Responce to Class Material #3

From 11/12/17 to 12/15/17 Our class has worked on reading and analyzing the kite runner, Reference kite runner summary, and analysis blog post. As a class, we discussed a lot of the symbolism behind the what seemed to be quite straightforward text. I go into more detail about this in the previous post though so I will not go into much more detail.

We also have been working a lot on closed prompt poetry responses for the AP test in May. personally, I find poetry responses to be MUCH harder than straight literature responses. the reason for that being that poetry is a lot less literal and it could mean any number of things without the right background knowledge. Through the peer reviews that I have received I have become more aware of making my thesis and points very clean in the essay so they do not get lost in the confusion of the interpretation (or my attempt at an interpretation.) For future note- take your time in identifying the point of the question and what it wants from you, and then write your thesis accordingly.

not only have we been working on the poetry prompts we have also been working on reading and analyzing poetry and more pieces of literature in the form of practice multiple choice tests. This is to help us learn how to take the AP MC test in may. I have learned that I personally have to take more time in slowing down and actively reading the story, not just buzzing through and guessing at the questions.

Lastly, as a class, we have our read and lead poetry assignment that will be due in early January for my partner and me. It fits in with the trend of reading and analyzing poetry. 

Summary and Analysis of "The Kite Runner"

Summary (With symbolism and side notes):
The Kite Runner,  by Khahled Hosseini, starts off with the main character Amir reflecting on his life story and how everything changed in the 1970s in Afghanistan. Amir starts by describing his home and how it was nicer than the surrounding homes. When he was born his mother died when giving birth to him- which sets up this feeling of resentment from Baba, Amir's father. In the nice house in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir lives with Baba- his father, Ali- Baba's longtime family servant, and Hassan- Ali's son. The complication of Ali and Hassan living with Baba and Amir is the fact that they are Hazaras, not Pashtuns, which at the time was thought to be the superior race within Afghanistan. It is at this point in the story where Racial inequality as a theme of the story. The story serves as a small-scale representation of current and past events within Afghanistan and how they actually affected the residents of the country. The turning point of the story is when during the winter kite races of Kabul Hassan is kite- running for Amir so he could find him the last kite that Amir took out as the winner of the kite race.When Amir is done with the race he goes to find Hassan. Hassan is found cornered in an alley by Assef and his gang of blind followers. Amir to coward to stand up to Assef to protect Hassan, so Amir watches Hassan get raped by Assef over the blue kite that Hassan wanted to present to Amir. From that point on in the story, a feeling of discontent and resentment becomes established between Amir and Hassan. This is where the theme of loyalty comes into the story- no matter what Amir does to Hassan to try and distance himself from the disloyalty he committed by witnessing his rape and not doing anything and pretending not to of seen it, Hassan never leaves Amir. This progressively upsets Amir to the point where he plants money in the shack that Ali and Hassan lived in, as to frame Hassan of stealing it even though it would have been truley out of character for Hassan or Ali for that matter to steal anything led alone money. This is a turning point in the story because it is there that Ali and Hassan leave Kabul, even against Baba's pleas for them to stay with him and Amir. Shortly thereafter the politics of Afghanistan took a sharp turn for the worst, causing Baba and Amir to escape silently and work their way towards America, the land of safety. Amir and Baba move to San Fransico and are met with a good sized Afghan culture within the city. Through the culture, Baba and Amir became involved with buying junk from garage sales and selling it for a slim profit. Through this Baba and Amir meet the general who sells stuff a couple of booths down. After months of selling Amir starts to notice the general's daughter Soraya. After Amir's desperate and sad attempts of flirting it is shared with the author that Baba is terminally ill, but will not do anything about it because he is a man and will take it like a man. Baba's last wish was that Amir and Soraya marry and be happy together. Shortly after Baba dies and Amir and Soraya start trying to conceive a child but cannot no matter what doctor they see or anything they try. Baba's oldest friend and advisor Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him that he wishes for him to come and visit him back in the Middle East. Amir does so and upon meeting Rahim Khan, finds out that Hassan was actually his illegitimate half-brother and that Ali, Hassan's "father" was sterile. Not only that, but Amir was told that Hassan and his wife had been killed by the Taliban back in Kabul- hence leaving their son Sohrab in an orphanage there. Rahim Khan asks Amir as his dying wish to go retrieve Sorhab and deliver him to a safe family that Rahim Khan knew in the city. Wanting to atone for the many sins that Amir committed along the way, he went to retrieve Sohrab. After looking high and low for Sohrab he found him in the hands of a local Taliban leader whom he met with to discuss buying Sohrab back. Turns out the local leader just happened to be Assef and he was not about to make it easy to take Sohrab. Assef agreed to fight Amir for Sohrab, as Amir was getting the snot beat out of him he started to laugh and feel atonement for the sin of watching Hassan get abused so many years ago. Sohrab saves Amir by slingshotting a metal ball into Assef's eye, hence giving them enough time to escape. When Amir brings Sohrab back to the city it was found that there was never a family that was going to take him in, so Amir knew that he must take Sohrab back to America with him, so he could live with Soraya and him. The legality of the whole situation was sticky and forced the idea that Sohrab would not be able to come home with Amir for a long time. With that in mind, Sohrab slit his wrists so he would not have to go back to an orphanage and suffer more. Soraya back in America pulled some strings and got Sohrab to be let into America with Amir legally.

Motifs:
Eyes- windows to the soul and reflected a character and or a trait about the character.
Colors- often reflected the mood of the scene and or object.
Kites- youth and forgiveness.
Education- value that can be overshadowed in wartime, showed an honorable trait within a character.

Theme Statement:
In The Kite Runner, Hosseini uses themes of atonement, loyalty and truth to portray the oppressive turmoil in Afghanistan.

Important Quotes:
"Then he [Ali] would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break.
Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words.
Mine was Baba.
His was Amir. My name." (34-37)

This quote is important because it sets up the household hierarchy very quickly within the book. It also foreshadows a kinship deeper than it seems to be between Hassan and Amir. It also serves to show who Amir and Hassan followed and wanted to please. This quote also serves to highlight the racial side of their relationship- even though they were brothers of a sort feeding on the same breast, there was still a divide in how Hassan treated Amir and how Amir treated Hassan. The idea of racial inequality can be seen in the fact that Hassan is a Hazara and Amir was a Pashtun who was thought, at the time, to be the superior race within Afghanistan.

"I stopped watching, turned away from the alley. Something warm was running down my wrist. I blinked, saw I was still biting down on my fist, hard enough to draw blood from the knuckles. I realized something else. I was weeping. From just around the corner, I could hear Assef's quick, rhythmic grunts.
I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.
In the end, I ran." (137-139)
This quote is important because this is the first true betrayal scene within the book. This part of the book shows how cowardly and selfish Amir was as a child and how he would rather watch his friend get abused than step in and risk it himself. At this point in the story, the theme of betrayal and atonement becomes prevalent. This one scene at the beginning of the story is the driving force behind the whole plot of The Kite Runner. If this had not happened that Amir would have had nothing to guilt over and atone for because if this had not of happened then maybe Ali and Hassan would have moved to America with them and the story would have been irrelevant.

Closed Prompt 2 #4

Eros by Robert Bridges and Eros by Anne Stevenson are both on the same topics of Eros, Greek god of love, but with striking differences in their interpretations. Bridges' version of Eros is classic and beautiful whereas Stevenson's version is dark and disheartening as she describes what people have done to the idea of love. While both poems are written out of sympathy for the god of love, Bridge's tone is a lot more praising, whereas Stevenson is critiquing the way humans have handled love.

Firstly in Bridges' poem, a picture adoration and sympathy towards Eros is pained. First, the adoration, as seen in the first 3 lines of the poem where Bridges refers to Eros as an "Idol" and a "tyrant." Both idol and tyrant show the great respect that Bridges feels towards Eros and his powers. Bridges goes as far as to call Eros, "[The] king of joy," which is a very literal way of expressing his adoration of the god. The poem also flows with the end-rhyme that bridges instilled throughout the peom. The sweet flow of the words makes the poem sound as if it were to be a song of praise to Eros and not just something for the entertainment of meer men who wish to appreciate love and literature. The final token of appreciation that is given to Eros in this poem would be where Bridges says, "And wouldst in darkness come, but thou/ Makest the light where’er thou go." The reason that this is at the end is that Bridges wanted to leave the reader with the feeling that no matter what darkness lays ahead or in their life, Eros can come in and bring with him, light that will eat the darkness up. This is important to the contrast of the poems because it is here that Bridges makes his statement that humans are worthy of Eros attention.

On the flip side, Stevenson's ideas of Eros are that of a beat up god who has become an abused slave to humankind. The first example of Stevenson's view on Eros is seen right in the beginning where she calls for love and immediately thereafter Eros shows up, "With boxer lips/ And patchy wings askew?’. This is to show that as Eros has been called upon frivolously by many others and his talents have been abused to the point of his unrecognizable demise. In Eros' dialogue in Stevenson's poem, he speaks of how he is,"‘the brute you see/ Is what long overuse/ Has made of me." He feels as though he has been overused and underappreciated. The short choppy lines make the reader feel exacerbated- like they are looking into the damage their recklessness has caused. Later in the poem, Stevenson writes through the words of Eros, "We slaves who are immortal" as to say that humans have elevated themselves to such a place of undeserved privilege that they feel they can make a god their slave.

Although both Stevenson and Bridges wrote of their sympathy for the god of love, Eros, They both did so in a way that reflected their individual views on his role within humankind. Bridges chose to do so in a way that reflected his classical writing style and his personal appreciation for Eros. Whereas Stevenson only wrote of Eros' overuse and underappreciation from the mere morals

Closed Prompt 2 #3

Both Keats and Longfellow's poems are about unfulfilled desires and the ever-present idea that death is coming. Later on in both poems, their views shift slightly on the matter of life and what needs to come out of it. Longfellow's view on life stays grim and depressing throughout his poem, whereas Keats wants to see all that life has to offer but is daunted by the fear of death and not accomplishing that which wants.

The most similar part of the poems was in the beginnings of them, both start grim and depressing as they express their disdain towards eventual death. Keat's, "I may cease to be," parallels Longfellow's, "Half of my life is gone," by both expressing their common belief that they may stop living at any point. The similarities between the poems extend to Longfellow saying, "gone, and I have let/
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled/ The aspiration of my youth," and Keats' ominous use of the word "before," implying that there is still so much that he has not done that he wishes to do.

The middle part of both of poems is where Longfellow and Keats start to differentiate their points. Keats starts sharing his desire for romance in line 5, "When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,/
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance," to convey his desire for romance before his passing. In contrast, Longfellow says, "But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,/ Kept me from what I may accomplish yet." Longfellow's views are much grimmer and he believes that overwhelming sorrow and dismay is enough to keep him from acting on his desires. Between the two poems, Longfellow is much more depressing and believes that his desires are not able to be pursued because it is all futile, whereas Keats believes that his desire is enough to keep wishing for it and striving for it.

When I Have Fears and Mezzo Cammin both conclude in a scenic way, hence making them similar on the surface, but different once you read a little beneath the surface. "Then on the shore/ Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till love and fame to nothingness do sink," the conclusion of Keats' poem uses imagery to paint this picture of a man standing and looking out onto the world and reflecting his life. Keats shares his view on his past, and how it was filled with more important ideas, other than if you completed a desire or not. In sharp contrast, Longfellow paints a similar image with a man standing and contemplating his life. " A city in the twilight dim and vast, ....The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights," is Longfellows interpretation of a man looking back at his life. The city is a metaphor for his life- vast and dim, filled with missed opportunities and a sorrowful outlook. The real contrast between Keats' and Longfellow's poems is that Longfellow ends his poem with the cry of death, as to say there is no point because all is futile in the end.

Responce to Class Material #2

VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB!!! Over the past couple of weeks, our class has focused very heavily on literary terms that the AP test goes over and uses. Without going into it, here is a list of words that we went over and learned as a class:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMle5ATnv4AOAEhsidTlwCRCIwukMVXp_yr8_mdbfHI/edit
We also did read and were tested on The American Dream by Edward Albee (See Summary and Analysis of The American Dream).

Those are the two big things we have been focusing on but we have also read a couple of sheets and done a couple practices for the AP exam in May.

Some of the papers that we have read were about different theories of different types of humor and why they are funny, one was on existentialism theory and another on the theater of the absurd. All of the papers helped us to read The American Dream. The main ideas were as simple as what their titles suggest. They were helpful, but their titles say it all. We also read a biography of sorts on Edward Albee and some of his life experiences- abusive parents and what not.

We also had several blog posts that we were to do over the last couple weeks; a couple responses to student responses, a couple mock AP essays and the summary for the American Dream that I mentioned earlier.

From reading student responses along with writing my own essays, I have learned that I need to be careful of summarizing and paraphrasing events and simply focus on making my retelling and referencing more concise when it comes to my explanation and answering of the essay question.

Over the last three days (11-7,8,9) our class also did a tone activity to show how very subtle changes in wording and inflection can change the tone of the phrase. I enjoyed it because several kids in the class made theirs humorous.

Summary and Analysis of "The American Dream"

Summary (With symbolism and side notes):
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, is a play first performed in 1961 that reflects the values that the American Dream entails. The characters In the play are Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mrs. Barker, and the young man. The play starts off in the family room in Mommy and Daddy's apartment, and Mommy is telling complacent Daddy about her trip to the store. She went to buy a new hat and got into an argument with a woman outside of the store over whether the hat was wheat-colored or cream-colored. This was important to show the materialistic nature of the women in the 50s and 60s.  Shortly after that, Grandma enters the scene with her beautifully wrapped boxes. The boxes represent the quantification of material objects that are included in the dream. Throughout the play, Grandma talks about how you need substance to make anything worth anything. Soon thereafter, Mrs. Barker shows up to the scene. There is an abundance of confusion and Daddy can't remember Mrs. Barker's name, and no one knows why she is there or what she has to do. It is here that Mommy and Mrs. Barker start their pleasantries. Mommy asked questions, but they were not as you would expect. They were with the same diction as a normal question, but they were questions such as "would you like to take off your dress, as to be more comfortable?" (Not an actual quote, just a paraphrased example.) This was included to show the shallowness of the interactions and how they are nothing more than an empty ritual. Fast forward a little further the scene is just Grandma and Mrs. Barker, Grandma is trying to hint to Mrs. Barker why she is there. The hint was what happened a while back; This was written is a very specific style of something like this has already happened. The short story of what happened was Mommy and Daddy mangled their first child because he cried and "touched himself." As punishment for his human actions, they cut off his limbs and finally, he died. Mrs. Barker is trying to connect the dots, and it is there that the audience is aware that Mrs. Barker is there supposedly as a representative/ agent for an adoption agency. Then the American dream comes knocking at the door, literally. Grandma welcomed the final character into the scene, the young man. One of the first things she does is comment on his beauty and she calls him "The American Dream." The American Dream aka the young man talks, says that he is empty and hurts in all the places that Mommy and Daddy harmed the other child. This leads the audience to believe that the young man was the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first (failed) child. The play concluded with Grandma leaving the scene with the young man being welcomed into Mommy and Daddy's lives alongside Mrs. Barker who supposedly facilitated the whole thing. The truth of the matter is that Grandma seemed to be the only character who knew what was going on most if not the whole time.

Theme Statement:

Albee’s The American Dream critiques the shifting American values of materialism, social behavior, and individual morals.

Important Quotes:

"What a masculine Daddy! Isn’t he a masculine Daddy?" - Mommy 

This quote shows how Mommy is trying to convince/tell Daddy how masculine he is. In context, Mommy was trying to get him to open the door to let Mrs. Barker in, so she was building him up so he would do as she said. I also have speculations that this effort to enforce a masculine facade regardless of if that is who Daddy really is, or wants to be.

" I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled. I have, now, only my person, my body, my face. I use what I have I let people love me I accept the syntax around me, for while I know I cannot relate; I know I must be related to." - the young man
In the summary, I briefly touched upon the meaning of the young man explaining his pain and emptiness to Grandma. The main idea that was discussed as a class was that of the young man and the first child being related because not only did the stories line up, but so did the pains that were felt. This I believe to be symbolic of Albee's childhood and upbringing. He was thought to be a possession of sorts, not a real person who learns and makes mistakes. In the biography the class read on Albee, it was said that his parents were not super loving and parental, but could show him off like no one's business. That is seen in this part of the play, whether it is admitted or not. There are simply too many similarities to situations and emotions that Albee must have felt towards his parents during his upbringing.

"What I'll really have to do is to see if it applies to anything. I mean, after all, I do do volunteer work if an adoption service, but it isn't very much like the Bye-Bye Adoption Service is the Bye-Bye Adoption Service and while I can remember Mommy and Daddy coming to see me, oh, about twenty years ago, about buying a bumble, I can't quite remember anyone very much like Mommy and Daddy coming to see me about buying a bundle."

This quote was important due to the plot of the play because this is the first time someone implores Grandma to share her thoughts and explain things. The compromise as made by Grandma is that she talks about experiences though comparisons versus just stating what she is thinking. I believe this to be a fundamental idea of theater of the absurd, having ideas that are shrouded with a little crazy and confusion. Keeps the audience of their toes and their mind sharp so they do not miss any little details during the seemingly unimportant dialogue between characters. back to the quote- this quote is the climax of the play where the audience finds out that this has all happened before and that Mommy and Daddy were unhappy with their "bumble" so their solution was simply to find a new one (20 years later.)

Closed Prompt 1 #2

2009
1A: I believe that this student deserved an 8 on the AP grading scale. It was an extremely well-written essay that I hope that I will be able to emulate when it comes time for me to take the AP exam. Student A did a wonderful job delving deeper than the surface of the speech. As written by Shakespear, it pretty hard to understand and so the fact that student A was able to both comprehend and interpret the work was pretty amazing in and of itself. Specifically, I appreciated the fact that the handwriting was legible and grammatically correct. My one nit-picking detail was I would have appreciated a couple more examples, but that is pretty objective considering I am not an AP reader and have not read a thousand other essays.

1B: Student B, in my opinion, deserves a 6 on the AP grading scale.  Just like Student A student B did a great job on their essay and did a pretty good job tapping into the depth of the piece. Granted, I think that A did a little bit better than B but that is simply because A was a lot more thorough in their points regarding the play. One of my critiques of student B  is the fact that they fell victim to the paraphrasing bug when writing their essay. This is something that I will have to be very careful about when it comes to my own AP essay when it comes time to write it. Besides that, I feel that student B did a good job with their introduction and conclusion introducing and finishing their ideas.

1C: Although student C had the nicest handwriting, their essay only deserves a 4 or 5 on the AP essay scale. Just as B did, C used a lot of paraphrasing to cover the fact that the content was pretty shallow. Student C's intro was super promising but fell apart when it came to application. As the essay progressed student C lost a lot of the focus that the initial points needed to execute. C did a great job with their introduction paragraph, they laid their ideas and thoughts out very well. On the other hand, their conclusion was not as great. I believe it was due to the lack of focus that was demonstrated in the body paragraphs. My other critique would be, I would have appreciated more concise examples throughout the essay versus paraphrased sections that had to do with the subtopic.