LAST Blog of the Semester

It's the LAST first day of school
This is the LAST high school orchestra concert
This is my LAST night in my own home
This is the LAST blog of the semester

During senior year, there are so many phrases that we attach the word LAST to. Many people say that they will miss high school and that they aren't ready to move forward quite yet. I completely disagree. Sure, I will miss my family and friends when I am at Centre (GO COLONELS!!). But I know that I am ready for something new. My whole life I have been surrounded by the same people, and while I've grown to love them all, I think I need somewhat of a change in my life. I am pretty much the youngest in my family, and no matter how much freedom I am given, I tend to always depend on others to live my life. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think after almost 18 years of life I need to learn to be on my own.

I also need a clean slate. I think that when you've lived the kind of life that I have (being born and brought up in Lexington, KY for my whole life), you would agree. I absolutely love Lexington, and I imagine raising a family of my own in a city much like Lexington, but I need a different environment at least for a few years. To be perfectly honest, being around the same people has been both good and bad for me. I've grown really close to my friends, but being around the people that I don't like at school everyday hasn't really been doing me any favors. My dislike towards them could also be because I've lived here since I was a baby, and I judged them before I even gave them a chance. When I go to college, I will make an attempt to see the good in everyone and approach people with a more positive, more mature attitude.

Anyway, this blog is basically saying what everyone else in my class is probably saying: I can't wait for college, I'm excited for it...blah blah blah. But I think that everyone's experience in college and life in general is unique to themselves, and these experiences cannot be compared.

I know this isn't the last day of school or anything, but I just wanted to say: thank you Mr. Mullins for teaching me everything you have. I will never forget the fun times I had. (Shout out to interpretive dance by Becky, Alex, and Chris)

"Work Without Hope" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Work Without Hope"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair-

The bees are stirring - birds are on the wing-

And Winter, slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

And I the while, the sole unbusy thing,

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,

Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.

Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,

For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!

With lips unbrighten'd, wreathless brow, I stroll:

And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?

Work without Hope draw nectar in a sieve,

And Hope without an object cannot live.

This poem is an excellent example of a Romantic Era poem. In the Romantic Era, personification and apostrophe of nature and the elements were very common. This poem demonstrates these techniques and may more.

Personification is present in this poem from the very first sentence: "All Nature seems at work."  Nature is a concept, and it cannot possibly be at work. Also, the word "nature" is capitalized, which makes it a proper noun. Proper nouns are generally used to refer to something that is actually tangible or concrete, such as an important place or person. Here, Nature is given importance and a human characteristic, which is characteristic of the Romantic Era because Romantic poets sure did get in touch with nature!

Apostrophe is significant in this poem because Coleridge addresses bloom by saying "Bloom, O ye amaranths!" This is an example of apostrophe because Coleridge is talking to "bloom" as if its a real thing. It is a real thing, but not one to be addressed as if it's a person.

These are only a few of the many techniques that were used in the Romantic Era. The Romantic Era of Poetry was known for praising and sometimes even condemning nature, which is what Coleridge does in his poem "Work Without Hope." 

What Should I Write About? What Can I Write About? What Can't I Write About?

So I was just sitting there trying to come up with some mind blowing concept on what to write for my next blog. I've already blogged about my independent reading book and poetry, and current events lately are pretty depressing (bombing in Boston). I just couldn't come up with something appealing to write about. Pretty soon, I started to get frustrated and wished that I didn't have to write these blogs in the first place (sorry Mr. Mullins). But not long after, I realized that wondering what I should write about is actually a luxury. I am asking myself what I should write about, but people across the world are wondering: What can I write about without being punished? What can't I write about? What am I allowed to write about?  Should I say what I want and worry about punishment later?

Luckily, the one question Americans have to ask themselves is: What should I write about? And we can thank these guys for that:



I think a lot of times we take for granted how liberal we are with our speech.  Just think of how many times you criticize someone, even if you're not actually angry at them. More times than I can count, I've called people stupid where in other countries you can get into serious legal trouble for saying this. I didn't call them stupid because I was angry. In fact, the word "stupid" has become very commonplace and it doesn't literally mean that the other person has no mental capacity. "Stupid" is also used to describe an action. If taxes are raised, someone in our country may say "That's so stupid" without being punished for slander.  Words like these are slowly becoming commonplace in our language and I think that sometimes its important to take a step back and be thankful that we have the luxury of asking ourselves: What should I write about?

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places by Gilliam Flynn is my third independent reading book. In this novel the protagonist, Libby Day, witnesses the murder of her mom and two sisters. She testified that her older brother Ben committed the murders. These murders became known as the famous "Satan Sacrifice of Kinakee, Kansas." Around 25 years later, she is poor and is willing to do anything for money. She joins up with the Kill Club, a club that investigates tragedies such as this mass murder.  The Kill Club doesn't think that Libby's accusations against her brother from 25 years ago are valid, especially because there is no evidence to suggest that Ben was the one who killed everyone.  They pay Libby to talk to Ben (who has been in prison for the last 25 years) and her father, Runner, who abandoned her family long before the murders.

I haven't finished reading the book so far, but of what I have read, here's what I know: about a day before the murders, Ben (fifteen at the time) was falsely accused of molesting a ten year old girl named Krissi Cates, and was therefore dubbed as subjected to satanic practices.  This accusation made him an easy target for the murders.  However, Krissi agrees to lying about Ben. I also know that Libby was somewhat brainwashed by the child psychologist at the time of the murders and testified against her brother due to this. I still have to read more, but I really want to know what happens next.

This book relates to my inquiry project (truth v. ignorance) because Libby is in the  process of discovering what really happened all of those years ago. She was basically trained to accuse her brother because Ben had already been accused of worshiping the devil. He was an easy target that (for those times) didn't need any supporting evidence.  Another important aspect of my project is how Libby deals with the situation. At first, she agreed to join the Kill Club because they paid her for uncovering details. She continued her membership because she saw it as a good source of income. At the point I'm at in the book, she starts to become genuinely curious and seeks closure. She is also starting to feel remorse for her false accusations, where before she couldn't care less about the murders even though she knew there were some holes in her testimony. That is what my project is all about, and I'm intrigued to finish this book!

Carpe Diem

Today in class, we discussed the poem "To His Coy Mistress" and its relation to the phrase "carpe diem" which is Latin for seize the day.  I looked this phrase up on the internet, just to see if I could find anything interesting on it for a blog post. And what do you know? I found over 100 quotes that relate to carpe diem. I thought they were interesting because we've heard many of these quotes used (some of them overused) but we probably never would've made the direct connection to the phrase carpe diem.  Another interesting point is that I always thought of carpe diem as a phrase that isn't referenced very much anymore, but these quotes have proved me wrong. Here are some examples:

"Forever is composed of nows." - Emily Dickinson (Monty may not like me for that one)
        Originally, I thought that this quote was referring to the fact that what our future holds for us depends on what we do now.

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." - Mother Teresa
        This is one of those quotes that we've all heard before, and I never really thought of it in the "carpe diem" aspect. When I think about it, this makes sense now.

"We are the change we are waiting for." - President Obama
        Throughout both of his campaigns, President Obama's recurring theme was change. He wanted to change the public policy and the way America was run. Therefore, I think I had good reason to believe that this quote referenced. However, this quote could also imply that because "we are the change we are waiting for," we should "seize the day" and take action to make that change actually happen.

"If you don't take risks, you'll have a wasted soul." - Drew Barrymore
        This is a relatively recent example, judging by the person who quoted it. This quote is not heard of as much, but I think we've all heard of the belief that you have to take risks to be somewhat successful. This shows that the concept of carpe diem is still popular.

"Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick of your shoes, and dance." - Oprah Winfrey
        At first glance, this quote seems to me to talk about relaxing and enjoying life. It seems to be the complete opposite of seizing the day, which means to take every opportunity to be productive, right? After looking closely, Winfrey could be talking about seizing the opportunity to enjoy once in a while instead of being so serious all the time.  This quote shows that seizing the day could be construed in two different ways.

I thought it was interesting to look at carpe diem quotes that are either by people we know, or quotes that we usually associate with something other than that phrase. If you want to see more quotes, these are only a few examples at this website: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/carpe-diem. 

Maybe you all can find different interpretations on your own! :)

The Stories That Don't Bind Us

The article that Mr. Mullins posted on his blog, called "The Stories That Bind Us," was very interesting. I would've never thought that regularly talking about positive and negative events that contribute to one's identity would have such a profound effect in reinforcing a child's confidence and self-esteem. Overall, the article was astounding, especially because I didn't realize that there was a whole field of research dedicated to this.

That being said, I don't really agree with some of it. I think that the evidence from the experiments conducted is valid, and I'm not questioning Dr. Duke's or Dr. Fivush's intelligence. I just think that their research only applies to families that live in America (note: this doesn't only mean Caucasian families, this could include my immediate family because I am Indian, but I still live in America). All stereotypes and generalizations aside, I do have some valid reasons for this. My family (which includes my mom, my dad, my older sister, and myself) is very open and I do know pretty much everything about my parents and grandparents. I agree that this has made me have a strong sense of identity and confidence, in terms of religion and culture. And the reason that my family has had this sense of openness is because my parents, over the course of 21 years have become accustomed to the American environment of being open with their children. 

I can tell you that in some other countries, this isn't the case. Parents aren't always open with their children. By no means does this mean that they're bad people, their culture just doesn't dictate this aspect. Families can still be close-knit in other countries, but the concept that learning about one's past can reinforce their identity may never occur to other cultures.

Another reason for my belief is that personally, communication about these sorts of things has never worked out. Sure, my immediate family is very open with me as mentioned earlier. But my grandparents, who live with us now, aren't really used to that. The only reason I know anything about them is because of what my dad told me about his childhood. Again, they're not necessarily bad people for that, but this isn't really in their habits. And my theory is that if some concept isn't already a part of one's culture, they're not about to act on that concept because they may see it as offensive.

As you can see, I'm not completely ruling out the communication aspect of the article. I didn't look into the experiment, so I'm obviously not educated about this field of study. I just think that in other cultures, and even with older generations, the facts of the article may not always be the case. 

Child Who Just Lost Balloon Begins Lifelong Battle with Depression

I was reading The Onion (which I do for fun...maybe not, whatever) when I came across an article titled "Child Who Just Lost Balloon Begins Lifelong Battle with Depression." The article is just what it sounds like: a child who just lost a balloon and is beginning a lifelong battle with depression. Click here to read the article.  And the following picture accompanied the article:



Just look at those eyes. Doesn't he look so sad? Poor little guy. (And yes, I picked the extra-large option on the picture size, because I'm just that way)

Here are some passages that made me almost laugh out loud, and explanations to follow:

"The increasingly distraught 3-year-old, who will gradually come to believe that he is a complete failure and a burden to everyone he knows, then reportedly burst into tears in what was only the very start of an inexorable, decades-long descent into severe clinical depression."  The words severe clinical depression is what got me there. Also the decades-long descent. This really made me rethink my reaction to losing my favorite teddy bear at a train station when I was little.

"Sources indicated that upon seeing the balloon disappear behind a line of trees, Tremont began to grapple for the first time with the same feelings of irreversible loss and guilt that will eventually prevent him from enjoying activities he once loved and cause him to become utterly despondent in the face of a seemingly hostile world." The fact that this statement is so long makes me laugh, especially because I know that this article is so grossly sarcastic. Using words like "grapple" and "irreversible loss" make the statement funnier.



At first glance, this is just a picture of a red balloon. However, the caption read: "The symbol of melancholy and loss that will haunt Tremont for his entire adult life." This one really just speaks for itself, no explanation necessary.

I thought this article was worthy of mention, particularly because it made me laugh. I thought maybe it would brighten your day too! :)