Thankful for a Classmate

As we walk into school every week day, we all have at least one person that we are excited to see or thankful for. Our classmates, each and every single one,  makes up the classroom and it is the way it is because of each individual opinion and presence. Everyone’s comments are always welcome and fun to listen to. We all have to be appreciative of those around us in our learning environment because we all learn from one another, especially in English classes like Philosophy in Literature. If we didn’t have each other, learning the subject would not be as opinion based or thought provoking.  Class is also supposed to be fun, so it is always nice to have a few close friends in a class that you can joke around with or talk to. Thanksgiving is a holiday meant for realizing what you are grateful for and I am thankful for all of my classmates. I am thankful for all of my great classmates but the one I really like forward to seeing is Araceli. I love seeing her on Fridays because during the Jersey Shore season we always comment on how amazing the episode was  and how beautiful and funny Pauly D is. We always end up complaining about AP Human Geography and asking ourselves why we took a class full of freshmen.  Our conversations are always interesting and make sixth period interesting. Being in a school full of interesting people doesn’t happen very often so, we should be thankful for being at a great school like Whitney M. Young. 

A Letter to Cormac McCarthy

Dear Cormac McCarthy,

The Road was a very interesting book that I honestly had a hard time putting down once I started reading it. I fell in love with the characters and their courage and strength throughout their journey. Their determination to find a new home as well as a better life (if one did indeed exist) was kind of a slap in the face. It made me realize something; I honestly have nothing to complain about. I complain about every little thing possible throughout my day that makes me unhappy.  While reading the book I imagined myself in the boy’s situation and I probably would not have gotten as far as he did.

The boy encountered so many horrific sights and situations as such a young child and yet he still had the courage to continue on with the journey. I was amazed at what the father taught the young boy, such as how to shoot a gun and even when to shoot it and at who to shoot at. The fact that the man wanted to kill the son if anything were to happen to him made the book so much more heart wrenching and it kept me on edge. Also, when the mother left the man and the son, I was extremely mad at first but then I took the time to think about it and I realized that she sacrificed herself so that the man and son would ACTUALLY have a better chance of survival. I wonder how the book would have been if she had stayed though. Anyway, I enjoyed your book very much! 

Defend the Poet! Charles Bukowski

In Charles Bukowski’s poem,” Dinosauria, we”, he expresses his thoughts on society and how the world will end up if humans continue on their path that they are currently traveling on. He presents very interesting ideas about the human population being born into a world that is full of cruel behavior. This behavior includes hospitals bill that are impossible to pay as well as death, disinheritance, violence and drugs. Bukowski exposes his thoughts on the terrible future that will befall on society. He states that radiated men will eat one another’s flesh for survival…I do not know if humans will one day resort to cannibalism for survival but everything else that he writes about in his poem has already happened. There have been explosions that shook the earth during wars, jails are already full and crimes go unpunished because of the connections that people have, there have been a handful of oil spills that have killed fish and ruined water, plants, and beaches, and lawyers charge the common man unreasonable prices that it is indeed cheaper to plead guilty. So, is Bukowski right about the future if most of the things that he has written about are already happening in society? Bukowski’s ideas may seem a tad bit outrageous today but the future of our society can take a turn for the worst at any moment. As sad as it may seem, the world’s ending may come sooner than expected due to the greediness of humans. 

A Direction the Class Needs

As we walk into Philosophy in Literature class every day, we do not expect to be lectured nor do we expect to take lengthy notes that we will never look at again. Instead, we walk into class expecting a discussion with our teacher and our peers about literature that we have read that reflects society’s beliefs and actions both in the past, present, and future. The discussions enable students to express their opinions as well as listen to other people’s points of view. These discussions may lead into disagreements which is great because students get an opportunity to look deeper into their opinions and they formulate an even more extensive approach to literature. They begin to question the author’s intentions and they relate the authors words to what is going on in the world. Relating literature to our lives enables us to look at the society that we belong to and we discover its flaws and maybe even a few good things about it. Relating literature to our lives also allows us to predict our future and how society is going to function in the next few years.

Group work is a great way of getting to know our peers on a personal level based on their thoughts on certain social and political issues. It allows everyone to share their thoughts with each other and when a disagreement arises, it gives students an opportunity to defend their positions on an issue  by examining it from different perspectives.