Shameeelesss

Well, as you can imagine, I did not do a lot of school reading while on my spring break. Most of my time was spent on the beach, reading casually and being perfectly safe/making good decisions :) Over the break, I found myself lost in thought about college and the journey ahead. AP Lit has been a class that has tested me more than any other class. I took AP Physics and AP Chem, and although those were difficult classes, AP Lit has really pushed my boundaries. Not only is the work hard, the subject matter is hard to grasp. I will never forget one of the first things I ever learned in AP Lit: The novels that makes you feel the most uncomfortable are the ones that are the most important and the most remembered. I feel that in AP Lit we have read a lot of uncomfortable stories. When we read "A Doll's House" I have never been so disconcerted about women. I read her story and I though, how could you be so self-centered? I then I thought, what if I never found myself? Not only was the uneasiness of the book overwhelming but I felt it in my core. The story of Frankenstein is also one that moved me deeply. A novel that had to do with monsters seemed more to do with human nature than the monsters. Everyday there are scientists fighting to find the next cure, make the next robot or understand where we have come from. It is frightening to think that a man in a novel could create. It turns my whole world around being a Christian believer. It is hard to immerse yourself in a novel that fights everything you believe in but when you read such a novel that tests you and is so well written, you are completely immersed. I would say that the novel that touched me the most was Grendel. Although I cannot say that I understand Grendel, the last line will stay with me forever. "Grendel's had an accident, so may you all." The line is sinister and foreboding. The entire novel was confusing, I'll admit, and when I got done with it I scratched my head like a monkey with nothing to say but those words were powerful. They made me feel uneasy. What will my fall be? What is a monster in our world? I cannot say that I understood Invisible Man in the least but I've never really stopped thinking about it. On my way to Florida we drove past Tuskegee and I thought about Invisible Man. These novels make me question more than, what did that mean? These novels are meant to test us as humans just as math is meant to test us. The subject that tests your integrity and beliefs is truly a special one. I am looking forward to being "tested" on the AP test.