Class Entry

The start of the second semester marked the beginning of another eighteen weeks of class, homework, quizzes, projects, and my favorite, tests. The start of school also meant returning to Mr. Glenn’s always entertaining AP Language class. This class is one of the funniest and most amusing classes I have ever been in and it is a class unlike any other. In most classes, the students are taught a lesson or concept by their teachers and then given problems or worksheets that test what the students learned. In Mr. Glenn’s class there are no worksheets or lessons (I suppose you could count the word-of-the-day or the daily allusions as lessons but I don’t). Instead of boring lessons and worksheets, Mr. Glenn’s class is filled with reading essays and discussing these essays as a class. This is probably my favorite part of the class because I really enjoy listening to people’s opinions on the matter at hand and I love hearing some of the ridiculous things that my classmates have to say. I won’t mention any names but there are a few people that have an opinion on everything and they are more than willing to share it because in their mind, whatever they say is correct and everyone else is wrong.

This week we started a new unit entitled “Bodies”. We read such essays as “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” by Anna Quindlen, “A Women’s Beauty: Put-Down or Power Source?” by the magnificent Susan Sontag, “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady, and “Our Barbies, Ourselves” by Emily Prager. Each of these readings was filled with sexism and feminism and arguments towards and against either the male or female gender. Quindlen writes about how men and women are divided and separated because of their differences but also how they are able to set aside these differences and come together as partners. Brady’s piece focuses on the role of women as wives and mothers and how they are expected to tend to their husband’s every need and desire. These essays led to many intense and emotional discussions. Many people disagreed with the way women were portrayed in these readings because the authors made women seem unappreciated and sometimes, useless. I disagree with this completely because as the saying goes: “behind every great man is a great woman”. Women are an essential part of society and their contributions are evident everywhere you look. Oftentimes, men are too stubborn or arrogant to admit that they need women.

As I sit at my computer on Sunday afternoon it truly hits me that school is back in session. I am back to my normal Sunday routine of sleeping in, watching football, and of course, writing my AP Lang journal entries. For some reason I always seem to put off my journal until late Sunday afternoon but then again, there is not much else to do on Sunday so I suppose it’s a good thing. I am able to reflect on the past five days in class and come up with something to write about, and most of the time, I find myself writing about a memorable reading or discussion that occurred.