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.

"Inheritance"--An Epic Conclusion to A Beloved Series

Literary Analysis of Inheritance By Christopher Paolini

GENERAL

1.  In Christopher Paolini's Inheritance, a maturing Dragon Rider named Eragon fights alongside a rebelling army called the Varden.  They are in revolt against a terrible king that was also once a Dragon Rider but betrayed his brotherhood because of greed.  

2. A big theme of this book is ethics and responsibility, along with life's meaning, and even the idea of a god.

3. Throughout the book, Paolini comes across as eloquent and deeply knowledgeable, despite his young age and teen-like appearance.      

4. I picked up on quite a few literary elements in Inheritance, such as elegant syntax and a radiating diction on the part of Paolini.  Also, there seemes to be a vast amount of foreshadowing, which leads to some pretty drastic plot twists, along with a few allusions to Christianity and relgion.  The entire story is told from three character's points of view, but in third person limited omnicient.

CHARACTERIZATION

1.  When focusing on different characters, Paolini tends to tell each character's story very differently for the sake of keeping individuality alive and awesome.  Each character has his or her specific way of portraying their feelings to the reader and to other characters.  I think that Paolini does a masterful job of bringing his characters leaping off the pages.  

2.  Eragon is definitely a dynamic protagonist.  As the story progresses he finds out more and more about himself and why he does what he does for the Varden.  Young Eragon must learn to hone his thoughts and conceal his emotions in order to confront the king.  On a side quest for knowledge, Eragon learns about himself more than he ever thought possible, for he found out his secret name, of which very few have found voluntarily.  This is a major turning point in Eragon's fight against the king.

3.  I definitely feel as if I've meet someone coming away from this book.  All the characters are relatable and interesting, even if they seem to be a little on the darker side of the battle.  

The Medium is the Message

I remember watching the Disney rendition of "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as a kid and thinking to myself, That guy is so freaking skinny, how did he eat so much?  But now that I've read the story, I know that there was a lot more to this guy's story than I really knew.  The book produced so much more of a humorous look at Ichabod Crane.  Also, after reading the book, I noticed that Disney left out a whole lot of things that made the book so much more, in-depth, and that made the movie that much more childish (well, duh.).  The movie just showed the thing between him and Brom Bones as the main problem in the story.

Overall, dug the story way more than the movie.

Vocabulary Fall List #10

Pedagogue:  A teacher or instructor, specifically one that is very strict or straight-laced.

Or this.

Cavernous:  Referring to a cave in shape, size, or atmosphere.

Coquettish:  Continually flirtatious, usually in a lighthearted and teasing manner.

Tete-a-tete:  A private conversation.

Suffice:  To be enough or adequate.

Amorous:  Showing feeling;  In love.

Vocabulary Fall List: #7

Ad infinitum-  To infinity; endlessly; without limit.
 Apportion-  To distribute or allocate proportionally; divide and assign according to some rule of proportional distribution: to apportion expenses among the three men.
 Bona fide-  1)  Made, done, or presented in good faith; W/o deception or fraud.  2)  Authentic, true.
 Buoyant-  Attempting to float in a liquid.   Capable of keeping a body afloat.  Not easily depressed, cheerful.  Cheering or invigorating.
 Clique-  A small, exclusive group of people.
 Concede-  To acknowledge as true, just, or proper.  To acknowledge before something is officially established.
 Congenial-  Agreeable, suitable, or pleasing in nature or character.  Suited or adapted in spirit.
 Lofty-  Extending high into the air; of imposing height; towering.  Exalted in rank, dignity, and character.    
 Migration-  The process or act of moving a group of people, animals, or things, from one place to another.
 Perceive-  To become aware of, know, or identify by means of the senses.
 Perverse-  Willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary
 Prelude-  Any action that comes before another action. 
 Rancid-  A rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, especially as through decomposition.
 Rustic-  Of, pertaining to, or living in the country, as distinguished from cities and towns.  Simple, artless, or unsophisticated.  Uncouth, rude, or boorish.
 Sever-  To separate a part from a whole as by cutting or the like.
 Sordid-  Morally ignoble or base; vile.
 Untenable-  Incapable of being defended, as in an argument or thesis.
 Versatile-  Capable of or adapted for turning from one thing to another of various tasks.
 Vindicate-  To clear, as in an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like.
 Wane-  To decrease in ferocity, intensity, ect.