Warbreaker

Hello!

               Trying to get my page count up for AP Language and Composition has been a recurring theme for my Sunday afternoons as of late. Not really, but still, introductions are hard to write, so you’ve got to live with it. This blog post is going to be about a book that I’ve read, though. It’s called Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson.

               The book starts off confusing, and doesn’t get much better throughout the course of the 400-odd pages. I understand that in many books it is necessary to allude to things you don’t understand in order to keep the audiences’ attention. In this book, however, it is way over-the-top and it makes the book read very poorly. I’m not a big fan of how convoluted the storyline was, as well as how it was told from the point of no less than three characters.

               The next thing that I’ve always loved about many fantasy books is that the author often creates an entire new universe, complete with currency, systems of government, and occasionally magic. Sanderson tries to do that in this novel, but it comes off as cliché and poorly done.

               The one thing that I think the author does very well in Warbreaker was the character development. I’ve always loved the characters in all of Sanderson’s books, and this one was no different. He did a wonderful job in making you understand the characters and want to be a part of their story.

               Overall, I was really disappointed in Warbreaker, I expected a lot better. Many of Sanderson’s other books are far better, especially The Way of Kings. That’s why it makes me sad when I read garbage like Warbreaker. I’d give it a solid 4 out of 10, but only because I really like some of the characters. Anyways, go read it, or not, I don’t care. (306)

AP Exams

Hello!

               It’s that time of year, the time where everyone freaks out. Friends are forgotten, meals are left uneaten, sleep is unattained, textbooks are dusted off and cracked open for the first time. My friends, the AP exams are coming.

               This will be my third year taking an AP exam, but only my first year taking more than one exam. I’m going to be taking the exams for AP Chemistry, AP Language and Composition, and AP US History. Now, I’m a pretty confident student, and I think that the AP Lang exam will be pretty straight forward, but the AP US History and AP Chemistry exams are going to be the end of me, almost guaranteed. It’s a lot more than just a normal final examination, in my opinion. In an AP exam, instead of having a general review of everything we’ve learned over the course of the year, it’s an intense, in-depth review. That’s not the way that we’re taught to learn throughout the course of high school, so it’s kind of annoying.

               So about two weeks ago I started reviewing for these exams. My “process” if it can even be called that, is to buy the first review book that I see, and read it. Cover to cover, page by page, the entire bloody book. And take notes. It’s time-consuming, inefficient, and probably won’t even get me a three or higher on the AP Chemistry test. It has worked for me in the past, though, and is probably how I will continue to do things. On the off chance that it actually works, I’ll be really happy.

               It’s not just the students that are on edge about the tests. The teachers either hate them or have to get students ready for them, there’s not many other options for them. As a teacher, you have to deal with students missing a ton of your class during the weeks of the exams, because they take all morning or afternoon. On top of that, you have kids that are missing more of your class time for review sessions, etc. Teachers that have teach AP classes also have to be preparing the kids for the exam early, and on top of that they have to be teaching new material and whatnot. As a teacher, that has really got to suck. But really, they should be helping us out too. Don’t get mad when we miss your class, it’s not our fault. Really, it’s tacky.

               So, AP exams. They suck. No one enjoys them, if you do you’re crazy. But  I wish you luck in taking them, and wish you luck in having your teachers not get pissy with you. (447)

Antigone

Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yields when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil: The only

Crime is pride.

                This is an excerpt from the play Antigone by Sophocles. Although the section is short, sweet, and to the point, it’s full of meaning. Sophocles puts forth the opinion that since everyone makes mistake, the only people that are bad are those that don’t give up when they know that they’re at fault. I would consider his words to be very true; the only crime is pride.

                Sophocles is a playwright, and with that job comes the obligation to make things dramatic. When he says that the only crime is pride he is generalizing for the effect of drama. Obviously prideful people aren’t the only criminals in the world. Many things are actually crimes, like setting fire to someone’s car to running naked through a crowded shopping mall. What Sophocles means is that the only moral crime is pride.

                From the beginning of man people have been doing things that were considered bad. Stealing food, money, and land have persisted since people first hunted, minted coins, and held private property.  If you’re convicted of such an offense, you will most likely be punished, and that’s the way it is. What Sophocles is saying is that it doesn’t matter what physical crime you commit, it’s how you own up to it.

                Growing up around a parent that works in and around a jail has influenced me greatly. I often hear stories about criminals that have seen the light, whether it be religious or otherwise. They then recognize that they were wrong in doing what they did to earn them a spot in the orange jumpsuit. Many of these people will still live in chains for the rest of their days, but they will be absolved – perhaps not in the eyes of others, but in the only way that counts – in their own eyes.

                Examples of pride can be seen everywhere, especially among the stubborn. My father, for example, has a “stubborn streak a mile wide.” He will start something and not let anyone tell him how to do it better, even if he’s being so counterproductive that it hurts to watch. When he’s presented with a better way to do it, then obviously the better, more efficient way is wrong. Pride certainly frustrates the hell out of everyone, even if you don’t call it a crime.

                Everyone makes mistakes; it’s the nature of trying. Owning up to those mistakes is important, though. It makes us better people by realizing that we were wrong. The enlightened criminal is still a criminal in all the legal ways, but he’s free as a bird in all the ways that count. (462)