Final Goodbye...

Well now that we had our last final class of AP English what are your thoughts about the class? Did you learn something new? Did it let you discover something new about yourself? etc...

That's a Wrap!

Well guys, tomorrow is pretty much our last day in AP. Final thoughts?

New Year

Well, we are done with the year and it has been a very fun, yet stressful year. Luckily, we all made it pass the AP test (yay!) but now what? What are your goals for the upcoming year? Mine would be to help out more in the community, along with being organized for a new chapter in life, continuing school: college.

Poster Boards for Presentations

Hey everyone, I was wondering if you guys had any ideas about to do with the poster board? I was thinking to put information about the author on the poster board instead of their writing since that's what the whole presentation consists of and I felt it would be redundant to discuss their writing again in a different format.

Poster Boards

How are everyone's poster boards coming along? What kind of materials are you going to use?

Independent Reading Book

Sometimes re-reading a book again may seem a little bit of work or we become idle when it comes to reading it again. Did you guys find it helpful to read again a book you had read before? Did reading it again help you learn more about the book or make more connections now that you may have more background information since when you first read it? or any other opinions...?

Summer Time - prepare for senior year time-

Do any of you guys plan on taking the ACT or SAT this summer? Seniors do you guys have any suggestions to those of us who want to do better? Anything that helped or didnt help you?

ALEX #2

So for those who took the SAT how do you feel about it? Do you feel it is fair that this one test will be one of the major deciding factors as to what colleges and scholarships you'll have at hand? I have yet to take it and was curious as to whether it was a fair gauge of your intelligence as a student?

ALEX

Ok so now that the AP test is over but we cant speak specifically of the questions in general how do you guys feel you did? Was there any section that you feel you messed up on or overall was it easier or harder than what you expected? Was anyone else hesitant to allow College Board to access the information because you didn't know how you'd do?

Soooo.......

How is everyone doing on their project and book report? Has anyone finished yet?

Adaptations

Rarely do I care for film-type adaptations of literature, but specifically in the live-action department. I adore most cartoon adaptations.

I did some digging and found a really cute Mickey Mouse short on the book I'm reading The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. There are some major significances in how the boys become separated and there is not much motivation to live different lives (Parent Trap like) in the book. Despite that, it is pretty funny.

My Favorite Part:

Mickey: I can't be the prince! H-how do I act? What do I say?

Prince: To govern, you'd need only say one of two things: "That's a splendid idea! I'm glad I thought of it." or "Guards! Seize him!"

It's an old joke, but I guess the actor's delivery was what made it so funny.

It turns out this other old cartoon show called Animaniacs often told segments of Shakespeare in it's actual form with translation/jokes about it on the side. Those weren't bad either.
Or the A Midsummer Night's Dream adaptation, also a Mickey Mouse short.
(I went on a cartoon spree if you have not noticed.)

What's your favorite adaptation of a piece of literature? It can be either cartoon, live-action, or even anime (Romeo X Juliet, apparently).
And don't say The Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore, or I will be very disappointed!

It's Here. *Cue Dramatic Music*

The AP Exam is here, the day we all worked so hard for. Any last thoughts, nerves?
I wish you all good luck and may the force be with you.

Has anyone else really started on their independent reading project? I seem to be overwhelmed by all of the other projects I'm doing in other classes and keep forgetting to make time for it.

Im having trouble remembering the characters and plot in Fahrenheit 451 can anyone remind me?

The quotes you memorized...

...what do you think of them?

I actually had fun with that assignment and looked into quotes that were meaningful to me. My favorite was my quote from The Pearl about happiness in simplicity:

"They had spoken once, but there is no need for speech if it is only a habit anyway. Kino sighed with satisfaction - and that was conversation."

So I was wondering what your favorite quote was and why? I thought it would be interesting to discuss.

Approaching the Exam

What approaches have you guys taken outside of class to prepare for the exam? Any strategies that you have found helpful? Study guides? etc.

Recall Your Independent Reading Book From Freshmen Year

Thinking of outside reading, what was the earliest independent reading book you remember? I read The Freedom Writers Diary my freshmen year. It wasn't that bad, but I know that as a freshmen, I skimmed plenty. Just didn't have to attention span at the time, I guess. Plus, I know for a fact that I wasn't old enough to completely understand the magnitude of some of the entries.

I'm considering reading it again if I have room for it on my reading bucket list.

But what about you? What did you read for your freshmen year independent reading? Do you think you gave it proper attention? Would you consider reading it again?

Ideas/Plans for Summer Reading

What are you guys planning to read over the summer (assuming that you read outside of the classroom)? I'm going to try to finish The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain by the end of the year because I finished my independent reading and it is a pretty small book, though it might leak into after-graduation.

After that, my reading bucket-list says The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling then The Phantom Tollbooth. 

(You know, I like Mark Twain's writing. I'm exactly sure why, but I love his work.)

Anyways, share your thoughts, please.

Faulkner and other similar authors

Hey guys, if any of you are looking for works are parallel to Faulkner's Light In August, try Richard Wright's Native Son. It's a very good book, and I recommend that everyone reads it. James Baldwin is also a good author to compare with Faulkner.

Lord of the Flies

Since we won't be reviewing Lord of the Flies in class, we might as well do it here. Characters, plot, themes, connections, etc. Let's go!

Exam Nerves

Does anyone else find themselves getting more stressed as the AP exams get closer and closer, or is it just me?

Brave New World Presentations

Given that we've been working on our presentations on Brave New World this week and analyzing the context more in dept, have you guys come across any new ideas on Brave New World? New perception of the story or the character's? Have you guys found interesting facts etc?

Poor John

The ending of Brave New World is disheartening. I was cheering for John to become the savior for the civilized world, but I knew that it would not be possible, nor realistic. However, I never thought that the ending would lead to John's suicide. Maybe it is just me but I expected more from him. I never expected him to lower himself to believe the only decision he would make is killing himself. It is because of the savage's extreme measures that led me to think about the other two characters and question whether or not Helmholtz and Bernard may have also done the same as John? What do you guys think?

Lenina

In chapters 11-13, the author reveals that Lenina likes John a lot more than she did with anyone else. However, due to her governments system, she has grown up without being capable of loving someone. Will John change how she feels or will she continue to behave like everyone else in her society?

Brave New World chapter 8

I do not know about everyone else but I felt as if today when reading Brave New World there were plenty of interesting things going on especially the part when John feels alone and diverse to the point he fantasizes himself going through the crucifying of Christ  

New Characters, New Problems?? Linda and John

Having read the recent chapter and learning about Linda and John, do you guys think that they will have an effect on how the story is going to be directed from now on? Any thoughts?

Reading Response

How did you guys tackle the prompt? I found I had trouble when writing the essay and so I'm not feeling 100% with this one.

How do you guys feel about Bernard in Brave New World? His character is obviously different from the others. But why if everyone is conditioned and alpha-plus even more so then why is he so different? Why does he have emotions and feelings? Why does he see farther into things and realize that his whole world is conformity thus making him uncomfortable when he takes soma? What is it that happened that made him different?

Brave New World Motifs

I was wondering what motifs did you guys write about in the essay? I'm curious to what other motifs you guys thought of. I wrote about sex and what it means to their society. It was centered around how Brave New World has the opposite moral standpoint to us when it comes to relationships, families, and sex itself; the book shows how attachment, polygamy, and parents are something looked down upon.

Trouble In Paradise?

In Chapter 6 we follow Bernard and Lenina as they go on their first date. However, it is evident that Lenina does not share the same values as Bernard and causes an argument that ends with her emotional breakdown. However, that flood of emotion shows that she is beginning to find holes in her previously imposed outlook on life. Do you feel that with time, Bernard will be able to fully open her eyes to the reality of their situation? Will they ever be able to really be a couple? Or do you feel that Lenina will cower back to the lifestyle she already knows despite having found faults in it.

Love vs pleasurable hobbies

In Brave New World, it appears that sex and relationships have completely lost its meaning in society.  What the the books describes as good and normal, are what we would call deceitful, erotic, and downright disgusting. Look at Lilena for example. She has slept with almost every Alpha, and yet she would be seen as a goody-two shoes in our perspective, compared to other individuals in her society. In her society, sex is no longer for the sake of love and union, but for pleasure; and relationships are just a hobby. There is no desire of holy matrimony. Thoughts????

Chapters 2 and 3

So I read these two chapters and I was like well isn't that quite interesting that they are not allowed to have only one person as their "mate" they should have more than one and that they can't be with one person for a long time when they are young because its seen as wrong. As well as  that they are brought up at a really young age to be very sexually activity, What do you guys think about that?

The Arts of Selling...

What are your guys opinions, thoughts, disagreements, agreements etc so far by what we have been reading in class?

Brave New World

Before we start reading Brave New World in class, I'm curious if anyone has read it before. I read it last block on my own time, and I'm looking forward to seeing what new insights we can find as a class. So, has anyone read Brave New World already?

Final Exam

I am so nervous about the final! I hope I am able to see improvement on the timed essay portion. How does everyone feel about the exam? Do you feel confident? Any struggles you need to overcome? Or any advice on how to plan on finishing timed essays?

AP Vocab Terms

If you all have not known, there are more vocabulary terms in the AP book on pages 57-71 (:

I've realized something while trying to analyze Things Fall Apart. The main character, Okonkwo, is very similar with the character Joe Christmas from A Light In August. Both suffer from this identity crisis and trying not to be stereotyped as something they are not. Both though appearing to be strong are weak enough to allow society to depict how they act and what they do. Both fight to escape a past that they wish never to make its way into there lives 

AP

I recently retook the SAT exam and I noticed that I was able to finish the essay potion of the exam this time. (despite it only being 25 minutes long). AP has really helped me improve as a writer. Have you personally seen improvement in your own writing?

Sources

This might be helpful to anyone who is having trouble finding sources and has a Phoenix Public Library card. This here is a list of resources you can use for your research:

http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/browse/learning-research/Pages/atoz.aspx

Now, to be honest with you, I've only tried the first link, which is:

Academic Search Premier A scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 7,100 full-text periodicals, including more than 6,100 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 11,200 journals and a total of more than 11,700 publications.

However, it's been the only one I've had to use since I found what I needed. So, check it out! Your username is the barcode on your library card and your password is your last name on the card, unless you've customized it beforehand.

Stuff

So this post I guess is for anyone who is writing their research paper on John Steinbeck, East of Eden is considered Steinbeck's greatest work. Even Steinbeck himself has called it the true master piece. So if you're having trouble identifying some of his characteristic check the book out.

Independent Progress

How is everyone doing on their independent reading essays? What book are you writing about?

AP English Class :)

So far in the course, what are your thoughts? do you like it? is it what you expected? What do you like the best about this class? or any other thoughts on it...

Prevelant thought

Though it may be tad irrelevant to what we're currently doing (I felt like I should be wearing a monocle and a top hat when I typed the preceding), there is something that bothers my mind constantly..., how am I going to do on this AP exam? What better place to vent that then on blogger I thought. But never mind me, how do you guys feel you're going to do on the exam as of now? Do you think you'll be ready?

Is Dante Qualified?

The author I'm writing about is Dante Alighieri. Most people know him from his Inferno, but what I'm curious about is if his bias ruins his credibility on his philosophy or even the self-control he preaches.
One, the speaker is pretty much himself. Two, he's being guided by the ghost of his idol. And three, in his version of Hell, everyone he hates is burning in the fraud and temptations section.

Was Dante qualified to talk about this kind of thing as judgment, when he has bias against those who exiled him and is a fan-boy for his character, Vergil?

Train to Rhodesia

So did anybody have anything to add that they didn't get to say in the discussion yesterday? It was a very profound talk yesterday and vet interesting. Perhaps we should go on more

Vocab

Hope everyone is ready for the vocab test tomorrow 

Apartheid: South Africa's Darkest Evil

Hey guys, because we read Ms. Godimer's "The Train From Rhodesia", I am inspired to give you all a little insight on what apartheid truly was. To begin with, the racial discrimination and brutality experienced by Blacks in 1960s America, is nothing compared to what atrocities black South Africans faced from the Apartheid system: it was like that, but worse. Black South Africans were often times evicted and had no choice but to move into shantytowns and townships where living conditions were worse than the ghettos that we see in central Phoenix. Because there was an abundance of gold and diamonds in South Africa, Afrikaaners (Euro-Africans and Europeans) forced 'native' men eligible for labor, to work in mines, thus destabilizing the family unit. Men,women and children were often times searched, beaten, jailed, and even killed for something as petty as walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk or listening to music that was said to corrupt the minds of "natives". Often times, what started as a peaceful protest, ended in a massacre of  police gunfire and severe club beatings. Anyone captured was beaten and tortured, sometimes to the point of death. Police ransacked homes belonging to natives almost for fun. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to police knocking at your door, forcing themselves in, and 'searching' and destroying the things that you hold dear to you. Blacks were put against blacks resulting in disunity and violence in the Black South African community. This form of segregation lasted for the 1950s all the way up to the early 1990s.
If you guys would like more insight, look up Miriam Makeba. She was a South African musician who protested apartheid through her music, and was exiled for life as a result, and her records were banned in all of South Africa. One of her famous songs is 'Soweto Blues'.

Siddhartha

Now that we've finished reading Siddhartha, what are you closing thoughts? Were you satisfied with the ending? If not, what do you feel should have happened?

Some stuff

Well in the few chapters we were supposed to read we were hit with a lot of stuff! Kamala comes back into the story with Siddharthas son only to die and leaving Siddhartha with his son. I want to believe Kamalas death has some significance but I'm not sure how maybe someone knows!? I thought it was pretty sad how Siddhartha and his son split paths I'm sure that has caused Siddhartha a lot of pain. What I found interesting about the departure though is that Siddhartha realizes the pain he caused his father when he left while simontanously realizing he attempted to do what his father did to him by pushing his way of living on his own son.  Siddhartha also realizes the love his father must have had to truly let him go on his own path which he must follow now as well with his son.

Samsara.

Samsara (n.): The cycle of death and rebirth to which life in the material world is bound

This chapter that we had to read over the weekend had caught my attention the most because as we read, we can see that Siddhartha is no longer himself; he praises greed rather that gratifies nature. Along with that we have the dream of a singing bird, to which symbolizes Siddhartha. What was a surprise to me was the ending, where find out that Kamala is pregnant with Siddhartha's child. What do you guys think will happen? Will Siddhartha find out? Will he return?

Siddhartha's Dream

           In the novel we are reading in class, I find that the chapter Sansara really demonstrates Siddhartha's change of behavior. He becomes selfish and full of greed. He becomes impatient and angry. However, then he has this dream that Kamala had a rare bird in a golden cage and that bird was dead. The bird used to sing and now it became mute.That dead bird caught Siddhartha's eye and he decided to throw away the bird because it was of not valuable anymore. I believe this dream has more depth to it and the bird symbolizes Siddhartha. For example, the bird was rare and so is Siddhartha. Siddhartha is a samana and is unlike many others in the city. In addition, Kamala is the owner of the bird and in a way Kamala is in charge of Siddhartha because she is his teacher and she tells him what to do. Then, the bird's death symbolizes the loss of Siddhartha's control over himself; he turns into someone different and his past living dies. When Siddhartha throws away the bird, it's similar to him throwing away his good soul or past life and becoming more vain and full of evil ways. He shows no value of his life. Overall, I very much liked this chapter and it was easy to comprehend. Please do share and comment if you have any other ideas of the dreams symbolization or your interest/understanding of the chapter.

Siddhartha

What do you guys think so far about Siddhartha's journey? Is he accomplishing his goal?What do you guys think about him overall.

Mid term

How did everyone do today on their midterm ? Did anyone find it to be kind of easy while having fun with it? I know I sure did because I tried to be as creative as I can .

Writing techniques

Hello everyone, how did you guys like the writing technique packet today? Which one do you benefit from the first one or this one? Anyone suggest another style or technique for time writing ? 

Transcendentalism in Mr.Herman's Siddartha

So far as we read Siddartha, I feel like the story sucks the reader into the main character. Like Henry David Thoreau and other great transcendentalists, Hermann causes us (or me anyway) to look at our lives and compare it to siddartha's, which inspires us (or just me) to want to change our lives in accordance to the life of Siddartha: to find our true self.

Siddhartha: Love it or Hate it?

Hey guys! I was thinking...the book we are reading so far in class is very interesting. I have been enjoying Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse because I feel like I can relate to the main character in some part. I like how Hesse is writing about Siddhartha's life and is taking his readers along for the journey, but not only is he doing that, he is giving us some insight on life and as readers we are able to connect and say oh that's so true. I feel like Hesse made Siddhartha and in a way the main character is us. As people we want more and search for the real truth, not just what we are being told. We want to have satisfaction in life and we want to find ourselves. I love the novel so far and cannot wait to continue reading it. What do you guys thinks? How do you feel about te novel so far? Do you like it or dislike it? Why?

Thoughts on "Shooting and Elephant"

So I'm a pretty big Orwell fan and was already kind of familiar with "Shooting and Elephant". It's very clear to see the political aspect of the short story (the whole ordeal with British Imperialism) but what I like the most is the idea of conformity. Is conformity the right word? I don't know but the point is that the narrator obviously has a problem over shooting the elephant. He knows he shouldn't shoot the elephant and that not shooting it will make him happy but if he doesn't he'll look like a coward or weak in front of the multitude. So should he kill it and feel bad to please the crowd or should he not kill it and look bad but still have some sense of happiness? Obviously he kills the elephant and then suffers by having to watch it slowly die in front of him. What this makes me think about is how much power and influence does the multitude have? And why does it have so much power? What I love the most is the animal Orwell decided to use. An elephant is gigantic and extremely strong but yet it's not as powerful as the crowd of people with judgement. The thought of judgement defeats a physically powerful beast.

Govinda

Now that we've read more into the novel, in the chapter entitled "Gotama" Siddartha decides to leave his friend Govinda behind since he has joined the Buddha. When i read that part i felt sympathy for Govinda because he really wanted to go on the spiritual journey with Siddartha. What do you guys think was the motive of Govinda following Siddartha up until this point in their journey? Do you guys have any thoughts about Goivnda..?

Independent Reading Progress

How is everyone doing with their independent reading? Has anyone finished their books?

Macbeth Predictions

Act 5 may bring the death of Macbeth, or perhaps the deaths of his opponents. What are your opinions? Who will survive? Who will reign as king of Scotland?

Macbeth ( The Witches Chant)

In Act 1, Scene 1 William Shakespeare opens with a great example of a chiasmus ( a chiasmus according to Websters dictionary is defined as "a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form"); that reads "fair is foul, and foul is fair." I believe the message of this can possibly be a major theme to the story because we see it put to action immediately when Macbeth kills King Duncan in hope to receive throne with the flee of his sons. It has me thinking maybe this quote can be put into action later on in the story once again. 

Shakespeare and Female-Characters

• Midsummer Night's Dream
• Othello
• Taming of the Shrew
• King Lear
• Macbeth
• Romeo & Juliet
• Hamlet

In all these plays, the women/girls are either crazily obsessive, evil, mean-spirited, and/or they die. So... is Shakespeare really fighting for feminism?
On one argument, you could say that he is because of the obvious negative personalities he gives his female characters (or negative ends).
Another, you could say that Shakespeare made most of his male characters dead or insane or, in Midsummer Night's Dream, permanently under a spell and therefore a loss of free-will, and that no one in a Shakespeare is given better treatment over another. 

I personally think Shakespeare was only interested in making his characters interesting even when most of them were meant to be plot-devices rather than complex and dimensional.
Maybe it's because he inspired some archetypes so these characters have been repeated, but that the very reason why characters like Lady Macbeth and Katharina don't particularly interest me like Juliet and Ophelia. It just feels like there's more to them in the plays then the plot they work in.

"Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses or else worth all the rest. "

 This soliloquy from Macbeth in act II, from my opinion, shows how Macbeth knew his actions were wrong he was fooled and gullible from Lady Macbeth, and in the end there will be a consequence. .

Macbeth

"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand"
I don't remember exactly where within act II this little quote is from but I thought it was pretty interesting. Macbeth says this shortly after killing Duncan and I thought it was kind of a great example of Macbeths feeling of guilt and that even though, literally, Macbeth may wash off Duncans blood, figuratively, the blood will always be there just like his guilt.

Macbeth

I know we've only read Act I, but what do you think of the play so far? Any predictions on what might happen in the story, or what exactly the subplot was foreshadowing?

I'm glad we're done with romanticism and are moving onto more realistic and applicable type of literature.

Something you might want to know!

So I was having a pretty hard time picking one theme I wanted my sonnet to be about so I asked Ross some questions and turns out you can use multiple themes that are on the paper she gave out. So incase anyone was having trouble picking just one like me this post might help.

Theme of the Poem

Has anyone decided on what theme their poem is going to be on? or an ideas?

Kubla Khan Metaphors

We started reading Kubla Khan with the prior knowledge that it was a metaphor for sex, but did this knowledge bias our understanding of the poem? Could there be some other meaning that we overlooked because we already knew what we were looking for?

T.S. Eliot

Eliot's poem "Preludes" talks about how the modernization of  modern times has consequences. That consequence being how we lose our natural connection to nature and our freedom. Do you feel that you too are slipping away in our modern times?

Thoughts so far...

What do you guys think of the class so far?

Is anyone reading Native Son?

Sooooo...... Is anyone in AP reading Native Son by Richard Wright?