Lapis

Lapis (Lapis Lazuli)
noun

Semiprecious stone valued for its deep-blue colour caused by the presence of the mineral lazurite, which is the source of the pigment ultramarine. Lapis lazuli is not a single mineral but an intergrowth lazurite with calcite, pyroxene, and commonly small grains of pyrite. The most important mines are in Afghanistan and Chile. Much of what is sold as lapis is an artificially dyed jasper from Germany that shows colourless specks of clear, crystallized quartz and never the goldlike flecks of pyrite that are characteristic of lapis lazuli.

Source: Merriam-Webster

“Her lapis doves and tinseled mountains are misplaced and glorified behind plates of glass at museums.”

The word lapis here has the significance of color, but also goes back to the fact that one of the most important mines of this mineral is in Afghanistan, where the main character is from.

Tinseled

Tinseled/Tinsel
noun

1:  threads, strips, or sheets of metal, paper, or plastic used to produce a glittering and sparkling appearance in fabrics, yarns, or decorations
2:  something superficially attractive or glamorous but of little real worth <disfigured by no gaudy tinsel of rhetoric or declamation

Source: Merriam-Webster
“After suckling her mother’s fingers for days in the desert, she throws a tinseled veil up to the sky and catches lapis-colored doves.”
From: What the Scar Revealed, by Zohra Saed

The word “tinseled” brings importance to the object being described, adding depth to the story.

Parasitism

1) Parasitism (noun):  an intimate association between organisms of two or more kinds; especially one in which a parasite obtains benefits from a host which it usually injures.

Mina Loy, Feminist Manifesto: “As conditions are at present constituted-you have a choice between Parasitism & Prostitution- or Negation.”

The use of this word helped me to understand that Loy was shedding light on the relationship between men and women, where a man will take from a woman and leave her hurt and injured.

-“Parasitism.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 19 May 2014

 

 

Tinseled

tinseled- noun

Something sparkling or showy but basically valueless

adjective

Gaudy, showy, and basically valueless

What the Scar Revealed by Zohar sead

“Her lapis doves and
tinseled mountains are misplaced and glorified behind plates of glass at
museums.”

ObjectBiography: The Ballerina That Watched Me

In my room, there is a painting of a little African American girl in her bedroom practicing ballet in front of a standing mirror. The room is pink, as well as the sheets, the carpet, the mirror, even the ‘little-house-on-the-prairie-‘ looking baby doll that looked identical to the little girl. All the furniture in the room is cream and baby pink, matching everything else. I’ve studied this picture since before I can remember. For years I’d take a moment and just look at the little girl. I would just study her face, and how her expression didn’t match anything she was doing. She had a very strong face, and eyes that would stare, kind of like the Mona Lisa. This scared me as a little, and even some of my teenage years. She looked like she didn’t like me, like I she was upset with me. And I always wondered what I did wrong. I smiled at her, talked to her, and even tried to stand like her. I would be in my room, arms above my head, my body elevated from the ground by my toes, and watched her look at me. I figured if she saw how much I was trying to be like her, she would smile at me. Thinking about it now, it was a bit of a crazy wish, for a painting to change its expression on it’s own for the sake of a little girl. But when I was that small, I believed weird things. Call me gullible, but if you had told me that objects moved on their on like in The Toy Story, I believed you with all confidence. So, its no surprise to discover that I was bent on making that little girl smile. But as I got older, I gave up. I just figured that she was miserable, and didn’t want to smile. She didn’t want friends, just wanted to be alone in her room. I must’ve been interrupting her, by watching her practice. It soon felt like I was walking in on her in my own room. I caught myself avoid going into my room one time, because she was the first thing to see when entering the room. I had finally sucked it up and changed her location to another side of the room. Soon after, I forgot about her, out of sight out of mind. It wasn’t until recently that I looked at her again and realized how innocent and sweet she looked. she, and the doll, looked as if they weren’t doing anything but standing there. I wondered why when I was a little girl she looked so mean, but as an adult, she looked completely different. It could be because I grew up, and my perspective of people changed. Maybe I felt that I was trying to be like her so much, and she didn’t approve. She probably wanted me to just be myself, and not go around trying to please others. I could speculate a whole bunch of reasons, but I honestly don’t know.

Midterm Exam

1) “Writing was a reputable and harmless occupation. The family peace was not broken by the scratching of a pen. No demand was made upon the family purse. For ten and sixpence one can buy paper enough to write all the plays of Shakespeare–if one has a mind that way.”

Text: Professions for women

Author: Virginia Wolf

What is happening in the passage is that the narrator is saying that being a writer is a good job because its harmless and its not costly.

This goes with the main theme of the story because the story has to do with a group of women trying to work where men are the main people working. It shows that woman writers have to go through many struggles because they are seen as conservative. It takes some time for Virginia to change her mentality, but does. She then sees that women can be as successful as men in this profession.

2)”If I had your good looks I’d raise a bit of dust myself. Ain’t nobody down there interested in me.”

Text: Intimate Apparel

Author: Lynn Nottage

This passage shows how insecure Ester is and how desperate she is for love and attention.

The passage goes with the main ideas of the story because what Ester wants so desperately is love and when she finds love with George its an issue because she needs to get other people to help her read and write the letters since she cant herself. Their relationship is amazing in letters, but when the meet in person and get married, the marriage is not what she expected. Her dreams were also compromised throughout this play.

Amazon Prime for Students

Hi guys! For those of us who still haven’t got the textbook, Amazon Prime for students is a good choice. I was telling some of you on Thursday about how I got it for free for 6 months, but they apparently just stopped offering the deal. We can still get Amazon Prime for half of the price ($39/year instead of $79/year) for being in school. I still think it’s a good deal, since it gets you free 2-day delivery for millions of items, including used ones. I bought a used version of our textbook for $15 with free delivery last Friday and got it on Sunday.

I swear I don’t have any affiliation with Amazon!

Quick Sand

The Novel begins at the point in Helga Cranes life when she is a school teacher, She is unhappy with  where she is in lfe. Helga has issues with being comfortable in her setting.  Race and identity had been troubling her since child hood. Helga was outcast-ed by her black side of the family as well as her white side, Helgas mom was white and her dad was black , her father left her mom and her mother remarried to a white man,

Helga does allot of moving around trying to find a place where she fits  Helga finds that when she is around whites she misses being around blacks, and when she is around blacks she misses whites. In the beginning of the story she was a loner, Solitude seems to be her best company. Helga becomes frustrated with not being able to fit in , she is a smart young beautiful woman who struggles with identity