Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Einstein didn't do well in on tests either= We're all going to be geniuses!

      Mr. B, you have got to start sending us emails again!I was going to sleep when I finally remembered about the blog.It's not my fault;I'm getting too old!Also,you never sent us an email about our scores.Shame on you!You know we have nothing better to do than watch Maury while eating Nute....I mean wait for our scores.Anyway, I feel like I did OK with this diagnostic,but not as good as usual because of the vocabulary terms(No, really?).We definitively need a refresher course along with multiple choice questions that focus on them every now and  then.Some of the words are so specific that we don't ever use them, however they seemed familiar.That was tricky for I'd much rather not know than rack my brain for little glimpses of the definitions. I feel like I did really well on the Ambush war prose and the Spring is coming; birds! one which is funny because a lot of people seemed to have trouble with the latter.
      This relates to the next question of how to make us all prepared.You can't.As seen above,some people get things that others don't and vice versa.I think what you have been doing so far has been good enough.From now on,just switch up the warm ups.One week it can be on vocabulary,the next on something else.OR, I have a great idea.We can all buy black clothing and along with a cool music montage,find a way to sneak in and steal this year's AP exam.I saw it on a movie so it definitely should be applied to real life.We already have the smart Asians that do the legwork and funny guys that bring comic relief.All we need now is a blonde that's the lead of the movie even though she doesn't really bring anything to the table.Who's with me?

Sunday, March 11, 2012

You better like it if Oprah's in it,unless you want to die.

      The movie Beloved  is ok,not early as good as the great masterpieces of our generation like Bratz: The Movie or insert any Eddie Murphy movie here.Zing!One thing that I didn't like was the fact that Oprah was in it.Sethe isnt supposed to be just a person;she is the symbol of all African American ex slaves that have tried to move on from their past.Since that is the case,I believe it would have been better to cast an unknown actress just so the audience could feel like it could be anybody.Casting Oprah,one of the most successful black woman in the world as Sethe doesn't work for me.It's like casting Angelina Jolie for a role of a poor cant find a man woman.It just wouldn't work because we know too  much about her and we won't be able to see the character,just Angelina.The whole time I was watching the movie i kept thinking "Ooh Oprah mad!" and "oh snap Oprah gone crazy!". This isn't good because we're supposed to see Sethe.
     I don't feel like the movie did a very good job of showcasing Beloved's true hidden depth and meaning.Then again,rarely do movies do the book justice.I'm looking at you My Sister's Keeper!I feel like they went for shock value as opposed to subtle messages.In the beginning when Paul D came inside 124 for the first time there was red lights.I mean, come on.This is not the disco!It looked cheap and silly;in the book the spirit is haunting and devastating,not a horror show with bad special effects.
      The movie left out some scenes, especially those relating to Sethe's and Pauly D's past.Sweet Home is practically forgotten and I think this is a mistake for the audience needs to know their history.I guess it wasn't so appealing to show Paul d and the rest of the men having sex with cows.Darn you MPAA!Also at the end,Beloved vanishes which isn't subtle at all.The book leaves you wondering who or what Beloved was and what she represented.She was multifaceted much like the history and problems with slavery,family,and memories.The movie's ending pretty much told you she was a ghost.I like it better when I leave the theater feeling confused and trying to figure it all out rather than the movie telling me.That's what happens when I leave an Adam Sandler movie;I think "Was it that bad?" and "Could it have been worse?" and "NOO!I just wasted 10 bucks!".See,thinking!
     If someone saw the movie without reading the book,I don't think they would get it.It would seem like a weird movie that has too much shock value.The audience needs to have read the book to get what the Sethe peeing in the yard and the rape scenes really mean.Overall the movie was meh.The book gives the movie more depth;the movie gives the book Oprah.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Did we win food?Prizes?Money?Ohhh... well then.

     I believe our group won for the reason that it's hard to say that something inherently negative doesn't affect society.Anyone who has faced prejudice can tell you that its a problem.It might not affect everybody and it might be way less than it used to be,but that doesn't change the fact that it's a problem.After 9/11 there were all these videos of people asking random people on the street whether they'd bomb any country in the Middle East.Most said they would,even to countries that had nothing to do with anything like Kazakhstan.They might be a minority,but the fact that some people still think that is a problem.Anything that's bad and still occurs is an issue.Look at bullying.Yes some of us haven't been bullied and others have and have gotten over it,but it still occurs and hurts people.It might not be as big of a deal as say murder or rape,but it exists.Just existing is bad enough.
      I believe our group had better rebuttals and spoke more eloquently.What really killed the other group was the closing statement;it was messy and badly prepared.We brought in actual events and incidents such as the Jeremy Lin thing, Hitch thing, and the Gingrich welfare thing.I do feel that we had an advantage though. If it wasn't an issue would we have had the debate today?All in all,much better than last time and I enjoyed it.Le do dis again!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Ghosts be doing what?

http://www.history.com/topics/historical-ghost-stories


This article talks about ghosts and how they came to be. It says that Places that are haunted are usually believed to be associated with some occurrence or emotion in the ghost's past; they are often a former home or the place where he or she died. This relates to Beloved because Beloved’s ghost haunts Sethe. It says that traditional signs of haunting range from strange noises, lights, odors or breezes to the displacement of objects, and bells that ring spontaneously. In Beloved, the ghost rumbles around the house and is malicious. Beloved’s ghost is looking for something or feels unfinished, probably because her own mother killed her.  The article states that ghost exists separately from his or her body, and may continue to exist after that person dies and can return to "haunt" the living which Beloved’s ghost does. I don’t think Beloved will leave(ghost or human reincarnation) until the past is discussed and dealt with.