Launch

Well it's about damn time I got some wifi so I could update this blog. I've been wanting to share my launch for a while now and it gives me goose bumps, hoping you all love what I have to share just as much as I do. What do I want to do? Easy, study the background journey to fame. Sure we all know the story of  "I came from a small town and was found by my manager who helped me share my talent with the world." cool okay so they hit a lucky streak. What I want to learn and get a feel for is how a their manager can find that talent and trust and invest and dedicate their entire life into creating this superstar who came from a small town. I want to know the managers story and I want to create my own. For my project I'm hoping to find locals who I believe can really become something through their talent. It's so obvious that every project is going to need connections, I'm going to need to expand my network and ask and look around for those very talented musicians.  I want to learn about business marketing, promo, advertising, music management and talent scouting. I'm really interested in the behind the scenes action and I already have a lot of experience with that. I'm more than prepared  for my project and I'm totally open to making more connections with the other people in class. Are you musically talented? Let me know, I'd love to manage you.

Lit Analysis #2

The Fault in Our Stars

1. This story starts off by introducing you to the narrator and other main characters. There is Hazel, who is telling the story and there is her mother who is overprotective and there is Augustus, who changes Hazel's entire life. Hazel is a sixteen year old girl with thyroid cancer and has mets in her lungs. Augustus is seventeen who had recovered from osteosarcoma. They meet at support group and Augustus finds her to be very beautiful. Hazel isn't use to boys complimenting her and she immediately befriends him. They eventually become really good friends who know each others likes and dislikes more than their own parents. Augustus falls in love with Hazel and works on getting Hazel to say it back. Hazel doesn't let herself love anyone because she looks at herself as a ticking bomb. A grenade that is going to explode someday and she wants to minimize the casualties. Never did she think she would love a grenade, and never did she think she would be the casualty.  The purpose of the narrative is to make you feel as if you are reading a true story, like Hazel is their in support group telling you all about her hard times. 
2. One theme is the fear of oblivion. Augustus has this fear of oblivion which helps you distinguish just how scared of dying he really is. He is obsessed with wanting to do things heroic before he dies, he wants to matter even after he is dead.  
3. Hazel is very straight up, she tells it like it is in a very snarky way. An example of this is when she says " That particularly galled me, because it implied the immortality of those left behind: You will live forever in my memory, because I will live forever! I AM YOUR GOD NOW, DEAD BOY! I OWN YOU! Thinking you won't die is yet another side effect of dying."  She is also very funny when what she is saying shouldn't be something you laugh at because in reality it's just so true and upsetting. An example of this is "I didn't tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You're a woman. Now die."   This also makes her cautious and considerate. She never wants to make people pity or worry for her. "I'm like a grenade, Mom. I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay? I'm a grenade, I just want to stay away from people and read books and think and be with you guys because there's nothing I can do about hurting you; you're too invested, so just please let me do that, okay? I'm not depressed. I don't need to get out more. And I can't be a regular teenager, because I am a grenade."
4. Irony
Isaac who is a friend to both Gus and Hazel has a girlfriend who he thinks is the one "Always is their thing. They'll always love each other or whatever." eventually though, his eye sight goes and his girlfriend claims she can't be with him because of it. So their 'Always' doesn't last forever like they claimed it would. " Always was a promise. Sometimes people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them, but you keep them anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway." She promised him always, but couldn't keep it. 
Foreshadowing
Referring to the quote above, Augustus tells Hazel their 'Always' should be the word 'okay' because they always say that to each other when they have nothing else to say. Of course this implies that Augustus will always love Hazel. 
Foreshadowing
"I'm a grenade..." Hazel refers to her I'm a grenade quote throughout the entire book, but as soon as she lets her guard down and accepts one more 'casualty' she realizes that she is the one loving a grenade. "I couldn't be mad at him for even a moment, and only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation: I couldn't unlove August Waters. And I didn't want to." She keeps her promise and always loves him. 
The author creates this giant plot twist by making it seem like Hazel is going to die and we will have to watch Augustus suffer from another girlfriend death, but instead he dies and we watch Hazel love him always. 

CHARACTERIZATION 
1. Isaac is an example of direct characterization. We don't know what he's thinking nor do we get any serious story line for him, we just know what we are told. Hazel's mom is also a good example of direct characterization. All we know is what we are told by Hazel, there are not multiple characters telling us any information about her mom, it's just the narrator, Hazel. Hazel and Augustus are examples of indirect characterization. Hazel, who is the narrator is not the same person she was at the beginning of the book, so her analysis of her character changes. She goes from being really sheltered and careful to living and lovely openly and freely. We get to read her thoughts and almost feel her emotions. Augustus' actions are what define him. He says nothing, but sweet things to Hazel.  I think the author uses both approaches so you make a better emotional connection with both Hazel and Augustus. 
2. The authors syntax changes when in conversation with another character, but other wise both the syntax and diction don't change or vary. 
3. The protagonists in this story are all the people and they're very dynamic. The antagonist would be the cancer and everyone it effects, even the people who don't have the cancer are still effected by it.
4. After reading this book I found that I had attached myself to the characters as a person who knew their love story, but didn't know them personally. They didn't like to friend people mostly because people would always pity them and they didn't like being around those types of people. I did however fall in love with their love story and felt as if I understood completely how she felt. She would always love him even long after they both die, she would still love him. She promised him always in beginning of the book and ended the book the same way a marriage, a promise begins with an 'I do' and that line affected me the most. "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have get to have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers." and she follows that quote by Augustus with an "I do, Augustus. I do." 

My Vocabulary #1

Pincer: A maneuver in which an enemy force is attacked from two flanks and the front.
Market Cannibalization: Market cannibalization refers to a situation where a new product "eats" up the sales and demand of an existing product.
Incontrovertible: not able to be denied or disputed.
Curation: The act of curating, of organizing and maintaining a collection of artworks or artifacts; The act of curing or healing; The manual updating of information in a database
inherently: in an inherent manner; "the subject matter is sexual activity of any overt kind, which is depicted as inherently desirable and exciting"
entrenched: (of an attitude, habit, or belief) firmly established and difficult or unlikely to change; ingrained.
"an entrenched resistance to change"monetizing: convert into or express in the form of currency.Jettisoning: throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship."six aircraft jettisoned their loads in the sea"permutations: a way, esp. one of several possible variations, in which a set or number of things can be ordered or arranged."his thoughts raced ahead to fifty different permutations of what he must do"Novelty: the quality of being new, original, or unusual."the novelty of being a married woman wore off"trajectory: the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.anomaly: something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected."there are a number of anomalies in the present system"inconceivable: not capable of being imagined or grasped mentally; unbelievable."it seemed inconceivable that the president had been unaware of what was going on"paradoxically: in a paradoxical manner; "paradoxically, ice ages seem to occur when the sun gets hotter"discrepancies: a lack of compatibility or similarity between two or more facts."there's a discrepancy between your account and his"extricating: free (someone or something) from a constraint or difficulty."he was trying to extricate himself from official duties"paradigm: a typical example or pattern of something; a model.
"there is a new paradigm for public art in this country"
Niche: a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment.

Lit Analysis Spring #1

FICTION ANALYSIS #1

1. In Looking For Alaska, Miles who is going to be starting as a junior in a new private school called Culver Creek, has an obsession with remembering people’s last words before they die. He becomes great friends with his new roommate and finds himself hanging out with whoever his roommate hangs out with. His newly made friend helps me understand how the school works. The school is known for its risqué students, prank pulling teens and its evil swan who swims in the lake. Never smoke near the lake. Miles is introduced to Chip’s (his roommate) group of friends. This is where Miles meets Alaska. Alaska’s power over Miles is strong the minute he lays eyes on her. Imagine finding a person who is everything you’ve ever wanted, but she isn’t interested in you the way you’d like for her to be. That’s Miles relationship with Alaska. He chases her, she giggles and flirts, but she has a boyfriend and he ends up heartbroken. Alaska is complicated and Pudge (Miles nickname) well Pudge is that adorable, naïve nerd who falls in love with a lost soul. Alaska, Pudge, Chip and Takumi all get themselves into huge trouble one night by drinking away all their problems. This same night Alaska calls her boyfriend and when she returns back to Pudge she is distraught and not herself. She asks everyone to help her pack because she needs to go. The group doesn’t know what’s going, and them being so intoxicated didn’t realize how unsafe it was for her to drive in the night drunk. She leaves and the next day Pudge and Chip are informed of the terrible accident. Alaska died in a car crash. Pudge takes it hard and can’t seem to move on. In the end the group decides to pull off one last prank in memory of Alaska. The Alaska Memoir Prank. This book was split up in befores and afters. Before meaning before the accident and after meaning after the accident. Before the accident Pudge knew everyones last words, after he wished he didn’t.

2. The themes in this novel are the concept of death, understanding life and death, more to someone’s life than what we see, loving someone endlessly, friendship and regret.

3. The author’s tone is always thoughtful, unsure and regretful. The tone is thoughtful because Pudge is always over analyzing everything, never wanting to get into too much trouble. The tone is unsure because Pudge never knows what choices to make, a lot of the time the choices he makes are because Chip or Alaska have told him to. The tone is regretful because a lot of the time Pudge regrets the things he does, one of those things being that he helped Alaska leave the night of her crash essentially leading to her death.

4.

·         Foreshadowing: When Alaska and Pudge first meet Alaska makes a comment about Pudge and Chip smoking, she says “You guys smoke to live, I smoke to die.” She makes a statement about not wanting to live and for the first month of Alaska’s death people had assumed she committed suicide because her boyfriend had dumped her, but she had actually just crashed and was on her way to visit her mother’s grave.

·         Foreshadowing: Alaska says “from a hundred miles an hour to asleep in a nanosecond” and this foreshadows the way she dies.

·         Metaphors: The swan and Alaska are similar in the sense that they both have had troubled pasts and have both hurt Pudge.

·         Figurative language: “If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane’”

CHARACTERIZATION

1.       Pudge is an example of direct characterization. The author tells us what we need to know about him as soon as the book starts. His roommate is another example of direct characterization because Pudge has all these thoughts on his roommates appearance and attitude. Alaska is an example of indirect characterization because she is so mysterious and you have to take the time to communicate with her to get a sense of what she is like. Even after the story ends there is still so much unknown about Alaska. The author does this to show how unfair it is for Pudge and the rest of Alaska’s friends to have lost her before they could fully understand and know her.

2. The author’s syntax and diction never change based on a character. He uses long detailed sentences to explain Pudge’s thoughts on everyone and everything.

3. The protagonist is very dynamic. He has an epiphany at least twice in this book and this has created the character to be very round. Pudge may seem average, but you can see him change as the story progresses, he matures and becomes more aware and less naïve.                                                                                            

4. After reading this book I felt like I walked away from meeting Pudge and the rest of his friends. I felt a personal connection with Alaska and when she passed away I almost had myself convinced I was dealing with a real death in my life. The ending of the story ends with a quote that had me feeling almost every emotion possible, the quote is “So I know she forgives me just as I forgive her. Thomas Edison’s last words were: ‘It’s beautiful over there’ I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful” 

Vocabulary #1 Performance Review

I think I did decent, but I could have gotten a hundred percent for sure. I have trouble putting the words into sentences, but I know the words. 

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate- to foreshadow vaguely.

apotheosis-  elevate to divine status

ascetic- practicing strict as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline

bauble- a small ornament (trinket)

beguile- to lead by deception

burgeon-  to send forth new growth

complement-  something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect 

contumacious-  stubbornly disobedient

curmudgeon- a , ill-tempered, and usually old man

didactic- designed or intended to teach

Research Paper

Veronica Cavazos

Dr. Preston

Expository Composition

November 9^th, 2013

Research Term Paper

            I grew up in a society where everyone believed racism only existed in the nineteen hundreds. Society believed that because we all have the same rights, we are all equal; making them believe racism has vanished. It is now, ten years later that I realize, it will probably never be ‘vanished’. I have also realized that a lot of American’s don’t realize this, most Americans are in denial.

            There is a new type of racism. This kind does not just revolve around the typical White man vs. Black man stereotypical argument. This new kind involves every race, every human and the ignorance that our society has. We are ultimately surrounded by racism every day. What is racism exactly? Well isn’t racism just ultimately one giant opinion taken the wrong way? “Individuals who have beliefs and ideas that could be defined as racism can reduce the problems in society by keeping those ideas in their minds and homes. People are certainly free to believe what they want to believe and even to say what they want to say. But when individuals take these beliefs to the next level and act out in public and against others, racism becomes a social disease.” (Racism In America: Racism Is A Disease That Needs To Be Cured) There are certain phrases that should not be said in public, and there are certain actions you just don’t do in public. Why, because some people take things the wrong way. I’m not saying all people are accidentally being racist, I’m just saying most people don’t even realize when they are making fun of a race. “Racism has become somewhat of a “hidden” issue today, even in well-known cities across our nation. Americans know that racism still exists and persists, but it’s easier to pretend that everyone believes that “All men are created equal.” (Racism In America: Racism Is A Disease That Needs To Be Cured) So how do we stop someone from being racist when most don’t even realize they are doing it? In other words, how are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it. Stop calling people by what they are. Don’t refer to Barack Obama as a black man, and don’t refer to Joe Biden as a white man. However that’s just too easy and society doesn’t work that way.

            “Racism is not just a viewpoint, but rather it’s a disease that is often left untreated because of misguided stereotypes. There is no cure for racism because it is fueled by ignorance.”   (Racism In America: Racism Is A Disease That Needs To Be Cured) Most racist actions are often just stereotypical judgments made by someone of the race being ‘made fun of’. A YouTube video called Racism in America: Episode Three helps explain this point. In this episode, two men are hanging out, one black and one white. The black man picks up Madea Goes To Jail and asks the white man if he wants to watch the movie. The white man declines his offer and the black man automatically jumps to conclusion that the white man is being racist and doesn’t want to watch the movie because it is a black film. However, that has nothing to do with why he doesn’t want to watch the film and he is being accused of being racist for no good reason. Just because a white man doesn’t enjoy all black made films, doesn’t mean he doesn’t like black people.

“Here are some of the stereotypes that fuel racism: African-Americans are more violent than white Americans, and they commit more crimes. Most African-Americans “milk the system” and live off of welfare. African-Americans deal drugs. African-Americans are illiterate and uneducated. Here are the realities: The criminal justice system in the United States is flawed and racially biased. African-Americans are more likely to serve prison time than a white person even when the same crime is committed. A higher percentage of white Americans receive welfare than African-Americans. White Americans deal drugs too.”(Racism In America: Racism Is A Disease That Needs To Be Cured) In this article the author makes it clear that most racial judgments are just stereotypes, and our society runs off of stereotypes. This is what makes racism a new kind of racism. The article We're not racists, but we're not colorblind: Column states “We don't have slavery, lynching, or whites-only bathrooms anymore.” We don’t have those things, but we still have the idea of discrimination against certain races which is just as bad. We connect areas with people by the color of their skin. An example of this would be asking a brown person if they are a legal resident here in the United States. These types of judgments are not only offensive, but completely wrong. All of our lives we were told to not judge a book by its cover, yet the older I get the more and more I notice adults doing just that, they judge.

Americans are judgmental, and they all believe they have the right to their own opinion, but they are wrong. Sure they have the right to their wrong opinion, but they can’t declare something is okay, but it’s their opinion. We as a society make judgments of what is okay and what is not. We filter out the bad or sometimes just ignore it and we keep the good. This is why it is hard for some people to admit that racism still exists. “It's really hard to actually be colorblind with strangers. You can probably forget that your friend is black, hispanic, or Indian. But when a stranger or a rough acquaintance enters the picture, race probably subconsciously enters your judgment of that person.” (We're not racists, but we're not colorblind: Column) I completely agree with this statement because I know that I too have done this. This`1 column went on to add “If you decide a certain character on the subway is sketchy, it's often for reasons you can't fully articulate. Clothes, demeanor, grooming, posture all matter. And sure, you'll be more wary of the leering tatted-out white dude than the black guy in a suit on his iPad. But skin color probably plays a role in your subconscious, even if it's not always the deciding factor.” Racism is something that is subconsciously there in the back of your mind. Everyone does it, but we don’t do it to purposely offend others. When you are being racist to offend someone is when it should be considered hate speech. You shouldn’t be able to get away with saying anything offensive to someone who is colored just because you believe you have freedom of speech.

Racism is everywhere. In schools, online, in businesses, in neighborhoods, it is worldwide. Racism will always exist. Black males will always be eyed at with suspicion more than white males. Asians will always be considered smarter than every other race. Mexicans are all dirty workers. Arabs are terrorists and white people are rich, stuck up snobs. These are the typical ‘racist’ stereotypes. Everyone makes a judgment about a race. Everyone. “So, if you say to a black person, "stop acting as if your race matters," you're asking him to be color-blind in a society that isn't.” (We’re not racists, but we’re colorblind: Column) “Despite decades of social change and progress, a Duke University professor told students racism still exists among white people, just not as overtly as it did many years ago.” (racism the same today as in the 1960s ) Is this not another racist remark? Saying it exists among white people is false. It exists among everyone. Racism is worldwide, it is not just white people contributing to the hate and racial speech, it is everyone.

A popular example of racism existing in places such as jobs, government related trials and most recently courtrooms would be the Travon Martin Trial. “Nowhere, was there an ounce of evidence that the man who shot Travon followed him, reported him, or defended himself against him--even for his very life--based on the color of Travon's skin. Yet "civil rights 'leaders'" manipulated every element of fact in the case to convince the sleeping media that the man who shot Travon was racially motivated, racially biased, and hateful of races different than his.” (Why American Racism Is Impossible To Defeat) It is so obvious that Travon was only a huge threat because of the color of his skin. It’s there subconsciously in the back of your head, you won’t admit it, but we all have those racist thoughts once in a while. We do sometimes make those false assumptions, some just do it on purpose and others don’t even realize when they are doing it. Some people assume that because I appear to be white, I have lots of money, nice clothes, no problems in the world. People assume I’m some rich white girl, when in fact I’m poor and Mexican. I am proud of my heritage and I am offended when people just assume that I am what I look like. People don’t know you’re story, people may not even know your name, but they act like they know everything about you.

I have witnessed, in person, a white family prohibit their daughter from dating black males. This family lives in Georgia where racism is an even huger problem. The daughter of the family didn’t obey her parents rules and dated a black kid. They dated for three years and over time her family eventually just disowned her. I’ve never been able to understand how a family can hate a race so much that they would consider and go through with disowning their child. The kid she is dating wasn’t a bad kid at all. He had money, was going to college, had good manners and never showed any once of disrespect to anyone. There was no reason for the family not to like him other than the fact that he was colored. “Moreover, racism in itself implies that our skin color defines who we are, however a person’s skin color does not accurately represent their intelligence, wealth, or their morals.” (Racism In America: Racism Is A Disease That Needs To Be Cured)

“Second, the majority of Americans, and even of white Americans -- whether they voted for Obama or not -- seemed to feel proud and positive that the nation had finally reached this amazing milestone.” (What!? Racism Still in America?) Although our society seems doomed to always have racism tangled in its roots, I do sometimes feel like we will overcome racism. When Barack Obama was sworn into office I actually felt as though all of America was proud that we as a country could overcome racism in some ways. “But let's be honest. We all know that racism still exists in America today. We know that there is a hard core of our white fellow citizens who simply will not accept their black or brown brothers and sisters -- especially one in the White House. So while we should not call every disagreement an issue of racism, it is time call out the racism that indeed does still exist -- that wounds our soul as a nation, and that obstructs the promise of the United States.” (What!? Racism Still In America?)

I don’t think it is fair for me to say our nation is not trying to end racism, in fact I’m not saying that at all. I do believe our nation has been trying to end racism for a while now. They have created laws, allowed everyone the right to vote, created the Jim Crow laws and have abolished slavery. Our nation has taken actions, but I don’t think racism will ever end. The world is ignorant, and we are all drawn to a stereotype letting others have a certain judgment of us.

Racism is commonly brought up when dealing with white and blacks. However that’s not the only case of racism. There are other races that deal with racism. Too many people pinpoint blacks as the only victims of racism, when in fact every race has it. Whites are not the only ones at fault for being racist, and if you believe they are, is that not another act of racism? I am a Mexican, but because I appear to be white I am picked on by other Mexicans. They call me white trash, pale skinned, white girl, etc. When in fact I am just like them. I am from the same culture, same heritage, I’m just not the same color. And isn’t that the same issue everyone else faces? The problem is that we are not all the same color.