Awkward...

This blog goes out to all my 8th Period English classmates, who remember that really awkward moment we all shared in class on Friday.  To refresh your memory, Ms. Serensky had to leave class ten minutes early, something she told us about at the beginning of the class period.  It didn't seem like it would be a big deal, at least not to me.  So the clocked ticked by, our discussion wore on, and around 2:35, Mr. Rydquist and his seasonally appropriate beard slid open the door and sat among us in order to tend to the supervisor duties that would be required in five minutes once Ms. Serensky left.  We kept on talking as we usually do, despite the fact that she was now up and putting together her belongings, getting ready to leave for the day as well as the break, not to come back until next year.  And maybe that's what made those few ensuing seconds so awkward.  Because as she put her coat on, picked up her stuff, and proceeded to walk towards the door, the particular student who had been talking finished making their point, and a silence loomed over the room.  With no one bold enough to start up another comment and continue conversation, everyone in the room had nothing to do but beam their eyes at the back of Ms. Serensky's bad back as she slowly walked towards the door.  Recognizing this momentary lapse in speech, and it's awkward implications, Ms. Serensky reached the door and turned to look at us one last time.  With nothing to do, all of us just let out a few awkward chuckles as she wished us one last "happy holidays."  Upon recognizing the awkwardness of this moment and consequently recalling our recent conversation in class about the substitute, primarily Ms. Serensky's faith in us to carry out a conversation sans adult supervision, I sarcastically exclaimed "Let the party begin!" just before she closed the door.  My verbally ironic (<--term) humor was met with resounding chuckles, even though deep down I'm pretty sure we all wanted what I detailed in my last blog to materialize.  But don't worry Ms. Serensky, whenever you read this, because it turns out you were right.  Conversation continued as normal with the silent watch of our merry guidance counselor, right up until 2:48 when you instructed us to grab a school news paper.  We all are good kids, and I highly doubt that if any other class was given similar circumstances, mayhem would have resulted.

Best Class Ever

If you are in the band and in 8th period, you know that you unfortunately missed English class today.  Don't worry though, because I figured I'd be nice enough to let you know what transpired.  But I have to tell you, what you missed was probably what turned out to be the best 50 minutes of our lives.  Okay, so we walk in the class room, only half the lights are on as usual, and we sit down in our seats only to realize that not a single group is complete.  There's at most twelve of us in the class.  So we all consolidated to one half of the room, got out our books and notebook paper, and started taking notes on the most important events in the section of reading we were assigned.  When all of a sudden, the lights go dim.  The blinds swiftly close.  The whole room is dark as night.  No one knows what's going on.  You should have seen the look on Hurtuk's face...  pure terror.  But before you would have known it, a ceiling panel slides away, and out drops from the ceiling, of all things... a disco ball.

Yeah that's right.  And you know those Windows commercials where the guy is like "to the cloud" and then the ground does a 360 and magically appears a sweet new computer?  Same thing happens to Ms. Serensky's desk, only what appears are what must be some of Mr. Maas' turn tables.  And then guess who comes in the room?  That's right, Mix Master Maas himself, ready to drop some phat beats on the class.  I'd never been more excited to hear Ms. Serensky say "pens down" before, because I knew we were about to party.  And party is what we did.  We all got up from our seats and danced like it was the last night of our lives... or at least the second to last day before winter break.  I had no idea John had so many moves, or that Henry could teach us all how to "Dougie."  At one point Donley even got up on top of one of the desks and almost took his shirt off!  But we quickly got that under control.

Everyone was having a blast, and then Ms. Serensky stole the show.  With her bad back and everything, she got out there and started to break dance.  Unbelievable is an understatement for her incredible dancing talent.  I wish we taped it and put it on YouTube: "English Teacher Break Dances in the Middle of Class!!!!"  As the party started to wind down and the bell rang, we knew that this was a class period that we would never forget.  So I guess it's too bad you band kids couldn't make it... bummer...

Can We Have a Video Project Too?

Don't judge, but several of my friends are in Honors English.  So of course I am aware of their video project, in which they formed groups to film a short movie based on the story of Beowulf and Grendel.  My self and a few other AP students were even lucky enough to be included as extras in one particular group's video.  In Spanish 4 last year, a group of us, which included Alex K and two non-AP English students, made two Spanish movies.  We made one of them in the fall and another in the spring, both based upon stories we read in class.  Not only were these movies very fun to make, but they were also extremely beneficial in regards to improving my Spanish knowledge and ability.  Our group in particular went above and beyond the criteria and expectations for these videos, or "over achieved" as I may boldly insinuate.  This could be revealed by their length (22 minutes), content (various special effects including light sabers and a green screen), and hype (one of them completed a trilogy from two previous Spanish movies dating back to eighth grade).  Nonetheless, school video projects for me have been excellent sources of combining the structured and creative sides of education.

So if you read the title of this blog and have considered the details have laid out above, it seems pretty obvious what I am implying here.  I think it would be an outstanding educational (and fun) activity if we took the realm of AP English, like the blogs have, outside of the class room, if we had our own video project towards the end of the year.  My idea is this:

Students form groups of their choice to put together a short film (a minimum and maximum length can be decided upon later) in which they depict the major events, characters, and themes of one of the works of literature we have read by the end of the school year.  They would include elements from our data sheets, such as important quotes and devices, as well as topics from our discussions that resonated because of their importance.  This activity would serve as a brilliant study guide for the AP test, in the sense that we would need to review our group's particular book, we would watch each others videos, and we would be relieved of some of the stress that accumulates as May rolls around, because of the combination of fun and function the project would provide.  So today, I am formally requesting that my teacher and fellow classmates, at the very least, consider this project as a possible assignment.  I personally think it would be very enjoyable as well as beneficial, just as the blogs have been.  So please, can we have a video project too?

One Flew Over The English Class

The fog thickens around me.  I cannot even see my essay lying on the desk.  After struggling to find a rhythm with my pen and brain, I feel as if I have reached a steady pace to write with insight and intelligence while adhering to the time constraints.  But as soon as I feel like the clock is ticking in my favor during this in-class essay, The Teacher calls out "ten minutes."  I can barely hear her, for as she says it the fog simultaneously spreads and clouds my hearing and vision.  At this point, I am confident that at least I am better off than some, the "Juniors" as we call them.  These are the guys who use this notification as a reminder to begin their examples.  Even they themselves don't think they will pass the AP test.  I had been a junior for a long time, as many of us were.  But I've been here for a long time.  With summer and college quickly approaching, most of us should be getting out soon.  We are called the "Seniors," and have shown signs of improvement since our arrival.  For the most part we finish our essays and can analyze poetry and novels pretty well, with only a few mistakes here and there.  Even the best of us can forget to mention who exactly the author or poet is trying to evoke the emotion from when he/she applies pathos.

I look across the room and can barely make out McHurtuk in the fog, the newest student to join us.  His rebellious ways have repeatedly bothered The Teacher, and recently he has tried to get us all to revolt against her.  But none of us want to cause any trouble, because we all know the consequences: Data Sheets.  Unspeakable punishment that occurs once or twice a quarter.  Other times she gives us poems, short little pieces of writing who's elusive meaning and literary devices have kept many of us up late on Sunday nights. But nonetheless, right now I need to squeeze in one more example before I move towards audience and purpose.  The fog thickens so I cannot even see my pen in my hand before my very eyes.  How will I finish this essay?

I have a choice: I could try and fight through the fog, finding my notebook paper on the desk and finishing the conclusion, or I could give in to the fog, and find temporary peace as I let it surround me.  Sometimes giving in to the fog is so easy, because I don't have to bear the thought of scrambling for a completed essay.  But this upsets The Teacher, and I dread her wrath and grade book more than I do the trouble of feeling my way through the fog.  Quickly, my pen flies over the page, writing what I hope are coherent sentences.  But before I know it, "times up, put your pens down."

Drugs and Art: Practically Synonymous

Our recent assignment to research the life of author Ken Kesey as part of our preparation for reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest revealed a lot of, well, interesting facts.  Most notable and memorable in my opinion was certainly his extensive drug use, which is said to have actually inspired a lot of his fiction novel.  How could somebody be so drugged up and write what has become a classic novel?  This question was boggling my mind, but then I realized something.  Think about the majority of popular music released anywhere from about 40-50 years ago all the way up until today.  Think about some of those artists: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, to today's Kid Cudi.  Drugs have influenced some, if not all the music these musicians have created.  Some even sing about it and talk about it interviews.  Think of the cliche "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll."  Whether it's marijuana, acid, alcohol, or anything in between, drugs have more or less produced many of the past's and today's popular music.  But the ironic thing about all this? It's all POPULAR MUSIC.  In one way or another, most of it is good.  Some of these groups and musicians are classic and timeless, and the co-producers of a large majority of their work were drugs.  So I guess it really shouldn't come as a surprise how much acid influenced this book.  It's definitely an awkward discussion, but nonetheless, these are the facts.

Pro Tips for Studying the Data Sheet

Depending on who you are, imagine it's either 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00, and you're about to hit the sack.  No, not the hacky sack, but your bed.  You've been studying your data sheet a good 2 or 3 hours, because the next day an in-class essay awaits you.  You feel pretty prepared, with countless discussions and numerous pages of notes under your belt.  However, one major component of your studying is keeping you awake past your bed time: the elusive memorable quotes section.  Ten phrases, sentences, rhetorical questions that just cannot nestle up and get cozy in your mind.  At this point, you feel that your last best hope is to sleep on your data sheet, and pretend your quotes and analysis will drift your brain by diffusion.  After all, if you are a biology student, you understand that the lower concentration of quotes is in your brain, and the high concentration is in the data sheet.  Naturally, those quotes should slip off of the page and squeeze through your ears and into your brain, to create an equilibrium across the concentration gradient.  I mean, it's science.

But sadly, I've tried this and it has failed every time.  Yes, that implies that I've tried this more than once.  Regardless, there are ways that you can memorize them with ease, or at least more ease than you might have been having.  For example, Dominic and I have had great success with turning each quote into a little jingle or tune.  If you can make the quote into a short song, in which you emphasize some key words and sing in some obnoxious voice that illuminates some kind of flow in the sentence, than those quotes will come easier to you than the lines from your favorite Ke$ha song.  Another classic tip is to shout out random quotes from the book in the middle of unrelated classes.  Nothing beats hearing someone yell out "He is conscious of the fact that his immersion in Maxine's family is a betrayal of his own!!!" in the middle of a lesson about integrals.  Trying to write them out a few different times for practice actually helps, because you will end up writing them in your pre-writing for the essay any way.  Worrying about what other people's quotes are doesn't help though.  I don't know where we got this concept that it might be beneficial to read someone else's Data Sheet and confuse ourselves more.  Just be confident in your own quotes.  And if all else fails, the commons period right before English is prime time.  That's how they do it in the big leagues.  But really, if you have any success on that whole memorization by diffusion thing, let me know.

The Evolution of the Blog

I have to say, I had no idea what to blog about tonight.

But besides the fact that this is a grade, I really wanted to.  Why?  No really, why?  Let's be honest, at least half of the things we do for school we do because they will be graded.  We cannot (and will not) be biologists, physicists, chemists, writers, mathematicians, engineers, artists, and psychologists all at the same time in our adult lives, so we cannot honestly say we do the homework for the other subjects because we plan on pursuing them.  From what I can tell, I will not be a literary critic or professional writer in my later life (but who knows, I may have just jinxed it).  Nonetheless, I feel the need to blog.  So when I thought about "why," the answer was lingering right in front of me all along, and all I had to do was recognize it.

"Bobbie's Blog Banter."

Yeah that's right.  My main inspiration for blogging is the blog show, hosted by our humble English teacher.  Don't tell me that you don't think about your blog being mentioned in those first five minutes of English class.  I know I do.  I've had it in mind every time I've sat down in this chair and logged on to Blogger, especially with the expansion of the show over such a short period of time.  Think about it.  It all started in our dimly lit little room at the end of the English hallway.  Then we went on location to the library, the place where our blogs began.  And most recently, Ms. Serensky stood up from behind her desk, and addressed us in the stadium seating arrangement before the movie started.  I bet it's not long before we actually have the spot lights and theme song we jokingly alluded to when this all began.  So here's to hoping this post was witty enough, insightful enough, or ironic enough (in several ways...) to be on the show come Monday afternoon.

It's Cliché, But...

While hard at work doing college applications today, I came across a simple question on Carnegie Mellon's supplement for the Common Application.  It asks which class that I am currently taking is "most stimulating" or "most academically challenging."  All it requires is a little fill in, room enough for just that name of the class.  Without hesitation I filled in AP English.  I'm sure any of my classmates would have done the same, because let's be honest, no other high school class I'm aware of requires a 20+ page report and analysis of a book... (or 29 page... *COUGH* Donely*COUGH*).

But think about it.  We all know this class is hard.  For one, you see that "is" i just used lackadaisically last sentence?  If I used that in an essay analyzing a poem, instant (-1)!  Secondly, as my fellow blogging classmates have pointed out, class discussions can be a battle royal.  Every aspect of the class seems scrutinized; the words we write, the things we use those words to write about, the things we say in discussion, right down to the margins and heading of papers.  And I have to say, half the time we probably scrutinize ourselves about these things way too much, and end up doubling the amount of pressure.

But, you know what? (and I bet you saw this coming...)

This is the best class I have ever taken.  Really, no other class makes you think this hard.  Sometimes a topic in math might be difficult, but as for a day to day basis, this class kicks your butt.  We've all hated it at one time or another, I know I have.  But that's the best part.  Life isn't all puppies and flowers, and the dim lighting and cold sweat that describe timed writings in AP English help prepare you for that.  I know I'll be better off in college than that kid who didn't take AP English, because "stimulating" and "academically challenging" are understatements for this class.  And for that, I'm appreciative.

Ladies and Gentleman... THE BEATLES!!!

I'm not going to lie, I'm a pretty big Beatles fan.  I don't know if you've heard of them, but they were these guys named John, Paul, George and Ringo from Liverpool that made some pretty good music in the 60s.  If you don't believe me, then here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles.

Anyway, back last year when they released the remastered box set with all The Beatles' albums, I bought it for my dad for Christmas.  Back then, I was familiar with most of the songs that we all seem to know at birth, but beyond that, well, I wasn't familiar with anything at all.  So when we finally opened up the box and listened to all those amazing tracks, I finally discovered what millions before me already had: that they weren't "one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music," as Wikipedia so simply puts it, for nothing.

So you know I must have been REALLY excited when Gogol put on The Beatles (better known as The White Album) in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake in Chapter 4 (top of page 74, middle of the continued paragraph from the previous page, just in case you're following along...).  After first overcoming my elation at the fact that Lahiri was alluding to one of my favorite albums of all time, I took a step back and tried to analyze the allusion like the good AP English student I am...

Like any good Beatles fanatic, I can tell you that the the Fab Four wrote most of the material for this album in 1968 during a transcendental meditation course with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India, in an attempt to get away from it all as the saying goes.  Nonetheless, they still found themselves writing songs.  Upon leaving India and returning to Abbey Road Studios in London, they got to work on this next record, which included many of these compositions along with a few new ones.

Yeah, that's right, I said India. You know, that place where the Ganguli family is from?  Let's just say "REALLY excited" was an understatement for how I reacted when I remembered this factoid.  So what could you conclude with this knowledge?  One thing I drew from the allusion was situational irony, that here he is, being all cool and American and what not, listening to The Beatles, only to be unaware of the fact that most of the material on this album was written in his parent's native country.  Meanwhile, "a cassette of classical Indian music" Ashoke bought for Gogol lies in his room, still in its wrapper (78).  This irony, indirectly nonetheless, further stirs up Gogol's internal conflict over his identity and cultural attachments, whether he knows it or not. He tries to push his heritage away, but subtly, it sticks with him.

Do you have any other impressions of or ideas about this allusion now that I have so generously enlightened you?

Maturity (or Maybe Not...) in The Namesake

For the most part, all of our 8th period class' discussions involving Gogol have wound up bashing the Indian-American protagonist of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel.  We all have our reasons, myself included.  Some of us say he's selfish, others say he's irresponsible, and others say he's never grown up.  I could certainly agree with and make an argument for each of these standpoints, mostly because they all coincide in one way or another.  But I think that most importantly, all of these traits culminate in Gogol's immaturity.  Why? Well, first and foremost, the book starts off in the hours before his birth, and follows his childhood from the very beginning.  Think about it, why not start off the book when he goes to Yale?  Instead, Lahiri tells us the whole opening 18 years of his life in addition to those of his adulthood, because she wants to emphasize his continuous childlike behavior.  That significant chunk of the book (96 pages, about a third of it) juxtaposes Gogol's changing age with his unchanging behavior, a major source of our overall distaste for him.  But most importantly, Gogol's resentful behavior towards his parents, his name, and his culture in his adolescence has never really ended.  He has not matured and moved on, or at least grown to appreciate where he has come from.  Instead he changes his name, continues going by it, practically moves in with Maxine, and ignores his parents.  But with this theme of maturity in The Namesake, I keep anticipating some kind of change of heart from Gogol.  Especially with the unfortunate death of his father and the unfaithfulness of his wife Moushumi, maybe these events will force him to mature, and start accepting the facts of life to try and find some peace and happiness in the world.  Because, after all, with all the criticism he's got from us, I just want him to be happy!

Poetry........

Way back in the beginning of the year, Ms. Serensky asked all of us what we thought about poetry.  I remember the ensuing discussion in our class, which consisted of various opinions flying all around the room.  Some classmates held the opinion that poetry is an important art form, one they respect and have a high regard for.  Others, however, took a hard stance against poetry's importance.  I have to say, back then I was sort of on the fence. Part of me really respected poetry, a form of writing that can convey meaning in infinitely different ways.  But at the same time, perhaps a bigger part of me thought the opposite, that in these infinitely different expressions of meaning it becomes rather trivial.
Well, a few months have past since those first few days, and several poems, essays, and class discussions later, I have to say that I have a new found appreciation for poetry.  Now, now, don't you poetry lovers go saying "I TOLD YOU SO!!," because I am not a poetry fanatic now.  But by struggling though SOAPSTones and essays, I have, for probably the first time, discovered the deeper meanings and messages of the poet.  The images, the diction, and all the other devices poets use have come together to really impress me in regards to how a poet more or less formulates and constructs a poem, rather than just writes one.  What do you think, have your impressions of poetry changed at all?