1. My freshman year started off with a bang, and by that I mean a man in an oversized blouse and skinny jeans that laced up the side took to the stage in the brand new PAC playing an electric violin. Yes, the 6-12 orchestra students put on a concert with Mark Wood, an original member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. His dramatic performance style has made a lasting impression on the orchestra and he is referenced frequently in class, where he is thought of as “a man without…faults” (McEwan 32).
2. Now I don’t mean to diminish the excellent performance of the choir at Springfest last year, but I’m afraid they really couldn’t compete with the Frisbee infomercial, let alone the Gladiators dance team of years past, “What consummate artistry!” (McEwan 136).
3. On a more sincere note, I really enjoyed starting AP classes. The workload took a bit of adjusting to, but I distinctly remember driving home during the first week of Junior year and realizing that I had not once felt like my time was being wasted. It was, in every sense of the word, thrilling. I don’t wish to convey the sentiment that non-AP classes are always a “serious failure,” but they are often filled with people who just don’t care very much, which is frustrating (McEwan 138).
4. This next item didn’t happen during the school year, but it is closely tied to my academic career. While on summer vacation I received the news that I had passed my AP tests. It was such a relief, I had been living in fear that I would fail one or more of them and then not be able to look that teacher in the eye for the ensuing year, it would have been completely “demoralizing” (Wilde 1).
5. I know without a doubt that I will miss “Dear Journal,” these moments are undoubtedly among the highlights of AP English. I have especially enjoyed the evolution of the “Dear Journal” voice; apparently Thomas’s journaling persona is a British woman, “It’s delightful” (Wilde 9).
6. I have to mention our Othello field trip, Ms. Serensky seemed a little surprised when she announced it and we all broke into applause, I don’t think she realized what a big deal it was. Now that we are in High School, we hardly ever go on field trips, it seems like a little thing but it’s good to break schedule every now and then and have a day “full of excitement” (Kesey 255).
7. The Blogs themselves have been an incredible experience, when I think back to “that very first week” of the project I remember how anxious I felt, but I now have much more confidence as a writer (Kesey 323). Some favorite moments from the blogging experience are my “Déjà Vu” blog, which is the first time I really had fun writing a post as well as discovering how much fun it is to find pictures for all my posts.
8. By reading the list thus far you might have gotten the idea that AP English has dominated my academic life, and you would be correct. Much like the ‘“Combine”’ it takes over both the “Inside” and the “Outside,” that is, the class itself and everything outside of class (Kesey 28). Nonetheless I have taken other classes and they deserve some mention. A moment that stands out is when I finished the related rates packet I had to do over Winter Break for Calculus. It took a while but when I finally worked through the whole thing I felt like I was on top of the world, I’ve heard it described as a “math high,” I think that is apt.
9. Of course, I will return to AP English now. I loved writing the
Amsterdam essay, even though Ms. Serensky totally freaked me out by piling on the pressure and expectations, once I got down to the actual writing it was an enjoyable experience, to borrow from the previous list item, it was an “English high.” To top it all off, I got a sticker on that essay (my reaction: “Good Heavens!”), which doesn’t happen to me very often and pretty much made my week (Wilde 8).
10. For my final item I want to return to the Blog project. I would say my blog has a very limited following and I never get more than a few comments. My moment of shining glory came when I blogged about Sarah Pe. Ross for her birthday, I had eight comments, my page-views shot up, and someone who isn’t even in AP English talked to me about my blog! It was pretty exciting, but I guess I owe my fifteen minutes of fame to Sarah’s ability to pose like a “bull goose loony” in pictures (Kesey 21).
“It might not be going too far to say that he was…a genius,” then again, it definitely wouldn’t be going too far to say he was an egomaniac, and Vernon Halliday would have no qualms about saying he was “insane” (McEwan 143)(McEwan 161). What a guy, there’s clearly a lot going on there, and if you feel a compulsive need to analyze everything, then I must suggest that you “run nerds, RUN!” before we get into some of Clive Linley’s finer moments (Ms. Serensky). Delusional and selfish, Clive has only one love in his life, his symphony, it is to be his crowning glory, the defining moment of his career, except “Half the BSO [Boston Symphony Orchestra] refuse to play it” (McEwan 190). I could almost feel bad for the guy, if only he were capable of feeling bad for someone else. But his actions in the Lake District destroyed all hope of that, so I’ve adopted a mixed bag of indignation at his moral littleness and delighted amusement at his absurdities. Together with his old friend/mortal enemy Clive embarks on a journey to fill the “void…that only revenge could fill” (McEwan 173). The question is, how exactly can a book with two despicable main characters, bent on the destruction of the other, which culminates in a ruthless double murder be my favorite? Am I a terrible person? No, I am not, Ian McEwan is just a good writer, he crafts two characters with so little moral fiber and so much blind, self-deluding egotism that no matter what they do, you have to laugh. And so, without further ado, I would like to present the prestigious Kaleigh O. Best Book of AP English 12 Award to… Amsterdam!
