RTCM I've lost count

    We started out this month finishing Frankenstein. I feel like we spent plenty of time on that little novel. It was an interesting book but the writing style really made it for me- if you were to choose any sentence in that book and actually speak it, it'd come out as the most pretentious sounding garbage anyone's heard. But in writing, all that is excusable and makes a classic, so why not.

     We also went through critical lenses. That section was more confusing and complicated than any book we've read so far but I suppose it had to be done. How much of it I remember come exam time is a hazy question. If the quiz we took was any indication of my learning ability, we're looking at a weak 2 on this AP test. 

     Next, Fifth Business. I know a lot of people I talked to about it enjoyed it, and I can see why but I don't feel the same. It wa an interesting book and it offered some surprising ideas. The fact that it was an actual novel and not a play or poem was also a nice reprieve but I didn't find it as profound or though-provoking as others. Maybe I'm looking at it all wrong or maybe we just have different opinions. It was and is bearable but I really hope Ms. Holmes points at some big Ah-Ha! that makes this book more thoughtful to me. 

     These blogs continue, weekly and I think when I do them they help. Open Prompts are starting to come more naturally and flow more smoothly and Closed Prompts are also becoming less of a pain. I absolutely do not consider myself prepared for the AP exam but I'm sure by the time it rolls around there will be a little mre confidence somewhere. 

Open Prompt 3, Part 2

2005. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess

“That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that

you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly.

Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and

inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, Guildenstern displays an almost desperate need for understanding, questioning everything while complying with the play as it is written. Guildenstern's attempts to rationalize every situation exemplify the effectiveness of confusion, frustration, and the impracticality of questioning predetermined fate.

Guildenstern's efforts at understanding seemingly impossible situations contribute largely to his confusion. Take, for example, the coin toss Rosencrantz and Guildenstern use to pass time. Every time they flip a certain coin, it lands heads up. Guildenstern ponders the probabilities of such an event, and even considers the idea that the coin or they may have been placed in an alternate universe- he questions the remarkability of the coin's loyalty and brings up several lines of thought on the matter. However, unable to see any ideas through to the end, Guildenstern gives up, and is only left confused with the entire situation. This is a recurring cycle- remarkable event, questioning, surrender, confusion. Guildenstern never manages to draw a conclusive thought, confusing his character.

Following this confusion, occasionally Guildenstern is frustrated. Even noting that he and Rosencrantz are simply cogs in the machine of fate, thusly obeying the written word to a letter. Yet all the while Guildenstern is attempting to understand strange events. Near the end, he even discovers his fate yet recognizes his powerlessness to influence it. Frustrating as this may be, neither Guildenstern or Rosencrantz have the ability to take control. They are set into a much larger, yet very similar cycle- Remarkable event, acceptance/surrender- over and over (how many times is undetermined and undeterminable). Impractical and pointless, this inward questioning and quest for understanding helps Guildenstern achieve nothing and change nothing.

Stoppard uses Guildenstern to force readers to question their own beliefs- are our lives laid before us in a cycle that we have and will continue to run through forever? Is questioning our individual roles fruitless, or do we have control of our fates?

Open Prompt 3, Part 1

It's against my religion to do this on Easter sorry

RTCM..........................eh.

Last month was possibly the most exciting month we've had yet. I mean we annotated the bejesus out of some ridiculously long (and a couple pleasantly succinct) packets that talked about like Frankenstein n stuff, somehow got to talking about Lord Byron's friend's wife, analyzed some nifty poetry (old school dirty rhymes) and annotated the actual book, Frankenstein. Or, rather didn't. Sorry Ms. Holmes, we've got another short one here. It's about 10:00 and I haven't started yet. Um... Is there a movie we watch soon? I could use a few more free days. I guess we did have a few already, and while I didn't get my annotations done I did use that time wisely. I'm happy to report that my Clash of Clans account is thriving (I've gotten much better at attacking the last couple weeks) and I am a nonillionaire on AdVenture Capitalist (hmu ladiez). But enough about me. How was your month? Leave some tips for the greater good (of this blog not like all humanity duh)!
Also are Villanova and Kansas really killin anyone else's bracket? Like just win. How hard can it be.

Open Prompt 2, Part 2

2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead offers up many more questions than answers. As more of a philosophical work and less of a conclusive one, this makes sense. The play offers two big questions. Is there an end to the role people play in the lives of others and is there a point to their existence.
This work certainly exemplifies the prompt of asking questions without providing answers. The first question is answerable on an individual level, drawing on the reader's religious, social and philosophical knowledge and ideas. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern obviously play a role in Hamlet, but outside of that do they have free will or options other than their repeating roles? This play raises the question and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. Throughout the play the only real significance R and G have is when they are performing in Elsinore, up until the very end where readers are left to decide what really happens to the two. Their lives end in darkness and it's likely that they begin again at the start, but that is up to the reader to decide.
The next question is supported by the first. Is there a point to their existence? Is there a point to our existence? R and G seem to have a purpose in being on call for Hamlet, but is that really their only purpose? Of all the activities they do while offstage and an all the conversations they have questioning things, is there a point to any of it. What significance do they have in the lives of the Tragedians, the Player, each others'. Also, do they serve a purpose in the lives of readers, other than asking unanswerable questions?
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern seem to simply exist with no purpose, but maybe their only purpose is to ask the questions Stoppard wants to know the answers to- or maybe, in the arrogant fashion of a true philosopher, he expects readers to find his answers in the questions of R and G.

Open Prompt 2, Part 1

2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

N
The author offered an interesting question but failed to resolve it. In the spirit of the prompt, this student's work has no answer. They chose a complicated piece- Candide, by Voltaire. Voltaire, as a philosopher, would have certainly offered a question or two in this book. He probably answered it as well but he wouldn't have made it easy to see these two things. I think the student may have bitten off a little more than they could chew with this book though they put up a semi-respectable fight.
J
This response makes it easy for readers unfamiliar with the novel to understand what the author is trying to say, but it's important to balance plot summary and original thought. The author makes excuses for what is clearly a homoerotic relationship that crosses race, economic and traditional patriarchal lines (not that I have anything against any of these) with a flimsy, half cooked semblance of a thought. Forget this essay, I say we do the world a favor and cut this student off from any form of literature indefinitely. Defile an American classic and you're defiling America. Go back to Tripoli or the mental hospital, whichever suits you better.
UU
This incredibly short essay cut the wrong pieces in their efforts to be concise. They stuck to the vague and obscure, possibly hoping the reader would draw their own conclusions. That's not the point. Again with balance, this respondent focused too much on one side of the plot summary and analysis points, offering little summary and weak points. Thesis was missing or incomplete and content didn't quite answer the prompt.

When do we get to read 50 Shades of Grey?

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Analysis

Characters

Rosencrantz- Carefree and creative, but insecure or instinctively fearful/dissatisfied with fate.

Guildenstern- Thinks he gets it but doesn't. Thoughtful in nature but less observant than Ros.

Player- Knows more than we think (it seems) also appears to be one of the few that recognizes and accepts his fate.

Hamlet-  Nephew of the king actively seeking revenge for his father's murder. Confusing to Ros and Guil.

Summary

Guil flips a coin and loses money to Ros. Heads comes up remarkably often, leading the two to a brief argument on probability and chance. Guil speculates about why heads is on such a streak while Ros just takes his money without questioning it. Guildenstern starts philosophizing and Ros taps out. They remember that they were called upon but don't know where they're supposed to go. They hear music and follow it into the woods. They come upon the Tragedians and it gets kind of sexual. The player and Guil enter into a round of betting that ends up with Guil winning a performance off the tragedians.

Ros and Guil appear in Elsinore, thrusting the audience right into Hamlet. Clausius asks for their assistance in finding what Hamlet is up to. They agree and decide to question him, warming up for this little interrogation with a game called Questions. Hamlet comes and talks to them but by now they all seem to be  confused as to which is Ros and which is Guil. 

Tragedians arrive at Elsinore, Ros and Guil get nothing from Hamlet. Player discusses Hamlet with Ros and Guil then leaves to prepare. Guil voices his curiosities about death.

The tragedians perform The Murder of Gonzago which happens to be pretty much exactly what happened at Elsinore. Two spies appear that remind Ros and Guil of someone but neither the spies nor Ros/Guil can place eachother. The players finish rehearsing and all exit. 

Nexxt Ros and Guil discover that Hamlet haas killed Polonius. They decide to trap him but fail and instead try to glean where Polonius' body is. Hamlet sneaks away but is caught by the guards and presented to Claudius to be sent to England.
Ros and Guil wake up on a boat with Hamlet and a letter. Ros annoys Guil. The two read the letter out loud, overheard by Hamlet. Hamlet blows out a lantern, ending the scene. Hamlet follows up by replacing the letter with one of his own making.
The next day Hamlet makes an appearance and Ross and Guil discover the tragedians on board. Pirates attack and Hamlet is 'taken' by them. The players perform a final time as Ros and Guil discover and accept their fate. The play ends with horatio's monologue.