This week was our first time that we've done two poems for a singular essay. We discussed "Ozymandias" by Percy B. Shelley, and "Sonnet 146" by Shakespeare. I'm super excited about this poem of the week because I thought I did fairly well writing my essay. I really enjoyed trying to draw parallels between two completely different works. I cannot wait to start reading King Lear. Bre is my partner for the project, so I'm a little apprehensive about trying to get all the work done with just one other person. But I know how she operates, she knows how I operate, so we should work well together. We always have in the past, and who knows, it might actually be easier with just one partner. Group work drives me crazy though. I always feel as if I'm struggling to meet the deadline. I really hope we will not need a giant class prezi for this project though. That was a drag last time. Anyway, I can't wait for this week!!!
Well, this is the second time I've attempted to write this reflection. The first time through, my computer decided to have internet problems and delete my draft, so let's try this again, shall we? This week, we read the play Oedipus. I liked that play a lot. It has everything that people like including incest, murder, and tragedy. What's not to love about Oedipus? We also read A Noiseless Patient Spider by Whitman this week for our PoW. I liked that poem a lot. It made me think about my own views of the soul, and in comparison to spiders. Writing the PoW essay this week was interesting though. I was very confused when I was attempting to write. Maybe it was due to not being in class that day because I've noticed that when I miss class, I'm more easily confused. Overall though, it was a good week. Marching Band State Finals was this weekend, and that's always fun. Anyway, I realized today that I'm going to be gone on November 11 for a scholarship competition up in Marquette, and I know that the lesson plans are online but I figured I'd let you know through this too. That's all for now!
Well, I really don't know what to say for this week's reflection. We've started our Tragedy Blog, and I honestly think that it's easier to write than this one. I think it's probably because we have more specific questions to answer. That and I'm super tired right now and I really don't feel like writing, but I have absolutely no time this weekend, so... yeah. Time to get this done. I don't just want to copy my tragedy blog post because that is what we've been doing all week. So if you have any more questions, please see my Tragedy Blog. Let me explain my picture choice for one of my Tragedy Posts. The flowers that I used for that picture are called Bleeding Hearts. When I think of tragedy, I think of blood, death, heartache, and pain. Granted, tragedy is not always bloody and gory and about death, but then again, that's what I think of, and isn't this supposed to be my reflections anyway?
I'm super tired. It's Sunday night now, and I'm still tired. I'm always tired now... the fun of Marching Band. So... back to AP Lit. Well, yeah. There's really not much to say about this week. Sorry. I know that my responses have been slightly dismal as of late. Then again, as one of my staff members from marching band would say "Nobody cares." I'm going to try to flesh this reflection out a little more because as of now, it's kind of pathetic. I cannot wait to read Oedipus. It sounds like something that I'll be interested in, or at least find interesting, and I always loved reading plays in 9th and 11th grade. Did we read a play in 10th grade? I don't think so. That was American Lit, and unless I'm mistaken, Americans didn't write very many memorable plays. True, we do have some, but not really in the time periods we were reading. I think that Hamlet was my favorite. I certainly use him enough in my examples of tragedy, but maybe that's just because I was old enough to understand just what in the world they were talking about. We've spent the last few weeks learning what the elements of fiction are, and how they impact literature. The Wonder Team, made of myself, Bre, and Madison, and we chose to explore Characterization and Symbolism. Prezi was a little ornery due to the newly made limits on how many people can edit a pathway at one time, and also how many people can access the prezi at one time. Is ornery the correct word? Perhaps not, but to me prezi seemed like a cranky little kid, crossing their arms and saying "No. I'm not telling you," when you ask a question. Lots of times in class, prezi seemed to throw little temper tantrums and it would crash or just irritate us. I think the overall message is that only 10 people can work on a joint prezi or else you'll have issues.
To go off on a different tangent, I'm rather upset at the moment. I currently have a C+ in this class, a grade that is definitely not my norm. It's like, look at me. The 4.0 student... so honestly, I'd like to improve that and quickly. This week passed by in a blur, so much so that I really don't remember much from it. We spent a lot of time working on our What is Literature project, and the Wonder Team learned that we did not need to make an actual flower... you'll see what I mean when it's time to present. We've also had a, let's say interesting, time trying to find symbolism in The Tell-Tale Heart and A Rose for Emily. But I suppose we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we chose Symbolism. I shouldn't say that we're having a hard time finding symbolism, just what the symbols symbolize, if that makes any sense. This week, our poem of the week was Bright Star by Keats. It wasn't a bad poem by any means, but it definitely wasn't my favorite poem to read. It was a sonnet because it looks like a square. I'm trying to write as much as possible, but truth be told, it was a four day week. It seems like yesterday was Tuesday, plus I have a competition this weekend so I'm fairly distracted. Anyway, back to the world of AP Lit.
I chose the picture because the center of it looks like a star, and since this poem to me didn't speak of a literal star, I thought it fit. I apologize that this is extremely disjointed. It just really doesn't feel like a Friday to me. This week has been crazy! We started our first unit about what is literature, and I couldn't be more excited. My group is made up of Madison and Bre, and I think we'll definitely work well together. We're studying characterization and symbolism, two components of any well written story, and hopefully, what I learn I can put into my own writing.
We also analyzed the poem "Cross" by Langston Hughes. I really liked this poem. Granted the subject matter wasn't the best, but I really enjoyed reading it. It was straight forward. There wasn't a whole lot of interpretation needed to really understand the meaning behind the poem. The words speak for themselves. I wonder if it would be any different if it were a Hispanic and an African-American, or someone from the Middle East and a Caucasian. Would the same point come across? We have just as many prejudices against those from the Middle East as we did about African-Americans. This poem screamed of an identity crisis, of not knowing where to belong. I think all of us, whether it be racial or career or some other category experience some form of identity crisis at some point. The idea of where do I belong and where do I fit in is universal. I learned that sometimes, working with groups can be stressful. People don't always think the way you do, and I need to learn to let little things like that go. It's definitely been an interesting couple of days for me, but I know that everything will be fine. I just have to learn to pick my battles. What is commercial fiction? What is literature? Where is the line in the sand, and how can a book be considered both commercial and literature at the same time? I still have questions over what we discussed this week which was the differences between Commercial fiction and Literature. One question that really stands out to me is whether we judge the work based on what it was originally published as or what it's read as today. If you think about it, Shakespeare's Hamlet was written commercially. It was written to entertain people, yes there is a bunch of symbolism, but does containing symbolism make it literature? And today, we read Hamlet as literature. When does something change from being commercial fiction to literature? Is it possible for a book to be considered two genres? What are the merits to reading literature vs. commercial fiction? Could Twilight by Stephanie Meyer someday be considered literature? Is there even a definition of literature, or is it a general feeling about a piece that makes the distinction? Another thing I wish I could have brought up is that with art, going back to our discussion that day, art is generally not popular until after the artist has died. People didn't like Picasso in his day. They didn't understand his work. After he died though, his paintings gained more popularity. Is it the same with books? Do books gain more popularity after the author has died? Can there be popular literature books? I ask because the article/excerpt that we read seemed to state that only commercial fiction books can be popular or well liked. One of my favorite books is Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Do I know whether it's literature or commercial fiction? No, I don't. However, I know that every time I read it, I take something else away from the story rather than Christine and Raoul's love affair. Okay. There are all the questions I still have about that discussion. Hard to believe I could write so many questions.
This week, we discussed what makes a good writer, or how to write better, and also what is literature. I think that both of them are important because if you read more literature, you'll become a better writer. You'll be exposed to more sophisticated styles of writing, containing more symbolism than your usual piece of commercial fiction. We watched a video interviewing Harvard students, and they talked about how their writing has changed over the course of college, and we also discussed the differences between literature and commercial fiction. I enjoyed trying to figure out exactly what the distinction was because it's not as easy as you think. There's always at least one book that breaks the rule you devise. I still like what Kat said on the Shaped by Writing: The Freshman Experience forum about not sugar-coating with happy go lucky smiley faces. I definitely agree with that, and it's always irritating when I ask people to edit/read my paper or novel, and they hand it back to me without so much as a comment. I'm not sure how much longer this has to be... if this isn't long enough, I apologize.
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