I Am a Rock

In Paul Simon and Art Garfunkels' song "I Am a Rock", Simon and Garfunkel develop a metaphor by claiming the subject of the song 'I' is a rock; this metaphor is used to show the rock’s feelings resentfulness against the outside world. Simon and Garfunkel create a character that disapproves showing emotion and "feels no pain." The metaphor is reiterated by using an anaphora all throughout the song. The alliteration of the 'eye' sound emphasizes the anaphora, 'I am".  A cacophony is created several times using the 'd' sound in-between lines that contain the anaphora, "A winter's day, in a deep and dark December", is the best example of the usage of a cacophony. 

This song displays a feeling of disdainfulness for the subject’s past, and the subject’s refusal to "disturb the slumber of feelings that have died", or in other words to ignore the past.  While the subject ignores their past they also ignore current feelings, “I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.” The song’s subject is “an island [that] never cries.” Although the metaphor is obvious deeper meaning is revealed throughout the song.

Listen to the song live and here are the lyrics.[btw this is one of my favorite songs, enjoy!  (˘‿˘ʃƪ)]


(click 'read more' to reveal reading times)

reading 2/3 - 2/7

Monday, 2/3 - 15 min ATD in class + 2 1.2 min. finalizing draft
Tuesday, 2/4 - 10 min ATD in class + 30 min. ATD 
Wednesday, 2/5 - 50 min: 2 ATD posts
Thursday, 2/6 - 60 minutes: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 
Friday, 2/7 - 1 hour: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

my research paper

I feel confident that I have all the information I need to create a clear story of the event I am focusing on.  It was easy putting similar information together, but difficult putting the sorted information all together to create a larger picture. Outlining my information although time consuming helped me overcome this difficulty. I was surprised to learn that transferring the research from my outline to my paper proved annoying. I'm concerned about writing my conclusion, for some reason it seems to be the biggest cause of my worries. I think I am going to have trouble making another point about my topic instead of simply wrapping it up as I normally would.

 I need to change the focus on my paper from the denial of the current Turkish government to how the Armenian Genocide defines genocide, through person first-hand accounts. This was not easy considering most of my research was pertaining to my original thesis I found a couple new sources and have gotten good usage out of those. I would appreciate feedback on my organization and writing style because I feel that for this paper those are the two things that are most important.

❆ winter break take two

I can honestly say that I accomplished as much as I could during out little break, considering that I was sick with a nasty cold and had also come down with a slight wave of procrastination. Most of my break I kept myself shut indoors reading with a cup of tea, or intensely watching Netflix/Hulu marathons, which really wiped me out. I did 'make' churros and hot chocolate for Spanish; I ended up just drinking the hot chocolate which was really good.  Working on my research paper collecting more sources and reading excessively long treaties, took up a lot of my time.

I can say with pure confidence that our snow break was a dream come true. I had been praying for our Mardi Gras break to come sooner, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. This break honestly gave me a chance to relax right after receiving and completing a somewhat excessive amount of work from our teachers. Although, I must admit I'm at little bit happy to get back into a routine. I won't be saying that at the end of this week though.
Good Luck.

Martine ✿

(click 'read more' to reveal snow day work and reading times)

the Armenian genocide

I decided to speak to my dad about my topic, the Armenian genocide, since he was the person to originally suggest it to me. I showed my dad gripping pictures of the genocide. He was surprised to find out that not only was the genocide a series of massacres, but there were also detention camps in the center to the desert. Detention camps as terrible as Auschwitz, before its conception. My dad was also shocked by the scale of the event, around two million dead. I told my dad ,"I am still surprised that people are still denying this even happened." My dad knew about the genocide, and was aware of the Turkish government's denial, although wasn't surprised by the thought of this he was saddened. My dad said, "...that [the genocide] was a series of massacres in different cities and towns." He wasn't aware of how systematic the genocide really was. The death marches, remote detention camps, systematic killings, and the shooting down of navy vessels carrying Armenians. In summary according to my dad, "they de humanized the Armenians." My dad wasn't aware of long the genocide occurred. He was stunned about, "How similar the initial response of the Armenians to the Turks was to the German Jews to the Nazis." Throughout my research I strived to find out, "How the Turkish government came about killing 1.5 million people unnoticed, and how personal stories from survivors shape this image?"  

Armenian massacres occurred before the initiation of the genocide and World War I, these killings were by the Ottoman Empire. Soon the Young Turks party gained control of the once Ottoman Empire during World War I, and became focused on nationalism. The CUP a subgroup of the Young Turks is often acreddited to planning the systematic take down of the Armenians. The CUP begins their demise of the Armenians on April 14, 1915. Prominent Armenians leaders are rounded up from their homes to be killed, this action taken by the CUP is an attempt to eliminate rebellion with the CUP ulterior motives are realized by Armenians. After the killing of over 200 Armenians authority figures, other steps are taken on a larger scale to eliminate the empty threat the Armenian people pose on the Turkish government. Many Armenians are exiled, forced into the boxcars of trains never to return or in death marches towards detention camps in the Syrian desert. The first hand account written in the Armenian Golgotha, by Grigoris Balakian, paints a clear picture of life in detention camp. Most Armenians are simply murdered or left to stave. Towards the end of the genocide many Muslim families forcibly adopted Christian Armenians and involuntarily imposed Islam on them. Many girls above the age of twelve were sold as slaves and sex slaves. Many Armenians fled the country an headed to the United States, many of them live in the Los Angeles area today. Turkey still actively denies the systematic slaughter of the Armenians, often using the excuse that during times of war many innocent lives are lost in the crossfire. During World War I and during it's aftermath more than one million Armenian lives were systematically taken by Committee of Union and Progress, or the CUP, their forced journeys toward death are documented in personal accounts and photographs. These recordings create a strong web of evidence against those who appose the reality of the genocide.

reading 1/27

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexi
75-171 
1 1/2 hours

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
320-400
1 1/2

reading 1/20

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
160-320
3 hours

4 hours of work on annotated biblography