Thornton Academy – AP Language 2018-2019

         This year, Earth Day is celebrated on Monday, April 22nd.  Unlike what happened to the dinosaurs, human activity such as climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides are the leading cause of today’s rapid extinction of species on our planet.  Every year, threatened and endangered species such as bees, coral reefs, elephants, giraffes, and whales get closer and closer to becoming extinct.  Like all living things, these plants, animals, and insects each play a unique role in the complex web of life and the loss of an entire species can disrupt food chains and more.

Awareness needs to be spread about how close to extinction so many species are due to the actions of humans, and the impact the loss of those species will have on the planet.  There are many documentaries, campaigns, fundraisers, and protests that push the idea that humans need to take action NOW in order to save the planet.  

The entire population of humans can do the following on Earth Day and every other day in an effort to improve the planet and all species living on it.  Plant something.  Ride a bike or walk, instead of driving a car. Use reusable bags and water bottles.  Eat organic fruits and vegetables while avoiding meat.  Give up chewing gum. 

~ Isabella Dube

“Mamaaaaaaaaa! OooooOooooOoooooo!” 

My muscles lifted and adjusted as I passionately mouthed the words.

“Sometimes I wish I’d never been born at aaaallll! Carry on, carry on!” 

Those dark lyrics, though laidened with dispair, filled me with glowing electricity as I finished my stretches. In the empty cold of my basement, I felt inspired to crank up Spotify as loud as I pleased, free from the annoyed repercussions of my family. Within the randomized selection, luck picked out for me one of my favorite choices.

“Anyway the wind bloooooowwwwwwss….”

The song was over, and so was my grace period. I put my back to the ground, allowed myself one final breath, and moved. Legs up, legs down. Stomach pulling, heaving, curling, realesing. Burning. Break. Thirty seconds. Breathe. Lift. Legs up, legs down.

“Can anybody find meeeeeeeeeeee?!”

I have a love-hate relationship with the pain. I love the gallop of red pulsing through my body, beating at every limb. I love the determination and power of it. I love the sense of crushing through it. But I do hate it.

“Ooooooo somebody–Ooooooh somebody–“

Done! My abdomine teared at the seams as it blew up and imploded with air. The chilled stone ground pressed into the back of my head. Dehydrated, gasping, and burnt, I pathetically attempted to sing.

”Can anybody find meeeeeeeeeeeee…somebody to loooooooooove?!” 

On to the next one. My legs, no longer lifting, we’re now folded in front of me, my feet firmly tucked underneath weights. I raised my back and slammed it on the ground. Lift, slam, lift, slam. But the pain was not located on my back–it was, again, applied to the weakened stomach. The burning continued. Temptation crept in. Then–

“All we hear is: radio gaga–radio googoo–“

I should have spent my thirty second break breathing; instead, I allowed myself to swing my raised arms in a simply silly dance.

”Radio gaga (clap clap)!”

I was energetic, but spent. Low on air, water, and food, I rolled back to my feet to start the final round. Stoopped down, my spine bent with the effort to reach relatively light weights. One in each fist, they paralleled my shoulders in position for the simple movements.

I calculated in my head. Maybe I would do less this time, I don’t want to hurt myself, it’s been awhile, why not just—

“Boom boom clap! Boom boom clap!”

A smirk slid into my lips.

“Buddy you’re a boy, make a big noise, playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday!”

Just what I needed: some cheesy old rock music.

HGR

HGR

Cover 22:

Claim: Eggs are an appropriate and fitting addition to the cover of The Great Gatsby. 

Argument: The eggs successfully relate to the content and advertise the book through sybolysym, context, and design.

Body:  1. Eggs suggest deviled eggs, a common hors d’oeuvre. The presence of hors d’oeuvres suggests wealth and plenty.

2. The rich yellow color has traditionally been used to depict gold, money, and happiness.

3. Eggs: something that could bring life, but ultimately failed to do so, evident by their presence at the dinner table. Daisey’s and Gatsby’s eyes in the yoke represent a dream that could have been, but ultimately died.

Conclusion: Eggs magnify the cultural, economical, and literary themes of The Great Gatsby and are an eggs-cellent choice for the cover art.

 

Cover 16:

Claim/analysis: This abstract cover uses visual subjectivity to create pathos.

Argument: the illustrator forgoes concrete imagery to show his/her personal view of Gatsby while captivating the audience.

Body: 1. The used of silhouettes and negative space as opposed to a fully illustrated cover allow the viewer to decide for themselves (and to their preference) what kind of person is being displayed.

2. The audience subjectively judges the cover; meanwhile, Gatsby subjectively observes the letter Y. This four es viewers to realize: Gatsby is thinking, just like they are.

3. The absent background and introspective subject of the cover cause the audience to think: Who is this man? What is he thinking? Where is he? The audience now feels a strong sense of mystery.

Conclusion: the illustrated utilizes abstraction, subjectivity, and pathos to draw customers toward The Great Gatsby. 

Cover 4:

Claim: illustrating the short story at the beginning of The Great Gatsby for the cover, rather than the main story, best represents the book.

Argument:  The short story illustration showcases the theme of the book, rather than the story, and is advertised toward the seasoned, acedemic-reader.

Body: 1. The short story showcases the main theme of Gatsby and sets the tone for a doomed romance. And so, to showcase the whole book  the illustrator chose the scene from the short story in which a man swims in the water as his crush on a boat approaches him.

2. The cover advertises to an audience that has already read the book. Because of the sort story’s obscurity, the acedemic audience will be drawn to the cover, remembering its stark definition and literary importance.

Conclusion: The start of Dexter, not the story of Gatsby, advertises best to educationally inclined fans of the book.

Cover 6:

Claim: The illustrator uses symbolism and exposition to showcase the book.

Argument: The symbols important to Gatsby are presented to customers as the main elements for understanding the story, which creates interest.

Body: 1. The illustrator artistically presents important symbolism in the book. This causes the audience to wonder what the symbols could mean, creating interest.

2. Exposition is used so that the reader finds themselves searching for what is showcased on the cover as they read, urging them to continue till the end and reminisce when they see the cover again.

Conclusion: the symbols shown expositionally interest customers, even after they have bought the product.

HGR

Days become reflections, facing each 24-hour period until you can’t see the end of the rectangular maze, because it is pure, unhinged infinity staring you in the dead eyes. Your sticks move beneath you, bending at the branch; the engine inflates and compresses, forcing hydraulics into your skin sack,  pumping you up and down like a balloon. You hunch, twist, shout—but the one thing you have left to your control, your mind, is stagnant.

Life rolls on. You are but a toiler, your task being to continue as light stretches its same path again and again. You mustn’t faulter, you mustn’t stop: the expectations, in their great power, press into your pores, commanding your unable body to preform. With each discrepancy the pressure builds, and you wade into it faster, not by your own choice, but by some boiling instinct within you that cannot survive without it.

The strings apon your hand clack, the tendons within your back tremble and slump.  You are embraced by black, an embrace so warm it magnifies your discomfort. There is a trapped luminescence hanging over the plateau. It slices through the embrace, allowing the connection between your hands and eyes to strengthen.

It incourages you. You muse to yourself: the expections, though mighty, have no power over you; who are they to command you? Mere ghosts that you have convinced yourself of reality. So, exorcise them! And finally, sleep.

They have come for you. They are here for you. Wolves in the night, they race. The engine pumps. Fingers flash, eyes dash, bones stiffen! So what can you do but run, because the time is on your back and it becomes heavy as it thins and stagnancy imprisons you to watch with burning eyes as everything tumbles to the bottom of a hill you have built up for a year out of tears and sweat and unhappiness all for nothing and it will crumble beneath your feet in the moonlight if you dare to stop don’t you dare stop. 

Your sagging eyelids raise to find your lamp on your desk, still glowing in the deepening night. You sigh and continue your work.