Thinking Outside the Box

Both Plato and Sartre have their focus on our limited knowledge of what is "out there" but differ in their ideas about what it is that prevents us from learning about it. Plato believes that it is outside forces that prevent our full understanding.  The 'controlled' environment that is presented at school or work or even the filters that are put in place by search engines such as Google and Yahoo and the advertisements that are presented to you on Facebook.  In "Allegory of the Cave", the cave and the chains restrict what the people see.  On the other hand, Sartre suggests that what we don't know is our own fault.  It's our own fear of what is "out there" that prevents us from seeking it. In "No Exit" even when the door is opened the people are still terrified to leave. 

To overcome these barriers we need to break free from the cave and the chains to learn about what is really out there. We need to understand that what we know isn't all there is to know.  And most importantly we need to have an open mind and not fear the things that we don't know or fully understand.

AP Term: Flashback

Flashback: A narrative device that flashes back to prior events. Also used as a way for authors or directors to inform you of something that happened before the current event.

The Notebook was one of the best movies I could think of to include because the entire movie is a series of flashbacks that take place while Noah is telling the story to Allie.



Also, if you have seen the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) has lots of flshbacks about his childhood. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a video of this...

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/pto/lowres/pton211l.jpg
And I just found this ^^ entertaining.

Literature Analysis #3

To Kill a Mockingbird 

By: Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a girl named Scout and her story about her her brother Jem broke his arm. To explain how he broke his arm she takes us back to help us understand how it all started.  Scout's family lives in Alabama during the great depression and eventually both Scout and Jem become friends with a boy named Dill who is always interested in the spooky Radley house at the end of the street.  Eventually Dill has to leave and the year goes on, but Jem and Scout start finding what they believe to be gifts in a tree in tree in the Radley's yard. When Dill returns the next summer he is still infatuated with the Radley house. On his last night, the children decided to sneak onto the property to get a closer look at the house.  They are shot at by Nathan Radley and while trying to escape Jem loses his pants.  when he goes back the pants are fixed and folded for him. Jem and Scout continue to find gifts in the tree until Nathan Radley plugs it up. Scout’s father Atticus defends Tom Robinson (a black man) on trial and even though the man is innocent, he is still convicted because of the racist community. He is later shot to death while trying to escape.  Bob Ewell (the man who with his daughter convicted Robinson) is furious at Atticus and vows to get revenge. He attacks Jem and Scout on their way home from a Halloween party and breaks Jem’s arm. Boo Radley steps in and saves the children and kills Bob Ewell.  Scout finally fells as though she can see Boo Radley as an actual person and believes once again in human goodness.

I believe that the theme of the novel is Human Goodness. The book goes against all of the stereotypes that were in place during the great depression and shows that there is good in everyone no matter what their color or how different they are.

The author’s tone is innocent. It’s told in a way that could only be done through the eyes of a child. 

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

“Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”

(Talking to Jem about Dill) “Yeah. Don’t say anything about it yet, but we’re gonna get married as soon as we’re big enough. He asked me last summer.”

Symbols: The Mocking bird was the biggest one and represented innocence. Therefore to kill a mocking bird is to kill innocence. 

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Imagery: The imagery that Lee uses throughout the book paints a vivid picture in your head about how Scout sees the people in her life.

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."

Setting: The setting itself explains a lot. A small town in the south during the great depression is the only place where a story like this could take place.

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.”

“The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”

The Big Question

What are the genetic, biological, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and environmental factors that create the concept we call love?

Hamlet Essay

Performative utterance and self overhearing are techniques in which many authors choose to portray their characters. It allows us to understand what a character is really thinking and allows us to better appreciate the characters and their thought processes and actions. It is most easily recognized in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Hamlet uses self overhearing to think through situations and come to decisions, which results in our ability to have a deeper understanding of Hamlet. He also uses performative utterance by turning his words into actions, again allowing for a more valuable comprehension of his meaning.  Without these two techniques, audiences wouldn’t be able to understand Hamlet on the level that they do. And these techniques don’t just pop up in books, they’re present in our lives as well.

We talk to ourselves and we do it all the time.  It doesn’t matter if it’s out loud or in our heads, or whether it's consciously recognized or not. We talk to ourselves about what’s going on in our everyday lives. We ask ourselves questions, and then in turn answer them.  This process of talking to ourselves is called self overhearing and was first thought up by Harold Bloom. By talking to ourselves we create new signals in our brain and we create new pathways for those signals to travel along. In my personal experience, I have found that self overhearing is an exceptional way of processing and dealing with new information. It’s something that I’ve been doing (without realizing it) even since I was a child. Every time I self overhear, I’m allowed a new opportunity to look at the same situation in a different way.  When memorizing “To be or not to be”, self overhearing allowed me to interpret the soliloquy in different ways and made it easier to memorize.  Without realizing it I was able look it over from a hundred different angles and view points allowing myself to come away with a better understanding of the soliloquy as a whole. It’s getting more bang for your buck. (In a sense)

Hamlet isn’t any different.  In every one of his soliloquies, Hamlet not only allows us access to his inner most thoughts, but he also makes himself subject to the affects of self overhearing.  That is to say that Hamlet is directly affected by the things he thinks about and goes over. He looks at things from different view points and analyzes them in a way that we wouldn’t be able to understand without him overhearing his spoken words.  Hamlet’s words not only describe the reality around him, but they create it as well (Performative utterance). When he vows to avenge his father by killing his uncle he’s not only describing what he’s going to do but also locking himself into that promise, therefore creating an action.  He finally carries out this action in the final scene of the play by stabbing his uncle. The way that Hamlet talks has an impact on the characters and the plot by influencing his thought process and the way that he goes about coming to decisions. Without this thought process, Hamlets thoughts wouldn’t turn into the actions that they create.

Performative utterance is also present in real life. The idea that words are also actions isn’t as far fetched as it sounds. “I now pronounce you man and wife” isn’t just describing what’s going on, it’s joining two people together. Therefore the words are also an action. There is also the locutionary force which is the ability of language to deliver a message. Followed by the illocutionary force which is what is done in being said. In other words, the meaning in which the message (locutionary force) was intended. Finally the perlocutionary force which is what is achieved by being said, or the direct outcome that the words have. An example would be someone saying, “I have total trust in you.” If we look at the words themselves we are looking at the locutionary force and the speaker appears to be delivering a heartfelt message. Unfortunately, this phrase was said sarcastically. Now we see the illocutionary force and realize that this wasn’t meant to be heartfelt at all. It meant the total opposite of what the locutionary force implied. Now whatever reaction the person being spoken to would have, would be an example of the perlocutionary force. 

Self overhearing and performance utterance are both very important when it comes to understanding characters in plays as well as people in real life. Hamlet’s self overhearing impacts his own thought process as well as our understanding of him as a character. Without the effects of self overhearing, people would be lacking a very critical and beneficial way of problem solving and self understanding.  Without performance utterance, it would be impossible to understand the true meaning behind anyones words or to even put meaning into words. Therefore, Hamlet’s words would create no action which would change the entire story and plot line. By including both of these techniques in Hamlet, Shakespeare allows us insight into Hamlet’s mind and helps us to realize that Hamlet’s words are not just words, they’re actions. 

An AP Exam-Worthy Essay

Hamlet and Beowulf are both very different characters for many different reasons.  Although none differentiates the two better than their use of language. Beowulf doesn't think through his actions or his thoughts out loud. Instead he tells us what he is going to do without pausing to think of the effects of his actions or what might happen after they are executed.  Hamlet on the other hand talk to himself about everything. He goes over things time and time again out loud and allows himself to self overhear. He thinks about both the good and bad sides of his actions.


Beowulf uses his language to tell us what he is going to do. He explains his actions but doesn't use his language to talk things through.  This in no way implies that he doesn't think about his actions before hand, it simply means that all of his thinking and processing is worked out in his hand.  "This fiend is a bold and famous fighter, but his claws and teeth... beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet him with my hands empty--unless his heart fails him, seeing a soldier waiting weaponless, unafraid. Let God in His wisdom extend His hand where He wills, reward whom he chooses!" Beowulf uses his language more for the benefit of others rather then his own benefit. He uses language and words to motivate others and encourage them rather then work out his problems and ideas.


Hamlet is the complete opposite of Beowulf.  Hamlet uses language mainly to think about his actions, ideas, and problems out loud.  By doing this Hamlet allows himself to self overhear and as a result come away with a better understanding of his own thoughts. Hamlet uses language almost exclusively for himself and his own benefit.  He looks at situations from all different angles and allows himself to see different viewpoints of the same issue. "To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause." Through this method of self overhearing (listing to your own thoughts out loud) Hamlet not only allows himself a deeper understanding but also allows us as readers to better understand and interpret how he thinks. Without this valuable insight, our understanding of Hamlet as a character would be drastically altered. 


Hamlet's character is one that is defined because of the way he uses language to think. Beowulf on the other hand has his language and thought process defined for him because of the kind of character that he is. We learn about Hamlet through his countless soliloquies and the way that he uses self overhearing to learn about his own thoughts. "But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all..."  On the other hand, because Beowulf was created to be an epic hero, he had to posses those qualities known to and expected of such a character. So as a result, Beowulf doesn't self overhear or talk out his thoughts.  He uses language simply to describe his thoughts and convey them to others.  Both are valid ways of using language but because they are so different, they shape the characters in drastically different ways.


Hamlet and Beowulf are characters that use language in very different ways.  Hamlet uses language to deeply think things through and analyze them.  Where as Beowulf uses language to convey messages after having previously thought them through in his head.  Because of the differences in the way that the characters use language, we end up with two completely different characters with two completely different ways of thinking. 

The Major Concept

I think that one of the main things I've learned in this class is to do the things that scare you.  There's no way that you can ever improve if you don't step out of your comfort zone.  You have to take those somewhat scary risks and meet the challenges head on.

This video isn't about facing you academic challenges but it is about doing those things that scare you and turning out alright in the end. So, it can still be applied to stepping out of your comfort zone. Hope you like it :)

The Medium is the Message

Today in class we had a really cool video chat with Roy Christopher. If you don't know who Christopher is, he is a self published author who started off by making little booklets for BMX biking. He was also totally against new technology and computers when they first came out. He didn't want anything to do with them. But now he has his own website and tries to help us bridge the gap and find a balance between old and new technology. He finds ways to link things together that don't even seem to be in the same spectrum.  Christopher mixes cultures because that's what's happening in social media right now.  Different ideas and technologies and being shot out faster than almost anyone can count and they're all being mixed together in this '2.0 stew' if you will. And it's come to that point where we need to "program, or be programed." "The more you know about how things work, the closer you are to digital maturity."  But this in no way means that you need to go out and buy every single new device that's being put on the market.  You can pick and choose what you want to be a part of and avoid those things that have no interest to you. There is a lot of value in analog as well as in digital media and there's lots to be learned from both. What's important is that you know and understand the differences.  Christopher himself doesn't own a tablet or a smart phone because he enjoys the idea that he'll have something waiting for him when he gets home. A new email, a Facebook update, something like that. kind of like the excitement you get when you have something for you in the mail. (as long as its not a bill that is. lol)  And what's really cool is that Christopher thinks that adults and older generations should have more trust in teenagers ability to navigate and understand the Internet and all these new technologies. I personally thought that that was really cool :)  Thanks Roy :D

Link to Christopher's site: http://roychristopher.com/