The Oracle?

          I sit wedged between the dictionaries day in and day out, vigilantly observing the ongoings of the classroom and the personnel inside. I have staked my mark as the only constant in Ms. Serensky’s room in recent years, well, that and the Youngstown State University pennant that demands respect from all present in the room. Yet many have never taken notice of my presence, I like to think of myself as the all-seeing and all-knowing eye that covertly acts in cahoots with Ms. Serensky, while outwardly appearing neutral. Please, allow me to elaborate on several happenings that I feel need further discussion.

The bee sting. The unforgettable, irreversible incident that makes Ms. Serensky seem even more formidable to incoming students than ever. An accident by chance? Please. I carefully orchestrated the attraction of the bees to the location of the boy’s seat in hopes that one may insert it’s toxin in him. Why you may ask? To discourage any future weaklings from enrolling in the class. I can no longer tolerate immature children, or even worse, immature writers participating. No longer will students that, for example, feel the need to manhandle me walk through the sacred archway. 

  The worst day of my life. I shall not name names, primarily because I do not concern myself with petty matters such as that, however a student one day decided to lift me out of my location of observation and awkwardly run about the room making obscene moans from behind my face. Unless I am very much mistaken, my protegee filmed this absurd action to further my embarrassment and put it on the new social network, “InstaTweet.” Have the students no decency anymore? Do we not respect our elders? I become more and more perturbed by the actions and comments of the students who consider themselves, the elites of English.

Discussions. The time where Ms. Serensky may gauge the student’s mental capacity in a form other than written expression. I quite enjoy monitoring the discussions for many of the students make strange, irrelevant, and/or ignorant comments on the regular. I have yet to discover a pattern for whom makes the strange and irrelevant comments but only Adam seems to make ignorant comments on a daily basis. Nevertheless, similar to Ms. Serensky, I find the daily discussion periods intriguing and can almost seamlessly predict the order of the speakers and whom will contradict whom. 

I chose Ms. Serensky’s room for I believe that she fosters the most debate amongst her students which allows me the best access to see into their minds. I nearly forgot to mention the reason for my diligent observation sessions, ehh perhaps I will wait until the next blog to enlighten you all. John Rydquist out!

Bobbie Jo Carraway... Oh Sorry, I Mean Nick Serensky?

I sat in class on Friday attempting to see the class and those in it from the perspective of Ms. Serensky. I tried to envision how she must see us. The task proved difficult for Ms. Serensky seems like a part of us, the group, yet detached in a superior sort of way as well. Then it hit me: The synonymous nature between Nick Carraway and Ms. Serensky astounds me. Nick finds himself as the intermediary for the materialistic and the unmaterialistic, while our teacher finds herself identifying with the task-masters, and the more laid-back students. Whilst Nick attends lavish parties in The Great Gatsby, he does not partake in the obessessing over material goods or substances as the other party-goers do. Similarly, Ms. Serensky sees herself in both types of students in the class, therefore can make accurate inferences in regards to each. Furthermore, I find it interesting how each enjoy simply sitting back and observing the ongiongs of the "party." Nick uses the outrageous parties Gatsby throws as a vehicle to monitor the actions of New York City's elite. Likewise, Ms. Serensky utilizes the classroom as a vehicle to monitor the actions of Chagrin Falls High School's "elite." Despite the fact that Fitzgerald wrote his novel in the early twentieth century and now nearly a century has passed, I see uncanny commonalities between even the personas at the parties and in the classroom. We have dominating figures, we have the quiet yet powerful, we have the loud but transparent, and we definitely have ladies trying to "swoon" the men of our class. This leads me back to the statement - "There is nothing new under the sun." Such a resounding statement with enormous impact if it holds true. Well clearly, in terms personalities in public places, the claim stands strong. Meanwhile, all this time Ms. Serensky sits back and observes. She sees the interactions between us immature adolescents and carefully notes them for her amusement I beleive. In mirror movements, Nick also stands apart from the party and takes note of the immature ADULTS who make fools of themselves in spite of the grandeur of the evening, simply for his enjoyment! If only Nick would try to play matchmaker amongst the guests, comparitively to how Ms. Serensky pairs writing partners to foster and encourage debate and quarrel. If this occurred, I would undertake the suspicion that Ms. Serensky uses F. Scott Fitzgerald as a pseudonym and crafted The Great Gatsby while envisioning herself as Nick!

Flaw in the Establishment

"Sometimes you are the pigeon, Sometimes you are the statue." A bird sits atop a statue covered in feces in the poster which displays the above quote. Not one day has passed in AP English, this year or last, that I have not taken note of the poster and self-evaluated whether the bird or the statue better fit my mentality on that particular day. The bird- on top of the world, graceful, content, and pooping on whatever happens to pass underway. The statue- lonely, filthy, victimized, and at the will of all animate objects. Some days I think about how similar to the statue my day progresses, and others, undoubtedly I feel like the pigeon. Yet upon recent observations of the poster, I stumbled upon a newfound realization. In my humble opinion, the creators of the poster woefully messed up! Allow me to explain. If anyone has studied the image as thoroughly as I, I would expect them to approach the same conclusion that I have: the statue represents the better human being and lifestyle! Take another glance at the poster! Why does the poster imply that we should put ourselves above others and sit on them and make them feel like crap (no pun intended!)? If I may re-analyze the figures: the bird- cocky, superior, ignorant, and one that must put others down to lift themselves up. Meanwhile the statue- selfless, independent, calm, and unaffected by other's rudeness. I am rather confused as to the creator's motive behind the poster and whether they recognize this as I have. Or, whether they assumed people would understand that the statue clearly embodies better character traits than the condescending pigeon and I have simply misinterpreted it these past years. Otherwise, why would these people advocate putting others down, and asserting our superiority over them as the pigeon has done? Has faculty not taught the students since day one to not let others affect us no matter how they treat us? As the articulate Allen Iverson once said, "homie, you gotta do you" I believe the statue perfectly practices this behavior. The statue remains standing and does not allow the defecating pigeon deter him from watching over the city! He ignores the "bully" and does not show weakness whatsoever yet refuses to retaliate in any manner. I greatly admire these positive and peaceful qualities in the stone. I did not reach this conclusion until today however, which just proves how if someone searches for hidden meaning long enough in something, they will find it. Therefore, I believe someone on the team that designed that poster must have recognized this flaw and simply wants those who ponder it long enough to achieve this insight. Please just take a quick glance at the image and reconsider which YOU prefer to act like and remember the personality traits I have identified in each.