Laurents’ English Blog

EITH GRADE FINAL EXAM Laurent Jordy

Wow, the year went by faster than anyone could imagine, or especially wanted it to. So many topics and subjects were introduced to us this year in English, so it was complicated to decide which ones we, as students would boast about. From WW2, to islands full of crazy kids, I choose the following themes, or should I say, books, to represent my understanding, of this year.

People, are usually influenced by powerful, influential individuals, or large groups of people. Either because hey have no choice, or because their own ideas count as less to the larger group. WW2, a famous time. Anne Frank sat in her old rusty room, with a pen, washing her thoughts away as the ink flowed with talent. By herself. she could speak for others, represent their pain, and horrors…It was her job, to maintain her strong spirit, so she could send a message out to the world. Nevertheless, the Nazis, continued to sweep through Europe, finally, hunting her down. I think that it is interesting that this young girl, is still such a power today, against hundreds of thousands of German troops.
Another book that talks about this idea, individuals vs conformity, is “The Wave” In this book, Ben Ross, a typical history teacher finds, that there is no other way to teach kids about important events, such as WW2, without putting them through it. Again, like Anne Frank, The Waves main character, Laurie, is the victim, or rebel, of the fast growing conformity of future Nazis. Of course, the kids never achieve such a degree of violence, but they are ready to confront their friends, their best friends. The Wave, has its own unique way of re-telling WW2, because most people would say that all Germans were Nazis, but actually, when the leader eliminates all sources of information that could tell the truth, people get brainwashed and carried into things as such.
Lord of the flies, is a perfect example, as it centers its attention on human nature. Of course, an author, who again, might be looking through some cloudy “lenses”, writes this. The topic of human nature has been discussed for endless times, and it is only appropriate to try and figure it out, using books. Here, in Lord of The Flies, a group of kids is set on island. Amazingly, within a small amount of time, the group splits, and the kids are constantly fighting for power. One side is lead by Jack, probably representing the Nazis, as the book was written in that time. Then, the other rebel group, led by Ralph, the spirited and “good guy”, and his companions that believe in him, hope.

A writer must be able to change his aspects of writing to communicate to different audiences for a variety of purposes. Overseas or not, during this short-term project, one had to bend his voice to fit the style. Which was obviously, a polite, and introductory way of writing, as the people have never before met. I believe learning how to write to different audiences, therefore, adapting your voice to suit the type of audience, requires one thing, practice and time. Well, no one wanted a student to start speaking slang and nonsense with people they’ve ever met, but there are complications, because for example, the students working in America were also students, so it could be appropriate to write casual as they are in the same age group as us
That night, the candles were lit, and the tension grew like the flames on its wax, till the time, where the students were trapped, and force to read their poems to a threatening, black speaker, immobile as them. Poetry is what made us thrive to accomplish those books, and wonderful poems, and inspirations. Some would say they did It for the grade, but then why show up at the Poetry Night? Well, the answer is simple, we, the students want to share our poems, because they define a different voice in us that is finally revealed.
Finally, the part we all love, writing a Journal Entry. Here, my voice can be similar to an essay, but in its own way, entertaining, although, writing in any form should be entertaining. Actually, there are so many other styles and aspects to write in, but simply because they are different from each other, means that the writer has to experience the skills to write in that certain style, if the writer wants to be good.

Human Nature…as explained above, is a topic that has actually been with us all year, following us, discretely. At least, that’s what I believe. Now, Lord of the Flies is very interesting, because it’s almost an experiment. Putting young kids on an island, inexperienced, let’s see what they do…Surprisingly, a scenario of, “automatic war” occurs. The kids just start fighting, almost like animals, just to gain power and territory. Regardless if they were friends before, the story is here to say that humans are inherently bad. Now, Anne Frank is completely different. She lives in her small house, near a streaming river, packed together with her family, but where does she get the will to live on? She seems to have mood swings from her diary, just like any teenage girl, but she isn’t put in the same circumstances as a normal adolescent. Still, through the misery, she loves her family, and will stay alive to be with them, even if in the end, she will die. This proves, that amidst the war, and invasion, there were good people everywhere. Finally, taking a look at Shakespeare. His play was written so long ago, that his “lenses”, as mentioned earlier were definitely different than ours, because of his environment, and basically everything around him that could influence him. This brings me to the point, that maybe, we figure out messages today in his play, which were not at all intended. Maybe Shakespeare was a huge supporter of the slave trade, or was extremely racist. Who knows? I would like to point out though, that in the Tempest, Caliban, is weak, and by design turned into a slave because of his physical traits, or simply because he lives on the island, a local. This is complicated, as Caliban did try to rape Miranda a long time ago, and being a slave is maybe his punishment, or consequence. Still, Prospero is definitely a huge role that takes the weaker being, Caliban, and uses him as a slave. This could possibly mean, that humans naturally have no mercy. From what I’ve seen, and done, I believe humans are inherently good, because they can do horrid things, but there will always be good people. I think people are just brought up, and have done bad things, and, every time they do something bad again, it makes them numb, and feels normal.

This year was exceptionally. Studying such mature and deep topics still amazes me to this day. Hopefully, in other schools books will not be just some lecture like they used to be, and actually represent, and mean something to our lives more important than words, and pages to flip through like this year. Those in-class discussions are just mind-blowing sometimes, and I truly feel, that they are just as important as worksheets, because education comes in many ways.