Unsettling Adventures with Middle Schoolers

      I thought it was very interesting how throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, all of the patients seemed to follow whatever McMurphy was doing. When he was rebelling against the nurse, they would too. When he was following the nurses orders, they would too. I also realized how this applies to real life. 

      Last Friday, my friend and I had to go to the Middle School to perform a social conformity experiment for our Psychology class on the seventh and eighth graders. We would pick three students first, and tell them three questions we were going to ask them that were generally easy: What is 6*7? What is the capital of New York? What part of speech are the words "to jump"? We would then tell these students that we were going to call one more student over and ask the same three questions, but this time the three accomplices would answer wrong answers together: 49, Buffalo, adjective. Then we would see whether the fourth student would conform the the wrong answer, or stick up for the right one. 

      Through this experiment, we were able to distinguish the "McMurphies" of the school, versus the "patients." The overwhelming amount of "patients" where unsettling. So many middle schoolers simply went along with the wrong answer, after a quick glance around at their peers for approval. In on instance, we started with the fourth student to see if hearing all the students say the same, wrong answer after him would affect his reaction. It did. The fourth student actually went back and changed his correct answer from the beginning! Seeing this happened showed me just how powerful social conformity is, and even though this made me sympathize more with the "patients" in the novel, it also made me disgusted to realize how people don't stick up for themselves.

       However, I can not overlook that there were people who stuck up for the right answer. These "McMurphies" gave me hope that maybe society isn't as conformist as it seems, and there are those that are able to break the mold, and stick up for what they believe in. 

Always Look On the Bright-Side of Life

       In class yesterday, we talked about whether we thought McMurphy had selfish or selfless intentions when he convinced the patients to go on the boat trip and use their insanity as a strength in society, rather than a weakness. While some of my class thought that he at first was selfish but then changed once he got to know them, many people believed he was simply doing this for his own personal benefit or creating a rebellion against Nurse Ratched. I find it very interesting that people, including myself, tend to believe that others always have ulterior motives for their actions. For example, in the novel, the patients themselves begin to doubt that McMurphy has other intentions when Harding states, "'Everything he's [McMurphy] done was done with a reason"' (266). The fact that Harding would think this of McMurphy after McMurphy has risked himself so many times to give the men more freedom in the ward mad me kind of upset. Also the fact that Nurse Ratched barely had to say anything to the men to get them to turn on McMurphy made me upset also. Another example is my close friend who believes whenever someone asked them what they got on a test or essay, that person is always trying to make them feel bad. People are curious and tend to ask others how they do on examinations, and this isn't normally to put the other person down. Also, in psychology we talked a while ago how if a person goes to McDonald's or another fast food restaurant and offers to buy other their food for free, few people accept the offer. Society cannot understand why a person would want to pay for their lunch or breakfast, which no compensation. Overall, society needs to view people in a better light, and to give them the benefit of the doubt rather than always believing people to have other selfish motives.

Surprise Substitute

       Last Friday, much to our surprise, our English class had a discussion instead of an in class essay. Usually, when Ms. Serensky isn't there we have in class journal or writings, which most, if not all, students dread. However, on Friday we were blessed with a pretty cool substitute teacher. I walked into the class expecting him to be just another sub, who would basically just let us AP students talk about whatever we wanted while he would sit back and listen. Mr. Moor was the exact opposite. He gave us time to take our notes on our reading from the night before, but once discussion started, he was right there with us, asking thought provoking questions like "Why was it Cheswick who drowned? What is significant about it being this character?" He also didn't sit down once during discussion, and it almost felt like he was a student like us. Even though this might seem a little weird, I found it a breath of fresh air that there was actually a substitute we had for English that seemed like he cared what we were doing.

Internal Insanity in Swimming

       Today in English we talked about how Chief Bromden, the narrator in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, experiences an internal conflict between secluding himself from the other inmates or befriending them. I experience something very similar during swim meets, when I swim the 500 yard freestyle in competitions.
      The 500 free, which is 20 lengths of the pool, is the longest competitive varsity swimming event. It takes a lot of not only physical endurance, but mental endurance as well, to be successful at this event. The internal conflict I face when swimming this event is do I acknowledge my fellow competitors all 20 of the laps, or do I "zone out" and just swim.
       If I acknowledge other competitors when I swim the 500, it forces me to assess my position among them: Am I fast? Am I slow? Should I try to keep pace with them? I guess you could say this is good, because it allows me to face where I stand compared to the other swimmers. However, like the Chief, it causes me to suffer, because then I always feel so much pressure when I swim, like I'm only competing against them, when I need to be more aware of my own racing strategy.
      On the other hand, if I shut them out, I only see the race from my perspective: How tired am I? How much fast should I go? Should I conserve my energy? Many times this prevents me from reaching my full potential because I don't have that competitive edge that evaluating other swimmers gives me. However, it allows me not focus on myself and not get as nervous, which helps me swim a better race.

      In the end, I still haven't found which strategy works better for me: facing or avoiding other swimmers during a race. Hopefully over the course of my last season in high school I can figure it out, and maybe take some tips from the Chief as he solves his problems in the novel.

The Silence of Society

      In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, the narrator of the story pretends to be deaf and dumb while in a psychiatric ward. While I read this, I thought how terrible it would be not to be able to speak in society today. However, it was then I realized all the things we can do without actually speaking to someone:

• We can text on our cellphones instead of talking to people. Texting has become a convenient way of communicating with people all throughout the globe, and even my swim team coach texts the team when practice is cancelled or she has an important announcement. 
• We can order things online instead of shopping for them in stores. From food to clothes, almost anything is available for purchase online today, and you can get it without having to talk to anyone.
• We can take school courses online, instead of in the classroom. ITT Tech offers online college courses, and so does our high school (psychology, economics)
• We can use social networking sites on the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace all allow us to stay in touch with friends on the internet, without talking.
• We can get money from ATM machines instead of talking to a bank clerk.
• We can buy songs on iTunes, instead of going to stores and having to communicate with cashiers and salespeople.
• We can do college interviews online. Wake Forest University has a required interview in order to apply, and one option to fulfill this requirement is to answer a couple short answer questions online with a time limit per question.
• We can meet our significant other online, instead of having to meet them and talk to them in person first (eHarmony, Match.com). 

      All of these examples show how much society today has diverged from verbal communication. We can do almost anything without talking to anyone, and this lack of communication has caused many people to become socially awkward in person. I believe we should use these new technological advances, but in moderation. Who knows what will happen if we rely too heavily on technology to avoid social interaction with others in the future?

From Ridicule to Realization

      Today in English, Ms. Serensky mentioned how differently the 11th and 12th graders act to her ten minute warning during in class essays. She noted that the juniors all seem flustered and freak out, while we seniors simply go about our essays, most of us not even glancing up from our work. What I found most interesting from this analysis was my own personal reaction to this comment. I laughed, as did most of my class, especially, when Ms. Serensky went on to say that one of the students even said that at the ten minute warning, he/she had finally decided to move onto the examples in his/her writing. Most of my class was in shock at hearing this, and could not believe anyone could know so little about writing a formal paragraph.
      After school, as I drove my sister to swim practice, I brought up this subject with her, interested to see her opinion. When I told her the story she laughed and said, "Yeah, most of my class didn't get to a lot of examples." I was surprised and told her she better get used to it because by the end of the year she was going to have to be able to write an entire essay in 40 minutes, and in AP 12, without her book. She then said to me, "Well, last year you were in the same boat as all of us." This made me think about how hypocritical my reaction was in class and how I mocked all the juniors for their lack or writing experience. Last year, I was the kid who freaked out at the ten minute mark, and who had heart attacks before every in class essay. Even though I still get nervous this year before essays, it isn't half as bad because I know what to expect. The juniors don't. I learned not to be so quick to judge others, and hopefully in the future, I will be able to empathize the juniors because I was once in their shoes.

A Disastrous Dinner

       This past week I traveled to Florida with my family for Thanksgiving. All of my first cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandparents went down there also, to celebrate Thanksgiving, Greek style. One night, all eighteen of us decided to go out to dinner at an outdoor restaurant by the ocean. It was chaos. My aunt was screaming at her eight year old daughter who refused to eat her dinner, my grandma was nagging my aunt tell her she shouldn't wear her sunglasses in the sun because she's getting ugly tan lines on her face, my sister dumped her water on me (by accident of course), and my little cousins were squealing while poking each other with their forks. I was really able to relate to Gogol in the novel The Namesake in this situation, because I wanted nothing more than to disappear under the table and hide from all the judgmental glares from strangers trying to enjoy their dinner. I would never completely shut myself away from them, as Gogol did to Ashoke and Ashima, but everyone needs a break from their families once in a while. When I first read the sections of The Namesake when Gogol was a teenager and felt embarrassed by his parents, I completely criticized him and thought that he was overreacting. However, I now realize how hypocritical I was. I do think that Gogol's reaction of ignoring his parents and shutting them out of his life was extreme, but I am now able to relate to his feelings of embarrassment. I love my family, but even too much of a good thing can lead to a disaster. 

From Greece to America: Finding A Common Ground

       Last week in class, we talked about Ashima's acceptance of American culture at the end of the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Ashima was able to find a commonplace between her Indian culture, and her embracement of the American culture, where she could practice both without feeling out of place or like she was betraying her heritage. My grandfather, George, experienced something very similar to Ashima during his life, because he moved to America when he was 19 years old.
       My grandfather grew up in a small town, in Sparta, Greece, which consists of dust covered roads and mountainous terrain. His village had a population of about 100, and mostly everyone lived without running water or electricity. When he decided to leave Greece, not only was he traveling to a country halfway across the world, but to New York City. George had rarely been exposed to a city environment, and upon arrival at Ellis Island, he was completely overwhelmed, similar to how Ashima felt in the beginning of the novel. He lived in the city with his brother, Peter, who already new a lot about American culture because he had lived there for many years prior to George's arrival. George and Peter, like Ashima and Ashoke, had a band of Greek friends they would hang around with, however, they both decided to attend college, becoming the first people in their family to accept this American tradition.
       Currently, my grandfather still lives in New York, and celebrates many the Greek culture, like when he makes Greek food or speaks Greek around the house. However, he also is a big fan of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, baseball games, and other things that are unique to the American culture for the most part. He has been able, like Ashima, to find a common ground between his old and new culture, which has made him a very unique individual whom i greatly enjoy spending time with.

Analyzing Cat

       One day, my friend asked me to watch the movie Avatar with her. She had already seen it once and proceed to say, "It's the best  movie ever! So much better than Pirates of the Caribbean and all those other action movies. It's like Tarzan meets Pocahontas! Please, please, please, come!"
       "Well," I thought to myself, "she's using repetition for emphasis obviously. Also, the hyperbole thrown in there indirectly characterizes the movie as meaningful to her, so she is a synecdoche for...oh my gosh. I just analyzed a conversation as if my data sheet depended on it. I'm a freak."

       AP English has warped my brain into full time analyzing mode and I realized I can't read, watch a movie, or even talk to a friend without subconsciously analyzing them. I can't read a book without thinking, "what would Serensky do" or "if I had an essay I would write..." Also, I reflexively pick up a pen to annotate almost everything, including my family's Harry Potter novels.They don't necessarily approve of this act, and I can't blame them...who would want to read a book that has a bunch of literary devices written in it? Answer: AP students. I find it very interesting how my perceptions of things have changed because of AP English. I find myself sitting down with my sister (who is also in AP English) and talking for an hour about the meanings of song lyrics or a magazine articles, that I never would have thought twice about before AP. Overall, I would say that this is a good thing. No matter how annoying my friends think I am because I pick apart their brains like a psychologist, AP English teaches you how to think, and in the end, that's what counts.

What's In a Name?

Just how important is it for a woman to take her husband's last name upon marriage? In Chapter 9 of The Namesake, Moushumi refuses to take Gogol's last name when they get married, and this really angered me. It didn't make me upset because she refused to follow the tradition of taking her husband's name, but the fact that she seems offended when people call her Mrs. Ganguli. I understand a woman not wanting to take her husband's last name for professional purposes, like Moushumi, because she is an author so legally changing her last name might confuse people. This made me think of my mom, who didn't change her last name when she married my dad because she is a doctor. However, outside of the workplace she is known as Mrs. Cashy to all of my friends and other people in the community. The fact that Moushumi is offended because her relatives in India call her "Mrs. Moushumi Ganguli" really angers me, because taking your husband's last name, even if it's not legally changed, is a symbol for a couple's marriage and commitment to eachother, and she should expect people to make this mistake (227). Overall, I feel it is very important for a woman to take her husband's surname, and the fact that it "has never crossed Moushumi's mind" is absurd because part of being married is compromising and accepting each other (227). 

Getting to Know Gogol

In our class discussion on Chapter 9 and 10 of The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, many people in our class said that they were angry with Gogol because of his passiveness in his relationship with Moushumi. However, I feel differently. Gogol has to deal with the fact that Moushumi constantly mopes around, dwelling on her past relationship with Graham. The reason Moushumi wants Astrid and Donald's approval is because they symbolizes her past relationship with Graham, and what her life could have been if they ended up married. When Lahiri writes, "Gogol doesn't like to think about the fact that Moushumi's connection to Graham persists through Astrid and Donald" she explains this concept (238). Personally, I feel extremely bad for him at this moment, because he's trying to move on and start a new life with Moushumi, but she's stuck in her past relationships. I also think the reason Gogol is so called "passive" in their relationship is because he afraid that she will have a mental break down because she starts crying spontaneously. Even though Lahiri explains why Moushumi is upset in Chapter 10 (she had the opportunity to go to France, but she passed it up) Gogol doesn't understand why. He most likely thinks that she is fragile, and so he should not pressure her into opening up about things she doesn't want to talk about. Overall, Gogol's passiveness in his relationship with Moushumi has made me feel sympathy for him, not anger towards him. He just wants to make her happy, and he most likely believes the best way to do that is not to pressure her, and to give her her independence.