Overview of The Crucible for AP Exam

             The Crucible is a play based on the Salem Witch Trials. What starts out as just foolishness and dancing in the woods turns into death sentences for many innocent people accused as witches.
          One theme seen in this play is how quickly people succumb to fear. When a few children start becoming afraid the whole town fears of witches and the devil. 
          Dramatic irony is used. We are aware of what the girls are up to while reading bu the characters are not. Even the dialogue f the character could be considered a literary element in a way that indirectly characterized the characters. Abigail drinks chicken blood to kill Elizabeth. This shows her insanity. Also, the way Abigail takes to John you can tell of her obsession with him and that she will do anything for him. 
          A lot of realism is seen in this play. It is as if you are immersed into that time period. You can see the darkness and insanity of those days. Even the dialogue has a solemn dark tone to it. The craziness became relatable because you could understand what they were going through. 

Overview of A Raisin in the Sun for AP Exam

              A Raisin in the Sun is pungent with symbols to deliver a message about the internal struggle within an African American family in the setting of the 1960's. 
          One of the symbols is Mama's plant. It appears several times in the play and notable with a withered appearance. Mama takes care of the plant just like she takes care of her family. The hope that one day the pant will see sunlight parallels Mama's hope that her family will one day achieve it dreams. 
          The image of money is used extensively too, however, it means something different to each character. For Walter money is the tangible form of his very dream. The only time he is ever happy is when he has money. Money plays and importance in his life and his dreams. Without it he feels lost and miserable just as the way he was when he lost the money to the bar he invested in.  For Beneatha, money was used to achieve a dream of becoming a doctor. The insurance money was not  material worth but a way what she needed to reach her dream. For Ruth and Mama, money was something different; it was hope. Money would allow them to buy a new home and start anew. 
            For the Younger family money could have helped or hindered their dreams depending on how each character took it. One thing realized is that just as money can appear and disappear so can dreams. In the end, Walter and Beneatha's dreams were a bit altered but altered toward that hope that Mama and Ruth had. 

Ka'ba

          Within this poem it is obvious through the images described and through the phrases and words, that the speaker cares about the lives of African Americans in this country. "The closed window look down.., " " And we labor to make our getaway, into the ancient image, into a new correspondence with ourselves and our black family." The speaker gives way a tone of understanding, sincerity, and protectiveness. 

          It seems as if they are trapped in a cold, dark, place when they really should be in  better and glorious place more deserving to them. America is basically a prison African American were confined to.    

          The final idea or theme in the poem is of freedom. Baraka is certain that Black's want to escape. "We read magic now we need the spells, to rise up, return, destroy, and create." You cannot understand the intention of the speaker from the poem but you can tell how he feels.

“In Memory of Radio”

In the poem “In Memory of Radio”, Baraka in the beginning talks about Lamont Cranston and that he and Jack Kerouac only know of him and the rest of us know of Kate Smith. The speaker says he has no healing powers, no advice get saved or rich, no way to order us to the gas chamber, etc. He continuously talk of love vs. evil.

I looked up the people mentioned in the poem to understand their significance.The central image in the poem is a superhero from comic books and radio shows called The Shadow. Under the cloak of invisibility, The Shadow hunts down and roots out evil in the world. The words he uttered after he transformed himself from Lamont Cranston, a millionaire playboy, to The Shadow have become a part of popular culture: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows." The poem states that the root of evil is love; a very contradictory idea.

There is an interesting phrase mentioned after the third stanza, “and love is an evil word. Turn it backwards see/see what I mean?” This is an obvious contrast and opposition evident in this poem. I find it interesting though that there is no mention of a radio in the poem itself, however, the parentheses and added dialog and humor which created the effect of one.

“Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note”

In the poem “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” themes of suicide, depression, and satisfaction/dissatisfaction are present making it quite fitting that Amiri Baraka wrote this poem right before he turns into a black nationalist. Amiri Baraka was initially part of the Beat generation which were “a group of American post-World War II writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired. Central elements of "Beat" culture included rejection of received standards, innovations in style, experimentation with drugs, alternative sexualities, an interest in Eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and explicit portrayals of the human condition.” Many of the Beat writers of the time were considered iconoclasts. After the assassination of Malcolm X, however, Baraka changes route and turns his back on the white world entering into racism and violence.

The poem is about the narrator who is definitely a parent. The parent is depressed and sullen by stating “Lately, I've become accustomed to the way /The ground opens up and envelopes me” By using the word accustomed the narrator is saying that he/she used to and bored with his or her life. “And now, each night I count the stars./And each night I get the same number./And when they will not come to be counted,/I count the holes they leave.” The holes mentioned are a metaphor for the holes or emptiness within the person’s life. After the depressed state expressed in the first two stanzas, a shift in tone takes place in the third stanza. Now there is hope. The child is praying and probably praying that his or her parent is going to be okay.

This has to do with Baraka’s life because he was probably not happy initially his hope was found in black nationalism. Even though many may argue that that would not be an ideal form of hope, Baraka also finds a second hope when he changes his ways and becomes a Marxist and supporter third-world liberation movements.

True Believer Review

             Nicholas Sparks is one of my all time favorite romance authors. It always amazes me how one of the best romance writers of our time is a man. When the main audience for this genre is dominantly women, how does a man capture that much depth, emotion, detail, into his stories? 
              True Believer by Nicholas Sparks is about the protagonist named Jeremy Marsh who is a science journalist who debunks myths and hoaxes, mostly things of the supernatural sort. He comes to a small, close-nit town in North Carolina to do research on the mysterious lights appearing in the town's cemetery. Before he knows it he falls in love with the librarian named Lex (whose grandmother is a psychic, by the way). Both come with their own baggage however, Jeremy is recently divorced and Lex has been through two serious relationships that did not end so well, therefore, she is the more cautious one. 
               The highlight of this story is not in the romance, it's rather in the mystery of discovering what causes the lights in the cemetery. A lot of writing in this book is dedicated to how Jeremy goes about debunking this mystery. Meanwhile, the mystery has a lot to do with the relationship between Jeremy and Lex considering Lex believes she witnessed her parents ghost in the cemetery. Jeremy and Lex are foil character. Jeremy is a big city journalist who lives life according to science and logic while Lex is a small-town witty and southern belle who puts faith into her parents and grandmother. Ironically the two end up attracted to each other which creates the problem in the story. 
                True Believer is not characteristic of the typical Sparks books that has popularized him like The Notebook or A Walk to Remember. Still its an easy read with clear organized plot and likable characters, besides Jeremy and Lex, who have that fun southern charm to them. 

HamLit - I actually kinda sorta liked it.

          When ever a teacher assigns a teacher assigns a major work to read you usually hear the class complain about either the length, reading difficulty, the boredom, etc; including myself, I must admit. However, I usually end up somewhat liking the books I read in class. Unfortunately, I never had a liking for Shakespeare. Ever since I read Romeo and Juliet eons ago I never understood the hullabaloo about the guy. Honestly, I never thought he was that good. Freshman year we read Merchant of Venice and that was alright but that's as close as it got. I love making lists. It helps me organize my thoughts clearly and succinctly. Here's a top five list of why I never liked Shakespeare.

1. Its overly done.
2. He talks weird. I have difficulty with understanding his diction.
3. Everyone dies in the end. Come one, its time to change the plot ending.
4. He is very wordy....full of monologues, soliloquies. To much complaining not much action.
5. Probably meant to be seen not read.

              I do not mean to completely butcher the name of Shakespeare because I still do think he should be considered a respected author. After over 500 years, he is still probably the most popular and most acclaimed writer ever! I even like one of his works, Hamlet and here's why:

1. I liked the though-provoking character of Hamlet in this.
2. I understood it. (This is also probably because I am older and experienced reader now.)
3. Timeless. Modern people can relate to it.

           
          Today in theology class we watched a movie on priesthood. Surprisingly it was quite modern portrayal  of the Church and priesthood today. In today's world with a busy lifestyle, rapid pace of technological growth, scientific advances, new issues and debates our parents and grandparents never had to go through--where does faith fit in? Is there a purpose for it anymore? Is anyone willing to just sit still, be silent, and just pray anymore? With the topic that arose in class today and with some of the blog posts I have seen from my classmates on the discussion of faith, I decided to put out my point of view on it. So here it goes...
            AD 33 is the date marked as the death of Jesus. Three days after his death was his
resurrection. His spirit remained on earth for forty days until the day of Pentecost when He sent the Holy Spirit down and told his twelve Apostles to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Each of the Apostles had a destination. Peter embarked on a journey to Asia Minor. Andrew ministered in Greece. James the Great introduced the faith to Spain. John was in Ephesus. Sources tell us James remained in Jerusalem, etc. Thomas, however, came to India. He came to a community located in the south and converted many people to Christianity, including my ancestors. Over the centuries a relationship was formed with the Church of the East, or theOrthodox Church, and that Indian Christian community. Today the community is part of the ofthe Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church.
            The Syrian Orthodox Church is one of the most ancient churches within Christian
existence. It is believed to be directly established by the Apostles. Its headquarters is in Antioch, Syria and according to Acts 11:26 “...The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” The Orthodox Church is evangelical but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It is not non-denominational, it's pre-denominational. It has been believed, taught, preserved, defended, and died for. 
            This is a Church that I am humbled to be a part of, knowing that I come from the deepest roots within Christianity, and history itself. With an ever modernizing world, why should we stick to traditions that are over 2,000 years old? The purpose is to connect ourselves with those before us, surpassing what is beyond time.
           What means to me the most is my faith because with a busy lifestyle and hectic schedule, coming to participate in Mass on Sunday is something I come to for peace, and weirdly enough, I like going to church. It is an elaborate service full of art, music, and prayer that help me to keep in touch with my family, culture, past, and undoubtedly, myself.

Namesake: THE MOVIE

Gogul: Do I remind you of the night. 

Ashok: No. You remind me of everything that followed. Everyday since then has been a gift.  

          Over the break, alongside doing some reading, I got a chance to watch The Namesake. After reading the book I was a little skeptical of how the movie could possible rank on par. It did, however, exceed all my expectations.
          It displayed the complexity of humans that words could not possibly show; a family who is torn between tradition and modern life. I had a renewed appreciation and adoration for Gogul's parents. Actually watching them sacrifice themselves to support their children in whatever they wanted, despite ever being appreciated...well, the waterworks came. The scene when Gogul finds out his father died did it for me. 
          Some other things that probably also contributed to making this movie really great was the acting, directing, and cinematography which was perfect and made it easy to watch. The string and effective acting of the actors and actresses in the move were admirable and a strong power point for the movie. Even the soundtrack was beautiful. 
           This move was definitely worth watching!

Lets give the doctor some credit..huh

I apologize for the lengths I’ve written on my Indian life. It must be getting kind of old. Its just something I needed to get out. Lahiri is a fantastic writer. She is to me the master of short stories. She knows the perfect words use in every work she writes. Its simple yet engrossing.

In class the other day, my group presented the short story The Use of Force. After presenting I thought of the story a little more. I noticed we gave a whole lot of judgement towards the doctor and even more sympathy towards the girl. We went as far as describing the doctor as a rapist. Later on I started to think the doctor deserved a little more sympathy. He was only trying to help this girl who could have been dying. He had probably seen a bunch of patients die from the disease and didn’t want the same fate for her.  All she was doing was being kind of annoying by refusing to simply open her mouth. In the end we realize she kept her diphtheria a secret and was lying to her parents about her throat. Oh and not to mention her parents who were no help at all to the doctor! I now can see why he was kind of going crazy.

Interpreter of Maladies

Another story I read in Interpreter of Maladies was “Interpreter of Maladies.” I’m assuming thats the story the book was named for. Honestly, this story bothered me quite a bit. It was about a second generation Indian couple traveling to India with their children. This part that was annoying was that they seemed to know nothing about India. They were not people visiting their homeland, rather, they seemed like tourists. They didn’t know the native language evident in that their taxi driver had to speak in English to them, the mother constantly complained about everything obviously not wanting to be in India, and they were prideful that they were both born and raised in America instead of India (what disrespect to their native country). Neither of these things would I do if I were visiting India. My mother would probably slap me. You know, I hate it when kids raised here have no idea about their background. Like seriously, none of us our truly Americans (unless we’re Native Americans of course). We all immigrated to this country from somewhere else. I feel like my family history is a part of me and makes me who I am. Its really sustained me in my values, the decisions I make, and even what I want to pursue in college. Plus, I think knowing your family history is super cool. On a different note, this story also had an interesting plot that Mr. Kapasi, the taxi driver, totally thought the mother was hitting on him, however, she just wanted to share with him that her son is not her husband’s child....um ya. That was pretty nice use of dramatic irony right there. It was more like “‘Misinterpretation’ of Maladies” rather than “Interpretation of Maladies.” Weird mother...and poor Mr. Kapasi....

I recall times when friends of my parents would come over for dinner and even though they may not have had a lot of things in common they did have one thing in common: coming to America in search of a job so that their children may have a better life than they did. Thats what went on in the second story in Interpreter of Maladies called “When Mr. Pirzada came to Dine”. The story was told through the eyes of a young girl. She notes the frequent visits of a nice old man who is working in America in order to send money to his family back in Dacca. I will never understand the courage and strength my parents had to travel to a foreign country halfway around the world and having to learn its culture and language and pretty much having to assimilate into it.  And it wasn’t for themselves but for the sake of my brother and me so that we could have the opportunities we would not have been able to have back in India. This story is not only relevant to Indians but all immigrants no matter what decade or century coming to America to live out a dream.

Finally...someone who understands me

One day during a reading period for Brit Lit I had nothing to read. I meandered over to a book shelf and picked up a book with a pretty cover thinking to myself "I just need something to pass 41 minutes." Little did I know I had grabbed a book that would become one of my all time favorites. The Namesake by Jumpa Lahiri was one of the first books I could actually relate to because it was about someone who  was from India and raised in the United States, like me. I found myself laughing, tearing up, and repeatedly thinking "No way, me too!" This led me to start reading her Pulitzer Prize winning book called Interpreter of Maladies. Its a collection of short stories basically along the same ideas as  The Namesake.

The first story I read was called “A Temporary Matter” which is funny because the characters in the book seem like they have more of a Serious Matter on their hands. Its about a second generation Indian married couple whose marriage isn’t working out. I believe Lahiri’s purpose behind this story is that in Indian society marriage is considered very important and so important that divorce is practically unheard of. Every Bollywood movie, Indian tv show, Indian book is revolves around “the marriage”. It’s interesting to see that there is really no happy ending for Shoba and Shukumar with the conflicting ideas of American and Indian cultures. One where divorce is understandable and the other where (lets put it in light terms) will be a hot discussion topic amongst your parents’ family and friends. Oh, the conflictions we second generationers have...