Farewell AP Englishers

Dear Journal,

I write this as my bitter-sweet feelings surface from the thought of departing this classroom and school for that matter in less than one week. I will never forget my first day of AP English junior year, when Ms. Serensky passed out the classroom syllabus with the oxen on it. She asked for volunteers to describe the metaphor implied by this clip-art. Everybody, in some form or another said that it foreshadowed a heavy work load, causing us to feel weak and vulnerable. Flashing back to that moment, "heavy work-load" was an understatement. Not only were the class assignments and reading very difficult, but for some reason, this year we all decided to carry the class as extra baggage in our lives outside of Ms. Serensky's class. For example, at my friend Sammi's all-girl cookie-exchange party over winter break, we (girls in AP english) found ourselves debating over characters in the book "Othello" and how it compared to the play we watched downtown. Sammi,who takes Honor's English, along with Molly Stancik, finally started angrily shouting at us and telling us that, "After all guys, this IS winter break, a time where we DON'T talk about anything related to school". Following that mini-eruption, Tina shrieked and said she had just realized that she forgot to write her blog that was due at midnight that night. That caused another uproar among the AP-Englishers present because then most of us soon realized that we, too, had forgotten to blog. Instead of just taking the hit of a single bad grade, like most other normal high schoolers would have done, we all just had to take turns on Sammi's computer and wrote our blogs, one by one, before midnight. I think this moment really says a lot about the true, determined character we have built throughout these past two years. However, most of all, it shows the profound respect we all have for our teacher because we were all afraid to "let her down". This is because despite the grueling tasks she made us do all year, their difficulty has really taught us the value of hard work and determination. And the Importance of Being Earnest.

Fondly,
Meghan


yes, we were matching that night.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Take AP English

1). You can argue with your classmates, however in a constructive manner.
2). The seats are situated in a circle, so you can see everybody's cheerful faces, especially your twin's.
3). The posters in the classroom are quite intriguing. Especially the one about the pigeons. I won't reveal the message, because it is important to read the life-changing statement for yourself.
4). The books we read are for the most part entertaining, causing heated classroom debates, which bring energy into the classroom.
5). There was not a mid-term exam. Instead, we blogged each week about a topic of our choice and presented them on exam day. This reduced a lot of stress during finals week.
6). Everything we do in class has a purpose. There is no such thing as busy work, unlike the rest of the classes in this school.
7). The sophisticated style of writing that we learned will prove as a very beneficial skill in college.
8). Ms. Serensky's wit keeps us entertained. It especially surfaces when she makes fun of the dream-team.
9). It is allowed to talk during class without raising your hand.
10. Our hands are very fit and in shape because of all the writing exercises we do.


Flashback of Alex and Thomas in 3rd grade English:

Algernon: Literary criticism is not your forte, dear [Meghan](3).

Amy: I'm starting to worry about [her] taking too much time(207).

Algernon: It might make [her] very unwell(42).

Othello: That's strange (4.2.11)

Amy: Maybe [she] is broken (204).

Algernon: When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me (41).

Amy: I'm reminded by her grim expressions of just how serious that is (210).

Othello: 'Tis monstrous (2.3.216).

Algernon: Oh! [I Agree] It is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't(4).

Algernon: Bring me that cigarette case (4)

Amy: No (211).

Algernon: Well, I don't like your clothes. You look perfectly ridiculous in them (30).

Amy: Did I hear you correctly? (88).

Algernon: [silent, observing meghan]

Amy: [Anyways] it's her who's the zombie (204).

Narrator: The Proctor indicates that the time is up.

Othello: I here engage my words(3.3.458).

Othello: News friends! [Their] wars are done (2.1.199)

Quality of Life

Reading "Everything Matters!" this year was undoubtedly a life-altering experience for me. I learned many important lessons, which I can use throughout my life. First of all, before even reading the novel, the exercise Ms. Serensky made us write about what we would all do if we knew the world was going to end at age 35. We all wrote our papers with our life dreams and locations of where we would ideally want to spend the rest of our lives. I decided I would move to San Diego after graduating college and train my kids to be bilingual and professional surfers. During our discussion, Ms. Serensky said, "All of these things are possible, so why don't you just do them regardless [of your knowledge of the world's projected date of obliteration]".

Then it hit me. I wondered why I would only "live life to the fullest" if I knew the date of the world's end. I concluded that this novel really emphasizes the importance of "quality" of life over "quantity". I would define "quantity" as years of life wasted by going through the motions and ignoring one's problems rather than facing them. For example, after John Sr. asks Debbie to stop drinking, she says, "Why?"(156). Here, she denies she has a serious problem and refuses to face treatment. This shows that she is living a miserable life, and is incapable of facing reality. Another example of this is when Amy decides to move away from her seemingly ideal life with a husband and dog living in beautiful California. She bitterly mutters, "The only thing I'll miss is the dog"(201). Here, Currie indirectly characterizes her as desirous for positive change in her life which evokes pathos of admiration in the empathetic audience.

Therefore, why not live in California and teach my children to be bilingual and professional surfers? If that is what seems enjoyable and will make me a satisfied, happy individual, I have no objection to that lifestyle. I believe Americans today are too caught up in living the idealistic life with an abundance of money and material possessions, and ignore the simple pleasures in life. They need to realize that "Anything, anything, anything, is possible"as Ron Currie, Jr. emphasizes throughout his award-winning novel.

Yes, this is my future child:

My Top Ten (In no particular order)

1). Seeing Ms. Serensky on the highway during winter break of junior year. I thought, "Have mercy on me!"(Shakespeare, 92). I started freaking out because I thought that maybe I forgot to put my name on my paper and she was literally hunting me down for it, but as soon as I made eye contact with her, she simply burst out laughing.

2). Committing to Colgate University and receiving an athletic scholarship made me finally feel as if I were "in a state resembling happiness"(Currie, 196).

3). Spending two weeks in Cadiz, taking spanish classes and living in Charro Bastrecche's lovely home with the one and only Jilian Ertel in the summer of 2010. We had a few language-barrier mishaps along the way. For example, when attempted to tell her she felt embarrassed but instead said, "estoy embarazada" which means "I am pregnant". We knew we needed to get the dictionary out after seeing Charro's jaw drop to the floor. I'm sure she was thinking, "please stop trying to confuse me"(Currie, 131)

4). Getting an "A" on my Angela's Ashes paper. After all, it "[was] a tedious difficulty, I think"(Shakespeare, 71).

5). Performing the final project and authentic African dance for AP English 11 with Jillian, Lizzie and Jackie. I was very nervous before. " I hate crowds"(Wilde, 37).

6). Receiving all A's in my advanced-level spanish class through the Mundolengua program in Cadiz, Spain. After noting that this grade would not help my high school transcript in any way, my mother still proudly remarked, "[This] matters, too"(Currie, 299).

7). After sitting in a lower-level English class at the University of Richmond during my recruiting trip, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this class seemed compared to AP English 12. I was also somewhat bored by their flat, non-energetic class discussion. I thought sarcastically to myself, "what a lesson!"(Wilde, 26).

8). The day I was forced to speak 24 hours of Spanish. I had a great deal of fun confusing my teachers and classmates all day long, even though at times I thought, "It is impossible to bear it out"(Shakespeare, 30).

9). The day we went to see the Othello play. Although it "is very painful for me to be forced to speak the truth", I was truly pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it very much (Wilde, 40).

10). Switching seats with Jackie in Mr. Ricci's class. He failed to realize this until the bell rang, and our class started laughing and he replied something along the lines of, "I'm always willing to consider the possibility that I'm a fool"(Currie, 145).

So Short, Yet So Enjoyable

Although I do not enjoy poetry at all, the poem "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams really caught my attention because it reminds me of something I would do in the face of food temptation. As many of my friends know, I am constantly eating. When I am hungry I get very grouchy and unpleasant, so often times I do not mind stealing from my family's refrigerator even if somebody labeled their name on it. People like my mother think "It is so silly" of me to act this way, but honestly, when I am hungry, I could care less (Wilde, 17). On the other hand, however, when somebody in my family eats the food I have carefully labeled for myself, I become very irritated and "I think it is most ill-natured of [them]"(15). I will scream and yell, "how idiotic you are!"(15). Didn't you see my name labeled clearly on the container? And then they scream back in my face and tell me that I am a huge hypocrite. I just accept it, because personal humility sometimes can usually take a back seat to my ingestion of delicious food. Go ahead and try to verbally rip me apart. I dare you. When I am on a mission to enjoy my favorite foods, I will ignore you until I have eaten the last morsel.

Therefore, I feel like this poem has my name written all over it. The lighthearted and careless tone creates pathos of admiration for the speaker, because he or she has described an instance in a straightforward, yet enjoyable manner, rather than straying from the purpose and giving unnecessary information.

Favorite Day in AP English

A week or so ago...

Today, I woke up and just knew it would be a great day. First of all, my dog (Foster) never pays any attention to me, and usually prefers to play with my other family members. In fact, he has not once slept in my bedroom at night, but takes turns sleeping in Britt's, Stacey's, or Jakie's room. This unkind gesture deeply hurts and offends me, but I will spare the blog world the depressing details of my pathetic feelings. However, this morning, a revelation occurred. I was awakened by Foster, wagging his tail and licking my nose. At first, I was in disbelief, but then I realized, maybe today is just The Day. Driving to school, Jackie and I were laughing with each other, not screaming at each other for a change.

I then arrived to Ms. Serensky's AP English 12 class with a giant grin on my face. Nothing caused this grin, I had it just because I was finally "in a state resembling happiness"(Currie, 196). I sat down in my seat, next to the infamous Thomas Donley, my very own writing partner. He was indeed wearing pastel shorts with sperrys, a pink button-down collared shirt with a few of the top buttons undone. He only saves his savvy glasses for special occasions, so of course he was rockin' them today. Because "my first impressions are never wrong", it dawned on me that he was dressed up for his lacrosse game (Wilde, 34). The cheeky comments from Ms. Serensky just began pouring in and I could not stop laughing. She began her "Dear Journal" impressions which indeed lightened the mood of the stressful enviornment the English room usually has. Thomas then whispered over to me, "Hey Megs, nice sperrys". I looked down at both of our feet, and yes, we had almost identical-looking shoes on. I guess this moment bonded our relationship, because he went on to tell me, "Our love and comforts should increase/Even as our days grow"(Shakespeare, 2.1, 90-91). I know that our days of school are waning and most of us seniors are trying to savor these last high school moments, but never in a million years did I expect Mr. Thomas Donley to say such a thing to me after simply realizing that we have similar taste in shoes.

Oh how I would have loved to read his "Dear Journal" entry for that day.