Metacognition: Sophomore Year Blogging

I really enjoyed the blogging process this year. For most prompts, I thoroughly enjoyed spending my time blogging. It was a really great way to let out my feelings about different topics in class and say things that I might not have had the opportunity to say in class. The blogging was only cumbersome to me when I couldn't think of something to write about. And even then, after I came up with a topic, it was enjoyable to write freely and let out my thoughts and feelings. I must admit, though, that there were times when I wish we didn't have to go by a specific blogging prompt and we could just write about whatever was on our minds (relating to English, of course). I feel like when we are limited to certain prompts, there is at least a small amount of pressure to meet requirements, and that's not what blogging should be about. IMHO, it should be for venting and/or speculating and/or just talking about whatever is on the writer's mind at the time.
As for my specific thought process during blogging, a lot of the time I am surprised by ideas I can come up with when I have time to think quietly by myself and reach insights alone. Writing out ideas is great to help me see my thinking and actually be able to think more about it! If I had the chance to blog again, I would maybe spend even more time thinking about really good ideas to put down. The problem is, of course, that it's hard to set aside time for some deep thinking in the midst of other homework and activities.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the blogging process this year! I would love to be able to do it next year and I think it should be kept in sophomore academy for years to come :]

Best of the Week: Michael can LIVE

This week in our discussion of Michael K, as we got t0 the end of the book, we started talking about how Michael possibly escaped the system by his intense nonconformism. At the end of the book, Michael compassionately imagined a scenario in which he would get water for people who depended on him. He said that if he just had a teaspoon and some string, he would lower the teaspoon and raise it and it would be filled with water and 'in that way... one could live.' I made an attempt to analyze this passage by saying that Michael has realized he can survive by living step by step, but was incorrect. Some of my extremely intelligent classmates later fixed my statement by saying that Michael can not only survive in this way, but live. This was a good discussion to sum up LTMK, because a lot of the book is about finding meaning. The absurd premise of the book makes it hard to find significant meaning in Michael's life, but as a class, we realized how special Michael is because of his ability to escape the system and live his own way. This relates to another point that we discussed this week which was Michael as God, or as a religious or other-worldly figure. Michael is a universal example of someone who escaped the system by living in his non-comformist, under the radar way. Overall, we had a lot of great discussion this week!

Blogging Around

I first commented on Leanne's blog. She wrote about how she doesn't really like her short story, and is basically writing it just for the grade. She wishes she wrote something that she liked and felt confident about. Here's what I said:

Leanne-
I feel EXACTLY the same way. I'm extremely disappointed with my story, too! :[. When I first started writing it, I thought I had a good idea. But then my original plan seemed wrong, and every plan I came up with and have come up with since then seems wrong. It's very disappointing for me, since I really do enjoy writing, and I was looking forward to producing a good story. When I read it, though, I am embarrassed for myself, because it's pretty awful. I'm waiting for a stroke of inspiration that will make me the next Hemingway, or Coetzee, or Bronte, but right now, I just remind myself of a mediocre middle school writer. I hope that changes. Good luck with your story! Just know that there's someone in the same boat as you. :]

Next, I commented on Tessa's blog. She wrote a "What If?" blog, speculating about what it would be like if people lost the ability to love. Here's my comment:

Wow, Tess. What a scary thought! I can't imagine what the world would be like if we lost the ability to love. So much of the future I have imagined for myself (and I'm sure it's similar to the future almost everybody else has imagined for themselves) revolves around love of all different kinds. Really, though, how would the world function without love? If a person cannot love, are they evil? Or are they just empty? Either possibility is ghastly to think about. I think about in Harry Potter, and how people who have received the Dementor's Kiss are described. "Worse than death", they say. I think it would be worse than death, to live unfeelingly. That's not exactly what your post was about, of course, but living without love, whether the emptiness is filled with evil or with nothing, is something very frightening to think about. I am hoping that love is a mechanism that can't be broken, because it is so essential to people and society. Great post!