The Last Blog

AP senior English has definitely had its ups and downs this year. As I reflect on this past year, I have learned way more than I thought I would have and I am happy that it is coming to an end. I've learned how essay don't always turn out the way you expected when you get them back and hopefully that has prepared me for college. I have learned how to focus on one thing at a time, even though I might have 5 different things on my plate at a time. I haven't taken the easy road for classes this senior year and I have mixed feelings about it. I have had senioritis pretty bad these past few weeks and I've just had to keep doing everything because I would fail all of the major assignments if I didn't complete them. It's been hard to see people in different classes do nothing while I have a crazy amount of stuff to do. I think I'll be the most prepared for college level classes because I took my senior year pretty seriously and I haven't slacked off too much. I hope that I'm not shocked next year with all of the work because I've kept pretty busy this year. I hope that I get some credit for this class after all that I've done this year but I'm not sure if I'm prepared enough for the test. In my calc class I've done countless practice tests the past couple of weeks and hopefully that will be enough, but I haven't studied much for this AP test. I hope that the frequent essays and a couple of poetry m.c. will be enough next week.

Poetry Project (Completed)

After the completion of the poetry project, I think it was a good way to learn a lot of information in a little bit of time. The projects were so jammed full of information that it seemed too much to process at times. The information of the time periods before the actual introduction of poetry was a good background for what we were about to be presented, but sometimes there was no connection back to poetry. This was my part of the project so I tried to connect everything back together to how it influenced poetry. The poems that each group read aloud were very long and didn't leave much impact. Each poem would've been much more impacting if the groups gave a summary of what it meant and how it connected back to the time period. My favorite make it memorable group presentation was when Kim did the cup song to a Robert Frost poem. It was surprisingly awesome and she really pulled it off. Each group had really good information to present but it was boring at times. The quantity of slides, poems, and poets made me lose interest a few times. Each group did a great job overall and my favorite aspect by far for all of the groups was the make it memorable part of their presentations.

Poetry Project and Current Events

So far, I think that this poetry project won't be as bad as I thought it would be. My group split up the work and it doesn't seem too bad now. I have to research the time period and the religion, economics, and events going on during the Renaissance. Along with some research, I am helping with the Make it Memorable part of the project. I am excited to get this project done with and presented to the class. This week has by far been the craziest week in as long as I can remember. The preparation for different AP tests is crazy along with the horrible news of a bombing, an explosion, the Midwest floods today, and the recent news of just a few minutes ago, a possible shooting at MIT. I think that the weekend cannot come soon enough. I am completely in shock about the things that have happened this week and I wish I could hit a pause button to just fathom everything. These horrible events makes me look at my life in a different perspective. I can't imagine what some Americans are going through right now because an overload of schoolwork seems pretty small in comparison.

Not the Home Stretch of Senior Year

I cannot believe that there is so little time left this year. I wish that the time after spring break was relaxing, stress-free, and enjoyable, but it has been anything but those things in the past week. I have two AP tests to study for that I need to pass, along with homework that seems to never end. I am only at Dunbar for 3 hours a day but I spend so much time doing things for my classes when I am not at school. I was hoping that school would settle down after spring break, but I have been the busiest of all year during this past week. I have realized that school will probably only settle down after the AP tests. It is getting incredibly hard to focus on school when so many other things are going on around me. I probably have unrealistic expectations in my head because this is crunch time for school right now. I just hope that I pass the tests in May so the classes that I took will be worth the college credit. I am nervous about the timing because I have two tests back to back. At least I will have gotten them over with early on and I will have time to enjoy what is left of spring break after that.

http://m.urbandictionary.com/#define?term=crunch%20time

Movie and AP tests

I was really interested in the movie we watched today in class. It was the perfect movie to watch since spring break is so close. The movie actually really fit into the poetry unit that we are studying, and it made poetry seem not that bad. It was surprising to me to see that the group of boys enjoyed poetry enough to recreate a club just for poetry. They did it on their own free will, not as an assignment. I also liked the teaching techniques because they were completely crazy and the boys just went along with them. I hope I don't forget the details over spring break so I will know what's going on when we finish it. On another note, I am completely surprised by the amount of time we have until the AP tests. I have AP Calc and the Lit test to take this year. I think that the in class essays have hopefully preparedness enough to do well on that section. The practice multiple choice has also been helpful through out the year. My concerns is the choice of vocabulary used because I have a bad memory with the vocab quizzes, so I will have to go back and review all of that.

Updates

I really can't believe that I only have a couple of months left of senior year. Spring break is next week and graduation will be soon after. It was an exciting day in the NCAA tournament and most of my bracket choices have been accurate so far. I chose Ohio state for the national champion so I hope they pull through. On another note, the poetry section hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I have actually enjoyed a good amount of the poems we have read. It helps that they aren't pages long like I expected they would be. The poetry responses are helpful but somewhat difficult to write. It is hard to have enough things to write about. I feel that I am repetitive when writing them, but I don't have much to say about some short poems. I think the poetry responses would be worth our time if we had some basic questions to answer and expand on. I think that I haven't been benefitting much from the responses because I don't know what to say. I try to expand on analyzing certain lines and parts of the poems, but I think I am just saying the same thing over and over.

Poetry

I have mixed feelings about poetry. For the most part, I despise it. It can be boring, difficult to understand, and painful to read. I have studied and read poetry throughout high school and for the most part I have disliked it. I think it would be easier to understand if I read it slower and multiple times. Shakespeare has shaped my opinion of poetry and I think it is because of the old language and terms. I have tried to use translation guides and help websites to understand it but I still hard a difficult time. Although I don't enjoy poetry, I respect the writers. They write with elegance and beauty and somehow make it sound great. I have no clue how they manage to make the lines rhyme and have purpose at the same time. I enjoy reading poetry much more than writing it. I hope that the upcoming poetry section changes my previous opinions about poetry. I hope that the poems are more interesting and that I understand the meaning and language used. I hope that I can also recognize the techniques used to write the poetry and the figurative language used.

Independent Reading

We have another independent reading book due on Monday and I wanted to give an update on my second book. I am reading a non fiction book for this selection and I am really enjoying it so far. The book is about how important, huge companies hire private investigators to spy on competitors and other businesses. The book is a little confusing because many different stories are told and it is hard to keep them all straight. I think it is really interesting that there is so many things happening behind the scenes that the public doesn't know about. The book also ties in interesting stories about the history of spies. One of the stories told was about the first private investigators in the 1800's. I love hearing and reading about things that happen behind the scenes so I think I picked a good choice for this independent reading book. This book selection varies from my previous book choice because it is non fiction. It is crazy to think that all of the stories told are actually real events that happened. I think a lot of information is hidden from the public and I love reading about the hidden facts.

The End of Beloved

My attitude of Beloved has been like a roller coaster ride through out the novel. I started out really liking the book because it was a complete contrast to The Road. I didn't hate The Road, but I didn't particularly enjoy it either. I liked that Beloved started out with actual feelings and complex sentences unlike The Road. As the book continued on, I started to get really creeped out by Beloved the character and I felt like nothing exciting was going on. This feeling of boredom continued on until the most recent section. I really enjoyed the end of this novel and my feelings completely shifted. Before the conclusion of the novel and the last chapter or two, I thought that Denver was too dependent on her mother and needed to grow up. The last few chapters proved me wrong because Denver actually stepped out of the doors of 124 and reached out to the community. She found work and asked for help concerning her mother. She became my favorite character of the novel based on the impression she gave me in the final chapter. My final thoughts on the book are that I am happy that I am done reading it and I am happy that the conclusion changed my views on the book as a while.

Nearing the End of Senior Year

Today I just realized that we only have 60 days left of senior year. This is really shocking to me because I feel like yesterday was the first day of school. So many big things are coming up this spring semester in such a short amount of time. I can't believe that spring break is in about a month, then there is prom, graduation and summer vacation. I hope that I choose to make the best out of these last 60 days because I know that they will fly by. I hope that our class can pull together for some awesome, harmless senior pranks and just join together for these last few months. It's hard to believe that I will never see some of these people again because everyone will be spread out for college next year. I hope that everyone realizes how precious time is and that high school is almost over. I can't believe that I will be completely new next year without the people that I have been surrounded with for four years. I thought that senior dinner dance was really awesome for our class and I hope that some of the big events coming up will do the same.

Beloved Continued

So far I have read over half of Beloved and my attitude towards the book hasn't changed too much. I started out liking it and nothing has made me change my opinion. I have read about some major events that have happened like Sethe crossing the Ohio River and her trying to kill her kids. I think that the part about her trying to kill her kids is really gross and inhumane but also interesting. The extent that she would go to to protect her kids from harm is really amazing, but I think it is taken too far. She could have sent them away or set up different arrangements instead of killing them. I thought that it was cool that the article that Mr. Mullins showed us in class about the killing in the Cincinnati newspaper and how it matched up with the real events that happened in the paper. I was kind of confused about how she was actually caught and if her husband was present when this happened. I also was confused about how she was only successful with one kid instead of all of them. Lastly, I was wondering if Baby Suggs knew about what her daughter-in-law was doing or I she was completely clueless about what was happening in the shed that she was really close to.

Beloved

Although I have only read a small part of Beloved, I already like it better than The Road. I think that the story line is much more complex with more characters. Beloved has more than just two main characters in the book and that may be part of the reason why it is more complex. I like the story line especially the flashbacks, even though they can be confusing at times. The flashbacks give me more details about Sethe's earlier life especially the time she spent at Sweet Home. I think that those years long ago and the memories have shaped her into the person she became. She suffered a lot of heart break regarding her children and she is obviously shaken from it still. I think that her baby has effected her the most because of its spirit in the house. The ghost really effected the family, especially Denver. I feel sorry for Denver up until Beloved comes and stays with them. I am only a few pages into the second assigned reading section so it will be interesting to see how Beloved effects the family. So far this book has been better than I expected and I am interested in what will happen next.

First Outside Reading Book

My topic for the inquiry project is spies and espionage. The first book that I chose to read was The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and I thought that it was okay. I expected there to be a lot of secret missions and projects but it was a lot different than I expected. There was a lot of secret agencies that were hard to keep separate from each other. The story took place in the 1950's and 1960's and often felt very outdated. I expected it to have some technology incorporated into the spying but there was almost none at all. I hope that the next two books that I read will be more modern and updated. It was interesting to read about the espionage in a different time period because I have previously only been exposed to modern espionage. I also thought that it was interesting to learn about the espionage after the Cold War because that was when it was at its peak. I also think that it was cool that it took place in a country other than the United States. It was difficult at times to understand the word choice and names but I thought that it was interesting because of that.

Socratic Seminar and Paper

I really enjoyed the class discussion today because everyone was involved and we could really discuss the book. I liked the outer ring and how we could comment on the discussion in the middle while having our own discussion through technology. I think that it was a really good way to use technology in the classroom and it was successful. I think that it was a good way to wrap up the book and to answer any questions that we still had left. Regarding the actual discussion, almost all of my questions were answered and I heard different opinions that were helpful. I think that the discussion in the middle was more helpful in answering my questions but the outside was more entertaining. It was cool to see how everyone was commenting on the middle discussion in real time. I hope we structure more class discussions like this because everyone was involved and participating. I also benefitted the most from this type of discussion. I think that the paper that we are about to write will be a good way to finish the book but my topics may be difficult to blend into one thesis statement. I think that I may have to write one combined statement with two parts but I hope that they flow nicely into one statement.

The End of The Road

The end of this book is rapidly approaching and I am wondering how it will end. I hope that this last section of reading is filled with informative information that will tie up any loose ends. I do not have a final prediction on how the story is going to end, but I think that neither the boy nor the man will die. I think that since they have reached the ocean, there isn't anywhere else they can go. They have reached their endpoint but it hasn't really been that great. I thought that the temperature would be warmer, but it hasn't been any relief to the man and the boy. I also question the boy and the man's thought process because there is no source of supplies down south, so they are forced to find food the same way they found it when they were traveling. I hope that the ending is pleasant and not sad but also filled with opportunity for a new life that is much better than their post- apocalypse life. The story has been pretty depressing lately because the south and the ocean just isn't what they thought it would be, so I hope it turns around soon.

The Road

This past section has complete changed my opinion of this book. Before reading the third section I really disliked the book because it was just dragging on. The boy and man had no purpose of going on and they were clearly miserable. When they finally found food in the shelter they had time to recuperate and eat. They were really close to death before their discovery and it was just painful to read about their struggles. When they found the bunker they suddenly had more than they needed and the story became interesting. If McCarthy hasn't added this part to the story than I would have kept my same opinion of the book. Now my opinion has shifted to enjoyment of the book and anticipation of what is to come. Now since they have found food, it is more enjoyable to read about their journey because they aren't so desperate. My two topics for the envelope project are keeping me interested in the book too. Religious comments are made all the time. At first I thought that he was just calling to God in times of struggles and blaming God but now I believe that his faith and purpose for life is rooted in his son. His son has become his own religion. My second topic is ash and fire. The word ash is mentions practically on every page so I have to pick the most important references. I am actually eager to continue on because of the latest section.