Buccanear

I can't believe I lost. Everything was going right for me all day. I was ruthless and effective in my ghost tactics but when push came to shove, I failed. I had it all planned out, as soon as Ms Serensky threw out "B" in the final one on one match I had a feeling i had her beat. I telepathically knew that as soon as I said "U" she would come back with "C," thinking I would fall by spelling "buck" or something. As soon as she blurted out "C" i came back with a "C" and knew I had it won. But at the very end, I forgot buccaneer was spelled with two e's rather than an e and an a so I shamefully lost my chance to defeat the great Ms. Serensky. Even though I lost, it was still a great last day of AP English and last day of high school (EWM!). So yeah I guess this is my final blog. Its sad that this phase of my life has come to a close but I hope to use what I've learned to make my next phase that much better.

Dear Fellow AP English Students,

            I’m going to keep it short and sweet. I have had such an intellectually inspiring expereience over the past two years in AP English. It has really enabled me to see the immense talent that my peers here at CFHS have. I have learned so much from all of my fellow AP Englishers and I hope to use that knowledge to my advantage in the future. Being able to withstand nightly soapstones, intimidating papers, data sheets and poetry papers has prepared me immensely for college and for my life in the real world. I want to thank Ms. Serensky for never going easy on us because life will never just go easy on us. I feel prepared to face the rigors of college due to my time in AP English; without it I would certainly feel overwhelmed when thinking about my next four years. I’m sad to say goodbye to AP English and all of my peers. I have had a great 13 years with everyone and a great two years in AP English. To everyone: good luck and may the force be with you.

Top Ten Reasons to Take AP English

1.) Prepares you for the real world.
2.) Makes you feel confident that you can handle college academics.
3.) You become an amazing writer.
4.) You appreciate your fellow classmates more.
5.) It's actually pretty fun even though it doesn't exactly get that rep.
6.) You get your own website with your name in the URL.
7.) It will help in writing college essays and it looks great on transcripts.
8.) Multiple Choice at the end of each quarter.
9.) The AP test seems like no big deal.
10.) You can brag about writing 25 page papers.

Characters Responses to One of the Essay Topics

Algernon: “It is much pleasanter being here with you” (Wilde 24)

Rodney: “I’m sorry I really am. It’s just I’m so worried” (Currie 136)

Algernon: “It might make you very unwell” (Wilde 42)

McMurphy: “‘Hooeee, look at what we got here’” (Kesey 23)

Rodney: “I’m not smart enough to figure it out” (Currie 130)

Algernon: “So I know my constitution can stand it” (Wilde 42)

McMurphy: “‘I just’d kind of like to know which of these birds has any guts and which doesn’t’”(Kesey 139)

Rodney: “I have a hard time understanding big words” (Currie 131)

McMurphy: “‘I’d be scared’” (302)

Algernon: “The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility” (Wilde 6)

Rodney: “I don’t know what [it] means” (Currie 131)

Algernon: “you are smart!” (Wilde 8)

Rodney: “I don’t like you saying things like that” (Currie 129)

Algernon: “It is perfectly phrased!” (Wilde 16)

Rodney: “No I don’t believe what [you’re] saying” (Currie 130)

Loved EVERTHING About It

            I certainly enjoyed Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr. the most out of any of the books we have read thus far in AP English. First off, I loved the contemporary nature of it. I felt like this made it much easier to relate to. Even in very small instances, I could relate my current life to the book. For example, Junior has to use a “Gatorade of the Fierce Melon variety” at one point during the novel (Currie 89). “Fierce Melon” is without doubt my favorite Gatorade flavor so I could easily relate my life to Junior’s in this small but important instance. Additionally, I really enjoyed that Rodney played baseball. I love everything about the game and I really came to admire Rodney’s character. Rodney simply “doesn’t feel pressure…It’s what makes him so good” (Currie 72). I am very jealous of Rodney’s baseball abilities and approach to the game. I often think way too much in the batter’s box and end up letting that prevent me from having a quality at-bat. The final reason I enjoyed the book revolves around Junior’s decision to focus his life more on his relationships when given his second chance by the entity. The entity basically tells him, “Do whatever you want, I don’t care” and he decides to go back and cherish the time he has with the people he loves (Serensky 5-27-11). I absolutely loved how Junior spent his last moments in the second universe in “a warm package of humanity” as opposed to “alone at the summit of Maine’s tallest mountain” (Currie 302, 261). The juxtaposition of the two endings highlights that Junior’s decision to focus more on the people he loved really helped to make his life better and more enjoyable. Everything Matters! encapsulated many of my own interests and also conveyed messages that hit home to me. I consider it one of the best novels I have ever read. 

Can't Beat Dodgeball Glory

10. Just making my list is an experience that occurred at the beginning of my sophomore year in APUSH. As an intimidated young sophomore taking my first AP class I felt “like I was too dumb to” handle such a rigorous academic environment (Kesey 210). To my surprise, I scored a perfect 10/10 on my first essay on Puritans. Most of my fellow APUSH students freaked out over their sixes and sevens so I felt pretty thrilled and felt that AP classes were not all they’re cracked up to be.

9. This one may not be the most academic thrill in the world but it occurred in school and with an academic instrument. Way back in the awkward freshman days, I was an avid calculator gamer. “It is obvious that [my] social spheres [were] widely different” as a freshman (Wilde 37). But anyways, I got the most epic high score ever witnessed in the history of CFHS. I played one game of Avalanche for over a half hour straight in Mr. Salyers’ study hall and scored 25,252. I have never seen anyone get above 6,000 so yeah; it was thrilling to say the least.

8. Undoubtedly the most difficult time thus far in my high career has been my AP Computer Science class. Every Friday we have two nine point AP problems that just rocked my world for a while. I “press[ed] ahead with getting clobbered” weekly on the Friday problems, usually scoring a 3 or 4 out of 9 (Currie 105). But two Fridays ago I had my breakthrough, scoring an 8.5 and 9 out of 9 and feeling as thrilled as anyone could about two 9-point assignments.

7. Who wouldn’t feel thrilled after finishing a 25-page paper at 4 in the morning? Well after hours of exhaustive work I finally hit ctrl + P and witnessed “‘the end, the absolute, irrevocable, fantastic end’” of my first ever data sheet (Kesey 304). The moment I printed the mother load of analysis and pain I felt all sorts of stress and anxiety lift from my body.

6. If you text and drive, you may be “in the waning moments of your existence” according a highly acclaimed study done by the great Alex Hurtuk and Jimmy Boldt (Currie 261). Alex and I did our 10^th grade research project on cell phones and driving and we aced it, I mean we really aced it. Getting such a good grade on such a large project gave the 10^th grade me quite the thrill.

5. Tenth grade English class…Ms. Beach: “We are going to have a guest speaker tomorrow, he doesn’t have any arms or legs.” … Lizzy Burl: “Does he have bones?” … Alex Kreger: “Yeah he just rolls around like a big gelatinous mass everywhere.” This was one of the funniest moments for me in school. The speaker may have been “legless and armless” but he was anything but boneless (Currie 113).

4. Moushumi! Enough said. I felt “so full of sympathy” for whoever had to play that part (Kesey 233).

3. The second greatest day of my school career occurred on the day before winter break of my sophomore year. I sat in second period APUSH class and watched as Mr. Brownlow stood atop a desk with his famous wooden stick ranting about sectionalism or something when BAM! the power went out. Mr. Browlow immediately let out a frightful scream as all of us wondered what was going on. After about ten minutes in the dark word came through that we could leave school if our teacher talked to our parents first. After my mom and Mr. Browlow chatted for a brief minute, I booked it out of class, met up with my best friend Charlie Micunek in the hall and sped out of the school, starting winter break six periods early. That school day seemed “to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection (Wilde 31).

2. On December 10, 2010 I was going to hear whether or not I made it into Dartmouth College. The email came out at exactly 4 pm and beginning at 3:59 I stared at my computer screen… waiting. “The suspense [was] terrible” to say the least (Wilde 52). When I finally opened the email and saw that I had gotten in, I felt so relieved and thrilled. I felt that my previous 11.5 years in school had finally paid off for something.

(Alex K)

1. Some may not consider my most thrilling academic moment in high school very academic but because it happened during the actual school day, I find it perfectly academic. It was Springfest 2010, the day of the annual dodgeball championship. This dodgeball tradition sets itself apart from all other traditions in the school. It’s a time when the ENTIRE student body watches an athletic event together. In past games, the fans have been divided, whether it be by grade or by social orientation. The 2010 game was far different on the other hand. The game featured the heavyweight team, Team Cheesed, against the surprise team, the East Washington Mafia. I played for East Washington Mafia. Before the game began our nervous team huddled in the girls locker room (one of the teams had to be in there) and got pumped up for the most important sporting event in any of our lives. As we approached the stairs to make our appearance on the court, the entire gym filled with boos as Team Cheesed took the floor. Moments later we ran onto the floor to massive cheers. Once the game began, we garnered more and more support from the crowed as everyone but one or two people cheered for us. Chants of “MAFIA, MAFIA, MAFIA” roared through the building as Team Cheesed players fell. After winning the first game and losing the second, the championship came down to one final game. We came out strong and took an early advantage. Taylor Mendel, Austin Sauey, Danny Murtaugh, Alex Kreger, myself and even Jillian could not be stopped as we dodged and dipped our way past incoming balls and fired some back with often-deadly accuracy. The final seconds were a mad rush as EWM players charged, balls flying, toward the one or two remaining Cheesers. As soon as the last opposing player fell, the crowd erupted. I felt greater “joy and love in just this one last moment” than I had experienced in all of high school (Currie 302). I had never been in such a loud gym in all of my life. We had done the impossible, defeated an over confident team with some of the best athletes in the school on it while uniting the entire student body behind us. I am very positive that Chagrin Falls High School will never see a comparable game ever again. It was quite the feat and quite the thrill. Surely number 1 material.

If I had to Choose One...

 I would choose “Winter in the Summer House” by Robert N. Watson. I could relate to the poem the most because my dad’s side of the family owns a summer house on Long Island, New York and we go up there for two weeks every summer. It’s a place where I would “play with wonderful expression” as a kid (Wilde 1). I have a lot of good memories of the house and the poem seems to evoke the old man’s memories of his house as well, although his have more of a melancholic tone to them. Nowadays our summerhouse in New York “seems to be the proper sphere for the man”  (Wilde 35). We enjoy going boating, kayaking, throwing the baseball around and shooting our pellet rifles on the dock. Similarly, the manly old man in the poem “[keeps] his tools / In pegboard tracings” and drives an “old Dodge” (Watson 9-10, 13). The poem also brought up memories of the house itself. Built in 1941, the house is pretty old and has “cracks in the hardwood floors” and “the walls [are] painted but not covered” (Watson 4, 6). “I cannot deny it,” the charm of living in a somewhat older house for two weeks really makes the experience great (Wilde 39). Watson poem really brought out some memories of my families house on Long Island, thus making it my favorite of all the poems we have read this year. 

FIELD TRIP! FIELD TRIP! FIELD TRIP!

            Honestly what day could possibly beat the day we went to see “Othello”? I mean we got out of school, saw a pretty awesome play and ate FOOD! It was a day that seemed “to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection” (Wilde 31). The play itself was amazing on its own although our comfortable VIP seats made the experience so much better. After looking down at the other students below, I “wish they understood that there is joy in [the] fact” that we have the chance to have fun doing something AP English related outside of school (Currie Jr. 302). After getting off the bus the good times continued in the Sands Community Room. To top the day off completely, the pizza man showed up late, ensuring that we would miss the remainder of the school day. After gorging on pizza, cookies and not salad, we went into groups and “discussed the theatrical effects of the play.”  Upon leaving school that great day, all of us AP English 12 students were “swimming in that kind of tasty drowsiness that comes over you after a day of going hard at something you enjoy doing” (Kesey 255).

Suicide By Comet is Definitley the Way to Go

Lady Bracknell (Marriage Counselor): Tell me of your marriage troubles Sir Ralph.

Ralph: “We were a mismatch” (255).

Lady Bracknell: Ah I see. I am sure you must have had a long engagement; it appears everyone is doing it these days, such indecency. “To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity finding out each other’s character before marriage” (48). I can assure you Sir, that your rather lengthy engagement brought the demise of your marriage.

Ralph: Yeah I guess that could have had something to do with it. I just feel that society pressures long engagements these days.

Lady Bracknell: “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, [Ralph]. Only people who can’t get into it do that” (47).

Ralph: Ya know what? I’m gonna get real weird with it, “I’ve decided to commit suicide by comet” (254).

Lady Bracknell: What kind of nonsense is this? A comet? Have you any self-respect?

Ralph: I guess not anymore now that I live in an abandoned shack in the desert. Goodbye Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell: A comet? I have never heard of such a preposterous idea.

Not Such a Good Day for John Sr.

            All right, I know my ten-year-old son is a cocaine addict, but what do you what me to do? I have to work long hours just to pay the bills and keep food on the table. I felt my treatment in the AP English discussion was quite unfair. I mean, I have to work all day and I simply can’t keep on eye on my son. My wife has not been of much help, “[she] doesn’t seem to notice” his very odd behavior (41). I’ve sadly had to discover my son’s addiction on my own without any help from my alcoholic wife. So yeah, I feel like I was treated unfairly. I saw some of the signs, I knew the whole “no more baseball” crap was odd and as soon as I saw that his “pupils [were] huge” I had to act (43, 45). So I did like any parent would. Many of the students referred to me as a bad and ignorant parent, and to some extent I was a bit ignorant but what else do you want me to do? Baby-sit my kid 24 hours a day and watch my electricity get shut off and watch as my wife and kids go hungry. One of the only students who cut me any slack was Thomas Donley, he said, “John Sr. is a great, hard working American dad and can’t help if his wife fails to notice her son’s odd behavior.” I appreciate Thomas’ admiration for my hard work and utmost devotion to America. As for you other AP students, you try working twelve hours a day with an alcoholic wife and see if you can spot your kid’s addiction right off the bat. Most of you wouldn’t last ten minutes in my shoes, so buzz off and quit criticizing me … or else I’ll break “your weasel neck[s]” (79). 

I Don't Think Big Rodney Ever Took AP English 11

Jimmy: Rodney, did you ever cogitate Advanced Placement English 11 during your high school studies?

Rodney:  “I don’t know what that means. Please stop trying to confuse me.” (131).

Jimmy: I’m very sorry; I did not intend to confuse you. I just wanted to know if you took a particular English class in high school. I had a great experience in the class and it helped me a lot to become a better writer and overall student. I just wanted to know if you had a similar experience.           

Rodney: “You know how bad I am with time” (131). Was high school before of after middle school? I can’t remember.

Jimmy: It was after, when you hit in front of Ted Williams.

Rodney: Oh ok, I remember. I never took any Advanced 11 English Placement or whatever that was.

Jimmy: Well Rodney, you missed out on a great class.

Rodney: All I did in high school was baseball and I would “play Street Fighter III and Dreamcast” sometimes too (128).

Jimmy: It’s unfortunate that you missed out on such a quality learning opportunity.

Rodney: “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, and I’m not saying your wrong … but I don’t think that’s true at all”

Sports and Intelligence Don't Always Go Hand in Hand

 

            Sometimes lacking in intelligence can make you a better athlete. As we have seen in our book, intelligence can play very little role in succeeding at sports. Although Rodney’s brain has been severely damaged by his cocaine addiction, he can still play baseball, arguably the most difficult sport to master, at a very high level. I believe his ability is enhanced by his reduced intelligence. He can step up to the plate and hit without ever over thinking the situation: “He doesn’t feel pressure. He doesn’t even understand that others do. Its what makes him so good” (72). I can relate to this as a baseball player. Often when I set up to the plate to hit, I find myself thinking about all the possible outcomes of my at-bat. Thoughts like, “If I single up the middle I’ll get two more RBIs or if I groundout to the right side I can advance the runners or if I strike out looking Sweeney will be ticked off at me” swirl in my head as I am about to attempt to do the most difficult action in sports. I find that I am most successful when I “dumb it down” a bit and clear my head of all thought. Players like Rodney can hit without even thinking about not thinking. I believe that this is what makes players like Rodney, Manny Ramirez and Josh Hamilton so good. They can go up to the plate without their thoughts distracting them and holding them back from doing the simple task at hand: hitting the ball.            

Ignorance in Libya

            Over the past couple weeks I’ve been glued to the 6:30 news every night hoping to find out more about the conflict in Libya. For everyone that does not know what has been going on, the people of Libya have revolted against their dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, who has ruled the country for forty years. Unlike the recent uprising in neighboring Egypt, the Libyan uprising has been extremely violent, with both sides fighting each other with heavy weapons. Qaddafi even ordered fighter jets to bomb his own people. Now, many army units have deserted and joined with the anti-government forces. The result is that the anti-government forces control nearly half the country. What I have found extremely intriguing about the whole situation is the fact that Qaddafi has seemed about as far as one can get from reality. After killing hundreds of his own people in the capital of Tripoli, Qaddafi denied using any force. He also added that the protestors are high on hallucinogenic drugs provided by al Qaeda. In recent interview with the BBC, when asked about the uprising, he calmly denied its very existence saying that all his people love him and would die for him. All of this while the entire eastern half of his country is armed and ready to topple his regime. I find it very troubling that a world leader (and leader of one the world’s top oil producing nations) could have such a delusional view on the events happening in his own country. It looks as though the situation in Libya will not end any time soon. With the stubborn Qaddafi still in charge of the army the future looks dismal for the Libyan people.

Thoughts on the Poetry Project

  I don’t know about anyone else but I am surely enjoying the change of pace that the poetry project has brought to class. Its very refreshing to have a somewhat more laid back class every day. I also find it interesting how the groups thus far have led class in very different and unique ways. Both groups that have gone in third period were quite entertaining. I especially liked the self proclaimed “Dream Team’s” game, even though my comment landed my team out of the game first. I thought it was hilarious having to make Ms. Serensky decide which group she though made the worst comment. I certainly look forward to what the upcoming groups have to offer. Although this poetry project has literally brought some fun and games to the class, I think it really does help us. Having to read a variety of poems written by very different authors and at different times will surely make us ready for whatever the AP test throws our way. I also think the nightly soapstones help get jumpstarted into thinking in depth about the poem. I have found myself each of the past three nights feeling ready to write a poetry paper after completing the soapstone. We have written so many poetry papers after writing spoapstones that it feels natural to get geared up to write a poetry paper following the completion of a soapstone. That is where I think the genius lies in the project. By writing a soapstone, we naturally get in the zone to write a poetry paper, which means that we are probably thinking deeply about the poem. The poetry project enables us to think deeply about many poems without having to spend the many hours constructing a lot of poetry papers. I feel that this project is a very efficient use of our time while still providing us with deep insight into many poems.

 

Paper Covers...Data Sheet

Paper takes less time, Very Nice!

A Most Surprising Juxtaposition

            The Cavs, oh the Cavs. As most everyone knows, the Cleveland Cavaliers now own the record for the most consecutive losses in NBA history. It makes me very sad every time I see another “Cavs Fall Again” headline in the Plain Dealer. It’s really quite unbelievable how much of a 180 the Cavs managed to pull off. They had the best regular season record in the NBA just last season and now, less than a year later, they are arguably the worst team in NBA history, if not sports history. Murphy’s Law began its chokehold on the Cavaliers as soon as LeBron James announced that he would take his talents to South Beach. Although all us Cleveland fans worried about the future of the Cavs, no one could have imagined that we would be this bad. Injuries to key players like Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams combined with the loss of big-men Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Shaquelle O’Neil factored in to the Cavs’s ineptness this season. So, a bunch of NBA backups playing in the aftermath of losing the best player in the NBA losing 26 games in a row should not come as too much of a surprise. The part I hate most about the losing streak is that it makes LeBron look like some sort of basketball god. To the casual fan it looks like the Cavs were the best team in the NBA with him and are the worst team in the NBA without him. Although LeBron’s departure has made the Cavs into below average team, all the injuries, Byron Scott’s new system and the departure of other players have made the Cavs the worst team in league. It really saddens me to think that without LeBron, Cleveland sports are in absolute ruin. 

Cowardice

 

            Come on Clive. Really? Write down the sound a bird makes instead of help a woman getting beat up by a shady looking guy in the middle of the forest? It’s kind of pathetic if you ask me. He needed to go down that hill and help out the woman in need. Especially considering he felt “that there was not really so much physical difference between him and his thirty-year-old self” (88). His cowardice does not shock me though. I feel like characters wimping out in the face of adversity is a fairly common theme in movies and books. Take the movie Saving Private Ryan for example. Toward the end of the film, during a major battle scene, the young inexperienced private Upham tries to deliver much needed ammunition to his fellow soldiers. But as he walks up the stairs to the building his comrades are in, he hears a brawl going on in the building. He hears a German soldier and one of his fellow American soldiers engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Upham freezes up on the stairs, unable to move into the room and help his buddy. In the end, the German soldier wins the battle and excruciatingly kills the American soldier. He then walks down the stairs, sees Upham harmlessly cowering in fear, and moves on without hurting him. Upham’s failure to act closely resembles Clive’s failure to act. Although we do not know what happened to the girl and the shady guy, it would seem that it did not end well for the girl. Both Clive’s and Upham’s failure to act in the face of adversity show their cowardice and selfishness. Deep down, the reason each did not act certainly centered on the fact that they did not want to hurt themselves in the process. I find it hard to read/watch such cowardice knowing that others could have been helped.  

Second Semester Senior is Bliss

Upon the completion of the last high school midterm exams of our lives, I felt a great calmness come over my life. All the hard work and time put into to school for the past 11.5 years now seems undoubtedly worth it. All of us seniors have put ourselves into a position where we can tone down our stress levels and relax for one more semester together. My dad recently told me that I should make the best of my next seven months before college because it will be one of the only times in my life where I can feel comfortable about the stability of the few years ahead of me. Once out of college we will all experience the anxiety of not having concrete immediate future jobs or feel the pressure of having to excel at our job or else be at risk of losing it. We should feel very fortunate to find ourselves in such a favorable stage of life. It feels so good to go school and not feel the stress of having to attain a particular grade or to get a certain GPA anymore. One result of this relative relaxed state revolves around the fact that we perform better in some aspects of school. Take toady’s in-class writing for example. I did not feel the usual jitters upon flipping over the question sheet and I did not feel overwhelmed by deciding what to write about. Without stressing about our grades I feel that our AP English grades will go up as oddly as it may sound. I truly believe that writing in a more relaxed and stress free state fosters creative and deep ideas. Overall, this whole second semester senior thing has been going pretty well. School without having to stress isn’t half bad.

The Beauty of the Blog

 

            As I sit here on my computer with football on in the background I begin to realize the beauty of our blog assignment. Honestly, what could be better than doing a semester exam for a difficult AP class in the luxury of one’s own home? I have sincerely enjoyed having the ability to relax and blog on my own rather than having to stress over a 90 minute essay worth 20% of my grade. Also, I feel like we have written about much broader subjects in our blogs than we would have done in a semester exam essay. We had the chance to express our creativity in ways that wecould not have done otherwise. I feel like it got our brains working in a different way. Instead of doing typical “cookie cutter” essays which have not changed much since last year we could freely and more effectively express our thoughts.

            Another aspect of the blog project I really enjoyed was reading other student’s blogs. Like seriously I actually liked reading them. For one, they are mind expanding and thought provoking. They’re also often hilarious and really fun to read. Getting to see another side of many of my companions makes me feel very confident that CFHS has prepared us well for life in the real world.

            Overall, the blog project rocked. It provides the perfect amount of low stress and work for a final exam.

Learning How to Ski, Kind of Like Learning How to AP English

            This past Friday, I decided to go skiing for the first time in my life. I discovered that my experience mimicked my experience in AP English in a way. As I held on to the towrope taking me up to the top of the bunny hill, I thought, “how hard can this be.” I felt a similar way over a year and a half ago doing my first ever AP English assignment, which consisted of me describing something I did on the last day of summer. Once I got to the top of the hill, my buddies taught me some of the basics of skiing, like how to stop and turn so I don’t kill any unsuspecting five year olds. As I dug my poles into the ground and pushed myself forward I began to think I was in some trouble. I recall feeling the same sort of dread moments before my first in class writing junior year. I felt all of my aforementioned confidence slip away. I went tearing down the bunny at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour; my attempts to stop failed and I found myself quickly on my rear with my skies unattached to my feet and my poles ten yards above me on the hill. Walking out the classroom after getting a three rubric score on that first in class writing made me feel the exact same. Even with my extreme failure, I kept on trying. I fell fewer and fewer times until I could go down the bunny hill without a hitch. Similarly, my rubric grades slowly but surely went up from a 3+ to a 4- to even a 5- at my best. After dominating the bunny hill, I decided to test my newly honed talents to the blue square hill. After my maiden voyage on the chairlift I went down the blue square after falling only once, or maybe twice. It certainly got my confidence up and I started to really enjoy skiing sort of like how I enjoy AP English now. It may have taken just a bit shorter to get the hang of skiing than AP English but both show that if you keep working at something, you will eventually succeed.

Shutter Island's Brilliant Opening Scene

 

            I felt that the beginning of Shutter Island was brilliantly done. It really drew in the audience and set the tone for the rest of the film. The image of the two marshals on the ferry approaching the island gave me a very eerie feeling. A combination of the misty fog and Marshall Daniel’s seasickness created a very uncertain tone as they approached the island. The two Marshall’s conversation also sparked my interest. After Chuck asks Daniels if he saw the briefing, Daniels responds by saying, “The island is a mental hospital…for the criminally insane.” By creating a pause in the middle of Daniels’ sentence, Scorsese highlights the words “criminally insane,” thus building suspense. I distinctly remember those lines from the preview from about a year ago so clearly they were meant to stick. Another aspect about the opening scene I enjoyed revolved around the music. The crescendo of the music just as the ship began nearing the island really gave me the creeps. It foreshadowed very bad things to come on the island. Overall, the opening set the stage perfectly for the movie. It created suspense and it foreshadowed that troubles lay ahead. I found the opening scene to be spectacular. 

AP English: Training for Life After CFHS

            As I wrote my dreaded college essays a while back, I thought of how much more difficult they would have been if I had not taken AP English both junior and senior year. I felt very comfortable expressing my thoughts on paper and I almost enjoyed writing some of them…almost. AP English has prepared all of us for college and life in the real world more than any other class in the school. I feel that almost all professions put to action the skills we hone in AP English class. Most professions require the ability to write well, to read and analyze carefully, to problem solve, to meet deadlines, to complete large projects in relatively short amounts of time, and to communicate. I firmly believe that AP English gives each and every one of us those skills. Having those skills will in turn give us an advantage when we begin working.

            In addition, AP English gives us a glimpse into what it takes to succeed in college and in the workplace. Unlike in countless other CFHS classes, AP English makes you responsible. We must take it upon ourselves to come in and make up work or turn in assignments on time even if we fall ill. I think that the responsibility and accountability we learn in AP English will most definitely prepare of for success in college and the workplace. Having responsibility will not come as a shock when we enter college because we will already feel accustomed to it due to our AP English experience. All of us AP English students will surely put our skills to action once we enter the real world. I believe that we will all have a distinct advantage after we leave CFHS because of our experiences in AP English.

The Asian Invasion

            Last year in AP 11, I earned the reputation that I dislike Asians. It all started in one of the end of the quarter multiple-choice games. Jillian was in a competing group and a passage arose that dealt with China. I simply stated that Jillian’s group has a distinct advantage over everyone else because they have someone of Chinese descent. Then boom, Miss Serensky labels me as an Asian-hating racist, all in good humor of course. This label has come up many times throughout the year and I do feel a bit awkward sometimes because I get the feeling that unaware classmates believe the accusations are fact rather than playful banter. In reality, I have nothing against Asians. They have done many great things in history, like get the first Atomic bomb dropped on them and fight three wars against the US in the 20^th Century and only lose one.

            I write about Asians today to share the irony that shortly after I joined the Dartmouth ’15 facebook page, I received four friend request from my future classmates, all four of them Asian. I felt so excited that I texted the news to Jillian who promptly wrote on my wall, “Hahahah I just major creeped. You're gonna love them by this time next year. Your roomate could even be one...” I can only imagine if one of them picked up on the gist of the message. That’s very awkward if they did. After reading this message, one could insinuate incorrectly that I…

1. Do not currently “love them”

2. Am creeped out enough by Asians that I told my friends about them friend requesting me

I may just carry on my Asian hating reputation with me to college if that wall post gets enough views.

To Start the Data Sheet or to Not Start the Data Sheet

 

            Like most of my fellow classmates, I have yet to start my data sheet. And as winter break begins to wind down I am starting to think about the positives and negatives of my decision.

Here are some of the positives of not starting a 179-point project over winter break:

·      Higher enjoyment of winter break

·      More time to hangout with family and friends

·      More time to ski, snowboard, and do other fun winter activities

·      No ridicule from classmates

·      More time to blog

·      Saving energy by not using a computer

And the negatives:

·      Could cause stress toward the end of break

·      Students may experience exhaustion, insomnia and anxiety during the first week back from break

·      Sparks anger toward those who did a lot of work over break

·      Lowers overall academic performance due to fatigue in the first week back

Based on my lists, the most prudent course of action would be to start the data over break but my desire for a relaxing and fun two weeks of break outweigh the one week of anxiety and stress.