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.