The PWB

Everytime I pick up the Poisonwood Bible I can't keep from thinking about how much I am learning from it. In our last two books in class I found it easier to just read the book because I had to, but its completely different with this one. Everything in this book has so much built into it. I feel like I have to read slower to catch all the details because it is SO indepth. I really enjoy each of the characters and their unique use of dialogue and thoughts.

I also find our discussions in class quite interesting. I really like hearing what others have to say about the novel and different characters as we dig deeper into the story. Discussions always help to clear the misunderstandings I sometimes find and make things clearer. Sometimes I feel like the book is saying one thing where it might be saying something completely different to someone else or just in actually.

I'm still confused about the different books and what exactly each of them mean overall. With this book I find it easier to understand the details but not the big picture. I really enjoy reading The Poisonwood Bible because it is very interesting, has a lot of meaning, and has great comparisons and interpretations from its literal message in several cases.

I have been realizing that the more that each character reveals, the more I can see that I am really like all of them. I guess thats why I enjoy the book so much. I'm looking forward to getting further into the book.

Paradigm Shift

As we began to talk about paradigm shift and we thought about how it connects to the book, I began to realize that no only is it often present in PWB, but it is all over in the real world today. It is nearly impossible to accept many things at once. I personally don't like change very well and as I thought about this and connected it to myself, it started to make a lot more sense to me. College english has opened my eyes to a different side of me. At first I was really nervous about this class but it has made me more creative and made me think out of the box. In a way it has been a paradigm shift in my life. I couldn't except this big change in how this class is run but now I am so much more open to different things that we do.

Lurking in the Shadows

I really liked the conversation we had in class about how the truth is much like a shadow. Plato's example of this was so interesting to think about. In many ways I think much of our lives are portrayed as shadows. We may only see the 2D, single shade, shadow, but behind it lurks something so much more! Compared to a shadow, what makes it is so much more complex that to imagine an idea being that is amazing. To relate this back to PWB, I think the entire book may be a 5 person witness acount to the unveiling of the truth for their family. In the beginning they were all very naive and comfortable with their lives. As it goes on, I notice them acting alot more 'human'. I thought it was an interesting point of view to ponder with.

Senior Project Topics

Topics for the senior project are as follows:
Sarah Pranger--Arts Education
Noble Graham--Alternative Curriculum
Andy Brozek--Year Round School
Casey TenBrink--Merit Pay
Taylor Hegg--Sequential Grade Structure
Alexandria Sutton--National Curriculum (Common Core)
Becca Schmieding--Charter Schools
Nora Andrade--ESL
Amy Trevino--School Substance Abuse
Alex Kleiner--Drop Outs
Ross Ray--Grade Inflation
Tyler Ashbaugh--Bullying
Bethany Henion--Sex Ed
Sarah Sylvester--School Violence
Brian Schroeder--Sports in Schools
Emily White--Foreign Language Requirements
Henry Moron--Military Academies
Domanic Viterna--Public School Funding
Chelsea Smith--Standardized Testing
Kristen Wagner--Special Education Inclusion
Jake Smith--International Competition (I know you didn't sign up for this... but it is a great topic!)
Luke Smith--Tracking
Sydney Sherman--?
Eric Carballido--?

I didn' t hear from Sydney or Eric (unless I lost your slip Eric).  Here are some topics that aren't taken that I highly recommend:
Teacher Unions
Tenure
Parental Involvement
Teacher Evaluations
Privatized Schooling
(There are more if these don't interest you...)

I will be grouping these during break.

Cruise prep= Price family?

So on the long (24 hour...) drive to Florida for my cruise I had a lot of time to think. Along the way there was some GORGEOUS scenery especially once we actually got into Florida. While driving down the road we were surrounded by what looked a lot like a jungle. This got me thinking about Poisonwood Bible and how the Price family might have dealt with their upcoming trip much like my family has. I thought of how much my mom reminded me of Adah. A lot of times she doesnt really talk about what she's feeling and she is VERY analytical and likes to internalize many different facts and scenarios. While she's not at all bitter, my mom is very quiet and wise. My father on the other hand is very much a Ruth May. He is so exitable and is the one who wakes us up in the morning by throwing open the curtains and yelling "YOUR BURING DAYLIGHT!!!!" He is so much fun to travel and loves to explore and see everything he can whenever we go anywhere!! My brother is just like Leah. He is very logical and sees things in black and white, if its not right it is most definatly wrong. Seth thinks about everything that could happen and lays it all out in his head. While this leads to some unnecessary worry it makes the rest of us think about what might happen and helps us prepare. He also may or may not pretend like he knows everything... :)! Finally theres me. In preparation for this cruise I've realized that I'm more like Rachel than what I really want to admit. I constantly think about what other people will wear and how I'll stack up. I also think about how Jamaica will be different from home and if it will be dirty or to crowded. I even kind of worry about the people...will they bug me? Will they chase me around trying to make me buy stuff? What if they're dirty or rude?? Yup definetly more Rachel there than I'd like to admit.... So welcome to my 24 hour drive thoughts!! They used up a lot of time and even made me forget for a moment that I was stuck in the car with my little brother for another 10 hours!! >:S!!!

The Poison Wood smoke trap!

This week has been packed to the brim with many different mini adventures!  But sadly, this has hindered my reading experince with the Poison Wood Bible.  I got to the point where I was mostly skiming and searching
for great quotes, but when I got to the ant part, I read the whole thing.  It was a nice change of pace from the usual grind of Congo life.  It also let me (us as readers) see just how the charecters really act when lives are put up for  grabs.  I mean, Orleanna had to choose between Adah or Ruth-May, and she told Adah to "keep up."  Seriously?  She limps!  And those screw offs Rachel and Nathan are driving me crazy!!!  Rachel goes straight for the mirror, and Nathan preaches, he freaking preches!!!  I just wanted to go right into the book and beat some sense into him!  You can preach all your life, but you can only save your family when they are in danger, AND HE DID NOTHING!!  He is the reason that Leah is losing her faith.  How can he be so blind.

Whoa, I just worte a lot.  Anyway, last night I went to my great uncle's wake.  We stayed up untill 1A.M. and partyed like it was 1999.  Then today, we went to the memorial.  It was rather sad, but I was able to see all my cousins that I don't usually do.  All in all, it was a great time that will build me up as a charecter.

Well, tomorrow I'm off to see my great aunt, and will have a great time in Florida.  I also am going to read the entire rest of The Posion Wood Bible.  That way I won't fall behind in my other wise hectic life.

See you later.


And Alex[andria], you owe me 1$!!!!  The village really does get taken over by ants!!!!

Education..

So I was, and still kind of am nervous about the Senior Project. It definitely sounds like a lot of work that will be time consuming. A 7-10 page paper?! Scary! Especially since the longest paper I think I've ever written was about 4 pages. I will not procrastinate! When the topic was presented to us (Education) I was thinking in my mind "what kind of sub topics are there?" and then as Ms. Stariha talked about each and every one my jaw just dropped a little. It's shocking how many topics there are to discuss and that each one can be elaborated on in some way shape or form. I had a really hard time deciding what exactly I want to do my Project on because many of the topics interest me! Mostly everyone in our class is a hard worker, so I'm not too nervous about the group I am placed in. But there is the chance of someone not taking the Project seriously, which scares me and makes me a little more stressed than I already seem to be.