Prompt 3 Response, Contrasting Places:

Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Conrad compares England to the heart of Africa to symbolize his opinions on issues such as white supremacy, imperialism, and racism. Through the sailor Marlow's narration, Conrad's disapproval of imperialism, white supremacy, and racism is clearly presented.

England and the majority of Europe is supposed to be the sophisticated place to be, and this opinion of England is shown in the beginning of Heart of Darkness. The people are all happy and carefree, and aren't troubled by the issues of abroad. However, when Marlow returns of his trip to the Congo and narrates his story to his companions, he speaks of Europe with evident distaste in his tone. He sees the people as small minded and undeserving of what they receive. They have no passion and, for the most part, are as shallow as a puddle. Europe represents the inappropriate head of the hierarchy. Even Europeans who work in the Congo, such as the station masters, are seen as cruel and undeserving of their power. Conrad very clearly denounces the idea that white Europeans are better than others and therefore must conquer the world.

The heart of Africa is seen as a dark yet passionate place, full of mystery and suspense. Unlike Europe which has little depth and has a clear message of right and wrong, or rather white or wrong, the Congo is a labyrinth of grey morals and no clarity. The natives are portrayed as people, and Heart of Darkness was one of the first of its time to portray a different race as having human feelings. The natives had desires, passions, thoughts, and purpose. It is in Africa where what is seen as right in Europe is seen as cruel and unjust such as white supremacy. Marlow and therefore Conrad has a distinct tone of sympathy towards Africa, which was uncommon in Europe at the time.

By contrasting Africa to Europe, Joseph Conrad was able to bring more depth to his opinions on the popular ideas of the time such as, as mentioned before, white supremacy, racism, and imperialism. By showing the human nature that could be found in Africa, the passion and reason that existed there, he showed the insanity of Europe attempting to conquer it. He displayed it as a place with people rather than a place with resources as was the common opinion and by doing this further represented his ideas.

Prompt 2 Response, Conflicted Character

Prompt 2: Choose a character in a novel or play of your choice (from the AP List!) and write about the conflict(s) that arise since they are in conflict with the society they are from. This may be socially, religiously, and/or morally. Dig deep! You should also address whether your character comes to a good/bad fate due to this conflict(s).

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, is in conflict with society. She is an independent, freethinking, and opinionated young woman in a time when women were supposed to be subjective, agreeable, and followers. Throughout the play she displays characteristics that separate her from what is expected by society, from her argumentative conversations with Mr. Darcy, her decisions to say no to several marriage proposals, and her overall quick-wit and cleverness. However, these admirable qualities also plague her. She finds herself the victim of harsh judgments by society, she misjudges those who aren't that bad, and suffers from trying to fit into a society that she doesn't want to fit into. These conflicts make Elizabeth Bennet one of the most well known characters in literature.

The opening quote of Pride and Prejudice is known by almost everyone, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This is the society in which Pride and Prejudice is set's opinion. Elizabeth Bennet however, counteracts that universally acknowledged truth. She looks beyond money and looks, and focuses instead on one's attitude, integrity, and overall personality. It is this form of analysis that she makes, that separates her from the rest of her society and puts her at conflict with them. When she is proposed to and does not accept the proposal of Mr. Collins, many, most notably her mother, are astonished. Mr. Collins would have been able to provide for her, and she was getting older and wouldn't be a desirable marital match for much longer, however, Elizabeth's distinct distaste for society allows her to make this decision. This action is just one in many that distinguishes her from society and puts her at conflict with those who strictly follow society's rules.

Another attribute of Elizabeth Bennet that puts her at conflict with society is her argumentative side. From her very first meeting with Mr. Darcy, a man who all other females at the time would have done anything to please, Elizabeth is very cold towards him. She sees him as a stuffy, pretentious, unkind man of whom she'd be better off without. Her cold treatment of him continues throughout the novel despite society's expectations (and the reader's knowledge that the two are perfect for each other.) When Mr. Darcy first attempts to entice Elizabeth, and claims to have found himself inexplicably drawn towards her, she does what society finds unthinkable; she turns him down. She is harsh and judges quickly and is above all argumentative, all of which are not admirable traits of young women in the time specified.

It can therefore be construed, that Elizabeth is in constant conflict with society, whether she's disregarding her mother's desires for her to be wed, arguing with the extremely eligible Mr. Darcy, or turning down suitable marriage proposal after suitable marriage proposal, Elizabeth never fully conforms with society's expectations. Although she does in the end marry Mr. Darcy, her perfect match, she ends up a Mrs. Darcy after following her own path full of mistrust, prejudices, and above all arguments. So although she does end up doing what society expects of her, she does it in a way that is extremely adverse to what society expects. It is Elizabeth's strong-willed character that regardless of what she does, puts her in a constant conflict with society in Pride and Prejudice.

And Still We Rise Assignment 3

My dad works for the State Department of the American government. As the daughter of a government official, I have had to deal with a lot of change. We move every 2-3 years, and while this has blessed my life in many ways -I have lived in several foreign countries whereas many people spend their entire lives in their hometown or state- it can also be difficult. The fear of being the new student never backs down, whether it's your first move or your ninth. Because of the experiences I have gone through due to the government lifestyle, I believe that my talent is the ability to cope.

Mililani High School is my fifth school in five years, and so it goes without saying that I have dealt with a lot of change in my life, let alone the last five years of it. However, regardless of where I move to, I have learned to deal with whatever life throws my way. Whether it's going to the counselor's office regularly because my schedule keeps getting messed up, or having to find someone to sit next to at lunch time, I have somehow learned to keep my head high and deal with it.

Many other students that I have met in the past don't "just deal." They make a huge fuss and generally make the situation worse than it needs to be. While I have "fussed" in the past, I usually am able to figure things out even when it seems like life just really sucks. It is this attitude that I have that I think is my strongest talent.

With this talent, I know that I will be able to be an active member of the community when I get older. I plan on being an English teacher, and I know that being a teacher comes with more stress than many people realize. I, however, can cope. I could focus on the importance of teaching, regardless of the attitude of the class. This talent will also help me regarding serious issues such as the current state of the economy. An English teacher doesn't make much, but I can cope with cutting back on what I buy. I can cope with the stress of paying my taxes. I can cope with whatever comes my way in the future.

Miesha's talent is perseverance, and I think that our talents have a lot in common. While I haven't had to live in a poor income family or neighborhood, I too have had to deal and persevere with things that could cause someone else to have a total nervous breakdown. Miesha and I book understand that to succeed in life one has to understand that yes, bad stuff does happen, but if you freak out about that and don't keep moving forward, you aren't going to get anywhere in life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Parable of the Talents:

I think that Jesus' point is that everyone is given a talent or multiple talents. If we waste them by "burying" them, or in other words, never exercising them or growing with them, then we will be a disappointment. There is no purpose in being given a talent if it's not going to be used. This connects to both Miesha and me because, both of us have been in situations (albeit different ones) where we have had the true need of exercising our talents. By my third school in three years, I was getting tired of moving and tired of the stress, but I kept with it because of my talent. If I hadn't bothered developing my ability to cope prior to that time, I probably would have crashed or flipped out, and would currently be in a regular english class as opposed to an AP one. For Miesha, despite the many trials that faced her, she persevered. If she hadn't, then she for sure would have been in a different situation. She likely would not be even entertaining the idea of college or AP classes, but instead be caught up in the trials of life. For the both of us, exercising and constantly drawing on and growing through our talent has helped us to succeed.

This story works on many levels because, on the one hand, it's the clear idea of a guy gave a bunch of others some money and one idiot buried his instead of investing it and getting something more from it. When you don't use money (or your talent), and you just bury it away, it's just money. It has no purpose. It's just taking up space. In the same way, your talent shouldn't just sit idly. You should actively use it, whether it's for music, sports, or like mine, it helps you survive those stressful all-nighters. That is the reasoning behind the parable of the talents.

Essay Prompt 1

In the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbolism is involved in nearly every aspect of the book. From the names of the characters shedding light on their character, to the scarlet letter itself, Hawthorne ingeniously incorporated symbolism throughout the book. The most prevalent symbolism in the book is its namesake, the scarlet letter. The letter represents many things from a representation of the sinful deed she committed (adultery), to the town's opinion of Hester, to Hester's own blooming confidence in herself.

The most obvious inference to be made about the scarlet letter is its actual purpose in the time period, that is, to humiliate an adulterer and make sure that he or she is known to be an adulterer by the whole town. A scarlet letter is a red letter "A" that must be worn always by the sinner. In this way, the scarlet letter symbolizes the very deed that was done and is a negative symbol, and is used throughout the novel as a way of referring to adultery without actually mentioning such inappropriate topics like sex or infidelity.

A second thing the scarlet letter represents is the town's opinion of Hester. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester frequently mentions that the scarlet letter feels heavy like she is carrying around the town's opinion of her always. Despite her attempts to fit into the town, she always has the letter and the letter will always show what the town thinks of her. Therefore, the scarlet letter is once again seen as a negative symbol.

The third representation of the scarlet letter is how it shows her own confidence in herself and her place in the town. She embellishes it and rather than hiding it, she wears it if not proudly, then more confidently. The thing about it is that she's not proud of it but her general acceptance of it and eventual removal of it on her own volition as opposed to keeping it on for life represents her self confidence. Rather than wearing it to show the town what a terrible person she is, she wears it to display her sewing skills (because her job in the town is that of a seamstress) and she stops caring about what the town thinks until she finally has the "moxy" that is the general "spunk" to remove it herself. It, or rather the eventual lack of it, displays her personal growth.

It is therefore clearly apparent that the scarlet letter does have great symbolic value. Although the book is about Hester Prynn's trials and life in a small puritan town, the book is called The Scarlet Letter, not The Life and Times of Hester Prynn. This is because of how the scarlet letter and the symbolism it carries with it sets the real mood and tone of the tale that would be otherwise if not impossible, very, very hard to do.

And Still We Rise Assignment # 2

After reading this book review, what do you think your experience reading this book is going to be like? Do you tend to look at book reviews before you purchase a book? Do you use book reviews to influence your book purchases? Are you more apt to listen to a friend who recommends a book to you? Your response should be at least 250 words.

Personally, I am not a big fan of book reviews. I have the embarrassing tendency of disregarding everyone's opinion but my own. In most cases, I do the tabboo "judging a book by its cover, " however, occaisionally book reviews do have a point.
Although I don't trust the strangers on Amazons opinions about books, I do trust in my friends suggestions. I am always willing to try a book suggested to me, I believe in giving it the benefit of the doubt. This book review on "And Still We Rise" was probably one of the best book reviews I have read. Normally they just ramble on about things they don't understand, but this review was well written. If I had read this review prior to reading the book, I would probably have purchased the book myself. A well written book review can often be the factor in choosing to purchase a book or not, and yet I tend to limit myself by disregarding all book reviews unless strongly recommended by a friend.
And still we Rise was not a book that I would normally choose to read. I wouldn't have accessed it at all if it hadn't been for this class. Based on the review however, it is clear that I have the great promise of enjoying it. Few authors are able to really make the reader understand how real the characters are. Based on the review, it is clear that the author of And Still We Rise does accomplish that. It is a difficult thing to do, but he did it. This review has truly persuaded me. I only wish that I had read it sooner so that I could have started the book sooner!

And Still We Rise book review

Crenshaw High School is not very different from Mililani High School. While many may point out that Crenshaw High School experiences constant gang fights, stabbings, shootings, and therefore is nothing like Mililani High School, Mililani High School is similar to Crenshaw High School just not as extreme.

Although at Mililani people don't fight with guns and knives, there have been many fights either of words or sometimes fists. While the Crenshaw students all seem to come from very difficult backgrounds full of gang life, poverty, and non-parental parents, everyone at our school have their own trials as well. The biggest connection between Mililani and Crenshaw is the attitude towards learning. In both schools many of the students have a clear apathy towards schooling. They care more about what is happening now than what will happen in the future. However, in both schools there can also be found a certain amount of students with a true desire to learn and to progress beyond high school in their schooling. It is this small yet focused group of students that inspire the teachers and faculty of both schools to become involved and teach with the hope that they along with their peers will fulfill their potential.

An elite group of the teachers from both Mililani and Crenshaw are truly dedicated. Toni Little, Mama Moultrie, and Mr. Braxton are similar to many teachers at Mililani in terms of dedication to teaching the students. Some of the teachers at both schools know their students. They truly care for them and when they ask "How are you today?" they really mean it. That dedication is rare and the students at both Mililani and Crenshaw are lucky to have such a willing faculty.

While Crenshaw High School and Mililani High School do clearly have their differences, both schools have the same roots. Granted Crenshaw is far more extreme due to its location and the background of its students, both schools are full of the same "stock" of people. It is the big similarities that overshadow the smaller differences to prove just how similar the two schools really are.