peanut butter and gRAPE jam

Hello my lovelies, this blog is brought to you today by the word RAPE.

Sensationalism is the purposeful act of provoking a strong reaction from an audience, such as shock. It is usually used to make the reader want to continue reading, or to make that memorial because of a specific scene.

Over the past 12-13 years I've read a pretty wide variety of books, and I don't really remember all of them in great detail. A couple, I remember due to a specific gory or shocking event that I didn't expect to happen. For example, I specifically remember reading a book called Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception because at the very beginning of the book one of the main characters get murdered and it describes it in very vivid detail.

Personally, I enjoy remembering a book because it is well written, or because I fell in love with the story line or characters. This is not the case when it comes to remembering all the books we've studied in high school. May it be the fact that we're forced to study them and tear them apart in desperate search of symbolism, or that we're tested constantly on our knowledge about certain chapters, they become a fairly big portion of our memories and are associated with our feelings towards reading. If you line them up beside each other a gruesome pattern starts to form:

Name of the book:	Themes/Sensationalism:
Speak	Rape
Lord of the Flies	Rape, arson, murder, cannibalism
The Wars	Rape
Kite Runner	Rape
To Kill a Mockingbird	Rape
Chrysalids	Rape, segregation
Life of Pi	Growing up, decapitation, murder, eating feces
Catcher in the Rye	Growing up, swearing

If you take a look, the main ones you read are Speak in grade 9, To Kill a Mockingbird/Chrysalids in grade 10, Life of Pi in grade 11 and Kite Runner in grade 12. That is A LOT of books concerning rape squished into 4 years. In addition to that, for many kids these are the only books they read because they're FORCED to read them, and constantly reading about rape and murder isn't going to make them very passionate about reading on their own time.

If you go even deeper and find that a lot of schools want to ban certain books from being taught in English classes, such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye, due to some of their content. If that's where they're going with that reasoning, then they should probably just scrap the whole list and find new books about bunnies and butterflies. Personally I've only read The Catcher in the Rye on my own time, and I ADORED it. It is by far one of my favourite books I've read and I plan on reading it again and again. I've heard similar reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Here's a link that talks about other books that have been banned in the past and the reasoning behind it:

http://www.comparebookprices.org/5-books-you-wont-believe-were-banned/

I think for the most part it has to do with the style of writing, not necessarily the content.To get kids excited and passionate about reading, you need to find them a book that they'll love and want to read over and over again. For Life of Pi and Chrysalids, I found they were very deep, meaningful and symbolic, but at times hard to stay focused on. They're very lovely stories, but hard to start and stick with over the course of a school year. In contrast, Speak was a very simple book with little to no symbolism or deeper meaning. It is a book about a girl who gets raped and learns to speak up for herself, as the title states.

In conclusion, the books we're forced to read, that will stay with us for a better portion of our lives are about very traumatizing and disturbing topics, and are not all that appealing to young teens. There's a reason why the teen section at chapters isn't filled with rape stories and of boys decapitation animals for food. It's filled with stories about young people our age dealing with situations we can in some way relate to. I think that's what most people our age are looking for, something we can relate to that tells us that we aren't an outcast, and what we're going through has happened to everyone.

Regardless of being banned, The Catcher in the Rye has been a fairly major influence on teens and pop culture a like. Green Day, a fairly popular band now even wrote and and recorded a song about the main character, Holden Caulfield. Growing up, the lead singer and song writer was forced to read the book in school, but later on he reread it and it became his favorite book. Here's the song, it's called "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield" 

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028 (Blog1)

"I'll be honest about it. It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst from the Cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." -Life of Pi, pg. 36

Wow. Those are some pretty deep words... And they expect all normal teenagers to understand this stuff?

 Personally, I'm the polar opposite of Pi, I don't follow any religion, I'm pretty much an atheist. But in this quote, I agree with him completely. No matter what religion you follow, even just in life, you're always going to come to a point where you doubt your beliefs. You're going to ask yourself, if what I believe in is true, and there's someone looking out for me up there, why are they letting this happen, what did I do to deserve this? No matter what, you're going to face these questions, and it will either make or break your faith.

Regardless of that, Pi also said that in order to continue your life you must move on. You have to push through the hardships and doubts. Doubting everything is not a philosophy that will help you move forwards. Doubting that your God will help you through all the problems in life, or that things all happen for a reason will lead you nowhere. I'm going to assume that he meant it because it would leave you with nothing to believe in, that it would break your spirit and soul to the point of you beginning to doubt everything about yourself.

In relation, it's like when a loved one passes away, or you break up with your partner. You go through the stages of grief. From what I know of the subject (based off a  quick google) there are five stages of grief. First it starts off with denial, then anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. From what I've read, it seems that most people get stuck on the 4th stage, depression.(big surprise there...) This is mostly because in the previous stage they attempt to regain control of their situation. When this fails, they begin to doubt their beliefs, their faith and even themselves. This is a very difficult situation to get out of and many become fixated at this point and never really move past it. Choosing to allow doubt to overcome and consume your life is akin to choosing to immobilize yourself in an attempts to get somewhere.

Now I know you're going to ask, how does this relate, in ANY way to the story? Pi gets stuck on a life boat with a TIGER! That has absolutely NOTHING to do with religion and philosophy! (No? was I close at least?)

Well well well, my dear little Hipsters of the internet, I'll gladly answer your questions. Simply keep those thick-rimmed glasses on your stylish little face and sit tight. (or stand, if sitting's too mainstream)

***SPOILER ALERT***

I want you to picture in your head, you're stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a flimsy little lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Your entire family has perished and the only reason you survived is because you learned to swim on account of the fact that you were blessed(or cursed)with the name Piscine. Now don't go on to tell me you wouldn't begin to ask yourself, oh I don't know, WHY WAS I PUT IN THIS SITUATION? What did I do to deserve this? It would also only be natural to begin to doubt your religion, your God, maybe even go into the stages of grief on account that, y'know, your entire family is dead?

Shocking, I know.

In any case, this is only my rendition as to how all these things relate. For all I know, there could be no relation and the author just enjoys messing with young teenage brains. Heck, maybe he just wanted to write a story about a tiger on a boat but his publisher made him change it to make it more "relatable" if that's possible for a story about a tiger on a boat and a boy named Pi...


Now that, that's my kind of pie...

My Old Red Truck

This blog is going to be a more serious, tear jerker(at least from my perspective) so bear with me kids.

Ever since I can remember my entire family (mom, dad and two sisters) has gone over to my Grandpa's house for brunch on Sundays. There, we created many happy memories, eating pancakes with syrup and bacon, watching old cartoons and reading mystical stories curled up on my Grandpa's lap. I loved going over and spending time with him.

Now, my Grandpa owened a red pickup truck for the longest time. I loved the colour and smell of that old truck. Looking back I question why I loved it so much, it was old, messy and kind of rusty. I guess it was because it reminded me of my Grandpa. When I was about 10 he sold the old red truck and bought a new grey one. I was very upset about that, so he made me a little wagon out of wood painted the same colour as his old red truck. He would joke about how that would be the car I would learn to drive in, and he promised me he would teach me. Regardless, my Grandpa was always very supportive of me and encouraged me to do well in school and constantly be in search of more knowledge and skill. Even when I was a teenager, he constantly encouraged me to get my driver's license. At least he did, until he passed away on my 16th birthday, on August 26, 2012.

Okay, deep breath Caitlin. Wipe the tears from the monitor, we need to finish this for Mr. Olson.

So when he did pass away, it was tough on my entire family, but mostly on me and my mom. One of my last conversations with him was about how my 16th birthday was coming up, and how I would finally be old enough to go get my G1, and planned to take the test within the week. Naturally, when ever I think about that last conversation; holding onto his frail hand while sitting on his old creeky bed in his little room at the retirement home as he slowly drifted in and out of consiousness, I get very emotional. That, combined with the funeral schedule and the total disbelief of losing him, were the main reasons why I wasn't able to actually go obtain my G1 until November of 2012.

I remember the day I finally went to go take the test like it was yesterday. It was like I was drifting in and our of a nightmare, and it seemed like I was in a haze, drifting in and out of reality. When I sat down, test in hand, everything became too bright and it was hard to focus. I forced myself to concentrate, and finished the test fairly easily. The worst part of the whole experience was having to wait and watch the supervisor correct your test. But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he called me up, congratulated me and gave me my temporary drivers license.

That feeling is exhilarating. I had finally done it, I got my G1, and made my Grandpa proud. That was the moment, I feel, that I finally realized I was growing up. I wasn't some little helpless lost child, I was a strong woman who was capable of great things and could get through even when times got tough.

All in all, I still miss my Grandpa. Whenever I think of him, it'sm almost as if someone ripped off a scab that was just starting to heal. I wonder if I'll ever be able to think about him without cerying, and I hope so. I hope I'll be able to tell my kids stories about how amazing he was and all the amazing memories I have with him. But I feel like he's smiling down at me, and truely is proud of me.

History in English Class...?

The English language is kind of like the gum stuck to the bottom of a restaurant table. Its been around for ages, its everywhere, and people just seem to add more and more to it over time.

From what we've covered in class, I've come to the conclusion that the English language is a very confusing and messed up language. Not only that, but it seems like the people who added words to it were not very original  At the beginning, we had Old English, which started around the Anglo-Saxon invasion in 450 and lasted to around 1100 AD. You might be wondering who the Anglo-Saxons were, so think of big, muscular, war fighting, avenge my fallen comrades by ripping your arms off type people. Most of their language consisted of nouns, with a couple adjectives and verbs and included some common words we use even today, like: wall, man, woman, sheep, cow, day, night, sun, moon and so on. They also spelled things the way they sounded, so there really was no standardization. The major piece of literature that survived from that time period was Beowulf  which is a story about, you guessed it, a big muscular warrior who has to avenge the deaths of hundreds killed by a monster by ripping the it's head and limbs off. This story is an example of an archetype, which is a model person, which everyone wants to be like.

The next period in our language is Middle English, which spanned from 1100-1500 AD. This period  began when the Normans(from France) conquered England and forced their culture upon the Anglo-Saxons. Very soon, it became evident that ruling class spoke Norman French, and the native people spoke old English  Because of this, the native people adopted some of the french terms for different things, and Middle English was born. Because of the new words added to the language, Middle English was very rich in synonyms and a loty of the new words centered around politics, the government and the church, such as: law, Parliament  chivalry and penance. The big piece of literature from this era was written by Chaucer, and was written for the common man and woman. It was called Canterbury Tales, and had no violence. It mainly focused on satire, word play, crude jokes and comedy in general.

Next we move on to the era of Early Modern English  This lasted from 1476-1800 AD. A big improvement in this period was the invention of the printing press, which allowed for more distribution and standardization of the language. The major changes in the vocabulary of this language, was the addition of many new words (you guessed it yet again) stolen from other languages. At this time, England was sending people around the world to explore by ship. Naturally  they began to pick up words used in the places they visited and brought them back to share with the rest of England. These words included: alligator, skate, sugar, sofa, calico, toboggan and moose. At this time, people were beginning to be more sophisticated, and the main literature were sonnets written in the Royal Court. Commoners enjoyed this because it was a way for them to connect with their "celebrities" the royals. There were two main writers at that time who contributed greatly to the sonnet literature, Sir Philip Sidney, who wrote about his love for Penelope Rich(another married royal) and Anne Locke, who wrote sonnets as hymns to god.

Finally, we've come to Modern English. This era started around 1800-present, but personalty I think we should make a new era where we add slang such as grease and YOLO, so we at least have some portion of the language that we came up with ourselves. When the Modern English period began, people started to quit their jobs and become writers. Up until now, most people who wrote literature were only part time writers, and they had to maintain another job to have enough money to write. Now novels were becoming popular, and that shows us that more people were seeking out higher literacy. The major example of writing from this period was Gulliver's Travels, which was a series put out ever other week about a man sailing around the world and having many adventures. There was a lot of satire used in this series, and each addition to the story was just long enough for people to read and anticipate the next chapter.

In conclusion, I really have no idea why the school board decided to force us to learn HISTORY in ENGLISH class, but regardless of that I found it fairly amusing and interesting. Will it ever come up in my day to day life? No, I don't think so, but most of the random facts on the internet will never help me either so I guess I'll live.

My Love/Hate relationship with essays

It's not that I don't enjoy writing essays like you, it's just me being lazy. It's not you, it's me.

Generally I enjoy having heated discussions and arguments, I love the feeling of trying to prove your point, especially if it's something you're truly passionate about. But I have to confess, when it comes to essays, I get a little lazy. When you sit yourself down, and start writing an essay, you need to know all the points you're going to argue right off the bat. Compared to when you're having a debate, there's a lot more preparation that needs to be done for an essay.

Again, I don't mind doing essays, nor do I mind researching a topic, if I find it captivating or interesting.

I realize that my last point is a VERY big if. For the better part of our High School career, we're going to be forced to write all sorts of essays, regardless of our level of interest. I'm sure for sometime, it's going to continue on into University. It's inevitable, and causes many people to make this face when the word essay is so much as whispered.



Regardless, I try and put on a happy face so i can at least attempt to enjoy the nightmare which is essay writing. One of the worst parts of essay I find is the editing. After a couple rough drafts, when you're feeling fairly confident, you're forced to go do peer-editing. After two or three people you're completely discouraged and your small collection of essay papers resembles solders returning from world war two. The corners are all folded, the pages are creased and crumpled, maybe someone spilled some energy drink or coffee on one page so the ink is running, there's and there's an endless amount of scribbles in every colour of the rainbow, all over the words so that it's barely legible. All of this for what profit? Good grammar, I guess.

In conclusion, I adore the idea of writing essays. I really do. Just like I enjoy the thought of having younger sisters. But when you're actually placed in the situation where you have to sit down and write all your arguments down, or look after two sisters who don't EVER listen to you and believe that if you put an ice cube in the microwave you get cold water; you find yourself asking the question why me a lot. You love expressing your  point, and you love the idea of spending time with your sisters, but you also wish you could set the paper on fire or kill them in the process.

                                       

Television Essay: Is It Relevant?

Salutations Hipsters of the Internet,

Recline in your Ikea chair, readjust the vintage glasses on your nose, settle down with your favorite Starbucks beverage and prepare yourself for a greatly opinionated Blog.

This week in English class we read and discussed an Essay all about television, and whether or not it is addictive. Personally, I don't think that it is, it's just a pass time that is easy to get suckered into and difficult to stop.

The main reason I think this is because now there are different things that should be classified as "addictions" such as the Internet. The Internet has become such a big part of our day to day lives, many people are unable to function without it. We've also replaced human interaction with sites like Facebook and Twitter, creating the illusion that we have tons of friends, but that will never fill the void we feel when we crave social interaction.

One of the main points the author makes in the essay is that television allows the viewer to forget about the outer world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state that is hard to get out of. I understand that a lot of people enjoy watching television, but I think now that we have all this technology to record the shows we want to see that happens a lot less. Most people don't just sit down in front of the television to watch it mindlessly to escape their lives. Most sit down to watch a specific show or movie that they've either made time for, or recorded and have an hour or two to sit down and enjoy themselves.

In conclusion, because technology has advanced so much since that essay has been written, it has become irrelevant to our culture and society.

Othello: Why are we still learning about this?

Buna ziua oameni frumoși de internet, or hello beautiful people of the internet in Romanian,

This week's blog is all about the first act of the infamous play Othello, more specifically, Act 1.

In Act 1, we're introduced to the main characters, Othello, the black leutenant, Roderigo, the rich merchant, Iago, the warrior, Brabantio, Desdemona's father,  the Duke and Desdemona, Brabantio's daughter. We find out that Iago, who was supost to become Othellos second in command, but the position was given to Cassio, the strategist. Because of this, he is infuriated and decides to seek revenge on him and Othello. His first plan is to tell Brabantio that Othello and Desdemona decided to elope. This plan almost works, because Brabantio runs off to go kill Othello, who has been caught red handed defiling his daughter and showing disregard for tradition and a lack of respect towards him. Meanwhile, there's a fleet of Turkish ships heading towards Cyprus, ready to attack. Brabantio and his angry mob take Othello to the war counsel, who is praying that he will be found innocent in order to lead them into battle, for a trial. After accusing him of drugging, abusing, enchanting and misleading Desdemona, Othello tells his side of the story, where he explains that Desdemona fell in love with him because of all of the stories he had from battle. After giving a short speech which wins over the Duke and Brabantio, and letting Desdemona tell her account, they determine that Othello is innocent. 

One of the major themes in this Act is racism. Because Othello is black, Brabantio (along with the help of Iago and Roderigo) jumps to conclusions about his relationship with his daughter. Rogerigo and Iago call Othello an old black ram, and a big black horse. They also refer to him as the devil, and say that if he and Desdemona had children, they would run around neighing and they'd be offsprings of the devil. In retrospect, in this time period it wasn't uncommon that younger girls married older men. Also, Othello was regarded as the best warrior in his village, so if he was white I'm sure Brabantio would be very happy that his daughter decided to marry him. To play devil's advocate, I can understand where Brabantio's coming from. I personally wouldn't want my daughter marrying someone who's three times her age, no matter what skin colour or religion. I would just find is disgusting and creepy.

In my opinion, this story still has relevant themes, but the actual story is slightly confusing if you don't have any background information of that time period.