Of Mice and Men...nah.
Lord of the Flies.......I dig it.
To Kill a Mockingbird. Excellent book! but not my fayv.
Lord of the Rings! Not too many people read ALL THREE when they were in seventh grade. Of course, had I understood all of it, it could have been my favorite.
The Chronicles of Narnia. The only problem is, I can't single it down to one.
Okay, I am trying to think of a single book that I absolutely love every time I read or think about it. Honestly, the only thing that I can think of that matches this caliber is the grand book of Proverbs. Yes, the one from the Bible. I know you are probably thinking, what?! Out of all of the books that you have read! But yeah, I am going to have to go with Proverbs; and also throw Psalms in there as a close second, buuut I have never read through the whole thing.
So Proverbs. What must I like so much about Proverbs? Well first off, each of the chapters were greatly influenced by the Spirit of God, and mainly written by the hand of one of the most known, most successful, and most wealthy ancient Kings. That automatically gives this book "off the chart" credibility. Seriously, when I think about that fact, there is no way that I can not greatly heed each word of the book. In addition, Proverbs is the book of wisdom. It teaches how to be successful in life; and not just successful in the world’s eyes, but in the eyes of God. One of the scriptures teaches that the man who has wisdom is wealthier than the man who has all the money in the world. An interesting concept, but after years of reading and understanding, I totally buy into it.
I began reading a little bit of Proverbs when I was in middle school. My father would always encourage me to read a chapter a night. That didn’t always happen, but over the years I have read through most of the book several times. Every time I read it again, new things are revealed to me. It’s kinda cool, because it’s like finding treasure over and over again out of the same box. I think it’s empty, and then all of a sudden I pull another piece of treasure out. What really gets me going about Proverbs is the fact that it was written thousands of years ago, yet it is still relevant today. There are so many things in Proverbs that meet me exactly where I am today, and actually help me make decisions. It’s crazy. No, it’s Proverbs.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
What does an English major look like??
When I ask myself the mind boggling question of what an English major looks like, my brain automatically goes into investigative mode. Which in turn usually means it asks itself more questions. For instance, are there any specific times when I have asked someone their major and upon hearing that they are an English major said to myself "Ah, so that's what they look like." Or perhaps, what do my previous English teachers or professors look like? Aha! now there is a question that sparks some interesting answers.
As I begin thinking back over the years of my previous English teachers, my mind immediately goes to freshman year, Pre-Ap English with Mrs. Thionnet. Mrs. Thionnet could be a whole blog entry by herself if you catch my drift. She was an older woman with a sweet heart, the imagination of a pre-teen poetry writer, and the enthusiasm of an Olympic gold medalist. She absolutely loved her job. To her, it wasn't a job. She taught kids about something that she was very passionate about (and got to be crazy while doing it). I mean, this lady was overly ecstatic about totally disecting Great Expectations. Like, are you serious?? She loved English. Not only did she have a passion for English, writing, and textual analysis, she wanted each of her students to share that passion and be excited about writing prose, or doing a literary analysis. I remember one time, she had me stand up on my desk in the middle of class to show everyone that my clothes matched. She then tied this into some kind of English lesson. Another time, she had all of her students attend a "bon fire" for class in which she had a pile of books with paper flames all around them while we played popcorn and read the novel Farenheit 451. Obviously, she sparked something in me that I will not forget. I may never LOVE words as much as she does, but she sure got me motivated to learn about them.
I had another AP English teacher that was very enthused. Every day of class began with the playing of some kind of strange music, the reading of an ambiguous poem, or an interesting you tube video. Upon this, we would have about ten minutes to write. Just write. It could be related to what we watched or heard, or it could be about something totally different. She just wanted to hear our pencils against the paper. This excersize got me comfortable with starting papers without thinking too much.
I could go on talking about more fanatical English teachers that have made an impact on my learning, but this would turn into more of a paper rather than a blog entry. As you can see, my investigation is beginning to pay off. I am starting to form the image of an English major in my mind. To me, an English major is much different than any other kind of major. They are creative, imaginitive, unafraid to be looked at as different, they think outside the box, they are passionate about what they study, and they all express themselves through the words of this interesting language. Wait a second, am I turning into one?
As I begin thinking back over the years of my previous English teachers, my mind immediately goes to freshman year, Pre-Ap English with Mrs. Thionnet. Mrs. Thionnet could be a whole blog entry by herself if you catch my drift. She was an older woman with a sweet heart, the imagination of a pre-teen poetry writer, and the enthusiasm of an Olympic gold medalist. She absolutely loved her job. To her, it wasn't a job. She taught kids about something that she was very passionate about (and got to be crazy while doing it). I mean, this lady was overly ecstatic about totally disecting Great Expectations. Like, are you serious?? She loved English. Not only did she have a passion for English, writing, and textual analysis, she wanted each of her students to share that passion and be excited about writing prose, or doing a literary analysis. I remember one time, she had me stand up on my desk in the middle of class to show everyone that my clothes matched. She then tied this into some kind of English lesson. Another time, she had all of her students attend a "bon fire" for class in which she had a pile of books with paper flames all around them while we played popcorn and read the novel Farenheit 451. Obviously, she sparked something in me that I will not forget. I may never LOVE words as much as she does, but she sure got me motivated to learn about them.
I had another AP English teacher that was very enthused. Every day of class began with the playing of some kind of strange music, the reading of an ambiguous poem, or an interesting you tube video. Upon this, we would have about ten minutes to write. Just write. It could be related to what we watched or heard, or it could be about something totally different. She just wanted to hear our pencils against the paper. This excersize got me comfortable with starting papers without thinking too much.
I could go on talking about more fanatical English teachers that have made an impact on my learning, but this would turn into more of a paper rather than a blog entry. As you can see, my investigation is beginning to pay off. I am starting to form the image of an English major in my mind. To me, an English major is much different than any other kind of major. They are creative, imaginitive, unafraid to be looked at as different, they think outside the box, they are passionate about what they study, and they all express themselves through the words of this interesting language. Wait a second, am I turning into one?
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