Adam Good

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I’m Done!

After all the countless hours that I’ve put into this project, it’s finally done!  After putting so much effort into this project, it felt so good to finally hit that submit button on google classroom.  I can honestly say that I have put more effort into this project than I have into any other assignment during my four years at the high school.  Even though it was really difficult, I would still say that it was an overall good experience.  I know there were some tough moments (like trekking through the freezing rain on my weekend to go to the library, or staying up really late making last minute revisions to my paper), but I think that because of moments like this that I will be so much more prepared for college.  I survived, and now I know that when I go to college and get assigned a big project like this, I’ll be able to survive that one as well.  It was rough at points, but I’m happy with how it all turned out.  

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Almost There!

After weeks of reading, research, and writing, my project is almost done!  I’m putting the final touches on my paper.  With two days left before it’s due, I’m feeling like I’m in pretty good shape.  When I started writing this paper, I really felt like I didn’t know how I would get it all done, but by just taking it all one step at a time, and staying on top of it, I never got to the point where I felt like I wouldn’t finish.  It’s been a lot of work, but it feels nice knowing that I’m almost done.

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Final

When I first started writing, I really felt overwhelmed by how much work I had ahead of me.  However, as I began to write, it didn’t seem to be as bad as I originally thought.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still got a LOT of work ahead of me, but I can honestly say that I no longer feel overwhelmed.  I feel like I’m really starting to get a grasp of this project.  The more time I spend with it, the better I feel about where I’m at, knowing that I’m getting one step closer to that taco bar!

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I went to the library!  (The lady in the background is the librarian)

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We #7

One thing that kept coming up throughout the book was math.  As a person who enjoys doing math, this initially caught my eye.  As the book goes on, it becomes very apparent how logical the narrator thinks.  He sees everything through numbers, he looks at everything logically.  However, later on, he begins to choose to make his decisions based on his emotions rather than on his logic.  However, due to his newfound emotions, he is then required to have a surgery to remove them permanently.  I feel as though this progression shows how a lot of us make our decisions.  At first, we try to make good, logical decisions.  However, somewhere along the way, our emotions begin to get the better of us, and we stray from our intentions, but at some point, we will have to go back to logic if we want to continue moving forward.  

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We #6

The one thing about the society that the book takes place in that really stuck with me was how much the people were willing to sacrifice of themselves if it meant it could possibly help the group as a whole.  The people’s lives are controlled, they’re constantly being watched, and in some cases even tortured if it could lead to a larger benefit to the society.  The people within the One State don’t seem to mind it, they almost seem as if they feel it’s their duty to do so.  This sense of sacrifice for the greater good really stuck with me.  The society they were trying so hard to protect may have been flawed, but there is no question the level of devotion the people within the society had towards one another. 

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We #5

The more that I read my book, the more I couldn’t understand how the people in the One State would allow this to happen to them.  I understand that this is a fictional book, but I still feel that at its core, it is still kind of based on Zamyatin’s experiences.  The people just seem so brainwashed into thinking that their government is the greatest.  The people have spent so much time with it, that they simply can’t imagine life without it.  They are taught to love their predictable, efficient lives, and to think of freedom as a thing of the past.  Do we value having a safe, predictable life over our own freedom?

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We #4

The premise of my book is that the narrator is creating a series of journal entries that will be placed on a rocket, and sent to other planets in hope of showing them how great the One State is, and convince them to become like the One State.  As I read further, I began to wonder if Zamyatin’s audience was the world outside world.  Just as the spaceship (the integral) is trying to reach the outside world, Zamyatin is also trying to reach the outside world.  He’s showing us how the Russians first accepted the communist rule, but how it quickly changed to an oppressive government.  

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We #3

Throughout the book, it seems that the main character (D-503) is almost drawn towards things that are forbidden in his society.  At first, he seemed like a person who truly believed in the beliefs of his society.  However, even though he fully supported the One State, he still was so willing to oppose it.  The very fact that the behaviors of I-330 were illegal made him want to be with her all the more.  Just because different activities or behaviors are outlawed, it will never stop people from doing it.  

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We #2

One of the things that stood out to me was how many people in the book seem to oppose the One State.  The One State controlled every part of the lives of everyone living inside it, yet people were still willing to oppose it, regardless of the consequences.  I think that this was included since Zamiatin wrote this book right after communism took hold in Russia.  Zamiatin probably saw how he, and others around him were being treated, and wanted to show that no matter how much they were oppressed, they would never stop trying to gain their freedom.

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We- #1

When I first started reading “We”, one of the first things that I noticed is that the story is told through a series of journal entries.  We’re only exposed to what the narrator wants us to see.  Throughout the book, we are also able to see the narrator himself change by the way he describes his own actions.  We’re able to see at first how loyal he is to the One State, but over time, how he slowly realizes what life would be like without it. 

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Final Project

After a lot of thought, I think that I will be reading the book “We”, by Yevgeny Zamyatin.  I was looking at other books like “Brave New World”, “1984″, and “Fahrenheit 451″, but I wanted something that wasn’t as mainstream.  I talked with Mr. Kreinbring, and he mentioned this book.  After looking into it a bit more, I found out that this book was actually one of the inspirations for some of the other books I mentioned earlier.  I think that this book will interest me, while also having good scholarship.  Even if I have trouble finding scholarship for my book, I should have no problem using scholarship from the other books, and connecting it to my book since the bond between them is so close.

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Indie Write #3

Right now, I’m in my office.  My desk is extremely cluttered, filled with countless papers that have long since lost their purpose.  On the ground to my left is my backpack, opened with books and notebooks hanging out from the side of it.  On the right side of my laptop is my Rubix cube, which I often toy with as I’m procrastinating doing my homework.  Sitting in the corner of my desk are a couple of bags of trail mix, which I can often be found snacking on as a do my homework.  In a different tab, I’m playing music on Pandora.  Right now I’m listening to Panic! at the Disco, which is my favorite music group.  Listening to music as I work sometimes feels a bit distracting, but at the same time, if I turn it off, it seems too quiet, so I typically end up turning it on.

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Indie Write #2 (Part 2)

Bittersweet

I think that this word perfectly describes how I’m feeling right now.  On the one hand, I am so excited for this coming year: I have a ton of fun activities to do, I’ll be competing well in sports, and I’ll be able to find out where I’m going to college.  Yet even with all this excitement, I’m sad that it’s almost over.  After this year, I’ll no longer be a yellow jacket; I’ll move on to some college where for the first time since kindergarten, I won’t know anyone else in the room.  So many of the people who I’ve spent so much time with over the years will soon be gone from my life.  It’s really sad, and also a little scary to think that after this year, there are probably some people that I’ll never see again.  Even though my future may seem a little uneasy, I really am excited to move on.  However, before I move on, I first want to have one last year to enjoy.  

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Indie Write #2 (Part 1)

I am really excited for my senior year.  I think that this year will be a lot of fun between powder puff, water wars, and countless other fun activities.  But as much as I’m excited about enjoying this year, I’m also really excited for it to be over.  It seems kind of bittersweet to have made it this far.  I’m really excited for college and life beyond high school, but at the same time, I’m really going to miss Avondale and all of my friends once I’m gone.  

One thing that I’m particularly excited for this year is sports.  For years I’ve been training, and now that I’m a senior I hope that my hard work will have paid off, and I’ll be able to compete at my best.  

So far, my biggest challenge for senior year has been applying to colleges.  I’ve started the process, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.  It’s weird to think, but as soon as I hit submit on my applications, that my future will be in the hands of someone else.  Once I submit, there is no longer anything I can do but patiently wait for a response, and that can be kind of a scary feeling.

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Indie Write #1

I’ve always thought that it was cool how writers could place such deep meaning into writing while also maintaining a constant rhythm and rhyme scheme.  I know that poetry doesn’t necessarily have to have a rhyme scheme, but to me the rhymes are what really makes it poetry.  I know that a lot of people might not agree with this, but to me, if a poem doesn’t rhyme then it kind of seems like it’s just normal writing with seemingly random breaks in it.  Maybe it’s just that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time reading poetry, but as of now, rhymes are what make it poetry to me.  This is something that I hope to be able to incorporate into my poetry.  The last time I wrote poetry was in the 10th grade, and I always did my best to incorporate rhymes into my work.  As I began thinking about why I feel the need to rhyme, I realized it probably goes way back to when I was a little kid.  When I was little, my parents would read me poems from “Where the sidewalk ends”, and listening to the silly rhymes, it must have just gotten ingrained into my mind that poems are supposed to rhyme.  Rhyming poems are something that I want to continue looking into, and incorporate into my writing.  

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Breakfast Club

While watching the breakfast club, I found that all of the students had similar issues, even though they all came from very different backgrounds.  They all had issues pleasing their parents and filling the expectations of others.  I think that this is similar to real life.  Also, I noticed that the only reason the kids became friends in the first place was because Bender was harassing everyone. If Bender hadn’t been in the movie, then no one would have became friends, and they would have all sat in detention all day in silence writing their essays.  Bender created problems for the others, and this caused them to unite and become friends.  I think that this is also applicable to today’s world; when bad things happen, people tend to come together.