Honors History Blog #4

1. Discuss your successes as an honors student this past semester.

As an honors student, I think that this semester I learned how to space out my work in order to get things done fully for assignments. An example is the honors literature writings we had to do several times through the semester. These were roughly once every 3 weeks, meaning I'd have to read and research an entire book and write a paper on a prompt following it. Surely I wouldn't be able to do this without strategic time spacing and work evenly spread through the 3 weeks, yes? Sadly, I had to learn the hard way that this was how it should be done. The first essay, which was for a Huckleberry Finn prompt, was forgotten until the weekend before it was due, and I ended up rushing to get it done and not putting my full effort into it, and basically not even really understanding the entire book when I was writing the essay. Thankfully, I learned from the mistake and made sure to understand the book and what the prompt is the next time the essay came around, which is quite a success if you ask me.

2. Discuss what you might have done differently if you do this past semester of honors over again.
If I could've done this semester over, I would've taken what I learned from the Huck Finn experience (mentioned up there ^) and made sure that I spaced work through the weeks evenly from the very start instead of having to learn from my mistakes by making the mistakes in the first place. However, it's been proven by Randy that it's best to learn from mistakes and know what you're doing wrong than just know what you're doing right and be careless about it, so maybe it's better that I learned from what I've done wrong. Other than this, I'm quite content with how the semester has been.

3. Discuss your goals for honors in the second semester.
For next semester, I hope to continue learning as a student, education-wise, and learning techniques on how I can save myself from bombing assignments and projects. For 2nd semester I'd really like to focus on my strengths and weaknesses in writing essays. I'm not the best at the english language, so it's best to learn how I can change this and improve in this area. My essays can be a little bit all over the place so I also hope to work on structure, and how to get my point across clearly and so the reader can understand fully.

4. If you could choose any parts of literature and history for our honors work, what would you pick and why?
If I could choose anything, at any point in the semester, I would choose to pick a modern piece of literature, like a book written in the 21st century. We didn't have that too much as a normal student or a honors student in this class, mainly reading things from 20th century and earlier (i.e., Scarlet Letter, Great Gatsby, Huck Finn, Desert Solitaire). I'd enjoy reading something about modern day society or things of the like, and not just things that are far in the past.

(Now this isn't exactly about Honors work, but just a side note)
Also, I might suggest that the nature reading wasn't too positive either. I believe the point of the nature reading was to remind us students that there is plenty of earth left and the fact that humans are living on earth is not a bummer, but hearing of other book's plots and my own wasn't really what I'd call uplifting novels. My book, desert solitaire, mainly reminded us of how us humans are permanently affecting the once-untouched valleys and deserts, not to mention how we live our lives in a constant dreary routine. Not too optimistic, I'd say, but that's just my opinion.

Desert Solitaire

1. The author experience tension between his need to return to civilization and his love for the solitude of being in the wilderness. Describe the characteristics of this tension and how he reconciles it.

Edward Abbey is, for the most part, alone, throughout the book. Every once and a while he will go off on a story that confuses the reader about how the story is told. He fills the book with these reminiscent stories and tales that vary from quicksand scenarios (and what to do in them) to burn victims. These memories could be a characteristic of loneliness, reconciled by retelling memories and stories of his past.

Early in the book he mentions how he often wishes for society to accompany him in his life of solitude. He quickly corrects himself, mentioning how, by society, he means the companionship of a woman. This society is different from that originally mentioned in the book, but eventually he wishes for that companionship also. He compares his wish to return to society to the Zia Indians, who sung about how they would weep when remembering their home. From this, I take that the Industrial Society that we all know well today is Edward Abbey's original home, which he feels agony over.

Throughout the book he communicates with the wildlife, whether it be "braining little bastards" (killing rabbits) or speaking to plants and reptiles. This is how he keeps himself from going insane in the solitude of the desert. This, and the constant reminding that society is bad and trying to ruin this "perfect" little solitude that he lives in. It seemed almost forced, I can say as a reader, how he could only think bad things about the world's current industrial state. This tension contrasts with his hidden want for life back in society, and is only reconciled by the ineludable fact that his contract as a park ranger had run out and he had to return to his home in this industrial world.

The fact that he must return upsets him, and he contemplates turning the car around when heading to a train station for a train destined to home. He talks of how his life would be greater in the great outdoors, in the loneliness, away from everybody he's ever known and in a world that he doesn't quite know himself. He speaks of his return to this wildlife in the future, how grand it will be, that is: if he ever chooses to return to this desolate land. IF.

Desert Solitaire

1. The author explores the possibility of using language to explore nature. What problems does he see and experience in this effort? How is he successful?
Edward Abbey is clearly descriptive throughout the book. Practically all of the 292 pages of it are dedicated to describing the phenomena of nature. Edward Abbey

I think Edward Abbey fails to see how nature is perceived by many, not just him. Throughout the book he is complaining of industrialism overtaking the natural world as we know it. It's also explained how he is against the growth and spread of national parks everywhere, as they pave unnecessary roads and bring human pollution into once untouched. Surely, this is an issue, but in full he never really realized how this can be stopped. Why didn't he? Because it can't. He proposes with the 2 officials that come to his trailer to have tourists be forced out of their car and walk along the blazed trails of the park instead of speeding through them like there's nothing to see. However, he fails to realize that this is not the way nature is perceived by the mass; that the
3. The author writes: "If I am serious, and I am, then the desert has driven me crazy. Not that I mind." What does he mean? What is the significance of this quote?
In the book the desert solitaire, Edward Abbey is very attached to the nature of the desert as a whole. He even goes as far as to say he'd rather eat a human than harm an animal. Clearly he was some sort of crazy, at least, when he "brained a little bastard" one day on the job by killing a rabbit with a stone, then declaring that his soul was clean as snow. Perhaps this sort of initiative is not the only "different" thing about him. The quote is significant because of what he means behind it. He may have already been crazy before he came to the desert but that just aided in his hate for society.

MSB Product in the making

Blog #26 CONTEST

California Coastal Commission, Coastal Art and Poetry Contest
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/poster/poster.html#entry
The basic requirements are,
"Entries must have a California coastal or California marine theme "
There will be separate categories depending on grade level. I will enter in the 10th-12th grade category because that's what grade i'm in. >#<>#>#<

Entries must be before January 30 2010