I want a vote.

I can give you the final as a take home test tomorrow and make it due on next Thursday (16 Dec 2010), or I'll just include it with the homework packet for Winter Break.  BTW, the homework packet is already REALLY LONG.
Which will it be?
I want a vote of at least 10 people leaving a comment here or else I'll just decide for you, and you bet I'll choose the harder choice.

FUNNEL BRAIN!!

Since I get email updates from FunnelBrain, I got this extremely AWESOME email telling me about ACADEC. It's basically an online scrimmage, for FREE. :O Yes, that's right, they analyze your score with other Acadecians, for FREE. :O

Just go to this link right here: http://www.funnelbrain.com/cad/

Take one of the tests, analyze your score, and take a look at your areas of improvement.

YAY! I was super excited. . . as you can tell :D

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

-Vanisha(:

Update on the essays

So apparently there's a limit on how long a comment can be;
Sorry about that.
So instead of posting it as a comment,
Just go ahead and e-mail it to me,
And I'll post it on the language and literature page [link].
Which means you'll have to go there to read everyone else's essays and study off of them!
Ciao. :3
Seewah

New Deal Projects, Agencies, etc.

I was thinking about how I still don't know all of the acts; very sad story. D:
Soooo, I went and searched and looked at these websites:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/new_deal.htm
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/tp/new_deal_programs.htm
http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/money_13.html

I found it interesting; weird. I'm hoping the social science group will post the actual acts that we need to know, though. How many did they say there was? ..15 or something like that. And do we need to know the federal agencies too? I shall find that out.
Anyways, have a good 4-day weekend!

Yay for Four Day Weekends!

I'm sorry, I just HAD to add this picture.
It's Aizen from Bleach!
Pfft!

Now we get to sleep all we want, right?
Don't forget to do my homework though! Again, a here a [link] to the blog you have to post your homework on.  I'm postponing the due date to midnight between Saturday  and Sunday.  Anything late [that starts 12:01 am on Sunday, November the 14th!] will get 5 points reduction for each day.  The homework is worth 35 points (I know I said 50 to some of you guys earlier-- I changed it, okay?).




Right-o. Well, the real reason why I wanted to blog was because I saw some interesting parallels to Acadec-ish related information in some stuff I was browsing through.
First, a quote:

"Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

What does Emerson have anything to do with the Great Depression?  The novel!  You know, the theme, the Over-Soul? Yeah, Steinbeck got that from Emerson!
I'll be going over themes post-scrimmage, so... too bad if that's going to be on the scrimmage tests, you should just read the entire Lang & Lit section from the test.

Ummm!
Oh, yes.
Second: videos.
Okay, so here's Vigilante Man by Woody Guthrie, which I played for you guys at the end of Tuesday's lesson.  If you remember, Woody Guthrie did the "So long, it's been good to know you" song from the CD.

I played this video because of the reference to Jim Casy in the verse around 1:50.

Here's the new video I wanted you to watch:

For those who didn't know, university students in England were protesting new government policy: a rise in tuition by nearly three times, and a reduction in government funding by 40%.  Mr. Callahan brought it up during Econ class, for those in his period 5 gold class.  Here's the [article] I got this video from.

Can you see the parallel I'm trying to make?  If I were you, I'd spend some time reflecting on whether or not strikes are "good", etc.  You never know, could be one of the essay topics.  Also, spend time reflecting on the role of strikes and how they have shaped our society today, and whether or not they are as effective today as they were in the 1930s.

And lastly, because I put on Woodie Guthrie, I just GOT to put on his son, the beloved Arlo Guthrie.  I grew up with this guy-- friggin' hilarious :)


It's a three-part video.  You gotta watch all of it, 'kay? ^^
Funni, funni stuff xD
Once you watch it, you will get half of my humor when I start speaking in funny voices during Pre-Calculus class...

Next Week's Presentations: Postone for Scrimmage practice?

Ok, so Ms. Kelly wants to know if you guys want to do tests from Demidec to practice for scrimmage.

This would mean that we would give up all lessons next week and do tests instead.

I'm willing to do this, since really you guys should have the basics,

Rebecca (art) says that she and Emily haven't presented all the basics yet but they're not presenting this week anyways so what does it matter.

What about you guys?

I've sent out e-mails to group leaders.
Please answer ASAP because Ms. Kelly needs to know if she's going to make copies!

Danks

Old Lang and Lit HW: The One Due 09 Nov 2010. Answers.

So, only 8 or so people turned it in, which makes me really disappointed.  It's really not that much.  Here's an answer that got full credit:

The Grapes of Wrath portrays humanity as part of a universal soul.  People must be unified in order to be strong.  Industrialization seems to dehumanize people, as it pits man against man for a steady wage and replaces people and animals with machinery.  The migrants' wrath is justified because it was brought about by the "evil" companies that took away everything that the migrants had.  The migrants bring about revolution by unionizing and demanding their rights.

That's only five sentences.  I graded based on clarity, effort, understanding, and whether or not the questions were answered.
Because such a small percentage of the class actually did their homework, please expect me to be harsher in grading the next homework assignments.

Below, I've given some examples of pretty okay answers to the questions.  They're paraphrased, so bear with the choppy grammar.  I'm also not done grading, so not everyone's awesome answer has been included.  I'll edit this post some more later... probably on Thursday.

How does Grapes of Wrath portray humanity?

"Humanity as something that is based on how we act in accordance to changing times... Casy leads the strike...to preserve human values... possibility of machines overtaking the human race because we acted as slaves to the machines... how easy it is to become inhuman through the hardships..."
-Richie

"Humanity as naturally holy... connects to the concept of the Over-Soul... when you connect to the natural world, you connect with humanity... people as at first good but then later corrupted by society and dehumanized... migrants are able to sympathize with each other because they know how the poor around them feel... the Over-Soul and holiness can only be reached when people gather together in unity... society not united and unable to reach holiness."
-Tsina Bing

"Humanity is portrayed as the quest for the Promised Land... and also the Garden of Eden before the fall of humankind...."
-Delia-chan!

In what way is industrialization at odds with this view of mankind?
"Industrialization leads to dehumanization... [people] become meaner to each other and choose to themselves.  They are already disconnected to the Over-Soul and choose to continue to be disconnected..."
-Such.A.Rita.Yellow.Prada

Is the migrants' wrath justified?
"[Yes] because it was brought about by the "evil" companies that took away everything that the migrants had."
-Bikachu

"... justified because they were treated like crap... noble and justified because their wrath is a good anger that inspires them to change things for the better."
-SY (again)

Just watched "V is for Vendetta" and now feel like blogging.

Now I know what people mean when they say that movie is a classic.  I mean.  I mean.  Like WOAH.  It was so good, I nearly cried (no nasty jokes).  I don't know if I can focus on my homework anymore.  Thank you, Mr. Eayrs for telling us to watch it for homework!  And thank you, Nancy, for lending it to Rebecca and me!  I am forever indebted to you!

Here, a gift:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6HbZXI9Y0&feature=related

I would embed it in the blog, but all clips have disabled embedding.  WHY?!?

Anyway, to somehow tie all this to Academic Decathlon...

1. Don't forget to do my homework.  Here, a [link] to the exact blog that I assigned the homework in.

2. Read Studs Terkel's Oral History excerpt in the USAD guide.  See my previous blog post for the video I posted.  Please watch it; that guy says a lot of great stuff.

3. A thoughtful rant from me....

So, reading about people in the USAD guide, going to that lecture at SacState, watching documentaries and interviews of everything, and all of the other things that I've been doing to prepare for the Academic Decathlon has really been getting me thinking that this was the era where truly inspiring people formed from the mire.  Frank Lloyd Wright, Studs Terkels, Billie Holiday-- these are all people that have really shaped society.  After they were seen, known, acknowledged by the public, our world was really never the same.  But this isn't something spectacular-- lives are changed everyday, without us even noticing.  There are so many amazing people, that it's nothing special.  That doesn't mean the world is dull, mundane, exaggerated.  No, this is an understatement of just how wondrous our world is.  I guess I'm just noticing this because I watched this video on vimeo about how certain people influence society and create trends.  It really doesn't have anything to do with what I'm saying, but I guess I'll post it here for the hell of it:

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Anyway, the point of all this was: when you read the USAD guide, when you complete Academic Decathlon homework, when you watch related documentary, don't treat this as if it was just information.  Information that's going to be tested on.  Information that you think has nothing to do with your life, is inapplicable, and that you just have to memorize to win a medal so that the colleges will be impressed when they see your resume.  There are lessons, concepts, universal truths to be learned here.  Think with a broader perspective.  Embrace the knowledge with your mind, heart, and soul.  I know this sounds super corny, but I think we students at SECA really need to learn that.

So, get cracking, have a wonderful night full of homework, and if you haven't watched V for Vendetta-- what are ya waitin' for? Get to it!

Studs Terkel

Check your guides for more about him. As you (should) know, he won the Pulitzer Prize and is also well-known for his oral histories.  We look specifically into the oral histories of Caesar Chavez and EY Harburg.
He actually died recently (2008).
Here's a few pictures of him:

This one's in the guide.

Anyway, this is just a preview for tomorrow.  Ben will be presenting, so listen closely!  Read the excerpt from the Oral History, and the info from the guide.

Finally, a Youtube vid:



Don't forget, homework due tomorrow!  Other assignment due later on this week!

"Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." 

       -- Frank Lloyd Wright

What did Frank Lloyd Wright mean by that? I have noo idea.  Just thought it was interesting that an Acadec artists guy came up in a quotes gadget I have on iGoogle.
Did Becca ever find that documentary of FLW? No, because you have to buy it.
So, if you ever want to splurge a few dollars for the sake of the class, look for the Ken Burns Documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright.
In the meantime, here's a clip from it:

Seewah-chan desu ne! Language and Literature homework for the Sophomores.

Due on November 9,2010:
Answer the following questions:

How does Grapes of Wrath portray humanity?  In what way is industrializationat oddswiththis view of mankind?  Is the migrants' wrath justified?  How do the migrants bring about a revolution?

Details: You could write 4 very long sentences to answer this question. However, I don't recommend it.
Hint: These questions (and their answers) are in a guide.  Not necessarily the USAD guide, but a guide.


Due by midnight, Friday November 11 (the midnight between Thursday and Friday):
Go on Demidec, click on "Essay" under Subjects, then click on "100 Essay topics".
You guys are each assigned one of these topics, to be posted as a comment on THIS blog.
Do the essay prompt according to your number listed below:

1. Tsina!!!
2. Vanisha
3. Jorelyn.
4. Sandra
5. Joey
6.Josephine
7. Priya
8. Karen
9. Daryl
10. Nico
11. Sucharita
12. Emily
13. Becca
14. Delia
15. Andrew
16. Matthew
17. Richard
18. Aldo
19. Jasmine
20. Vanessa
21. Christian
22. Anissabel

PLEASE do a good job on this and don't leave it until the last minute!  It will be a study guide to the class for scrimmage! Use as many resources as you can (since you have them available to you, fufufuuu) and even ask this as a tutorial question! I don't care! Just do a good job :D

BTW, look at the "Language and Literature" page for a heads-up about next week.
Ciao!
-seewah..:3

Music :D

Study your crosswords for the test we told you about last week!

*Keep reviewing your notes from previous presentations as well...who knows, maybe this week Vanisha will test you on them. Just putting that out there!

Herro again! Ish Seewah, Again. This time about Econ.

Sorry if I'm stepping on your guys' toes.  I just like sharing information, and I really don't want to do my other homework right now. :D
Right so, here's my excuse for blogging again.
Remember that question that came up on Monday, about why intermediate goods are not included in the measurement of GDP? Well, I've been rewriting my notes while using the Demidec Econ Power Guide (that thing is a godsend.  Like seriously, clear as friggin' day and has wonderful examples.  Econ group should use it as a resource when presenting!!!) and here's what it says...
(well actually, this is what I've rewritten in my notes...)

Finals goods- goods which are consumed, not used to produce anything else.

intermediate goods- goods which are used to produce other goods.  Not counted in GDP cuz that would be "double-counting".  Value of intermediate goods should be reflected in the market value of final goods.

Kay? So stop flippin', yo!  Those apples that were originally sold for consumption but used to make juice to sell will be taken out of the "final goods" category and thus taken out of the GDP calculation.
Not that a crate of apples or two will make much of a difference...

Anyway, now that THAT'S out of the way, I just wanna mention the statistic that made me want to blog.
Page 83 of the power guide:
1. In 2009, US had the highest nominal GDP ($14.3 million)
To this, I went YAY! We're number one still! But then--
2. In 2009, US had a per capita GDP of $46,381 (making us 6th in the world).
I was like SAY WHAA?!

LOL. Yeah, just a bit Seewah-silliness.
Ciao, now!

 

Remember my question from the last music lesson...

"What's the difference between an ostinati and a motif?"

Vani, I took the liberty of checking it out myself.

The answer (found from wikipedia):
An ostinati IS a motif.

 An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in itself.

A classical music example:
The basso continuo part from Pachelbel's Canon in D.
Riffs are ostinato's.  Think "Iron Man" by  Black Sabbath: (<-- click for link to youtube)

This chord progression is repeated over and over again.


Thahnks por reading!
-Seewah.

History Study Guide

Sarah requested that this was uploaded, but I don't think the social science group saw this, so I shall post the terms and whatnot.

Keynesianism

mature capitalism

Adolf Berle (1 of the chief critics of big businesses)

Harry Bridges --> San. Fran. General Strike

American Liberty League

corporate liberalism

Farm Credit Act of June (1933)

United Council of Working-Class Women (UCWCW)

End Poverty in California (EPIC)

"share our wealth"

"soak-the-rich"

There ya go! I hope someone actually reads this..

Request for the history section!

I forgot to write down the whole list of terms you wanted us to study;
so could you post them here on the blog?
Danks, would be mucho appreciated! :D

BTW, Just a reminder guys.
Literature section isn't presenting this week either.
Sarhaa!

The Music Group...AGAIN!

since we "unexpectedly" did not present today, you shall receive your corrected crosswords and tests NEXT wednesday. if you have an extremely, extremely, extremely urgent question, please do ask us! if not, you'll bother us anyway -.- I dont know if anyone reads these posts but I'm (vanisha) always the one posting these. so if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about previous posts, presentations, or powerpoints you would like uploaded to snapgrades, please contact me or comment on this! ..I'm thinking about uploading the ppts either way.

p.s. it bothers me that many of you don't ask questions...*looking at your test scores* please, ASK!

A word from the Music Group...

there will be a test!

we changed our minds.

deal with it.

ok have fun!

Art test is today!

Okay, so I'm just blogging cuz I'm waiting to go to school.
Ganbatte, minna!
-^_^-

Update on Music

If you check out the "Music" page, you'll see the updates.

If you're too lazy to click the "Music" link, hint hint: there's no BIG music test anymore.

If you want more details, stop being lazy and click "Music" at the top of this page.

If you -- bye bye :D

Hello, Children.

Just in case you weren't aware, I edited the blog a bit (a lot) so... go check everything fully!
Lieutenants, PLEASE write stuff on your sections! I feel so lonelyyy... TT_TT
Kay, that's it for me.


BTW, guys.  I'm thinking about reverting back to homework for Language and Literature.
It's nothing hard, just that I want you to take notes from certain slides of the Novel powerpoint on demidec.
Do enough of you have regular internet access so that you do the homework?
Or rather, do enough of you have Microsoft PowerPoint (2007, i think)?
Let me know.

TPTBTP

Here's the link to TPTBTP!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1119800966783091956#

-Enjoy the loooong 25 minutes of black and white film :D
Keep listening to those listening selections! I want you singing them in your sleep!

Updates from today, 16 Sept 2010

Just a reminder, try not to give a lot of homework.  I suggest creating a syllabus to let everyone know ahead of time what sections to read for that particular day's lesson.  At least, that's what my group, Language and Literature, is doing.  Other groups should be rethinking how they're presenting.
Besides that, there isn't much to say.  Becca volunteered to help out the SuperQuiz group.  I can help the music group with terminology and stuff.  Want advice on how you should change things up? Just leave a comment or e-mail me or something.

Kay, well what I REALLY wanted to say was that Demidec has some really great new material up right now.
Powerpoints for art, econ, and a few other subjects.
All resource and power guides.
Even Jeopardy games on each subject, plus Mixed Jeopardy games.  I think we will find these particularly useful when we study during the winter.

Can I think of anything else to mention? Let's see...
You should have your speeches more or less figured out ASAP.  Make it humorous.

I know a whole bunch of us had a lot of announcements at the end of class.
I forgot pretty much all of them so leave a comment saying what it was.
Danks.

Updates for next week, From Seewah.

Monday:
Art: Presentation is due.  As far as I know, this is a 1-2 minute presentation.  I will ask Rebecca and Em for more specifications to post.

Tuesday:
Lang & Lit Homework due.  Depending on what group you are in, you either had to read Barn Burning or you had to do MY homework (point out things like theme, motif, symbolism, imagery, characterization, Steinbeck POV, etc. from Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5-8).
History Test on section 1.  They gave a study guide on the board.  I would post it here, but I'm too lazy so it's your fault for not copying it down.

Wednesday:
Music They will be checking your listening logs for the first two songs.  There is that video you were supposed to have watched on google vids, The Plow that Broke the Plain [Wow, I only remembered that because of TPTBTP].
Math There is a test.  They already gave a study guide for this.

Thursday:
Superquiz The homework they assigned this time was to draw the rock cycle (see p. 19).  There will also be a retake test... I think.
Speech/essay/interview Well since Ms. Kelly wasn't here today to check our topics, I'm pretty sure they'll due next week.

That's my understanding for the schedule this coming week.  Other groups, please comment if I got something or you would like something added.
About the possiblity of making powerpoints available here on the blog... I have been looking for ways; I still gotta mess with things a bit and see if I can add that feature here.  If not, well then we'll just get a flickr account or something! :3  Although the district won't allow us to access THAT on campus...
Which reminds me, this site IS now accessible to student computers on campus.  Or, that's what Ms. Kelly told me.
If any of you guys want to post something, just let me know! I can give you the password (if I like you ;D) or you can e-mail it to me at xxxmizfrazelle@gmail.com
Ciao!

PS OMGEE THIS ANIME IS SHOOO KAWAAII! All must watch ^_^
Honey and Clover

Updates from Ms. Kelly! ^^

Here is the information for the AcaDec Bootcamp:

When:    July 19-23
Time:    9:00 - 12:00
Where:  SECA - AVID Room

We will concentrate on literature, speeches, and interviews.  Are you all thinking about your speech topics?!?!?  Have you been reading The Grapes of Wrath?!?!  Bring your books!

Attendance is not mandatory, but I do encourage you to attend.  Maybe we can work something out in regards to extra credit for attending?  I'm open to talking about that.

Jorelyn has your email addresses so she is sending out this email for me.  Please respond to me at: skelly@stockton.k12.ca.us to let me know if you plan on attending.  I don't have a list of people who are in the class yet, so I'm counting on all of you to pass the word along.

I'm looking forward to a great, winning year.  This will be a good kick off! 

Thanks,
Ms. Kelly

Little Miss "Jackrabbit " again, commenting on Art pieces

Basically, I finished my History final, so I got nothin' to do.  Hence the blog. Anyways, if you look at the Art Outline on usad.org, they have links to pictures of the art pieces.
Heyy... look at Nico... he just asked to go to the restroom. [^^]
Okay, back to what I was saying.
They have links to the art pieces on the Outline... I'll list 'em here for ya eventually, but here's the first one:

Diego M. Rivera: Detroit Industry, South Wall. It's a fresco. The site is pretty cool... you scroll over the painting and it zooms in for ya! I'm amusing myself with it currently... (Can you tell how bored I am?)
Hey, Detroit Industry is apparently a huge room... and there's also a North, East, and West wall, all done by Diego Rivera!  Waddaya know! So, now to find out what the heck the Detroit Industry is...
Okay, from Wikipedia:

It is apparently a fresco of 27 panels by Rivera, considered his greatest work. It depicts the Ford Motor Company... the North and South walls feature inventions by Ford, although inventions of other natures are depicted... the point is that all actions and ideas are one.  Rivera was a Marxist; critics marked this work as propaganda [when is art not propaganda? Well, except for dadaism... but even that's propaganda of a sort]... called it "vulgar", "un-American", and "blasphemy".

Ms. Schulz is mad at the people who keep talking. "I'm just going to start taking points off.  Ten percent every time." Oh well, sucks for them.

As usual, NPR has done a great article on the Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera.  Here's the link, and I guess I'll include a few highlights here:

Rivera, a Mexian muralist, was commissioned by Henry Ford's son, Edsel, and the president of the company in 1932.  Painting the frescoes lasted from June 1932-  March 1933.  People didn't like the paintings for several reasons (race, religion, porn, etc.)

Anyways, check out the picture and stuff.  For the people in the History Period 4 Gold Class: good luck! The test is wicked easy.
Ciao! -Seewahchu! [^3^]o0(<3)

4 Youtube clips of the Great Depression music selection

"St. Louis Blues" by W.C. Handy
This version is done by Louis Armstrong, sung Velma Middleton...


Lead Belly sings "Midnight Special"


George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"
Quality isn't the greatest, so let me know if you find a better video of this...


Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail"


Any last notes? Let's see....
1. Ms. Kelly is planning the Boot Camp.  It's completely out of our hands. So don't take any ideas to me anymore. [^^]
2. There are 10 more songs on the music selection list, but I already included "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" (as sung by Rudy Vallee) earlier, so there's 9 more that I'll post up.
3. School's almost over, so there's not much to say... I guess I'll tell you guys what I'm doing to prep over the summer:

-Read Grapes of Wrath a few times (with my Spark Notes in hand).

-Watch "Grapes of Wrath", "Gold Diggers of 1933", and any other 1930s movies I find interesting.

-Watch a whole bunch of documentaries about the Great Depression.

-Borrow (and read) a bunch of books about the history and economics of the Great Depression.

-Listen to the music a gajillion times.

-Read the shorter selections from the Language & Literature selections.

-Research the art pieces and popular artists of the era. (Hopefully, if there are any relevant art galleries nearby, I'll get to visit them, since my parents'll be bored this summer anyway).

-Read the Economics Basic Guide (and understand it).

-And whatever else I can.

4. Anything else?

Fighting to get a word in.

Gawsh. You save the farm, walk behind the barn to get something done, only to come back to the crops to see a whole bunch of jack rabbits harvesting off what little you had!

MY BLOG, JACK RABBIT!

Just kidding, but there's been a massive Seewah explosion of updates as of late, so I was a-feelin' a bit like some squatter come and squatted me off my here property.

Oh, and 'Happy Birthday', you vain jack rabbit you! To those who don't know, I bought her a cactus. I know: best big sister present EVER!


So the plan for the rest of the school year (the whole two class periods we have) will be spent watching the Henry Fonda version of The Grapes of Wrath. So be excited for that! And of you hate movies spoiling books, read the 6000 pages left to read so you won't be corrupted!

Summer & Sickness, Break & Birthdays!

Well that's the first time I've tried to be creative with a blog title...
'Kay, well, most urgent business first:

Today is my birthday!


Please, feel free to shower me with love and money.  ESPECIALLY THE LATTER.  AND PRESENTS (I like bubble bath, the computer game "Fate", shiny things, chapstick, and paid library debts).  Actually, I've posted the message more or less everywhere... my own blog, facebook, you name it. You know how vain I am when it comes to all things concerning, well... me. [;3]
Okay, now down to business!
We have planned more or less nothing concerning our Academic Decathlon boot camp.  This is because one) this year has been crazy busy with... stuff, two) we have to take our new coach into consideration, three) Dr. Swartzer is still figuring out the schedule for her math summer program, and four) we're all a little lazy. BTW, sorry again for the last-minute calling, then last-minute cancelling, of the last meeting.  So: next week, I'll get together with the coaches, call a meeting, and we'll figure everything out.  For reals.  We also somehow need to get the e-mails of all the potential Acadecians (or Decathletes, whatever) and e-mail them the link to this blog, since for some reason nobody has asked about it on the school newspaper, website, etc.?


BY THE WAY, Emily is down with swine flu or something (kidding, but she is sick) so root for her to get better. Don't know if she'll be well enough to get to school in 5 hours [I really should go to sleep now, shouldn't I?], but if she can't make it, extend your condolences that not only did she miss out on my surprise birthday party cake yesterday, she won't make it to the semi-formal dance.


Remember guys: study hard, keep your hormones under control, and DON'T run on campus!
(LOL, I love "Baby, It's Fact" by Hellogoodbye).
Ciao! -Seewahchu!o0(<3)

On the other hand...

May 18 ACADEC meet to plan the summer thing is cancelled.  As it turns out, although I only wanted to discuss what topics we wanted to focus on and what methods we were going to do that, Ms. Kelly wanted me to contact her ahead of time because yeah.  So I'll call another meeting some other time.
Ciao~Seewah-chu! [^.^]o0(<3)

Great Depression: Music, Art, and Literature pieces

MUSIC
1. "Midnight Special", as sung by Lead Belly
2. Gershwin- "I Got Rhythm"
3. Ellington- "Cotton Tail"
4. Irving Berlin- "Cheek to Cheek", as sung by Fred Astair
5. "Brother Can You Spare a Dime", as sung by Rudy Vallee
6. Woody Guthrie- "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You"
7. Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet
8. Aaron Copeland's Piano Variations
9. Virgil Thompson- "The Plow that Broke the Plains"
10. Marc Blitzstein- "The Cradle Will Rock"
11. Revuelta- "Ocho Por Radio"
12. Willia Grant Still- "Afro-American Symphony"

ART (Includes paintings, sculpture, photos, & architecture)
1. South Wall of a Mural Depicting Detroit Industry, Diego Rivera, 1932–33
2. Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, Aaron Douglas, 1934
3.Tenement, George Biddle, 1935
4. The Riveter, Ben Shahn, 1938
5. Muse of Music, Dance, Drama, George Stanley, 1938–1940
6. Negro Barbershop Interior, Atlanta, Walker Evans, 1936
7. Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, Dorothea Lange, 1936
8. Contrasting No. 331 East 39th Street with Chrysler Building and Daily News Building, Manhattan, Berenice Abbott, November 8, 1938
9. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, Ansel Adams, 1941
10. Empire State Building, Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, New York City, 1931
11. Hoover Dam, Gordon Kaufmann, et al., Nevada-Arizona Border, 1931–36
12. Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bear Run, Pennsylvania, Designed 1935, Built 1936–39
13. Winona, Sears Honor-Bilt Home, Available from 1913–40, 1930s Catalog Version.
14. American Gothic, Grant Wood, 1930
15. Cow’s Skull with Calico Roses, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1931
16. Departure of the Joads, from The Grapes of Wrath, Thomas Hart Benton, 1939
17. And the Migrants Kept Coming, Jacob Lawrence, 1940–41
18. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942
*Links to a picture of each piece are available on the outline*
 
LITERATURE
Novel: Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
Short Selections:
1.Studs Terkel, Selection from Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, E. Y. “Yip” Harburg and César Chávez
2. Meridel LeSueur, “Women on the Breadlines”
3. Zora Neale Hurston, “The Gilded Six-Bits” (1933)
4. William Faulkner, “Barn Burning”
5. Carl Sandburg, Excerpt from The People, Yes
6. Langston Hughes, “Let America Be America Again”

_________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________

Other guides are also available.  According to the Math outline, it looks like this years math competition will be very easy (only Algebra 1 and Trigonometry).  Remember that this year's Super Quiz topic is Science, specifically Geology. 

If anyone wants to read ahead about the history of the Great Depression, Ms. Schulz has her AP US History available in her room and has given permission for us to use it for ACADEC purposes.  I'd like to see if we can make copies of the chapters we'll need to read, but if we can't... oh well. ;)

PBS has a pretty good history series going on right now, with a collection on the 1930s (here's the link to the collection, available to watch for free online).  Topics include the Crash of 1929, the Hurricane of 1938, Seabiscuit, Hoover Dam, New Deal policy, the Dust Bowl, and the hoboes who rode the trains.  Dr. Swartzer may or may not be playing these videos in class in the next few days.

National Public Radio (npr.org) usually has some good clips that discuss musical pieces in detail (like how I found "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" and left a link one or two blogs ago).
 
If you guys have any questions, just leave it in the comment box and I'll get to it eventually.  I also plan on gradually doing a blog on all the music pieces, and a few of the art and literature pieces.
Now, Psychology class is about to start, so see you guys later.
Ciao~ Sewah-chu! [^.^]o0(<3)
(BTW, root for me everyone! I made a bet with Takehiko and Shin that I can stay away from manga and anime until the end of school.  Super suffering from withdrawal right now... must resist the temptation! >.<)

New ACADEC Schedule + Announcement

There will be no 5th periods on May 18th, 20th, 25th, and 27th because Dr. Swartzer's UOP classes are done so she can be with us in the morning again.

Also, those who are participating in Academic Decathlon next year and plan on attending the summer "boot camp": see me in Ms. Kelly's room (or somewhere nearby) on May 18th during Lunch.  Otherwise I'll just choose a few that I trust to do the planning with me then post the schedule on the blog.

Check out usad to see updates on the Great Depression Curriculum. I'm pretty sure the new Resource Guides have been written and are up for sale; we informed Mr. Hall about it, so I'm sure he's in the process of buying copies. In the meantime, it looks like the specific music, art, and literature pieces have been chosen and can be seen on the outlines on the link above SO GO VISIT IT.  I'll clearly make a blog on them later.

Stay in school and don't do drugs. Ciao!

3 Depression Era Songs (from Seewah)

This page gives lyrics to 3 prominent songs of the era that will probably be included in the songs list when the materials are released:

1. "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" Lyrics by Yip Harpburg, Music by Jay Gorney
The two popular versions, sung by Bing Crosby

and Rudy Vallee

I listened to a pretty good deconstruction of the music on NPR.  Very detailed...


2. "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries,"lyrics by Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson

Again, Rudy Vallee and Bing Crosby have their versions of it, but I like this the best...
As sung by Jack Hylton


I can't find much background info, so do me a favor a look into this one and e-mail me what you find. Danke! ^^

3. "We're In the Money" Lyrics by Al Dubin, Music by Harry Warren
This song is from the music "Gold Diggers of 1933".  Here's the clip from the film:

This page does a pretty good job telling you about the movie...

Watch the movie
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZws4r7IQPk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gGVryQDvv4&feature=related.

_______________________________________________________________________

Well, darlings, that's all for now. Don't forget, you can always do research on your own, type up a blog, and e-mail it to me. Keep up with reading Grapes of Wrath; we'll be focusing on that during the summer break (it'll be more of a open discussion session rather than the lectures from winter break... God, those went horribly).  I'm not sure if the official Acadec materials have been released yet, but Becca said they are so she's buggin' Mr. Hall about that. ANYHOO, get your music guides done.  Ciao!

-Seewahchu! ^3^ < <3)

Reading through the older posts...

... and I now see David's deformity. Interesting. It doesn't make him any less awesome of an artist, though. (No, it would instead be the fact that he let Lavoisier die. Yes, I'm still not over that.)

Well, with the release of the materials, we now have more to do over the summer! Mr. Hall and our coaches will be meeting to discuss buying them for us soon.

Until we get the materials, read The Grapes of Wrath and familiarize yourself with the music and art pieces. Remember (and for those who didn't know, know this), that the art tests in competition (and in do ask for the sizes of each piece and what the piece is made of. Learn the "on-the-surface" stuff and we'll discuss the deeper meanings, history, etc. later (but feel free to enrich yourselves).

I hoping that everyone will have read all the literature at least once through by the time we start the summer program.

For the Frosh (2.0)

Here I am trying to rewrite hours of work. You better be grateful. This entry is for the freshmen and noob sophomores that aren't quite sure about what they signed up for.


Here's a basic description of what the competition is (as taken from the USAD site):

"The Academic Decathlon® is a ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students. Each high school enters a team of nine students: 3 "A" or Honor students, 3 "B" or Scholastic students, and 3 "C" or Varsity students. The theme for the 2009–2010 Academic Decathlon season is 'The Great Depression.'"

These ten events are:
-Language & Literature
-Mathematics
-Music
-Art
-Economics
-Social Science
-Superquiz (written and oral relay)
-Interview
-Speech (prepared and impromptu)
-Essay

(See more info about the first six events here.)


Our school will send 2 teams: red and gold. We are only allowing students who participated in Academic Decathlon last year to be able to be starters. Everyone else who is taking AcaDec will also compete, but in the alternates division.

Alternates participate in the eight of the events. They do not do the interview, oral relay, or the speeches.


The competiton:

Day One: Starters have to give their speeches, interview, and write their timed essay on this day. Alternates will write their timed essays later on in the week at their school sites (I think, that's what we did last year). Alternates do not have to come on day one, but I strongly encourage that they do. By coming along, you get a better idea of what to expect when you compete later on. It's also great to be there for the team! A less hysteric person supporting a starter by doing last minute speech rehearsals, reminding him or her of the the proper interview etiquette, and waiting with them outside the rooms was giga-helpful last year.


Day Two: The whole team has to be there. Most of the day will be spent taking multiple choice tests on the material we slaved over in Art, Music, Economics, Social Science, Mathematics, Language & Literature, and the Superquiz (this is the written part). Don't worry, we snack breaks after every 2-3 tests.

After the tests, we head to the auditorium where the the starters will participate in the oral relay. There's a waiting period for the scores and points to be calculated before the awards ceremony begins. Starters who medaled first in Speech and Essay will give their speech or read their essay to the auditorium. Alternates are given medals in first through fifth place and starters are given medals in first through third. The top alternates and starters in each division are recognized and scholarships are awarded. At the end, the team awards and handed out. The last award is the cup (which Lodi High has been winning lately).


Our goals for Academic Decathlon is to win as many medals and awards as we can. There is a small schools division award, which we hope to beat Middle College for this year.


Study materials: New AcaDecians (or Decathletes, whatever) should drop by during the AcaDec Summer Boot Camp for borrow a copy of the Basic Guides to then take to Kinko's so you can have your own to study from. USAD already has materials for sale on the website, so we'll probably order those and recieve them this summer (I shouldn't be making any promises when I don't control the school budget, but Mr. Hall probably will buy them). DemiDec hasn't posted any materials lately, and won't until August. I'm still in the process of scheduling the dates of the summer program. As soon as I know, you will also.


If you have any questions, e-mail me at neon.garnet@gmail.com.
Ciao.

There Will Be Blood

I just spent five hours writing a blog for the Frosh. And then Blogger crashed on me without properly saving it periodically. I'm now back where I was hours ago.

I am angry.

Expect the blog by the end of tomorrow or Friday.

Update on the Summer Boot Camp (further updated at 7:30)

The details for the Academic Decathlon Program are slowly being put together. I intend to focus on the Grapes of Wrath and the development of our speech and essay skills. Any particular focus on the information in the basic guides hasn't been scheduled, but if anyone is looking to make a lesson plan on anything for the team, feel free to approach me, Dr H-S, or Sarah about it.

Attendence will NOT be mandatory. If you don't want to come, please don't! Your willingness to participate in these sessions will probably reflect in your performance.

FOR THE FROSH: Yes, you are welcome to attend the AcaDec Boot Camp. These meetings will be an excellent place to get copies of the basic guides so you can begin studying (seven months before competition). Freshman will not be allowed to join the actual starter team, but they will be allowed to compete as alternates. I'll write up an entire blog about what events alternates do and don't in a later blog (which will probably be in a half hour, as I'm at the district board meeting and do not have much to do).

Now, where when who how why ?

Where: Probably at the school site.
When: Yet to be determined, but we're projecting at least two days a week. The meetings will not coincide with the Algebra 2 slash 3/4 slash whatever college class that will also be at the school site. (A few of the kids kept asking me that, as if we'd schedule an enrichment period during a mandatory class that a third of the AcaDecians would be attending. Feel stupid? You should. Now discontinue your inquiries. XD)
Who: Because Ms. Kelly will be our coach next term: her! But we still need to know how much of her summer she wants to give up. So... not really yet to be determined, but technically: yet to be determined (I haven't talked to her about this at all, but I'm supposing she would want to because a) she's our coach, b) she helped us out over the Winter Break, and c) she loves us oh so much).
How: Most of the sessions wil be led by students and students will make lesson plans. Ms. Kelly will probably be there for the speech practices and she may or may not be there for discussions about the book. I still have to talk to her about that (probably should've put off writing this blog until then, but hey, here I am).
Why: To kick some rich kid butt in January/February/whenever it is.

Well, this is about as detailed as I can pass on to you. I will approach Mr. Hall tomorrow see if we can get a mailing list of the Frosh AcaDecian Wannabes.
(OMG, some guy sitting next to me has an iPad! This is the first time I've seen one in person! It's so cool! I can see the touch screen keypad from here! Hmm... the "keys" look big enough to use comfortably, unlike the iPhone. I was worried about that. Oh wait, I've got a blog to wrap up. Just thought I'd let you know that! Current events! Gawsh, I love blogging. Or maybe I like treating Blogger like it's Twitter...)

Until next time, this is RadAcaBecca! See you in a half hour! I'm going to beg a dollar or two or three or seven from my mom and raid the vending machine!

Music Basic Guide Summaries Extended

As of thirty minutes ago, Dr. H-S has decided to extend the summaries of the Music Basic Guide until Tuesday, May 18, 2010. She's suggesting we used the table of contents as an outline for the summaries and wants the completed summaries double-spaced. Don't forget!

The Video Quiz 1 Answers

Well, most of you did not do very well (seriously, some of you answered that the president was affiliated with the Communist Party*) and have requested the answers, so I'll post them up here for you. Next time we have a video to watch in class, WATCH IT. You don't have to take notes, but you will be tested on the information. I'll try and get links to each video posted on this site, but the quizzes may or may not be on the same day as the initial viewing. So pay attention! First period really isn't a study period, it's AcaDec time there as well.

Many of you have also requested that the quizzes be multiple choice in the future. Well, we could do that and I probably will make a few like that in the future. But the harder the quizzes are now, the easier the test in January will be. Also, the test in January is going to be on stuff you will have studied for months. The quizzes that I am making are to make sure you know the information you have just been given, because we still have a whole lot of ground to cover.

Remember: next year, we are snatching that cup away from Lodi. Victory will be ours. Our goal is to beat those rich kids and advance onto state competition (and at least make the first page of the results [cough cough Lodi: page 2, 42nd of 62 cough cough]**). Those seniors will remember our young sophomore faces and die a little (because they're insignificant compared to our awesomeness, not because we're ugly).


Anyways, here is the promised answer key (I'm not providing the questions, just the answers):

Video Pop Quiz 1 Answer Key

1) Over-production, the Dust Bowl, Stock Market Crash

2) Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) was the president of the United States at the beginning of the Depression. He was a Republican.

3) Republicans controlled the newspapers at the time. They chose to report news about what was going well, instead of the bad news. Bad news, to them, meant that something was wrong with Hoover’s Republican administration.

4) Hoover called in the Red Cross to help feed farmers. The Red Cross distributed boxes of garden seeds for the farmers to grow their own food, instead of buying it.

5) Charles Floyd was also known as “Pretty Boy” Floyd. He evaded arrest by robbing towns hundreds of miles apart from each other and seeking refuge with farmers who would gladly help him out for a few dollars.

6) People underestimated his political abilities due to his handicap (he was paralyzed in his legs).

7) Veterans from World War I began to flood into Washington D. C. to receive their pay for serving in the war. They were promised pay in 1945, but they wanted their money with a bonus immediately. They came to be known popularly as the Bonus Army.

8) The Communist party began to claim that the movement was their idea, although they had very little to do with the veterans.

9) The bill to give the veterans their pay early was passed in the House of Representatives, but rejected by the Senate.***

10) “…. Rich and Poor.”


If any of you have received your letters from the school about the CST schedule for April 26-29, it tells you to bring a book to read in case you finish the test early. Try and find a resource about the Great Depression to read! I'm sure there are a bunch in the library (that's just two blocks away) that you could grab, and maybe even some with lots of pretty pictures (of failed crops and upset masses)! The more back ground information you know, the easier the quizzes will be.


*A Communist as President of a democracy? Because you learned nothing in World History, right?
**http://www.academicdecathlon.org/scores/state2010SummaryResults.pdf
***I made the quiz according to what we watched. If you later went on and watched the rest of the video, I marked you down because as far as we are concerned, it never happened.

New Deal Art in Stockton

As I was flipping through website pages, I came across a page listing works of the New Deal in California:
http://www.wpamurals.com/californ.html

And as I scrolled down, I found that we had two here Stockton at the Federal building! Notice I said "had", I think one of them may have been transferred over to the Smithsonian (art hogs).

Anyways, these art the works:

The first is by Frank Bergman and is titled "Mail Carriers of Today" and is an oil on canvas:
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=35970

The second is by Jose Moya del Pino and is titled "Mail and Travel by Stagecoach" and is an oil on canvas mounted on a wall:
http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/map/view.php?l=454

Well, fifth period is over, so more later!


Check out the site where all the magic begun:
http://www.wpamurals.com/index.htm

Art Suggestions

Hello, fellow SECAcadecians!

I, too, have looked at the Demidec site recently and noticed they haven't uploaded anything since January 29th. And upon looking at the dates of the earlier material, I do not think that they will begin to upload anything until late summer or early autumn.

So for you art enthusiasts or members interested in specializing in the art segment of the material, I thought I'd kindly spend the ungodly hours of the night writing a blog about where you may want to begin your search. I am by no means an expert on the Great Depression or on art, so if you have any suggestions, kindly approach me at school and I'll give you my e-mail address and work what you have to offer into a future blog. However, if you are indeed an expert on the art of the Great Depression, you can write the art blogs yourself and I'll find something else to blog about, like geology (important but boring).


Anyhoo, down to business:

I recommend you begin your search by googling "New Deal Art." If you remember anything from World History, we learned that the government of the Great Depression begun programs such as the WPA (Works Progress Administration) to help create employment. One section of the WPA that you should read into would be the FAP (Federal Art Project). This program was created to employ artists and create public art for non-federal buildings. Thus, art of the New Deal (or New Deal Art).

Wikipedia offers a list of some of the important artists of the New Deal, so check that out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Usa_work_program.jpg


I'll try and find that most important artists and point to a few of their more important works in future blogs, but for now, find out what you can about the WPA and FAP. If you google "New Deal Art" you'll find lots of pages that include the art, and a bit about the artists.


Until later, Adieu!

Poetry, as learned from the Basic Guide

This is, above all, a personal method to reading the section.  I didn't write it for you guys to be clarified on anything.

The components to Reading Poetry:
1) Word Choice (Diction): an author's choice of words

Denotation: the dictionary definition

Connotation: the emotional associations, etc. surrounding a word

2) Tone: the author's attitude toward the subject and/or audience

3) Imagery: the use of sensory details to provide vividness to a work of literature

J4K (Just for Kix):

Sight= Visual

Smell= Olfactory

Taste= Gustatory

Hearing= Aural

Touch= Tactile

Movement= Kinetic

4) Figurative Language: (aka figures of speech): expressions used rhetorically in a nonliteral way

simile: direct comparison of two essentially unlike objects/ideas on basis of some shared quality

EX: "Her face was like a clown's-- with way too much make-up."

metaphor: a transformation of one thing/idea into it's comparison

EX: "Thine eyes are the deep, blue boundless heaven." (Shakespeare)

hyperbole: exaggeration/overstatement

EX: "I told you a thousand times!"

understatement: the opposite of a hyperbole; calls less than what's called for

EX: ?!? I've never heard of an understatement.

litotes (pronounced Lie-tuh-tees): a type of understatement where an affirmative is made by negating the opposite

EX: "I'm never not happy."

personification: a figure of speech where an abstraction/idea/animal/inanimate object is given human qualities

EX: "The mice danced with joy; El Gato was dead!"

apostrophe: a figure of speech in which the speaker addresses an abstract idea/inanimate object

EX: "O death, where is thy sting?" (The Bible)

metonymy: a specific word is used in place of another; these two words are closely related.

EX: "The White House issued a statement." (The actual building doesn't do anything, but represents the federal government."

synecdoche: part of something is used to represent a whole

EX: "Give me a hand." (Means to help me out, not to actually chop off ur hand and give it to me)

paradox: a statement that is seemingly self-contradictory but eventually makes sense

EX: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." (Dickens)

oxymoron: seemingly opposite/contradictory ideas/terms are combined

EX: "Parting is such sweet sorrow..." (Shakespeare)

5) Symbolism: something relatively concrete used to suggest something relatively abstract;

EX: This represents the United States of America.
6) Irony: if u don't know what this is, ur screwed.
7) Sound Devices: used to give the poem a sense of rhythm, etc.
8) Rhythm and Meter: exact repetition of sound in the final accented syllables of 2+ words
Internal Rhyme: rhyme that occurs withina line of poetry
slant rhyme: rhymes in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (Think of the times when you were look of rhyming words, thought of one, and then your friend told you that they didn't rhyme, even though they had the same letter, etc.) (aka: near rhyme, partial rhyme, half-rhyme)
 Feminine rhyme: a rhyme that ends on an unstressed syllable
EX: "Calling" & "Ending"
 Masculine rhyme: rhymes that end on a stress
EX: "Today" and "Hurray"
eye rhyme: they LOOK like they rhyme, but they SOUND like.. THEY DONT.
rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhyme throughout a poem
EX:

"Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me,

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea."

(Excerpt from "Croosing the Bar", by Alfred Tennyson)

Rhyme scheme is ABAB

Repetition

Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words

EX: "Pampered pink princess pout prettily." (Think tongue-twisters)

Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds

EX: "I sigh, I cry, Why?"

Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds that are preceded by a different vowell sound.

"All must Kill the Dell computer."

Onomatopoeia: the use of words whose sounds actual actual sounds

EX: "Ka-POW!" (punch) "BANG!" "BOOM!" "buzzzzzzz...."

9) Stanzas and Divisons

(I'm skipping this)

ALL RIGHTIE, THEN. I'm guten.  I'll post some more later, i think..

Anyhoo, STUDY HARD YOU GUYS!! 3 DAYS UNTIL JUDGEMENT DAY!

Practice Impromptus-Day2

Ok hey everybody. I don't know if any f you are practicing, but for those of you who are, comment on how things went! Ok, so yesterday we started you off easy. Today your questions will be a little bit more difficult. :D Ok, so wihout further introduction I give you your next group of Impromptu Questions.

Group 2, Day 2

1. What are the effects of the increasing dispersal of knowledge brought about by the internet?
2. If you could be any animal other than human, what would you be? Defend your choice.
3. Is human overpopulation a problem modern society needs to be concerned with?


Ok, well good luck and keep practicing! The same rules apply and comment people! Haha. yup yup :D Also starters, comment on how your speeches are going. Ok, well practice! :D yup yup.

-Rita :D

Practice Impromptus-Day 1

Hey people. Ok so January 30 is right around the corner, and guess what! We are gonna have to give Impromptus! Isn't that totally better than going to sleep till 1 on a Saturday or going to Disneyland!!!!!!! Yeah, ok seriously, it's NOT!!!!!! At any rate, we still must do them. Ok so most of you are freaking out right. Well, why not try practicing. For the next week I will be posting up practice impromtu questions each day. They are only practice and remember an impromptu probably wont take more than 5 minutes of your time each day. All you have to do is choose 1 of 3 topics. Then you have to take one minute to prepare your thoughts. Next you speak for 1 and a half minutes to 2 minutes, DON'T GO OVER 2 MIN., and then you are done! It is that simple. yup yup. Ok here is the very first set of Impromtu questions. I know that some of the questions you may not know but try your best. Questions at competition are unpredictable.

Group 1, Day 1

1. What has been your worst experience with Academic Decathlon?
2. What is the biggest effect of the internet?
3. Can technology answer the problems of modern society?

Ok, so now that you have your first set of questions, PRACTICE! Time yourself and look confident. SMILE! hehe :D ok, hope this will help prepare you for the kinds of questions you might receive. Have fun practicing and good luck! I will post a new set of questions tomorrow. yup yup :D

-Rita :D

Art Works-Artists

1) The Wine Cooler-Vincennes Porcelain Factory 1753
2) Mezztin-Jean Antoine Watteau 1718-1720
3) Soap Bubbles-Jean Simeon Chardin 1734
4) Broken Eggs-Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1756
5) Modern Rome-Giovanni Paolo Batoni 1757
6) The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus-Carle Vernet 1789
7) Evening Lanscape with an Aqueduct-Theodore Gericault 1818
8) Stormy Coast Scene After a Shipwreck-Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet
9) Young Jewish Woman of Algeria, Seated-Theodore Chassireau 1846
10) Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Mademoiselle Marie Gabrielle Capet and Mademoiselle Carreaux de Rosemond-Adelaide Labille-Guiard 1785
11) Princess de Broglie-Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1751-1753
12) Bust of Volatire-Jean-Antoine Houdon 1778
13) Portrait of a Young Man-Pompeo Girolamo Batoni 1760-1765
14) Royal Tiger-Eugene Delacroix 1929
15) The Start of the Race of the Riderless Horses-Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet 1820
16) Sheperd's Idyll-Fracois Boucher 1768
17) Minerva Protecting the Young King of Rome-Joseph-Antoine Romagnesi 1811
18) The Death of Socrates-Jacques Louis David 1787

Hope this helps at least knowing the names of the pieces and understanding when they were created, and by who. yup yup. :D
-Rita :D

Speech Topics for Starters!

Ok. hey everybody, hope you are having a good week back from break. As you all know, Acadec competition is coming up real soon. Starters will have to present a prepared speech to Mr. Hall on Friday. Ok so a lot of the starters including myself are having trouble with understanding exactly what our speech is supposed to be. At this point I honestly don't really have a clue,and a lot of you starters I already know are like me too. So I have come up with a list of some good speech topics you should consider talking about. Ok so here is the list. Hope you find something that you are interested in. Remember you only have one week to think of something and memorize it! Good Luck!

Speech Topic List
 Discrimination against (fill in the blank).
 Energy independence
 Political polling
 The demise of the newspaper
 The Scrabulous-Mattel dispute on Facebook
 The power of conventional wisdom
 LASIK versus genetic engineering—is there a difference?
 Foreign bathrooms
 Converse with someone historical
 A brief history of chocolate
 Sustainable development in the Andes
 The impact of ubiquitous Internet
 The economic theory of arbitrage
 The reality show “Man Versus Beast”—a new low?
 People who insist on having children with
“disabilities” like their own
 Drug ads
 Caffeine: should it be regulated?
 Hands-free driving laws
 Three things more dangerous than talking on the phone
while driving
 What someone from the past would think about today’s
world
 Alpaca farming
 An imaginary safari through the cities of America
 Praising the suburbs
 The aerial hunting of wolves
 The financial meltdown of 2008-2009
 The value of intuition (read Blink)
 The shortcomings of majority rule
 Tooth whitening
 Explore a cultural cuisine
 Everything I need to know, I learned from The Onion
 The “random walk” principle and the stock market
 The truth about college
 The Olympics used to have artistic and intellectual
events—research and advocate for their return
 Behavior and biology: how much do our bodies
control us?
 Is suffering ever good?
 The future of the water supply
 Afghanistan: what should we do?
 Different views of beauty.
 Religion: an agent of intolerance?
 Discrimination against the elderly
 Art and the Internet
 What if Helen Keller had been born today?
 Celebrity chefs (and Iron Chef)
 Tibet: crisis or cause célèbre?
 Educational systems in other countries: pros and cons
 A critique of the Academic Decathlon
 High school bullying: what are the consequences?
 Google’s plan to put data servers on ships to avoid
national laws
 The joys of teenage motherhood (this is a “shock”
speech and must be delicately handled)
 Comparing cartoons today to cartoons of yesteryear.
 America’s next great enemy—who, and why?
 The importance of pain in medical research.
 The value of prearranged marriages.
 The work of Doctors Without Borders
 The experience of an amputee
 What might Shakespeare have written today?
 How to negotiate: a crash course
 How your parents met
 The story of a deceased sibling
 Your first encounter with poverty
 Modern art—advancing or ridiculous?
 “Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words will
never hurt me.” Assess.
 Pick an everyday place and analyze it—a shopping
mall, an airport
 Libertarianism
 Dr. Horrible and the future of entertainment
 Take one event and report on how it was reported by
different media (for example, MSNBC and Fox News.)
 Propose a different way of electing the U.S. president.
 Discuss your first meeting with someone important to
you—say, an author, an actress, or an athlete.
 Weave song and prose together in an optimistic
speech about a “few of your favorite things.”
 Discuss what is meant by the phrase “life is a
revolving door.”
 Same sex marriage
 Stem cell research
 Broadway musicals
 Take a person—real or imagined—and offer a series
of snapshots of his or her life at different ages.
 The importation of drugs from India
 Make a case for illegal immigration.
 New laws requiring the public display of calorie
contents at fast food restaurants—good or bad?
 Defend Larry Summers for his comments about
women in the sciences
 American policies toward Cuba.
 Discrimination against people who weigh more.
 A day in the life of your generation.
 The meaning of the shopping mall.
 Pick a sport and explain its significance to you or its
applicability to life in general (baseball, tae kwon do,
etc.)
 Talk about blogging. Many judges will be fascinated.
 Allergies as a spiritual metaphor—why our souls
reject certain toxins.
 The understated epidemic of sleep deprivation.
 Media credibility (especially in light of coverage of
the recent presidential election)
 The effect of cameras on the way we remember our
lives.
 The phenomenon of child acting—does it impact the
children negatively?
 Surrogate motherhood. Explain a few interesting legal
cases involving mothers who were paid to give birth.
 Eating disorders—this is a common one but can be
done effectively and imaginatively. Consider eating
disorders in other nations.
 Where did popular foods come from, anyhow?
 How do we learn to speak? Isn’t it a miracle?
 What does it mean to be an existentialist? An
atheist?
 Why does the space program matter?
 Female stereotypes in Disney films—for instance,
ever notice the title characters rarely have mothers?
 How danger is important in life.
 Breakfast
 Censorship—is it ever necessary?

I know this is a lot to choose from. Still, if you find something interesting take it into consideration. Hope this helps. Thanx and yup yup. hehe :D

-Rita :D

Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Mademoiselle Marie Gabrielle Capet and Mademoiselle Carreaux de Rosemond

Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Mademoiselle Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Mademoiselle Carreaux de Rosemond (died 1788), 1785, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Oil on canvas, 83 x 59 1/2 in. (210.8 x 151.1 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

ok so we all know this piece by "that one painting with the really long name"! soo here are some details on the painting and the artist.

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was able to break into the profession during pre-revolutionary France. Her work focused on portraiture and she was quite successful. Portraiture and still-life paintings were said to be appropriate for female artists. Ok so super sexist in a way: they said it was unacceptable for women to study the male nude. Ok so, she married in 1769 but was divorced by 1776.. ok so no doubt that THAT was also frowned on by society! But HA, Labille-Guiard was able to support herself as a teacher and portrait painter even though society was being weird. :D

She set up her studio in the early 1780s and by 1783 she had 8 female students… yeah, they were ALL female. She painted members of the aristocracy and the royal court as well as MALE members of the Royal Academy. She was honored by being admitted to the Royal Academy as a member, but she was not allowed to study or teach at the institution.<-- WOW, once again just because she was a woman. Just because she was accepted doesn't mean all of the male members were happy about it.. and on top of that she was constantly gossiped about & then they even accused her of not painting her work herself!

You can see her self-confidence in this self-portrait; she is in the center of the painting, seated in her studio at work on a large canvas. Her students look on with appreciation and excitement. By dressing in an elaborate and expensive gown, Labille-Guiard represents herself as a painter and a woman of society. Her posture emphasizes her shapely figure and her gown is arranged to be shown at its best advantage. Her studio is also portrayed to be large and luxurious.. it is appointed with fine furniture as well as sculptures letting the viewer know that she was rich

We see the back of the canvas, but not what she is painting, great, just great. Art historians have three ideas about what that painting could be of: 1. it could be like another self-portrait, basically like a replica of the one that we are looking at, 2. it could be a portrait of one or maybe both of her students, or 3. there could be someone else who is having their portrait made. By including other people in her self-portrait, she demonstrates her ability to portray groups of people in one painting. This opened her commissions to patrons who might want to have family groupings immortalized. She was a clever entrepreneur: she used the painting as an advertising tool so the viewer of this painting could imagine themselves as her subject. Her direct gaze at the viewer is enticing and inviting. It’s like she’s saying: “why not let me paint YOUR portrait! Come and get your portrait painted by ME!” her way of advertising herself I guess, in the portraits she paints!
Uhmmm, I think that’s it! comment, tell me if I should add anything! Thank youuu!
-Vanisha!
p.s. you would think I’m getting tired of doing blogs on so many art pieces, but trust me, this is kind of FUN! :D ALSO, big thanks to the art group, I wouldn’t be able to understand these art pieces as much if you guys weren’t there!

Portrait of a Young Man

Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1760–65, Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, Oil on canvas, 97 1/8 x 69 1/4 in. (246.7 x 175.9 cm)

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni was an accomplished artist who painted altarpieces, historical & allegorical paintings & portraits. He painted portraits of many important notable people in Europe - patrons from Austrian & Russian courts, royal courts of Europe and portraits of Pope Clement XIII and Pope Pius VI..so basically a lot of famous rich people. Since he was located in Rome, patrons just popped into his studio when they visited Rome. you could probably say he was a favorite stop on the Grand Tour! He painted portraits of them posed in standing positions or like in their royal clothes. Even though he painted a whole bunch of portaits, each one was unique. oh and btw, this portrait is oil on canvas!

ok so now we're gonna talk about this dude in the picture and all that cool stuff you see in the background :D

This young man is not identified, but it is thought that he is French. He might even be just a tourist. He is shown in a luxurious space. The objects shown in the painting were deliberately selected to show that the subject was not only educated about the discoveries of the time, but also had the tools in his possession. The furniture, clothing, and curtains show signs of wealth. Books, paper and pens are spread casually demonstrating his devotion to studies and writing. The people of this time period were fascinated with the work of the Romans. There’s guidebooks to Rome in the painting too. Rome was an essential stop on the Grand Tour. The city and its history were essential to a well-rounded education…word got around & his reputation became linked with the Tour, and the wealthy patrons were led to his studio where hundreds of people sat for their portraits and contributed to his illustrious career.
*Oh and for those of you who have that dandy fine arts day booklets, it’s on page 10! :D
Thanks for reading! Good luck with studying, & comment comment comment!
-Vanisha!

Young Jewish Woman of Algeria, Seated

Young Jewish Woman of Algeria, Seated, 1846, Théodore Chassériau (French, 1819–1856), Watercolor over graphite, sheet: 11 3/4 x 9 1/8 in. (29.8 x 23.3 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First, let’s start with Théodore Chassériau. He entered the studio of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres when he was eleven. (Ingres was a former student of David and was a classicist!). So Chassériau had a strong classical approach to his work. That’s not the only influence he had though…he was also interested in the rich colors and romantic themes of the works of Delacroix. He ended up traveling to exotic places like northern Africa and the Middle East (just like Delacroix!) He died at 37, but made a lot of paintings, murals & drawings. Lots of which were portraits or studies of historical, religious, or literary subjects.

This work is a small work of graphite on watercolor paper. I think, on the right side of the drawing there are some notes? (that’s what it looks like to me, PLEASE tell me if you think otherwise!) Probably making you think that they might have been for a later work or something? (just a wild guess) The woman is looking directly at you, & is kind of in an informal posture. Her face is drawn with the most detail, compared to the rest of her body. Her clothing & the environment are really sketchy. She’s sitting on the floor, which I think is unconventional for French thinking..it would have been weird for a woman to be sitting on the floor; in French society she would have been sitting on a chair or something. This scene would have been appealing to those interested in romantic subjects. And I think that’s about it?
Comment, comment, comment! Thanks!
-Vanisha!

The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus

The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, 1789, Carle Vernet (Antoine Charles Horace) (French, 1758–1836), Oil on canvas, 51 1/8 x 172 1/2 in. (129.9 x 438.2 cm)

This painting is by none other than… Carle Vernet! It’s a history painting a little over 14' long. The size of the painting alone probably would have gotten a lot of attention from the Salon. Carle painted this piece as the Revolution was getting strength. This was actually his reception piece. He thought that it would gain him full membership in the Academy. It was started in 1787 and finished in 1789. And I think it was actually shown again sometime in 1791. When I look at this the first think that comes to MY mind is: NEOCLASSICAL! (All the heroic stuff going on) It is disegno!

--For those of you who have the Fine Arts book it’s on page 14 so go ahead and look at these things I’m talking about, even though most of it is already written there. So some things I saw in here from my research were the general on the right, Aemilius Paulus!(he’s on a chariot). Somewhere behind him there are prisoners, including king Perseus and his family. [The story this is telling is of Aemilius Paulus celebrating his victory over King Perseus of Macedonia in 168 B.C.]


The light is dramatically focused on Aemilius Paulus with the background full of examples of classical architecture. Famous Roman buildings are in here, such as the temple of Jupiter and the Column of Trajan. (btw, they’re not accurate in placing them). Oh! And something interesting: he broke with tradition and drew the horse with the forms he had learnt from nature in stables and riding-schools in this painting. A Funeral of Patrocles was planned as a pendant but it never got finished. And that’s about all I got on this one! I wish I could have found out more than this though!
If you have anything to add just comment! good luck studying!
-Vanisha!