The Final Post!

And now the final post on my blog for Freshman year! Here it goes..


As I look over my blog from this year, I've noticed a progression in the quality of my reading and understanding of literature throughout the entire time I've been in Honors English 9. To start off, one of my first posts was on the tone of Catch-22, and now that I look at that again, it appears really half-baked and surface level. I really had no understanding of how to read deeper into the book and connect with what Joseph Heller was saying about society and the military, and the result was a very rushed, pathetic analysis that would disgust me in my current state of mind. Towards the middle of the year, we began to read The Importance of Being Earnest. As I read these blog posts from the part of the year before winter break, I noticed that my commentary actually started to improve a small bit due to class discussions and work. In addition, my part of the group essay didn't turn out too well, and while I was sulking, the spark that really made me take off was Mrs. Gilman telling me to improve my ideas by creating ORIGINAL commentary based off the literal concrete details and applying it to my writing. From that point on, I became an entirely different student. As I read, I began to scan the books text more carefully, which means below the surface and deep down into the authors thoughts, and come up with my views on the novels message. I thought about the experiences in my life, and started to think about how I could relate to the main characters. Have I ever dealt with anything like this? What would I do in this situation? Overall, this learning experience really helped me in the class, and made first semester go out with a bang.

As the year passed on, we began to get read and get into Great Expectations. With my new found understanding of books, I plunged into its world. It started off slow, as I can remember with the shortness and pondering of my posts. But eventually, I began to enjoy it. With it's myriad of themes and interpretations, the book had a great message. In my later posts, I became fascinated with the relationship between Pip and Estella and I was always rooting for him. From his continued failed attempts to win her heart, even when he became a gentleman, to the awkward encounters encounters between the two as children, I always imagined those two together as a couple. In addition, I also mentioned Pip's relationship with Abel Magwitch, the benefactor of his fortune. It was pretty surface level, but as my posts do not show, I began to discover Pip's true feelings towards him, and how deep down he truly cares for him and sympathizes with his tough life, and how he tried to compensate for his meager existence by doing something kind for someone,and I thought that hit pretty deep down.

With the school year winding down, I notice I only had one post about Romeo and Juliet, and that was the "culture shock" assignment. I basically threw this one together by googling "Songs related to Romeo and Juliet. I never really enjoyed that play, because that Shakespearean language and unfunny attempts at humor were just not for me. For my final post, I posted my summer reading list, which consists of two books. I just thought I would share books with my classmates that I probably would enjoy reading., and see if anyone has similar tastes to mine.

To conclude, this has been a very productive and successful year. I have learned so much more than I ever thought I would about literature and poetry under the direction of Mrs. Gilman, who truly is one of the best English teachers I've ever had. I made a huge improvement in the quality of my essays and reading, and, as much as I hate to admit it, was mainly due to the environment in our class. My classmates high acheving pushed me to be more like them and constantly bettering my English interpreting skills. I truly believe I will remember the fun and positive place that was Gilman's 3rd period English Class!

"Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man's a blacksmith, and one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Divisions among such must come, and must be met as they come."

-Joe Gargary in Great Expectations