Author: Lane L

End of Year Reflection / Exit West

On By Lane LIn Story Power1 Comment

I think reflective practice is the heart of a growing teacher. Mr. Heidkamp allowed us students to grow but to grow in our own creative selves. AP Literature challenged me with difficult language and deep meaning in the stories, poems, etc. that forced me to learn to interpret different types of writing. Looking back at the amount of writing I’ve done for AP Literature, I can see growth in my understanding of poetry and of literature. There are skills and concepts that I need to focus on and refine as I continue through the class, but I am confident in the abilities that I have picked up so far. AP Literature has changed the way I analyze works of literature by widening the amount of ‘tools’ I have to interpret the work and my ability to clearly explain my interpretations. I have learned new vocabulary and literary devices primarily used in poetry, and I’ve paid much more attention to syntax and sentence structures than ever before.

Overall, the novel Exit West focuses on the struggles of individuals as they try to establish a new home and a sense of well-being. This has helped me appreciate my own privilege and to become even more conscious of others around me. As people in the book work navigate the challenges of creating a new sense of belonging, it has given me a much greater appreciation for what I have for myself and for what people go through. This is a great life lesson that I can take away from this novel and I hope others felt this way too.

Modern Family / Modern Satire

On By Lane LIn Comedy/SatireLeave a comment

ABC’s Modern Family is a television series that focuses on “types” of families found in America today.  There are three households: The Dunphys—a married couple with three children, Cam and Mitchell—a homosexual couple with an adopted daughter, and The Pritchetts—an older man with a younger wife who moved from Colombia with her son.  All three of these individual households are part of the same complex and hilarious family.  Where else in the world could you find such a diverse family? Modern Family satirizes the America of today and outlines in a comic way the stereotypes of our nation.

Modern Family contributes to the American narrative by showing America as a place of acceptance, freedom, and hard work.  It demonstrates the white picket fence and all of the things that can go awry within it.  No one in the family considers Cam and Mitchell’s relationship to be strange and no one cares that Gloria and Manny are from Colombia. While they make fun of each other’s quirks as all families do, there is no loss of acceptance due to background, sexuality, or ethnicity. Modern Family promotes America as a place of acceptance, a place where you are free to be the person that you are.  This television series shows America as a melting pot, where all people are accepted, but where sometimes our differences boil over in a comic fashion.

The Simpsons Satire

On By Lane LIn Comedy/SatireLeave a comment

The Simpsons created by Matt Groening has been a long-standing television show that millions upon millions have enjoyed for its humor, but The Simpsons has also brought an important issue up in many of its episodes; standardized testing in the American education system. The simpsons presents the real-life problem of standardized testing humorously, even though the effects of the problem are not so funny. The Simpsons has gone through several specific issues within the general problem of standardized testing, and the issues that standardized testing creates.

In the Simpsons episode, Meyer uses Horatian satire to outline the horrible way the testing system in the United States tries to subject students to testing that is too regulated and biased and which doesn’t show their true knowledge. In this particular episode, Bart and Lisa Simpson are taking standardized tests in school to determine their best fit for future careers.

The show criticizes the school system and the purpose of standardized tests. For example, the name of the test, the career aptitude normalizing test, stands for “can’t”. The name is ironic and suggests that assessment has a negative connotation or that it restricts students’ abilities. The teacher also makes a comment saying, “Some of you may discover a wonderful vocation you never even imagined, others may find out life isn’t fair”. She then goes into detail about how despite her master’s in education she ended up babysitting fourth graders while her husband ran away with her marriage counselor. Although she speaks in a serious tone I can identify this as satire because it is criticizing the foundation of the test by inferring that the career you are given does not always work out or make you happy. 

“Un-Feminine” Actions

On By Lane LIn King Lear1 Comment

The sisters are very masculine in their actions and ambitions, subverting all accepted notions of femininity. This would have been particularly shocking. Goneril denies her husband Albany’s authority insisting that “the laws are mine, not thine” (Act 5 Scene 3). Goneril hatches a plan to oust her father from his seat of power by undermining him and ordering the servants to ignore his requests (emasculating her father in the process). The sisters pursue Edmund in a predatory way and both take part in some of the most horrific violence to be found in Shakespeare’s plays. Regan runs a servant through in Act 3 Scene 7 which would have been men’s work.

The character’s unsympathetic treatment of their father is also unfeminine as they turf him out into the countryside to fend for himself having previously acknowledged his infirmity and age; “the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with him” (Goneril Act 1 Scene 1) A woman would be expected to care for their aging relatives. Even Albany, Goneril’s husband becomes shocked and disgusted with his wife’s behavior and distances himself from her.

Both sisters participate in the most horrific scene of the play – the blinding of Gloucester. Goneril suggests the means of torture; “Pluck out his… eyes!” (Act 3 Scene 7) Regan goads Gloucester and when his eye has been plucked out she says to her husband; “One side will mock another; the other too” (Act 3 Scene 7).

The sisters share ambitious traits but go further by participating and reveling in the violence that ensues. The murderous sisters embody a frightening and unwavering inhumanity as they kill and maim in the pursuit of self-gratification.

Eventually, the sisters turn on each other; Goneril poisons Regan and then kills herself. The sisters have orchestrated their own downfall. However, the sisters appear to get away quite lightly; about what they have done – in comparison to Lear’s fate and his initial ‘crime’ and Gloucester’s demise and previous actions. It could be argued that the harshest judgment is that no one laments their deaths.

“I Lived” By One Republic

On By Lane LIn PoetryLeave a comment

The lyrics of “I Lived” are powerful and thought-provoking. The song in the album Native is about seizing the moment and living life with no regrets, even if it means taking risks and facing challenges. The opening lines set the tone for the entire song:

“Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall
Hope when the water rises, you built a wall
Hope when the crowd screams out, they’re screaming your name
Hope if everybody runs, you choose to stay”

The first verse is about his hope for someone he loves, who could be his lover, best friend, or someone important to him to stay strong whatever happens in life, though his heart might be broken, pain might come.

The second verse emphasizes that he could be with his significant other to see, to feel every happiness, and every sadness together all the time, even though that is impossible, because each person has their own part of life, and only sometimes that fate makes their life intertwined.

The bridge to the chorus says: “Hope when the/my moment comes you/I say, I did it all” and talks about the final second of our life. He hopes that in the final second of their life, when they are about to die, they will not regret any single thing in life, and feel that they have lived their life to the fullest, no matter how hard life is.

Hope that you fall in love
And it hurts so bad
The only way you can know
Is give it all you have
And I hope that you don’t suffer
But take the pain
Hope when the moment comes
You’ll say..

These lyrics encourage listeners to have faith in themselves and take chances, even when the odds are against them. They remind us that life is unpredictable, but we have the power to control our own destiny.

The Profound Effect the Nurse Had on Maria’s Life

On By Lane LIn Trust (film) - Hal Hartley1 Comment

A nurse at the abortion clinic is most sympathetic when she takes off her cap and pours a couple of glasses of Scotch for Maria and herself. Maria’s sister presents herself as a flirty, gum-chomping waitress She seems like a “man” next to her younger sister, especially after Maria pulls back her hair, and puts on her glasses. As Maria starts thinking about her life and the abortion she writes, “I am ashamed,” this new Maria writes in a notebook. “I am ashamed of being young. I am ashamed of being stupid.”

Surrounded by people who would agree with that wrenching self-thought, she is fortunate to find Matthew. As Maria says, their relationship is based on trust, admiration, and respect. Maria is determined to convince him that those qualities are equal to love, even if she has to jump off a bridge to prove it knowing Matthew thinks otherwise. This might be love, but not the kind usually seen on screen. At the moment they seem about to kiss, Maria pulls back and says, “Give me your hand grenade.”

Maria’s transformation from a smart-mouthed girl to a wise young woman both sensible and credible. Like Matthew knows how to reveal that from Maria. Maria overall has learned to love and accept people at the most vulnerable times allowing Matthew to learn the same from Maria. They both took risks to “prove” their love, with the end result of Maria just needing herself and finding ways to love herself without a husband; Matthew.

Prosecutor’s Argument

On By Lane LIn Stranger4 Comments

The prosecutor who is arguing against Meursault’s case depicts Meursault as guilty. He especially focuses on the fact that Meursault’s actions suggest his insensitivity and carelessness towards his mother’s death. As you can see throughout the book Albert Campus goes out of his way to portray the male characters as more emotional and sensitive. This is the opposite of the way his language is used toward female characters which presents women almost as “objects” with the heavy use of imagery.

Even though he did not cry at his mother’s funeral, his start of a new relationship with Marie shortly after the funeral is used by the prosecutor to support his argument that Meursault is guilty. The prosecutor goes as far as to say that Meursault buried his mother with “crime in his heart” (96). Even though these facts and ideas might be correct, the manner in which the prosecutor portrays Meursault’s disillusionment is very exaggerated and taken off guard. Everything is blown out of proportion, and Meursault is left in no control because of his emotional inability to speak up and defend himself.

The prosecutor takes advantage of Meursault’s emotional struggles. In this way, he implies that Meursault is a guilty man based on the way he presents himself, and therefore portrays Meursault as an outcast in society.

Appearance and Reality of “Good Country People”

On By Lane LIn Short Stories

In The Good Country People, characters frequently see others in ways that are at odds with how they are. The Good Country People’s personalities frequently portray themselves in the exact opposite way from how they are in reality. The title of the story “Good Country People” is intended for an eye-catching reading.

Hopewell refers to both characters as “good country people.” However, this term is unsuitable for both. The Bible salesman identifies himself as a person who turns out to be an irreverent womanizer who takes Hulga’s prosthetic limb.

In contrast, Mrs. Freeman comes out as depressing, arrogant, and self-absorbed throughout the novel, not innocent and kindhearted as Mrs. Hopewell indicates. The novel makes it very evident that Mrs. Hopewell is not more educated, refined, or cultural than the other characters, even though Mrs. Hopewell’s entire view of a “good country person” affects her belief that she is superior to these people.

The term “Good country people” and how it defines reality loses all significance and becomes false.