Quarter 4 Reflection

I am proud to have taken AP Literature this year. I succeeded in the course and received the ‘Most Likely to Get a 5’ award to symbolize my hard work. When I first started the course I was not sure that I could handle the coursework, but after taking the course I have discovered the work is doable.

The quarterly essays tested my ability to plan a successful paper and think outside the box. I was taught the most helpful tool, OCEC, which has greatly improved my writing. By starting by getting back to back sevens on the essays and then getting an eight on the final paper, I know my writing has improved. Developing a new idea in the conclusion is also a new tool I learned throughout the course. The new idea leaves the reader thinking about the content of the paper, unlike if the paper’s conclusion only restated the thesis. One final tool I learned that better my writing this year is changing my passive, past tense voice to an active, present tense voice. Using the passive voice is something I did unconsciously before and by making the revision I have noticed that the writing reads better. Other than learning new writing tools, I like the Socratic seminars, where I could discuss my thoughts about a novel or play and gain new ideas from my peers. This ultimately helped my papers because I had more than one mind writing the final paper.

Despite the likes of improving my writing this year, I have dislikes. The biggest dislike is the books being copied on paper to form what looks like a stack of copy paper. The copied books are uninviting and do not allow the comfort that a regular book does. My pages often got mixed up or I would read the pages out of order. This is what should be changed in the course. Even though I know that forty minute timed writes help with the AP Exam, I didn’t like them. By the end of the timed write I would my thoughts we’re jumbled even with the adequate planning. I also wished I could rewrite it to add in more details I thought of after reading the writing back. I know that the timed writes cannot be changed to be taken out of the course; I can only learn to improve my timed writes by writing more of them.

The AP Literature course has prepared me for college writing and reading. The entire course is a tool I will continue to use in the imminent future.

Quarter 3 Reflection

I took this course for my senior year with the purpose that it would prepare me for college writing. It has done exactly that as I look back at quarter one and quarter two papers compared to quarter three’s. I notice the biggest change in the tone of my writing. Many people grow accustom to using a passive voice when writing, as I had, using words in the past tense. By taking the tips from this class, I learned to revise my paper using an active voice, with words in the present tense. An active voice makes a writer’s voice read assertively to a reader. This revision is the biggest change in improving my papers.

Adding and understanding analysis was the most confusing aspect when writing my quarter one paper. I never realized it as a factor for a better paper. When we first did OCEC for a timed write in quarter one, I realized how little analysis I put in my writing. There were only four examples of analysis in a five paragraph paper. By using the OCEC technique with a rough draft of my paper, I am able to make sure enough analysis is included. Analysis is another key in helping a writer’s voice read assertively to a reader.

One last powerful affect I learned to use in my papers is developing a new idea. This is always the strength in my conclusions. I discovered that a new idea arises after writing the rest of the paper. Before, I was taught to rephrase the thesis as the conclusion of a paper. But this only leaves the reader with a forgettable paper. By developing a new thought and presenting it as the final statement, the reader continues revisiting that thought even after they have finished reading.

Taking these three tools into my revision stage has increased the quality of my papers from quarter to quarter.

Compare/Contrast Paper

Journey’s Conflict

A journey consists of a quester traveling to a place for any reason. A journey is more meaningful as it is completed because the quester is enlightened at the end. During the journey the quester faces many obstacles threatening to stop their path to enlightenment that they must learn to overcome. It is these obstacles that make a journey much more than a trip to another place. Authors William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston wrote the novels As I Lay Dying and Their Eyes Were Watching God, respectively, as journey novels. Faulkner illustrates the journey of the Bundren family as they travel from home to Jefferson to bury the family’s matriarch, Addie. Hurston describes the journey of Janie Crawford who travels from city to city by way of a new marriage. The novels’ main character and narrator both complete their journeys with a newfound clarification about themselves. Faulkner and Hurston depict the individual journeys of central characters Darl and Janie as challenges against the conflict man versus self.

Life’s biggest conflict has always been man against himself. Janie and Darl both confront this obstacle on their journey to self-knowledge. Janie tackles what to do in reaction to things that challenge her situation. She discovers new knowledge with each marriage. In her first marriage to Logan Killicks in West Florida, Janie comes to this conclusion, “She knew now that marriage did not make love.” Janie’s relationship with Logan fails because she is too young and she cannot grow into herself under Logan as he says, “You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh.” He sees Janie as a young girl who needs to be forced and molded into someone he has control over. Janie is more independent than Joe thinks and she leaves the marriage for a new town, Eatonville, beginning a new marriage to Joe Starks. Joe starts by treating Janie right, but changes forcing Janie to come upon another realization. Janie learns that silence and speak can be a strength. Joe hits Janie once to serve as humiliation and Janie responds with silence as she states, “No matter what Jody did, she said nothing.” Even though many say it takes powerful a woman to leave an abusive man, it also takes a powerful woman to stand by an abusive man. Janie does voice her opinion of Joe to him before his death, proclaiming, “You wouldn’t listen. You done lived wid me for twenty years and you don’t know half me atall. And you could have but you was so busy worshippin’ de works of yo’ own hands, and cuffin’ folks around in their minds till you didn’t see uh whole heap uh things yuh could have.” Joe Starks never connects with Janie because he is too focused on own his desire to be a ‘big voice’. Even when Janie expresses her concerns about their relationship, Joe never listens and Janie is right; he misses out on all of the love he and Janie could have shared. Janie gains one finale insight in her last marriage with Tea Cake, a younger partner who takes her to the Everglades. Janie learns about the joy of life as Tea Cake’s spontaneous nature influences her. Janie stands behind her love to Tea Cake and her choices, choosing the option to speak out against her community’s speculations instead of being silent, “Dat’s all right, Pheoby, tell’em….’cause mah love didn’t work lak they love, if dey ever had any.” Janie is pleasantly rewarded as she ends her journey announcing, “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” Unlike Janie, Darl in As I lay Dying, does not receive the same enjoyable reward.

Darl narrates nineteen of fifty-nine chapters in As I lay Dying, serving as the closest thing to a narrator. Darl begins his journey already having great insight of his surroundings which is noted by the reader with his descriptive, poetic diction. Darl narrations make him the most sensible character. Cora describes him as, “I always said Darl was different from those others.” Darl has a supernatural intellect that allows him to uncover secrets without the secret carrier telling him. This talent makes his community alienate him and serves as an unhelpful ability to Darl as he cannot fully understand the private lives of the people around him. As the family travels to bury Addie, Darl confronts himself as he objects with her burial plans. It is an obstacle that he tries to defeat burning down the barn Addie’s coffin rests in. Jewel counteracts his brother’s plans, rescuing the coffin and animals inside the barn. Darl is seen as an uncompassionate person to the reader as he deliberately burns down the barn and questions Jewel about who is his real father relentlessly. But that notion of a non-caring person is knocked down as Vardman accounts Darl lying on top of Addie’s coffin telling Darl, “You needn’t cry. Jewel got her out. You needn’t cry, Darl.” Darl’s true intentions are to respect his mother’s death by getting her in the ground as quickly as possible so that she can rest in peace. Darl loves his mother unconditionally, which is shown as he cries over her coffin.

Darl is not rewarded with a delightful treat for his actions. He is sent to a mental asylum by his family they do not have the funds to pay for Darl’s destruction to Gillespie’s barn. Darl inquires Cash with, “I thought you would have told me. I never thought you wouldn’t have,” as the Bundrens assist in holding him down to be taken to a mental asylum. Darl is never told about the deal his family makes with Gillespie. He is ambushed by them and naturally loses his mind. He begins to narrate in third person uttering, “Darl has gone to Jackson, they put him on the train, laughing, down the long car laughing, the heads turning like heads of owls when he passed.” Darl is now a sympathetic victim of his journey as a result of caring for a family that betrays him. Cash defends the family’s decision proposing that madness, “Ain’t so much what a fellow does, but it’s the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it.” Therefore he believes that destroying a man’s property makes a person crazy and “that’s how he (Darl) can’t see eye to eye with other folks.” The Bundrens treatment to Darl is unjust. They fear Darl’s uncanny talent to get into their minds and unapologetically take the first opportunity to remove him from their thoughts.

Both Janie and Darl have reached the climax of their journeys to self-enlightenment despite the struggles within themselves. Darl confronts his lack to act compassionate to other’s challenges. He finally breaks through his hostile exterior as he breaks down on top of his mother’s coffin. Days later, putting his desires aside, he tells his pa, “Let’s take Cash to the doctor first. She’ll wait. She’s already waited nine days.” Darl wants to get Cash’s injured leg cared for before Addie is buried. This is an unselfish act that justifies Darl’s change. He finally realizes he has been falling into despair and honestly cares about his family’s well-being. Janie confronts her inability to understand love. She speaks about reaching her horizon, which is a metaphor for her dreams, throughout the novel. She reaches her horizon at the end of her journey, declaring, “Ah done been tuh de horizon and back.” By reaching her horizon Janie comes to an understanding about love and informs her listener, “Then you must tell ’em dat love ain’t somethin’ lak uh grindstone dat’s de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lik de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” Janie could only come to this conclusion by facing three different marriages. Her first marriage provided no love, her second marriage provided little love, while her last marriage brought her an abundance of love she could not maintain all at once.

Faulkner and Hurston successfully complete their task to write a novel about a character that faces an internal conflict, while facing opposing obstacles on their journeys to self-enlightenment in their works As I Lay Dying and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Faulkner’s character Darl concludes in his self-enlightenment that his family is dysfunctional, but he will still care for their welfare. His family teaches him about betrayal. He no longer has control over his own mind, switching between first and third person, because he loses his control over other people’s minds. Darl’s gain of self-enlightenment will enable him to reach redemption and learn to live the norm society accepts. Hurston’s character Janie concludes in her self-enlightenment an understanding of love and that she has learned love from the people that created her journey. Janie creates a new outlook on life that gives her peace and grants her the ability to begin a new chapter in life full of happiness. The characters have only completed part one of their respective journeys. Janie and Darl will continue on a new journey that may ultimately end with their deaths. The readers conclude that a journey is a complex combination of many chapters of life, with each one closing in self-enlightenment.

Quarter Two Reflection

As quarter two comes to a close, my list of books read has grown by two. I have read two more plays Tartuffe and Othello. At first sight Othello looked like it would not be enjoyable to read because it was written in Shakespearian language. I soon discovered that I was wrong and that I could interpret Shakespeare’s writings, which has encourage me to read more of his works. The readings both involve a central character with alternative motives. These two characters are evil but concealed their true natures until they obtained what they wanted. I really enjoyed the readings as Molière used a lighter tone in writing about the hypocrite Tartuffe and Shakespeare used a heavier tone in writing the villainous Iago. As I read these plays I gained the knowledge of analyzing characters. I studied what makes that character noticeable by identifying their flaws. I still falter with annotation and analyzing the meaning behind the text. As next quarter approaches, I look forward to expanding my list even further with books that at first look menacing, but in reality aren’t.

“I’ve stepped my game up,” is a saying I would use to describe my writings this quarter. I am slowly breaking down the walls that have stopped me from advancing to the next level in my writing. Most surprisingly I improved in the area of analysis. First quarter made the analysis process a daunting task, but it is now longer intimidating and comes unexpectedly quick. For this reason my papers have reached a new level as my intellect becomes more present in my writing. There are still some unyielding walls that stand in my way of progressing, but I am not scared to tackle those. These walls pertain to my weaknesses in the areas of timed-writes and motivation. I want to learn how to use my process for writing the quarter papers in a productive way for my time-writes. I still have not found the motivation needed to produce a great writing and this is mostly a result from my laziness and tendency to procrastinate. My writing goal for next quarter is still the same as it was first quarter. I want to make Ms. Ahearn say "Wow" when she reads one of my works. I want her to be surprised and in shock at what I wrote. This is why I strongly look forward to the rigorous third quarter and its many readings.

The promises that third quarter will bring look surprisingly appetizing. I only hope to expand my literature knowledge more before I take the big leap to college. This class continues to prove its usefulness as the year goes on because I know that I am getting the best preparation for succeeding at a university. I write better papers with the steps Ms. Ahearn makes us take when preparing to write a paper and learn more tips for dissecting a reading. Senioritis has taken full affect, but I am not going to let this stop me from reaching my full potential in this class.

Characterization Paper

Literature’s Notorious Villain

“I hate the Moor!” is often repeated by Iago, the villain. He is a primary character who plans revenge on the “Moor”, Othello. Shakespeare wrote these two characters as a foil in his tragic play, Othello. Iago is easily identified as the villain who surprises the reader with his intelligence and talents. Shakespeare uses characterization in the play Othello to expose the nature of an ultimate villain in Iago.

Iago’s reasoning for his actions reveals his flaws. Early in Act one, Iago angrily recalls when Othello announced, “I have already chose my officer”, revealing his choice for the lieutenant position as Cassio. Iago’s flaw of jealousy is revealed as he mocks Othello and insults Cassio claiming, “And what was he? / Forsooth, a great arithmetician, one Michael Cassio.” He feels more experienced in war than Cassio, who is only skilled in numbers and knows about battles from books. Iago should have taken the rejection in stride and worked harder to get the position, however he chose to seek vengeance. By the end of Act two Iago changes why he sought revenge, stating to Roderigo, “I hate the Moor, and it is thought aboard that ′twixt my sheets ′Has done my office. I know not if’t be true, but I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety.” Iago believes that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia. He does not seek the truth and instead believes the rumor to be true. Iago is insecure, another of his flaws, and he is not sure of his position as a husband to Emilia. In Act two Iago changes his reason yet again. This time in one of his soliloquies he declares, “And I dare think he’ll prove to Desdemona a most dear husband. Now, I do love her too.” Iago lusts for her only to get even with Othello as he explains, “Till I am evened with him, wife for wife,” and “But partly led to diet my revenge.” Iago is jealous of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship wanting the same connection between him and Emilia. Iago constantly changes his reasons for seeking revenge to cover up the true reason for hating Othello.

Despite Iago’s flaws, he does have talents. He is talented at manipulation and playing at others flaws. Iago started his plan by targeting Othello’s flaws, “The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks man honest that but seem to be so.” Othello will trust anyone that hasn’t given him a cause not to. Gaining Othello’s trust was the only way Iago could succeed at his plan and he did gain it as Othello proclaimed, “O brave Iago, honest and just, that hast such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong.” Iago planted a seed of doubt in Othello that Desdemona was having an affair. Othello could not believe him at first affirming in response, “I do not think but Desdemona’s honest,” yet soon does with, “Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore! Be sure of it. Give me ocular proof.” This proves Othello believes whatever seems true in appearance and does not search for any further information. Iago easily manipulates a scene to appear true with Othello’s prized handkerchief, which was entrusted in Desdemona’s care. Iago knew this was the greatest opportunity in manipulating Othello because the handkerchief proves as visible evidence that Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio. Emilia was manipulated into giving Iago the handkerchief when she clarifies that the handkerchief is “That which so often you bid me steal.” Iago knew she would get it for him because her flaw is that she vies for his affection and attention, which she reveals when she offers, “I nothing but to please his fantasy.” Once Othello saw Cassio with the handkerchief, he went completely mad and Iago succeeded. This was Iago’s greatest display of his talents.

Iago manages to uses his methods to control secondary characters too. Iago wanted the lieutenant position. Cassio held the position, so Iago planned to get him fired. He succeeds once Othello reports, “Cassio, I love thee, but nevermore be officer of mine.” Now Iago controls Cassio by gaining his trust and manipulating his actions. With Cassio thinking he could trust Iago; he never discovers Iago’s true intentions. Iago was now one step closer to the lieutenant position. From the beginning of the play Iago is manipulating Roderigo. He is able to make Roderigo pay him for his deceptive services. “That thou Iago, who hast had my purse as if the strings were thine,” anguishes Roderigo as he expresses his impatience with Iago. What Roderigo does not realize is that Iago is using him as a pawn to set his plans in motion. Roderigo will do anything to gain the love of Desdemona, which Iago takes advantage of. Iago is a great actor and lair. He can twist any situations’ outcome in his favor as he plays everyone like a piece on one, giant chess board.

Iago is the ultimate villain. He never shows remorse for his actions, only taking them to the farthest extent. He wanted to, “Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me for making him egregiously an ass.” He does anything to accomplish this, going as far as encouraging the Moor to kill his wife for her supposed deception. He causes Othello to go completely mad, which shows as Othello talks about how he plans kill Desdemona. Iago encourages the act, suggesting he kill her by strangling her in the bed “she hath contaminated.” Once Iago is caught he still shows no remorse, imparting with, “From this time forth I never will speak word.” Iago knows what he has done and never once apologizes. He is instead reticent about why the events occurred. Iago meant as much harm as possible, which is demonstrated as he carelessly shares the words, “Now whether he kill Cassio or Cassio him or each do kill the other, every way makes my gain.” He meant for the deaths to occur and obviously did not care who would die as long as it was not him. Everyone else’s death was a gain for him in satisfaction. Characters refer to Iago as a villain, such as when Othello called him a “demi-devil” or when Emilia proclaimed, “Disprove this villain.” Iago knows he is a villain, which he encourages him to sarcastically ask the reader, “How am I then a villain?” He suffices this by saying he could not be a villain if he is counseling everyone for their better good. Since we know of his true nature, we know he is only joking. The reader is given a short-lived insight into Iago’s friendly side and who he could really be. All of Iago’s actions fit him into the mold of an ultimate villain because he never reveals his true motives and causes massive destruction without a care in the world.

Many negative words can be used to describe Iago such as schemer, manipulator, jealous, insecure, angry and villainous. He sought vengeance out of the feeling of injustice and seemed to gain everything he wanted. Iago is extremely flawed, which lead to his downfall. Iago becomes a prisoner of his own scheming. He may think he has gained all that he could ever imagine, but will soon face reality and crumble when he collides with his defeat. The reality is that he is a prisoner that shall face life in jail, death or exile and the defeat is that there is no one left who cares for him. Iago is a complex character that never fails to surprise the reader. He is a tragic villain.