A HUG IS NEARLY A GUN SPELLED BACKWARD

     Is caring about your friends and family more important than being patriotic towards your country?  Personal relations refers to close connections between people whereas patriotism is defined as your love for your country.  While personal relations with people is a part of life, so is being proud of  where you live. I agree with E.M. Forster's view that personal relations are more important that patriotism.
     Although having a love for your country is significant, I believe one's connections with other people is more important. Patriotism can connect people with each other's pride for their country, but isn't that it? Is pride for one's country the only thing that connects patriots? With personal relations, you know the person. You have things in common, and you can rely on each other. Patriotism can only get you so far in life.
      One's love for their country is also short-term. The world is not perfect. Nations make terrible decisions sometimes. For instance, Brexit was a huge mistake for the UK. How could the citizens of the UK still feel patriotism knowing they made a huge blunder that negatively affected their economy? Patriotism is temporary; it only comes every so often. Bonds with friends and family last a lifetime.
     Overall, personal relations are more important than patriotism. If people could connect personal relations with patriotism, one's country could become a whole lot better. However, separately, personal relations is more important. Personal relations will get you farther in life than patriotism. Don't make the mistake of choosing your country of your friends and family.

MISTAKES FOR PRESIDENT

The presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was hilarious. I couldn't believe what I was watching. What I was thinking the whole time was "How could anyone choose one of these clowns to be president?" In the debate, Trump was accused of supporting the war on Iraq. He clearly said he supported the war on Iraq in a previous interview, but Trump just responds with "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong." Good response, Trump. Also, does Donald Trump not know how to be polite? It was just interruption after interruption after interruption. He also insulted Hillary many times during the debate. For instance, he said Hillary doesn't have enough stamina and that she's a career politician. In the end, I don't know what is going to happen to this country.

MY YODA

My ideal mentor for my Big Question would be a psychologist or a psychiatrist. A psychologist is a professional who studies and evaluates the behavior and mental characteristics of a person. A psychiatrist is a medical practitioner who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. These medical professionals could help me understand why people think and act a certain way. They could teach me the cause of why we judge people so easily. I believe the problem could be with a person's past or what a person is currently going through, and a psychologist or psychiatrist could help me understand how this problem affects people. Overall, I'm sure I would learn a lot from these medical professionals.

I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE

I love playing the piano and guitar. Anytime I get to practice is always an amazing time for me. I try to learn songs people for people so I can see the smile of their face when I play it for them. Although it gets frustrating sometimes to learn a song, the feeling of completely learning a song overcomes the frustration. Since I have a guitar class, I'm happy practically every single day. I get to practice the guitar,  and when there is free time, I get to play the piano as well. At the end of the day, I'm having the time of my life.

BIG QUESTION DISCIPLINES

To recall, my big question is "Why are people so quick to judge others. You don't know what's going on in another person's life. You don't know what another person is going through. A person could be going through something terrible that day, and people just meeting that person would assume the person is rude or shy. Why can't people keep an open mind about what others might be going through?"

Fields/Disciplines:

Psychology

Ethnic Studies

Gender Studies

Fall VOCAB 4

adroit: clever or skillful in using the hands or mind
amicable: of relations between people) having a spirit of friendliness; without serious disagreement or rancor
averse: having a strong dislike of or opposition to something.
belligerent:: hostile and aggressive
benevolent: well-meaning and kindly.
cursory: hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
duplicity: deceitfulness; double-dealing
extol: praise enthusiastically
feasible:possible to do easily or conveniently
grimace: an ugly, twisted expression on a person's face, typically expressing disgust, pain, or wry amusement
holocaust: destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war.
impervious: not allowing fluid to pass through.
impetus: the force or energy with which a body moves
jeopardy: danger of loss, harm, or failure
meticulous: showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise
nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations: (often in names) a group of people organized for a joint purpose.
quintessence: the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.
retrogress: go back to an earlier state, typically a worse one
scrutinize: examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.
tepid: showing little enthusiasm

Vocabulary #3 Sentences

Vocabulary #3 Definitions

catharsis:the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.
taboo:a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.
sordid:involving ignoble actions and motives; arousing moral distaste and contempt
swindle:use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions
frivolous:not having any serious purpose or value.
inadvertently:without intention; accidentally
incendiary:(of a device or attack) designed to cause fires
jargon:special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand
colloquialism:a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation
archaism:a thing that is very old or old-fashioned
cudgel:a short thick stick used as a weapon
egregious:outstandingly bad; shocking
anesthetize:administer an anesthetic to (a person or animal), especially so as to induce a loss of consciousness.
euphonious:(of sound, especially speech) pleasing to the ear
scrupulous:(of a person or process) diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details
perverted:(of a person or their actions) characterized by sexually abnormal and unacceptable practices or tendencies.
superfluous:unnecessary, especially through being more than enough
Saxon:a member of a Germanic people that inhabited parts of central and northern Germany from Roman times, many of whom conquered and settled in southern England in the 5th–6th centuries
slovenly:(especially of a person or their appearance) messy and dirty
provocation:action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry, especially deliberately

I'M READING BIG BROTHER

• Written by George Orwell
• "Politics and the English Language"
• The decline of a language has politcial and economic causes, not due simply b/c of the bad influence of this or that individual writer
• The English Language becomes ugly and inaccurate b/c our thoughts are foolish but the sloviness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts
• Modern English is full of bad habits
• Staleness of imagery/Lack of precision
• The writer wither has something and can't express it or he is indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not
• Mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetince

BAD WORDS

The use and meaning behind a word is what determines if a word is good or bad. If I were to call someone a b****, it's a bad word because I am calling a person a bad thing.  Bad words also catches a person's attention. Normal words work as well, but bad words bring a sort of important atmosphere with it. Good words and bad words increase the understanding between people. People use different language with different people, so the type of words you use on each person increase your understanding of that person. The appropriate time to use euphemism is when you're talking about a serious matter. However, you should not try to use it as much. Don't beat around the bush. Sometimes you have to get to the point and use certain words like cripples instead of physically disabled, deaf instead of hearing impaired, or blind instead of visually impaired.

BIG BROTHER'S FIRST IMPRESSION

George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"  is a an interesting but difficult read.
It talks about the mistakes writers often make. Orwell uses five paragraphs as examples of bad writing.  Two common mistakes writers make are staleness of imagery and lack of precision. Some specific mistakes writers make are the use of dying metaphors, pretentious diction, and meaningless words.

Satire Project: Drugs are a huge problem in the world

It is a terrible thing to know millions of people in the world use illegal drugs and the number of  people who use drugs is increasing. More and more teens get addicted to marijuana every year. Several adults suffer from alcohol abuse and dependence which could lead to even more alcoholic problems.
Drugs in the long-term eventually cause negative health effects and addiction.

However, there is a solution to fix all of this. We will support generation after generation after generation with this idea. No longer will people be suffering from the effects of drugs. No longer will children, teens, and adults have problems with drugs.

To fix the problem of drugs and alcohol, we should use all the drugs in the world. We should gather up all the marijuana in the world, all the syringes with heroin, and all the meth. Any type of drug we can think of, we gather it up. After compiling all the drugs, we will solve the problem of drugs by using all the drugs. We will inject all the heroin into our veins. We will smoke all the marijuana in the world until we can't understand anything anymore. We will swallow, snort, and smoke every inch of meth there is out there until we go crazy.

All of this is for our future generations. We will create a better world out there. They won't even know what drugs are after this. They will no longer have to deal with drug problems at home, at school, or anywhere. The world will be drug-free and a better place for everyone.

Vocabulary #2 Sentences

1. My friend had to intercede  for me because he knew that I didn't read the chapter for homework
2. Schools have hackneyed the idea of asking questions into our heads.
3. Who doesn't love it when a teacher gives you approbation.
4. Many cartoons on t.v. have sexual innuendos we didn't understand when we were kids.
5. I believe that many important political figures should create a coalition so Donald Trump can't win the presidency.
6. I elicit my own mother about where she put the Christmas presents.
7. I hate it when my favorite writers go on hiatus for an unknown amount of time.
8. Ice often assuages the pain in your legs after a long run.
9. The decadence of my culture might end if I don't start accepting it.
10. Many groups of people expostulate on the idea that Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump should become president.
11. Schools often simulate real fires and earthquakes to prepare us is one ever really happens.
12. I've become jaded of onion rings after eating them too much at Red Robin.
13. People these days take umbrage to anything on social media these days.
14. Several celebrities believe they have a prerogative that allows them to get away with things that normal people can't.
15. Lurid paintings give me a headache if I look for too long.
16. Anyone is able to transcend their limits if they work hard enough to do it.
17. My neighbor is very provincial, and you can see it by the way he decorates his house.
18.  My friend becomes petulant if he doesn't eat breakfast.
19. It feels like anytime someone tries to sell you something, they become very unctuous.
20. Every student who strives for their very best and is hardworking is meritorious.