The Final Blog

Ok, the AP Lit Exam. What an interesting experience.

So I get there and our class has already gone inside (and yes, I was on time). So after listening to Ms.Iton yelling about people standing still and such, she told me to go to a room. So I did. We were in with one of Ms. Marcy's classes, but there wasn't really enough room for us to sit the way Ms. Webb wanted, which was with one class on one side of the room and the other class on the other side of the room.
After all of that drama and Ms. Iton yelling at Holly and threatening to make her leave, we finally got started. And I must say, I got to the point on the multiple choice where I was like "I honestly cannot read anymore of this stuff". I found a poem in one of the passages that I really loved...until that feeling was destroyed by the million questions that I had to answer about that passage and what the CollegeBoard thinks it means- not what I thought it ment.
I realize that the point of this class is to learn how to read for meaning and to be able to interpret works and find meaning in them. And while I've really enjoyed this class, I almost feel like the AP Testing defeats the point of what we learn. We're not being asked to find meaning...we're being asked to find what the CollegeBoard thinks is the meaning, and when we see a different meaning, we are being told that we are wrong, even if we can justify our views with a reasonable and logical argument.
The one essay kicked my butt. I liked the Century Quilt story and think I did ok on my open question (once I got over my anger at my stupidity for forgetting that it was Charlotte Bronte that wrote Wuthering Heights and that Heathcliff was the exiled character ***insert mental head slap***) but the prose question killed. I mean, really? That freaking story could be interpreted in about 80 million different ways. ARG.

I loved the Ode that you wrote us Mrs. Clinch :) and the mints. The mints kept me awake and stimulated my brain (thank goodness because I tend to fall asleep when I concentrate on one thing for too long). I used the pens to write my way to three upper half essays and whipped out the chocolate as soon as I puncuated my last sentence.

Now to comtemplate what I should have written until June.
Have a great summer Mrs. Clinch, and thank you for an amazing year :)

R&G aren't the only ones that are dead....

...So theres like one more week until the AP Exam. Oh holy crapola.
On the bright side of things, the last timed writing went really, really well for me. Which it should have as I got to use my Major Works Chart. But I also did really well on the Invisible Man timed writing... which I didn't get to use a chart on. That made me happy considering how much I really, really disliked Invisible Man. I hope I will NEVER EVER have to think about, write about, or talk about that book again. And I DO NOT plan on using that book for literary reference ever again. I see how its important and I see the significance.... I just did not enjoy thinking that much about so many different things at one time. My mind stream when we were discussing that novel was like...
jazzbluesblackwhitepaintcenterhierarchygovernmentbadbrotherhoodliesbetrayalBIRDparrotdudewhotoldIMabouttheletter
hmmimtiredbiblecollegerejectionbetrayalclownselectricalrugsbluesjazzpaint....
yeah, kind of exhausting.
On to Middlesex though. The ending was fun. Although I do feel like the author was like "oh forget this I'm sick of writing this book". The way it was wrapped up was almost as if the author had written a list of the problems that he created throughout the novel, and then in the last chapter, just went through, checking them off as he wrote a few sentences in an attempt to tie that specific storyline off. Oddly similar to The Handmaids Tale. Just saying.

I'm so sorry for what you are about to read...

Oh. My. Goodness.

In order to continue with this blog I must first admit that I was totally watching the ABC Family Harry Potter marathon tonight. And I had an epiphany. Are you ready for this? Voldemort. Christ Figure. BAM.

I know, I know. Theres no way Voldemort can possibly be a Christ figure, hes evil, he kills people, blah blah blah. I KNOW. But think about it.

1.) Voldy dies many times

2.) Voldy is ressurected many times

3.) He has many followers

4.) He has many enemies

OK so not exactly concrete proof, but it was an interesting thought. How cool would that be? A little morbid, yes, but it presents the novel in an entirely different light. The man (type thing) that we have all come to dislike for his attempts to kill our hero from a young age, is really a bit more innocent than we thought.
Wait, whats that you say? Jesus didn't kill? Yes, I am Christian and I love the Lord, but it can't really be denied that many, many people died as a result of Jesus. While he did not kill them directly, millions have died in his name.
Which provides a really nice little segway into a discussion of a book I am quite obsessed with... The Jester by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. I love this book, which is odd, because I'm not really one for gore, and there is a bit of it in the book (I mean, its James Patterson...duh theres going to be gore). The entire basis for the book is the Crusades, which were fought because of dissention over religions.
Why do we allow our beliefs to cause such strife? Everyone has their own unique views, so why is it so important to us that we impose our beliefs on others? We oppose those who force their views on us, yet we do the same to anyone who imposes their view on us.
What a tangled web of hypocrisy we weave.

~From a Friend~

"I do it because I love the feeling of laying down a perfect trip... not that it happens often, but that's the goal. Because we devote our lives to improving ourselves and our horses and we want to measure our talent, and our horses' talent, against others. Because I love the girls that I show with, and every time one of us wins, it feels like we all win. For the silly, late night, exhausted, delirious, giggling moments. For the time that we imagine what the horse must be thinking right now... and we laugh because they each have a totally unique personality. For the very frequent trips to the Mexican restaurant and the overloading on chips and queso. For the horse that can go in the ring and act like an idiot, but then a small child comes up and asks the horse for a kiss and he stretches his upper lip out to touch her face, and I remember what makes him special. For the feeling of pride in myself and my horse, the feeling that all of the hours in the saddle have paid off, when we finally do lay down that perfect trip. For the friends from all over the nation that all love the same thing I do: horse showing. The trainers that do it because they are lucky enough and talented enough to make a living doing what they (and I) love, instead of crunching numbers day after day in an office. I do it because I love it, and my life would be empty without the horses, and just as important, without the horse shows: the goals to strive for, the continual effort to improve, the sense of being a team with my horse, the barn camaraderie, and the moments. The silly, frustrating, happy, sad, angry, proud, moving, priceless moments are what make it all worthwhile."
~Nicole Cholakian

Ramblings from Lack of Sleep (stupid time change, no one likes you.)

Today we had our first Lit Circles for the semester. My group has been reading Middlesex, and Rachel and Ashley brought up several good points that I had not thought about, such as what would it take for the main chracter, Cal/ Calliope, to come to terms with his conditions? This novel is somewhat difficult to talk about becuase it's an entirely different subject from what we are usually asked to talk about in classes. I know one of the main problems that I had when talking about the novel was whether to refer to Cal as a 'he' or a 'she'. I had been calling Cal 'it', but I feel kind of bad for doing that, even though it was not meant maliciously. However, I spent the rest of the day thinking about it, and I have reached the conclusion that Cal should be referred to as a 'he' because his brain is that of a male, and that is what he thinks of himself as.
So after I post this blog, I will be going to Google and searching the metaphysical conceit, as I missed the notes on it last week (although I don't remember what I was doing- taking the Invisible Man test, perhaps?) on John Donne and his poetry. I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to know this stuff before the timed writing that we apparently have tomorrow. And I know that this has nothing to do with anything, but I definitely just failed at the 'Story Problems' category on Jeopardy!, and I feel very ashamed. They basically gave the problem of the main characters, and asked for the name of the novel in which the situation takes place. Sadness. I think that after our AP Lit exam, we shoould play Jeopardy!, with the categories covering everything and anything that we have or might have learned in the past 12 years that has to do with English and Literature. And this guy just totally interrupted Alex Trebek. You do not do that. That is just INSANELY rude. And unheard of. People these days, I swear.
I am not currently reading anything in addition to out Lit Circles book, however I hope to start the newest of the Janet Evanovich novels soon- Finger Lickin' Fifteen (I can only imagine wha Stephanie Plum will get herself into this time). I've been having some trouble finding things that I really want to read recently, perhaps because I don't really have any spare time to read for enjoyment these days. Over Spring Break though, I will be finding a few good books to read while I am at the pool or laying out on my deck. Hopefully it will be warm enough outside.
Oh, does anyone know if there are study guides avaliable for the AP Lit test? Like a Baron's book or some other type of study guide? I've looked but have been highly unsuccessful in my attempts :(
Have a good week, kiddies :)

Weekend Morning Housekeeping

OK, so on weekend mornings, I watch cartoons. Really though. Usually I watch Spongebob and the Fairy Oddparents. Because I can. While I was watching the Fairy Oddparents this morning, Wanda told Timmy to think about not saving Vicky. And you know what popped up? An image of Timmy, sitting in a graveyard, wearing Shakespearean type clothes, and holding a skull. Hamlet allusion? I do think so :) ((There was also an allusion to Brave New World, but I won't get into that one)) Ah, the joys of childhood.

So this coming week, we have the joys of an Invisible Man reading test ((please let this be easier than your usual tests, Mrs. Clinch)), Lit Circles ((did the date on those change?)), I have an allusion presentation on Pandora, annotations due, and surely more excitement ((I don't have my agenda in front of me)).

You may be reading this and thinking 'yeah, thats great, get on with the literature'. Sorry to disappoint, but this week, I made comments on other peoples blogs. I highly encourage anyone who reads this to go and check out the 30 Days Project blogs being done by Kylie, Holly, and Blake. Its an awesome project to be doing and I wish them each tons of luck. And I hope someone tries out that recipe that I gave Blake- its really good and simple haha!

Off to work on my Pandora Allusion presentation :)

Makeup 1/25/10

As I'm pretty sure no one knows, I will be competing in the Public Speaking II state competition for our school's FBLA at the end of March. The speech that I will be giving is based off of a quote by Henry David Thoreau, which I first saw on the inside of the Balfor graduation cataloge when they were handed out in the beginning of the year. The speech discusses this quote (which is now one of my alltime favorites) and my interpretation of it. I wrote the entire speech (except the quotes of course haha).
"Dreams.
When I was young, my dreams changed every few minutes. One minute, I wanted to be a firefighter so that I could drive around in a big red truck with a Dalmation by my side; the next minute, I wanted to be a doctor, so that I could save peoples lives and make the world a better place to live, But as I became older and gained more experiance in the world, my dreams became more solidified than they had been when I was younger. When I was in the fifth grade, I decided that I either wanted to be an equine veterinarian, or a fighter pilot for the Navy. In pursuit of my dream to become an equine vet, I became an instructor at my barn. Instructing horseback riding lessons has shed light upon a different talent of mine- teaching. Seeing my students finally understand a concept that we have been working on, or seeing them connext with their horse warms my heart, even on the coldest winter day. It is because of these feelings that I now have a new dream, which is to become a teacher.
One of the main goals of FBLA is to inspire confidence in students and their work. As Henry David Thoreau once said, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined,". While many say that dreams are naught but the results of an over active imagination, I agree with Thoreau in his thoughs that the achievement of dreams and confidence go hand in hand. If one always doubts herself, she will never be able to believe not only in her work, but herself. Belief in one's self is apparent in everything that a person does, and the best leaders are those who can convince those around them that they truely do believe not only in their words, but their actions as well.
One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned is one tha a very good friend and excellent teacher taught me. A few summers ago, I took a rather disturbing fall from a horse. From then on, I would have a panic attack every time I was riding and felt my horse speed up. My friend Heather took me aside one day during a lesson and told me to close my eyes and let go of my reins. She then put my horse on a lunge line and urged him into a canter, talking to me the whole time. Her confidence in me quiickly helped me to build my own confidence, and I overcame my fear of speed when riding. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to teach a girl who was afraid to allow her horse to go faster than a trot. I did the same thing with her that Heather did for me. The young girl is now happily cantering along in every lesson, and can not wait to go faster. The look on her face everytime I see her ride is what has made me want to be a teacher. That feeling of warmth and undderstanding that I feel every time one of my kids gets even the smallest of things. That confidence that understanding gives them as they strive for their dreams.
To some, dreams are the equivalent of fantasies. What these people do not realize is that everymajor leader in our society has had a dream. For Doctor Martin Luther King, it was equality among people no matter their race, and Aristotle's dream, was hope. Dreams are goals that we set for ourselves, pep-talks from our subconscious to give us confidence. Without our dreams, our individual confidence would dwindle, leaving our leaderrs without hope, and our societies without cause. However, this is not a one way street. Without confidence, we cannot dream. Confidence in ourselves, our work, and who we are going to be are all fundamental parts of life, which is why it is essential we are taught these valuable skills now. FBLA inspires this confidence in its followers, urging them to become the hopeful leaders that our world so desperately needs. Every meeting, every service oppertunity, every professional speaker, and every competitive event oppertunity inspires a dream, which in turn, inspires confidence in the leaders of tomorrow. This confidence inspires even more dreams. Dreams that are inspired by FBLA."

Makeup 2/1/10

A random fun fact about Shannon: I love to make lists. When I was in eighth grade, my friends and I had a notebook of lists (among many other notebooks- it was how we passed notes to one another because it looks much less obvious) that was quite infamous to say the least (think Mean Girls, and you pretty much have me and my friends in middle school, but we weren't quite that bad). So I thought that for this blog, I would make a list of my top 5 reading picks (in no particular order), accompanied with a little blurb for those of you that like details. After all, Spring Break is coming up :)
1.) Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews
~ok, so this is not exactly a book that I would readily recommend for guys, but ladies, its great! Keeley, the main character, throws the mother of all hissy fits when she finds her fiancee, in the service closet with her Maid of Honor, at her rehersal dinner (nope, sorry, it wasn't Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick). Keeley devotes her life to rennovating (she is an interior designer) to an amazing antebellum mansion in Savannah (yes, Georgia) for a new client, who just happens to not only be filthy rich, but amazingly attractive as well. Has Keeley finally found her Tara and Rhett? Read it and find out :)
2.) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
~laugh all you want, but this is my favorite book of all time. Better than Cinderella, and not nearly as cheesey as Twilight (which is nothing but Cinderella with vampires), Ella Enchanted is timeless. So timeless, in fact, that I have the majority of the book memorized. This book encorporates many classic fairy tales, and if you tell me that you do not need to read it because you have seen the movie, I may smack you. This is the defining case for the saying "the book is better than the movie". I love Anne Hathaway, but its nearly impossible to do Ella, or any of the book proper justice, no matter your budget. Just read it, for the love of good fairy tales. And boys: THIS IS IMPORTANT- you need to read this some at least SOME of you know how to treat a girl. His name isn't Prince Char for anything, ya know.
3.) The Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich
~ok so this actually covers 15 novels, but I promise, they are very fast reads! Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter, and caught between two hott guys. The first novel is a little graphic (at least I think its the first...the one where she is going after the boxer), but they are all hysterical, and have a very realistic outlook on life. She gives a whole new meaning to "getting lucky" in this novel. And get your mind out of the gutter, I was talking about how she always makes her catch. But in case you were wondering, she always gets the guy(s) too.
4.) Mary, Mary by James Patterson
~If you like the abnormal psychology field, you should definitly read this book! Its a hard book to explain, but basically, someone is killing off Hollywood's A-List, and FBI Special Agent Alex Cross must scramble to figure out who. Can you guess who done it?
5.)Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
~can you say EPIC? The movie comes somewhat close to doing this book justice, but you should still read the real thing. Tyler Durdan's look on life is amazing, and Palahniuk does an excellent job of convincing you of these ideals. Its almost enough to make you want to give yourself a 'lye kiss'. But don't. It will hurt, I promise.

Makeup 2/8/10

What if Hamlet had been invisible? Much like the narrator in Invisible Man, Hamlet seems to have anger issues, that lead to him, ahem, exploding with fury whenever his anger has been built up inside of him for too long? However, making Hamlet invisible might only add to the mischeif that he gets into, because then no one would be able to see him- or perhaps it is this very reason the Hamlet should have been invisible. But I guess that really just depends on your definition of 'invisible'. In the OED, 'invisiblity' is defined first and foremost as "not visible to the eye, either characteristically or because hidden'. Maybe the invisble narrator is only invisible because he wishes to be invisible. He has always been the subject of humiliation, deciet, torture, and the likes. If I was subjected to everything that he had been subjected to, then I would probably want to be invisible too, wouldn't you? But I guess Hamlet couldn't have been invisible then, because how else would he and Ophelia have drank Capri Sun together? I would think it would really be kinda hard to do that with an invisible dude, but maybe thats just me.
Has anyone else noticed alot of teeth action in Invisible Man? I noticed it first right after the narrator got into the fight with Brockway, and after that, I keep seeing teeth and biting popping up. And the way that the narrator says "the old man bit me!" (or something along those lines) makes me think of someone who has been stabbed in the back by one that they trusted. What a shock that must have been to the narrator (literally haha) when he found out that he had been betrayed by Brockway. Not that electrical shock therapy is a laughing matter.
And Brother Jack! Ah Brother Jack, I should have known that we would see a Jack. It has been quite awhile since we have seen an All the King's Men connection, afterall. The two Jacks seem similar enough (although I am not going to pretend to know alot about Jack Burden because I will admit that I never did finish All the King's Men... it was just one of those books for me that I picked up when I really wanted to fall asleep, sorry Mrs. Clinch); both in politics, both working for the 'greater good' (whatever that is), and above all else, recruiting others to their cause, no matter how much deception may be involved. I must say, I'm curious to see who we meet next.
A now for a quick rant about Senior year. It really kinda sucks. While I am glad to be taking most of the classes that I am (I wish I had not listened to my mother when she told me to take College Accounting- what does she know?), its starting to feel like its really just one thing after another. As soon as we get a break in one class, we have something in another. I think high schoolers deserve those naps more than kindergardeners do. We certainly do more. And supposedly, we need to get more sleep now than we have in years past, or will need to in years to come. Ain't that a kicker.

Invisibility

The first line in Invisible Man is "I am an invisible man." while I have finished about half of the book, I cannot get past this first line, or the first chapter (actually the prologue) really. The narrators story about how he kills a man, merely for bumping into him and then not adknowledging him (presumably because he cannot see the narrator). The narrator (whose invisibility is only contributed to by the fact that he does not have a name in the book) asserts that the reason that he is invisible is because he is black. What I really have to wonder is whether or not he makes an effort to be seen. Yes, he beats up a man, which most would say would cause the man to see the narrator, but the narrator strikes him before the man even has a though about what is about to happen.
Ok, so this post has taken me 3 hours so far. I'm sorry, but I can't think of an Invisible Man while Pairs Free Skating is on. Yes, a sad excuse indeed for this post being made at 11:59 (I'm frantically typing here) but I only get to see this once every two years. AND the Chinese couple thats married just won Gold. Which is amazing because despite the little mistakes, their program was gorgous (which I know I spelled wrong, I just don't know how to spell it right.)
HAMLET! Ok, so, Prince Hamlet. I thought that the ending in Romeo and Juliet was kind of chintzy. But HAMLET! Now, thats tragedy. Its not just the lovers that die, EVERYONE dies, except for Hamlet's closest friend and advisor, who almost kills himself, but doesn't in order to tell Hamlet's story. The only character in the play who has not greviously sinned or gone 'mad' has died, which, as twisted as it sounds, would put the world back in order.
Which is odd considering the entire royal family dies.

Mary, Mary, quite contary, oh how does your garden grow?

Ah a new semester. Exactly what I wanted for Christmas, let me tell you. And with the new semester comes a new set of blogs, the first of which I completely forgot about until about 5 minutes ago and now have no idea what on earth I should talk about. Hamlet? Doesn't seem fitting since we are not that far into it. The books I am currently reading? Zodiac is quite creepy to be perfectly honest, and while it is quite fascinating, I'm still struggling to understand some parts of it (Zodiac is a biography written by a journalist that worked for a targeted newspaper during the time of the infamous Zodiac killer, who was never caught). Ah, but then there is Mary, Mary, by James Patterson, which I am also perusing. James Patterson is brilliant for those of you that have never read his work. Most think that he is a rather graphic author, and therefore never venture to read any of his works, but not only does he write a fantastic mystery, but also a nice, light, romance novel. And this is coming from a person that greatly dislikes romance novels.
The first book that I read by James Patterson was The Jester, which is co-authored by Andrew Gross. Oddly enough, this book was on a list of books to choose from for the assigned reading for AP World History. I picked up the book thinking that it was going to be a typical assigned reading novel- slow, mostly boring, and tedious to read (I rarely enjoy assigned reading mostly because I feel as if it’s much, much harder to lose yourself in the story, which is my favorite part of reading). Once I started reading The Jester, however, I could not put it down. Part love story, part cunning war story, entirely fascinating, The Jester is one of the best books I have ever read. The main character, Hugh de Luc left everything behind when he left for the Crusades, only to return to find everything destroyed and the love of his life kidnapped. Hugh vows revenge and poses as a jester to worm his way into the royal court. However Hugh is deceived and must learn to look close to him to find his answers. But then there’s the other story in this story about a man’s desperate search for his love, and about human’s constant quest for answers, even though the answers are right under their noses. AND THEN there is the other story in the novel about the Crusades and the corruption on the nobility at the time. James Patterson rolls all of these stories into one without seamlessly, almost as if it were second nature to him. Which it must be, because he is fabulous at it! I am only on page 52 in Mary, Mary , and I can already see three separate stories forming, which will undoubtedly become one before the end. Now, if James Patterson wrote poetry as well as he writes mysteries, he would be my idol.