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

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

      My table group did our project on the play "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls," and it so far is one of my favorite assignments from this class. Primarily, my liking of this project pertains to how funny I thought the play actually was. I was not expecting the play to be as crude as it was at parts but I mostly enjoyed the innuendoes that are not as easily spotted. For example, I found the line, "If some sailor misses his boat, that's no reason you have to put him up in your room, You're too big-hearted, son," especially funny (especially because I had to explain it to Tori.) 
     I liked the project itself because it made me look deeper into what the play meant and forced me to try to understand the main themes the dramatist was trying to convey. I agreed with the idea that society can create images of what people should be, in this case, the idea of the perfect "southern belle" or "functional family," and this became apparent with Amanda not being happy with her life and not always being able to compose herself in a perfect, lady-like fashion when frustrated. I think the play also touched on the idea that no family is perfect and it is unhealthy for society when families try to portray themselves that way. Although the Wingvalley family was a particularly over-dramatic family, it was so that the audience would understand the idea through rude comedy. 
     From a technical aspect, I appreciated the project because it allowed me to become familiar with new forms of internet composition, such as GoogleDocs, which I enjoy because I like to seize as many opportunities as I can to become more tech-savvy because I think it is a useful skill to have. I thought the media was easy to use and I am glad I can add it into my arsenal of computer knowledge. 
     My only complaint would be the short amount of time we got to work on the project, because I wanted to make a video of us acting out part of the play because it would have been funny, but no day in the week worked for all of us. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed the project.




-Bobby R.

drama

Our class shared some thoughts on drama and I wanted to share some points I learned from this class experience.

- comedy lies between satire and romance
- two kinds of comedies are scornful comedy and romantic comedy
- these expose human folly
- comedy and tragedy are both examples of drama
- force and melodrama are oversimplified extremes
- tragedy is a plot that involves a chain of the protagonist to fall into a state of misery
- realistic drama is based off of how believable the play is delivered
- nonrealistic and realistic describe dramatic presentation
Necessary Nonrealistic Conventions:
- audience must believe a room with 30 or less sides actualy has four
- characters with different nationalities all speak the language of the audience
- the actors all face the audience
- plays strive for differing degrees of realism
- drama has 3 additional aspects that serve to add another dimension to the work.
- dramas utilize real life people and the quality of the play relies havily on their performance.

-Angela H

Group Project Response

The project that I completed within my table group helped me to learn a lot about leadership. I had to help organize our team and keep them on track so that we would not get so easily distracdted. The project at first was a challenge to me because Ihad no idea how to incorporate our voices onto the the slide show. However, after one hour of trial and error, I was able to find a way to attach the sound files to the various quotes. Although our team did get distracted alot, we were eventually able to complerte the project and do a good job on it.

We chose the play because we enjoyed the humor, and wanted to present it to the class using our own sense of humor incorporated within the powerpoint to explain our point of view. I was apprehensive at first about the results of our powerpoint, but after reading some of the comments of my peers, and the viewing their reactions as they went through the powerpoint I felt confident in our groups effort.

Overall, I enjoyed the project a lot because not only was I able to learn about how to incorporate a sound file on a text, but Iwas also able to connect with my team members on a deeper level. W were able to communicate better with each other at the end of the day, and we all had a good time together.

                                                                                                                  - Jehan T.

Frankenstein Reading Response

While reading Frankenstein, I found myself unexpectedly relating to it. I believe that the characters of Frankenstein and the creature paralleled one another, revealing the idea of Shelley that everyone has a monster within them. My thoughts so easily form into poetry;  this was one of my poems that I came up with as a reading response.

My blood runs thick
black
emotionless
for those whose souls I've wronged
angry thoughts harbored
in an unstable mind
searching for the right words
or time
or place
or space
to spew this venom
so thick
so strong
threatening
behind cringed teeth
so much hurt
so many insecurities
masked by pride
the size of Mars
relentless and hot
yet cold with regrets
unleashing this hideous Monster
I've so often called myself

- Talor T 

Frankenstein

           The pursuit of knowledge is the main theme found in the novel Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to learn beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Similarly, Robert Walton attempts to go beyond previous human explorations by hoping to reach the North Pole. This desire for unknown knowledge, proves dangerous, as Victor’s act of creation eventually results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously trapped between sheets of ice. Victor’s own monster leads to his death, and having learned from Victor’s example how destructive new knowledge can be Walton withdrew himself from the explorations. Knowledge is good but too much knowledge can lead to destruction, and we see this through Walton and Victor in Frankenstein. Shelly, lead me to think about how in our world we have created so many inventions due to knowledge, and how they are helpful. However, the other side is that they just reduce human effort, and lead humans to become more and more dependent on machines to function their life's.  By reading Frankenstein, I began to think more about the concept of knowledge and how too much of knowledge can be dangerous.

-Semarn K

"The World is Too Much With Us"

The last poem  that we have read in class is titled "The World is Too Much With Us" and that is what I chose to discuss in this entry's blog.
This poem is a Petrarchan sonnet that explains the materialistic world that we indulge our selves into today. It laments the loss of nature in the modern society as it states how we receive all that nature has to offer us, but then turn around and give our hearts away.  In his poem, Wordsworth implements the usage of metaphors and states that "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" meaning that due to our selfishness and greed, we have given away our hearts, something so precious and clean, a blessing granted to humankind.  We are not very appreciative of the benefits of life and take our blessings for granted.  In another line, Wordsworth states that "getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" meaning that we waste our time and knowledge that we were given, due to our mentality of "getting and spending".  As humans we have a purpose, but we separate ourselves from "God created" nature which results in us separating ourselves from God, therefore wasting our powers. The juxtaposition of several words such as "late and soon" and "getting and spending" displays the contradiction of materialism.  It is a destructive and corrupt blessing that may seem to bring pleasure but in reality, feeds mankind's worst quality, greed.  The overall message of the poem is that people forget to appreciate the beauty of nature because of their quest for materialistic possessions. Every aspect of life today pushes us further and further away from our true nature as human beings and closer towards a state of corrupt living.

frankenstein

hi everyone ! So we go through the letters and 5 chapters of Frankenstein !
I took out a few sentences and used allusions to enable the reader to understand in a more comprehensive manner.

"But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and then eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles."

In this quote, I see biblical figures. It has an illusion to the bible. Philosophers can represent "God". In the Bible, it was written that God made Adam with dirt. "Whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt" relates to the process of how Adam was created. Next, "then the eyes to pore over the microscope" reminded me that God made every single person perfectly, unique in their own way. Right now I am taking Biology as a science class and i am currently learning about Mitosis and Meiosis. My Goodness. It is so hard to imagine that that this process of dividing a cell has so many steps in order to get to its goal and all this process only takes play in the nucleus of a cell. There are millions and millions of cells in a human body and each process that takes place is perfect. His "eyes to power over the microscope" tells me that every single aspect of humans were created carefully and that every little detail counted. By making Adam, God had "performed [a] miracle".

-Angela Hyun

"The End of Solitude"

            "The End of Solitude" by William Deresiewicz was one of my favorite pieces that we have read in class thus far. Although I myself take part in the online social networking world by using facebook, I have always thought that it creates a false feeling of how many "friends" one really has and prevents the close relationships people had before the technology developed. My generation has also disposed of many other aspects of life that existed before myspace and facebook such as the privacy of their private thoughts, longer attention spans, and the opportunity to immerse oneself in their own creativity and thoughts whenever boredom creeps upon us. Many of us have accepted checking for updates as a healthy substitute for activities as natural to the growing mind as thinking.

    Not only does this take a toll on our creativity, it raises the question, what will our generation be remembered for? All the great literary periods had their unique characteristics, as the article pointed out, but what kind of great style of writing will emerge from our generation when everyone is too busy online to express their ideas through literature? Unless we can manage to compose great poetry in less than 160 characters to "tweet" on twitter, it seems that people need to close their web browser and open their word processor and get to typing. Otherwise, we may become the real Lost Generation. 

   This is not to say that we are completely hopeless and that there is absolutely no form of art that can emerge from our constant updates about what we had for lunch. I am not proposing that we must return to feather quills and parchment in order to achieve pieces of timeless philosophy, technology changes and our means to express ourselves can change with it. The technology we have available enables us to communicate much faster than in the days of Henry David Thoreau or Oscar Wilde, and this can work as a double-edged sword. We can recieve and send ideas across the world in seconds and this gives us an advantage not even Mary Shelley could have imagined. We just need to concentrate less on artificial popularity and more on our or attention-craving psyches. 
-Bobby Rodriguez