Chapter 12 Journal

The way the novel ends is a little ironic, considering their focus wasn't exactly on getting rescued anymore. Setting the island on fire somehow lured a ship to the island leading to the rescue of the boys. Meanwhile, I was surprised reading that the story made them seem like little kids, since their actions didn't exactly demonstrate that anymore. I think Ralph cries at the end of the novel, because all of the horrible things that they experienced are finally over. He cries because he finally has the rules of society come back to truly make him feel guilt for his actions. The character which I despise the most is Jack due to his arrogant and screwed up personality. Jack doesn't see the rationality behind the other boys' thoughts. His attitude of deeming himself the new chief truly demonstrated his need to prove he was superior to Ralph and the others. Plus he and his pal Roger killed Piggy. I would recommend this book as it really makes you reflect on our very own evil human nature and what we are capable of. In our society, we don't tend to sit down and randomly begin to ponder humanity's capability of inflicting evil upon others. However, Goulding really presents an interesting argument against the theory that humanity is naturally pure. I geniunely enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend to anyone. 

Ch 11 LOTF Core Questions

1. Ralph's group decide that they must go to Castle Rock to retrieve Piggy's glasses/the fire. 

2. Ralph demonstrates a more demanding nature as a chief. The twins and Piggy seem to notice that he's starting to "lose it". 

3. They are greatly outnumbered and are attempting a more civilized approach. Trying to appeal to Jack's humanity and morals, when he's clearly turned savage is an action that will clearly fail.

4. Roger pushes the rock off the cliff to harm Ralph, or possibly to merely scare him away. I do no think that he had the intention of pushing someone off with it. 

5. It represents the destruction of their civilized natures. Destroying the conch and the death of Piggy is an allegory for the loss of order and knowledge. 

6. They want a chief in order to have someone to make decisions for them, and essentially tell them what to do. A chief would be a figure of authority reminiscent of society's structure and order.

7. Two questions I would ask Jack Merridew would be: "Do you miss your home?"  and "What do you miss the most?"

8.                                                                                                                                                                                              5/27/15

     Its been so long since I've seen mother. I can't remember the smell of her pies baking every third Sunday..(or was it Saturday?)...of the month. Even the feel of a soft bed is a distant memory that I know I long for but can't seem to recall the feeling of. I still believe that any moment now I will wake up and all of this will be but a dream. However, the events of today remind me just how painfully real this all is. We lost Piggy today to Jack's hunters. Apparently, he was crushed by a boulder and hurtled over the edge of a cliff by the force of the blow. That's the third death of a boy so far on the island following Simon and the boy with the birthmark.
     Ralph seems to be taking it the hardest of us all. Our clan has drastically been reduced in size with the  departure of the hunting clan. I can not believe to what degree the "hunters" have become savages. Any memory of society's morals seems to have withered and died inside their blood thirsty minds. I long for the moment we are rescued and have the opportunity to return home.

LOTF Core Questions Ch10

1. The discussion about the previous night's events was mostly between Ralph and Piggy. After the brutal death of Simon, the boys are attempting to make sense of the events. "That was murder." (Golding 165). Ralph seems to be scarred by the events blaming himself and the others as murderers. Piggy doesn't want to blame himself or accept his actions deeming it "an accident". "He had no businnes crawling like that out of the dark...it was an accident" (Golding 157) He goes on to say that the boys were merely confused and scared. Ralph continues to blame himself. Meanwhile the twins SamnEric state "Yes. We were very tired so we left early." (Golding 158).

2. Ralph describes Simon's death as murder and suggests that maybe Simon was only pretending and can be still alive. "'Piggy.' 'Uh?' 'That was Simon.' 'You said that before.' 'Piggy.' 'Uh.' 'That was murder.'" (Golding 156). Jack insists that Simon was the beast in disguise and that the beast is still somewhere on the island. "'-and then, the beast, might try to come in. You remember how he crawled-'...'He came disguised. He may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat. So watch, and be careful.'" (Golding 160).

3. Based on his order to have Wilfred beaten, we can conclude that Jack's power has deprived him of his morality. "The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him. The newly beaten and untied Wilfred was sniffling noisily in the background." Within Jack's group, Jack is ultimately the dictator and his followers obey him out of fear, not respect because of the terror and violence he instills in them. "Half-relieved, half daunted by the implication of further terrors, the savages murmured again."

Script:
Piggy: "Ralph! Ralph! Where are you? I.. I can't see.." *loses his glasses & has asthma attack* Ralph: "Maybe this is just in my nightmare." *hit by one of the boys* Sam: *stuck in the destroyed huts by himself Eric: *beat up & attacked by Ralph* Jack: "Where are- wait, I found them! Shh, let's go!" *invades Ralph's area, steals Piggy'ss glasses, leads the boys in attacking the others* Roger: "Jack, have you found them?!" *follows in Jack's footsteps, attacks other boys*

Anonymous vs. ISIS

     In the article “Anonymous ‘Hacktivists’ Strike At ISIS, Dozens Of Militant Recruiting Sites Knocked Offline” by Jonathan Vankin from The Inquistr, the main idea is that the Anonymous hackers threaten the horrific terrorist group ISIS. Evidence of this can be seen in a direct statement from Anonymous in which the group warns ISIS that there is no safe place online for the group. This is supported by the fact that the infamous hacker group claims to have taken a jab at the brutal “Islamic” group by taking down months of recruitment pages on Facebook. The hackers have also leaked unedited videos of ISIS members demonstrating mediocre skills with basic weaponry. The author goes on to explain who Anonymous is and gives some background information including the Anonymous self-description of its members. Anonymous describes itself as an organization of all races, genders, religions, financial positions, etc. The author portrays the group in a righteous light by stating their accomplishments which are viewed as morally just. However, he does that while establishing an overall objective tone stating purely factual information without stating their opinion. Finally, the author illustrates that the Anonymous hack attacks have waged war with ISIS by attacking several of their social media pages and exposing emails, videos, and other ISIS propaganda. 

Knowledge Is Power

Knowledge to me is defined as the skills and information an individual has acquired throughout their lives. Whether this be through experiences, or in a classroom, it’s the wisdom someone has gained. Outside of the classroom, I engage in conversations with people with different backgrounds. I have been able to get to know people from various religions, sexualities, nationalities, etc. I try to see things from different perspectives in the simplest of things, and ask why a lot. I tend to think about how my generation as a whole is doing, and why we do the things we do. Why do we enjoy certain genres of music? Why do we wear certain styles of clothes? Our slang, and even the foods we consume seem to have a trend. If we do not attempt to keep acquiring knowledge, we will conform with what we know. If we do become knowledgeable on topics other than what filters make us look on fleek, then we will stop growing as a species. We will become very susceptible to being possibly told what to do by the government or some person with power. By being knowledgeable on current topics, we gain the ability to voice our opinions in an educated manner. It helps us become more self-aware of our surroundings and our thoughts. Striving to further our knowledge allows us to answer many of our questions and to help educate the next generation. 

The Value of Music

                 “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”, Taylor Swift wrote in The Wall Street Journal. I agree with Swift in her belief of music as art. However, she fails to see that streaming services broadens the extent of her popularity in not only the music world, but in pop culture as well. When Taylor Swift pulled all of her discography from the streaming site Spotify, it sparked controversy in the music industry. Not because it left around 2 million fans disappointed and without any T-Swizzle music, but because of the reason behind her actions. I believe streaming services are an important tool to any avid music fan, and that they will replace digital sales, just as they replaced CDs, and the audio cassettes before them.

 Music artists are conflicted with their emotions. Taylor Swift was not the first artist to shun the streaming giant Spotify. Multiple artists such as Beyoncé and The Black Keys have opted to not release their albums on the streaming service. What artists are really scared of are sales in their albums dropping. And so far, their decisions of not making them available on these sites have gone in their favor. The 2013 Beyoncé by Beyoncé (which she has since allowed Spotify to play a year after its release), holds the record for fastest selling digital album with 830,000 copies sold in its first three days, while Swift’s record 1989 was the biggest selling album of 2014, recently hitting 4 million in the US alone. Having no access to them on streaming services, fans were forced to go out and buy them or to download them. However, they fail to realize millions of people illegally download their music. Studies have shown that these people also tend to be the ones subscribed to streaming sites such as Spotify and Pandora. Swift lost some 6 million dollars profit by taking her music off Spotify alone.  “It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is. I hope they don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.", Swift said during her American Music Awards acceptance speech for the Dick Clark Award of excellence. Her speech lead to many artists taking to Twitter or interviews to voice their stance on the subject. Artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé may be able to shatter records without being on streaming sites, but others aren’t as lucky. While some argued that it degraded the value of music, others believed that they served as incredible means of exposure for new emerging artists, as well as new releases from those who aren’t titans in the music business. It allows those performers’ albums, who would probably not get picked over say Ariana Grande’s or Bruno Mars’ albums, to receive some sales and exposure. I’m not saying people shouldn’t buy albums, but I believe that it’s the lesser of two evils if someone can’t afford to buy hundreds of songs.

     

Music expresses the thoughts we can’t put into words. It reflects our personalities and who we are. It lifts our spirits when we’re down, and it helps us remember those memories from years past. Music is there when you’re singing at the top of your lungs driving down the coast with friends, or after your breakup with your 8 month boyfriend. Now imagine if you could only listen to a few songs and albums all year. For those who listen to music 24/7 like I do, we wouldn’t be able to cope. Spotify is a great alternative to illegally downloading those songs you can’t afford. Not to mention the artist’s entire collection of works are accessible. I can go from listening to Uptown Funk (2014) to Vison of Love (1990), and even every single song produced by Linkin Park since their start. You could also listen to an album completely and then decide if it is worth purchasing or not. Pandora likewise offers hundreds of songs based on your preferences and broadens your music taste from just the top ten singles on iTunes. These sites give us access to millions of songs from decades and decades past, as well as the Top 40 radio hits from today.

   
I believe that music is an important part of humanity. A beat can explain an indescribable feeling, a song can hold a hundred memories, and an album can represent an important part of your life. Music has always been an immensely large part of my life, and I’m sure it’s important to most people as well. I am completely for streaming services. I do not believe that these sites will be leaving any time soon. They will become a defining part of the music industry, and they will help launch new artists to the top of the charts. The music industry will continue to evolve, and this is just one more tool that hardcore music lovers now have to keep up.

Latin Roots #7

Roots & Derivatives
1) Duc(t), Duce (to lead): Conduct, reduce, education, abduct, deductive, ductile, induction, deduce.
2) Fed(er), fide(e) (faith, trust): Federal, confidence, affidavit, infidel, bona fide, confide, confederate
3) Fine(e) (end, limit): Finish, confine, define, infinitesimal, affinity, infinity, finial
4) Flect, Flex (to bend): Deflect, reflex, reflector, flexibility, genuflect, flexor


Word List
1) Aqueduct: A large pipe or other conduit made to bring water from a great distance.
The Romans are responsible of the invention of aqueducts, which they used to transport water. 
2) Conductive: Tending to lead, help, assist, or result in.
In FFA, you must develop a conductive nature to organize a meeting by leading others. 
3) Definitive:  A completely accurate, reliable, and authoritative; decisive or conclusive.
His finger prints on the weapon used to murder the man was definitive proof that he was guilty.
4) Fidelity: A faithfulness to one's promises or obligations; steadfast faithfulness, technological faithfulness.
Adultery can also be considered infidelity for it is unfaithful. 
5) Fiduciary: An individual who holds something in trust for another; a trustee.
I made my friend my fiduciary, as she held my phone during my race.
6) Finale: A "grand" conclusion, as of a performance; the last scene of a play.
After the finale all the actors came out and took a bow during a final applause.
7) Finite: A limited or bordered by time or by any measurement; measurable.
There is no finite amount of numbers. 
8) Flexuous: Winding in and out; bending or wavering.
The young tree was quite flexuous during the storm.
9) Inducement: Anything used or given to persuade or motivate; an incentive.
With the promise of food as an inducement, I had my friends helping with chores.
10) Inflection: A slight change in tone or modulation of the voice, as in a point of emphasis. 
In an attempt to foreshadow what would happen next I changed my inflection for certain words in the story. 
11) Perfidious: Characteristic of one who would intentionally betray a faith or trust; treacherous.
Because of his perfidious nature, he had no second thoughts about spreading the rumor.
12)Traduce: To speak falsely of; to slander or defame; to disgrace another's good name; to vilify.
Our department manager called a meeting because one of our colleagues has been spreading rumors and traducing the name of our other colleagues.