Lucas’ English Blog

 In class we read through a good part of the Rock Pile by James Baldwin. We actually reached the climax where Gabriel came home and the confrontation over Johnny’s injury takes place. We come to learn that Roy isn’t Gabriel’s child. I wonder if Baldwin had a similar situation growing up.

 In class, we began the Rock Pile by James Baldwin. Not having a chromebook yet made this a bit tedious because the text was so small, but it all worked out. The story is apparently based off the area the narrator grew up at and teaches lessons through his personal experience which i think is great.

 

 In our first block class, we took an assessment over the poems we had been learning so far this year. The questions were more confusing and shady than questions i’ve seen on ap tests, map tests, or even the end of course tests. I didn’t enjoy this quiz at all as i felt i was often playing more of a lottery to understand what the question wanted me to think about answering rather than answering a clear question.

 In this class we had a subsitiute teacher. She gave us a paper to fill out reflecting on the poem that we went over in class the day before. I didn’t get as much as i wished i could out of this class, as i ended up finishing 10 minutes into the class and passed the rest of the 45 minutes on my phone.

 Today in class, we read our 4th poem about Langston Hughes. I have already read and analyzed it in a previous course, but this time I got new meaning out of it. Things like the landings being goals was new to me. It's very interesting how poems can be viewed from different lights like that.

 I missed most of class due to a doctor's appointmement. I'm trying to get my problems with nosebleeds solved, but nothing works. While I was in class, however, I caught that we were reading another poem by Langston Hughes and were tasked to name what constitutional rights we appreciated most or something along those lines. I like the direction the class is taking.

 In class, we read the poem “I, too” by Langston Hughes. I’ve already read and analyzed this poem in a previous course, but it was nice to review it. I enjoyed talking about Liberia and it’s strange history and reflecting on the accuracy the poem shows even a hundred years forward with the lines about the white people being ashamed that eventually black people will be at the table with them in equality. His tomorrow is today.

 In class, with the 35 minute schedule, we had time to only finish the review on “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. The questions allowed me to reflect more deeply on the meaning and intention behind the poem. I am excited to continue reading his other popular poems in class later on.

 In class, we read a poem by langston hughes. The poem was his first and he writes about the black race being the first and that his roots run deep. He wrote it on the way to his father’s home and he was just out of high school. The knowledge he had as a black man in the early 1900s is incredible seeing the distribution of education at the time.

 With schedules making for short classes until next week, there wasn’t all too much time in class. While I was there, however, I learned about common cultural aspects of african american life. From values to demographic population density, i learned plenty of new things while also understanding cultural misrepresentations and stereotypes.