I’m thankful for so many things in my life, from my family to BBQ Chicken Pizza to sleeping in on weekdays. I’m thankful for a lot of people in my life, including my many great classmates.
Annie Burns is much more than my philosophy classmate. She’s a friend, a mentor, and most importantly, a sister. She is so caring and helpful. She is usually willing to offer me some of her food in the first few minutes of class, and always reminds me to finish the homework we were assigned. I’m thankful she sits next to me in a class like philosophy, since she has many opinions (some goofy, some serious) and is never embarrassed to share them. Thanks Burnsie.
But Annie isn’t the only one I’m thankful for.
Vlad: Even though we know you are a nark, you’re still a great guy. You always make me laugh and although you have a problem showing up to class, you surprise me by still being prepared. Thanks Vlady Vlad.
Courtney: You crazy kid. You are a great person to work with. You are always on task and make sure that I am too. You are the group motivator and without you, we’d be nothing. Thanks Banana Girl.
And last, but certainly not least…
Nicole: You’re not even in my period, but I’m still thankful for you. You are always down to talk philosophy, from what our opinions on The Road are to the thoughts of classical philosophers. You don’t judge people for their thoughts, and the fact that you try to understand why people say and think the way they do is very inspiring to me. You are more than just my classmate, girl, and I have so many reasons to be thankful for you in my life.
Anyway. Thank you all for making my Philosophy experience superb.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Dear MC Cormie
Dear Cormac McCarthy,
I want to start off by congratulating you on the great name. Was it fun to have in grade school?
But down to business. I just finished one of your books, The Road. Cormac, I gotta say, I really loved it. Well done sir. I do have some questions though. I know you're a busy guy, but I'd appreciate some answers.
I'm curious, Cormac. What was your inspiration for this book? Were you trying to send your readers a message about how we need to change our society? Or were you just writing? Now, I hate to assume Cormie, but I think you were trying to warn us. So I guess what I'm really wondering is what happened in your life, what have you witnessed, that has led you to create such a chilling account of a realistic post-apocalyptic chaos. If you could just shoot me a letter back with this explanation, that'd be great.
Here's another one for ya. Do you have something against women? I know that in many of your books you don't shed a nice light on them, and sometimes you barely shed a light at all. For instance, in The Road there are almost no feminine influences. We are briefly introduced to the mother, who leaves her family for death. This didn't effect my enjoyment of the book, I'm not asking you to insert more females characters or to make them a more vital component of the plot. Cormie, I'm just curious if you've had a bad experience, and if you have, I'm sorry. We're really not all that bad.
MC Cormie (can I call you that?), last question. Do you teach writing workshops? I really dig the poetic style you used when writing The Road and I'd like to try it out, hopefully with your help.
Your curious reader,
Hannah
I want to start off by congratulating you on the great name. Was it fun to have in grade school?
But down to business. I just finished one of your books, The Road. Cormac, I gotta say, I really loved it. Well done sir. I do have some questions though. I know you're a busy guy, but I'd appreciate some answers.
I'm curious, Cormac. What was your inspiration for this book? Were you trying to send your readers a message about how we need to change our society? Or were you just writing? Now, I hate to assume Cormie, but I think you were trying to warn us. So I guess what I'm really wondering is what happened in your life, what have you witnessed, that has led you to create such a chilling account of a realistic post-apocalyptic chaos. If you could just shoot me a letter back with this explanation, that'd be great.
Here's another one for ya. Do you have something against women? I know that in many of your books you don't shed a nice light on them, and sometimes you barely shed a light at all. For instance, in The Road there are almost no feminine influences. We are briefly introduced to the mother, who leaves her family for death. This didn't effect my enjoyment of the book, I'm not asking you to insert more females characters or to make them a more vital component of the plot. Cormie, I'm just curious if you've had a bad experience, and if you have, I'm sorry. We're really not all that bad.
MC Cormie (can I call you that?), last question. Do you teach writing workshops? I really dig the poetic style you used when writing The Road and I'd like to try it out, hopefully with your help.
Your curious reader,
Hannah
Friday, November 12, 2010
Objection! Defending Charlie B
Poor Charlie B. Past the lips stained with alcohol and ever present cloud of smoke was a great man. He was a smart guy and understood humanity. He was brave enough to face the wrongs in our society head on. Let’s take the poem we read in class, “Dinosauria, We”. He confronts the issues he saw around him and then offered his audience a startling, yet possible, view of what our world could become.
The problems he brings up in “Dinosauria, We” are still present in our society. He referenced things above our control, like a college graduate working a minimum wage job and political injustice. But he also was able to identify wrongs that we can correct, like the lack of communication that occurs between people nowadays and the progression of unnecessary violence. It doesn’t seem that Bukowki cared about writing things that would be accepted or comfortable to read. He wrote in a straight forward way that forces his readers to face what is around them, and even ahead of them.
While Bukowski does make some crazy claims on what our society could turn into, I think it’s something to be admired. Even if our “this” doesn’t turn into the chaotic vision that Bukowski predicts, he still makes us think about the effects our decisions could have on the future. Do we want everything around us to be obliterated with nuclear warfare? Of course not. But if you think about it, this is a very likely possibility if we don’t change our ways. While Bukowski does say some outrageous things about what could lie ahead of us, he does this so that we can change the outcome.
So was Charles Bukowski a crazy drunk? For sure. But he was an intelligent one, who had a lot of important messages to give.
The problems he brings up in “Dinosauria, We” are still present in our society. He referenced things above our control, like a college graduate working a minimum wage job and political injustice. But he also was able to identify wrongs that we can correct, like the lack of communication that occurs between people nowadays and the progression of unnecessary violence. It doesn’t seem that Bukowki cared about writing things that would be accepted or comfortable to read. He wrote in a straight forward way that forces his readers to face what is around them, and even ahead of them.
While Bukowski does make some crazy claims on what our society could turn into, I think it’s something to be admired. Even if our “this” doesn’t turn into the chaotic vision that Bukowski predicts, he still makes us think about the effects our decisions could have on the future. Do we want everything around us to be obliterated with nuclear warfare? Of course not. But if you think about it, this is a very likely possibility if we don’t change our ways. While Bukowski does say some outrageous things about what could lie ahead of us, he does this so that we can change the outcome.
So was Charles Bukowski a crazy drunk? For sure. But he was an intelligent one, who had a lot of important messages to give.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
This is the story of a girl
We need more Ms. Wax’s.
It’s plain and simple. The classroom today needs more people like Ms. Wax.
I’ve liked Ms. Wax since she became my division teacher 3 years ago, but last year when I had her for Mixed Media that changed. It was an experience that I wish everyone could have. The amount that she cares about and pushes her students is unbelievable to me. She is the reason I want to be an art teacher when I get older.
I have seen Ms. Wax rise above her duties as a teacher more times than I can count. She doesn’t just care that a student is physically in her class room; she makes sure they’re ok. She has worked with students to get past their disagreements with other teachers, talked with them about their relationships, and even helped them handle a death in the family. She doesn’t ask her students about themselves or care how they’re feeling because she gets paid to do it. She’s such a genuinely nice person, she can’t help it.
And even though I’ve appreciated when Ms. Wax asked me how I was doing or was just friendly to me, I’ve learned more from her in the times when she pressured me. She knows that all of her students are bright people with great ideas, and therefore doesn’t allow them to slide through her class. She pushes them. She makes sure they’re challenged. One time she caught me doing homework for another class while I was supposed to be creating, and she immediately made me stop. While at the time I would’ve just liked to finish my homework, I now thank her for doing that. After that I never worked on other things while in her classroom. I didn’t just do this out of respect for her, but she made me want to excel in her class. She made me want to go to the limits of what I thought I was capable of and then go further.
I think if more teachers forced their students to challenge themselves like Ms. Wax does, kids would be more passionate about learning. They would see past their grade to the more important part of school, to this knowledge we’re supposed to be getting.
Education is such a great privilege, you know.
It’s plain and simple. The classroom today needs more people like Ms. Wax.
I’ve liked Ms. Wax since she became my division teacher 3 years ago, but last year when I had her for Mixed Media that changed. It was an experience that I wish everyone could have. The amount that she cares about and pushes her students is unbelievable to me. She is the reason I want to be an art teacher when I get older.
I have seen Ms. Wax rise above her duties as a teacher more times than I can count. She doesn’t just care that a student is physically in her class room; she makes sure they’re ok. She has worked with students to get past their disagreements with other teachers, talked with them about their relationships, and even helped them handle a death in the family. She doesn’t ask her students about themselves or care how they’re feeling because she gets paid to do it. She’s such a genuinely nice person, she can’t help it.
And even though I’ve appreciated when Ms. Wax asked me how I was doing or was just friendly to me, I’ve learned more from her in the times when she pressured me. She knows that all of her students are bright people with great ideas, and therefore doesn’t allow them to slide through her class. She pushes them. She makes sure they’re challenged. One time she caught me doing homework for another class while I was supposed to be creating, and she immediately made me stop. While at the time I would’ve just liked to finish my homework, I now thank her for doing that. After that I never worked on other things while in her classroom. I didn’t just do this out of respect for her, but she made me want to excel in her class. She made me want to go to the limits of what I thought I was capable of and then go further.
I think if more teachers forced their students to challenge themselves like Ms. Wax does, kids would be more passionate about learning. They would see past their grade to the more important part of school, to this knowledge we’re supposed to be getting.
Education is such a great privilege, you know.
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