Blogging Around

   I read quite a few blog posts tonight from my fellow classmates, and decided to comment on the two that really grabbed my attention.




   The first post I commented on was Shawnk2010academy's post titled "Connection: Closure in a Story and Closure in Life". The blog post was basically about how in a story the character starts taking steps towards the end of the book so he or she finally gets closure (partial or full) at the end of the book. The connection was made to life and how in life you get closure when you die. I wrote "I really enjoy this blog post because you take the time to take the reader through your thinking process. I also like the fact that you have quotes throughout your writing. It shows the time and effort you put into this. Although I enjoy the writing, I have to say I disagree with you about closure. I agree that there is closure at the end of your life, but I also think that there is closure on a day-to-day level. Really, any situation you are put in must have closure at some point in time. Also, in a book there is definitely closure at the end of the story, but there may also be closure on a smaller level throughout the book. I think it's important not to overlook these smaller situations and accomplishments." 


  
   The second post I commented on was Sarahw2010academy's post titled "Connection: Postmodernism and Mean Girls". This connected certain aspects and ideas of Postmodernism and related them to the teenage chick flick, Mean Girls. This student focuses in on the ideas that public space is now used for more than one thing (the lunchroom in the movie), contradictory words and ideas ("frenimies") and a metaphor between the main character Cady and Africa. After reading this blog I commented, "I'll be completely honest in saying that when I read the title I thought one of two things would happen. Either you wouldn't convince me that there was an intellectual connection between postmodernism and Mean Girls or your claim would be far-fetched. You proved me wrong. I thought Mean Girls was just a mindless teenage chick flick until I read this. There must have been an incredible amount of thought put into the Africa metaphor and the relation between the lunchroom and other things such as social status. I applaud your thinking and analyzing of this movie and the idea of postmodernism! Like Mr. A says, the writer always does things on purpose. None of these scenes were on "accident". They were carefully thought out by writers and directors. This blog makes me want to keep an open mind when trying to make connections."




  After reading these blogs I feel like I should be more aware and more open-minded when thinking about or doing basically anything. Good job writing everybody!

Connection: Kite Runner and the Complexity of Reality

   In The Kite Runner there is a complex contradiction between fiction and non-fiction. The story itself and it's characters are fictional, but the memoir Amir writes is non-fiction. To Amir it is all too real. Just the mere fact that it's possible to write a book that is both fiction and non-fiction is a new idea. It is hard for some writers to wrap their heads around this idea and then master it.  The author, Khaled Hosseini, does an exceptional job of using this new idea. If a friend were to ask you what this book was about you would have to pause and think before answering. You would have to choose your words carefully and try your best to make sure everything fit together how it is supposed to. The point of writing like this is to get you to think. To understand this story, is to understand somebody's life, whether they're real or not. If you think logically, to understand someone's entire life would be extremely difficult and complex. This is only a portion of Amir's life we are attempting to comprehend, and it should be complicated. 
   Some authors make their character's lives simple. They are simple and boring. In any good story the character makes mistakes. In an interesting story they make mistakes with complex results and that take time to fix. In an average or below-average read the character makes a mistake and 'poof'! It's magically fixed with a simple "I'm sorry", or something along the lines of that. Amir makes a simple mistake: running from Hassan. The healing and fixing of this mistake is complicated in every way imaginable. It takes a toll on his emotional health, it affects his relationships with Babba, Ali and especially Hassan. It basically affects every aspect of his life. I might even go as far as to say his childhood ended at that moment. Very few parts of this situation and it's outcomes are straightforward or 'black-and-white'. Reality is the same way. The choices you make and the outcomes you get from those choices are rarely simple. A lot of books make their character's lives simple and clean-cut. In real life, nothing turns out like that. I hate to be a realist, but it's the truth. 
    Since I may have not convinced all of you, I'll prove my point with a few examples. Let's say a man decided to drive while talking on his cell phone. He gets in an accident with a family- a mom, a dad and two kids. The entire family is in the hospital but he is fine. He'll be asking himself, "Was the call that important?", "Why would I be so stupid?",  and other similar questions. The outcome is much more complicated than the original act itself. Another less dramatic scene would be not studying for a test. Let's say you don't study for your German test. You bomb the test and you had an 82% in that class. Now you have a 78% and the quarter is almost over. If you get a C on your report card, you'll be grounded. The consequences for not studying for that test had implications beyond getting a bad grade on the actual test. 
     Like I said before, The Kite Runner is not in any way a 'black-and-white story'. There are complex situations and outcomes, opinions for you to form, situations to interpret and new ideas to ponder. It sounds just like real life to me. Hosseini did an excellent job of bringing deeper aspects of reality into his book. I applaud that and hope to read books of equal comparison in the future. 

[2] Best of the Week: Mistakes on Purpose

        For years a rush of disappointment would wash over me every time I was handed back a paper. The same thing was always scribbled in bright ink all over the black and white pages. Fragments, comma misuse, grammar. These were common errors among my class though, so my teachers were never overly-concerned about my writing. I never understood how to fix these so-called errors, so I would go though the same god awful ritual every time corrections were due. I would haul myself out of bed at the crack of dawn, drive to school and try for the life of me not to argue too much with my teacher. Eventually, I stopped trying to show my voice through my writing. I took on the generic "student voice", and immediately started receiving A's in writing.
      If something doesn't flow naturally while I'm writing, or I'm unsure about a comma or fragment, I say it out loud. If the extra pause the comma adds gives the reader a better idea of the emotion I'm trying to portray, I'll add it. If it doesn't, I move on. Writing in that simple way gives the piece much more voice. Plain and simple: it sounds better. Up until recently, I got rid of that habit. I followed all of the rules and regulations of writing a paper or an essay. That got me through middle school, but in my Freshman year of Academy, things took a turn.
      Mr. Morgan was our English teacher last year. He would give me B's on my papers with a "Good job" written in green pen on the top. But looking at the rubric, Voice and Image were always the categories where points were lost. I didn't think anything of it and I tried to make sure I really was following all of the rules. Eventually, a paper came along that I had very strong opinions about. I wrote the paper in the words I would have used if I had been talking directly to Mr. Morgan. That assignment had A written in his infamous green ink on the top. I knew from then on that the Academy would let me be me. I was finally allowed to write like I think.

[1] Best of the Week: Memoirs

        This week we discussed a lot of interesting ideas in English class. One of the things that really got me thinking was the idea that memoirs are written to come to terms with something that happened in your life. It could be a recent event or it could be from years and years ago. What we were taught was that memoir's were written to come to terms, or accept whatever happened.
        Something you may have secretly blamed yourself for, or we're too hard on yourself for is what's typically written about. It's usually some sort of tragic event, which makes it a sad story. For example, if you and a friend got in a car accident when you were driving and they died it would be extremely hard on you. You might find yourself thinking, "Why wasn't that me? Why am I alive?" Most people would probably keep these questions to themselves, or try to ignore them completely. Using either of these strategies is unhealthy and can lead to huge amounts of stress that can last for years. Some writers have discovered that they can get out their thoughts about their particular situation by writing a memoir. While their writing they discover new things they probably never even thought they knew. They find out about what is deep in their brains and they let it come out through their memoirs. Writing your feelings down on paper can lift a huge weight off your shoulder. Just admitting what happened is a great first step. It's almost like a diary. It's a healthy, non-destructive way to help yourself out.
      Before this past week in Academy, I had no idea there were such specific ways authors choose to write the way they do. Any piece of writing can change someone's life, especially the authors.