Hey Guys Just Uploaded A New Video! Hope You All Check It Out! Enjoy Your Day!

(Summer Study Challenge) 8/22/2020: Imagine that you could fill a swimming pool with anything except water and swim in it. What would your pool be filled with? 

This is giving me too many flashbacks from competitive swimming, so I’ll stay away from the pool if it’s cool with you. ;) 

Nineteen credits and two honors seminars sure do hit you kinda fast, don’t they? I’ve started blocking out my days schedule wise and I’m loving it so far. It feels so much better than the pomodoro method for me. I’m usually allotting an hour and a half to each subject and an hour to do these posts should I have the time to do them. As you can see, I don’t post every day on here, and probably won’t. This semester is busy, busy! 

The first two days of classes went pretty well, and my internship is off to a great start. I’m enjoying my classes so far, but I still have two more that haven’t met yet. Also catch me trying to learn Latin myself - the textbook went straight to verb conjugation and I respect that but I have no idea if I’m doing any of this right. 

Hope you’re all doing well. Steady on! 

🎶 : Das Wandern (from Die Schöne Müllerin - performed by Ian Bostridge and Mitsuko Uchida) from my Favorite Repertoire for Tenor playlist

09/01/2020

ran out of pages in my notebook just at the end of summer. very excited to find this dingbats notebook that coincidentally is both green and keeps up with my deer theme! plus it has so much less ghosting than my leuchtturm (bless). third in my dynasty of green notebooks to start the school year off!

2018

- wake up with your alarm. don’t lie there for another half an hour. seize the day

- have a glass of water as soon as you wake up and before you go to sleep. hydrate

- stretch. do some yoga. try and do the splits or even just touch your toes. relax and meditate and focus on your breathing

- even if you’re not going out, change your clothes and your underwear. clean is always better

- go for run. or a walk. or to the gym. even just once a week. just get outside

- read a little everyday. maybe for leisure or maybe for class. just learn

- new music is always lush. spotify, apple music, a live gig. go hear someone’s heart

- cut things out that make you unhappy. people, relationships, certain foods, habits, anything

- study hard. work hard. get it. the job, the degree, the relationship. just do it for you

- check your boobs everyday. make doctors appointments

- eat a piece of fruit and veg everyday. we all know 5 a day is far fetched, especially for students

- compliment people. you never know how much someone needs to hear something positive

- compliment yourself. look at yourself in the mirror and say five things you like and maybe one to improve. you can always better yourself but don’t make that your be all and end all

- a relationship should never be your everything. it’s lush to be smitten and to have someone smitten with you but be sure not to become half a person. you are a whole. reclaim your independence. learn to love your solitude

- don’t forget your friends. keep in touch with people. don’t be glued to your phone but make sure you stay in contact

- give yourself time to heal. grief is a weird thing and time isn’t always the healer. you’ll have good days and bad days and you should never feel bad for crying. it’s not over and you don’t have to move on in the way people think you should. memories are good things

- don’t put so much pressure on yourself. eat that pizza. buy that charity shop coat. there’ll always be money and there’s always tomorrow to eat a salad. calm down

- stress is the silent killer. you don’t need that first degree or that promotion. do your best and you’ll be rewarded

- say fuck it once in a while. or a lot. a couple of g&ts, a party, a new outfit

- have sex or don’t have sex. it’s a lot of fun when your needs are met and you’re enjoying yourself with someone you love or just like the look of

- withdraw consent if you get uncomfortable. at the beginning, middle, end, it’s always okay. don’t let social expectations dictate your choices. the idea of being a slut doesn’t exist unless you’re hurting someone you’ve made monogamous promises to. other than that you’re good

- get checked and be good to your body. sex is great if your mind and body are good with it too

- take photos. paint. write in a journal. document your life. you never know when you’ll need some nostalgia or a creative outlet

- families aren’t perfect but they’ll always be in your life in some way. in person or in your heart and memory. try to make them good memories. there are those without parents and siblings and grandparents who would give anything to have what you have. try a little. take the higher ground

- mental health is important. cut out anything that could contribute to its downfall. your mind’s long life is more important than temporary fixes

- listen to the people close to you. most of the time they have your best interests at heart and they’re trying to help you see what maybe you can’t. don’t take things so personally

- we’re living in a time of hate. be a ray of sunshine to this dark world. don’t seclude yourself to your own cave. that isn’t what self love is. we need to take care of ourselves first, yes, but remember to love each other too

- take one day at a time

Its such a sad thing that this is true...

one thing i hate about media is how there’s no sort of representation for how badly friendship break ups fuck you up. like there are a million and one films about romantic break ups but i have yet to see a film or television show that accurately depicts how difficult friendships falling apart can be and how that stuff can really leave you with wounds and behaviors that take ages to heal

hey guys! check out lily's youtube video!

Back to School: How to Get an A*/8 or 9 in an English Lit Essay!

Happy September, everyone!

As we all get our gears in motion to start a new year, I thought I would share my top tips for scoring the highest marks in English Literature essays. 

(P.S. Lots of these tips are applicable to other subjects too)

1. Don’t write about the character as if they are real

Unfortunately, this is a common error in English Lit essays. It is absolutely imperative to remember that a character is not a person, but is a construct of the writer in order to present an idea or theme. No matter the question, you should be linking your answer back to the writer’s ideas and theme of the text, even if it doesn’t seem obvious what the theme is on the first inspection of the question. Using the author’s name frequently in your essay will demonstrate that you recognise the character is not a real person - ‘Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle as…’

2. Don’t analyse the plot

Avoid analysing the plot or when things happen in the text. Don’t write ‘When X happens it makes us think Y’. Instead:

Analyse the writer’s use of language, structure and form to create meaning

Do a close language analysis of specific words/phrases, including a sound analysis (plosives, assonance, etc.)

Do a structural analysis of what happens when and why that’s important (Freytag’s pyramid)

Do an analysis of form (stage directions, dramatic monologue, etc.)

3. Keep your answer relevant throughout

You need to be explicitly answering the question - not going off on a tangent nor trying to change the question to suit an answer that you want to write. One way of avoiding this is by starting each paragraph with a topic sentence, summarising what that paragraph is going to be about and how it answers the question. Another method is simply by rewording the question into your answer at the start and end of every paragraph. At least. For greater impact, include synonyms of the word, which can also help with the readability of your answer.

4. Avoid PEE/PEEL/etc. where you can

Thousands of students are taught the same, basic Point-Evidence-Explain (or variant) analytical paragraph structure. If you want to stand out, show academic strength, and achieve the highest marks then you must break free from the chains of PEE! (This also applies for your introduction format. ‘In this essay, I will argue…’ gets pretty dull after reading it 100 times)

For my students, I will be teaching them to write What-How-Why paragraphs:

WHAT has the writer done?

HOW have they done it?

WHY have they done it/is it effective?

This way, your focus is always on why the writer has chosen to use that specific language/structure/form, but it allows you to be creative in crafting your response. Being able to discuss the ‘why’ of literature is the key to unlocking the highest grades. Reading through examiners’ reports this summer has made one thing clear - it is not enough to merely spot linguistic devices or structural features. You must explain why the writer has chosen them and why that is an effective choice (or not).

5. Avoid sweeping statements about context

The main advice here is to only include comments about the context of the text if it adds to the analytical point that you are making. They should not be a bolt-on sentence, but they should enhance your answer.

Further, sweeping claims like ‘All Jacobean women were oppressed by society’ is far too vague. On the other hand, a comment like ‘Lady Macbeth is a disturbing example of womanhood because she denies her gender at a time where the role of a woman was clear-cut, even patriarchal, in Jacobean society’ suggests that you have a greater understanding of how context can influence the writer’s choices.

6. A plan is your best friend

Always, always make time to plan your answer. A method I recommend is, first, circling the key words in the question (character/theme, what you are asked to do, where in the text you are asked to look, etc.). Secondly, write all of your ideas down onto the page, highlighting parts from the extract if you have that in front of you. Finally, select a judicious number of points that you are going to talk about (quality not quantity here) and number the order in which you are going to make them.

If you are writing a comparative essay, each paragraph must start and end with a comparative point about whatever it is you are comparing (characters/themes/etc.) I suggest the following format:

‘X is presented in both text A and text B. However, in A the author uses device 1 and 2 to demonstrate X. On the other hand, in B, the author demonstrates X via use of device 2 and 3.’ Then write one paragraph for each text. Repeat this again for another similarity. And again for a third - if you think that is appropriate.

Click HERE if you want more top tips/resources/essay advice/study motivation!!

Click HERE if you want more top tips/resources/essay advice/study motivation!!

Photo credit @eintsein 🌻

u ever get no sleep and the next day ur body functions like the tumblr app

this is how i spent all of autumn break. in my dads mock-studio which is just a bright room in our summer house (honestly the light in there is magical). studying economics until my eyes bled. 

2003... 'climate change denier'...

i just found out merriam webster has a time traveler feature that tells you some of the words that were “born” the same year as you. it’s pretty neat yall should do this