Last Blog

Mrs. Clinch I just finished taking the AP Lit exam and I thought that I was well prepared for the exam. All the timed writings we did in class really helped. So, I think that you should give next year's classes as many timed writings. In addition, I think that the multiple choice practices helped prepare me for the exam. Maybe to help next year's classes the multiple choice practices can start first semester as well, so they will be very well prepared for the multiple choice practice. The part of the exam I felt least confident was the multiple choice section, but that was mostly due to a certain passage about best friends and novels being terrible. I think that the numerous books we read in class really helped to give me plenty of options for my last essay during the AP exam, so I believe that next year's classes should read at least the same number of books. One thing I would suggest is getting rid of the poetry project and instead giving a smaller poetry analysis assignment, because it is very time consuming and exhausting. The students will still get to analyze poetry, so they will still get practice, and they will have more time to do other activities  I enjoyed when the class read together, since that means we can talk about the book more and that I would not have to read the book at home. So, I suggest that next year's class read more frequently in class, since it can help make them better remember the book and can give them more time to do other assignments at home. In addition, I suggest that the students watch more movie clips of the books we read in class, because it can help them memorize specific lines in the books, which will be useful on the AP exam. Although we had gotten a lot of practice, perhaps lessening the work load and allowing them to watch one movie before the exam would be nice during second semester. 

Second Last Blog

I am going to talk about Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. Throughout Wilde's play, the trivial was deemed as more important than the serious matters. A trivial matter such as someone's name effected who they would get engaged to. Jack and Algernon almost lost the love of Gwendolyn and Cecily, due to the their lies about their names. Yet, when Jack discovered that his name was truly Earnest, he got overjoyed and got engaged to Gwendolyn. Both Gwendolyn and Cecily placed emphasis on the importance of being named Earnest, since they both wanted to be married to a man named Earnest. A person's name, which is such a trivial matter almost changed two engagements, whereas a serious matter of lying about one's identity had no effect at all. Lying about one's identity should have been enough to break the engagements of Algernon and Jack. yet, Cecily and Gwendolyn easily forgave them after they gave halve-hearted reasons, since they gave stylish responses. So, style, although trivial, was very important in the play, which helps further prove the importance of trivial matter over serious ones.  Algernon Moncrief, one of the main characters throughout the play, believes that liquor tastes worse while married. Furthermore he believes that women act indecent towards their husbands and flirt inappropriately with them. In addition, Algernon believes that men need to create a false persona to get away from their wives or else the wives will do the same. Algernon believed that a marriage proposal was like a business engagement, so marriage as a whole is viewed quite negatively. Marriage seems to bring the perception of dullness, since the wives make the champagne taste worse, and the proposal is business. Yet, Algernon gave up those beliefs easily after seeing Cecily's unorthodox behavior, which shows that something serious such as someone's beliefs are not really important at all. So, serious matters are further portrayed as insignificant and trivial. In addition, Lady Bracknell  originally forbade Gwendolyn from marrying Jack, because of his origins, even though he is a rich and kind gentleman. Yet, when Jack's true origins are revealed, Lady Bracknell easily approves of his engagement to her daughter. So, the trivial was further portrayed as very important. I believe that Oscar Wilde made the trivial seem so important, because he wanted to show that everyone takes things too seriously, so he made a comical play to make fun of that.

Earnest Analysis

I am going to talk about Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. Throughout Wilde's play, the trivial was deemed as more important than the serious matters. A trivial matter such as someone's name effected who they would get engaged to. Jack and Algernon almost lost the love of Gwendolyn and Cecily, due to the their lies about their names. Yet, when Jack discovered that his name was truly Earnest, he got overjoyed and got engaged to Gwendolyn. Both Gwendolyn and Cecily placed emphasis on the importance of being named Earnest, since they both wanted to be married to a man named Earnest. A person's name, which is such a trivial matter almost changed two engagements, whereas a serious matter of lying about one's identity had no effect at all. Lying about one's identity should have been enough to break the engagements of Algernon and Jack. yet, Cecily and Gwendolyn easily forgave them after they gave halve-hearted reasons, since they gave stylish responses. So, style, although trivial, was very important in the play, which helps further prove the importance of trivial matter over serious ones.  Algernon Moncrief, one of the main characters throughout the play, believes that liquor tastes worse while married. Furthermore he believes that women act indecent towards their husbands and flirt inappropriately with them. In addition, Algernon believes that men need to create a false persona to get away from their wives or else the wives will do the same. Algernon believed that a marriage proposal was like a business engagement, so marriage as a whole is viewed quite negatively. Marriage seems to bring the perception of dullness, since the wives make the champagne taste worse, and the proposal is business. Yet, Algernon gave up those beliefs easily after seeing Cecily's unorthodox behavior, which shows that something serious such as someone's beliefs are not really important at all. So, serious matters are further portrayed as insignificant and trivial. In addition, Lady Bracknell  originally forbade Gwendolyn from marrying Jack, because of his origins, even though he is a rich and kind gentleman. Yet, when Jack's true origins are revealed, Lady Bracknell easily approves of his engagement to her daughter. So, the trivial was further portrayed as very important. I believe that Oscar Wilde made the trivial seem so important, because he wanted to show that everyone takes things too seriously, so he made a comical play to make fun of that.

The importance of being earnest anaylsis

I am not really sure what to blog about, so I am going to talk about Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. So far my class has only read the first act of The Importance of Being Earnest and we have discovered that gender roles take a significant role in the play. Wilde lived in 19th century, a time where women were deemed as inferior and where expected to be obedient to men. Throughout the play women and marriage are portrayed quite negatively. Algernon Moncrief, one of the main characters throughout the play, believes that liquor tastes worse while married. Furthermore  he believes that women act indecent towards their husbands and flirt inappropriately with them. In addition, Algernon believes that men need to create a false persona to get away from their wives or else the wives will do the same. Algernon believed that  a marriage proposal was like a business engagement, so marriage as a whole is viewed quite negatively. Marriage seems to bring the perception of dullness, since the wives make the champagne taste worse, and the proposal is business. Wilde was portraying in his play, that proposal is the first step into a unhappy relationship.

                  Furthermore, women are viewed quite negatively as well. Wilde makes Gwenedlon, a rich and pretty women, seem like quite an airhead. Gwendenlon follows her mother's wishes blindly and deems that she will not forget Jack and will continue to marry frequently. In addition, Gwendenlon controlled the way Jack proposed and said that he is not very experienced at proposing, which is something a man is supposed to be inexperienced at. By even suggesting that Jack is inexperienced at proposing, a matter of common sense, Gwenedlon is portrayed as an airhead. Also, Gwenedlon says that she likes Jack, because his name is Earnest, which is quite a trivial reason. Although Jack is a nice and wealthy man, Gwenedlon placed quite an emphasis on his name and his origins when telling him about her love. Although Gwenedlon may seem like quite an airhead, Wilde helps counteract this negative view of women portrayed by her by making Lady Bracknell have much influence over others. Lady Bracknell does not act very feminine, she acts like a very powerful man. Moreover, Lady Bracknell dictates what her husband, daughter, and nephew are supposed to do. She requires Algernon to eat with her and she arranges seating positions for everyone. When Algernon made up an excuse to miss dining with Lady Bracknell, she decided to make her husband stay by himself so that the seating arrangement would improve. In addition, Lady Bracknell refuses to let Jack marry to her daughter, even though he is a wealthy and kind gentleman, because she does not like his origins. Lady Bracknell's overbearing and masculinity makes her feared and avoided. Wilde may have created Lady Bracknell as such a masculine character to show that feminine women were simple-minded and masculine women were over-bearing. So, overall Wilde creates a very negative portrayal of women in his play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Final Emma Discussion

Throughout Jane Austen's novel Emma, the main protagonist Emma remains steadfast about her decisions and remains very stubborn. Yet, I believe that as the novel progresses Emma becomes increasingly compassionate, but dependent on others. Emma has transformed from a selfish person in the beginning of volume three to a compassionate person. She went was very mean and disrespectful to Miss Bates; Emma was so disrespectful that Mr. Knightly told her about how wrong it was to mock Miss Bates. Miss Bates is a kind person that is in danger of losing the standard of living that she is used to, since women back in the Regent Era could not inherit property. Yet Emma was insulting towards Miss Bates, but after this incident Emma started becoming more compassionate. Emma went to visit the Bates the first thing the very next day and felt even worse about her actions when she saw how kind Miss Bates was acting. By going to see Miss Bates, Emma was adopting Mr. Knightly's beliefs. Mr. Knightly believed that it is cruel to offend a kind destitute women and Emma used Mr, Knightly as her conscience. By using Mr. Knightly as a conscience, Emma becomes more compassionate, but becomes more dependent on him. Later Emma found out that Jane remained in her room, due to a headache. Emma found out that Jane has accepted a governess position and felt sorry for her, which is a major change in Emma since she dislikes Jane. Also, Mr. Knightly has a favorable view on Jane, so Emma is changing her opinions to be identical to Mr.Knightly, as a result Emma becomes even more dependent on Mr. Knightly. Furthermore  Emma becomes ashamed of her earlier conjectures about Jane's relationship with Mr. Dixon, even though at the time she was laughing about what she did. Moreover, by questioning her actions towards Jane, Emma is starting to lose her selfish ideals and is starting to become increasingly compassionate. Emma attempts to provide assistance to Jane, inviting her to Hartfield, sending her healthful foods, and attempting to visit her. Yet, Jane refuses Emma's invitations, and says that she is ill. instead of being angry over Jane's constant refusals, Emma only feels sadness, which shows that Emma is becoming a nicer person. Later in the novel, Emma finds out that Frank Churchill and Jain Fairfax are secretly engaged. Instead of being angry at Jane, Emma feels concerned over Harriet's feelings, which shows that Emma is becoming more compassionate. Emma felt so concerned that she dreaded telling Harriet the news, and was relieved when she found out that Harriet was not in love with Frank, though Emma becomes upset when she finds out that Mr.Knightly is Harriet's crush. Later when Emma and Mr.Knightly become engaged, Emma is filled with worry over Harriet's feelings and her father's well being. Emma decided to postpone the marriage until her father passes away, because she is concerned over her father and is becoming a very compassionate person. Yet by not being able to have the ideal marriage that she desires, Emma shows that she is dependent on her father's opinions of her. In addition, by getting married, Emma becomes the property of Mr. Knightly which makes her less her independence. In addition, Emma decides to write a letter to Harriet explaining her impending marriage with Mr. Knightly and decides to send Harriet off to London to give her time to adjust. Emma becomes such a compassionate person that she forgives Frank easily after she has read his letter. Although throughout the novel Emma was a very selfish person, towards the end of the novel she becomes a very compassionate person and worries over others' feelings, but loses some of her independence in the process.

Emma Discussion Continued

Throughout Jane Austen's novel Emma, the main protagonist Emma remains steadfast about her decisions and remains very stubborn. Yet, I believe that as the novel progresses Emma becomes increasingly compassionate. Emma has transformed from a selfish person in the beginning of volume three to a compassionate person. She went was very mean and disrespectful to Miss Bates; Emma was so disrespectful that Mr. Knightly told her about how wrong it was to mock Miss Bates. Miss Bates is a kind person that is in danger of losing the standard of living that she is used to, since women back in the Regent Era could not inherit property. Yet Emma was insulting towards Miss Bates, but after this incident Emma started becoming more compassionate. Emma went to visit the Bates the first thing the very next day and felt even worse about her actions when she saw how kind Miss Bates was acting. Later Emma found out that Jane remained in her room, due to a headache. Emma found out that Jane has accepted a governess position and felt sorry for her, which is a major change in Emma since she dislikes Jane. Furthermore  Emma becomes ashamed of her earlier conjectures about Jane's relationship with Mr. Dixon, even though at the time she was laughing about what she did. Moreover, by questioning her actions towards Jane, Emma is starting to lose her selfish ideals and is starting to become increasingly compassionate. Emma attempts to provide assistance to Jane, inviting her to Hartfield, sending her healthful foods, and attempting to visit her. Yet, Jane refuses Emma's invitations, and says that she is ill. instead of being angry over Jane's constant refusals, Emma only feels sadness, which shows that Emma is becoming a nicer person. Later in the novel, Emma finds out that Frank Churchill and Jain Fairfax are secretly engaged. Instead of being angry at Jane, Emma feels concerned over Harriet's feelings, which shows that Emma is becoming more compassionate. Emma felt so concerned that she dreaded telling Harriet the news, and was relieved when she found out that Harriet was not in love with Frank, though Emma becomes upset when she finds out that Mr.Knightly is Harriet's crush. Later when Emma and Mr.Knightly become engaged, Emma is filled with worry over Harriet's feelings and her father's well being. Emma decided to postpone the marriage until her father passes away, because she is concerned over her father and is becoming a very compassionate person. In addition, Emma decides to write a letter to Harriet explaining her impending marriage with Mr. Knightly and decides to send Harriet off to London to give her time to adjust. Emma becomes such a compassionate person that she forgives Frank easily after she has read his letter. Although throughout the novel Emma was a very selfish person, towards the end of the novel she becomes a very compassionate person and worries over others' feelings.

Emma Discussion Continued

Throughout Jane Austen's novel Emma, the main protagonist Emma remains steadfast about her decisions and remains very stubborn. Yet, I believe that Harriet is Emma's other half, and provides and contrast to each other. Emma is very well educated and comes from a very well regarded upper class family, whereas Harriet is not very wise in comparison to Emma and her origins are unknown to all. Since, Harriet's origins are unknown many can assume that she is most likely not from an upper class family. Another stark contrast between Emma and the young Harriet is that one wants to fall in love, while another wants to avoid that and stay single. Harriet is infatuated with finding love and falling in love; she became infatuated with Mr. Martin and later Mr. Elton. On the other hand, Emma tries her best to avoid love and wants to avoid getting married. Even when she thinks that she likes Frank Churchill, Emma day dreams that she will reject his offerings of love. Furthermore, Harriet was disgusted with the thought of Emma becoming an old maid. Emma on the other hand relishes the thought of becoming a well respected and well-off old maid. Harriet is a very forgiving person and is a very tolerant person, unlike Emma. Harriet easily forgave Emma after she ruined her chance at marriage with Mr. Martin, even Emma was surprised at how kind-hearted she is. Emma is a very unforgiving person and not near as kind hearted as Harriet. She cruelly rejected Mr. Elton's proposal without thinking twice of breaking the rejection to him delicately. Furthermore, Emma is a very stubborn person and tries her best not to change her views, unlike Harriet who changed her views about the kind farmer Mr. Martin and the greedy Mr. Elton. Emma decided not to change her opinion of Mr. Martin, just because of his social class and stubbornly maintains that Harriet deserves someone of a better upbringing, even though Harriet's origins are unknown. Furthermore, even after Mr. Elton did not want to marry Harriet, due to her wealth and origins, Emma still stubbornly believed that Mr. Martin is not worthy enough for Harriet. In addition, Emma did not change her mind about Harriet being too good for Mr. Martin even after he wrote a very eloquent letter asking for her hand in marriage. Emma disregarded all the good features of Mr. Martin, due to his upbringing, which shows a very stubborn mentality and personality. Harriet on the other hand did not pay particular attention to social class and Emma had to convince her that Mr. Elton would be a better match than the kind Mr. Martin. Volume two of Emma, helps to further elaborate and prove that Emma is very stubborn, since she still does not approve of Mr. Martin.