American Literature

• the type if literature written or produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies
• During its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Setting its literary tradition to be linked 
• The New England colonies were the center of early American literature.
• It was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that the nation’s first novels were published
• American poetry reached its peak in the early-to-mid-20th century
• Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the history of the country that produced it.
• American poetry, drama, fiction, and social and literary criticism 
• At first was naturally a colonial literature, by authors who were Englishmen and who thought and wrote as such.
• the bitter war worked to find the new nation’s government, they were influenced by a number of very effective political writers
• After the American Revolution, American writers were exhorted to produce a literature that was truly native

Graceland Notes

• 25 years ago, Simon released Graceland. 
• The album broke open musical boundaries and brought together diverse cultures
• it split public opinion as Simon was accused of breaking the United Nations’ cultural boycott of South African
• The album went on to be widely celebrated for its revolutionary fusion of musical styles
• bringing the gifts of under-exposed South African musicians
• sparking a brave new musical world of mixes, mash-ups and globe-hopping collaborations
• What is the role of the artist when society is in upheaval?
•  Who does music belong to?
•  Whose rules, if any, should artists play by? 
• Do cultural collaborations matter? 
• What will be the legacy of Graceland’s indelible songs in a world that has since been politically, and musically, transformed?
•  Each man has his own passionate reasons, and without taking sides
• Berlinger allows the audience to see all the angles and come to their own conclusions 
• even as the music that triggered indignation and exultation comes to life again.
• “This is a film that doesn’t smash a particular POV over the audience’s head – and I think it is interesting that Paul Simon allowed that kind of film to be made. Some people might walk away feeling Paul made the wrong decision 25 years ago, while I think many others might come away feeling it was more complex – that it was worth the controversy to have musicians from opposite worlds finally able to share, as Paul says, ‘the deep truth that artists speak.’ Either way, what is remarkable is that apartheid now lies in the past, yet the music lives on as a great achievement. The power of the music is that it is still bringing people together.”
• The power of the music is that it is still bringing people together.”

Journalsim and Photography

Journalism and Photography

    When I was asked what I wanted to learn in the second semester I really didn't know what to respond with. Once I really got to thinking i remembered how much I loved to write and how much I loved to take pictures.

      

     Taking pictures is a really hard task to do. No matter how much you practice or how you try to approach it the subject will always be hard because you never know what elements you will be shooting and how they will work with you. When I started to take photography I noticed that it was something that really came easy to me so I continued to try and take different photographs in many different ways. I started off by taking very simple pictures and then slowly moving into movement pictures. I finally realized that shooting sports and shooting action shots was something that I was really good at so I thought why not keep going with that. This semester I hope to achieve a way of photography that is going to help me express the things that I love to do and help me visualize everything that is going on. I want to show people that even though I am a teenager I can take the adult world are make it something that I want it to be.I want to show people that if you try to get me to do something that you don't think that I can do I will prove to you that I can be creative and that I can do whatever it takes to be good at something. Photography isnt something that everyone can be good at though. I didn't think that I was good at it when i started and then i really got into taking pictures for the yearbook and taking pictures of my friends just around campus. Doing this helped me think about what I wanted to do in the future. 

         

      How will I take this semester with an approach on photography you might ask. Well it is a subject that can really be stretched and fuzed into others. When thinking about reading a story the author likes to put thoughts in your mind about what is going on in the story. Well that's what a photographer is for, we are here to take those words and take those thoughts and create the actual image. When you tell someone that you want this or that you want that to be shown, well a photographer is the one that listens and is willing to go the extra mile to put all of the thoughts together and create the actual image that you are thinking of. I was asked in my photography class to capture a picture that shows sadness. When I was first asked I wondered to myself how I was going to do this but in all actuality it wasn't that hard. So for the semester I plan on taking photographs of what actually goes on during school and around our campus. I plan to ask students what they think should be showcased about our school. How people want to be represented when they graduate. I will show the flow of the students at Righetti, I will also show how different it is from a students point of view going through high school now then it used to be.

      Now for journalism. Well writing is something that everyone has to do when they are going through high school. It is something that none of the students really want to do because we have to sit there and write essay after essay in all of or most of our classes. Well when I got into my Honors English class last year we had to do many free writes about ourselves and about things going on around us. I really clicked to the fact of writing things that are really going on other than to writing essays about story after story. I have never really been fond of having to write essays, yet when I am writing about something that I am passionate about and something that I really care for I can write pages upon pages about the subject.

       

     When I told Dr Preston that I wanted to do something on journalism he kind of just looked at me in a funny way. I don't know whether it be because he thought that it was something that I wouldn't want to do or whether is be because he had great thoughts about what I should be doing and how I should Approach the subject. I am still not quite sure about how I want to do this but I do know that it is something that I really want to do.  I want to be able to ask students what they think about things going on during school. I want to be able to help students show how they really feel on the day to day life of a teenager. So many people think that we don't see stuff or don't understand stuff. Well I am very not sorry to say that you are wrong. The students here at Righetti High have really been put through a lot these past couple of year not only with everything that has been happening on campus. Students really go through so much stress with having to deal with sports, academics, and just life period! I dont really only want to write about sports and students though. I want to write about just random things. Things that I notice and things that come to mind when I hear a song or when I read something from a book, or even when I hear something in class that a teacher or fellow class mate says. Writing has become a major thing in my life and I plan to continue the battle of finding things to write about and take pictures of.

    I will be posting these ideas and thought onto a separate blog that has been put into a tab on this home page. I am so eager to start this next semester that I have already gotten a head start. I am posting my pictures that I have taken around campus and pictures of my friends that have been taken by other people that I think need to be shared with people. The things that I will be posting will not all come from be but will be things that have greatly influenced my love for the two subject. I hope you enjoy my second blog and I hope you enjoy the second semester.

New Semester

Some people are gonna sit here and think, "Wow we are only half way through the school year, this really sucks I wants this to be over." When all of you that say that need to get smacked in the face! The school year is almost of people! Seniors are gonna graduate and move on with their life, and us junior.. We are going to be SENIORS! So for those who want to embrace the rest of the school year and take a chance to actually learn something out of this messed up world. Let me know! Lets takes on this second semester like nothing before. Everyone says "New Year New Me." Im saying lets get our shit together and do some work! Take this next semester in your own kind of way. Take what you want to learn and do it! Learn what you want to learn, ask yourself a big question and pursue! For me.. Im going to kick this second semester in its ass! Thanks Dr. Preston for the motivation to do this! Journalism and Photography here I come.

Final Review

Key elements:
-Tone
-Mood
-Diction
-Syntax
-Allusion
-Theme
-Universal Theme
-Symbols
-Symbolism

Parts of a Plot
-Exposition
-Insiting Incident
-Rising Action
-Climax
-Falling Action
-Resolution

Characters
-indirectly
-direct
-dynamic
-static
-flat
-round

Elements
-Foreshadowing

Adopt a Poem

Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Literature Analysis

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same). 
 -The novel by J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye, is a classical American novel that has touched the lives of many people.  The Novel takes place during the late 1950s. Told by a guy named Holden Caulfield, who is telling his psychiatrist the story of his latest Christmas experiences.Holden is not a troubled kid, aside from being a heavy smoker and getting expelled from four different schools.  He fails to recognize the importance of his schoolwork and does not agree with his peers on anything of any value. Holden is notorious for making extremely rash decisions. One being he makes the choice to leave his prep school, Pencey Prep, a few days before he is scheduled to leave for winter vacation. He stays in numerous places before finally going home. All the while, he attempts to "live it up" by taking girls out on dates, getting drunk , and ordering prostitutes. In the action of all of this happening Holden is only 17. Typical guy stuff, if you were living in the late 1950s. As he goes through all this stuff, he begins to wonder why he's doing what he's doing. Holden comes to a realization, "Why was he going about, living this way, when everyone and their mother knew that he shouldn't be living his life this way?"
 
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.  
 -J.D. Salinger wrote a masterpiece of a novel that adeptly defines the maturing process of human nature.  Holden goes from being an immature teenager making bad decisions to taking his actions into consideration and making himself a better person.  Salinger takes into consideration the thoughts and actions of the younger generation and pens his main protagonist as a kid that others can easily connect with and relate to.  Through Holden's actions we see the struggles of daily life of newly graduated individuals who, for the first time in their lives, no restrictions in their day-to-day lives.  The dilemmas they face can be brutal and leave them worse off than they were before, but somehow, through all the pain and suffering, that terrible event can cause the person to rethink his position on life.
 
 1. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)? 
-Salinger maintains a very simple diction when dealing with all characters.  They are all treated fairly and equally in the eyes of the author, but there is an exception, of course.  That exception is when Holden is describing his sister, Phoebe.  The syntax and diction become more kind and gentle, showing that Holden is capable of affection. 
 
 2. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain. 
-Holden Caulfield is a round character. This not being obvious in the beginning chapters, but late in the book you begin to witness another side. As he is living for a few days on his own without any supervision, he comes to realize a small part of his fate.  His lifestyle is not one for the kind of man he wants to become. After a drunken night out on the town, Holden decides to visit his kid sister, Phoebe, two days before he was supposed to be home. His sister is a understandably upset that her brother woke her up late at night, and she also scolds him for getting expelled from school again. The scene as a whole is depressing, and Holden is close to tears at the end of the night. During the last chapter, Holden and Phoebe are at this carousel and Holden is watching Phoebe as she rides the carousel. While he is watching her, he becomes emotional and begins to cry, yet doesn't budge when it begins to rain heavily. While sitting on the park bench, he comes to a strange thought "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them."
 
 3. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.  
-The characters are so easy to relate to. Going trough all those trials with Holden makes you feel as if you are friends. The feeling of knowing everything that he is going through is really what attracts me to the book  It is not very often that I connect with a character like that.