Final Essay

Taylor Wall

Dr. Preston

AP English Literature

8 June 2015

     Making Shadows: The Journey to Graduation

        When I began high school I really only cared about grades, something quantifiable that I could use to measure the value of my effort. As the years progressed that disappeared, as did the notion that learning and grades were inevitably intertwined. I found myself reading assigned books and doing complicated math problems with enjoyment. By senior year I started thinking about who I was as a person and how that applied to the kind of learning and career I wanted to pursue. I came to the conclusion that learning was something that would forever be connected to living, and whether it be serial killers or history that drives that passion for life, you have to make sure it never fades.

        Throughout the AP English Literature course there were times when I definitely took the system for granted, but I can definitely say that whatever assignments I did decide to do were done to the best of my ability. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Brave New World, Macbeth, and pretty much every book we studied, and the days when we would sit in class and analyze the characters, plot etc. were very rich and full of quality.  

        The books we read in class had a big impact on me this year because a lot of them were about the characters finding themselves, which is what I am still trying to do even as senior year draws to a close. I felt like I really connected with John from Brave New World because he realized that the world wasn't what it seemed to be, and that people and human nature could be influenced in horrible ways. Sometimes I feel that way about our current society because we are so influenced by technology and celebrities. I also really identified with Pip from Great Expectations because I've always had this idea in my head that I would become someone great, but as I've gotten older my definition of a great person has changed drastically. A great person isn't someone with loads of money and influence, or a person who inspires fear, or even a person who uses beauty and seduction to get what they want. A great person is so much more, and I really identified with Pip as he figured that out. Hamlet and the "To be or not to be..." speech was the assignment that made the most sense to me, especially because it was assigned while we were doing our personal statements and applications. He pondered life and death and everything in between, and though our struggles weren't as rigorous as his, we still had to draw a chalk outline of our future.

        My big project during this year was the psychology of American serial killers, and as I studied the different types of killers and their methods and backgrounds I felt like my passion only got stronger. Even though it's a creepy topic, it really stimulates my mind and I can do research on it for hours without feeling like I'm doing research. I think it's so interesting to me because it represents the darker side of human nature and what people are capable of. 

        Something that made me laugh about this course is when Henry did his presentation on censorship and said f**k like five or six times and talked about his smoking habits. 

        One unifying theme that was present in a lot of people's projects was going out in to nature or to the beach, and just spending time adventuring and having fun. I know someone did one about hiking, and Jordan did his about flow, and Victoria's was about going out and meeting people. The common theme was that we can't just sit by and experience life in a classroom, we have to get out there and do something unexpected. 

        I don't really feel like a hero. I think people put themselves and others up on pedestals. We are all just people. I didn't do anything amazing, but I did do something that meant a lot to myself. If my masterpiece was a call to adventure, then I definitely answered. I found a mentor in Peter Vronsky who is the author of an amazing book, and I learned more than I thought I ever would about my subject. I may do something with psychology in the future because it interests me so much, you never know. 

        In the end I think we all tried to make our little mark in the world at Righetti. Some succeeded more than others, and some just wanted to get out as quick as they came. I'm probably the latter, but I do feel like I made an impact on myself that helped me mature and grow. Once I began learning I never really stopped, and I don't think I ever will, especially if it's something I'm passionate about. 

Pic of the Day #17?

Robert Frost Essay

Young Goodman Brown Essay

TPCASST

Title: "Out, Out-" by Robert Frost is the title, and it means the escape from daily work that the boy wished for and the reprieve he got in the form of the saw.

Paraphrase:

"Then the boy saw all—


Since he was old enough to know, big boy


Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—


He saw all spoiled."   In this quote the author is saying the boy knew that if they cut his hand off he wouldn't be able to work, and he understood that that meant he couldn't support a family etc.






Connotation: When Frost uses the words " snarled and rattled" to describe the saw it has a negative connotation because when you describe wild animals you use words like snarled, and rattled has a ghostly connotation related to death and fear.






Attitude: The author's attitude is sympathetic to the boy and mournful of his death, especially when he says, "Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour"






Shift: There is a shift at the end of the poem when Frost says, "No more to build on there. And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs." It is a really quick shift that happens because the boy has died, and to keep with the theme of the poem Frost depicts them as dispassionate about his death. They too are stuck in their cycle of work just like the boy was, so they must continue on.



Title Revisited: I still think the title was the boy's hope to break out of the cycle of work and do something, anything else.




Theme: The theme of the poem is that sometimes people trap themselves in their lives and daily routines, and there's no emotion behind anything they do so they might as well already be dead. The boy died from being trapped in the cycle of work he didn't want to do, which was kind of ironic but made sense because doing the same things over and over again can kill you.

Tobermory

The last line of Tobermory was very clever in a way. German irregular verbs are different from regular verbs in that you have to change the whole word when you conjugate them, not just the ending. In the context of the story I think this last line is important to the theme because its saying that to fix a problem, like Tobermory gossiping about all the bad things they've said and done, you have to eliminate the problem. In this case the problem was the people and their bad behavior, not Tobermory calling it like he saw it. Tobermory's death only changed the ending it didn't change the whole word. That is why the tone of the author was very sardonic toward the end. While at the same time saying that you can't really teach an animal new tricks, he was also saying that the same thing goes for humans.

Brave New World

     Living in a consumer society I can't really help but think we are living in a Brave New World. This idea of subliminal projection Huxley talks about seems to plague every day life, maybe even influence it to the extent of controlling and manipulating it. From the time I wake up in the morning to the time I go to sleep I'm bombarded with trivial things like pop culture. Of course I buy in to it sometimes because that's what our society seems to care about most. It's in this way that I think we are being projected on. I don't see commercials about real world problems. I see commercials about celebrities and the hottest new brands and movies etc. These things appeal to our subconscious because they have nothing to do with reason and conscious decisions. They appeal to our wants and desires, and that's why it's easy for us to be controlled by them. I can like a song or a brand because I think it sounds good or looks good, but the message I am receiving about drugs or high society can be lasting. In this way they keep us dormant, and this makes us unaware about what is going on, like the soma they use in the book.
     Another point Huxley made about technology and mass communication being instruments of very effective, but potentially evil messages makes me think we are living in a world where that exists. I don't know anyone who doesn't have a television, computer, or phone. In this way people are receiving messages all day long. Some of it may be harmless, but messages can be sneaky and evil. Like the hypnopaedia in the book, messages are drilled in to our minds all the time. That's why fast food chains and big corporations develop jingles and slogans. They want us to associate the cool phrases and happy jingles with good food and a good time, not with heart problems and diabetes.
     Huxley talks a lot about politicians and communist nations. From the political aspect about candidates I can see where we might be going astray. Huxley said that candidates were merchandised, but I think it's gotten to the point where people in general are merchandised, kind of like in the book how people only cared about appearance and outward personality. There was no getting to know someone on a real basis, they only saw what the person wanted them to see. I think our pop culture and the brands and the fake nature of it all dehumanizes people. When you have the front cover of a magazine bashing on some celebrity because she gained 20 pounds you know you've got a problem.