- "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
- Mr. P. Goes Global (Website)
- "The Danger of the Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Global Goals for Sustainable Development
- "The Allegory of a Cave" by Plato
- "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
- "First Hour" by Sharon Olds
- Anthem by Ayn Rand
- Inequality for All (2013)
- Petrarchean Sonnets
- English Sonnets
- Shakespearean Sonnets
- Metaphysical Poetry and Works of John Donne
- "Where are You Local?" by Taiye Selasi
- Who Am I?
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- "St. Crispin's Day" from Henry V by William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet (1968)
- Romeo and Juliet (1996)
- Lessons from Denice Yao Pomary
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Oliver! (1968)
- The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- "Burning a Book" by William Stafford
- "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold
- Minority Report (2002)
3) Using the bullet list, compose a fat paragraph for each one, using direct evidence from the text and other texts. These paragraphs should look like comprehensive blog responses or body paragraphs for a formal essay. Make personal connections to the characters and your own experiences. What will you do in your life now that you have been touched by these works?
4) Include a conclusion where you describe your overall experience in class. You may even choose a paraphrased quotation from Mr. P. as your heading. What books were your favorites? What were your favorite units? Lessons? Projects?
5) When all five paragraphs and your conclusion are complete, post them to the blog. Make sure to keep the quotations. It will most likely need to be spread out to 2-3 posts, as it will be a lot of words.
6) On exam day, we will spend half the class reading other's responses and responding. The second half we will have our final discussion and say our temporary goodbyes. We will also discuss the summer reading list and some suggestions by Mr. P.
Mitch Keamy
ReplyDeleteWhat I Learned in Mr. Pellerins English
The most influential pieces we read (or watched) in English class were: Romeo and Juliet, The Minority Report, Anthem, Inequality for All, and Oliver Twist. Some very significant quotes that mirror life lessons from my life and others are the following:
“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.” -Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist)
“Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it.” -William Skakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)
“I am. I think. I will.” -Anthem, Ayn Rand
“The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches - with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone - was once at the core of the American Dream.” -Inequality for All, Robert Reich
"Sometimes, in order to see the light, you have to risk the dark." -The Minority Report
The quote “It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.” -Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist) is a reflection on protecting those who care for you. The quote also resembles the ‘Golden Rule’ “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” The quote, in simpler words, means to protect those who treat you and others properly and keep those people close to you. Oliver Twist was abandoned as a child and left alone in an orphanage. He was sent to a workhouse at a young age and he was very mistreated there. When he requested more food during a meal, the head of the workhouse flipped out and sold him to a coffin maker. Oliver’s childhood was spent running from place to place and hiding from the people who were trying to hurt him. Along the way he met a few characters that actually cared about them and those were the people who, in the long run, helped him have a normal life. Despite being targeted by many mean-spirited adults, Oliver kept close with those who loved him and ended up living a happy life. In real life, keeping a relationship with those who share a mutual love for you will pay off and lead you to a happier life, rather than having toxic relationships and mistreating others.
“Don’t waste your love on somebody who doesn’t value it” is a lesson we all learn or will learn at some point. Whether it be romance, friendship, or family, this quote means to love those who love you back and to save yourself from loving someone who does not care for you. Often, relationships are soured by one-way affection, meaning one person cares about another but the other person does not reciprocate. These relationships (especially with romance) lead to toxic and abusive relationships. As far as friendships go, you can end up thinking somebody is your friend when they don't want to be friends with you. Most people have somebody, or multiple people that they care for and people need someone who loves them back so they can feel important and have somebody to turn to in times of need. If you think somebody cares about you and you need them when times are tough, it can hurt you a lot if you find that they don't.
“I am. I think. I will.” -Anthem, Ayn Rand. This quote teaches us to be independent. In the society that anthem is based in, people are forced to be a collective community and forbidden to recognize themselves as individuals. The word “I” is not allowed in their society and the people are unaware of its existence. The citizens refer to themselves as “We” and not “I.” The people are not given human names either, they are assigned a word and a number instead of a name. When the main character, Equality 7-2521, realizes he is a person he runs away from the society to seek answers about real life. He discovers the word “I” and re-names himself Prometheus. This discovery enlightened Prometheus to the concept of self, which is the central theme of the novel. The purpose of the book Anthem is to educate people on the importance of “Individualism” which the society in Anthem tries to eliminate in order to create a perfect city. The novel explains how people need to recognize themselves as a person and be independent by showing an example of a society without individuals. This relates not only to government but also social construct in modern day America. Many teens today are trying to become someone they aren’t by conforming to society’s standards and becoming someone they think people will like. It is important for people to remember to be themselves or we will end up being mindless sheep who stick to the status quo. The quote “I am. I think. I will.” reminds people to be themselves and being individualists.
Delete80% of people born into poverty or a low income neighborhood, stay there for the rest of their life. Inequality for all, a documentary by robert reich, touches on the subject of poor people and the dysfunction of the society in america. His documentary goes in depth about the struggle that poor people face everyday. Robert Reich interviewed people who struggle with poverty to give a better look at the darker side of America. The people he interviewed had to work multiple low-income jobs, all day, just to keep food on the table and their family healthy. “The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches - with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone - was once at the core of the American Dream.” -Inequality for All, Robert Reich. Reich is trying to convey his message that we aren’t born into our destiny. With hard work and perseverance, people can rise out of the situation they are in and make it in life. However, due to the unfair social construct that favors the wealthy, it's difficult for hard working people to make a significant change in their life.
The minority report is a very interesting movie that i have not quite finished but have a reasonable understanding of the plot. In the futuristic society that the movie is set in, there is an organization called pre-crime that uses advanced technology and a team of armed police to stop crimes before they happen and arrest the criminal. Thus, a paradox was created. If they arrest someone for a crime before they commit the crime, then technically they never committed the crime and shouldn’t be arrested. There are a lot of quotes involving light and darkness and how they relate and coexist but this quote, I believe, is the best. "Sometimes, in order to see the light, you have to risk the dark." -The Minority Report. The quote can be interpreted in many ways such as: “To reach safety, you must put yourself in danger” or “to be happy, you must have sad times” or “to learn the truth, you must know what is false.” My interpretation of the quote is “To be truly happy, you must understand what sadness is. I feel like this quote very closely relates to life because people can take happiness for granted. If you live as part of your life not
experiencing actual sadness (everyone, no matter what, will feel a little sad sometimes) then you can become blind to your emotions and not react emotionally to things that should strike emotions. Such tragic events include the death of a relative or pet, loss of a close friend, or something really disappointing. For some this may lead to lack of emotion in later years which will affect relationships and such, or when something awful happens your mind will experience the new, bad emotion for the first time and be unable to handle it. This can lead to many problems in the future and set you on a path to permanent unhappiness.
DeleteTo sum up my year in Mr. Pellerins class, put simply, A+! I always looked forward to this class because we are able to talk with our friends, use our phones and Mr. Pellerin trusts us to balance it with his work. I am not particularly a fan of reading, so I am very thankful that the audiobooks were provided on the blog which helped me get through the chapters. It also helped a great deal that Mr. Pellerin spaced out his homework assignments and gave us plenty of time to turn them in. My favorite novel we read was oliver twist because the story got interesting halfway through and was very easy to follow. I found it helpful that we watched the movie versions of the books as we read them. This reinforced the novel and helped understand the story better. Watching the movie is similar to re-reading, but not the sae because reading the same thing twice is not fun but having the same story projected to you in a different form as a great idea. Mr. Pellerin, I think you did a great job this year and I would not mind having you as my teacher again. You did a great job teaching the material and making it easier to understand and i would not change your teaching style in the future.
Sophia Lakos
ReplyDeleteIn “The Allegory of A Cave” Plato gives the reader a scene of people trapped in a cave but unable to see behind them, therefore they are led to believe everything they are told. Everything they see is shown in shadows so it is not as realistic and they don’t know any different so they believe it. “Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light” This is a quote directly from Plato, meaning that it is not possible that they really believe that the shadows reveal everything that comes with life. Also seeing things second hand may alter it a bit and you have to see something clearly for yourself to really understand it. Plato does a great job describing how humans really do not see the true meaning of things and tend to shield themselves from reality. “The Allegory of A Cave” was almost like a good reality check because things are not always as good as it seems. This was a good way to ease into high school because it was more real than the books I have read years prior and gave me a good sense of how this class was going to be.
ReplyDeleteIn “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, we were met with the society that Equality 7-2521 lives in, along with many others. Much like in “Allegory of A Cave” the people there are sheilded from reality. Residents there are not allowed to interact with the other gender. Also not allowed to choose their own jobs, it is not hard to get put in prison since they have very strict rules that everyone follows, except Equality 7-2521 who really puts himself out there. He is one of the few who is not under the impression that this is the only way to live. “There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and the air of the streets. Fear walks through the city, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare speak.” This is something Equality 7-2521 would say, especially since everyone there is miserable but no one dares to do a thing about it. Some think it is easier to follow what they know is wrong instead of sticking up from themselves just because they are scared of a little conflict.
We had watched a Ted Talk called “Where are You Local?” and the speaker was Taiye Selasi. She has an African identity but grew up in London, she is extremely intelligent and studies the meaning of modern identity. Her speech presents a suggestion that is “Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m local” since where you are from does not represent you where you live day to day. Her speech went viral and made people look at the question differently, and realize that the question can sometimes be offending someone. This made me have a different outlook because what someone has in their genes does not always represent them as a person. Being from somewhere does not shape you into the person you are today. Where you put yourself is how you are perceived instead. Her words had inspired many people and helped me learn a lot and I am sure that goes for other students as well.
In the film “Inequality For All” Robert Reich dives into the wealth and poverty problem America is facing right now. He explains the consequences that may result if the gap between the poor and the wealthy continues to grow. Many problems are addressed such as raising the minimum wage and the current tax shift. “Bankruptcy laws allow companies to smoothly reorganize, but not college graduates burdened by student loans.” When Robert Reich said this it really clicked to me how unfair the economy is. Especially since businesses carry more debt than a college student, especially since students are typically younger. After watching the film it put things into perspective, there are so many things going on in our world that are not good that people don’t talk about.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “Minority Report” they set the scene of a futuristic world. Surprisingly a lot of predictions that were made are true now. Such as our phones and how everything we do is being tracked. In the movie, they are able to see crimes happen before they happen in real time, whether it is a crime of passion or premeditated murder. “Red ball, double homicide, one male, one female. The killer is white, male, 40's. Agatha nailed the time at 8:04 a.m. The twins are a little fuzzy on that, so we'll need confirmation.” This is how futuristic they are, they are able to see how the crime will turn out before it is committed. Today we have lie detectors and a very good way of seeing who committed a crime. In the movie they made it seem that someone needs to help the world before it turns into a bad place, which is almost the theme of most things that we read. A lot of the stories we heard and read were trying to warn people to help the world.
Overall I really enjoyed English this year, this class taught me more about the world and the real things that I will use later on in life. The class was always interesting and one of the few classes I actually had fun doing the homework, just because it was mostly interesting. I've learned the most life lessons in this class than I have in any other classes this year. Thank you, Mr. Pellerin, for always keeping it interesting and being so enthusiastic about everything it helped a lot. I liked all the books we had read this year and feel much more confident about my writing.
Rene Roustand
DeleteI agree with your statement on "The Minority Report" that stories we learn and read are trying to warn people to help the world.
Julia Campbell
DeleteI agree with you. I think that I learned more the world in this class than any other too. I think that the homework was fun to do and I really liked all the books that we read this year.
Drew Wachtel
ReplyDeleteQuote from Allegory of a Cave.“And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, will he not be perplexed? Will, he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?”
I connected with this quote because it reminded me when I learned how to read when I was little. I was enlightened by a whole different side of the world and a new skill that I will use for the rest of my life. Just like these prisoners in the Allegory of the Cave, I questioned what I thought was right and was surprised to what the truth was. The prisoners didn’t believe their fellow prisoner when he came back to the cave and told everyone that, that is not a real cat it is a shadow of one. This short story opened me up to think that what we think is right really isn’t. After reading what this passage had to say I will not take my life for granted because like the prisoner's other real people in this world aren’t enlightened like I am.
“The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches - with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone - was once at the core of the American Dream.”
-Robert Reich
I connected with this quote because I feel like every day the American Dream gets closer and closer to disappearing by the way this country's economy is run. The people living in this country have no chance anymore of completing the American dream because they have to pay most of the country’s taxes. Since they have to pay all of the taxes they can’t save enough of their money to make their dreams come true like opening their own business. This quote also connected with me because I am a believer in hard work and how hard work can lead to successes in whatever you do for work.
Abhi Sharma
DeleteI like how you connected your quote
Drew Wachtel
ReplyDelete3. Romeo and Juliet
O, I am fortune's fool!
Romeo and Juliet was my favourite book to read in Mr.Pellrin’s class because I understood what was going on at all times during the book because I had a lot of past knowledge about this book. I also knew the ending before I read the play. I also loved the plot of this play and it kept me entertained throughout the play. I picked this quote because it basically summarizes the whole plot and how fate is the big factor in this play. Without fate, some of the bad things that happened to Romeo and Juliet throughout the whole play might never have happened if it wasn’t for fate. After reading this play I will be more mindful to not get my emotions in front of what is the right thing to do. For example, I would not kill Tybalt after he killed Mercutio.
4. Oliver Twist: “But, tears were not the things to find their way to Mr Bumble's soul; his heart was waterproof.”
Oliver Twist was a motivational book that even if you don’t have any parents and you are in the Workhouses you can still be successful in life. Oliver had to go through beatings, robberies and hunger to get back to his real family with Mr.Brownlow. In a little amount of time in his life, Oliver experienced all types of society. He was in a workhouse, a coffin maker, high middle class, the lowest of classes with Fagin and Bill to go to the highest of classes with the Maylies. Oliver Twist made me not take anything for granted in life and no matter how bad my life gets it is not as bad as Olivers was. The fact that Oliver was always happy and in a positive mood all of the time through the tough times says a lot about a persons personality and courage.
Drew Wachtel
ReplyDelete5. Fahrenheit 451 “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”
I thought that Fahrenheit 451 was a great way to end the year because we started the year with Anthem which is also a book that takes place in the future as Fahrenheit 451 does. I also think that it kept me entertained throughout the whole book and not just halfway through. I liked this quote because it explains why we need books in this world to make us think while entertaining us at the same time as a movie does. A lot of people nowadays just go to the movie theatre so they don’t get to think and work as is that is what you would get if you were reading a book. After reading this book now I will start to read more during the summers when I have a bunch more time than I would during hockey season and the school year.
Conclusion:
Overall I think that this year has been fun learning different things than the other classes would like for example we didn’t read A Tale of Two Cities and Animal Farm. I loved Mr.Pellirins homework assignments because at points in the year but mostly at the end of the year he would give us short blog posts instead of worksheets, tests and quizzes. I also liked all of the books we read and the storeys in life that each one gave. Mr.Pellirin brought out the life lessons in each read and each poem of the day he read to us and explained it in how a understandable way for us to understand. Overall I really enjoyed the lessons Mr.Pellirin had to teach us and I hope to have him again as my teacher later on in my High School career.
Davis Blanch
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the most influential pieces we watched and read were; The Allegory of the Cave, Anthem, Romeo and Juliet, Oliver Twist, and Minority Report. They all mirror some life lessons that I learned this year, some important quotes from them are the following:
“Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light” -The Allegory of the Cave.
“I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of all things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.” - Anthem
“Go wisely and go slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.” Romeo and Juliet
"the mother, when the pains of death first came upon her, whispered in my ear that if her baby was born alive, and thrived, the day might come when it would not feel so much disgraced to here it's poor young mother named. whether it be a boy or girl, raise up some friends for it in this troubled world; and take pity upon a lonely and desolate child, abandoned to its mercy." .the old nurse sally told Mrs. Corney when she was dying. Pg. 189-190 Oliver twist
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” - Minority report
The quote “Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light” from Plato in The Allegory of the Cave. This quote showcases that you need to learn to be able to think for yourself. It shows that just because other people believe something, it does not mean you should think the same thing, it is the other persons’ interpretation of the lesson not your own. In The Allegory of the Cave, the people are trapped and not allowed to turn their heads, they are stuck sitting down looking at shadows of what they are being forced to think that one the thing they are being shown is how it looks to everyone. But once one of the captured is able to leave, they see an animal and ask someone what it is because they don’t know but they are told a cat which is one of the shadows that was shown to the trapped group, the freed mind does not believe it so they go back into the cave to tell the others, and the other captured minds do not believe the freed mind because they have not been enlightened to the fact that not everything they were shown is the truth. This relates to how you should think for yourself because not everything you read, watch, see, are told, and are taught is not always completely true, throughout life you will become more and more enlightened to the truth of life.
part 2:
DeleteThe quote “I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of all things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.” By Ayn Rand in the novel Anthem has a similar life lesson to that of The Allegory of the Cave. The life lesson is that people want to know anything and everything but it can have its drawbacks. In Anthem the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, was one of the only people in the society that had been enlightened to the fact that the society he lived in was brainwashed into following orders without thinking for themselves. The rulers of the society had banned individualism, they got rid of the word “I” so people could only say “we” and if you thought for yourself or came up with an idea on your own, you would be severely punished. It is similar to today's society, a lot of the time if you have your own opinion on something it is frowned upon especially if it disagrees with what the majority of people believe.
In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, there is a quote that portrays the life lesson of you can be more successful by doing things slowly and steadily than by acting quickly and carelessly. The quote “Go wisely and go slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.” portrays exactly that. It is similar to the tortoise and the hare, the hare wants to go fast but gets overly confident so it takes a nap and become careless but the tortoise is going slowly and paying attention so it doesn’t make mistakes. I can relate this lesson to life, people nowadays have been conditioned to receive things quickly and they don't have any patience so they end up becoming reckless, while the few people that live life slowly, have patience, and are careful to notice their mistakes tend to do better in life and end up not making easily prevented mistakes.
part 3:
DeleteIn the novel Oliver Twist, before Oliver is born his mother tells the nurse something that I feel relates to how people feel about the poor today. The nurse that was taking care of Olivers dying mother said, "the mother, when the pains of death first came upon her, whispered in my ear that if her baby was born alive, and thrived, the day might come when it would not feel so much disgraced to here it's poor young mother named. whether it be a boy or girl, raise up some friends for it in this troubled world; and take pity upon a lonely and desolate child, abandoned to its mercy.". I feel that this quote relates to how poor kids are thought of today because people often see poor and homeless children as lost causes and they have no chance of succeeding in life. While more challenging, homeless kids still have the chance to do great. Oliver Twist relates to that because he went from being forced into a workhouse, to working for a coffin maker, to becoming a pickpocket, to ending up in a wealthy family and being able to succeed in life. The lesson is, just because someone is less fortunate than you doesn't mean they can't do great things with their life and they might even succeed more than you, they just need someone to take a chance on them and give them care.
The quote “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” from the Minority Report has a similar life lesson to the Allegory of the Cave and Anthem. The quote relates to the life lesson because you can take the “land of the blind” as people who don’t think for themselves and just follow what they are told without giving it a second thought. I see the “one-eyed man” as the government in both the novels, the movie, and even sometimes reality because they all try and hide the truth from the majority of the public. If one of the people in “the land of the blind” was to be enlightened and started to think for themselves they would most likely be shunned out from society because nobody would believe them, they would think they were out of their mind. Most people today just follow in the footsteps of the majority and don't try to think for themselves, mostly because of what they are taught, people are similar to the people in the cave, and the few enlightened people are the ones that have been ignored and cast away from society.
Overall, the year in Mr.Pellerin’s class has been great. I always looked forward to going to class because there were always people to talk to. I also enjoyed how there was not always a “storm cloud” of stress hanging over the room with projects, the few tests, and the homework. The books were always to read and learn about and Mr.Pellerin is always very down to earth and understanding with any questions we would have about anything we were doing class.
Peyton Levental
DeleteIn your first paragraph I like how you included important quotes. My favorite quote was the second Anthem one.
Peyton Levental
ReplyDeleteI learned many important things this year. Most that I will definitely take on to my adult life. We learned many things from enlightenment to shakespeare poems that has changed my learning experience. Firstly, "The Allegory of a Cave" by Plato was an amazing piece where The ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ is a theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception, like how they view the world and all things in it, “And now, I said (Plato), let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened” (The Allegory of a Cave) . Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning and understanding to the thing itself. Enlightenment was a big word used in this section. The definition of enlightenment is, the action of enlightening or the state of being enlightened. It is the gain of knowledge, and like the people in the cave I have learned a lot of knowledge this year.
Next we learned about “Anthem”, a short book by Ayn Rand. In Anthem there is a dystopian land where no one knows the truth except for one person, Equality 7-2521, who knows more than the rest. Thinking your own thoughts was a forbidden thing, “It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden” (18). It was considered bad to have your own thoughts which Equality did have. Overall with this book I learned many things such as being different isn't bad, and that thinking your own creative thoughts are okay and now very much wanted. This book made me think and wonder which was fun because it was not like any other book I have read. The plot of the book was very interesting and relates back to the whole years lesson of enlightenment and stepping out of the “cave”.
The next thing that we worked on was reading the book, “Romeo and Juliet”. This book was a great love book with a thrilling plot and an interesting story line. When reading Shakspearean, I had to try and comprehend the words that we were reading and that could be very hard sometimes. I learned how to read Shakespeare and this helped me become a better reader. With all of the literary uses that we did I learned about many was to read and ways to improve upon it. For example, before mr.Pellerins help and teaching I would never have understood this quote, “A cold and drowsy humour, for no pulse Shall keep his native progress, but surcease: No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall, Like death, when he shuts up the day of life” (181).” And now when I read this I can fully understand this, so when further years come along and I read Shakespeare, I am now able to use my skills to help me understand it more.
Peyton Levental
ReplyDeleteAnother thing we learned this year was poems and sonnets. We learned many different types such as, Petrarchan Sonnets, English Sonnets, Shakespearean Sonnets, Metaphysical Poetry and Works of John Donne. I learned a lot from this topic especially, this helped my language and my skills on literary devices. During the Petrarchan Sonnets unit of the year, we have learned about poem structure. For example, we learned about stanzas and structures of the poems. I wrote in one blog post explaining a poem that we had to explain and I wrote,”This poem has a specific structure of two, three line stanzas and then two, two line stanzas.” I think this showed my growth in the topic of poems because It displayed how I understood explaining poem structure. I personally enjoyed English sonnets more because I could understand them and the topics were more my style.
“Inequality for all” was an educational netflix documentary made by Professor Reich. This documentary covers the really big problem we have today, economic inequality. While watching this video I learned a lot, such as, “The majority of the economic gains by society are held by the Top 1%.” This is a major problem in our world and this movie showed us that. I think it is very important for us young people to know and understand the wealth deal of the world and how it has an effect on us living.
Overall this year has definitely been one to remember filled with good books, fun projects and lessons. One of my favorite books was definitely “Anthem”. When we were reading it, I enjoyed trying to figure out the plot and seeing how the book played out over time because I have never read anything like it before. My favorite project we have done was the “Romeo and Juliet” skit. I enjoyed the acting and making our own scenes. Even though it was out of my comfort zone I believe it gave me a good experience and improved me individually. The lessons we learned about the “cave” and enlightenment has showed up in different classes this year which made me happy because I always knew what it meant and how to use it when needed thanks to this class and Mr.Pellerins help. Thank you so much I will miss you!
Rene Roustand
ReplyDelete6/13/19
Pellerin, 201
Romeo and Juliet (Book): What I learned from “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is that violence only causes destruction, and misunderstanding can lead to tragedy. When Romeo slew Tybalt for slaying Mercutio after marrying Juliet, he was in hysterics when the prince banished him from Verona, as was Juliet. To fix the situation, Friar Lawrence created a plan so that Romeo and Juliet can escape to Mantua together. However, the plan falls apart when Friar John tells Romeo of Juliet’s “death” and Romeo thinks Juliet really died. This taught me to listen to people more closely.
The Allegory of the Cave: Three people are chained up inside a cave, and there is a puppet show playing in front of a wall. When the men see a cat puppet, they think a cat looks like that in the real world. The three men get released, and when they exit the cave a real cat appears. The men, however, thought that it wasn’t a cat they saw. This taught me to look at the real thing, and not believe in something made-up.
“Where are You Local?”: Taiye Selasi was on a book-tour, and flew to 14 countries in 13 months. Whenever a country introduced her and says she comes from England, America, Ghana and Nigeria, she thinks, “But that’s not true.” Whenever the topic came up in newspapers, conversations or any type of media she thinks of nations as a singular, natural occurring thing. I agree that no matter what country, the world is one big family.
Oliver Twist: Oliver was an orphaned child. He used to work in a factory, but he was kicked out for asking for more gruel. He them went to Mr. Sowerberry, but escaped after tackling Noah. The Artful Dodger took him to Fagin, a member of a gang. After many, many adventures he now lives with Mr. Brownlow. I learned that even though things look bad at the beginning, it will turn out in the end.
Minority Report: The year is 2046, and everything has been revolutionized. The Precrime system has been established, and the “precogs” can see when a murder is about to happen. The officers then head to that location and arrest the murderer. John Anderton, the chief is being accused for murdering Crow because he apparently “stole” his son. I learned that technology is sometimes right or wrong.
What I learned in Mr. Pellerin's class.
ReplyDeleteAnthem essay/ Allegory of a cave
Poetry essay
Romeo and Juliet
Oliver twist
I believe that the most important things that we worked on this year were out essays because we put the most time and effort into these, they are filled with detail and good examples.
In the essay we wrote about the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, I learned that sometimes you have to make your own rules to persevere. In this essay, I used the quote “he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.” from Plato’s Allegory fo a cave. To make your own choices, you have to break free of the cycle and to do this you need courage.
In our Three poems essay, I learned that it's quite difficult to be original. I think that over the freshman year, I’ve personally done a good job with this and I hope to continue this over the summer. My favorite quote from a poem I used in this essay was “I am going to pay attention to our lives/unraveling between the forks of his fine-tooth comb”. I liked this quote because it made me think about what really matters.
From our Romeo and Juliet essay, I learned that sometimes fate takes control and you have no other option than to go along with it. Juliet did all she could do at her time, other people started twisting her choices and she knew nothing better than to let them. Instead of controlling her free will she allowed others to turn it into theirs and it caused her death. Romeo and Juliet were more of a cautionary tale to me.
In our Oliver twist essay, I learned that sometimes, ignorance and be a blessing, but it can also be tragic. Nancy ended up saving a life (Oliver) but in order to do that she sacrificed her own. The quote “It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts.” perfectly describes Nancy, her innocence isn’t the worst thing, but it wasn't the best either.
Overall, this has been the best English class I ever had. It was low-stress but challenging at the same time. I think that Mr.Pellerin made clear directions that made writing and reading blogs fun. On account of his enthusiasm, Mr. Pellerin made this class exciting to learn in, a safe environment, and I really hope I get him again as my teacher.
Thank you for an amazing year - Julia Campbell
Abhi Sharma
ReplyDelete“The Allegory of the Cave” Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning. Imagine a cave, in which there are three prisoners. The prisoners are tied to some rocks, their arms, legs, and head are tied so that they cannot look at anything but the stonewall in front of them and stay in one place. These prisoners have been here since birth and have never seen outside of the cave. Behind the prisoners are a fire and a walkway. People outside the cave walk along this walkway carrying things on their head including; animals, plants, wood, and stone. When one of the prisoners go outside they are going to struggle to walk and see because they have been sitting since birth and been in the dark since birth. When he sees the sun for the first time he understands that this is the source of life and starts seeing things that he has never seen before. The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners of his findings. They do not believe him and won’t let him set them free.
“First Hour”. This poem makes me feel that when you are a baby there is no stress no one can judge the way you act or the way you look. Also, you won't have a bad day just from one word that a person said to you or something that you did. When you are a baby you always have a positive mindset, not a negative one. The baby is in the hospital and it is peaceful there with no distraction at all.
“The Story of an Hour”. In this novel, Mrs. Mallard was sad to hear the news about her husbands' death. While going up the stair she was crying and then sat on her chair. While thinking about this she was really heartbroken but then I read further on and it was sunny out normally in this type of situation it would be raining. Reading further she started saying " free, free, free" as if she was happy that her husband died. She was happy that her husband died because this was during where women had no rights and had to live over the person that they married. Her husband was not a bad man. Later on, her husband came through the door one she saw her husband she got a heart attack for joy at least that's what the doctor thought but she actually got a heart attack from seeing her husband.
“Anthem by Ayn Rand”. A youth named Equality 7-2521, who has found a hidden tunnel and hides in it to write, knows his solitude violates all the laws of his society. Even though he does not feel guilty for his actions, he begs the forgiveness of the ruling Council. As he spends more time alone, he realizes that solitude suits him, and he begins to crave more and more time by himself. From his tunnel, Equality 7-2521 records episodes from his childhood. As a child, Equality 7-2521 wanted more than anything to be a scholar. He believed he was cursed with a terrific curiosity, which made him prefer some things to others and to prefer some people to others.
“Romeo and Juliet”. An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed. A group of masked Montagues risks further conflict by gatecrashing a Capulet party. A young lover Romeo Montague falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet, who is due to marry her father’s choice, the County Paris. With the help of Juliet’s nurse, the women arrange for the couple to marry the next day, but Romeo’s attempt to halt a street fight leads to the death of Juliet’s own cousin, Tybalt, for which Romeo is banished. In a desperate attempt to be reunited with Romeo, Juliet follows the Friar’s plot and fakes her own death. The message fails to reach Romeo, and believing Juliet dead, he takes his life in her tomb. Juliet wakes to find Romeo’s corpse beside her and kills herself. The grieving family agrees to end their beef.
Ben Worthley
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot of good things this year. We started off the year with Allegory of a Cave. we learned that we need to be enlightened in order to succeed as a society. That is also true for Fahrenheit 451 as well as Anthem. We need to be able to think on our own in order to get anywhere. “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine” a quote from Fahrenheit 451. We can't imagine what's in other people heads, but if we write that thing down then we can try to understand it. We need like-minded people to work on things together. But we can't be trapped in a cave our whole lives either. In Anthem, we see a society that took away a person self. Instead, you had groups of people. People that did not know how to read and think. I said this before we need to able to think to succeed as a society. If we don’t then we can’t get anywhere in life. In Fahrenheit 451 people were scared of books. The government had told people that books where bad and people didn't know any better to say otherwise. They could not think.
“Where's Oliver?' said the Jew, rising with a menacing look. 'Where's the boy?” this Quote had a great deal of importance to me as I was reading Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist was my favorite book we studied this year. Charles Dickens combined his past experiences with that of fiction to make this book. The entire book can be summarised to the Quote “Where's Oliver?”. The book started out as Oliver's mother gave birth to him in a Workhouse. She died in childbirth and Oliver grew up in a workhouse. Half of the book is different groups of people trying to find Oliver. This book has its twist and I think that's why its called Oliver twist and not just Oliver. The book kept me at the edge of my seat while I was reading it. As a kid, I watch the Musical and I was Familiar with the story. But I never read the book until this year. The book is much more interesting than the Musical. The book touched topics that many writers would not have touched with a ten-foot pole at the time. The book was also printed in the paper so everyone could read it not just the elite.
Anthem was a great way to start the year. In antem, the word “I” is completely gone. People only know the word “we”. They wanted to remove peoples ability to think. They thought if people did not think of them selfs as an individual instead they taught as thems as a part of a grope than it would remove all conflicts. I think this was a bad idea. People need to think for them selfs and not for other people. That's why Equality 7-2521 stared to run away to the tunnel and build. He wanted to explore different things. We need to explore the unknown. The people in Anthem were so afraid by the unknown that they stayed in the dark age.
In the movie, the minority report the government prevents murders before they happen. They rely on these humans they call the precogs. They get visions and tell the police. The precogs live in this place called the temple. The entire idea of the precogs is very religious. The precogs are profits. They have no contact with the outside world. People are giving away their freedoms to the government and not doing anything about it. They just trust the precogs and the police.
I learned a lot this year in Freshmen English. I liked all the lessons we did this year. I liked the messaged of Anthem and Fahrenheit 451. You need to be able to think by your self to have a good society. You can’t expect other people to think for you. But you also can’t think for other people.
Lucy Elerath
DeleteI like your writing. You have interesting points and thoughts. I agree with you about Oliver and even though I did not grow up on the musical like you did,this book was meaningful and interesting to me as well.
Lucas Kaufman (Part I)
ReplyDeleteThis class has looked at many different works, from books and poems questioning human nature to those exploring diversity, and some of them have been quite eye-opening. For this final, I will be focusing more on works from the beginning of the year, as there was just more work packed into it, and I feel that the earliest experiences in a class are the ones that stick with you the most. The first work I’ve decided to cover is what we pretty much started the year with- Plato’s “Allegory of a Cave”. The allegory is about a group of prisoners, chained in a cave so that they are incapable of moving or turning their heads, who spend their days watching a puppet show that they perceive as reality, out of not knowing anything else. When one of the prisoners is liberated and released from his chains, he will exit the cave and first see the truth. The natural light, which is metaphorical for this truth, will be blinding, and the prisoner “will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows”. Eventually, he will grow to accept this truth, and when he does he will want to share it with his friends who remain chained and oblivious. But when he does, he will be ridiculed, for there is no notion in the other prisoners’ minds that what they know as real just might not be, and because man finds comfort desirable, they will reject any questioning of what they “know”. A situation very much like this one is present in many of the books we’ve read this year. The parallels are obvious in “Anthem” and “Fahrenheit 451”, and it could even be argued that “Oliver Twist” had some examples of this, since the entire book really existed for the purpose of getting rid of old stereotypes about the poor- that they are all a bunch of lazy bums who could make some money but just don’t care enough to.
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is another work we studied early in the year that caught my interest. The short story revolved around the main character, Mrs. Mallard, who finds out from her sister that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. She bursts into tears and runs up to her bedroom, where we find out that she is happy about her husband’s death, not sad like the occasion would lead the reader to believe. She realizes that being widowed has set her free from the shackles of marriage, and while she loved her husband, she cherishes much more the freedom that she now has as a single woman. To match this rebirth of the protagonist, the weather outside is very nice that day. It is spring- the season commonly associated with rebirth- and “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.” When ready, Mrs. Mallard leaves her room, carrying herself “like a goddess of Victory”, and at the bottom of the stairs who awaits her but her husband- Mr. Mallard, alive and well. The shock and joy and despair of seeing him proves too much for Mrs. Mallard, and her weak heart gives out and she dies. “The Story of an Hour” interests me so much because of the atypical views of certain occurrences that it presents- Mrs. Mallard is happy that her husband is dead, not because he is dead but because she is free, and sad when he turns up alive, not because he is alive but because she is still chained to their marriage after all. Especially for this time period (the story was written in 1894), this is a very unique and interesting approach.
Jayden Cho
DeleteI liked your quotation selection for an Allegory of the cave, and thought you explained it really good. I also liked how you connected this story's theme with Anthem and Fahrenheit 451, and your interesting view on how Oliver Twist connected with the theme as well.
Lucas Kaufman (Part II)
ReplyDelete“Anthem” by Ayn Rand was the first of four major works we covered in this class. The book, published in 1937, is about a dystopian society where everyone is equal in every sense of the word, nobody is more intelligent than anyone else, nobody is more attractive, nobody is more athletically gifted. Free will also does not exist, as the Council of Vocations assigns each individual person a job at 15 to fit what they will not be better at than their peers, which they serve in until the age of 40, when they are deemed to old to have purpose and are sent to live in the Home of the Useless, where they spend the rest of their days. Love does not exist either, as people are raised by the society, and rather than having spouses and children they are all sent once a year to a special building, which I believe was called the Palace of Mating, where people of opposite genders would simply meet and have sex to produce children for the society. Equality 7-2521 is born into this dystopian utopia, and in addition to being taller, stronger, and better-looking than his peers he excels academically, but is told that all of this is a curse rather than a gift. He is made a street-sweeper, the least intellectually stimulating job imaginable, and eventually discovers a tunnel left over from our society, or at least from before the event known as the “great fighting, in which many men fought on one side and only a few on the other.” (“Anthem”, 48). At this point, he begins to question his society, and begins writing his experiences and experimenting with different forces until he rediscovers one of the many things society lost as a result of the dystopian revolution- electricity. Still thinking for the good of the society, he brings his discovery to the “scholars” in the hopes that it will solve problems that using torches and candles presents, but he is ridiculed for thinking for himself and escapes into a forest that the public has been told is deadly- the Uncharted Forest. Discovering that no threat to his safety in fact exists there, Equality discovers that the girl he loves, Liberty 5-3000, has followed him. They continue onward together and eventually come across an abandoned house, full of remnants of our current society. They eventually decide to stay in this house and, taking on the names Prometheus and Gaea after the figures in Greek mythology, start a family, which they hope will eventually end the tyranny of the society they left. I don’t know what it was about “Anthem” but something about how restricted these people are really spoke to me. There is no love, no free will, no passion or curiosity in this world that is presented, and individual thought is diminished to the point where the words “I” and “me” don’t even exist, being replaced with their plural forms. Especially for someone like me who treasures creativity and individual thought, this society felt very sad to me, and the people living in it are probably sad too, or they wouldn’t be dead by 45.
Lucas Kaufman
DeleteCorrection: "Anthem" was written in 1937, but not published until 1938
Lucas Kaufman (Part III)
ReplyDelete“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare was the second major work our class studied. Arguably the most famous love story ever written, the play involves love, dispute, murder, despair, drama, and much more than one could ever ask for. I enjoyed being able to read the play as if we were truly acting it, and I had a lot of fun putting on the Romeo and Juliet musical. As an actor and performer, what we did with “Romeo and Juliet” is right in my comfort zone, so I always tried to do the best I could. I loved the small groups, too, and being able to do this with my friends made it all the more enjoyable. Regarding the play itself, I was interested in all the smaller details that aren’t as well known as the basic plot of two people from warring families fall in love, almost live happily ever after, but commit suicide right at the end. The development of Romeo and Juliet as lovers and as people, with the dynamic and temperament of previously-unknown characters like Mercutio and Tybalt, to the comic relief of the Nurse and the Friar, many aspects of the play often go unnoticed by the average citizen.
“Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens was the third major work we studied as a class. Replacing “A Tale of Two Cities”, which I have heard was not enjoyed by many who read it, “Oliver Twist” is centered around a young parish boy whose mother died giving birth to him and whose father is unknown, and has been living under miserable conditions in baby factories and workhouses his entire life. He ends up escaping his guardians and fleeing to London, where he gets mixed up with all sorts of crazy underworld thugs like the crafty Fagin, the brutish Bill Sikes, and the good-hearted Nancy. As details regarding the boy’s heritage start coming into focus and everyone he has run for starts to look for him, Oliver’s value increases from nothing to something enormous throughout the book. The boy experiences a wide variety of living situations, from the luxurious, upper-class families like the Brownlows and the Maylies to the literal captivity under Fagin and Bill Sikes, and by the end of the book it had been uncovered that Oliver was actually of a quite wealthy family, and he had been entitled to a large sum of money since his father’s death. Through “Oliver Twist”, Charles Dickens hoped to break down the stereotypes London’s elite had about the poor by presenting them with characters like Oliver and Nancy, who are poor but are good at heart and have what it takes inside to be successful- they just weren’t born with the means to reach their full potentials. Meanwhile, there are plenty of better-off characters, like the Bumbles, the Sowerberrys, and Monks, who have no financial problems, but are sometimes rather lazy and foolish and other times they come off as stone-cold criminals, especially Monks.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class. From our work on the sonnets of Petrarch and Shakespeare (among others) to our reading of several great books, the experiences were very eye-opening and enjoyable for me. One of the things I am most thankful for is the class blogs, which I think have really helped me in writing this year. In middle school, I would very frequently encounter a terrible writer’s block that would often prevent me from getting a single word on the paper, not because I didn’t know how to structure a paragraph, or formulate an essay, but simply because I didn’t know what to say, or what to cover. I think my works on the blogs really helped me when it came to essay writing, as I had a lot of material to work off of and rephrase for my essays, and this was the first school year in a very long time where I didn’t encounter that terrible blockage for my English class. Thanks for a great year, and I bid you all adieu.
Lucy Elerath
ReplyDelete6/13/19 FINAL!!!!
Pt. 1
Coming into Freshmen year I was a little nervous but I was excited for English because it is my favorite subject. People told me that once you get to high school everything is harder and different. When we walked into Mr. Pellerins and we got to sit where ever we wanted for the whole school year and we watched movies alongside the books we read. The things we were reading all had some small thing linking each of them to each other and that was amazing. We all worked well together also, we had good laughs and fun projects. The learning we had was personalized and we were lucky to have a small class. We had a unique learning experience were our teacher even acted out literature with us and had really stimulating conversations with us sharing personal views as well.
The Bagel poem is something that is outstanding in my memory of this year, I don’t know if it was just that there is a poem about a bagel that is funny to me or that I just enjoyed Mr. P’s poem-of-the-days. I remember first hearing about poem-of-the-days and I guess I figured it would be grown out of or something but I remember some of them from The Bagel and Barbie’s Ferrari to many others. The Bagel though I went back and looked up and I think the name draws you into reading it but it has such an interesting meaning. The poem is about a guy who drops he bagel and runs after it and he eventually rolls as it does. The author starts off as stressed thinking it is bad to have dropped it and by the end of their adventure become happy, “gritting my teeth, and I found myself doubled over and rolling down the street head over heels, one complete somersault after another like a bagel and strangely happy with myself.”-(David Ignatow) The lesson the author is pointing out is people get so stressed and at times we need to pause and calm down and enjoy the little things in life. The poem becomes silly of sorts, the readers envision the narrator rolling after a bagel and trust me when I hear this I laugh at the thought every time.
Everyone gets stuck in a single story, Allegory Of a Cave goes along with this idea. Saying, ”Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light Plato Allegory of the Cave”. It even goes on to say that people will fight with you on what they know is a fact because they are afraid that once they accept they were wrong about one thing who knows what else they were believing that is actually wrong. "The Danger of the Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a TedTalk about a Nigerian woman who grew up only reading British Literature when she started writing she wrote her characters mirroring what she had read. She did not know there could be any characters like her. The lesson is, “The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” it creates less uniformity and encourages differences to be a bad thing. It creates stereotypes and the thing about stereotypes is that they are incomplete and become the only story.
Julia Campbell
DeleteI agree with you Lucy, I think that the bagel poem really stood out this year. It's a cool poem. ;)
Lucy Elerath
ReplyDelete6/13/19 FINAL!!!!
Pt. 2
The well-known tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is about Fate, with dueling households and lots of drama (and bloodshed). The ending is given away in the beginning to the readers, but it leaves us on the edge of our seat as to when the suicides are to happen. The lesson of this is fate is not always happy. While we know that both Romeo and Juliet tried to kill themselves (ironically while holding the same dagger) they both say they are doing it for love and the suffering they are going through with it, “These violent delights have violent ends And in their triump die, like fire and powder Which, as they kiss, consume.” While everyone feels the Friar could have prevented Juliet’s death he is also the one who gets them married and comes up with the plan that was supposed to free Romeo and Juliet from Verona. There is much violence in the love story it is hard to take some of the other stuff seriously. I find it exceptional that this play was written by one of the writers that people now know the least about. In a Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare plays around with love and makes fun of the people of his time he has multiple forms of love depicted. It is interesting that one of the things that come to humanities mind when they think of the skilled writer Shakspere is ‘starcrossed love’ among other plays themes.
A book I enjoyed and got into was Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The lesson being bad things happen to good people and what matters is the person's outlook and attitude. Oliver is a poor boy who lost his mom shortly after he was born and with the answers to where he came from scattered over London he grew up in a workhouse and was exchanged to people in various fields of work. He is always this shy little boy who is innocent and even though he has a harsh life he is still so positive. He gets to see all of the social classes in London. From Mr. Brownlow being the upper class, Rose being middle, and Sikes being the lowest having to steal to make a living, Oliver never seems eager to change classes and he just goes where life takes him. He is never greedy and always polite, the only time we see him on the offense is when Noah Claypool- a boy who taunts him about his mother at the coffin shop- runs his mouth. The whole time however we see Oliver just trying to make it through life and having such bad luck. In the end, it all comes together and he finds out where he came from. He was such a strong character and a little bit of a role model. The Quote, “Some people are nobody's enemies but their own” is so fascinating. Sikes and Fagin are real models for this, always getting in their own way. It goes to show, in the differences between Oliver and Dodger. As I have compared them before, Oliver and Dodger have a similar back story, both orphans. Yet Dodger let himself be pulled into Sikes’ world and becomes the figurehead for Sikes’ little crew of thieves. He shows no sign of being unhappy being on the street to him this is all he knows but he still chooses it. While Oliver just kinda gets tossed around and when he meets Dodger he likes how he is treated and what is going on until he realizes they are stealing. He finds out too late and becomes accused of Dodgers crimes, still, he does not harbor any bad feelings for the Dodger. Oliver is an amazing character.
I liked your Oliver Twist paragraph, and I liked the quote you chose, “Some people are nobody's enemies but their own" I would also agree that Oliver is an amazing character.
DeleteJayden Cho^
DeleteLucy Elerath
ReplyDelete6/13/19 FINAL!!!!
Pt. 3
The Minority Report (2002) movie is set in the year 2046 and is an interesting movie. It explores the idea of a perfect world with pre-crime where they can predict when someone will kill someone and they play God by stepping in before it comes to that. The lesson though is no matter how hard humanity tries there is no way to have a perfect world/society. Towards the middle of the film we hear this, "The Precogs are never wrong. But, occasionally... they do disagree.” (Iris Hineman) informing the audience that the system they have prided themselves so much on has doubt. The precogs are made up of twin boys and a girl Agatha who is superior, they have visions and can see murders. Agatha sometimes does not see someone killing, she is the only one who can see an alternate future not entailing murder on one's account -this makes her superior- this skill is called the Minority Report. The society found out about their abilities and tapped into them, now the precogs are dehumanized and used only as a resource without even knowing the world around them. The society is deciding to dehumanize 3 individuals to ensure a “safer society”, while at the same time they are arresting some people that actually wouldn’t have killed anyone, hiding the minority report. As long as something is made by humans it is flawed. We see this in the book The Giver when they work so hard to have a utopian society and they make everyone the same, eliminating love and how families teach their kids differently, they take away color and everything is dull and the same. Interestingly though when they have twins they kill the one that develops slower because they don’t want anyone too alike.
This Freshman year has been great we got to come into a chill English class. We were encouraged to think about things deeper and study books and actually use our heads in figuring out what was going to happen next and figuring out why the author wrote it the way they did. We didn’t have to worry if we weren’t in class because everything was conveniently posted on the blog space of Freshman English (C). We got to know our classmates better by being able to see what their opinions and take on what we were reading was. Even with such a small class we got to do so much and got to know each other better. We all looked forward to being in English and we all did well through the year. The class had such a great collaborative atmosphere that I will miss. Thank you for a great year, I hope some of us end up in the same classes next year! Thank you, Mr. P!
Ben Worthley,
DeleteI like how you talked about The Giver and how you related it to the Minority Report.
Jayden Cho
ReplyDelete6/13/19
[Part 1]
Throughout the extensive course of our Freshmen Literature English Class, I and certainly many others have experienced and pondered about the huge variety of books, poems, movies, and more and what the deeper, true meaning of them were. Through it all, we can all find the connections and parallels from all across these works and experiences. For my final, I decided that I would want to focus on primarily the first half of the year to see the variety of different topics discussed during this time.
I would like to start this final with our first main concept, which was from the “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. We begin this story by being told that a group of prisoners are chained inside a dark cave with the only source of light as a fire behind them, and thus they can only see shadows made behind them. Right off the bat we see many metaphors, for instance, the darkness symbolizing the prisoners being unenlightened and not able to understand anything for now. I found the fire as a fascinating symbol as well, that it is almost like a fake light that is emitting light to show the objects displayed in a fake manner. This is similar to the “Shell radio” mentioned many times in Fahrenheit 451. What the shell radio is used for is propaganda, fake news on how their country is in a time of peace and thus everyone lives in happiness and entertainment. We realize later on that their country is actually in the midst of a war and how a bomb wipes out Montag’s old town moments after he escapes. The Allegory of a cave continues on with a person freed from his chains and is finally able to face the light. When he first experiences this, he is faced with immense pain and shock for his eyes are not accustomed to this change, however as time passes his eyes will adjust and finally get the true meaning. This sunlight symbolizes as the pure truth, the truth that he sought for the moment he stood up and looked behind him, this humanistic feature everyone has. Curiosity. Plato remarks this perfectly to his disciple by saying, “He will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive someone saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision…” This reminds me to back when I had first learned that Santa Claus was in fact not real. After fitting the pieces together and the realization that it was a lie, my next thoughts were to talk with my friends and tell of this marvelous finding. However, just like in the story I was turned down with frowns and misbelief and was ignored. I find it funny how even the teachers who were well aware of this fact, went along with my peers saying that my statement was false. I realize now that this was to ensure the continuation of my friend’s pleasure for the next couple more years in this fantasy, and how it could’ve ended horribly if not. This can be connected to the story of Anthem, where Equality finds of his discovery but it turned down immediately by the council in fear of an imbalance of education and change. Another important point that I had not thought about before is later on in the Allegory, where Plato mentions how after being enlightened there would be no possible way to turn back. It would be better to suffer from being the only person enlightened than to continue his old life of not being enlightened at all. His disciple summarizes this, “ Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.” All in all the “Allegory of the Cave” was an interesting and “enlightening” story to experience and connected with many other pieces of literature we did.
Lucas Kaufman
DeleteI like your comparisons between "Allegory of a Cave" and "Fahrenheit 451". I find it hard to imagine how the people in "Fahrenheit 451" could believe that they were in a time of peace when bombers flew above their houses and men were deployed every night. It just speaks to how far into the cave they all were.
Jayden Cho
ReplyDelete6/13/19
[Part 2]
Going a little off the idea of enlightening and more on the idea of self, we are introduced to the poem, “First Hour” by Sharon Olds. It is the concept of how humans are born perfect with no negative aspects of themselves. When I first read this poem, I was beyond confused and didn’t understand the continued metaphor until after reading it over multiple times. The poem is about how in our very first hour of life, we are still pure and undamaged, you have had no experience and no care for anything in the world. As you go on in life, you become more knowledge and experience more things that will change you, and will make you an imperfect being. Just like a painting, the blank canvas would symbolize the first hour, and different colors and brushstrokes on the canvas later on would show the flawed person. Since we are all humans, human traits like jealousy, hate, selfishness, and more show and define us as human beings. However, Sharon Olds believe in the first hour you are the ideal being, “I was not very human. I did not know there was anyone else. I lay like a god, for an hour…” In these lines, I find it very similar to the documentary “Inequality for all”, where Robert Reich talks about the dangers of inequality of wealth in America. Robert exclaims that the group of wealthy people at the top have such an abundance of money that they don’t even know what to spend it on. And although millions in the world are in poverty or suffering without sufficient amounts of resources, many continue to be selfish and not care about the well-being of others.
Continuing back on the idea of enlightenment, my next piece of literature that stuck out with me a lot was the book Anthem by Ayn Rand. It is about a dystopian society where the idea of “self” is completely gone, to the point where even the words “I” and “me” are not spoken. In this society everyone is to remain equal, everyone should be equally educated, athletic, handsome, etc. Everything is done by the rules and past history in order for complete obedience. As the strict rules restraint many qualities of humans, this idea of self disappears and is deemed dangerous. Even life careers are chosen, for the Council of Vocations gives each person a career they must do until they are 40, until they are to stay in the home of the useless. We are introduced to our main character Equality, a human who seems to be very different compared to the others yet is scowled for being so. In order to prevent changes of power and education, the Council of Vocations purposely give him the least intellectually using job, street sweeping. However one day he happens upon a cave filled with antics from his past that would be our modern world. From this he rediscovers electricity, and without being selfish his immediate thought is to show to the Scholars in hopes that they would approve and appraise his discovery. However, when presented the scholars get irritated at the fact that he thought for himself, and also in fear for they know that he possesses new knowledge, and knowledge is power. He escapes with his lamp and meets up with his love, Liberty. They decide to settle upon a house that seems to be remnants of their past, and go by the names Prometheus and Gaea. I find this ironic for Prometheus in the greek myths is a titan who steals fire from the gods to give to humans in order for all animals to have one distinct feature. In the last few pages of the novel, we finally get to see Prometheus fully enlightened about the world, where he says, “I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of all things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.”
Jayden Cho
ReplyDelete6/13/19
[Part 3]
… The significance of these words show to me the advancement of our society, how over the past 100 years we have really been focusing on the power of an individual, such as the freedom of speech, as well as inputting new ideas without consequences. Prometheus explains this when talking about his most prized treasures, “I guard my treasure, my thoughts, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.” Even with this advancement however, I don’t think it’s possible for the whole world to respect everyone’s own “self”. Somewhere in the world, there will always be restrictions and limitations to someone's human rights, whether it be that person’s race, gender, ethnicity, etc. I think that the world should work on at least reducing the amount of this in all places, for some countries still do not have equal rights in different genders and race.
My next piece of writing I want to go back is the Saint Crispin’s Day speech, from King Henry V. In this speech, there is a big point on leadership, and from this I learned many leadership qualities. During King Henry’s famous speech he uses very persuasive skills and uses many pathos when trying to lift the soldiers spirits up. King Henry knows what will make the soldiers happy, and in knowing so effectively especially the emotions as well as wills and motives of the audience, or in this case, his soldiers. For example, King Henry says, “No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England: God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour As one man more, methinks, would share from me For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!” In this, we can see he is trying to tell the soldiers that this is enough to defeat their enemy, that they are strong enough with this small army to defeat them. This would definitely bring the soldiers moralities up even more and would make them think to themselves that maybe this could be possible. Motivation can be a very strong factor in war, especially if the King himself is personally telling his own soldiers these words. Another example of the King utilizing pathos in his speech is when King Henry mentioned many familiar names of his army,“...Familiar in his mouth as household words Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.This story shall the good man teach his son…” Saying these names would make the soldiers feel as if each and every single one was important and vital to reach this objective, and that the King really did spend his time to know all of his soldiers. We can tell from this speech that King Henry V was a very effective and great leader, for he knew what the soldiers wanted and persuaded them to the point of the soldier’s waiting for battle, eager to win. There will always be leaders in a group no matter what, but great leaders will only emerge from their use of presentational skills as well as their skills in persuasion. What I learned from this mini topic were more ways to become an effective leader, and will help me on later in life.
In conclusion, this English Class was my favorite english class I have ever done, yet horrible for me as a student. Around the midterm mark, I became lazier and turned in essays, blog responses, and more late or not at all. However, this still didn’t make me enjoy this class less. I liked your teaching style where there is a lot of free time in class to do blog responses and such. However, it was deemed
...impractical for me because I think I work the best at home in the type of environment I am used to. I would have liked more class discussions and more creative projects, and less essays for there can be a point in time when writing is a bit too much. However, I learned a lot this year from basic essay formatting, to knowing how to read Shakespeare. Thank you for an “enlightening” year and it would be a pleasure to have you again as my teacher Mr. Pellerin.
DeleteLucas Kaufman
DeleteI think we all became a little lazier as the year dragged on. I finally started missing blogs during "Oliver Twist".
Frankie Huntress
ReplyDeleteI took in a great deal of beneficial things this year. We began off the year with Allegory of a Cave. we discovered that we should be edified so as to prevail as a general public. That is valid for Fahrenheit 451 just as Anthem. We should most likely think without anyone else so as to go anyplace. “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine” a statement from Fahrenheit 451. We can't envision what's in other individuals heads, however on the off chance that we record that thing, at that point we can attempt to get it. We need similarly invested individuals to deal with things together. Be that as it may, we can't be caught in a cavern our entire lives either. In Anthem, we see a general public that removed an individual self. Rather, you had gatherings of individuals. Individuals that did not realize how to peruse and think. I said this before we have to ready to think to prevail as a general public. On the off chance that we don't, at that point we can't go anyplace throughout everyday life. In Fahrenheit 451 individuals were frightened of books. The legislature had told individuals that books where terrible and individuals didn't realize any better to state generally. They couldn't think.
"Where's Oliver?' said the Jew, ascending with a threatening look. 'Where's the kid?" this Quote had a lot of significance to me as I was perusing Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist was my preferred book we examined for the current year. Charles Dickens consolidated his past encounters with that of fiction to make this book. The whole book can be abridged to the Quote "Where's Oliver?". The book began as Oliver's mom brought forth him in a Workhouse. She kicked the bucket in labor and Oliver experienced childhood in a workhouse. Half of the book is various gatherings of individuals attempting to discover Oliver. This book has its wind and I believe that is the reason its called Oliver turn and not simply Oliver. The book kept me at the edge of my seat while I was understanding it. As a child, I watch the Musical and I was Familiar with the story. Be that as it may, I never read the book until this year. The book is substantially more fascinating than the Musical. The book contacted points that numerous authors would not have had anything to do with at the time. The book was likewise imprinted in the paper so everybody could peruse it not simply the world class.
Song of devotion was an incredible method to begin the year. In antem, "I" is totally gone. Individuals just know "we". They needed to expel people groups capacity to think. They thought whether individuals did not consider them selfs as a person rather they educated as thems as a piece of a grab than it would evacuate all contentions. I think this was an impractical notion. Individuals need to think for them selfs and not for other individuals. That is the reason Equality 7-2521 gazed to flee to the passage and fabricate. He needed to investigate various things. We have to investigate the obscure. The general population in Anthem were so apprehensive by the obscure that they remained in obscurity age.
Frankie Huntress part two
ReplyDeletein the motion picture, the minority report the administration anticipates kills before they occur. They depend on these people they call the precogs. They get dreams and tell the police. The precogs live in this spot called the sanctuary. The whole thought of the precogs is exceptionally religious. The precogs are benefits. They have no contact with the outside world. Individuals are giving endlessly their opportunities to the legislature and not taking care of business. They simply trust the precogs and the police.
I took in a ton of information this year in Freshmen English. I liked this year so much more than the last. I preferred the informed of Anthem and Fahrenheit 451. You should most likely think by your self to have a decent society. You can't anticipate that other individuals should think for you. In any case, you likewise can't think for other individuals.
Gannon Sylvester
ReplyDeleteEnglish ©
(Part 1) All I really needed to know in Mr. Pellerins English class
"The Allegory of a Cave": In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners only see shadows and what's in front of them. But once they are released, they see what the people had been hiding from them all this time. “When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what is now called realities”.When I was a kid I remember I used to think that Santa Claus was real and then when I became older I was exposed to the reality that he was all in my head. One people start to get older they start to realize that the things around them can be perceived as anything you want them to be, and when we were younger we saw them only as what we wanted too, and not as everyone else has, as an illusion to make kids feel the freedom of being young and not being aware of the real world. And from this, I have learned to not judge someone right away and to look at it from their point of view.
Inequality for All: Robert Reich’s Documentary is all about economic and financial problems that face America today and how basically the world is changing right in front of our eyes, but not for our benefit. The problem with financial inequality is when there is a noticeable difference between a person salary and yearly household income. And now I don't necessarily think that this is “unfair” because a business CEO should probably be making a lot more than someone working at the local drive-through. But the thing that is going wrong with today's economy is the unfair and heavy taxing. I don't think that the way Americans handle this sort of thing is fair in any way to lower class people at all. If there is a problem in the economy and you need to impose taxes, we should impose them on just the people with the larger salaries and incomes. Because of continuously taxing lower class people, it is just leading them to poverty and bankruptcy. "We make the rules of the economy – and we have the power to change those rules." (Robert Reich). And if we live by this statement, then I believe that this generation will help tremendously to solve future problems with our country.
Fahrenheit 451: Fahrenheit 451 mainly focused on the termination of books, including the bible. And maybe the biggest reason that people had begun to do this sort of thing, is because people were thinking too much, and that was shown to be a huge problem because the people in power, wanted to stay in power. “It didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God.”(Fahrenheit 451). I can see why the author thought the internet and TV would take peoples minds and make them lazy enough to stop reading because this is one of the problems that is going on today about how all of these new devices are corrupting kids. And after reading this novel I have realized that I had taken what I had advantage for and that I should appreciate the things in life.
Sophia Lakos
DeleteIn your response to "The Allegory of a Cave" I totally agree and that was great way to put it.
(Part 2)
ReplyDeleteAnthem: Ayn Rand created a story about a place where you are told what to do and where to be at all times. “We were born with a curse. It has always driven to us to thoughts which are forbidden,”(Anthem) This quote explains how this world viewed people who think too much. Equality is one of the people who think too much. When he gets his job from the council that he is a “Street Sweeper” he realizes that he was caught thinking/ having thoughts. Later in the story, he leaves before the Council catches him and goes out into the real world. This story has shown that it's ok to believe what you choose to, and in this story, there are consequences for your actions, but in the real world, no one is going to hold reading a story against you.
So over my Freshmen year English class, I have read all of these stories, acted some of them out, and felt the Petrarchan sonnets. And for each story that I have read, I have felt that almost in a way a different part of me has unlocked from the inside. But not anything new to me, because I had known that I had always liked reading and writing more than any other subject in school. But this year I felt as if this feeling had reached me on a different and more personal level. I have actually learned a lot about storytelling and dramatic irony and seeing how characters can interact and react with one another during situations that have crossed their paths. Thank you Mr. Pellerin.
Evan Brenner
ReplyDelete1. Fahrenheit 451: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them”. This quote from Fahrenheit 451 shows us that if one person does something wrong in a society you don’t just immediately take them away. You just get them to not do it again. Nowadays the internet is overpowering books and people rely on that rather than books. The author of the book is trying to encourage the reader to read more books and there could be benefits. Books let us gain a lot of new knowledge and lead us to the next chapter of our life. Overall, if we didn’t have books in our lives we would not be as knowledgeable and life would be totally different.
2. Anthem: “I am. I think. I will”. This quote by Ayn Rand shows us to believe in yourself and never give up. Also never listen to people that say negative things about you.It seems that Equality 7-2521 has become aware of the fact that he is an individual. This is in sharp contrast to the rest of the book, where he describes himself as we. Equality 7-2521 stands on a mountain and lifts his head and hands. He takes in the fact that he, himself, is the knowledge he always wished to find. He realizes that he ''wished to find a warrant for being”. Now he knows, ''I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction”.' In other words, he does not need permission or a reason to be himself. He is his own reason for life. In the end this quote shows that you should believe in yourself and you can do anything you believe in.
3. Romeo and Juliet: “Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it”. This quote by William Shakespeare states states that basically trying to love somebody who doesn't care for you or doesn ́t value your love is pointless. You need to stay with those people who love and care for you the same way as you do for them and stay away from those who don’t show it back. A very important life lesson that comes out of this book is to stay close with the ones that love and care for you and leave behind the ones that don’t.
4. The Allegory of a Cave: “When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities”. In the Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners only see shadows and what's in front of them up until they’re let out into the real world. When we are kids half of the time our parents hide inappropriate or “things that will open their eyes” in the real world. Until we are older and are able to understand what we view as real and fake. Plato describes ignorant people as non-enlightened people. Some people around the world judge what they don't know without learning the truth.
Evan Brenner
ReplyDelete5. Oliver Twist: “Some people are nobody's enemies but their own”. This quote means that you can be your worst enemy if your not looking out for yourself. This applies to a lot of scenarios through everyday life for me because I would sometimes overly stress myself out about something that wasn't as important as I had made it in my head to be. Your imagination can be set wild and make up all sorts of things that aren't true but you perceive them to be which can really slow you down and get you not in the best mindset. You should always make sure that you are okay before others because if you aren't all of that emotion can come out at once and make things even worse for everyone.
6. Conclusion: Overall, this was one of my best classes of my freshman year. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the year, but it was much better than I thought. Your teaching style was very good and it fit right in for freshman English. One of the things I liked most was that you explained everything very well and gave us a bunch of time to complete our work. Also do all of the work on the computer rather than handwriting t was much easier, it took up less time. Another thing is I loved how we watched the movies along with reading the books. It helped because if you didn’t understand something in the book the movie would of helped you. In the end, I will remember this class for a very long time.