Thursday, May 4, 2017
A reflection on the year
Overall, I really enjoyed this course. The novels we read were interesting and I feel like I will remember them for a long time. My favorites were Unbearable Lightness and Dante's Inferno. ULOB really made you think about the person you are. Dante was cool to read because it included bad people of his time. I also liked being able to create my own Hell. Of course, I can't forget HamLIT and "I am slain." I also can't forget about INCEST!!!! Not many of the books we read 2nd semester had any incest, which is kind of disappointing. And then there is, of course, art. I have actually seen some of the art we studied out in the real world. My favorite is the one that looks like Nicki Minaj and "Persistence of Memory." I'm sure there is some things I am forgetting (like Santa Pants). I'm going to miss our stressed-out study sessions at Joseph's house with meatballs. Cant wait to go to Bay St. Louis with y'all! Thank you Ms. King and Mrs. Quinet!
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While the course this year has definitely brought me stress at times, I definitely am glad I chose to take the class. Each unit taught me a lot, especially with more detail into background and arts. ULOB was probably the most philosophical book I had read at the time, but I found it extremely interesting, and it really made me think. Dante's Inferno as well as No Exit were an fascinating approach to life after death and a warning for people to get their lives together. Also in regards to warnings, although it may have been confusing at first, I really enjoyed the discussion of the Waste Land as it helps me to understand society in the 1920s, as well as a certain aspect of The Great Gatsby. My favorites were probably Hamlet and Beloved. I was pretty excited to read Hamlet, as it is one of the most famous plays, and I enjoyed reading it and the sort of "seize the day" message. I thought Beloved was a great novel, and thoroughly outlined and explained the lasting effects of slavery. Finally Rosencratz and Guildenstern was one of the most interesting plays I've had to read, as it was very different, creating a play about the minor characters of another play. It was also very philosophical as it took an existentialist viewpoint on life.
I think the course provided a lot of insight that I wouldn't have gotten if I had chosen another course. I was also a big fan of the Dante's Inferno paper because it allowed us to be creative and put our own personal take on the Dante story. It was also the paper I did the best on so thats also why it was good. I think my favorite novel overall was actually Candide due to how bizarre the whole thing was. The moments of the novel that stood out to me the most were the monkeys being the ladies lovers and I loved how at the end Candide says "we must cultivate our garden" showing how he is just done with Pangloss and his stupid philosophies. A lot of times, the stories like The Wasteland were very confusing to me but I still enjoyed discussing them even I had no clue what they were talking about at the time. I liked the discussion based classroom even though a lot of times we didn't say anything and Ms. King and Ms. Quinet wanted to kill us. Overall, I enjoyed everything the class had to offer.
Humanities/AP English IV is arguably the most rigorous course offered at STM. Reflecting back on some of the units we've covered, I definitely would say the class taught me some of the most important literature and history that I've ever learned. Whether it be Dante's Inferno, Beloved or One Hundred Years of Solitude, the novels, poems, and works of literature featured several thematic elements that are fundamental in learning English. From the historical side, Ms. Quinet covered debatably the most controversial aspects of Western society from the Banana Massacre to the World Wars to the controversy art brought to society. If I had to pick my favorite piece from each respective section, I would say that Dante's Inferno and our creative response essay was my favorite from Ms. King's teachings and pop culture art and slavery relations were the most impactful from Ms. Quinet's lectures and discussions. Thank y'all both for everything.
So much interesting material has been converted this year in humanities. This class taught me so much information that I will be able to bring with me to my college classes. My favorite thing to read this year was Dantes Inferno, because you could tell that the author had personal opinions on everyone he wrote about. The entire book was him roasting people he knew. I also enjoyed getting to explore a new novel on my own. Sometimes it's nice to have an independent study, because then you have time to form your own opinions about the novel without the opinions of others clouding your judgement.
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