A Separate Peace

Long time.  No see.  It’s been a long time since my last blog, but don’t worry… I’m back!!!!

                                        

Below is some extraneous music that you can listen while reading my blog.  I feel that it will augment the experience and help make this an A+ effort!

This blog will be about A Separate Peace—the novel that we are currently reading in my English class—by John Knowles.

                John Knowles was born in Fairmont, West Virginia on September 16, 1926.  He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating in 1945.  Then, Knowles served in the Air Force in World War II for eight months.  After his service in the military, he furthered his education by attending Yale University for four years.  At Yale, Knowles was a record-holding varsity swimmer during his sophomore year and he served on the Board of Yale Daily News during his sophomore, junior, and senior years.  Knowles made a career in writing; he wrote for two magazines and completed seven novels, one of which was A Separate Peace.

A Separate Peace takes place at an austere boarding school, Devon School, in New Hampshire.  The main character, Gene Forrester, is quiet and intelligent, while his roommate and close friend, Phineas (Finny), is very out-going, athletic, magnanimous, and charming.  During the summer session of 1942, Finny convinces Gene to help him create a secret society based on the ritual of jumping out of a tree into the river.

                Gene becomes increasingly jealous of Finny’s athletic abilities.  This leads Gene to believe that Finny, in turn, envies his superior academic success and has created the secret society only to distract him from his studies.  Due to this heinous belief, Gene begins to abhor Finny; however, he maintains an appearance of friendship.  One day, he accompanies Finny to the tree for their jumping ritual.  When Finny reaches the end of the branch, Gene’s entire rancor towards Finny comes out in one moment; Gene jounces the limb, which causes Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg.  Later, the doctor tells Gene that Finny will no longer be able to participate in sports.  This adds to Gene’s contrite and guilt; however, he is unable to tell anyone the truth, especially Finny.  Instead, everyone believes that Finny’s tragedy was just an accident.  To make things worse, Gene discovers that Finny has had no foul intentions toward his academics.

Gene and Finny

                Meanwhile, World War II is in full swing.  All of the boys are consumed by the war; it often determines their actions.  However, Finny has convinced himself to inanely believe that the war is a heinous duplicity made up by old, fat men in order to secure their jobs.

Collage of WWII

                Furthermore, one of the schoolboys, Brinker, harbors the suspicion that Finny’s tragic incident wasn’t an accident and decides to hold a meeting to prove or disprove this definitively.  He organizes an after-hours tribunal of schoolboys and has Gene and Finny evoked without warning.  At this meeting, they question both Finny and Gene in hopes to expound the details of the event; however, Finny’s perceptions of the incident remain so blurred that he can’t speak conclusively on the matter, and Gene acts as if he doesn’t remember the details of it.  Finny declares that he doesn’t care about the facts and leaves.  Hurrying on the stairs, Finny falls and breaks his leg again.

                This is as far as my English class has read.  My prediction is Gene will tell Finny the truth at some point.  When this time comes, I think Finny will be very forgiving, and they will move on with their lives.  If you are interested in the basic content of this story and would like to read this novel, then you should.  It is very well written, and I would highly recommend it.

                Along with reading the novel, we also must write an essay on A Separate Peace using one of the following essay prompts:

1.       Major Theme

·         Explain how this theme evolves

·         In argument, discuss both character (connecting each to the theme) and plot development

2.       Major Character

·         Discuss both character’s internal and external conflicts

·         Explain how this character develops

 

3.       One Facet of Knowles’ Writing Style

·         Possibilities: use of symbolism, figurative language, dialog, allegory, history

Although we haven’t finished the novel, I have a good idea of which prompt I will choose.  I think that I will write my essay on prompt #2; I will explore Finny’s copious conflicts and how his character develops throughout the novel.

Finny

Week 5

                I know it’s been awhile since my last post, but nevertheless it’s great to be back!!!  This month in my Honors English class has been very eventful and noteworthy… and I will write about it in this final blog of the semester!

Hopefully, this blog will intrigue you and not be insipid at all! I plan on ending the first semester's series of blogs with a bang.

Before I begin to discuss the adventures of my Honors English class, below is an instrumental version of one of Tupac's best songs that will augment your blog reading experience.  Enjoy!

                First, my English class finished reading our “book club” books outside of class and then wrote in-class essays on them.  The essay had to follow certain guidelines:

                Choose ONE of the following topics to write about:

1)      Identify a major theme from the novel and describe how the author develops this theme throughout the text.

2)      Describe how the author characterizes either a single character or several characters and show the development of this/these character(s) throughout the text.

3)      Identify major symbols and figurative language the author employs throughout the text.  In your analysis, explain how these symbols and figurative language add meaning to the text.

Furthermore, you must have a minimum of six pieces of evidence that support your argument.

As mentioned in a previous blog, my book club chose to read Richard Wright’s novel Black Boy—an autobiography that reflects on Wright’s childhood as a black boy growing up in the racist Deep South.  After reading the novel, my group elected to write the in-class essay on topic #1.  We concluded that the major theme of the novel was racism, and Wright develops this theme from his introduction to it at a young age to his learning of how to live with racism.

On my essay about Black Boy, I completed it within the time limit of one class period; however, I only used 3 pieces of evidence instead of 6.  This contributed to the A- that I received on the essay.  Considering I received a C+ on the To Kill a Mockingbird essay earlier this semester, this is a significant improvement!

                After completing the reading and writing process of our first outside reading book of the semester, it was time to select a new book!  My book club decided that our first choice would be the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell; however out of the 4 book clubs in my class, my group was drawn to pick last.  Fearing that one of the other book clubs would chose Animal Farm, we waited anxiously in our seats until it was our turn to select the book in which we desired to read.  When it was the third group’s turn to choose, they all grabbed Animal Farm… but put it back immediately!  They decided to select a different book instead!  Therefore we got what we wanted all along—the chance to read George Orwell’s famous novella Animal Farm.

Book cover for George Orwell's novella Animal Farm

Furthermore, my English class finished reading William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies and was assigned an essay in which had to meet these requirements:

1)      Analyze one of Golding’s characters in his novel Lord of the Flies.  Specifically, describe Golding’s process of characterization.  Answer the question: how does Golding characterize this individual throughout the story?

2)      You must have a minimum of 6 pieces of evidence that illustrate Golding’s characterization of this individual throughout the novel.

I chose to write the LOTF (Lord of the Flies) essay on Jack; it revolved around the argument that Golding characterizes Jack as a greedy yet innocent and civilized boy who regresses into savagery due to man’s essential illness.

Jack after he transforms into a savage

 Similar to the Black Boy essay, I received another A- for my LOTF essay.  This is an extraneous example of my progression to becoming a better writer.  Hopefully, I can earn a solid A for my next English essay, which will most likely be on Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar".

Before beginning to read Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar", my English class read and took notes on the context and background behind the play.  This note taking was divided into 8 sections:
 

1)      William Shakespeare

2)      Elizabethan Stage

3)      Background on the Play

4)      How to Read the Play

5)      The Uses of Superstition

6)      Rule by the Rich

7)      Life Of Caesar

8)      Aristotle’s View of Tragedy

Then, we wrote summaries individually for each section.  Here are my notes' summaries:

William Shakespeare

He was a famous author of many plays, including this one.  Although he was famous, he was born into a regular family and had a regular life.  Then, Shakespeare traveled to London to pursue an acting career, however instead he ended up writing 37 plays by the age of 48.

Elizabethan Stage

It was a time when simple props were used in plays yet the audience had to imagine the setting.  Shakespeare wrote plays during this time period; he, also, wanted his audience to use their imagination.  Furthermore, only men could participate in plays.

Background on the Play

This play is about the assassination of Julius Caesar—a Roman general and dictator.  During the time period in which the play takes place, Rome was known to be in continuous war; this caused generals to have much power.  Often, these generals—one of which was Caesar—desired more power.

How to Read the Play

  Blank verse is the rhythm of English speech, and the iambic pentameter makes each line 5 iambs—an unstressed and a stressed syllable.  However, sometimes Shakespeare had lower class citizens speak without poetic devices.  Furthermore, many words in the play have different meanings that our time period is unfamiliar with.

The Uses of Superstition

Most people believed in superstitions at the time of Julius of Julius Caesar: Romans examined everyday occurrences for forewarning of both good and evil.  For example, Romans believed that emperors were gods and “sacred” chickens could predict success in battle.  Also, the Roman government used the people’s belief in superstitions to control the populace.

Rule by the Rich

Only the rich could participate in government, because lower and middle class citizens could not afford to travel to Rome—the site of all political activity.  Furthermore, types of government include a republic, an aristocracy, a direct democracy, and a representative democracy.

Life of Caesar

Caesar’s life was full of irony; he was given several hints and omens before his death that the assassination would occur.  For instance, Caesar believed Brutus although it was evident that he was lying.  This, along with other hints, didn’t faze Caesar and led to his surprised reaction when being assassinated.

Aristotle’s View of Tragedy

Aristotle believed that the purpose of a tragedy was to place pity and fear in the audience.  He believed that the main character had to have a tragic flaw (character weakness), be highly renowned, and a member of royalty.  In a tragedy, this character creates the problem and receives the consequences for causing this problem.

After learning about the play's context, it was time to start reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".  However, prior to this, my English class was given the essay prompt for "Julius Caesar", which goes as follows:

      Choose ONE:

1)      Discuss the role of persuasion in the play.  How do some characters persuade others to act?  What are the goals of this persuasion?  What are the consequences?

2)      Analyze the funeral oration of Brutus and Mark Antony.  Whose speech is better constructed, is more persuasive?  Explain.

3)      Whose side are you on—Caesar and Antony’s, or Brutus and Cassius’s?  Write a persuasive essay analyzing both perspectives, indicating why your side is the better side.  If you’re on the side of Caesar and Antony, you defend their positions and actions.  If you’re on the side of the conspirators, you defend their decisions and actions.

At this point, I’m undecided which of the 3 topics I would like to write about.

Furthermore, the play “Julius Caesar” connects to many events from today and the recent history.  For instance, Caesar’s assassination is related to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination with only a few nuances.  This may seem like a strange, unusual connection; however, it makes sense in the big picture.  When you look at both Caesar and King’s lives, who loved and admired them? The people.  Yet there was those who disliked them too… For Caesar, it was those who were jealous of his power or mostly those who feared the person he would become if he were to be crowned.  For Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it was those who were adamant against the civil rights movement or simply racist.  These bigots forced the premature deaths of Caesar and King.  Also, riots occupied the streets after their assassinations.  The below YouTube video is a slide show of the chaos in Washington D.C. following Dr. King’s death:

Week 4

The novel Lord of the Flies.  A district benchmark test.  A school wide writing assessment.  Book clubs.  Clips from movies.  This motley of events ties together to form the last two weeks in my English class.

Throughout the previous two weeks, we continued to read and analyze William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies.  As we progress in the text, it is apparent that the boys are becoming savage, wild creatures; they are beginning to become less civilized and less focused on their original main goal to be rescued.  This is shown in the novel when Ralph says (while trying to explain to the boys why they can't hunt and run free), “The fire's the most important thing on the island, because, because—”.  This action of Ralph forgetting the purpose of the fire for even a moment shows how even Ralph—the wise leader—is beginning to transform into a more primal state.  Another example that shows this change within the boys is Simon's death.  The boys murder Simon—one of their fellow friends—just because they think he is "the beast".  They kill him as if he were a pig, which in itself is significant for the reason that a pig is a wild animal.  Wild animals are essentially what they have become and what they kill.  This foreshadows that in the end, they will have murdered their own kind figuratively or perhaps literally (like they did to Simon).  Furthermore, Simon's death has another critical meaning that does not relate to gauche behavior.  Simon was the only one on the island who knew that "the beast" was just a dead body, but now that he is dead and "the beast's" body is gone, none of the boys will ever know that "the beast" wasn't real.  This will most likely be a very important factor throughout the remainder of the novel.

This transformation among the boys from innocent and well behaved to savage and uncivilized when stranded on an uninhabited island shows how people will change when put in a certain situation.  An experiment conducted by a team of researchers led by Professor Phillip Zimbardo at Stanford University in August 1971 connects to these changes among the boys.  The purpose of the Stanford Prison Experiment was to study the psychological effects of being either a prisoner or a prison guard.  Twenty four students were selected to participate in this experiment; twelve as prisoners and twelve as prison guards.  The ultimate result of this experiment was a forced shut down since it got out of control; this is argued to show that humans, when placed in a certain situation, will have a certain reaction and will change to fit into their role in the situation.  Below is a documentary about the Stanford Prison Experiment.

During the past two weeks, we took an English district benchmark: a test that is assigned to all high school students in the NVUSD (Napa Valley Unified School District) and that evaluates students on their level of understanding in the subject, English.  It was about 20 multiple choice questions in length and took about half of the class period.  For the most part, it was a very easy test for me.

Also, my English class took a school wide writing assessment: a test assigned to all students at my high school.  In this assessment, we were required to analyze a poem and write about a half page response on the literary elements that the author used to enhance his/her writing.  Literary elements include syntax, detail, diction, figurative language, and imagery.

Furthermore, my teacher allotted about a thirty minute time period one day for us to meet in our book clubs.  There are four book clubs in my period, each consisting of around six people.  Each book club is required to read four books during the school year, one at each quarter, from a specific list of texts.  For this quarter, my book club elected to read, analyze, and write about the book Black Boy by Richard Wright.  Then, we must write an in-class essay on our book from one of the following essay prompts:

1. Identify a major theme from the novel and describe how the author develops this theme throughout the text.

2. Describe how the author characterizes either a single character or several characters and show the development of this/these character(s) throughout the text.

3. Identify major symbols and figurative language the author employs throughout the text.  In your analysis, explain how these symbols and figurative language add meaning to the text.

At our "meeting", my book club decided to write about essay prompt #1.  We feel it would be the best one to write about since we can find more evidence for this prompt than the other ones.  The themes in Black Boy that we have noticed so far are similar to the ones in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; they are poverty, childhood innocence, and racism.

This is the book cover for Black Boy.

Lastly, my English class watched the black and white opening of the Lord of the Flies movie made in 1963.  The opening is a slideshow of copious images that connect to what the reader of the novel can infer to be what occurs before the point when the novel actually starts.  After watching this title sequence, we discussed what images and sounds the director puts into the opening and why he inserts them.

Below is the opening clip of the Lord of the Flies movie in which my class watched.

Week 3

This week in English class, we continued to read and analyze the novel Lord of the Flies.  Similar to previous weeks, our main focus was on the process of developing characters, or characterization.  We looked at how the two characters—Ralph and Jack— have evolved since the beginning of the novel and the conflicts between them.

This is a book cover of Lord of the Flies.

In the chapter one, Ralph is portrayed to be well-built, handsome, tan, confident, gregarious, and leader-like—ultimately his description resembles the perfect person—however we began to see his imperfections as the novel advances.  Although his appearance remains the same, his mannerisms change slightly.  Ralph is introduced to the story as a relaxed, nonchalant character, but now it is evident that Ralph is more concerned and serious.  He is very persistent about order, which contradicts his desire to have fun at the beginning of the novel.  Ralph always seems to know what is best for everyone, but not everyone listens to him.

At the beginning of the novel, Jack appeared to have greed; he desired power.  Jack was introduced to the story in a way in which he conducted himself as a leader-like figure or at least someone who desires to lead, however his character traits have altered drastically; the reader holds a jaundiced view towards Jack, because now he is almost wicked and selfish.  All he ever talks or thinks about is hunting and killing pigs.  His demeanor has transformed from the desire to have order and be rescued to the desire to kill.  He seems to have a very peculiar urge to kill, which is most likely due to his desire to feel powerful.  This unusual urge for power keeps getting stronger and stronger as the novel advances.  Jack's more tenacious sense of greed is most likely due to his jealousy towards Ralph—the true leader.  Jack sees Ralph as a powerful, intelligent leader—his desired characteristics—therefore he feels the need to compete with Ralph to prove himself as a strong, leader-like figure.  This, along with the extraneous face paint, ultimately shows that he is not "comfortable in his own skin"; he wants to be a different person.  Often, in real life, people are uncomfortable with who they are.  These people—one of which is Jack—are usually very confused, and it takes much reflection for them to find their place, or role, in society.

Furthermore, Ralph and Jack are opposites in a copious amount of ways; motivation, appearance, and mannerisms.  Although there is a saying that states that opposites attract, in this case, opposites do not.  Instead Ralph and Jack constantly fight and are in conflict between each other. For example, when all the boys are discussing “the beast” at a meeting, Ralph and Jack both agree that there is no beast, but their explanations of it are completely different.  Ralph tries to make his point that there is no beast on the island by connecting to the other boys, especially the “littluns”.  He divulged that he is frightened sometimes also and it’s not a big deal, but there is no reason to be scared.  Ralph’s main focus is to get past the beast issue and worry about the participation in doing the necessary things to survive and get rescued from the island.  However, Jack steps in and coerces the little ones that they need to deal with their fear.  He yells at the little ones and says, “You’re a lot of cry-babies and sissies”.  These two explanations show an example of confliction between Ralph and Jack and it also foreshadows that there are more conflicts between them to come.

This is a picture of Jack (left) and Ralph (right) most likely during a confrontation.

Week 2

The previous two weeks in my English class, we worked on our To Kill a Mockingbird essays. As I mentioned in my last post, Week 1, I choose to write my essay on the theme of racism.  My docile English class was taught how to write every part of an essay until we knew how to create a whole.  Then, our next assignment was to put all of our notes and knowledge together to form an in-class essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.  Similar to most of my classmates, I didn't completely finish my in-class essay; I only completed about half of it.

Furthermore, during the previous two weeks, we were also assigned to an outside reading group.  Each group has to pick their own book from a specific list of novels to read and write an in-class essay about.  Each outside reading group is required to read and analyze four novels throughout the year, one at each quarter.  For this quarter, my group chose to read the novel Black Boy.  Black Boy is an autobiography of Richard Wright, in which he explores his childhood and young adulthood.  Within the novel, he also explores the racial relations in the south at the time when he was growing up.

The below video gives many people's perspectives on the author, Richard Wright.

 

This week in English class, we started reading and analyzing the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

My English class mainly focused on analyzing Golding's process of characterization.  The initial descriptions of several of the main characters show his first step to creating and developing a character.  So far, to the point where we have read up to, Golding has introduced many extraneous characters along with three significant characters: Piggy, Ralph, and Jack.

Golding describes Piggy to be very fat and shorter than Ralph.  Piggy is portrayed to be gregarious and very caring, especially of what others think of him.  His asthma and glasses are very symbolic to his character and play a major role in his life.  The description of Piggy's background allows the reader to infer that he originates from the middle class.  Based on Piggy's character, he is an easy target to boss around and bully.  For instance, all Piggy asked of Ralph is to not tell the others about his nickname, Piggy, however Ralph goes against Piggy's desires and tells them.  In the real world, there are many people similar to Piggy; where they don't have a mean bone in their body, yet people treat them badly.  Also, similar to Piggy, many people are bullied not by physical abuse but by verbal abuse.  While bullies may think verbal abuse is simply banter, it is not funny at all for the person being hurt. The following ad campaign shows how words, or verbal abuse, can hurt.



This is a picture of Piggy from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Ralph is described to be a well-built, handsome, tan, fair haired, and young.  From his actions, the reader can imply that he is non-chalant, confident, and leader-like.  The actions of Ralph blowing the conshell and everyone coming to him may prove to be very symbolic.  Ralph talks like a boy, yet he is fairly mature.  Judging on the fact that his dad is in the navy, the reader can infer that he is probably upper middle class.

This a picture of Ralph from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Golding's initial description of Jack is very negative; Jack is described as tall, thin, and bony with a crumpled face.  His unattractive looks seem to be a symbolic aspect of his character.  Jack acts as if he is automatically the leader and most powerful person among this group.  The uniform implies that is very wealthy.

This a picture of Jack from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Besides reading and analyzing The Lord of the Flies, my English class has to write an essay on the novel that corresponds to the essay prompt.  The essay prompt instructs us to analyze one of Golding's characters in the novel and describe his process of characterization.  This essay will be written outside of class, which personally I feel increases the quality and quantity of the essay.

Week 1

This week in my English class, we worked on our essay for the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. 

The essay prompt instructs us to write about how the author develops one of the following themes: racial relations, childhood innocence, and rural poverty.  I chose to write my essay about racism, or race relations.  A theme that is significant and controversial even in today’s society.  The following extraneous video clip is an example of racism used in an everyday situation:

Another requirement is the essay must contain six pieces of evidence from the novel.  Evidence is a specific quote or scene that connects to the topic in which you are writing about.  The six pieces of evidence in which I intend to use in my essay include quotes from the scenes: the colored church, the jail, the trial, the conviction, the reactions to the conviction, and Tom’s death.

Furthermore, my teacher taught my class how to write a well-written; not insipid introduction to an essay.  He separated it into three different sections: hook sentences, story background, and thesis sentence.  The hook sentences should be about one to three sentences in length.  They are supposed to grab the reader’s attention and engage the reader in what topic you are writing about.  The story background should take up the majority of the introduction paragraph.  Its purpose is to briefly review the text’s plot and the evidence that you will include in the body paragraphs of your essay.  Also, a well-written story background gives the title of the text and its author and provides context for the thesis statement.  The thesis statement is supposed to be roughly one to two sentences.  It should state what you will argue and how you will argue along with a chronological listing of the evidence that you will include in the body paragraphs.  Theoretically, if your first paragraph contains all the requirements to these three sections, it will be a well-written introduction to the rest of your essay.

After learning how to construct an introduction paragraph of an essay, it was time to start writing our own introduction for the essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.  First, our teacher gave my class a certain amount of time to write our hook sentences.  Then, he told us to switch papers’ with your three other group members.  We had to read their hook sentences and give them a score and critic based on a certain rubric.  The class did this until everyone in their group had their paper graded by every group member.  Then, we did the same exact writing and grading process with our story background and thesis statement until we had a complete rough draft introduction of our essay.

Lastly, to end the recap of this school week in my English class, we went to the computer lab to create our own blog.  In this blog, I will summarize the main ideas of what my English class has completed for every week of this school year.



This picture represents the book cover for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.