This week in AP Lit was focused on stories. We finished our This I Believe videos and shared them with the other people enrolled in this class. The sharing of the videos was really interesting and intimate. I learned so much from my classmates just from these three to four minute videos. In these small stories, a raw belief was exposed and defended, and I really enjoyed seeing people's beliefs and hearing why and how they came to this belief. The belief that I shared was my belief in people. How I came to my belief happened through a loss of a loved one, and while sharing this, I felt really exposed. I felt like my belief came from a really personal experience, and sharing this experience really took some courage. Not many people know that I have a little brother, and sharing how I lost him was difficult to say the least. But, I am sort of glad that we did this project. Every time that I share what happened, it hurts a little less. Maybe everytime that I share, the permanency of what happened is reinstated. Sharing personal things is hard to do, and it always will be.
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If you take a moment to think about it, everything you hear is a type of music. Everything has its own rhythm, moving and flowing. The typing of keys, the scratching of a pencil, the clicking of a pen, it's all music. But the most intriguing music is the tune of a voice. The way someone speaks, with all their halts and hesitations and tones and inflections, is a music in a genre all in its own. The way that someone talks gives a little insight on what they're feeling. In the class' "This I Believe" projects, it's all about the power and the music of the voice. The way that we present our story is a story in itself. The way that people's voices betray them and waiver or shake is extremely raw and is the most beautiful and basic sense of music. I love listening to people because I love hearing their voices tell a story. The way that someone presents their tale really helps you connect with them better, it's human nature to want to connect. In AP Lit, we are doing a project about what we believe in. I really like this project. One of the reasons why I really like this project is because I'm a sucker for a good story. My whole life, I've loved stories. Being able to be transported to someone's own personal world with a few words is on par with magic. I love life stories because they're real and true. You may never be able to experience a certain thing, but through the words of someone else, it feels like you've been there. My mom has told me that I have a knack for telling stories. I'm able to take my experiences and use fun words and voices and introduce something new to someone. I'm only 17 years old, and in my 17 years, I've experienced so much. I've lived in the Arabian Peninsula, I've travelled to Japan, I've experienced death and grief, I've endured excruciating pain in hospitals. I have all these experiences and I love sharing them. I love talking to people about my life and sharing a bit of myself with them. One of my favorite songs is "Here We Are" by Patrick Park. A line in this song that I really like is "We can't see past our own sad stories and forget how to listen." The stories that we have, be they sad or exciting or happy, make us who we are. We need our stories and we need to listen to other people's stories. Your story is who you are. Share it how you please. A main focus this week was online tracking. As a class, we read two articles on online tracking and what it does and the consequences that there is. In one of the articles that we read, there was a statement that made me think about what's really happening. "By spying on you, companies can learn about your personal finances, religious beliefs...even health problems or sexual preferences.". This sentence drew my mind to an episode of the television series Parks and Recreation. In that episode, an Internet company named Gryzzl uses intrusive data mining on their cell phones and emails to uncover details about their customers that would advance sales and to increase customer loyalty. While this episode was satire, it really showed what could happen of tracking got out of hand. Satire has lessons buried deep inside, and every so often, satire could become reality. People need to be careful of what they post online, for whatever they say can and will be used against them. |
AuthorCailin Rose Russell Archives
April 2017
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