An English Conceit

So how bout those new vocab quizzes, huh? No really...they are a legitimate topic of conversation. I actually like them better. They are less rote memorization and more practical knowledge to learn. I prefer the identification and short answer section (part two) of the quiz rather than the definition part. I think the second half would actually suffice for the entire quiz. I am just greatful that I didn’t have to spell these words--like I could spell ‘consciousness’ correctly without looking it up on dictionary.com. For real. There was one particular question that I enjoyed answering. I know, weird. But I thought the ‘create your own conceit‘ was fun. To expand on the good times I had creating my own conceit (and to further famliarize myself with the vocab) I have decided to write a conceit about English class. Enjoy:

English class is like an airplane ride. Just as English is needed to graduate, an airplane ride is needed to get to your destination. If done alone, it could be very boring and uneventful. However, if done alongside close friends, English class could become an exciting experience. If unsuccessful, well, no one wants to come back to high school. It seems that I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, but I’m not so sure I’ll miss it once it’s over.

An Open Letter

Dear People who Honk their Horn while Driving,

No, I don’t mean you people who honk your horn to warn someone or get someone’s attention. Honking your horn at someone not paying attention while driving is completely justified, don’t worry about a thing.

I’m talking to you--people who honk their horn out of frustration because you are late or just angry in general. I’m sorry that you thought that you had the right of way at that four way stop, but you did not. Either learn to drive or get off your high horse. You aren’t more important than any of the other drivers out there. And I highly doubt that 12 more seconds won’t make or break your day. If you are that late, you can’t blame anyone but yourself. 

So you are just angry in general? Please tell me how your rudeness is going to motivate me to speed up or get out of your way. You will find out that most people will SLOW DOWN because the don’t appreciate your conduct. You should just not honk your horn at all. I’m sure you are representing yourself greatly and setting a wonderful example to your kids: if you don’t like it, throw a temper tantrum. 

Please, lay off your horns.

Sincerely,

Us courteous drivers. 

The Importence of Spelling

               Have you guys read the artical about schools not correcting spelling? What is up with that! A school system in Los Angeles is expirementing with a new teaching technique where they do not correct spelling mistakes until late eighth grade. Their rational behind this method is that not correcting mistakes will maintain the moral of the students and give them more confidence. This confidence, in theory, will invigerate the students to learn and a bunch more bolony. I think this is rediculous. That late in ones educational career spelling becomes a habit. And how much confidence will be lost over mispelled words? It won't hurt to try but don't expect inteligent, literate students to come from this program. 

               I am going to try to give an example of how this might backfire, by playing out an example of how I might have been effected by this program, given that I can't spell dissapear or embarass correctly without spell check in the first place. Now you may (or may not) have noticed my amateur spelling throughout this blog. I have counted at least 10 common spelling (or homophone) mistakes made throughout this blog. These mistakes would be easily confused and not neccesarily go against current English phonnetic rules. A student graduating from this school system would likely continue to write like this the rest of there lives. Nobody wants to read or critique work like this. It's EMBARRASSING (nailed it). Lets stop this before it starts. 

Hand-Written Letters

I read Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Matthew Gasda for this week’s blog. I have to agree--hand written letters have disappeared with the development of electronic mail and texting. Beside the inpersonal birthday cards I routinely get, the last serious hand written letter I received was from my grandma and grandpa for my birthday. I was an in depth, sincere letter for my birthday. I really appreciated it. For some reason, hand written letters seem much more personal and meaningful than stock letters (the same reasoning why hand-made goods or more special, perhaps).

Although the new communication forms are beneficial in several ways, they also have their setbacks. For texting and e-mail, time is a definite plus. Sitting down to hand write a letter takes much more time than does quickly typing out a text or e-mail. Cost, is another advantage of new technology. Texting and online communication are (essentially) free. They require no materials and little (or none) processing fees. Stationary, however, costs significant money, as does stamps to mail the letter.

The nostalgic and memory purposes of hand written letters excels that of online communication. For a scrapbook or any memorabilia, hand written letters are much more ideal. Like I was talking about earlier, letters are much more personal and emotional. Hand-written letters have a much greater impact on the recipient. Although I don’t receive many hand-written letters, I prefer them to online forms of communication and would much rather prefer them. 

Mr. Stoltz in the Hizzle

I heard that Mr. Stoltz was teaching Thursday in class, and I was not sure what to expect. Mr. Stoltz has been our student teacher for awhile, but I have never heard him talk very much. I was not sure how he would do, because speaking in front of people can be intimidating. I have to say- Well done Mr. Stoltz. Your first day teaching for us was awesome. I hold this belief that student teachers are evil and out to get my soul (the result of an unfortunate student teaching encounter during 8^th grade), and Mr. Stoltz sure proved me wrong. Atta Boy. I think that Mr. Mullins and Mr. Stoltz should co-teach. Or tag team it. Forever. That would be pretty cool. I think between the two they could make AP English educational, and even more fun (if it could get more fun!). But really. We got a good 1-2 punch in our classroom. It’s kind of like Big Bang Theory (not quite sure where I’m going with this…I tried to think a better, more relevant literature example, but alas, it wasn’t to be). You got Sheldon (Mr. Mullins), who is the expert of his field and could still accomplish his goals alone, but Big Bang Theory wouldn’t be as funny. Throw Rajesh (Mr. Stoltz) in there, less experienced but still knows what he is doing, and Big Bang Theory becomes even more awesomer. I wish I had a picture of Mr. Stoltz, so I could insert it here. But I don’t, so I’ll stick with BBT references.

Book Review: Hostage by Elie Wiesel

For my first independent reading book, I chose Hostage by Elie Wiesel. My inquiry project is about the effects of hostage situations, so this book is very appropriate. I selected this title because it appeared to be focused around a lengthy hostage situation involving anti-semitism shortly after World War II. I was correct about one thing...it was about a lengthy hostage situation and all that. Shaltiel Feigenberg, a middle-aged Jewish story teller, was abducted by a revoltuionary Islamic organization. Shalti was targeted because of fantasy newspaper articles written by him that this organization has miscontrued to align with their agenda. The book, however, is of equal parts suspense and political plot events. While the Israeli and American governments were considering the abductor’s demands, Shalti and his two captors discuss international politics (not a friendly conversation, although). This component of the book I did not like. I was very intrigued with the abduction scenes, but I was equally bored with the political conversation in the middle of the book. I had to trudge through that particular section of text (like the 60-page long cave scene in the Hunger Games). I have not finished reading the book, so I cannot form my opinion of the book as a whole. However, it better have an eventful ending.  

Left Behind vs. The Road

I have read only one other book with an apocalyptic disaster plot, Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Both it and The Road have similarities beyond the plot, but also many differences.

Similarities: 

Both books are focused around isolated groups. In Left Behind, four children are left alone and have to rely on each other to survive. Also, both books have widespread fires destroying everything. The characters in Left Behind are seeking for something, too. They are trying to find their family in the midst of the disaster.

Differences:

The cause of the apocalypse is known in Left Behind. The series (12 books in all) is an interpretation of the rapture, where all believers vanish from Earth at the same time. All the instantaneous disappearances cause many disasters all over the Earth, especially fires caused by abandoned machinery operators, airplanes pilots, etc. In Left Behind, all the children stay local. They ravage through the city for their relatives instead of embarking on an adventure. Unlike The Road, there is an end in mind in Left Behind. All the children are anticipating a return of the people who vanished (as prophecized). The Left Behind series is very riveting and worth reading. It does not have the horror and gore that The Road has (which I enjoy) but still very suspensful.