The End.

I guess this is it. My last blog post. Wow, this year really did go by quickly. It feels that only yesterday I was making a list of potential blog entries to write about through the course of the year, but this is the last part of "That's So Elliot". So I wanted to wrap up this blog with one final entry.

At first, I hated the idea of a blog project. The assignment was very vague (a recurring theme in this class, no shade, no shade), so I had no idea where to even begin. So my first entries were not that great, but as time went by, I slowly began to love the freedom I was given to write about whatever: reflections on class, really weird extrapolations of a unit, personal pieces, and just random thoughts that I needed to share. I have also had so much fun reading others' blogs that have really great content from a large number of perspectives.

But what really made me love these was the variety of emotion contained within them. Some blogs made me laugh so hard that Eric actually told me to be quiet from his room, some left me thinking for days, some made me cry, and those are only a few of the emotions that these blogs carried. It made me realize how truly writing carries emotion, and the fact that I knew all of the authors further strengthened it. When I read a blog, I imagine the writer talking directly to me, which makes everything so much more personal and emotional then just reading a piece by a faceless author.

In fact, blogs were actually my favorite part of this class, as I was really able to express myself to the world with no filter and as much time as I needed to really phrase my thoughts the way I wanted to. I also learned a lot about my peers by reading their posts through the topics they wrote about and the style in which they wrote. I could even hear their tones as I was reading the blogs, especially Georgia's sassiness (which I greatly admire). Overall, I really enjoyed this project in all its aspects.

And one last thing: gifs. A true staple of this blog is gifs. So I put up my top three gifs from this year that are truly iconic. Btw, it is not pronounced jif, it is gif *cough* Jack *cough*

Mr. Yee spinning after saying Macbeth...no more explanation needed

This is both funny and painful at the same time...Mr. M/Jerry is, in the words of Zach, STRAIGHT UP SAVAGE but you can't help but feel Dr. J's pain as she is knocked to the floor and he head whips back. RIP.

Speaks for itself.

And with that, I leave you with two really nostalgic songs that just make me happy and sad at the same time. Remember to pray for our final exam grades. It was lit, fam.

Goodbye.

The (Only) Annual Blog Awards!

So this year has come to an end, and before I post my final blog (which will go up at 11:59 tonight), I wanted to mention other people's blogs. As much as I have enjoyed the blog project this year, I feel that our class as a whole didn't spend enough time reading each other's blogs and reflecting on them, which is a shame. So much thought and creativity has been put into each and every blog but is largely ignored, and the only thing we get out of it is a letter grade at the end of each quarter. So I decided to go through everyone's blog and post my favorites on here because there are some really amazing posts and entire blogs from this year, marking the...

ONLY ANNUAL BLOG AWARDS!!!!!!

And the categories are:
Funny af - the funniest blog post
WTF! - the strangest blog post
Awww - the most touching blog post
That's deep, man - the most in-depth blog post
Cool - the best blog layout/aesthetic
Blog Post of the Year
Blog of the Year

Disclaimer: These are just some of my personal favorites but there are a lot of other great blogs that I didn't mention so I would strongly encourage all of you to browse through others' blogs! Also keep in mind that each blog post can only win one category.


Funny af
"The Kim Kardashian App is Ruining my Life." -Georgia (Happenings from Hell)
I don't even know where to start with this one...but basically I just couldn't stop laughing while I was reading this post. Georgia's description of the app is just so hilarious and you can just hear her sarcastic tone while reading it. Simply the best thing ever. My favorite line is "well I mean she really became famous after she released that sex tape, but I am still waiting for that to be one of the quests in the game." Iconic. If you haven't read this blog, read it right now. If you have, read it again. You won't be able to get through it without laughing.
Blog Post

WTF!
"FUCK" -Jeannine (40...)
This post literally fits into the title of this category and truly embodies the "wtf" title. It is about the use of the word "fuck"...yea I don't really know what else to say about it.
Blog Post

Awww
"An Ode to the Jerry Mirliani" -Marta (Prose Before Hoes)
I think that we were all shocked when the legend himself Jerry Mirliani announced his retirement. He has always been a vital part of this school's community and he will be dearly missed by everyone next year. I know him, but not on as deep a level as some people, such as Marta, who has taken his AP Music Theory (RIP) class this past year. This blog post tells the story of her and Matthew finding out about his retirement, which really captures the shock that all of us felt.
Blog Post

That's deep, man
"Eyebrow Fleekness: an Important Part of Women's Lives Through History" -Georgia (Happenings from Hell)
This blog pretty much marked the start of this year's blog project, with this extremely in depth history of eyebrows that was written after our class's fascination with the woman's eyebrows from Rashomon. I'm 99% sure Georgia did more research for this blog post than I did for my entire history research paper...whatever. Anyways, this blog really did mark the start of something new. Excellent.
Blog Post

Cool
Blogging with Cristalba18 by Cristal
This blog is just very aesthetically pleasing with a panel for each post. Yup.
Blog

Blog Post of the Year
"Perfect is never good enough" -Julia (John the Baptist Says...)
Don't be fooled by the title, this post is actually not soppy or cliché like it may seem to be. This is an astounding blog that not only covers a deep topic, but is written beautifully. I don't want to talk about it too much because the only way to really do it justice is to read it thoroughly. Really amazing.
Blog Post

Blog of the Year
A Blog With A View by Emily
This blog is brilliant. Emily did a really amazing job with this, as all of the posts make the reader deeply ponder all the topics that she brings up. The entire blog brings entirely new perspectives to issues that we discuss in class and deeply analyzes aspects of the curriculum that we spend very little time on. However, none of it is foreign and she does a superb job relating everything back to the core themes of this class. My personal favorite post is "Put Yourself in Someone Else's Shoes", which puts a clever twist on the phrase as she physically puts herself in new places. It also has a great photo journal that accompanies it. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
Blog

lol fml

honestly wtf even was that exam? passage analysis from passages that we haven't read? NOT TODAY SATAN!!! also those images that we had to analyze but the photocopy was so dark and grainy that i spent like 10 minutes figuring out wtf was even happening aka 8% of the exam time????? and write from the second person?? what kind of demonic exam even was that. and that essay...i don't even know what to say. mess.

and then the 2 hour mark was called and i had to just stop...whatever. gtg.

Temporary Home

Throughout the year, the central theme of this class has been "home". It is the activity that we did on the first day and have revisited the idea recently to talk about displacement from home. However, the idea of home has been omnipresent throughout the entire year. From our origin stories unit in which we discussed our original home to Macbeth in which Macbeth's goal was to make the throne his home to the Dystopian unit in which society tried to alter its own home in a failed attempt to better it, home has been the foundation for the entire curriculum.

However, the idea of "home" extends far beyond the confines of literature studied in English class. It is a constantly morphing concept that mixes both the physical and metaphysical aspects of our homes that changes for every person. Some have more than one "home", whether they are refugees forced out of their own homes or people going out into the world to find a new home. Home can also include more emotional aspects such as family, and for many people it includes both.

Soon, our class will be going off to college and beyond. So then what will we consider to be home? Alexandria, where many of us grew up? Wherever we end up living? Where our family lives? I imagine that most of us will have more than one home and won't be limited to a singular place. College will be a home, but Alexandria will also be one. However, we will eventually leave college behind, so will it still be a home? Or just a previous, temporary home? After we leave a place, are the emotional connections to that location strong enough to hold the idea of home to that place? I doubt it, so from my point of view, intermediate stops in life just become temporary homes that last for a short time then fade into our past.

But since every small stop along life will only be home for a limited period of time, do any of us have permanent homes? Throughout life, people are constantly changing and evolving into new personalities, so no one place can ever be a constant home. In that case, the entire human race could be considered a diaspora, as we are always moving further away from our birth "home". We will all move away from where we grew up at one point, whether physically to another city or even emotionally to a new state of being within the same geographical location. Therefore, every place we consider to be "home" is only temporary.

This brings me to one of my all-time favorite songs, "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood. Now I'm not at all a fan of country music, but this is actually a really good song. However, it is the lyrics that are really outstanding.

In the song, there are three verses, each of which tells a vignette about a person's temporary home. However, it is the final verse that questions the temporality of life:

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers
"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says
"I can see God's face"

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home

In these lyrics, Underwood is stating that life entirely is a temporary home and it is not until after we die that any of us can find our true home. I, however, believe that there is no such thing as a permanent home. Humans are always changing, so there is never a point at which we are completely settled.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts on what home in in the grand scheme of life, and I want to leave you with these two questions: Is life a temporary home? Is there ever such thing as a permanent home?

Our Homes

"Home" is the word on which we started this year in class, and it the same theme on which we are ending it. When asked on what home means, I said:

“Going home” is a concept that varies wildly between each person. Home can be taken in either a metaphysical sense, a physical sense, or even a combination of the two. I believe that there is a spectrum ranging from completely physical (i.e. a house) to completely emotional (i.e. family), and everyone’s “home” is somewhere on that scale depending on each person. It can be affected by many factors, with the primary one being how a person grew up. I grew up moving to a new house every few years in different countries, so I have learned not to grow accustomed to a physical place for being my home, as it is constantly changing. Therefore my “home” is very close to the emotional end of the spectrum. For me, “going home” is returning back to my family and our peaceful but constantly evolving house. However, others who have grown up primarily in one house tend to have a more physical sense of home. Based on our recent class discussion, many feel that their home is the place in which either they or their relatives live. In addition, at the beginning of the year, many people drew their physical house as home. Both interpretations of home are valid, but I feel that it all boils down to the climate in which one grows up that determines where “home” is. “Going home” also can vary, as some people have more than one home, whether that is a group of people, a house, a city, or even an entire country. When I “go home” everyday after school, I am walking from school to my house. When I “go home” over break, I am flying to Houston to visit my grandparents. Every few years, I “go home” to London, my birthplace. Although my current “home” is mainly my close family, I have many homes throughout the world that become “home” at different times. As I grow up and live life, I expect to have many new places to call “home” - my old high school, my college, my house, and so on. “Going home” is a loose term that has many different meanings for different people that constantly evolves and adds new meaning to itself.

In class on Friday, we shared each other's essays on what "home" means. I shared with Ben, and, as I expected, he held a much more physical sense of home in his mind. Ben has grown up in one house, so he considers his home to be primarily his house, as well as his state and country. This physical place has always been where he is most comfortable and free, so he associates that with "home". This differed for me, as no one house has become a place of comfort for me, but rather the people and small memories within my house that travel with me.

One interesting idea that Ben brings up is that people cannot be "home" because they are constantly changing and are not a stable place that we can come back to, as they will never be the same, unlike a house. Although this point is true, I feel that it only strengthens their connection to "home" even more, as my idea of home is also constantly evolving. My family and I experience our lives together, so when an experience changes us all, my idea of home changes with that too. It is also this aspect that allows me to feel more comfortable, as anything wrong can be changed. While Ben prefers a stable house that he is always able to return to, I find security in my constantly evolving metaphysical "home".

Rape

As I was working hard on Antigone's political campaign, I discovered that she is a huge feminist and, despite being from Thebes, relates much more to today than I originally realized. She pushes against the male-ruled constructs of her society to do what she feels is right and refused to let her gender define what she can and cannot do. Another story that deals with feminism in a different way is The Handmaid's Tale, which shows an extreme dystopia in which women are inferior to men in all aspects and feminism in non-existent. By depicting this society, the author is pointing out flaws in our current society. Both of these stories are pro-feminism and are largely relevant today.

One term that I would quickly like to go over is "feminism". It is the social, political, and economic equality of women to men – not superiority to men. This is a point that many people struggle with, saying that they are not feminists because men and women should be equal (which is completely incorrect), so I just wanted to clarify this word. All people should be feminists.

One instance of feminism in The Handmaid's Tale is when Janine confesses that she got raped. All of the women are taught that rape is their fault for leading the man on. As disturbing as this is, it is what is largely taught in today's society. Women are commonly taught not to report rape because it will hurt their reputation, and many are believed to be lying. Even if they do report it and their cases eventually make it to court, the majority of cases are dismissed by the judge for lack of evidence. However, there can be evidence in the form of Rape Kits, but most of them go untested and are even destroyed in order to make room for other evidence by the police.

However, the most astounding part is what is taught: women are taught not to be raped, while men are never taught not to rape. What's more is that the media chooses to ignore this and does not shed much light, if at all, on rape culture. One example of this is just from the last Oscars ceremony.

On February 28, 2016, the 88th annual Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) were held. The purpose of this ceremony is to recognize excellence in film and motto picture-related topics. It is regarded as the most important film award ceremony and the highest achievement for those in the industry. One of the categories is the Academy Award for Best Original Song. This category recognizes the best original song composed for a film. However, this year, it failed to do so. Instead of giving the award to the most deserving song, Lady Gaga's "Til It Happens To You", the Oscar was given to "Writing's On the Wall" by Sam Smith.

"Til It Happens To You" is a song composed by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren for the 2015 movie The Hunting Ground. The song not only contains stellar vocals delivered by Lady Gaga, deep lyrics, and masterful production, but most importantly a message. The song deals with the heavy topic of rape. In fact, the song draws from Gaga's and Warren's own personal experience, as they are both survivors. It has received critical acclaim for addressing the issue, as well as for Gaga's vocals. The lyrics are composed from the writers' own experiences of being raped on college campuses, and this emotion is channeled throughout the song to create a masterpiece full of meaning.

"Writing's On the Wall," on the other hand, is a meaningless song composed for Spectre. The lyrics are dull and Sam Smith, the singer, stays in an unbearable falsetto voice the entire time. The song received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics for its unoriginality and dullness, as it is extremely forgettable.

So why did "Wall" win? Because it is easy. The song is from a revered series, and Adele's brilliant "Skyfall" most definitely aided to this decision. It may also seem to the uneducated listener to be a quality song, using many cliché production techniques that seem sophisticated. But I believe that the main reason is that they want to avoid the topic of rape. It is so much easier to give an award to a meaningless song about (love? it remains unclear) than to award a emotional song that deals with a controversial topic – remember that this is the same committee that did not nominate a single black actor. As long as this issue continues to be ignored, no possible steps can be made to fix it.

Rape is rape. And rape is never the victim's fault.

The (Professor's?) Tale

UGH! Why would Margaret willingly choose to end the book like that?! So I just finished The Handmaid's Tale and wow I am upset. If you have not read the book, there will be spoilers so proceed with caution!

I loved the way the book ended...or at least until I turned the page to discover more. The final chapter ends with Offred being taken by the Eyes, who could either be the real deal or from the resistance - no one knows. What a great ending, right? Or at least until I turned the page to find an epilogue. In the "Historical Notes" section, it is 2195 and there is a transcribed lecture on the Republic of Gilead. In this speech, it is revealed that Offred recorded the entire story on a set of tapes. Although her future remains unknown, we find out that Gilead had eventually fallen.

This completely ruins, at least for me, the progression of the story. The book was written to illustrate the status of women in Gilead, which is almost an extreme exaggeration of society today. However, I grew to care for Offred as the story goes along, and almost live with her as she faced challenges. The book is written extremely well, as I found myself engulfed in it and feeling the emotions that she felt. And when the final page ends, the feeling left is utter desperation and longing to know what happens. This is perfect. This is how the book should have ended.

But the author decided to keep going. She chose to time jump into the future, after the fall of Gilead, to provide us with no information on Offred. We, the readers, learn nothing about what happens to her, so what is the point? Although we find out that the republic no longer stands, this takes away from the confusion that plagues the reader at the end of the actual story, and its only purpose seems to be to provide catharsis, but that is the opposite of what the reader should get. As the reader become Offred throughout the novel, the two should stay bonded at the end, rather than Offred having one destiny while the reader essentially lives on until 2195.

At the end of the final chapter, Offred is taken by the Eyes, who could either be from the actual government, meaning she gets tortured, or the resistance, meaning she gets freed. The reader never finds out, and leaving the reader in this desperate feeling at the end fulfils the intended theme of the book, while jumping ahead into the future but still not revealing her fate does not leave a feeling as extreme as the original.

The final flaw with the epilogue is that it reveals that Gilead eventually falls. But this takes away from, at least in my view, the entire point of the book. The book depicts an indestructible society that cannot possibly be overthrown and has absolute control on its citizens. It is this society that forces women into submission and prevents them from escaping their terrible situations. This entire society is an exaggeration of today's society, in which men are far more privileged and valued than women, and there seems to be almost no way to achieve absolute equality between the sexes. By creating the all-powerful government of Gilead, the author is exemplifying the system that oppresses women and demonstrates the lack of hope they have. However, by saying that this system fails, she is taking away from the structure that the entire book set up by providing hope. This goes agisnt the whole mood and many themes in the book, and ultimately leaves the reader with a much lighter mindset after finishing the book than the reader would have been left with if it had ended on the final chapter.

So basically, if you ever read The Handmaid's Tale, it is best to stop when the book should have ended: the final chapter.

We are alive because of Islam

So a while ago, I saw this on Snapchat (courtesy of Jeannine for sending it to me thanks) and wanted to share it with y'all. In the forth quarter, there will be a large post about Islamophobia, but I just wanted to share this infographic. With the presidential campaign going on, terrible things have been said by the GOP candidates (especially D***** T****) and their supporters about Muslims, yet Islam has contributed so much to the modern world.

The calculations done to balance government budgets and taxes are courtesy of algebra, an Islamic invention.

Glasses (and contacts), which these candidates and their supporters use to SEE are courtesy of Islam.

Coffee, which they all drink? Courtesy of Islam.

Hospitals in which Republicans have received life-saving medical attention and babies are born are, of course, a courtesy of Islam.

The very cameras that are used to spread pictures of rallies and video cameras that are used to broadcast candidates saying they want to ban Muslims were a courtesy of Muslims.

These are just a few of the Islamic inventions that heavily impact the world today and are used by the very people who want to ban Islam, destroy mosques, and punish Muslims for their own faith.

The Dystopia Awakens

As we delve into the dystopian unit, I can't stop thinking about how the most recent iteration in the Star Wars series is a perfect example of a dystopia: after the fall of the Empire, the entire galaxy is left in chaos and a new power must arise to provide order, which is the First Order. Although they are portrayed as villains in the film, are they really? After all, systems are descending into utter chaos and becoming separated from each other, but the First Order is able to reunite these systems while technically providing protection to its people. If you think about it, the group really has its people's interests in mind sue to the failing New Republic. Even most people (aside from the Resistance) seem to be content with the new rule, as it keeps them safe and cause no direct harm.

The Midterm

The midterm project was, to say the least, a challenge. In case you were unaware, the last few weeks, our class been working feverishly on the midterm project: a political campaign. From character analyses to history papers (but without theses...T Humps would not be happy), this project analyzed every possible angle of each character and time period we did. I was Antigone. And by the way, I would just like to mention my clever (or at least clever to me) campaign title: Antigone Regina; it is inspired by Oedipus Rex, but with "Regina", meaning "queen" in Latin as opposed to king (rex). I felt that this flew over many head, so I just wanted to point it out.

But back to the project. I personally feel that it was a little overcomplicated, with 6 big steps (and a secret seventh...shhhhhh) including multiple papers and a concluding symposium. I really enjoyed looking through the text to find clues about Antigone's character, then using those to form political positions. This really helped me to explore her character and motives for her actions. By focusing in on only her, I got a much better understanding of the text as a whole, as opposed to what I got by reading just the lines in the fall.

Despite this, I felt that the project involved a little too much, so I was jumping around from step to step that included a large variety of aspects that are needed for a campaign. For example, the history paper-esque step was focused very little if at all on the actual text and character, and it was essentially just a list of information. It goes against what we are taught in both history and English as it had no argument or thesis, so it was literally just a summary. Although it is definitely important to know the time period and issues at that time, I think that it would be better to link this step with the issue statements step so that it would have been focused directly on Antigone, not other aspects of Thebes. This was also a problem, as the Thebes presented in Antigone was not actually a real place, so I had to use a mixture of the history Athens, sketchy articles, and the little information presented in the text to make conclusions.