I believe that I would have received a solid eight on my essay, if this were a real AP test. I did manage to properly get the analysis right, and I focused in on the specifics of Moses' relationship with nature. How he views it as a freeing experience, and how the rain and the dew symbolizes his rebirth into the world as a 'free' man, despite his status as a slave. In particular, I mention that the passage almost comes across as a man who is trying to reclaim ownership of himself, and his 'possessions' ---- which, as of now, belonged to him, and not his master. Because the rain rebirths him ---- baptizes him ---- he awakens, covered in dew, as a man who is no longer strung to his master in the same way the harness is strung to his mule.
I also employ a complex analysis ---- I examine Moses' relationship with bondage and freedom, the tone prevalent in the piece as a reflection of Moses's character. I look past the face-value of his connection to nature, and examine the intricacies in the symbolism of nature itself. I also cite the passage in order to better support my argument, to look into the piece as a whole. I didn't really have any concerns about the maturity of my writing, but I do have to take into account that I had the luxury of a word processor in lieu of a pen and pencil, which meant that it was easier for me to jog my memory and use a larger vocab, because of my awful tendency to recycle words and repeat them in handwritten work.
Working on that should better my writing as a whole, as it will allow for me to better employ a more mature repertoire of words, and will lead to better results in terms of my score.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
the flowers.
In "The Flowers", Alice Walker examines a particular contrast that parallels one of the world's most lonesome of traditions: the switch one must go through when they slip between the sunny, bright world of childhood into the more cruelly realistic world of adulthood. This theme is presented through Walker's use of summer and the final line of, "And summer was over." as a metaphor for the loss of Myop's innocence and childhood; in literature, the season of winter is sometimes represented as an old man, and summer as a young one, which lends credence to the theme present here.
Walker presents Myop's character as a naive young girl by using particular lines to lend to her characterization as a whole. When the text states that she often struck out at random chickens, it is a show of her immaturity. By abusing those poor birds with a stick, it reveals her nature as a young girl who hasn't yet grown out of childish cruelties.
She also skips, as young girls are wont to do, which is something that loses its charm once a person matures. Both of these are exacting choices in characterization that show Myop's youth.
Walker makes a distinct shift in style once Myop gets her foot caught in the skull ---- where there were once lighter descriptions ---- "strange blue flowers" and "velvety ridges" ---- there are instead heavier, more impactful diction choices: "naked grin" and "rotted remains". This is where the story shifts to its actual theme, and Walker reflects it.
The shift in diction can also be highly representative of the reality in growing up: things may seem at first very beautiful, but are in fact indicative of things which may be far more insidious. Even on glorious days, there can yet be corpses decomposing in the forest. And even though the world may be perfect in the eyes of a child, the predicaments of adults are still there, even if youth and naivete blind them.
Even Myop puts down both her flowers ---- and her innocence, her sweet summer ---- when faced with the adult reality of death. As do all people, at some point in their lives.
Walker examines the dilemma between youth and age ---- summer and winter ---- through the meticulous construction of her short story, "The Flowers", by touching on particular imagery related to those topics and the characterization of Myop.
Walker presents Myop's character as a naive young girl by using particular lines to lend to her characterization as a whole. When the text states that she often struck out at random chickens, it is a show of her immaturity. By abusing those poor birds with a stick, it reveals her nature as a young girl who hasn't yet grown out of childish cruelties.
She also skips, as young girls are wont to do, which is something that loses its charm once a person matures. Both of these are exacting choices in characterization that show Myop's youth.
Walker makes a distinct shift in style once Myop gets her foot caught in the skull ---- where there were once lighter descriptions ---- "strange blue flowers" and "velvety ridges" ---- there are instead heavier, more impactful diction choices: "naked grin" and "rotted remains". This is where the story shifts to its actual theme, and Walker reflects it.
The shift in diction can also be highly representative of the reality in growing up: things may seem at first very beautiful, but are in fact indicative of things which may be far more insidious. Even on glorious days, there can yet be corpses decomposing in the forest. And even though the world may be perfect in the eyes of a child, the predicaments of adults are still there, even if youth and naivete blind them.
Even Myop puts down both her flowers ---- and her innocence, her sweet summer ---- when faced with the adult reality of death. As do all people, at some point in their lives.
Walker examines the dilemma between youth and age ---- summer and winter ---- through the meticulous construction of her short story, "The Flowers", by touching on particular imagery related to those topics and the characterization of Myop.
the known world.
In the passage of The Known World by Edward P. Jones, the character of Moses as a man who frees himself from slavery, true to his namesake, is established through key stylistic choices and selective shows of the man's true character in writing. By doing so the way Jones has chosen to do so, Moses comes across as a complex man struggling with his ownership over himself, and that which is now 'his', and the way his connection to both the earth and the people around him allow for bits of his true character to come out.
A man of solitude, Moses, who is proclaimed solely by the fact that he smiles only when he believes himself to be alone, when he can accept that a kind of loneliness is about him in the field ---- "Believing he was alone, he smiled." ---- a reason for this being that his thoughts work themselves more easily through his head when he is by himself, something that his own family happens to know, if the line, "His wife knew enough now not to wait for him to come and eat with them." is anything to go by. While alone, he loses himself in the sensory details of the night, or the lack of senses thereof, as he goes through a brief auditory hallucination near the end of the passage, which happens to be a symptom of sensory deprivation. He lays down in the grass, the dirt which he had tasted, and lets the rain fall on him until he falls asleep, where he then awakes covered in dew.
In many ways, one can perceive that Moses is a man of the earth; he takes the earth into himself, and perceives the changes of the world through the taste of it ---- working the dirt between the wedges of his teeth, and deciding the changes of the season and the field, whether it can bear a good crop or not. He associates the taste of dirt with previous relationships, "... a sour moldiness he associated with the coming of fall and winter, the end of a relationship he had begun with the first taste of dirt back in March." with something that isn't so much related to the world and the earth and its dirt, but instead to his own humanity.
Despite his humanity, he doesn't speak fondly of those trapped in bondage. Oddly enough, for someone named after the same man from Bible mythos, who freed the Hebrews and drew them across the Red Sea. The way the sentence, "... bondage women, particularly the pregnant ones, ate it for some incomprehensible need..." comes across, it seems as though he is drawing a line of delineation and differentiation between him and the women in bondage. As if to say: 'here is how we are different, and what you do is incomprehensible to me, and has no reason, unlike what I do'. Even though what he does do seems somewhat incomprehensible, particularly to any modern-day reader, who might see this through the lens of mental illness.
One realizes that this Moses is a slave, as well,"... his master." being the indication. That lends somewhat of an explanation to the shift in tone in regards to those still trapped in the bonds of slavery; his master is dead, he sees this as a freedom. He is free, now, and those who are not free are below him, beneath him. They are 'incomprehensible'. Once he lays down in the rain near the end of the passage, the dirt of his slavery is washed from him. He is baptized, made into a free man by this small world, which, "... meant almost as much as his own life."
He even knows when the rain is coming, having felt it "...surge through him." In the same sentence, he claims ownership over "...his own cabin, his woman, and his boy." With the rain comes the washing away of his slavery, and the sovereignty over things which were, originally, his master's. With that in mind, the scene comes to a close when Moses loses himself in the feel of rain, and falls asleep in it. For when he awakens, he awakens as a new man ---- as a Moses who freed himself from his own bonds, from his "...ancient and brittle harness." For even before his master's death, his master's hold on him was unsure. Ancient, and brittle, and prone to breaking.
Through these little descriptions, Edward P. Jones, like an artist, carefully lays out small brushstrokes that make up the painting of the man known as Moses, of his small struggles which he reveals through careful characterization and word choice, employing an almost lyrical choice of syntax to describe how a man washes himself of his bondage.
A man of solitude, Moses, who is proclaimed solely by the fact that he smiles only when he believes himself to be alone, when he can accept that a kind of loneliness is about him in the field ---- "Believing he was alone, he smiled." ---- a reason for this being that his thoughts work themselves more easily through his head when he is by himself, something that his own family happens to know, if the line, "His wife knew enough now not to wait for him to come and eat with them." is anything to go by. While alone, he loses himself in the sensory details of the night, or the lack of senses thereof, as he goes through a brief auditory hallucination near the end of the passage, which happens to be a symptom of sensory deprivation. He lays down in the grass, the dirt which he had tasted, and lets the rain fall on him until he falls asleep, where he then awakes covered in dew.
In many ways, one can perceive that Moses is a man of the earth; he takes the earth into himself, and perceives the changes of the world through the taste of it ---- working the dirt between the wedges of his teeth, and deciding the changes of the season and the field, whether it can bear a good crop or not. He associates the taste of dirt with previous relationships, "... a sour moldiness he associated with the coming of fall and winter, the end of a relationship he had begun with the first taste of dirt back in March." with something that isn't so much related to the world and the earth and its dirt, but instead to his own humanity.
Despite his humanity, he doesn't speak fondly of those trapped in bondage. Oddly enough, for someone named after the same man from Bible mythos, who freed the Hebrews and drew them across the Red Sea. The way the sentence, "... bondage women, particularly the pregnant ones, ate it for some incomprehensible need..." comes across, it seems as though he is drawing a line of delineation and differentiation between him and the women in bondage. As if to say: 'here is how we are different, and what you do is incomprehensible to me, and has no reason, unlike what I do'. Even though what he does do seems somewhat incomprehensible, particularly to any modern-day reader, who might see this through the lens of mental illness.
One realizes that this Moses is a slave, as well,"... his master." being the indication. That lends somewhat of an explanation to the shift in tone in regards to those still trapped in the bonds of slavery; his master is dead, he sees this as a freedom. He is free, now, and those who are not free are below him, beneath him. They are 'incomprehensible'. Once he lays down in the rain near the end of the passage, the dirt of his slavery is washed from him. He is baptized, made into a free man by this small world, which, "... meant almost as much as his own life."
He even knows when the rain is coming, having felt it "...surge through him." In the same sentence, he claims ownership over "...his own cabin, his woman, and his boy." With the rain comes the washing away of his slavery, and the sovereignty over things which were, originally, his master's. With that in mind, the scene comes to a close when Moses loses himself in the feel of rain, and falls asleep in it. For when he awakens, he awakens as a new man ---- as a Moses who freed himself from his own bonds, from his "...ancient and brittle harness." For even before his master's death, his master's hold on him was unsure. Ancient, and brittle, and prone to breaking.
Through these little descriptions, Edward P. Jones, like an artist, carefully lays out small brushstrokes that make up the painting of the man known as Moses, of his small struggles which he reveals through careful characterization and word choice, employing an almost lyrical choice of syntax to describe how a man washes himself of his bondage.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
essays.
I think I did a very good job with my essay, honestly! I examined a lot of Myop's characterization, and used it to establish a dissection of theme of childhood and adulthood, and what it means to transition into it. One of the lines I used, "Even Myop puts down her flowers at the end, just as we put down our toys and our naivete..." was a line I'm very proud of having used. I also believe that it wrapped things up very well, in terms of my essay.
Overall, I'm very happy with my writing on this essay, and I can't wait to do more practice to see if I can get any better!
Overall, I'm very happy with my writing on this essay, and I can't wait to do more practice to see if I can get any better!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
results.
My performance on the practice test was satisfactory. Obviously, there's always room for improvement, and my focus should mainly be on getting through the passages quickly and easily, while also retaining comprehension. With a lot of these tests, I have the tendency to have to go back to the passage often, and even with the tools I learned for reading passages in APLAC, I still have some difficulties with comprehending what it is that I'm reading. The difficulty I have depends on what I'm reading. With things that are far more abstract and not quite to the point, it's hard for me to garner a complete and full understanding ---- like the poem in the last section. I ended up making educated guesses for the majority of the questions related to it. With the other passages ---- even though I groaned when I saw Dickens at the top of the page ---- I didn't have this problem.
Much of my difficulty now is ---- I think ---- transitioning back into an AP environment, after having subdued myself and my skills during the summer. Once I get more of that much-needed practice in, I'm sure that it will come more easily to me, as it would with just about anyone who is moving from summer into the classroom. I just need to lose the tan, and regain the knowledge that's leaked out of my ears over our vacation.
Other than that, I seem to lack any other glaring weaknesses in regards to AP testing. I know that last year I ran out of time on APLAC's multiple choice section, which was fine as my essay score carried me through the rest of the way ---- and I passed, with credit. My focus will instead remain on comprehension, and comprehending more abstract ideas. Something that I think most, if not the rest of us, need to focus on.
Much of my difficulty now is ---- I think ---- transitioning back into an AP environment, after having subdued myself and my skills during the summer. Once I get more of that much-needed practice in, I'm sure that it will come more easily to me, as it would with just about anyone who is moving from summer into the classroom. I just need to lose the tan, and regain the knowledge that's leaked out of my ears over our vacation.
Other than that, I seem to lack any other glaring weaknesses in regards to AP testing. I know that last year I ran out of time on APLAC's multiple choice section, which was fine as my essay score carried me through the rest of the way ---- and I passed, with credit. My focus will instead remain on comprehension, and comprehending more abstract ideas. Something that I think most, if not the rest of us, need to focus on.
Monday, August 18, 2014
impact.
Impact, as a font, lives up to its nomenclature; thick, bold without being bolded, and strong enough to give off an intimidating impression, it is, without a doubt, a typeface which means and says serious business even if the content itself doesn't state that. As is the case with myself, which is why I borrow it here for my own blog; through it, the implication of the typeface itself strings itself to my own personality: one steeped in business, in hard, true intentions. The rest of my blog is surprisingly soft, in comparison to the harshness of this particular font ---- because while I do have my stringent, uptight moments, I also am composed of many nicer, softer, rounder edges. Not unlike, I'd say, a rollercoaster with one steep hill, and then a smoother ride outside of that. As it stands, the blog itself is a perfect representation of me, of myself, and I enjoy the way it is, the way it comes across.
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