Test Response

What I learned about the AP test practice is the swiftness of the tests. You must read, analyze, and answer the questions in a short amount of time, which is difficult. The test today was not too hard and a bit expected since I took the AP test last year, but it was still challenging.  This has helped me prepare for the AP test in that I now know I need to practice completing sections of the test in the small amount of time allotted. 

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens style of writing was mostly Realism, so he wrote Great Expectations following that style. Dickens wrote about the length of the life of a young boy named Pip, who grew in age and had personal growth. When the girl named Estella said about Pip "He calls the Knaves Jacks, this boy!... And what course hands he has! And what thick boots!", he began to feel ashamed of himself and longed to be a gentleman. This helped set in motion Pip's growth and his "great expectations".

Great Expectations Introduction Summary

          The novel began at a scene of a graveyard, in which an orphan named Pip is visiting his parents’ grave sites. An escaped convict approaches Pip, demanding food and a file to be brought to him the following day, or else a lunatic man will find Pip in his home and eat his liver and heart. Pip managed to steal some food from his sister, Mrs. Joe, and a file from her husband, Joe, who is a blacksmith. Upon receiving the stolen goods, the convict began sawing at the chain on his leg. Pip left home, obviously unaware that the convict was merely trying to intimidate him into bringing him what he wanted. Pip felt extremely guilty afterwards, afraid of what his stern sister would do if she discovered his act of theft.

Great Expectations Title

Charles Dickens named his novel Great Expectations because the story was of a young boy named Pip whom had great expectations for his future and aspired to become a gentleman and a man of high status, rather than a blacksmith’s apprentice. The title also hints that great things are to come for Pip in the future. 

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I selected The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost because of the complexity and depth of the poem. At first glance, it would appear as if when the narrator appeared in front of a fork in the road, he walked the road less traveled. Upon further analyzing the poem, it appears the two roads were equally untraveled and although he had told himself he would come back another day and travel the other road, he knew he wouldn’t. Therefore, he told himself he took the road less traveled by, but he knew that was not true. The common misconception about this poem made it intriguing to opt and analyze. 

What I've Learned (and a video!)

This year I have learned many things that will surely help in my never-ending quest for knowledge, but one thing that continues to be shoved into my mind, with consent of course, is that if I do not embrace technological advances, society will chew me up, spit me out, stomp on me, eat me again, regurgitate me, light me on fire, laugh and leave me behind. Civilization, so I'm told, is changing rapidly whether I embrace the change or not. In order to adapt to these changes I must make use of any and all resources available to me. I must also acquire new technological skills so that I am not completely baffled at the sight of what civilization will become in the near future. In relation to the video, besides being a cool song with an amazing video, it is as if I am one of the buffalo, but no matter where I go, change is just around the corner and it is imminent. Luckily, unlike the buffalo, I have a blog, which will serve as my headquarters for mastering these technological advances.

Not-So-Simple-Question

I believe that extensive internet/media/technology use has not changed the way I think very much, but has perhaps made it lazier and has definitely influenced the way i think. The reason for the laziness is that with sources such as the internet, I am able to find whatever it may be that I must find out rather quickly and easy as well. As for the influence, with the internet, I am able to learn about an infinite number of subjects which may spark my interest or broaden my intellectual horizons at my own leisure. Although technology creates an abysmal amount of distractions, if used properly and with a goal or focus in mind, can greatly improve one's thinking.