Last Words

In honor of this being the last AP English blog ever, I have decided to close out with the most preferred blog format: a list. But not just ONE list my friends, oh no, I have composed a total of TWO lists for you to peruse.

List 1: Reasons Why I am Sad L

1. We just had our last day of AP English class ever
2. My locker is completely bare
3. I just saw one of those commercials with sad dogs and a Sarah McLachlan song
4. Blogger would not let me log in
5. I will never again be a high schooler
6. There is no possible way for me to fail at this point so that I cannot graduate and therefore must stay at CFHS
7. There are people I may very well never see again
8. I never skipped a day of school to go to a baseball game and be the main attraction of a parade whilst lip-syncing
9. I will have to sleep in a bed roughly a third the size of my one at home for at least four years
10. I am really really really going to miss everyone. Maybe even Gogol. Maybe.

List 2: Reasons Why I am Happy J

1. We are done!!!
2. I am going to college along with over 90 percent of my class which is something that very few people in America can say.
3. I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life and that is actually ok.
4. I do not have to take ANY finals.
5. I can come back to CFHS and reflect on inside jokes with Ms. Serensky while her current students look on wistfully, wishing they could so cool as to have inside jokes with her.
6. I will never again complete a Data Sheet
7. These blogs will forever be in cyberspace so I can always look back and see how clever I was in high school.
8. The final installment of the Harry Potter movies comes out this summer and I can finally prove that I am OFFICIALLY THE BIGGEST NERD IN THE WORLD.
9. I will never eat another high school cafeteria meal.
10. “Anything, anything, anything is possible”

Bye...

           Every class has its own personality. The class of 2010 always seemed very cohesive from my perspective. Their personality is probably best described as the smart, athletic older sibling that you can never fully live up to. The role of younger misbehaving child who gets all the attention is filled by the sophomore class. We are the middle child, just trying to achieve adequacy. At least that is how I saw it throughout most of high school. However, that was before I took AP English. I am going to continue my clichéd metaphors theme and compare our time in AP English to classic 80s flick The Breakfast Club. At first, we were an odd collection of self-conscious teenagers without a clue as to what we were supposed to do. We did not have any screaming matches in the library or break out of the classroom to roam the hallways with Ms. Serensky chasing us. Yet, we did take awhile to break down our barriers and learn how to function in the environment that is so different from any other high school class. This happened slowly, but surely, thanks to some heated discussions over a former slave and a foolish boy. By the end, the nerd, jock, princess, and so on, learned to appreciate each other. This metaphor break down when you realize that we are all actually nerd and there is no role in the movie for a “tough love” teacher who inspires us to do our best work. Nevertheless, my point is such: taking AP English gave me a feeling of class unity that I had never experienced before. It is the one class where I felt I could say what I actually thought without fear of judgment. Ms. Serensky never treated us like children but, rather, young adults capable of intelligent thought. I learned so much more than how to write in this class and it will be one of the things I miss most about high school. So, if I had to give our class a personality now, I would say that we are smart, in a subtle way, witty with a fair amount of sarcasm, crazy for taking this class for two years, just the right amount of quirky and dedicated even if you do not realize it at first.

Thanks for two great years my fellow APers and best of luck in the future!

10 Reasons and Counting

10. Free time. Ever feel you have too much of it? Well then you should take AP English and you will cease to have anything resembling a social life as you write more words in the margins than the author wrote in the whole book.

9. Cult membership. By joining AP English, you are immediately inducted into the most elite group of nerds. While you struggle with 20+ page SOAPSTones/Data Sheets, you have an automatic support group of fellow crazy people to feed your insanity and convince you that you must add at least five more pages.

8. Ego. Did you ever think yours is too big? AP English can take care of that too. For all you sophomores who habitually get A++'s, strap in cause it's going to be a bumpy ride. Prepare for C's... Heaven forbid! But never fear, everyone else will be in exactly the same boat as you.

7. Public speaking. Does it make you want to vomit? Well, get used to talking in front of the class. But wait, did I mention that it counts for points??? Like it or not, you will have to address your peers face-to-face at some point in your life (unless we make some major advancements in robotics), so why not learn before you have to do it in a room full of strangers and you end up actually vomiting on them.

6. Learn the importance of a deadline. You can pour your heart and soul into a paper, but you better turn it in to turnitin.com on time. You will go down a letter grade NO MATTER WHAT if you forget. It hurts, but you only need to learn that lesson once.

5. Hard work. So you've had some finals, big deal. No class can really prepare you for the quantity and quality of work Ms. Serensky expects. It may feel overwhelming at times, but they will expect no less from you in college.

4. Bobbie's Blog Banter. In order to make it to this highlight of English, you will have to survive not one, but TWO years of AP English. However, I assure you, it is well worth it. Something about the anonymity of the internet makes fellow classmates say very funny things that they would never dare utter in class. As an added bonus, you may just get to witness Ms. Serensky dancing to an Adam Lambert song.

3. Analysis. Not just books, my friends; you will learn to analyze everything around you whether that be a magazine, movie, or plums.

2. Learning to write. I am sure the underclassmen have heard this reason time and time again. It is absolutely true.

1. In all sincerity, AP English has been the most meaningful class I have taken in all I high school. I learned how to write and speak intelligently, I got to know some of my classmates better than I ever thought possible, and I felt like I had a small, crazy family at school. I would recommend that everyone take this class.
 

Talk to Me

Algernon: "How are you, my dear [friends]? What brings you up to town?" (Wilde 2).

McMurphy: "'I’m in this place because that’s the way I planed it, pure and simple'" (Kesey 74).
Algernon:  "I'm a little anxious about poor [Katie]" (Wilde 18). 
The Voice:  "[she] should be aware of the trials to come" (Currie 3).
McMurphy:  "'Man, you're talking like a fool'" (Kesey 64).

Algernon: "No [...] You are." "You have such an absolutely trivial nature" (Wilde 24, 40).

The Voice: "Pay attention" "[she's] got a decison to make" (Currie 266, 188).
McMurphy: "'Oh, [she's] a thinker all right'" (Kesey 107).
Algernon: "anyone can [test] accuratley— but [she tests] with wonderful expression" (Wilde 1).
The Voice: "there is a correct choice" (Currie 195).
Algernon: "That is a great disappointment" (Wilde 24).
McMurphy: "'Why? [...] Tell me why. [The students] gripe, [they] bitch for weeks on end about how they can't stand this place, can't stand the [work]'" (Kesey 195).

The Voice: "Because [...] it is all infinitely preferable to the one dreadful alternative" (Currie 292).

McMurphy: "'[they] ain't as crazy as all this'" (Kesey 67).

The Voice: "[they] have a better than average chance to succeed at the task for which [they] have been chosen" (Currie 5).

McMurphy: "'Okay— I never thought about that'" (Kesey 106).  Algernon: Well, "I think it has been a great success" (Wilde 30).
The Voice: "we wish you much good luck" (Currie 9).