Essential Question Reflection

The two essential questions of English II are "what kind of a world is this?" and "how should we live in it?" After thinking for a while, I realized that there are other essential questions I always seem to ask myself. "What kind of a person am I?" and "What kind of a person do others see me as?" are questions that I wonder about while going through life. I think because of the way I was raised, I care about the way I come off to other people, and I don't want to act in a way that would make people look at me in a bad way and gain enemies.

Descriptive Passage

Imagine a place so loud, you can't hear your own voice. Where people devote all their voices to one common cause. But with one simpe mishap, it goes dead silent, and quiet noises echo on forever. A place where one simple white ball is more important than anything else. Where simple lighted numbers determine 1st from 2nd, excitement from disappointment.

Bel and the Serpent Lit Circle

Congeniality-compatibility between persons

Languidly-lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow

Damask-a reversible fabric of linen, silk, cotton, or wool, woven with patterns

Unfettered-not bound by shackles and chains

Manioc-a starch made by leaching and drying the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca; a staple food in the tropics

Pulpit-a platform or raised structure in a church, from which the sermon is delivered or the service is conducted

Impudence-The quality of being offensively bold

Procession-the act of moving along or proceeding in orderly succession or in a formal and ceremonious manner, as a line of people, animals, vehicles, etc.

Belligerent-warlike; given to waging war

Impala-an African antelope

Galvanize-To stimulate or shock with an electric current

Bushbuck-a large African antelope

Unabashed-Not disconcerted or embarrassed; poised

Genesis Lit Circle

"Some of us know how we came by our fortune, and some of us don't, but we wear it all the same. There's only one question worth asking now: How do we aim to live with it?" (9)

While reading this chapter, this quote, said by Orleanna really caught my eye because it's really similar to the essential questions of english II: What kind of world is this and how should we live in it? What she means by this is that people have both good things and bad things happen to them at times in their lives, but the important thing is what you learn and get from them, and how you use them to live your life. She says this as she reflects on her experiences in Africa and peoples habits of mind. The quote shows that the english II essential questions are questions that can be asked by anyone and everyone in this world.