intrepidestudentaccount-blog

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

Major Theme: Fortitude.             ~Reflection~

The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Meteora by Linkin Park, Uglies, Just Listen, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Spirited Away, Sylvia Plath/Love Is A Parallax. 

These texts mark my perilous journey through adolescence. Fortitude is described as courage in pain or adversity (see below link for verification of this definition).

Though it may be a noun, for me it was a verb that had to be chosen every day of my life. There were days that I didn’t choose to be courageous in the face of my adversity, and sometimes those days still happen...

Like Princess Addy, Chester Bennington, Tally Youngblood, Annabel Greene, Robert Frost, Chihiro Ogino/Sen, and Slyvia Plath, I’ve exhibited fortitude against the infinite sources of pain and adversity that has plagued my life. I’ve had 14 seemingly endless days that I didn’t chose fortitude against my pain, much like Bennington and Plath. 

The greater takeaway that can be derived from this common theme, however, is that fortitude leads to gratitude. Princess Addy exhibits fortitude against the dark perils of her fantasy world despite her cowardliness and as a result of her Heroine’s Journey, she uses her newfound courage to become a true leader to her people. Through his music, Bennington uses his fortitude against his depression to express the words most people are afraid to let out of the dark, recessed places of the mind. Tally Youngblood exhibits fortitude in her journey into the wilderness as well as when she decides to align herself with The Smoke’s objectives. Annabel Greene maintains fortitude against her peers, even when she is relentlessly bullied. Annabel also exhibits fortitude when she adds her statement to the case against a serial rapist, despite the fear of backlash. Frost and Plath express fortitude against the hopelessness and sadness life doles out in plentiful quantities. Sen in Spirited Away demonstrates fortitude against all the odds stacked against her; her parents are turned into pigs and in order to save her family and return to the real world, she must devote her portion of her life to slaving away in the bathhouse, among other challenges. Instead of shying away from their pain and adversity, all of these characters use this pain to conquer the hardships they’ve been dealt. 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

F O R T I T U D E   X   G R A T I T U D E

Please like or reblog if you’re using/downloading ~

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

The poetry of Sylvia Plath: 2011: Age 16. 

Truth be told, my favorite Plath poem is “Love Is A Parallax,” but I couldn’t find an image that represented this lengthy poem in entirety. However, this image also represents the struggle, depth and complexity that I felt at this age. 

Plath was another American poet I spent hours poring over, trying to find a piece of myself in that I couldn’t find in the real world. 

In my future ELA classroom, I’ll be using Plath and Frost in conjunction with each other to teach American poetry. 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

One Summer’s Day – Joe Hisaishi – Spirited Away OST

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

I think that the Studio Ghibli films, specifically “Spirited Away,” were instrumental to my love of anime and classical music. 

This set of GIFs are snapshots of the film. The film centers around (yet another) female protagonist who has to be brave in order to save the day. However, a lesser focused element of this storyline is all the friends who stood by her side on her journey, aiding her in any way they could because they cared for her. She isn’t the smartest, or the most beautiful, but she tries her best and as kind as she can be, which matters more in the end. 

I don’t think that this “text” can be used in an ELA classroom, but the idea behind showing films as an visual accompaniment to companion texts is brilliant. 

Once you’ve met someone, you never really forget them.

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

#6: 2010.

Age: 15. 

Hayao Miyazaki: Studio Ghibli Films. 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

#5 2009: Age 14.

intrepidestudentaccount:

My love of Robert Frost poetry developed the year after my first real heartbreak. 

I remember checking out an anthology of his poetry from the school library for nearly the whole school year because I kept wanting to return to it for inspiration.

During this age, I had a wall in my bedroom I’d paint and write quotes, lyrics and of course, poetry on. I’d spend hours searching that same book for the perfect line of poetry to encapsulate the wealth of feelings I felt towards the breakup, the loss of many childhood friends and my own innocence. This poem forever remains my favorite source of poetry. Frost just has such a way with words and a beautiful verbalization of the connection betwixt the natural and human world. 

I will indubitably teach Frost, as his work is luckily a canon in American poetry. My American poetry unit will definitely include Frost, as well as another American poet that will be referenced later in this project.

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

Don’t think or judge, just listen.

Sarah Dessen, Just Listen (via said-i)

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

Part #4: 2008.  Age 13.

intrepidestudentaccount:

Choosing between my favorite Dessen novel was incredibly difficult, but since I HAVE to choose... “Just Listen” is definitely my top choice in terms of the effect it had on me. It dealt with sexual assault, being alienated from all the friends the protagonist once had, and working through various forms of trauma during adolescence, the latter of which I could really relate to. 

At one point, the protagonist was completely and utterly alone in the hardest point of her life, and all it took was one guy to really see her for her to overcome all of the terrible things that had been done to her. This really resonated with me. 

As much as I would LOVE to teach a Dessen book, I don’t think any of her texts will be applicable, as they’re atypically centered for a female audience. 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

But it’s a trick, Tally. You’ve only seen pretty faces your whole life. Your parents, your teachers, everyone over sixteen. But you weren’t born expecting that kind of beauty in everyone, all the time. You just got programmed into thinking anything else was ugly.“

Shay- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (via sagehathawaydragomir)

intrepidestudentaccount:

#3: Part II.

This quote helps me to explain why this text was so crucial to my textual lineage. For those of you not as familiar with this text, it centers around a post-apocalyptic world where the general population undergoes an ‘operation’ at age 16 that turns them into breath-takingly beautiful models, but also leaves brain lesions that don’t allow for any type of critical thinking. This was really important to me at twelve years old, because I have always struggled with my own self-image as an ‘ugly’ in a world filled with far more gorgeous people. This sort of ideology has led to preliminary conclusions on my part, and what I’m sure thousands of other little girls conclude: that if you’re ugly, you’re worthless. A blight to society. But that couldn’t be any less true. and the beautiful people don’t truly have beautiful lives in every possible way.

I think that this particular text would be really interesting to use in an ELA classroom as a source of YAL dystopian literature to accompany other canonical literature of the same discourse.

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

#3: 2007: Age 12.

Part I: 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld was one of my first encounters with dystopian YAL, which remains to be one of my favorite types of literature today. 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

#2: 2006: Part II. 

The lyrics of LP are the most beautiful prose I think I’ll ever encounter in my life. In the ELA classroom, I think it would be really nifty to write song lyrics as a critical writing project, emulating either our favorite artists or another source of canonical literature style. 

5 Chester’s Songs About Being Strong

I don’t know about you guys, but I couldn’t get over what happened to Chester just yet and I don’t know if I ever will. I’ve been playing his songs in my iPod and in my head, some of them are sad, some of them are empowering.

The lyrics made me question why a man that writes songs about being strong, get back on your feet and let bad things go did what he did, but I guess there’s a limit every person can go to before tearing apart. 

So this is the 5 songs Chester Bennington composed (or recorded) about being strong.

5. Somewhere I Belong

The song is about someone who’s in the darkness and wants and tries to find the light. 

“I will break away, I’ll find myself today”

“I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long (Erase all the pain till it’s gone) I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along Somewhere I belong”

4. One More Light

Chester’s words in the beginning simply kill me, ‘cause now I’m singing this song for him. We all care and we all feel very much each day.

“Can I help you, not to hurt, anymore?”

“There are things that we can have, but can’t keep”

“And you’re angry, and you should be, it’s not fair Just ‘cause you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it, isn’t there”

“Who cares if one more light goes out? Well I do”

3. Not Alone

I like this song not only because it brings hope and love, but also a sense of freedom. The way he sings “you are not alone”… it just gives me chills.

“The cold comes, racing through my skin Searching for a way to get to you through the storm”

“Go, leaving all you’ve known, you are not alone”

If I may, I’d like to make a small change in this verse: “No, don’t give up your hope, you are not alone”, ‘cause that’s exactly what I’d say to him.

2. Iridescent

A powerful song, not only for its lyrics, but also for the sonority.

“Do you feel cold and lost in desperation? You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known Remember all the sadness and frustration And let it go”

1. The Messenger

This song won’t stop playing in my head when I heard about Chester. This one song that fills up the heart with so much hope. 

When you feel all alone Cut off from this cruel world Your instincts telling you to run Listen to your heart Those angel voices They’ll sing to you, they’ll be your guide back home When life leaves us blind Love keeps us kind It keeps us kind When you’ve suffered enough And your spirit is breaking You’re growing desperate from the fight Remember you’re loved And you always will be This melody will bring you right back home When life leaves us blind Love keeps us kind When life leaves us blind Love keeps us kind

So I guess this is me, trying to say goodbye… 

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

#2: 2006: age 11+ (still currently a major influence). 

Part I: 

Linkin Park is my favorite band of all time. Since I was young, their music has given me strength time and time again, as well as helped me to feel understood in turbulent times. I always return to this music when sadness or anger overwhelms me. 

[ Linkin Park ] / METEORA /

[intrepidestudentaccount-blog]

intrepidestudentaccount:

2005: Age 10. 

Thinking back to my formative years, this text remained my favorite children’s book throughout much of my numerous encounters with primary school literature. I’m not ashamed to admit that there were tears invoked by the end. 

As a young girl growing up, I was definitely a lover of fairy tales where the princess gains true love and a real happily after. But, this book was different. 

I identified so much with timid, anxious Addie, who had to face her fears and use her wits to win each battle she was faced with. She had to become a true heroine to save what mattered most: her sister, her only real familial connection. 

There wasn’t an atypical happily ever after; but it ended as it should. 

This book changed me, because it taught me from a young age that it is possible for women to be our own hero: despite gender roles, and the expectation from society that a man is necessary to save the day... If you have courage, and you’re brave in the face of the things that scare you the most, using intelligence as a means of winning against the challenges you face.... You can have your own happily ever after, even if it isn’t like all the other princesses. And that’s okay.