Not Saying Goodbye Quite Yet

I do not want to make this a goodbye blog because that simply would not make sense. In a short term perspective, I will see all of you at graduation, senior activities, graduation parties, and blossom very soon. But also in the long term perspective, I know that many of my fellow AP English classmates are the people I am not going to let fade out my life. Moving on from high school is a really bizarre feeling because you know that even after you leave everything still keeps moving almost exactly the same without you there…the only change is that now the overwhelming feeling of not belonging in that building in the way you did before. It is pretty much the perfect definition of bittersweet as we try to let go of this familiar lifestyle and plunge headfirst into the new life changing circumstances of college. So, I am not saying goodbye to anyone yet…but I would like to say thanks to Ms. Seresnky and all the AP Englishers for an amazing two years.

I would like to end my blog with three of my favorite quotes  (Ms. Serensky-feel free to use these gems on the board next year if you want J)

“"so often times it happens, we live our lives in chains, and never even know we have the key." -The Eagles

"In order to discover new oceans, you must let yourself lose sight of the shore."-anonymous

"Sometimes good things falls apart so better things can fall together."-Marilyn Monroe

Time of My Life

Time of Your Life-AP English Tribute

Another soapstone done,
and a book stuck on the shelf.

Complaining consumes again,

As Juniors try to cope.

So make the best of this AP 11 test
and don't waste time.

It’s not an option,
but a duty to succeed.

Ms. Serensky’s voice rings in your head,
and forces you to endure.
I hope you wrote the essay of your life.

So take the data sheets
and poetry papers from your binder.

Put them where you want,
to cherish or to burn.

Stickers on papers,
and funny quote sheets stay.

For all this work,
it went by so fast.

Now the AP 12 test is past
and it’s all come to an end.
I hope you learned all you could.

It's simultaneously disappointing
to have to say goodbye to English.

I know I had the time of my life.



TIme of Your Life-Green Day



To: 10th Grade Honors English Student

Deat Tenth Grader,

Just do it. It is impossible to describe exactly the way that AP English makes you smarter, a better studier, a harder worker and all around more balanced person…it just does. I feel like we do not give the class justice as when we stomp around the halls complaining about soaptstones, data sheets, papers, too many quotes to memorize, and all the rest of the work. But all of those things are just part of the day-to-day struggle that do not even come close to comparing to the amazing feeling at the completion of a paper, a discussion week, a month, a year, or even two years of work. Accomplishment does not really mean anything unless you actually work for it, so in AP English you know that the accomplishments are real. We all know that there are some joke classes in this high school, so why not take one that actually challenges you? Why not accept the struggle and the workload and learn how to push yourself like you have not had to before? Why not get over the idle laziness and fear and attempt to expand yourself as a student and person? I swear I am telling the truth when I say that this letter is not short because I am tired from the AP 12 test we just took, it is short because there is not really any way to put into cohesive words why to do AP English. Challenge, struggle, eustress, learning, work, dedication, commitment, raised expectations, overcoming, successs. Just do it.

Love,

Carolyn 

Rodney, Jack and Harding

Rodney: “I don’t know what that means”(Currie 131). (peering over Carolyn’s shoulder at AP test)

Jack: “I have no doubt about that”(Wilde 3).

Rodney: “ Take it easy”(Currie 52).

Jack: “What?”(Wilde 15) (aggressively)

Rodney: “ I don’t want you here. I’m sorry to be rude”(Currie 135).

Jack: “You always want to argue about things”(Wilde 15).

Rodeny: “I don’t like making conflict with anyone”(Currie 132).

Jack: “You never talk anything but nonsense”(Wilde 18).

Harding: “the cracked pots of mankind”(Kesey 238). (mumbles this to himself while rolling eyes)

(moment of tense, uncomfortable silence before shifting their attention back to Carolyn)

Rodeny: “It’s an off day”(Currie 135). (watching Carolyn struggle).

Jack: “Why on earth do you say that?”(Wilde 5).

Harding: “You underestimate her!”(Kesey 64).

Jack: “There’s a sensible, intellectual girl!”(Wilde 18).

Harding: “You see my friend” (Kesey 83) (points at her completed test).

Rodney: “Really? Already?”(Currie 135) (shocked)

Harding: "Yes"(Kesey 190).

(they exit the testing room)

Jack: “Charming day it has been”(Wilde 10). 

Jack

Harding 

Rodney?

Favorite Book

I love One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for a whole array of reasons. I really find mental illness and the history of psychiatric treatments fascinating. The period of time in the 1950’s and 1960’s when 1 in 3 families admitted a member to a psychiatric ward, where the doctors knew very little about how to deal with the patients, really interests me.  It is a unique subject because it shows science going down a dark path with high mortality rates from lobotomies, patient abuse, “brain buring” (electric shock therapy), and other experimental procedures, and then taking a turn for the better as modern science advanced (178). So basically, I just find the content that this novel deals with really interesting. Also, Ken Kesey is the man. I would be lying if I said that the author of this book discovering the Grateful Dead, holding crazy acid parties, hanging out in a insane asylum, and driving a hippie van around the country, did not make me love this book before we even read it. No matter how you look at it, this guy rocks. Also, the writing style depicts another reason why I love this novel. The creeping feeling of doubt in everything the narrator says makes the book seem even more crazy and content appropriate as Kesey brilliantly leaves some facts unclear. This helps his point that “it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen”, and this whole idea really appealed to me (8). Throughout the entire book, a detached, eerie feeling put the audience in the characters shoes as you “float…more lost than ever” through it,  and this made the vibe of the book really unique (136). This novel also prompted some undeniably great class discussions and comments. For example, when Ms. Serensky posed the question, “Does anyone know anything about Cuckoo birds?” and Thomas responded with something like, “Don’t they come out of clocks on the hour?”. Without this book, such an epic interaction could not have taken place. Lastly, something that may sway my personal love of this book is the fact that we concluded studying it by watching Inception…enough said. Overall, I loved the experience of reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Top 10 Most Thrilling Academic Moments of my High School Career

1) First Day of High School: it does not seem like much because there actually was very little academic learning that went on, and in reality “You did nothing” that first day…but it still seems list worthy (Currie 292). After receiving about a hundred of those various colored sheets outlining classroom rules, curriculum plans, and safety precautions, the thrill of starting off as an actual high school student blew my 14 year old mind.

2) First Football Game with High School Marching Band: I think that because band is a class during the day, and has really expanded my music knowledge throughout high school… this should count as an academic moment. Despite some well-deserved fear of our instructor and still slight inability to play our instruments…this first game was simply a thrill. As nerdy as it may sound, Marching Band made some of my favorite high school memories and there is not doubt in my mind that after that first game, “I was ready for more”(Wilde 31).

3) Winning during Ms. Beach’s Beach Bingo: to review for the final exam, Ms. Beach made this really interesting Bingo game with characters and quotes from all of the books we had studied that year. After much anticipation, making shirts, and doing some good trash-talking before the game day to other classmates…it becomes clear why being a winner and getting to choose a prize (which ended up as an awesome troll doll pen) makes my top 10 thrilling moments. In high school “it isn’t easy to be anything”…especially a prize winning Beach’s Bingo Bud (Wilde 7)

4) Getting my Computer Graphics piece picked for the art show: I am not trying to deny anything here, I know that my brother sucked most of the visual art talent genes from our gene pool. So, when Ms. Serazin chose one of my pieces for the art show, I was truly thrilled and honored. It really shows how “anything, anything, anything is possible”(Currie 302).

5) First Chinese Field Trip: a first in the line of many fun excursions including eating at Hunan, going to shady grocery stores and restaurants downtown, going to the downtown library (for the foreign movies section?), in-school field trips to make Chinese food in the home-ec room, or making a mini china town somewhere. This first field trip started everything and cannot be excluded from my best academic moments of high school for obvious reasons. This first thrilling field trip helps me think back to how “those were good times” (Currie 152)

6) First Day of AP English 11: all the scared juniors walk into Ms. Serensky’s class and suddenly our lives change forever as we do that one writing exercise and realize we have stepped onto a whole new level. This class suddenly starts preparing us for college in a new, frightening way, as we realize that AP English “is a little world Inside that is a made-to-scale prototype of the big world Outside”(Kesey 50).

7) Passing the AP Calc AB Test: I am not exactly a math brained person, so you can imagine that Calculus and me just did not mix well. Throughout my entire Junior year, I struggled through almost every unit of Mr. Maas’ class. Somehow, I fought my way through and pulled off a 4 on the AP Test…so the first time seeing this score has to make my top 10 moments. So even through I was extremely doubtful of my ability to not epically fail this test…”nothing is guaranteed”, and somehow I passed (Currie 264).

8) First Data Sheet Turn-in: that unparalleled, amazing feeling of setting that huge piece of work onto Ms. Serensky’s desk and finally having time to eat, sleep and do anything else but analyze, has to make my list. Our obsession over making those papers “the visible personification of absolute perfection” led to endless distress…but it all was worth it for that ending thrill (Wilde 31).

9) First Blog Banter Appearance: the famed blog banter not only gives the mentioned student personal pride and satisfaction, but also excitement to blog again and see if they can keep up their streak of success. My first blog banter appearance occurred after writing my Inception related post and the “ritual of [my] existence” in English class suddenly changed as Ms. Serensky mentioned this entry (Kesey 64). This thrilling moment of hearing my name and work mentioned for the first time in that line up definitely deserves a spot on the top 10 moments list.

10) Finally Choosing a College: Since this one actually happened only about 3 hours ago, this has to take the cake for my most thrilling academic moment thus far. Finally sending that conformation email and realizing that all the stress, toil and drama over figuring out the right school has ended. Making that permanent decision left me with a feeling that “I was flying. Free”(Kesey 324). 

Favorite Poem

My favorite poem from this year was probably “Sestina”. I like reading poems with interesting structure and style, and this specific style I did not even know existed until we studied this work in class. The closely tied stanzas of the poem with the repetition of certain words really appealed to me. I also like poetry that uses metaphors and personification to explore the meaning, which this poem also contained. I think this may also be my favorite from the year because I decided to attempt to write a sestina for a previous blog, so I gained an appreciation for how difficult it really is to write in such a specific style. Even though this poem was sad, I think it strove to “seek the meaning in sorrow” as it explored the Grandma and child’s opposite ways of dealing with some ominous depressing occurrence (292). Somehow this poem had a slight tinge of hope and happiness even with all the downtrodden imagery, which made it really brilliant and complex. Also, the poe dealt with the complex idea that  “Everything ends” (292).  This pessimistic point can sometimes weigh down a work, but I liked how in this poem it was seen as in inevitability that must be overcome as the characters dealt with their sorrow. This poem also used trivial main subject words like “stove”, which really made me like it because it used concrete small ideas to represent the bigger message it attempted to convey. This poem seemed to answer the question “Does anything I do matter” as it used small ideas and actions to symbolize bigger ideas, giving a positive answer to this question(9). Overall, studying this poem left me satisfied with the hidden meaning it conveyed and also I am glad I was exposed to this new style of poetry. 

Best Day

I walk through that familiar threshold of the AP English room with Haley and Tina right behind, as we realize that something has changed. This day felt different. Finally, our turn to teach a poem exactly the way we wanted to while everyone else (including Ms. Serensky) had to play along. So naturally, we chose to open our day with some game-show challenges from Haley’s “minute to win it” book that we spent forever looking at the night before. Maybe it was the hours of sitting in Haley’s basement trying the challenges, gathering supplies, and making the lesson plan that made us all so excited…or maybe it was just the pure anticipation of waiting to see our classmates run to sort skittles, eat oreos without their hands, pick up bags with their mouths, and carry cotton balls with their noses. As the games start, everyone begins rushing around “dreadfully tired and strained and frantic” as the challenges insight a hilarious panic in everyone in the class (Kesey 218). Our hard work already starts to pay off as laughing fills the entire room and we then move on to the mustache discussion. As we pass out paper mustaches to the class and watch everyone take them to their face, we calmly explain how everyone must have a normal discussion and attempt to ignore this distraction. We take our seats and I glance around the room and can not hold back a smile as everyone’s uniform facial hair looks beyond ridiculous. I even think that a normal discussion may be “a complete impossibility”(Wilde 6). The discussion lags at first as everyone adjusts to their new image, but soon it starts to roll and the time flies by.  The bell rings and I suddenly feel sad, realizing that our power over the lesson for an AP English class had vanished. But, we can not deny that “Everything ends” and leave the class after a great day (Currie 292).

Lane Meets Ralph

Ralph: Hello there. What brings you to my campsite just a few days before the apocalypse?

Lane: Hello. Well, my name is Lane and I have just been wandering around trying to find my employer, Algernon Moncrieff.

Ralph: Well, there is really no use in finding him now…on account that there are only a couple more days to live.  

Lane: “Well there were no cucumbers in the market this morning”, so I left this afternoon to check the market again, and when I returned Algernon had disappeared (8). As his manservant, I thought it my duty to go search for him.

Ralph: Are you even listening to me? The world is ending in about 48 hours, so I think “you’re free to do what you want”(249). You are not tied down in your position any longer.

Lane: “I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir”(1).

Ralph: Okay…well I was talking to you, so I think it would have been…

Lane: Sorry, “I do my best to give satisfaction, sir”, and did not mean any disrespect by it (18).

Ralph: Alright…well stop calling me ‘sir’ and pull up a chair. “I’ve got the beer”, and take a load off, because chances are you’re not going to find this ‘Algernon’ in time (242).

Lane: No thanks, the “superior quality of…wine” makes me detest beer (1). But I really don’t understand this apocalypse talk. I haven’t heard anything previously mentioned about it. It’s making me rather uneasy. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna get real weird with it being mentioned over and over again like this.

Ralph: Never heard of it? “I don’t mean this to sound rude”, but how is that possible? (249). It quite literally is the most important news in the world right now. Do you listen to any news? “Not much, I’m guessing?”(251)

Lane: Now that you mention it, I believe I heard something about it. But “I never think of it myself”(2)…not too interesting in my opinoin. There is nothing fashionable about depressing talk like that.  If you excuse me, I really should continue searching.

Ralph: Wow. Okay, good luck to you.

Lane: “Thank you, Sir”(2).

Bromden's Rough English Day

I step into the room and suddenly sense that they all know my secret and I immediately become paranoid. The doctors said real life scenarios might help me improve, so here I am in Ms. Serensky’s AP English 12 8th period class. I tentatively take the end seat, and notice everyone’s eyes on me as I attempt to ignore their glances. I shrink and shrink until my huge Indian body seems to have withered away to nothing. The class discussion begins and everyone takes turns talking, and this quickly turns into panic inside me because “I been silent so long now it's gonna roar out of me like floodwaters”(8). But I can not let them know that I am not actually a deaf mute. That would ruin everything I have worked so hard to create and the same situation applies here as in the ward, right? So I just stare straight ahead and attempt to not react to any comments said and brush off the kid called Henry sitting next to me that keeps blurting out “I DISAGREE!” at everyone. At one point he even turns straight at me and says his signature phrase, and I use all my self control to not turn and say it straight back to him. The chaos continues as I let myself “get lost” in the fog that has slowly been drifting in throughout the entire class period (23). The last twenty minutes seems like days as the fog covers my eyes and I suddenly notice my single desk floating away from the rest of the class. The day only worsens as the discussion turns in a direction about mental health care and I still have to control myself and look off blankly into the distance as I am forced to listen to these naïve students that know only bare, unfeeling facts about the matter. I somehow make it through the class, and suddenly I wake up in my normal bed in the ward but have no recollection of how I got there. The fog is still so thick that the past English class seems like some distant dream as I looks back….”But it's the truth even if it didn't happen”(8). 

Letter to Junior

Dear Junior,

I just want you to know that I feel your pain. I decided to write you this letter about my AP English 11 class so you can have the much deserved sympathy, and also know that you are not alone. Similar to you, I often felt that the world was coming to an end in Ms. Serensky’s class (which it was not…that is the only main difference). But I do understand your feeling of impending doom as we often dealt with nervously awaiting discussions, in-class essays, and encounters with our new teacher. AP English 11 soon became our own personal “Destroyer of Worlds” as it started to take over our homework time, conversations, and lives. At least this was how our scared eleventh-grader minds saw it. “Paralyzed by the fear that [we’ll] screw it up” depicted a constant feeling in this class. The fear of messing up anything weighed down on everyone, whether they want to admit it or not.  Some classic situations we feared; pronouncing a word or character name wrong, getting lower than a 5 on an essay, disappointing Ms. Serensky, being a bummer of a writing partner, writing an essay on the wrong section, talking too much or too little in class, not annotating a book correctly, not bringing exact change to the give-Ms. Serensky-cash day, or screwing up in any other way. All these pressures we placed on ourselves in AP English 11. Maybe Ms. Serensky held “responsibility for a portion of [our] despair”, but I think most was self-inflicted an unnesecary. I can not deny that some of these fears most definitely carried through to AP 12, but just in a lesser amount. Similar to how your despair in the first universe was majorly your own fault as you focused too much on the inevitable…we did the same. For example, the inevitability that no matter how much time we worried over essays, they came anyway. Or the inevitability of feeling nervous and slighty nauseas before getting a paper returned.  Looking back at AP English 11, I think we “spent too much time trying to hide from the inevitable”, just like you also discovered.  The best times in AP English 11 definitely happened when we decided to live in the moment and not worry about the essay next week, the pages we have for reading, or anything else. But let’s be real…my frightened eleventh grade self lacked the ability to see this. So basically, if you want to hear that other people suffer through similar situations  as you (just on a slightly different level), just have a conversation about AP English 11 with any of my classmates.

Sincerely,

Carolyn

Stuck in 8th Period Apocalypse

The end of the world. Apocalypse. Judgment Day. 2012 Mayan predictions. End of Ze World (hilarious youtube video that is not quite school appropriate but everyone should check out). “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.. The Day After Tomorrow film. People have attempted to explain this foreseen event of the world’s end in many ways through religion, history, humor, music and even entertainment. Attempting to wrap our minds around every single living and non-living thing on earth suddenly just becoming obliterated and vanish, is simply too impossible of an idea to totally comprehend. Therefore, we often think of ways to explain this idea we do not really understand or know anything about for certain. But no matter what you call it…it is a frightening concept that I am sure has crossed everyone’s mind at some point. Hypothetically, if the world came to an end in one big, explosive moment like in our book, then I wonder what those final moments would feel like…

If the end of the world happened in the span of about two minutes in the middle of one of our 8^th period AP English 12 class discussions, I think it would go something like this. 

The deafening sound of a massive explosion fills the room as the sky turns burnt orange and then black as suddenly the entire room darkens. Not a single person in the ring of AP English students and Ms. Serensky completely understand what exactly just happened, but somehow they all know that this is the end. The curse of the books they read somehow paralleling their lives seems to have come true one last, epic time. After the first few moments of shocked silence, the room turns into chaos. Henry of course starts yelling at people and running around disagreeing with everyone. Other students like Jillian, Tina, Brooke, and Haley (because she cries when other people do) start breaking down, and Kathryn, Lizzie H and Hannah immediately attempt to comfort their distressed classmates. A few students start to quickly write messages or information to leave behind…so Sarah draws some beautiful piece of artwork, Lizzy B writes an amazing short story, and Chase writes some genius code that the future will need in case of survivors.  Ms. Serensky sits in her usual powerful, silent judgment and lets all the events play out like the captain going down with her ship. Chris, Dom, Kelly, and Mariel attempt to lighten everyone’s moods as they crack jokes through all the madness. Another explosion, bigger and louder than the last, tears through the room and the knowledge of the last few moments approaching plagues everyone with silence again. The classroom’s breathing quickens in tension and stress until Alex H breaks the silence and suddenly starts up the discussion again as he pulls an appropriate quote, states several literary devices, makes his point, and waits for someone else to continue on. Katie C joins right in and intelligently disagrees with this quote, and the discussion effortlessly begins flowing once again. This continues and they all take turns, discuss, disagree, and talk just like any other day up until the very end. 

Blogs:The Sticky Details

Looking at our English lives...where would we be without blogs?

Probably with a lot more poetry papers completed and enduring many more painful assignments. 

Looking at the big picture...where would the world be?

After coming to the realization that I knew almost nothing about these things we discuss, update, and obsess over...I decided to research “blogs” and find some information on them.It is a little pathetic that I really had no idea when they started, how they evolved, or even why they are called “blogs”.

First of all, the term “blog” emerged as a combination of the original name “web log” (which completely makes sense and I am ashamed I did not know). I am sure there are some fellow AP Englishers out there that remain ignorant to this fact, so hopefully this post helps everyone out. “Blog”(which was added to the dictionary in 2005) can be defined as:

noun

a website containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.

verb (used without object)

to maintain or add new entries to a blog.

I then did some research on the origin of blogs and found these main events: 

JUSTIN HALL

1994: Swarthmore student Justin Hall begins compiling lists of links at his site, links.net, and continues adding to the site for 11 years. He is coined as the first real blogger.

1997: Dave Winer launches Scripting News, which he calls the longest-running Web log currently on the Internet. He also gaines praise as a blog pioneer.

1997: Jorn Barger RobotWisdom.com site becomes the first to call itself a Web log (coins the term).

1999: Brad Fitzpatrick launches Livejournal, which combines the online jounalists with the web log concept.

1999: Peter Merholz of peterme.com shortens 'weblog' to 'blog'

1999: Three friends who founded a San Francisco start-up called Pyra Labs create a tool called Blogger!

2003: Google acquires Pyra and its Blogger software.

2003:First official version of WordPress blogging software is released for download and blogging goes public.
And the rest is history!

Current data shows that as of 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence!!!

Now you know some facts…so blog on. 

Stuck on Make-Believe Games

I was definitely feeling some serious nostalgia after our class discussion today about make-believe and childhood imagination games. It truly is sad how little we participate in funny games of “pretend” after we grow up. Other than the occasional times when playing with/babysitting kids, these awesome opportunities to make your life anything that you want it to be, fade into the background of our harshly realistic, busy, work-filled adolescent years. I do not think that our imaginations come to a halt after childhood, they simply become more restrained and focused as opposed to free and limitless. So, as a reminder of some of the limitless games I am sure we all used to play, I compiled a list of my top 5 favorite make-believe activities. Feel free to try them out and enjoy!

1. Dress-up

One of my personal favorites. The rules of this game basically just consisted of raiding your parent’s closet (or dress up box if you were cool enough to have one) and changing your personality according to the random articles of clothing you put on. In my childhood version, the plot usually suffered slightly because I would have everyone change outfits as much as humanely possible.

2. Hot lava

Another of my all time favorite pretend games. The only rule is that the ground is covered with burning hot lava and if you touch it with any body part...you die. This game usually ended up with a destroyed living room in my household because we would tear couch cushions off, use newspaper and jump everywhere to avoid the lava. The best part is that it can last for as long as you desire and the lava can extend to as many rooms, floors, and yards that you want it to.

3. Imaginary friends

A classic childhood game. Home alone? No one to play with? Nowhere to go? No worries. Imaginary friends saved us all. Even though it might sound a little sad and pathetic now, this activity was completely standard and you are lying if you deny having one of these trustworthy friends at some point in your childhood. The best part was that they were always somehow up for whatever you wanted to do. Also, they were definitely not limited to just other human imaginary friends, for example my imaginary friend was a talking rainbow iguana named Iggy. 

4. Kings and Slaves

I do not know if other people played this, but I mentioned it today in class because it was such a prominent part of my childhood. The sad thing is that I remember actually enjoying this make-believe game even though I was always the slave, and Andrew was always the king.  We would talk in funny old English and the rules of this game basically consisted of me running around the house doing chores. Maybe not imagination at its finest, but still fun.

5. Cops and Robbers

One of the most classic make-believe games. Endless chasing, yelling, and imaginary gunshots made this game a guaranteed good time. The many versions added increased creativity because you could add multiple jails, use cap guns, and make teams. Also, I remember incorporating some change of scenery in this game as we added a sort of “teleportation” spin and suddenly would have the cops and robbers in crazy jungles etc. The best part was that anything was allowed.

I think we should all look back and remember our favorite make-believe activities and focus on getting in touch with that uninhibited creativity again. 
Maybe we should have all have an AP English party and play some of these great games. 

Data Sheets: Cruise Control.

Papers: Drive.

Mastermind Traits Stick

After discussing the shocking ending when we find out George acts as a force behind the downfall of the other characters, we all realized George’s role as the mastermind in this story. I completely agree with this idea and agree that he does not depict a villain (evil characters with more brawn and rage than actual brains), but really more of the character that causes the entire unravelling of the plot without ever becoming directly involved in Clive and Vernon’s demise. His intelligence helps him pull the strings of the other character's live and act as a puppet master in the novel.

After realizing his role, I started thinking about all the masterminds in books and movies and realized that almost all of them have some hilariously ridiculous physical trait that should hint their evil to the audience from the very beginning. George’s weird dress clothes-robe combination probably should have been a dead giveaway of his feigned ignorance and actual brilliance when using Vernon to get the pictures printed in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap and ignored this mastermind clue. Here are some other mastermind characters that all have a characteristic that should really give away their evil intentions:

1.Scar(Lion King)-crazy scar and abnormal black mane…we should see past his act of kindness towards Simba from the start and notice his evil mastermind traits. 

2.Cruella De Ville(101 Dalmatians)-crazy hair that looks like a skunk…a perfect example of an odd giveaway characteristic.

3.Wicked Witch of the West(Wizard of Oz)-she is green…if that doesn’t say secret evil mastermind, then I do not know what does.

4.Voldemort(Harry Potter)-no nose and pretty funky looking…obvious mastermind qualities.

5.Stewie(Family Guy)-Has a head that looks like a football and is a talking infant…clearly mastermind traits.

6.The Joker(Batman)-someone who dresses like a joker and wears facepaint.... mastermind tendency giveaway.

7.Darth Vader(Star Wars)-wears that huge suit and talks through a voice changer…mastermind material.

8.Jigsaw(Saw)-wears a scary clown type mask…mastermind written all over him.

9.

 Captain Hook(Peter Pan)-has a hand missing that is somehow replaced with a metal hook…for sure an evil mastermind appendage.

The list could go on and on, but basically I am upset that I missed the “mastermind clue” that McEwan gave us as he dressed this character strangely and hinted at his eventual importance in the downfall of the other characters through his master plan. Oh well…maybe we will catch on next time.

Stuck on Sestinas

I decided to attempt my own sestina and I included this graphic to show the line pattern you must follow in each stanza (the roman numerals are the stanzas and the numbers are the end words). It was tricky to write in the exact form, but also sort of fun to try.

High School Sestina

First day starts,

and our hearts race.

Young, open eyes

observe their habits.

Freshmen feel lost,

as Seniors break free.

Everyone feels free,

as second semester starts.

Uncertainity is lost,

we enter the race.

Routines form habits,

as knowledge opens eyes.

Using new eyes,

we visualize ourselves free.

No freshman habits

plague our fresh starts.

Continuing to race

forward, worries are lost.

Two years lost,

but futures grab eyes.

Juniors now race,

yearning to break free.

College search starts,

time steals old habits.

Accepting new habits,

we avoid feeling lost.

Saying goodbye starts

fear in our eyes.

Trapped and free,

almost leaving the race.

A fair race?

Just made these habits.

Content being free?

Still finding the lost.

Seniors close eyes,

imagining our new starts.

Very close to free from the race,

Everyone starts to anticipate new habits.

Ready to feel lost again with open eyes.

Pasting My Poetry Perceptions

Shakespeare

After doing some research of Elizabeth Bishop for our paper this weekend, I began to think about poetry and contemporary poets, and for some reason the idea of a current individual being a poet for their career baffles me. I do not feel this way because I think poetry is by any means a waste of time or a superfluous profession, it just is a strange thought to imagine someone in their house simply “being a poet”. I know this depicts a stereotype, and I am positive poets have other hobbies, interact with people, and do not stay cooped up in their house writing all day everyday. Still though, embodying a poet back in Shakespeare’s day seemed quite normal, but now a common response to someone claiming “I’m a poet” for their job might elicit a response of, “well yea, but what do you do to make money?”. This saddens me as I reflect on how I too think of this question when imagining someone simply writing poetry as their career. I suppose that like any career that follows a creative passion, the risk of never becoming discovered or making a profit presents itself.  I think it is completely amazing that people still take this creative art seriously enough to dedicate their life to it, and thinking of contemporary poets actually felt oddly refreshing.  When reflecting on how many times adults ask children in our culture, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, it becomes evident that the normal responses usually consist of; “fireman”, “policeman”, “astronaut”, “superstar”, and usually not “poet.” Even when asking young adults, “what do you plan to pursue in the future?”, I think a safe number or students choose broad topics like; “science”, “math”, “teaching” or “engineering”, as opposed to “poetry”. Even if poetry depicts their passion, they may say “English” instead to make it sound more open with possibilities. When assessing this, it seems completely ridiculous to me that our culture almost frowns on this profession, because poetry actually plays a huge role in our lives. Other than giving English classes plenty of material to analyze and discuss, poetry also appears…

1. in lyrics and a part of every song we have ever listened to.

2. in many childhood books, songs, and nursery rhymes that stick with us throughout life. 

3. in almost every slogan or jingle that we hear incessantly repeated on television, the radio, billboards,  and everywhere else.

4. in many of our everyday reflections or conversations about life, problems or perspectives.

This contemplation of poetry has helped me to diminish my own misconceptions of contemporary poets and I think everyone should try to appreciate and understand poetry’s influence on our lives. 

How Blogs Fix Sticky Situations in AP English

A feeding frenzy of AP English students begins as the discussion starts and we all almost literally envision the points out in the big, open room and all try to grab them at once. Everyone knows the feeling of a new topic shooting out into the circle and taking over just as you think of a really great point for the last one. Unfortuanetly, the moment passes and now your argument has little or no relevance to the conversation, and our determination not to embody “the one” (who simply says random quotes just for a grade) takes over, and we must sit back and accept our defeat. Everyone also knows the feeling of sitting up straighter in your chair and getting a little nervous as you decide to enter the main ring of feeders because a great idea pops into your head that simply must be heard. Basically, a continual overlap of interruptions from eager over-achievers became of the graded discussions that used to define our English lives.
Then the blog project came along. 

Your own personal page created so that every idea that missed that crucial moment of relevance in discussion can finally come forward and become heard. Every angry, disagreeing thought that you may feel too shy to say in class (because Henry will then disagree with you of course) can finally become explained. Every creative tie from your life to English class can finally become expressed in an interesting way without judgment.

I think that this changed us. 

A group of AP English students begin a class discussion and as the discussion starts, they all choose to ignore the points they envision in the middle of the big, open room and instead decide to share them and take turns speaking. The occasional moment of thinking of a great idea that then becomes rendered irrelevant by a topic shift easily passes with the reassuring thought; “I can just blog about it”. The students still sit up straight in their chairs as a heated point arises, but this time the student who runs out of time to say their opinion or feels too much a minority on the topic, easily shrugs it off with another, “I can just blog about it”. The discussions still seem intelligent and passionate, just simply more relaxed and laid back as everyone depicts more mature and calm AP English Students.

Thanks blogs.

 I found this funny cartoon online and decided to share it because it humorously shows the opportunities blogging has opened up for us. Also, I became really excited when I realized we basically are only one step away from becoming famous bloggers! Yes.  So even if you do not believe that we have changed as a result of the blog project...at least we have that going for us. 

Stuck on Blogs

 After taking the survey in class on Friday on our opinion of the blog project and whether we want it to stay next semester, I decided to dedicate my post to why I think it should continue and how I have concluded that even though we may complain at times, I believe that we all have our own certain obsession with the blogs. Some people depict “fish feeders”-the people that go to every blog and feed those really fun interactive fish that almost everyone has somewhere on their page. Others embody “poll-takers”-the people that choose to ignore the fish but browse every blog to give their opinion on randomly polled topics. Some probably depict “creepers”-those who read and observe many blogs, but choose to ignore all polls, fish or anything else letting anyone know they ever looked. I am sure we have a considerable number of “Bobbie’s Blog Banter lovers”-people who strive to become a regular on the show so they always go home and read the entries Ms. Serensky mentions in class to learn from the professionals. Others may depict the “self-centered bloggers”-those who only look at other blogs when required for the weekly comments, and use the majority of their time obsessing over adding excessive images, gadgets and polls to their own blog. Lastly, and I can safely say I show this certain form of blog obsession, depicts the “page view number-lovers”. I am not a very competitive person by nature, but for some reason I absolutely love the excited feeling I get when I see the number of page views my blog has received. It would be a lie to say that I do not occasionally browse the other blogs and see how my page views compare to some of the other counts on people’s pages. For example, today as I logged onto my blog to begin deciding on information for the final exam, I got a little too excited when I saw my number of page views corner read “401”. Not by any means does this depict the highest that I have seen, but still I am pretty proud that I have managed to break into the four hundreds. So, no matter which specific obsession you may feel, I think we all can safely agree that as we near the end of our blogging relationship on our second to last blog of the semester, we all may miss some obsession if the blog project stops.