Everything I Need to Know I Learned in IB Language & Literature Year 2 

Well, I have been reading some of the other posts for this blog and they honestly have me really sad and depressed about having to leave everyone. Even though I am super excited and ready to go to college, IB has became my family and I am going to miss them all!

As soon as I read the prompt I knew what I wanted to talk about... IB. Honestly, it has been one of the best decisions that I have ever made and has changed me for the better.

Before IB, I was very self conscious and did not express my opinion. I was afraid to be wrong or to fail so I needed reassurance for everything. I went along with the group, That all changed in Mrs. Brown's english class, Junior year. In the beginning of the year, I hated seminars, being aggresive and forcing my way into a conversation stressed me out and I am pretty sure that I turned red every time I spoke. But of course, we were graded on how many times we spoke, and being the perfectionist of a student, I made sure to talk enough to get an A.

While at first I considered this experience to be painful, I learned a lot from it. The way we were forced to have and stand by our opinions during those seminars helped me to be more comfortable in expressing my opinions in every day situations. Of course, it wouldn't be IB if I hadnt learned to always value other peoples' opinions and perspectives, even when they did not match my own. In this years classes, I am much more comfortable and am not afraid to argue with someone or take a leap to come to a conclusion (even if I am way off, which tends to happen when I interpret poetry... sorry Whitman).

The way that I was pushed in my IB classes helped me to step out of my comfort zone. It led me to a world of new experiences.  It also helped me to find what I love: helping people. While CAS reflections were annoying, the service that it pushed me to do helped reassure me that medicine is the carreer that I want to pursue because I want to leave an impact on those around me ( just as Whiman said.. also I really liked the last Whitman poem that we read, "The Calming Thought of All").

IB is usually considered to be an academic programme, but from my experience in it, I learned how to prioritize life with academics. Is that extra hour of studying really worth the lack of sleep or memories I could be making with my frineds... no! The people taught me that for success it is imprtant to support one another, rather than compete with one another (although on the surface we seem to be competing).

Before IB, I was so concerned with what other people thought of me. However, the important part is who I am now. I am confident, outgoing, and loving.

Sorry that this kind of turned into an IB rant but honestly I am so thankful for the opportunity and what I have learned. The people are amazing and I will probably start crying a lot more often now as we get closer to graduation. I met my best friends in these last two years and some of my most influential teachers. Thanks Mrs. Genesky for all that you have done for us! LOVE YOU!!!

The best advice that I have learned, "Let your smile change the world, but never let the world change your smile!"

Here are some awesome pictures from IB 

WITTY WHITMAN 

When I first started to look through the journal, I though that Whitman was just a crazy old man. Everything was scribbled with no organization, with fragments and scribbles filling the pages. (Honestly trying to decipher what he was saying stressed me out because of how messy it was). However, as I read throughout the pages, I noticed a reoccurring theme of a ship. 

Pages nine and ten were both filled with references to a ship. The first on page nine translated (I think) to "ship of liberty". On page ten, "ship of the world, ship of humanity, ship of the ages, ship that circles the world, ship of the hope of the world, ship of promise." 

At first I had no idea what ship he may have been referring to; however, on page 5 Whitman had scribbled out the words, "Old England". This may be connected to his reoccurring idea of a ship. It could represent the transition of people from Europe to America and how the trip represented a new chance for many of the people. His use of words with positive connotations, such as liberty, hope, humanity, and promise, imply that this ship is a good thing. 

I also connected his final drawing, the floating heart with a skull head over the ocean, to the idea of a ship. The heart represents the positive ideas that Whitman had been associating with the ship; however, the skull head and the swords piercing though the heart imply that while the ship represented hope and humanity, somewhere along the line, something went wrong. Since many of his drawing look similar to him, I think that the "failure" of the ship may have been a personal experience. 

After reading the notes on Whitman's journal, I  realized that I was a bit off on my initial observation. While the ship was important, it was not an actual ship; rather, it was  a symbol of America. I was also wrong on the time period of the ship, it was during the Civil War not the before the Revolutionary War. However, I was right that there was a problem with the ship. America was supposed to represent all of these positive ideals, but instead, it was falling apart as the North and South grew discontent with one another. The ship is a perfect metaphor for this because it requires a balance to stay afloat and when the waves become rough it can sink if the crew is not careful. Most fascinating is that Whitman was predicting the effects of the Civil War long before Abraham Lincoln. I think it is interesting how his photos depicted a man that  looked similar to him but his notes (more like scribbles) were poetic predictions. However, as the ship is a symbol of America, America's struggles may have been a larger metaphor for the struggles that Whitman had experienced personally. 

The American Dream 

What is the American Dream, and why does it draw millions of  immigrants each year to live in our country?  When I think of the American Dream, the first thing that comes to mind is the stereotypical house with a white picket fence, and a model family with two children and a happily married couple. However, this is not what I actually consider to be the "American Dream."

To me, the American Dream is not a certain house or lifestyle that every person in the country aspires to reach; rather, it is a feeling. People come to the US in order to feel free to follow whatever their individual dream is and to find genuine happiness. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the slogan for the American Dream, and I think that it represents the feeling that I believe to be the Dream, rather than material goods. We may not all consider the white picket fence to be perfect, but the idea of the opportunity that America offers to individuals to pursue their own dreams, is what draws us all in. 

For me personally, my own American Dream is to be able to have the means to follow any dream that may develop throughout my life. At 18, I am not exactly sure what I want to do with my life. I want to go to college then med school, and travel but at this point in my life I do not have a detailed plan. This is the beauty of the American Dream, it gives you the ability to hope for the future because you can pursue anything you desire with enough work. (Although it is kind of funny that part of my American Dream is being able to travel out of the US). 

In many instances, the American Dream goes hand in hand with wealth. Most of the time, I associate wealth with money, especially in this situation. Those who have a lot of money are usually looked up to as living the American Dream; they have the means to do whatever they want without working as hard as those who are not as wealthy. In America today, money is power. Society treats those who are wealthy as superior. Since money usually bring opportunities, these individuals are viewed as the most intelligent, skilled, or hard working. On the other hand, those in poverty are viewed as the complete opposite- lazy, dumb, and lacking skill. 

I think that the view society has towards wealth and poverty is biased. People try to portray the wealthy as the heroes because they that is what they are aspiring to achieve. However, in my opinion, those who live in poverty are often the hardest working (There are many exceptions to this , and many wealthy people do work extremely hard). Since they do not have the opportunities that come with wealth, they have to try even harder to achieve their dreams. I think that while there are monetary differences between these two classes, peoples' characters are what matter the most, and the individuals themselves are the same in that they desire  the freedom to chase their dreams.

The American Dream does not simply come from living in the US; America merely provides the freedom to fight for your dream. I once saw a quote from Richard Nixon that summed up this concept, "The American Dream does not come to those who fall sleep." Whether you are rich or poor, or view wealth in terms of money or in love and experiences, the American Dream is the pursuit of happiness. 

FREEBIE! Sorry Camus, today is too beautiful for life to be meaningless :) 

I Ain't Afraid of No IOC... Jk...Yes I Am 

Criterion A - 5. I gave a background and context of the text; however, I should have talked about what was going on politically when Macbeth was written since it impacts the audience's perception of this passage.

Criterion B - 5. I talked about the literary devices used; however, I should have gone into further detail on the effect that they had on the passage and its meaning.

Criterion C - 2. I started out with an organized plan but I started repeating myself and jumping between ideas as I became nervous and needed to fill in time.

Criterion D - 3. My use of language was adequate, but I had a lot of pauses and a few "ums.." as I tried to regather my thoughts. My use of grammar was appropriate but I could have used a stronger vocabulary.

Once Upon a Time... 

     I watched a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called, "The Danger of a Single Story." 

     In her story, Chimamanda explains how we live in a world of single stories (which is where stereotypes come from) and we often miss much of the truth because we become so stuck in that one story and do not hear any others, hence, the "danger" of a single story. 

     She begins by explaining how she grew up in Nigeria and read British and American children's books. She also loved writing, but her stories were always about foreigners, never her own life until she discover African literature, which "saved her from a single story of books."

      After describing her background in a middle class family, she goes on to tell a few of her personal experiences. The first was of a house boy, Fide, whose family was poor. When she visited his house, she was shocked that his brother was very talented; she had bought into the single story of his family as poor. Chimamanda had a similar experience when she came to America for school, her room-mate wanted to listen to her "tribal music" and was shocked that Chimamanda listened to Mariah Carey. This came from the single story of Africa that many people have- a poor country fighting wars and dying of AIDS. She goes on with many more examples of people she encountered who had images of something constructed from a single story but her main example was of her own guilt. When she visited Mexico, she had the story of illegal immigrants from the media, and was ashamed at herself for buying into the idea. 

     She continues her talk by exploring the concept of power. Stories are defined by who tells them, when they are told, and why they are told. She says, "Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person."      Chimamanda explains the different stories of her life and how single stories emphasize our differences rather than similarities. She then goes on to ask how each of her examples would be different if the person had a balance of stories rather than a single story. In order to fight against the dangers of single stories, she has started a non-profit organization with libraries in order for people to gain a balance and reject the single story. 

     Chimamanda explains her argument that single stories are dangerous by using ethos, logos, and pathos. In regards to ethos, she has credibility with single stories because of her experience as a writer. Also, she has personal examples which give her a personal insight to the topic. Her use of personal examples is also connected to her use of logos to make her argument. Since her personal connection to the subject, being stereotyped by single stories and doing the same to others, increases her bias towards the subject, she uses a range of examples that her audience can connect to, such as the stories of Africa, Mexico, and American Psycho. The quantity of her evidence strengthens her argument. This is also done through her structure, in which she presents an example of a single story then explains how a balance of stories would affect the example. Also, to gain credibility and support for her argument, she quotes well know authors, such as John Locke, Mourid Barghouti, Chinua Achebe, and Alice Walker. 

     The main technique used in her argument was pathos. Since Chimamanda wanted to convince her audience that the use of single stories was dangerous and we should focus on a balance of stories, she used negative emotions when referring to single stories and positive emotions when talking about having a balance. She did this through the connotations of the words in which she described them with. She describes her own encounters with single stories by saying, "I could not have been more ashamed of myself," and her responses to them as, "a mild fit of irritation." The words ashamed and irritated have a negative connotation and therefore invoke a negative emotional response in the reader.  However, in a very sharp contrast, she describes having a balance of stories as obtaining, "a kind of paradise." The use of the word paradise invokes a positive emotion of happiness or calmness. This contrast in her use of pathos strengthens her argument by forming a deeper connection with her audience.
     I decided to pick this TED talk because of the title, "The Danger of a Single Story." The word danger is what caught my interest; it is not a word that I would usually associate with stories so I wanted to hear her argument. I considered what might cause a story to be dangerous, and my first thought was lies. This reminded me of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where Jekyll is living a lie through his double life and it becomes dangerous as he loses control of his transformations because the real story could get him in trouble (which is where the danger comes from). However, this TED talk was very different that what I was expecting. The danger of a single story was not from a lie but from a single truth that form stereotypes; the danger is ignorance that results from not having a well rounded collection of stories. 

Double Indemnity 

2. Film noir literally means “black film.” As you are watching the film, keep track of all the elements in the picture that seem dark or depressing. Think about the characters, the setting, and the story line.

     Since Double Indemnity is part of the film noir genre, it is filled with dark and depressing elements. The most obvious element is the film style of the 40's  --black and white. This automatically gives the film a more dark and ominous feeling since it makes it appear darker, even in the lighter scenes.. Also, much of the story is set in the night, which only adds to the sinister tone of the movie. Since much of Double Indemnity was filmed at night, artificial lighting was used in order to illuminate the actors. With light shining directly on the scenes, full, dark shadows were created behind all of the people and objects. The constant presence of shadows added to the dark feeling of the movie and set the tone for the horrible events that were to follow. These shadows can even be seen in the day time, when the lighting was not used, which makes a feeling of uneasiness carry through the entire film. An example of the daytime shadows, which at times overpowered the scene, can be seen in the photo above. 

     Another element of the movie that caused it to be dark and depressing was its revolution around murder. Although the audience does not know the exact plot, from the very beginning they are presented with a sweaty, upset looking man, Walter, who is recording his confession to an unknown murder. He then goes into explaining how he got to his current situation. This creates the depressing and weary mood as the audience is then expecting a murder and possibly other sinister acts to later evolve in the film. This mood is later supported by the discussions revolving around accident insurance, the planning and execution of a murder, and the step-daughter accusing Phyllis of killing her mother to marry her father, then killing him for his money. With such a focus on murder and the sinister nature of the characters involved, the dark mood is reinforced over and over again. 

     Other film techniques were used to make the movie fit into the film noir genre. Like in Macbeth, off screen actions leave more to the imagination, which is often darker than any film techniques can create. When Mr. Dietrichson was murdered in his car on the way to the train, the Director did not show the actual murder. Instead, the camera focused on Phyllis' face and the murder was only heard. Her facial expression was of determination. This added to the dark theme because it focused on the inhumane side of people, in which an individual's selfish motives are worth more than a person's life. In this situation, Phyllis cares more about the money than the death of her husband. This theme of Phyllis' motives and detached personality continues as she and Walter turn against one another as their "perfect" plan falls apart. He gives up everything for her but in the end, she is only looking out for herself. Watching Walter finally being caught by his friend ties together the depressing  theme. Usually, the catching of a murderer is a more relieving event, but in Double Indemnity it is a darker moment because Walter lost everything : the money, the girl, his friend, and his normal life.