Black Women (sestina)

What is the typical black persona?

Is it the coarseness of their hair,

Or is it the immaculate width of their nose?

Perhaps the chocolatey tint of their skin

Or is it the hanging gravitational force of their lips?

Maybe it is the difficulty of arriving on time.

He could care less about the time

He finds beauty within their skin.

Secretly lusting for those soft lips,

Wanting to frolic in her thick hair,

Seeing nothing but beauty in her broad nose

And longing to share with that earnest persona.

I devote hours and hours at a time
to enjoy a head full of rich thick hair
or to have the width, and beauty of your nose.
If only I could be that persona,
because I too long for the thickness and darkness of your skin
or the fullness and beauty that protrude from your lips.

There is nothing sexier than the heart shape of a black woman’s lips.
Their sweetness and softness, that leave kisses on my nose,
used to smell her meals of her devoted time.
I love the depth and richness of her skin,
and the genuineness of her persona.
My weakness: The way I can always rub my fingers through her hair

I don’t have the straightest hair,
But words of wisdom flow from these lips
the plight of black women I can sense with this nose,
a sense that God has helped me develop over time
You may not like my persona,
but I, honey child, am comfortable in my silky skin.

But does God judge us by our skin?’

Is a really big factor truly our lips?

Perhaps a substantial part is our persona.

Or does he put in consideration the trouble with time?

Did He purposely institute such thick hair?

And a great, broad nose?

I devote hours and hours at a time
to enjoy a head full of rich thick hair
or to have the width, and beauty of your nose.
If only I could be that persona,
because I too long for the thickness and darkness of your skin
or the fullness and beauty that protrude from your lips

-Erin

6 Word Memoir

Eating and sleeping, what else matters?

At first I was I just wrote this down as a joke to show my friends but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. When you really think about it the only real necessities in life are eating and sleeping, everything else is not permanent. I realize that this may seem as if I'm some really lazy procrastinator, but i don't mean for it to sound that way. To me it is much deeper than just being a lazy person- which I am by the way. Life is long and most of the things that we worry about, the people we meet, and the things we do, pass in time. The only real necessities include eating and sleeping. This though just helped me put into perspective some of my problems. In a couple of weeks school will be over and most of the problems that I have to deal with right now will move to the past and be removed from my mind forever. As teenagers all of us tend to exaggerate our problems and make it sound as if they are the difference between life and death, even though in a couple of days these problems will not ever be dealt with again. Eating and sleeping are the two constants in life, everything else is variable and is what we make of it. 

Jehan T.

Six Word Memoir

     As I was working on my senior memoir, I actually decided to save my six word memoir for last. My main idea right now is "Je souhaite que pourrais parler francais," which according to many internet generators, roughly translates to "I wish that I could speak French." It was supposed to be sort of funny because its actually in French, but it was mostly inspired by my Europe trip because I fell in love with every city I visited, especially Paris. While I was on my trip I promised myself that after I mastered Spanish, I would start learning French because I would love to go back to Paris and really immerse myself in the culture and I am thinking about studying abroad there when I go to college, although that opportunity won't come for a few years. Europe had a huge impact on me and I feel that the experience was very important to my senior year, so I felt that it was appropriate. Going there only reinforced the love for foreign languages I have and I would like to eventually be fluent in many. Also, because I hope to have a career in the art world, I think speaking French and Spanish would be helpful because Spain and France are such art capitals.
     Anyways, I would really appreciate the help of any kids who take French (I take Spanish) who would like to help me write it correctly in six words because I'm sure what I have now isn't totally correct, as internet translators have a tendency to not be right.
~Bobby R

Art and Literature in "Edward Scissorhands"

I don't know how much these pieces of art work inspired Tim Burton while he made the movie, but watching Edward Scissorhands definitely made me think of these works of art:

The eerily suburban neighborhood that the film took place in reminded me of "Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale" by Max Ernst. At a glance, the surrealist painting shows a pastoral scene and blue sky, but a closer look reveals that the painting includes a girl with a knife chasing a bird, another girl laying on the floor apparently dead, and on the rood is a man carrying a girl away. These morbid aspects mixed with the suburban setting is quite like the morbid activities in the movie's setting.

The life sized sculpture "Supermarket Shopper," by Duane Hanson is very reminiscent of the characters in Edward Scissorhands. Through the sculpture, Hanson was trying to depict what he felt to be a creature that lived a lonely and unfulfilling existence, which is very similar to the way that Burton portrayed the women of the neighborhood, whose only excitement in life was gossip and what others were up to. Both the film and sculpture seem to be sending a message about how drab suburban life can be and the emptiness people may experience in life without even knowing it.

Edward's scissor hands in the movie reminded me of "Cadeau" by Dada artist, Man Ray. The piece is supposed to have a humorous effect because it takes an iron that is supposed to flatten and make clothes nicer and puts nails on it, thus ruining its sole purpose. It is very similar to the way Edward's inventor gave him scissors for hands, thus ruining what is such a crucial tool for normal humans, thus making his existence difficult and almost impossible for him to build normal relationships.

The film as a whole also reminded me of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein because of the very similar plots. In both works the protagonist is a man-made creature with disabling features that eventually lead to their demise. However unlike the creature in the novel, Edward eventually finds his life, but unfortunately due to the intolerance of the neighborhood and the inability for them to have a normal relationship, their love is doomed and he must leave her.

-Bobby R  

edward scissorhands

i have never watched this movie before. at first i thought it was scary how there was a man with scissors as hands but now my views changed. xD haha johnny depp is such a great actor and he played the character well.
from this movie, i learned that everyone has feelings... even a manmade man with an artificial heart. :)
just wanted to share....
-angela h

I love mrs. elliott :D

mrs. elliott ! you have been so supportive of your students. you are so patient and kind and you never give up on your students. i am so happy you were my ap english teacher this year. thank you for giving us time to discover what we truly want from literature by not packing us with constant work. because of this class, i learned to enjoy literature and its meanings. thank you for being the best teacher in the world ! :)
-angela h

My Mom!

We did this little writing practice a while back and this fell under "10 People I admire"

My mother is the master of every task. She is a dependable source of comfort; she is so strong,  yet so gentle.  While maintaining a full time job working graveyard shifts, she nurtures her kids in every way possible. She is a lover.

Close to the End

Everyday I get up counting the days left until graduation (35 counting today). Although I cannot wait until school ends I know when the time does come I am going to miss high school. Don't get me wrong I am definitely not going to miss getting up early, or the annoying security guards who think that they have the most important job in the world, but the people that I have developed a close relationship with. Looking back at the past four years I realize that without the friends that I was able to make I would not have been able to get through high school without exploding. My friends have always been there for me when I needed some help, and now that school's almost over I am just starting to realize that all these people that I have grown to like will soon be leaving to embark on their own separate journeys. Now that it is April most people have a general sense as to what college they will be attending next year, and even though I am overjoyed to get out of this city I know that soon after I leave I am going to miss friends I constantly hang out with. Although 35 days seems like an eternity away, when you stop and think about all the experiences we have all shared together in high school and all the people you know that you will never see again, 35 is really just the blink of an eye. We only have a certain amount of days left for this high school experience and therefore instead of constantly counting down the days until graduation we should take this small amount of time we have left and spend it living the last days of high school to the fullest. I for one know that for the rest of the school year I plan on enjoying myself as much as possible and hanging out with my friends as much as I can before we all separate, so that twenty years down the road when I look back at my high school experience, I can look back with pride knowing that I made the most of it.

Jehan T.

I AM

I wrote this paragraph long time ago when we began reading Native Son and Invisible Men. So I hope you guys enjoy reading it.

I AM

I am an ambitious girl. No I am not an over achiever like those who strive for an A; nor am I one of your ideal students. I am a girl of substance of dreams, and hopes, ambitious and desires, and I might even be said to have childish mind. I am ambitious, understand simply because I  believe in my dreams. Like those girls you see sometimes in movies, it as though I have been in my own world, dream world. When they approach me they see only my naiveness, themselves, or figments of their real world-indeed, everything and anything except my dreams. 

-Semarn K

Native Son

Native Son happens to be one of  my most favorite books that we've read this year.  I found it very interesting and it kept me on my toes.  However, Bigger's character annoyed me on many levels.  He just seem to fill the stereotypical role of the arrogant, black man.  Knowing that his father is no longer a part of their lives, he does not want to step up and become the man of the house.  He is reluctant to get a job and is ashamed of his family all due to fear.  He acts as a coward; Bigger is afraid of success so does not feel the need to try.  He fears white people, and believes that none of them are good-all just trying to oppress the black race- so sits around waiting to fail.  However, Bigger did  grow on me; after he was incarcerated, it seem like he finally begin to learn and understand life, which was of course too late. He was way too ignorant and set in his ways and didn't realize it until time was up.  All in all I really enjoyed this book and believe that it will remain one of my favorites for quite a while as Richard Wright's writing style was simply astonishing.
-Erin P

What is literature?

Have you ever read a book and were ashamed at how much you enjoyed it? I know I have. Today in class it really troubled me to think of all the extracurricular reading I do, and how none of it really fits in the highly esteemed class of "literature". When I think of that term, I really think of classics like The Pride and the Prejudice , Huck Finn, Grapes of Wrath or some other so-called timeless piece thats really a snooze to get through. So I got this crazy idea, lets redefine literature. Who says it has to have some life changing relevancy, or be filled with extended metaphors and symbolism. Why can't literature be something we just enjoy, whether its Twilight,Green Eggs and Ham, or even Snookie's Autobiography. Whatever it may be, who's to say that it isn't real literature. I just wonder who is on this 'book committee' calling all the shots (probably the same lunatics who gave that Oscar to The King's Speech)? I just challenge and really encourage all of my classmates to look away from these so-called classics and really find a book that you enjoy and read on your own for this assignment that we're getting ready to embark on.

Good Luck!

-Talor T. :)

Thoughts of Jane Eyre

Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags (Chapter 12).


Quotation above taken from chapter 12 of Jane Eyre, shows the reader Jane's beliefs on female independence through her thoughts. Jane desires to see more of the world and have more interaction with its people. While she appreciates her simple life at Thornfield, she regrets that she does not have the means to travel, and she expresses her thought by addressing lower and upper class women. Through this novel we see that Jane posses the desire to gain independence and freedom from the suppressing society that she lives in. In the quote she says "women feel just as men feel" in this part we get the sense that Jane beliefs that men and women should posses equal rights, "making puddings and knitting stockings", this part shows that Jane beliefs that women should not just stay confined to household chores. We as a reader see her proving her statement when she works as a teacher and learns to survive on her on. From reading Jane Eyre, I gained an understanding of women's point of view in England during that time, I believe that Jane has powerful characteristics that allowed her to survive in the male-dominated society and rise above others to achieve her true love.
                                                         - Semarn K