zBlogging the Literary Life - Period 6/7 - AP College English - 2005/2006 - Oak Park River Forest High School

In Tonight's News Crime rates have increased thanks to this broadcast

" Our story for tonight, crime.  Why is crime so prevalent in today's society?  We get this cinematic view of crime through movies, video gaming, Internet,media, and in just about every community with the fewest amount of crimes in Japan.  Let's take this topic to our viewers because we don't have capital punishment for no reason.  Why do we even kill the killers who kill others just to make a example of the killers who killed someone to make killing look wrong?  Crime has been going on for centuries and even today crime has taken new forms like fraud and identity theft.  What is the motivation behind the criminal masterminds of human life?  What role does crime play in life? How can the world use it's negative effects to make positive outcomes?  Because, there is good in evil.  Take the situation in New Orleans, people stole merchandise to better there living conditions yet people stole to get those 40 inch LCD's when the city was feet below water.  Is crime senseless or is it purely human behavior that predisposes one to break down into basic instincts?

True Crime In The Streets Of Life

It's been a long time since I posted thanks to the merging of all classes but now we have to get the ball rolling on our BIG IDEAS.  Our group is looking into crime and how we will take a bite out of why it impacts our society and why the news adds fuel to it's negative effects.  Crimes have been commited in all countries with the fewest probably in Japan.  There are many different forms of mobs and gangs everywhere yet many people hardly know about their presence.  My main question I try to keep in mind is why is crime important?  I feel that if, hypothetically speaking,every human never committed an act of crime how world society be impacted?  I also want to know why different countries handle crimes in different manners?  I went to London over spring break and visited the Tower of London (which is more like a military base) and learned of all the public beheading and torture that took place.  It makes very little sense for countries to impose capital punishment to discourage offenders.  I think this in turn causes people to become more rebellious and sinister just because the governments are equally crazy when it comes to exterminating individuals.  Sometimes I feel crime is necessary for higher learning and getting one to truly look inward as to what life means to themselves. 

Semester 1: We Dabbled...

This semester of English class has been, well... let's just say it's been a lot of things. We, believe it or not, have covered quite a bit of text, something like 3,759,524,601 words. Actually I just made that number up, but ballpark to say the least. Anywho, I think most of the stuff we've read and studied has been pretty good. Nothing has really made me want to shoot someone, I mean, Heart of Darkness got me sort of in the mood, but it wasn't too bad.

Okay, so I wrote to crappy papers and B.S.'ed some poetry from time to time, but I was still learning what needed to be learned. And come on, we've had some pretty kick ass discussions as well. I could only hope that second semester follows the first in being a solid class, not too much fun, but not too boring.

One more thing, is anyone actually planning on taking the AP? I heard it's as hard as Velutha's abs.

The Hills in Hills Like White Elephants

I never got a chance to discuss the hills today in our discussion of Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." I was discussing their significance in my group on monday.  Some people thought that they were just put in as a background, however I and several others disagreed.  Why would Hemingway put them in the story if they didn't have a purpose? I think the fact that the hills are white symbolize fertility, and that it is the color commonly associated with babies.  They are also round, like the stomach of a pregnant woman.  I just realized now that this may have been Hemingway's way of trying to eliminate any possible confusion the reader may feel and help him or her catch on to the fact that the couple is talking about an abortion.

AHhhhhhhhhh FINALS!

Finals this year are going to be a piece of cake. All I have to study for is for Psychology and Physics. Math and English are easy. Anyways Today discussion for Hills of White Elephants was interesting. I like how everyone vies the girl as annoying, but they do not see the guy in the story for what he really is. He may have told her not to have the surgery if she did not want to, but he kept pushing it on her and telling her it was easy. He is not very sensitive at all. The girl in the story had this sarcasm that I just could not shake off. I think they should not be together. She wants the baby, but he does not.

Are we there yet?

Even though next week is finals and usually we are all preparing for our exams at this time, this year I feel something different. It feels like we are already over the hump and that class is just something to occupy our time. I didn't really believe people when they said senior year almost drove them insane by recently I have come to understand the truth to their words. Maybe it is because I have finished my college applications and already know two schools I made it into and what I want to do at those schools. Maybe it is because the colleges don't check second semester grades and now we are almost to that second senior semester. Either way my motivation has dropped greatly and I'm finding it increasingly hard to get up the ability to do my work. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would rather spend their day in the city, just taking it all in or driving somewhere new with friends. We are taught to take the things we learn in school and use them in the real world, I feel that the real world should be our school. We should not be spending most of our days in classrooms and then going home to do work, we should be out seeing the world. This time of year it is terrible because we wake up before the sun and as we leave the school the sun is already setting. Maybe I am crazy and just am going through a phase but I really doubt it. I am sure that those of you who know what you want to do in life would rather be doing that than be at school, I mean in my case there are some nights where I would rather be sleeping in a ditch on the road to baghdad than be here going to school. If the world is our classroom, why do we spend so much time in just a single building where our only contacts with the world are the windows we gaze out of?

The Secret Woman- an alternative question

Judging by the discussion in class today, opions on "The Secret Woman" seemed to be across the board- especially as to whether the man feared more that his wife was having an affair or that she was an active participant in the opera ball's scandelous activities. But to me, there is a more interesting question to consider. Once the husband character discovers that his wife is readily indulging in the opera ball activity, he seems (to say the least) shoked by her behavior. As he observes her behavior, he is left wondering whether his wife, here at the party, is 'fessing up to the person she truly is, or is she disowning herself. If the first presumtion in true, then he must recongnize that he does not know his wife's true character, but if the second is correct maybe he will be able to rationalize that his wife is merely experimenting a new selfhood that she will not ultimately accept.

All Manner of Things

They say all good things must come to an end, and it seems that phrase has proven itself true, especially regarding break. Break was pretty good, too short (isn't it always?), though the end kinda sucked, since I began to feel the omnipresent pressure of homework. Anyway, enough complaining, on to the new year.

This semester flew by quite rapidly, and amazingly, we are, in about a week's time, about to become second semester seniors. Incredible. I still can't quite comprehend how fast time has flown the past few years. It seems not too long ago that we were stumbling around looking for our rooms on the first day of school. Its been a fun trip.

Enough reminising. Time for english. This past semester has been a fun and quick one. English class has managed to keep itself productive while still feeling fun or laid back. Thanks to everyone for keeping the class interesting and appropriately non-stoic. Here's my list of pros and cons about this semester.

Pros:
Interesting pieces of work
Poetry section was done well
Nice amount of group work/projects
Appropriate amount of homework
Lighthearted feel
Good class, in terms of people

Cons:
The Stranger Essay (Mr. H,you should have told us how you wanted it before we all went and flunked it)
Poetry section Part II: THE REVISIT!!!
Interesting pieces of work
Scattered film selection- Apocalypse & T2 good; whatever the heck that bad 80's existential movie was, terrible.
Mr. H's hard grading scale
The Swimmer - I dislike how we were unable to find a conclusion or true meaning behind this short story

That's about all I have to say about that. I was gonna talk about some of the short stories, but it seems several people have beat me to it, so I thought I'd write on my views about the semester. Anyways, good luck to everyone for finals, and I'll see you all next semester. Love, Sir Kristopher, the Talley-Rey

Colette's "State of Nature"

I really enjoyed the imagery that was in "The Secret Woman."  It reminded me of "The God of Small Things" in that way because Colette was able to say so much with so little.  The one symbol that really struck me was the fact that the wife was dressed in a black, Satanic costume.  The husband repeatedly stresses her shrouded darkness of a figure (obviously because she's anonymous), but it also made it seem like that, at some points of the story, the husband mildly resented his wife for enjoying herself in the presence of other men.  Did other people see that?

My main question is: Why do these two feel that they can only enjoy themselves in this way when they're not with each other?  I personally would get really bored (and upset) if my future husband lied to me about going out of town, but then really went to a grand party instead.  On top of it, I would feel like I was being unfaithful to my husband if I pulled the stunts that the wife did in this story.  I suppose Polly brought up a good point of being able to enjoy oneself when you're an unknown, but isn't that kind of like anarchy (hence my Hobbes-ish title)?

What's with the Secret Woman?

I particularly enjoyed the story The Secret Woman because of its strong use of imagery and various interpretations. I believe this story discusses the confinements of marriage and the need for partners to be individuals with their own identities and freedoms. Ironically, Irene and maybe the Doctor seemed to enjoy themselves more when they were alone and disguised. The costumes hid their identities and provided freedom from the bondage of tradition and detached them from reality. Essentially, the masks and costumes provided individuals an escape from the responsibilities and roles of daily life. At the end of the story, the speaker stated: “the monstrous pleasure of being alone, free, honest in her crude, native state, of being the unknown woman” (331). Irene felt free being unknown because she felt she could do what she pleased without being criticized by society’s morals. When her husband realized that she was just enjoying herself, he left the Opera because to him she was not his wife but a disguised woman. This was my take on the story, what do you think?

Which Direction is Ned Swimming?

In “The Swimmer,” Ned Merrill seems caught between wanting to free himself from all constraints and wanting to cling to memories of his family and his former life. He is happy and energetic at the beginning of the story, but as his mood changes, his reasons for swimming become unclear. Does he want to swim towards home, or does he want to swim away from his problems?

            The story explains that he takes a natural approach to life. For example, he prefers to swim without a bathing suit and he never uses a ladder to pull himself up from a pool. However, as he heads home, certain clues reveal that he remains tied down to his family. He names his river of swimming pools after his wife, Lucinda, and he reminisces about his daughters playing tennis.

            In the second half of the story, his collected image disintegrates.  He becomes increasingly depressed and he questions the reliability of his memory. By the time he gets to the public pool, he cannot follow the lifeguard’s rules because they are too confining. The next pools he visits suggest that home is where his problems await. Why can’t Ned accept this?  Is he just prolonging his acceptance of reality until the last possible moment?

Ob La Di, Ob La Da...

(after winter break)... life goes on, rah.  As I sit at my computer for a school driven purpose (sigh), I long for the days when it was "acceptable" to listen to Holiday song. I couldn't ever imagine I'd write this, but I miss *N Sync... Anywho, I hope everyone's winter break was two weeks filled with sleeping in and "chill-axin." Surprisingly to me, I wasn't completely cut off from English, I spent an hour a day working on my Comparison Poem Essay-- just kidding. Only half an hour. For Christmas this year, instead of another *N Sync or Charlie's Angel's CD, my youngest older brother gave me On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. In short, this book involves self-discovery. It's a keeper and I advise everyone to read it. Well, think of things this way-- only five school days (plus finals) separate us from second semester seniors status. Kind of intense. So maybe instead of complaining about writing another essay or reading another book or studying for another test... we should do things to enjoy the last times we have like this. As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida!

I Don't Get it.

I don't get it. When I sit down to read King Lear or any of Willy's more advanced plays, I always have a hard time reading the language and taking it all in. Every other word is thee or thy, verbs all and in -est, and pretty much I have to read it five times before I have any clue what's going on, let alone the bajillion underlying themes and meanings.

Why is it then, that I can completely get it when watching a performance. The words are the same, aren't they? Ahhhh, but this is Shakespeare's genius. He didn't mean for us to have to sit and read page after page of his nonsense, his nonsense was meant to be PERFORMED. The words are not enough to convey what he really wanted to convey. He left it up to the actors of the time to struglle with the script, so that the audience would be presented with a seemless, flowing performance.

Why can't we just watch Shakespeare and not read it. Isn't that the way it's meant to be?

A Common Theme in All of Shakespeare's Tragedies

I have noticed that there is a common theme in all of Shakespeare's tragedies.  Cici was the thematizer for our group today and mentioned injustice as a prevalent theme in our scene.  I understood and accepted this view completely, and began searching for other themes myself.  I realized that Shakespeare's tragedies follow the same plot.  First, there's the initial situation that introduces the characters and the setting.  Then, the conflicts between two parties are discussed and tension between them builds up.  Finally, there is an initial fight, war, battle, loss or such and everyone realizes that the conflicts between the two parties has caused only tragedy.  Thus, I concluded that Shakespeare deliberately set up his stories to show that his two themes, trust and friendship, are the ways to live a happy and fulfilling life.  If you look at his tragedies, the two parties I mentioned earlier do not trust each other and are hardly friendly such as in King Lear when two characters (I forget who) disguise themselves.

What do you REALLY think?

Okay, so last night I was sitting there trying to write my discussion questions for the final scene of King Lear, and I became fixated on Edgar's final lines, mainly, "Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say." (p.261). This is a recurring theme in King Lear, but I wanted to try to assess the validity of this line for our modern-day lives. For me, it seems that so many times we are forced to act how society expects us to act, rather than to act how we truly want to. I remember how Mr. Heidkamp introduced this theme of AP College English at the beginning of the year by climbing out the window, and we have seen it come up in many of the books that we have previously read. It is pretty interesting that, although a few centuries separate us, Shakespeare still had many of the ideas that we have today/ Mr. Heidkamp is constantly telling us to think outside of the box, which seems to be what Edgar is telling us to do as well. Edgar tells us to be free to express the emotions we are feeling, rather than respond to everything how we think we should act. Although easily stated, and an excellent ideal to try to live up to, this is not so easy in practice as it is in theory. My question is, how has society limited you? What would you do if no one were watching? Who would you be if no one knew you?