My Little Morning Spread! Still Visiting Home So Am Trying To Take Full Advantage Of The Amount Of Food

Overcompensating for the snow by making my study setup extra tropical 🌵🌿

Follow my studygram for more tropical study vibes 🍃 

i’ve propagated a bunch of my plants and can’t wait to put them into larger pots◡̈⃝ my twin’s started translating another manhwa and it’s so good !! it’s a really cute shoujo school-life type and it’s making me so excited and fluttery inside

My life....

how terrible is it to be called beautiful, smart and strong but end up being alone every night.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the vastness of things I want to be, do and achieve.

I want to be the girl reading Anna Karenina in a dimly lit cafe and losing herself in poetry and philosophy every night. Yet, I also want to be sharp and analytical and save lives with a scalpel in my hand. I want to travel the world and surprise people with how many languages I can speak - drink wine and watch ballet in France, explore abandoned castles in Scotland, feel the centuries of history in Italy and Greece, learn to surf in Hawaii or Australia. I want to have an attic studio where I can make art and laugh with my lover about the funny-looking portrait as I can never get the face proportions quite right. I want a house away from the city and a horse so that I can roam the fields. But I also want to live right in the middle of the city and admire the skyline and the skyscrapers every night. And the list goes on and on…

They say follow your passion but which one do I follow if there are only 24 hours in a day? I know I won’t be able to do all of the things I dream of but I personally object to having to limit myself.

he’s literally rigging the election and next to nothing’s being done about it what the actual fucking living hell

it’s only the second week of the semester and i already have so much work! here’s my current desk setup + environmental science notes. 

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 🌻

Overview of Korean Formalities

존댓말

polite formal 합쇼체

most common and safe speech form, can be used with everyone

especially used with clients, business partners, customers, etc

news broadcasts and reporters

~ㅂ니다

ex; 합니다, 하십니다

polite informal 해요체

most common and safe speech, used with everyone as well

tv show hosts use it

more common with younger generations

~아요/여요/어요

ex; 해요, 하세요

반말

impolite formal 해라체

used with friends, family, people of lower status, or younger than you

sort of plain text used in magazines, books, newspapers, songs, etc.

~다/ㄴ다/는다

ex; 한다, 하신다

impolite informal 해체

between friends and children

ex; 해, 하셔

Theres also other speech forms but they are mostly unused so you can get away with ignoring them 

하소서체 - for royalty and religious contexts, you might see it in churches or bibles and some historical dramas but thats it

하오체 - old casual form, might see it in historical dramas as well and for a period it was used online? like 해요체 you stick 오 at the end

하게체 - inbetween 반말 and 존댓말, only really used by people 60+

hey guys just uploaded a new video! hope you all check it out! enjoy your day!

19 March 2020 | I’ve been rather quiet lately, but here is a little glimpse into what “social distancing” looks like for me. It just so happened that this was the first semester of my program that I was doing almost entirely by distance anyway so remarkably little has changed for me in how I do my coursework. I’m thankful for how little the present pandemic has disrupted my education and know that very few can say the same. My husband, who was until a couple of days ago in the midst of his clinical rotations for medical school in a nearby emergency department, has been much more directly affected and involved in combating the current outbreak. Join me in praying for our entire world—as no one is unaffected by this virus—for when one suffers we all suffer together, recognizing the value and dignity of every human being be they near or far. 

O Master and Lord, our Savior, Healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.