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

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!