As the semester comes to a close, I feel it necessary to reflect on my work and this final high school English class of coming-of-age novels. I had previously taken all three other classes that Mr. Mitchell teaches so I came into this class with a lot of expectations of my own and suggestions provided to me by former Uni students. I also had the added stress of battling senioritis throughout the end of my senior year but hopefully this didn't affect my perception of the class too drastically.
Ok, to start with the basics, my favorite book was either Portrait or Black Swan Green. The books are very different but I liked the depth and attention to detail in both. I think they gave rise to our best discussions, too. With Portrait, we got to discuss and explore Stephen's complicated and troubled consciousness as he searched for his artistic identity among the intellectual plebeians that surrounded him in the world. It easy was see the carefully calculated symbolism and peripheral narratives that Joyce nurtured in his novel. Black Swan Green, on the other hand, was a little harder to draw the secondary levels out of. The conversational narration, provided by the young Jason Taylor, and trivial activities of a child make Black Swan Green seem far less grand than Portrait. Still, the depth is there, the reader just has to work harder to parse the meaningful from the mundane. Personally, I think books like Black Swan Green are harder to read than obviously "deep" books.
I would say that I didn't exactly have a least favorite book but I was definitely disappointed with our discussions about Housekeeping. We stayed very surface level and were unable to talk about the most interesting parts of the book, namely tone and metaphor.
I also continued to miss panel presentations. I think that they were a good way to get discussion going and stimulate a discussion above what any of our inexperienced minds could think up on our own. These days were also a good break from daily discussion, to throw a curve-ball in there every once in a while.
My two favorite papers were my reflective response to Catcher, which I adapted into a personal story, and my semester project. My least favorite paper was the revision because I had a very hard time adapting my work after I had turned it in.
Looking past this last semester, I have had the privilege of taking all four classes that Mr. Mitchell teaches. I would say that History as Fiction was my favorite of the four. We read the most challenging books, had an awesome class for discussion, and did the most interesting projects. Although this semester was fun, History as Fiction was my favorite Uni class by far.
Thanks everyone for a great semester!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Images and meaning in the ice cream incident
We started to have an interesting discussion about the motives and meaning behind Benji's destructive act at the end of the "If I Could Pay You Less, I Would" chapter. Personally, I was having difficulties pinpointing an exact motive for Benji's sabotage so I started by trying to identify the results of such an action.
Leaving the freezer doors open during the blackout would allow the hot air into the freezer causing the ice cream to melt. This would make a huge mess for someone to clean up before the shop could function properly again and would be a financial hit for Martine because he would need to buy a new shipment of ice cream. This act could be interpreted as retaliation against the Head Patting Incident, however, Martine has no way of knowing that Benji was the culprit and thus falls flat as a revenge scheme.
Still lacking motive, I moved on to the image Ben creates about how younger Benji thought of the results of his actions. For one, he shows how a small act out leads to graver consequences over time which can be applied to a bigger picture. The open doors lead to the ice cream slowly melting and the cartons crashing to the ground. This could also be a metaphor where Benji's act is an act outside the expectation (stereotype, maybe?) Martine has for him (Benji talks about how trusting Martine is) and the ice cream in the freezer is society's biases that have to be cared for to be maintained. Thus, when Benji acts outside the norm, he tears down the biases imposed on him by society.
In a similar direction, the image portrays Benji in a way, a hard outer shell that keeps two opposites from mixing. His world is about fitting into categories, you have to act black or white. In this scene, he mixes the cold and hot air, which are not supposed to mix. The opposite forces create a hybrid that destroys the ice cream. Keeping the neatly organized freezer as a symbol for socially constructed bias and working on the principle the the hot and cold air represent black and white culture, the implication is that when the two mix, they tear down stereotypes.
However, the result as the carefully separated flavors of ice cream (racial stereotypes) mix is not pretty and uplifting. The final image seems like a perversion of the multiracial mosaic of faces hypothesized by the promoters of the Civil Rights Movement. Instead of a beautiful picture of togetherness and equality, the mixture turns into a massive, useless puddle. Now, I can think of two possible meanings. 1) The nasty puddle is the destruction of stereotypes induced by people affirming their position outside of the norm or 2) it is an omen of cultural homogeneity that comes from "colorblindness". Neither of which provide an inkling as to the motive.
So why does Benji let all the ice cream melt? He just wants to act out. He wants to affect some sort of change and study the reaction. He's just a kid testing boundaries. Young Benji might see some symbolism but not much. Ben, however, clearly presents the metaphor in the child's actions.
Leaving the freezer doors open during the blackout would allow the hot air into the freezer causing the ice cream to melt. This would make a huge mess for someone to clean up before the shop could function properly again and would be a financial hit for Martine because he would need to buy a new shipment of ice cream. This act could be interpreted as retaliation against the Head Patting Incident, however, Martine has no way of knowing that Benji was the culprit and thus falls flat as a revenge scheme.
Still lacking motive, I moved on to the image Ben creates about how younger Benji thought of the results of his actions. For one, he shows how a small act out leads to graver consequences over time which can be applied to a bigger picture. The open doors lead to the ice cream slowly melting and the cartons crashing to the ground. This could also be a metaphor where Benji's act is an act outside the expectation (stereotype, maybe?) Martine has for him (Benji talks about how trusting Martine is) and the ice cream in the freezer is society's biases that have to be cared for to be maintained. Thus, when Benji acts outside the norm, he tears down the biases imposed on him by society.
In a similar direction, the image portrays Benji in a way, a hard outer shell that keeps two opposites from mixing. His world is about fitting into categories, you have to act black or white. In this scene, he mixes the cold and hot air, which are not supposed to mix. The opposite forces create a hybrid that destroys the ice cream. Keeping the neatly organized freezer as a symbol for socially constructed bias and working on the principle the the hot and cold air represent black and white culture, the implication is that when the two mix, they tear down stereotypes.
However, the result as the carefully separated flavors of ice cream (racial stereotypes) mix is not pretty and uplifting. The final image seems like a perversion of the multiracial mosaic of faces hypothesized by the promoters of the Civil Rights Movement. Instead of a beautiful picture of togetherness and equality, the mixture turns into a massive, useless puddle. Now, I can think of two possible meanings. 1) The nasty puddle is the destruction of stereotypes induced by people affirming their position outside of the norm or 2) it is an omen of cultural homogeneity that comes from "colorblindness". Neither of which provide an inkling as to the motive.
So why does Benji let all the ice cream melt? He just wants to act out. He wants to affect some sort of change and study the reaction. He's just a kid testing boundaries. Young Benji might see some symbolism but not much. Ben, however, clearly presents the metaphor in the child's actions.
My summers
Like Benji, I definitely see Summers as a time of growing and change. You get away from the routines and schedules that lock you into one persona during the year and have a chance to explore. You're also separated from those you see everyday in school and are able to make new connections and pass off any major changes you make as a Summer induced process, rather than a conscious change. My summers are full of traditions that help me break up the monotony of school and explore my identity in other contexts.
Summer always starts with a family trip to Kiawah Island off the coast of South Carolina. We've gone for many years and thus witnessed a period of extensive growth and development on the island as more and more tourists find out about the previously hidden gem. Every year I see the same families that go out during the same week every summer. I still do some of the same activities as I did when I was seven but mostly I've made the transition from having a lot of scheduled activities when I was young to having tons of free time now. Joey has also been an addition to my family's Kiawah party.
I also attend Illinois Summer Youth Music camp for their musical theater and choral programs. Here I explore my more outgoing side, struggling to keep up with the raucous theater kids. The social hierarchy at a theater camp is extremely different, as is the vernacular, and social customs. Every year I try to adequately prepare myself and every year I experience a sort of culture shock, induced by the yelling, extreme cussing, mean humor, and touching. The kids are far more confident and outgoing than anyone I had met previously and the environment at ISYM helped me discover a very different part of myself than who I am at school (although the two become more incorporated every year).
Another summer tradition is Camp Tecumseh. It's sort of like 4-H camp, but way better. I can't even explain what it's like to there. It feels like another world. Again, I must suffer through the initial culture shock of camp as my peers excitedly volunteer to get the food for our table and saying prayers before meals. For a week or two, I am truly third and I work to develop my spiritual side in a way that is nearly impossible at home.
Both these camps give me the opportunity to be different that I am at school and they were definitely integral in establishing the self-confidence I now possess. They have taught me to work with people from different backgrounds. The first time someone asked me to define a word I used at Camp T, I thought they were making fun of me and I had used the word wrong. Actually, they just wanted to know. They said that they didn't know all the words I had been using so they finally decided to ask. They next time someone asked me, I was just ready with the answer.
Camp friends are also super important. There are different tiers of camp friends. The lowest is people you sit with at lunch once because you had nowhere else to go. You feel comfortable enough to invite yourself to sit with them but you only have superficial, fake-smiling conversation over the meal. The next level is your besties at camp but you have nothing besides camp to talk about and therefore your friendship dies at closing ceremonies. You may attempt contact later but it is futile. The line between the top two levels is very slight: there are the camp friends you maintain contact with after camp and stay close and the camp friends were you drop your camp persona when you're with them. I have all of the above. I would say that they are all important, especially at Uni, where we need to branch out and meet other people.
During the summer, I also have assorted trips to spas or see relatives and of course I hang out with school friends. I get to ride my horse a lot, which is fun and I practice my instruments more than I can in the school year. I always make a lot of memories in the summer and I am SO PUMPED to start this summer a few days from now. :D
Summer always starts with a family trip to Kiawah Island off the coast of South Carolina. We've gone for many years and thus witnessed a period of extensive growth and development on the island as more and more tourists find out about the previously hidden gem. Every year I see the same families that go out during the same week every summer. I still do some of the same activities as I did when I was seven but mostly I've made the transition from having a lot of scheduled activities when I was young to having tons of free time now. Joey has also been an addition to my family's Kiawah party.
I also attend Illinois Summer Youth Music camp for their musical theater and choral programs. Here I explore my more outgoing side, struggling to keep up with the raucous theater kids. The social hierarchy at a theater camp is extremely different, as is the vernacular, and social customs. Every year I try to adequately prepare myself and every year I experience a sort of culture shock, induced by the yelling, extreme cussing, mean humor, and touching. The kids are far more confident and outgoing than anyone I had met previously and the environment at ISYM helped me discover a very different part of myself than who I am at school (although the two become more incorporated every year).
Another summer tradition is Camp Tecumseh. It's sort of like 4-H camp, but way better. I can't even explain what it's like to there. It feels like another world. Again, I must suffer through the initial culture shock of camp as my peers excitedly volunteer to get the food for our table and saying prayers before meals. For a week or two, I am truly third and I work to develop my spiritual side in a way that is nearly impossible at home.
Both these camps give me the opportunity to be different that I am at school and they were definitely integral in establishing the self-confidence I now possess. They have taught me to work with people from different backgrounds. The first time someone asked me to define a word I used at Camp T, I thought they were making fun of me and I had used the word wrong. Actually, they just wanted to know. They said that they didn't know all the words I had been using so they finally decided to ask. They next time someone asked me, I was just ready with the answer.
Camp friends are also super important. There are different tiers of camp friends. The lowest is people you sit with at lunch once because you had nowhere else to go. You feel comfortable enough to invite yourself to sit with them but you only have superficial, fake-smiling conversation over the meal. The next level is your besties at camp but you have nothing besides camp to talk about and therefore your friendship dies at closing ceremonies. You may attempt contact later but it is futile. The line between the top two levels is very slight: there are the camp friends you maintain contact with after camp and stay close and the camp friends were you drop your camp persona when you're with them. I have all of the above. I would say that they are all important, especially at Uni, where we need to branch out and meet other people.
During the summer, I also have assorted trips to spas or see relatives and of course I hang out with school friends. I get to ride my horse a lot, which is fun and I practice my instruments more than I can in the school year. I always make a lot of memories in the summer and I am SO PUMPED to start this summer a few days from now. :D
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