Blog Post #21

After viewing the clip from Apocalypse Now, right off the bat I could see similarities to Heart of Darkness. Of course the boat with the small group upon it, and arriving to the island where explosions are occurring. Looking past the obvious similarities you can see the racial inequalities occurring. Of course in this clip with the Vietnam War interpretation, it is not Africans being lessened, it is the Vietnamese. The Colonel is tossing playing cards on them like they are nothing, similar to Conrad's descriptions of the blacks, savages and animal like. Colonel Kilgore definable relates to Colonel Kurtz. Marlow in both the novela and clip both want the chance to speak with the Colonel, and never get it. This clip did help me better understand Heart of Darkness. Of course visuals always help with my understanding, but also how it was fast paced, alot was going on and I could see it all in one big picture. In the novela it is much slower with deep description, harder to picture and understand.

Blog Post #18: Reference Blog

I am referencing Donald Bailey's post.

Donny starts off by saying that Gatsby secretly knew he couldn't repeat the past. I feel like this is an interesting idea. I see where Donny is getting this. Maybe Gatsby is in denial. He knows that Daisy is gone, the old Daisy, the old Gastby is too. He just really loves her, and knows he won't be happy without her. So yes this is an interesting point, and I see where he is coming from. However it contrasts with my blog ideas. I believed that Gatsby was so confident in getting Daisy back. He devotes his life to her.

Donny also believes that Gatsby is misusing his past. I agree. He has so much confidence, everything he does in his life is to get Daisy. But people change, he loves the old Daisy. His past expirences with her is what's fueling his drive to be with her. Not who she really is as a person currently. Donny believes that Gatsby is hopeless. However, I believed differently. Donny uses his funeral as evidence to show how only three people attended his funeral, how Gatsby really lost everything trying to get to Daisy. I see these as a failure yes, but I don't see this showing how his journey was hopeless. Daisy and Gatsby were just an Egg away. there is always hope, I mean it happened before.

Blog Post #15

Gatsby's Encounter W/ Nick

First off these passages show that Gatsby really truly loves Daisy. He wants to prove to people wrong, he wants to win Daisy's heart. I wouldn't necessarily say that Gatsby is misusing the past. His past with Daisy obviously was something very special. It's his motive, he cannot simply forget about it, or even lie to himself. What happen in the past with Daisy, is what Gatsby wants for the rest of his life. A person cannot be confused about strong feelings like those. However, maybe just maybe he is misusing his past. Daisy is with another man, people do change, and Gatsby fell in love with Daisy when he was at war. Years and years later he mourns for that Daisy. But that Daisy, is not the same Daisy today. I would not say that Gatsby's quest is hopeless. He loves Daisy with his whole heart, his whole life is devoted to making her fall in love with him. There is hope, Daisy and Gatsby have been with each other before; Gatsby is just fighting to feel that again. So, can a person repeat the past? I don't know. Part of me says yes, you have been there before you know what you need to do, and what need to happen to relive it. But, part of me says no. The past is in the past, everything changes and you cannot relive the same moment in your life. So I mean following my previous thoughts, I restate my opinion; to you cannot repeat the past. Similar things can occur, but never the same thing.

Blog Post #12

Great Gatsby Chapter 3

• Five crates of oranges and lemons, 5?!
• now there is an orchestra
• prodigality?
• most of his guests are not invited... 
• hey! Jordan is on scene ;)
• "with Jordan's slender golden arm resting on mine" hmmm totally likes her
• Where's gatsby?
• Owl eye spectacles, fancy :)
• whats so cool about real books mysterious man?
• Gatsby's parties seem really fun actually
• Hey he meets gatsby, haha and he didn't even know
• What makes Jordan think Gatsby is a liar?
• Nick seems to be just observing the party not really engaging in anything?
• "Old sport"
• shoot whats happening
• Car accident :(
• This guy is real drunk
• Shift
• Learning a little more about Nick
• 
  

Blog Post #20 HOD Part 1

• The biggest and greatest town on Earth? Where?
• The lawyer, and the accountant were not given names, must not be very important.
• diaphanous, wow big word.
• Where are they going?
• Why is it this group of people?
• Who is the narrator?
• dang, wow this is super descriptive
• oh, the narrator is on the ship.
• "one of the dark places of the earth" ooooooooooo
• Marlow is a sailor, cool
• childhood fantasies of "blank spaces"
• oh snap, someone was killed by the natives
• specifically mentioned the adjective black multiple times
• Hello Kurtz  
• oh no um a house is on fire
• marlow is chatting with a brick master

Blog Post #11

When you first read them, it seems like Araby and Dark Rosaleen are both poems about girls that the subjects have strong feelings for. Of course you find out that Dark Rosaleen is actually about the subject’s war-torn homeland, but he writes to her with the same love as a man for a woman. This allows for several connections between the poem and the story.

For example, in Araby, the girl the subject loves is sad because she can’t go to the bazaar on Saturday. “She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent.” p. 17. She is disappointed to miss out on the bazaar. The subject is excited for the chance to try to make her feel better, and promises to bring her something from the bazaar as a gift. It is important to him to make her happy.

In Dark Rosaleen, Mangan also describes the country as sad and without hope and shows how much to subject wants to help ease the pain. “O my dark Rosaleen, Do not sigh, do not weep!” He goes on to describe how the subject has traveled across the land to try to ease the pain. “Over hills, and thro’ dales, Have I roam’d for your sake; All yesterday I sail’d with sails On river and on lake.” Both the story and the poem describe a person who wants to do something to ease the pain of the one he loves.

Another connection is how the authors show the beauty of the girl and the country. The boy in Araby describes the beauty of the girl he loves - he can’t take his eyes off her! “The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.” p. 17. In Dark Rosaleen, Mangan also describes the beauty of the country by comparing it to a woman’s hand. “Your holy delicate white hands Shall girdle me with steel.” Both authors describe the woman’

Another connection between the story and poem is that they both end with disappointment and sadness. In Araby, the boy finally gets to the bazaar, but is too late to find the right gift to take the girl. He leaves empty-handed and full of regret. “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” p. 19. In Dark Rosaleen, Mangan describes the pain and regret of war with “Oh, the Erne shall run red. With redundance of blood,The earth shall rock beneath our tread, And flames wrap hill and wood.”

Blog Post #24 Final Reflection

Dang, wow. First semester of my senior year is over in 5 school days. 5. That's so crazy to me. But what's even crazier is to think of how much I've grown this semester. Now, this blog is strictly for AP Lit, ill stay on the topic of growth in this class. At the beginning of the school year I didn't know what to expect. Quite honestly I didn't understand the difference between AP Lang and AP Lit so I really believed that this class was just going to be like last year, maybe a little more in depth, but I didn't think we were going to learn anything new. But the first week in I could tell that it is a whole different atmosphere from Lang & Comp.

I feel like I have grown a lot in this class. Let me rephrase that, I know I have grown a lot in this class. This class is the only class this year where I feel like the work in class isn't busy work. We do a lot of the same things, however they all have a purpose, and I really really appreciate that as an AP student. I think that right there is an example of how I have grown, I have grown to know what's important for my learning and for my success. Another area where I think I have improved immensely is my comprehensive skills. When looking at I text I can understand the meaning of it a lot better than I could before. That's very, if not the most important thing to do as a reader.

My favorite piece of work we have read this year was actually toward the beginning of the year. It was a sample college essay by Chi Zhang- "Simple Sentences". I absolutely loved this piece of work. He literally explained his whole life in one page. I was never bored and I was left wanted to meet this guy Chi. I even said to myself I was gonna take one of his lines for my senior quote, "I know where Waldo is. Always." After reading this I was for sure inspired to write a piece that kept my readers entertained like this did for me.

Overall, I have grown as an "ape", and with the help from Mr. Allen, I am successfully preparing myself for this AP test on May the 4th (be with you). So, three power claps on three for a good semester..
1,2,3
*Clap, clap, clap* :)