My questions on TKM were, firstly, to comment on what message Miss Maudie was trying to get across from a passage in the book. I basically said, the underlying ethos that was suggested; was that their society at the time, was at a transitional stage of progress; where the eradication of prejudice was quite a long way off'; and that although a forlorn fact; there are some redeeming features in the way of various characters act that are against the consensus view that blacks are a somehow worth less than whites. I obviously babbled a bit more; I'd say this was my weakest answer.
The next answer on Lee's novel was to the question "How does Lee create the feel of what life might have been like in a town like Maycombe in 1935(?) - This one, I pretty much nailed; big time. I used the quote "Atticus said naming people after Confederate Generals created slow steady drinkers" when referring to the Ewell's - I basically pointed out that this was historically plausible; and that Lee used it; along with other quotes to create authenticity- as a lot of white people in the south back then; still had an axe to grind; and the bigotries had filtered down through the generations from when the civil war (although now, thinking about it, I cited the war of independence....shit!) ended (and white people in the vicinity had a lot to lose) I also pointed out the Maya "Layafette" Ewell has possibly been named after the French general who was an ally to the states in the war of independence. I also made a note that it was interesting that Lee's message basically contradicted the "confederate" views even though she is actually a descendent of the General Lee from the civil war....again, I think I said the war of independence....I'm hoping the moron who marks my work won't actually check these facts. I commented on the dialect/dialogue for adding authenticity; and the relationships between the town folk, and social standings....I might have tried to be a smart arse too much here...
My question on "An inspector calls" how does Priestly get the message across about responsibility- I basically used Birlings opening quote; the essence being about how you should fuck everyone else; and look out for your self (I pointed out the use of the bee hive analogy); then used the complete paradoxical quote of the Inspector the "we don't live alone; there are millions of Eva Smiths" - Social responsibility covered; I then went on to ramble about personal responsibility; and backed that up with a few quotes that Mr Birling had made; the horrible cunt.
As far as righteous characters go; I'd say that Goole (Inspector calls), shits all over Atticus(TKAM), and I really enjoyed watching the BBC play (1982) on youtube; although; I prefer the one from the 50's with Aleister Sim.
I'm glad my first proper exam is out of the way. I reckon I'll be in band 4 at least, which equates to a B/C grade; I can pull my finger out for the next exam; and try and get into band 5. Overall, I need a C; something I think in English; I should be able to get with my eyes closed. Come to think of it; I think I got a C anyway first time around; so should I fail; I have that to fall back on. I don't think it's likely though. I have a Biology exam coming up, and I've been getting B's in the mocks, with little revision. I'm sure I boost it up to A's in the coming week; with half an hour each evening doing the practice papers; I've already got an A* on my coursework for biology; so it would be nice to continue that form into the exams. The same fundamentals apply to my physics, minus the coursework; but I'm sure I'll get high grades there; as it's on electronics; at uni, I managed to build my own functioning synthesiser; so I think I'm in with a shout at 'sprout' level. Both my English Language assessments to date, have gotten me both band 5 marks, which is essentially an A grade, and my third and final assessment is basically to rant about something; and I apparently get marked for being sarcastic. This is essentially something that I do on a daily basis; in fact, I'd say it was more frequent than that. There's not an hour that goes by, when I'm awake anyway, where I'm thinking to myself, "how shit is that?" or "what a load of bollocks" I've a feeling I might get FULL marks on this one.
I wish I could say the same about my Maths. Although, since I started, I've learnt most of the remedial stuff ...again; bare in mind, when I started, I'd forgotten long division, subtraction, long multiplication,working out percentages, percentage changes, working out area, perimeter, volume, no clue about standard form, or what algebra was, I really was at a remedial level. While I'm still pretty shocking at maths; I've managed to get myself up to near C grade stuff; and I'm just starting to take on B level answers. Although, in honesty, I need to go over ALL of it. I'm made up that I have the use of MyMaths; a very good website; that can sometimes explain things to me that my maths tutor can not. I will be doing 45 minutes a day on this website from now until June; my numeracy tutor is letting me sit in on the GCSE support sessions; so I'm getting 2 hours a week tuition there. I may get a maths tutor; for two hours a week, 6 weeks before the exam date. I need to nail this; I'm ready to begin my merchant navy career THIS September. I can't be waiting another 6 months; or another year!
I've been off facebook for 2 weeks now; and to be honest; I'm not missing it as much as I thought I would. Fundamentally, facebook is a good idea; but then the reality of it is; that it causes more harm than good. Pederasts use it to groom young' uns', quite a few young girls have been killed with the assistance of facebook; then there's the ones who have been bullied over a facebook, and decided to end their lives, a tragic conclusion, that HAS happened! Efforts aren't made to meet with people any more either, and hours are wasted, yes WASTED; and you can't put a price on wasting a man's time, can you?
Personally, and I don't think I'm alone here, am I? - I used to spend hours each day on facebook; just sitting and staring at the god damn screen looking a updates of people I'm hardly even interested in! Compelled to log in! Why!? I think I ended up hiding most of the people on there anyway by using the following policing policy; talking about your kids all the time? Hidden! Grammatically inept? Hidden! Using the word "am" instead of "I'm" - compulsory euthanasia!. . .well, maybe not to that extreme, but you're getting deleted at least! Morons on there who have their "Just been to the toilet-esque" posts- hidden! There's the cretins who allow things like "Daily Horroscopes" to be posted every day - who instantly get hidden! Like I want to know about YOUR astrology readings! Astrology is a mugs game . . give me astronomy any day of the week! Liverpool/Everton fans having a pop at each other? Hidden! Racist overtones? Hidden . . possibly deleted or blocked, depending on how extreme. Opinions about 'X-factor', yes! You guessed it! . . . . HIDDEN!
So, even though we know it's turd, and it's a total waste of time, WHY are we so addicted to it?
Well- There's a study out there, that suggests constant use of social networking sites, in particular the faux "relationships" that we have on-line are having a considerable effect on the release of the hormone Oxytocin, which is referred to in the field of Neuroscience as "the cuddle drug" -which incidentally increases trust, and reduces fear; not good if you're an impressionable teen! Surely not? It also produces a calming, soothing, pleasurable effect that is chemically measurable in the brain. Now! If you take this in to consideration, maybe my question of "Why!?" has been answered. Go me! Essentially; it wouldn't be the acme of foolishness to make the statement that, social networks are chemically addictive- unnatural quantities of Oxytocin are being released, every single time we log on. So . . . like caffeine, or heroine, social networks are fundamentally addictive. Maybe not as addictive as heroine, but addictive all the same. Tangent alert! Office workers, and teachers fall into the caffeine abyss on an idiosyncratic scale; without even noticing. A cup before breakfast; a cup before they log on, a cup before the break, a cup in the break, a cup at dinner, an afternoon tipple...maybe two? Do the maths; and count how many you have in a week; a month; a year! Look up the effects of prolonged use of caffeine! Exactly!! Back to Facebook anyway- When you're not logged on, you want to be; because of the chemicals in your swede!
Anyway; all this ranting about facebook is doing my head in. I'm going to take my dog to the park now. Anyone remember parks? The places where you can actually WALK to, to get some EXERCISE and FRESH AIR, and maybe actually socialise with REAL people; not just sitting on your swivel chair; for hours; in a dark gloomy room; in your underwear; with your empty pot noodle pots over flowing from your bin; til' the small hours. Go on; turn your computer off; and get out there! Maybe I'll see you there?
Right; basically; I'm going to use the shit that I wrote about facebook just there, for my English "rant" - in case you were wondering why I went off the rails from my usual ranting 'modus operandi' - swearing and that, being offensive ETC. Also, since when do I give a flying fuck about teenagers going missing or topping themselves? Exactly, NEVER. You're talking to the person here; who a few years ago, bought a blond wig, and wanted to borrow his brothers everton shirt to go to a fancy dress party . . .you do the math! The mark scheme is to be ironic, use sarcasm, and a broad range of punctuation and literary "styles" - give me my fucking A now please? Although; if anything is to be taken from the above; all the shite about the chemicals in the mind; it's all real shit; you can read up on here; although, the one that was conducted in the states was much better; the results were clearer, more conclusive; and they used slightly more scenarios, delved a bit deeper if I remember rightly; but I can't find it at the moment.
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