The Best of American Literature

I honestly did not think very hard on this subject.  As soon as I saw Dr. Preston's post about this topic, I immediatly thought of my book.  Those 122 pages were and still are the greatest accomplishment of my small, puny, insignificant life (the reason I say those things is because they are, of course, the truth.  I'm 1 in 6 billion, and as of yet, too young to make an impact.  For now, at least).  But yes, my novel has been the highlight of my Junior year as a whole, not just from English 3. 

And for those of you who said you wanted to read it, go ahead and leave your email adress in the comments, and I will send you a snippet.  Sorry, but that's all my editor will let me give away.

CA out.

Derby Reportage.

Coming out of that piece, definitely scrambled upstairs, my first thoughts were "Sweet baby Jesus that was long!!"  And that, my friends, is the honest-to-God truth right there.
I spent much of the time reading that story thinking to myself, Why did Hunter S. Thompson choose to write this story as long and elaborate as he did? I mean, he actually speaks of the Derby for about three sentences, then back to himself and his story.  I understand that he was starting a new style of writing, but why did it have to be so... vulgar and... self-centered?

CA out.

JOHNNY CYBERPUNK

First Reaction- "... What is he saying?!?"
Second Reaction- "Woah, how cool!"
Third Reaction- *Mind being blown*

Overall, this story had a wonderfull impact on my thinking.  Sure, could've used some spell-check, but maybe that was part of the plan.  No one could ever know, could they?  But the best thing about "Johnny Mnemonic" was the fact that it was so far into the future, yet so... not.  You following me?  I mean, it seemed like some things were impossibly outdated, and there were other things that were so beyond my comprehension of technology that the language and plot left me in the dust.  Yet I continued after that plot, not only because it was so sci-fi but because I wanted to see how the story played out.  And much to my delight, there was a giant climatic battle and a cliff-hanger ending that only increased my respect and reverence for William Gibson (I mean, who thinks of cyborg dolphins?!  Genius!!!!!!)

CA out.

The Confidant Strikes.

What are the various ways Nick Carraway functions in The Great Gatsby? How does he help give us the tour through Gatsby's world? How does he help us get to know Jay Gatsby? How does his presence change the course of the plot, the interactions between other characters, and/or the reader's understanding of the tone and theme of the novel? What else (if anything) do you think Carraway's character accomplishes? How would the book be different if the narration was provided by an anonymous, omniscient voice?

 

 F. Scott Fitzgerald is a literary genius.  Hands down.  His expert use of deep symbolism and beautiful portrayal of a class-defined society continue to apply to civilization today.  Yet, in his world-class book The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald takes a simple first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, and uses him to completly transform the book into one of the greatest American novels to date.  Fitzgerald's use of his confidant to bring in another view and opinion on the rich and mysterious Jay Gatsby.

MAPLAN, MaBrotha!!

Ok so in class today, I had this awesome idea that I could use a Mind Map to plot out the relation between TS Eliot's writing and the goings-on in his personal affairs.  You know, connect the ideas flouting around his head at the time to the ideas flowing across the paper with his name on it. 

I AM T.S. ELIOT

I am a cat fanatic and keep more than a dozen as pets at a time.

I am "Possum" to my friend Ezra Pound.

I am a Nobel Prize winner.

I am the man that wrote,  "This is how the world ends/  Not with a bang, but a whimper."

I am a night watchman for the Royal Airforce, helping notify them of German bombers that I can see from my office window.

My Modernist

I have chosen T.S. Elliot as my Modernist.

BOB I

A smidgen late, I know, but here it is, nonetheless.

1.)Whitney Houg
      - Excellent work ethic and great skill with her blog.
2.)Eli Esparza 
     - I can always count on him to have the latest and greatest for an example.
3.)Ashley Chantry 
      - Organized the class mind map.  (that takes courage, my friends.)
4.)Sara Stevens 
      - Very well-organized in her thought process and writing.
5.)Ethan Clardy 
      - Interesting way of looking at assignments, gives me a different view of things.
6.)Rudy Valentine 
      - Awesome blog, and quality work that is unmatched.

Toyota Postgame Show: Special Essay Edition

To be absolutely honest, my essay was not the at the top of its game.  It (I) rambled on and on for much to long, and I didn't get to all my main points that would have really rounded out my essay.

So in all, a very disappointing performance by myself.

The Time of My Life.

To be absolutely honest, of the 35 minutes I had in class, I must have spent at least ten or fifteen of them trying to catch up on some lost sleep.  No don't go thinking that all I did was sleep, because I did spend a vast majority of that time reading and communicating ideas with my group.

I'm a Poet and I Know It!

                                                 Slipping, falling down
                                              Royal crest low in defeat,
                                                  The eagle shall fall.


                                                 O'er hate and fear
                                           Majestic strides, crown bright      
                                             Heart shall rule the strong


                                              Mighty clash of greed,
                                            Hundreds fall under steel
                                                All for few to gain.

Theme For English 3.

Many of the teachers in this school find me as a bothersome student.  I mean, I don't do the homework, I rarely participate in class, yet I understand all the material and can ace the tests.  But when it comes to English, I kick ass.  And I know exactly what the problem is...  I love English.  It's just that simple.  Walking into 608 just brightens my day for about an hour.  My teacher is "LEGEN... ..... Wait for it........... DARY."

Then it's back to the original, crap-shoot of a "learning experience".

As I'm saying this, I'm starting to think that maybe it's my attitude towards the rest of high school that's ruining my meaningless grades.  That and all the missing work.  Ugh.  Now just thinking of paper makes my head hurt.  Add homework to a busy schedule consisting of water polo, work, volleyball, and friends (I like to have at least an itty-bitty ounce of a social life.), and that transforms my world into a list of importance.  At the top, family and school (according to Mother), followed by sports, then friends, then girlfriend (which is basically the same thing, except I can't kiss the former without consequences from the latter), and finally, my novel.  Of all these things that I want to do, every day I must refer to my list of importance and choose the top three (sadly) to carry out that day.

Now don't get me wrong.  I love school.  The people, the subjects (English, and... English), and the teachers, they all add up to greatness.  The problem lies in the complete lack of anything interesting at school.  It's not very compelling when the only thing remotely interesting during the school day is witnessing a fight that lasts for about two seconds and nobody goes down before security rushes in to break it up.

But to get back to the title, English 3 is, at least for this Junior, the BEST THING ON FREAKING CAMPUS!!!!!  The blog, the online stuff, the sometimes-hilarious guest speakers that make Shakespeare understandable for today's teenager.  All these things make up for the shittiness of the rest of school.  To be able to control my own path of knowledge, make it lead towards what I want to excel in means that I can control my own future and not have it handed to me on a used and dented silver platter.  To have a teacher that guides instead of dictates makes for a more well-developed student that is confident as he takes his first strides in the real world.

This is my post for English 3.
2013

Spring Post 1: Music As Literature

Welcome back!  It has been a long and wonderful Christmas break, but now it is time to get back to work.  Today we are looking at music and it's influence on the literary world.

If someone were to walk up to you on the street and ask you to describe, in your own words, what literature is, you might be quite taken aback, wouldn't you?  But such a question makes one think...  What is literature?  Normally what comes to mind is a bunch of boring old-timey stuff that makes your head spin trying to read the first word.  But literature today is so much more than that.  Literature today contains everything from poems to novels to short stories to movie scripts and, you guessed it, MUSIC!!

Back in 1600-something, William Shakespeare was writing a ton of plays that consisted of what high school students thought to be super boring shit that was difficult to read and just plain terrible.  What those high school kids didn't realize was that this type of stereotypical literature (Shakespeare is the first thing that popped into your mind, wasn't it?) was not only freaking vulgar and hilarious if you decode it into modern terms, but also a stepping stone into more advanced types of writing.  From Shakespearean literature blossoms the Enlightenment, which brought the corrupt political regimes to the public view.  The Revolutionary War flipped the literary world on it's head yet again, bringing about the Romanticism period that cleared the path for literature to develop into the exciting beast it is today.

Now how does all this tie into music?  Well, very simply in fact.  Music and literature are one in the same.  Mainly because they can both express our deepest thoughts that we would never say in public.  The plot lines of both books and songs can be described as invigorating, meaningful, and over all, emotions.  That, my friends, is the simplest connection between music and literature.