AP Blog Post The White Company

The White Company is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel following the coming of age of young Alleyne Edricson. Alleyne grew up with monks in an Abbey and, at the request of his father, was to be dismissed from the Abbey at the age of twenty for one year and was given the option of returning only after the one year had passed. The novel offers great examples for the ideas proposed in the first two chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. After leaving the Abbey, Alleyne sets off toward his brother's house to stay with him for some time. On this journey Alleyne learns very much about himself and seems to realize how sheltered he has been. He also realizes that perhaps the outside world is not as terrible as it was made to sound in the Abbey. I wonder if this is what college will be like, or going out into the workplace in order to live on my own. Alleyne also shares a meal with an archer and a man recently discharged from the Abbey, with whom he will eventually embark upon a great journey. This meal, as is asserted in the second chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, symbolizes a certain communion among them. I have also noticed that each chapter almost feels like a short story, and each chapter even has an individual label such as "How the Three Comrades Journeyed Through the Woodlands." This sense has driven me to wish to read an entire chapter at a time, which is a more specific habit than I have noticed before. Many characters in the novel also speak French and it seems the characters who speak French are often ones who have been to war. There are also many religious allusions in the story, such as "dead as Pontius Pilot," which add to a sense of the importance of religion at the time. 

AP Blog Post McTeague

It is interesting to note that this novel ends with the main character, McTeague, stranded in the middle of Death Valley, without water, while hand-cuffed to his dead ex-best-friend. Frank Norris' novel McTeague explores the effects of avarice and the ending may perhaps be a writer's way of saying greed will leave you feeling hopelessly alone and without any friends. Many relationships in this novel were destroyed due to greed and jealousy. In the beginning of the novel it became evident that McTeague and Marcus would have a sort of parting because of Trina's new wealth. Zerkow, a Jewish character obsessed with gold, also kills his wife Maria, the woman he married because of a story she would tell about her alleged past experience with gold, after becoming increasingly paranoid about the existence of the gold plates she would describe. He eventually killed his wife because he decided she was hiding the gold from him. McTeague, a previously peaceful and content dentist, also came into conflict with the corruption of wealth. Old Grannis lost his hobby because he sold his method, and the narrator noted, “He had sold his happiness for money; he had bartered all his tardy romance for some miserable banknotes. He had not foreseen that it would be like this. A vast regret welled up within him.” This one quote simply sums up the entire theme of the book. Tracking the changes in McTeague also offer insight into this theme. In the beginning of the book McTeague was rather content with his ways of drinking steamed beer and taking a nap, but his wife showed him finer things. It should also be noted that these finer things did not increase his happiness, but instead he began to take for granted these expensive habits and discontent with his old less-costly ways.

AP Blog Post The Metamorphosis

     I found The Metamorphosis to be one of the most interesting works I have read. The Metamorphosis is Franz Kafka's famous story describing the transformation of a man, Gregor Samsa, into a large bug and explores themes of rejection and sympathy. Gregor's transformation causes him to be difficult to interact with because he lacks the ability to speak and his appearance generally causes other people want to avoid contact with him. This transformation also revealed to Gregor the unhappiness he felt in his life even before his transformation. Gregor's work as a traveling salesman left him feeling isolated and unhappy even before his transformation. His work made it difficult to form real lasting relationships, and it seems his family, the only people he really had to rely on, failed him when he needed them the most. The Samsa family also seemed to accept the awful misfortune that had befallen them, and allowed it in a way to dominate their lives. This feeling of self-pity and hopeless acceptance of the situation rotted the Samsa family worse than the loss of the economic support Gregor had previously provided. I believe this novella also explores ideas involving death and how quickly things can change beyond our control. Gregor, in a way, died. He transformed into a figure which was alienated and caused his family extreme grief. He could no longer contribute to his family, his job, or even really to his own personal advancement. He required the assistance of his sister to continue an existence and his family had all but buried him underground. Gregor's unhappiness with his life before his transformation was also revealed after his transformation. I would say Gregor learned something about his life in this "death" that would have transformed the way he was previously living, causing him in a way to learn to live life in a meaningful way or at least to look at it from a much different perspective. 

Walt Whitman

     While reading different poems by Walt Whitman, I decided my favorite poem by him was "This Compost." One of the reasons I enjoy reading this poem is the excellent use of tone throughout the poem. The poem begins with a very depressed, grieving tone, but changes by the end of the poem. This change in tone seems to follow the narrator's reaction to a close death. In the beginning of the poem the narrator seems quite distressed, especially in the first line, "Something startles me where I thought I was safest." The narrator's use of the word "thought " in this line, rather than a more definitive word such as knew, implies uncertainty. This, with the use of the past tense, implying that the thought no longer seems true, shows the loss of what once was very important to the narrator. This distress then seems to lead to a certain distrust. In stanzas two and three the narrator asks natural questions. These questions, including "Where have you disposed of their carcasses?" beg the question of exactly how the earth deals with death and where the dead are hidden. The questions seem to bombard the mind of the narrator until finally the narrator has a realization. In the fourth stanza the narrator has this breakthrough and says, "Behold this compost! behold it well!" It is clear that the narrator has changed his outlook on life. He realizes "That the winds are really not infectious," that he should not live in fear of death. The circle of life must include death as an integral part of it. By the end of the poem the narrator seems to be marveling at the great power of the earth and the wondrous way "it grows such sweet things out of such corruption." The narrator's lugubrious tone in the beginning of the poem became one of awe.

This is Water - David Foster Wallace

I appreciate the level of honesty behind David Foster Wallace's speech, without the "rhetorical niceties," but I cannot say I look forward to the dreadfully mundane life he described. As a high school senior, beginning my second semester, such a life seems imminent, just around the corner, waiting on the other side. I find this highly inspirational. I, like David Foster Wallace, find freedom in the ability to choose, to decide how I will experience my life. This ability to take a different outlook offers the opportunity to greatly reduce the amount of stress felt every day. I think this opportunity should be taken advantage of. I truly admire the brutal honesty employed while Wallace spread the reality of what was to come, and I think it is because of that honesty his speech has reached its level of renown. This honesty is quite difficult to come by. Generally speaking, people may not appreciate a word of truth, but would rather have it "fluffed" so everything seems grand. Eventually many may stumble upon the boredom mentioned in this speech and wonder what happened and how it happened. This speech seems like a great preparatory speech, acting not so much as a warning of the way things will be, but simply describing what he says is not often mentioned. I think accepting reality is a good way to begin changing how it is experienced. Wallace also describes a way of looking at things differently. I enjoy such creativity, but I also find it difficult to stop and consider how someone else might feel, especially when I am not in the mood for whatever annoyance that person might have to offer. Overall, I would say I enjoyed Wallace's humble, honest speech with its description of the banal facets of life and wonderful stories involving fish to illustrate such facets.

AP English Literature Blog Post #4

I must begin by saying how shocked I was when I read the note from Julia. I read it at least twice to make sure I read it correctly. After I was done reading the simple three word note, I needed to reread the rest of the page because I was still stuck in the “no way” and the “what does this MEAN?” stages, then I again felt the need to reread the note. I might have also been tired, but I closed the book for a snack break and to consolidate what I just read. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, two weeks before the note, Winston was seriously considering bludgeoning her to death with a nice old paperweight he had just purchased, and before that he wanted to beat her and rape her and leave her to die. Winston thought she was spying on him and would undoubtedly turn him in to the Thought Police, which could only end with Winston being vaporized. Instead, she clandestinely hands him a note, ironically after falling, which says “I love you.” After this encounter Winston finally speaks with the girl, whose name he does not even yet know, and they agree to secretly meet somewhere. I have only completed about two thirds of the book and they are already in a romantic and lustful relationship together, they are conspiring against Ingsoc and Big Brother, they have joined an underground group called the Brotherhood together, and they do not wish to be permanently separated. After becoming more familiar with each character, I have found evidence that they are a good match, but it was only much after the initial shock that I found this idea possible, and for this reason the chapter containing the revealing of the note momentarily upset me. While Julia is very youthful compared to Winston, they both seem, in their own ways, quite rebellious. They are, however, rebellious in different ways. Julia superficially plays her part; and Julia rebels, so far, in less than significant ways while ignoring the scope of the power of the party. Winston also plays his part, he rebels much less often, but he does not fail to realize the impact and power of making up reality. Winston sees the other people as the sheep they are made to be in the book, and it terrifies him as it should anyone. Neither of them have significantly rebelled yet because of the risk of the Thought Police.

AP Lit Blog Post #3

I started reading Nineteen Eighty-Four almost immediately after finishing Animal Farm. I intended to read Animal Farm before reading Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I am glad I did. Reading Animal Farm was an incredible background experience to reading the nightmarish prophecy Nineteen Eighty-Four. I think, with Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell continued from where he was in his message after finishing Animal Farm. One difference I made note of was how abruptly Orwell started Nineteen Eighty-Four. This especially caught me by surprise after reading Animal Farm, which had a relatively slow yet steady build up to the end when the pigs completed their transformation. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell wastes no time at all getting to the harsh details of Big Brother, the Thought Police, the constant surveillance, the distortion of information, or the generally uncomfortable living conditions. I also quickly realized Orwell used much more detail and imagery in Nineteen Eighty-Four as compared to Animal Farm. I imagine he did this not only because he intended Animal Farm to be read by a much larger audience of very diverse age groups, but also to make Nineteen Eighty-Four easier to imagine. The imagery in Nineteen Eighty-Four is meant to be captivating, blunt, and above all – frightening. Nineteen Eighty-Four was Orwell’s way of saying “or else.” In the first third of the book, this story has already consisted of constant surveillance, in the form of both video and audio; the sudden and utter disappearances of individuals by the hand of the Thought Police during the night, casually referred to as being “vaporized;” a language praised for its constantly shrinking vocabulary and elimination of ‘unnecessary words,’ which was called Newspeak; and the acceptance of information as truth, despite being constantly changed and having no legitimate basis in reality. Like Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four is meant to convey how thoroughly populations can be manipulated, suppressed, and exploited, regardless of intelligence. With regard to these stories, I believe Orwell agrees with Edmund Burke's quote "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing."