Finale

Forgetting to blog last night seems to be the story of my life when it comes to this class. Cursing myself Friday morning because I forgot to do my blog is what I look forward to. But since this is the final blog, then I suppose I won't try to be too hard on myself. It's softball season and I have way to much going on to remember to do blogs. It is just frustrating, so thank you Mr. Mullins for making this blog the last one of the year.

This class was a stressful experience, although not as stressful as Mrs. Turner's class last year. I have to be honest and say I think the work load was about the same as college so I appreciate you trying to make this experience like a college class. However, I didn't really enjoy the first half of first semester. I hated all of the short stories. I thought that they were boring and didn't see how they connected to preparing us for the AP Exam.

I did like the course when we began to study novels. I think I learned more from the books about themes and style and how to write essays and papers. Even when we switched into poetry, I still like the course better than the short story segment. I think I just really hate short stories. But overall, I enjoyed the class and thought that it will help me transition to college.

Spoiled.

It's safe to say that my life has changed since I purchased my Kindle Fire five months ago. Not only can I get on the internet, but I can also take as many books as I want anywhere I go. So far, I have read nine books on my Kindle and I have not been able to stop. Recently, I have purchased 4 books in the last two months. Technology is not my friend but I have to admit that it is hard to transition back to reading a regular book.

About a month ago, I picked up a book and it was physically hard to read it because I have been spoiled by my Kindle's abilities. I can't just swipe my finger to turn the page. I can't hold my finger on a word and have the definition magically appear in front of me. I love books, but binded books are just inconvenient.

I use to be against electronic books and devices because I felt like it took away from books and it was cheating the experience of reading a binded book. I was wrong and now I am constantly thinking that it would be ten times easier to read a book on my Kindle. I have officially broken up with books for a Kindle that spoils me.

Romantic Poets and Their Problems

While doing research for this massive project that Mr. Mullins has so graciously assigned us, I have noticed a pattern in the poets lives. Most of them go crazy before they reach 40. So this got me wondering, why do poets who write about life, nature, and dramatic details, can die before they even lived? It saddens me to know they didn't really get to experience what life really has to offer to them. 

John Keats, one of the most famous poets during the Romantic period, died at the age 25. That is incredibly young for someone who made such an impact on this time period. All of his works were done in a 6 year time frame while he was dying of tuberculosis. What I don't really understand is why someone of this intelligence and influence be taken away from the world in his twenties. 

Percy Bysshe Shelley is another Romantic poet who died before he reached his 30th birthday. Shelley drowned on boat while sailing back from Leghorn. He had a lot of darkness in his life, but still found it in his ability to write poetry. Being apart of the Big Six makes Shelley an influential poet during this era. It's very tragic what happened to these poets. 

It's not fair that they were taken from the world too soon; however, if they had lived, would they have been as great and popular as they are today? We will never find out the answer, but it would have been nice to see what else they would have come up with. 

The Road Not Taken

As of late, I have been reading different variations of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. These novels take the "what if" questions and turn them into reality for the main characters. These novels made me think deeper than they were probably meant to. In my head, I began asking myself, "Do people have a single path they follow? Is it decided for them? Does it matter where they go? Will they end up in the same places no matter which road they follow?" Those questions run through my head when I read the different variations of this classic novel. No matter what path Darcy and Elizabeth choose, they both end up in the same place.  So why do we always stress about what choices we make? Do they matter in the end? I have yet to discover this answer, and to be honest, I am not brave enough to gamble with my own life decisions considering the fact that there isn't a "what if" machine that shows us the road not taken. These thoughts are strong right now anyways, since now is the time to choose where you will be for the next four years of your life. It's hard not to wonder about the "what if" questions, but if we wonder about them too much then it will be almost impossible to accept the road that was chosen. So as of tonight, I have concluded that maybe it is best to not ask "what if" but just go with the flow of the road that seemed best for you.

Books For the Soul

Books reflect the joys and woes of my life. Almost every book I read, I fall crazy in love with. I fell in love with Pride and Prejudice and now I'm going to name one of my children after Elizabeth Bennett.  I fell in love with Vampire Academy and two series (a total of nine books) later, I have picked out two more names for my future children. But I have yet to find a book that changes my life dramatically.

Sure my life changes to fit around that particular book for about a month, but after that, I go back to normal until I move on to my next obsession. I think I'm not really changed by books because I haven't found the one book that touches my soul. There are books that touch your heart, but then there are books that touch your soul and change the way you think and act. For me, that book has not come yet.

Just like soul mates, I think there is a book out in the world that is destined to change someone's life. Even if you aren't a big reader, there will still be that book that alters your lifestyle forever. Searching for it will do you no good because there may be a chance that it isn't even written yet. However, once you find that particular book, there is no going back to the way things were. f

Excuses or Books? What's the Difference?

At a young age, we are taught to read, not because it is fun, but because we have to in order to be successful. As the years progress, reading begins to focus less about the story and more about the techniques and devices that are used to make books genius. But the thing I love about books is that no matter where you are in your life, they stay the same and can always help you out of a funk when the time is right.

Books have that affect on me in different ways. I always look to my bookshelf when I'm feeling down because I know there are characters that will make me smile. When I get tired of the same old boring stuff, I read any of the Percy Jackson novels because they go beyond our little universe. If I need some romance, I pick up a Nicholas Sparks novel. Yes, I am one of those girls. And if I'm feeling very emotional, I read Pride and Prejudice because Elizabeth Bennet is a roller coaster when it comes to men.

Books can give people the best comfort they need. They take you away from where you don't want to be and transport you into a world where no one has to worry about the ending since it's already been mapped out. But, usually, books are just an excuse to hide from reality. Coping with your life can be hard, and in some ways, I think books give people the opportunity to run away from their problems rather than facing them. However, if you aren't ready to face the music, then books are the perfect hiding spot.

Definitions of Poetry

The fact that there are fifty different versions of poetry definitions makes me was laugh and pull my hair out. Poetry and I do not get along with each other. The fact that I actually caught onto something in class that had to do with poetry surprised the pants off of me. I honestly don't understand poetry, especially Shakespeare and older forms of poetry, but some of these definitions hit my thought of poetry exactly right. 

"Poetry is basically anything that calls itself a poem." I will not lie and say this is probably one of my favorite definitions on the list because this is how I feel 90% of the time when I have to read poetry. Modernist totally threw all the rules out the window and made everyone a poet. I can write something horrible about candles and call it a poem. Poems are just not poems anymore which makes a student's life more difficult.

"Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them." I agree with this definition because poetry is used mainly describe and event or what someone felt during a particular event in their life. But because the readers never get to experience the same things as the writers, it never has that great of an experience on the readers as it did the writer. It tries desperately but never succeeds. 

Those definitions are just a couple I liked on that list, but there were a lot more that I saw fit with my interpretation of the definition of poetry. Maybe one day I can actually relate to the definitions that define poetry as "beautiful."