Post AP Test Thoughts

Well AP season is finally over. My last AP season, ever. I could not be happier because it means that all the months of stress and preparation is over. This year I was really shocked with the feeling I had after most of my exams. For the most part it was a positive feeling, one I had not experienced ever. Normally coming out of an AP test I felt even more stressed than what I was going in because I felt like I did poorly. Why? I can't find any other explanation other than this year I was obviously more prepared than post years. So how did I prepare? I did all (well, most) of the assignments assigned for preparing. I know this seems crazy to most students...but they actually help because AP teachers know exactly how to prepare you if you follow their instructions.Word of advice.

MACBETH ACT 3 active reading notes

• Banquo congratulates Macbeth on his coronation, doubts he was innocent in the Kings death...reminds Macbeth that the Witches also said that his sons would be Kings.
• Macbeth asks excessive amounts of questions regarding what Banquo will do, where he will be and with whom he will be before coming back to Macbeth's banquet. (possibly plotting something?)
• Macbeth delivers a soliloquy where he expresses he is afraid of Banquo; he does not want his loss of morality to be in vain, he wishes for his sons (and not Banquos) to be Kings. He will kill Banquo and any descendant of his that could challenge his crown. 
• Macbeth has a second meeting with three murderers, he tells them Banquo is to blame for their misery and if they are true worthy men they will kill him.
• Macbeth wants Banquo and his son Fleance both killed. 
• Lady Macbeth says famous phrase "Whats done is done."
• While talking to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says that bad deeds force you to commit more bad deeds. They are in the rabbit hole.
• Banquo is attacked by the three murderers and is murdered but Fleance manages to escape.
• The first murderer tells Macbeth that Fleance has escaped. Macbeth says that he will worry about the young snake later when he has fangs.
• Banquos ghost appears at Macbeth's banquet. Only Macbeth appears to see the ghost and makes a scene.
• Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that it is just another of his hallucinations (like the floating dagger pointing towards Duncan's room). Macbeth asks, if the dead are to return then why kill people in the first place?
• The ghost vanishes, Macbeth apologizes for his outburst to his guests and says that what he did was normal for him.
• Banquos ghost reapers and Macbeth says a toast in his name.
• The dinner is ruined with Macbeths outbursts. He plans to see the Witches to learn more about his future and he reveals he has schemes he wishes to carry out.
• Macduff and Macbeth are not on good terms.
• The Witches are scolded by Hecate for revealing things to Macbeth without having had told him. He asks them to meet him at the pit of Acheron where they will have something planned for Macbeth (who will also be there).
• A Lord informs Lennox of how Malcolm (Duncan's son, rightful heir to the throne) went to England, where he and King Edward plan to form an alliance between Malcolm and Northumberland to basically overthrow Macbeth and make his Scotland a better place. Macduff is in England also helping with that plan. Macbeth is angry and is preparing for war.
• Seems as though Macbeth's kinsmen aren't happy with him as king, labeling him a tyrant. 

THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN SHOULD AND MUST

Should is what others want you to do. This entitles small risks and isn't necessarily rewarding. Must is very different. Must is who we are. After reading this Crossroads Between Should and Must I've been thinking a lot. Many of the things said by Elle were things that had crossed my mind but I always dismissed them. After reading that I've realized that all my life I have been a Should person. I have focused my life on following directions and doing the things that others have told me to do because according to society, those are the things that will bring me success and rewards. I am talking about school. I've never dared think outside the box and until this year I had never taken a shot at exploring my creativity. I've always been the person who had a checklist of things I should do to be successful in a class, I do them and then repeat the process all over again. It's been boring and not very intellectually or creatively nurturing. I don't want to continue being a Should person. I want to be a Must. Daring and risking has never been an issue for me...the what to dare and risk is what. Since I am extremely passionate on journalism (specifically as it pertains to human rights and activism) I will try to be more of a Must person in that aspect. I don't plan on entirely giving up my academic career. I want to continue being academically successful while also enriching myself through journalism and writing. Lets see where this goes.

Flight MH370

This is an occurrence that has the world shocked and perplexed. A commercial jet essentially vanished into thin air, taking along with it 239 passengers and crew members. It is a truly saddening story. The anguish felt by the families, the uncertainty that plagues them...I don't believe any of us could possibly imagine such a tragedy. I would like to take the time to virtually express my condolences to the families. Hope has not been lost; until there is physical evidence of the demise of every passenger the hope will not be given up. I'd also like to take the time to report my utter disgust with the behavior of the media this past month since the disappearance of the jet went global. They have been constantly reporting, every few hours, new "information" concerning a new object spotting, pings from the black box or some new crazy conspiracy theory. It is truly disgusting. There has not been another more clear example of how news companies could care less about the information they throw at the readers, as long as it sells. The information they have been hourly updating about the investigation of the disappearance of MASMH370 has been absolute garbage over half of the time. They'll report an incident prematurely only to report a few hours later that it was false. They have showed absolutely no regard for the pain that the families must be feeling. They have harassed family members trying to obtain information...feeding off their pain and being solely concerned with the next "big break in the investigation" to report it first and make a profit. I am truly disgusted. This is a prime example of why I want to focus my masterpiece of journalism. I am disgusted with the for-profit nature of it. I want a pure form of journalism that is more about keeping the public informed than making money. Recently, I have requested information from Vice about their internship programs during summer. Vice is one of the purest forms of journalism; they immerse themselves in the stories and report only on the crucial issues. Lets see where this journey takes us.

Lil B

Brandon McCartney "Lil B" is an American rapper and author from Berkeley, California. He is the first rapper to have written a book like Takin' Over By Imposing The Positive. Essentially, the book is written in the format of emails and text messages from Lil B to the reader. The book contains messages of positivity and optimism. Lil B has amassed a cult following since his 2004 debut into the scene, dubbed the Based Fam.  Despite his undisputed success, Lil B is often the target of hate from other artists and even the public. One of the most common arguments is that he has no talent as the subjects of his songs are meaningless and trivial things that don't contribute anything positive to the Hip-Hop culture. This is partially true. But may I point you to songs like "I Love You", which is a whole song dedicated to his supporters where he expresses his love and gratitude for all those who have stood by him. Another song that I'd like to use as an example is "Trapped in Prison", which spreads many different messages. It predominantly talks about how you should release yourself from the chains that mentally bind you to unhappiness because of what others might think or because you are afraid to fail; just do you and do what you love. Apart from this, Lil B is often a guest lecturer at prestigious universities like New York University and University of California, Riverside, where he gives lectures on love, positivity and respect for animals and the environment. Yes, many of his songs do have a trivial and unimportant subject matter. But that is the whole point to him and the message he tries to spread. He has songs that have absolutely no meaning to them because this is his way of saying that you can do what you want, be who you want, as long as it matters to you and means something to you...the opinions of others don't matter. This is what it means to be Based. His "no meaning" actually has a lot of meaning. This is why I admire this man so much as a human and artist.

LOOK AT MY BRAIN

Sometimes my though process confuses me. I have so many ideas at once and I don't know how to arrange them in a way that makes sense to other people. My brain works faster than my communication skills. Through writing for a political news blog I can express myself in ways I don't think I've ever been able to. It feels good to write a piece that I know is worth something. Readers see letters and punctuation marks and sentences, but it so much more than that. At least to me it is. There's a lot of energy that goes into writing these articles. It starts with the simple question of "What is meaningful and worthwhile to write about?" There's so many issues out there that deserve coverage and narrowing it down to just one (for now) takes a lot of effort and sense-making. Once the topic has been found, the tedious task of research begins. But it isn't just about finding what someone else has said and restating it. We at In Loco Politico try to make sense of what the experts say. We won't just regurgitate words, anybody can do that, we look between the lines and critically think about what we are reading. We then translate that into our own writing. We visit multiple sources to get the most unbiased information we can. We try as hard as possible to not be partisan. This can be difficult because it's hard to not let your opinions and convictions take control. Essentially, we make sense  of information and data, then create something from bits and pieces of other works and expert opinions. We create something new, and if that isn't creativity then I don't understand creativity.

WHAT ABOUT MY MASTERPIECE?

This particular week I have been extremely busy. I have had tests almost daily, so it has been very hard keeping up with my masterpiece. I have a current piece I am writing but it most likely won't be finished this week. My goal is to have it done and published by at least Tuesday of next week, Be on the look out!



You can visit my political news blog HERE and take a look at the current published articles.

LOVE IS BLIND

Lady Macbeth is just evil. There is no part of her that is salvageable..it's just all bad. Yet despite this, Macbeth is still with her and has thus far not spoken badly of her or opposed her. Hes a fierce man of battle but allows himself to be manipulated by a woman. She forces him to do things against his will because of her ambitions. Macbeth does it all. He is also ambitious but his ambition is tamed by his morals at times. So we could make the reasonable conjecture that he allows himself to be manipulated by Lady Macbeth because he loves her and wants to keep her happy (appease her). Love really must be blind then.

Now us as the audience, we see Lady Macbeth for the real monster that she is. Shakespeare has thus far presented her in a way that would only lead to hate from the audience. He uses her own words to corrupt her. The most obvious example of this would be when she's scolding Macbeth for wanting to back out on his promise of killing King Duncan and she tells him that keeping ones word is important and that she would kill an infant if she had promised to do so because she keeps her word. Now, Shakespeare could have used any other example but he uses this particularly gory one only to add to our hate and disgust with her.

MACBETH ACT 1 active reading notes

• Macbeth subtly introduced into the play.
• Witches foreboding and controlling.
• Macbeth accepts that he will be Thane of Cawdor and King after meeting the witches and hearing their prophecy, showing his ambitious side.
• Macbeth is pronounced Thane of Cawdor due to his loyalty in fighting the rebels for the king, this brings credibility to the Witches in his eyes.
• Thane of Cawdor before Macbeth is to be executed for treason.
• Macbeth reveals more of his ambitious side when he says that he is now Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, and the best is still to come (he becomes King). Banquo skeptical about Witches---> they usually lead men to their demise with tricks.
• Macbeth begins to think about murdering King Duncan to precipitate his becoming King. Yet despite all his battle gore and ambition, murder frightens him (irony).
• Macbeth meets King Duncan and praises him. Macbeth is dishonest and untrustworthy.
• Duncan admires Macbeth deeply. The fact that Macbeth was thinking about murdering him earlier now makes the reader resent him for wanting to kill a man who admires him as much. Ironic that last Thane of Cawdor was executed for treason, and now Macbeth occupies his place?
• Duncan is to name Malcolm heir to the thrown (could this precipitate Macbeth to take action?)
• Macbeth makes up his mind to kill the King and anyone else who stands between him and the thrown.
• Lady Macbeth is introduced, she has guts and no morals as apparent from her way of speaking and acting. She characterizes Macbeth for us as a man who wants something but is too afraid to go after it.
• Lady Macbeth determined to kill Duncan when she finds out he is coming to her castle. She is EVIL.
• As soon as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth speak it is apparent that she dominates him. She tells him what to do and how to behave.
• The deep love expressed by Duncan to Macbeth only makes the treason more unforgivable to the reader. Is Shakespeare setting us up to hate Macbeth?
• Macbeth is already feeling remorse for planning to kill Duncan but his ambition is greater.
• Macbeth has second doubts and Lady Macbeth scolds him and essentially forces him to stick to his words. She is ruthless. She says she would kill the baby eating from her breasts while he smiled if she had given her word that she'd do it.
• The plan: Get Duncan's servants drunk so they pass out. Once they are unconscious, they will take their daggers and kill Duncan. Then they will cover the servants in his blood to make everyone think they were the ones who did it.

MEET MACBETH

During the opening parts of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is introduced through indirect characterization, such as when the Sergeant describes acts of gore committed by Macbeth during the battle. Another instance of indirect characterization occurs during his conversations with the Three Witches and Banquo. During the conversations he is revealed to be gullible, pensive and easily swayed. Three random women tell him he will be king;  he is at first shocked by this but then embraces it. After this encounter with the witches he begins to think deeply and discuss with Banquo how the three Witches gained that knowledge and how he will be the new king if the position is already occupied.

The most obvious instance of foreshadowing provided by the Witches is when they give Macbeth his prophecy about him becoming king. Another instance of foreshadowing is found here:

"A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap,

And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:--

'Give me,' quoth I:

'Aroint thee, witch!' the rump-fed ronyon cries.

Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger:

But in a sieve I'll thither sail,

And, like a rat without a tail,

I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do."

Now, what the above text foreshadows is (very literally) that we will come across a woman who will somehow have control over a man, as apparent by the "chestnuts" on her lap, her munching and the appearance of a man (rat) without a tail, which can be interpreted as a phallic symbol. 

At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces the theme without giving away the play. I'm referring to the Witches chant "fair is foul, and foul is fair." Through that chiasmus they are telling us that what to us appears as fair is actually foul and what to them appears as foul is actually fair. They are setting up a play in which things will never be good or bad, but a combination of the both. Things wont be black or white, rather shades of grey.

Shakespeare has thus far been very modest with his portrayal of Macbeth. The few bits of him he has given us have all been strictly indirect. Shakespeare creates a strong Macbeth in the battlefield but when he isn't in "warrior mode" he's actually very weak and gullible. When the Sergeant was describing Macbeth, Shakespeare used very precise language when describing the gory acts of violence perpetrated by Macbeth. Yet when Macbeth meets the Witches and they refer to him as king he is frightened. In this whole scene Shakespeare shows us a Macbeth that is easily frightened and convinced. These three random women told him he would be king and he believed it without much questioning. 

So far, Macbeth appears manipulated by women. The Witches told him something outrageous and he believed it. Right before this the Witches were talking about a man being manipulated by a woman through their interesting imagery of chestnuts and phallic symbols. So far, it appears as though this will be the story of yet another man manipulated by a woman.

Another shot at love with Shakespeare

In honor of our begun voyage into the world of Macbeth....

MY MACBETH RESOURCES

1. No Fear Shakespeare. This is what has gotten me through most of my English career when it comes to Shakespeare. Shakespeare is difficult. Shakespeare uses an English that is extremely hard to decipher so it makes the whole process of reading, analyzing and everything else so difficult. This website translates his English into a more modern American English that we are familiar with. I love this website because it takes care of the heavy duty work and gives you a good foundation to begin with.

2. This is the actual text. I like this website because of its simple design. It doesn't have too many things so scrolling is easy.

3. Macbeth Wikipedia page. I like learning the quick history about these sort of things before I actually read them and once I am immersed into the reading I look back on these websites. It allows me to better understand the text by putting it into some sort of context (historical, political, etc).

4. Full Macbeth play acted out. With this sort of literature we can often miss out because its meant to be a visual experience. I like watching plays just to help better understand the play in general.

5. This is a series of examinations, an in-depth analysis of the play and it contains a bit of history and background information. I have read bits and pieces and it all seems very logical and academic. I will periodically visit this as we move along the play.

IS THERE AN EXPERT IN THE HOUSE?

While the reaching out to Dr. Cornel West is in progress, I have been going to several online journalism websites and other news sites. I have compiled a list of writers and editors, along with their email addresses. I plan to reach out to them and get their input on the articles written for In Loco Politico, both by myself and Javi. I want to know if there's anything writing-wise we could do to improve or make our articles better and more interesting. After that I'd also like to reach out to someone (not necessarily a "professional") to get help with improving the visual aspect of the blog.

THIS IS ONLY A TEST

To me tests are a learning experience. It is an opportunity to take a subject and emphasize it with the purpose of doing good. Some people see them as a "bad" thing but I don't. They are a motivation to me. I don't want to do bad so that motivates me to do well and get work done. Using that concept, I applied it to In Loco Politico. After having some discussion, it was pointed out to me that we need to improve our mechanics so that we can give our blog a better appearance. For my test, I am going back through every article and editing for grammar and spelling.

Huxley Interview Response: WE ARE LIVING IN A BRAVE NEW WORLD

After watching Huxley talk and reading his book, I can say with certainty that I believe he was absolutely paranoid. He was a man that had some interesting views for his time, but ultimately I believe those views do not reflect our society today. Our use of technology mirrors that in Brave New World in various ways. Science and technology are pushing the boundaries of what previously was with things such as genetic engineering, nuclear weaponry and stem cell research. Yet I don't believe that our use in those fields will lead to a repressive government such as The World State. We have great thinkers and we have morals. There are people who are keeping science and technology confined to boundaries of morality and humanity. I don't see how one government could strip our humanity, and people would just let it happen. Thinking about this sort of reminds me of the world in James McTeigue's V for Vendetta, where an oppressive government uses technology and science to manipulate and control a society. They tried to strip many of the prisoners in their experimentation camps of their humanity, but the people fought back..they did not allow themselves to be turned into anything less than humans.

There is one interesting thing I saw between Huxley's Brave New World and our modern society...We also have to keep in mind that only parts of our modern world are dominated by science and technology, such as first world nations like the United States and China. Many African and South American societies still live as they were living before science and technology formed big parts of first world life. Technology and science are only available in some parts of the world, much like in Huxley's Brave New World. London (which is where most of the plot takes place) is a hub of technology and science, in contrast to the various reservations where "savages" live without the illumination of science and technology. We sort of seclude theses areas of the world (much like they did in BNW). As we move forward, we are leaving them behind and forgetting about them. We are consuming all the planets resources in our relentless pursuit of more, leaving them with the scraps of our ambition. In that sense, yeah, we are living in a Brave New World. 

My Thoughts on Brave New World

I'm not an experienced reader. I read for entertainment and I have no authority over what is considered "good" and "bad" literature. I just have opinions based on things I have experienced...and in my opinion, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has everything that makes literature great (to me).

After reading this book as an assignment, I can say that for the first time in awhile..I completed an assignment that didn't even feel like an assignment. I actually enjoyed it (apparently, this is unheard of in high school). The book was a page turner. As I got into the book, I found myself going beyond the assigned chapters. As everything progressed in the plot I was hooked on what would happen next.

Why? Why did this book hook me so much? First of all, Huxley created a complex world within the book. I like this in literature. I like intricate back-stories that are easy to understand yet fascinating. It makes me feel like I'm reading something of quality because of the work and dedication the author must have put into the plot. Secondly, the events within the book were bizarre yet plausible. Technically we could all fall victim to a consumer culture the way the denizens of the World State did. Thirdly, I loved all the dualism and symbolism used by Huxley to represent such complex and interesting things. I especially enjoyed his doubleness of character (Charles Dickens style). I found it fascinating how he used the names of the characters to represent actual people and thinkers of our own society such as Henry Ford and Karl Marx. It helped further the warning nature of the book.


For anyone that hasn't read it, I highly recommend.

RESOURCE OF THE DAY

So news...when it comes to news the American public generally prefers television. I have a few theories as to why. It's more engaging and requires no work from the viewer (other than putting popcorn in your mouth as you avidly watch). While going on the Internet, opening a search engine, typing, and then selecting the best news story is far more work. When we watch television we also get a whole hours worth of news in one sitting, while reading a website online takes more time and we may only be able to get through a few news stories (especially if the journalism reports are lengthy) before we run out of time and have to engage in another activity.

We lose so much when we decide to watch television for news. I say this because news/journalism websites typically have a comment section at the bottom of articles that you can use by signing in to the website itself or through your Facebook or Google+ account. These comment sections often times turn into interesting discussions between people all over the world. There is so much value in the comments. I encourage and challenge everyone to take time and visit these websites, take the time to thoroughly read the article, engage in discussions or simply read these comments that are often worth gold. Granted, some are utter trash and ignorant, but why not add humor to your day with other peoples stupidity?


Almost all major news/journalism websites have this comment feature. Visit your favorite one and check it out. Often when I am doing research for In Loco Politico articles, I read these and take them into account in my article. If you're also interested in online debates to enrich yourself, or simply have fun, try "Debate.org". This awesome website allows you to post your arguments on a certain topic. I highly encourage everyone to participate in just one online debate. Try them out! They really can become a cool tool for prospective/armature journalists or anyone interested in just spending some time online.

RESOURCE OF THE DAY

I've always been a huge fan of Dr. Cornel West. His very provocative style of speaking/writing has always intrigued me. Recently, a colleague of mine and I got a wild idea to invite him for an open source learning chat. After visiting his official website, I noticed his calendar was available for booking. I emailed him through his partner, Tavis Smiley, and extended an invitation. This has gone unresponded. But I have not yet given up with trying to contact him. I will be persistent because he is a man I'm very interested in. I am still trying to figure out different ways to get past the gate keepers and get the message directly to him. I have recently found his mailing address for Union Theological Seminar and I have the email address of his UTS assistant. I intend to write him a letter and write her an email where I again extend an invitation, hoping for some sort of answer this time from either her or him. I will continue to update everyone as this story unfolds.

LAUNCH

I'm going to utilize the Internet in a different way. The Internet has existed for a good amount of years now, but never has it been used the way I want to until recently. I want to use the Internet to continue to write articles for In Loco Politico. This is truly a new thing. Up until recently, if you wanted to publish anything it was difficult because writing was done almost exclusively through newspapers, magazines and books. Now, anyone can use the Internet to publish their writing and gain exposure and traffic. You don't need to go through all the traditional channels because now it is just a click away. 

In Loco Politico is a news/politics blogs where Javier, Mia and I can talk about the topics we feel are politically relevant to us in ours lives and making them simple and available to the students in our AP course, but also throughout the school and even the world if other people happen to stumble upon it.

I want to continue to write articles, while finding ways to expand the blog and increase the traffic source. 

BRAVE NEW ESSAY TOPIC

Prompt: Novels and plays often depict a character caught between colliding cultures whether national, regional, ethic, religious or institutional. Such collisions can call a characters sense of identity into question. Obviously, John is such character. Write a well organized essay in which you describe his various responses to the "brave new world" and explain their relevance to the work as a whole.

Source here.



The way I would go about answering this question is to begin a complete characterization of John. I would analyze who he was (physically and personality-wise) and what/who he represented. I would then identify this collision he was caught in between and try to tie its importance to the text. I would look for ways in which this collision enriched the text and things it revealed about the work as a whole. I would try to use as many quotes and textual support as possible to strengthen my argument. The best way to organize all those ideas would be through some sort of graphic organizer, perhaps like a small mind-map that could aid me as I wrote the essay.

I AM HERE

The semester started off pretty rough for me. It was a big change between fall semester and spring semester, and then we had a huge break in between so the adjustment into the rigor of the spring semester was tough. I struggled at first to keep up with the fast pace, eventually catching up after a few exhausting nights. But as of right now I am very happy where I am  and content with the progress I have made.

I have a very clear idea of what I want to do for my senior project and am excited to launch and begin working on it already (although I've technically been working on it since earlier this year already). I'm very excited for all the opportunities to come and I'm excited to challenge and push myself to see how far I can go. I'm so full of ideas and ready to exploit them and see how far I can go. One thing I do need to revisit is my big question. I haven't been spending much time with it because I have so many other pressing matters to take care of. But I want to try to incorporate it more into the work that I do for this class and my other classes.

I also have a few scholarships that need completing, so I'm going to try to designate more time for that because college is right around the corner.

Overall, I'm so excited to make the most of this last semester in my K-12 education!

WHATS THE STORY?

Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations as a sort of social criticism. The way he associates the wealthy characters with negative personalities through characterization offers the biggest clue towards my conclusion. Dickens associates money with evil, and poor with innocence and good. At the time Victorian England was rampant with injustice towards the lower and working classes and through Great Expectations, Charles Dickens brought attention to this issue in a very entertaining way. 

One interesting thing that offers clues as to why he wrote this book is the way Dickens plays with names; specifically as it applies to Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham was one of the main antagonists of the novel and she was also quite wealthy. We can see how her name when pronounced out loud sounds a lot like "have a sham" or "have a shame", which offers ridicule and criticism towards the wealthy. We also see how the characterization of Miss Havisham offers even more ridicule towards the wealthy, as Dickens describes her to look like a witch (associating her again with evil in the process).

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham in Mike Newell's 2012 film adaptation of Great Expectations. 

We can see her witchly appearance portrayed. Does this wealthy lady look good or evil? Charles Dickens felt strongly about the wealthy. 

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

a) AP level questions on Siddhartha and link to the source from which I got them

• If you were the river, would you be enlightenment or would you know enlightenment? In other words, whats up with the river? What is its relationship to enlightenment? 
• Analyze the novella as a bildungsroman and through Jungian/Archetypal critical lens.
• How does Hesse use figurative, poetic, structural and rhetoric devices to convey the effects of Siddhartha's experiences? 
• Discuss this quote: "Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them."
• What is the meaning of knowledge? How does it differ from wisdom?

b) attempted answers to questions 1-5

• I have not read enough of the book to know about a river and its significance. However I wrote this question down because it intrigued me. I have noticed that rivers are very often used in literature to represent everything from life to death.
• I am not familiar with the Jungian/Archetypal critical lens. This novella is a bildungsroman because it chronicles the journey of Siddhartha as he reaches new knowledge and realizations. In the passage we read it would be that he discovers how alone he really is and he finds this need within to reinvent himself as a result of his new-found wisdom. 
• In this particular section of the novella that we read there was a very interesting structural element that had a strong influence on telling the experiences and realizations that Siddhartha was coming to in a way that the reader was able to experience vividly. The narrator would give long explanations, followed by short and powerful sentences like "Nobody was as alone as he." The short and powerful sentences impacted the reader. Regarding figurative, poetic and rhetoric language, Hesse almost exclusively writes his book using either one of those three at any given time. The whole theme of the book is this journey and awakening, which is further emphasized by his use of inspiring figurative, poetic and rhetoric language. Essentially they help support the theme and structure that has has going on with the novella.
• This quote simply means that there is meaning behind everything and that things aren't hiding their meaning, they're simply waiting for someone to come along and discover it.
• Knowledge is skills and information we gather through experience or education.Wisdom is essentially the next step in knowledge. Wisdom refers to using the knowledge we gather in an intelligent way. In other words, you can have knowledge but not be wise because you're not using your knowledge in an effective way that benefits you and the world in a positive physical and spiritual way.

c) After answering those questions I realize that AP level questions are tough and they require more than being able to read a book. You need to have the ability to process what you read, analyze it and give it meaning that goes beyond the literal text. AP level questions also require you to have information apart from what is being asked so you can better answer the questions. Essentially we need to be intelligent critical thinkers to answer these AP questions effectively.

Hacking My Education

1) What do I want to know in June that I don't know today?
Going back to my previous post, I want to know how to allocate time efficiently. In June I will be just about ready to go to college and I want to be as prepared as possible. I want to be able to go in and not struggle with time. I want all the struggling to be done now so when I'm in college I have most things figured out.

2) What skills do I want to be able to demonstrate through my blog or other online media?
I've always thought of myself as a person who is a good critical thinker. I want to demonstrate my understanding and my ability to analyze things effectively. I want to show my seriousness and academic abilities.

3) What experiences do I want to have as a result?
I know I'm not an A+ student because frankly I've never cared much about what I get in a class, as long as I am able to take something valuable from it. Through my blog I am able to do that freely. I can be in charge of my education completely. I can chose what I want to learn and do and what I don't. At first that seemed like a scary thought, but during the Fall semester I got to experience it and though it was tricky at first, I got the hang of it and now I wouldn't want to do things any other way. This blog has helped me to be more independent with my academic experience.

What's in it for me?

As I am sure we have all become aware of in this past semester, time is passing ridiculously fast. Time can either be a valuable ally to us or a strong foe. This semester I want to be able to allocate my time more efficiently. I have a lot of time from the time I get home to the time I usually get to bed. I want to be able to spend those hours wisely and be balanced. I don't want to spend excessive amounts of time on one thing. I want to be able to be more balanced in the time allocation.

I want to get rid of this procrastination I've been wrestling with since Freshmen year. It isn't as bad now because I actually get stuff done regardless of the time, but I hate how I waste so much time when I get home from school and then I'm up until like 2am doing school work or college applications/scholarships.

I also need to invest more time in scholarships. Last semester was all about college applications. I want this semester more focused on scholarships because I'm getting a little nervous about money and how I'm supposed to pay the college tuition and hidden costs. I want to be doing at least three scholarships per week and a total of about twenty per month.