IB (writing) Lit Blogs: Luke White

I actually thought it was really interesting to look at Walt Whitman's notebook and his imaginary conversation with Lincoln, which seems to represent how Whitman's notebook is both the outline of several of his poems and his relation with the time he lives in, regarding primarily political contexts with Lincoln and the Civil War.  First, when observing his actual "documents" without the notes, the first thing that jumped out at me were how brief the notes seemed.  When I think of famous, historical notebooks, for some reason I think of James Madison's notes of the First Constitutional Convention.  What I mean by this is that I expected notes that were much more elaborate and complex rather than simple and metaphorical.  However, upon further inspection and reading the transcriptions and "notes" tab about Whitman's notebook, I came to realize that Whitman was simply writing in a way that would mirror the writing style of his future poems (I'll get...

I would define the American Dream as the belief that anyone can attain wealth and success who is willing to work hard for them.  While the idea of the American Dream might be superficial to others, it has always been a central part of my life.  I am a very goal-oriented person, and I take pride in setting goals for myself and working hard enough to achieve them.  I gave a graduation speech at my middle school on how it provided my classmates and I with the foundation to achieve our dreams. I try to achieve these goals I set for myself by identifying the most plausible path that will lead me to fulfillment.  For instance, I wanted to become a better writer; Solution: join IB.  In these ways, I feel that the key to success is the inability to be complacent with any aspect of your life, intellectually, socially, or physically.  I am a firm believer in the notion that the pathway to success is paved with a constant mentality of self-improvement, and I have beco...

Link to Recording:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EWqD_kQXYkLLib_VW7_V2dOk2WOd2OdD/view?usp=sharing  Self-Scoring A: 7.  I tried to show a "very good" understanding of the text by stressing how important this passage is within the text as a whole and trying to choose different references to other parts of the texts to support what was going on in the passage. B: 4.  I did reference some stylistic devices, like metaphors and the structure of the passage, but didn't use them to a great extent nor did I talk about their "effects on the reader." C: 3.  I tried to make my response as organized and as clear as possible by having a thesis, 3 "body paragraphs" or themes that were present in the passage, and then repeating my thesis.  I'm not positive if this came across thought. D: 4.  I thought my language was ok.  I said "um" a lot and had some pauses where I was trying t find...

Observations Translation #1: This seems to be the most direct and simplest translation in terms of structure, having the least descriptive language.  With little imagery and standard syntax, it makes a big event seem somewhat ordinary. Translation #2: On the contrary, the more descriptive language and diction of the second translation presents the event as much more notable through words like "transformed" and "enormous," which make the sentence much more impactful.  The syntax of translation 2 is longer than translation 1, partially because more meaning is put into the second translation than the first. Translation #3: The third translation is similar to the second in syntax and structure.  Translation 3 slightly differs from translation 2 in diction, where "gigantic insect" seems to have a more grotesque connotation than "enormous bug." This translation is also te first to include the detail that Samsa was in his bed, although that might hav...

First, the image in the top left, with  what is probably Kathy pictured sitting with different ferns and plants, is interesting.  I first thought that the cover image might be set in Hailsham by the pond with evident vegetation in the image.  However, when looking t the image more closely, Kathy appears slightly older and in deep thought, alluding to the fact that she might be reflecting on her time at Hailsham.  Next, the cover at top right creates a feeling of peace and solidarity.  The lone boat might represent the isolated nature of Hailsham, yet the calm water  and picturesque sky could represent how Hailsham is a peaceful setting when compared to the realities of the students' futures.  Third, the cover on the bottom left is the only one out of the four the gives its audience a cold and negative feeling.  The drawing alludes to the organs that the students must donate, and the coloring of the cover shows the dark and inevitable futures of ...

lots of Physics + Computer Science + History = freebie