Teen Talk

Last week I was watching Teen Jeopardy, a much more entertaining rendition of the original Jeopardy game. This is because the questions are more applicable to the teenage brain, plus it is fun to see the teens embarrassed when Alex talks about their lives. One of the categories for that day was entitled “That’s An Understatement,” where the quotes or descriptions in the questions were exaggerated from reality. One of the questions in this category was, “Which character from Othello says, ‘My Lord, you know I love you’?” I immediately jumped off the couch and screamed “Iago!” I find it quite fun and even exciting when, through my daily travels, I encounter an AP English moment. In other words, a moment in the real world in which I have the ability to use my AP English knowledge in order to understand something, or when I understand something because of AP English. As our time in AP English begins to come to an end, I find it easier to look back on the experience with a more developed perspective. At the beginning of AP English 11, it is easy to get caught up in the whirl of rumors and expectations. And as the months progress into AP English 12, it is easy to forget what we are working towards. But now that the year is almost over, I can truly appreciate everything I have learned in AP English, and can see how the experience can apply to every aspect of my life, including Teen Jeopardy.

              

Essays vs. Data Sheets

Essays require more focused, intelligent thought.

Ugh!

The other day in English, I noticed that eleven out of the thirteen girls in our class were wearing boots, specifically ugg boots. I looked down at my own scruffily smudged converses, and wondered to myself were I had lost the memo about wearing boots. In High School, stereotypes always assert the idea of conformity, and the need for acceptance that one must have in their own society of peers. So much so is this acceptance amongst peers, that our class has 84.6% of the girls wearing the same style of footwear.   Similar statistics have appeared in the books we have read this year. For example, Gogol spends the majority of his life trying to fit in with society, and ends up losing much more than he anticipated from his self-centered conformity. Personally, I am not a big fan of boots, especially uggs. Some can definitely be cute, but it’s primarily the word that bothers me: “ugg.” It sounds like you have something caught in your throat; “uggggg.” Or it sounds like someone clearing their throat; “ugg..g..ggg..gg.” It is also the universal string of letters for deep disappointment; “uggghhhh.” These peculiar sounds that surround the name of the boot give off a negative connotation for the word, so I looked up the definition of “ugg” in order to clear some assumptions up. What I found for the definition was “a sheepskin boot or ugly.” Why would you choose to name your product after a word whose other meaning is ugly? Modern society is just so baffling…

Shhh...

A few weeks ago, I read a newspaper article entitled “The secret of life? Students have it.” The article describes a teacher who in 1999 shared her secrets of life with her business careers technology class at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. Every year since, she has asked her students to share their opinions about the secret of life. So, what do some students think is the secret of life?

- “Inside jokes. Late-night phone calls with best friends. Sleeping in. Waking up to a text message. Bonfires. Quoting movies. Drives to random places. Midnight trips to Walmart. Scary movies. Making a wish at 11:11 on the first star. Following your heart. Dedicating a song.”

- “Complimenting your enemy. Waterproof mascara. Best-friend days. Hearing that song that matches you situations. Never forgetting what someone said once their gone”

After reading these, I decided to think up my own list regarding the secret of life. Here it goes:

- Argyle socks. Dresses that twirl. Eating lettuce with chopsticks. Watching snow fall. Taking a nap with your dog. Reading by a fire. Melted chocolate chips at the bottom of a mug of hot chocolate. Seeing old friends. Making new friends. Dancing in your room when no one’s home. Getting a hand-written letter. Making someone’s day. Eating cookie dough. Eating cookie dough while your mom yells at you about raw eggs. Wearing pajamas all day. Puppies. Getting a sticker on an AP English paper. Running without getting out of breath. Road trips. Having no worries. Being in the hallway when no one else is. Sweatpants. Not having to put your contacts in for a whole day. Eating chocolate frosting out of the container. Eating ice cream out of the container. Making a snowman. Making gingerbread every time there is a snow day. Looking at old pictures. Looking at old pictures of your parents. Laughing. Listening to CDs in the car. Picking flowers. Growing your own vegetables. Singing when you are alone in the car. Rainy days when you are inside. Looking forward to the future. Priceless facial expressions.