The Conclusion

In looking over my 28 total blog posts from across the year, I noticed that from past to present, I've really opened up in my writing and in expressing my thoughts. I had not really had blogging experience of any kind before this class, and so at first I didn't quite know what type of writing fit blogs well. I remember spending ages, and much too long, on my initial entries, determined to make every sentence perfectly right. As a result, at the beginning, many of them seemed quite forced and unlike how I usually write. Commonly, I would use complex terminology that did not fit the prompt and the rest of my language, in an effort to make the post more essay-like, such when I used the phrase "accumulated considerable admiration" in my third blog on To Kill A Mockingbird. Due to such things, the blog assignments felt stressful and time-consuming at the start of the year. Now, I feel considerably more free in my writing, and do not have to stop and think hard every few words, but instead write continually, which is much more enjoyable. It helps me to be able to express my style of writing and my thoughts much more easily, and while I still often strive to use more complex words, they are much more natural, and are used to help the point that I am conveying, rather than to just make the diction more formal. As said by writer Somerset Maugham, "a good style should show no signs of effort: what is written should seem a happy accident."

Another thing that I noticed upon viewing my past posts was that there were a great spectrum of different topics that I wrote about from the many different kinds of prompts that were assigned. The variety of the prompts had not occurred to me at the time when I was writing them, as I was concentrating on the writing itself. They ranged from interpreting theme statements, connecting to characters, and interpreting passages to relating to modern culture, making New Year's resolutions, and writing poetry. It was quite interesting to see what kind of ideas and notions were on my mind back then for the topics that I was writing about, and to consider how I would have written each kind of entry differently if I were to do it now. I find that as a blog writer, the types of prompts that ask me to reflect on past experiences or discuss things that I've done, rather than to make connections or identify themes, are much more relaxing to write, and thus are more enjoyable. A pretty good example of that is the blog post that I'm writing right now.

Up to this point, I had also forgotten many of the in-class activities that we did as a group in English over the course of the year. Going over my past posts really helped me to remember a great number of them, as some of the blog assignments involved discussing those activities. For instance, the unit that we had on reading and analyzing writing, such as the "Lobsters" poem and "The Knife," had slipped out of my mind. Reading my post from November on the Lobsters discussion that we'd had in class brought back a lot of memories on the subject. It caused me to remember the 5 part paragraph that I'd written on "The Knife" at around the same time, and then my experience learning about tone, diction, connotation, denotation, and many other things during the unit. I was astounded by the number of recollections that came flooding back to me just from reading one blog entry, and even more astounded by the detail in which I could remember those experiences when I put my mind to it. Looking back on the posts not only helped me to reminisce on what we did in class, but to give memories on how it felt back then, and how much everything has changed since. It allowed me to watch my journey through the year from the progression of my writing and what I wrote about. In my opinion, my blog is, if not a fully complete representation, still quite an excellent one of my year in English, and a great reminder of how much fun it was to learn, meet new people, and enjoy myself. I am thankful for that.

Memorable Assignment

While I am not very good at choosing favorites in general, one memorable assignment for me this year was the painting that I did on the novel Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. It was the first outside reading project that we'd had for the year, where not everybody was reading the same book, and the first major art project as well. I didn't think that the artwork was exceptional, but I felt that it showed, at least to myself, that I really understood the meaning and message of the story. With certain books, I feel a great sense of understanding once I've finished them, and artwork is a good way for me to express my feelings and mental image of the story onto paper. In addition, the time of year that the project was assigned and due was, as I remember it, quite hectic for me, and so that is reflected as well in my memory of the experience.

I don't paint very often, and so I was quite pleased that my interpretation of the events in the book resulted in a final product that satisfied me. I recall putting many hours of work into first sketching the outline of the painting in pencil, choosing colors to fit the tone and mood of the book and then applying them. The colors contrasted between dark blue, purple and green on one side of the picture to bright red, orange and yellow on the other side, to represent the protagonist Billy Pilgrim's time in the respective locations of the imaginary planet Tralfamadore and the bombing of Dresden on Earth. However, one of the project's greatest values in memorability is that it serves to remind me of the quote that I chose for the painting, and the weight that it holds: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference."

Experience with Poetry

In both my middle school and my elementary school before that, I have experienced poetry units in varying depths and for varying lengths of time. My earliest memory of a significant unit is from the 5th grade, where we were required to learn about and then write different kinds of poems, choose a couple, and then present them in at a recital in the evening. Because I was still relatively young, I had not had many moving experiences to reflect in my writing, and so many of mine, including a few limericks and my take on a sonnet, where solely based on humor and forced rhyming. However, there were one or two that I felt quite proud of, due to the work that I had put into them and my liking of the way that the sounded. I remember presenting my poems, particularly because I, at that young age, still felt the effects of stage fright.

At NOVA, my middle school, the poetry unit in my 8th grade year was a great deal longer, encompassing many weeks. Much time in class was spent on analyzing, researching, and discovering poetry. I associate a multitude of fun experiences with that unit, including going outside to read poetry in the sun, and reading two-voice poems aloud with each other. At the end of the unit, we each had compiled hand-made poetry books, which contained several poems of our own composition, several of our favourite poems from other authors, and a analytic paragraph on our feelings on one of the latter kind. The one that I chose was the poem "Caged Bird", by Maya Angelou, which both flowed and rhymed nicely and smoothly and had a a deeper meaning that made me think. Additionally, by 8th grade, NOVA had helped me to lose the stage fright that had once affected me, making presenting the poetry much more fun than in my earlier years.

In my opinion, poetry can be quite fun to write, but mainly only so when I am free to write in any style and manner that I wish, allowing me to express my true feelings into the writing. I most definitely don't find forced poetry, whether by my writing or another's, inspirational at all. Poetry's value to me is its sound, its flow, and what it can make the reader feel.

Romeo and Juliet Conflict

A specific conflict in the play Romeo and Juliet is that between the characters of Romeo and Tybalt. When Romeo comes to a party at the Capulet's house despite being a Montague, Tybalt expresses great anger at one of his enemies being present at an event held by his house. The conflict is, on a literal level, an interpersonal conflict, as it specifically concerns the two of them, but at a greater depth, it is also a multigenerational conflict, as the source of their disagreement is that of the strife between their respective house's. Major developments in the plot of the story come about from this altercation, including the death of both Tybalt and Mercutio, one of Romeo's friends, when the former challenges the lattermost to a duel. In fact, it could be argued that the eventual climax of the story is resultant of the conflict, as Tybalt's provocation causes Romeo to be banished from Verona, and thus introduces problems to the relationship of the characters Romeo and Juliet, later ending their lives. This being said, it is related to several central themes, including death because of love, as it is responsible for many instances of that throughout the play.

In our society, there are numerous cases of conflicts between pairs of individuals, whether because of a prior disagreement or a grudge. The reason could even be similar to that of the play, namely resulting from a difference in social group. Conflict generally ends with either compromise and a peaceful solution, or confrontation and violence. While in the play violence pervades the story and is how the tension between Romeo and Tybalt is broken, it is a much better choice to take the nonviolent approach in life. Many people in our society result to violence as a solution to their conflicts, and the consequence of this is nearly always harm or death. I take the philosophy that it is always important to harmonize and be positive, which helps to prevent conflict of the kinds found in Shakespeare's play.

Romeo and Juliet in Modern Culture

While the famous storyline of Romeo and Juliet makes appearances in much of modern culture, one particularly current similarity that I noticed is to the movie Avatar, by James Cameron.

A trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVdO-cx-McA

A movie poster

This movie is most directly related to Shakespeare's play in the love between the main characters, in the former case namely Jake and Neytiri, and in the latter, Romeo and Juliet. What strikes me as being additionally analogous between the two stories is the situation of conflict acting as a barrier to love. Just as how the fight between the houses of Montague and Capulet creates difficulty for the possibility of their children's love, the fight between the humans of Earth and the Na'vi of Pandora causes major problems for Jake and Neytiri's relationship.

I myself really felt strongly, in experiencing each story, the concept of love amidst a much larger hatred, and the pain and sadness that comes from the unfairness of such circumstance. It is a very deep theme, and so I understand greatly why it has lasted for so long, and why it will continue to.

Romeo and Juliet Connection

In reading the first scenes of the play, one personal connection that I can make to Romeo and Juliet is that concerning the concept of dreams. In his rant to Romeo, Mercutio shares his opinion about dreams, namely that they are nothing in worth and meaning, and that they can be misleading. In the past, I myself have had numerous experiences where dreams have caused me to think various things, whether positive or negative, until I woke up and realized the opposite. This is also similar to how Romeo was given a foreboding by one of his dreams. While I am in them, dreams often seem very real, not due to great verisimilitude, but because of my lack of consideration toward them. In the sense that dreams can cause me great psychological trouble when I am experiencing them, I find myself agreeing that Mercutio is somewhat correct about their detriment.

The task of reading the play is much less challenging than previously with Great Expectations. For one, the opportunity to read each section twice, both to myself and aloud with the class, helps me to understand both the immediate and more subtle meaning of the story. In addition, having the process of annotating coming in the second reading of the play makes the first reading much less cumbersome, as I do not have to continually stop and annotate while for the first time trying to decipher the text. Other than the notes and explanations on the side of each page in the book, I have not needed to use any other resources to help me in matters of understanding; reading has been going quite well.

Great Expectations Overall Theme

After reading Great Expectation, I feel that the overall message that Dickens wanted to send to readers is that it is important to think about the consequences and future effects of acting upon our immediate wants and desires. When people focus only on what they dearly want at the present, and try to achieve these wants mindlessly, they aren't thinking ahead, and don't consider what could happen as a result of what they are doing. In some cases of desires, the consequences of lacking forethought can be devastating. However, many people only realize the truth of the message after experiencing the negative effects of their rash actions, as happened with Pip for his love of Estella in the book (my limited reference to the characters). Once properly considered, the original desires that are the cause of rash actions often can be realized to be foolish themselves. In life, it can be difficult to look beyond the things that we have strong wants for. While they are not always bad, the vital point is to be able to analyze them with an objective mind, and thus determine if they are sensible or not before acting to achieve or reach them. This is the key to using forethought in regard to our desires, and in regard to many other things as well.

Great Expectations: Thoughts on Reading

Great Expectations is the second unabridged novel of Charles Dickens's that I have read, following my reading of A Tale of Two Cities two years ago. From my experience with each of these books, I can say that while I do not always appreciate Dickens's style of writing and diction, I have great respect for his ability to write stories with engaging plot. I found this to be especially so in the former, but not quite as much so in the latter; I thought that the Pip's adventures were much less well-defined in terms of a plot-line, and thus less enthralling. This and the diction were my main problems with the novel, along with the fact that neither of the endings to the story satisfied me as good closure. On the positive side, I felt that the book had an excellent range of characters and corresponding character development. My favorite character was Mr. Jaggers, with Magwith, Mr. Wemmick, and Biddy following close behind. I had a good deal less sympathy for Pip, mainly due to his actions and thoughts in the center of the novel.

With Dickens's literature, I find that to fully understand what I am reading, I need to concentrate intently and be constantly deciphering what is on the page. In other books, I can take in the story with my attention partially elsewhere, but with Dickens, if my mind is drifting, so will my comprehension. This being said, I at first found it rather difficult to fit the reading assignments into my schedule, especially with the soccer season taking up 2 new hours of my time every day. On one day, I was so busy that I fell slightly behind, but luckily the weekend allowed me to catch up relatively easily. Realizing this, I soon began to read a bit ahead during the weekends, so that I could afford to take a day off on a busy day during the week and still be on track. When the story progressed to the point that a great amount of action was occurring and a great number of mysteries were being resolved, about a week before the deadline, I decided to come back for annotating later and read the book all the way through, as I would for a book that I was reading for pleasure. I confined myself to my room and spent a morning reading the final 10 chapters. I am now very glad that I made this choice, as I was able to read without interruption or sudden stops. This most definitely helped me to better both understand and enjoy the story.

Great Expectations Photo Connection

Janus, the Roman God of Doors

Throughout Great Expectations, and so in both of the first two stages, there are a multitude of comparisons, contrasts, and association in doubles. These are a greatly important part of the book, as they concern and enhance many of its other literary elements, including characterization, plot, and setting. A great number of characters can be compared or contrasted with others, such as Pip and Herbert, Magwitch and Compeyson, Jaggers and Wemmick, and Estella and Biddy. In addition, other concepts can be compared to one another, such as the settings of Satis House and Walworth, and the relationship between Pip and Estella and between Herbert and Clara.

 In Roman mythology, the deity Janus is the god of beginnings, endings, changes, doors, and gates, depicted as having two faces. The photo depicting him serves well to give connection to the motif of doubles in Great Expectations. Janus strongly symbolizes, in his appearance, all of the twos that occur in the book, especially in the relationships between the characters. An added layer to this symbolism is that of the character Wemmick. Just as Janus has two literal faces, Wemmick has two figurative faces, namely two lives. 

Great Expectations: Connection to Another Story

One work of literature that I can relate to Great Expectations is the series The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathon Stroud. Though the latter is of the fantasy genre, with plot, conflict, and other literary elements being drastically different, one of the major underlying themes is shared by both. In the first book of the series, the main character, the apprentice magician Nathaniel, is apparent as young, childish, and inexperienced as to how to act in the world that he lives in. As the trilogy progresses, he becomes of an increasingly high status, both in class and in government, adopting a new name, John Mandrake, as custom to the magician world. However, he also becomes increasingly mean, and as a result, I experienced while reading the books a progressive loss of my liking and sympathy for him, these things moving to the supporting characters. At the climax of the series, he reverts back, metaphorically, from Mandrake to Nathaniel, to his old self and personality.

I have not yet reached the climax of Great Expectations, but I can still see in Pip much of what I saw in Nathaniel. What is most prominent is the path of character development that steers them both in their respective stories. Both have the opportunity to further their societal statuses, and each, most likely unintentionally, are changed themselves by this. My lack of affection and admiration for each occurred at identical times, and for the same reason. Another part of this is the connection with names. Pip becomes Handel as he becomes a gentleman, just as Nathaniel does in becoming Mandrake in his transition to being a magician of the government. Because of this, I am convinced that by the end of his book, Pip will return to his old name as well as to his old self.

While other connections can be made, such as the personalities of certain supporting characters and their roles in the story, the twin nature of Pip and Nathaniel is by far the most striking and distinct in my mind. It feels very inspiring to see this journey of The Bartimaeus Trilogy relived in Pip. I have faith in him to repair the damage of his actions and thoughts and to justify himself in my eyes, just as Nathaniel did.