Alright, so I'm a very opininated person, and sometimes teachers don't like my opinions on certain things. For example, I ruin Mr. Kunkles day when I tell him that annotating is unbelievably unecessary. He looks at me, strokes his impressive beard, and shakes his head. But deep down, he knows I'm going to great places in life.
So I want to know why I was told AP Composition was in english class, when it is absolutely a history class. For real. We read and study about stuff that happended during the 1600's and even stuff before that. We have all learned this stuff already!!! Why are we reading this kind of stuff?
You can sit there and tell me that historical writing is great and it deserves to be read. Alright, I can agree with that. But do you know what else is great? Writing that is current! Why can't we read novels that have been published in the last ten years? Like read some John Grisham or something. I would actually look forward to reading at home if we read some good books and essays. But no, we read essays that are not written how we write so it is difficult to understand.
In class, Mr. Kunkle has often asked us why a lot of us don't participate in class discussions that deal with writings from 56 BC. It's because we don't find it interesting. It's as simple is that.
I just don't understand why this is a history class. Please tell me. And Mr. Kunkle, this isn't a diss on you in any way. I'm just being honest here. Least I have the balls to say something. I'm not going to let my opinions go unheard.
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Justin, I totally agree! (I hope that Mr. Kunkle doesn't get mad at me for saying this.) I hate hate hate history (even though I guess it's important to learn from it), and that's exactly why I took the minimum history classes needed to graduate. I'm trying to get away from that stuff. I feel like I never have anything to say, either, because 1. I can't understand the essays and 2. This history stuff isn't my favorite. By the way, I absolutely love your writing style..very direct/to the point and humorous!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I like history and find old writings interesting, I agree. Sometimes I get bored or irritated with what we've had to read... at least Gastby is fun. Still, I wish we could read some more current works. Maybe we should get a petition going? :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, your writing, especially in the first paragraph, made me laugh. Thanks for that.
Haha, Justin...your blog posts always make me laugh. I agree, we are dabbling a little too much in the History department. But hey, what can we really do?
ReplyDeleteAll three of you fail. Not just this class. I'm talking about life. Nah, I'm just kidding. You make some good points, Justin: let me respond.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that reading contemporary stuff is worthwhile and there should be classes featuring contemporary works, I also think it's important to know the past in order to understand the present. While this applies to studies of history, it also applies to studies of literature. While you may have learned about John Smith in history class, for example, our focus is on his writing: his rhetorical and stylistic moves. This allows us to become better readers-- an important goal of any literature class-- as well as to better understand how America's literary tradition developed over time.
But don't fret: while we may not read any Grisham, we will read more contemporary writers in the second half of the class, and later this week you will be able to choose a novel to read.
Not to suck up to Kunkle, but I'm with him on this one. I believe the most important way to learn history is from writings from the time. It certainly has helped me see some roots to some of the philosophy that floats around in 21st century politics and society. However, I do desire something more modern every now and then simply for times sake... annotating-wise...
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