Wow, the last blog of the year! And what better way to cap of a year of highs and lows than by turning it in five days late? In all seriousness though, I really have enjoyed these blogs, despite what my inability to turn them in on time might suggest. So thank you for providing us a place to put down our thoughts about both the books we read in class and the world around us. Now, onto the blog!
We've read a lot of books this year, probably more than any year of school before. But that's a good thing! It's given me an opportunity to learn that much more. For example, from The Importance of Being Ernest, I learned the importance of being myself. From Things Fall Apart, I was educated about the dangers of cultural relativity. A Thousand Splendid Suns was a moving reminder that we can't be complacent in the fight for women's rights, because the world is not equal, and it will never be unless we try to change that. A Doll's House offered me insight into both the sexism that is inherent even in couples in love and my parent's own marriage, the details of which I'll spare you. The Picture of Dorian Gray's biggest lessons were A) never offer to sell your soul, because someone will take you up on it and B) society's equating appearance with quality of character is both deeply ingrained and deeply wrong, as most things are. Doctor Faustus drove home the "be careful with your soul" point, and also offered words of warning against being greedy and wanting too much. And finally, The Stranger taught us that none of the above matters, because life is one long, meaningless, absurd joke, followed by death. Thanks, Albert Camus.
The bottom line here is that this year of English, despite my failure to ever turn anything in on time, was my favorite of my high school years, and I'm so grateful that we had you to help us see the value in all of the books we read.
