During the beginning of the year, I felt like I was happier with my life. As the school year progressed, I feel like I've been gradually getting more miserable. I think it's because before we started intensely analyzing these short stories and poems, I have found them relatable to my life and certain situations and it has caused me to start over analyzing my own life. Now, obviously I have never lost my daughter in the rubble of a church or jumped into a river to commit suicide, but the meaning and the interpretation that I get from each poem has some impact or significance on events in my life. I'm not saying that I'm depressed, because I'm not. I'm just not as ignorant to life as I once was, and I feel like this class has kind of helped me mature and realize that life isn't all happy and good times. Maybe this is just me, but I was just curious as to what this class has made you all realize about your own lives?
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All the poems we have read are in some way universal and that is why each and every one of us can interpret our own message and apply it to our own lives. While discussing and analyzing poems in our group format, I find that it just furthers my belief that humans in essence are one in the same and we need to stop seeing differences and embrace our similarities. If you truly open your eyes to the world around you I bet you will find that we all have the same beginning and the same ending, we just take a different paths the reach the same destination. Once people believe in the concept that the monetary system has ruined civilization and is truly the root of all evil, then they will finally realize that with every new generation coming along we are losing piece by piece an essence of humanity. Every year there are new "categories" to place people under and more terms to identify a difference in a human and to separate them from the pack. Our technology is not helping this cause either because all people want to do now is absorb themselves in a false fantasy (referring to the mass public) and put love into materialistic items that honestly have no True value whatsoever and they should wake up and realize that the great things in life are INTANGIBLE. Memories, relationships, laughs, cries, experiences, etc. all have no monetary value, but I feel they are worth more than 20 million dollars because honestly when you die no one is going to give a **** about your wealth; They will remember you for your morality and if you in some way changed or affected the lives of others. I could go on and on about this because it makes me want to slap people who haven't realized any of this yet and are going to end up regretting putting all their faith and efforts into things that are eventually going to leave an empty feeling inside of them since they, as I feel, are NOT truly living. These people are walking zombies roaming the planet without a cause or purpose, which in essence can only lead to despair and agony and will ruin what we call Earth since they have no boundaries or guidelines to tell them that something they are doing might be wrong. I encourage every person that is reading my rant to go out and LIVE. Read an interesting book, play in the rain, go cliff jumping at Abel lake, stay out late and lay down in the road and look up at the universe around you, or for that matter just anything that heavily involves the use of the 5 senses is a great way to get started. I'll end this rant for now because it will not let me post anything over 4,000 characters so my original comment is getting cut short. All I ask is to let my statements frolic around in your skull and if you have questions comment or talk to me in person.
ReplyDeleteOK. Tyler, I understand what you are saying,but this is just a phase you are going through. I went through this people need to wake up and stop complaining about their lives because they can do something about it phase. When came back from Iran 2 summers ago I was thinking exactly like you were. The people there are walking zombies. That is EXACTLY what I called them. I think it is ironic that you said that too- that why I am pointing it out. I am glad you have realized this. It is called maturing. Now you know one secret to life- to live it. Don't worry about if your idea is stupid, far-fetched, or flat out wrong. Speak your mind. If you like conspiracies- go for it. Whatever makes you happy makes everyone else respect your opinion more. Even if I think you are wrong (I haven't heard your theory yet so I am not sure) you have every right as a human being to speak your mind. We are all the same specie. Which is something we commonly forget. Human beings are literally the worst of the species because we care about luxuries and the corruption in our minds, friendships, and governments are disgusting. Think about how many kids right now are texting away or Facebooking their butts off because they have nothing to do. I have nothing against texting or Facebooking- but we all need LIVES. We need to do something that will help us live it. Reading is not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about living. But it is so true. Today in class when we were reading those LONG poems by some of the most AMAZINGLY AWESOME poets- I realized how insignificant my brain is. But by reading these literary masterpieces, I felt like I was slowly clawing my way to understanding why I exist and why I have to be in school when I could be hiking up a mountain in India or something.
ReplyDeleteOk that was quite unneccessary, my rant up there. Sorry.
Remember guys, life experiences are experienced differently. The most important thing TJ said is that he realized that life is not always "happy." The question is whether or not you know how to react when it isn't.
ReplyDeleteOther writers' intelligences have nothing to do with the ability you all will develop. Sometimes it is (ironically) easy to forget that you are still very young. Most developmental psychologists have moved the transition line back as far as 25 years of age (accounts for all the extra schooling people need, thus the dependence on their parents for food, clothing, shelter, moola). Our lives are becoming longer and people are having multiple careers. As Prufrock said, "there will be time."
Do not let this stuff overwhelm you. You must be in control of the material, not the other way around.
I agree with TJ...a lot of the literature we read in class helps to promote the idea that life is not always perfect. Personally, I think this is comforting. If I was having a really bad day, I wouldn't want to go to my English class and read that life is giddy and happy and flawless. I'm not saying that literature has to fit my current mood. But loss, grief, heartache- whatever emotion you please- are completely universal. Happiness is too, but it can be much more situation specific. Maybe it's just me, but when I read about a character or speaker in pain, I imagine myself in that same pain. And when the story or poem is all over, I feel like I broaden my perspective. No matter how bad a day I'm having, reading normally depressing literature always gives me this appreciation for my own life.
ReplyDeleteWow, Danielle. That sounds depressing. I'm usually an optamistic person, but lately I've realized that if people complain, then they think their life sucks because all they are doing is complaining. If we talked more about what is good in our lives and not looked so much at the negatives then I don't think we'd have "bad days." Now, I admit I have bad days, too, but I'm usually looking at the negative things when I have those days. The poems don't make me feel better. I'd rather hear something about someone accomplishing and achieving happiness. Everyone can achieve their own happiness, and what makes me happy is completely different than what makes you happy, but I just think that literature helps us determine what is happy and what is depressing; we are only affected by it as much as we open up to it and allow it to affect us.
ReplyDeleteWoah buddy. I think my brain just exploded after reading all those comments. But in my opinion, this english class has opened my eyes a little bit on how literature can affect us. For example, for my formal essay, I wrote about the Edgar Allen Poe short story titled "The Fall of the House of Usher". I remember reading it back in middle school, so I figured it would be easy to interpret it again. But I was soooo wrong. My thoughts about it in middle school were way different than my thoughts now. And I don't even think it was because I read it so long ago. I think that's one of the points of this class...to remind us of our past opinions and enlighten us so we can create new opinions. I don't know about all of this conspiracy stuff (you'll have to explain it to me Tyler) but I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion, whether others agree or not. Our society seems like it has evolved so much into these tendencies for people to "express themselves" but yet we often lose ourselves in the process of doing so. I just think the world isn't perfect and it's never going to be...that's the point of living. But anywho, it helps me to think about the possibilities literature can create within the world. And whether people choose to read or not, those who do will change the world.
ReplyDeleteif you want an explanation come to "Philosophy and Theory" 2:30-3:30 Thursday after school.
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