Letter to a Location

Letter to a location

Dear Dance room,

Oh how I wish you didn’t smell like a wresting locker room but since you are the wresting room too I guess it is an occupational hazard.  You poor abused mirrors you not only get kicked by some of our turns and leaps but a few wrestlers have been known to do you in too.  To the floor, we have a love hate relationship.  You are really painful when gravity takes in and during drops, but you also support my turns and let me fly.  Oh the countless hours of dancing and bounding that you have provided.  Long days full of zero periods and the occasional after school practice have allowed me to memorize your every corner without even being awake.   You have seen the good the bad, the highs and the lows of our team and practices.  You have taken our abuse; from drops, kicks, leaps, to “living” moments.  You have provided a safe creative environment to grow new bounds, and new styles.  You have taken abuse from the thousands of dancers that have passed through your doors to the actually crack in the floor (that we currently have duck taped) from a rally day where the bleachers weren’t too nice to you.  I will always remember all of the falls that have come from your slippery floor.  There is a feeling of home that comes simply from walking through your doors, any four of them.  To the speakers you have played countless beats of music, many I have even edited.  You provide some of the soundtrack of my life.  When you grow up and more of your alumni have become wealthy dancers I hope you will be blessed with air conditioning.  You are the hottest room on campus, especially when PE classes are in the gym on 100-degree days.  Please dear dance room do not take my constructive criticism as a whiners tirade.  I feel so blessed to attend Los Osos High School where not only academics and sports are valued but the fine arts are valued as well.  I do wish that dance was considered a fine art and a sport, but you’re just the room you don’t make the policy.  I hope you will continue to be there for many more generations for aspiring dancers and students who are just exploring the amazing world of dance.  If your walls could talk they would reveal the hopes, the dreams, and the sorrows of many.  You can take pride in the fact that you have given thousands of Los Osos students a chance to explore and excel in the fine arts.  I will not miss your 120 degree temperatures during the summer months but I will miss the people, the teachers, the choreographers, the team mates that you have housed for the four years I have been a Grizzly.   You were the first to witness my recovery from a hamstring injury as a JV dancer and the first to witness my fouettes, floats and turns that I have worked for years to perfect.

Love and sometimes hate,

Aimee Ermel

Senior Memoir Why I Create

Working on my senior memoir was a lot of fun and it made me realize how fast the school year has gone by.  I think that through writing all of these personal journey essays I really realized how far I have journeyed.  One that I really enjoyed was the Why I ___ prompt.

      I create because it brings joy to others and me.  It is my passion and where I find happiness.  Creating encompasses all of my passions: dance, drawing, animation, science and multimedia.  Dance is my oldest friend out of the fine arts.  Starting when I was eight and just learning it has provided a place for self-expression and memories.  Dancing provides the chance to soar and push past what I once thought was my limit.  Thanks to the dance team at school I have developed a passion for choreographing.  It isn’t easy, in fact choreographing has been more challenging than learning a new step, but the final product is very rewarding.  I have had ups and downs in dance; this alone has helped shape who I am.  When I pulled my hamstring and had to take a break from dance I discovered art.  I had always had a love for drawing things but it wasn’t until 7^th grade that I discovered I actually had talent.  Drawing provided an outlet for the pain I felt from dance, it was and is truly the best therapy.  Creating is the way I can take out my frustration and turn it into something beautiful.  I love being able to take what was once a blank page and give it life, a face, or memory.  Animation defines creating.  It is one of the only art forms where a character truly comes to life.  People watch Disney animation and see what were once just blank pages that were turned into characters that can resonate with the audience.  There is an inexplicable feeling I get from seeing my art come to life.  When I create there are no limitations and no ways to fail.  I have grown up with science.  I have two scientists as parents, how could I not?  It wasn’t until recently that I have realized that the boundary between science and the arts really doesn’t exist.  It takes a creative person to come up with a hypothesis to be tested.  In its own way science is its own genre of art.  Art and animation are also necessary for making the public able to understand discoveries at the molecular and sub molecular level.  More and more science needs art to speak for it.

       I create for the feeling of accomplishment.  No matter how it turns out I find joy out of the process and knowing I have grown a little bit as a person simply by trying.  I have found the drive to my dreams through creating.  I am blessed to have more than just one talent pathway to find joy.  It is this joy and passion that I want to share with others.  It is fun to impress people and make some ones day by just giving them a drawing.  I like being able to take what could be seen as something simple and turn it into something deeper and more meaningful.  Simply, I create because I cant imagine not doing it.

Up-Hill

I just read a poem titled, Up-Hill, by Christina Rossetti. When I read this poem, it made me think about how some of us feel as graduation is approaching. The poem is basically a person asking a questions and another person answering back. It begins by stating that the journey is long and continues on to talk about if there's a place to rest and when it talks about this place it hints that this place is a place for comfort and help.As we get closer to graduation, we feel excited to finally be done with one chapter in our life, but at the same time we may feel afraid or uncertain of what the future holds for us. The long journey that the poem is talking about can symbolize the long journey that we will have to experience in order to get to where we want to be. The place where the person in the poem can sleep symbolizes that there will be people there to help us get past our struggles and help us feel comfortable as we go through our new journey.

-Jamie N.

What I've Learned in AP Lit

As I flip through the pages of my English journal, I have noticed that we learned a lot in this class. I have learned more things this year in English than in any of my English classes in the previous years. From allusions to sociological/philosophical approaches this class became one of my most interesting classes during my senior year. I am glad that I chose to take this class because it gave me a chance to learn about what literature really is and how much knowledge I can gain from it. Before this class I thought literature wasso boring and I assumed that I wouldn't learn much, but I was definitely wrong. In this class I was given the chance to learn about what a dystopian novel is and how to a write a sestina. This is a class that I will miss a lot and I will definitely carry the knowledge that I have gained from it to college.

-Jamie N.

Nature is what we see

This past month I found my favorite poem and it is called Nautre Is What We See by Emily Dickenson. This poem would have to be my favorite poem because Dickenson it gives us a different perspective on the extensiveness of nature. Dickenson makes us think about how we perceive nature ourselves, what we hear, what we see, and finally what we know and how little it is compared to its full meanings. This poem yet short is packed with literary meaning, imagery with pictures and sound, metaphors comparing the sound of a little cricket and the roar of thunder, two very different things, and diction the way she uses Nay, as “nature” is one of her friends.  Everyone should ask themselves these questions and interpret them for themselves after reading the poem. I also really like DIckensons poetry she has a very calming effect on my mind, she makes things so relaxing. Her imadgery is very vivid and beautiful. Below is the link to to the poem if any of you are interested: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nature-is-what-we-see/

The Age of Innocence Book Review

Wharton, Edith. The age of innocence. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Print.

Reviewed by Jamie Narimatsu, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA


The Age of Innocence is a novel that is set in the1870s in upper class New York City. The novel introduces us with the main character, Newland Archer. He is watching an opera and across where he is seated, he sees his fiance, May Welland. He is happy that he is engaged to her and he wants to let everyone know that they will be getting married. After a while he gets up from his seat and walks towards where May is seated. There, he approaches her and she introduces him to her cousin, Ellen Olenska, who Newland knew as a child. After Ellen's arrival, Newland's life is turned around as he begins to realize that May is a girl who acts how society wants her to be, while Ellen is a woman who he is in love with because she is different than society and fights for her freedom.

Wharton made her society seem realistic and created it to be similar to the society in the 1870s. She created certain characters such as the Mingott family to show how upper class society was at the time and she created an outcast like Ellen to show how the upper class judged the people that were different or were not a part of their class.

 The Age of Innocence is a novel that was cleverly created. The setting and theme were interesting choices and the drama filled plot will make readers want to keep on reading the book until the end. This is a book that is worth reading and readers be yearning to find out how the relationship between Ellen and Newland will end up.

-Jamie N.

HIGH SCHOOL, the lessons, the life, the rewards.

To everyone in our class, I think we can all relate to some very common thoughts. The first being, "Woo hoo, we're done!", the second being, "What am I going to do in life now.", and finally, "Gee, we sure did learn a lot in high school." Not only in high school do you learn a lot about liturature, math, history and the very general academic things, things which are all very rewarding, but you also learn a lot about yourself, and the journey you have finally, hopefully, finished. Now I could go into what the 4 years were like step by step but instead I think I should just get to the point. At the end of this long journey, now, we all come out of this place productive memebers of socety ready to go onto the next steps of our lives, ready to learn more, and ready to gain the rewards of a new journey in our future. High school has changed everyone, this is a great reward, we know what we were then and what we are now and how much we have changed for the better. Some rewards we can use when we move on to college are the skill of managing our study life and social life, something everyone has had to learn to balance. Its crazy for me writing this right now, its really making me think about all the great times high school has brought me. That is probably one of the biggest rewards we can all take from high school, we have all made memories at or around Los Osos High that will never be taken from us. It has truly been an honor to go to school at Los Osos. And finally good luck to everyone in their future joureys, may the rewards be great.
-Kyle Fischer

When We Were Orphans Book Review

     Ishiguro, Kazuo.  When We Were Orphans.  (London, Great Britain: Vintage International, 2000), 335pp.

     Reviewed by Collin Gilchrist, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

     When We Were Orphans, by Kazuo Ishiguro, tells the story of Christopher Banks, an English detective who was born in an international district of Shanghai, China.  When he was a young boy, his parents went missing and have not been found.

     The first section of the novel is about Christopher's early adult life.  He is currently living in London and the year is 1930.  This section describes Christopher searching to find his way in life.  He is kind of reserved and bashful.  Very quickly I found Christopher to be one of the most relatable characters I have read about.  In the opening scene he is attending a party where he meets many successful people who are a good deal older than him.  This scene made me think of several of the fancy events I have attended recently because I am going to college soon, such as the dinner I attended to receive a scholarship from my Dad's company.  I met many well-connected people but went in knowing no one.  At the party he is introduced to and becomes infatuated with Sarah Hemmings.  She retains some amount of significance in Christopher's life later in the novel.  Ishiguro's language usage is immediately apparent as very intellectual and proper.  The novel feels very British from the first page.  Unfortunately, this section feels like it has little plot direction, and started to become boring to me.

     The second section of the novel consists of flashbacks to Christopher's childhood in Shanghai.  He lives in luxury with his parents.  Christopher recounts playing with and getting into trouble with his Japanese friend Akira, who also lives in Shanghai's International district.  I found Akira interesting because his personality is very similar to that of one of my friends from my elementary school days.  The beginning of this section also felt like it had little direction, but looking back, I realize that this part of the novel is all about detail.  Ishiguro takes a great deal of time to make sure that the character's of Akira and Uncle Philip, because they are important later in the novel.  The plot suddenly takes off when first Christopher's father, and then his mother, are kidnapped.  Because there wasn't a lot of reference to this event, it took me by surprise, and all of a sudden all that background information made sense.  One point that I found very amusing is that when Christopher's father is kidnapped, he and Akira pretend to try and rescue his father.  I think the disappearance of Christopher's parents played a role in his career choice.

    The third and largest chunk of the novel resumes Christopher's adulthood, but now closer towards the middle of his life.  He has found his own way, and after gathering more clues, he thinks he has an idea as to where his parents are.  Does he find them?  I'll leave that to you to read the book and find out for yourself.

     Although When We Were Orphans was quite bland in the beginning, it proved to be quite an enjoyable novel.  I found the setting and plot to be original and unique when compared to anything I had read before.  In terms of plausibility I would say that the story is quite plausible.  It is a work of fiction in a completely non-fictitious setting.  Although some events feel like small coincidences, they are in no way implausible.  By the last page, Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans was a great, refreshing read.



-C. Gilchrist

Because I Could Not Stop For Death Analysis

In class last week we had to write an analysis on the philospohical and sociological merit in this poem and analyze Dickensons opinion on life. As I sat in class leausurly glossing over the poem I thought to my self, "Ehh another assessment, another poem" but then as I kept glossing over it a couple of things connected for me in the poem. First off Dickenson looks at life as a thing to be lived to its fullest, with of course the possiblility of death at any time. She talks about death so comfortably that it almost seems like she has come to terms that eventuially "Death will stop for her" but until that day she will do nothing less with her life, she wont stop loving the life she lives just because the thought of death may slow her down. And another thing I found quite interesting was the fact that Dickenson talks about death in such a calm, nice manner, something, or in this case someone that is taking her on an new adventure. She talks about going into "eternity", like after death there is another life to be lived in "immortality." If you think about it, this is a pretty cool poem, she gives you a feeling that nobody should stop for the inevitable death to get you and when it finally does come, embrace it.
-Kyle Fischer

What I Read That Mattered

What I Read That Mattered

                Hopefully when I’m looking back on this letter in the following years I remember all the “reading” I did in high school. I want to remember looking back at spark notes for all the reading that I didn’t do, and all the books that I should have read an I managed not to read at all but make it by in the class and still get a good grade. I’m sure the teacher reading this is snarling at this letter trying to think of all the way that they could eliminate spark notes from the internet and make their classes harder. But in fact through all the spark notes, I did read some books. I enjoyed the transition of books that I read from a freshman to a senior, the books not only got deeper, but they applied more to your life as you grew older and you life’s decisions began to transition. Freshmen year my favorite book was The Alchemist, now yes this book was the first book we read going into high school but it was a nice easy read that portrayed your future to you, at that point you were young in life and waiting for your future. Sophomore year the books weren’t all that interesting, but they did get deeper and made you think more. Junior year, the book that I liked the most was Walden, this book was a very refreshing book it let you look at the simpler things in life and help you look at the more important things. And finally senior year, this year Mrs. Elliott defiantly knew how to pick readings that directly applied to seniors, they all consisted of a journey that opened up your perspectives to the future and made you realize that right now you really are at a crossroads in your life and things are going to be changing a lot. The one for the year would have to be The Poisonwood Bible that book defiantly symbolized a crossroads in life and a change in those people’s lives that was defiantly significant, much like our lives right now. I really enjoyed this transition from year to year and the transition through them. I guess I will remember my memories with my English teachers more than the books that I read over the years. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this subject as well?

-Kyle Fischer

Every journey is a reward

As senior year comes to a close we are all looking back on the memories of our entire high school experience. In class we are discussing how "the journey is the reward" and I can't think of a better example of this theme than what has happened in school. The classes we've taken, friends we've met, gained, and lost, relationships built and destroyed all contribute to the kind of person you are today. One of the questions that I know I have been asked by my teachers and friends quite frequently is "what would you go back and change?". Looking back on all of my decisions I can say with confidence that I am proud of my choices and my mistakes. Every time I have decided to do, or not to do something has taught me a lesson. These lessons learned are a reward in themselves because they will be able to give insight into the future, and they make sure that the same mistakes are not made twice. What we will take away from our high school experience will stay with us through college and the rest of our lives. Although most of us say that we hate Los Osos, we owe so much to this school. Without it who knows how we all would have turned out. As we enter college we must treat it with the mindset that each experience will be an important life lesson we will carry with us forever.

Animal Farm

As sort of a last book to read this semester, I chose Animal Farm by George Orwell mostly because I never had the chance to study it when I was a sophomore. A fairly quick read, I was overall completely surprised with the relevancy that the story holds to human history. The most obvious tie is the rise of Communism. But Orwell explores deeper into the beginnings than just the rise- it takes a group of uneducated people (or animals in the case of this novel) and a very persuasive leader who is able to instill trust upon the followers. Once the leader has talked his way into a more authoritative position, he then adds a military regime in order to protect his "equal preachings" or just outright absurd laws from the public's potential backlash. As soon as the military (or rather threatening dogs in the book) is in place, the preacher of equality for everyone becomes a feared dictator and benefits from the reductions forced upon the public. So it seems as if history prevails in every equal-rights movement and that eventually the system becomes corrupt.

Reading this book made me realize that if a country (the average people inhabiting the region) is not educated enough to realize the rise of a dictator when it is occurring, it is almost easy for it to be engulfed in some type of scheme to benefit the few in power. At the end of the book, it was almost depressing to read that the pigs learned to walk on two legs to better fit in with the human race when the animals worked so hard to separate and better themselves from man. It seems that eventually things will return to their natural state before the up rise and revolt because although history repeats itself, it is nearly impossible to change.


-A. Pruett

TOSTADA analysis of Kubla Khan

Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is my favorite poem.  From the title one can discern that Coleridge's poem is about Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China when it was conquered by the Mongols' great land empire.  This is one of the reasons the poem first caught my interest, as Kublai Khan has been one of my favorite historical figures ever since I did a report on him in fourth grade.  There seems to be no occasion for this poem.  Coleridge just had a creative idea and turned it into a poem.  The poem shifts attitudes drastically from the first stanza to the second.  In the first stanza the tone is dreary and trance-like.  The second stanza is suddenly much more serious and dramatic.  The final stanza returns to the dream-like tone while maintaining the seriousness of the second stanza.  The arrangement and wording of Kubla Khan give an impression of exotic wisdom.  It reads a little like something Yoda might say, and feels like something the Caterpillar might recite to Alice in Alice in Wonderland.  The most significant device of the poem is its imagery.  The imagery is what makes the first stanza so calm and intelligent, while the second is frantic and revering.  Contrasting imagery is used for dramatic effect: "That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!" (Line 47)  In addition to imagery, Kubla Khan contains a number of similes.  The Aha! moment is found in the final stanza, where the theme becomes apparent.  In the last lines of the poem, Coleridge marvels at Kubla Khan's great acheivements and wishes he could have done them himself.

-C. Gilchrist

My Sestina

One day Mrs. Elliott asked us to write six words on our paper.  Me being myself decided to make these words really random.  One thing led to another, namely my sestina, "A Lesson":

For dinner I catch a fish
Fresh from the lake.
Before traveling home.
I will cook it on the fire
With no fear of an alien,
For it is not the night.

I mustn't fear the night.
They are so odd, the fish,
Frantically darting in patterns very alien.
It's said something strange hides at the lake.
I hope it isn't attracted to my fire,
A bright disruption to its home.

Meanwhile I need to go home.
The day is becoming dusky night.
As I sit by my fire
Something stalks my fish.
My meal is desired by an alien.
He can't catch any at the lake.

Why did I travel to the lake?
It doesn't feel like home.
To me it is as alien
as to the sun the night.
It is only full of fish
To be cooked on my fire.

Is there more than cooking on the fire
to the piscine souls populating the lake?
Is food the only meaning of the fish?
Like us they call Earth home.
What is the meaning of life and death, day and night?
Perhaps this is known by the Alien.

From the shadows appears the Alien,
suddenly entering the light of my fire.
My foolishness has troubled him this night.
The Alien doesn't want to eat the fish of the lake.
He teaches me why the lake should be home.
It is the beauty, not the flavor of the fish.

That late night meeting with the Alien
By the lake and my fire
Showed me the importance of the fish to my home.




-C. Gilchrist

The Kite Runner

Recently I've been reading the Kite Runner for my independent reading. For those who haven't read it or seen the movie it is about a young boy and his struggles with a childhood friend, their fathers, and later on in the story, his friend's son. The story opens with Amir, the main character, looking back on a story from his childhood with his friend Hassan. Hassan was seen as Amir's servant and not as a friend, although they spent almost all their time together. As the story progresses many tragedies strike Amir and Hassan along with their fathers, Baba who is Amir's father and Ali who is Hassan's father. Baba is a larger than life character who surpasses all others' expectations and does what everyone says he cannot. He is seen as a figure of Christ who later passes from lung cancer. Before Baba's passing, Amir was involved in a constant struggle for his approval. As a child, Amir was more of an intellectual writer and poet, while Baba wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become more athletic and publicly respected. After Baba dies, Amir begins to step in as the savior for the rest of the book which has several more drastic twists and turns that I will do my best not to spoil. Amir has to rescue Hassan's son after betraying Hassan in their childhood and sees that this is his chance to restore honor to his family and make up a mistake he made against one of his friends. Through much struggle Amir actually does redeem his wrongdoing and becomes the image he saw his father in.
As Amir goes through his journey to redemption he realizes what truly matters in life. Although he did not recognize Hassan as a friend when the were children simply because he was a lower class than him, he comes to the realization that social class should not matter and that people should be judged upon character and merit. This book is more than a story about the damages war wages on the civilian population, it is a journey of a man evolving from his shelter of ignorance into the freedom of realization.

Creating a Dystopia and Other Fiction

A couple of months ago, we created our own dystopian society for a team activity.  Team Surreal made "Lucille's" a story about a society where aging past the age of twenty-two and death itself are eliminated.  The protagonist Harrison has a realization about the purpose of life and discovers adverse effects of the "fountain of youth" style technology of this supposedly perfect, yet corrupt, society.

I found the process through which our story was designed fascinating.  We started by choosing a central concept.  Early ideas were a society with no self expression, one with a universal beauty standard that forced everyone to look the same through surgery, and a party society where the upper class is continuously drunk 24/7 and lives off the labors of the oppressed lower class.  We settled for the "problems with a fountain of youth" idea because it had the most immediate depth and theme, making easy to plan around.

After choosing a concept we created three characters.  The protagonist who finds flaws in the society and sets out to change it.  He is assisted by Bernice, who although was put in a sidekick slot is much older and wiser.  The two set out to stop the antagonist Lucille, the totalitarian leader of the society who's fountain of youth system is not only corrupt, but the source of underlying morals dissonance.  (Because people are not dying naturally, the only people dying are the ones Lucille has removed from the system because they disagree, and no one is allowed to have children without her permission.

The final step was to create a plot, which with a concept and characters already laid out, kind of wrote itself.  The Heroes must find a way to remove the fountain of youth system in order to restore humanity to the natural state you and I live in today.

My favorite part of this assignment was the way it laid out a plan for creating not just a dystopian society, but fiction of any kind.  For a long time I have wanted to create my own stories but haven't had an idea where to start.  In creating a dystopia I learned how to put my own ideas of fiction into motion

-C. Gilchrist

So recently we had to do our favorite poem project and it actually gave me some insight into what mindset I should have after graduation. I knew I would be facing many new experiences and the gravity of it had not really hit me up until about last week. This routine that all of us have been going through 5 days a week, for 9 months of the last four years, is going to drastically change as soon as May 23rd passes. I kept telling myself that I would go head on and face whatever problems came about but I know that I cannot be prepared for everything. "To The Dust Of The Road" is the poem that I chose to do my favorite poem project on and felt that it gave fairly good advice on the near future. The poem begins saying that every day will begin almost the same, being quite monotonous, but as soon as one leaves their regular morning routine, they step out into the unknown. After that point, the day is entirely up to you and it is no one's responsibility but your own to make that day count. Another message the poem points out is "and you are one with it until you have/ made your way up to the top of your climb/ and brightened in that moment of that day" meaning that each moment is an accomplishment, but only when looked back upon. The author is trying to tell people to see each day as a victory and to be proud of their actions. Looking back on those seemingly insignificant actions can also motivate you to continue through a current challenge that you are facing. Seeing what you did to overcome the last challenge and realizing that no matter what happens you will get through it will get you through whatever stands in your way. The poem is basically saying to make every day its own victory and that is a good quote to live by.

Social Critique of Fahrenheit 451

For my Dystopian Novel, I read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, named for the temperature at which books burn.

The novel is set in a Dystopian America in the not too distant future.  This America is very violent and has apparently reduced all opposing countries to next to nothing, and lives off of their labors.  The government wants to keep its people in the dark, with very limited knowledge and thinking state.  Censorship is a central plot point, as it is the primary method of controlling and reducing knowledge.

It's not just a portion of books that are censored, however.  All books are outlawed and anyone who is found with books will have their books burned by the Firemen, the enforcers of this society.  Those who try to resist the firemen are burnt along with their books or given a lethal injection by the mechanical hound, a spider-like robot.

The primary pressure on society is the conformity to illiteracy.  Most of society accepts this pressure and follows the rules, But protagonist  and fireman Guy Montag resists this pressure when he comes to see the horrors of his job, and when he takes a look at a book he was supposed to burn.

Bradbury is against the censorship seen in his novel, whose message comes across as a warning against letting any society set up that is similar to the one in Fahrenheit 451.  I agree that it is important for a society to be as knowledgeable as possible because not only is it much more efficient, but also just.

-C. Gilchrist

Byronic Hero

Earlier this year Mrs. Elliott taught the class about Byronic Heroes.  They have characteristics such as being dark, have a handsome or beautiful appearance, they are haunted by sin, they can be brilliant but self-destructive, mysterious, seductive, and they are an outcast.  This particular subject interests me because it reminds me of the various characters in movies that I have seen before.  "Boo Radley" from To Kill A Mockingbird, "Edward Cullen" from Twilight, and also in a way, "Johanna Mason" from Catching Fire perfectly fit the description to be the Byronic hero of their respective novels.  They are seen as attractive young people who seem to be hiding a secret.  They have mystery behind their every move, and this makes them magnetic to their counterparts in their novels.  My opinion is, Byronic Heroes enhance the interest level of novels and make them more intriguing to read.  I will end off this post with my own description of an unnamed Byronic Hero that Mrs. Elliot had us create and write briefly about earlier this year.

"Her long brown hair, frizzy yet in order, graces her shoulders as if she prepared it that way.  A picture of a decaying body inside of a bathtub on her shirt led to her apple red jeans which led to her knock off designer boots.  The boots made a sinister noise with every step she took as she walked towards her ex-boyfriend's house.  Red lipstick dripped down her lips because that is the way she liked it.  Such a perfect figure.  Resembling the body on her shirt, she was ready."

The Hunger Games Book Review

Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games (North America: Scholastic, 2008) 374 pp.  Reviewed by Jonathan Solomon, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

How far would you go for a loved one?  Defending her little sister Prim; that is how Katniss Everdeen's exhilerating journey. 

The Hunger Games features dynamic characters such as Prim, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, and none other than Katniss.  Taking place in a poverty called District 12, this novel is set up to be a struggle from the start.  The setting adds on to the theme and is perfect for these particular characters.  Peeta and Katniss are two distant people from District 12 that barely even notice each other in and outside of school.  One fateful moment brought them together.  THE fateful moment brought them together. 

Katniss had a hunting buddy named Gale, and although she was unsure about how she feels for him, they are best friends and they have been since a young age.  Using Katniss as the narrator lets the author show how the viewpoint of a ruthless-yet-soft girl.  She always had the mind to do something, but she always had the heart of a fighter.  The Hunger Games takes the reader on a journey with the change in setting, the action, and also the love triangle. 

Although this was written as fiction, it gives off a real feeling because of the characters and their situations.  Katniss went to the Hunger Games and impressed.  Now as you get ready to take on this novel I have one thing to say.  "May the odds be ever in your favor."

-Jonathan S.

Sestina Poem (More or less humorous love poem)

This poem doesn't really have a title.  Here it goes.

Believe that our love is like a restaurant
Our passion tastes good to the soul; almost finger licking
Make your choice because when you bite this apple
I will be cooking up romance in our love's kitchen
Believe that I love you, when I'm sick you are my noodle
Never forget the kisses; sweeter than apple pie

You are the root of my complicated soul, like the root of pie
And our love makes me want to close my restaurant
If I left us alone, I would be out of my noodle
We are a form of ice-cream, the only God is licking
I'm thinking very hard as I sit in the kitchen
Love is very much healthy, as long as you are my apple

Snow White was under a spell when she bit the apple
Well you've had me under a spell since I bit your pie
Passed out under the influence of you, in the kitchen
I bet you made that in your restaurant
Your attitude is cold like a popsicle and I'm glad to be licking
We're attached, fragile but firm, by love's noodle

The necklace I gave you kind of looked like a noodle
You're so beautiful, I saw you on Twitter through my apple
Am I wrong for saying that? Go ahead give me a licking
Too smart for me, you say I should digest in pie
As long as you make it like they do in the French restaurant
Because the chef was making it happen inside his kitchen

I was writing a letter in the kitchen
I kept glancing at the Top Ramen noodle
When I make those I feel like I own a restaurant
Well I do, but only on the app on my apple
My heart rate is 3.14 just likie pie
You make it that way; you deserve a licking

So fulfilling and now I am licking
My plate from your restaurant's beautiful kitchen
Tasted so sweet because you are known for pie
And you give me something hot like a noodle
On a cold day now I just really want an apple
Anything to get into your restaurant

Believe me that I love you, when I'm sick you're my noodle
Cooking everything that's good inside your kitchen
Love, I hopelessly live in your, our, restaurant

-Jonathan S.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles Part 2

I recently finished reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles and to me the ending was very unexpected. I found this book to be interesting at first, but as I read more of the book, it became more interesting and exciting. Throughout the novel, Tess demonstrates her loyalty and her love for those she cares about by doing things that will benefit them instead of herself. After Tess leaves Alec's house, sess decides to go back to receive money for her family in order to help them out of poverty. Since she made this decision, her life suddenly takes a turn that changes her fate. Alec falls deeply in love with Tess, but she refuses to marry him because he acts controlling and violent towards her when he doesn't get his way. Her innocence is later taken away and she escapes Alec and decides to go back home. She becomes ashamed of her past and is forced to start a new life in order to hide her past. She falls in love with a man that she once saw at a dance in her village earlier in the novel. However, her past continuously haunts her and eventually leads to her making a decision that will lead to her downfall.

-Jamie N.

Video Project

Hello Team Surreal!

I am going to put together the poem videos on monday so if you could send your segments to my email nilloc149@gmail.com that'd be great.

Thanks!
Collin G

*If your video is too big to email or there are any other problems, bring it on a flash drive on monday May 7th.

My Sestina Poem

A while ago Mrs. Elliott had us start writing our own Sestina poem so that we would understand how the poem is composed.  I figured since it is National Poetry Month I might as well finish my poem and post about it.  As most of you know I am a little Disney obsessed so my poem, naturally, is on Disney. (warning: if you don't like Disney I wouldn't recommend reading it)

Oh how I love Disney

From the famous Mickey Mouse,

To the turrets on the castle

It is a world of creativity called Disneyland

From finally wearing the prized mouse ears

To soaring over the clouds on the Dumbo ride

Why is the line so long for the Dumbo Ride?

Funny how a flying elephant becomes a symbol of Disney

As a child waits she holds her mouse ears

On her shirt is the classic Mickey Mouse

Impatiently she wonders if this is the best ride in Disneyland

She stares off as she waits at the back of the castle

Residing at the end of Main Street is the magnificent castle

Through the gates kids scream of joy on the Dumbo ride

All around is the essence of Disneyland

Where the dreams of a man called Mr. Disney

Says it all started with a mouse, Mickey mouse

The three simple circles have inspired mouse ears.

On a string is a balloon with beloved mouse ears,

That reflects in the pond around the castle.

In the perfect spot people pose for pictures with Mickey mouse

Childhood is calling to go on the Dumbo ride

Oh how these memories make the magic of Disney

The joy that creates Disneyland

There is only one place called Disneyland

Where the old and young are allowed to wear mouse ears

This idea of never being too old or young is unique to Disney

No one is too old to dream of living in the castle

Reality is allowed to stand still and elephants can soar at the Dumbo Ride

Joy spreads across a child’s face just by hearing “look there’s Mickey Mouse”

An anthropomorphic black mouse has become the icon Mickey Mouse

He is the leader of the club at Disneyland

Although he isn’t the only mouse, Timothy resides atop the Dumbo Ride

Who knew that one animation short would lead to people wearing mouse ears

And fireworks every night over the castle?

One mouse has encompassed everything that is Disney

A chance to become part of the magic by wearing mouse ears

Age relives memories of the past, and youth may savor the promise of the future at Disneyland

All thanks to the vision and risk taking of the company and family that is Disney

If you do like Disney and poetry Disney has "A poem is.." video series where they have celebrities read poems and they pair it with classic Disney animation.  

 http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/a-poem-is/a-poem-is-videos-episodes
-Aimee E

Speak Analysis by Jonathan Solomon

Upon reading the novel Speak, I found that the main character is much like many incoming freshmen in high school.  Very shy, very small, and very afraid.  What added onto to her troubles was the fact that she had been raped the summer before school even started.  Although most students at Los Osos cannot relate to that experience.  Many of us have had negative life encounters that lead us to be just like Melinda in Speak.  Whether it be family trouble, trouble with friends, or just personal problems, the author made it very clear that she wanted to relate to many troubled teenagers in the world.  The novel tells us that no matter what happens, we hve to power through the struggles.  Melinda found one outlet from the world, and it was art.  We too have had to find that one place that we are comfortable and it leads us to finding ourselves and being comfortable with who we are.  In the end of the novel, Melinda became more content with life because she faced her problems and overcame them.  Just like Melinda did, we can overcome all of our conflicts also.  All Melinda had to do was "Speak".

The Awakening Book Review

Chopin, Kate, The Awakening, Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1995, 117 pages

Reviewed by Ashley Pruett, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA


In a rather simple and summed up story, Kate Chopin writes of a woman in her late twenties disregarding all of society's rules and fights off all inhibitions to become her own individual. Written with a setting in the late 1800s, Edna Pontellier, the protagonist, faces judgment from her French-influenced Lousiana home when she decides to give her life an extreme makeover. Society has set a guideline that women are solely to be homemakers and caretakers of their children, while men are to support the family financially. This restricts the actions and will of women profoundly.

Edna faces a feeling she has never dealt with before when she meets a young man by the name of Robert Lebrun at her summer home in Grand Isle. She begins to develop an attraction which turns into a love for Robert. The only problem with this situation is that Edna is a married woman and a mother to two sons. Edna feels very confined to a life she had not specifically chose to be her fate, and she fights often between the will of her soul and the responsibilities she holds maternally. Most of her friends are married with families as well, so Edna dares not to consult them on her situation. Upon the end of summer, however, Robert disappears from the plot for a spell, but not from Edna's heart and soul.

Once returning back to New Orleans with her family, Edna begins to debate and explore different options for her life- somewhat similar to a midlife transition. She realizes that women did not think so radically as she, and they wouldn't even dare to think of an affair with another man. But Edna is overcome with a feeling she had never experienced, not even when marrying Mr. Pontellier. This feeling, though she might not be fully aware of it, drives her story as one of the front runner's into the future feminist movement. Her thoughts and actions directly relate to the awareness and advancement of women's rights.

To a very minimum degree, Edna's experiences occur out of coincidence, which propel her objectives forward. She is well aware she is in the midst of fighting a battle against being in a role that she had not dreamed of for the rest of her life. Edna's coming into her own person, and away from her husband's control, enlightens readers to be an individual and that "perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life."


-A. Pruett

Tess of the d'Urbervilles Part 1

Recently, I have started to read Tess of the d'Urbervilles and I am beginning to become very interested in this book. In the first chapter, Tess's dad learns that his ancestor was one of the twelve knights that assisted the Lord of Estremavilla and that branches of his family held manors all over Normandy. To Tess's dad, it meant that if he found his wealthy relatives, then he too could be wealthy. Her dad becomes ecstatic from the news and decides to go to a nearby pub to celebrate. Her dad becomes too drunk to deliver the bee hives the next day and Tess decides to do it for him with her younger brother, Abraham. This eventually leads to Tess accidentally killing her dad's horse which convinces her to go to Alec Stokes-d'Urberville's house to claim her kin because she wants to get some help for her family.
After reading the first few chapters, I think Tess is a very sweet, innocent, and caring girl. For example, she takes care of her younger siblings as if they were her own children and she volunteers to do things that will help her family. She also feels uncomfortable when the subject of her getting married is brought up and when she meets Alec for the first time, she acts very politely and feels slightly embarrassed for telling him that they are related as soon as they meet.
I am interested in finding out how Tess will transform throughout the book and how she will be at the end of the book. Part 2 will come after spring break

-Jamie N.

Existentialism in Heart of Darkness

So you all know that we are talking about existentialism in class and have done a few activities based on it. What I personally have taken from it is that existentialism is basically living life by what you choose to make it. There is not necessarily a purpose to any one activity and the best way to live is to take each event at face value. Learn the lessons from it, but don't necessarily let it control any part of your life because the next random event could change your whole perception of the first.
I recently began reading "Heart of Darkness" for my 20th century novel and have notice several existential ideals throughout the book. Marlow, the main character, is sent into Africa to be the captain of a steam ship on the Congo River. In the book, he refers to this river as a serpent, sometimes affiliated with the Devil. He allows his fear to lead him into his new job with great caution (an existential idea that fear drives us) and possibly gains a false impression of what his experience will lead him to. This is one of the topics of existentialism that I disagree with; that fear controls our lives. I feel that every person has the choice of whether or not to allow fear to cripple them and stop them from pursuing what they truly want to do. Yes, fear does play a large role and even those who say they are "fearless" must be afraid of something in life, but they choose to get over those fears rather then be controlled by them.
Another ideal of existentialism is the role of God. In the book, Marlow gets his assignment from an all white shining city that to many is "pure", symbolizing heaven. The man that actually speaks to Marlow has a low booming voice and is seen very briefly over an elevated desk. This God-like figure directs Marlow into a major life decision and Marlow must accept that because of his struggles to maintain a steady life. Existentialism is the presence of nothingness. No other-worldly figure can allow humans to recognize their true potential, only the person who takes control of their life will see how far they can truly go. "Nothingness [is] the placeholder of possibility". Only an empty feeling can drive a person to realize their potential and it is human thought, not necessarily a higher power, that pushes them through their endeavors.

-Kevin W.

Social/Character Analysis of Native Son

Bigger Thomas feels like he is controlled by a stereotype that he cannot escape.  Have you ever felt the same?  Being African-American back in the 1960's brought that feeling upon everyone who did not feel they could pass the paper bag test.  He saw himself as inadequate and unimportant.  In the eyes of white people, he felt he was nothing. 

Down in Chicago where Bigger lived, I feel that there was racial tension, but not as much as he and his friends made it out to be.  Bigger commited an unnecessary crime.  The ultimate crime.  He killed a white woman.  How do you think the general reaction would to this?  Bigger felt empowered for doing this deed, but he also felt no protection from what was to come of this murder. 

Upon reaching the finish of this novel, I am realizing that this racial tension was a thing that could easily have been resisted.  What Bigger felt the world thought about him at the beginning of the novel, they finally truly thought about him at the end of it.  Bigger made the world see him how he saw himself.  Nothing but a no-good piece of black trash.  Excuse my french but that is how he was portrayed when he found himself on the run from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Ironic to what I said earlier, now he was somebody.  Hey, maybe that is why he felt his empowerment. 

-Jonathan Solomon

The Awakening- Part 1

Mrs. Elliott recommended that I read this book due to the fact that I needed a 19th century piece of literature to add to my list. I had no idea what to expect, and with a quick overview of the plot, I gladly accepted the challenge.

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is a rather short read, but the grounds upon which the plot is developed are very deep. Mrs. Pontellier (a.k.a. Edna), a mother and a wife living a very restricted lifestyle in a world where women and freedom do not combine.  In fact, many quotes in the first chapter alone suggest that Mr. Pontellier views his wife as his "property" and that she should obey what he says no matter the circumstances. The plot introduces another character from the beginning as well- Robert Lebrun. The way the author characterizes Robert as very flirtatious, and the reader does get a vibe that Robert will have something more than a friendship with Mrs. Pontellier, or at least he will try to. Robert seems to go out of his way in every opportunity possible to spend time with Mrs. Pontellier or to please her.

Madame Ratignolle (a.k.a. Adele) is another woman who lives in the same community as Edna, but she is a Creole. The two seem to be good friends, but Adele seems to be much more proper and set in the ways that women should excel in homemaking. She is a very intelligent woman and knows what Robert is after. She has even warned him that Edna "is not like [them]" and told him to stay away. However, his pursuits have still continued and Adele seems to watch in vain.

Mrs. Pontellier herself is not a Creole, but she is surrounded by a community that is. The novella is filled with French words and references and is not for those who lack the motivation for a challenge. The setting is near the Gulf of Mexico, presumably in Louisiana. During the 19th century, as we all know, women were condemned to a life of mothering and wifehood. As far as I have gotten through this book, I am expecting Mrs. Pontellier to break the barriers and leave a demeaning husband for true romance and to become a unique individual as a woman.

On an interesting note, the back cover of the novella states that after Chopin published her novella, society criticized her work for being completely abstract of a women's duties and her career in literature ended thereafter. This novella seems to have pioneered feminism, and allowed women to see that society can be egalitarian after all.

More to come when I conclude the novella.



-A. Pruett

Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate seems to be a title not well-known; nevertheless, I found myself intrigued in the plot within the first few chapters. It was also a fairly quick read.

This novel, written by Laura Esquivel, is written with a Latin American style with the setting residing in Mexico. There are 12 chapters in the book, and each chapter is a month of the year- starting in January and ending in December. Along with these chapter titles, a unique recipe is written for each month. Throughout the course of a chapter, the narrator speaks of the events occurring and weaves in the recipe and all of the instructions until it is served in the actual plot. It is quite an usual way to write a novel, but it adds to the passion of this romantic story.

The novel begins explaining the birth of the youngest daughter, Tita, and also the main character, and her younger years. Tita was born in the kitchen and therefore grew up loving food and taking great pride in creating each meal. She was the most skilled in the kitchen of her two other sisters- Rosaura and Gertrudis. As the plot progresses, Tita begins to realize that food can have "magical" powers, which change the attitudes and bring out true feelings in the people who consume her food. Eventually, Tita falls in love with a man, Pedro, but her mother, Mama Elena, won't allow Tita to marry him because of an ancient tradition. This tradition states that the youngest daughter in the family cannot marry because she must take care of her mother until she passes away. Mama Elena is a very strict lady and holds down Tita and punishes her harshly for anything she does wrong.

Tita struggles with this tradition, especially when Pedro marries Rosaura. Pedro only married Tita's sister so he could be as close as he could to Tita, but Tita is extremely upset by the whole concept. She is heart-broken, and the relationship she had with her sister Rosaura is severed. Mama Elena keeps a watchful eye over Tita and Pedro to make sure that nothing happens between the two. Time passes and Rosaura has two children with Pedro- the first dies and the second lives. The second child takes after Tita, which Rosaura is bitter about.

Eventually, Mama Elena dies and Tita is relieved somewhat of her extremely restricted lifestyle. She is able to see Pedro more, and when Rosaura dies, Tita is free from all the pressures that her family traditions placed on her. In the end, Tita passes away while making love to Pedro. The two go into the light together, after living life hiding in the dark.

The novel can be explicit, and other minor details add to the intensity of the plot. Overall, the tragedy that plays a decent role throughout the plot is heightened at the very end, creating a sense of sadness for the life that Tita had been forced to live.


-A. Pruett

The Help

For my novel I am reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I had only heard of good reviews of the book and I enjoyed the movie so I thought it would be a good book.  The main synopsis of the book is the story from African American maids working in Southern Mississippi white housewives’ homes during the 1960s.  The story is told in a similar way to The Poisonwood Bible in that the story is told through multiple characters, Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter.  Aibileen works for the Leefolt family cleaning and taking care of their toddler.  Minny is the outspoken maid who acts before thinking of consequences most of the time.  Skeeter, a recent grad of Old Miss College, dreams of being a writer, and is somewhat of a rebel in the way she thinks about society in the South. 

So far, the main defining elements in the book are the setting, how the setting shapes the society, and the society as a whole.  The story, or rather stories, take place in Jackson, Mississippi; this in itself helps explain parts of the story.  The South is known for its slavery and having been very slow to end slavery.  Personally growing up for five years in Texas even in 2002 people would comment that “we are still fighting the War of Northern Aggression…there was nothing civil about that war. ”  In a sense, these maids of the wealthy white households are kept separated as if they are practically still slaves.  Hilly Holbrook, who Minny worked for, for awhile, proposes a sanitation bill that declares it unsanitary for the help to use the guest bathroom or any bathroom in the house that the white people use because the whites could get diseases from the black help.  She demands that households build a bathroom outside of the house just for the help to use. 

In this way the ideals of the South in the 1960’s influences the society.  The group of white Junior League ladies, who hire the help, create a society built on petty sorority, to the extreme and rules.  Hilly could be considered the ruthless ruler.  She controls what goes on in the Junior League meetings, who is excommunicated, and what is the ideal way to live.  The rules of this southern society are made by Hilly as she goes.  Besides Hilly’s rules there are general society rules: the white people are expected to have help, the white women are expected to go to college to find a husband and then not finish, and the help are expected to raise the white children that then become their employers.  For all three narrators these “rules” are what they come to question.  Skeeter is the only one who has finished college and the only one out of all of her friends to not be married.  The society puts a lot of pressure to conform to these rules.  Minny used to work for Hilly but once Minny crossed Hilly she was fired.  Hilly didn’t stop at just firing her, Hilly had to make sure Minny would learn from her mistake so Hilly claimed that Minny stole from her.  This doesn’t seem like it would mean that much, but Hilly being the queen of society that Minny is essentially ruined destroying all chances of getting another job.  No one was going to dare and hire Minny and have to face the wrath of Hilly.  All except Celia Foote who is on the outside of Hilly’s society circle.  Celia is on the outs because she married an old boyfriend of queen Hilly’s, that Hilly never truly got over.  Celia in essence serves as a loophole in Hilly’s society; Celia longs to be part of this society but by being on the outs she opens up changes in society.

            There are many changes in society coming from the help being willing to talk to Skeeter.  Skeeter, the aspiring writer, decides that she wants to write a book about the help and the “irony that they (the employer) love them (the help) yet...They don’t even allow them to use the toilet in the house.”  Skeeter who has to deal with the pressures of society herself sees the unjust pressures put on the help.  She wants to bring change in her own society and life.

-Aimee E

Oliver Twist

For my novel I began reading "The Age of Innocence" but decided it was very dry and I did not necessarily want to read something that I personally did not find interesting. So, I chose "Oliver Twist" and actually have found that I am enjoying it. For those who have not read the book, it is about a boy born into an orphanage in a poor workhouse where his mother dies shortly after his birth. He is born into the car of an extremely unpleasant and greedy woman, Mrs. Mann, whose name represents the predominant male figure although she is a female character in the book. She continues her persona of being the over-dominant male presence by beating the children when they disobey her orders and frequently cuts back on rations so she can obtain more capital gains.  Oliver soon begins to question why the other orphans and himself are being deprived of food, so a few of his friends nominate Oliver to ask for more. He soon does and the overseers are so appalled by his request that they offer to sell him for 3 pounds. Oliver is soon taken to court to finalize the offer of his sale to a cruel man who has a history of killing the children he cares for. Oliver breaks down in the courtroom and begs not be sold to the cruel man. The court magistrate sees the desperate look in the poor boy's eyes and refuse to sell him. As a result, one of the undertakers (burial coordinator/mortician) of the workhouse decides to make Oliver his apprentice in hopes of giving the young boy a slightly less bleak future.

Oliver begins his work as an undertaker grudgingly, but realizes that he could have been dead had he been sold to the other man so continues his work. An epidemic breaks out which causes many deaths so Oliver begins to excel at his profession. One of the other apprentice boys that works with Oliver soon begins to become jealous of the attention that Oliver is receiving so the boy makes a comment about Oliver's mother, which causes the two to get into a fight. The man that Oliver was apprenticing for decides to kick him out because of the disagreement and Oliver is forced into a cellar and is beaten. In the morning, he decides to run away and try to start a new life for himself. This point in the book is where the reader begins to see a change in Oliver's behavior. He symbolically runs away from the poverty and hunger to try and make a better life for himself.

He runs away to London, a 70 mile walk and finds a boy roughly his age who is sharply dressed. The boy offers to take him to his house for the night until he can contact a friend who has a place Oliver can stay. Oliver goes with the other boy, a sort of savior in his eyes, to a somewhat dirty den with a few other people. After staying with the new people he has met for a few days, Oliver realizes that they are in fact a band of pickpockets. He gets arrested after running away from an attempted robbery involving two of the other people that live in the den. When he is taken to court the man that was robbed realized that it was not in fact Oliver that robbed him, but the other two boys. The man decides to take Oliver under his wing and have him work as a servant in his house.

Oliver represents the poor society and his struggle to do everything in his power to escape its clutches. He is tempted by several sins along the way but that in another way can be related to modern society. But in risk of this sounding like just another essay, Oliver gives us all the incentive to strive for what we want in life. I am only about halfway through the book but I can assume that he will eventually become wealthy enough to save the other children born into poverty from the fate he narrowly escaped.

Kevin W.

The Layers by Stanley Kunitz

So unlike most of the blog posts on here I will not be writing about my outside reading book. As most of the class already knows reading isn't my, lets say "BEST" subject. I am about 50 pages into my book which I feel isn't enough to make a post about so I will wait until next week so that I actually have something to talk about. As for this week I will be writing about the poem we read in class called, The Layers, by Stanley Kunitz.

After reading this poem I am sure everyone took it a different way and interpreted it to fit into their own lifestyles and challenges each one of us face. To me the poem is about the layers you go through in your life and the things you must leave behind. The poem starts off by saying, "I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I was."  Personally I have "walked through many lives" moving from one Rialto Middle School to another and then to a High School located in a very different environment, Rancho Cucamonga. Changing from being a little "wanna-be chola" into a well off teenage girl was one of the biggest transformations. Having to leave behind all my friends and everything I was used to was one of the hardest things I have had to do. Kunitz truly understands the pain and hardships of leaving behind a life you once knew  to go create one you know nothing about. He says, "In a rising wind the manic dust of my friends, those who fell along the way, bitterly stings my face." This is the feeling of leaving behind the people you once told everything to and going to a place where no one knows a thing about you. Over coming these obstacles may seem difficult but subconsciously you are writing your next chapter in life. Kunitz ends the poem with saying "I am not done with my changes," realizing that life is all about the changes and adjusting to them, pushing through the layers and not looking back at what is left behind but looking forward towards whats to come.

-Janet Jones

The Secret Life of Bees- Part 1

Bees have come to mean tragedy and death spiritually and in literature.

From what I have read so far in this book, it has vastly exceeded my expectations. I was recommended to read The Secret Life of Bees by a classmate who gave me a brief depiction of the plot. My initial thought was that the story would be simple, a story about a young Caucasian girl moving in with an African American family in the 1960s. However, the novel is much more complex.

Each chapter begins with a small quote or excerpt about bees. The main character, Lily, makes several references to bees as well from the very start of the book while incorporating the background of her life into the story. The novel is written in small parts; a few pages with tell a story of a specific event, and then a break will occur causing the story to seem almost choppy. Lily begins by narrating her current life, and then flashes back to old memories. The only memory Lily has of her mother was of the day she accidentally killed her. She was four, and her parents began to argue for a reason unclear to Lily. As the argument progressed, her mother produced a gun from the closet when her father, also known as T. Ray, hit the gun out of her hands. At that time, Lily vaguely remember picking up the shiny object from the floor and hearing it go off. She shudders every time she recalls that day.

In the present day, Lily has no motherly figure other than Rosaleen, the African American who worked on T. Ray's peach farm and also nannied Lily. She resents her father because he is a very cruel and demeaning man. T.Ray claims girls have to reason to go to college, and he hardly shows any emotion towards his daughter. Lily is the type of hopeless outcast who needs a huge event to occur in order to change her life around. The spark that ignited this future change were the three keepsakes Lily has found from the attic and kept for years- a pair of white gloves, a picture of her mother, and a picture of an African American Mary with "Tiburon, S.C" written on the back.

After being punished the night before, and being with Rosaleen while she was sent to jail, Lily decides to run away from home. She leaves a horrible note to T. Ray saying she was leaving plain and simple. She then manages to break Rosaleen free and the pair flee to Tiburon. It is here that Lily assumes her mother had been, and therefore wants to learn all she can about her. She winds up a "fugitive," as she calls herself and Rosaleen, and finds a home of three black women- May, June and August. This house produces honey with the African American Mary on the mason jar, identical to the picture that Lily owns from her mother's old stash. August welcomes the two in and Lily lies about her situation in order to get a chance to learn about her mother's past. As she spends more time with the "calendar sisters" she begins to find her true feelings and what really makes her up as a human being. She assists August in the upkeep of the beehives and the producing of usable honey. June feels burdened by Lily and Rosaleen, but August insists that Lily will leave when she's ready, and also hints that she will spill the truth as well.

Lily lives on a fine line; racism, cruelties from her father, the unknown of the past, her possible future, and bees all surround her life. The bees have come to play a significant role in the development of her character. She realizes that bees have been associated with the negative times in her life, but she is trying to make it a positive outlet in the present. While learning about her past and where her mother had been, she learns that "every little thing wants to be loved," including herself (92). Lily is looking to feel like she belongs and that she is welcomed. She ultimately wants to free the chains that T. Ray has tied her down with and create a life in which she sees as suitable.

-A. Pruett

The Old Man and the Sea

Hemingway, Ernest. (The Old Man and the Sea) New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. , 122pg
Reviewed by Kyle Fischer, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

This previous week I read the book, The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. In the beginning of the book we meet our main characters, Santiago and Manolin. We learn that since the old man hasn’t caught a fish in 84 days he is ridiculed by the other fishermen. The young boy has a strong compassion for the old man and doesn’t like it when the other fishermen ridicule him so the boy offers to buy a beer for both of them. This tells us that the young boy will serve as an advocate for the old man and that they will develop a strong bond.

In telling the story Old Man and the Sea, Hemmingway uses visual imagery and symbolism. On the 85th fishless day the man wakes up and sets out to his skiff with high hopes of catching a big fish to show the other fishermen. Hemmingway makes a reference to the old man’s faith and to his Catholic religion. Previously the old man had set up boundaries that he knew that his skiff must stay within. But this day the old man chose to remove the boundaries and rely on his faith. After passing the boundaries the old man almost immediately catches two little flying fish then hooks a massive marlin. When the old man catches the marlin he says in his head that he is going to catch this fish or die trying. This marlin takes the man on a journey of a lifetime, a three day adventure at sea. This symbolizes mankind in its daily struggle. The lesson here is that if we remove the boundaries that confine us, good things may happen in life.

After hooking the marlin, the biggest fish he has ever caught, the man realizes that he does not have the proper tools to bring in the fish. Hemmingway creates a metaphor of the old man as a martyr just like Christ. The man has to hold the fishing lines with his bare hands and cuts his palms giving the reader the image of Christ suffering his stigmata. The stigmata is scars that Christ received when he had nails driven into his palms and feet at his crucifixion. The old man fights the battle for 3 days and towards the end of the journey the old man finally gets the fish and kills the fish. It was so big that the man had to troll the fish behind the skiff. On the way back the old man starts to feel guilty for killing the magnificent fish. He feels this way because along this journey the old man grew an alliance with the fish, after all, the fish is his savior. About half way back to the island the man encounters sharks and they devour the fish before the man could kill them. After the sharks devour the magnificent marlin, the old man realizes that he should have left it alive in the sea. The marlin now becomes the martyr just like the old man.

Eventually, the man gets the fish back to shore but is too tired to tend to it. He leaves the skeleton at the dock and shuffles home with the mast across his back and he has to stop 5 times before he finally reaches his home. When he gets home he gets a cup of water and passes out on the bed with his palms up and head down. This again symbolizes Christ carrying the crucifix and then suffering on the cross with his head down and his palms up nailed to the cross. In the final pages of the book we find the man being tended to by the young boy, Manolin, just as Christ is tended to by his disciples.

It is said by people that when Hemmingway wrote Old Man and the Sea it was towards the end of his writing career. In the book, the old man symbolizes Hemmingway’s struggles to write a good book and how he was being criticized by his peers. At the time he steps out of his boundaries to write something beautiful and it is destroyed by critics in the story those would symbolize the sharks that destroy the marlin. In a nutshell, the book illustrates his life and his struggles just like the old man’s in the book. I think that the book, Old Man and the Sea, is an amazing book that people should take the time to read.



-Kyle Fischer

Team Surreal's Schedule

Hey guys, it's Travis with the picture of the schedule.

Travis' Review of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Over the weekend I completed Vonnegut's most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, also known as Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty Dance with Death, by Kurt Vonnegut, a Fourth-Generation German-American Now Living in Easy Circumstances on Cape Cod [and Smoking Too Much], Who, as an American Infantry Scout Hors de Combat, as a Prisoner of War, Witnessed the Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany, ‘The Florence of the Elbe,’ a Long Time Ago, and Survived to Tell the Tale. This Is a Novel Somewhat in the Telegraphic Schizophrenic Manner of Tales of the Planet Tralfamadore, Where the Flying Saucers Come From. Peace.

As can be inferred from the second humorous title, Slaughterhouse-Five is not meant to be taken completely seriously. The main event of the novel is the horrible fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany in WWII, in which 25,000 were made casualties. The protagonist Billy Pilgrim survives the leveling of the city by fortune of being in a meat locker at the time of the bombing. However, Vonnegut balances this tragedy with quirky science fiction: Billy is abducted by a race of aliens known as the Tralfamadorians who see in 4 dimensions and consider life as a whole rather than an instantaneous snapshot of the present. Billy also becomes "unstuck in time" and time travels to different moments in his life and lives them out accordingly.

Mrs. Elliott told me she had never read SH-5 because she was nervous about what she heard of Vonnegut's stream-of-consciousness like approach and sporadic, timeline defying delivery. However, I found that Vonnegut was charmingly simple to read and I powered through the novel without getting snagged on any stylistic quarks. Vonnegut uses many line breaks throughout the text to separate his nonlinear thoughts which allows the reader's eye to reset.

For me, SH-5 has its most revealing messages on the topic of the inevitability of death, and treats it with a very stoic nonchalance. Every death in the novel is followed by the line "So it goes.", blunting death's effect. It's hard not to find the book funny at times, despite its gravity. Billy is put at peace by the Tralfamadorian view of never-ending life, and even predicts and accepts his own demise. The Tralfamadorians, in their 4th dimensional wisdom, also advocate returning to the best moments of life and seeing them as eternal fixtures in a chain of events.

Admittedly, I first treated the book as science fiction, accepting that Billy was abducted by aliens from Tralfamadore and had really become unstuck in time. However, as I finished the book, it dawned on me that Billy had gone insane from what he had seen in the war, and his time travel was merely a delusion of a PTSD-stricken mind. The book became much more powerful to me after this realization.

I would recommend SH-5 to anyone, as it has been unlike any book I've read before. It is of the post-modern style, so it should be a new experience to anyone whose literary journey has been predominantly limited to the high school canon like my experience was. SH-5 was very refreshing to read and I hope to explore Vonnegut's other works in the near future.

-Travis S.

Proof of Blog Access January 24

This blog post is to prove that Team Surreal is competent with the blogging platform.
We responded today in class to the poem The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longellow.
A copy of the poem can be found at this location.

Team Surreal analyzed the social critique brought on through Wadsworth's words. Our questions included:
1.) What sort of society is set up?
2.) What are the rules? Consequences? Enforcers?
3.) What does the writer seem to like/dislike about society?
4.) What changes, if any, are being advocated?
5.) What pressures are put on the members of society?
6.) How do the members respond?

Our responses, summarized:
1.) Society is simply Papa Longfellow and his three innocent, little girls in their home.
2.) The rules are composed of a typical family structure with the father as the head of the household.
3.) Longfellow cherishes his memories of his little girls and holds them "forever and a day", "fast in my fortress."
4.) The writer is not advocating any change, but is encouraging familial love.
5.) There are pressures for the girls to behave, but the Children's Hour is a time for the girls to unwind and have fun.
6.) The girls respond to their freedom with a childlike sense of playtime.


The poem takes a heavy, emotional turn at the last two stanzas. There is a wistful sense of longing imparted to the reader, leading us to believe this poem was written after the children have grown and Longfellow is recollecting his most cherished thoughts.

hi my name is janet :)