karatetentacles

1. because I have to be productive in one hour and don't want to get TOO much done before I go.
2.

... I have no number two. that's how unproductive today is. I'm gonna take another nap. (Third one in the five hours I've been awake!)

because everyone is wrong and I'm right.

alright not really but c'mon. this is what I'm good at. this is what I /do./

I mean usually I can go off on my tangent and bitchslap everyone with words, but no, when you get the opinionated ones in the conversation, it's like "shut up, you're not Enlightened like I am." Yes, I'm full of myself, but I think this is one area where I can claim at least semi-expertise, you know?

I /get/ it. Things /click/ for me. It's like solving a math problem; it's like figuring out derivatives. And yes, they're the same. Figuring out the logic of a math problem is akin to figuring out the themes and symbolism of a piece of writing. There is, to a degree, a right answer.

If you look at Catcher in the Rye and try and use it as an excuse for killing John Lennon... NO. YOU'RE WRONG. You read it incorrectly. Try again. Minus $2000. No double Jeopardy for you.

It's a /hard/ math problem, I'll give you that, but if you're smart, you can figure it out.

Now, how you apply this symbolism and theme to your personal life -- that's a different story. That's something that doesn't belong in a classroom, not something that can be taught, but something you can do on your own. How a book makes you /feel/, makes you act, develops your take on life or whatever... that's the personal part of English, the part that math lacks. But to truly get that satisfaction of affecting your life, you have to get the first part down. You have to know what the author wanted you to take from it. You need to analyze the symbolism and imagery and metaphors and similes. You /have/ to, otherwise you won't really get it.

Maybe I can take this back to the math metaphor...

You have to know the unpractical part of math to get to the "real world" application. And usually, for the "real world" application, you don't need to get so... involved in the process.

Take All Quiet on the Western Front. It's really, painfully obviously an anti-war novel. It says it on the frickin' cover. But you take it, you analyze it, you learn the author's tone, you look at the symbolism, and you see the theme in all its glory. To get to the application, all you really needed to know was it was an anti-war novel, and determine whether or not you are going to take it to heart. Do you agree or disagree with the author? You only need the basic level, but to back yourself up, to really /learn/ from the novel, you need to get into the symbolism and metaphors and motifs. You need to look for allegories and know that diction is just as important as anything else.

Take /any/ book. Harry Potter. Hell, take Where the Wild Things Are. Take The Da Vinci Code or TWILIGHT, even. There are bits to be analyzed. There is something to /learn/. There's a theme to be gotten. There's an idea developed. There's a /reason/ the book was written, and I PROMISE it's /not/ just because the author was bored. Those books don't get published, those books have no substance.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with the idea is your opinion; what you take from the book is entirely personal. Personally, I disagree with the morals of Twilight. I think it's a shitty book. I don't think there's a lot of depth to it, and I don't think Smeyer was very subtle, but whatever. She is an author, she wrote a book, and I have an immense amount of respect for her. I do.

Now, she could probably stand to work on her narrative technique, which can and often does enhance the theme of the book.

Alright this is really long and rambly but whatever. This is what happens to me.

1. it's a lot of work.
2. tumblr
3. skype
4. facebook
5. super mario brothers 3 for the NES
6. tired!

because I can't just do this and expect a good grade.

Simplify, Simplify reflection paper
Annie Dillard -- weasels emulation

The day before I embarked on my four day adventure, I updated my twitter encouraging people to call me. The whole purpose was to get to know people a little better. A lot of my friends I communicate solely through skype and twitter, so it was going to be hard not talking to them for four days. But two days in, I hadn't gotten any phone calls. I wasn't bothered -- I have a life, other people have lives, but I was a bit disappointed. I got a few text messages, just saying "what's up?" and "how are you?" but those didn't mean too much.

Then after school, on the third day, almost immediately after I walked out of the building, my phone started ringing. I was expecting my mother, telling me to hurry to the car, or my brother, saying that he wasn't coming home and was headed to the pool, but it wasn't. It was my friend, Arka. He lives in Webb City, Missouri, about a two hour drive from here, and just called to honestly ask me how I was. I could not have been more pleased. Sure, I could barely hear him as I crossed 75th street on the way home, and I couldn't talk to him for more than five minutes, but just the fact that he made the effort to contact me, where so many others hadn't, made me feel good.

My experiment seems a bit selfish -- it was more of a find-who-likes-me-the-most game. I don't feel that the people who didn't call me are any lesser friends, who like me less than Arka, who called. But he did win some friend-points. Maybe it was a little self-indulgent, a little narcissistic of me to assume that people would love to call me and chat with me outside of this internet realm. I probably would have caved and jumped on twitter once I got home had I not gotten that phone call. I really missed them, my internet friends, these people who I have never seen and probably never will see, in person, face-to-face. But I can say that they have affected me more than anyone else in this school, more than the girl who sits in front of me in chemistry who tells me about the parties she's been to and how drunk and high she was the other night. They know me, I know them, and I'm proud to call them my friends.