Last Blog for the Semester

Things I've Liked:
- This has been my only English class to actually challenge me and make me think about what I'm reading/writing. This really isn't a good thing since most of high schools hasn't been challenging so I wasn't used to doing real work. Getting a grade based on the quality of my work instead of whether or not I completed it is something I've rarely seen. This meant I couldn't do what I normally do for papers which is to BS them and make it seem I know what I'm talking about when I really have no idea. This also brings to the next thing I've liked about this year...
- I feel like I'm not as terrible at writing as I used to be. When I take a paper seriously I can write something that sounds slightly intelligent and doesn't make the reader throw-up or get sick. I was even pleased with my score on the short story essay. In class essays still terrify me though.The first few minutes of my in class essays are usually spent freaking out about the question and being mad that everyone else around me has already started.  However, I would rather be able to write a decent essay over the course of a month then be able to write a good in class essay. This is because in college I will have more time to write papers and understand the prompts better.

Things I've Disliked:
-Blogs. For the most I've had no problem with blogs. But there have been around 3  instances where I've had no idea what to write about. This usually ends up with me writing a terrible blog about my independent reading book or something that we discussed in class. These blogs feel forced and are typically not indicative of how I really feel about the subject. I just try and hit the 250 word count and hope that nothing I wrote is so ridiculous that I get called out on it.
-The work. I'm not gonna complain about this too much since it will probably just result in us getting more homework. There were a few times when I felt overwhelmed with the amount of work for this class. The day-to-day work isn't bad but sometimes due date for long term things will fall close together. This is probably because I'm dumb and procrastinate on things for too long until all my work has piled up and is due the next class. The most frequent problem I had was having to read part of a play, write some DI's for it, and then work on a blog or read my book. This problem is gone since we're through with the drama unit but it did stress me out for a while.

Overall, this semester was pretty swell. I like to think that I'm a better writer now for having gone through numerous failures with my essays. Most of the problems I've had this semester can be attributed to me and my terrible habit of procrastinating. I can't think of anything that I want to see different or get changed next semester. I'm really looking forward to next semester. Mainly May 24th, but I'm sure English will be fine too.

Satire and South Park

I love satire. This is probably because a great deal of my life is connected to satire in some form. Usually when I talk to my friends I try and be satirical. However, since I'm not great at satire yet, I mostly just end up being really sarcastic or cynical and annoying my friends. I also tend to exaggerate things or just flat out lie to satirize something. In fact, probably 40% of what I say isn't true or I don't really believe. I use this method try and prove a point and expose the flaws in what other people are saying. It's difficult to describe in a blog without making my self sound like a terrible human being. I even wanted to apply some satire to my college application essays. I was going to write a satire about how I bring diversity to UK since I'm a white male. But then I figured that the person reading my essay would not understand my sarcasm and just think that I'm really racist. This tendency for me to be sarcastic and satirical probably comes from my love of satire in tv and movies. Most notably in South Park. What I like about South Park is how it can be offensive and crude while still proving a point about society. Of course some of the episodes aren't completely satirical and focus mainly on making fun of people, like Kanye West. What separates South Park from the other tv comedies is how they don't have to focus on making the audience burst out laughing. They are able to make the characters or plot in an episode represent something much larger in order to prove their point. In a way, you even have to be somewhat intelligent to fully grasp the humor that is derived from each episode. If the metaphors and similes that each episode is based on are missed then a viewer could completely miss the purpose.

The Struggle of a Portly Dominican Teenager

So far, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, has been one of the best books I've read all year. Contrary to Hamlet, I can actually understand what is going on in story which is something I always like. From the first paragraph of the book I knew that it would be an interesting read. There's something about the way the author writes that makes the book unique. He gives the characters voice and develops them into complex people who are relatable. The non-linear story line also provides the readers with an experience that helps them better analyze why the each character is unique. The author makes Lola's mom out to be a terrible person in the sections focusing on Lola. I'm now on the portion focused on Oscars mom and I think it is about to explain why she became so twisted and mean. The final thing I like about the book is the language used. This goes back to how well the author gives the writing voice but also deals with the words. Some of the language is graphic and may even cause some people to avoid the book. But I actually enjoy it. The language is indicative of a family who is constantly fighting and of a nerd who is bullied. The author doesn't attempt to treat the audience as children. This maturity towards the readers helps the book be a richer, more realistic reading experience.

A Clockwork Orange Review

Reading A Clockwork Orange is not a normal experience. For starters, many people may not feel comfortable reading about all the violence and rape that's described in the book. However, these graphic events are crucial to the themes and message of the story. Secondly, the language used in the book can be very frustrating. The language is usually clear from the context, but their were times when I had no idea what was going on in the story. Watching the film adaptation may help with clarity, but the book should not be replaced by the movie. But overall, the book was a fantastic read. The beginning is fast paced and was able to keep me hooked. The way that the author made Alex, the protagonist, come to life through his dialogue is incredible. The entire book sounds like it was written by dark, violent teenager, not by a middle-aged English author. The middle portion of the book does slow down, but only to allow for deeper characterization and input from the narrator. The ending satisfies readers with action and events similar to the beginning. A Clockwork Orange is also able to deal with themes relevant to the dystopian society it is set in. Themes such as how it is unthinkable to make someone live a life where they are only allowed to perform good acts or evil acts. This idea of removing someone's choice is major to the story and helps make the conclusion satisfying. A Clockwork Orange can keep readers interested from beginning to end, all while making them question the ideas and principles of society.

+ = 

Make Up Blog #8. 9 Most Beautiful Words

Words that I find beautiful are usually ones that remind me of things that make me happy. These words are often reminiscent of things in my childhood that I liked. Some words don't remind me of specific events or feelings, they just make me happy when I hear them.

Pumpkin- Pumpkin reminds me of autumn, which reminds of Halloween. And Halloween was my favorite holiday as a kid. It also reminds me of pumpkin pie which is the best thing ever invented.

Aquatic- There’s something about the way aquatic is spelled that I like.  Aquatic also makes me think of aquariums, the ocean, and narwhals, all of which are awesome. 

Orange- Both the color and the fruit.  Something about the word makes me feel happy inside. It also helps prevent scurvy which is great if you’re a pirate in the seventeenth century. 

December- December is beautiful for many reasons. It reminds me of Christmas, my birthday, and snow. 

Geo Prizm- The most beautiful sequence of words ever created. A Geo Prizm is the pinnacle of driving machines. It comes standard with a steering wheel AND windows. No other car on the road today can match its intensity or speed. Plus it’s spelled with a z.

Windmills- Windmills combine two of everybody’s favorite things: wind and mills. Windmills make me think of the Netherlands and Iceland, two places I want to travel to one day.  

Buffet- Preferably the all you can eat kind. If you don’t feel like you’re about to die after going to a buffet, then you’re doing it wrong.  Buffets are also great for inducing long naps. Buffet=Nap=Happy 

Sofa- When I heard the word sofa I think of sleeping, and laziness. Two things which I especially enjoy. 

June- June means it's summer, and summer means I don't have to be in schools for two months.

Banning Books

I could not agree with Sarah Timme, the woman who thinks that "The Most Dangerous Game" should be banned for its violence, any more. After reading "The Most Dangerous Game" in the beginning of the year I immediately proceeded to buy a small island and starting hunting ship wrecked sailors. I can't help it. I'm a super impressionable teenager who can't think for myself or tell the difference between reality and fiction. No but really, that lady is an idiot. Stories like these make me so angry at censorship and how parents raise their kids. Coddling your children and pretending that violence doesn't exist in the real world will only end up with a person who can't deal with actual dilemma's. As far is censorship is concerned, I don't believe that any book should be censored. If you don't want to read a book that's profane or graphic, just don't read it.  Censoring books in schools is different though. I don't think high schoolers reading about violence will make them kill people, but a line should be drawn on what is appropriate. Books like Fifty Shades of Grey, that are purely commercial and very graphic should not be allowed. However, books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has language indicative of the deep south in the Antebellum period, should be allowed since they are of literary merit. I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn last year and I  rarely  think about seceding from the Union or how the south will rise again. I also believe that you could ask us to read anything. That doesn't mean you should go out of your way to pick literature that's profane and unnecessarily graphic, but you should be able to have more leniency then a sophomore English teacher would. Frankly, I usually enjoy books that are more graphic and mature since they're often more exciting to read. But if want to replace Hamlet with Where the Wild Things Are that would be fine too.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is possibly one of the most bizarre books I have ever read. Having already seen the movie I thought I was prepared for what the book had to offer. However, after reading the first few pages it was clear that the book was different then anything I could have imagined. From the first paragraph alone it's clear that this book is unique. The language used is slang, invented by the author, called Nadsat. It's a mix of Slavic, Russian, and some words just made up by the author. The constant use of this slang makes the story unnecessarily confusing. Trying to figure out specifically what each character is doing and saying can be difficult times. Context clues help, but only to a certain extent. Other then the sometimes aggravating diction, the book is fantastic. Anthony Burgess was able to create a book that is both literary and exciting to read. I'm only a few chapters into the book and there has yet to be dull moment. I'am also starting to notice ways that the book is different from the movie. In the introduction to the book the author explains how he hated that everyone assumes the film and book version of A Clockwork Orange are the same way. I tend to like watching the film adaptations of novels first, and then read the book itself. This allows me to understand what is happening in the book better while being able to see what didn't make to the movies.  

The ACT

I don't like the ACT. I'm taking it for what is probably the last time this Saturday and the more I think about it the more it confuses me. The test is supposed to be a measurement on what you have learned in high school, but every time I take the ACT I find that this is not the case. The reading section is not all like we do in class. The prompts are short and require little critical thinking or analysis. The answers to the questions seem to always be clearly stated in the text or can be inferred with little thinking. I like that the questions are easy, I just don't feel as if they accurately portray the level at which someone can read. The science section also irritates me. By the time I make it the science part, my brain hurts and I want to go home. Nothing about the science portion requires any substantial scientific knowledge. It is more a measure of your ability to analyze graphs and data under time restraints. The prompts and passages seem to be thrown in for distraction and to make you waste time trying to understand what they mean. The only thing remotely difficult about the English section is the time limit and that really doesn't matter since most of the questions are common sense. Correcting sentences like "I seen her go to the Walmart" is hardly a challenge. The math part is the only section that actually requires you know something about the subject. But like the others, it's difficulty primarily comes from the time limit. I think the ACT could become a better test if the reading section actually required you analyze a passage like a college student would, if the science section required you to do more then interpret data, and if the time limit was extended to allow more accurate results.

Movie Analysis: There Will Be Blood.

During fall break, my parents convinced me to watch "There Will Be Blood" with them. A movie about a turn of the century oil man who buys land in towns and pumps for oil. This movie, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is loosely based on progressive writer Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! I decided to blog about this movie since it is one of few movies in recent time that I would classify as being truly "literary" in nature. 

On the outside the movie appears to be about a simple oil man and the consequences of him drilling for oil in small western town. However, with further analysis it is clear that the movie is very complex with numerous themes about greed and religion. The movie is more then two and a half hours and uses every minute to focus on character development and plot. Throughout the movie it is revealed how insane the protagonist, Daniel Plainview is. He uses his son to make himself appear appear more innocent and welcome to strangers. When an oil well bursts, injuring his son, he views it as a chance to make more money from the excess oil.

 Religion is brought into the story when Daniel meets Eli Sunday, the local preacher for the town the story is set in. Eli plans on using the money brought in from the oil to spread the word of god, whereas Daniel wants to use the money to build an oil pipeline to the Pacific Ocean. The two men constantly try to humiliate the other. This conflict finally results in the epic climax when the question of which is stronger, greed, or religion, is raised. 

In my opinion, this movie definitely qualifies as being literary. The amount of attention to detail in the dialogue and character development is huge. The plot is exciting while still being realistic and believable. 

Daniel drinks Eli's milkshake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKQ3LXHKB34 

Virtual Textbooks by 2015

I think that having virtual textbooks replace the traditional ones would be good for students and schools. Other then being heavy and usually boring, I never thought anything was wrong with textbooks. They are a cheap and effective way for a high school student to learn. However, the same can't be said for college students. Every person who has ever gone to college seems to agree that their textbooks are ridiculously overpriced. Having a virtual textbook where a student could just download new editions to the device sounds like a much cheaper solution to expensive books. Students would also be able to get the most up current version of books. This would be important to science textbooks since science is constantly changing.  Having video clips to help students sounds practical and beneficial to learning; but I don't think the video content would be any better then videos that could be found online. The only major problem i could foresee with virtual textbooks is that teenagers are stupid and wouldn't be able to keep their tablet intact for a full school year. Whether or no adopting virtual textbooks will put the United States on par with South Korea for education is doubtful. For students who actually use their textbooks a tablet would not change much. For students who never utilize their textbooks, a virtual textbook would just be a more advanced way for them not to learn.

Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

Even though I enjoyed reading this shorty story, I hope that we don't have to read anything like it for the AP exam. Since this story was in the symbolism and allegory section, I knew that there would be many notable symbols. Finding these symbols, however, proved to be quite difficult. Things like removing all the r's from Arnold Friend in order to get an old fiend really irritated me. I would never have thought to that by myself. Other symbols like the numbers on Arnold's car adding up to be 69, a number associated with sex. Or the number 33 representing Jesus's age and a bible verse. Hopefully symbols on the AP test will be more obvious and less ridiculous. I thought I was ready to analyze symbols more in depth after reading "Hills Like White Elephants", but I clearly need more practice. The character Arnold Friend obviously symbolized evil and the devil. He reminds of me of how the devil would most likely be in human form. He is subtle and persuasive, not appearing entirely evil at first glance. Arnold is able to convince Connie to go with him even though she knows it is the wrong decision.

White Elephants

When I saw how short Hills Like White Elephants was and that it was by Hemingway I knew it would be a special read. It's one of those stories that the papers that analyze it are always longer then the story itself. This is due to the sheer amount of symbolism in the story. When we covered the story in class I was bewildered by how many symbols I hadn't noticed. Some of the symbols like the Ebro river symbolizing an embryo seemed a bit far fetched, but others are far more believable and interesting. For instance the train arriving in 40 minutes, and the significance of every number in the story being two can't be coincidences. These hidden symbols show Hemingway's genius as a literary writer.I did some research on this story and found that it matches something called the iceberg theory. An iceberg appears small on the surface but underneath is huge. The story is simple on the surface, but underneath is exceptionally complex.   Reading the story a second time when I was looking for the symbols and dialogue about abortion made the story appear in a completely new light. This makes me wonder how many literary stories I've read that seem clear on the outside but really have a new meaning when you pay special attention to dialogue and symbols. Hopefully I'll be able to notice some symbols when reading something for the first time from now on

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!!!!!

So far this book has been the best one I've read all year. There is something  that makes me wanna keep reading it even though I have seen the movie adaptation and know exactly what's going to happen. The dialogue is interesting, while still being easy to follow. The characters are all brilliant. The amount of work that the author has done to both directly, and indirectly characterize each person, even the minor ones, is amazing. I'm only 90 pages and the book has no real discernible plot yet. This may sound bad, but I actually like it when books have no clear cut plot. So far, this book is simply a story about what happens when a sane, man enters a mental institution and the often comical mishaps that follow. There is no objective for the protagonist to overcome, or anything more then a series of events as narrated by a lumbering native american chief. The only thing that the story seems to be about is how the main character, McMurphy, is going to try and drive the head nurse of the institution crazy. Having seen the movie, I know everything McMurphy does to try and drive the Nurse crazy and ultimately what his fate is. I don't think this will hinder my appreciation for the book in the slightest.  

 McMurphy and the Chief

Outside Reading Books!!!

I was pretty happy when I saw the list of books that could be chosen for outside reading. Immediately I knew that I would end up reading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and  Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. I had already seen both of the respective films made about the novels so I already knew the books were interesting. So far, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has lived up to my expectations and seems very similar to the film. What surprised me was that the Chief narrates the story. I thought the story would definitely be told from the main character, McMurphy. Knowing the ending, and what's going to happen hasn't ruined the book at all for me. I'm certain there will even some parts that didn't make it to the movie and will be new to me. If A Clockwork Orange is anything remotely similar to the movie then the book will be very interesting. The first time I saw the movie I was horrified, confused, bored, and then confused again. What I'm going to choose for my third book is unknown right now. I still have around 2 months to make a decision, and as long as the book is around the same caliber then reading should be fun again.

College!!!!!

I really wish I could just skip the  process of having to apply to colleges and just go to UK. I'm almost positive that UK is going to accept me. They keep sending me letters and emails about how amazing UK is. My grades aren't terrible and my ACT score is ok, so as long as I don't totally fail my senior year i should be fine. The only other college that I would even bother applying to is Centre, and I already know it's way too expensive for me. Right now the thought of college scares me since I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life. I think I want to do something with science but I'm not sure what specific field I would go in to. Marine biology seemed like a good choice but that's what everybody does and one of my relatives who is a marine biologist says it's a dying field. I definitely want to do something where I would end up getting hired at a decent job after college. Having to pay for four years of college and then not even be able to get a job is ridiculous. Hopefully when I apply to UK I won't have to write any essays explaining why I would be a good fit for their college. I won't add anything special to UK that they already don't have. I'm almost positive that I won't be going to an out of state college. Going to college out of state means no KEES money and that I would have to take the SAT. And I'm sure that UK can offer as much as out of state schools while still letting my use my KEES money. 

The Most Dangerous Game

This short story reminded me of The Hunger Games. People are forced to go into some hostile environment and try and not die. What I liked about this story is that before being trapped on the island, Rainsford was explaining how he thought animals didn't experience fear or pain when being hunted. Rainsford will probably have a very different perspective on life and hunting after becoming the hunted.Another thing I liked was how the author indirectly revealed the ending of the story without having to explicitly state who won the duel.  Despite reading this short story freshmen year I still found it exciting. The story is short, concise, and straight to the point. The author doesn't try and make the story more then something it really is. I liked how the author made Whitney a character foil to Rainsford. This foil accentuates Rainsford bad qualities and makes it less surprising   when he is inevitably hunted by Zaroff.