Rachel's Last Rambling

It was fast.

I know, really boring. I get it. It's the end and quite honestly I've run out of ideas that are witty and fun. However, when I put it into perspective (I'm so sorry) this year has been fast. With that, I do want to address that it may not seem fast in the thick of it but looking back it's been fast. Quite honestly, my first word was sleepy because I have fallen asleep in every class at least once this year - my bad.

I'm on the verge of tears writing this. Why? I was up until 2 AM last night thinking about how I only have two weeks left with some of the best teachers I've ever had, and I'm really tired. I'm still thinking of my goodbyes to everyone and my moving away to a school far away from everything I've ever known. I've been putting this post off all day for the specific reason of not wanting to think that I'm going to leave soon, as liberating as it is.

As a side note before I launch into Rachel's high school career of insanity, it's a time for nostalgia anyway because I turn 18 this week! Great birthday blog right?

This year and high school in general went by fast. I remember all the way back on the first day freshman year when I tripped while walking into school and nearly falling flat on my face. Not only do I remember that very vividly, I also remember it like it was last year instead of four years ago.  When sophomore year came, I remember next to nothing about it because I blocked it from my memory, but I do remember my personal project and the last day like it was only six months ago. Don't even get me started on how recent I think junior year was, and I still think that my summer vacation was a month ago. There have been so many things that flew by and I look back now knowing that wow, people weren't kidding when they say it goes by fast. The emotions for these events were also fast, and I can barely keep track of how many "lasts" I've experienced in the past few days.

Fast is such a simple word, but it is so impactful, especially when you realize that time is almost up. I don't want to make this sad, but I think that's what it's turning in to, so whoops! While high school and senior year have flown by, the memories that they gave me will last - mostly because I have a near photographic memory, but also because they were important. I will always remember my theatre classes, my choir classes, my IB classes and all the friends I've made over the years.

We can't control how fast everything goes, but we can control what we make of them. Don't let the speed get to you, and choose (if you want) to remember everything you can. Something being fast just shows that it was a fun time and it wasn't terrible!

Okay, sad/ slightly motivational part over! I promise I'm still pumped for graduation and I can't wait to have my last "up at 5 in the morning"!!

That's about all I got.  Oh wait, I have to put some obligatory Disney inspirational quotes in here!!

"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney

"To infinity and beyond!" - Buzz Lightyear

"Anything can happen if you let it" - Mary Poppins

"All you need is faith, trust, and a bit of pixie dust!" - Peter Pan

I hope these inspire you to do what you want to do in the future, go the distance, and reach for the sky! Okay, now I'm done! To whom it may concern, it's been fun embarrassing myself on the internet, and I hope you have enjoyed Rachel's Ramblings! This is Rachel the Rambler signing off for the "last" time!

Witty Poetry? How About a Sarcastic Freebie?

It's spring break - how much homework is anyone going to be doing? Now, if you will excuse me, I have a 3,000 word paper to write, some history thing to finish and reading the dreaded literature that is poetry. Walt Whitman may be a very amazing and progressive man, but he can't even come close to making me like poetry. Sorry not sorry. Enjoy these pictures as a guilty apology for my lack of motivation and willpower. 

I've Got a Dream!

(I couldn't resist... enjoy Disney princesses having dreams, they are *so* realistic!!)

The American Dream is the idea of attaining the best possible lifestyle, and it is a staple of what makes America America. Known as "the land of opportunity", America has this image that when someone comes here, they fulfill the American Dream, a lifestyle that includes being rich, attaining all of their goals, and living a happy life. This dream appeals to everyone on some level, and it shows the best of America. However, this dream has come to die out, because most people have realized that aspects of the American Dream are just impossible to obtain, no matter how much work they put into achieving it. Another factor to this decreasing hope in the American Dream is the fact that there are other places that are overall happier and overall better (in the sense of rights, equality, and lifestyle) than the United States. Also, due to recent political turmoil, America isn't viewed as highly as it has been.

In The Great Gatsby utilizes the American Dream as a way of life, and a way of expressing the social commentary on people who try to achieve it, especially during the 1920's. The view of the American Dream is that it is an impossible feat, and no matter what one can never reach it. This is reflected within the social attitude at the time, which was slowly declining due to the depression after World War 1. Within the book, The American Dream is what all of the characters think they are achieving, but in the end (spoiler alert) they actually are not. 

Wealth is a very strong characteristic of the American Dream, and I describe it as a large amount of something, not necessarily money, but that is generally what it is. Because wealth is such an important part in the American Dream, it shows what it meant to people of the time. In The Great Gatsby, wealth was mostly associated with money, and wealth was used to show how much better a person's life was and how closer they were to the American Dream. Wealth also showed the power dynamics between characters, and this could easily reflect on the attitude of the wealthy at the time. 

I think Americans today have a very individualized view on what wealth and poverty are, with people from both sides thinking different things about both. The most negative views of both sides are that poverty is full of people who don't care enough to get a job, and that the wealthy just get everything handed to them on a silver platter. Within this divide, there are mostly negative attitudes towards each side, as most people consider each extreme as a very bad thing. Within the novel, all the main characters were extremely wealthy and all viewed in a negative light with descriptions of them being fools and selfish. Meanwhile characters like Myrtle and Wilson were viewed differently because they don't have the same amount of money as the main characters.

As a middle class teenager, I think that the world shouldn't necessarily be about money, as unrealistic as it is, but that everyone should also focus on being a good person, and that is my American Dream. Or Disney dream, I'm sorry, I had to add it! 

IOC - EEK

The Worst IOC Ever- I apologize in advance 

Okay, so the first thing I will address is that I went over time... by a lot. So, with that, I'm docking some points because I apparently can't stop rambling!

Criterion A - 6: As I was listening, I noticed I didn't make nearly as many references to the text as I had wanted to, and the references I did make were lacking. I think I showed my knowledge and understanding of the text and the context around it, and I made enough references to the text to get myself a 6 in this category.

Criterion B - 2: I know for a fact that I mentioned nearly nothing on the effect of the reader, and I also know that I barely mentioned any of the stylistic elements that I had written down and while I harped on diction and connotation, I never mentioned anything else. Not my best at all.

Criterion C - 3: I think I was pretty coherent, however, I went over the time by over a minute. My entire conclusion would probably be cut off, so that really means that the IB wouldn't hear any of my wrap up. Also, I went a little off the rails and lost some of my organization. 

Criterion D - 4: My language was pretty good, I said WAY TO MANY um's, but other than that and some corrections, I think that my language was actually pretty good! Probably overestimating myself on this one, but I needed to say I was good at something! :)

Total: 15/30 - I have no idea what this correlates to, but I definitely think I could do better.   

Wow, These Puns are Really BUGging Me!

#1:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

- diction (connotation/denotation): 
Uneasy demonstrates a slightly negative and foreboding connotation because it is word promoting an anxious feeling or emotion. 
Giant gives a denotation of huge, so it would lead the reader to assume that the bug he has turned into is whatever giant means to them. The word leaves a lot of room for interpretation, such as for example, my version of giant is a bug bigger than a cockroach (the world's most abominable creation), but that may be different than say, Bob's version of giant, which could potentially be the size of a human. 
Bug gives a more colloquial connotation as it is the common name for insect. This could potentially make the sentence easier to read, as there is less interpretation of what a bug is. 

- syntax: The overall syntax is short, and it gets to the point rather quickly without much pausing.

- imagery/details: "Uneasy dreams" gives the imagery of a bad feeling, not exactly nightmares, but waking up nervous and apprehending something. "Changed into a giant bug" is imagery because it is showing that Samsa quite literally woke up as a bug. There isn't much more description about the bug except for the giant part which helps to give a small description of what the bug looked like.

- structure: The sentence takes on an active voice and structure, as there is no "he had been changed" in the sentence. 

- any other stylist/figurative elements: The tone of the sentence is surprising and startling, as it's something that isn't expected when reading the sentence. 

#2:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

- diction (connotation/denotation): 
Troubled gives a negative connotation because it is revealing that the dreams were really nightmares.
Enormous gives a denotation of incredibly large, and its more scientific than most versions of giant, giving the word a more scientific and intelectual connotation than other words such as big or huge. 
Transformed has a denotation of change, but it could also mean a temporary change, as changed is seen as more of a permanent action than transformed. 

- syntax: The syntax is longer in this translation, and there are more flowery words such as awoke, and there are also more phrases that make the syntax longer such as "When Gregor Samsa awoke", "one morning" and "in his bed".

- imagery/details: There is some imagery in this translation, but it mostly focuses on location, specifically where Samsa is when he wakes up, and there is again not much describing the bug, other than it's enormous. 

- structure: This sentence is done more in the passive structure and voice because it states the phrase "he had been transformed", which hints that it was someone or something else that turned Samsa into a bug. 
- any other stylist/figurative elements: The tone of this sentence is much more scientific and descriptive, because it gives a set location and a more scientific description of what the bug looked like. While this still would make the tone negative and startling, there is much less of a startling tone as most of the sentence is utilizing location and descriptive (ish) settings. 

#3:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

- diction (connotation/denotation): 
Uneasy gives the same connotation as before, with an uneasy and anxious connotation, which in turn promotes that startling and anxious feeling as the sentence goes on. 
Transformed also gives the same denotation as before, which possibly means a temporary change into the bug.
Gigantic gives a denotation of huge and large, similar to Godzilla. This also gives a more generalized connotation of what how big the bug is, as it's not nearly as scientific as enormous, but is a little more specific than giant.
Insect gives a scientific negative connotation to the sentence, and is very factual. Since insect is the more scientific word for bug, this makes the sentence as a whole more factual. 

- syntax: The syntax for this sentence is shorter, with less flowery words, and gets to the point faster than the second sentence. 

- imagery/details: There is a bit of imagery around the description of the size of the bug, but it is very generalized, which is similar to the previous descriptions.

- structure: The sentence is in more of an active voice because it shows that he transformed, not that he was transformed by something or someone. 

- any other stylist/figurative elements: The tone of this sentence is still mainly startling, but is a little more expectant as the sentence is really setting up that something happened to Samsa.  

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

- diction (connotation/denotation): 
Agitated has a negative connotation that makes the character or reader feel uncomfortable, and in this context, it can show that the presumable nightmare Samsa had left him uncomfortable, and possibly nervous. 
Monstrous has an extreme negative connotation that makes the sentence much more horrifying. In the context, the thing that Samsa had turned into was so horrifying that it was monstrous. 
Vermin also has an extreme negative connotation, and also explains how Samsa feels about the whole situation. 

- syntax: This sentence has a longer syntax, and is filled with phrases leading up to the huge reveal of the sentence. 


- imagery/details: The bug that Samsa has turned into is much more descriptive, as it is no longer a bug, but a monstrous vermin, and this detail helps to explain Samsa's emotions on the fact. 


- structure: The structure is more of an active voice than a passive voice, and this is showing that Samsa himself transformed into the vermin, not someone else turning him into the vermin.


- any other stylist/figurative elements: The tone of this sentence is so different compared to the other sentences, despite it being startling. It is also horrifying and gives a sense of internal hatred due to the description of the bug. 

Each of these translations were pretty similar, but they had their differences, especially in their meaning. The basic meaning was along the lines of: This guy woke up to find he was a giant bug. While the four translations stuck to this meaning, the tone and negativity of the meaning varied. The fourth translation stood out for it's negativity, and it's horror inside the meaning. The other three had variations, with the second and third being a bit more scientific, while the first one was very basic (vanilla ice). The words within each translation give it the tonal meaning, such as the fourth translation's "monstrous vermin" that gave the negative meaning to the text. The stronger the words are, the more effective the meaning is, even if the basic words make the most sense. Syntax also affects the intensity of what is happening, as most of the translations are utilizing flowery words and longer phrases that make the bug appearance more awaited and drawn out. The lack of imagery that was presented made the story feel more abstract and disconnected as there wasn't much description, even for the bug.
The difficulty of reading translated texts is that there are so many words that have so many different meanings that they infer totally different things that give a whole new meaning to the text. Also, as someone who has spent several hours reading translated texts (#HistoryIA), I know that meanings of words don't necessarily cross over from one language to another, so the true meaning of the text could potentially be hidden. While I'm 99% positive that the word from German (or whatever language that is, I'm sorry I'm not cultured) means bug, there are texts that have words that only exist in German or French or Spanish and the translations for those are usually different than what the original language meant.

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Never Let Me Go - picture not mine!

The first cover is very similar to the original (I guess) cover on Never Let Me Go. Containing a girl with blond hair and a neutral face, it is similar to the original cover. However, this cover has the purpose of showing something is off, as seen in the foreground and background of the cover. Around the girl, there is all of this natural scenery. In the background of the picture, there is a dark green/black color that could represent foreboding. The girl is wearing simple, but non natural colors - orange/red and black. This helps her stand out from the natural scene and creates an almost disturbing aura about the cover. With this, the purpose is to tell the reader that the girl is different and out of place by sitting in a natural scene. This cover is one of two with an actual person in it, but the implementation of this girl is just off enough to tip the audience that she is different.

Never Let Me Go - picture not mine!

This cover depicts a boat, which is a very important scene in the novel. The boat is an old row boat that is leaning up against a pole, with faded dark colors around it. The faded colors are a mix of black, gray and yellow, which can always symbol ominous or depressing subject matter. The darkness of this cover shows that this book will be sad, and in this case, the purpose is to let the audience know that, along with providing more significance to the boat scene (which actually brings a whole new light to the scene, as I thought it was a meh scene). Along with this negative outlook, the black coloring represents death, and it could show that the purpose of the cover is to let the audience know that death will be a prominent theme of the book.

Never Let Me Go - picture not mine!

This cover is more different than the others, with cooler colors, and nothing natural about it. The cover has important organs such as lungs, stomach, and liver (I actually have no idea what some of this is... I guess I blocked bio from my mind). However, the rest of the body parts, such as all of those other arteries are not present in the cover, it's just those 4 things. Along with this, there are no colors, only shades of black and gray. These colors represent death, such as what the colors mean above. This cover takes a much more scientific approach to the plot of the book. The purpose of this cover could be to go along with the scientific elements of the stories along with identifying all of the essential/nonessential organs that the donors are giving away.

Never Let Me Go - picture not mine!

This final cover is much more upbeat and mysterious than the other ones. This cover has a girl, who is faded and blurred in a blue dress in a yellow background. The overall mood of this cover is nostalgic, and it appears to be representing flashbacks and memory. The yellow can represent the faded parts of a photograph, or a faded memory. The blurred girl adds to the memory aspect of the cover, as she is blurry and as someone gets older, the more blurry and faded their memories become. This cover's purpose could be to hint at the memory aspect of the novel, and to hint at the fact that Kathy as a narrator is unreliable, which is something seen throughout the novella. This hinting is demonstrated through this memory concept as nobody remembers anything perfectly except if they are photographic (lucky).


The four covers are very different from each other, but also are mostly similar in their negative, off putting and freaky moods. The first three covers all hint at something bad, whether it be death or the oddity of what is assumed to be Kathy. Both the boat cover and the body cover utilize black, which symbolizes death. This differs from the woods cover, which just shows the creepiness and uncanny sense of fear that the reader would feel. All three of these covers differ from the fourth, which has a much more positive light with it, along with having a different color scheme than the other three book covers. While the other covers have black, and a sickly yellow and green, the fourth cover has a bright blue and a parchment yellow. Another aspect that all four covers differ in is their themes, because each one is about a different thing in the book: clones, death, science, and memory.

The third cover would make anyone get the scientific vibes from it, as it has to do with a body and important organs, and had I not read the book, I would think that it was about some old person dying due to organ failure and their family being really upset about it. When I first saw this cover, it made sense to me, but I thought of science and death, as I explained with the color scheme earlier. Now that I've read the entire book, not only was I right, but also I think that the relationship lies in the death aspect of the book, as everyone dies (spoiler!!), and they are all dying due to the organs they have to donate. This is obviously from the scientific perspective, and it is focusing on the aspect of being a donor, which is a real thing today because when you get your license you can be a donor. While this may not spark any form of controversy, it is still relevant because in this world people choose to be donors. Overall, someone who is not overly sensitive would probably take a look at this cover because the oversensitive teenager writing this wanted to curl up in a ball and sob after studying it for so long.

The fourth cover is very nostalgic and gives the memory vibe to it, and its also the first word I think of when I see this cover. If I hadn't read the book I would think this book was about a relationship that was on and off, probably taking place in a high school. The relationship between the cover and the novel is about the memories that Kathy shares throughout the novel, and how memories fade making her an unreliable narrator. Memories don't really have much controversy, unless someone is obsessed with the Mandela effect, and in that case, they could argue for hours over the Berenstain Bears. Overall, this cover makes this book appear to be all about relationships, and that would usually appeal to girls as there are a lot of relationship books meant for girls.

Wow, this was a lot... maybe next time I shouldn't develop color scheme theories until after I decide to compare all of the book covers.

A Look at Happiness - From the Happiest Person on Earth

This Ted Talk was all about happiness, and why it possibly isn't the best thing for society. If you're ready to accept the fact that happiness may not help people (which is hard... because I was not), then feel free to watch this Ted Talk here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/emily_esfahani_smith_there_s_more_to_life_than_being_happy#t-726454   

Emily Esfahani Smith makes the argument that happiness is something that comes and goes, but meaning and meaningfulness are things that help you through life and give you something to hold on to. She proves this point by saying that overall people who chase happiness are more depressed, and that those who are happy have a sense of meaning in their life. Adding on to this point of meaning, she introduces the four pillars of meaning: belonging, purpose, transcendence, and storytelling. Each one of these pillars helps someone to recognize their meaning in life, therefore making them a happier person. Smith saves storytelling for last, and she argues that this pillar is the most surprising. Storytelling, in Smith's view, is the story someone tells about themselves and their life, and she argues that people can change the meaning of their story, instead of having it listed out as a set of events that may be important to them. Smith also discusses the sense of belonging, which usually comes out of forming bonds with people that are close friends or family.  Smith discusses purpose as an outlet for talents and strengths in someone, and as a way to help people. Finally, Smith also describes transcendence as something that makes someone feel connected to a higher reality, be it God or even art. Throughout all of this, Smith includes personal examples and how they impact not only that person's life, but other lives as well.

Smith proves her point immediately through ethos, and states that she studied positive psychology, along with dedicating 5 years of her life to study the meaning of someone's life. She also name drops several important psychologists such as Dan McAdams, and gives their input into her development of her research, which is a great example of ethos.

Using logos, Smith is able to effectively demonstrate what she means when she is talking about these four pillars of meaning, a term that she came up with. She structures her argument so that it disproves the main topic, and then provides an answer for it.

There is a lot of pathos in this Ted Talk, and this is because Smith adds personal stories into each pillar of meaning. She includes stories about a soccer player who changed his view on his life based on an accident, along with a story about the rejection of a nicety and its impact. Smith was able to make it personal to listeners and get them thinking about how they are meaningful and how they are also victims to some of the stories she shared.

As someone who is known for being almost robotically happy, I was a bit confused when I stumbled upon this Ted Talk. A very big reason for my confusion was because I have always had the goal of making someone's day better, and I strive to do that through being happy and using my happiness to help others. When I saw this Ted Talk, I had a mini panic attack that I had subconsciously been screwing people over for over 13 years of my life. However, I then felt the need to listen to this talk because I thought I could possibly learn something about why I'm so happy. While that didn't happen, I was able to see right away that everyone I know fits into the four pillars, and I thought that that was really cool. This talk also helped me to understand the reason I cry whenever I see fireworks (transcendence, it's the little things), and that me attempting to make others happy is my purpose (I guess). I think that everyone belongs in the four pillars, and while I may not always get why people are not happy, I know that they have a meaning in this world, and one day they will put it to use and be happy from that. I think that my meaning is just to help people by being happy and not letting life get me down, and anyone who goes to Disney in the next few years may see me put that meaning to use!