When doing my first literary analysis of American History I overlooked a few things:
           1. The Title- 'Skinny Bones' was planning on studying for an American History test the fellow she likes. Also the title is also tied into the setting of the story: the day JFK was shot.
           2. Point of View- l always forget this one. The point of view was First Person told in the present tense with a series of flashbacks.
           3. Characterization- 'Skinny Bones' is a female ninth grader. She is Porto Rican.
           4. Motifs- The colors white and grey, the ugliness of El Building.
           5. The Author- J. Cofer is a Porto Rico born author who currently resides in Georgia. She is a renowned author and english professor. Her work talks a lot about racism and feminism.

Setting- 1960's United States. Urban. Paterson, New Jersey.
Diction- Spanish words were used as a connection to the main characters heritage and her avoidance of using Spanish words shows her disconnection to her heritage. Use of the phrase 'straight and narrow' to describe the streets of Paterson. Straight and Narrow is a somewhat common phrase in English slang but it is also a reference to the bible and means 'the righteous way".
Tone- Melancholy. Egocentric. Growing.
Author's Craft- Symbolism: The Nurse's white uniform, the patch of sunlight where the flowers grow, El Building's shadow, The snow.
Foreshadowing- The mother telling 'Skinny Bones' not to go to the boys house because she will be crushed.
Irony- Coach or big man crying like a child.
Theme- It is better in hard times to shield your eyes from ugliness rather than dwelling in it.
Conflict- Internal- Wants to be someone else; not content with herself.
            External- Family disconnectedness, cultural barriers and racism, boy issues.

 Flocks of Sheep- Symbolism

            Today we watched Sleepy Hallow with Johnny Depp about a chain of murders committed by mysterious spell-cast ghost. The movie included a lot of examples of symbolism, one of them being a herd of sheep.

            Over the last decade of cinematic history, the sheep has been featured in many works to portray many different messages. In Sleepy Hallows, the sheep symbolized the loss of hope in the town and the arrival of fear and darkness.

Charlie Chaplin uses sheep to symbolize the human reaction to new technology and how the machines were herding them like sheep. He also uses the black sheep to symbolize himself as the one who is different from everyone else.

I can’t think of any others off the top of my head but I will continue to keep my eyes open and report any other sightings of sheep symbolism.

Characterization- Reveals the personality of a character or makes the character real to reader.
        Kinds of Characters- 1) Static Character- Doesn't change throughout work.
                                    2) Dynamic Character- Undergoes great change because of the action                                             in the plot.
                                    3) Flat Character- Embodies one or two qualities, ideas, or traits that                                                 can be described in a breif summary.
                                    4) Stock Characters- Stereotypical characters
                                    5) Round Characters- More complex, realistic character
         Kinds of Characterization- 1) Direct- evaluating characters using adjectives; more direct.
                                             2) Indirect- Evaluating characters by their actions and what        they say; lets readers decide how they think the character is.

Setting- Physical and social context of story

Conflict- The struggle within the plot.
        Kinds of Conflict- 1) External- caused by an outside force.
                                2) Internal- a conflict between forces or emotions within the character.

Style- 1) structure
         2) Diction
         3) tone
         4) Authors craft
         5) Point of View
         6) Orientation
         7) Musically
         8) ect.

Theme- Central meaning

Ceremony- 1) Defines identity 2) Builds Community 3) Expresses Belief 4) Negotiates Power
    Ceremony is like a baseball game. The game brings together people who enjoy baseball and the baseball players- defining identity and builds community. The fans, managers, and players are all there to show everyone they are the best team- Expresses Belief. Whoever wins the game is most powerful-Negotiates Power.

Ritual- Slightly different but it is not mandatory you know the difference. Ritual is, to put it simply, the perticipation. Painting your chest and eating nachos are the ritual in going to a baseball game.

    Modernism is what happens when you scar the whole world. This movement in the arts and philosophy was kick started in the wake of WWI after millions of people had been mercilessly slain for dumb reasons. The world was cornered into a period of depression and shock. People started questioning life because it no longer made sense (they in turn made it more confusing) and the outcome was the Modernist movement. Out of the Modernist movement came Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Wolfe, Kathrine Mansfield, Otto Van Vishmark, Camus, and E. E. Cummings, wielding new ideas, perhaps skewed ideas that put to death pre-modern thought. Abstract thinking had its grip on the world from here forward.

Stream of Consciousness- A literary technique developed by modernist authors such as Virginia Wolfe, E.E. Cummings, Katherine Mansfield and many others. This kind of technique is supposed to put the reader inside the character's head to show how he or she thinks. To make realistic, sketchy thought patterns are used to the point were you are lost and you don't know what is going on. This is my favorite kind of literature.

Cognitive Dissonance- is the feeling you get when new ideas are introduced to you after you had already had predetermined ideas about the subject. Cognitive Dissonance can strike at anytime and can be torturous to anyone who thinks. We must now grapple these subjects that make our brain grind in order to perfect ourselves and become a more rounded individual. If you don't listen with open ears to what people have to say you are going to become the dinner guest who gets expelled from the dinner table at thirty eight years old. Don't be that person. Change yourself, open your heart!

Bloom’s Taxonomy-

            Educators, scientists, and five-year-old kids all love the pyramid; we have found yet another one. I was hoping that this pyramid would reveal something to me something interesting that I had not yet thought about, maybe something about botany and plant’s natural sexual urges and how they use them to dominate the other species, but I was not so lucky. Instead this brightly colored pyramid merely presents to us an analysis on how we learn. Bloom’s Taxonomy shows us something that we do subconsciously, every second of every minute. It is only the chronologically of the way we think. I wonder if this took him all night to think up:

Locus of Control-

            The locus of control is who you believe controls you destiny. The locust of control could be God or God-like, superior to yourself with a much larger margin of control than what you might have. Some people would also say the locust of control are themselves; these are the people who would describe themselves as macho or as similar to the father in Little Ms. Sunshine. It is your life, why shouldn’t you be in charge of your own destiny? Lastly, a person’s destiny can manifest itself inside something with the same human status or a status that is below that. For an example, I could believe that it was the blade of the knife that controls my destiny because that is the thing destined to squeeze between my ribs and end my life forever, or that your mother, who nourishes you and is the key to your subsistence, is in control of your destiny because she shields you from death everyday.

Group Think-

            I think what I am told to think, the words of our leaders are now the words of God; this is groupthink. Morality plays no part in action because we are operating in a wave of action under some command. If your clique is going to collectively poop in a brown paper bag and light it on fire in your living room, you perhaps would be slightly confused and feeling some emotional tare but you are bound to open up your living room promptly and poop willingly in your bag. Groupthink can be found in all aspects of history and even in our daily lives. Some people tend to vote with their party even if the party believes that killing babies occasionally is needed to maintain a well-oiled economy; most don’t truly believe this but they most certainly support their party till its demise.

Marlows Heirachy of Needs describes in what order humans find fulfillment. For example, you can’t have love without air, or you can’t have responsibility without food. Our positions on the pyramid can go both up and down depending on situations and our welfare. If you are a man being hunted like an animal, your position on the pyramid is going to be reduced in order to survive in the wild and not be hunted. Most people will reach the top at one point or another in their lifetimes. I will probably be the exception.