Sunday, January 31, 2010

Safe Sex and Mental Disorders?

It is Sunday night already, and I can’t believe how fast this weekend went, considering how slow this school week went. This week in AP Lang was somewhat uneventful. We did some readings, learned some allusions, and had a few laughs. We have talked about several issues that were brought up in our readings. One issue that stuck in my mind was the AIDS issue.

AIDS is a big issue, but now, there are not as many people concerned about it anymore. Back when AIDS first started popping up, everyone freaked out. MTV and other companies created campaigns to raise awareness. Now, MTV doesn’t have those commercials played as often. Also, people don’t care about the stereotypes anymore because they come to terms that anyone could get AIDS. My dad’s girlfriend told me that when she lived in Fort Myers, Florida, one in ten had AIDS. To me, that is a very scary thought. Plus, everyone worries about catching other STDS besides AIDS. We all have to be even more careful with our lives.

Meghan Daum writes about how she was tested for AIDS three times. How could she tell us that she did not worry about having AIDS, yet she gets tested like no other? Is it just me or is there a hint of hypocrisy involved? Daum claims that she has not had sex with a homosexual or a needle-using drug addict. Why would she be worried then? Apparently, she does not fall into the category of people that could possibly have aids. For all I know, she could be a hypochondriac.

Another set of stories that we read in class were the Carver stories. They were short, to the point, yet ambiguous at the end. The class read “Fat” and “After the Denim.” I actually liked the stories. What I did not like, however, were the questions we had to answer the next day. Even though I read, I still did not remember every detail in the stories, or the meanings of them. I liked “Fat” better than the other story. I felt bad about the guy, but then again, I did not really like him.

In “Fat,” I noticed that the use of quotations were nonexistent. I found that strange, and maybe that was some clever thing Carver thought of. I am not too sure. I liked the ending because it could lead to several different outcomes. When I read the story, I felt that when the main girl thought something was going to be “different” meant that she was going to get pregnant. It could also mean that she could get fat herself. I think she might have some serious self-esteem issues if she thinks by talking to a fat man would get her fat.

This story, “Fat,” kind of lead into “The Yellow Wallpaper” because it brings of the thought that maybe the girl has something wrong in her mind. The narrator, Jane, is believed to have a mental disorder. The story goes on how being in peace made Jane’s mental state worse.

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