Masterpiece Reflective Essay

               I had to make a tremendous adjustment this past year. This course was completely different than any other class I’ve ever had in my life. There’s nothing bad with that, but there definitely was an adjustment I had to make. For me, learning always had a bad connotation because I connect it to school which I despise, however this course taught me to embrace learning. It’s much easier to learn when it was what you are passionate about, such as my masterpiece. I learned a lot in this course, but I learned the most about world hunger because of how much time I spent on my masterpiece. At the beginning of the course it was hard for me to get use to Open Source Learning, but I got used to it and prefer it over the traditional curriculum.

               One of the biggest aspects of this course is the level of trust. Without the teachers constantly giving me assignments with deadlines, it means that I had a tendency to do assignments late or not at all. But, I did all the important assignments, and anytime not spent on those assignments were designated to my masterpiece. I tried to honor this trust as best as I could. Three non-fiction characters I could compare myself to are Beowulf, Macbeth, and Bernard. The reason I would compare myself to them is because I feel like I’ve been on similar journeys as them. The Beowulf comparison is somewhat true because my whole life I haven’t really had much difficulty in being successful, as did Beowulf. He did have some challenges later on in life, which I feel that I will face when I get to college. The reason for the Macbeth comparison is because we both have an unrelenting desire to get what we want. I work every day for a goal which is to play basketball professionally, no matter what it takes. Macbeth was working every day to become king of pretty much the world, and did whatever it took to be have success. Lastly I compare myself to Bernard because I sometimes feel like an outcast that is always questioning the order and structure of society. Ever since I can remember I’ve always questioned why things are, which is what Bernard did.

               Something that made me laugh is when one day it was raining outside, and Dr. Preston said “this is great weather to nap in”, and I said “we should take a nap right now”. And Dr. Preston laughed and said ha ha “f**k you” in a joking manner. This made me really laugh out loud. A unifying theme that I saw in the presentations in my class was connecting everyone together. There were a couple of presentations that dealt with music and how it changes your emotions and it’s a universal language that can bring people of different cultures together. There were other presentations such as equality among humanity and even the similarities of twins that shows how connected we really are.

               I think that my hero’s journey represented my senior year in a nutshell. I was called to a journey where I had to maintain good grades for Stanford. There was times where it was stressful, and it was hard to keep my grades up because it was my senior and my lack of motivation. My journey could also represent my masterpiece, and how world hunger was calling my name. In this, I did seek a mentor which was Mrs. Byrne, who helped me and guided me through this. After my masterpiece I did return englightened with a lot of information, and a different way to look at hunger. For a literary technique I’m going to come up with a simile to represent this course, my masterpiece, and my senior year. My senior year was as stressful as a ton of bricks being held up by a twig, yet as enjoyable as the beach on a warm sunny day. (Sorry the beach simile was kind of subjective.)

Masterpiece Reflective Essay

               I had to make a tremendous adjustment this past year. This course was completely different than any other class I’ve ever had in my life. There’s nothing bad with that, but there definitely was an adjustment I had to make. For me, learning always had a bad connotation because I connect it to school which I despise, however this course taught me to embrace learning. It’s much easier to learn when it was what you are passionate about, such as my masterpiece. I learned a lot in this course, but I learned the most about world hunger because of how much time I spent on my masterpiece. At the beginning of the course it was hard for me to get use to Open Source Learning, but I got used to it and prefer it over the traditional curriculum.

               One of the biggest aspects of this course is the level of trust. Without the teachers constantly giving me assignments with deadlines, it means that I had a tendency to do assignments late or not at all. But, I did all the important assignments, and anytime not spent on those assignments were designated to my masterpiece. I tried to honor this trust as best as I could. Three non-fiction characters I could compare myself to are Beowulf, Macbeth, and Bernard. The reason I would compare myself to them is because I feel like I’ve been on similar journeys as them. The Beowulf comparison is somewhat true because my whole life I haven’t really had much difficulty in being successful, as did Beowulf. He did have some challenges later on in life, which I feel that I will face when I get to college. The reason for the Macbeth comparison is because we both have an unrelenting desire to get what we want. I work every day for a goal which is to play basketball professionally, no matter what it takes. Macbeth was working every day to become king of pretty much the world, and did whatever it took to be have success. Lastly I compare myself to Bernard because I sometimes feel like an outcast that is always questioning the order and structure of society. Ever since I can remember I’ve always questioned why things are, which is what Bernard did.

               Something that made me laugh is when one day it was raining outside, and Dr. Preston said “this is great weather to nap in”, and I said “we should take a nap right now”. And Dr. Preston laughed and said ha ha “f**k you” in a joking manner. This made me really laugh out loud. A unifying theme that I saw in the presentations in my class was connecting everyone together. There were a couple of presentations that dealt with music and how it changes your emotions and it’s a universal language that can bring people of different cultures together. There were other presentations such as equality among humanity and even the similarities of twins that shows how connected we really are.

               I think that my hero’s journey represented my senior year in a nutshell. I was called to a journey where I had to maintain good grades for Stanford. There was times where it was stressful, and it was hard to keep my grades up because it was my senior and my lack of motivation. My journey could also represent my masterpiece, and how world hunger was calling my name. In this, I did seek a mentor which was Mrs. Byrne, who helped me and guided me through this. After my masterpiece I did return englightened with a lot of information, and a different way to look at hunger. For a literary technique I’m going to come up with a simile to represent this course, my masterpiece, and my senior year. My senior year was as stressful as a ton of bricks being held up by a twig, yet as enjoyable as the beach on a warm sunny day. (Sorry the beach simile was kind of subjective.)

Macbeth Essay:

                  One of the recurring themes about Shakespeare's plays is tragedy and death. It is shown in "Romeo and Juliet", "Julius Caesar", "Hamlet", and now "Macbeth." Death is different than incarceration and exile because, its final, irreversible, and it's the end of a character in a play. In "Macbeth", the actions of the protagonist, Macbeth has a ripple effect on all the other characters with the exception of Lady Macbeth. In order for Macbeth to seize the throne, he has to bring suffering to others. He murders many people on the way, and rules as a tyrant. The theme of this play is "fair is foul and foul is fair" and can be applied to many aspects of the play. This concept also explains the suffering of others at the hands of Macbeth.

                     In the beginning, Macbeth wanted the throne, but was reluctant to take it. Lady Macbeth convinced him to take it by killing Duncan the current king. Killing another man in cold blood isn't the easiest endeavor, and any person with a conscious can't do it without remorse. But to Lady Macbeth, it is fair to take out the king, and assume his position, when in reality, it is foul. When Macbeth executes his plan, he takes the throne. Then he goes on a rampage and kills other men to keep his secret, which contributes to others suffering. Not only are the people he's killing are suffering, but so are his citizens, because he's being such a tyrant and ruthless leader. Towards the end of the play, Macbeth engages in a battle with what it seems like the whole world, he ends up dying at the hands of Macduff. It seems like decapitation is a foul punishment, but to them it was fair for what Macbeth had done. 

                      In the end, Macbeth is completely responsible for all the suffering that went on during the play. He is seen as an alpha male, but lack morals and remorse. A tragedy is a play where there is an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, which is caused by Macbeth by his selfish and incompetent actions, in which he only gained success, at the hands of others suffering. 

Noah couldn't have said it any better

Tobermory Explained:

Theme: I think the theme is that we aren't necessarily  open to new ideas. When Appin introduced the cat, he was speaking the truths of everybody at the social gathering. The people there belong to a higher class of society and tend to be stuck up and snotty. Therefore when the feline was telling the truths of everybody there, they took it to offense and thought the cat was rude, and they were mad at Appin for introducing the cat. I think theme goes for all of us because most of us aren't open to new ideas. Whenever I go to a restaurant my parents always try to get me to try new foods and I'm never open to it, because I like being comfortable. The same goes for society, as they like to be comfortable and content with the way things are instead of change. 

Tone: I think the tone is a wrathful and hateful one. The people were upset with the cat for what it said, and they were also upset with Appin. That's why they said that if he was trying to teach him German verbs he deserved all he got. The people there had a feeling of hatred for the cat and Appin for embarrassing them. 

Masterpiece Progress:

I had a good conversation with my mom about my masterpiece and she thought I had a great idea and that it was very thoughtful of me to try and do this. When we were talking, one of the things she suggested is that the solution to the problem isn't shipping food to poorer nations, rather the solution should be trying to teach them how to grow food. To my knowledge, they don't know how to grow food and teaching them how to farm and harvest crops will be very beneficial to them. 

Another problem in third world countries is rapid population growth. They don't have access to birth control, and the result is having too many children, and a scarce amount of food and water to feed them. Poorer nations don't have planned parenthoods, and they also don't have the ability to get vasectomies or tubal ligations, which results in more children than families are able to raise. 

Another problem is rape. Rape is common in third world countries, and isn't taken as seriously as it is in America. There aren't police and juries to enforce the law, and many women fall victim to rape. When rape victims get pregnant, they aren't able to get an abortion, and if they try, they most likely kill themselves and the baby. 

The last problem is that the water supply is polluted most of time. Even if the people try to grow crops the water is contaminated so it makes it impossible to grow crops. 

The solution needs to be to regulate population growth, influence agriculture growth, and try to implement a clean source of drinking water. 

SEEKING MENTOR:

Next year, my mentor will be my basketball coach Johnny Dawkins. What I want him to teach me is how to become a better basketball player. I want him to guide me to getting to the next level. He played at Duke, and a couple of years in the NBA, so he knows what it takes to get to the highest level. I often consult with him on what I need to work on, to get better. I think as much as I grow on the basketball court, he will be great in my development as a man and better person. I can't wait to work with him next year!