Unlike many schools across the nation, my school sports the use of block periods. Without fail, Thursdays are filled with odd numbered two hour periods, and Fridays filled with even numbered two hour periods. (The periods are more around the one hour and forty minute mark, but let's face it, they sure as hell feel like two hours) But my first period on Thursday was different, it was my first experience with Mrs. G and the AP Comp class for a full two hours. To my genuine surprise, i actually enjoyed myself. Perhaps it was the raunchy jokes, or maybe the hilarious digressions. But if i had to guess, it would be the material we discussed and anlyzed that day.
We read two essays, "The Essayification of Everything" by Christy Wampole , and "Blogs vs. Term Papers" by Matt Richtel. The titles are quite self-explanatory, but i urge you to take the time to read each essay thoroughly. "Blogs vs. Term Papers" struck a particular cord with me. As an aspiring high school student hoping to one day go strait to a four year college, the horror story's of the twenty page term paper on that book no one read still scare me from time to time. Richtel makes the point that term papers are falling out of favor, citing sources who believe it is due to lack of reading. I do not agree. Long essays and research papers are disappearing due to the slowly dieing rigorousness of our curriculum. Every year new legislation is passed lowering the standards expected of each student. This problem goes much deeper and could take up thousands upon thousands of words, yet i shall leave it at: the amount of reading expected is not the problem, it is the frailness of our educational code. Conn Carrol of the Washington Examiner puts it into undeniable numbers.
Back to the essay, in a quote we discussed in class, William H. Fitzhugh states that "Writing is being murdered." While i agree with Fitzhugh on his message, there is a key word missing. "Traditional" writing is being murdered. The old style tedious writing is disappearing as the new generation moves in, which as many of us have seen, is all about availability and speed. The ideas expressed in this post could be stretched to a ten page report, but who has time to read that amount these days? Not many people do. Another point is simple attraction. Let a student use his laptop in school to write about issues he is genuinely interested in rather than a dusty topic that has been written about so much that it causes the professor to fall asleep reading the same ideas, more students will be motivated to write. Overall, traditional writing is being murdered, and writing as a whole is being revitalized.
Playing on the idea that the oncoming generation has very little time to stop and think, Christy Wampole in "The Essayification of Everything" states the essays written today lack the dogmatism of the past. They are empty. This problem is not due to the number of essays, but the writers themselves. They are devoid of thought. Playing the devil's advocate, i have to disagree. I believe the essays Wampole is looking for are out there, buried under thousands of "attempts". As more and more people begin to write, as world literacy increases, and as technology spreads, essays are written more frequently. For argument's sake, lets say less than one percent are the type of essays that Wampole is looking for are created everyday. Again, theoretically, in the past only one hundred essays were written a day, making that one essay stick out above the rest. When a million are written, that thousand is hard to find. Do not stop looking for greatness, you will find it in the place you least expect it.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Across The Seas Of The Internet, There Is Only Us
We will start this simple. My name is WK. That is all you really need to know. However, like you, I have a family, friends, and opinions. To you, I am text on a screen, but I urge you to look past that, and recognize I am another person, just like you.
To bridge the gap between text and human, here are a few things about myself. I was born in the beautiful Napa Valley, in which I have spent my entire life. It is where I've been schooled and raised. The Napa Valley will never cease to be without me, however a part of me will cease when I am without the Napa Valley. I currently attend Napa High School, where I have just entered my senior year. In other words, I have roughly 230 days until I am done. Thrown into the world brutally. This of course is a dramatization.
I run Varsity Cross Country in the fall, and Varsity Track & Field in the spring. Neither of which I am particularly great at, but both of which have taught me a large amount about heath, and more importantly, myself.When I was younger, until the eight grade, I was an avid basketball player. However, when playing a skirmish with another team, I went up for a rebound along with another player. We clashed, and I fell on top oh him. I displaced three spinal disks and herniated two. I can no longer play contact sports.
Since my freshman year, I have been a part of the Napa High Choir program. I have worked my way through the various levels of choir, and this year I was fortunate enough to make it into the Napa High Chamber Choir. I love to sing.
Academically I've always been a good student, nothing over the top, but consistent enough to get myself into a good college. This year I am taking three Advanced Placement courses, AP Government, AP Environmental science, and of course, AP Composition. Due to the freshness of this year, I have yet to determine the difficulty of these classes, but let me say this; this post is the most work I have had to do yet.
According to a quiz I took in AP government I am a "Solid Liberal". I slightly disagree with this, as I consider myself "Independent lean Democrat". Politics is a center part of my life, as both of my parents have been politically active, and Political Science is a major I hope to study in college.
"College, the final frontier", is a quote that has stuck with me through my years of high school. It is the last academic institution to conquer, the last hurdle to adult hood. My college top college picks are UCSD (San Diego), UC Irvine, and Manhattan College in New York.
I consider myself a family man, as I was raised with two older brothers and three older sisters. I was the youngest. Life growing up was a madhouse, and as each of my siblings went out into the world, life settled a small amount.
My copious number of siblings has landed me with a nephew and three nieces, all of whom I try to spend as much time with as I can. One could say they were the little brothers and sisters I never had.
Hopefully I have persuaded you to see me in a different light, a light that isn't a fluorescent white. I am just like you. The only thing that separates us is the vast expanse of the Internet.
To bridge the gap between text and human, here are a few things about myself. I was born in the beautiful Napa Valley, in which I have spent my entire life. It is where I've been schooled and raised. The Napa Valley will never cease to be without me, however a part of me will cease when I am without the Napa Valley. I currently attend Napa High School, where I have just entered my senior year. In other words, I have roughly 230 days until I am done. Thrown into the world brutally. This of course is a dramatization.
I run Varsity Cross Country in the fall, and Varsity Track & Field in the spring. Neither of which I am particularly great at, but both of which have taught me a large amount about heath, and more importantly, myself.When I was younger, until the eight grade, I was an avid basketball player. However, when playing a skirmish with another team, I went up for a rebound along with another player. We clashed, and I fell on top oh him. I displaced three spinal disks and herniated two. I can no longer play contact sports.
Since my freshman year, I have been a part of the Napa High Choir program. I have worked my way through the various levels of choir, and this year I was fortunate enough to make it into the Napa High Chamber Choir. I love to sing.
Academically I've always been a good student, nothing over the top, but consistent enough to get myself into a good college. This year I am taking three Advanced Placement courses, AP Government, AP Environmental science, and of course, AP Composition. Due to the freshness of this year, I have yet to determine the difficulty of these classes, but let me say this; this post is the most work I have had to do yet.
According to a quiz I took in AP government I am a "Solid Liberal". I slightly disagree with this, as I consider myself "Independent lean Democrat". Politics is a center part of my life, as both of my parents have been politically active, and Political Science is a major I hope to study in college.
"College, the final frontier", is a quote that has stuck with me through my years of high school. It is the last academic institution to conquer, the last hurdle to adult hood. My college top college picks are UCSD (San Diego), UC Irvine, and Manhattan College in New York.
I consider myself a family man, as I was raised with two older brothers and three older sisters. I was the youngest. Life growing up was a madhouse, and as each of my siblings went out into the world, life settled a small amount.
My copious number of siblings has landed me with a nephew and three nieces, all of whom I try to spend as much time with as I can. One could say they were the little brothers and sisters I never had.
Hopefully I have persuaded you to see me in a different light, a light that isn't a fluorescent white. I am just like you. The only thing that separates us is the vast expanse of the Internet.
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