Riders of the Purple Sage: Reflection

So ends the final chapter of my Old West adventures. This book was great. It was great in ways that the other two books were and weren't. It took the typical frontier vibe and put an umphy (meaning it had a lotta umph) set of characters and an engaging story. From the get go, I knew this story was going to feel like a classic Western fireside story, but read and sound like a truly epic narrative. The plot for which this story is based on could sound like a typical Old West story: Bad guy wants money. Kidnaps rich girl for said money. Holds the whole town hostage. Enter mysterious cowboy man. Mysterious cowboy man tries to deal with bad guy. Gets captured. Escapes. Kills bad guy. Saves the town. Gets the girl. On and on. While I am a sucker for this kind of tale, this one hit me differently. It had substance. There was something about the suspense I felt when reading this book that made me think that it was truly special. It could have been the masterfully crafted characters or landscapes. Or it could have been in the raw dialogue that the characters utilized. Whatever reason, this book was really something else. It has increased my interest in the Old West genre and I am so glad that I stumbled across it for my project!

The College Search: pt.4

Well, after what seemed like years of college planning, I have finally come to a decision. Just kidding, I have not. In fact, I think I am even farther away from making a decision than I was when I started this whole process. Why? Well it seems that I now have my top two college choices. Depauw University and The University of Alabama. I do not really know how the other 16 colleges I applied to dropped of the list, but they did. Anyway, this is what it has come down to. And honestly, I did not think it was going to be this hard. I was thinking that the answer was just going to fall out of the sky to the sound of an angle chorus. Well that obviously didn't happen so my decision has become harder. In addition, I will be making one more visit to each place before I make my decision, which I am sure will make my decison close to impossilbe. Here are the pros for each college:

Depauw University:
- great school with great educational promise
- good swim coach and close-knit swim team
- smaller class sizes and great professors
- great facilities
- incredible president and staff
- alumni  = big $$$
- its cold and there is no town around the college (Con)

The University of Alabama:
- incredible scholarship money and Honors College experience
- beautiful and homey campus
- great people and staff
- football (not that it matters)
- bigger school with more options
- great freakin' food
- not the best academic reputation (Con)

I think it is safe to say that this decision will be one of the hardest ones I will ever have to make. Can I go to both?

Your opinion is appreciated; I am taking votes.

Dead Poets Society: Reactions

First off, I am glad that my class was offered a so-called, "spring break suprise" in a viewing of Dead Poets Society. While I expected this film to be a poetry heavy, englishy kind of movie, I have to say I was pleasently suprised.The plot was engaging and relatable and the message was intruiging. Honestly, this movie has changed how I look at poetry. At the beginning of this unit, I honestly felt like the staff (except Mr.Keating) of Welton. I looked at poetry through the eyes of the simple facts. I didn't really engage myself into the finer meanings of what poetry had to offer. Well, after a few sessions with Mr.Keating, that changed. I started to see the complexity for which poems were built on. I also began to see the un-complexity for which poems were built on. The challenging language and incredibly abstract concepts that make up so many poems started to become a little bit clearer in my mind. While I still do not understand poetry to any degree, I think that I can now appreciate it a little bit more. I can now sieze the day by understanding poetry for what it is and eqaully importantly, for what it isn't. 

My Kind of Poetry

I think I might as well say it. Poetry is wierd. Like really, confusingly, make my head hurt, read it over and over again with no result weird. I can't say I expected this. I honestly strode into this unit thinking I was the poetry master. Well I was utterly wrong. Not 3 lines into a poem and im already dumbfounded with how many meanings could be in those 3 lines. Not only is the syntax odd, but the concepts are too. The first time you struggle through a poem, you think you understand it. Then you read 10 minutes later and it is like someone completely re-wrote the darn thing. Do I like this aspect? Eh, not really. I like to fully understand what it is I am reading about. Unfortunately for me, poetry doesn't play well with understand. While this bugs me, I think it also has its perks. With this aspect in mind, a poet can simply write how/what/when/why they are thinking and call it a poem. They can craft something unexpectedly beautiful out of a few phrases and have those certain phrases stick to you like glue. That's cool, isn't it? Well, among the finer points of the recent poetry I have been reading, I remembered a childhood poem that may not be so refined. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did and still do.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG19g9oiF-w

Poetry: Initial Reactions

So I was pretty excited to start this poetry unit. I have always enjoyed poetry to an extent and was eager to see what else there was to be discovered about it. That is until we actually started to talk about it in class. Suddenly I found myself saying, "Oh, that kind of poetry". Honestly, there is not a statement that could be more true in my mind. From the get go, I knew that the sometimes rambling diciton and infinetly confusing syntax were going to do me in. I had never explored "proper poetry" from the likes of Dickinson and other renowned poets so I had myself almost convinced that this unit was going to be anything but poetry. Well, as it turns out, I am just going to have to grin and bear it. It looks like I am going to have to once again open my mind to a completely foreign and ambiguous concept. Something that I have already done many times in this class. I really hope that this unit will change my perception of poetry. I hope to eventually view it as an art form that ultimately is better misunderstood. While this irks me slightly, I am willing to allow my knowledge about poetry to grow into a state of true appreciation.

The Wild Wild West

So is it shocking that I am actually ENJOYING an english project? Wait, what? Yeah, I said enjoying. And honestly, that might be the first time that I have been able to say that about any english project...ever. Never before have I been actively engaged in the material that an english project has presented me (even though I picked the material myself). Nonetheless, I am certainly excited to be reading these three great books. So far, they haven't let me down. The Sisters Brothers was awesome. With its darkly funny dialogue and its ever-so violent backstory, I really was intruiged. It will definetly go down on my favorite book list. (I have a favorite book list?). True Grit has also been a very interesting story. With its classic Old West encounters and its gritty action, I am still intruiged. I hope it will go down on my favorite books list. In the future, I hope the same can be said for The Riders of the Purple Sage. I am really looking forward to it being my big finale for the final project. I hope it will round everything out and set me up to knockout the final project with ease, whatever that project may be!

Beloved: Reflection

And so another story concludes. Was it a good story? Yeah. Was it interesting? Kinda. Was it easy to read? That's a big ol' "no". Never before have I been relieved to finally finish a book. Honestly, the finishing of this book didn't really even work to satisfy this feeling I had that I spet an enormous amount of time simply reading this book. Heck, it took me twice as long to read a page out of this book than it normally would. Not only that, I probably re-read half of it. In fact, its readability contrasted so much from The Road that it felt like I had been reading this book since the beginning of the semester. There were, however, some good things. For one, I really liked the subject matter of the story. For some reason, I have always enjoyed stories about slaves and their hand-crafted tales of gaining freedom. While this story still dealt subtly with this aspect, it also incoporated an intense set of varied themes. In addition, I also liked the language that was used. While sometimes difficult to comprehend, the poetic and sing-song nature of speech within this story makes for an engaging read. All in all, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed how this story was told, but I definetly enjoyed what it dealt with.

Beloved: Initial Reactions

First impressions? Eh. I cant really say that I am absolutely loving this book so far. That is, it took me the first 100 pages to finally get a grip on the whole ghost baby thing. In addition, the varying points of view make for a very interesting jumping around of character voices. Oh, and on top of that, it is like your reading a poem. Thats difficult to understand. And long. And sing-song-ish. Long story short, this book is hard to read. Not language wise, but voice wise. Other than those few factors, I have kinda liked what this book deals with. There was always something about the many "underground railroad" stories that captured my attention. They always seemed to be crafted in the most creative and emotional manner. In this case, I get to see the life after the excape. I get to see what escaped slaves have deal with after escaping their seemingly permanent fate. I think that in seeing this, certain things about life after the escape will surface. These concepts will most likely be draped in history and wrought with a fear that palgues the minds of the characters. I think I can teach myself to enjoy this book. It is just up to me to open my mind to it.

AP Inquiry Project; The Sisters Brothers: Refelction

This book was awesome. Although I don't often say this about a book, this one definetly was awesome. It effectively combined my favorite elements. For one thing, it was a Western and for some reason, I love Westerns. On top of that, it was action-packed, another plus. And above all, it was whimsically humurous. Case in point, it was my kind of book. I initially thought I was going to enjoy it, but not nearly as much as I actually did. It coherently told a suspensful story about two hitmen who happen to be brothers and it drew me in with its classic Old West feel. Not to mention, it also ties in perfectly with my guiding questions. The rationale for violence, which I will discuss in my paper, is explored through this novel by illuminating one of the brother's distaste for death. This is true in the fact that it offers a contradiction to the typical shoot-em up' lifestyle that so many of the American Old West characters live by. This conflict allows for a re-evaluation of the seemingly crucial role violence plays in the society of the Old West. The Sisters Brothers more than explores this topic and that is why I loved it so much and am looking forward to discussing it in my final draft.

The College Search: pt.3

Finally! After a gueling couple of months of nothing but college essays, after the many long nights spent editing, reviewing and revising, and after waiting for what seemed like forever, I have gladly recieved my first college acceptance letters. First, to the University of Alabama (and its Honors College). Then to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Then to Centre College. Sewanee, Depauw and the University of South Carolina. All of them said yes. I think that I am finally starting to realize how much my effort in applying to these colleges is paying off. Originally, I didnt think that applying to 16 schools was a good idea. Thankfully, I stuck with it and I am starting to see why it may have been one of the best things that I could have done for myself. So many of my friends are simply applying to UK and calling it quits. I, however, have 15 other possible choices of where to spend the next four years of my life. With that said, it will be a tough choice as to where I will spend those years, but I believe that I definetly have an edge up. Whatever college I decide to attend, I hope that my experience will stretch my mind in ways that it has never been stretched before. I hope to come out of my college days with a clear mind and a plan for what I want to do for the rest of my increasingly optimistic and determined life.

The Road: Envelopes

My initial reaction to the "envelope" assignment was that of distaste. I did not really like the idea of stopping every couple of pages to record something significant. In addition, these significant passages/excerpts were going to be difficult to hunt down among the monotony of the gray and ash of The Road. Well, I am glad to say that I have been proven wrong. First off, the task of finding significant and meaningful passages was not difficult in the least. After a fair amount of reading and analyzing, I came to realize that most every page had something relevant and intruiging to offer, per McCarhty's writing. I actually found myself finishing my 5 quotes/passages in the first 20 or so pages of the reading. Secondly, the recording of these important passage had an immediate effect on the following class, allowing me to actively contribute through my findings. Lastly, these excerpts have given me an adequate base for my paper. Not only do I NOT have to rifle through the book again to find things of significance, but I already have a great knowledge on how my thesis and paper will be structured. I think that in the future, whenever I am encountered with a challenging read/assignment, like The Road, I will construct a system similar to the "envelope" in order to keep my ideas organized and actively flowing throughout the entirety of the assignment.

The College Search: pt.2

Well, here I am again talking about college. This time however, things are a little bit different. I think it is safe to say that I have widdled away at the long list of options and come up with a "top recruits" list of possible colleges. This list has come into form as a result of MANY applications, essays and interviews and I am happy to say that most of them are said and done with. In addition, I now realize how much writing the ever-so important in class esays have contributed to my college search. Each time I wrote an essay, I referred to my knowledge of writing these well-structured, coherent and conversational pieces. This helped me craft answers and opinions to certain essay questions in a way that allowed me to affectively prove my point. This increasing knowledge will definetly help me in the future as I continue to encounter these types of essay-based evaluations. Even though the writing of these essays and discussions is sometimes tedious, I think I have learned how to cope with this aspect as a way to craft a truly sincere and affective argument or discussion. Anyway, here is the rundown so far:

If I decide to swim in college:
1. Depauw University
2. Denison University
3. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington
5. Davidson College

If I decide not to swim in college:
1. The Honors College at The University of South Carolina
2. The Honors College at The University of Alabama

The Road: Initial Reactions

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It has been a very intruiging first 150 pages, I assure you. These pages, however, have all started to run together. Since starting the book, I haven't really been able to pinpoint a true motive for this kind of story as most every scene consists of gray, gray and some more gray. Honestly enough, that is how I feel about this book. Gray. Emotionless? Kinda. Depressing? Yeah. Fun to read? Honestly, no. But interesting? Sure. The medium of this topic is enough to grab someone's attention. The way that McCarthy presents this topic makes it that much more engaging. His dialogue. His lack of quotations. His prose. And all make this story riveting and powerful and increasingly deep to the point that some of us get tired and weary and tired again with the way that this book reads. So yeah. Even though I am not a huge fan of this book, it still has provided me with a number of new insights and a wealth of knew knowledge about literature. I hope to apply this knowledge to future English engagements with the hope of a possibly more uplifting and promising set of subject matter.