Blog Post 5/11

For this post, please answer ALL of the following questions. These are regarding your experience in ELA this year. Do not be afraid to critique the class - I am looking for your honest feedback, both positive and negative.

1. What was the most fun/engaging activity that you did in ELA this year? Why was it fun/engaging?

-Seminars, probably. I like discussing things with people and hearing their opinions. 

2. What was the most boring activity that you did this year? Why was it boring?

-I wasn't a huge fan of the silent poem-analyzing, but it wasn’t terrible. Well, what I’m saying is that it was nothing to write home about, but I can see its value (learning to figure out metaphors, symbols and other stuff) and how others might enjoy it.

3. What was your favorite book this year? Why?

-There were a few good ones, but I’m gonna call a tie between The Odyssey and The Great Gatsby. For the former, I just enjoy reading things related to Greek mythology (especially when it’s well-translated), and enjoyed the story and clever wordplay; for the latter, it had a solid message and really encapsulated the social issues of the 1920s. 

4. What was your least favorite book this year? Why?

-Undoubtedly The Alchemist. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more unpleasant experience reading a book.  The Personal Legends didn’t make sense and were super inconsistent- plus, half of the little religion Coelho created for the book was there solely to drive along the plot. Writing about it is already making me angry. 

5. What should I definitely keep the same for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

-The openness of all the projects. There’s a huge range of possibilities with the system that’s in place, and students down the line should definitely be able to experience that. Even if they use almost all of their opportunities to write essays like I did.

6. What should I definitely change for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

-ELA doesn’t have very many negative aspects, as I’ve noted previously. But, I do have one small thing that I’d like to have eliminated, and that’s the “Involving Others” standard for seminars. If someone doesn’t say anything in a seminar knowing that they’re being graded on that, it’s their funeral- not everyone else’s. Plus, asking them to talk is super awkward and comes off as super forced no matter how it’s worded. Even still, when we DO ask them to speak, its something insignificant and silly because we asked them to do it before they gathered their thoughts. We’re all in high school, and are perfectly capable of speaking for 30-ish seconds about something in a small group setting.

7. Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your experience in ELA? If so - please put it here.

-ELA is a really well-organized class, and I always felt that what we were doing in and out of class was conducive to what we were learning. A good flow of information/ work is great to have in any class, and ELA succeeds in that respect. I'm not even going for brownie points here, that's just how da class be.

64 blog posts. Two years. It’s been a long ride! 

Journal 5/4

We have finished A Raisin in the Sun. For this blog post, you can address anything about the book that interests you, whether we have discussed in class or not.

One topic that interested me throughout reading A Raisin in the Sun is that of Lorraine Hansberry’s process of creating the book’s characters. Some of my peers suggested that each character reflected a part of her own personality, while others said that she created them to be archetypes of the black community at the time. I think that it’s a mixture of both, combined with other elements that are necessary for telling a story. For example, characters with opposing views need to exist to make interesting relationships- like George Murchison and Joseph Asagai. The things that those two characters stood for made their interactions memorable, but they also represent the paths that a minority could take in a society that didn’t embrace their culture. Another example is in Beneatha, who strives to become educated and do well for herself despite the odds stacked against her. I could see elements of Ms. Hansberry’s personality being injected into her character, as she was also an educated black woman in the mid-20th century. One could analyze and make assumptions all day, but it all comes down to this: we don’t (and will most likely never) know the author’s thought process and exact intentions, so all we can do is guess. 

Journal 4/27

On p. 143, Walter states, "There ain't no causes - there ain't nothing but taking in this world, and he who takes the most is smartest - and it don't make a damn bit of difference how." Do you think that this is true? Why or why not?

I don’t think this is entirely true. (so long as take, in this question, means the consumption and use of material things). People who have done well for themselves can do a lot of things that the less fortunate can’t- with that money comes power, and a sort of social standing that can’t be achieved through, say, respect or being well- known. Money drives things forward, and no matter how you earn it you still have it. People can judge a wealthy person based on how they make their money, but at the end of the day, they’re still rich. One thing that doesn’t come with wealth regardless of how one comes upon it is intelligence. It doesn’t take intelligence to make money; it mostly takes luck, and being at the right place at the right time. Although they’re definitely in the minority, many people have succeeded without getting a decent education or creating something of value to others. This is most prevalent in occupations where other characteristics are valued over the thoughts in one’s head, which bring to mind the entertainment industry. Models, rappers, socialites- many of them simply happened to be picked up, while hundreds of others just like them flail about in a sea of obscurity. They did the right things, and because of those circumstances found themselves becoming well-known and making money.  Many of those who take and consume the most, our 1%, have done something of value and have used their minds to become successful. That doesn’t mean that there are some who haven’t.

Journal 4/20

In Act II, Scene 2, Mama puts Walter in charge of all of the money. Why do you think that she does that? 

At that point, Walter had given up on a lot of things. His family wasn’t supporting his grand ideas of liquor stores and money, as there were more pressing matters to deal with and an investment like that just wouldn’t be worth the risk to them. Walter didn’t share that view, and without their support stopped going to work. He went and did a lot of nothing- driving around, watching people work for hours at a time, and listening to music at a bar. After hearing about all of that, Mama blames herself for his sadness, and entrusts him with the money. She hopes that he can rise to the occasion and be the head of the family, saying, “…and I’m putting it in your hands. I’m telling you to to be the head of the family from now on like you supposed to be,” (page 107). She says that $3000 of the $6500 will be for his own use, and that he can do with it whatever he pleases. She wants to reinvigorate him and give him a sense of purpose or responsibility through this, but most of all she cares about his well-being and wants to create a positive model for the younger members of the Younger family.

Journal 4/13

In American Denial, you learned about Swedish economist, Gunner Myrdal, and his research in the American Deep South in the 1930's. He concluded that Americans believe in equality and freedom, but then continue to discriminate against others (in this case due to race), and that the tension between these two beliefs created an American dilemma (in fact, he called his study The American Dilemma). Do you believe that this is still true today? Why or why not?

It is, to some degree. Racism is no longer one of the central pieces of the problems between people- this is illustrated by the creation of things like “micro aggressions”, which are basically just watered-down racist statements. They mostly consist of stereotyping and sort-of offensive ideas spouted out of ignorance. Open racism is less common, so people needed to come up with a term to define a much less harsh version of it. I’d call that progress. The dilemma has largely been solved by decades of interaction between African- Americans and whites after segregation ended, in which children of different races learned together, played together, and were raised in a society that embraced interactions between different races more so than in years past. Those children grew up to be more tolerant than their parents, and they raised children that were most likely even more tolerant of different kinds of people. So, we’ve gotten closer to bridging the gap between the true nature of America’s social structure and the ideals it was created upon- even though there are other things to fix outside of race relations. Mr. Myrdal would be delighted to see how far the country has come. 

Journal 3/9

This week, you will be working on your response project to The Great Gatsby. For you blog post, you may write about anything that you want, as long as it is appropriate for your audience and is substantive enough to begin a discussion.

This weekend, I lost 800+ pictures from the past four years, all of my school documents from this semester, 80 GBs worth of movies, as well as a handful of other things on my computer. To begin to explain how this happened, I’ll need to start with how I save things: I don’t really use backups. No document copies in iCloud, no flash drives, no external hard drives. I would soon learn the error of my ways, when on Saturday the little rainbow pinwheel came up while I was loading a page on safari. I thought to myself, “no big deal. It’s just loading the page, nothing to worry about.” Well, once that pinwheel’s presence over my cursor reached the two-minute mark, I knew that something was definitely wrong. I decided to restart the thing and go get a drink while it did its business. When I came back, the usual user selection screen was gone, replaced by a “Mac OS Utilities” page with a solid gray desktop background. It gave me a few options: use a backup, which I didn’t have; repair the disk(s), which did nothing but tell me that one of my disks was beyond repair; and reinstall the operating system, which was the last thing I wanted to do. Well, the latter option was what I ended up doing, even though I could’ve bought an external hard drive and backed up my data at this stage (and then reinstalled, but I didn’t because I was tired and impatient). This weekend was already lame enough, and losing all of this really added to that. I mean, I can still retrieve a lot of it, but some of that information can’t be re- downloaded...like the pictures. Those aren’t coming back, and since I don’t take many, they were fairly valuable. Definitely backing up my stuff from now on.

Journal 3/2

Choose any topic of interest that we have discussed in class (or not discussed, if you have a new one)  in relation to The Great Gatsby and explore it further. Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

One thing that I’ve thought about all throughout reading The Great Gatsby is how closely the movie follows it. I saw the movie when it first came out in theaters, in the summer of 2013, and it was a pretty great experience. The film definitely takes style over substance in a few places, often coming off as grandiloquent, and doesn’t really deliver the exact same message as the book (a part of me doesn’t care, though, simply because Baz Luhrmann did such a great job with it). With that said, the instances that I can recall in which great changes were made that compromised the general story were few and far in between- points serving to illustrate the disillusionment of the young members of high society or things like that in the book would be shrouded by unspecificity in the movie, as words can explicitly describe emotions and other things that imagery just can’t. There were also shortenings of certain scenes to keep pacing tight- one that I distinctly remember is the gossip and small talk that takes place at Tom and Daisy’s house in the first chapter. The reason that Myrtle runs out in the street is also changed in the film. Just by those two examples, you can see how little there is to pick through- it’s a faithful, well-made adaptation of a significant piece of American literature.

Journal 2/23

Describe what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

While Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Gatsby and Nick are on their way home from the city, George Wilson’s wife Myrtle escapes from the locked room he planned to keep her in until they leave for the Midwest (an action taken in response to learning that she has been involved in an affair). When she runs out of the automobile shop and into the street, a light-green car traveling speedily down the road impacts her and kills her almost instantly. Mr. Wilson is destroyed by this, and Tom becomes even more angry at Gatsby once he hears that the description of the car that hit Myrtle matches that of his adversary’s. We later find out that it was Daisy who was to blame, not Gatsby: 

Nick: “Was Daisy driving?” 

Gatsby: “Yes,”…”But of course I’ll say I was.”

(page 143)

It was Daisy’s fault; she was nervous and unsettled after the conflict in the city, and thought that driving would calm her down. She was pretty darn wrong. 

Journal 2/16

Contrast Jay Gatsby's story about himself on p. 65 and Jordan Baker's story about Daisy and Gatsby on pp. 74-77.  What is different about these stories, and why do you think that they are different?

Gatsby’s story mentions nothing of Daisy. The description of his time in the military portrays him as someone of value; he accepts a commission to become a lieutenant, quite a high rank in the military pecking order, rather than enlisting and starting at a lower rank as Jordan’s story would lead one to believe. The rest of the stories’ parts can’t really be contrasted with one another at all in the way that this prompt wants them to be. On page 65, Gatsby lists off information about his wealthy family, him going to Oxford and his achievements during the war. From pages 74 to 77, Jordan tells us of Daisy’s meeting with Gatsby and the soldiers, her breakdown before the wedding because of the letter, and her life after that. She then mentions that she had just become aware of Gatsby’s presence a few months ago. They are two completely different stories that have little to do with the each other, besides the same names being thrown around. Jordan’s story provides no evidence contrary to what Gatsby said about Oxford and his wartime accolades- as far as we know, Gatsby could be telling the truth. Besides the slight difference in the two’s descriptions of Gatsby’s entrance into the military, there’s nothing to contradict Gatsby’s story. Jordan just doesn’t give enough information about him.

Journal 2/9

Having learned something about the Lost Generation in class, find a passage in this week's reading that reflects the feelings of many people after WWI. To what extent does this passage represent the worldview of the Lost Generation? Please copy the passage as part of your answer.

I chose this:

"I like to come," Lucille said. "I never care what I do, so I always have a good time. When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address – inside of a week I got a package from Croirier's with a new evening gown in it."

"Did you keep it?" asked Jordan.

"Sure I did. I was going to wear it tonight, but it was too big in the bust and had to be altered. It was gas blue with lavender beads. Two hundred and sixty-five dollars (Chapt. 3, pg 43).”

This encapsulates the materialistic mindset of the post- WWI young adults, who felt that money would soothe them and make up for what they were missing. Progression and advancement, things of value, were replaced by hedonistic behaviors and the search for wealth. In the passage I included, Lucille carelessly tears her dress. When she receives a new dress, an exact replacement (courtesy of a man she met the night she tore the original), she is more impressed about it being replaced because of its cost than because of the gesture of kindness exercised by the replacer. To me, that really represents the way that the lost generation valued things.

Journal 2/2

The American Dream *was* specific to the United States, mostly because of the principles that our country was founded off of- all men being created equal, each with the right to pursue their goals and prosper from their achievements. Immigrants coming to America had the idea planted in their heads that with enough hard work they could very well end up living a lavish lifestyle and generally do well for themselves. They had a clean slate and could escape from whatever motivated them to leave their former country in the first place, so this was quite the unique opportunity for them. Take, for example, the German immigrants of the 1848 revolution. They escaped the hierarchical society that had been brewing in Europe to find themselves in a place without class privileges or other things to unfairly tip the scales in a certain group of people’s favor. Now, unlike in those times, the American Dream can be completed in any developed country with laws similar to ours- even though examples of its completion are few in number. Instead of discriminatory systems of living, we have the problems of familial wealth and poverty being passed on, along with the two intricate life and career paths that respectively go with those two living conditions. So, no, it’s not specific to the United States- at least not now- but it’s harder to achieve than ever before.

Journal 12/8

What did you do this semester in ELA that was most meaningful to you, and why was it meaningful?

Probably annotating. I didn't see the point of it last semester, but this time around I decided to buckle down and attempt to do a good job at it. This helped tremendously, and has also allowed me to see the benefits of doing it- it's a legitimately good way to reflect on the book while you're reading, and even just consistently putting in questions allows you to remember more about the contents of the book.

 

What was the most challenging thing about ELA this semester, and why?

The paper I wrote in response to The Alchemist, hands down. Even while I was writing the rough draft, I had no idea how much information I'd need to put into it in order to fully prove my thesis. What resulted was a paper that I'd say is one of the best that I've ever written(not that there are many of them, but still). I'm proud of it.

What would you like to change about ELA, and why?

If you asked me this question at the start of the semester I would say annotating, but as I said above my opinion has changed pretty significantly. So, nothing. 

What would you like to stay the same in ELA, and why?

The flexibility of projects. I love how you're able to do so many things with them, but still learn a lot by not being able to do the same kind of project more than twice.

If you have any further comments about the class, please include them.

ELA is a great and well-organized class. 

Journal 12/1

Find three heroic epithets. Explain how you think these epithets were useful to the singer of poems in the Greek oral tradition.

The Earth-Shaker, Poseidon 

2. Odysseus, master of craft and battle

3. Calypso, the bewitching nymph

Epithets were useful descriptors of the many characters throughout The Odyssey. I'm sure they served as a way for the singer and the audience to keep track of the story and easily remember the characters in it. For example, if the singer resumes the story that had stopped the day before, some of the returning listeners might've forgotten a minor character or two (I know that I did while I was reading). The singer using one of that characters' defining traits as an introduction to his or her role in that part of the story could serve as a way for the audience to remember them. Plus, it's simply a cool way to introduce the characters. I mean, some of them don't have the most noble and elegant titles, but the ones that do really do. Poseidon's epithet "The Earth-Shaker", for example, is undoubtedly an awesome title and evokes a sense of power that fits a god well.

Journal 11/17

Find two passages in The Odyssey that are examples of xenia. Compare these two passages. Be sure to cite them as well. 

The two examples of xenia that I found were when Telemachus goes to seek the counsel of Nestor (pg. 28) and when Odysseus is taken to Alcinous' palace (pg. 106). In both passages the guests are welcomed without the hosts knowing their identities, which is a staple of xenia- immediate hospitality. When Telemachus and Athena arrive at Nestor's city, they are quickly invited to sit down after being seen. Nestor's son, Peisistratus, instructs the disguised Athena: "Pray now, stranger, for it is Poseidon's feast you have happened upon (pg. 29, lines 48-49)." In Odysseus' case, Athena gathers all the Phaeacian leaders and draws their attention towards him. Alcinous eventually acknowledges Odysseus' presence, saying: "This stranger has come to my house in his wanderings. I don't know if he has come from the east or the west"..."We have a feast to prepare, and I will provide for all(pg. 107, lines 27-40)!" In both, I found that after feasting the guests were told stories and allowed to rest and bathe, along with being given a means of continuing their respective journeys. This shows the generosity and hospitable attitude of the hosts, usually high-ranking officials who aim to establish a good relationship between the people of their city and the possible wealthy outsiders. Traveling was not an endeavor to be taken on by the poor back then.   

Journal 11/11

In class, Dr. Quillin discussed the historical context within which The Odyssey was written. Using your notes on this lecture, discuss how you think why it was necessary to develop an oral tradition during the Greek Dark Ages and what you think happens to that oral tradition once it is written down.

The Greek Dark Ages involved the collapse of many different civilizations all across the mediterranean, with major trade routes being disrupted and illiteracy becoming commonplace. With that being said, I think that oral traditions were developed to preserve the culture of the area as it went through these tough times. Since many couldn't read and write, oral traditions like songs would've been a more palatable way to introduce large group of people to various stories. This also leads to the stories being changed up quite a bit- when people hear interesting things, they naturally want to spread those ideas. Through that, the stories would've become disorganized and then devalued, as their forms were constantly shifting and most likely deviating further and further from the original tellings. Writing the stories down preserves them as they were at that time, putting a stop to the constant changes. People would've continued to change the stories orally, but this wouldn't really matter anymore as long as there were written-down versions of the stories. 

Journal 11/3

This is a free post. You may write about anything that you would like. It is important, however, that you consider your audience, which includes your teacher and also your peers. Please compose a post that is appropriate for your audience.

I'd like to briefly talk about Interstellar, a movie I saw just yesterday. It is directed by Christopher Nolan, who you may know as the director of critically acclaimed films like Memento (which I haven't actually seen), Inception, and the recently-concluded Batman trilogy. Set in a bleak, dust-laden, sufficient-food-lacking near future, Interstellar follows a former NASA test pilot who is asked to pilot a spacecraft to search for habitable planets outside of the Milky Way galaxy. They do this through the use of a mysterious wormhole orbiting Saturn, which some scientists believe to be the work of beings with control of the 4th and 5th dimensions. The astronauts use the wormhole to make in two years a journey that would normally take them thousands, traveling into another galaxy and validating the movie's title. I won't say anything else about the plot as I don't want to spoil it, but as an added note you're gonna need to seriously figure some stuff out while you're watching this movie. Temporal loops? Morse code messages manifesting themselves through gravitational anomalies? Whaaat?!  Anyways, moving on. Unlike with some sci-fi movies, science doesn't go completely out the window- with the exception of a few things, it follows the rules. This is probably because Nolan hired an astrophysicist to help with writing some of it, which also makes for some pretty sweet and not-out-of-the-question space visuals. I really liked Interstellar- it was thought provoking, well-acted and at 2 hours and 49 minutes it ought to be both of those things. Gravity can't even touch this movie. 

Journal 10/27

This is the last blog post on Maus.

In IHSS, you have been learning about postmodern sociological perspectives. These perspectives are also helpful when critiquing literature.

For your blog post this week, please analyze Maus using one of the following sociological perspectives:

Functionalist

Conflict

Symbolic Interactionist 

Postmodernist

I chose the conflict perspective for this blog post. The conflict perspective involves one group/social class that has an advantage over others due to the materials and power they possess. Social control is everything here, as certain amounts of power and materials aren't equally allotted to each individual. The privileged show their power and control through exerting it over those lower than them, creating inequality and encouraging the less fortunate to attempt to level the playing field or put themselves at an advantage. Race and religion both play a part in the conflict perspective, which leads right into the main topic of this blog post: how the theory relates to Maus. Well, it's simple. The Nazis are the advantaged group, having power and control of resources. The Jews are the disadvantaged group, and extremely so, as many of them have been treated as sub-humans and killed en masse. The Nazis forced order on the Jews (thus demonstrating their power) by forcing them into the ghettos and then into concentration camps.           

Journal 10/20

On a few occasions in the book, Spiegelman writes about his concern about representing his father as a Jewish stereotype. What characteristics does his father have that seem to match up with these stereotypes, and what events in his life might have caused him to behave in this way?

Art's concern about his father Vladek's representation in the book is completely validated. Vladek perpetrates a number of commonly known Jewish stereotypes, and some of them aren't really his fault . He is very stingy with his money and food, which are respectively shown on two separate occasions. He only gives Mala, his wife, $50 a month to spend how she wants (pg. 133), even though he has more than a hundred thousand dollars in savings. He doesn't even use this money on himself, and lives life much like a pauper would. When it comes to food, at one point he argues with Art about going to get compensation from the grocery store for a half- finished box of cereal. Frugality is acceptable when someone isn't well-off, because they need money and simply can't pay for some items because of that. Vladek, on the other hand, has plenty of money to live well off of, and could easily buy the things he needs. But why is he so stingy? I think it might have something to do with the way he lived during the holocaust. I'm not simply talking about the awful conditions and lack of nutrition, but also about what Vladek himself did to survive. He bartered with guards, traded with others to get the things he needed, and generally found ways to bypass things that would otherwise bring about hardship- but he never steals from other Jews or does bad things to make it by. I think these things have parallels to the way he lives now, in that he finds the easiest ways to make it by without sacrificing too much. He also sees the potential value in things, such as with the cereal box. He tries to consider everything as a means by which to live, even though he doesn't need to do that anymore. He probably just hasn't gotten out of the habit.  

Journal 10/13

What do you think some of the challenges might be in drawing another person's story? What might be some of the advantages? Why?

For Ms. Harrison: You told me to remind you that this post isn't late, so here is the reminder. 

Well, the first thing about drawing someone's story is that the artist must make sure that what he is drawing retains resemblance to what he is told. One can't ask a soldier to recount his experience in Iraq and draw war movie scenarios instead of real combat scenarios, because they wouldn't be capturing the essence of his story. I mean, they can dramatize/ make things up, but I feel that staying faithful to the true story is important for that kind of work to be valuable. Anyways, moving on. Since everything is being drawn, the reader forms his idea about the story through the pictures being shown, making the need for them to be accurate very important. When writing a novel, the author has an ideal way that he wants his readers to picture the book in their heads, but it can (obviously) only be done through words. Maybe there's a picture here or there, but my point stays. Much of the book, including simple things like the characters' exact looks, are left to the reader's imagination. This all changes when it comes to graphic novels. If it is done correctly, that extra level of description- heavy use of visual imagery- can lend a hand to telling a story. The artist could capture, with more accuracy in the reader's eyes, the story being told to him. 

Journal 10/6

We have finished reading The Alchemist. For your blog post, you may write about anything that interests you. Though this is a free post, make sure that what you write is appropriate for a school audience.

I decided to discuss Bullritos in my free blog post- I was inspired to write about it after what has occurred over the four days we've had off. This weekend, we (John, Rains, Alex and I) ate there twice. Once after the football game, then again in the afternoon the next day. After scarfing down my burrito on the second trip there, I started to wonder: why do we like this place so much? What makes it different and so much more appealing to us than, say, Freebirds or Chipotle? Well, I broke it down into two categories:

1- Convenience

Not based only on its location, but on how quick and easy it is to get a burrito there. McDonalds is slower than the burrito masters behind those counters. I honestly think that there is some magic involved. Not only that, but they've got this genius food selection idea: you put your food specifications on a bag with all of the options next to oval spaces and check off the ones that you want. They then use this bag, which is folded flat when you pick it up, to hold your burrito (which is, of course, held in insulated paper). These bags, along with markers used to check off what you want, are on a shelf in the waiting line area of the restaurant. This really streamlines things and avoids long lines created by indecisive people who can't choose what they want when it's their turn to place an order.

2- Quality

Going back to the McDonalds reference point, you know how you can taste "fakeness"? How you can tell whether or not there is something wrong with the food you're eating? Well, that stops at Bullritos' front door. Everything in those burritos is so fresh- when you get them, you can tell that the main ingredients weren't prepared hours earlier. I've also never found any large pieces of fat, bone or other unwanted items in my grilled chicken burritos. I don't know how they do it.  The one exception to these claims is that I can't vouch entirely for the quality of their food, as I am only judging it through taste.

Anyways, I've spent way too much time writing about food. Go eat Bullritos.