Perhaps the essays themselves weren't that fun to write, but the project was kind of alright. As with a lot of things in this class, I wouldn't go as far as to say that I really enjoyed this week's project, because I would still rather be doing math or playing video games and stuff, but at least it was somewhat interesting. The stories under symbolism in particular were pretty cool to analyze, and "close reading" them really gave them a whole new layer of depth. "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer had lots of hidden "Easter eggs" within the story that makes the connections between seemingly unrelated things pop out. The comparison between reading it without any careful thought, and really going into depth and analyzing it really made a big difference. It didn't feel like it was missing anything major if it wasn't carefully read, but reading it more carefully really added new meanings and stuff.
Granted, it was more of a "huh, cool" kind of feeling, and not super like eye opening, but still, not too shabby. The SSR book that I am reading also is really nice. It has a lot of the similar characteristics of the previous one that I read, in that it focuses on a more atmospheric feeling, but it is significantly more interesting. I find the story more fun, and the descriptions of the antics of the characters in the story feel less mundane, and that it has more of a general purpose than the previous book that I read. Overall, not too shabby.
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A lot of what I have been thinking about in terms of literature this week is regarding my creative writing piece that I am supposed to submit. I feel like I have a solid piece, but in general, it's just hard to be wholly satisfied with what I have. It's not horrible, which is a plus, but I definitely don't think I'm going to be bragging about it anytime soon. Perhaps my use of better, more colorful sounding phrasing is too out of practice, and it's not boring, per se, but it doesn't sound super intelligent. Looking towards the future, I suppose that's what I'll have to work on.
I wouldn't call the literature project "cool" yet, but basically a page into the characterization piece that I was supposed to read describing the characteristics of literature, I had already noticed something that I could immediately recognize in my SSR book. It mentioned that what would be more considered "capital 'L' Literature" would actually have more of a character-driven story, where the plot is secondary, whereas in pop culture, the book is more plot driven. This really goes a long way to explaining why to a lot of people that often read plot-driven novels just don't find the "Literature" books entertaining: the focus is just different, and it can be awkward and off-putting to read something that seemingly caters to a whole other type of reader. With this I realized what my SSR book was really trying to accomplish, and I realized that I was waiting and looking for plot that really wasn't there, or at least prominently there. I'm not going to say that this really increased my enjoyment of the book significantly, but I do understand why the book is considered "good", and I recognize what it's trying to accomplish, which I guess is an improvement from the original "wait wtf this book is so boring". I look forward to reading my new SSR book with this new knowledge with me, instead of having to look back in hindsight. Ohhhhhh boiiiiii, we're actually gonna learn what literature is, and I'm kind of excited. Maybe I will understand why I can't read the stuff that I want to read in class because it's not "capital L Literature", and maybe finally I'll finally figure out what the plot of my book is, and what makes it so deserving of the praise in the first couple of pages of the book. It's got a lot of potential, but it could also be such a huge letdown, so fingers crossed that it's gonna be something that I at least appreciate and understand. The pieces that my group and I picked for the project also seem to have a bit of potential, and I'm pretty optimistic about how this project will turn out even if I've sucked at English for the last 3 years of high school (Sorta. Kinda. Ok maybe not really, but hey, think positive right?).
We also picked our short stories/creative writing pieces that we wanted to feature this marking period and turn in. I have been writing stuff similar to what I am working on for some of my college essays, and I'm ok with how it turned out, but I'm excited to see what closer inspection and review can do to make it something that stands out at least within the stuff that I've written. So long story short this week: it's a setup for the weeks to come, and I'm excited about the possibilities of this class moving forward. Hmmm, how should I describe my attitude towards literature this week? Well I guess this week's poem was actually pretty cool and had a lot of hidden implications within the text, and it was really nice to play detective and find the connections. Now, I'm not going to go as far as saying that I loved this week in literature-it's going to take more than an interesting poem to dethrone 12 years of nurtured dislike for a subject-but it seemed at least a good start to that goal. Perhaps I'm being too harsh here, but at the very least this class so far has felt more rewarding than a large portion of the rest of my Language Arts Education in my past.
My independent reading book for this marking period is kind of an odd experience to describe, I write about it this week, because I guess the book is getting kind of more serious, and the tone is changing. But it really is kind of a weirdly constructed book. The stories up to this point have felt super pointless and not really plot-advancing (to be honest I still really don't know what the plot is), but it's not boring to read....It's a peaceful, really atmospheric book, and it's pretty relaxing to read. There's a part of me that thinks that I'm completely effing up the point of this book, but I don't know, it's doesn't feel like it's...accomplishing anything. Oh yeah, and the ted talk was really really nice. It was really eye opening to see the painter as part of the landscape of the painting, and that really gave a painting like Girl with a Pearl Earring a lot more personality and depth for me. So class this week was dominated by our projects over the chapter over the material in How to read Literature Like a Professor. This also came with a really big like "wow what have I been doing in my reading analysis" feeling. I had read the material in Lit like a Professor, but for some reason I hadn't decided to actually apply what I had been reading. So during the week, there was a lot more "OH, SO THAT'S WHY THE AUTHOR EMPHASIZED THAT SO MUCH" than there probably should have been had I decided to actually think about what I was reading.
This is also the first time I've ever seriously considered not taking the AP test for a class. I didn't even really know how to start my essay on the Eagle, and I had just 1 or 2 measly lines in the time that was given in class. I think (read: hope) I can learn how to write a quality essay at the drop of hat, because being able to churn out something quality relatively quickly seems to be really important. Besides that though, I'm looking forward to starting what "real" Literature analysis will be as we pick up on our projects this coming week, and I really hope that it's the start of understanding what "capital-L Literature" means to me, because that's what I'm most looking for out of this class. Ok, so this week was actually straight-up awful for me as a writer. When we did our creative writings, I just sat there, not knowing what to write about. I've always wanted to try writing a fantasy story about people my age, but I just couldn't come up with any sustainable ideas. It was a constant struggle of "Oh maybe th-no.....what about thi-no..." and it was really frustrating. I really realized that I am definitely more of a consumer of stories than a producer of them, and it gave me a bigger appreciation of the work and the creativity of the authors that I love. That by itself isn't a huge problem, but it's a little bit frustrating (and is maybe still kind of a problem because I have to turn in something by the end of the marking period please help me).
*Sigh* Anyways, we also did a lot of poetry review over "The Eagle" in class, and I for once I kind of saw the value in reviewing it. Now, I'm not saying that it was a fun activity, but at least the action of reviewing meant more than it did in English classes past. Before, we just identified literary devices and we didn't bother looking at what the function of that device was. We just said "oh yeah, that's personification" and moved on with our day. This week, we actually looked at a deeper meaning, and that was alright, I suppose. Thing is: I'm still rather apathetic towards reading this kind of thing for analysis. Hopefully I will get a better appreciation for what the value to me personally is, but for now, I still don't feel particularly "enlightened" at the discovery that this poem was maybe not talking about an actual eagle. Like every year, summer ended much too early, and before we could say that we were 100% ready for it, school came back in session. The start of me and my classmates' last year of public school education had begun, and on that first day back, I think the gravitas of it was at least partially felt. This would be the last summer we exited as high school students, and it was just a bit weird to think about. We all had joked at some point that we were excited for school to be 100% over, but as we come closer to the finish line, maybe some of us are starting to rethink that mindset.
Anyways, those were just some of the thoughts that I had regarding one of the biggest things that I realized this week, and I put it here because a big part of our AP Lit class was spent reflecting on what 12 years of public school education had done for us. The exercise/activity that we did in the parking lot also contributed to a lot of what made me "get it" more. I don't know how much this should count as a "learning" situation, but it was definitely a big realization that I had during the week. Also, as I was typing my "Me as a reader/writer" paragraphs, I realized how little writing I did. I also realized that I probably need more practice with writing to improve how my writing flows when someone is reading it. This realization came kind of connected to how we were learning in class that a huge part of what we will be doing this year is developing good habits to have that will help us in the long run, especially academically. It was also really nice to have Mr. Schoenborn talk about examples of him personally having to set workout or reading routines to make sure that he was developing the skills and ways that he wanted to develop. I participated in class by trying to be an active listener, and I think I understand what the overarching message is supposed to be from the week. Obviously my understanding of the importance of setting up schedules and times to do important things Is only useful if I actually apply myself to use these skills and tips. While only loosely related to our discussion of using our time well, this Ted talk kind of illustrates how I struggle to use time effectively when doing schoolwork, and I think there are some themes that overlap. (I hope I'm not setting some sort of precedent of writing such a long blog report, it was just pretty easy to talk about it.) |
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