Final Thoughts

Well, the time has come for my last blog post in College Lit. Also, this is most likely my last blog post in my high school career as well. I'm glad I had this class as part of my last quarter ever here at McFarland High School. It's the last high school English class that I will ever take. Weird. I definitely got a lot out of this class. We read and watched a lot of works that I quite possibly would never have seen. (True West anyone?) There was quite a bit of diversity from "A Rose for Emily" to Slaughterhouse-Five to Persepolis. That's part of why enjoyed this class so much. I will definitely miss our discussions and being in class with everyone. I got more out of what we read because of it. College Lit was a little strange, considering most of what we did had an element of weird, but it is also definitely one of the most memorable classes I've had.

Pixton Remix

http://www.pixton.com/comic/2xajdchc

Pixton Comic Strip

Here's the link: http://www.pixton.com/comic/tx9sn9j6

Banned and Challenged Books

Last week we talked a bit about banned books, especially since Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the most frequently challenged/banned. When I was looking up info, I was surprised at how many of my favorite books are on the lists for the most frequently challenged. Whether or not the reasons for challenging these books are valid depends on the individual's point of view, but it just made me sad to look at these lists. Many books are challenged "to protect children." But, those books are often written for an adult age group, so children probably wouldn't be reading them anyway. What bugs me the most though, is that so many wonderful books are challenged, often by people who haven't even read them. So, while I think books shouldn't be banned, I have this to say to anyone who wants to challenge one. PLEASE READ IT FIRST!

Billy Pilgrim Goes Back to the Future

One of the biggest questions with Slaughterhouse-Five is: What is time in this book? or How does Billy's time traveling work? It's something I'm thinking about a lot as I read more and more of this book.

One comparison I can think of is, of course, Back to the Future. Time is a continuum, and as the Tralfamadorians say, everything that ever has happened, is happening, and will happen is going on simultaneously. That is why Marty and Doc (and Billy) are able to travel into the future and back to the past as many times as they do. But, in Back to the Future, if Marty runs into himself in the past/future, the whole fabric of the universe could be upset, which isn't the case for Billy.

Billy travels back and forth in time, but it doesn't seem to be that he disappears from one time or another. His mind simply seems to transport into the body of his past or future self. So, theoretically, he is simultaneously living all the moments of his life. My question about that is, since he is only aware of one moment at a time, does he remember his life in some sort of nonchronological order? He jumps in time to random ages, for example he might be 20 then 40, then 25. Being that Slaughterhouse is nonlinear, it seems that Billy's life is nonlinear as well.

He often seems to travel while sleeping as well, so I often wonder whether his time travel is just dreaming, memories, or simply a product of the insanity from PTSD and his head injury. However it works, Billy seems to travel back and forth to more significant moments in his life, moments he visits again and again, as if his life is one big Moebius strip in time. Slaughterhouse-Five definitely makes me look at time differently, as there doesn't seem to really be a past, present, or future Billy, because it all depends on what time he is in at any given moment.

War Movie Comparison

There are many different war movies to choose from to compare to Slaughterhouse-Five. Platoon is a movie about the Vietnam War. It follows one platoon during their time at war, exploring the relationships between the characters, their struggle within themselves, and what war is really like. The movie is especially about how war can affect the soldiers that are fighting it.

The film shows the reality of war. It is definitely an anti-war movie. I think the filmmaker, Oliver Stone's goal was to show what really goes on. The movie focuses on how soldiers think, and how fighting in the war affects them, and teaches them about life. This way, viewers can understand soldiers more, especially from Vietnam, when a lot of horrible things go on. Viewers can see the horrors of war up close as the soldiers do, and maybe they can learn from it.

Slaughterhouse-Five and Platoon are very different, yet they are similar in many ways. They are both anti-war, and they both go from a soldier's point of view to show what they really went through. Their goal is to show what war is really like. However, Vonnegut focuses more on how soldiers are affected after the war, while Stone focuses on how soldiers are affected during it. Vonnegut also focuses on one particular character, Billy Pilgrim, while Stone, although he is telling it from the viewpoint of one character, Chris Taylor, it tells the story of multiple characters, focusing on how they relate to one another. In my opinion, both Vonnegut and Stone's goals are the same.

I think Mary O'Hare would like this film because it doesn't glamorize war. It shows that the soldiers really are "babies." It shows war as it really is, with none of the glamour that she hated so much, and which distorts perceptions of war.

Some Wisdom from Slaughterhouse-Five

One quote from Slaughterhouse-Five that really caught my attention was on page 19.

"I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee."

This quote is very powerful, and I think it's a piece of wisdom that everyone should listen to. War does more harm than good, yet it keeps happening. The second part of the quote about the massacres of enemies made me think of when bin Laden was killed recently. So many Americans rejoiced and celebrated that day. Somehow that seems wrong to me. I'm not saying that his death isn't a relief, because it is. But the image of people rejoicing and celebrating makes me uncomfortable. Getting true joy, "satisfaction or glee" out of the death of anyone seems wrong, no matter who they are. I know that because of bin Laden many people have died, so it is justice. But, it's part of a vicious cycle. If we keep killing each other peace will not come, and the cycle is perpetuated by the satisfaction anyone feels at the expense of others. If each side is satisfied or gleeful about the other's pain, we will get nowhere, and we will always be seeking revenge. That applies to any conflict in life, and no one should have to live that way.

Quieres Colgar?

I have felt part of a group many times, often when I am with family and friends. But I would have to say that one of the most memorable times would have to be in my Spanish class. I'm in Spanish 5 now, and most of us seniors in Spanish have been in class together for most of high school, so we have a bond. It has gotten to the point where I actually miss Spanish by the time school comes around in the fall. I actually look forward to going to class (most of the time). In the class we have many memories together, inside jokes that have lasted over the years, and while Spanish is a difficult class, I will definitely miss being a part of that group after high school.

Character Development

In class we talked about how Fences was more about character development than plot development. Some people may not like books, movies, plays, or other works that focus more on the characters with little plot progression. While sometimes this can make a story boring, when it is well done, as I think it was with Fences, the story can still be interesting and enjoyable. I thought of an unlikely comparison to Fences, based on the focus on character development.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is a book about a teenage girl who is murdered looking down on her family from heaven as they try to find her killer and cope with her disappearance and death. While there is more plot movement than in Fences, as the investigation goes on, the book really is more about how the characters develop as a result of the events of the murder. Therefore, there is not much focus on the actual plot. It's more about knowing the characters through their actions or emotions. This is similar to August Wilson's approach--the play was more about the characters' reactions than the actual events themselves. There is a Lovely Bones movie as well, but it focuses more on the plot of finding the killer, and less on the characters themselves. I think it loses something important by doing this. For me Lovely Bones was about the people, not the plot, and because it was done well in this case, it was also one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much.

Getting to Know Characters

Today in class we were discussing the first scene of Fences. We find out a lot about Troy just from his dialogue. We imagine him as dominating, an exaggerator, a storyteller. And all of these things we infer from the dialogue alone. It's interesting how an author can help us get to know the character through different aspects, but what the character says can give us a lot of insight about them just from a few words. This discussion in class made me think of my choice novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The main character, Charlie, tells the story through letters he writes, and, in my opinion, it is his tone and his dialogue that helps you to get to know him the best. It really shows how he thinks about things and how he perceives the world. Because he is describing his own actions, we can see how he really sees himself and the people around him. His tone is quite innocent, but as he goes along, you can tell from some changes in tone that he is getting more experienced. He goes through a lot of emotional turmoil, and you can tell just how much certain things affect him by the tone he uses. In this way, the voice of the character is a key factor in how we imagine them to be.

Technology Takeover

In class we have been talking about Modernism this week. One aspect of Modernism that really struck me was how technology was thought of as dehumanizing, as when machines started taking over the assembly lines, so the labor of the individual wasn't valuable anymore. I know that technology is very important to our society, but I believe that there are some areas of life that should be kept technology free.

Earlier this week my friend and I had a debate about books vs. e-readers. As technology takes over, books are becoming part of the electronic world, and soon printed books will be a thing of the past. I firmly believe that this is not good; however my friend took the opposite point of view. He said that books wasted paper (look at how many trees are killed), the only purpose served in owning shelves of books is for vain people to show their possessions, so they can seem more worldly, and with an e-reader is easier to carry on vacation. While I agree with this last part, especially with the weight limits for luggage on planes these days, I believe that without printed books, literature would lose its integrity. I personally like to hold the book in my hand and turn the pages. Also, without printed books, what would happen to our annotations? :) But even more than that, e-readers could be a show of materialism too (look at my new gadget). Printed books may kill trees, but they can be recycled. In fact, a book I am currently reading is made entirely out of recycled paper. It can be done. E-readers use electricity, and everything that's used to make them will end up in the landfills as well, so it turns out to be an even argument.

It reminds me of Metamorphosis, since it's a transformation of society from the way things used to be, and I think that if printed books were gone, we would look back and realize how much we had valued them, just as Gregor realizes the real value of what's outside his window. As society continues advancing technologically, as we all know it needs to, some of the old tradition needs to be kept in tact.

Slumdog Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This week in class we have been talking a lot about the "other" in literature, the character on the outside, and how the "others" are defined. During these discussions I was reminded of a book I read for AP Comp, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. The book takes place in a mental hospital, and it's all about the hierarchy within the hospital, with the patients being the lowest class. On top is Nurse Ratched, the most intimidating and powerful nurse on the ward, with her "black boys" underneath her; they're the ones that clean the ward and also help take care of the patients. On the very bottom, of course, are the mental patients on the ward. In Slumdog Millionaire, one of the major themes is social class. Because Jamal is from the slums, people in the higher castes expect him to stay there. It's practically unheard of to have someone climb the social ladder. Salim, more than Jamal, is concerned with advancing himself out of the slums. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes on this same issue of social mobility through the lens of the mental hospital. It's all about the patients' struggle to reverse the power structure within the ward and be treated as worthy individuals, very similar to Slumdog Millionaire. If you are interested in these themes, I definitely recommend this book. Going back to the UW lecture, Professor Zimmerman also compared Slumdog to The Great Gatsby, which I think is a worthwhile read. He also mentioned Across the Universe, which I recommend to everyone as well. It's definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought it was interesting to see it compared to Slumdog. So, if you want to go more in depth on what we discussed this week, it's worth checking out. Let's just say I never listened to "Strawberry Fields Forever" the same way again.

Introducing Me

Hey, it's Sarah! The last quarter of my high school career has just begun, which is great because I'm sorry to say that senioritis set in about three quarters ago. As far as my plans after high school go, first I will be attending UW-Whitewater in the Fall. Right now I want to major in Psychology, in hopes of getting a degree in Social Work. I'm going to minor in Spanish as well. Besides that I want to travel...a lot. I want to study abroad in Costa Rica, among many other places. I am considering transferring to California in a couple of years as well, as that is my second home, as much as I love it in Wisconsin. Part of living in a small town my entire life makes me want to explore many other places. We'll see where life takes me. My interests obviously include Psychology and Spanish. I want to learn other languages as well. Right now, the top of my list includes Polish and Italian. I love to travel, but I haven't been many places, so that is also one of my goals. I went to Poland last summer and loved it. I hope to possibly study abroad at the University of Krosno. But the list goes on and on. I love reading and music, watching movies, spending time with my friends and family, cooking, going to baseball games, etc, etc, etc. How could I possibly pick a favorite book, movie, or musician? There are too many to choose from. However, if I absolutely had to pick, I would probably have to say my favorite book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is simply amazing. My favorite movie, at least at the moment, is Benny and Joon because raisins really are humiliated grapes, and my favorite musicians are The Beatles, but I've recently been in a Janis Joplin phase, among many many others. That's just a little about me. I'm looking forward to College Lit with everyone!