Bryan’s AP Blog

1) Line 30 in Nikki Giovanni’s essay states, “He has to decide: will I live? Do I want to live . . . like this . . . with these people who have destroyed everything I cherish? I think the meaning in this is that he has to decide whether he wants to live/associate among the same people or “race” who’ve taken away everything he loves. 2) Line 64 she uses the Jackson 5 lyrics of ABC to cut into a scene where harry and his wife are sitting in a cafe. He later asks her why she’d never asked about his scar and then decides to tell her in Aruba. I’m not 100% sure about the jackson 5 reference, but I think it might have to do with him teaching her about his scar and why and how he got it and how his mother’s love saved him. 3)???? 

1) He wants to bring to light that people follow trends however absurd they may be to be accepted among their societies. 2) By using I he shows that what he is stating is his opinion, whereas by using we he means people in general including himself. 3) That he would know what he was talking about, because being a slave and of color during that time automatically excludes you from falling in line with society. 4) idk 5) I think it helps strengthen his argument because it adds logic and examples. 6) idk 7) idk? 8) Showing that men may think upon great political questions but they do it within the boundaries of what their party or peers believe. 9) idk 11) Twain describes narrow minded thinkers and their peers as asses giving the effect that they are naive to follow the trends and what is socially acceptable at the time. 

6) He uses many movie examples, and describes them as the director’s way to justify their past maybe not so great high school experiences. 7) Whether Hollywood productions of high school movies accurately depict the true “look and feel” of high school. 10) He supports it by saying that the geeks always succeed in life. He uses the Littleton shooters as an example saying that, “If they had held on for a few years they might have been working at a hip software company, or have started their own business, while the jocks who oppressed them would probably have wound up selling insurance or used cars.” 11)  That it is possible to create movies that bring you back to when you were in high school creating the look and feel. 12) High schoolers as well as everyone else. 

I think there is one thing every single person can relate to, and it’s just that, thought. We do it every day, every second for everything. Yet still people find ways not to do so, wars, hatred, hypocrisy, racism, prejudice. As Golding would say to the young man in the navy, “a world without any battleships”, or better yet a world with no need for them. We were born with this gift and are constantly maturing and developing it over the span of time. Once you learn something you can’t un-know it, it stays with you forever in spite of the fact that that memory or thought may dim after years of not being used, it still can have light shed upon it once again by a context. Bottom line is that we are all thinkers, some more than others but still all possessing the potential. I myself am a thinker, though humbly aware that I am no “grade one” thinker does not change the fact that the potential is still there. I personally think the span of one’s knowledge shouldn’t be measured for example by the amount of equations one would know or their marks, but of the content of one’s thoughts. One’s way of how they go about reasoning things, with intent to better society and understand this ride we call life from as many angles and viewpoints as possible, thoughts directed with morals.             While writing this, I thought to myself, how would I go about describing such a thing as complex as thought. Stephen King wrote a quote of which I find from experience to be very true, whether it be turning thought into spoken words, or writing. “The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them–words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things that lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. You may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for a want of a understanding ear.” Or in this case eyes, so describing as best I can, my thoughts.A typical day of thought for me would probably go as follows: Waking up, wondering what time it is, then why I didn’t go to sleep earlier. Some patches of nothing, being that it’s 6:30 a.m. I’m not a morning person and the beginning of the morning routine. Showering, putting clothes on, deciding if I have enough time for breakfast etc. the usual things, which really require not too much thought. The car ride over to school is where the true thought process for the day begins. I recall whether or not I finished all my homework, wonder how the day will go and mentally prepare to be thoroughly confused in Giddings class. After, I have the luxury of searching my brain for the knowledge to solve systems or find the variables needed to create the equations to find the answer for a story problem. Next I travel on to 3^rd period U.S. History to hear of the doings of men good and evil who have long passed from this world while drifting into a subconscious daydream. I wonder to myself if all this knowledge is necessary into building me into the person I am to become. Whether book smarts or the thoughts, knowledge and instincts I was born with will progress me farther. I wonder whether my life will turn out like I imagine, or if somewhere along the road it’ll take a turn for the worst, things of which I have no control over in this time. Those thoughts then leading to thoughts of if I’m really in control of my life, or if there’s a path of fate we follow that sets a veil on or eyes tricking us only into thinking we are in control and so on and so forth.Thinking of life ahead can definitely put pressure and stress on you unless you were lucky enough to have been born into a family of billionaire business tycoons, which sadly I wasn’t so fortunate. When I find myself in a stressful situation I find it better to think less, clear my mind, listen to up-beat music that won’t remind me why I was stressed in the first place. It may not solve the problems but it allows me to “cool down” which I find to be more useful than to try solving while stressed and not succeed only resulting in more stress.I remember being younger and my mom telling me to, “think before you act” which seemed to take a while, and many cases of not thinking to sink in. Now that it has though, I realize it just might have been one of the simplest yet most important lessons I would learn, because action without thought can lead to disastrous things so I conclude this by saying, you guessed it, “think before you act” it works for me.

“The Decline”Where are all the stupid people from?And how’d they get to be so dumb?Bred on purple mountain rangeFeed amber waves of grainsTo lesser human beings, zero feelingsBlame it onHuman nature, mans destiny (mans destiny)Blame it on the greediocracy (greediocracy)Fear of GodThe fear of changeThe fear of truthAdd the Bill of Rights, subtract the wrongsThere’s no answersMemorize and sing star spangled songsWhen the questionsAren’t ever askedIs anybody learning from the past?We’re living in united stagnationFather what have I done?I took that .22A gift to me from youTo bed with me each nightKept it cleanPolished it wellCherished every cartridge, every shellDown, by the creek, under brush, under dirtThere’s a carcass of my second killDown, by the park, under stone, under pineThere’s a carcass of my brother WilliamBrother where, have you gone to?I swear, I never thought I couldI see so many timesThey told me to shoot straightDon’t pull the trigger, squeezeThat will insure a killA kill is what you wantA kill is why we breedThe Christians love their gunsThe church and NRAPray for their salvationsPrey on the lower faithsThe story book’s been readAnd every line believedCurriculum’s been setLogic is a threatReason searched and seizedJerry spent some time in MichiganA twenty year vacation, after all he had a dimeA dime is worth a lot more in DetroitA dime in California, a twenty dollar fineJerry only stayed a couple monthsIt’s hard to enjoy yourself while bleeding out the assAsphyxiation is simple and fastIt beats seventeen fun years of being someone’s bitchDon’t think (Stay)Drink your wine (Home)Watch the fire burn (Be)His problems not mine (Safe)Just be that model citizenI wish I had a schilling(For each senseless killing)For every senseless killingI’d buy a governmentAmerica’s for saleAnd you can get a good deal on it(A good deal on it)And make a healthy profitOr maybe, tear it apartStart with assumptionThat a million people are smartSmarter than oneSerotonin’s goneShe gave up, drifted awaySara fled, thought process goneShe left her answering machine onThe greeting left spoken sincereMessages no one will ever hearTen thousand messages a dayA million more transmissions layVictims of the laissez faireTen thousand voices, a hundred gunsA hundred decibels turns to oneOne bullet, one empty headNow with Serotonin goneThe man who used to speakPerforms a cute routineFeel a little patronizedDon’t feel badThey found a way inside your headAnd you feel a bit misledIt’s not that they don’t care, yeahThe television’s put a thought inside your headLike a Barry Manilow, jingleI’d like, to teach the world to singIn perfect harmonyA symphonic blank stare, yeahIt doesn’t make you care (make you care)Not designed to make you care (make you care)They’re betting you won’t care (you won’t…)Place a wager on your greedA wager on your prideWhy try to beat them when, a million others tried?We are the whoreIntellectually spayedWe are the queerDysfunctionally raisedOne more pill to kill the painOne more pill to kill the painOne more pill to kill the painLiving through conformityOne more prayer to keep me safeOne more prayer to keep us warmOne more prayer to keep us safeThere’s gonna be a better placeLost the battle, lost the warLost the things worth living forLost the will to win the fightOne more pill to kill the painNa na na na naLa na na na naNa na na na naNa na na na naThe going get tough, the tough get debtDon’t pay attention, pay the rentNext of kins pay for your sinsA little faith should keep us safeSave usThe human, existenceIs failing, resistanceEssential, the futureWritten off, the odds areAstronomically against usOnly moron and geniusWould fight a losing battleAgainst the super egoWhen giving in is so damn comfortingAnd so we go, on with our livesWe know the truth, but prefer liesLies are simple, simple is blissWhy go against tradition when we canAdmit defeat, live in declineBe the victim of our own designThe status quo, built on suspectWhy would anyone stick out their neck?Fellow members ofClub “We’ve Got Ours”I’d like to introduce you to our hostHe’s got his, and I’ve got mineMeet the declineWe are the queerWe are the whoreAmmunitionIn the class warWe are workerWe love our queenWe sacrificeWe’re soylent greenWe are the queerWe are the whoreAmmunitionIn the class war

Susan Jacoby made a great argument on the subject of America’s downfall in intellectuality. My argument to hers is: Yes, most of the technology crafted today is mainly for the soul purpose of entertainment. For example video game consoles, internet sites such as facebook and myspace, internet game sites, the majority of programs on t.v. the list could go on. But, games have been created for learning as well as the games just for entertainment. Nintendo created a game for the DS called “Brain Age2″ and “Brain Training”. Educational programs are being shown at all times on the television. Vast sources of knowledge can be searched on the internet, in fact without it you, Susan couldn’t have even posted your transcript. My point is that technological advances won’t be stopped just for the cause of stemming society’s decrease in knowledge. Also for every bit of entertainment created there has always been an educational alternative, the true issue is what the individuals choice will be.