What do you love most about English?

The sound of noisy children filled the florescent-lighted classroom, and Mr. Kindsey waited impatiently for the students to settle down. “Guys! The quote.” He said, referring to the daily warm up. It had been second semester for a month now, and Mr. Kindsey was already getting tired of the “senioritis” pandemic.  

            “Students, I have passed out a rubric for the project this six weeks. You all will journal about what you love most about English.” In his head, Mr. Kindsey believes he has derived a cleaver plan to see who truly values their education.

“OK, class, you can start your discussion.”

            “Getting a 5 on the AP exam, of course!” Garrison, as usually the first to speck, yelled out.

            “Oh well, I think the best part of English is making a 9 on an essay.” Bina said.

            “I believe the true beauty of English is the words.” Holleen exclaimed. Immediately all the heads in the class turned to stare at Holleen. She continued, “The way single words can be placed together to create something with meaning is incredible. Words make sentences, that make stories, that make us cry, laugh, and smile!” Still no one responded positively, just blank stares.

            “Words… Really, words?” Mr. Kindsey questioned in disgust. “Out of all the important things in English, like grades, extra credit, and ‘A’ honor roll, you choose words…?” Mr. Kindsey continued on, distressed because he thought Holleen would understand the DISD values of education. “Holleen, read the board under ‘product’ for today’s agenda.”

            “100% of students will share a superficial and quantifiable love they have for English.” Holleen recited.

            Mr. Kindsey responded. “Because of your failure to follow DISD policy I’m going to have expel you from the school. Mrs. Treelove will escort you out.” Holleen slowly packed up her belonging as the Mr. Kindsey, Garrison, and Bina all conversed over film festivals, Star Wars, and coffee.

            Once outside the classroom, Holleen begged Mrs. Treelove to not expel her. Mrs. Treelove didn’t expel her, and she asked Holleen what she could do for her. Holleen asked, “Can I be placed in freshman English?” Mrs. Treelove agreed. Then Holleen started attending Mr. Javison’s freshmen class. In order to keep her identity a secret, Holleen used a simpler, freshmen-level vocabulary.

            After weeks in Mr. Javison’s class, Holleen accidentally forget to use unsophisticated words in an essay. Mr. Javison immediately accused her of cheating, and threw his Viking hat at her.  To prove her innocence, she frantically wrote down challenging words like “circumlocution,” “charlatan,” and “nefarious” with prefect definitions. Mr. Javison, so impressed with Holleen’s neat handwriting, instantaneously declared her his star student.

            Later on in the year, Mr. Javison and Holleen hosted a book club for all the English teachers in the district. At the beginning of the event, Holleen welcomed all the teachers as they walked in, and Mr. Kindsey didn’t recognize Holleen. Once it was time to pass out the copies of King Lear, Holleen made sure to give Mr. Kindsey a specially prepared edition.

 “Please turn to act 1, scene 1, line 79 – 80.” Holleen instructed the book club, and Mr. Javison began reciting the excerpt Shakespeare. Mr. Kindsey opened his copy only to notice all the words missing from the book leaving only blank pages.

            “Why are there no words in my book? We can’t study English with out words!” Mr. Kindsey exclaimed. Soon he noticed Holleen. It finally dawned on him just how important words are to English. “Holleen, you are wise. Please forgive me!” Mr. Kindsey begged. Holleen laughed at Mr. Kindsey then walked off with Mr. Javison, reciting the poems of William Blake.  

            The next day in freshmen English Mr. Javison started by asking the class. “What is everyone’s favorite thing about English?”

My Quest for thy Majesty: Excerpts from an Explorer’s Journal (Heart of Darkness)

  

            November 8, 1887– The flattened grass of a road lead our team of explorers deeper into the forest. The travel guide informed me we were close to the African village. The village is known around the globe for having a rare breed of goat. The rare goat has only ever been brought out of the village once, but the goat died a few days after. Queen Victoria was only person who experienced the graces of the rare goat. The queen claimed it was the best goat’s milk she had ever had, so she sponsored an expedition to bring an abundance of African goats back to England. My fellow explorers and I have come equipped with 13 rounds of ammunition and we have also brought a month’s supply of food.

            November 9, 1887 – Today marked my first encounter with the native people. It was exhilarating to see and hear such prehistoric actions and noises. The people’s dress was so interesting, their fabric was not cotton and their ankles were left without coverage. The buildings lacked chimneys and proper doors with locks. Upon our arrival we used a round of ammunition to take a goat. We were hoping to establish our dominance early to let the native people aware of  the expedition’s power. We now have two goats and the natives haven’t expressed any violence.

            February 13, 1888 – The past few months have been peaceful. We have only used force once to take another goat, and the native still haven’t acted against us. The dry season has been optimal for our expedition. Since we haven’t worried about weather, we have started to introduce civilized ideas to the barbarian people. 

            March 23, 1888 – The wet season has come. My comrades and I have experienced less then favorable conditions. The crop fields we planted have had slight flooding, so our food was limited this month, as were the native’s food. To establish good terms with the Africans we returned one of their goats we had taken that month.

            April 1, 1888 – Our troops didn’t think the rains would last, but for the last week the rains have poured harder and harder. The fields have completely flooded. In order to not kill goats for food, we used two rounds of ammunition to receive food. In a response the natives acted out violently toward us; however, their archaic forms of battle were no match against our modern inventions. In these hard times, I realized in order to meet Queen Victoria’s requests we would have to use violence frequently.

            June 6, 1888 – The weather seems to have cleared up the last few weeks and the exposition has collected 5 goats. I feel the Queen will be very happy with our progress.  In order to keep our goat numbers up we have had to use our ammunitions.  The other’s in the group and I have decided to only use violence to retrieve goat or when the environmental conditions call for desperate measures; however, if the natives ever use force against us we will not respond violently.

            September 2, 1888 – The past three month have been harsh. The heavy winds have created complications for farming and the troops have used violence almost every month to maintain a surplus in goats. Most every month the natives act out against our expedition.

            October 27, 1888 – It is the last week of our yearlong quest, and we have only three goats and only 2 rounds of ammunition left. Over the course of six months, the natives have been violent towards the English. It wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for because I wanted to try African goat’s milk, but the three goats will only provide for the queen. I leave feeling defeated; ready to escape a year of violence, force, and hardship. 

I Should Write This in Braille? – Figuring Out Blindness in Literature

          Blind characters create a tricky subject when analyzing literature. Figuring out exactly what their disability adds to the story can mean a variety of things. Foster primarily explains the chapter using an example from Oedipus Rex, and Foster illustrates how Oedipus blinds himself once he learns the truth about his life. Another character, Tiresias, in Oedipus Rex serves as a blind prophet in the story. After examining many stories, one can begin to notice a pattern in which parallels reality, truth, and understanding with blindness.

            The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green is one teen novel that has made its way from book to screen. In the novel, Isaac, a friend of main characters Augusta and Hazel, becomes blind after having a procedure to remove cancer from his eyes. The main characters in the novel either have cancer or have had cancer in the past. Since the characters live in a negative environment, it is hard to keep an optimistic outlook. Isaac, however, always reminds his friends to look on the bright side. Despite his disability Isaac’s character demonstrates a deeper understanding of the value of life.

            Another favorite teen book series and TV show Pretty Little Liars, includes a girl, Jenna, who lost her sign in a terrible accident. Throughout the series most girls fear Jenna because she seems to know everyone’s secrets. Her sightlessness follows the pattern of blind characters having knowledge that surpasses others.

In one novel Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements, the main character, Bobby, wakes up invisible. Because of his condition, he takes the chance to walk around town without being seen. During his adventures he wonders into a library where he meets Alicia, a blind girl. Because Alicia is blind, she doesn’t realize Bobby in invisible, and the two converse with each other. Alicia gives Bobby a new perspective on life. Prior to meeting Alicia, Bobby always felt invisible, even before he became physically invisible. After the characters conversation Bobby realized just how fortunate he was and how true friendship is more valuable then being noticed by many. Alicia, the blind character, taught Bobby truth and wisdom; she expressed how literature uses blind characters give other a new outlook.

            As I began thinking of other places blind characters appear I noticed a pattern of characters going temporarily blind. Temporary blindness seems different then being permanently blind. There is a possibility that the author made the character blind for a short period of time to communicate the character’s heightened truth, but avoid having an impaired character for the entire plot. Piggy from Lord of the Flies is a character who has conditions to his blindness, he is only considered blind without his glasses.

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Piggy is hindered by his vision; without his glasses his is ultimately blind. Piggy’s disability actually adds to the story in a number of ways. Since the boys are stranded on an island, Piggy’s glasses are the key to fire and eventually rescue. Additionally Piggy’s disability gives more information about the character and purpose Piggy has to the story. Throughout the novel, Piggy stresses to the other boys the importance of working together to get found, and most time he reminds the other boys of the bigger picture. Piggy’s blindness represents his ability to “see” past the problems on the island. Again a blind character communicates something a certain knowledge that others in the story fail to have.  

            Noticing a blind character amidst seeing characters is the easy part; analyzing how they contribute to the story can be more difficult. Reading the chapter has helped me think more about literatures deeper meaning. On the surface one can notice something like a blind character, but it is more important for one to understand how characters fill their purpose in the plot.

                                                                                                                  

Writers: Original or Copycats with Class? - Addison Norman

Writers: Original or Copycats with Class?

            From the time a young child learns to notice, comprehend, and remember he or she begins to accumulate knowledge. As one expands their knowledge they can start to make connections between similarities and differences. In his chapter, “Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?” Thomas C. Foster encourages his readers to use their accumulated knowledge to notice similarities in stories, especially “to remember this: there’s no such thing as a wholly original work of literature.” 

            After introducing the idea that writers use previous works to inspire their stories he expands on the stories taken from Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, is one of Shakespeare’s most renown works, and the story has been implanted into our thoughts. It is almost impossible to watch or read modern works without coming across the tale of star-crossed lovers. We see the idea of fate and power of love juxtaposed by uncompromising circumstances that surround love. This can be seen in a number of stories, both old and new. From older texts, one can find Romeo and Juliet paralleled to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In another adaptation, the musical West Side Story mimics the struggle of forbidden love seen in Shakespeare’s play. Both Pride and Prejudice and West Side Story use elements from Romeo and Juliet. The lovers are inhibited from being together whether it be for the strict English class system or for the rivalry of New York City gangs.

            Foster also mentions that writers tend to employ stories from the Bible. Christianity is a dominant religion of Western culture, and as a result, has become a fundamental element of English literature. Allusions and symbols of revelation and redemption are found in a variety of literary works. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding calls on ideas from Christianity to communicate themes. Some analyze the island the schoolboys land on in the novel as a representation of the Garden of Eden. The island is a clean slate for the boys and is described as a paradise; however, the temptation of power and control lead the boys to self-destruction and destruction to the island. It appears that the loss in innocence experienced by Adam and Eve can be compared to the loss of innocence the boys in the Lord of the Flies partake. Golding represents how not only young children lack innocence, but all humans do as well and are subject to temptations.

            Authors are influenced from stories older than the Bible and Shakespeare – ancient Greek stories. One well-known tale that still finds itself intertwined in literature is the epic, The Odyssey. The Odyssey tells of the many challenges Odysseus goes through to return home to his wife. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is one novel in which the main character, Inman, is trying to escape the war to go home to his love Ada. Along the way Inman’s quest encounters numerous road stops and people who prolong his arrival home much like The Odyssey. The Greek story can even be found in film. In the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?  characters, Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar, are escaping from imprisonment, and they face similar situations to Odysseus. In one scene in O Brother, Where Art Thou? the characters come across beautiful women singing in a river; these women correspond to the Sirens in The Odyssey who lure men to their death and distract them from the quest.   

Writers pull ideas from multiple pieces of previous work. However, the Bible, Shakespeare, and Greek stories are three areas in which writers are consistently influenced by. New works aren’t all just copies of older texts; authors use the stories weaved into our consciousness as a way to communicate something deeper than the words on the page. As Foster constantly reminds us “there’s only one story.”

                                    

There's More to the Story: Physical Appearances and Marks - Addison Norman

There’s More to the Story: Physical Differences

Addison Norman

            In literature we often see writers mentioning physical qualities on characters; from first glance it could appear as nothing significant and some times it is just an insignificant fact. In the chapter “Marked for Greatness,” Foster explains that theses characteristics often have an importance, deeper than a character’s appearance.

            In the chapter, Foster mentions physical indicators of deeper meaning in the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the story Stevenson creates a character with a dark side representing the duplicity in human nature. The evil character, Mr. Hyde, carries several features that help the audience infer the nature of Mr. Hyde’s temperament. In most cases Hyde is described as not looking human and quite animalistic. This is representative of the instinctive, uncivilized actions Dr. Jekyll committed when he was Mr. Hyde.

In literature it is popular to see the antagonist marked in some way that separates them from others; in the chapter Foster helps his readers uncover the value of the markings.  A number of classic stories include antagonist characters that are initially separated due to their appearance; The Wizard of Oz, Lion King, and Batman are just a few examples of the literary trend. The Wicked Witch of the East has a bright green skin; Scar has a large scar down his cheek, and the Joker has scars surrounding his mouth. Each of the characters have aspects of evil in which are underscored by their physical appearance. This helps the audience notice the ominous presence the antagonist has to the protagonist.

An in depth example can be found in the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oats. Oats employs symbolic physique effectively in her description of Arnold Friend. In the story Connie, a teenage girl, is on the path toward lost innocence and Arnold Friend is a foreboding character in the background appealing her toward evil. Then one afternoon Connie is put face to face with Arnold Friend, along with his temptations.  Multiple times throughout the plot the narrator notices Friend’s appearance. Arnold Friend is described as having a thick, curly, black, and greasy head of hair, a heavy face of makeup and a dark pair of sunglasses over his eyes. From this combination a reader can already set Friend off as different. As the story progresses, Oats mentions the boots Friend wears. The boots don’t look right on his feet, and they point different directions. Because of this imbalance, Friend almost fell over. The arrangement of images leads a reader to see something fake about Friend. If one looks even further, Friend’s handicaps and look merged together to express that Friend has goat qualities: curly hair, boots to cover hooves, heavy makeup. A goat in some beliefs is a way Satan can be depicted. Arnold Friend is acting as a devil in disguise, which fits perfectly with the story’s context. Friend is attempting to lure Connie away from innocence.

Not only are antagonists marked in literature, but also other dynamic characters often have aspects that are substantial to the theme. For example, the Lord of the Flies by William Golding is another piece of literature in which the author creates physical qualities that aid in the underlying topic of the book. In Lord of the Flies a group of young schoolboys are deserted on an island with no parental supervision; the boys actions shed light on the truths of human nature’s need for power while examining societal flaws. One main character, Piggy, is the boy in the novel that is different from the other boys; he has multiple handicaps including terrible vision without his glasses, asthma, and is physically out of shape compared to the other male characters. These characteristics initially separated Piggy from the other boys. In addition to this Piggy is often described as having a flush, pink-toned skin; Golding is illustrating Piggy to actually look like a pig. Piggy representing a pig by appearance foreshadows Piggy’s significance by the end of the novel.  In the end of the novel, all humanity is lost among the boys, and Piggy is killed. Piggy’s death represents the boys’ depletion of all civilization and unity with savagery. Piggy is that archetypal scapegoat of the boys’ human nature and his physical appearance underscores this aspect.

After reading Foster's chapter, I'm able to look deeper than just on the surface. By being mindful of a character's physical appearance one can begin to notice the character's true nature.

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