A bildungsroman is defined as a novel of education, a coming-of-age story. However, what qualifies as "education" and "coming-of-age" can be left up to interpretation. This past year has been a nonstop adventure for knowledge and growth in both passions and interests inside as well as outside of the classroom. Rather than just simply accepting knowledge and the world around us, we learned about things and explored knowledge at a deeper level, leading to the ultimate espouse of learning.
No, "Dr. Preston's English Literature and Composition 2014-2015," was not your traditional high school AP English Lit. class. ask anybody and they could tell you that. Dr. Preston himself told us all that when we had the meeting as juniors sometime last year. But to say I didn't get an education out of it would be wrong. Dr. Preston trusted that we would learn and grow through his course. Maybe I didn't read every single novel we were assigned cover to cover, but I did still gain a good understanding of each one through class discussions. No assignment was forced and because of that, there are quite a few that still remain saved under "drafts" to this blog, that will likely never get published. Yet it didn't matter that I didn't do every single assignment or memorize each Shakespearean soliloquy. What mattered is that throughout this year, I learned. I learned and I shared my knowledge and I grew because of it, not only in English, but in life.
Though I didn't fully read every single book assigned, I did make connections with the ones I did. From the summer before the course really started, I was already relating to Montaigne's style of writing. Though the words he used were lengthy and at times difficult to understand, he was all about writing down and sharing his thoughts. As a passionate writer, I do this often as well and found his Essays to be wise and interesting, connecting at a deeper level with his ideas as well as thinking more in depth about my own. As far as characters go, I found it easy to relate to Bernard Marx of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I may not be a terrible misfit in my society, but I definitely don't conform to everything around me either. I walk to my own beat and I do what I feel is right, not following societal norms. In this I can also relate to Aldous Huxley as the author, for writing about something he feels deserves attention when it seems unrealistic. Writing and thoughts have no limitations, and it would be unjust to keep from speaking your mind and sharing your thoughts just because they're not necessarily favored by the majority of society. I have always been passionate about my writing, and this course has helped me share that passion with my peers and the public. I plan to continue following my passions and dreams at SDSU's honors college, where I will major in English and creative writing and hopefully go on to travel the world and write and share the adventures that I encounter.
The class, due to its nontraditional tactics and environment, resembled that of a family. A very different, dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. I found myself laughing often at the things my peers had to say. I found that the course and the students were very similar: both were open, and both had their errors. Yet we all made it through the course, and the course made it through the year, so I feel that it was a success.
This year was like the flash of a camera: it went by so fast, yet somehow managed to capture all of the memories. In just these past few weeks of "Masterpiece Academy," I have learned more about my fellow classmates than I have over the past four years. I found that through all of our presentations, there were a few things that remained common: passion and compassion. Now, passion is a given. If we didn't do our big projects on something we were passionate about, there would be no real point to them other than to get the grade. But what I found so inspiring is how compassionate my generation is. From several presentations about becoming a doctor in order to give back to the community and help those in need, to spreading awareness of racism, sexism, homophobia and general stereotyping in order to reduce judgement and segregation, my fellow classmates and I showed a great deal of compassion for other people and the world around us. I know my generation, my class especially, has been screwed over many a time, but I'm not the least bit worried about the futures ahead of us. If we can better the community and explore our passions with the immense amount of compassion I witnessed as high school seniors, I can't wait to see what we'll do in the years to come.
When it comes down to it, this year has been a whirlwind of growth, knowledge, and passion among other things. I adventured, I learned, I shared, I conquered the challenges put before me, and because of all that I grew wiser and was enlightened by the experiences encountered. If that is what qualifies one as a hero, then I feel like I'm on the right path. I don't think I completed my hero's journey, but rather I have just begun.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Give us some credit.
I realize that my generation doesn't get enough credit for who we are, for what we do and the potential we have to do great things. So often we are disregarded. We are told that we are inheriting a terrible hand of cards, that the economy is crap, the government sucks, and we need to grow up and be prepared to take care of it and fix it, even though we had close to nothing to do with how it got this way. We are told to handle it ourselves, but not given a chance to because we're "too young to understand" or "we don't know what we're doing." Because of our age, we can't do anything. But then who will? Obviously not those "responsible adults" who we're supposed to look up to, who generally tend to be the ones in authority messing it up. I'm not talking about all of our parents. I've been raised by a loving mother and father who have instilled morals in me and would do anything to ensure I have a bright future and make sure I'm happy doing what I want with my life. My parents understand how bad our generation has it and are empathetic to that. I'm talking about those elders who have been put in charge who end up making things better for their generation at the expense of our futures. Don't get me wrong, I respect my elders. But not if they don't respect me and my future. You can't just put your responsibilities on those who are younger than you and not give it a second thought and think that that's okay. I'm sorry, but it's not. The world doesn't work that way. Or at least it shouldn't.
Today in class we talked about our masterpieces, what I like to think of as our "passion projects." These are things that us students are passionate about and want to emphasize to others. Each one of our projects is unique and tailored to our passions. But if you think for a second that these are simply high school assignments for a grade, you're wrong. We're trying to make a difference. Today I listened to my fellow classmate's ideas. One of my fellow colleagues had this idea about body image. Her project was meant to emphasize how messed up it is that young people, especially girls, are given an image of what "perfect" is, and expected to attain that physical appearance. And you know who is feeding that idea of artificial perfection down the throats of teens and children? Adults in the fashion industry. Grown men and women, manipulating the minds of the young. Please, tell me how I'm supposed to have respect for that. Another couple of my classmates wanted to change the way children are coached in sports. They became passionate about this partially because when participating in a special needs baseball league for children, the grown coaches were being harsh on the athletes. The coaches became frustrated when one of the kids with a mobility disablement started pitching a game that wasn't up to par in their opinion. My colleagues, on the other hand, were just proud of the kid for being able to go out there and pitch at all. Sports should be a fun opportunity for the kids to learn life skills and enjoy themselves, not a chance for adults to take advantage of their authority and get angry when they don't win. These are just a couple of examples of projects where students who are 17 and 18 years old are trying to fix the corruptness that has been caused by those "respected elders."
I'm not saying that we should be granted full responsiblity to fix the world that we've been handed. But I am saying that there's no way we can even try if we're not given the chance. So please, if you're an adult who still views teenagers as irresponsible and incapable, suck up your pride and give us the opportunity to show you that we're not.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Notes
-"Don't just die"
-The author is talking about his father
-Resistingly aware, unexpected melancholia, (determined rage,) wistful regret, solemn objectivity
-(16,) 4, 10, 16+4, none
-The author suggests one should meet death with challenging preparedness
-The author's ambiguity toward his father's death is shown in the various characterizations of men
-Personification is shown in "Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight"
Departmental:
-An allegory for human idiosyncrasies
-There is a shift in the poem from descriptive narrative to pensive editorial
-The tone of the poem can best be described as satirical exposition
-"Arrest" in line 16 most likely means incarceration, (admonition,) capture detention, or seizure
-Euphemism is exhibited in "death's come to Jerry McCormack"
-"Atwiddle" means
Sunday, April 19, 2015
She Should Have Died Hereafter
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