Response to Course Material 2/10

Since the last response, we've basically watched another movie of Hamlet and have been reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ever since. First off, I thought the concept of everyone being a heroine addict in Hamlet was very interesting. The acting and directing could have been much better, but the idea was cool. 

I'm kind of enjoying Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, too. I think the word play and interaction among the different characters is funny. However, I'm not really seeing a deeper meaning in this work. Maybe the point is that there is no deeper meaning? Maybe the author is just poking fun at/commenting on Shakespeare's play. Who knows. Ms. Holmes said that she's going to step back and let us do the interpreting, but if that seriously happens I doubt I'll get very far in analyzing this play.

Response to Course Material 12/2

In these past few weeks, we have pretty much 1.) wrapped up Death of a Salesman, and 2.) started Hamlet.

First off, I must say that, after working with this DOS so much in class, my opinions on certain characters have changed. I still strongly dislike Willy and Linda. If anything, my hatred for them has grown. In my opinion, Willy and Linda are two terrible human beings. Willy always sucked at being a salesman, yet his pride kept him from switching to being a carpenter. I can't stand how proud he is. It's one of my pet peeves. However, I've come to like Biff, Charley, and Bernard. I also sympathize with Happy, because his parents treat him like utter crap, and he really only wants their approval.

The reading dealing with DOS that Ms. Holmes assigned us was actually very useful. When I first heard about the assignment, I groaned because it was yet ANOTHER thing to read and analyze. However, I actually enjoyed it. One thing that surprised me was how much I hated Arthur Miller. I honestly had no idea that someone could come across as so pompous in a 5-some page interview! It also surprised me that I didn't interpret the play at all how Miller did.

Anyways, that play is behind us and we're now on Hamlet. I must say that Shakespeare has never been my favorite. In the past, I've struggled deciphering what the freak characters are actually saying. I also generally dislike the stories (ESPECIALLY Romeo and Juliet). I've liked Hamlet so far, though. The plot is interesting, and the text hasn't been as hard to read. Hopefully things continue like this.

Response to Course Material 10/7

Boy, has this class been moving quickly. I feel like there has been so many packets of information thrown at us since the last "Response to Course Material" post. Luckily, I already had a good grasp on the literary movements (thank you, Ms. Huntley) but it's still a lot to process. The biblical stories were probably the hardest for me to remember. I only knew a few of the stories, whereas I recognized everything that was presented on Greek mythology.

...Then we read The American Dream. That play is unlike anything that I have ever read. The first time through reading it, I couldn't make sense of it. I had no idea what to think about the play, let alone what it was even about. It wasn't until Ms. Holmes handed out that life-saving packet that explained everything. Suddenly, the play was crystal clear--of course Grandma represents the old American Dream! And isn't it obvious that the Young Man represents the new, materialistic American Dream? Not everything made sense, but a lot more of it did. If I hadn't gotten that packet, I probably could have read the play fifteen times and still not figured it out.

Finally, working on the AP essay in class has me freaked out for the test. I am still not good at reading poetry or applying DIDLS to poetry. Seriously, how is anyone supposed to analyze a poem and write a good, solid essay in under an hour? Right now, that seems impossible. Especially since I still didn't have the poem figured out after working with it for a whole class hour.

Response to Course Material 9/9

Between the summer work and the first week of school, I have already learned a lot. First off, How to Read Literature Like a Professor has completely changed the way I read books and watch films. Just the other day my brother was watching a movie on Disney Channel about a minister trying to ban rap music from his town, and I immediately saw how it paralleled Footloose. It was actually kind of cool. I've also learned a lot about writing essays in these past couple of months. In fact, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing helped a lot when I was writing an essay for my MSU application.  Instead of trying to use big words or complex sentences, I just wrote in my own voice. The essay ended up being funny, and in my opinion, one of the best I've written in a long time. Regarding the actual AP test, I was surprised to learn that all of our essays will answer "the magic question" (how an author uses techniques to create effects and meanings). I thought on some of them we would instead have to compare and contrast a couple of pieces or literature.