Optional Blog

Does Holden have a lack of respect for authority? A lack of motivation? Does this apply to today? Why do you think so many students suffer from lack of authority and/or motivation in school? How might this problem be counteracted? Think about this response and formulate your own response on your blog.

From my perspective, I do think that Holden lacks motivation and respect for authority. After reading several chapters of the book, it's very obvious that Holden has no desire to study and graduate high school. He was kicked out of other schools because of his grades and he is still failing four classes at Pencey. Holden lacks motivation. Many students in America lack motivation to do things that actually matters in their future. The main reason behind this is that in American high schools there is not enough role models. We don't have many students that actually set the bar high for the rest of the students. Moreover, students don't really help others who need help and who are struggling in school. They are self-centered. They only care about themselves getting through. Obviously, there are teachers. They are there to help the students. But students might not neccessarily feel comfortable talking to them about the problems they are facing in school. Student's know each other. We know the problems because we have gone through those. That's why the brighter students should help others who are having tough time in different classes.

First Impressions of Holden

After reading the first chapter, I didn't feel either sympathy or empathy for Holden Caulfield. I thought Holden didn't care about getting kicked out of school. He was flunking four subjects at Pencey. And he was warned several times by the school to apply himself and work hard but he refused to do it. He said, "They gave me frequent warning to start applying himself-especially around mid-terms, when my parents came up for a conference with old Thurmer-but I didn't do it." This quote really shows that Holden is an immature person because he doesn't realize that he is very close to getting kicked out of Pencey.

Another thing I noticed that he is very jealous about his brother D.B. Holden says,"The secret Goldfish... It was about this little kid that wouldn't let anybody look at his goldfish because he'd bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he is out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me." This quote depicts how jealous Holden is about his brother D.B. D.B. is rich because of his talents to write great books such as "The Secret Goldfish". And he is pretty much the opposite of Holden.

Pre-reading question

1. Explain TWO struggles you or others face as they move from childhood to adulthood?

From my point of view, the biggest problems teenagers face as we move from childhood to adulthood is that we have much more responsibilities. You aren't the same young teen getting away with lot of things and hanging out with friends everyday. You are a new person. You have to take care of your family, pay the bills, send your child to school and get a job. When you become an adult, you have many things to worry about. You will face different family problems, and if you don't have a good job you will most likely have hard time paying off all the bills.

Second important struggle is how you are going to react to different situations. Since teenagers are immature, they handle things very differently. But after you become an adult, you may struggle reacting in a bad way to different situations. Adults handle things differently than teens because they are matured.

Multi-media project

I will be working with Darrell and Jake Henry on the Multi-media project. We really haven't discussed about what we are going to do but we are thinking about making a short documentary about the American Dream. We will interview different kinds of people around the town.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Wi9g-KVaw&feature=popular

Weekend update

This weekend I went to Burlington, Iowa to attend a wedding reception in our family. It was at a country club on a hilly golf course. It was a sunny day after week of rain. The bride wore a white gown and the groom had a long hair and he was very thin. He joked that his wife made the wedding pictures look good. His mother and father hosted the reception and I found secretly that they were doing the dishes in the kitchen. The food was tasty, there were bread, garlic beans, RED HOT chicken lips, and lots of sweets. I found very interesting that the bride and groom had visited different countries. They had been to parts of Europe and Asia. I had a good time talking to my relatives.

My uncle took me on a ride in his MUSTANG and he put the pedal to the metal several times. It was making the engine whine and made a real cool sound. He also showed me his 69' Mercury and drove me around. Overall, I had a very good time and it sure was a memorable one.

Weekend update