Final Blog

     There are some blogs that were really fun to write and some that were a struggle.  The opinion blogs along with the alternate ending for "The Pit and the Pendulum" were my favorite.  The Having my Say blog was really fun and easy to write.  Making up and ending for a story is always fun.  I did not enjoy the 1920 blogs that I had to look stuff up for.  The Gatsby music blog was difficult because I had no idea what songs were popular during the 1920s or what songs would fit the book.
     Honestly I think many of the blogs were just a nuisance to write.  I put in good effort for most of them.   I did learn a little from them, but not a lot.  My top three stories of the year are "The Yellow Wallpaper", "The Great Gatsby", and "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".

Advice for Miss Wolff

     There are many things about class this year that I have very much enjoyed.  I like the class discussions we have about stories.  Most of the books we have read are pretty decent.  English was one of just a few classes that I wanted to be longer rather than shorter.  The ACT prep really helped and was a great break from Literature.  Some of the short stories we read are really difficult to understand until you explain them and to maintain focus reading.  I think that SQ4R should be an option, not a requirement.  I think just reading the story and then taking notes the next day during class would be a much better option.  "The Scarlet Letter" is one of those books that people teach solely because it is regarded as one to read in high school.  I think that all the schools should drop reading that dreadfully boring book.  I think that class should be harder so that it separates the good from the great.  That's one thing about Lutheran in general that irritates me.  It should be harder to get an A in a class.  I don't think that more homework should be assigned, but tests should be harder.  That goes for every class, not just English.

Gatsby Music

     Since The Great Gatsby takes place in the Jazz Age, jazz music would accompany the book well.  "West End Blues" by Louis Armstrong would be a good fit for the dance parties at Gatsby's house.  It is a jazzy song and was one of the top songs of the 20s. "I Wanna Be Loved By You" by Helen Kane would fit the book well.  It would be a good song for Gatsby to sing to Daisy.  "High Society" by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band is a good song to represent the East Egg people like Tom and Daisy.

Mark Twain's Wit

     "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar".  I think this is one of life's biggest lessons.  I believe that it really means that a man is truthful when he doesn't deny something wrong he has done.  It tells that people need to acknowledge their mistakes in life so that they can move on.  If a man cheats on his wife, the best thing to do is admit it so that he can be set free from it someday.  If he holds it in, and remains a liar, he will feel guilty for the remainder of his life. This quote may have other meanings, but this is what it means to me. 

What's Good?

      What's Good?  Il Volo!  I know that I wrote about them in a previous blog, but nobody can get enough Il Volo.  They are a trio of tenors from Italy.  The youngest one, who is just 17 years old, has the best voice I have ever heard.  I would do dirty things to have his voice (but not too dirty).  They are three of the most talented singers in the world and they are all just teenagers!  I have probably listened to their song Il Mundo 200 times.  I can't get their music out of my head.  I highly encourage you to check the group out and to listen to their songs.  I guarantee that you will be blown away.

Stories of the Quest For Civil Rights

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_fisk.html

     This is the story of W.E.B. Du Bois challenging the white president of Fisk University.  Du Bois returned to the university as an alumnus, and was disgusted with what he saw.  The president wanted to take a donation from a Northern foundation, but had to stress the Jim Crow laws.  Du Bois, unlike Booker T. Washington, did not want people to submit to the Jim Crow laws.  This is exactly what Martin Luther King preached.  He said that an unjust law is no law at all.  Du Bois and King had very similar views.

Walk Through Harlem

      Going on the online tour shows how much Bessie and Sadie knew about Harlem and how much they had done there.  Marcus Garvey's story about his protests reminded me of Bessie and how she would join riots and fight for black rights.  Bessie was not not as famous as Garvey, but she still wanted to have her say, hence the title of the book.  James Weldon Johnson's mother was the first black woman to teach in Florida, just like Sadie was the first black teacher to teach domestic science.