Response to Course Material

Wow. We're done with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I will admit, I found it rather tedious in times, when the characters just bantered back and forth with each other. It was cute and funny at first, but at some point, you have to realize that you are grown men and need to calm down and talk through your problems differently than a three-year old would. But all in all, I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was hard to decipher through at first, but once Ms. Holmes taught us what to look for with hidden meanings and double meanings and funky allusions, the work became rather witty and enjoyable. Although, it also made me a bit sad, to think that "we," when Stoppard is making his point of the story, don't have control over our lives. Boo. Aw well. There are worse things I suppose. Now I have an excuse for being lazy. "It's not my fault. I was written to be like this." I don't think that I can use that as an excuse though... Hmmm... I think that I'll try it out.

Anyway, so now we're starting this novel. We haven't read any novels yet this year, and this one looks to be a bit strange. Not that I don't love strange things, for they are my life, but it's called Ceremony and has a giant silver feather on the front. Now, I haven't really read all that much of it, but I have noticed that it has been really helpful to have that background knowledge study session that we had when we were in some World Language teacher's classroom while people were MEAPing. The info talked about the differences between Western Literature and this type of literature. Basically meaning that most, if not all, of what we learned in Foster's book How to read Literature Like A Boss (AKA Professor) does not apply. Great. So finding symbols and meaning in things will be different in what things mean and how they represent things. But I'm excited about reading this book. We haven't read a novel yet, so I'm curious as to how this one will be, especially since it is very different from what we are used to reading. And I'm WAY more excited about this stuff than I am the other stuff we've been starting to do. As in AP exam stuff. Yay.

I know that we need to know how to do this stuff and practice for it, but multiple choice practice and essay writing, while being the purpose of the class, isn't actually all that fun. Shocker. It's about as fun as taking a splinter out of your finger. Yum. But I know that I need to practice this stuff and take it seriously, because if I don't, my score on the exam will reflect how much effort I put into this practice. Gaaaahhhhhh. Better start studying up. I will be a millionaire. ... Eventually... ... I need to find that list of definitions first though... Yay for AP Exams!