After the discussion about summer reading in class today, I thought about the novels we read in class last year in AP English. One that resonated with me the most was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. (If you haven't read the book, I've attached a movie trailer, which is pretty accurate.) After we finished this novel, we had many Socratic discussions about the theme of this novel: miscommunication. Pretty soon, we found ourselves arguing about certain aspects of the book. I don't remember who it was, but someone interrupted the argument by stating, "It's so weird that we're arguing about because this book is about miscommunation. So basically we are miscommunicating to each other about the miscommunication in the book." As I was thinking about this book, I realized that this statement applies to our blogs too. What one person blogs about can be misunderstood by someone else, even though the purpose of a blog is to provide clarity through a form of communication. So what's the guarantee that what one student sees as an enjoyable can be misconstrued by another as controversial? I like exploring intricate connections in literature and forming an opinion about it. Hopefully, this blog will be the first of many! :)
"I like exploring intricate connections in literature and forming an opinion about it. Hopefully, this blog will be the first of many!" I totally agree! I love to think about what I read, and I like that you do, too. I'll keep updated on your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteInteresting observation. Miscommunication about miscommunication is even present in that book, right? Through such unreliable narrators, we are getting warped perspectives. So your class argument was three levels of miscommunication!
ReplyDeleteThere is lots of miscommunication present in that book. One of many examples is the fact that Oscar thinks his mom doesn't know about his adventures in New York, when in fact his mom purposely doesn't restrain him.
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