And Were Here....

As vacation comes to a close as does our novel and my blog posts. It has been a roller coaster of a ride. After reading and completely four blog posts and now finishing my fifth it brought up the question on whether or not the blog post assignment was truly worthy of the AP Literature curriculum.

Before starting this assignment over a month ago I was hesitant because I felt that I would not be able to analyze on my own, add any discussion to others, or feel this assignment had any worth to me. What I found, however, is that without the help of others to guide me in finding themes, motifs, setting details, etc. that I was able to work on my own and figure out the problems, which made finding what is between the lines that much more gratifying. What I think this blog assignment adds best is uniqueness. When I first started the year I was not able to add my voice to much of the work that we were doing in class. Essays were very serious and had to meet specific criteria, class discussions were less strict, but still had to be very detail oriented, but this assignment allowed me to spread my wings. I realized my voice was able to shine in this type of environment. My voice tends to be one of sarcasm and hints of humor. As said previously with most assessments this voice tends to be locked away due to the serious nature. The blog is assessment, which analyzes my knowledge of the book while also giving me the freedom to share my own opinion, crack a few sly jokes, and be myself.

The most important thing I gained from blogging was the fact that not everyone saw the book in the same light (no pun intended). I would post about the theme of entrapment and how it relates to relationships whereas someone else would see the same theme, but find it connected to another motif. Of course there will be overlap as someone will surely see similar symbols, character analysis, etc. I mean we do not have completely separate minds. However, this environment bred differentiation, we each saw the book in a different way. One person may not enjoy the book so he or she would see the book in a negative light leading them to find less meaning, whereas another may love this book and find much more meaning. For me I truly enjoyed All The Light We Cannot See, except for the sappy ending not a huge fan of that,  so it was not much of a chore for me to do the work I am just writing what I am thinking on a page.


One flaw, possibly two flaws I found with this assignment was the time periods and lack of face to face discussion. The book I read was roughly 530 pgs., that is a lot of pages to read each and every week. I found it quite difficult to read, enjoy, but also analyze at the same time. This may have been my lack of multitasking skills, although you can never truly multitask, but I think it may have also been the crunch for time. I found it hard to keep myself from just reading to read rather than find meaning behind the text. I think this came with the large page number, if it had been a book with a smaller quantity of pages the analysis would have come much easier. This is not to say I would enjoy reading a book like Handmaids Tale or Song of Solomon, both of those would have been a trek through hell. There has to be a happy medium between length, density, and period to read. If all of that could be sussed out I believe this assignment would be an ideal way to break up essays and seminars.

The other flaw is face to face to discussion. This could be argued both ways, but I feel this assignment lacks the direct contact.  With other assignments we are forced to give criticism and discuss in person, this allows for people to take criticism and also be able to defend your opinion without the wall of a computer or electronic device. As seniors in high school, about to be going off to college, it is very important to be able to take criticism.  This assignment would be much better if people were to give feedback via direct contact. This is not to say that the feedback would be bad, but it would allow for people to see truly how people felt. I think it is easy to say you liked or disliked a point on a computer, but much more difficult to say it in person.  Analysis is not just of the book, but of the person analyzing the book.  This view may be wrong, but I have found that face to face feedback goes far in the long run.

To close out my blog I would just like to say that I truly enjoyed this experience. It allowed for a much different environment than any of the other projects and essays we have done this year, a fresh twist you could say.  All The Light We Cannot See absolutely surpassed my expectations. For a subject, WWII, that is so over discussed I expected a novel that would give roughly the same point of view and historical knowledge. I was delighted to find that the novel gave fresh characters, protagonists that are children, two opposing views, one from Germany and the other from the Allies,  an exciting fictional aspect, the Sea of Flames, and the intersting note of having one page chapters. Overall I would highly recommend this book.

For the last time I am signing off!