What I Read that Mattered

Throughout high school I have read countless pieces of literature and I’ve hated some and loved others. Some of my favorites include Of Mice and Men andThe Catcher in the Rye, but my absolute favorite was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I read the novel in Mr. Weidman’s honors English class sophomore year, and have been in love with it ever since. The novel is about a 14 year-old girl who is raped and murdered by one of her neighbors, Mr. Harvey on her way home from school. Although she is dead, the protagonist, Susie, watches her family from heaven and witnesses the wide ranging effects that her murder had on her family, friends, and even people she hardly knew.

          The novel mattered so much to me because it revealed a lot about life and death. It brought to the reader’s attention the fragility of life and how quickly it can be over, inspiring the desire to make the most out of every day. After reading the novel, I began making an effort to focus on small details and the little things I love about life like the warm feeling when you walk out of an air conditioned classroom, my mom’s cooking, or the sound of the rain. It also taught me to be more careful and avoid reckless behavior because you never know what can happen. Doing things you know are dangerous and assuming bad things won’t happen to you is just stupid and not worth the risk. Another important aspect of the book was the concept of heaven. Sebold provides the reader with an idea of what comes after death. However, her model of the afterlife is special because it does not involve any type of religious notions about an afterlife, but one that Sebold created herself. It presents the idea that there is some kind of afterlife that’s a beautiful place where you can watch over people you care about and be completely at peace. I really liked this concept because it’s what we all want to believe, because no one wants to be finished living, but a place like that gives hope that the journey is not over.

          The most important thing that I will keep with me from the novel is that now I know how important every life is. The novel showed me that no matter how insignificant you might think you are in the world, your life is important to so many people. Like Susie, now I know how many peoples’ lives would change if I wasn’t here anymore, or if I never was. Finally, the novel showed me that revenge won’t change what’s already happened and that moving on from horrible events is already enough of a struggle without seeking revenge or hurting someone else just because you’ve been hurt. The Lovely Bones shows that there are more important things on earth than vengeance such as love, relationships, and forgiveness.

What are your favorite book(s) you've read in high school and why did it (they) matter to you?

-Hillary D.

Oh Blogging..

Blogging. Everytime blog sheets are do my team and I find ourselves cringing at the thought of having to rumage through the rest of the blogs trying to find something interesting to comment on. Everytime before this last one its the same old story. Everyone posting about the same book or the same assignment or discussion we had in class. This time however, and the last time at that, blogs are filling up with posts about graduation and college that seems ever so close now. Looking back on the year maybe it would have been wothwhile to continue blogging about things that are more interesting or more entertaining to comment about (not that there is anything wrong with blogging about our AP Lit class). Speaking for my team at least, I would have loved to read about more than just the experiences we have had in the classroom and more of the real world situations we will be cast into shortly. Although The Justice League may not have been the most persistant bloggers we certainly fulfilled the duty of doing so in a descent manner. Ultimately however, this last blog sesh has turned out to be one of my personal favorites because I am beggining to see where my classmates are destined to be come next fall and its all quite exciting, and unfortunately bittersweet. Oh blogging.. this is the end. :)
-Kelli

what come next?

As I sit here listening to music and reading other peoples blogs i have realized that in just eight short days everything is going to change. For this past year I knew that graduation would come, but i was not expecting it to come this fast. In a blink of an eye my whole senior year has gone by and i dont know if I am ready to face what comes next. Am I ready to face the real world? Am I prepared for what comes next? These questions race through my head as i contemplate what the days after high school are going to be like.  Eight days are left, then what? What happens after?
Summer vacation and then school, but this time there aren't going to be bells and there aren't going to be people making sure you are there sitting in your assigned seat. Instead you are truly going to be responsible for yourself. Am I ready for that kind of responsibility? Can I handle that much freedom after all these years with bells and attendance? I have no idea, but I guess I will find out after these next eight days flash by.
-Allaura 

Why is Bigger So Hard to Like?

Throughout the novel, Native Son, Richard Wright portrays Bigger's character in a way that makes him so hard to like. Often in novels, the portagonist is our friend or someone that we're rooting for throughout the novel. Many novels we're familiar with feature the hero as the portagonist. In this case, Wright must have made Bigger easily distainable for a reason right? I've been pondering that since Bigger first began making awful decisions and acting crudely in Book One, and since Mrs. Elliott briefly spoke to my table about it, alluding that it must be of some imortance. I'm still unsure if I have an even close to right answer but this is the best conclusion I could come up with on my own. I think that Wright wanted us to feel distain towards Bigger because he was trying to prove that the racism and hatred of white society had led Bigger to become the sterotype that white society thought he was. Because Bigger and other members of his race were not given opportunities to become more, they eventually lost hope and became the sterotypes the whites thought they were. Therefore, Wright wanted us to turn our dislike towards white society, as Bigger embodied the sterotype they helped to perpetuate. This is evident in other characters, for instance, Bessie constantly pities herself and says how all she does is work and tire herself out, and then drinks so that she can escape. She doesn't see herself as ever having a better or happier life because she feels that would be impossible because of the barriers the whites set. In her time, she really didn't have much of a choice, so it's easy to understand why she became who she was and simply pittied herself because unfortunately, there truly was no way out of the life she had in that time period. I don't know if this makes any sense so tell me your thoughts because this is driving me crazy! :) Why do you guys think Wright made Bigger so hard to like as a protagonist?
-Hillary D.

References in The Invisible Man

Throughout the novel, there are numerous references to the real life experiences and encounters of the author Ralph Ellison. For example, the "college" and the "Brotherhood" are two major symbolic institutions in the book that represents movements and philosophies of the author's contemporary period.
The college's ideology seems to be based on Ellison's outspoken friend, Booker T. Washington, whose works advocated for economic advancements while not clamoring for equality or civil rights. The college seems to reject black culture, which many believes it to be an ideologies that essentially turns its back on black culture as a whole.
The Brotherhood can be seen patterened off the philosophies and ethics of the 1930s communist movement that first took place in Russia and later spread around the world, reaching America. This group/organization emphasized clinical, scientific exposition over the emotional appeal that the college presented.

TOSTADA OLW - Kelli Horvath

When the pain ended and the last tears fell,
And I got out of my living and bitter hell,
I found a strength as strong as steel,
This strength I found is surely real.

I found a strength to hold onto,
To help me out,
To make it through,
This strength I found deep inside,
From this strength I will not hide.

I will carry it with me night and day,
This strength sure does have a way,
Of cheering me and making me glad,
I found the strength I one time didn’t have.

So now when sadness comes about,
When my mind is filled with doubt,
On whether I can get through a troubling thing,
What is it that I will bring?

I will bring out my strength,
I will stand tall,
I will not stumble,
Will not fall,
My strength will keep my head held high,
And to weakness I say good-bye.

My strength is given to me by Someone who,
Always is here to help me through,
So to that Someone I will pray,
Help me see my strength today.

For with my strength words can’t offend,
Cruel acts will not harm me in the end,
Because with my strength even though tears may fall,
I will pull through after all.

Why is it that I will stay strong,
When someone does me so much harm,
Because with my strength from Someone above,
I make it through for I have love.

This love can never be taken away,
No matter what you do or say,
This love is deep inside my heart,
And this loves gives me strength that will never part.

You may think I am small and I am weak,
You may think I am dumb and I am meek,
You may put me down and call me names,
You may bad mouth me and play cruel games;
But with my strength I can let go,
Of all your mean stuff that you show,
My strength will be with me night and day,
Because I have Someone showing me the way.

Connie Webb

T- "Strength" The entire poem reflects upon the strength that arises from enduring a harsh time, 'I got out of my living and biter hell." The author gains strength from "someone" who shows her the way.
O- The author appears to have lost or severed ties with God or some divine person with whom she is guided by. She writes about the process of struggle she endures to regain his source of strength.
S- The poem shifts several times in several stanzas, the mood of the author becomes drastically different. Inthe first stanza, the poem shifts from somber to powerful after just two lines. The last stanza builds up momentum to Webb's discovery and reconnection with God.
T- At first the tone of Webb's poem is meak and troublesome; the audience feels dark and taken back by the laguage used. Then immediately after the first stanza, the tone shifts to that of an emboldened, galvanized, and energized.
A- Arranged into ten stanzas, my poem finds itself sort of building up the momentum of the "story"that it is telling. The story of strength broken up into paragraph form, like a book into chapters. The author arranges the stanzas in a whatthat allows others to evaluate her, while ending evaluating herself.
D- The rhyme scheme can be a subtle device used to keep the readers attention. She also employs similies; "I found strength as strong as steel," and uses strength as personification as well. Pathos is also prevelant and she uses it to gain a sense of a deeper emotional connection to her readers.
A- I feel as though the author is trying to propose the idea of a different meaning of strength thatn what an individual would normally think of. Strength comes from emotional endurance and perseverance, not physical ability, the ability to endure pain and get through it gives one tremendous strength.

Collaborative Essay: Allaura Levi

Today in English Mrs. Elliott gave us the collaborative essay assignment. Personally I am super excited for this assignment. At my table we were all trying to figure out who was going to write what paragraph and what our paragraphs were going to be about. At first we all thought it was going to be easy, however we quikly found out that comparing and contrasting today's society and the society of Jane Eyre and Tess was difficult. The themes that were dominate in Jane Eyre were not exactly the same and the dominate themes in Tess. Although, I must confess, we did get off track for a moment we eventually figured out the structure of our essay. I am also really excited to use Google docs. I have never used it before and it should be interesting to see how it works! This assignment should be fun, I'm looking forward to it!