Mrs. Ho's AP Lit 2022-2023

  With this possibly being our last blog, I wanted to focus on what I think is the significance of the blog. For those of us who were in Ms Ho’s AP Lang class, this semester’s blog assignment was not our first rodeo. I remember how excited I was by the prospect of writing about whatever came to mind. I had free creative reign over my own words, something that we as students have so seldom been granted. At this point though, we’ve all faced that hurdle- the notorious writer’s block. We’ve been writing for so long that it has become hard to think of fresh material. In this spirit, I’ve decided to write about the blogs themselves, a sort of blogception.  We belong to such a small school, that everyone knows everyone. We’ve all learned and worked together for years now, and we like to think we’re all connected to one another. I think that the purpose of the blogs, however, has been to connect us not by our shared ideas, but by our disparate ones. Having a carte blanche to write ab...

  The end of the first semester of senior year is quickly approaching. This semester has been the root cause of my stress for the past few months, and I am glad it is nearly over. I tell myself that next semester will be less stressful because college applications are complete and schoolwork will be more relaxed, and I hope I am buying into it. But in reality, I know that I have told myself the future won’t be strenuous multiple times, and I end up regretting my past reassurances.  Throughout my life, I have strived for perfection. I could never start an assignment without a clear plan of what the finished product will look like, I had to rehearse anything spoken, and I never settled for less than 100% effort. But as I am approaching my final semester of school, I am starting to recognize that this is abnormal behavior.  I unfortunately believe that I have developed some form of the Imposter Syndrome. The Imposter Syndrome, which is also known as perceived fraudulen...

We finally made it! Last blog post ever! It is pretty crazy, to be honest. When brainstorming ideas for what I should write about, I really felt that it needed to be special. Something I hold closely to my heart. I kept thinking that I needed to go out with a bang, and what better way to do that is there to write about something important to you? This got me thinking, "what is one of the most important or valued things that are a part of my everyday life?" A broad question, I know. I could not say the cliche answers like family or friends. It needed to be something unique. Then it finally dawned on me, the sky.  Now, I know what you're thinking, "the sky? Avital, what could possibly be so special about the sky?" Well, honestly, I thought the same thing last spring. It was not until the beginning of last summer that I really started admiring and paying more attention to the sky. So, what is so special about the sky? Immediately my mind goes to its beauty. Whether...

      All throughout 11th and 12th grade, I have had the pleasure of writing blog posts for Mrs. Ho’s class. I have really enjoyed writing blogs, as I am able to come back to them and remember different times of my life. For my last ever blog post for this class (probably), I thought it would be an interesting idea to write a letter to myself a year from now. Here it is: Dear Future Michael,      Wow. You are currently 19 years old and in college, which is really hard to fathom. I hope you are doing well. I am currently writing this in AP Stats after just finishing all of my work and being given time. Right now I am just trying to get through the end of my senior year. There are so many uncertainties right now and my head is always spinning with thoughts about the future. I really hope that you’ve got it all figured out right now. I also hope that you are happy in college. These days it feels like all I can do is worry about college and the future.   ...

Ariella Green Week 10: Thanksgiving I don’t know about all of you, but I happen to love Thanksgiving, mainly for the food. Thanksgiving food is my comfort food that I only eat once a year. Also, come on, you can’t argue that Thanksgiving leftovers are not outrageously delicious. I love to make a panini sandwich with my leftovers. Since it seems to be a theme of mine to write about the impending holidays for my blog posts, I figured I’d rank for you my favorite Thanksgiving foods.  7. Pumpkin Pie I apologize in advance, but I can’t stand pumpkin pie. The texture of it throws me off because it is too pureed. The color is kinda questionable, and it’s just too overwhelming of a pie.  6. Apple Pie Even though Thanksgiving is known for its dessert, my goal of the evening is not to save room for dessert. As a more savory food kind of person, I much p refer the meal over the dessert. Apple pie is listed as number 6 because it just makes more sense than pumpkin.  image 5. Green be...

      As many of you know, one of my all-time favorite cinema sagas is Star Wars. The action, hidden messages, political commentary, and emotional connection within the story and throughout the generations of  Skywalkers have made it an absolute masterpiece in my mind. With all the new Star Wars media that is emerging like Andor, Tales of the Jedi, and the Book of Boba Fest, I think Star Wars could benefit most by creating a "What If?" series.     A "What If?" series is most commonly attributed to Marvel, but it's been done by many other groups as well. One of the issues that many people have with Star Wars is that it jumps around in timelines too much. This creates issues because we know the outcomes of fights or who the villain will be because we have seen a future movie that spoiled it for us.     This isn't always an issue because it adds to the emotion in the story. For example, watching the prequels and knowing that Anakin wou...

"Remember the Boys",  a poem written by Rachel McKibbens, holds the message of fear of boys and yearning to have the same power as a boy. The structure of this poem was used to show the cause and effect of the situation McKibbens faced. Her interaction with boys treating her badly made her fear them, ultimately causing her to wishing she was a boy, so she would not have to be afraid of them. The first part of McKibbens's poem focuses on her poor interactions with boys. She starts by giving some background of how boys have treated her in her life. She goes on to describe how boys are never, as she says, "held down" and put in their place for their reckless behavior. McKibbens gives an example of the boys' poorness towards her when she compares them to knives being stabbed in her breast; "Little Bretts. Little Jeffs. Little knives to my breast the comparison of boys to knives to my breast" (lines 5-6). This comparison serves the purpose of explaining...