Status Update - Programming

• So far, my group and I have completed several lessons via kahnacademy.org and it is going very well. I'm already starting to think more like a programmer on a daily basis.
• I feel that we need to cover a lot more material in the time remaining. We have only just scratched the surface, and I want to dive deeper into the wonders of the computer language.
• This work is primarily for myself. I signed up for this group to enhance my skills in programming for my college courses. However, I am going to begin talking to Ian and his group about helping with the production of their video game.

Plan to Program

• Goal: To become familiar with Python 3.2.3 before the beginning of my fall semester at UC Berkeley (CS 61A)
• I am currently using the "Khan Academy Tutorial" in Computer Science to help point me in the right direction. Additionally, my friend, Ian May, is guiding me along the fundamentals of programming simultaneously.
• So far, I have completed a couple lessons and plan to continue my progress until I have finished the entire tutorial. Once this is done, I will further my studies with my peers and continue to search for more databases to expand my knowledge. 
• My presentation will consist of basic processes in the Python language. This way, I can not only show that I can do fundamental actions, but I can also instruct my classmates.

AP Plan - As a whole

Preparing for the test has been beneficial for me in a lot of ways. Although I'm not taking the exam next week, I continue to take part in the practices held in class. I have learned how to study for exams with peers in the future, and I am touching up on my memory of the literary terms. Out of everything we have gone over in the past week or so, I feel that the literary terms will support my studies the greatest in my future college studies. Knowing the fundamental literary terms is absolutely necessary at the university level.

4/30 AP Exam Studying Progress

Today's discussion opened my eyes to a few techniques for taking the AP exam. Trevor and I read online that your time would be put to better use if you were to read the passage once, slowly. This way, the reader is capable of taking as much of the information from the passage as possible, and they won't have to reference the text as often to answer the questions. Also, in order to ensure getting to all the easy questions to maximize your point potential, it is important to take only one minute per question. Instead of being caught up on the difficult questions that you might miss, use your time wisely and attack the easier questions first.

A Reflection on Unstructured Learning

Simply by waiting, Nite Owl learned what to name himself. This passage taught me a prominent lesson in life; if you're ever in distress, wait it out. In referencing Stephen King's collection of short stories, Everything's Eventual, this message is universal. Nite Owl, the protagonist of the passage, clearly states that he has struggled to come up with ideas for his costume/name for a decent amount of time. Instead of searching frantically for an answer, he simply waited and the answer came to him. Every question you have will be answered in time, I believe. I think that this idea is the central theme of the passage.

AP Plan Experience

After analyzing the questions for the practice AP exam, I noticed a few things that I need to improve on. Typically when I take multiple choice tests, I choose to skim the passage and then answer the easier questions quickly to maximize my point potential. However, as I read more AP questions, I noticed that the exam is asking questions based on the passage as a whole. For example, "Taken as a whole, the poem is described as...," is a common question in the majority of the passages supplied. So, in order to perform well on the AP Exam, I think that I need to enhance my test taking habits.

Macbeth Essay Questions

1) Prose Essay Prompt - 1983 :   Thomas Carlyle’s “Work”:  Examine how he uses language to convince the reader of the rightness of his position.


 - This prompt could be shaped to fit Macbeth's character perfectly. Examine how Macbeth uses language to convince the reader of the rightness of his position on murdering.


2) Prose Essay Prompt - 2010 :   Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda (1801): The narrator provides a description of Clarence Harvey, one of the suitors of the novel’s protagonist, Belinda Portman. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze Clarence Hervey’s complex character as Edgeworth develops it through such literary techniques as tone, point of view, and language.


 - This prompt is ideal for analyzing Macbeth as a dynamic character. Throughout the play, there is no direct characterization of Macbeth, so literary techniques are absolutely vital in the characterization of this protagonist.


3) Open Essay Prompt - 1973  :   An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes.
In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of
significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault.  A
satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense;
significant closure may require to the reader to abide with or adjust to
ambiguity and uncertainty.  In an essay discuss the end of a novel or play
of acknowledged literary merit.  Explain precisely how and why the ending
appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work.  Do not merely
summarize the plot.

 - This prompt is, what I think to be, the most fitting to Macbeth as a play. Throughout the play, Macbeth is constructing his downfall, and this prompt gives the writer a perfect opportunity to analyze and interpret why Shakespeare ended the play in a tragic manner.