How I get myself psyched for exams (TA)

I do not. I do not find any use in stressing, fretting and otherwise raising my blood pressure. Like seriously, doing that literally reduces your lifespan. Anyway, I prefer to approach exams, like everything else, logically and calmly. If you panic about them, or act like something they are not, then you are setting yourself up for nothing good. I am not saying that exams are not important. Often they are extremely important. This fact alone is enough to make me study, though I can't say I always do. For example, in regular english I never studied for an exam because I realized there was no way to prepare for them. Same for band obviously. So with these out of the way, I am left to focus on the rest of the exams. I try to go over all the material that is being tested - I always make extensive use of the study packet, if one is provided. After studying is done, I simply look forward to the good times that will come after exams. Things may seem bleak now, but you can't get lost in the moment. Always be looking forward!

Advice for next year's AP Lang students (TA)

Well, my first piece of advice would be to consider your position as next year's AP Lang student. I'm not advising against taking the class, but you should be aware of what exactly you are getting into. It's not a normal english class - far from it in fact. You won't find much of the familiar read 3 chapters then answer questions then take a test on the book and then repeat. That being said, it is still there - a book often accompanies a chapter and you are still tested on the plot, but books and their messages are not the main focus - rhetoric is. Take this class and you will become very familiar with all the different types and applications of rhetoric. You will be learning about plenty of different devices (all with fancy names), looking for them in what you're reading, and applying them to your writing. It's less of an english class and more of a rhetoric class. Sounds good to you? Great! Be prepared to abandon everything you have been taught about writing. If you haven't already, you will want to make some effort to break yourself out of the 5 paragraph style - trying to pull that in this class will get you nowhere fast, and I speak from experience. You are going to have to really put forth some effort to do some great writing. Another thing that you will have to do is make extra effort to keep up with reading. This holds true for all classes, but especially for this one. You will often have fairly long stretches to do the reading in, so procrastination is a threat. I saw quite a few people looking very nervous when we had an unannounced quiz after one of these stretches, and you really don't want to miss those points. This is one of those classes where every assignment counts, so you can't think that blowing off something is an option. In my opinion, it's a fairly challenging class, so if you are taking it, just be ready.          

PC gaming is superior to console gaming (CM)

For those of you who do not know, this is an objective fact. Yes indeed, gaming on a computer is much better than on a console. Let's review the evidence. First is the graphics. Even the most humble of computers can easily match the graphics output of consoles. Not to mention higher-end computers, which are in an entirely different category. It's not just the quality of the graphics though, it's the options. For example, most console games do not have anti-aliasing. Computers have the option for anti-aliasing plus anisotropic filtering options plus bloom effects plus a myriad of other advanced graphics options. It's simply no contest. Let's talk about the games now. Cheaper on the PC and that is that. Console games will hover around sixty bucks for months until they drop - Steam offers relatively new games for thirty dollars or less, not to mention older games, or ones that are independently developed - those go for as little as five. More about games, you cannot forget mods. On the computer you can do whatever you want with your games - the files are your's and you can download mods for them or create them yourself. Consoles? They have those on lock and key. Modding is more likely to equal jail time than a better experience. There are those who would say that the PC is actually inferior when it comes to games, citing some obscure game that is exclusive to one console. The fact is irrelevant, no single game could make up for the libraries of high quality content the PC provides. Let's talk a little about community. On the consoles, you are probably going to end up interacting with a bunch of screaming twelve year olds. On the PC, you can directly connect with your friends with ease. How can the two be compared? I don't believe they can.            

Transcendentalism = not sustainable (CC(?)

As we have delved deeper into the transcendentalist philosophy, my opinions, unlike some of my peers, have not turned towards dislike, but simply the overall observation of how unsustainable it is. By that I mean that it is a philosophy that if implemented would not help any institution survive. Obviously, as going against almost all institutions is a part of the philosophy. I cannot agree with this. The saying "Man is a social animal" exists for a reason - because it is true. It's a natural action for people to form groups, communities etc. and society and culture is a further extension of that. This is firmly objective. When we look at the other great apes, we do not see them roaming by themselves, rather in fairly large groups with families and leaders and other basic aspects of communities. You cannot say that groups are some evil human invention. What my point is is that isolation as outlined by the transcendentalists is not only illogical but it goes against what has made us, as a species, so successful. This is what makes it unsustainable. Without groups, the world as we know it cannot exist. This is not to say that the movement is entirely without merit. Yes, groups of all sorts have enabled us to dominate the world, but they do have problems, a fact both I and the transcendentalists agree on. Another one being the value of individualism - which I prize above many other things. Though I agree with both of these points, I do not agree with transcendentalism's proposed methods of fixing them. Leaving the group is not the way to fix problems with the group, and individualism is not such an overarching thing that one cannot become part of a group, or should go and live in isolation. Rather than this, I propose that we fix groups from within, and encourage individualism by demonstrating it. Transcendentalism, like so many things, must be used with moderation if it has any hope of succeeding.        

A post in the hand is worth two in the bush (RD)

Whether you know it or not, you have been exposed to the device known as sententia your entire life."A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". "You do not need a title to be a leader". "One good turn deserves another". "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Etc. etc. A good definition would be a brief witty statement, that contains a particular piece of wisdom which is used to sum up the previous arguments or statements. For that goal, it can be very effective. Because so many sayings and witticisms have been passed down in our society, it lets you use one of them and be fairly certain that your audience will know the saying, or at least understand what it means. That said, the sententia must not be too obscure, or you risk not getting your point across, and alienating your audience. Another caveat of using this device is over use, or relying too heavily on it. This must be taken into account with every device, but you must be particular with this one. If you have too little information before the saying then it is just making the argument for you. The same with overuse. If what you are writing is filled with references, then people are going to get distracted and it will destroy whatever you are trying to say. The best time to use it is when you already have a strong argument, and you know or can find a saying that sums it up nicely. If you can do this right, then sententia can be a powerful tool for completing, tying together, and enhancing your argument. "A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority."
    

Flappy Bird (IR)

 

So Flappy Bird is gone. A fact I am sure you were already aware of due to the game's viral nature. Regardless, I feel that the situation deserves a closer look, as this has happened before, as well as the fact it shows an important aspect of fame in regards to the internet. First of all, the reason he decided to take the game down. Well, when you reach so broad an audience, especially and internet audience, you are invariably going to attract some crazies. And attract them he did. The quite literal torrential out pour of virulent tweets and messages was astounding. People complaining about this and that, demanding he change it, hurting themselves, threatening to hurt him - insanity is indeed the right word to describe it. Moreover, Mr. Nguyen realized how many people were getting addicted to it, and the overall unhealthy nature of the game. So, I guess he pulled a Frankenstein and killed his own monster. Anyway, as I said, this is not a unique incident. I remember one particular example where a developer of a Call of Duty game increased the reload time on a gun by approximately .275 seconds - and was immediately awash with people on Twitter threatening to kill his family. There was also Phil Fish, who got so sick of incidents like this he quit the entire video game industry. And remember Anita Sarkeesian? She was attacked in much the same manner. Just a reminder that the anonymity of this internet is not always a good thing - I guarantee this will happen again.       

Divisions (CC)

Our recent starting of "What is the What" has brought the idea of divisions into my mind, and there are certainly a lot of them. People divide themselves based on a literal multitude of things. Gender, race, religion, wealth, ethnicity, nationality and I am sure many more. As we have seen, these divisions lead to nothing good. In the book alone we have seen the divisions between gender lead to sexism and inequality, divisions between nationality lead to abuse and animosity, and the divisions between religion lead to outright violence and death. Needless to say, I, and hopefully everyone else, are opposed to such things. So what then, are differences between cultures and other such things simply bad? Would a world under a single culture and society be a good thing? I doubt it. Though I cannot say much for the latter, the former I would disagree with. The fault is not with the differences themselves, the fault is with the people who interpret them. To the well adjusted person, the differences between cultures are viewed as good. They are a part of our history, a reminder of the diversity of the world and the richness of the different cultures we come from. Divisions become a problem when people start to view other cultures with derision, mockery, suspicion, when they begin to believe that their culture or country is better than another one. We cannot do this. As a species we must, as MLK said "sit together at the table of brotherhood" while not forgetting, nor getting caught up on the diversity that our long history has provided.      

Clones (CM)

Ever since the dawn of the wonder genre known as science fiction, certain recurring features can be seen throughout. Starships, aliens, lasers - and clones. While not quite as prevalent as said starships and aliens, they are certainly still a part, and an often scary one as that. Star Trek clones, Star Wars clones, Bladerunner  clones, Matrix clones, Hitman clone and I am sure many more. The common feature that all of these fictitious clones share is that none of them are represented well. The ones that are represented somewhat neutrally are still viewed as enigmatic, alien - not quite human. The ones that are represented poorly, then, are viewed as literally not human, like they are tools of war or work, or even freaks of nature that shouldn't exist.

The truth about cloning is very, very very different.

It's unfortunate that our society has been so broadly misinformed about the realities of cloning. I'm sure that many of us when we hear the word "clone" we imagine legions of bald, eyebrow-less, pale people with barcode tattoos. Cloning does not produce this. Cloning produces only one thing - an organism genetically identical to the animal it's DNA was taken from. That's it. Nothing more - nothing less, no black magic - no horrors against the lord. To say it another way, cloning is simply a way of artificially producing an organisms twin. Another fact that some people may not be aware of is that clones are not grown in vitro. They develop in a womb like any other organism, and are born the natural way as well.

What I am trying to say is that there is nothing nefarious about cloning. In fact, it's a good thing. In the future, it may allow infertile couples to have biological children, and cloning of individual tissues or organs will provide people who need organ transplants organs that match theirs exactly. Cloning is a marvel of modern medicine, and I hope that the false perceptions surrounding it will disappear soon.