Cave Sonnet

Imagine a world, wise Plato once said

Where you were brought up in a cave instead

Paralyzed by heavy shackles and chains

Gazing one way for moving causes pain

A fire behind made shadows upon your wall

A false image of you, shackles and all

This dark world would be the one thought as true

Another reality seen by you

Then imagine you were brought to the light

Freed from the chains by help or by ones might

A world that you would struggle to accept

Possible only with  a mind adept

 What Plato wanted us to understand

How views can differ of the world at hand

Plato Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?



1.  The allegory of the cave represents the effects of how people perceive things in different situations and how others can see things we see as false as real.
2. The allegory uses shadows as an imagery to show he people who had only known the shadows thought they were the real thing.
3. This allegory suggests that we are educated by our surroundings  People in the cave learned about their world very differently then people outside the cave, and how enlightenment may not actually be wanted, even feared because people want and feel safe with what they already know.
4.  The imagery of shackles and the cave suggest that the perspective of the prisoners has been controlled or limited by their environment, or shackles, changing their reality.
5.  I feel in society today obsession with thing shackles the mind. Many people become to focused with whats cool or popular and instead of thinking about what they would actually enjoy do what someone else has established as good.
6. The freed prisoners are allowed to explore the outer realms unlike the chained prisoners, but they still prefer their initial situation. They just now know there is something else, but are unsure of it.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

Literary Analysis

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain tells the story of a young boy named Huck. Huck lives in the south along the Mississippi river and leads a rather unsual life. Abandoned by his drunk father, he lives with a widow who tries to force the mannerisms of proper society that Huck dislikes so much onto him. But when Huck's father Pap finds out that Huck is heir to a large fortune he discovered with his friend Tom, Pap comes looking for Huck to get his money. Huck then runs away from His father, fakes his death and is finally free to roam the river as he pleases. He later teams up with Jim, a run away slave he is wrongly believed to be Huck's killer. Together they travel the river trying to get Jim to freedom and getting a trouble on many occasions along the way. 2. A possible theme of this novel is the difference of things from the perspective of a child. There are many instances where Huck challenges the ideas of society with his ideas of his own because of his youth. He finds Jim to be a good man so he befriends him despite being told it would send him to hell for helping a black slave. Twain challenges the values of southern society at the time by using Huck's young age. 3. Twains tone is challenging, almost sarcastically mocking of the things he disagrees with in society. He writes with Huck seeing the wrong things in society, such as the discrimination against Jim, and makes it obvious and how wrong they are through Huck's innocent eyes. He writes with a tone that has the intent of fixing what he sees. 4. 1-Setting. Twain setting is crucial to the societal problems he feels are present. 2-tone. Twain's tone helps establish what he feels is wrong with society. 3-diction.Helps establish the characters status, black slave versus rich white folk versus river rat versus white scum. 4-syntax. Also helps establish the characters. 5-Point of View-Having the story seen through the eyes of a youth is very important to Twain's theme. 6-Symbolism. There are many symbols in this novel, such as The free river symbolizes Huck's free spirit. 7-Direct characterization. Twain often describes exacltly what character are like so the reader will know if they are good or bad.

Vocab List 11

Affinity- relationship by marriage. I am not forced to like my step-brother because it is a brother by affinity.
Bilious- of or indicative of a peevish ill nature disposition. If she didn't like you, it was obvoius to find out by her bilious diposition to ones she disliked.
Cognate- of the same nature. Algebra and geometry are cognate forms of math with slight differences.
Corollary- A proposition inferred Immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof . The student body wanted something done so the act they passed was not very well reviewed and quite a corollary.
Cul-de-sac - a pouch/ dead end. He kept his coins in a cul-de-sac.
Derring-do- a daring action. Dare devil was the master of derring-dos.
Divination- The art or practice that seeks to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge due to the interpretation of omens . The seer use divination to predict the boys death.
Elixir- A substance capable of prolonging life indefinitely. Instead of prolonging his life like he thought, the false elixir took his life.
Folderol- a useless accessory. Many girls obssess with impratical folderols. 
Gamut- an entire range or series. Every day of practice was just part of the gamut of hell week.
Hoi polloi- the General populace. Presidents campaign to win the  support of the hoi polloi. 
Ineffable- incapable of being expressed in words . The mans reaction was hysterical, you had to be there, it was ineffable.
Lucubration- to study by night. Many college students practice lucubration. 
Mnemonic- intended to assist memory. FUBAR is a rather vulgar mnemonic.
Obloquy- abusive language. The coach belittled people with obloquy.
Parameter- an independent variable used to express the coordinates of variable point and functions of them. The police officer was given certain parameters to follow.
Pundit- a learned man. A man of the world, the pundit traveled far and wide. 
Risible- provoking laughter. The risible class clown was popular among his friends, but not the teachers.
Symptomatic- having the characteristics of a certain disease but arising of a different cause. He had a symptomatic sore throat from yelling so much. 
Volte-face- a reversal in policy. We used to have an open campus but then someone instituted a volte-face and now it is closed.

Sonnet

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

AP Hamlet PLN

1. http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/
Reading some of the many explanations the author has for this play, I was able to understand what the author was saying easily which in turn helped understand that specific part of Hamlet. The whole play is up there and it all appears to be accurate (checking by comparing what I know for sure with the analysis.) It also shows a lot of the importance of the play in the world of literature and how it has remained so powerful for so long.

2. http://www.apstudynotes.org/english/sample-essays/character-analysis-hamlet/
The author of this essay analyzes what Hamlet was thinking when he enacted out his revenge and possible causes of his errors. An interesting view of the whole tragic situation's ending. It really drives home the point of how Hamlet was a real logically character of high intellect  but his emotions clouded his mind and he often over thought things too much.

3. http://2011apenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/hamlet-test-monday-or-tuesday-or-both.html
This is a class blog exactly like ours, so similar I thought it was. Its interesting to see the conversation the students have and the questions the teacher posts, and will be good to see if I know the answers to them.

4.http://absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/hamlet/summary/hamlet_summary.htm
This site is helpful because it provides a basic summary of the plot, but still contains necessary parts of the play that should be known. A good review to make sure I understand the actual occurrences of the play, because that is something that with Shakespeare's difficult to understand way with words can be lost to someone like me.

5. http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/q-and-a/what-can-we-learn-from-hamlets-soliloguies-161143
Someone crowd sourced the answer to what can we learn from Hamlet's soliloquies  and the answers were intriguing. Hamlet's soliloquies are really important and need to be able to understand their meanings, so hearing answers from several people on their meanings is really helpful.