Aguilera: August 23-27

This week in AP Lit the main question was "what IS Literature." A small comic stood out from all of what we read this week, The Hapless Child. I read Life in Hell but the comic did not seem very Literature like, but after reading H.C I realized that comics actually do tell a deeper story than seen and also that in situations like this, little is more. Not much was said in H.C but yet you could just dell the emotion from the few words said in each picture seen. Every picture contained just one sentence which amazed me seeing that even 10 sentences could create a bigger story than a huge paragraphed story with no meaning behind the words.

I believe that I got a better understanding of what Literature really IS after reading and comparing the two comics(pg 633-637). Even though we may feel to get the complete idea of Literature we need to, (quoting Mr. Burke) "be a generative thinker through all aspects" which is true because if we are not then we would not be able to think what Literature IS and what Literature IS NOT.

Aguilera: August 16-20

This first week as a senior was just a shock, amazingly I got through it. People ususally say that senior year flys by and I'm really hoping I could get the most out of all of it. What really got me thinking this first week were those letters from previous seniors. They had me thinking that they felt just like I did the first couple days...scared. Everyday I would be terrified to come to this class and I've never felt this way towards a class so it was weird, but, seeing what the seniors had to say really had me relieved. I now know that I'm capable of doing well in this class and knowing that Mr. Burke will try his best to teach all of us in whatever ways it may be.

Academic&Intellectual Profile

1. Sadly the only books that I have read this summer were the following: 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster.

2. Other things I have read: I took a Biology class at College of San Mateo and was required to read a chapter a day. (1-20 chapters), I would have to say that I also read sports articles in magazines, on the internet and even in newspapers only because I do follow the sports world.

3. I have Yahoo! as my homepage because of the interesting articles they have on their home page so I have definitely read many of those.

4. The way I read: I usually search around looking for pictured I can find just to help me out with clues that I will expect to connect with the thing I'm reading. I then continue to read the first couple paragraphs and if I am deeply interested in what I am reading then I skip to the last couple paragraphs just to see what happens in the end. I read the from top to bottom after that connecting all the clues and evaluate how everything went in what I read.

Summer Reading

The 2 books I chose for summer reading were 1984 by George Orwell, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Both of these books were very informing whether it had been read in the past, present, or in the future. Both of the books had plots describing government ways, wars, and even life styles that were mandatory. They were a great choice and both related in more than one way. It could be easily discussed on how these authors thought back in olden times and see how different everything is today and seeing how it is not. I hope to share more thoughts on these books soon.