Farewell, Compquistadors!

Here I am, Thursday night. My last blog post. Some would say I procrastinated, but really, I just wanted to draw this out as long as possible. As of tomorrow, I will no longer be a blogger. It sounds sad, yet slightly liberating. I suppose I could continue to write in the realm of blogs, but what do I have to write about? I mean, I have plenty to write about, but I'm not sure if anyone will want to read it unless they're commenting for a grade. I know I will survive one way or another, because although we may stop being bloggers, we will always be compquistadors, and that's the important thing anyway.

Besides that, I would just like to say that for all the work, stress, timed writings, multiple choice tests, and odd pieces of literature that this class has put us all through, it was worth it in the end. There were also good parts- the things were read that made us stop and really think, those amazing discussions/debates, all the things we learned, and all the things we laughed about. The culmination of all this is that we came out better people, better writers, and better readers. Or, if not, at least we survived it. Personally, I'd like to think that this experience has helped me in some strange way. I knew from the start, or at least I hoped, that it would improve me as a writer. But I think now that it has changed me in some other way too. I'm not really sure how, and I don't know what caused this occurrence, but I can tell that something happened. I feel ready now, but I don't know what for. My point, I suppose, is simply this: it was an amazing two quarters and a heck of a class. I will not forget it and I doubt the rest of you will either. So good luck on those timed writings tomorrow, and farewell compquistadors! We made it!

A Piece of Apple Pie

The art piece I chose was "Mountain Sites" by Roger Brown. For those who didn't go or don't remember, it was the one with about 12 mountains that were all in a row and all looked the same (and they all had this strange crazy glow). Tucked in between were houses with silhouettes inside. There was a fence in the foreground with people looking up.

To me, this piece seemed to be saying that people are far apart and separated by important and imposing things. The people by the fence can't see the houses and those in the houses can't see the other houses or those at the fence. However, the viewer can see it all- all the mountains, all the people, and all the houses. This could be taken to symbolize how some people separate themselves. They have mountains and problems and cut themselves off from the world. But since the viewer can see them, they are never alone. Another part I found interesting was that the mountains are all the same. This could be taken to mean that the problems people think are so terrible are actually the same as other's problems and not specific just to them. It relates to America because we tend to isolate ourselves, either in a good way or a bad way, and sometimes we feel that we are the only ones in the world with problems.

If I could ask the artist anything, I would ask why he decided to paint it. What were his intentions? What did he want the people to think of when they looked at it? (if any of you can try to answer, even though you're not the artist, it would be appreciated!)


The voices left out are the voices of race in any way. The people are all just silhouettes. All are painted in black, but that description does not have anything to do with their race. It doesn't matter who you are, your silhouette is black. It's pretty much the definition of a silhouette. Anyway, moving on, in this piece, besides races, it also isn't apparent what the people's ages are. They could be any age at all. The size is all the same for everyone. I'm glad he left out those things because it shows that his theme is universal. It remains unchanging throughout.

This piece relates to The Great Gatsby in several ways. The most important way is that in Gatsby a lot of the rich people complained about little things. In this piece of work, they are not little things, they are mountains, but they are the same thing over and over like in the book. It's also connected because it is about the divides between people. There were divides between Tom and Daisy, then Gatsby and Daisy, then Nick and Jordan, then Myrtle and her husband.

This piece was complex and I'm sure I've only begun to scratch the surface of the meaning behind it. Hopefully I've managed to shed a little light on it for you, though.

Field Trip!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I thoroughly enjoyed our field trip yesterday! Maybe it was just that the weather was nice and we got to be outside of school or maybe it was something else entirely, but it was just amazing.

Alright, so I'll start with the lecture, since that was first. I was pretty confused about what he was saying, but I think that was mostly because I had to keep trying to keep up with the plot. I still don't have that figured out, maybe it didn't really have much of one? In any case, most of the time I was looking at what the other "real" students were doing (Facebook much?) and fighting against the small amount of sleep I got last night. Don't get me wrong, this guy certainly was interesting, but something about sitting in that big warm lecture hall made me especially tired.


Moving through the day now to lunch. I have one word: noodles! Enough said.

Then came the art museum- this was far and away my favorite part of the day. I'm not always the one most likely to spend hours in an art museum, maybe a couple, but for not excessive amounts of time. However, I found myself wishing we could have stayed even longer. It was so much fun to be able to stand there, up close with all this amazing artwork and just be able to look at it. Not just a quick glance, but truly see it and break it down, maybe notice some things that are not obvious at first glance. I only wish I could have done that with more of the artwork.

I also thought that the art on display was really an interesting spectrum of America. It wasn't just pictures of pie (did anyone find that one, by the way? I missed it) but it was display of people and things that had real meaning and relevance. I'll be honest, some of it was a little disturbing, some was a little disgusting (ahem, rabbit) but a lot of it was very realistic. Some things were more about times in the past, and some was more pertinent for today. In any case, all were solid representations, in their own ways.


Overall, it was an awesome day and I can't wait to see what everyone blogs about next week when we have to write about the artwork! (although did some people do that today?)

Space Exploration

I realize that we wrote about this a while ago, by I wanted to put my thoughts out there about space exploration. The essay really got me thinking about things I'd never really considered before. While I didn't really take a position in the paper because I didn't realize we were supposed to, I thought about it afterwards and discussed it with a few people. These are my thoughts on the subject so far:

I think that instead of spending time, money, and resources in order to find a place to go after we use up our planet, we should be using those assets to find a way to keep our planet healthy enough so that it can still support life. Why try to change another planet in order to make it habitable when we have a perfectly designed planet right here? Our globe has everything we need, if we could figure out how to responsibly handle those things. We have already identified several problems that need to be dealt with, so even though some are still under debate, we could be fixing others right now.

Another part of this is the funding behind it. While it looked like a miniscule amount on the pie chart, after billions of dolars spent, it adds up. There are so many other things we could be spending our money on. I'm not saying we shouldn't spend money on space travel, but I am saying that if we do, we need to have a reason better than that it inspires wonder in people. Wonder is well and good, but it means nothing to people who are sick or who don't even have anything to eat. Wonder won't fill stomach or clean up disasters. It can help people feel good, but that won't mean anything if the basics are not taken care of.

I guess my point, in the end, is that space travel (and money spent on it) isn't necessarily all bad. However, it shouldn't be our first priority. In a nation and a world where we have many pressing issues, it's hard to give our time to everything that needs it. So it's ok to spend time on this, but only after the more serious things have been taken care of. That's my two cents worth anyway.

The Scarlet Letter

For anyone who doesn't know (I guess that would just be the 2nd blockers) I chose to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne for my choice novel. The strange part of this occurrence is that I'm not entirely sure why I picked that book. It seems that on Saturday, a week ago, I told my mom I needed a book for AP Comp and we headed to Barnes and Noble. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to read a classic (maybe inspired by The Great Gatsby?) In any event, I ended up buying The Scarlet letter, possibly because I thought it sounded interesting. Although the back was very vague, so I'm not sure why I thought that (if I thought that at all). On the other hand, it could have been the title that intrigued me. I had heard the phrase several times, especially in music, but I never really understood it. I still don't, actually, but I'm hoping I will. One thing I do know, it was not the cover that garnered my interest. It is a nasty shade of brown accompanied with a big section of black with a dark red letter on it (how creative). Not that I'm saying they should have put anything else on there besides the letter, but I would like to at least be able to read what the letter is. An 'A' maybe? But it could also be an 'H'. There's even a part of the illustration that resembles an 'S.' So I guess my point is, after much rambling, that I am still unsure how exactly I ended up with this book, but I'm 100 pages in and there's no turning back now.

That is not to say, however, that I am not enjoying the book, because I really am. That said, I'm not sure why that is either. I figured I might have trouble staying interested and focused, but that hasn't happened yet. The plot, so far is interesting enough, I suppose. There hasn't been a whole lot that has happened, but there have been many things that the author has started talking about, but has left the reader hanging. I like that, though, because it makes me want to keep reading. I could also be enjoying the book because of the descriptions. Hawthorne has a different descriptive style from Fitzgerald, but I like them both for their separate reasons. Hawthorne uses decidedly less color, but he does use some. The predominant color, I've noticed, is red, the same color as (obviously) the scarlet letter. He's very visual in his explanations and he makes a lot of comparisons, which is really helpful in gaining a mental image.

So far, this book would definitely be something I would recommend. I hope all of you have been having good experiences with your choice novels as well!

I Hear America Listening

I hear America listening, the silence crowded with voices
Some are the speakers, some are the silent listeners
The teen listening to Lady Gaga,
The grandmother listening to her husband play the piano,
The single mom, listening to the screaming of her infant son,
The businessman, listening to the screaching of tires and honking of horns on a busy New York avenue,
The young boy, listening to the rain outside his window, and waiting for the sun,
The doctor, listening to the incessant beeps, the stressed voices, and the cries of human pain,
The teacher, listening to the whining voices of her students,
The waitress, listening to orders and the sizzling of grease on a frying pan,
The day that which belongs to the day- at night the sounds of silence
and people listening, with patient ears, to the melodies of life.

"Are they my poor?"

No, Mr. Emerson, they are not. But it does lead to an interesting question, don't you think? If not yours, then whose? Your guess is as good as mine, but seeing as how you're dead, I think I'll take a stab at it. The poor belong to themselves, just as you and I belong to ourselves. People don't really own other people anymore, and I'm sure that would make you happy, seeing as you were an abolitionist. So, it's true, it's not your obligation or your responsibility to help those people. You are quite free to leave those people to their depressing lives and go on your merry way. No worries Ralph, someone else has it covered. Your "wicked dollar" can get spent on something else so that it becomes a good dollar. However, just to play the devil's advocate, I'll ask another question: what if no one else is taking care of them? Does that bother you? I'm guessing not, having read that paragraph, but I kind of think it should. If you have "wicked dollars" to spare, why not help someone else out? I know, I know, you regret every dollar you've ever given becuase most of them end in not really mattering, or at least not doing what you wanted, but I'm thinking that you can't really go wrong by simply reaching down a hand to pull up your neighbors. To you, it may feel like a waste, but to that person, it could be all the difference. Don't want to give them money? Fine, maybe you could at least be nice to them or offer them something else. A blanket? Some stale bread? I'm sure you've got something you don't need. Maybe I took your statemtent the wrong way, and if so, I apologize profusely. But if it is, in fact, how I understood it to be, I'd like to close with one remark: while they may not be your poor, they are people and you should do what you can to help them.

Humbly Yours,
Elise

P.S. While I may share different views from you on some subjects, I did enjoy reading your essay and thought you made some wise points and obsevations. Just try to be a little more understanding, okay?