Con-cluzi-own

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Wow, I'm so glad we got a week to write up each one of these, I only now realize how many there are! I've learned so much in Honors English this year, all of those poetry terms, how to read Shakespearean, and learning how to find symbolism and motif. It feels weird now to think that I hadn't known these things just a year ago. My writing style has also evolved a bit over the course of the year. I still write with my personality and thoughts, but my writing is slightly different because I'm so much more knowledgeable(giving me different insight to situations and a slightly sophisticated point of views). But what does this all mean? The end of the year has approached us, and my conclusion is that I've become "smarter"? No. Because of our amazing teacher (Mrs. Gilman) I personally feel like my boundaries in writing have multiplied by some infinite number. As the year went on, even my grade improved, which is, in fact, solid data that not only my vocabulary, but my writing style improved immensely. my word choice and confidence was raised as we worked tirelessly on essay writing styles. An example of my work when writing about the poem "Lobsters", I wrote, "Quite frankly I was puzzled that the author would bring up such gruesome details in the poem. This was brought up about halfway through the discussion..."(11/19/10). Even though I wrote this myself, it's extremely boring to read. '...he brought up that which was brought up in the discussion...' blah, blah, blah, I'm so grateful that I've been given the opportunity to learn how to write 'with style'. It's so odd to see how incapable I really was when it came to journalism. A more recent example of my writing potential can be found as I look back at the Great Expectations novel. I explain, "Because of this, I was able to write more and think more about the way Charles Dickens expressed the characters and the symbolic meanings that were commonly found in it.(6/10/11)." My vocabulary is much more varied and I have an easier time expressing what I am trying to say. This is an emotional time for everyone in Mrs. Gilman's class I'm sure. All of the assignments I'm fond of, all of the tricked out Gadgets I'll miss fooling around with, and of course the lovely memories of our oddly humorous class discussions, and our trouble with screws...(ha ha). But this blog symbolizes the transfer of energy that left me every night I had to type in it. It symbolizes how far I've come academically over the course of a year. This blog holds my deepest thoughts about the English language, and of the many historical authors (including play writers and poets) that have squeezed themselves into the lives of the learning youth. Whether or not I'm excited to complete my last post, the knowledge I now possess, will stick with me because of the incredible time I had writing about such experiences, in class, and in books.  

Memorable Assignment

     I think my most memorable assignment was the The Importance of Being Earnest assignment. This is because it was my favorite book (...well, play...) to read in class.The humor in it is great and there's really a lot that you can talk about that relates to the play. It was also incredibly fun to act out in class. Though if a teacher wanted to find a good example of my work it would probably be in my Great Expectations Questions. We did these when we were not too far into the giant project, so I wasn't yet sick of the novel. Because of this, I was able to write more and think more about the way Charles Dickens expressed the characters and the symbolic meanings that were commonly found in it.
    Surprisingly, I think I might have worked harder on the Great Expectations project. I don't really know why, but I really did enjoy writing those thought provoking questions :). Still, the project took a lot more time than I wanted it to take, I began to become sick of the book and I'm sure that with this, the quality of my work was also lacking a bit. Ahah! This brings me to a conclusion! I probably didn't work as hard on The Importance of Being Earnest project because we reread every scene in class, meaning I spent just as much (if not then more) time on it as Great Expectations. This relates to my odd pattern of "slacking off when I spend more time on essays and homework assignments", meaning that a teacher would probably find my best grades in the shortest project time periods, even if some of the longer ones were fun to work with.

Poetry Background

     I have no exciting poetry background that I know of, and I'm really hoping that that won't effect my grade (at least not in a negative way -haha). No nostalgic poems or rhymes that I remember from childhood, no poetry contest that "changed my life". If anything, I'm horrible with poetry because I'm extremely horrible with memorization. But I do enjoy reading Poems just the same. I can respect a poet, and I do in fact enjoy watching people perform poems. The nice thing about poetry is that you can express a ton of meaningful things/theories within a few ''sentences'', if you will. I don't go to poetry readings (or recitings) but I'll listen to a poem if someone tells one to me.
     My favorite thing to do (dealing with poems) is analyzing and sometimes writing them. This is because of the many views you can get, even if you're the one who wrote the poem. Because everyone thinks differently, a poem is that much more capable of holding these deep suggestions. I would say more, but I can feel myself becoming rather repetitive. This positive feeling is really towards poetry itself, which is why I can't just pick out a poem and a poet's name. Though when you dig into the types of poems, I must say that I'm not a big fan of meaningless, "fun" little rhymes. "Fire and Ice" is in fact on the edge of this boundary(Sorry Mrs. Gilman!). Yes you could definitely fight me on the 'meaningless' part, but I think I have a hard time enjoying it because there isn't much that you can get out of it. It's very literal if you ask me.
     Overall, I enjoy the poems I can pick apart and I'm not so great when it comes to reciting. Still, I envy those who can do so with emotion, and I can still respect a poem when I see (or hear) one. When I hear the word "poetry" in the classroom I think of memorization, which has become a danger to my grade (so not a very happy thought). But when I hear "poetry" anywhere else, it reminds me of an unfathomable work of art.