Today in AP Literature, we had our day one seminar on The Sound and the Fury.
We hit some interesting points regarding both Quentin's, Caddy, and Jason. In today's
discussion however, Quentin, Caddy's daughter, was our main discussion. We went into
detail debating and discussing on why Quentin was "The last." Most students agreed that
Quentin's behavior was due to the environment she grew up in. She was brought up in a family
that lead her to become the promiscuous girl who took after her mother's ways. Although
Jason and Mrs. Compson always complain about Quentin's unacceptable behavior, it's
because of this that Quentin has turned so rebellious. Quentin was an unwanted child.
She was made because of a bad relationship Caddy had. Her father is unknown and she
was left to stay with the Compson's without the care of her only parent, Caddy.
The family didn't appreciate Quentin. Although they may not have been aware of this,
they constantly compared her to Caddy. In the back of their head, Quentin was an exact
replication of Caddy. Even when Quentin runs away from home with all of "Jason's money,"
Mrs. Compson immediately thinks that she has either committed suicide like her uncle Quentin
or run off with some man, exactly like Caddy. "It's in the blood, like uncle, like niece. or mother."
(pg. 299) Jason also puts all the blame on Quentin. On page 304, he says "The bitch that cost
me a job, the one chance I ever had to get ahead, that killed my father and is shortening
my mother's life every day and made my name a laughing stock in the town." Even the sheriff whom
Jason ran to so that he may catch Quentin says "You drove that girl into running off, Jason."
(pg. 304)
There was a point which was brought up during our discussion that I thought was very interesting.
Even in previous discussions, we talked about how the female Quentin was a rebirth of the male
Quentin. If we look at this through a Freudian's lens, we can see that all the hate he had for sex
and the way he thought of it as life and death and holding his sexual desires back, was
reborn into the female Quentin who took all the chances she had to have relationships with me
and act as promiscuously as she could. Before this point was brought up, I honestly didn't
see how both Quentin's could relate at all. Unlike the rebirth of Edna we saw in The Awakening,
female Quentin and male Quentin didn't seem to have any similarities. One was almost a psychopath
having strange sexual desires and an obsession towards his sister while the other was a rebellious
little teenage girl. However, after this point was made, I could see why female Quentin could be
a rebirth of male Quentin.
Tomorrow is day 2 of our seminar. I think we made a lot of good insightful points this seminar.
A lot of them that we have already skimmed and touched upon before, but went over much more
thoroughly with contextual support. I hope that tomorrow will go as smoothly as it did today.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
This week, I will like to take a step away from The Sound and the Fury and take a look
at one of the poems we had to read for class previously. (We just took one hour to write a
surprise timed writing in class.) The poem that I will like to talk about is from our poetry packet
a few weeks ago called "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,--did you not,
His notice sudden is.
The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.
He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,
Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,--
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;
But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
I got very excited about this poem because I finally somewhat understood what the author was talking about. The first time I read it for class, I had no idea what she was it was supposed to mean or who/what the
narrow fellow in the grass was. But after reading it several times, I had a feeling that she was
talking about a snake. After figuring out the subject of this poem, I reread the poem again and
it all made sense.
The snake was the narrow fellow in the grass which smoothly passed through the grass, dividing it, just like
the the teeth of a comb. It seems to be that the narrator becomes a boy, barefoot out in nature.
He is a boy in love with nature because he is frequently outside during noontime. This boy is unafraid
of the snake, stooping to hold the slithering animal. However, it seems that the narrator, unlike the boy,
is afraid of the snake. She is unable to meet the snake without becoming tense and afraid.
The part of the poem that allowed me to understand the Dickinson was talking about a snake
was the last line of the poem: "And Zero at the Bone-" It just made sense that the author would
be talking about a snake. A snake=no bones.... maybe that wasn't what Dickinson was trying
to point at, but that is the part where I finally figure out the puzzle.
After realizing that the subject of the poem was a snake, I liked the poem. It was similar to a riddle, with
many clues. And once you figure out the riddle, the poem makes a lot more sense. At least this poem
had clues hinting me to the meaning of the poem. Some of the poems however, don't have any of this.
It just seems as if the authors poured out their emotions in words, without trying to make any sense of
it or get a point across to the readers. (Exactly how I think Faulkner wrote The Sound and the Fury.)Whatever word came across their mind was what they
wrote down on paper...and that was the poem.-I don't like poems like that. I wish it had a concrete
and clear meaning to it. Something someone can understand and FEEL although they may not be
able to relate to it.
at one of the poems we had to read for class previously. (We just took one hour to write a
surprise timed writing in class.) The poem that I will like to talk about is from our poetry packet
a few weeks ago called "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,--did you not,
His notice sudden is.
The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.
He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,
Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,--
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;
But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
I got very excited about this poem because I finally somewhat understood what the author was talking about. The first time I read it for class, I had no idea what she was it was supposed to mean or who/what the
narrow fellow in the grass was. But after reading it several times, I had a feeling that she was
talking about a snake. After figuring out the subject of this poem, I reread the poem again and
it all made sense.
The snake was the narrow fellow in the grass which smoothly passed through the grass, dividing it, just like
the the teeth of a comb. It seems to be that the narrator becomes a boy, barefoot out in nature.
He is a boy in love with nature because he is frequently outside during noontime. This boy is unafraid
of the snake, stooping to hold the slithering animal. However, it seems that the narrator, unlike the boy,
is afraid of the snake. She is unable to meet the snake without becoming tense and afraid.
The part of the poem that allowed me to understand the Dickinson was talking about a snake
was the last line of the poem: "And Zero at the Bone-" It just made sense that the author would
be talking about a snake. A snake=no bones.... maybe that wasn't what Dickinson was trying
to point at, but that is the part where I finally figure out the puzzle.
After realizing that the subject of the poem was a snake, I liked the poem. It was similar to a riddle, with
many clues. And once you figure out the riddle, the poem makes a lot more sense. At least this poem
had clues hinting me to the meaning of the poem. Some of the poems however, don't have any of this.
It just seems as if the authors poured out their emotions in words, without trying to make any sense of
it or get a point across to the readers. (Exactly how I think Faulkner wrote The Sound and the Fury.)Whatever word came across their mind was what they
wrote down on paper...and that was the poem.-I don't like poems like that. I wish it had a concrete
and clear meaning to it. Something someone can understand and FEEL although they may not be
able to relate to it.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Quentin
The last few days, our readings have been centered more on Quentin than on Benjy.
We have finally come to Quentin's section of the novel. Although we aren't fully finished
reading the section, there is still a lot we know about Quentin.
We did an activity in class that helped separate each memory that Benjy recollected into
groups. This activity helped me understand a little more about the characters of Benjy and Caddie.
This is because the first section of the novel is focused mostly on Benjy and Caddie. Although
Caddie is a promiscuous girl, who at first I didn't really like, the more I read, I'm starting to like her.
After Caddie leaves the Compson family, we are able to see how much Caddie meant to Benjy.
She was the only one who truly cared for him and treated him the way he should be treated, with love.
Others such as Luster torments Benjy by telling him that he will be sent to a home for the mentally
retarded as soon as his mother passes away. Although Caddie does run away, leaving Benjy by himself,
I think she still had a big enough heart to connect with Benjy, allowing him to feel (although he doesn't know)
what love is.
In this second part of the novel, we learn more about Quentin. I thought that this section of the novel
would be a lot easier than Benjy's section, not only because Quentin is not mentally retarded, but
also because his thoughts should be a lot more organized than Benjy's, have a lot more description
on the event. However, Quentin's section is just as hard to understand as Benjy's section. This disappointed
me a lot because I thought that I would be able to understand the novel much more easily in this section.
But of course, Faulkner continues to write the novel with his own personally "style."
Quentin, described by Faulkner is in the state between Benjy's and Jason's. He is somewhat mental and
somewhat sane. To organize my thoughts, he is an emotional
man who has only one objective in life. Quentin is obsessed with his sister, Caddie.
Although his family has spent so much on his tuition to Harvard, selling the pasture that belonged
to Benjy, Quentin doesn't really try his hardest at Harvard to bring his family honor.
He doesn't want Caddie to be ruined by other men, living a promiscuous life. He tries to protect her by
doing whatever he can. Quentin seems to be stuck in his past. It seems to me that he is reminded
of the present only when the watch that his father gave him wakes him up from all his thinking.
Quentin hates the fact that Caddie is so promiscuous. He wishes that instead of her, he was the the
"unvirgin."
We are in the middle of Quentin's section, not even halfway through the novel, and I am already
so tired of trying to understand what is going on in this novel. All the different events that randomly
pop up in the novel, ruining the flow of the events, having to figure out how all of these stories come
together...not going to lie, The Sound and the Fury, it's a really hard novel.
We have finally come to Quentin's section of the novel. Although we aren't fully finished
reading the section, there is still a lot we know about Quentin.
We did an activity in class that helped separate each memory that Benjy recollected into
groups. This activity helped me understand a little more about the characters of Benjy and Caddie.
This is because the first section of the novel is focused mostly on Benjy and Caddie. Although
Caddie is a promiscuous girl, who at first I didn't really like, the more I read, I'm starting to like her.
After Caddie leaves the Compson family, we are able to see how much Caddie meant to Benjy.
She was the only one who truly cared for him and treated him the way he should be treated, with love.
Others such as Luster torments Benjy by telling him that he will be sent to a home for the mentally
retarded as soon as his mother passes away. Although Caddie does run away, leaving Benjy by himself,
I think she still had a big enough heart to connect with Benjy, allowing him to feel (although he doesn't know)
what love is.
In this second part of the novel, we learn more about Quentin. I thought that this section of the novel
would be a lot easier than Benjy's section, not only because Quentin is not mentally retarded, but
also because his thoughts should be a lot more organized than Benjy's, have a lot more description
on the event. However, Quentin's section is just as hard to understand as Benjy's section. This disappointed
me a lot because I thought that I would be able to understand the novel much more easily in this section.
But of course, Faulkner continues to write the novel with his own personally "style."
Quentin, described by Faulkner is in the state between Benjy's and Jason's. He is somewhat mental and
somewhat sane. To organize my thoughts, he is an emotional
man who has only one objective in life. Quentin is obsessed with his sister, Caddie.
Although his family has spent so much on his tuition to Harvard, selling the pasture that belonged
to Benjy, Quentin doesn't really try his hardest at Harvard to bring his family honor.
He doesn't want Caddie to be ruined by other men, living a promiscuous life. He tries to protect her by
doing whatever he can. Quentin seems to be stuck in his past. It seems to me that he is reminded
of the present only when the watch that his father gave him wakes him up from all his thinking.
Quentin hates the fact that Caddie is so promiscuous. He wishes that instead of her, he was the the
"unvirgin."
We are in the middle of Quentin's section, not even halfway through the novel, and I am already
so tired of trying to understand what is going on in this novel. All the different events that randomly
pop up in the novel, ruining the flow of the events, having to figure out how all of these stories come
together...not going to lie, The Sound and the Fury, it's a really hard novel.
Monday, November 14, 2011
AP Lit reading
For the past few days, we have been concentrating on reading novels: The Sound and the Fury
and our outside reading book, in my case, Memoirs of a Geisha. Reading these two novels
at the same time, I had very contrasting and different feelings about reading. Before AP Lit, I
read books only for fun, without annotating and analyzing every page. Although I didnt read much either, whenever I did read a certain book, I enjoyed it and finished it with positive feelings.
However, ever since I've been in this class, I have been taking literature much more
seriously, and honestly, that has made me lose some of the interest I had for reading. I was very tired
of all the analysis we had to do in class for every book/poem we had to read, books and poems that I didn't
even enjoy. But after reading The Awakening, I started to become hopeful again. Yes, there
were still books that interested me. Yes, there were also books that I could UNDERSTAND. In the
days of holding onto that hope to last me a few more weeks of first semester, we HAD to come across
probably the worst book cbosen in AP Lit: The Sound and the Fury. This book, is just a no. Not only
is the story so bland (To me, I don't know about what other people in our class think. I don't think
they like it that much either.), it is also written with one of the most confusing style of writing.
BUT! All hope is not lost! The outside reading we were required to do wasn't a pressure to me but I'm
very thankful that we were given this assignment. I was in the process of finding every literature
in AP Lit very dull and horrible, but the book I read came to be very pleasant. I chose to read
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden as my outside reading book. I finished reading the book in 3 days.
Although it wasn't as good as Harry Potter which I finished reading in only a couple of hours, (:D~) it
had been a long time since I read anything with so much focus and excitement.
I personally believe that good piece of literature is that it has the potential to keep the readers' attentions.
Memoirs of a Geisha had all the potential to keep my attention and keep me excited for literature. However, The Sound and the Fury did not have me hooked; not even for a single page. In my
very own and personal opinion, this novel is not a good piece of artwork. The purpose of writing
should be either for learning or enjoyment. I don't think that The Sound and the Fury is either.
Reading both a very great book and a boring one has given me mixed feelings about reading.
To end this blog on a good note: I guess by exposing me to all the different types of styles and works
of literature, I'll be able to have a greater and more insightful view of the even more complex world than some of these complicated books.
and our outside reading book, in my case, Memoirs of a Geisha. Reading these two novels
at the same time, I had very contrasting and different feelings about reading. Before AP Lit, I
read books only for fun, without annotating and analyzing every page. Although I didnt read much either, whenever I did read a certain book, I enjoyed it and finished it with positive feelings.
However, ever since I've been in this class, I have been taking literature much more
seriously, and honestly, that has made me lose some of the interest I had for reading. I was very tired
of all the analysis we had to do in class for every book/poem we had to read, books and poems that I didn't
even enjoy. But after reading The Awakening, I started to become hopeful again. Yes, there
were still books that interested me. Yes, there were also books that I could UNDERSTAND. In the
days of holding onto that hope to last me a few more weeks of first semester, we HAD to come across
probably the worst book cbosen in AP Lit: The Sound and the Fury. This book, is just a no. Not only
is the story so bland (To me, I don't know about what other people in our class think. I don't think
they like it that much either.), it is also written with one of the most confusing style of writing.
BUT! All hope is not lost! The outside reading we were required to do wasn't a pressure to me but I'm
very thankful that we were given this assignment. I was in the process of finding every literature
in AP Lit very dull and horrible, but the book I read came to be very pleasant. I chose to read
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden as my outside reading book. I finished reading the book in 3 days.
Although it wasn't as good as Harry Potter which I finished reading in only a couple of hours, (:D~) it
had been a long time since I read anything with so much focus and excitement.
I personally believe that good piece of literature is that it has the potential to keep the readers' attentions.
Memoirs of a Geisha had all the potential to keep my attention and keep me excited for literature. However, The Sound and the Fury did not have me hooked; not even for a single page. In my
very own and personal opinion, this novel is not a good piece of artwork. The purpose of writing
should be either for learning or enjoyment. I don't think that The Sound and the Fury is either.
Reading both a very great book and a boring one has given me mixed feelings about reading.
To end this blog on a good note: I guess by exposing me to all the different types of styles and works
of literature, I'll be able to have a greater and more insightful view of the even more complex world than some of these complicated books.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Sound and the Fury
Another week of AP Lit has gone by and this week, we started a new novel,
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. We read the first few pages of the novel (3~20).
My first impression was that Faulkner was a confused person. A novel that even the author didn't
make any sense of and interpreted in different meanings, I didn't know if this would
be a great novel after all. When reading the very first few pages of the book, I was very confused.
I can't say that I'm not anymore. But in the beginning of reading it by myself, I was truly lost.
The random date and scene changes that Benjy introduced were not clear at all. They were certainly
given at very random moments in the book, sometimes so sudden that I didn't even catch that it
was a flashback, but thought it was another scene hard to make any sense out of.
In this blog post, I want to take an especially closer look at the character, Benjy. Benjy is the
character with the mental disability. He is characterized as having no emotions and is more like an
animal than a human. There was a question in class: do you sympathize or pity Benjy?
I personally did not pity Benjy. Although he didn't have the ability to express and feel like the
rest of the human population, he himself was not aware of this and lived perfectly fine with who he was.
This relates back the The Awakening and how I didn't sympathize or feel sorry for the "trapped"
Adele, who lived by societal standards, because she was happy with the person she was, and the
fact that she was not exposed to the freedom Edna had, she was able to live perfectly fine.
Nevertheless, I don't think Benjy was completely emotionless. He had the ability to cry and feel
some kind of sorrow, although he wasn't sure of what it was. He was able to remember Caddie and
was able to feel something grow inside of him when he remembered her.
This novel is really confusing. I don't like the way it is written, Faulkner's style is not working with me.
Especially because I like pieces with exact meanings and an exact ending (Yes, Inception was
a great movie, but the ending still bothers me. I personally would have liked it much more if
it had a definite ending.), The Sound and the Fury will be a piece of literature I will enjoy reading.
There are times when the novel is extremely bland and boring, with a lack of description. Being both
bland and hard to interpret, The Sound and the Fury seems like it will be a hard book to
accomplish and enjoy. But I'm going to try to enjoy this piece of literature because it's going to
help me become more analytical and break apart the meanings of texts that are hard to interpret.
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. We read the first few pages of the novel (3~20).
My first impression was that Faulkner was a confused person. A novel that even the author didn't
make any sense of and interpreted in different meanings, I didn't know if this would
be a great novel after all. When reading the very first few pages of the book, I was very confused.
I can't say that I'm not anymore. But in the beginning of reading it by myself, I was truly lost.
The random date and scene changes that Benjy introduced were not clear at all. They were certainly
given at very random moments in the book, sometimes so sudden that I didn't even catch that it
was a flashback, but thought it was another scene hard to make any sense out of.
In this blog post, I want to take an especially closer look at the character, Benjy. Benjy is the
character with the mental disability. He is characterized as having no emotions and is more like an
animal than a human. There was a question in class: do you sympathize or pity Benjy?
I personally did not pity Benjy. Although he didn't have the ability to express and feel like the
rest of the human population, he himself was not aware of this and lived perfectly fine with who he was.
This relates back the The Awakening and how I didn't sympathize or feel sorry for the "trapped"
Adele, who lived by societal standards, because she was happy with the person she was, and the
fact that she was not exposed to the freedom Edna had, she was able to live perfectly fine.
Nevertheless, I don't think Benjy was completely emotionless. He had the ability to cry and feel
some kind of sorrow, although he wasn't sure of what it was. He was able to remember Caddie and
was able to feel something grow inside of him when he remembered her.
This novel is really confusing. I don't like the way it is written, Faulkner's style is not working with me.
Especially because I like pieces with exact meanings and an exact ending (Yes, Inception was
a great movie, but the ending still bothers me. I personally would have liked it much more if
it had a definite ending.), The Sound and the Fury will be a piece of literature I will enjoy reading.
There are times when the novel is extremely bland and boring, with a lack of description. Being both
bland and hard to interpret, The Sound and the Fury seems like it will be a hard book to
accomplish and enjoy. But I'm going to try to enjoy this piece of literature because it's going to
help me become more analytical and break apart the meanings of texts that are hard to interpret.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Poetry
Well, we're finally back on track with the blogging! :( Haha
And this week's topic is poetry! Unfortunately, I realized that poetry is not my thing. I never had
a very clear understanding of poetry pieces I read in previous classes, but having to analyze them
word for word made it even more obvious to me that I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for
in these works. Honestly, it wasn't HORRIBLE. Some of the poems that we read made complete
sense to me, and I was able to feel and see the emotions of the speaker. However, there were other
ones which completely lost me and put me in a state of confusion. Of course, when we went over
it in class, Ms. Graham going over it sentence by sentence, I was able to see what the poem
was about and understand it. It frustrates me that I'm not such a great analyzer. So many
of my fellow AP Lit students are very insightful and able to pick out the important points of the
literature pieces, but how come I'm like the one lost sheep?
I tried to figure out the answer to this question and the I came up with 2 answers. One is confidence and the
other is lack of time and effort spent on analyzing. There are times when I find myself insightful and find really interesting points. But then, I start to wonder and think if what I found actually makes sense or if I'm not stretching the meaning too much. I back out from putting my thoughts into words and wait for someone else to come up with a different or similar finding. Also, when we had the activity of using class time to pre-read and
break apart the sample essay, I was actually able to understand the prompt and separate the important
sections from the rest, leaving me with important details. The guidelines Ms. Graham gave us
helped me a lot and I think it will be able to take me to a good place as long as I take the
time to practice and put it more to use.
Sometimes, I want to give up and just write whatever BS I can come up with. Maybe it'll make sense
on paper because literature doesn't always technically have only one meaning, especially poetry.
But the problem with that is, I suck at BSing. If only I was good at BSing.........haha not.
I really wish I had the skills to critically look at each piece of literature we read in class,
have some more confidence in my findings, and word my findings with sophisticated wording.
I wonder how much practice and time it would take me to do as good as I should be doing.
And this week's topic is poetry! Unfortunately, I realized that poetry is not my thing. I never had
a very clear understanding of poetry pieces I read in previous classes, but having to analyze them
word for word made it even more obvious to me that I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for
in these works. Honestly, it wasn't HORRIBLE. Some of the poems that we read made complete
sense to me, and I was able to feel and see the emotions of the speaker. However, there were other
ones which completely lost me and put me in a state of confusion. Of course, when we went over
it in class, Ms. Graham going over it sentence by sentence, I was able to see what the poem
was about and understand it. It frustrates me that I'm not such a great analyzer. So many
of my fellow AP Lit students are very insightful and able to pick out the important points of the
literature pieces, but how come I'm like the one lost sheep?
I tried to figure out the answer to this question and the I came up with 2 answers. One is confidence and the
other is lack of time and effort spent on analyzing. There are times when I find myself insightful and find really interesting points. But then, I start to wonder and think if what I found actually makes sense or if I'm not stretching the meaning too much. I back out from putting my thoughts into words and wait for someone else to come up with a different or similar finding. Also, when we had the activity of using class time to pre-read and
break apart the sample essay, I was actually able to understand the prompt and separate the important
sections from the rest, leaving me with important details. The guidelines Ms. Graham gave us
helped me a lot and I think it will be able to take me to a good place as long as I take the
time to practice and put it more to use.
Sometimes, I want to give up and just write whatever BS I can come up with. Maybe it'll make sense
on paper because literature doesn't always technically have only one meaning, especially poetry.
But the problem with that is, I suck at BSing. If only I was good at BSing.........haha not.
I really wish I had the skills to critically look at each piece of literature we read in class,
have some more confidence in my findings, and word my findings with sophisticated wording.
I wonder how much practice and time it would take me to do as good as I should be doing.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Awakening
We finally finished The Awakening by Kate Chopin in AP Literature. Overall, the novel was great! However, I found the protagonist (which I suppose is Edna) not very likeable. Although I am a female, Edna's awakening wasn't one that I could not agree with. Yes, I did admire the courage she had to stand up against the stereotypical roles that were assigned to each women during her time. She had the guts to go against her husband and show unwomanly characteristics to the males in her town. The way she stood up for herself and her independence was respectful, and as a woman, I don't know if I would have been able to do that if I was in her shoes. Nevertheless, a lot of the respect I had towards her disappeared when she commited suicide at the end. I hated the ending and believed that the life that Edna boldly stood up for, was broken and gone by the lame act she committed.
It frustrates me that Edna was killed, not by others, but by herself. I believed that Edna was a strong and very powerful female who had control over her life. Her previous acts showed that, and that was what I liked about her: her dependence on herself. She didn't rely on her husband, her friends, her family, but only herself. However, this view changed when I read that she was unable to stop her physical desires and irrationally filled those desires with another man. She was even angry with herself for kissing a man, not out of love, but of lust. These sort of later actions of Edna made me question her actual desires. Did she really want to free herself from society? Or did she want to go and live happily with the one she loved, Robert? If it was really to free herself from society, why did she kill herself by drowning? Her actions showed me that all she wanted to do was free herself from her current husband to live and freely love with the one she had an affair with. Her claim, that an awakening had occured to her, and that her actions were supported by the fact that she had the right to live without societal pressures, seemed only like an excuse to be with Robert. If I looked at it in one way, Edna was never free from the society. Although she wasn't under the control of her husband, it seemed pretty obvious that she was under the control of Robert. She was in an emotional breakdown when Robert said his final good-bye, leaving her forever, which led her to commit suicide. She was always under the rule of a man. That's how I saw Edna after all the later events that occured in the novel. She was tired of not being able to get things her way, realizing that the world didn't revovle around her, and that she was just a weak woman, who was unable to change the way life was. Maybe if she was more courageous, and lived until she was naturally put to death by an outside force, but not by her own will, maybe then would I have a more positive view of Edna Pontellier. This would show that Robert wasn't the only reason for her change and the only reason she lived. This would show that she was a woman of courage, one who fought for her freedom until the end.
It frustrates me that Edna was killed, not by others, but by herself. I believed that Edna was a strong and very powerful female who had control over her life. Her previous acts showed that, and that was what I liked about her: her dependence on herself. She didn't rely on her husband, her friends, her family, but only herself. However, this view changed when I read that she was unable to stop her physical desires and irrationally filled those desires with another man. She was even angry with herself for kissing a man, not out of love, but of lust. These sort of later actions of Edna made me question her actual desires. Did she really want to free herself from society? Or did she want to go and live happily with the one she loved, Robert? If it was really to free herself from society, why did she kill herself by drowning? Her actions showed me that all she wanted to do was free herself from her current husband to live and freely love with the one she had an affair with. Her claim, that an awakening had occured to her, and that her actions were supported by the fact that she had the right to live without societal pressures, seemed only like an excuse to be with Robert. If I looked at it in one way, Edna was never free from the society. Although she wasn't under the control of her husband, it seemed pretty obvious that she was under the control of Robert. She was in an emotional breakdown when Robert said his final good-bye, leaving her forever, which led her to commit suicide. She was always under the rule of a man. That's how I saw Edna after all the later events that occured in the novel. She was tired of not being able to get things her way, realizing that the world didn't revovle around her, and that she was just a weak woman, who was unable to change the way life was. Maybe if she was more courageous, and lived until she was naturally put to death by an outside force, but not by her own will, maybe then would I have a more positive view of Edna Pontellier. This would show that Robert wasn't the only reason for her change and the only reason she lived. This would show that she was a woman of courage, one who fought for her freedom until the end.
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Awakening
We finally started reading the Awakening this weekend for AP Lit!
I am excited about the novel. I think that there will be a lot that I can relate to and understand.
Before we started reading, we first learned about literary criticisms. Out of the ten that
we learned about, I personally liked the Psychological (Freudian) Criticism, Marxist Criticism,
and Feminist Criticism. They made the most sense to me and if I were to write a critical piece
on a novel, I think that I would be able to write the best and most effective criticisms
with these those 3. I also thought that the Reader Response Theory was interesting. This critical
approach was different from the rest in the perspective that the reader was the most
important part of the text. They created the meaning of the novel; each could hold a
very different and contrasting view of the book and both would be correct. This thought or
idea was kind of difficult to grasp because I believed each novel had a selected meaning to it
which was created by the author. However, this type of literary criticism looked at it differently.
Also, I like definite things in everything. I like definite answers and stories that have a definite
story plot, not one that is up to you to decide upon, sort of like the movie Inception.
The Awakening has a general theme that involves females. We haven't read that far into the novel yet
but I am excited to read further to see the gender stereotypes that have existed and
still exist today. I wonder what the story's content holds that cause so much trouble for Kate Chopin.
We learned in class today that she lived a difficult and lonely life, yet with easiness as she freely
"smoked in the front porch while letting her 6 children run free." It is a shame that she didn't get
enough credit for her work during her time, making three dollars one time, especially because
her novel has gained such a huge audience now, and is one of the top books read by college students.
I don't understand how she was able to survive with her six children.
We concentrated more on the feminist criticism because the novel had so much to do about
the uprisings of women and how a single individual woman tries to stand up independently
in society, which was thought to be absurd in the late 19th century. This type of criticism's
purpose is to raise readers' consciousness about sexual exploitation and alienation. Kate Chopin
at her time of living, said that she did not intentionally write this novel to cause disrupt. She didn't
have other thoughts or intentions when she wrote this novel. However, this novel obviously
holds so much content that was controversial in her time. A feminist critic would
have so much to write about.
I honestly hope that I will enjoy this novel as much as I enjoyed reading Winesburg, Ohio. I have
high expectations for it and hope Kate Chopin doesn't fail me!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Prose Passage Essay 2
Last week (or a week before), our class was assigned a second prose passage
essay. Compared to the last essay I wrote, this essay
that was about Sylvia's adventure up a tree was written much more thoroughly.
Although it still lacked analysis, the overall essay was a lot more organized and
detailed than the previous one.
Some of the problems that I saw in my previous prose essay was that there was
not a clear thesis and definitely not enough analysis. The examples were not
strong enough to fully support my claim. However, in this essay, I made sure to
make my thesis statement a lot more clear than the one I had written before
because we had spent time during class to go over the needed parts of a proper
thesis statement. This helped me lay out the other paragraphs in my essay which made
that was about Sylvia's adventure up a tree was written much more thoroughly.
Although it still lacked analysis, the overall essay was a lot more organized and
detailed than the previous one.
Some of the problems that I saw in my previous prose essay was that there was
not a clear thesis and definitely not enough analysis. The examples were not
strong enough to fully support my claim. However, in this essay, I made sure to
make my thesis statement a lot more clear than the one I had written before
because we had spent time during class to go over the needed parts of a proper
thesis statement. This helped me lay out the other paragraphs in my essay which made
me use the limited time that I had much more effective.
Similar to the first prose essay, but a little better than before,
there was a lack in analysis in my essay. Although there was more analysis to support
my claim and explain the quotes, there was not a 1:2 ratio of quotes/details and analysis.
there was a lack in analysis in my essay. Although there was more analysis to support
my claim and explain the quotes, there was not a 1:2 ratio of quotes/details and analysis.
I find that there is always a lack of analysis in all of my essays. I can't seem to go in
depth of the passage and meticulously break down each sentence to look for insightful
details. I think that I rely too much on the quotes to explain and support my claim without
thoroughly analyzing WHY it supports it. This is a hinderance to my writing because
just stating the quote with a one sentence explanation of why the quote is important to
the passage is not effective.
In constrast to the the weaknesses in my essay, there were also strengths.
In constrast to the the weaknesses in my essay, there were also strengths.
1) The organization was clear which made the essay flow well.
2) The tone changes were described well in the essay.
and 3) There was good analysis of the different literary elements.
I feel like being exposed to the first prose essay, this second one made a lot more sense and was
a lot easier to write which is why I had a lot more definite strengths within my essay.
2) The tone changes were described well in the essay.
and 3) There was good analysis of the different literary elements.
I feel like being exposed to the first prose essay, this second one made a lot more sense and was
a lot easier to write which is why I had a lot more definite strengths within my essay.
I had an idea of how to organize the essay based on my "well-developed"
thesis statement. This generally gave a stronger more developed essay.
Although I am not satisfied with this essay, I am excited that I was not as clueless as before and
that it has some organization. Some of the things that I would like to specifically do better on is
finding more insightful informations and making stronger arguments.
Although I did get feedback from fellow AP Lit students, I would like to get direct feedback
from Ms. Graham so I know exactly WHAT it is that I need to improve on. This is because I got a
5 and a 7 from my 2 classmates who reviewed my essay which is a big difference in scores for this essay.
It would be a lot more useful if I knew what the teacher thought.
It would be a lot more useful if I knew what the teacher thought.
Monday, September 19, 2011
this week in AP Lit
This week in AP Lit was very interesting. The most enjoyable part of it that I found was the
discussion groups with our small groups. I very much prefer this way of discussing rather than
the whole class being pressured to talk as a group within an hour's period. When we did the
socratic seminar a few weeks back, I felt pressured to fight my way into the discussion and share
insightful points. However, there were so many other students that were so much faster at
sharing a similar point or even better. However, in our small group discussion with only 4 other people, I was able to freely talk about my findings and share it with my classmates. Ironically, I thought that
we were in need of much more time than when we did our socratic seminar. I felt much more invovled
in the small group discussion which made me talk a lot more.
We talked about two of the short stories within Winesburg, Ohio: "Sophistication" and "Hands." Honestly,
I feel like there was a lot more to talk about with Sophistication and that our group made a lot
more interesting points in that section. One of the biggest question in our discussion was the meaning of
"sophistication" that Anderson used in the text. There were two sides: 1) the word "sophistication"
was used with a positive connotation and 2) it was used with a negative connotation.
I personally thought that it had a positive meaning to it. Although it wasn't the best feeling to become
sophisticated, in a sense, it was one person maturing and learning about life. In the novel,
George was able to understand that there wasn't much to life and that it wasn't as great as he thought
it would be. He found true happiness when he was with Helen and played around. Nevertheless,
through sophistication, George was able to grow internally. Another point that I found interesting
was in "Hands"; the question about whether we thought Wing was guilty of his accused crime. I said that
I did not think he was guilty and that he was not a homosexual. I believe that if he was guilty, he would
not have been so affected by the accusation. He would not have stayed away from people,
considering George to be his only friend. If he was guilty, he would not have been so appalled for
touching George.
I hope that we have more discussions like this one instead of the socratic seminar. I think it gives
all students equal share of the time and can be much more though provoking. Individual students are
able to think of points that have much more insightful.
Another assignment we had to do for AP Lit this week was our essay outline. I feel that the outline for my summer reading essay is not thorough enough yet. It lacks examples
and details. However, it is just an outline and hopefully, the overall product will be a success!
Good luck to every one of you guys! :)
discussion groups with our small groups. I very much prefer this way of discussing rather than
the whole class being pressured to talk as a group within an hour's period. When we did the
socratic seminar a few weeks back, I felt pressured to fight my way into the discussion and share
insightful points. However, there were so many other students that were so much faster at
sharing a similar point or even better. However, in our small group discussion with only 4 other people, I was able to freely talk about my findings and share it with my classmates. Ironically, I thought that
we were in need of much more time than when we did our socratic seminar. I felt much more invovled
in the small group discussion which made me talk a lot more.
We talked about two of the short stories within Winesburg, Ohio: "Sophistication" and "Hands." Honestly,
I feel like there was a lot more to talk about with Sophistication and that our group made a lot
more interesting points in that section. One of the biggest question in our discussion was the meaning of
"sophistication" that Anderson used in the text. There were two sides: 1) the word "sophistication"
was used with a positive connotation and 2) it was used with a negative connotation.
I personally thought that it had a positive meaning to it. Although it wasn't the best feeling to become
sophisticated, in a sense, it was one person maturing and learning about life. In the novel,
George was able to understand that there wasn't much to life and that it wasn't as great as he thought
it would be. He found true happiness when he was with Helen and played around. Nevertheless,
through sophistication, George was able to grow internally. Another point that I found interesting
was in "Hands"; the question about whether we thought Wing was guilty of his accused crime. I said that
I did not think he was guilty and that he was not a homosexual. I believe that if he was guilty, he would
not have been so affected by the accusation. He would not have stayed away from people,
considering George to be his only friend. If he was guilty, he would not have been so appalled for
touching George.
I hope that we have more discussions like this one instead of the socratic seminar. I think it gives
all students equal share of the time and can be much more though provoking. Individual students are
able to think of points that have much more insightful.
Another assignment we had to do for AP Lit this week was our essay outline. I feel that the outline for my summer reading essay is not thorough enough yet. It lacks examples
and details. However, it is just an outline and hopefully, the overall product will be a success!
Good luck to every one of you guys! :)
Monday, September 12, 2011
PROSE PASSAGE REFLECTION
So, last week in AP Lit, we wrote our first prose passage essay in class. After writing the essay,
I wasn't sure of how I did. I did think that my overall idea was a little disorganized and
hard to follow. What I thought of insight could have made absolutely no sense to the reader
because of the lack of description added in the essay. But when I got back
my essay and fellow students evaluated it, I was able to get a more clearer idea of how I
had written the essay. For one, I didn't read the short introduction at the top and
didn't realize that Arun, Melanie, and Mrs. Patton weren't related. I should make sure
to read that section next time.....
Other than that, there were two major problems that my evaluators and I saw in the essay.
1) There was no clear thesis in the essay that clearly stated the literary devices
that were going to be analyzed in the essay.
2) The ideas were disorganized.
First of all, I had always known that my thesis was an issue. Even though I knew that it had to be
in the essay, whenever the time came to write it, I would always forget about it and write an
unnecessary sentence in place of it. Also, I would forget to have a topic sentence for each body
paragraph that tied to the thesis. Thankfully, we got a handout that thoroughly went over
the thesis statement and helped me realize the importance of it. Hopefully, I won't ever
forget to put one in an essay from now on.
Secondly, because my ideas are so disheveled and has horrible organization, the readers find that
I either have too much information that aren't thoroughly argued, or lacks the organization that makes
the essay hard to follow. Again, like the problem with the thesis statement, I was never organized
with my thoughts. I just wrote them out on the paper in the order the ideas came to me.
Especially with a time constraint, it was harder for me to try to make more sense of the
claim in my essay. I honestly don't know if there's a way I can instantly fix this problem
except with practice. It also seems like writing a better thesis would help me organize
the body paragraphs and have a more exact idea of what I would be supporting.
My goal for the next timed writing is to make my paper sound more
well-developed and more sophisticated. Although it will take some practice and possibly
won't happen in the next essay I write, I will try to use more complex vocabulary and have
better sentence structure. Also, I will try to have deeper analysis of the text
and lay it out on paper in an orderly fashion that makes it a lot easier for the reader to follow
and understand. The essay will obviously have a clearer thesis statement that will
state the central idea of the entire essay.
I wasn't sure of how I did. I did think that my overall idea was a little disorganized and
hard to follow. What I thought of insight could have made absolutely no sense to the reader
because of the lack of description added in the essay. But when I got back
my essay and fellow students evaluated it, I was able to get a more clearer idea of how I
had written the essay. For one, I didn't read the short introduction at the top and
didn't realize that Arun, Melanie, and Mrs. Patton weren't related. I should make sure
to read that section next time.....
Other than that, there were two major problems that my evaluators and I saw in the essay.
1) There was no clear thesis in the essay that clearly stated the literary devices
that were going to be analyzed in the essay.
2) The ideas were disorganized.
First of all, I had always known that my thesis was an issue. Even though I knew that it had to be
in the essay, whenever the time came to write it, I would always forget about it and write an
unnecessary sentence in place of it. Also, I would forget to have a topic sentence for each body
paragraph that tied to the thesis. Thankfully, we got a handout that thoroughly went over
the thesis statement and helped me realize the importance of it. Hopefully, I won't ever
forget to put one in an essay from now on.
Secondly, because my ideas are so disheveled and has horrible organization, the readers find that
I either have too much information that aren't thoroughly argued, or lacks the organization that makes
the essay hard to follow. Again, like the problem with the thesis statement, I was never organized
with my thoughts. I just wrote them out on the paper in the order the ideas came to me.
Especially with a time constraint, it was harder for me to try to make more sense of the
claim in my essay. I honestly don't know if there's a way I can instantly fix this problem
except with practice. It also seems like writing a better thesis would help me organize
the body paragraphs and have a more exact idea of what I would be supporting.
My goal for the next timed writing is to make my paper sound more
well-developed and more sophisticated. Although it will take some practice and possibly
won't happen in the next essay I write, I will try to use more complex vocabulary and have
better sentence structure. Also, I will try to have deeper analysis of the text
and lay it out on paper in an orderly fashion that makes it a lot easier for the reader to follow
and understand. The essay will obviously have a clearer thesis statement that will
state the central idea of the entire essay.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Allusions
Now that we've pointed it out, it seems like there are allusions everywhere.
I believe that the story of Adam and Eve is one of the most common biblical allusions used in
literature: how man became corrupt and was exiled from the Garden of Eden; the serpent
was the one who lured the first man and woman into sin; by eating from the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil, man was able to see the truth and know the difference between good
and evil. The allusion of Adam and Eve was even seen in All the King's Men. Adam Stanton
was an allusion of the biblical Adam and Anne Stanton was Eve. Also, the first page of the
novel which described the road was a biblical allusion to the serpent and how the black
lines can make a person lose focus, tempting them into sin that they do not truly desire.
It's interesting how these allusions can be put into almost any literature. This shows how
the concept of intertextuality which we learned about in the first week of school
can be none but true. This allusion is also seen in Lord of the Flies which we read in our
Junior year. The island which was a symbol of paradise similar to the Garden of Eden.
However, it soon becomes corrupt when the boys land on it and are overcome by their
selfish desires.
The second allusion we learned in class this week was about Cain and Abel.
Basically, God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's because of the thought each put
into their offerings. Cain became jealous of Abel and killed him. When God asked Cain where
Abel was, Cain said "Am I my brother's keeper" and pretended that he didn't do anything.
However God knew the truth and sent Cain away and made him wander around earth
for the rest of his life. This is known as the curse of Cain, which is also a popular allusion.
From the presentation, we were able to see the example of this allusion
used in Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George being representative of Cain and Lennie of Abel. In this novel, we see that George kills Lennie because he didn’t want to see Curley torture Lennie which was a burden to him. I find it really amusing to find intertextuality between books and stories. It brings much more understanding and knowledge about the former and current book I am reading.
I’m not sure how much of these allusions I’ll have to know for the rest of my life, however, I do know that it will help me a lot with reading and understanding the main concepts of novels.
I’m excited to learn more about allusions and to find out where I have read about similar stories in different books. A benefit for me is that I am familiar with a lot of the biblical stories and figures because I am a Christian. I know that this familiarity will help me a lot in the future. J
Monday, August 29, 2011
Winesburg, Ohio
I first encountered a story in Winesburg, Ohio when Ms. Graham was absent from
class. Our assignment was to read the Grotesques and answer some of the following questions.
Like most work that are assigned when teachers are absent, I thought
that this task would also be a breeze.
But of course, what on earth was I thinking? It's AP Lit.
Overall, the passage was understandable. Although it wasn't an easy read, most of the
parts made sense. I understood that there was an old man and a carpenter. There were also the grotesques
who were the imperfections of the world. I was dealing alright with the passage until I came to the
questions. After I read the questions, I realized how much analyzing I had to do, and how much
of the actual story I misunderstood. At first, we thought that the old man symbolized "knowledge."
He was the only one who knew the truth and therefore tried to stay away from the corruptness of the world.
However, soon enough, we were able to realize that the old man symbolized "God."
Although he didn't symbolize perfection, he was a God-like figure in that he had the knowledge
to know about the existence of grotesques. The rising of the bed to see outside the window was an
analogy to God rising up to look over his people. The carpenter then, of course represented Jesus.
It said in the short story that the carpenter was the closest thing to truth in the world and
that showed how the carpenter was a separate being from the grotesques.
Because our class has been talking so much about religious analogy, it was a lot easier to
figure out the representations. Especially when the carpenter came out, it made a clearer
point to me that the passage must have some sort of religious analogy that went along with it.
After discussions with fellow students, we were able to conclude that the old man represented God
and the carpenter represented Jesus.
The All the King's Men socratic seminar was a failure for me. For one, i'm not a great speaker; and
to try to find a good point to talk about with other students who probably have so much more
insightful findings than I do was so challenging. I was afraid that my speech would ruin the flow of
a great discussion that would soon hit the climax. After this seminar, I learned that I should prepare
A LOT the day before and be a lot more insightful in my thinking.
Oh, how much I hate socratic seminars!
If there's one positive aspect of the seminar
is that I learned so much more about the book from it. There were comments made by students
that were almost mind-blowing and made me understand the text so much more.
Honestly, I can't wait until we move on to the next novel. Not Winesburg, Ohio because it's
not an actual full story, but one that would make more sense to me as a whole. :P
AH AP Lit is so hard :(
class. Our assignment was to read the Grotesques and answer some of the following questions.
Like most work that are assigned when teachers are absent, I thought
that this task would also be a breeze.
But of course, what on earth was I thinking? It's AP Lit.
Overall, the passage was understandable. Although it wasn't an easy read, most of the
parts made sense. I understood that there was an old man and a carpenter. There were also the grotesques
who were the imperfections of the world. I was dealing alright with the passage until I came to the
questions. After I read the questions, I realized how much analyzing I had to do, and how much
of the actual story I misunderstood. At first, we thought that the old man symbolized "knowledge."
He was the only one who knew the truth and therefore tried to stay away from the corruptness of the world.
However, soon enough, we were able to realize that the old man symbolized "God."
Although he didn't symbolize perfection, he was a God-like figure in that he had the knowledge
to know about the existence of grotesques. The rising of the bed to see outside the window was an
analogy to God rising up to look over his people. The carpenter then, of course represented Jesus.
It said in the short story that the carpenter was the closest thing to truth in the world and
that showed how the carpenter was a separate being from the grotesques.
Because our class has been talking so much about religious analogy, it was a lot easier to
figure out the representations. Especially when the carpenter came out, it made a clearer
point to me that the passage must have some sort of religious analogy that went along with it.
After discussions with fellow students, we were able to conclude that the old man represented God
and the carpenter represented Jesus.
The All the King's Men socratic seminar was a failure for me. For one, i'm not a great speaker; and
to try to find a good point to talk about with other students who probably have so much more
insightful findings than I do was so challenging. I was afraid that my speech would ruin the flow of
a great discussion that would soon hit the climax. After this seminar, I learned that I should prepare
A LOT the day before and be a lot more insightful in my thinking.
Oh, how much I hate socratic seminars!
If there's one positive aspect of the seminar
is that I learned so much more about the book from it. There were comments made by students
that were almost mind-blowing and made me understand the text so much more.
Honestly, I can't wait until we move on to the next novel. Not Winesburg, Ohio because it's
not an actual full story, but one that would make more sense to me as a whole. :P
AH AP Lit is so hard :(
Monday, August 22, 2011
Welcome to AP Lit
First week of senior year was so much more hectic than I expected it to be.
Everyone has been telling me that once junior year was over, life would be
so much easier and enjoyable.
...
I should have been smarter to realize they were just lazy bums who took their
final year in high school the easy way out. I wish I could do that. :(
But since I already decided to try my best to get into my dream college (Emory),
I don't regret signing up for all these hard courses my senior year.
I'm not going to lie, AP Lit is a pretty hard course. In my junior year, I had
seriously contemplated on taking College English instead of AP Lit because I heard
it was so much easier and could also get AP credit for schools in Georgia.
Nevertheless, I chose to take the challenge and take AP Lit, which I'm not sure
was a good idea after taking the All the King's Men's quotes test.
Honestly, the book itself was very confusing to me. Unlike all the details we pulled
from the first few paragraphs in class, I didn't realize that the idea of the
entire story was stored in the first paragraph when I was reading it during summer break.
The whole concept of the Great Twitch was hard to grasp, maybe because I didn't
fully agree with it-maybe not.
And once again, I was painstakingly reminded of my lack of comprehension about the
book while I took the quotes test today.
Yes-unfortunately, I don't think I did too well. D': This is probably because I wasn't fully
concentrating on the text while reading the book over the summer, which I find very
unfortunate. Hopefully, the in-class essay tomorrow on our second choice reading
will go more smoothly.
Other than that, I really like our class because of it's small-ish size, even though
it grew a little over the past week. OH. One thing I am a little worried about are the
Allusion Presentations. I'm not worried about if i'll be able to cover the topic
well. I know I have enough time to gather good and thorough information on it.
However, I also know that I'm not such a great presenter and I'm worried that if my
presentation does end up being horrible, my classmates won't learn anything
from it........fail. I guess practice will be the only way to get rid of my "stage fright-ish"
symptoms. Heh, good luck to all of us when our time comes to present. :)
Despite a rough first week and first test, I believe that this year will be a
fantastic one! Ms. Graham seems like a very exciting teacher with a good sense of
humor. :) I hope that my average rating of 6.5 will rise to be a 10.1 soon enough.
I plan do end my high school career with good grades. Well, BETTER grades than
last year.
Yay, leggo AP Lit.
Leggo seniors. ^.~
Everyone has been telling me that once junior year was over, life would be
so much easier and enjoyable.
...
I should have been smarter to realize they were just lazy bums who took their
final year in high school the easy way out. I wish I could do that. :(
But since I already decided to try my best to get into my dream college (Emory),
I don't regret signing up for all these hard courses my senior year.
I'm not going to lie, AP Lit is a pretty hard course. In my junior year, I had
seriously contemplated on taking College English instead of AP Lit because I heard
it was so much easier and could also get AP credit for schools in Georgia.
Nevertheless, I chose to take the challenge and take AP Lit, which I'm not sure
was a good idea after taking the All the King's Men's quotes test.
Honestly, the book itself was very confusing to me. Unlike all the details we pulled
from the first few paragraphs in class, I didn't realize that the idea of the
entire story was stored in the first paragraph when I was reading it during summer break.
The whole concept of the Great Twitch was hard to grasp, maybe because I didn't
fully agree with it-maybe not.
And once again, I was painstakingly reminded of my lack of comprehension about the
book while I took the quotes test today.
Yes-unfortunately, I don't think I did too well. D': This is probably because I wasn't fully
concentrating on the text while reading the book over the summer, which I find very
unfortunate. Hopefully, the in-class essay tomorrow on our second choice reading
will go more smoothly.
Other than that, I really like our class because of it's small-ish size, even though
it grew a little over the past week. OH. One thing I am a little worried about are the
Allusion Presentations. I'm not worried about if i'll be able to cover the topic
well. I know I have enough time to gather good and thorough information on it.
However, I also know that I'm not such a great presenter and I'm worried that if my
presentation does end up being horrible, my classmates won't learn anything
from it........fail. I guess practice will be the only way to get rid of my "stage fright-ish"
symptoms. Heh, good luck to all of us when our time comes to present. :)
Despite a rough first week and first test, I believe that this year will be a
fantastic one! Ms. Graham seems like a very exciting teacher with a good sense of
humor. :) I hope that my average rating of 6.5 will rise to be a 10.1 soon enough.
I plan do end my high school career with good grades. Well, BETTER grades than
last year.
Yay, leggo AP Lit.
Leggo seniors. ^.~
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