Tuesday, November 5, 2013

vocabulary #9 additions

hyperbolic: enlarged beyond truth or reasonableness.
"a hyperbolic style"
consent: permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.
"no change may be made without the consent of all the partners"
doctrine: a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.
"the doctrine of predestination"
hunch: a feeling or guess based on intuition rather than known facts.
"she was acting on a hunch"
predominant: present as the strongest or main element.
"its predominant color was white"
discretion: the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.
"she knew she could rely on his discretion"
provision: the action of providing or supplying something for use.
"new contracts for the provision of services"
seizure: the action of capturing someone or something using force.
"the seizure of the Assembly building"
warrant: a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice.
"magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest"
infraction: a violation or infringement of a law, agreement, or set of rules.
"infraction of this law is dealt with severely"

7 times

I think the boy that was killed kind of had it coming to him. He should have never been walking down the street with a toy gun that looked very similar to an AK-47. And when the police approached him he turned around and pointed it at them. I think the Police made the right call and who cares how many shots were fired the boy is still dead. The police were following there training and protecting themselves from someone they thought had a very dangerous weapon. I think it is very sad that the boy had to die over something as stupid as a toy gun. But if I had to say it's anyone's fault it's his.

Monday, November 4, 2013

vocabulary #9

ultimate: being or happening at the end of a process; final.
"their ultimate aim was to force his resignation"
interactive: influencing or having an effect on each other.
"fully sighted children in interactive play with others with defective vision"
principle: a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
"the basic principles of Christianity"
guidance: advice or information aimed at resolving a problem or difficulty, esp. as given by someone in authority.
"he looked to his father for inspiration and guidance"
collaboration: the action of working with someone to produce or create something.
"he wrote on art and architecture in collaboration with John Betjeman"
formative: serving to form something, esp. having a profound and lasting influence on a person's development.
"his formative years"
summative: additive, culminate.
intelligence: the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.
"an eminent man of great intelligence"

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

vocabulary #8

cursory: hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
"a cursory glance at the book"
impetus: the force or energy with which a body moves.
"hit the booster coil before the flywheel loses all its impetus"
pinnacle: the highest point or level, esp of fame, success, etc. 
"a celebrity has reached the pinnacle of success"
contumely: insolent or insulting language or treatment.
"the church should not be exposed to gossip and contumely"
bereavement: to leave desolate or alone, especially by death.
"there was a bereavement in my family when my grandma died"
cache: a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place.
"the taliban hide weapons caches in caves all through out afghanistan."
calamity: an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.
"the fire was the latest calamity to strike the area"
avarice: extreme greed for wealth or material gain. 
fortify: strengthen (a place) with defensive works.
"Omaha beach was heavily fortified by the germans on d-day but it was still no match for America!"
erratic: not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable.
"her breathing was erratic" 
ubiquitous: present, appearing, or found everywhere.
"his ubiquitous influence was felt by all the family"
feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.
nonchalant: 
"she gave a nonchalant shrug"
affect: have an effect on; make a difference to.
"the dampness began to affect my health"
effect: a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.                                                  "the lethal effects of hard drugs"
misappropriate:  dishonestly or unfairly take (something, esp. money, belonging to another) for one's own use.
"department officials had misappropriated funds"

Literature Analyses #4

I read "Back in the Fight" by Joseph Kapacziewski. It's about the authors experiences as a U.S. Army Ranger. Joseph was on a deployment to Iraq when his convoy was ambushed by a large number of insurgents. An insurgent through a grenade through the gunners hatch of his humvee, the explosion from the grenade shattered his right leg and he soon had to have it amputated. Most Soldiers that lose a limb end up being medically discharged from the military. SGT Kapacziewski was able to stay in the Army. He had to go through the grueling Army Ranger training for a second time and after he proved he had what it takes to stay a Ranger he returned to service with the 75th Ranger Regiment.

The author wrote about his career in the Army because it's very rare that a Soldier with an amputated leg is allowed to stay in the Army. It's even more rare when they are in a Special Ops unit and they are able to keep there job.

I chose to read "Back in the Fight" because it tells the story of a U.S. Army Ranger. I enlisted in the Army about a week ago and I hope to one day be a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Any military book I read is hard to put down. I've wanted to join the military my entire life so I really love reading books about people in the military. This book was especially addicting because it's about an Army Ranger and I hope to join the 75th Ranger Regiment one day.

At the end of the book I felt like I new the SGT Kapacziewski pretty well. He reveals a lot of details about his life. Personal life and his career in the Army.

The author mainly used a journalistic style for the book. He talked about specific things that happened to him on his various deployments and at specific dates and times.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Vocabulary #7

cursory: hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
impetus: the force or energy with which a body moves.
pinnacle: a high, pointed piece of rock.
contumely: insolent or insulting language or treatment.
bereavement: state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one.
cache: a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place.
consummation: the point at which something is complete or finalized.
calamity: an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress.
avarice: extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
fortify: strengthen with defensive works.
erratic: not even or regular in pattern or movement.
ubiquitous: present, appearing, or found everywhere.
fortitude: courage in pain or adversity.
nonchalant: feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed.affect: have an effect on.
effect: a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.
misappropriate: embezzlement..
pragmatic: dealing with things sensibly and realistically.
metacognition: awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.
devoutly: having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Literature Analysis #2

My book No Easy Day by Mark Owen is about a U.S. Navy SEAL and his entire 10 year career of service to our nation. The book centers around the authors time in SEAL Team Six and his his participation in the raid on Osama Bin Ladens compound in Pakistan. But most of the book is about his career prior to the raid. The author had nearly a dozen deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan before the raid, and his career ended when he left the Navy soon after the raid.

The author chose to write about his Navy career and the Bin Laden Raid because their was a lot of misinformation about the mission afterward coming from people that didn't know anything about it. The author wrote the book to set the record straight about the Bin Laden raid and SEAL Team Six.

The reason I chose to read this book was because I'm joining the military and I hope to one day join a special ops unit and I thought the book was really interesting because it was written  by a SEAL Team Six member.

I found the book to be pretty realistic even though some of the stuff the men in the book went through were pretty incredible. I wasn't able to make many connections between my life and theirs because theirs are so different than mine. The things they go through on a daily basis are way different than what I go through.

A few characters from the book that the author talks a lot about is Phil and Steve those aren't their real names he had to change them because their lives could be at risk if their names are released. They all went through their training together prior to joining SEAL Team Six, so they were really close by the time they joined the team. He doesn't really go into detail about their lives other than physical aspects. He says their both very tall large framed guys they both have thick beards to like a lot of special ops guys do.

The author used a journalistic style he just talked about the places he had been to and the things he did. The author is a round character. I feel like I knew the character pretty well after reading his book.

I will never forget what I read in No Easy Day. The kinds of things that the author and his fellow SEALs did for this country is incedible and I will never forget their stories and sacrifices.