Why I am Going to Miss High School (CM)

So, sadly this is my last blog post at Black River as my High School experience is coming to a close. And while many of us seniors look forwards towards life at college and can't wait to get out, I am really going to miss High school.

While I can understand many people wanting to leave and experience adult life, I am more for high school, or in this case Black River. To start, I think that I'm too used to the idea of high school. I too used to always waking up and then seeing my family and then heading to school, do normal classes, and come home with no care in the world. However, now that I am moving on, I can no longer go back to the simple (if not average) life I'm used to.

Another thing that is really going to make me miss High school is the teachers. Be honest, even if you don't like Black River a lot you can at least admit that there are a few teachers here that were great and that you enjoyed a lot. And while I'm sure there will be more of those in college, I don't know how I can just say goodbye to my current teachers who have taught me well.

Finally, there is this idea that I finally have to start thinking about the future. I'm now going into college and have to think about what my life is going to be like which is really scary. I never had to put a lot of thought into in high school because I was only concerned with high school, going back to the simple life. I know that it can be fun, but it still scares me to think that I am now at this point in my life. Regardless of what happens in the future, my high school experience will be one that I will miss greatly.

Was this the Future at one Point? (CC)

So, after having read "Welcome to the Monkey House" which we had to do for Monday, I at first was a little lost for words. I don't really know how to react to a story where, basically, Billy justifies raping women as setting their minds free in a way. However, it was after the story that I began to draw a connection to it and George Orwell's 1984.

As we all have read it, I won't go into summary. However, I noticed a similarity to Orwell and Vonnegut's story. Particulary how in both worlds, the idea of sex is almost outlawed, with 1984 having the Junior Anti Sex League. However, when exposed to sex, as Winston and Nancy are, they begin to see past the rules of their own society and see how it is a dystopian. What's really strange is that they both present some sort of dystopian where sex is outlawed in a way. It really makes me think is that these stories were both published in a 20 year period and it makes me think whether a good number of people in the past believed that society would turn into a dystopia, as this seems to be an ongoing trend, especially with Brave New World.

It may be a bit of a stretch, but I think that the similarities are there and that many people back in the 40s and 50s thought that society would turn towards this dystopian society presenting itself as the perfect model for humanity. Regardless, I do think it is weird on the similarities of both Monkey House and 1984.

The Correlation of Procrastination and Stress (FW)

So, as the end of the year approaches, I have come to what I would describe as one of the most stressful times in my life. Mainly due to the fact that my senior project presentation is in one week and in that time, I have two quizzes, two projects due on the same day, two papers due on the same day and I have to finish my reflection paper and presentation for my senior project along with my current homework. So yeah. If I somehow make it through the week without killing myself, I will become a symbol to everyone in the world in patience.

The sad thing is I knew that I had a lot to do over spring break and I had planned on working on some of these things during the break. Sadly, I continued to put it off day after day. A few days I was busy, but the rest of the time I openly ignored it even though I knew it would come back to bit me in the ass. This is not the first time that I have done this. In fact, during the summer I put off a good chunk of my Spanish homework to the last day and I regretted that.

For me, and probably a lot of people, whenever we are stressed out by a lot of work, it is usually put off for a while. However, it only leads to more stress about how to finish it and it could continue to repeat. I don't always mean to procrastinate on everything, but I usually do whenever it comes to something overwhelming and stressful. It is a very vicious cycle that is currently causing me a lot of stress and I hate it. I even procrastinated a little bit writing this blog post, showing that I can't stop. If I somehow make it through to graduation, it will be an accomplishment in and of itself.

Pushing Away Stuff (IR)

So, due to YIG and my own school work (but mostly my procrastination) I have been behind on my Independent Reading book. I just kept pushing it away again and again, but that's on me. However, the parts of The Namesake that I have read have been very interesting and intriguing.

Really, my favorite thing from the book so far has been Gogol's rejection of his original name and then decides that he is going to reject both his parents and his pet name and be "independent" in a way. It makes him appear almost as a hypocrite and creates depth to his character. He was originally for having his name be Gogol, going as far as to come home with a note from school stating it. However, he then begins to rebel against his parents and his name which is what he associates with his parents. This is very typical with teens, especially when they decide to go all rebellious and not care.

Anyway, that's all I can really say as its been while since I last read the book. Hopefully I can get caught up over spring break and give a more insightful blog post. Sorry for the lack of depth everyone.

For Namesake (IR)

So, I have returned to the writing of Jhumpa Lahiri with her novel The Namesake. This book takes a took at a family called the Ganguli's who try to fit in with American Society and culture.

One of the first things that I noticed while I read this book is that it was a change of pace from Interpreter of Maladies. This is one continuous story and it doesn't skip around to other stories. That was a complaint that I had with Interpreter of Maladies where I would get interested in a story and its characters and then they would be completely forgotten and never mentioned with mysteries still revolving around them. One thing that would have been really interesting (If not extremely difficult) would be if she could connect the stories together through small cameos. But, I digress.

So far the story is interesting, long, but interesting. Like I said it mainly centers around the Ganguli's and the first chapter definetly leaves a mark with a rather descriptive part about Ashima when her water breaks. It then vears off into her husband who has a random flashback to when he was in a train accident and in a hospital afterward. So yeah, that was some first impression.

So far, I have enjoyed this novel. It was really interesting to have the comparison with the father waiting in the hospital to his time in the hospital, showing his anxiety and desire for his child. The writing has also been very interesting, but it does give a lot of details and the chapters are really long, so I don't appreciate the massive amount I have to read at a time. I really can't give an honest review of it yet, but I'll see where it takes me.

The Guilt (PR)

So for my poetry response post, I decided to look at some poems that might relate to imperialism as that's all we are doing in Lit and it makes sense to do so. I then came across a poem that I believed I encountered two years ago in AP US called "The White Man's Burden" by Rudyard Kipling.

Take up the White Man’s burden—Send forth the best ye breed—Go send your sons to exileTo serve your captives' needTo wait in heavy harnessOn fluttered folk and wild—Your new-caught, sullen peoples,Half devil and half childTake up the White Man’s burdenIn patience to abideTo veil the threat of terrorAnd check the show of pride;By open speech and simpleAn hundred times made plainTo seek another’s profitAnd work another’s gainTake up the White Man’s burden—And reap his old reward:The blame of those ye betterThe hate of those ye guard—The cry of hosts ye humour(Ah slowly) to the light:"Why brought ye us from bondage,“Our loved Egyptian night?”Take up the White Man’s burden-Have done with childish days-The lightly proffered laurel,The easy, ungrudged praise.Comes now, to search your manhoodThrough all the thankless years,Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,The judgment of your peers!

Said poem is basically written to America as a way to convince them into heading into the Philippines and take up the ideas of Imperialism and having an Empire as the other European countries have done with Africa and Indonesia. The poem itself is a way of to guilt the US into joining the idea of following along with imperialism using the idea of the "White Man's Burden" to modernize the world. It also blends well into the United States' own idea of bringing civilization to the Native Americans and (to quote Mr. Morse) "Cultivate that Land."

However, there is another reason that I chose to look at this poem as it relates to my thoughts on the final chapter of Things Fall Apart. For those of you who have to finish it, spoilers are below. You have been warned. So in the final chapter, Okonkwo decides to commit suicide rather than face judgement in court. The District Commissioner then has someone cut him down and thinks about writing a book about the good they had done in Africa. After reading this section, I then received a one-two slap of "White Guilt!!!!" (Quote by Josiah Rosin March 10th, 2015). It just made me feel so bad and so guilty of what happened to him and the shame for the actions the Europeans caused there. I associate this with White Man's Burden, as I, a white man, am now burdened with so much guilt about the atrocities committed in Africa and how sorry I am for everything that happened.

The Decision That is Hard to Make (CC)

So far reading Things Fall Apart has been interesting as the story is okay so far, I just keep getting distracted. Whenever there is nothing but pages talking about farming yams or tradition, I tend to zone out and not pay attention. I have nothing against it, I just don't want to read about farming. However, it was in Chapter 7 that something happened that really stuck with me. For those of you who are not caught up on the reading, spoilers.

So in Chapter 7, Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna is to be taken back to his village and killed and that he must come with them. Eventually during the execution, he is forced to kill him. This scene was very shocking and it also reminded me of something that happened in a video game. It was called Telltales The Walking Dead and its a point and click game set in The Walking Dead universe. In this chapter, you take control of this girl and in one decision, you have to decide whether to kill your best friend or not for the betterment of the community.

The reason I bring this up is because it made me think of the idea of killing or doing something horrible in order to help the community. It really makes you question what lengths people are willing to go for in order to keep their life and family the way it is. Yes, Okonkwo did kill him, but he didn't have to. He could have run with the boy or killed the other people on the way to his home, but instead he chose to do it to keep his old life. Human nature is a very weird thing as we are brought to the edge, we show our true character and whether we would do something we don't like in order to keep our normal life. That alone has kept me thinking for a while, but it might just be a random thought that has nothing to do with anything. Either way, it is something to consider; how far would you be willing to go if given this situation?