First Outside Reading Book

For my first outside reading book, I chose to read Heart of Darkness. It was written in 1902 and it's only 72 pages long. Let’s just say the font size was probably size 5. It felt like I was reading a 300 page book. The actual story was hard to follow because of the language. I selected travel as my topic for this project and this book kind of matched up. It was long and I'm not quite sure if I completely followed the plot. The main character Marlow sets out on a journey down the Congo River. Marlow's journeys led to him discover himself and others around him. I predicted that he would grow due to his exposure to a new land, and he did. His travel experience was not exactly pleasant, though. He describes his journey as being dark. He longed for companionship, which was interesting to me. I always suspected that when a person travels, they have a person that tags along for the journey. I never really thought about having to travel alone and how lonely that must be. Marlow was traveling on a steamboat with "pilgrims" or basically people who practiced cannibalism. He had a partner with him, but still he felt so alone. I think it's easy to sympathize with Marlow on his trip. He set out to find Kurtz the ivory owner in Africa, and when he got there he was disappointed. Kurtz didn't end up being the great person he thought he would be. It's easy to relate to because often people set out on a journey with high hopes for a great time, and sometimes that works out, but sometimes people let you down. Even though this book was long and boring at times, the message is clear, even after a hundred and eleven years.

The Road Contrast

The Road is the first type of apocalyptic story I've read. I don't usually read science fiction so I don't have anything really to compare it to. Even though I've never read anything in the same setting, many things crossover in other stories. The man and son's relationship is one with bumps, but they ultimately love one another a lot. Many stories have a tight relationship in it whether that be a love story or not. The main characters are also on a journey. Their journey is long and tough, but their perseverance and determination makes up for that. Maybe it's not always a literal journey a character takes, but most often a character experiences some kind of change. When a character changes internally it makes the story interesting to read. Just because I don't have anything to compare The Road to, it's overall story line had many similarities with other books.

To switch gears, I'd figure I would give my feed back on the seminar today. I love that we incorporated technology into the lesson. We all love to tweet so it was cool to give feedback on our phones. I also really liked the open debate. I would definitely suggest to do it again!

The Road pt. 2

The Road recently has gotten really exciting. I've enjoyed reading about the journey the father and son embark on together. I've learned a lot about self motivation and the motives behind it. The father is prolonging his and his son's death when they could be put out of their misery. When I first found out what the mother did, I thought it was ridiculous and insane. I see her reasoning now. The two of them are just walking through darkness hoping for a better life once they reach the shore. They reached the shore, but nothing was new. It was still dark and freezing. I wonder why McCarthy wrote about hopelessness for 200 some odd pages. I realize that the relationship between the boy and father was special, but the darkness dragged on. I'm not sure how it ends, but I have trouble seeing it as a happy one. The way McCarthy wrote his thoughts on the pages was interesting. At times I had no idea what he was saying, yet at others it seemed like poetry. I love the way the dialogue was written because it seems so much more natural without all the punctuation. I'm eager to find out the way it ends, good or bad. This book is a good read for AP English because it is a high enough literary level, yet it grabs your attention and does not give it back.

The Road

When I first picked up The Road I was immediately hit with the feeling of isolation and loneliness. McCarthy so far has done a great job in setting the mood of darkness. I think he has described darkness and ashes in as many ways a person possibly could. I actually really enjoy his writing style and the way he writes the dialogue. Even though I can’t understand half of his thoughts and passages, I like the way it seems so natural. He writes as though he went into the character's minds to hear their thoughts. In the beginning everything seemed confusing and scrambled. As McCarthy revealed details of their journey, I began to grasp a better understanding for what was going on. Everything seemed to click when the father dreamt of the mother. She is used as a parallel between their past life and where their future may go. She reveals what the father is actually thinking about death and how it may be a better option. It is interesting that she provides so much insight into the father's character. The boy has only ever grown up in this apocalypse setting. I think he portrayed as being too scared and vulnerable because this has been all he's been exposed to. The book became very interesting when the father found the food. Until this point everything was depressing and it all sounded the same. I really enjoy this book and I can’t wait to see what will happen next.

First semester of AP English

So far this class has been a lot more work than I expected it to be. When I talked to my senior friends from last year they all said that it was an easy class and worth taking for an easy A. Well, it hasn't been all that easy for me. I know that my knowledge of the English subject has grown tremendously. I now know the difference between literary and commercial fiction. I enjoy reading for pleasure so much more because it is a nice break from the literary stories. I've learned about topics that I didn't want to explore like the philosophical thinking. I believe that I now view life with a more open mind. A few moments this year I've been very frustrated. I didn't like how 13 short stories were crammed in to a test. I didn't like how most of the work has been done outside of class with little discussion in class. I don't like how we were given an AP essay to write the first few days of class. Overall, it seems like there was never enough time to talk about the work we did, and it all seemed rushed. At times during the semester I wished that time would slow down so that I could just breathe. I think that three books per semester for outside reading in addition to all the in class reading was too much. I realize this is an AP class, but it would help the work load was a little less. I hope that next semester things will slow down so that I have time to enjoy school and this class. Due to the heavy work load, I've learned a lot of information that I did not know before. I'm glad I took this class and I hope it pays off in the end in preparing me for college English.

The Rover Play

I enjoyed watching the play during this class time. A few things stuck out to me during the play. The language was pretty hard to understand and it didn't really help that a few of the actors didn't know their lines. It was hard to process their lines as they were saying them, it was kind of like reading subtitles. The topic that the play was on was kind of strange to be acted out in high school. I thought the plot was predictable and I expected for all of the couples to end up together. The costumes were very cool and I thought that they resembled the time period very well. I also thought that the set was executed well. It was cool how the two different platforms could be wheeled around to switch the rooms. I thought that the actors played out their roles very realistically. The subject of wanting a relationship that a person cannot have has been done before. Yes, the play was written in the 1800s so or was probably a new story during that time. The sword fighting really added a nice element to the play. It was kind of too staged because it didn't look realistic. Overall I was really happy to eat out of class and see my fellow classmates preform.

Satire

I thought the class period that we discussed satire was very interesting. I didn't realize that it had a deeper meaning. Satire can be used to bring an issue to the table. In the speech that we read, I had a hard time telling which type of satire was which. It was full of statements that were sarcastic and ironic. It was effective in evoking a clear message. It was interesting that such a message of freedom and growing up could be displayed through satire. I think that satire is used more often than expected. I really enjoyed coming up with the headlines in class because it showed the practical use if satire. It can be used in the wrong way though. If specific names are mentioned or hurtful subjects discussed, satire can cause a lot if damage. Just like in writing, when using satire it is important to keep in mind the audience. It was a nice change from the normal literature that this class focuses on and I really enjoyed the headline that Mr. Mullins came up with. I thought it was interesting how The Clockwork Orange uses satire but in a completely different way. It is very serious and it is used to make the reader challenge their thoughts. From what I've heard, satire is effective in that novel. I enjoyed this lesson a lot!