Why the third little pig survived #3

“One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said ‘Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!’ ‘Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin’, said the little pig.” Unfortunately, things did not end well for the first pig due to the fact that he was eaten. The next pig brother, who had the bright idea to make his house out of sticks also shared the same fate. However, the third pig was a little more careful. As an aspiring scientist/engineer, I believe that all problems in the world have solutions, and it is our responsibility to not only find a solution, but the best solution to the problems. For example, if there is a task to complete, there will be many ways to complete that task. However, it is important that extensive reasoning is used to support the best possible course of action to complete a task well.  The first two pigs did not use enough reasoning to find the best course of action, and that was the reason for their demise. In contrast, the third little pig reasoned that in order to be protected from the wolf, a sturdy house made out of solid bricks is essential. Like the third little pig, I am an elaborator/clarifier because I use my reasoning to see how a possible suggestion or idea may develop to benefit the group. In addition, I like to listen to other people’s ideas and build on top of them to make them more complex and elaborate which results in an improved idea.

Setting goals and reflecting on your progress in achieving those goals is also one of my strong suits. In the humorous, but meaningful story “The Boy who Wanted the Willies”, Hans would never get frightened, and because of that, he went on a journey with the goal to get the willies. Hans set himself a goal of getting the willies and possibly even a chest of treasure, and then he tried to achieve it by going through the haunted house. Like Hans, I also like to set goals for myself to achieve because then I have an end that I am trying to reach. With a goal in mind, I am able to effectively plan a course of action that will lead us to solving that goal. Within the haunted house, Hans ended up claiming the treasure, but he did not get the willies. Soon after he grew up, he had triplets with the king’s daughter, and he named them all Willy, so that he could have willies. Although in an unconventional manner, Hans goes through the process of setting goals, and achieving them. In addition, I like to reflect on the progress that has been made en route of accomplishing a task. When I reflect on the journey of reaching a goal, I both take into account the smaller accomplishments that have been made on the way and the areas in which little progress has been made. In this perspective, I am an evaluator/critic because I prefer to study the progress that has been made, and then find different strategies/tactics that can be used in the future in order to push a little bit further and achieve more.

Getting along with people is very necessary when there is some form of group collaboration that is taking place. I do not like to enter into many confrontations, and I just like to avoid them in order to maintain respect among people, and group members. The Conciliator position fits me very well because in the realm of group work I drop my ego completely and I am openly willing to admit any mistakes I have made. If I admit my mistake when I am truly wrong, then we are able to maintain respect among the group members which is vital in group collaboration. In a broader sense, if anybody makes a mistake and it leads to a conflict, I am effective in resolving those conflicts by creating a common goal to fix the mistake.

All in all, I have some characteristics that are beneficial in a group environment, and I would like to exploit them to the fullest in order to generate a positive work environment. Others also have complementing characteristics that will help the group, as well as me. In a group, if each member can give more than they take, then work will be done, and progress will be made.

Performance Analysis of Initial Practice AP Exam #2

Before I analyze my performance on the practice AP Literature exam that we took in class today, I would first like to discuss my impressions about the test. Before I started the test, I had the mindset that this test was going to be extremely difficult, making it impossible to do well on it. As I worked through the multiple choice section of the test, I realized that some passages were easier to handle than others. I realized that certain question types were harder than other types. But the most important realization that I came across was that this test is not impossible. To clarify, by no means am I saying that this test is easy, because it’s not. However, I am saying that this test is doable, and with the right type of preparation, this exam will slowly shift to another, hopefully better, frame of reference. Nonetheless, it is important, at this moment, to analyze my strengths and weaknesses so that I can establish a plan to improve my skills.

In regards to my strengths, I feel that I am most effective in dealing with passages in the form of essays, stories, and personal anecdotes. A common aspect about all of these types of passages is that the complexity of word craft is limited. There is still a lot of symbolism within them, but the reading is easier to get through and digest. I am good at tackling these types of passages because I can get through the passage efficiently, and at the same time, I can understand the different symbols being used, pick up on the emotions and inner opinions of the characters, and note any implications that arise from the text development. I also believe that I possess the “many-mindedness” characteristic when I read and analyze any type of passage. When I first read a new piece of information, I refrain from labeling it to a certain, defined category because in many types of literature, interpretations can vary. As I am reading a passage with many symbols, for example, I take time to understand aspects such as the author’s perspective, tone, and mood. After taking all of this into account, I try to interpret the symbols based on my understanding of the various aspects. I don’t cling too tightly to my interpretations because I know that as I gain more information, they are subject to change. Therefore, I believe one of my strength is the fact that I don’t form closed-minded interpretations based on limited information, but rather liquid interpretations that change forms as I gain more information. Also, I believe that I am good at answering multiple choice questions that deal with factual information, as well as symbols within the text. As I am reading, I like to take note of different pieces of factual information, and this helps me successfully answer questions that relate to specific details within the text. In addition, since my interpretation is constantly changing until I get through the information, I feel that I am strong at analyzing symbols. This helps me answer questions that ask for the symbolism behind different things within the text. All in all, I believe that I am strong at reading essays, forming interpretations, and answering factual and symbolism based multiple choice questions.

When analyzing my weaknesses, I feel that I am most ineffective in handling passages in the form of poems. Many poems contain large amounts of word craft, and rather than using simple sentences to convey meaning, they seem to use more complicated phrases that have deeply imbedded meaning. These factors really hinder my ability to understand poems and digest them efficiently. Therefore, I am spending a lot more time trying to read the poems than I should. In addition, I am not very good at reading passages that are written in modern English, but have very complex syntax. Since I do not have much exposure to reading phrases and sentences with complex arrangements, I often times lose track of which characters are doing or feeling what. As I go through the complex passages, I feel that I have not absorbed much of the meaning within the poem, and that leads to trouble with the questions. Also, I feel that I lack the “Attentiveness” characteristic. It is very hard for me to fully concentrate on the text without my mind wandering off. When I begin to lose focus, I start to glaze over some hidden details and symbols, resulting in an overall decline in my quality of reading. Sometimes, I realize that I didn’t comprehend what I just read, so I have to go back and read a larger portion of the text again. Once again, this process is very time consuming and inefficient. I am also pretty weak in answering some questions about types of literature and literary devices. For example, some of the words on the test that I was not familiar with were synecdoche, ode, ballad, parable, etc. Therefore, not knowing much of the vocab resulted in guessing on many of those vocab-based questions. Another type of question that I had a difficulty with was the I, II, III question in which we had to choose the right combination of answers. In these types of questions, I always begin to lose track of the actual text, and I support the wrong answer choices with information that was not in the passage, leading to more incorrect answers. All in all, I have difficulty absorbing information in poems and passages written with complex syntax, focusing on the text to read efficiently, and answering questions about literary devices and types of literature.
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]-->

I have created a plan in order to transfer my weaknesses to strengths or at the very least move my weaknesses out of that category. First of all, I want to improve my ability to read and analyze poems, as well as text written with a lot of difficult sentence and phrase arrangements. In order to do so, I am going to follow the advice of Professor Billy Collins. Each school day, for 2.5 weeks, I will simply read a moderately sized poem, with complex syntax, two times. I will not make an attempt to analyze or study them; I will just simply read them. Then, during the next 2.5 weeks, I will re-read the poems that I have previously read, but this time I will actually try to analyze the poems. Using this method, I will gradually gain a comfort with reading difficult poems, and I will also have practice analyzing them. And as Thomas Foster said that no piece of literature is completely original, this practice I put in now will help me find patterns when analyzing different poems. In addition, I want to become familiar with the different literary terms and types of literature. In order to do this, I will need to apply a two-step procedure over a span of at least 6 weeks. First, I will need to study the definition of each of the terms, while finding an example that the term applies to. After I feel comfortable with the definitions, I will need to actually apply the definition. I will do this each time I read a piece of literature. When I read a piece, I will note what type of literature it is, and then I will continue to find examples of different literary terms within the reading. This procedure will make me very apt in picking out the literary devices used within a passage. My last goal is to improve my attentiveness as a reader. In order to do so, I will utilize both the daily poems I will be reading, as well as an independent reading book. For a two-week period, I will read my independent novel and the poems at a slow enough pace so that I do not break focus while I also make mental notes of my own reading. Slowly, throughout the two-week period, I believe that I will be able to slowly increase my reading pace while maintain a steady focus on the text. In conclusion, I want to improve my ability to read poems with complex phrasing, to understand and apply literary devices, and lastly improve my attentiveness as a reader.

Reasoning for Blog's Aesthetic Appearances - #1

The format for this blog was designed based on the true focus of this class. By observing the name alone, AP British and World Literature, it can be noted that this class steps over the boundaries of American literature at current times and reaches into all corners of the world during different eras. First of all, the blog is named “Everywhere in a Book”. The word “Everywhere” captures the vast varieties of cultures and traditions studied. However, all of this extensive observation occurs right within the classroom, from the peers sitting beside us and the books lying in front of us. Therefore, two contrasting ideas, “Everywhere” and a single “Book”, are brought together to show the true essence of this class. Also, the font of the title is very important in creating a certain type of mood. The font used for the title is called “Calligraphy” and it gives the impression of an old cursive-style writing that was used long before modern times. Behind the title is an old, parchment-like map of the world. The presence of this map reinforces the vast variety of the literature that will be studied in this class. In addition, the color of the blog is brown in order to represent the eras of the texts we study. For example, we will study literature and fairy tales from the medieval era, when the process of life wasn’t completely bright and new, but rather dark and solid.
 The layout is also pinnacle in directing different amounts of the reader’s focus to different areas of the blog. The title is located at the top of the screen, as it should be the first thing that the reader focuses on. The majority of the blog's space, located under the title, is devoted to the actual posts I make. My writing, in the forms of different discussions and posts, is the main focus of my blog, and that is why it comprises the largest area of the screen. Then the area about me is a smaller section to the right of the posts area. Since we all read from left to right, readers will first encounter the main blog space which is on the left, and then they will focus on the “about me” section, which is to the right. All components such as fonts, colors and layouts were precisely chosen to create a mood of vastness and oldness for the viewer.