Blog #3 Group Skills

            A crystal ball dominated the center of the table, surrounded by understated tea lights. The rest of the room was dark; I had forgotten to light the candles.

            “This is creepy,” the woman said.

            “Don’t you want your fortune read?” I asked.

            “I’m not sure.”

            “I promise, it’s all completely true. Besides, you need to take more risks in you life. Little Scarface didn’t see the Hidden One without having convictions and standing up for herself. It’s important that you state your own beliefs and opinions having to do with my suggestions. That advice was free by the way.”

            “Fine. What else can you tell me about my future?”

            “The crystal ball tells me… that you will become very, very wealthy. You are going to make millions in stocks and bonds.

            “Really?”

            “Yes. Unfortunately, I also see that you are going to lose all of that money. You are going to spend it all on chicken stock and James Bond.”

            “What?”

            “You are going to waste all of your money on soup and 007 memorabilia. If it’s any consolation, I like your life-size cut-out of Halle Berry.”

            “That’s ridiculous.”

            “Even though it’s important to constructively analyze my prediction, I advise you to take it seriously. If you don’t, you may have the Story Spirits coming after you for revenge. You can’t keep your opinions stuck inside of you. You need to share your beliefs and interact with the beliefs of others. It’s important to be able to reach consensus.”

            “Well, you should know that I don’t like soup.”

            “In that case, it must not be chicken stock which you will waste your money on. My crystal ball is telling me that, instead, you will buy… thousands of pairs of nylon stockings.”

            “I do wear stockings.”

            “I knew it. By expressing our own opinions as well as being able to come to a consensus, we were able to effectively predict your future.”

            “I understand now. We needed to work together towards a common purpose, and we were able to do so by giving opinions and evaluating the opinions of each other.”

            “Exactly.”

            “Was this advice free too?”

            “If it doesn’t come true, it’s free.”

Blog #2 Exam Reflection

            Based on the Diagnostic Exam in 5 Steps to a 5, strengths that I have include: time management and knowledge of literary devices. Time management is important because it helps me to pace myself and be able to get through the questions quickly while still understanding the passages and the questions. The faster that you are able to understand the passage, the more time is available to focus on the questions. In addition, I know most of the literary devices. For instance, in question 26, it asks, “Line 12 is an example of” what type of literary device. I knew that the answer to this particular question was that the line is a paradox because not only do I know what a paradox is, but I know what the other options are in order to eliminate them. Having a broad base of knowledge of literary devices is important because, if you are unsure of a particular question, being able to eliminate blatantly wrong answers is a good test taking strategy.

            A weakness that I have in literary analysis, on the other hand would be that sometimes I get carried away. What I mean to say is that after I read a passage, I go to the questions, excited that I totally understood what the author meant in the story or the poem, and I actually don’t. And then I answer a few questions totally wrong because I was too carried away in my own interpretation without delving deeper into what might be a more complex meaning. Certain types of questions are also more challenging to me. For instance, the questions that give you something to find (i.e. a device, a plot point, etc.) and then ask what line it can be found in are questions that I consider more difficult. For me, it’s more difficult to go in reverse and do it this way. Another type of question that I consider more difficult is the more abstract questions, such as coming up with a title for a passage. They are not as straightforward and therefore definitely require more consideration.

            I plan to improve by setting certain goals for myself. For instance, something that the Chapter 1 in the book mentions is to become more “attentive” to the text and to “become more comfortable with the ambiguity and contradiction “ presented in the passage. I believe that this will give my interpretations of literature to become more nuanced because it will force me to focus more on specific analysis and why the author made certain decisions rather than simply trying to understand what is supposed to be happening. Another goal that I have made for myself is to close read the passages more effectively. Close reading and annotating is one of the most important things that you can do because it helps to highlight what elements of the text are the most important to analyze. Therefore, it can provide a narrower focus that emphasizes literary technique versus literary plot. By improving my close reading skills, this can help with interpretations of the passage.

            One last goal that I plan to enact would be to incorporate more literature into my life. I never read poetry, so some of my poetry skills have faded. So if I can take some spare time once a week just to read a poem it would help me to familiarize myself with the structure and techniques used in poems. Therefore, when I get to a test, I won’t be worried about it and can focus more on analysis instead of plot points. 

Blog #1 Design Choices

            In designing my blog, I wanted to incorporate a very classic feel to it. Literature is a way in which people can connect to the past, an idea that I incorporated into my title, so I wanted this concept to translate into the design. To do this I used a serif typeface in the title, which indicates a "traditional" mood, according to Carrie Cousins. Similarly, for the background of my blog, I chose the Eiffel Tower, which signifies tradition. It also suggests worldliness, which also applies to literature.

            In my blog, I chose blue to be the background color because, according to Kendra Cherry, "it calls to mind feelings of calmness" when the color is viewed. Studies show that the color blue lowers pulse rates and relieves stress. This is important because this blog does apply to an AP class, so frustration and stress are common occurrences. The blue color, therefore, was an effort by me to calm the reader.