What a year. AP lit has definitely been interesting. At the end of the year, I have no regrets about being in the class because I have improved my writing skills among other things. My favorite thing about AP lit was the reading of "Notes from Underground." I love that book. The Underground man is twisted and his ideas are thought provoking. I still don't understand who the Underground Man is, but I like what I understand. I think we are kindred spirits (in some aspects).
I also liked that we got to watch the movie versions of some books. This way, I was able to compare the book to the movie and to see the director's vision and how it correlated with mine.
I did not like the fact that we didn't get to have the one-on-one writing workshops with you like you said we would at the beginning of the year. However, I understand that this was because you had such a large group this year. I hope you find the time to do that with your next batch of AP lit students.
If I could, I would reduce the number of students we had because I prefer smaller classes. All the people were great, but if there were less students we would have been given more individual attention. It would also lower the noise level of our class.
I would have liked to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. He is an interesting, disturbed man.
The greatest concept I learned this year was the ultimate thesis. Before AP literature, I had no idea what a good thesis should be, but thanks to Mr. Ultimate Thesis, I have more thesis-writing knowledge.
This was a great year filled with good memories (and parties). I will miss you, Miss Ahearn. You are a great teacher.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Quarter 3 Reflection
I didn’t have a really good thesis in my quarter 2 paper. Or maybe I did but I didn’t elaborate well. That’s why I got a lower grade on that than I did on my quarters 1 and 3 papers. Then again maybe Ms. Ahearn was a little more lenient during the first quarter, considering the fact that I was writing my first pancake paper. Yes, that’s what it was. In quarters one and two, I didn’t have an ultimate thesis. For my Oedipus paper, my thesis was, “In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus’s relentless quest to get out of the darkness, a metaphor for ignorance, leads to his downfall, so he literally blinds himself in an attempt to return to that ignorance,” and my thesis for the Othello paper was “Throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is perceived as a beast even though he is of the noble class, so when he kills Desdemona, he proves that these perceptions are factual.” There is no trace of “the author uses literary device to advance the overall meaning of story.” This is what killed me. I would have gotten an 8 on my Othello paper if I had a better thesis. This quarter, I am more confident about coming up with an ultimate thesis that still sounds like me. My thesis for the comparison paper was “Dostoevsky and Brontë use characterization of two very different, almost antonymous characters, Heathcliff and the Underground Man to depict how differently they interpret the universal theme of revenge.” This thesis clearly states the literary device (characterization) and how it contributes to the overall meaning (“universal theme of revenge”).
I think I also proved my thesis better. I had more evidence and analysis and my voice shone through, I hope. My favorite thing about this paper was that I used the wise words of the Underground man to describe Heathcliff. I said, “To the Underground man, Heathcliff is ‘l’homme de la nature et de la vérité’ because when such men ‘are seized with feelings of revenge, nothing exists within them at the moment except those feelings.’ Heathcliff is completely obsessed with revenge. He exhibits his revenge by getting control over everything that controlled him.” This ties the two stories together because it shows how the underground man’s words relate to Heathcliff, who existed in earlier times. Thus, it proves that some stories are truly timeless.
I’m not as confident about conclusions. I don’t know how to end a paper as well as I would like. A good conclusion is supposed to summarize the paper and give the reader something to ponder. My conclusions in all three papers just end with a generalized statement, especially in the first two quarters. In the third paper, I try to break free of this, but I don’t do as well as I should.
I think I have become a more sophisticated writer over the course of the year. However, my sentence structure tends to get very convoluted and difficult to understand. With that said, I need to work on writing in a way that is both sophisticated and easier to understand. I will still use “latter” and “former,” but in a less confusing way. Also, I will work on my conclusions. I have to get better so that it will be easier for me to transition to college-level writing.
Heathcliff Vs. The U-Man: Vengeance
“I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entails!”, warns Heathcliff, the vengeful antihero of Emily Brontë’s
Heathcliff, a man who, in his childhood went from rags to riches to rags again is bred in the perfect environment for revenge. He grows up crooked, twisted by the evil winds of Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff, a poor orphan, is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to
Heathcliff becomes vengeful because of lost love whereas the Underground man becomes bitter and vengeful because he grows up abandoned and alone, alienated from everyone around him. The underground man, like Heathcliff, is an orphan. He is sent to boarding school by distant relatives. There, everyone makes fun of him because he is different. He is unable to relate to or get along with anyone. “I could not endure ridicule,” the underground man explains, “[so] I conceived an immediate hatred for them and shut myself away from everyone in timid, wounded, and inordinate pride.” Because he is frequently humiliated, the Underground Man starts to hate everyone around him. He starts to alienate himself, harboring feelings of cynicism and revenge. Ultimately both men have been rejected, but while Catherine’s rejection drives Heathcliff to vengeance, the Underground Man becomes vengeful because society rejects him.
To the Underground man, Heathcliff is “l’homme de la nature et de la vérité” because when such men “are seized with feelings of revenge, nothing exists within them at the moment except those feelings.” Heathcliff is completely obsessed with revenge. He exhibits his revenge by getting control over everything that controlled him. When Heathcliff returns to
The Underground Man’s revenge is more passive. He speaks of a man who has such “heightened consciousness” that he feels himself to be a mouse. This mouse is almost often mistreated, so he harbors pent-up feelings and longs to avenge them. He develops an elaborate plan of revenge, but in the process, he is so overcome by questions and doubts that he gives up at the last second. At first he believes that he has successfully carried out his revenge, but he later sees that he hasn’t. Then he goes over every single detail of this event again and again, until he starts to loathe himself. The Underground Man is the mouse. He recalls an event that happened twenty years earlier that makes him a mouse. One day, he stands in the way of an officer, but the officer casually moves him out of the way and ignores him. The Underground Man vows to avenge this and he spends months looking for a way to do so. He stalks the officer, gathering information about him. Then he decides to stand in the officer’s way again. He buys new clothes and dresses up so that he can look like the officer’s equal. He stands in the officer’s way again, but “just two inches away from him, [the Underground Man loses] courage.” Like the mouse, he feels victorious at first, but then he becomes angry at himself because the officer doesn’t even care enough to react. Events like this push the Underground Man underground. He is alienated from society, so he goes underground, where he can watch the world through a crack in the wall. This is his revenge. He abandons the society that has rejected him. He stays in his underground world with all his ideas and complexities. His form of revenge makes him more of a complex character than Heathcliff is.
Heathcliff is obsessed with revenge, which he manifests with actions. On the other hand, the Underground Man is more obsessed with the idea of revenge than the actual act of vengeance. With his heightened consciousness, he is too indecisive to execute an active form of revenge. L’homme de la nature et de la vérité, Heathcliff, avenges his loss of Catherine until he reaches his wall, “something calming, final, morally absolving; something perhaps even mystical.” The ghost of Catherine is Heathcliff’s wall. When he sees her again, he gives up on his obsession. Here, he is redeemed in a way. However, the Underground Man’s vengeance is more quiescent, and he demonstrates it by hating everyone, detaching himself from society, and torturing himself. Because of this, no “wall” can resolve his obsession. He remains cynical and vengeful for the rest of his life. This way, he doesn’t redeem himself like Heathcliff does. Sometimes, an active form of revenge is more helpful because it provides room for redemption.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Quarter 2 Reflection Paper
Last quarter, my reading goal was to read Dante’s Inferno and
In reading, my weakness was that I kept falling asleep when I started reading Othello, even though I promised myself I would not do that. Then I had to stand up and walk around while reading in order to stay awake. However, the story became more interesting as it progressed. I learned about the prejudices that people held against others who were different from them. In my opinion, their racism portrayed their fear of the unknown. Sparknotes’ “No Fear Shakespeare” also helped a lot. This means that I have to find a way to read books that seem boring at first because not everything I have to read will be like Tartuffe, my favorite book from this quarter.
First of all, I am completely fascinated with the French. Everything about French screams sophistication, which I love. Secondly, the rhyme scheme in Tartuffe makes the play seem playful, even though it is about something serious. I appreciate Molière’s ability to use humor to expose the evils of society. In the movie “Molière,” Elmire Jourdain says, “unhappiness has comic aspects one should never underestimate.” This quote explains what I believe in, and it symbolizes what Molière is about. I think my enthrallment with the French made me biased towards Tartuffe even before I read it, and then reading the play reminded me again of why I love the French so much.
Previously, I had underestimated the power of prewriting. Somehow, I always found a way to skip the step of outlining or doing a pre-write before beginning my papers. I figured that I would just wing it and something decent will come out of it. What a huge mistake. This quarter, I found out that outlining before I started a paper actually helped me organize my thoughts better, and that by prewriting, I spent less time writing my paper than usual. This surprised me a lot, and it made me realize that if I had discovered that before, it wouldn’t have taken me hours and hours to write Ms. Partridge’s papers last year.
This quarter, I think I accomplished my writing goal from last quarter. My writing is no longer just a summary of the story. I actually manage to get some analysis in, and for that, I am proud of myself. Next quarter, I will hone my analysis skills. I will also find ways to make books seem more interesting so that I wouldn’t fall asleep while reading them. That’s about it.
Perceptions and reality in Shakespeare's Othello
Is Othello really a noble moor or a beast? In Shakespeare’s Othello, the titular character is very different. Shakespeare’s characterization of Othello, a black person of high class in a society dominated by whites, is notably uncommon, and is one of the major reasons for his downfall. Throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is perceived as a beast even though he is of the noble class, so when he kills Desdemona, he proves that these perceptions are factual.
When Othello marries Desdemona, he is scorned by members of Venetian society, who believe that Othello is undeserving of her. “An old black ram is tupping your white ewe,” are the words Iago, Othello’s ensign, uses to describe Othello when he is telling Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, that Othello and Desdemona have eloped and gotten married. Iago goes on to say that “they are making the beast with two backs” and that Brabantio will have his “daughter covered with a barbary horse.” Othello is regarded as too inferior and bestial to marry such a beautiful and aristocratic wife. Because he is black, Venetians immediately judge him.
As soon as he hears that Othello is married to his beloved daughter, Brabantio’s opinion of Othello changes. At the meeting of Othello and the senate, Othello explains, “[Desdemona’s] father loved me, oft invited me, still questioned me the story of my life […]” Brabantio is fascinated with Othello’s arduous life as a fighter, and he wants to know more. However, when Othello marries Desdemona, Brabantio immediately hates him, accusing him of using “spells and medicines” to charm Desdemona. According to Brabantio, Desdemona cannot fall in love with what she “fear[s] to look upon.” The fascination Brabantio has for Othello mirrors the fascination one might have with a wild animal, admiring it from afar while keeping a safe distance. Brabantio admires Othello from far away, but he doesn’t want Othello to be part of his family.
In the face of adversity, Othello always appears calm but a beast looms inside him, in need of a push, which Iago gladly provides. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him, which makes Othello furious. Iago says, “She did deceive your father marrying you, and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks, she loved them most.” If Desdemona is so disloyal as to marry Othello without her father’s consent, what makes Othello think she will be loyal to him? Iago also says that Cassio is a better fit for Desdemona because he is of her “clime, complexion, and degree.” Cassio is young, valiant, and white, the perfect man for Desdemona. This enrages Othello, filling him with jealousy and bringing to light his insecurities. “Haply, for I am black,” he says. He thinks Desdemona is unable to truly love him, and that she just might be like everyone else who doesn’t see past his skin color. He begins to curse marriage and resolves to “loathe her.” Iago has awakened the beast in Othello.
After Iago shows Othello “proof” of Desdemona’s supposed infidelity (the handkerchief), the latter’s inner beast fully emerges. Othello is overcome with jealousy and fury. In Lodovico’s presence, Othello strikes Desdemona and degrades her, showing no sympathy. This causes Lodovico to remark, “Is this the noble moor […] whom passion could not shake? […] I am sorry that I am deceived in him.” Lodovico has not seen any proof that Othello is of solid virtue. Instead, he has seen Othello in a barbaric state. Othello had made the senate believe that he was a noble, sane, and reasonable moor, which was an extremely rare find. However, by striking Desdemona, not only does he change Lodovico’s view, he strengthens the senate’s preformed ideas about his savageness. Driven by jealousy and rage, Othello kills Desdemona, proving that he is really a beast. As he smothers Desdemona, he claims to be “cruel, yet merciful,” which is very false because a merciful person will never commit such an act.
Reactions to Desdemona’s murder and Othello’s subsequent suicide reveal that everyone thinks that Othello was a beast, and that the end of his marriage is imminent. “This I did fear but thought he had no weapon,” remarks Cassio. Although he is directly referring to Othello’s suicide, he is actually talking about Desdemona’s murder. Although he knew that the destruction of their marriage would come, but he didn’t think it would end with Desdemona losing her life. After all, the match of such a remarkable lady and a moor was destined to fail because in the real world, beauty and the beast cannot live happily ever after. Because he is a member of the high class, Cassio speaks for every member of Venetian society.
The question remains: do others’ perceptions of Othello make him a beast or is his bestiality inevitable? Othello lives in a society where he is different and thus, never fully accepted by its other members. Because of the color of his skin, he is regarded as inferior to other Venetians in the same class. He might hold his head up high, but inside he feels this inferiority. Unfortunately, he becomes the thing almost everyone thinks he is. Othello is always thought of as a beast, so he finally becomes one—a beast so fueled by jealousy, rage, and insecurity that he kills his wife, the only person who truly sees beneath his skin color.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Quarter one reflection
When I read Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, I got lost in the story—the characters, setting, and story line—so much that a long time after I read it, I still pondered about it. I imagined myself living in those times, I unconsciously spoke with a British accent, and I even wrote a paper comparing myself to Pip, the protagonist of the story. This, to me, is why we should study literature. We sometimes need to get away from the continuous humdrum of our everyday lives. Literature provides that escape. One can explore 19th century London in Oliver Twist, experience love and the class system in Pride and Prejudice, or go down to the depths of hell in Inferno. Studying literature enables us to escape our everyday lives and increase our capacities of imagination, making us livelier and better people.
My strengths are that I read fast and when I start reading a story, I don’t stop until I am done, especially if the story is very interesting. My weakness is that it is sometimes difficult for me to pick out patterns or symbols when I read. Thankfully, I am improving on that by annotating when I read. Next quarter, my goals are to become a more sensitive reader and improve on my weaknesses. I also want to read other works on my own, especially Dante’s Inferno and
My writing strengths are that I have good grammar skills and my work is understandable. My weaknesses are that I am not as good as I would like at analyzing literature or poetry. My papers are more like summaries of the stories than analyses. When Ms. Ahearn graded my “Sestina” paper, she said I had good structure, but I have to work on my analysis. That is my goal for the next quarter. I will become a better analyst. I got better at proofreading my writing. Last year, Ms. Partridge always told me to proofread, proofread, proofread, but I always had some mistakes. This year, I make sure I have no errors in my writing. I am looking forward to reading new books and improving my writing skills.
The search for light in Oedipus Rex
“You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life,” says Tiresias, a prophet, to Oedipus. This quote reinforces the idea that Oedipus “remains in the dark,” meaning he is ignorant to the truth about his life and of his tragic fate. Because Oedipus is a man of action, a quality that makes him a tragic hero, he goes on a search to find the truth. Unfortunately, he does know what fate has in store for him. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus’s relentless quest to get out of the darkness, a metaphor for ignorance, leads to his downfall, so he literally blinds himself in an attempt to return to that ignorance.
Throughout Oedipus Rex, references to dark and light illustrate Oedipus’s ignorance about his life. When Tiresias, who is blind, tries to tell Oedipus the truth about his life, Oedipus becomes really angry and both men get into a confrontation. Tiresias mocks Oedipus for not knowing who his real parents are, causing Oedipus, confused, to ask, “Parents – who? Wait…who is my father?” All his life, Oedipus believed that his parents were Polybus and Merope, the king and queen of Corinth. In Corinth, he heard that he will kill his father and marry his mother, so he ran away to escape this fate. Ironically, the road he took to escape his fate led him there instead. Tiresias tells Oedipus that “darkness [shrouds his] eyes that now see the light.” Although Oedipus can literally see, he is figuratively blind. He is unable to see that he killed Laius, his father and married Jocasta, his mother. Meanwhile Tiresias, who is literally blind, is able to see the truth because he “sees with the eyes of Apollo.” This shows that sight and light, and blindness and darkness, are not used in the literal sense; they represent knowledge and ignorance. Thus, Oedipus is ignorant and Tiresias has knowledge.
Because Oedipus doesn’t know who killed Laius, he immediately goes on a search to find and punish the culprit; he wants to know who committed such a horrible crime. Oedipus acts quickly, often before thinking, and this is his tragic flaw. There is a plague in Thebes because Laius, the former king, was killed. When the chorus, or voice of the people, come crying to Oedipus about the terrible plague, Oedipus says, “I acted at once.” He immediately sends for people who can provide him with answers because he wants to know. Other kings may have sent messengers to find out the truth, but Oedipus searches for the murderer himself. He promises to “rid [Thebes] of this corruption,” and to “bring it all to light [him]self.” The only thing he can focus on is finding out the truth. He desperately wants to get out of this darkness and see the light. He thinks that finding out the truth will make him happier and safer.
In his obsessive search for the truth, Oedipus ignores all the warnings of his impending doom. He is so consumed with finding the truth that it is all he can think about. “[T]he truth is only pain to him who sees,” pleads Tiresias, trying to convince Oedipus to stop this quest. Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife (and mother), tells Oedipus to be content with his present life and to stop searching for the truth. Finally, the shepherd refuses to tell Oedipus the final clue that will reveal the whole truth to Oedipus. Tiresias, Jocasta, and the shepherd recognize what will happen if Oedipus finds out the truth and they try to prevent this, but he ignores all of them. At this point, he is like a hungry animal with a gluttonous appetite for the truth. He desperately wants to see this light, and he would do anything to achieve that, including torturing the old, helpless shepherd. What he doesn’t realize is that the truth can sometimes cause more harm than it can help.
Oedipus finally discovers the truth, but he does not like what he sees. After Oedipus’s guards torture the shepherd, the latter finally tells the former that he was the baby whom the shepherd found on Mount Cithaeron and gave to the royal family in Corinth. At this moment, everything has been “burst to light.” Oedipus realizes that it is he, in fact, who killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling the very prophecy he tried to escape. “O light – now let me look my last on you,” laments Oedipus. He finally sees the light that many people tried to prevent him from seeing. Unfortunately, he discovers that the light is too bright for his eyes. The knowledge he wanted so much led to his downfall.
In the end, Oedipus blinds himself because he wants to go back to the ignorance in the beginning of the play. Oedipus is so devastated when he finds out that he had fulfilled the horrible prophecy that he uses gold pins to gouge out his eyes and cries, “you’ll see no more the pain I caused.” He even wishes he could “block off [his] ears” so that he would be unable to hear the sounds of life. If he had “remained in the dark,” Jocasta would still be alive, and his daughters Antigone and Ismene would have better futures. Now, Jocasta is dead and no one would want to marry Antigone or Ismene, the spawn of an incestuous relationship. Oedipus now sees that knowledge is pain, so he wants to return to darkness.
Sophocles once said, “not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.” Oedipus learns this lesson the hard way. Like Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Oedipus wants knowledge with a passion. He is obsessed with getting out of the dark. When he finally finds this knowledge, he learns that sometimes it’s better not to know the truth. Even though Oedipus had a tragic fate, his determination and actions make him a hero.
Fences Resource Bank
Here is the link to my Fences website. Bobbie and I have a lot planned for you and I think it will make you laugh (or chuckle, at least). You will know what I'm talking about when you click here.
My favorite blog assignment during the 1st quarter
Assignment: Write a very brief reflection on the process of writing your first AP paper on Bishop's "Sestina." Especially note what your writing strengths and weaknesses are.
Holda said...
It was very difficult for me to begin my essay. I had details, but I didn't know where to start because I kept doubting myself. I didn't want to sound like I was trying too hard. I wrote from the middle to the beginning to the end. Overall, I think it turned out ok for my first poetry analyis essay, but I can definitely do better.
This was my favorite blog post because I got to reflect on the process of writing my fist official AP lit paper, and I had a chance to read other students' reflections. I saw that we all go through very different processes when we write. Finally, I was very (pleasantly) surprised by the grade I received on my "Sestina" paper.
Dealing with Loss in Sestina
In “Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop, a grandmother and her grandchild deal with the loss of a member of their family. The grandmother is sad because of the loss of probably her husband or her son, and although she tries to hide this sadness from the child, it is apparent that the child is aware of the sadness. The setting of the poem and Bishop’s use of repetition and personification reinforce the melancholy mood of the poem and show that the child understands the grief that the grandmother is trying to hide. The rainy and chilly setting in “Sestina” portrays the melancholy mood of the poem. In the poem, the “rain […] beats on the roof of the house.” Rain has negative connotations and it can be associated with sadness. The grandmother complains that the house “feels chilly” and she tries to alleviate this by “[putting] wood in the stove.” This chill represents death, loss, and sadness, and the grandmother, in an attempt to make the child oblivious to this, tries to bring warmth to the house by adding wood to the fire.
Personification is very important in explaining the meaning of the poem. The almanac, the teakettle, and the stove are personified, helping the reader gain a better understanding of the poem. The reason for the grandmother’s tears was “foretold by the almanac,” and the almanac said, “I know what I know” and “Time to plant tears.” The almanac is the bearer of bad news because it foretells the grandmother’s sadness. The grandmother hangs up this almanac, but instead it “hovers half open above the child,” making the sadness present in the house. The stove says, “It was to be,” echoing the almanac’s prediction. According to the stove, the loss is an act of fate and there is no way to escaping it.
In a sestina, the last words of every stanza are repeated throughout the poem, emphasizing an idea. Bishop does an amazing job of portraying that sense of loss through her repetition of “house,” “grandmother,” “child,” “stove,” “almanac,” and “tears.” The grandmother laughs and talks to “hide her tears” but the tears are visible all over the house. The child sees the teakettle’s “small hard tears” on the stove, the child draws a man wearing a coat with "buttons shaped like tears," and tears fall from the almanac into the flower bed the child has drawn in front of the house. The sadness is apparent to the child, even though the grandmother tries to hide it. The painting of the father shows that the child understands why the grandmother is sad. The man in the painting lets the reader infer that the person lost is probably the child’s father or grandfather.
The rain that falls on the house, the almanac’s prediction, the child’s picture, and the tears are all evidence of the sadness that the grandmother feels. Reading jokes from the almanac, adding wood to the fire, and trying to go on with daily activities like having tea is the grandmother’s way of keeping the sadness to herself because the grandmother doesn’t want the child to see her sad. However, the sadness makes itself known everywhere in the gloomy house. By drawing the picture, the child shows that she understands the sadness that her grandmother is trying so hard to protect her from.
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