle difference of thought when encountering members of society in which we associate with and care for their impressions on us.  In the case for some Chinese-Americans, the conflict of being in a pickle between the characteristics of the heritage and the characteristics of their depiction of a normal American in order to fit in can be a strenuous and complex conflict to overcome and deal with.  People in general tend to have two faces that are embedded in their conscience.  The first face, although tends to lurk in the trenches of our soul, defines our true characteristics that have been molded by influential experiences brought upon us throughout our lives.  The second, which tends to be the one worn most often in front of our associates, is a mere façade that we use to convey the people who we interact with that we are our depiction of the most appealing and perfect version of ourselves which is not genuine.   We should strive not to be one of many masks, but one with our genuine faces that we make mold and sculpt into one consistently growing identity so that we are genuine and do not mislead the people who we associate with and most importantly ourselves.

            Authenticity is one of the greatest attributes one can possess.  The ability to remain consistently genuine is something that can only be mastered through confidence and being comfortable with whom you are.  In the perspective of a Chinese-American, one of the most difficult tasks possible is to remain possession of your pride and demonstration of your heritage instilled in you by your kin.  Influential outside sources such as American Society, instills in people who appear different that they are aliens and can only be accepted if they change to become less different from them.  A shallow or insecure person would tend to transform their personality to reassemble the people around them, therefore applying their masks.  While others who are stronger and enlightened would rather value who they are even if it means having a low quantity of companions because people who accept people like that, tend to be superior than one’s who shun people who are different than themselves.

            Individuals will never be able to be able to approach situations in life in the potentially best way possible when the have to deceive themselves and others in order to create a mental artificial comfort that shuns reality.  Being real with oneself is always necessary in the pursuit of becoming the best version of yourself.  Without confidence and an open mind, one can never accomplish anything of significance in the same quality as if they would if they possessed that mentality.  In the perspective of a Chinese-American, although acceptance might feel satisfying to some degree, they would never be exempted of the grotesque weights of insecurity and low self-esteem and self-confidence because they would only be receiving an artificial experience that is untrue to thine self.

            Perspective is everything in life.  It is our reception of things and determines how we interpret and apply them into our own lives to make us intellectually wiser.   Several things can alter the clarity of our outlook such as ignorance and interpersonal conflicts such as the inability to comfortable with who we are and using that to relay a positive and confident outlook on life in order to remain genuine and restrain ourselves from deceiving ourselves which can be proven to be one of the most dangerous yet common blindfolds placed over our eyes by society.

Latin Roots #7

Roots & Derivatives
1) Duc(t), Duce (to lead): Conduct, reduce, education, abduct, deductive, ductile, induction, deduce.
2) Fed(er), fide(e) (faith, trust): Federal, confidence, affidavit, infidel, bona fide, confide, confederate
3) Fine(e) (end, limit): Finish, confine, define, infinitesimal, affinity, infinity, finial
4) Flect, Flex (to bend): Deflect, reflex, reflector, flexibility, genuflect, flexor

Word List

1) Aqueduct: A large pipe or other conduit made to bring water from a great distance.
The Romans were such a successful civilization because of their ability to transport water through aqueducts across their entire empire. 
2) Conductive: Tending to lead, help, assist, or result in.
Leaders tend to be quite conductive people for they must assist others through their obstacles. 
3) Definitive:  A completely accurate, reliable, and authoritative; decisive or conclusive.
His finger prints on the weapon used to murder the man was definitive proof that he was guilty.
4) Fidelity: A faithfulness to one's promises or obligations; steadfast faithfulness, technological faithfulness.
Adultery can also be considered infidelity for it is unfaithful. 
5) Fiduciary: An individual who holds something in trust for another; a trustee.
We used a mutual friend as our fiduciary for our wager.
6) Finale: A "grand" conclusion, as of a performance; the last scene of a play.
After the finale all the actors came out and took a bow during a final applause.
7) Finite: A limited or bordered by time or by any measurement; measurable.
There is no finite amount of numbers. 
8) Flexuous: Winding in and out; bending or wavering.
The young sapling was quite flexuous during the storm.
9) Inducement: Anything used or given to persuade or motivate; an incentive.
With the promise of a candy bar as an inducement I had my younger siblings cleaning the house in no time.
10) Inflection: A slight change in tone or modulation of the voice, as in a point of emphasis. 
In an attempt to foreshadow what would happen next I changed my inflection for certain words in the story. 
11) Perfidious: Characteristic of one who would intentionally betray a faith or trust; treacherous.
Because he only ever sought opportunities that would only benefit himself he had no second thoughts about giving the lock combination away for a few thousand dollars.
12)Traduce: To speak falsely of; to slander or defame; to disgrace another's good name; to vilify.
Our department manager called a meeting because one of our colleagues has been spreading rumors and traducing the name of our other colleagues. 

Leopard Man Questions

9) Tom Leppard is referred to as "Leopard Man" because he chose to get his whole body altered to resemble a leopard and segregated himself from human civilization to live like a leopard.

10) The author believes that MOST people who have tatoos and piercings got them done with the intent of recieving attention.

11) Leopard Man differs from those people because he doesn'y seek attention.

12) Leopard Man lives in a small cabin in the middle of a wood in Scottland.

13) Society fears abnormal persons because they are different from themselves and are mysterious.

14) Conformity can be seen as the world’s most prevalent and most pernicious psychological disorder because humans are individuals with their own unique characteristics and we are so soncerned about being like the ones around us. 

15) Leopard Man is so happy because he does not have the strenuous mental entrapment placed by society that so many others have.  

Diction Handout

1.  An example of jargon in the story is, "The cigar dropped out of my gaping mouth with a tiny plop and a short hiss...".

2. opaque-not able to see through; not transparent.
   elongated-unusually long in relation to its width.
   elusive-difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
   cadaverous-resembling a corpse in being very pale, thin, or bony.

 The boat made a shadow on the sea at night. Then he saw something long and pale floating towards the boat. As he started to wonder what it was, a flash that looked like lightning in the sky. He gasped as he saw a pair of feet, long legs, and someone's back. The man that he saw grabbed the ladder, but he didn't have a head. Surprised by this headless corpse, his cigar dropped out of his mouth. The corpse raised up his head aside the ship, and the man tried to look closer to see what it was aside the boat. The man held on to the ladder of the boat as if he were a resting swimmer, and the sea lightning shined on him and he appeared like a ghost.

3. It makes the tone more dreary and almost scary. When paraphrasing, the tone becomes more casual and less frightening.

4. 1)One hand, awash, clutched the bottom rung of the ladder.
    2)The cigar dropped out of my gaping mouth.
    3)...leaned over the rail as far as I could...
    4)As he hung by the ladder...

5. The author chose to leave the captain and the group's names out of this passage because he wanted to focus more on the visionary or imagery in the story.

6. The denotation of secret is something kept private, sharing is, however, a public act. This brings to light the dialect of the public versus the private world.

Cadaverous: resembling a corpse in being very pale, thin, or bony: corpse/body

Darkling: of or relating to growing darkness: dark

Pale: light in color or having little color: white

Phosphorescence: light emitted by a substance without combustion or perceptible heat: glow with light without becoming hot to the touch

Ghastly: resembling a ghost, especially in being very pale: white

Headless: without a head: lacking good sense or prudence

Fishlike: any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales: any of various other aquatic animals

Latin Roots #6

Roots and Derivatives

 Corp(or): body, corpse

Cred: to believe, to trust, credo

Cur(r), Curs, course: to run, to flow, current

Dic(t): to speak, to say, diction

Word List

Benediction: the invocation of a divine blessing, as at the close of a religious service; a blessing or state of blessedness.  I recieved a sensation of benediction at today's mass.

Concourse: a running or flowing together; a broad public walkway or hallway; a crowd or throng.  I jogged along the concourse in the building to see what had occured.

Concurrent: occuring at the same time; meeting or acting together.  In order to open the vault, we have to turn our keys on a concurrent fashion.

Corporal: related to the physical body.  Anatomy is a branch of corporal study.

Corpulent: very stout; fleshy and obese; fat.  The corpulent elephant charged towards us. 

Credibility: the quality of being believable or trustworthy.  He is a source of credibility since he has never lied to me.

Credulity: the (naive) willingness to believe too easily without proof.  The people who display credulity in this town will believe he is innocent after his pathetic hearing.

Cursory: done in a superficial or hasty manner.  The old man displayed cursory when he hastily confiscated the toy from the toddler.

Dictum: an authoritative saying  or maxim.  The judge made announced his dictum on the defendant's fat yesterday evening. 

Incorporate: to form into one body or fuctioning unit; to combine several different things into a whole.  In order to incorporate religious ideaology into global occurances, one must have a penetrating outlook on life.

Incredulous: not believing, skeptical, or doubting.  One must always be incredulous of the word of one who is not credible.  

Indicative: characteristic of or very much like; suggestive.  Not many of my associates have indicative mentalities as I do.