Blogging Around: 12-14-08

I decided to start off with my good ol' pal, JChoi. His blog was on his efficient and perservering task of poetry writing. His method of writing reminded me of how he writes in debate; however, I thought that was a deliniation on where he needs to lighten up. Poetry is much more flowy and free verse rather economic word choice.

"Hello Jon, Looks like I'm not the first to comment.I think this method you write about reminds me of how you are in debate rounds. You think of the most efficient means to an end and buckle down and power through to acheive that. It works great when you have only 2 minutes to write out that speech of yours, but for poetry I imagine it to be much more open to interpretation. There's not the need to follow the normal framework for most people. You can just relax a little bit more, and then you can always change your poem after the fact. Write what you have to say first so you don't overthink it. :)_Alyssa"

With Marika, I discuss a similar concept but in a different way. In the end, I believe it's a balance about how to write poems that are genuine with your emotions and dispositions while incorporating what is the more literary term.

"Marika,Your approach to writing a poem is what I imagine how I should be trying to go about my poem. It's very much your voice and efficient means of condensing yourself. God job. It's tough to find a balance so you aren't forced and sound stiff in your writing, while continuing with what's the more grammatical/literary piece. (The widowed image analysis you did probably was additional help).Keep it up chica,Alyssa."

Metacognition: Individual Poems

As I continuously rewrite my poem, I find myself running into the same obstacles. Mainly, does it make sense? Because I had chosen a "reoccuring image," the picture and setting can be crystal clear in my head. This means the obscure, shady descriptions I normally associate with poetry only make sense to me, the insider who already knows the story. Going about a rewrite, I had to try to put myself in another's shoes and perspective. I had to ask myself, would I be able to know what's going on the way this is worded? Would I be able to tell I am talking about frisbee's if I had no prior knowledge for example. This is something that all writers of any sort should do, but take with a grain of salt. I find it's a helpful question to ask, but can't be held against everyone every moment because one of my favorite parts about literature is the mystery and twists and room for interpretation. I would like there to be a medium ground for what makes sense to my audience while acheiving the more figurative sense that I normally keep in mind. In the end, that's what made it difficult. I have this one idea of how poetry is supposed to be formatted; In being more bold with my claims sometimes, I took a larger step out of my bondaries but still need to work on being striaght forward when need be.

Best of the Week: Revolutions and King Lear

One of the concepts introduced and explored this week by Mr.Allen are "revolutions" within King Lear. This concept of bottom to top, and top to bottom can signify a shift in the order of the world and add a different level of interest to the novel Shakespeare would not have been able to achieve elsewhere. The Powerful King Lear revolves from king, to a second child as his sanity starts to depleat. Another revoltion which worked coincedingly was as King Lear got older, Goneral and Regan went from the children to the caretakers and the followers to ones in power. These revolutions are helping add to an already ironic play. I would like to apply this to my short stories, as irony is a depth that makes the reader think deeply and profundly about certain circumstances. I believe the readers should be engaged in the novels they are reading as opposed to an 'easy read'; "revolutions" have the reader evaluate where a character begins, ends, and the means and methods that get them there. It gets one to delv much deeper into the thoughts and process of actions. As I personally read, I started to think about revolutions in life. Specifically in our class, there was a voluntary devoltion from teacher to student and student to teacher as we were allowed to choose our Essay test date in English, and in spanish as Mitch was told to try to teach one of the new grammar rules. It made me wonder if a sense of order was relient on a balance system, acheived through revolutions. The more I think about it, the more examples emerge. As you continue with the week, be reflective of what revolutions occur which may be sustaining your life.

Connection: King Lear & The Notebook

King Lear is comparable to the timeless classic, teen favorite film, The Notebook. In both there are tests of love and revolutions used to portray and frame the setting.

In King Lear, King Lear settles his inheritence with proclamations of his love by his daughters. Although the claims were contrived, he fell for the sweet talking words none the less. In The Notebook, the main character Allie is not so swooned by the kind words said by Noah. What is interesting is how the romances fall into place afterwards. Cordelia is disowned by her father and has no dowery for a husband. Despite the interference Lear has played, King of France has taken Cordelia by the hand. While it took some convincing, Allie eventually agrees to date Noah; it is her parents whom also interefer on their relationship. While Noah and Allie stay apart for seven years do to the distance, in the end, their love prevails and reunites them. I find it interesting the message that is sent through both of these literay works; It is essentially true love that matters and will win in the end. Both Regan and Goneril's relationship with Lear worked no better than Allie's relationship with her fiance Lon, while Cordelia found her love as well as Allie eventually did.

A concept that is within many pieces of work is "revolutions." In King Lear, Lear himself revolves from a child, to king, to a second child as with his age, goes his sanity. In a more literal connection, the Notebook portrays this very transformation as Allie is depicted in her youth and as an old woman with Alheimers. In a more figurative sense, Allie and Noah's relationship goes through the trials and stages of a revolution. It starts as honest young love, grows into a fierce passion, dies out as the distance seperates them, and then rekindles with their reunion. These revolutions are in both inorder to play a sense of irony and bring depth to a simple story. It adds a concept which makes your mind go through the entire process only to result in a solution which was known from the beginning.

TED Presentations

A group of eight students working against the clock as they scramble to think, write, discuss a video meant for the brightest of the bright. It wouldn't be the Academy way if there were no last minute acknowledgments of new members and the grading rubric.

After the "weeks" of preparation, the TED presentations have come to a semi-successful close. I felt my group had run smoothly and were able to fully complete our presentation within the allotted time. It was a stretch, but enough practice let us smush in what we felt was the needed information. I felt disappointed when the other groups did not run on the "strict" schedule, but eventually got over it as my group (scheduled to go last) was allowed to run over the 10:00 stop time consequentially. The talks after ward were a nice reflection and heartfelt story time moment, but I felt that they weren't worth the 30 minutes we dedicated to them.

Ofcourse, as with every project, there are ways to improve. Collaboration was a large issue amongst every group I talked to; 3 out of 5 groups I know had last minute contributers realize they had to start working. Those who were working, constantly were on a different wave length then the sophomores. I know in my group, Jenna and I would comment to make sure everyone was completing the requirements when we would be told "I don't think my teacher cares about that." I think TED has potential benefits, but won't be achieved unless we don't use all 4 grades, and we take one day to go through the requirements together. This may be asking a lot, but I cleaner, smoother start would reduce a lot of stress and make for better presentations.

Captured Thought: Looking in the Glass

Oh the pressures of high school and the stress of life. Sometimes I scream into my pillow hoping my stone cold cries would freeze a moment in time where I could sort things out. My grades, my classes, my friends, my activities, my thoughts, hopes and dreams, I feel as if I'm being tugged into an undertow... being jostled in a way that's as disorienting as tiring, waves crash down once more while my body is tugged in a multitude of directions. What really captivated me was why do I put myself through this? Stress is a part of life, but do I make it harder on myself than necessary? I started to think about balance, and which balance would make me happy when I came across a completely different point altogether. Am I who I want to be? How satisfied I am with my life is completely predicated off of what my parents, friends, and when you get down to it, what the world thinks of me. I'm sick of trying to please everyone, but can I break free from my own standards now so reinforced I can't differentiate if they were mine or my brothers'? My dad introduced me to a poem a year or to ago, which I haven't thought about until tonight to be honest. It's called "Man in the glass." It doesn't matter what the world may say, because until you can look at yourself in that glass and like what you see, you will never be happy. I'm going to have to go through my life and figure out what it takes for me to like who I am. Once I figure it out, maybe life will smooth some bumps out. I'll be searching until then...

iMedia: Sweet Caroline

***
Where it began, I can't begin to know when
But then I know it's growing strong
Oh, wasn't the spring, whooo
And spring became the summer
Who'd believe you'd come along

Hands, touching hands, reaching out
Touching me, touching you
Oh, sweet Caroline
Good times never seem so good
I've been inclined to believe it never would

And now I, I look at the night, whooo
And it don't seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two, oh
And when I hurt
Hurting runs off my shoulder
How can I hurt when holding you

Oh, one, touching one, reaching out
Touching me, touching you
Oh, sweet Caroline
Good times never seem so good
Oh I've been inclined to believe it never would

Ohhh, sweet Caroline, good times never seem so good
***

Is there anything that can unite a few strangers like a set of common lyrics, and just voices courageous enough to belt them out? I've always been awed by the power behind a good sing-a-long. And let me be the one to tell you, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" is the epitome of all sing-a-long songs. Fenway Park gets the entire stadium to sing the famous lyrics in the 8th inning of every home game. There fails to be a bar where there isn't one drunkard who wouldn't be willing to recite the lyrics when they hear the opening notes...not that I would know.

Sweet Caroline is an extremely addictive song for me personally, knowing full well that after I hear the chorus just once, it will be in my head for the rest of the week. It's not particularly the deepest or most profound song, and it is not one that would be a hit among today's rascals if it were to be released. It's slightly on the slower side with simplistic lyrics. I find that while that could bore many in most instances, it makes this song. It doesn't do anything flashy to try to sell. Keeping the lyrics basic allows the happy-go-lucky feeling of a crush to carry through, and it makes it near impossible to forget and thus impossible to not sing along to. My favorite part, is the build of anticipation to the chorus. "Hands, touching hands, reaching out, Touching me, touching you," it grows in emotion as the relationship and depth in the song also grows until, "SWEET CAROLINE, " it explodes.

I sing this song in my head on a bus ride. I dance to this song alone in my room. The true beauty of this song comes out though, when it is sung out loud, together, amongst friends or strangers. Everyone has experienced a first crush feeling the song describes, which allows everyone to connect to the lyrics. Its the emotion that everyone puts forth singing along that unites people if only for an instance. It puts you on cloud nine.

I dare you to not sing along as you try for yourself...

Blogging Around: 10-12

I posted on Kyle's blog because he very much addressed multiple levels of Weapons Manufactoring. I just came back from a debate tournament, which included intense debates over Hegemony and massive weapons and philosophy, and felt that the last 2 debates I watched applied quite nicely.

"Kyle,This post is really interesting in the fact that you address it on a multidude of levels. I really enjoyed it because it reminds me of a debate argument I heard today and yesterday. Hegemony, sumed up in two words, is American prodominence. It can be good because Hegemony is argued to be stabalizing; we keep a check on countries and keep conflicts to a minimum. Hegemony can also be problematic in the fact that other countries also strive to be global leaders, and thus, inevitable wars would break out due to fighting to be the world's great power. What is an important debate in itself connected to this issue is is hegemony inevitable? That's where I felt that you made a uniquely compelling argument. Are weapon manufactoring going to continue inevitably? Could all the nations just stop? It's a great argument that swings both sides in debate, so bravo. :D_Alyssa "

Another argument that was buzzing in and out of my ears this weekend was the elections; who was going to win and why. I personally think Palin is a horrible VP choice, but Mitch's blog atleast made me consider why she hasn't had as negetive effect on her party's success as I would have predicted.

"Mitch -
I think you did a good job talking about the different opinions knowing your personal bias, but I felt you could still have brought more of your opinion into it. Explain how you typically felt beforehand and what was your end imprssion after doing the 360? I guess I'm still a little dumbfounded that people like Palin as a vice presidential candidate, you're points do help me in that retrospec. How this never took true weight on the Elections DA astounds me too._Alyssa"

360 Degrees: The Power of Words

I don't swear. Profanity and all of its vulgarity, all of its curses, all of the 'sailor's tongues' had always made me turn my head. About 1 out of every 20 of my friends agree with me. The power of the words said can be regretful, but there is something to be said about their strength as well.

Swears are spoken on rare occasions for a reason; or at least, they are meant to be. Intended to express sincere, intense emotion, swears can fulfill their job. However, many high school students have relied on them too heavily and now I find many can't speak a literate sentence without wanting to throw that extra word between pauses. Which makes me wonder, what does modern society benefit from the use of swears? I felt that swears were often said out of hate, and in a moment of vulnerability. The few times I swear, I never achieve the satisfaction I want and have just ended up trying to apologize to those I've offended. Keep in mind, I tend to apologize more than the average teenager, though. So in the moments people just let out a curse, is it a weight they try to lift? Does Gosh Darn** it really capture one's emotions better than a good ol' Gee Jolly Wilikers? Sure, if its the principal of the matter, having a right to swear and let one now your level of seriousness could be useful. Relying on it to be taken seriously in my mind is a rights movement waiting to happen... but maybe that's my head working on a tangent. What I do acknowledge is teenagers relying on it as their daily vocabulary. What's the point in that case? I can no longer tell if my friends are sarcastic or serious, angry or just joking when they cuss me out.

I think there are a lot of benefits and disadvantages to swearing. There is some level of seriousness directly correlated to certain words, but in the same respect, there's a responsibility that you can be held accountable to those you hurt from your comments. My method of no swears may be lacking one of the more powerful ways to grab attention as a teenager, but swearing constantly makes one a fool and removes the power behind the statement. I think there's potential, but not to the aspect that I'll be changing my vocabulary any time soon. This very much is a careful balance.

Metacognition: Kite Runner Essay

When previewing the sample idea starters Mr.Allen proposed for us, I immediately found out that my mind and opinions were all over the place as the norm. The thesis I could most collect and develop my thoughts about was revolved around the past, so I decided to hover on that topic. I felt that it wasn't just the past that Amir was shaping his life over, but the single, solitary issue that manipulated fate in a cruel direction. I tried to concentrate on how Amir can't escape what happened that one December night to prove that our pasts not only have influence over future actions, but that they are reoccurring and unavoidable themselves. I found as I viewed it in this way, it really brought different aspects of the book together; the downside was the most insightful passages on the subject occurred after the night and thus, towards the second have of the fictional memoir. I think this thought brought in moments from my life and points outside the memoir which could give it character and a direction unique to my voice, which I am excited for. I just find it a difficult balancing act to bring specific instances while grasping onto a larger concept and ideal.

Best of Week: Short Sentences (9:15-19/08)

For the week of September 15th -19th, we went over TED presentations, Jane Eyre vocabulary, the Kite Runner, and Artful Sentences. I contemplated writing about the new secret I learned or the philosophies of Freud and Lacan, but in the end decided the concept of short sentences are more applicable to my life.

Previously, we have gone over short sentences, but I couldn't appreciate their value until Thursday's conversation. They were boring. I thought of teaching my 6 year old cousin how to write about the baseball game he went to: "I saw the cubs. I ate a hot dog. The cubs won. I had fun." When we were going over their purpose and seeing how they could be applied in Artful Sentences, it was then that I saw how their use in moderation amongst longer sentences in a paragraph is useful. It gives the reader a break. I believe the writer should keep an audience to tell their story to in mind; by providing a break it's almost as if the writer is taking care of them as well.

While reading the Kite Runner that night, I started noticing Hosseini's own use of short sentences. It not only broke up the paragraph into more legible sections, it added emphasis to points that needed to be comprehended. The power behind the writing became more of a voice, and grew its connection with the reader.

As I grow my own voice as a writer, I would like to try to incorporate this style and in a sense, artform. I imagine that it would add something different to my stories and as Mr. Allen stated, it could really enable me to add something different to my college essays down the road. I'll be unusual. Not a cut and paste student. From now on, I will try to incorporate this variety and make my papers more interesting.

Carry It Forward: The Kite Runner

" 'Let me take you home with me. I can find you a good doctor. They're coming up with new treatments all the time. There are new drugs and experimental treatments, we could enroll you in one...' I was rambling and I knew it. But it was better than crying, which I was probably going to do anyway.
He let out a chuff of laughter, revealed missing lower incisors. It was the most tired laughter I'd ever heard. 'I see America has infused you with the optimism that has made her so great. That's very good. We're a melancholic people, we Afghans, aren't we? Often, we wallow too much in ghamkhori and self-pity. We give in to loss, to suffering, accept it as a fact of life, even see it as necessary. Zendagi migzara, we say, life goes on. But I am not surrendering to fate here, I am being pragmatic. I have seen several good doctors here and they have given the same answer. I trust them and believe them. There is such a thing as God's will.' "
-The Kite Runner, 201


This passage from the Kite Runner touches a level of acceptance. Religious or not, God's will/life itself, will win in the end. It is up to each individual to understand when to 'give in' or to be 'pragmatic.'
I want to apply this concept to my life in not only health related instances, but in the way I view life at all times. I don't always have to put up a fight. Amir was desperate to figure out a way to heal Rahim Khan leaving him frazzled and distraught; Rahim Khan has faced his fate and may continue the rest of his life in relative peace as he ties up lose ends. When I can't overcome an issue in my life, I will re-evaluate it in a framework of will this be for the best?
If I don't do well at a debate tournament, the way I would mull over it would be to ask how I can make this work out for me in the future? It's too late to do well at this tournament, but maybe, I can use the oppurtunity of not debating to watch some of the top debaters in the country. Maybe I can learn. Maybe the reason I didn't do well lies in something I won't be able to fix until I trust the judges in their decision and recognize my loss. The joy from a debate tournament in Iowa, where I do well, will be short lived compared to a tournament in Michigan, where I was horrible, but understand and accept why I did poorly... Moments in time fade and are restricted to that moment, getting through the harder times is when you make the good times great in the future.


THERE IS A PART OF LIFE THAT IS INEVITABLE;

"The cry of birth, the rise of sun, the waning of the moon,
the pass of breath, the still of death, will come to all too soon,
but life imparts a strength of force, which we cannot explain,
but in the order of this chaos, some things will never change "

-Shawn Phillips

TRUST & ACCEPTANCE CAN BE THE GREATEST PALLIATIVES - KNOWING THE RIGHT THING TO OCCUR, WILL IN THE END.