I've really learned from my blog that I read very critically and negatively. I tend to judge writers of books early on, and critique their style somewhat incorrectly. If I'm reading a book I think is impressive, I'll get so wrapped up in my own greatness for reading this book, that I will also assume that I am greater than the authors and have the right to judge them. I have also really learned that I was a rather boring and essay-like blog writer. I realized this and did damage control early on. I've also learned a lot about myself as a writer. I actually genuinely enjoy writing, strangely, and have grown SO much since the start of blogging. Before this year, I didn't have a definitive writer's voice and would either go with being either too stiff or too loose. When in doubt, I would go with being stiff. This year during blogging, I've really known the liberating feeling that is spewing out your opinion in a long and slightly obnoxious rant. It's wonderful! It's become fun to write with a blog because I'm not censoring myself. It seems less formal to post on my blog than to hand something in to the teacher, and though this may be an illusion, it helps make homework (which essentially is what blogging is) seem almost bearable and nearly like something more.
So, on the topic of if people are more or less real online, I think it depends. For me, I take online writing as a chance to let loose and not censor myself. But I realize for others that it could make them self- conscious and, having the chance to censor themselves, unlike in person, they might do so. In person, if you were to say "I hate One Direction," to a bunch of Directioners, that would be pretty stupid, but the truth (if you did hate them.) Online, it would be a lot easier to fake not hating them, because you have time to think about what you post. In this way, you would only project lies. On the other hand, online you aren't speaking directly to the Directioners and a blog is really a way to state what you think without shoving it in someone else's face. The Directioners can't get mad at you for hating One Direction if they chose to read your blog about hating them. It feels very individual to blog. It satisfies my narcissism. I think that for me, I'm probably more real on my blog, even if I have the chance to not be.
I don't know if I could consider keeping up this blog. I do enjoy blog posting, but let's face it: like most humans, I am inherently and exceedingly lazy. Who knows, but in my heart I feel that I could never keep up this blog without prompting and being graded. There is also the problem that thus far this has been a school blog. I'm sorry, but there are many people in our school I would prefer NOT to have access to a continuous blog of mine. If I continued posting these people would still be able to read my blog through high school (not that they would want to.)Plus, all my posts have been written with the thought in mind that a teacher would read them. If I did a public blog, I would spend my time on trying to get normal people to like it, not E.L.A. teachers (no offense Ms. Rear, thou art spiffy and I'm not saying you aren't normal; you can be whatever you want to be.) I maybe could one day start such a blog, but I think I would only do so if I came to find that type of blogging more enjoyable than what I would otherwise be doing (sitting around like a useless vegetable) and that seems unlikely at the current time.
I like the idea of students doing blogs. I think that this was a really good experience and am not saying this to suck up. I learned so much this year and now have an immortal portfolio of my writing over 8th grade. This also has given me incentive to make my blog posts good (no telling if I've succeeded.) This blog is online as a representation of me. In college I will come back to this blog and scoff at my blog and complain about what an annoying kid I was. Without this blog, I would be unable to do so because I would never have been organized enough to save my weekly 8th grade reading responses throughout life.
So, overall, I like blogs. Blogs are good. Sometimes I read blogs if they're entertaining, but too often they're just stupid and irritating. However, I realize that this isn't a quality of blogs, but a quality of writing and really people in general.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
A Fraction of the Whole
In "A Fraction of the Whole," a major theme is insanity. Every single character seems to go crazy, or already be crazy.
The book is basically about a boy named Jasper who has an interesting father. Through a few different ways, he learns of his past. He has no mother, and in the beginning of the book is not aware of what happened to her, other than she died, but lives alone with his philosophy bum dad in Austrailia. In the beginning of the book, classified into one chapter, is Martin, Jasper's dad, telling him about his childhood and his murderer brother. Then Jasper reads Martin's notebook and he learns about the next bit of his life, including Jasper's mother. Life that Jasper can remember would probably be classified as the third chapter. As the book progresses, you almost learn about Jasper through Martin and worry for him: he seems to be following Martin's own path. There are so many parallels between them, and also between other characters (who haven't necessarily appeared in Jasper's life, but have in Martin's) that it's troubling. One of the most prominent of these is insanity.
Martin lives with some sort of philosophical brilliance, but also stupidity. He is aware of his mind and holds the world in contempt, thinking that people who mostly worry about the little things in life are useless. Similarly, Martin is useless-- he only thinks about the big things. In fact, he THINKS about the big things, but doesn't do anything. He's pretty pointless. Not to mention nearly off the edge. He gets sent to a mental hospital and is released, but not before being thoroughly nuts and destroying the strip club he used to manage.
Jasper's mother also has a history of craziness. Right off from the bat, Martin noticed that there was definitely something wrong with her. However, he never broke it off. I think he was just so shocked and excited that a pretty girl had paid him attention (not to mention deflowered him) that he was able to ignore her apparent problems. Anyhoo, Jasper was "the last obstacle" to her suicide. His job was to get born so that she could die. She was pretty insane.
Jasper's family on his mother's side also is crazy, from what you can tell of them, but you don't hear much. On his father's side, they were refugees. His biological grandfather died, his step grandfather became crazy and violent, and his grandmother also went psycho-- poisoning her son for the opportunity to nurse him back to health. His uncle went nuts and began killing people who cheated in sports. He first became a sports mass- murderer, and then went into hiding in Thailand and ran a crime empire, or, as he put it, a "Democratic Cooperation of Crime." Nearly half of the book is devoted to Martin's telling of Jasper's uncle Terry's journey to madness. The question is: will Jasper have a happy ending or follow the legacy of his family?
The book is basically about a boy named Jasper who has an interesting father. Through a few different ways, he learns of his past. He has no mother, and in the beginning of the book is not aware of what happened to her, other than she died, but lives alone with his philosophy bum dad in Austrailia. In the beginning of the book, classified into one chapter, is Martin, Jasper's dad, telling him about his childhood and his murderer brother. Then Jasper reads Martin's notebook and he learns about the next bit of his life, including Jasper's mother. Life that Jasper can remember would probably be classified as the third chapter. As the book progresses, you almost learn about Jasper through Martin and worry for him: he seems to be following Martin's own path. There are so many parallels between them, and also between other characters (who haven't necessarily appeared in Jasper's life, but have in Martin's) that it's troubling. One of the most prominent of these is insanity.
Martin lives with some sort of philosophical brilliance, but also stupidity. He is aware of his mind and holds the world in contempt, thinking that people who mostly worry about the little things in life are useless. Similarly, Martin is useless-- he only thinks about the big things. In fact, he THINKS about the big things, but doesn't do anything. He's pretty pointless. Not to mention nearly off the edge. He gets sent to a mental hospital and is released, but not before being thoroughly nuts and destroying the strip club he used to manage.
Jasper's mother also has a history of craziness. Right off from the bat, Martin noticed that there was definitely something wrong with her. However, he never broke it off. I think he was just so shocked and excited that a pretty girl had paid him attention (not to mention deflowered him) that he was able to ignore her apparent problems. Anyhoo, Jasper was "the last obstacle" to her suicide. His job was to get born so that she could die. She was pretty insane.
Jasper's family on his mother's side also is crazy, from what you can tell of them, but you don't hear much. On his father's side, they were refugees. His biological grandfather died, his step grandfather became crazy and violent, and his grandmother also went psycho-- poisoning her son for the opportunity to nurse him back to health. His uncle went nuts and began killing people who cheated in sports. He first became a sports mass- murderer, and then went into hiding in Thailand and ran a crime empire, or, as he put it, a "Democratic Cooperation of Crime." Nearly half of the book is devoted to Martin's telling of Jasper's uncle Terry's journey to madness. The question is: will Jasper have a happy ending or follow the legacy of his family?
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Pride and Prejudice: yet again
In Pride and Prejudice, it is widely viewed that Elizabeth Bennet has prejudice, and that Fitzwilliam Darcy is proud. And these views can be understood; she misjudges him, and he is resistant to her because of his pride, but honestly I think that their supposed classifications ought to be switched.
Mr. Darcy first sees Elizabeth and says that she is "not handsome enough to tempt me." Actually, he doesn't even really see her, he just looks her way to humor his friend. Grumpy and prejudiced about the inhabitants of the countryside (and really, anywhere outside of the fanciest parts of town) he assumes that she is boring and ugly and common. I actually think that a major part of the story is realizing that all his prejudiced ideas are wrong and that he in in love with her.
He also prematurely judges people based on the actions of others. He makes simply unforgivable remarks on Mrs. Bennet and Lydia, and it takes time for him to learn that the two eldest Bennets are nothing like the rest of their family.
Lizzy, on the other hand, is quite insufferable! Just kidding, she isn't really that insufferable- maybe a little, but certainly not insufferable enough too warrant a quite- but I wanted to use the word. Anyhow, Lizzy is, in a way, much more proud than Darcy. The ENTIRE reason she hates him so much is because he said she wasn't temptingly pretty. Now, as she is at least moderately so, you know that he doesn't really hurt her feelings. However, it's a blow to her ego. She was proud, and he insulted it. He also deals a few blows to other types of pride, particularly family pride. He, as I said before, insults her family directly. That knocks her off her pedestal. You know what, I think that Darcy's type of pride is less significant than Lizzy's because it is justified. She is proud of her life, her family, her home-- but honestly, it's not that great. She is a poorish girl with a nutso family living on a farm estate named Longbourn. (Personally, I think it's very strange to name your house. And even if you do, can't you pick a name like Bill or Brenda? Honestly, people seem to be terrible at naming nonliving objects! Longbourn, Pemberly, Skyfall-- bad names!) Lizzy does not have so much to be proud of.
Darcy, on the other hand has a nice sister, a gorgeous house with grounds that make up "half of Derbyshire" and a humongous lake with fish. When I get my own lake, I'll be proud of it too! So lay off Darcy. Lizzy is the one with the worse pride. And, similiarly, lay off Lizzy! Darcy is certainly more prejudiced. She judges him, but not until after he's been nasty to her. He judges her before even knowing who she is, and that is the worst type of prejudice. Social class-ism.
Their personalities are really different as assumed. They both have pride and prejudice; perhaps that's what makes them such a good couple.
Mr. Darcy first sees Elizabeth and says that she is "not handsome enough to tempt me." Actually, he doesn't even really see her, he just looks her way to humor his friend. Grumpy and prejudiced about the inhabitants of the countryside (and really, anywhere outside of the fanciest parts of town) he assumes that she is boring and ugly and common. I actually think that a major part of the story is realizing that all his prejudiced ideas are wrong and that he in in love with her.
He also prematurely judges people based on the actions of others. He makes simply unforgivable remarks on Mrs. Bennet and Lydia, and it takes time for him to learn that the two eldest Bennets are nothing like the rest of their family.
Lizzy, on the other hand, is quite insufferable! Just kidding, she isn't really that insufferable- maybe a little, but certainly not insufferable enough too warrant a quite- but I wanted to use the word. Anyhow, Lizzy is, in a way, much more proud than Darcy. The ENTIRE reason she hates him so much is because he said she wasn't temptingly pretty. Now, as she is at least moderately so, you know that he doesn't really hurt her feelings. However, it's a blow to her ego. She was proud, and he insulted it. He also deals a few blows to other types of pride, particularly family pride. He, as I said before, insults her family directly. That knocks her off her pedestal. You know what, I think that Darcy's type of pride is less significant than Lizzy's because it is justified. She is proud of her life, her family, her home-- but honestly, it's not that great. She is a poorish girl with a nutso family living on a farm estate named Longbourn. (Personally, I think it's very strange to name your house. And even if you do, can't you pick a name like Bill or Brenda? Honestly, people seem to be terrible at naming nonliving objects! Longbourn, Pemberly, Skyfall-- bad names!) Lizzy does not have so much to be proud of.
Darcy, on the other hand has a nice sister, a gorgeous house with grounds that make up "half of Derbyshire" and a humongous lake with fish. When I get my own lake, I'll be proud of it too! So lay off Darcy. Lizzy is the one with the worse pride. And, similiarly, lay off Lizzy! Darcy is certainly more prejudiced. She judges him, but not until after he's been nasty to her. He judges her before even knowing who she is, and that is the worst type of prejudice. Social class-ism.
Their personalities are really different as assumed. They both have pride and prejudice; perhaps that's what makes them such a good couple.
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