John Green, novelist and public speaker, once said, “At some point, you gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you’ll look back down and see that you floated away, too.” Young Huckleberry Finn of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn proves just how easy it is for even a young boy to be swept off a realistic grounding out of envy of those they see as above them. Just as Green warns us we might do, Huck becomes so enveloped in the ideals of the society that surrounds him that he loses any grasp of his own opinions he may have had. It is through the powerful influence of society over Huck that Twain uses Huck as an example of the modern view of tabula rasa in this sense. Once Huck is removed from society, however, the pressure to think and ultimately live following a strict format is dissolved enough for him to finally form his own opinion. The positive influence that this has on Huck’s character provides perfect clarity as to Twain’s own opinions on the value of Locke’s definition of tabula rasa versus that of modern society. However, when Huck returns to society, the modern view once again supersedes Locke’s and all the progress that had been made while separated from society is quickly erased. It is through this sudden dissipation of morals that Twain comments on society as a whole, using his omnipresent method of twisting his message amidst his words to display his displeasure in how much society forms their own views based on the views of society as a whole.
Friday, April 17, 2009
BEDA #4: John Green WOULD make it into my essay
Don't have time to write anything today. Instead, Imunna stick mah 5RACKS video in here and post the first paragraph of my Huck Finn essay:
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
BEDA #3: Tuneage and Testing
Okay, so I'm talking with my lovely friend Ashley from Fabyuhluhs about Tuneage Tuesday articles, and it is reminding me of a ridiculous amount of bad music. Do you guys remember "Pieces Of Me" by Ashlee Simpson? Gaaag. Bahaha. Oh man, for real. It's conversations like these that make life worth living:
Katie: We should do a Tuesday Tuneage. I bet we could think of a stupid topic.
Ashley: xD
Katie: NATIONAL ANTHEMS. Lawl.
Ashley: oh god xD
Katie: Most boring Tuneage Tuesday EVER.
Ashley: that would be amazing. or worst songs ever. like.
Katie: OH MY GOD. YES.
Ashley: call it 'so bad it's funny'
Katie: Like the ones they play at wedding receptions!
Ashley: yeah xDDD and just songs no one likes, like NO one
Katie: HAHA. Numa Numa has to be on there. xDDD
Ashley: bijorke or however the hell you spell her name. bee-york
Katie: That one song Paris Hilton did.
Ashley: you mean all of them? LAWL
Katie: HAHAHA. "TUNEAGE TUESDAY: Artists that shouldn't be allowed microphone access!" Bahaha.
Anyways, enough bashing wedding reception DJ's.
The thing is, I really don't know what else to write about. I've missed a lot of school for numerous reasons this week, and by the looks of it, school is the only time that anything ever happens in my life. Or at least, that's how it looks judging by how I can't think of anything to talk about.
I guess mainly I've been focusing on surviving this hell that composes junior year. Seriously kids, it is just as horrible as they've always told you it is. I'm taking eight classes this semester when most kids only take six, and two of those classes are AP level, so you can only imagine how over-my-head I am in work. I think it's safe to say that things are slowly but surely improving though. I got 80 out of 80 on my digestive system t-shirt, 30/30 on my animal functions study guide, and 34/34 on my cardiac functions assignments in AP Biology, and seeing as how I have like, a D- in that class right, that's actually gonna do a lot of good. AP Bio's really tricky to describe though. Because I mean it, I absolutely love this class. Especially now that we're finally done with incomprehensible crap and stuff that I flat out lack any interest in like protists and plants, I genuinely find the subject material intriguing. I mean c'mon, have you read my last blog entry? It's just a really hard class. Which...is obvious. It's AP. I have no idea what I was expecting when I signed up to take it, but I was horribly mistaken.
It's definitely a lot easier now that I've at least asserted myself enough in the class to prove to my teacher that I care about the grade that I come out with. And I'm pretty sure that I'll wind up with a semi-alright grade by the end of the semester. I just gotta tell everyone who's still doing the whole "high school" thing that you are much better off taking classes that are going to be easy and getting A's in them than taking hard classes just for the sake of saying you took them in the first place and failing. For real, not only is it gonna look a helluva lot better on your GPA, but it's a lot more responsible. And high school's already gonna be hard as hell without having to worry about ridiculously hard classes; don't push yourself too hard. I mean, for some kids honors is the only way of getting any sort of challenge. But it's all really a matter of knowing your own limits and following them within reason.
No one should choose to take two extra classes unless they really really need to.
On a completely random topic, I've finally been doing a bit of writing! We've had the MCA's this week, which - for you kids who aren't from Minnesota - are these standardized tests that you need to pass in order to be able to graduate. And as a junior you take the math ones. That means yesterday and today, the first two hours of school have been entirely devoted to eighth grade mathematics. Needless to say, it doesn't take me two hours to do fifty eighth grade math problems. So for the second hour of testing, I sorta just...wrote. It's really not much, and I have absolutely no where it's going but here's what I got:
Katie: We should do a Tuesday Tuneage. I bet we could think of a stupid topic.
Ashley: xD
Katie: NATIONAL ANTHEMS. Lawl.
Ashley: oh god xD
Katie: Most boring Tuneage Tuesday EVER.
Ashley: that would be amazing. or worst songs ever. like.
Katie: OH MY GOD. YES.
Ashley: call it 'so bad it's funny'
Katie: Like the ones they play at wedding receptions!
Ashley: yeah xDDD and just songs no one likes, like NO one
Katie: HAHA. Numa Numa has to be on there. xDDD
Ashley: bijorke or however the hell you spell her name. bee-york
Katie: That one song Paris Hilton did.
Ashley: you mean all of them? LAWL
Katie: HAHAHA. "TUNEAGE TUESDAY: Artists that shouldn't be allowed microphone access!" Bahaha.
Anyways, enough bashing wedding reception DJ's.
The thing is, I really don't know what else to write about. I've missed a lot of school for numerous reasons this week, and by the looks of it, school is the only time that anything ever happens in my life. Or at least, that's how it looks judging by how I can't think of anything to talk about.
I guess mainly I've been focusing on surviving this hell that composes junior year. Seriously kids, it is just as horrible as they've always told you it is. I'm taking eight classes this semester when most kids only take six, and two of those classes are AP level, so you can only imagine how over-my-head I am in work. I think it's safe to say that things are slowly but surely improving though. I got 80 out of 80 on my digestive system t-shirt, 30/30 on my animal functions study guide, and 34/34 on my cardiac functions assignments in AP Biology, and seeing as how I have like, a D- in that class right, that's actually gonna do a lot of good. AP Bio's really tricky to describe though. Because I mean it, I absolutely love this class. Especially now that we're finally done with incomprehensible crap and stuff that I flat out lack any interest in like protists and plants, I genuinely find the subject material intriguing. I mean c'mon, have you read my last blog entry? It's just a really hard class. Which...is obvious. It's AP. I have no idea what I was expecting when I signed up to take it, but I was horribly mistaken.
It's definitely a lot easier now that I've at least asserted myself enough in the class to prove to my teacher that I care about the grade that I come out with. And I'm pretty sure that I'll wind up with a semi-alright grade by the end of the semester. I just gotta tell everyone who's still doing the whole "high school" thing that you are much better off taking classes that are going to be easy and getting A's in them than taking hard classes just for the sake of saying you took them in the first place and failing. For real, not only is it gonna look a helluva lot better on your GPA, but it's a lot more responsible. And high school's already gonna be hard as hell without having to worry about ridiculously hard classes; don't push yourself too hard. I mean, for some kids honors is the only way of getting any sort of challenge. But it's all really a matter of knowing your own limits and following them within reason.
No one should choose to take two extra classes unless they really really need to.
On a completely random topic, I've finally been doing a bit of writing! We've had the MCA's this week, which - for you kids who aren't from Minnesota - are these standardized tests that you need to pass in order to be able to graduate. And as a junior you take the math ones. That means yesterday and today, the first two hours of school have been entirely devoted to eighth grade mathematics. Needless to say, it doesn't take me two hours to do fifty eighth grade math problems. So for the second hour of testing, I sorta just...wrote. It's really not much, and I have absolutely no where it's going but here's what I got:
I cradle my head in my elbow, the light stench of the preservatives from the who-knows-how-old pig fetus we dissected first hour wafting gently from hand to nostril just heavily enough to keep me from dozing off in class. Which is probably in my best interest in the grand scheme of things, I decide as Mr. Holle lumbers warily around the classroom. His hands are pinned behind his back as he passes behind student after student, his eyes cast upon the essay we're supposed to be writing with such obvious displeasure that I'm sure the only thing keeping him from throttling Chip Tandon is his won tight grip on his right wrist. But you can't exactly blame me for my reluctancy to answer the writing prompt. First off, a badger could think of a more enticing essay topic than this. lus, you wouldn't exactly be so keen to delve into the wonderful world of worlds either if you were me.
I sigh and straighten up a little bit as Holle rolls closer to my table, my pencil drifting slowly from a surprisngly poor-quality doodle of a garden gnowme to what vaguely resembles a thesis statement. My gut groans nervously as I realize it's only the third sentence I've written in the forty-five minutes that have spanned since Holle told us what to write on. My stomach groans again - this time a bit louder - as he stops right behind where I'm sitting. His teeth are clamped so tightly together that I imagine him as an anaconda, doing all he can to keep himself from unhinging his jaw and swallowing me whole.
Okay, so it's only two paragraphs, but I'm still really really happy with it! But now I've gotta go listen to music, play tetris, and maybe even keep writing a bit. I'll try to post tomorrow, guys!
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