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.