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Friday, October 28, 2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Having a blog has been pretty cool. At first I thought it was going to be the dullest thing ever, but after writing and posting a couple posts, it was actually kind of fun. I like how there is no limits to it. We can write about the topic in any way we want. Unlike other writing assignment i have to do, with the blog there are not any rules we have to follow (except for that it has to be over 350 words and posted before Friday at 12:00 A.M.) or format we have organize it by. I do not have to be formal with it, i can just talk in my own voice. This means my writing will be unique. Everything about blog assignments is basically up to us, and I really enjoy that freedom. Having a blog has changed the way I think in general. I looked back at my earlier post I noticed that there were a lot of good points I never mentioned. I failed to elaborate on the most important thoughts about the topic I was supposed to write about. For example, I posted something titled Quickwrite: Is Bob Still a Person? in which I basically talked about how many surgical changes a person has to undergo until he is no longer considered a person anymore. I read it and it was not really that good. I made my point, but it you could tell I did not really put a lot of thought in to it. So if i were to re write that blog post, I would have said that the word "human" has no definition. It is what we make of it that matters. Everybody has their own perspective of what makes someone a human. It's kind of crazy if you think about it. Some people may say that our intelligence makes us human, but then what about the ones who are born with mental disabilities? Or someone else could say that our physical appearances make us humans, but what if some one experiences or was born with deformations, or something similar to that? Are they not human just because of what they look like or how they think? If this is not true, then what is the real aspect that makes us all humans? Yeah i think that's about right. You see, in the beginning of the year i would have never been able to come up something like this. Blogger has helped me develop a better and more effective way of thinking.

However, what isn’t so effective is the use of my time. I dont know if it is because of blogger, but i just noticed that I had this terrible habit of procrastination in me. Procrastination is definitely nothing to be proud of. I remember when i first started posting on my blog, i would finish my blogging like the first or second day the assignment was given. Now, i do not know, no matter how easy the assignment is, i always end up doing it at nine o clock the very day it is due. I hate myself for this, i really do. I do not know how this all started, because this whole blogging thing is anything but challenging. It is actually really really really really easy. I do not know why i always have to post my stuff at the last minute. Know matter what, I always procrastinate. I even procrastinated with this essay. I could have finished most of it at home, and i said i was going to do it, but i didn’t. Instead, i watched Youtube videos and skated. And now it is nine fifty two, so i guess i have about ten minutes to finish this thing. I guess my point is that i hate procrastinating, but i always do it. It’s like a shadow, it’s always with me, and i can never seem to get away from it.

I do not really know what else to talk about.....oh yeah i guess i can talk about my favorite post. my favorite post i did was the one where we had to write our own vignettes. I titled mines A Unique Group of Letters.. In that post, i wrote five vignettes. I got pretty tricky with my figurative language. I made it look like I was writing about other people i know, but i was actually talking about myself. I would be surprised if anyone understood what i was talking about. I gave some signs that gave the reader some hints about who i was really talking about, and what i meant, but i disguised them, to make them blend in with the rest of the vignettes, therefore nobody understood me. I think that’s really cool. They give you all the information about something, everything you need to know, but you just can’t see it. It’s like I’m speaking in a foreign language, it’s just such a good feeling. I dont think i was able to do this in the past, at least not as good as i did in that post. I was able to write poetic stuff, and i used to think i was really good at it. But when i look back at all the other stuff i wrote before i had a blog, i realize that i was actually really not as good as i thought. So i guess it pretty much shows that having a blog has also made me more creative. All the things i posted served as practice, and all that practice really paid off. It helped me open my mind to write in a different style of writing, which came out really well in my opinion.

I think I’m almost done, so i end it by saying that overall, blogging has made me become a better thinker. Blogger has increased my range of thinking, and i can easily apply that to my writing. It’s cool because now everything i see on TV, whatever it is, i always find a way to apply it to real world situations. I ask myself questions and try my best to imaging where I would be according to what the answers would be. I could watch a kid show and find something political about it, usually it’s never a good thing. It’s actually kind of scary at times, i freak myself out. It’s like they’re all trying to make us live a certain way, especially kids, who will believe anything. I try talking to my 13 year old sister about it and she’s like “what are you talking about!?!?!?”. i don't know where im going with this so i’ll just leave it as it is. i am donneeeeeeeee.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Book Review: The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a very interesting book. It is basically about a troubled teenager named Holden Caulfield. Holden was expelled from the boarding school he attended (hasn’t been the first time) just three days before winter break. He didn’t want his parents to find out, so he decided to stay there in New York until the break began. This is how the story takes place, in three days. In those three days, Holden was free to do whatever he wanted. He slept in a hotel and spent his time wandering around the streets, looking for things to do.

At first, I thought Holden was just an ordinary young guy who simply didn’t care too much about school. But later I realized it was more complicated than that. During his time in the streets, I noticed specific patterns in the way he thought and the way he acted. One thing I noticed was that he labels most people as “phonies”. His definition of a phony is someone who tries to be someone he’s not. A phony to him is a spoiled individual who cares too much about money, parties, and social formalities. He sees a phony as somebody who is obsessed with the culture of movies and celebrities. He finds this attitude very destructive to the environment.
It drives him crazy whenever he has to listen to people like this, which is another main issue in the book. Because the world so complex, there is no one who understands him. This is why he feels so isolated from the world, and why he’s kind of a loner. One time he was in a taxi cab, and he told the driver,

"Well – take me to the Edmont then," I said. "Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I'm loaded.”

Holden is desperate for someone to talk to, and he does not care who it is. He is hoping for a chance for someone to understand him, that way, he won’t feel isolated from everyone else. This is the first in a long string of his attempts to connect with someone – anyone – during his time in the city. Whenever he finally manages to have a conversation with someone, they always seem to think he’s weird, when the reality is that they simply do not get him – because they are phonies. But at one point in the story, walks to a playground, and sees this little girl. Holden, frantic about his loneliness, engages in a conversation with her. Only this time, nothing seems to go wrong at all. He even asks her if she wants to get some hot chocolate with him, which of course, she doesn’t. But the reason they had a swell conversation was because the little girl was not a phony. She was not materialistic, nor did she even care about trying be someone she wasn’t for the sake of people liking her, she was only a child. This is a highly important point in the book.

This shows that children are innocent, but they lose their innocence as they grow older, this one point the author elaborates on. This experience is the main factor that turns people into phonies. So what Holden wants to do is avoid this path to avoid becoming as ignorant as the rest of the world – the world that expects them to develop maturity. But he doesn’t just want to save himself, he also wants to save the children. He tries to protect children from having to experience the world of adults. He doesn't want them to be exposed to any elements which may take away from the way they see things, he tries to keep their innocence intact. The thing is, he knows it’s impossible. He thought to himself,

“Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway.”

Holden admits that keeping children’s perspectives the same is impossible. He knows that they will change as they grow up. This is one of the many things that makes him feel depressed. He can’t do anything to stop the kids from losing their innocence and become phonies. All he can do is sit there and watch it happen. This drives him crazy (he always says that).

Holden who is seventeen, is at a point of his life where he is almost an adult. He’s been exposed to many things and has experienced the real world so many times that he knows it won’t be long until he loses his innocence as well. He asked the taxi driver,

"You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when its gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?”…
"Where who goes?"
"The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves-go south or something?"
"How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?"
-Then they start talking about fish, instead of ducks-
"All right. What do they do, the fish and all, when that whole little lake's a solid block of ice, people skating on it and all?"
"What the hellaya mean what do they do?" he yelled at me. "They stay right where they are, for Chrissake."

Here, Holden is worried about what is going to happen to him as he grows up. The fish can symbolize Holden and the solid block of ice can symbolize the stress, depression, loneliness, and other negative emotions that are triggered by the thoughts of losing his viewpoint, dignity, and innocence. He wants to know what he’s supposed to do. Should he wait around for the answer to approach him? Or should he run away from the negative atmosphere he is living in? The driver is basically telling him that they stay where they are and freeze, meaning that Holden should just let it happen, and that it’s just nature.

The Catcher in the Rye is a really awesome book that really makes you think deeply about the kind of society we are living in. It expresses the fact that everyone changes, and there’s nothing anybody can do to stop people from changing – even if it means we’ll all end up living as phonies. What we can learn though, is self control. If we learn to control ourselves, maybe we won’t end up being phonies after all.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Peer review comments

Christy - Honestly, I dont know what to say this is a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY good first draft lol. You did a great job in summarizing the main events as well as giving a bit of background info about Ivy and her beliefs. So yea good job idk how you can make it better :P.

Susan - Pretty solid post! Detailed summary, smooth intro, and very appealing message in the end. Good Job!

Aakash - Good rough draft I really liked how you explained the purpose for which the author wrote the book and what the book started off as. Good Job!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Book review 1st draft

Okay so the book I’m reading is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I’m not that far into it, so I haven’t gotten to the “good parts” yet. But from what I’ve read, I know it’s about this teenager named Holden Caulfield. He’s basically the kind of guy who slacks in school. He never does any work. As a result, he got kicked out of four schools and just recently from the one he was in. No one understands him. His teachers tried cooperating with him, but he just isn’t committed to school. In his head, he’s still a child. He doesn’t realize that he has responsibilities and expectations. He either isn’t aware or simply doesn’t care. Maybe he’s gone through some stuff. Maybe something happened that affected his view of life. I don’t think he was always like this. His eleven year old brother did die when he was thirteen, maybe that could’ve been a reason. That could really affect someone, especially since they were really close friends. Or maybe it could be things that happen in school. For example, he was talking to his old history teacher a couple weeks after he got kicked out of school. His teacher said,

“’Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.’
‘Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it.’
Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game.”

I’m not so sure what this means, but take a stab at it. Maybe it means that if you’re a hot-shot, or a popular kid everyone knew and liked, then life could be fun. Like a game. But if you don’t fall in to that category, then life is all dull and lonely. There is no game. The people who do know him, know him from the negative things he does, or the negative ways he acts. Nobody ever notices the nice things about him. That’s what he said, “people never notice anything.”

So I have not exactly finished reading the book, but I am almost done. There is so many new things I noticed about the main character, Holden Caulfield, and the author, J.D. Salinger. First of all, I noticed how Holden uses the same words over and over and over and over and over and over and over throughout the story. For example, he says “I really did”, “I really do”, “I really don’t”, and “I really didn’t” quite a lot. Here is a quote from the book, “I didn't mind the idea so much, but I didn't feel like being lectured to and smell Vicks Nose Drops and look at old Spencer in his pajamas and bathrobe all at the same time. I really didn't”

Yea so I think he says that way too much. But in a way I think it is a good thing. I mean, his voice is distinctive from others, so I always know it is him talking, even though he is the narrator.

Also there is a pattern in the book. I notice Holden talks about being depressed, A LOT. I’m not sure why, but here are a few quotes I found:

"Boy I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed." (Allie is his brother that died of leukemia)

"I never seem to have anything that if I lost it I'd care too much. Maybe that's why I'm partly yellow. The more I thought about my gloves and my yellowness, the more depressed I got."

"I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead"

"Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends making me sad"

Yeah….as you can see he is depressed most of the time. He thinks about killing himself at one point but I cant find the page where he said that. Anyways, what is up with this!? I just don’t get why he’s so sad all the time. Something is definitely going on.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Catcher in the rye PART 2

Yea so I think he says that way too much. But in a way I think it is a thing. I mean, his voice is distinctive from others, so I always know it is him talking, even though he is the narrator.