Thank You for You (Thankful for a Classmate)

Hrmm...I've been over this with Classmate A, and Darn, I don't think I know anyone well enough in the class to be thankful for them...hmm...well, I know YOU, and you're my friend...*Sigh* I guess I'll have to go with you.

I've read everyone's posts on the topic thus far, and I agree with one or two: which class? English or any class or school in general? School's TOO general; I'm grateful for all my friends (LOL; "I'm grateful for all my fiends"). But, let's narrow it down to American Lit. I can talk to a handful of people, and can hold a decent 45-second conversation with even fewer, but the person I'm thankful for in that class (save for Mr. M; you're not a classmate, sir, sorry. ;] ) is Stina, or as she hates being called, "          ". xD No worries, Stina; I shall not go there.

In reality, I like all my classmates (I'm sure...if I haven't heard you speak in class, then not really). They are all so bright and witty. But aside from little comments in class discussions and groupwork, I can only talk to one person, really.

STINA!!! You're (one of) the best!! (If I say the best, my other friends'll get me...) You come talk to me, before class and after, in Orchestra too, and you'll wait for my slow self to get packed up and leave the classroom after the bell. You'll ask me to join your group when there's group work to be done, which does me a favor since I'm very socially awkward and dislike groups. You'll joke around with me at lunch, and you cheer me up or help me out when I need it (thanks for helping me look for my watch).

You're...I dunno, A GREAT FRIEND. How else can I put it? And how the heck can I explain why you make English better? You just DO. Your very presence makes my day in English class, and it only gets better when I look over and make a weird face at you and see how you react. xD

You make class (and school) better by being you. It's just that simple. So why did I write an essay describing how you do that? My apologies. You're such a good friend that I feel some sort of guilt by being with you; I feel like I'm not worth your kindness. FRIENDSHIP BROWNIES ON MONDAY!!!! LOL. Maybe; I don't know.

Just be Stina, not Christina or Justina or           . Just. Stina. Thank you for you.

<3

"11/18 Blog"

WHAT THE--?! I KNOW NOTHZING OF THIS BLOG!!

No one did or does either, I guess. Unless Mr. M told us to disregard it...which I of course didn't hear due to my lacking listening ability. xD I'll do it for the heck of it. A blog post's a blog post, and heck with it; it's a 4-day weekend (cough, cough, andEnglishistheonlythingholdingmeback, cough).

So, the topic of this post was supposed to be "Direction the Class Needs." I shall gloss over the fact that "you" is spelled with a "p" on Edline, and the other fact that I have suspicions that Mr. M even posted that. Straight to the point. Maybe. I guess.

Something about what should be added, subtracted, or enhanced in or for the clase. Hmmm...I'd like for the Journals to make their way back into our daily schedule. I mean, when we still did them, I got to WRITE. Not just answer questions, or analyze text, or do an assignment. I got to write how I felt about a particular topic, or I'd just write whatever was on my mind or whatever I felt like babbling on about. It was a source of freedom for me, and an opportunity for me to get back into writing for leisure. I liked writing journal entries in class, and I really wish we'd do it again, more often.

Please and thanxu~!

Revelation: Suddenly, a Connection

O. Mi. Gosh.

So, I was working on my previous post, the one about Love and Perseverance being a theme in the book The Road, and I was looking at a source, a review on the book, in which the author of the review strongly suggests that there are biblical references to the book (i.e. the man and his son are like prophets in a moral story, "Ely" is Elijah, herald of the Messiah, and the boy himself is "the 10-year-old messiah"). I was struck by these connections. I am not a very religious person, as mentioned in my post about the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," but in my left-right notes (which are unfortunately not here with me at the moment) at one point earlier on in the story, I made a connection between the father and son and God and his son Jesus. Seriously, I did. I mean, WOW.

I don't remember what I wrote down, but it was some connection between the behaviors of the father and son and how they somehow seemed similar to those of God and His son, should they ever come down and walk the earth in the end. I'll go back to my notes and get back to you...Monday?

What really gave my mind a jolt was this part of the review:

"When they capture a man who stole their goods the father leaves him naked on the road to freeze. The boy protests but the father chides him: “You’re not the one who has to worry about everything.” And then the 10-year-old messiah, who is compassion incarnate, and carrying the fire, gives up his secret. He says to his father: 'Yes I am. I am the one.'"

So, yes. That was amazing. I mean, just this week I think, we were talking about how pure the boy was, even though he was born into such a life. And later in the book (I finished it; slight spoiler alert) the narration from the man's point of view (actually, third person limited) describes the boy as having "light all around him...when he moved the light moved with him."

I always wrote down how innocently smart and caring and amazingly understanding the boy was in my notes, and that kinda led me to my little note about the boy possibly being Jesus, reincarnated. The father himself asks Ely what he would think if he (the father) said that the boy was a god. I just...I'm amazed.

OK. I shall return after I get my notes back. ;)

The Road Research Post: Love and Perseverance

Hehehe...I once again forgot when the heck this thing is due, so I'll just give you (any readers/classmates) my usual tired delirious nonsense and pull out random stuff in the form of a decent blog post. *Snicker*
...Actually, I'm REALLY tired now, so...tomorrow. Morning. I'll do this then. Sorry.


Okay, so I was looking at some [one] sources, which included an interview with McCarthy. I noticed that

Righto. New day, changing post. I just read a review for The Road, and one thing that just caught my attention now was the conversation between the "Ely" fellow and the father. First of all, the author of the review made a connection to the prophets in the Bible, and he suggested that Ely was "Elijah, herald of the Messiah, who will return on the Day of Judgement...Anyway, Ely responds to the father's proposal that the boy is a god: "Where men cant live gods fare no better." When I first read this in the book, I couldn't make sense of the statement. But now, looking at it, I realized a possible explanation: gods are a belief of man; if there are no men alive to believe, there are no gods to believe in. A-HA!! I got it. :)

Oops. Back on to the actual topic of this post. I was thinking, and I was going to ask Mr. M if I could have this post about 2 topics, but I figured he'd say that I could do it if I managed to connect the two ideas somehow. Well, I think I can. Here goes...

Love and Perseverance. These two often go hand in hand. When there is love, there's reason to persevere. In The Road, the love between the father and his son is quite apparent, even though, as pointed out by John Jurgenson (author of the article "Hollywood's Favorite Cowboy"), "they never say 'I love you.'" In response, Cormac McCarthy states "No, [I didn't have the father and son say they love each other]. I didn't think that would add anything to the story at all."