It's Been A While

Hi everyone! It's been quite a while since my last post, so I thought I might catch you up. Well, I just started my first semester in college. Recently, this reader has been tamed by his chemistry and biology books, and not by his own personal reading. Since I haven't read anything, I thought that I might do a reflection on some movies that I've seen recently. First, I saw the Hunger Games for the first time two weeks ago. To be totally honest with you, it blew my mind! I never read any of the books, but believe me that I will asap. College really makes me miss high school because my teachers cared about me, I didn't have a lot of work, and I didn't have to pick out new clothes every morning (maybe that's not such a bad thing). Thanks for reading and I will talk to you all soon!

I hope you enjoy this Canterbury Tales skit as much as I did! 

A Farewell to Some Great Times

Because my last dad at SMHS has come and passed, I feel like it is appropriate to end my Senior year with a closing blog post to my readers. It has been great getting to converse with those of you who comment, and I do hope that those of you who do not comment will begin to do so. You will be happy to know that I am still reading (I actually just started "A Tale of Two Cities") and I hope to write posts at least once a month. Another thing that I am really excited about is the new Gatsby movie coming out on December 25, 2012. As you may know, it is my favorite book of all time and I'm passionate about American literature. Dicaprio and and Maguire look amazing and I hope that this movie does not disappoint. I hope that you all have a great summer and get some tan; I've already started. Hope to talk to you soon! Here's the link to the Gatsby trailer: http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=m-feedu&v=G7DonhNflsw

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", he uses the example of prisoners in a cave faced toward a wall with a small beam of light from outside. By using the essence of real and not real, someone could manipulate the prisoners. This allegory can be paralleled to the same idea of solitary confinement. By limiting any interactions with social and physical life, the human brain will erupt. This element of torture is used to corrupt the individual psychologically as well as physically. When an individual cannot sort between real and not real, they begin to go insane and can start physically harming themselves. The shadows are meant to stimulate the the real aspects a prisoner's brain, but they actually confuse the prisoner because the shadows could also be fake. This allegory proves that the human brain can be manipulated far beyond learning, it can be used to create a downfall to an individual.

My Ode to Poe

Since seventh grade, Edgar Allan Poe has been my favorite short story writer. In seventh grade, I read "The Tell-Tale Heart" for the first time and it was amazing! I'm not a huge horror story person, but Poe makes horror interesting to me. During my Sophomore year, I read "The Fall of the House of Usher" and I learned the concept of doppelgänger. Since then, I have encountered doppelgänger in Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Also, I read "To Helen" my Sophomore year and instantly loved it. I loved the poem so much that I recited it my Junior year in English class for Poetry Out Loud. Poe's creative way of writing intrigues me and I always feel compelled to look deeper into the story to figure out the character's motive and dissect their personality. I will always recommend Poe to anyone who loves a good scare and wants to read something interesting. Long live Poe!

To Converge or Not to Coverge

As part of a poetry essay, I was required to pick a poem to write an explication on. I decided to not go with Poe, Wordsworth, or Shakespeare, but to go with someone that I have never heard of before. I chose Thomas Hardy and it seems like I made the write choice. The poem I picked is called "The Convergence of the Twain." Upon reading it the first time, I immediately connected to the poem. I don't want to insult your intelligence here, but the poem is written about the Titanic for those of you who don't know. I have had some rotten luck with poems and it felt good to finally pick a great one! I started my TPCASTT (Title, paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude, Shifts, Title, and Theme) and dove right into the nitty gritty stuff. That's right, the literary devices! It was like a playground for an English teacher because I found rhyme, point of view, symbolism, diction, details, figurative language, imagery, allusions, personification, use of the senses, alliteration, hubris, attitude, tone, and theme. Yeah, you better pinch yourself because you're not dreaming! I guess I picked a great poem because now I have lots of information and a five page paper to write. I rock! In case you haven't noticed, I have a lot of self-confidence, but confidence is key!

The Diary of a Player By Brad Paisley

Before I write about this fantastic book, there is a little background that I would like to share. In Summer 2009, I met Brad Paisley at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington, DE. He was exactly what I thought he would be and much more, except being tall. I remember that moment clearly when we looked into each other's eyes and I knew that I wanted to be just like him. It took a few years to get around to it, but I finally started playing guitar. Now, for the book. To briefly explain the book, it is sort of an autobiography and sort of not. I felt like he was in front of me the entire time and I was the fly on the wall. Although it may be classified as an autobiography and boring, I had a lot of fun reading about his life, especially the part when he says that he received a D in his guitar class. The entire time I read the book, I was on a roller coaster of emotions. If you have ever played a musical instrument, you know that it can be hard at first and most people take a break or quit. Like Brad, I went though this stage and I felt like we connected of those grounds. I have never read a book that I connected so much to and it felt great to know Brad and I felt the same way.

My First Experience with Hemingway

After some pondering, I decided that it was finally time to read some Hemingway. He was considered one of the best writers of the twentieth century, but I had to decide for myself. As you may or may not know, I love Fitzgerald and Poe, so he had some tough competition. I started with a simple short story, A Clean, Well- Lighted Place. I have to admit, the story had little impact on me and it would be easily forgotten (just like Faulkner). The story had no plot and it was good that it was short because I would have just stopped reading. But, as I thought about the story and did some research on Hemingway, I began to like it more and more. During my research, I discovered that Hemingway committed suicide. Also, I discovered that his father, brother, sister, and daughter also committed suicide. Upon finding this information, I began to feel to him. How could you live when you know that many of your family members took their own lives. I decided to take this information one step further and linked it to this short story. In my opinion, the old man is Hemingway. He has a feeling of nothingness and is blind to the world. Nobody cares for him and the only thing Hemingway has are his writing skills. The only thing the old man has is the bar. I also found it very coincidental that the old man had a drinking problem because Hemingway also had a drinking problem. This raises a question, did Hemingway tell his own story? From my point of view, Hemingway is a close fourth behind Hurston. Here's the Stats:

1. Fitzgerald
2. Poe
3. Hurston
4. Hemingway

My Favorite Othello Quote

"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,Is the immediate jewel of their souls.Who steals my purpose steals trash. 'Tis something, nothing:'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands.But he that filches from me my good nameRobs me of that which not enriches himAnd makes me poor indeed."Othello Act III, Scene III, Lines 155-161

Othello

As part of my trip to Florida, I decided to bring along my copy of Othello. After being fully immersed into the world of Shakespeare the last 5 years, I decided that it would be best to add yet another play to my library. As much as I love comedy, I love the tragedies that love endures, or destroys. After reading Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet, I thought that Othello would be just the same. To test this statement, I used Aristotle's guide for a tragic hero. In Hamlet and Macbeth, the two main characters were tragic heroes, but what about Othello? First, I examined Othello's nobility. Othello has attained nobility by being a high ranked general in the Venetian army and he is a married to Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator. Second, Othello is not perfect because he is a Moor and very insecure because of his race and age. Third, Othello's downfall is when he becomes insane by the thoughts Iago puts into his head. By listening to Iago, Othello makes himself crazy. Fourth, Othello does not deserve to be fooled by Iago. Iago caused more damage to Othello's reputation than to his relationship. Fifth, Othello asks to be remembered exactly the way he was. He does not want things exaggererated or toned down, but for the truth to be known to all. Lastly, Othello's catharsis is when he stabs himself in the end after losing his wife Desdemona. After my research, I came to the conclusion that Othello is a tragic hero after all. Also, as a last thought, I would like to point out the word demon in the name Desdemona. Did Shakespeare do this on purpose? Probably.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for taking an interest in me, so it's my turn to take this oppertunity to take an interest in you. I would just like to take the oppertunity to tell all of my loyal followers Merry Christmas and wish you a happy and healthy New Year. Also, I would like it if you would keep my cousins in your prayers. Their dog was hit by a car today and they had to put him to sleep. Thanks and I look forward to writing more posts in the New Year.

Great Quote #1

How I felt when I finished Gatsby and Harry Potter:

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”

- Paul Sweeney

Great Expectations (I Loved It So Much, I Had to Write Another Post)

Great Expectations is definitely in my top 5 favorite books of all time! If you have not read it yet, put it on your list, preferably before all the others. Recently, I watched the movie for the book and I was blown away! First of all, the cast consisted of Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, and Anne Bancroft. This amazing cast set the footsteps for not only a great film adaption of the novel, but a modern American retelling of the story. My favorite quote in the story is when Pip says, "And could I look upon her without compassion, seeing her punishment in the ruin she was, in her profound unfitness for this earth on which she was placed, in the vanity of sorrow which had become a master mania, like the vanity of penitence, the vanity of remorse, the vanity of unworthiness, and other monstrous vanities that have been curses in this world?" Pip's love for Estella hurts me every time I think about it. I find myself wanting to yell at Estella because Pip is the perfect man for her, but she only uses him for attention. The way Gwyneth Paltrow portrayed Estella was an Academy Award performance and I have gained a lot of respect for because of her role. To finish, I would like to leave you with a quote from Thomas Foster's "How to Read Literature Like a Professor." Foster describes the novel by saying, "Life, death, love, hate, dashed hopes, revenge, bitterness, redemption, suffering, graveyards, fens, scary lawyers, criminals, crazy old women, cadaverous weding cakes. This book has everything except spontaneous human combustion. Now, how can you not read it?"

I See the Expectations, But They Are Not So Great

After only reading the first ten chapters of Dickens' "Great Expectations", I already feel emotionally connected to Pip. He is threatened, abused, and neglected by most of the people in his life, but he still feels like he belongs. Pip's personality sends a great message to the reader by saying that you can dream and that you can set great expectations for yourself. In the first ten chapters, Pip's mannerisms are that of a young boy. As a kid, your instinct is to respect your superiors, which is what Pip does when he steals food from his family for the homeless man. This week in my Spanish class, we are watching an Argentinian movie called "Valentin." This movie is about a young boy named Valentin, who is much like Pip, and is set on pleasing his superiors. Like Pip's aunt, Mrs. Joe, Valentin's father abuses him and does not care about him. Pip's love interest, Estella, is not the nicest girl for Pip, but the fact that she is mysterious, and most importantly not interested in him, Pip still goes after her. It's strange for me to feel such an emotional connection to a fictional character, but Pip is my exception.

Why Did I Take AP Lit?

If someone told me that I would be taking AP Lit my Senior year a couple years ago, I would have called them nuts. Every time someone asks what class I'm in and I tell them, they say that I'm too smart. I respond by saying that I did not take AP Lit to make myself seem smart, I took it to gain more knowledge about many different types of literature. I never found reading fun at any point in my life, it just seemed like a waste of time to me. "The Great Gatsby" was the first book that I liked to read, so I ran with it. During my Junior year, my English teacher opened me to a new world of fantastic books and poems that no one ever showed me before. By reading books I liked, I began to enjoy reading more and more. Now, in AP Lit, I'm not just reading books that prepare me for the AP exam, I'm reading books that I like too! I took AP Lit to be in a class full of people that want to learn English as much as i do. In the past, there was always those people who didn't care and interrupted creative discussions with irrelevant statements. I love the AP Lit atmosphere because I learn while having fun with others who have the same passion as I do.

Hamlet

First of all, let me just say that this was an awesome play. This has been the fifth Shakespeare play that I have read and it was great. This book just made me think that I wasted a lot of time with all those other Shakespeare plays when the best one was still waiting for me. My favorite part of the play was when Hamlet tells the players to do the play about how Claudius killed his father and married his mother. That part made me laugh so much because I would have done the same exact thing. It was like Claudius thought that Hamlet would never find out the truth and everything would be okay. My least favorite part was the ending. I thought that the whole fencing thing and the poison was a really bad way to end the play. What they needed was a fighting scene with real swords and somebody needed to get stabbed. I also did not like how Hamlet told Claudius to drink the poison because obviously he does not want to die, and the sad part was that Claudius obeyed. Some themes that jumped out at me were death, the supernatural, and dysfunctional family. Death surrounded the entire plot of the story. First, Hamlet sees his father's ghost and the whole story revolved around people dying and people killing other people. Second, the supernatural was very important because of the ghost and how it talks about its death. Lastly, the dysfunctional family can be applied throughout the entire play. Claudius killed Hamlet's father and married Hamlet's mother, which screams dysfunctional family to me because it is incest! Also, Denmark can be a dysfunctional family as well because of the king and queen that rule and all the corruption they have caused.

About Me

I am an 11th grade student that is preparing to take AP English Literature this year. The stories consist of prose fiction, drama, and poetry. After each book, I will post a book review about what I thought. Please leave comments and your opinions!!!!!!!!