Auden Look Alike?

          Today, in class, Ms. Serensky suggested a W.H. Auden look for my next Halloween costume.  By W.H. Auden, I mean 80 year old W.H. Auden. She seemed to think that the look would scare people away, thus making the perfect Halloween costume. I nodded in agreeance. Little did she know, I dressed up as an old man for Halloween back in fourth grade. Of course, I did not mention this in front of the class. Last year, after divulging the story about my big head as a baby, it found its way onto the third quarter quotes sheet. This meant that not only did my 10 person class hear about my big head, but all AP English 11 and 12 students heard about it. For days after the release of the new quotes sheet, people came up to me to ask me various questions about my big head, and some just stared at my head as I passed them in the hall. As a matter of fact, a few days ago, someone came up to me and asked, “Sarah, remember last year when you told us about your big head? Well I know what the formal name of the medical condition is called!” Of course, I did not retain the name of this condition in which many now believe me to have had. I do not like having a five finger forehead. Maybe people would think I didn’t have such a big head if I had not told them about my infanthood that day in class. I knew, that if I told Ms. Serensky that I dressed up as an old man in the fourth grade, that it would inevitably end up in the quotes. Therefore, I kept this information to myself. On the other hand, I would like to point out that dressing up like an old man is not as bad as all of you probably think. Upon the suggestion, many people looked slightly perturbed. They could not even imagine buying an old man costume. It might be extremely weird, and I am still not quite sure what compelled me to do it. On the other hand, I landed myself sometime in the spotlight after showing up to school in this costume. You could find me on the District Homepage, the Intermediate School Yearbook on multiple pages, and the School Newsletter. I was a star. Room mothers swarmed me like the paparazzi, admiring my “cute” old man costume, and snapping shots. Therefore, being an old man for Halloween is not that bad. Thank you, Ms. Serensky, for suggesting such an idea, and reminding me of my ephemeral days of fame back in fourh grade. So classmates, do not discount the idea. It could bring you much fame and fortune.

The picture that appeared on many pages of the school yearbook. Though I do not believe that I look too much like Auden.

 

Elizabeth Bishop: Could It Be?

       On Monday, Ms. Serensky presented us with two images of Elizabeth Bishop. The first image, located towards the top of the page, was clearly of Bishop. The second image, located below, raised much controversy. Upon laying  eyes on it, I yelled out "That can not be her." At first glance, I saw the profile of an old man sitting in a chair with a cat. Ms. Serensky assured us that it was indeed Bishop, and clearly she was not making it up. Why would she put a picture of a random man holding a cat on the Elizabeth Bishop page? Still, despite this logical reasoning, I doubted the presence of Elizabeth Bishop in the photo.  I visited Google to once again view the controversial image. It appeared on multiple Elizabeth Bishop websites, and began to look like Bishop (and more importantly a woman) with each viewing. After putting so much time and energy into lamenting over the infamous Elizabeth Bishop picture, I had English on the mind...in particular pictures of authors. I suddenly remembered the troubling image of Jhumpa Lahiri located at the back of The Namesake, where she sits staring at the reader with her eyes popping out of her head. The more I though about it, the more I realized how often I look at the author's picture in the back of the novel, or on the back cover, and ask myself, 'What were they thinking?' After scouring the bookshelves for a few minutes, I came across a plethora of author pictures that caused me much confusion and concern. Here are a select few:

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

"I'm watching you" ... creepy.


Elie Wiesel, Night

My mom would never let me get photographed with my hair sticking up like that!


Fast Food Nation, Eric Scholsser

Eric, don't worry, be happy.

If I were an author, I would be especially particular about the picture in which I chose to put in the back of my novel. Especially these influential authors and their works. Works that millions upon millions of people read. Therefore, millions upon millions of people lay eyes on these pictures. I am not at all implying that these people are weird or ugly. I just do not quite understand their choices of visual representation. From Jhumpa Lahiri's bulging eyes, to Elie Weisel's tousled hair, the entertainment never ends. I have recently deduced that some of these authors find themselves to perfectly normal, contrary to what I think. Others probably look to make a statement with their off putting pictures. Or maybe, just maybe, they care more about what is in the book rather than the 2x4 picture of themselves that hides toward the back. Most people could really care less about the thumb- sized image of the author. Of course, I care. Maybe I should just stop caring about what the author looks like, and focus more about what the author looks to convey through his/her powerful work. Just a thought.

"Wiki" Deja Vu

        The moment Ms. Serensky introduced us to the Blog Project, undesirable memories of the 10th grade Wiki Project snapped back into my consciousness. I experienced a flashback to Honors English 10 class. I suddenly remembered suffering from multiple nervous breakdowns brought on by the time consuming Wiki Project. I suddenly suffered from a mild form of a nervous breakdown after realizing the fact that a large part of the project consisted of us constructing a creative site, with creative entries. Creativity is something I lack. My first entry included literary devices after every quote, and three quotes in the paragraph(Obviously, I struggled to break free from the formal analysis when writing my first blog) A few entries later, I was writing all about the time I crashed the car into the garage, tearing two doors off...and somehow finding a way to connect this unforgettable incident to AP English. Soon after, I changed my title from "Sarah Ross's AP English 12 Blog." I began to deviate from the formal analysis. Therefore, I believe that this blog project has helped us to find a creative outlet to talk about other aspects of english besides strictly the book. Due to this project, I feel that I have been able to better understand the implications of the text and the topics we discuss, as it has guided us to connect the events/themes of the novel to our own lives, and the lives of people around us. Though I am no Lizzy Burl(a creative blogging expert), writing songs about the books we read, I believe that I gained a creative outlook on the topics we discuss in class, and the novels we complete. If we do not continue our blogs next semester, I will miss them...and the Blog Banter.

Sarah Ross vs. Rossipoopoo

       For my first blog entry, I wrote about my dreadful nickname Rossipoopoo. In that entry, I failed to mention that my coach, and many of the people in which I hit with, consider Rossipoopoo to be my alter-ego, a person completely different from myself. Often, when I play in a tournament, my coach asks me, "Is Rossipoopoo or Sarah going to show up to play today?" At first I laughed at this funny joke in which I did not find to be true, or at all accurate. Then, I slowly came to realize the validity of this statement, and their assessment of my two, completely separate personalities on the court. I do not believe that I suffer from any psychological disorders when I play tennis, but I am no certified professional...

   Sarah Ross, the name on the tournament draw sheets, quietly sits and waits for her match to start. She greets her opponent kindly, usually reciprocating a warm "hello." Sarah goes about 50 percent in the warm up, conserving her energy for the match to be played. Sarah maintains a calm demeanor throughout the course of the match. She hopes not to show her opponents her frustration, or even fear, as she knows they will feed off of it. When Sarah double faults, she laughs. When Sarah hits an easy shot out or into the net, she brushes it off and focuses on the next point. Sarah barely utters a word during her match, other than calling out the game score, of course . She refuses to question her opponents call, as they usually, and unfortunately, do not change their mind after they hook her. Sarah would never scream out in frustration, or ever think to slam her racquet on the court in anger. Sarah has a winning tournament record. Where has Sarah gone?
       Rossipoopoo, the recently established alter-ego, and separate tournament player, acts nothing like the calm and collected Sarah Ross. Rossipoopoo walks into the tournament site, and usually gives her opponent a little glare (as to intimidate them). She wants to win, and carries out what she believes to be intimidating tactics. Rossipoopoo gets a little bit carried away in warm up, and tries to hit the ball as hard as she can (an "intimidation tactic") Really, Rossipoopoo only tires herself for the impending match (now her impending doom, but she believes differently). When Rossipoopoo double faults, she smacks her leg in anger, usually leaving a hand print for the duration of the match. She slams her racquet on the ground when she hits the ball out or in the net. Rossipoopoo usually sticks to her two main calls of frustration, which include "SAR-UH," and "NO-UH." Rossipoopoo always talks to herself after points (a little bit concerning). Needless to say, she went 0-9 one tournament season.

      I realize that Sarah and Rossipoopoo hardly parallel the psychological disorder in which Andrew Laitus suffers from in the film Shutter Island. They do not even constitute a psychological disorder for that matter. My tennis instructors and acquaintances simply discovered another way to incorporate Rossipoopoo into my life (great), for the sole purpose of further pestering me. They decided to connect their favorite name Rossipoopoo to my crazy on-court behaviors. I would be a bit concerned if I indeed believed in the existence of this character Rossipoopoo. If I did...would I know?

Rewind

         Wow. I did not at all expect to find out that Teddy Daniels, in fact, does not exist, in the film Shutter Island today. I did not expect to find out that this man, whom I knew to be Teddy Daniels, suffers from hallucinations, and probably a host of other psychological disorders, and committed many crimes to land him on Shutter Island. And then, to add to the confusion, we learn that Rachel does not exist...and never escaped? I titled this scene of the film "Inception Part II," as I once again watched the screen dumbfounded and thoroughly confused, as I did when watching the final scene of the film Inception this summer. I do not know if I should believe the doctor and his claims about the world this Andrew, who I previously knew as Daniels, made for himself to cope with his violent behavior and acts of crime. Honestly, I feel a bit of disappointment after today's discoveries. I wished for Rachel, Daniels, and Chuck to all hop onto a ferry and all become friends on the ride back to the mainland. Then, I find out these people do not exist. Great. Excellent. First, I wonder how I did not at all see this coming. Secondly, my happy ending can not happen anymore. Ultimately, I do not believe that the real ending will provide me with a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction. Realistically, I believe that the end to the film Shutter Island will carry across a powerful message about the nature of mental institutions and mental health care of the 1950's. Or at least I hope it does...or I will go back to being slightly disappointed that Daniels, Rachel, and Chuck do not exist, and will not wave goodbye to Shutter Island from a ferry boat.