5th Denver

  I like to make people laugh. Not a huge surprise to anyone who knows me. I really liked listening to jokes since I was a little kid and it really got me thinking about the principles of humor. There’s always a specific time and place to tell a certain joke, as well as a direct correlation to the impact of your joke. To me, jokes are like a special type of verbiage that certain thaumaturges can truly master. People who can use humor correctly truly have so much power in our society. They can lift other peoples’ moods in an instant, gain popularity quickly, and can even insult people for fun on occasion. I know that the latter may seem kind of rude, but it’s really true. Oftentimes, people make jokes at the expense of others to make people laugh. In fact, one of my favorite comedian YouTubers commented on this seemingly niche phenomena. He himself used this knowledge to get through a period in his high school life in which he was bullied. He detailed how he went home every night feelin

Power in Stories Something that has been pretty popular lately is isekai manhwas. Isekai webtoons are essentially comics about someone who died and was reborn. When they are reborn, they get reborn into a new life, a novel character, or earlier in their life (usually when they were treated badly so they can have a second chance and get revenge). The most common isekai storyline follows someone who gets reincarnated into a novel character, set in old Europe, and is trying hard to stay alive, so they find a strong husband of high standing to protect them.  Power dynamics are extremely prominent in such webtoons, because of the class systems from olden times. When they seek someone for help, they always look for a high ranking noble like a duke or marquess, because they are the only ones who can protect them from whatever troubles they may have. In addition, in most cases, the female leads only marry people in higher classes. A very popular scenario is when the female lead is treated badl

                                                the "journaling every morning" trend by Faith Tong      There was a period of time when my whole TikTok page was filled with repetitive videos of journaling and self care. It was honestly probably one of the most beneficial and positive trends on social media. I would scroll through videos and take a glimpse into every person's morning routine. One thing they all had in common was journaling. This got me curious about how journaling was helping people improve their day to day lives.      Of course, I had to pull up the good old ordinary definition of journaling. According to Merriam-Webster, journaling is a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use. On the other hand, the journaling trend online is used more for self-affirmations, goals, and gratitude. For example, most people would write down the things that would strengthen them mentally. This could include imprinting powerful words such a

Books are a powerful way to connect with the audience and spread awareness about an issue. Each word in a book is artfully chosen in order to present the most compelling message. In addition, books have an unique feature that separates them from other mediums such as speech: books give readers the opportunity to listen to a character’s thoughts and actions. This is essential because it allows readers to step inside the shoes of a character they otherwise might not be able to relate to. I can speak about this from personal experience. Last year, I read the book A Thousand Splendid Suns , which is about the story of two women in Afghanistan from the 1960s to the 2000s. Even though I had prior knowledge of the Taliban, reading the book really emphasized to me how horrible the Taliban’s rule was. Oftentimes, when we think about large issues, it is often in more of an abstract sense since we can never truly imagine what is going on without prior experience. However, I have personally found

Mrinmayee Sama - Week 3  Stand-Up Comedian Much? So obviously you have read my blog posts before and you've probably noticed that I use humor a lot lol. I do this mostly because blog posts are where I can use an informal tone in APENG. Also let's be serious, reading something that is funny and makes you laugh is way better than reading some content-dense material. For example, I'd look at memes all day long, but if you ask me to read a president's speech, UHM I'm good, thank you though. Well, this isn't really a fair comparison because obviously, a speech takes way more energy and time to understand than a meme. But, you get it right? Back to what I was saying, being funny is a personality I look for in people because it just makes my life better to hang out with people who have the same humor as me. Now, who does this for a living?  If you look up what stand-up comedians do, there is a high chance you will probably find that they are paid to entertain the audie

Andrew Chao Ms.Benedetti AP English 11 P5 15 February 2022 [9:37 pm] Sometimes you feel lazy, lethargic, the desire to procrastinate for a work that is fairly easy if you focus your time on it. There are these such things as "motivation quotes", so what are they? I remembered that during quarantine, a physical education teacher, had almost a motivation quote everyday for us. These quotes one might say, at a glance are just random arrangement of words slapped between two fancy quotations.  However, they are not these quotes, when thoroughly read gives immense power to the reader at the moment. Now how does this work? It is almost as if something suddenly click and triggered an electron in your brain that started to get your blood pumping again. The reason behind this is that the words alone might not really mean anything but together, power surges through them. This is actually pretty fascinating to think about which other than called motivation quotes can be called power quot

  An investi-gator! See what I did there? That’s what our society calls “a bad pun.” Does this mean that this joke was necessarily a really terrible joke? Not really. It wasn’t outwardly offensive toward any controversial topic, nor did it not make sense at all. The reason why we call these types of jokes “bad” is because the feeling of cringe that it gives once it was delivered. That’s mainly why I love giving these types of jokes. They do require some effort to come up with these puns yourself, and most of the time they cause a reaction when your audience hears you say them. If you were really lazy, you could look them up easily online. All you have to do is type “puns” into Google and bam, free puns. I also find it interesting to see how many topics that you can integrate puns into. Puns are essentially clever wordplay that is delivered in a theatrical manner. There are puns relating to science, math, food, animals, space; you name it, there’s probably a pun for it somewhere.  Anoth

language is power In 1998, Robert Greene released a book called The 48 Laws of Power . The book sold 1.2 million copies worldwide, raising the author to cult popularity among celebrities, business people, and inmates. In fact, the book became so well known among inmates that many prisons banned the book along with Greene’s other book, The Art of Seduction , citing the fear officials had in the book’s manipulation contents.  Some of the most notable laws are “say less than necessary”, “when asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest”, “isolation is dangerous”, and “use selective honesty to gain trust. What all of these rules have in common is that they need language and communication to pull off. Take a Greek war before the Peloponnesian War as an example. The islands of Corcyra and Corinth were on the brink of conflict and both wanted Athens (who then had the most powerful navy back then) on their side. The ambassador of Corcyra was bluntly honest, merely admitting that Corc

     Yeah, being alone sucks. It hurts to see people having fun with their friends. It hurts to be the only one in class that wasn’t invited to a party. It hurts to walk around aimlessly at lunch, hoping someone would start a conversation with you, so you don’t look stupid being all alone. It hurts to be deprived of happiness. It hurts to be drowning in all your emotions because you have no one. It hurts the most when it's your birthday, and no one knows, no one gets you a gift, and you can’t make the best memories. But it's not like one chooses to be this way and it’s not always this bleak.     Over time, I’ve personally enjoyed being alone; I love it. Being alone has taught me to learn about myself and discover my true identity. I have become more creative, I understand myself way better, I have found peace, and now I am at ease. I have become more observant; I have learned to control my emotions and how to take a break when I genuinely need one. Being alone isn’t always mise

 Feb 14, 2022 2:43 PM My mom always reminds me to think of one positive thing when I wake up in the morning. My first thought is always, “Wow…school…what do I have to get done today🗿” and “oh shoot I woke up sorta late, can I get out of the house by 7:50 and walk to school by 8AM?”  If anything, I think about the negative side and just act pessimistic about things, especially if there is a quiz or test first thing in the morning. I’m probably like “I will probably fail,” or “oh well, whatever happens its all good hahaha.” Negative thoughts flow so much more easily and just more easy to reflect on yourself.  Honestly, maybe positive word(s) can help me stay positive. Mindset! And if you know those “aesthetic blocks” with those inspirational quotes on it? Yeah, my mom has one in her room and always brings it up to me to show/tell me to think happy.  I guess this does tie to how language does influence your thinking and the way you feel throughout the day. My mood does get better after l

Human Energy → Usable Power by Angel Susantin woman running How much power does the United States use per year?     According to the University of Michigan Center of Sustainable Systems: "Each day, U.S. per capita energy consumption includes 2.3 gallons of oil, 7.89 pounds of coal, and 252 cubic feet of natural gas. Residential daily consumption of electricity is 12.1 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per person. In 2020, total U.S. energy consumption decreased 7.3% from 2019 peak levels."      Over the years, there has been a slow influx of renewable sources such as hydropower, wind, and solar power. However, the majority of energy generated in the United States is derived from natural gases, coal, and nuclear energy—some nonrenewable resources that are harmful to the earth's atmosphere. Aside from the renewable sources already stated, perhaps there is an answer to our nonrenewable issue right in front of our eyes.      In a report submitted to a Stanford University Introduction to P

Our current mayor, Lily Mei, is running for state senator in 2022, despite the fact that her term is not over until 2024. So who is she? Why would she want to switch her position mid-term and what are the differences between these two positions?  Lily Mei is the first Asian American and female mayor of Fremont, and is a part of the Democratic party. She was previously a two-term board trustee for the FUSD, a member of the housing and community development committee, and the president of APISBMA. Under her leadership, Fremont won a multitude of awards, such as the “Most Inclusive City” and “Happiest City.” The mayor takes care of more local things and things that involve improving the quality of life in their respective areas. They manage the police and fire departments, housing, recreation, and public works. On the other hand, the state senate can create laws that impact the entire state. They also manage the taxes and pass bills.  Lily Mei said that the reason why she wants to become

 Self Esteem Go Boom by Faith Tong     Do you guys every have those types of friends that just take jokes a bit too far? Sometimes I start to question whether they are joking or it's more of a personal attack. Anyways, I have noticed the differences between the friends who make the jokes versus the friends who take in the joke. I will be sharing my very important (emphasis on important) observations that lead to my conclusion of correlation between self esteem and jokes.      In this observation, I was mainly the bystander, kind of like Nick  Caraway (just had to use a Great Gatsby reference).   I first began to observe the two friends' characteristics and habits. I noticed how (let's called them Friend 1) Friend 1 loves to crack jokes all the time and laugh everything off. They did not care what others had to say about them and displayed self confidence. On the other hand, (let's call them Friend 2) Friend 2 was the one who was the one receiving the jokes and did not r

Whenever we think about the power of language, we often think about the power of words. However, there is as much power in the specific words being spoken as there in the specific words that aren’t being spoken. I read the article “How Russia Tries to Censor Western Social Media” by Andrei Zakharov and Ksenia Churmanova, which is linked here: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-59687496 . The article talks about how Russia often tells media companies to remove certain posts. Many companies, including Facebook and Twitter, now are charged fines in Russia due to not removing certain content(it has not been confirmed whether or not the companies actually did pay the fines). Russia claims that these posts are illegal and therefore should be removed; however, these posts are often in support of Alexei Navalny, who is an opposition leader and criticizes Putin. By censoring the posts of those in support of Navalny, Russia is trying to stop Navalny supporters from assembling. For insta

  image address                George Harrison once said that “its easier to tell a lie than to tell the truth.”                Indeed, many times in life, we face the option of either being honest and accepting the consequences or twisting reality for the benefits. Many people choose the latter, gambling with whatever they have in hopes of higher returns. The art of lying is a very tricky game to play as it does not only require crafting a realistic picture but also how calmly the presenter acts in front of potential questioners. One of the most elaborate methods of getting people to believe in a lie is the “illusory truth effect.” In a study conducted at Villanova University  and  Temple University , a group of college students were at first given a list of trivia questions and were asked how confidently they could answer the questions. For two more weeks, new lists of questions were generated by keeping some of the original questions and replacing the others with new questions. Wh

  What are speeches? How important is it to learn how to give a speech? To me, I think it is a necessary life skill to have personally. Learning how to give a proper speech is an academic skill that ties in with social skills as well as theater. When you give a speech, it is typically in front of a large audience. This factor ties in with theater, as you must become comfortable with speaking in front of others without stuttering or mumbling. Your body language also takes place in both instances. In theater, actors must learn not to fidget onstage, as it can be distracting for the audience. The same principle applies to people who are giving a speech. Fidgeting in front of an audience gives them the impression that you are unprofessional, and also diverts their attention onto your subtle movements rather than what you are saying.  To give a speech, one would need to write a speech. This is where academic literacy skills come into play. Learning about how to use “tone” and “attitude” can

Mrinmayee Sama - Week 2  Think Before You Talk (I feel like a hypocrite writing the title because first of all, I talk about whatever I want without processing sometimes, and two, I don't think...like at all) Someone in 4th period Mishal: Bro did you know... Ms. Mishal: I'm not your bro...BRO AWKWARD 😅       I tried to make the title as wise as possible but you know I'm not pressured to make it perfect. Why? It's not because I don't care, but it's because of the fact that this blog isn't necessarily a formal piece of writing. OH HEY LOOK, would you look at that, a segway into how power is connected with language. yay!  Anyways I think that this is a big concept in today's world because you can never ever take words back and sometimes a slip of tongue can cause a dent in an impression (oh wait that kinda sounded deep lol). This happens a lot more in front of my parents than I'd like and I'm not a fan of it because I'm a completely different p

 Andrew Chao Ms.Benedetti Apeng 5 1 February 2022 [9:57]                                                                                Phrasing of Words      I have always wondered what diction really means when it comes to a group of words. Over this whole school year, we have gradually mentioned it here and there. Authors mostly use it in novels to create a certain tone such as suspense, shock, mystery, or an empty room rather than also describing the setting and emotions that the characters portray. Diction as it seems not only appears in English classes but our daily lives and speaking less of a word or speaking the words in a specific order detracts or expands the original intent made by the speaker. Something may be as if "I am full" stating that you don't want to eat anymore and are ready to get off the dinner table any moment. Now this would be different if someone is offering you more food as it would most likely hurt the cook as you might not be actually full l

Angie Cheng Benedetti English 11AP   Monday, January 31, 2022 Blog #2 Semester 2 Week 2:Sarcasm lol – 1/31/2022 [10:29 AM].   Who even these days haven’t been sarcastic? It’s literally a whole character trait that is complicated on its own. A somebody who is mayhaps 40% sarcastic at all times because I have no clue what I am saying sometimes and I do like joking around, I dare say it is quite a terrifying character trait. The power that is held with sarcasm should not be taken lightly. We all know that people can interpret words incorrectly, and sarcasm is dangerous. People can take your words as more than a joke, and it shows “attitude” depending on the person who you are talking to. I remember my mom getting mad at me because I was being sarcastic about something(that part I don’t really remember) but she said “are you showing me attitude?” Oops on my end, I think the amount of sarcasm that I use with my friends effected the way that I would talk to my parents…I’ve also used sarcas

The Power of ✨Friendship✨ by Angel Susantin (scaramouche and mona being besties by yours truly) Boom. I did it. Yay, friendship! It's 1 AM and I need sleep. There’s a surprisingly large amount of things to consider embedded in this topic, though. First off, defining what friendship is. According to wikipedia, friendship is “a relationship of mutual affection between people.” Quite broad, isn’t it? I believe that pretty much does it justice—you really can’t draw a solid line indicating when someone is or when someone is not your friend. This wobbly line varies from person to person as well. Keep in mind that when it comes to friendship, everyone has different experiences. My mother always told me to choose my friends wisely. Over the years, I discovered the wonders of peer pressure, and considering that I want to lead a life without getting in much trouble, I saw my mom’s words as prime advice. Thus, I stuck with people that had similar interests as me (for instance, video games and