Does anyone ever read the blog anymore?

I miss blogging!

The End of a Great Era (anonymous feedback)

Junior Year, as we know it, has come to an exciting close, but so has another era: that of the first AP 3's, the first and last of a great group.
I know Mr. Laz asked for some feedback...
Honestly, at first, I did not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I thought the course was definitely a challenge, except the vocab quizzes, which basically kept my grades up.
Hayakawa was AWESOME. It totally opened my eyes to the world, and it hasn't made me more cynical, just more aware.
I think my least favorite part, as with the majority, was NOT the term paper, but the individual tests on each era. I always seemed to run out of time... But they couldn't be avoided, because they did effectively test our knowledge of each era and our utilization of rhetorical analysis.
The term paper steps were organized, and I felt really confident just because everything had a reason and flowed smoothly. Of course, I hate the idea of a term paper (who doesn't), but as far as they go, this was almost enjoyable, to see that each of us could really produce a knock-out essay.
As I reflect back on the course as a whole, I would have to say I loved it. Every moment was intellectually stimulating, whether I was awake for it or not. Thanks LAZ! Thanks for a great year everyone!

Romanticism and Neoclassicim

Hey, it's Erin.
Ah, my last post of the year...
Well, as I've been studying hectically for finals, I was reviewing Romanticism and Neoclassicism. I know that they are very opposite in many ways (form v. content, individual v. group, emotion v. logic), but I feel that they have some similarities as well. An important idea is Romanticism is that of the individual instinct, that people can find their own way because their instincts/emotions will guide them the right way. Even though neoclassicism emphasizes logic as the path to truth, evil is defined as that which destroys happiness; that which promotes happiness is good. In a way, neoclassics relied on their emotions (happiness v. unhappiness) to determine truth. Also, just as the individual is important in Romanticism (the individual must find their own way/truth), the individual is important in Neoclassicism, although in a different way. Religious liberty was emphasized: everyone needed to find their own religious truth; it was an individual matter. What other people had to say about religion was no longer important; Neoclassics felt that they should try to find out using actual religious texts, sort of making their own interpretation. Romanticism simply extended the Neoclassic idea of religion as a matter of the individual to greater extent.
I just thought that it was interesting how two things that are so different in so many ways had similarities.
Good luck on finals everyone!!!!!

My Class Review! -Cristy

Hey it's Cristy, I was looking over the blog for old time's sake. (even though I still can't believe it's over!) and I realized I never got to hand in my class critique that I wrote...so I will blog what I remember of it now. First of all, thanks to Mr. Lazarow for an exciting and interesting class that really woke me up in the morning and left me questioning reality for the rest of the day. I agree that I did not feel that I got too much use out of the Toulmin Sentence and that maybe if we started it earlier in the year I would have gotten a chance to be more comfortable working with it. I really did enjoy the literature we read, and analyzing it afterwards in class. I loved the witch hunt game and I thought the day where we acted as a different personality type was amazing! I think it would be great to incorporate those games into the class next year and maybe add another one!
Hayakawa was amazing and I know that we have all come to love and revere his name. :) It helps so much with rhetorical analysis, and I don't know how I went so long without focusing more on it. I guess the only things I think could be different are #1 I didn't feel like I really knew were I stood grade wise and #2 that I don't think 1 week was really enough time to finish the term paper. Because 5 of the days are school days with lots of other work,(which can slow the whole process down) and then it might take a bit of time to get it checked etc.
But I really did enjoy the class. The random tangents, the heated arguments, the quote game! hahaha. Okay well thank you Mr. Laz and all of my fellow pupils for a great year! Enjoy the summer!

Class Review

Hey, it's Erin.

Well, the last day of class is over, so I guess now would be a good time to review the year. First off, I think that everyone really grew over the year and we should all be proud (we not only survived, we dominated!). I think that the blog should definitely be considered part of the participation grade (because it helps out all the quiet people like me who feel that if they say something they'll sound like idiots and would just rather write stuff down). Hayakawa was definitely one of my favorite parts of the year; he pretty much helped with everything from the beginning of the year on. I also felt pretty prepared for the AP test. We'd done so much rhetorical analysis we could all do it in our sleep and the same with writing essays (although maybe not me in that regard). But in that case, I already knew that writing essays was my weak point rather than my strong point but I feel like I learned a lot along the way (although sometimes the hard way). Also, I really liked learning about the different movements (neoclassicism, romanticism).
As to the term paper unit, I agree with what Ian said that the Toulmin model should be brought up earlier; it would be really helpful on essays. I also agree with what Ashley said that eliminating books, and then supporting material, was really hard. I'm sure it helped us in the long run - focussing our argument more and finding the absolutely necessary information - but it was so hard at times. Finally, I felt that I needed WAY more time before the term paper due date. Suddenly, it was like, "okay, I have a term paper due in a week - help!" Of course, that could just be me but I felt that a bit more time would have been wonderful.
Best memories of this class: Ben acting like he was going to accuse Steph (like a lot of other people) but then accusing Deirdre (so funny), that experiment where we acted completely different for a day, winning the quote game (we rock!)... I would think of more but I'm so tired.
In conclusion, we will always be Mr. Lazarow's BEST AP 3 class ever :)

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I still can't believe English is over...Or that we beat Mr. Laz in the quote game!

I don't know what I'm going to do without the PACKETS. I have Post-Packet Stress Disorder..........................

Does anyone still read the blog!?

Reality

Well, I've been meaning to write this post for sometime now, and seeing how its the last day, I'm guessing now would be a good time. So basically, we began this year discussing Hayakawa, and how no two of us perceive anything the same way - because we are inherently different in our experiences, our background, etc., in short whatever makes us uniquely us. The question that arises is - is there some form of "truth", as in is there one "actual" reality that we take parts of? In all likelihood, the very nature of using language limits the expression of this truth. The Spanish philospher, Jose Ortega y Gasset, seemingly resolved this problem by stating that we all view part of the "actuality", and the sum total of all our views was this "truth", and that "truth" was what we call God. To me, this seems somewhat of an easy way out, by attributing something we're not sure exists - "truth", to something else that we may not be sure of - God. An interesting road to take here is to consider the notion that truth doesn't actually exist - and is only another figment of our psyches that we strive for. This raises a whole new set of problems. Our entire action is based on the idea that there is some definite reality that we all experience, with common time and space, etc. and that everything has a cause and effect, a principle called determinism. If we throw the notion of an absolute reality out, our existences become very complicated. Even on a scientific level, absolute reality doesn't exist - particles can travel through supposedly solid walls, observing something changes its existence, and it is impossible to know where an object is and how fast it is moving. Technically, when you bounce a tennis ball on the wall, there is a probability that it will go through the wall without damaging it at all. I wonder now how we all function if we really are experiencing different realities - and also if we all disreguard the notion of alternate realities for pure convenience. Is our entire existence based off the false assumption that we perceive an absolute reality that is unchanging for all on some level, and is it even possible to move past this false assumption? Is the notion of false itself flawed? Whether one is a Romantic and loves the individual reality, or one is a neoclassic and loves the reality of the group, the very reality of absolute reality is a problem that must be addressed by all.