Literature I will prepare for the AP Exam

The list of books and other literature I am considering preparing for the AP exam include Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, Beloved, and possibly my independent study book The Grapes of Wrath.  I believe that these works will give me the best options to choose from when writing my essays.  They all deal with important themes and come from different times in history.  Oedipus Rex is a short play by Sophocles that is the perfect example of a Greek tragedy.  Hamlet By Shakespeare talks about the character, Hamlet's struggle to avenge his father's murder by his Uncle Claudius.  The novel, Beloved reveals how slavery can cause a family to be torn apart and turn on each other in the case of Beloved and her mother Seethe.  Seethe was forced to make many tough choices such as trying to kill her children to save them from slavery.  All three of these books deal with very important themes.  They all took place during different times and were written by authors of different times.  I feel like having books from different times is important as it shows that you are knowledgable with many different kinds of literature during different periods of history.

Oedipus Rex was my favorite

My favorite thing we read all year was Oedipus Rex, the play of the king of Thebes who marries his own mother and murders his own father all on accident.  I really enjoyed the story that this play told.  Although it was somewhat short and simple, I thought it portrayed themes that were relevant for the rest of the year.  For example, we recently heard of Oedipus again while reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being.  Tomas compares the Russians to the story Oedipus the King.  We also see the play sitting in the engineer's room.  Oedipus acknowledges his mistakes while the Russians do not.  I think overall that it is very interesting that a work from so long ago could have so much influence on other works of literature.  This is why Oedipus Rex was my favorite thing we read all year.

AP books

For the AP Exam, I know I will definitely write about the Color Purple, which was my independent study. I can always write about Celie's journey from a feminist perspective or from an african american perspective. Or intertwine the both. I think I can adapt it to pretty much any prompt. I also think I will review Beloved. I enjoyed the book and read it recently, so I think I can also adapt that to fit an essay prompt. It has very similar themes to the Color Purple, but is set in an earlier time period, and therefore is more about american slavery. Beloved also is largely about feminine/filial relationships. Finally, I'll review my notes from No Exit. We also talked about that recently, so it's still fresh in my brain. I feel comfortable with the themes of No Exit, aka existentialism and "bad faith". That way I'll have racism, sexism and existentialism concepts flowing through my brain. I'm sure one of them will be appropriate.

Favorite Novel

Well, it's not really one novel, but more of an author. Notes from the Underground was my introduction to Dostoevsky. In case you didn't notice by the fact that I chose to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky for my independent study project, I love his work. I mean, considering his work is translated from Russian, he has a smooth, flawless writing style. But my favorite part of his work is his characters. I remember reading a comment about Dostoevsky's work, saying that all his characters are fallen angels - which is true. Raskolnikov, who planned and succeeded in murdering two people, is certainly considered a good person who fell victim to his circumstances and intelligence. But in Notes from the Underground, Dostoevsky successfully portrays the dislikable, but understandable Underground Man. His characters are complex and beautifully written and I;m reading the Brothers Karamazov over the summer.

Oedipus The Best

My favorite work that we have read this year would have to be Oedipus The King. I really enjoyed the whole Greek mythology/drama unit because I am generally fascinated by everything mythology. I also liked how well it meshed with the Humanities portion because the story was based off of the (assumed) history. I guess I like the mythic nature of it all and the fantasy aspect behind it. As far as plot goes I liked how you really have to think to wrap your head around all the different angles and tie off all the loose ends. 

P.S. I also liked how short it was. 

favorite text

My favorite thing we've read this year was The Eternal Lightness of Being. I liked it because it used accessible language and was actually enjoyable to read. I felt like I was learning and that my mind was "expanding", like I would with a more traditionally scholarly text, but it was by no means grueling. It was also interesting to read something about real human relationships as opposed to lofty philosophy or stuffy things written by scholars. I liked the history unit that accompanied the Unbearable Lightness of Being as well. Czechoslovakia isn't something that I would have learned about otherwise. It's also interesting to learn about communism from the voice of someone that experiences it from the inside. The book was modern, relatable, and odd- in a good way.

Carlo Maria Mariani

My favorite artist of the postmodern era is Carlo Maria Mariani. His work truly seems like "art" to me, while retaining the avant garde-ness that postmodern artists strive to achieve. While Rauschenburg and Rothko have very interesting pieces, their art seems to take very little actual skill whereas Mariani has the physical artistic skill of a master while simultaneously achieving the though provoking aspects of post modernism. For instance, his "Eclipse 5" (http://www.carlomariamariani.com/paintings/pnt16.html) takes a lot skill to paint, but it is still thought provoking. The background is modern, but the building the women jumps from is very classic. Because of the juxtaposition of classic architecture and modern architecture of the cityscape, the viewer finds it hard to place the woman who is falling into a time period. She is naked, and portrayed in a classic manner, yet she is jumping from a building which makes for a very un-classic painting since most classic paintings tend to portray either happiness, greek gods, or a particularly well known story. The women's clothing also produces and interesting juxtaposition as her toga hints and classical art, but since when did greeks or romans wear headbands?