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

Summer Readin'

Here are two books on my summer reading list

1. In The Heart of the Sea-By Nathaniel Philbrick
This book is a true story about a group of sailors on the whaling ship Essex that are forced to fight for their lives after their vessel sinks, that eventually claims the lives of all but eight men. I chose this book because I really enjoy history and reading true non-fiction stories that are exciting. Plus, these kinds of books are almost always well written, guaranteeing an enjoyable experience.

2. The Battle for Skandia-John Flanagan(Ranger Apprentice Series)
This is the fourth novel in a series of fantasy books set in a medival time period about a teen(Will) that becomes apprenticed to a archer (Ranger) named Halt, who are thrown into myriad of battles and adventures. My fifth grade teacher Mrs. Currie read the first book to us, and I was instantly hooked. I read the next two in sixth grade and haven't touched the books since, so I feel it's time to catch up on some great action literature!

Culture Shock

One song that I found that references Romeo and Juliet is a song by the pop-punk band We The Kings, called, suprisingly enough, "Check Yes, Juliet" It can be found here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lORvUe3EKAg

Lyrics: http://www.lyrics.com/check-yes-juliet-lyrics-we-the-kings.html

Basically, the singer is talking about a girl that he loves and wants to be with and references many parts of the plot such as the balcony scene "Throwing rocks at your window" and the Capulet/Montague conflict "Don't look back/They'll tear us apart. Personally for me, if band starts to reference the Romeo and Juliet to describe a small time relationship, it's definitely evidence of the lasting impact that this classic play has on society.

Great Expectations Skit Prep!!

Three parts of the novel I would most like to see performed in class would be first, Pip's first run in with the convict, Abel Magwitch, which I sets the stage for an important recurring motif in the book. During this scene, a young Pip walks through the courtyard, when suddenly, the convict jumps and once he figures out he has access to tools demands he get him a file. This would be good material for a scene because it can be made quite dramatic and meaningful, and to a person who has never read the book, would make them want to read it. In addition, his first, though quite awkward, encounter with Miss Havisham and Estella. This is when Pip immediately, from when she opens the door to his depature, falls in love with Estella, and it also introduces her decieving and misguided personality, in addition to Havishams iron-fisted control over her. The two play cards together, despite Pip's reluctance, which would be quite good skit material due to it's introduction of the relationship between Havisham and Estella A final memorable part would have to be when Magwitch comes forth to Pips apartment, and reveals he had made a fortune in sheep ranching, and that he was Pip's benefactor, for all those years, much to his astonishment. This scene is important and should be performed because it tells of the source of Pip's expectiations, and elaborates on his main goal in the book.

Great Expectations:Question!

There is one thing that I've have really been curious about since the first time I read through the chapter that it was in, and it was Pip's first real, meaningful conversation with his love and admiration, Estella. My question to all of you, does Estella really mean what she is saying to Pip in Chapter 29 Pg. 252-255, all the things that are going into his head, or is she just feeding to him what she was told to say by Miss Havisham, who still(though Estella may truely love him), possibly does not intend for Pip to marry her, despite all his efforts to become a fine gentleman?

Great Expectations:The First Stage

Based on this quote, I think that Pip is referring to the first time he ever encountered Miss Havisham and Estella, and became aware of his status on the social ladder, and ever since has been dissatisfied with his life and the way it is going. This day altered him because it was the day that he decided to become a gentleman, mostly because he has wanted to win the heart of Estella. Pip's character has developed in the sense that he has become more mature, more aware of his current state in life, and has increased his desire to better himself by taking direct action.
The one day in my life that made me become the person I am would probably have to be the day my math teacher recommened me for a higher level math class then I expected. Beforehand, I was struggling at math and a few other areas in school, and was stuck in a never ending cycle of thinking I was never going to get better at any of them. By that time, I started to dedicate myself over the summer, getting tutors and other things, and going into all of my classes with a positive attitude, and as a result, I have gotten better grades over the past semester then I had ever gotten in middle school, and has made me a much happier person.

ATTN: Alex and Laura 3rd period-The Importance of Being Earnest essay

Hey guys, I'm going to be typing up my part of the essay tonight. I'm still not clear on who's going to do the conclusion for us, but my part on Algernon and Cecily will most likely be finished by the weekend. The things i'm going to talk about on my essay are the relationships corniness, their immediate attraction to each other, and the comparisons to Victorian theater, and I am commenting about how their actions/words demonstrate how the relationship works.My commentary supports this thesis due to it's comparisons to Wildes use of the relationships to demonstrate the different types of human attraction, and his satirization the the era. Hope you guys get this and are do well since I will be in Miami tommorrow through tuesday.


P.S. I'll be responding to your posts in a short time