A HUG is Nearly a GUN Backwards

Let's say that your country was against your friend. Which side would you choose? Would you go defend your friend, betraying your loyalty to the country that you devoted yourself to, or would you let yourself be consumed with patriotism, breaking the trust that you and your friend once took years to build. E.M. Foster argued that personal relations are more important than causes of patriotism and I agree. Turning your back on a friend and siding with a bunch of strangers seemed absurd but considering that patriotic people would do just about anything for their country, they might actually do. Some people might ask to why would someone betray their homeland because of some "friends." Because, unlike patriotism, we make friends with people that we have shared interests with, people whom makes us feel happy and people that we generally like. The difference is with partriotism is that we don't choose what country to be patriotic about. It's usually the country you were born in or the country that you were the most associated with. In a way, it's already predetermined. The pride just came around because of how good it feels to be part of something, binding people together as one  nation. However, regardless of how patriotic one can be, they could never know even 1 percent of the people in their country. So when you devote yourself to your country, you devote yourself to strangers. But what if you move to a different country, what happens to your sense of patriotism. Over the years that sense of pride for that country diminishes and your patriotism start to form to another. The thing is, it's really easy to change your pride to another country and your sense of patriotism can easily come back if you were to move back. Granted that nationalism created people who would protect their people and country and would sacrifice themselves for the sake of  their people and also unifying our nation. A bit of country pride won't hurt, but personal relations are more important. With friends, you don't need a country to bind them together. Friends are always there for you, they'll help you when your in need. With patriotism, you can't really trust strangers to do that for you. Patriotism might help our country be unifid nation, but sacrificing friendship over some land that you were born in will later haunt you with full of regrets.

Big Question's Discipline

My Big Question: What caused the Big Bang?

In order for this question to be answered, a great understanding of the cosmos is essential. Astronomers, physicists and cosmologists have greater understanding of our cosmos, knowing from black holes to the Big Bang. With their knowledge, we may uncover the secrets of the universe and finally know what started the Big Bang, leading to what we now call life.

Vocabulary #4

Adroit: Skillful and adept under pressing conditions
"An adroit chef works in five stars restaurants."

Amicable: characterized by or exhibiting friendliness or goodwill; friendly
"An amicable person can gained someone's trust easily."

 Averse: Having a feeling of opposition, distaste, or aversion; strongly disinclined
"Being friends with your friend's enemies can create an aversion in your relationships."

Belligerent: hostile or aggressive
"Mama bears will become belligerent when they see humans near their cubs."

Benevolent: characterized by or suggestive of doing good
"The man gave a benevolent smile to a scared kid."

Cursory: performed with haste and scant attention to detail
"When time is running out people tend to become cursory."

Duplicity: deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech
"Then man in a hood had a sense of duplicity."

Extol: to praise highly; exalt
"Parents extol their kids frequently."

Feasible: capable of being accomplished or brought about; possible
"Memorizing people's names is a feasible job."

Grimace: a sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust
 "Right when she saw her ex, she had a grimace look."

Holocaust: great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire
"The Holocaust was an attempt to kill off all the Jewish."

Impervious: incapable of being affected
"Everyone else cried in the movie theater but the impervious man."

Impetus: an impelling force; an impulse
"There was an impetus after realizing he was late."

Jeopardy: danger of loss, harm, or failure.
"People put their lives in jeopardy for the sake of entertainment."

Meticulous: extremely careful or precise
"The young man drove meticulous, knowing that he is still an amateur."

Nostalgia: a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past
"Seeing old friends gives nostalgic memories."

Quintessence: the pure highly concentrated essence of a thing
"Babies are the quintessence of purity; if only we could preserve that sweetness for a lifetime."

Retrogress: to return to an earlier, inferior, or less complex condition
"Sometimes I wish I could retrogress back to junior high."

Scrutinize: to examine or observe with great care; inspect critically
"Do not sign your name on any document you have not had time to scrutinize!"

Tepid: moderately warm' lukewarm
"I like my coffee tepidly."

Vocabulary #3

Catharsis: The process of releasing strong or repressed emotions
"Some people find catharsis by indulging themselves in music."

Taboo: something forbidden in religious or popular culture
"Singing while eating is a taboo."

Sordid: Filthy or dirty; foul
"Men with bad manners are considered sordid people."

Swindle: To cheat or defraud of money or property
"Some people gain profit by swindling their victims."

Frivolous: silly, unnecessary
"The use of bad words can be frivolous."

Inadvertently: unintentionally, because of an oversight
"A blind man inadvertently stepped on a gum."

Incendiary: causing or capable of causing fire
"Thrown lit cigarettes are very much incendiary and can cause forest fire."

Jargon: unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish
"When nervous you become jargon, making you look stupid."

Colloquialism: colloquial(relating to conversation; conversational)  style or quality
"Colloquial conversation are common between friends."

Archaism: past form of speech; old writing style
"Archaic words were used in old poems like Shakespeare's."

Cudgel: a short, heavy stick; a club
"A cudgel can knock someone unconscious."

Egregious: conspicuously bad or offensive
"Failing a test after a long night of studying can be egregious."

Anesthetize: to induce anesthesia in
"The dentist will put anesthesia on the patient before taking out the wisdom tooth."

Euphonious: pleasing or agreeable to the ear
"Many people agree that whale noises are euphonious."

Scrupulous: conscientious and exact; painstaking
"I paid scrupulous attention to what my mom said."

Perverted: to cause to turn away from what is right, proper, or good; corrupt
"The sudden urge of sadism came upon him."

Superfluous: being beyond what is required or sufficient
"Overachievers are superfluous in everything."

Saxon: a member of a West Germanic tribal group that inhabited northern Germany and invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. with the Angles and Jutes
"There are people in the world who have Saxon blood in them."

Slovenly: messy, unkempt; sloppy
"My roommate is a slovenly person."

Provocation: anything that causes a response
"An offensive comment can easily cause a provocation."

Big Brother's First Impression

Have you ever read a text with fancy and sophisticated writing with beautiful choice of diction and well structured syntax and yet after reading it, you're left with a single thought, What in the world did I just read? Well, you're not alone. It may not even be your own fault. Some writers write without the consideration of their reader's consent. When they write, they might understand what they are trying to convey but there's two parties involved: the author and the reader. These "bad" writings are usually caused by mishap of selfishness. So when there is writing involved, always think about what you are trying to dictate, then think about how the readers will apprehend it. Too many big words, badly arranged sentences, too many negative forms, will confuse the readers. If the author cannot express their idea then they are bad writers, but if the author can share a beautiful mural and alluring words to one's mind without overcomplicating things, then that's good writing. In George Orwell's "Politics & The English Language" he mentions all the faults that one makes, preventing them from becoming good writers, such as meaningless words and pretentious diction which what people usually fall victims for. And sometimes, it's better to use simple words.

Literature Analysis Questions # 1

The Warrior Heir by Cindy Williams Chima

1. Jack Swift was born a wizard with parents who were also wizards. But Jack was born without a crystal which usually meant death. However, his aunt, Linda, asked Dr. Longbranch help, which she inclined to do so, saving his life. But all of this came with a cost. Dr. Longbranch embedded a warrior stone instead of a crystal, in an attempt to recruit warriors for the White Rose and for him to enter the game. Dr. Longbranch decided to leave Jack until he is old enough to compete in the game, leaving a pack of Weirsbane for jack to take every single day to contain any trace of powers of his and to conceal his identity. This helped Jack grow up in a seemingly normal life until he forgets to take his "medicine" but instead of being distressed of failing to consume Weirsbane, which supposedly needed for his heart, he felt better than ever and wondered if he needed it at all. But without it he drew attention and attracted others that endangered his and his loved-ones lives. He soon learned that he is much more than an ordinary teenager and learned his family's complicity. With the guidance of his aunt and his two friends, Will and Fitch, he trained for the preparation of the game. Which eventually ending him face to face against Ellen Stephenson, the very girl he has feelings for.

2. The theme in this story is if you work hard for what you believe in it will always come true. Its shows that twice in this story. The first example is when Jack is training for the tournament. He trained so hard everyday that he knew every trick there was in the book for swordplay. Another example in this story is when they are at the tournament. Jack does not give up and proves his point that he will not fight Ellen. He never did attack her, he even summoned flowers for her when she was about to strike. Which made her stop fighting Jack and helped him go against the judges. This theme helped propel the story a lot. If Jack did not train hard enough he would not be able to protect himself and block her strikes and he would've been killed. If he did not give up on not trying to kill Ellen it would have been a bloody battle leaving one of them dead.

3. Based on the author's overall tone, I bet Chima wakes up early, determined, eating eggs and bacon with a couple of fruits for breakfast with her mind wondering and daydreaming about herself in an epic adventure, which pumps her up for a good exercise, going out for a quick jog around her neighborhood and saying hi to her neighbors and greeting everyone who she comes across with. Then coming back home with a book ready to read.

Satire Project

Oh, what a wonderful world!

 

 

A beautiful world indeed.