Word of the week: Prolepsis, Dulcet

Prolepsis:
I have found a video that perfectly describes this word with an example.

Sherlock Holmes has an ability to 'flash-forward' and the slow-motion parts of the clip, where he throws punches basically shows when his 'flash-forwards' happens.

Source: YouTube

Dulcet:

Sources: Fine dictionary; Picture

Word of the week homework: Isocolon, coruscating

Isocolon

Coruscating

Metaphors

A rainbow of flavours - a variety of unique choices to pick from

As blind as a bat - unable to see

As quiet as a mouse - to be really quiet

Chain reaction - a chain of events which is self-amplified

He is all heartbroken - he is very sad

Keep your eyes peeled - pay attention and watch everything closely

Love is the air - love keeps you going

She has a heart of gold - she is a great person

As wise as an owl - the ultimate symbol for wisdom

Her voice is music to his ears - this implies that he feels happy each time he hears her voice

She has the heart of a lion - she's brave

You are the sun in my sky - you give me hope

Apple of my eye - this means that you cherish someone or something above all of the other people in your life

As smart as a fox - very smart

Honesty is the best policy - you should always tell the truth

SOURCE 1  SOURCE 2

Metaphors in Lithuanian

Lithuanian language has very beautiful metaphors, they are very common in literature (especially old medieval literature) and not so common in nowadays' spoken language (takes a highly educated person to use metaphors when speaking in Lithuanian, our vocabulary is mostly very casual)

Old examples:
(translations in bold)
1. 'Verkia duonytė tinginio valgoma.' A small slice of bread is crying being eaten by a lazy man
2. 'Seno vilko neapgausi.' You can't fool an old wolf

3. 'Melo trumpos kojos.' Lies have short legs
4. 'Mokslo šaknys karčios, o vaisiai saldūs.' Roots of education are bitter, but fruits are sweet
5. 'Žodis skaudesnis už lazdą.' Word - more painful than a cane
6. 'Tuščias puodas garsiai skamba.' Empty pot clangs loudly
7. 'Nekišk nosies kur nereikia.' Don't put your nose where it does not belong
8. 'Baimės akys didelės.' The eyes of fear are big 
9. 'Vilką minim – vilkas čia.' Mention a wolf - and here it is
10. 'Naktį visos katės juodos.' At night all cats are black

Word of the week homework: Epizeuxis and Cognoscenti (19/10/15)

♦ Epizeuxis

I chose my own idea for this homework. I collected some facts and quotes about epizeuxis:

♥ Epizeuxis is derived from a Greek word epizeugnumi that means “fastening together”.
♥ It is also called diacope.
♥ The major function of epizeuxis is to create an appeal for the emotions of the readers—to hit them with a bang.
♥ It is often used in motivational speeches because it is employed to inspire, encourage and motivate the audience.
♥ As a literary device, it furnishes freshness to the texts and gives artistic effect to a piece.
♥ It helps in drawing the focus to a particular thought, idea and emotion through repetition.
♥ Epizeuxis is frequently used to express strong opposition to an idea or person.

“Isn’t extraordinary that the Prime Minister of our country can’t even urge his Party to support his own position?! Yeah. Weak! Weak! Weak!”

-Tony Blair, British House of Commons, 30 January 1997.

“The rich nations and the poor nations have different responsibilities, but one responsibility we all have, and that is action. Action, action, action!”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger, United Nations General Assembly, 24 September 2007.

“I undid the lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously.”

-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” 1843.

“And my poor fool is hanged! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never!”

-William Shakespeare, “King Lear.”

“I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly.”

-Will Ferrell in Anchorman, 2004.

♣ SOURCE 1 SOURCE 2 SOURCE 3 ♣

♦ Cognoscenti
Task chosen from the grid: create a convincing, fake advert for a made up product, that use the rhetorical device and word of the week, correctly.

Cognoscenti - people who have superior knowledge and understanding of a particular field, especially in the fine arts, literature, and world of fashion.

SOURCE

*pictures were taken from google; the program used to make the advert was paint.net

Missed homework (Homework given 21/09/15)

Rhetorical devise of the week: Antithesis
Task chosen from the grid: design a test for the rhetorical term/word of the week. It must assess understanding of words and correct application.

1. Which one is the actual definition of the word 'Antithesis'?
a) A rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.
b) A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
c) An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.

2. Which one is the example of the word 'Antithesis'?
a) "Nothing you can do that can’t be done."
b) "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
c) "Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith."

3. Choose the line with synonyms of the word 'Antithesis'.
a) Colossal, tremendous, enormous.
b) Alluring, stunning, wonderful.
c) Contrast, converse, antipode.

4. Choose the line with antonyms of the word 'Antithesis'.
a) Assume, consider, guess.
b) Similar, similarity, same.
c) Critical, crucial, essential.

5. What is the function of 'Antithesis' as a word?
a) Makes contrasts in order to examine pros and cons of a subject under discussion and helps to bring forth judgement on that particular subject.
b) Creates easily memorable phrases.
c) Points out the irony in a sentence.

(You can always request the answers of the test)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Trace/find examples of adverts from 1950s - 2000 - focus on a particular product e.g. chocolate, cars, tobacco etc.

Munchmallows - 1950s

SOURCE

Maybelline magic mascara - 1960s

SOURCE

Halfords chopper bike - 1970s

SOURCE

Word of the week homework: Diacope (08/10/15)

I used my own idea for this word. I found a poem written in diacopes by Leo Marks. It's called ''The Life That I Have":

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours.

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be but a pause.

For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours and yours.

SOURCE

Homework due in on 08/10/2015

Other genres that could also be 'fantasy'

♦ Science fiction
♦ Political allegory
♦ Dystopian fiction
♦ The Gothic
♦ Magic realism

Task: find definitions/descriptors for each of these sub-genres of novels.

Science fiction: a genre of fiction dealing with imaginative content such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.

SOURCE

Political allegory: a story or painting that, on the surface, tells one tale, but has a hidden political meaning underneath. It is an extended metaphor that often uses a simple substitution of one element or symbol for another. It can cover any time and space and does not have to be limited to the native politics and time of the creator.

SOURCE

Dystopian fiction: the opposite of the utopian fiction: creation of an utterly horrible or degraded society that is generally headed to an irreversible oblivion, or dystopia.

SOURCE

The Gothic: a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror, death and Romanticism.

SOURCE

Magic realism: a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.

SOURCE

♦ Having done so:

✓ Re-read the synopsis of Frankenstein

✓ Decide the 'best-fit' for Frankenstein  The Gothic

The 'best-fit' for Frankenstein is The Gothic, because of how closely related the plot is to the actual genre. Frankenstein is filled with horror (I assume the Monster looks very hideously, to be neglected by its creator because of its looks), murder (the death of Justine, William and Henry). The whole atmosphere of the story is very dark as well, as a reader, I really wanted the Monster to be loved, but everyone mistreated him and exposed him to hatred until the poor guy couldn't take it any more and turned to vengeance (another trait of the Gothic). What's more interesting, is that there are no genuinely happy characters in the story. Everyone is either depressed or mad. Or, if they start feeling happy, few moments later their happiness is gone (when Victor marries Elizabeth and the same evening she gets killed by the Monster). So basically, the Gothic, as a genre is full of the most freaky stuff: disgusting murder scenes, incestuous relationships ('Frankenstein' can be very proud of this one) and lots more. Therefore, it is the best fit.

Reviews

MOST LOVED BOOK

My most loved text is definitely ‘Crime and Punishment’ written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The story is about a former university student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, who was forced to quit university because he spent all his money. Because of that, he was forced to live in a small flat, which really bruised his ego as he thinks of himself very highly. Bankruptcy pushed him to the point where he had to sell his dead father’s watch, for which he expected to get a lot of money, but unfortunately, he only got a few roubles for it, which bruised his ego even more. So the lack of money pushed him to committing a serious crime – murder. Raskolnikov created a very detailed plan and murdered the woman who bought his precious watch from him. Unfortunately, the woman’s sister came into the room at the same time, so Raskolnikov ended up killing her as well. The whole action takes place in the very first 100 pages of the book, the rest of the book is about his emotions, intentions and feelings after the crime. At the end, he ends up confessing to the police anyway, even though he was hesitating for so long. 

The thing I like most about this book are the protagonist’s monologues, which are full of doubts, hesitations and very complicated intentions. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if Raskolnikov is a positive or a negative character, because some of his actions were really kind, apart from the killings.

MOST HATED BOOK

I just couldn’t stand reading ‘The Forest of the Gods’ by Balys Sruoga. This book is based on real facts happening in the XX century during the WWII. It’s basically a diary of one of the prisoners that was sent into a concentration camp in Auschwitz.  The main character is the author himself, telling stories about the prisoners and other people in the camp. The atmosphere of the story is so dark, it makes you feel horrible as you’re reading it. I don’t think that the majority of people could enjoy reading about how men kill each other in prison straight up or beat each other to death. For example, if a fight happens in the camp, none of the staff cares about it. They just let the weak ones get beaten up to dead and some of the higher-ups even enjoy watching it happen. The author tried to implement some sarcasm as well as irony to soften the brutal stories, but it still didn’t convince me it was a worth-to-read book, even if the ironic bits were constructed nicely. I guess I could say that grotesque is really not my thing. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy WWII books, though.

READING AUTOBIOGRAPHY

CLASSIC BRITISH DETECTIVE FICTION
1. Christie, Agatha. ''The Thirteen Problems''. Collins Crime Club. 1981.

A NOVEL TRANSLATED FROM ANOTHER LANGUAGE
1. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. ''Crime and Punishment''. The Russian Messenger. 1866. (RUSSIAN)
2. Šeinius, Ignas. ''Kuprelis''. 1913. (LITHUANIAN)
3. Sruoga, Balys. ''The Forest of the Gods''. 1957. (LITHUANIAN)
4. Granauskas, Romualdas. ''Gyvenimas po klevu''. 1988. (LITHUANIAN)

TRAGEDIES BY SHAKESPEARE
1. Shakespeare, William. ''Hamlet''. 1603.
2. Shakespeare, William. ''Romeo and Juliet''. 1597.

A GOTHIC NOVEL, PLAY OR POEM
1. Byron, Gordon, George. ''Cain''. 1821. (play)
2. Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann. ''Faust''. 1808. (play)

A BEST-SELLING DEBUT NOVEL
1. Golding, William. ''Lord of the Flies''. Faber and Faber. 1954.

***
AMBITIONS

SEPTEMBER ~ Poetry by a poet laureate
OCTOBER ~ A comicl novel
NOVEMBER ~ Poetry written after 1900
DECEMBER ~ A novel by an American writer