Comics in Schools

Should people be using comic books as a part of their classroom cirriculum? Yes, they should be allowed to if they want to.

I don't read a lot of comics, mainly because that's not my type of reading. I mostly read online comics like Cyanide and Happiness. C&H wouldn't be appropriate for a school setting so we need to find things that are "socially acceptable" for teaching.

Comics should be taught in high school. You can't just not teach something just because people may find it controversial. Take Darwin's Theory of Evolution for example. When it was first being taught, people were protesting against it in the 1920's. Today it is one of the most commonly taught cirriculum in biology classes today.

the same can be said about comic books. In the 50's and 60's, there was backlash against comics. People wer esaying that comics were leading teenagers astray and was the fault for why teenagers were acting out. Today, comics are a huge industry. Comics, just like any other form of art or literature should be allowed to be taught in schools just because it is something, like math or English, that people should be exposed to. If you're never exposed to something, you will never know how you will react to it.

To be honest, comics are much more fun to read than giant blocks of text. Some students are more visual learners and will be able to understand a comic better than they could a book like Gone with the Wind. Maybe if they made Gone with the Wind a comic book, more people would be willing to read it.

Huck & Holden

Huck & Holden

When it comes to classic American heroes, Huckleberry Finn is right up in the top ten. Easily top five. But definitely #1. That spot is reserved for Spongebob SquarePants.




Another classic novel that we just started reading is The Catcher in the Rye. I haven't read much of it but I have had read enough to understand Holden's character and am able to compare his to that of Huckleberry Finn's.



For those who have not taken American Novels or haven't read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, even though I'm not completely finished with it, I still suggest you read it.
Huck is a twelve year old living in the racist state of Missouri. He has no real family and basically lives off the wild. He seems pretty laid back and is fairly happy. His dad is a huge alcoholic and they never really talk about his mother. Huck hooks up with his caretakers slave, Jim, after he escapes from his dad quite dubiously, and slowly changes and matures through is adventures. Holden Caulfield, on the other hand, has a family and seems to hate them. He refers to them as introverts and not so touchy feely. To me, Holden seems quite like a big hypocrite.




Huck is just a young boy who begins having conflicts of conscience and is having trouble trying to choose a moral pathway. Holden is having other troubles. He is struggling in school and has been from school to school for quite some time.

I will just make a list of differences and similarities:

Differences:

•Time difference. Holden in the 1950's, Huck in the 1800's.
•Holden is definitely older than Huck.
•Holden is more well off. (Yes, Huck does get $6,000 but Holden has a better upbringing etc...)
•Holden is trying to old on to something lost, like his youth. Huck is living his.

•Trouble finds Huck. Holden sort of looks for it.
•...
Similarities:

•Runaways
•Good liars
•Somewhat socially retarded
•Both have to deal with societal hypocrisies
•Family

"You're a dirty moron."

In chapters 13 & 14, Holden goes back to the hotel to finally get some sleep. As he enters the lobby, he is accosted by the elevator guy asking if he is "Innarested in a little tail t'night?".

At first I thought for a moment the guy was trying to hook up with Holden, but then I realised he was talking about getting Holden a prostitute for the night. "$5 for a throw, $15 till noon."

Holden goes back to his room and then a few minutes later Sunny, the prostitute, comes a'knockin' at his door. They don't do anything, which really didn't surprise me. Throughout the book, sex seems to be a big theme. They are always talking about it, but they never really seem to followthrough with it. I guess if they did, the book would probably get really graphic.

Holden's deal with Maurice was $5 for a throw. Sunny wants $10 but Holden refuses and only pays her $5. Money is also a big theme throughout the last few chapters aswell. He is always talking about how much he has, how much things cost, and how much he is going to have after he does something. I don't know what he was trying to get at by talking about the money. It's all he has while he is taking his minication throughout New York.

So anyways, in the morning in chapter 14, Maurice and Sunny go back to Holden's room. They get into an argument over how much money Holden owes them and Holden ends up with a fist in his gut and $5 shorter.

As a character, I didn't think that Holden would try to piss off somebody that much larger than himself. Though, he does do it with Stradlater so I'm not too surprised. He seems to like to pick fights with people who can, and will, kick his ass.

I liked this scene more than the other scenes because it shows Holden finally being confronted by a phony. He is always talking about how he hates fake people, and that he would do bad things to them or something like that, but nothing ever happens until he is confronted by Maurice and then gets his ass handed to him.

Song to Describe Holden

I was listening to music on YouTube and this song came up. It reminded me about the book.

Anyways, I thought this song pretty much described Holden's personality, well, his self-absorbed and highstrung sides.

Also, money is kind of a big theme in the song. In the book, money comes back a bunch of times.

One part of the song, it says "Lives are entertainment." This sounds like Holden. He doesn't really care much for others and he views them as toys or just something to have around.

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyhSShullXc

*Warning* If you're not a fan of the "F" word, then don't listen. It only says it a couple of times so you can easily get over it.

Lyrics:

The road I walk is paved in gold
To glorify my platinum soul
I'll buy my way to talk to God
So he can live with what I'm not.

The selfish blood runs through my vains
I gave up everything for fame
I am the life that you adore
I feed the rich and fuck the poor.

I got, you want
It's just, don't stop
I got, you want
It's just, don't stop.

This is entertainment
Lives are entertainment
You are down on your knees
Begging me for more.

The road I walk is paved in gold
To glorify my platinum soul
I am the closest thing to God
So worship me and never stop.

The rested blood runs through my vains
I gave up everything for fame
I am the life that you adore
Now feed the rich, fuck the poor.

I got, you want
It's just, don't stop
I got, you want
It's just, don't stop.

This is entertainment
Lives are entertainment
You are down on your knees
Begging me for more.

Dear future,
I bought you,
I own the rights

To let go
Destroy you
This is my life.

Dear future,
I bought you
I own the rights,

To let go
Destroy you
This is my life....inside.....

I've got, you want
This is, don't stop
I've got, you want
It just, don't stop.

This is entertainment
Lives are entertainment
You are down on your knees
Begging me for more.
(Begging me for more)
Begging me for more.

(I've got, you want
It's just, don't stop)

What is an Adult?

This week we attempted to assign meaning to what it means to be an adult, or what an adult even is. I thought we failed to agree on anything. I guess if you want to take the easy way out and define what an adult is, you could say that at age 18 you are legally an adult; oh, and the govt. owns your ass.

I thought that was just the lazy half-assed way out of the argument. But if that's the way you want to define it, then that's fine. There is so much more to being an "adult" than turning 18. Some people said that at age 18, you start your journey to adulthood. I think this is a good place to start.

At 18, the government decides to dump a butt-load of responsibilities on you, whether or not you're ready to take them on. Some people are capable of owning up to these responsibilities, but to be honest, and from what I've seen, most people aren't. I think the first thing you have to do on your journey into adulthood is accept these responsibilities, regardless of how asinine they are.
The next thing you must do is locate your moral compass. People do change their thoughts about everything over time, but they usually have a main set of laws that define them. They are usually "good" or "evil" to put it blunt. If you can't decide which side you are on, you'll never grow up. People will never take you seriously if you can't decide quickly.
Probably the most important definition on what it means to be an adult is just being independent. I think it is important to just get away from your parents, and your natural surroundings and do something out of character, but still legal, obviously.

This may seem short and unconcluded, but I'm watching Life at the moment and I just can't think of anything else to put here.

Geronimo!

You Don't Need to be Unique to be Unique

*WARNING* My blog is in fact called Complete Randomness so if you can't handle that please leave, and when you do leave, leave a cookie behind. I'm hungry.

⎝⏠⏝⏠⎠

Today, I would say that I have lived an average life. MLIA

I thought about just listing all my likes and dislikes but that wouldn't be interesting to read. Honestly, I'm just not that great of a writer when it comes to writing about myself. I prefer to write wild stories and research papers and try to leave out my life as much as possible. This isn't what the teachers want, however. And I do tend to go off on random tangents. If you have a Facebook and are friends with me, you have witnessed a lot of this randomness.

Let's make this easy. How about I start with a few things that I do like to do...

I wouldn't say that I'm an "avid reader" but I do like to read. I mainly like reading articles like Popular Science or National Geographic. There are so many books that I have read that shaped my perception of my world.

I think one of the greatest series that I have read was the Pendragon Series. I can not express in writing how much this series made me laugh and how upset I got over it. I did cry at times, and I did get angry, a lot. But overall, the series was probably one of the greatest fiction series that I have ever read. It is ten books of pure epicness. Not even in my wildest imagination could I have created such worlds of wonder as DJ McHale has created.

It is very difficult for me to pick one of the ten as a definite favorite book. They are all so vivid and I felt as if I was watching a movie while I was reading them. McHale does such a great job of describing the feelings of the character it's hard to even choose one character as a favorite. I can remember when I first picked up the book in 7th or 8th grade. I would sit in the library during study hall and just read. And when the bell rang, I found it near impossible to close the book. I'm not going to lie. Like I said above, I did cry at times. I find it funny that I cry more when I'm reading good books than I actually cry in real situations. The books just seem so real even though they are just fantasy.

I like to go outside. It doesn't matter if it is raining or if it is sunny. I don't much like going outside anymore during the winter, even though I do like the cold. I don't think "I like to go outside." expresses how much I love to go outside. Nature is such a wonderful thing and it's a shame there are so many things that destroy it. If I could stand isolation and were actually boyscout certified, I would probably pull a Hatchet, minus the plane crash and all, and try to have a great time. For all of you who don't know what I just said, I suggest you read the book Hatchet...

If I could describe my personality in one word that would be absolutely impossible. Though, curious would be a good word to describe me. I am intrigued by things that I don't understand and if I don't understand something I will try and try until I do understand it. AP Chemistry (and chemistry in general) are things that just don't click, and that's fine.

Mainly I'm interested in the sciences relating to biology like plants and that sort of thing.

Well, enough with the things I do like. I find it more fun complaining about things I don't like. Probably because there are more things that I just don't like than there are things that I do. And then there are things that I like that I don't like and then it gets really confusing for everybody. Maybe I'm a hypocrite, but everyone is so I don't feel too bad. Actually, I don't feel like explaining what I don't like. That's what Facebook is for, and I feel like I've complained about nearly everything I could possibly complain about and then some.

I also enjoy ranting. ^^