Dear Christmas,

Dear Christmas,

Hey old pal, how you holding up? I know this time of the year is really busy for you... but I really needed to talk. You seem different from past years, you don't seem like yourself. What happened to all the yuletide cheer? The love? The friendship? You've been so rapped up in trying to please everyone, you haven't taken time to relax and soak in all that's good around you! Since when has this season been all about who can give the best gifts? Or who can buy the most gifts? Or who can afford the most expensive gifts? Christmas, I miss our old times together. Remember when mom would drop me and my sisters off at the dollar store, and give each of us 10 dollars to spend. We would run around the store for hours trying to find little gifts with significant meanings. Oh my goodness, remember when I picked out that miniature plastic golf set for dad? I knew he'd probably never use it, but I did know he would smile when he opened it. And he did. Seeing him smile, made me so so happy. Christmas, it's the little things that make this season so special. Like the hot coco, and the candy canes, mittens, and the mistletoe. Most importantly, it's about the family. It's our time to enjoy each others company by the fire, and snuggle while watching Elf for the 100th time. It's our time to reflect on this past year and acknowledge all the good, and the bad.
I haven't seen the old Christmas in a while, and I miss you. Please come back soon...

Best wishes,

Olivia

Why so Serious?

I have found, as a teenager in the 21st century, that a good sense of humor is hard to come by. I have been very fortunate to have been raised by two parents who are hilarious and love to joke around. Because of them I’m not afraid to laugh. When a play, musical, or movie is funny I’ll laugh out loud. If I’m reading something particularly hilarious, you bet I’ll be laughing out loud. But you see, the issue is that, not everyone feels the same way. Some people are afraid to laugh! (or just don’t find anything funny.)
Earlier this week my class was reading articles from the newspaper The Onion. The Onion writes about current events with a comedic twist. They not only claim to be “America’s finest news source” (which is a hilarious remark) they also manage to get serious information out to the public in a light-hearted fashion. Ok back to the point, while we were reading these articles in class I couldn’t help but laugh! What we were reading was comedy gold! If you couldn’t already tell I was having a grand old time in english class, when I began to feel embarrassed. When I looked around, I was surprised to see no one laughing. Not even a giggle!
This concerning sight made me think, y’all need to lighten up! What’s the fun in being so serious all the time? It’s not a crime to laugh. It’s a compliment. Not only does laughing make you smile, it makes the person telling the joke smile too! Thanks to this week’s lesson, I have found my new source of giggles. The Onion. I kid you not, I have been reading articles for hours! And I can assure you I have laughed at all of them. I highly recommend you do the same.

Side note: If someone from The Onion happens to be reading this, I would love to apply! Or if you’re not hiring new writers, you could always just hire me to laugh at all the new articles to make your employees feel good!

Movie Magic

Someone bring out the tissues because chapter 13 of Song of Solomon is a real tear jerker!! In this chapter we see a new side of Guitar. The once cold hearted killer softens up to give Hagar some valuable life advice.

"You think because he doesn't love you that you are worthless. You think that because he doesn't want you anymore that he is right - that his judgement and opinion of you are correct" (Morrison 305-306).

Oh. My. Goodness. If you aren't crying right now you have not seen enough romance movies. Also I highly, highly recommend reading pages 305 to 307 over again to really soak up the sadness and passion of Guitar's words to Hagar.
If you couldn't tell, I am a sucker for a sappy romance story, whether it be a book, a movie, it doesn't matter. I will be crying. So when I was reading this passage from Song of Solomon I pretended like I was watching it on a big screen in my head. I envisioned Hagar sitting helplessly on the bottom of the steps with her eyes empty, staring into nothingness. Then Guitar catches sight of her and a "deep wave of sorrow" (Morrison 305) engulfs him. The heartache and the sympathy practically radiate off the pages and create this beautiful, yet melancholy scene.
If someone reading this blog is a film maker (or wants to be one in the future) please, please make Song of Solomon into a movie just so I can see this scene in theaters! There is something about movies that brings a feeling of real life to a fictional story. The saying "movie magic" is, to me at least, certainly true. It is one thing to play a scene out in your head, but it is a completely new experience when you see it unfold with real actors and props and lighting and music! 

For those of you that aren't romance movie enthusiasts, here are some scenes from some of my personal favorites...
The Notebook  

10 Things I Hate About You   (This whole movie makes me cry)

17 Again

Love, Rosie  (Was also crying this whole movie)

There are many, many more but here are a few just to get your feet wet, enjoy!

Where my girls at?

George Orwell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Shakespeare, Mark Haddon, John Steinbeck, Tim O'Brien, Mark Twain, Markus Zusak, Jonathan Safron Foer, Charles Dickens, Art Spiegelman, and William Golding (just to name a few). Now you might be wondering, what do all of these men have in common besides being old and white?? Well I'm glad you asked! Each and ever one of these TWELVE men have written a book, or two, that has been required by my English curriculum. In addition to these male authors I was only able to find FOUR female authors: Harper Lee, Julia Alvarez, Pearl S. Buck, and Toni Morrison. And out of all of these authors combined, male and female, only ONE African American.
 Women are under-represented in many areas and occupations, literature being a major one, and most concerning for high-school students. According to Jessica Sheather-Neumann , "female students make up around half of the secondary student population. With the under-representation of female authors in high school literature, there is a real risk that the texts being studied by these young women (and men) will not reflect their own stories and experiences." Now hear me out, I am not "man hating" (a term feminists are often associated with, which is a false accusation about feminism) on these male authors, it just makes you wonder "where my girls at?" (Beyonce).  
Back in the times of William Shakespeare and Mark Twain women were not seen as educated or qualified enough to be writers, let alone authors. But imagine if they were. What impact would it have on our literature today? Would we have more well known female authors? Would societies behavior/viewpoint toward women be different? The answer is I don't know, and it's a real shame we will never be able to find out.
  The dominance of men in certain aspects of life are often over looked or seen as non problematic because 'that's the way things have always been'. 
To that I bite my thumb. Our society is often blinded by its fear of change, that it misses many opportunities to progress and become a stronger, more united nation. The integration of female authors into the high school English curriculum may seem like a minuet change, but in reality it is a giant step in the right direction. The proper balance between literature written by female and male writers in schools has the potential to inspire young writers to freely express their thoughts with no gender limitations. It is never to late for change! So why not now? 
                                                 


How do you think the representation of female authors in the English
 curriculum will effect students? Society? Gender equality? 














Lets play a game! Try to match each author with its correct photo! Good luck, no cheating!!




                                                 








Hint: I looked up 'generic white guy' on google and put him in the mix!

Origin Story

How did you get your name? 

After our discussion in class about the origins of our names, I realized that I really had no clue where mine came from. So I asked my parents and they said in Latin the name Olive means peace. They loved the meaning of it so they adapted it to be more feminine, and came up with Olivia. Side note, Olivia was also one of the top ten girl baby names in 2001 (that's probably why I know like 6 other Olivia's). I became more intrigued with with idea of everyones 'origin story' so I began to ask around. One of my friends was named after the main character of the Home Alone movies, Kevin. My friend Monica's parents switched her grandmother's middle and first name from Helen Monica to Monica Helen. This got to be so much fun that I decided to interview some of my friends! Here's what they said...

"My parents were looking through a name book with their friends and they didn't know any bad Natalie's, and they liked the sound of it." - Natalie Eighmey

"My name comes from a fortune teller who was really famous for like politicians in Korea, and my grandparents spent 2,000 dollars to ask him what my name should be based on my birthdate and time I was born, and my name Jin Seok was decided." - James "Jin Seok" Ha

"My Chinese name, Mei-Ling, was chosen because it's the traits my parents wanted me to have. Mei means beautiful jade and Ling means musician. My American name was chosen because my parents liked Olivia Newton John." - Olivia Mei Ling Tu 

"My name is from my grandfather because it is tradition for the first born son in the Levant to have the name of his grandfather and his father's name second. So my name is George Kayed, my grandfathers name is George, and my fathers is Kayed. It really translates to "Azar the son of Kayed, grandson of George."  - George Azar

"My mom didn't want to name me with anyones name she already knew, so she mixed letters together that she liked and got Mallory." - Mallory Bouque 

"Won means lasting forever and Young means spirit." - Won Young Kang 

"My name is my dads family's surname (Oh) and then there's a list of what my middle character of my name is suppose to be, which is Min, and my parents got to choose the last, Suk." - Brian "Min Suk" Oh 

"My dad's coworker suggested it and said that it means 'protector' and my parents really liked it. It also has the same first sound of my Korean name." - Jamie Kim 

"My father was illiterate and found a group of words in the Bible that ended up being Pilate. He was to stubborn to change it so now i'm named after the guy that crucified Jesus." - Pilate Dead 

"It's kinda weird but I breast fed beyond the years that children are suppose to, so I got the nickname Milkman." - Milkman Dead 

How did you get your name? Leave a comment down below! 

The Troy High Dream

Everyone warned us that Junior year was the worst of them all. The countless AP classes, maintaining that perfect 4.0 or higher, acing the ACT/SAT, being on the board of one of your many clubs, varsity sports, community service, all while balancing a decent social life. Oh, and don't forget being especially good in class this year so you can receive that outstanding rec letter we all so desperately want. In an ideal world we would all be achieving this Troy High Dream. But in reality, we just can't. I hate to break it to you, but only a small percentage of students are going to live up to the, oh so glorified, Troy High Dream. And what does it mean if you are not included in that small percent? Well, you're a failure. 

Now that last sentence may seem ridiculous to most of you, but in reality it's what MANY students at Troy High think if they aren't accomplishing all the things the Troy High Dream entails. As my math teacher put it, "it's not normal to be achieving all these things!" And I totally agree. How can one person, a teenager mind you, balance all these expectations? The bar is set extremely high at Troy High, which also means that the pressure to due well is insane. It almost feels as though our job title is 'Full Time Student'. No where in that title does it say 'Kid'. As adolescents, our teen years are suppose to be spent making memories, being goofy with our friends, trying new things, falling in love, making mistakes, finding new dreams, and just living our lives. In the midst of all of Troy High's expectations, it's hard to remember that we are just kids. 

It's important to realize that the Troy High Dream is merely a dream. Something we may strive for but never quite obtain. "Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And one fine morning" (Fitzgerald, 180) we will all realize how absurd the expectations of the Troy High Dream really are. 

The Roaring Twenties

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920's, better known as, the roaring twenties. If you're like me and have been taking social studies over the summer for the past three years, the only thing you really remember about the 20's is flappers and prohibition (I'm sure Leonardo DiCaprio's face pops up in your memory as well). Before diving into this classic, I decided to re-educate myself on this era to greater understand the text, and to be able to recall more than just frilly dresses and a ban on alcohol. Without further ado, here's what I found...

The 1920's was an age of huge political and social change. For the first time more Americans were living in cities rather than farms.  On top of that economic growth was through the roof, the nation's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929. America became a "consumer society", and people from coast to coast were able to buy the same goods, listen to the same music, and even use the same slang. Contrary to common belief, the 20's brought on more conflict than celebration, many American's weren't used to this new, urban, and sometimes racy culture that was quickly emerging.  

In 1919, the 18th Amendment of the Constitution banned all 'intoxicating liquors'.  On January 16th, 1920, the federal Volstead Act closed every bar, saloon, and tavern in the United States. As you can imagine people were not very happy, this act gave birth to illegal speakeasies controlled by bootleggers, racketeers, and other organized crime figures such as Al Capone. Aside from prohibition, the Ku Klux Klan gained many followers in the 1920's. There was also an anti-Communist 'Red Scare' in 1919 and 1920 that lead to a widespread anti-immigration hysteria. 

At this point in my research the 1920's weren't lookin' so hot. So I decided to look into the more musical and expressive side of the 20's. The jazz age gave younger generations a new type of freedom on the dance floor, that was sometimes seen as vulgar by the older generations (surprise, surprise). Some of the dance moves created include: the Charleston, the cake-walk, the black bottom, and the flea hop. In the 1920's many American's had extra money to spend, so they spent it on clothes, electrical appliances, and especially radios. By the end of the 20's more than 12 million households had a radio! This helped spread all the new fun musical culture the roaring twenties had to offer. 
I would like to thank history.com for enriching my knowledge on the 1920's, I couldn't have done it without you!  If you would like to learn more click on this link http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties

Nazi Propaganda vs. Maus

The Nazi propaganda poster, on the left, in German is promoting the NSDAP with an image of a happy perfect family. NSDAP stands for National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei, for those of you that don't know German, it translates to National Socialist German Workers' Party. In simpler terms NSDAP is the Nazi party. The image on the right (cover picture of chapter five from Maus volume one) illustrates a family cramped in a cellar trying to hide from the Nazi's. 
The most apparent and significant difference in these two images is in the way each family is portrayed. To the left we see five people. A mom and a dad smiling while taking in the joy of their new born child. A little boy with blonde hair also admiring the baby, and a sweet little girl with golden hair and rosy cheeks, looking the viewers of the poster dead in the eye. Similarly, the image on the right also depicts five people. Three people in the center wrapped in blankets trying to stay warm, each one with eyes that look wearily to the floor. A man wearing a hat and coat standing in the back with this head angled toward the ground, and a somber black silhouette in the corner.
The Nazi propaganda poster deceives its audience by showing a happy perfect German family, when in reality it is promoting a party of racists and murderous people. A person walking down the street could take one glance at this poster and only see the family, not reading what it's actually about. The colored imaged, combined with smiling faces connotes joy and happiness. What if the same message was put onto the image from Maus? The meaning would be completely different, its connotation would shift dramatically from cheerful to depressed. Now that the poster gives off a sorrowful aura, an onlooker on the street will now connect the Nazi party with this image of a glum, miserable family.

Reading Beyond the Text

The majority of Maus, by Art Spiegelman, is chalked full of hidden meanings. One could spend hours analyzing a single page and still miss the main idea the author was trying to portray. On the contrary, one could notice things the author didn't even intend, that further enrich the story. The unique part about Maus is that the interpretations are endless. Have you ever heard the expression, "a picture speaks a thousand words?" Well, it's true. The images illustrated in Maus don't confine the reader to one meaning or idea, they stretch the readers understanding and comprehension of the text to form a variety of interpretations. 

For example, on page 114 of the first volume of Maus, the third frame might just look like a pocket watch and a window, but they are so much more. 

This single frame is loaded with hidden meanings. For instance, the thick black bars of the window resemble a prison cell. The pocket watch also looks like some sort of lock. The pocket watch is also attached to a chain. Now that we've noticed all of that, lets take it further. What are prison cells used for? Confinement, right? Well, maybe Spiegelman meant for the window to symbolize the nazi's detainment of the Jews. Why is it significant for the pocket watch to be on a chain? Well maybe it means that the Jews were chained in time, or that the nazi's kept tight reigns on the Jews lives. Maybe the pocket watch looks like a lock with no key because no one had found a solution to the Holocaust at that time. 

 All of the assumptions I've just made about the text could be intentional, or they could not. It's up to the reader to challenge the text and always look for different angles. 

Leave a comment down below of anything you may have noticed from this single frame. Remember, the possibilities are endless!

Creative Writing

As a Pisces, I am artistic, musical, and intuitive. I know some people might think horoscopes and astrological signs are a bunch of baloney, but I happen to think otherwise.

On whatever device you are on right now, open another tab and look up your astrological sign. Read your strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes and see if any of them are true to you.

Are you a passionate and creative Leo?

An independent and progressive Aquarius?

A loyal, hardworking Virgo?

According to my zodiac sign, Pisces, I am creative and enjoy freedom to do what I want. When it comes to my writing I feel the same way. In class this week we had a brief discussion on how ‘writing requires no template’. All throughout my years as student I have been told how to write. One intro. Three body paragraphs. One conclusion. This standard form of writing is so ingrained in the mind of students that it is often hard for them to stray away from it. When told to write expressively, many students are at a loss. This box we have been confined to as young writers gets harder and harder to break out of as we write more structurally and concretely.  

In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman (an Aquarius) he illustrates his father’s memories of the holocaust in a way never quite seen before. In the frame shown below, Spiegelman's father says that it would “take many books” (12) to explain his life during the war. Maus creates a movie on paper for the reader, depicting life during the holocaust. This non-traditional way of displaying the events of the war does Spiegelman's father’s story justice.

Now I’m not saying that we should have no structure. Of course we need some sort of  template when writing research papers and others works of that nature.

       Creative writing is not for everyone. What if you’re a Taurus and you’re practical and like structure? Or you’re a Scorpio and love factual evidence? Then so be it!

      Every once in awhile it is good to be pushed out of your comfort zone. But when it comes down to it, writing is all about expressing who YOU are. Yes, there might be a template to follow, but your writing style will always be personal to you.

We might all have two hands and ten fingers, but everyone one of our finger prints leaves a different mark (super cheesy but you get the point).

Surrealism

As our routine Friday vocab quiz approached, I began preparing by looking up the various literary terms and their meanings. Usually this process is rather dry, but this week as I was monotonously typing the terms into google one definition caught my eye! Surrealism.
The definitions I found blew my mind. I'm not sure if I was just delusional from lack of sleep, or genuinely mind blown by this word's meaning. Let me show you some of the descriptions I found, leave me a comment down below if you were just as mind boggled.

"A 20th century avant garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example irrational juxtaposition of images" (en.oxforddictionaries.com).

"Integrate the confused realms of imagination and reality" (Literarydevices.net).

Whoa. 'Potential of the unconscious mind' what does that mean!? 'Confused realms of imagination and reality' what's that suppose to mean?! After a few minutes of staring at these descriptions, my curiosity got the best of me and I began researching art and literature pertaining to surrealism. Here's what I found in the art department...

Most of you have probably seen this painting before. The Persistence of Time by Salvador Dali is one of the most famous examples of surrealism. The landscape in the background is of Dali's home region of Catalonia, Spain. Dali states that this painting was made "'to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality.' There is, however, a nod to the real: the distant golden cliffs are those on the coast of Catalonia, Dali's home" (MoMA.org). I interpreted this as Dali making the statement that even the most familiar places can become alien to us in time. Dali also juxtaposes the ideas of soft and hard. The soft melting clocks contrast with the sharp hard cliffs in the foreground.

Next we have a surreal poems called "A Season in Hell" by Arthur Rimbaud.

"A while back, if I remember right, my life was long party were all hearts were open
wide, where all wines kept flowing.
One night, I sat Beauty down on my lap. -and I found her galling.- And I roughed her up.
I armed myself against justice.
I ran away. O witches, O misery, O hatred, my treasure's been turned over to you!"

In these first few lines of the poem, the images illustrated are irrational and contradictory. Rimbaud depicts a life of luxury with a beautiful women, then suddenly runs away shouting about witches and misery. If you were unsure the word 'galling' translates to annoying. So basically Rimbaud is in paradise with this gorgeous woman, but then realizes she's annoying, and he now she's her as a witch (whatta guy). Any way, because of the way the way this poem juxtaposes joyousness and misery it is said to be one of the best surreal poems out there.

I hope you now feel a little more knowledgeable about the ever-so-fascinating world of surrealism! Thanks for reading!

Native American Stereotypes

         When I say Native American what is the first image that pops into your head? If I had to guess, I would bet it looked a little something like this...

         Native Americans are often portrayed in media as stone cold warriors, and more often than less, the enemy. In "Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' At Woodstock" by Sherman Alexie, an Indigenous American and Libra, Alexie writes about peoples distorted outlook on Native Americans.
         If you listen to Jimi Hendrix's version of The Star-Spangled Banner, you would notice that it sounds, for lack of a better word, different. Hendrix's screeching guitar and pounding drums mimic the sound of screams and bombs. This warped version of the national anthem is a symbol for people's distorted view on Native Americans. Listen to the song and tell me what you think in the comments below! https://www.youtube.com/watch     
        Alexie also writes about the attire worn at Woodstock that year, "bell-bottoms and flowered shirts" (25). Alexie's father takes this 'hippie' facade as people trying to dress like Native Americans. After knowing this information, the reader can look back at the title and infer that Alexie's father felt like the only Indian at Woodstock, because everyone else was a 'fake' Indian.
         Alexie's father and Jimi Hendrix both feel like outsiders in society. Hendrix being, half black and half white, didn't feel like he belonged anywhere in the music world. He felt either too white for the black people, or too black for the white people. Hendrix and Alexie's father, both minorities, share the same feeling of not belonging in society.

The Patriotic Spectrum: Where do you fall?

This week in class we read a very interesting essay called “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” by Sarah Vowell. (Fun fact about Vowell, she’s a Capricorn and was the voice of Violet in The Incredibles!) Vowell is often referred to as a ‘social observer’, given she has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. In “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” Vowell discusses the range of the patriotic spectrum, and what it means to fall on either end of it.

There are two ends of the spectrum, full sun and storm clouds. Full sun would describe the people who only support their country when it is doing well. On the other end, storm clouds, are those who portray a blind loyalty to their country. This can also be described as jingoism or  extreme patriotism. Throughout the essay the reader can see the inner struggle Vowell faces as she tries to decide which side she falls on.

After the events of 9/11 “flags were plastered everywhere, seeing them was heartening because they indicated that we are all in this sorrow together” (1058). In this passage Vowell begins to illustrate a key moment in her journey to finding which side she belongs on. Vowell decides to contribute to this act of patriotism and put up a flag of her own. As she’s about to tape a flag to her window she hesitates and throws it into the recycling bin. Yes the flag symbolizes unity for a mourning nation, but it also represents war and destruction, especially when the president began to take action against the ‘evildoers’. Vowell realizes she’s not on the stormy side when she is skeptical of the flag and its meaning.

Later in the essay Vowell takes the flag out of the recycling bin and tapes it to her window. In doing this she also finds out that she does not fall under the sunny side when she states, “I know I’m no sunshine patriot” (1060). Just because her country isn’t in the best place doesn’t mean she can’t support it in its time of need.

After these events Vowell makes her own category on the patriotic spectrum, partly cloudy. This new section is for those with a healthy skepticism for their country and government. These people do not follow their county blindly, but provide an opinion to better help their nation as a whole. They also support their country not just when it’s doing well, but when it needs a helping hand. These traits describe “the partly cloudy patriot I long to be” (1060).

Where do you fall on the patriotic spectrum? Leave a comment down below!

Welcome!

Hey everyone thanks for stopping by! On this blog you will find insightful literary analyses with a little touch of astrology. If you don't know what astrology is, it's the study of the stars and planets and their influence on human affairs. Astrology also embodies the 12 zodiac signs which include: Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn. Find our sign based on your birthday below!