With the AP test just around the corner, I've become stressed. But thankfully I've also fought this stress through study! I've been reviewing all the AP terms that we have making sure that I can master them. They are a big help to understanding what specific questions are asking for. But what is the most help for me at this time, are the literature analysis. Being able to go back on any book that my classmates have read is a big help. I'm also catching up on some reading myself for the test. I hope to be prepared for anything by the time the test comes around.

Top Three Remixes

Hannah Hosking

Mari Kagawa

Dania Hatamleh

No particular order.

Macbeth, a Study of Evil

Just a short commentary on Macbeth,

Nicholas Lycan

Literature Analysis: Pericles

Pericles by William Shakespeare Lit Analysis -

A Title of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities focuses on two cities. One is Paris, the other, London. Both are used by Charles Dickens to show the different feelings that people held toward the French Revolution in the early 19th century. London was petrified by the prospect of another revolution happening near them after the American revolution which ended a few decades earlier. Paris gives the other view of the revolution. Paris was the heart of the revolution, and because of that there is a lot of action revolved around the anarchy in Paris. Both cities offer opposing views to an important event in human history.

Chicago, by Carl Sandburg

 The following poem is significant because it gives the reader a glimpse into 1800's Chicago and the way of life for the many residents of the city. The poem spares no expense in describing the depravity of the city but also highlights the youth of society and how they laugh in the face of adversity, partially through ignorance.

Chicago by Carl Sandburg

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Big Question Abstract

I've tweaked my question a little bit since that last time I posted about it. Instead I thought I should go with video games rather then the internet because there are serious questions about whether or not they are addicting.

Are video games addicting. It has become an issue in today’s society that children spend less and less time outdoors playing or doing something athletic. Because of this one could even deduce that this has led to fatter and unhealthier children. But is this the cause of video game addiction. Would people rather stay inside and play video games then go outside and play a sport?

With an increase in video games it is important to study whether or not these forms of entertainment can be addicting, and if so how can we counter act it? An increase in video games means that we lose something else instead. I recently saw a TED talk about this and the future of society and children. The speaker announced that the old ways that our grandparents and parents had grown up with are gone. No longer will kids spend a quiet afternoon reading a book. Is this loss of society a change for the better?

Through this study I intend to discover really if video games are addicting and how we can stop the addiction. If they are not, what will this mean for the future of society and culture? The ancient Greeks believed in a balance of everything. A balance between strength, mind, and soul were important to them. Perhaps we will need a balance between videogames and outdoor activity.