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'.