In short...

In English class, we've been going through a lot of short story analysis. First off, we did a project involving an infographic, which was in my last-to-last post. Right now, I'm prepping a TEDtalk for my  I've probably read a ton of short stories in the attempt to find the one I would like to use on my project. Finally, though, I've found one that I guess I can do a 5-minute presentation on. I chose "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway. It's a really nice story, and I regret that I'm about to spoil it for whoever is reading this post.

Ugh. Me and the GIFs. It shouldn't even be legal. Anyways. I shall continue. I really like this short story. It was published in 1927, but the storyline still fits in the modern day world. At a first glance, it seems as though it is a simple conversation between a man and a woman waiting for a train to Madrid. But short stories are never as simple as that. Turns out, they're talking about an abortion.

Yeah, I know, right? How did we reach the point of abortion? From a candid conversation in Spain waiting for a train? (Please congratulate me on the point of making that last sentence rhyme). Okay. This story has a few symbols. The most important one, according to me, are "white elephants". According to the Oxford Dictionary, a white elephant is "A possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of." This is quite relevant, as a baby, especially in an unwanted one, back in 1927, would have been extremely hard to take care of.

Actually, what I found most interesting about this story, and my personal connection to it was the difference between talking, and communicating. The couple does a lot of talking but does not seem to be able to tell each other and communicate their point of view effectively. We see them arguing about an abortion, but they do not call it by the name, only as an "operation". We see that the woman wants to keep the baby, but it is obvious that the man wants to have nothing to do with the baby.

The quote that I feel was really controversial in this story follows:

"Do you feel better?" he asked. 

"I feel fine," she said. 'There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine." 

This was  controversial to me because it could mean two entirely different things. Either that:

a) The woman decides to have the abortion and is blindly (and numbly) following all that the man says.

OR

b) The woman decided to keep the baby, implying that nothing was wrong in having a baby, therefore, she is disobeying the man and following her own lead.

I would strongly recommend reading this short story; it's really nice. I'll have the link below. 

If you were one of my readers that reads my blog for fun, then I'm sorry... I'll have a proper blogpost maybe by next week. (I'm so busy, there's too much work).

Here's the link: Hills Like White Elephants

OK... so what now?

Heyo all!

I'm back, not with boring english infographics (probably in your opinion) that would help you on an analysis, but with a real, heartfelt blog. Haha. Lies. But yes. This will be a me & mine weekend blog.

It's been a tiring sort of week, and I'm finally happy that it's over. Thinking back, I think I had like 6-7 summatives (basically tests or essays that have weightage in your overall grade). But oh well. That means I got a bit more to tell you. At least I could tell you I felt so accomplished with what I did this week.

Yeah. So proud. Anyways. I'm new to my school, and I joined as many activities as I could: volleyball, MUN, service activities, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and also a musical (but more on that later). So basically, I joined volleyball for fun, because I naturally like volleyball. So I got kicked out because I wasn't good enough for the team. One of the reasons were because I couldn't serve the ball overhand.

Couldn't find a better gif, sorry. The next day, I try the overhand serve again, just because I pity myself for being really short. Lo behold. I can do it. And I can do it so perfectly. So I'm pretty much like "Y'all better watch out next year." But the story of my life, I'll fail anyways. 

Yeah so, I don't even know anymore. Then on the subject of MUN. So in MUN, I have to write this thing called policy statements. These things are pretty hard. So I look on the school website, find my issue, and finish one of the issues. So I feel so happy I almost partied. But then I figured out that the school website was not updated, and I did the wrong issue. I could literally hear karma laughing at me.

Hehe, Assassination Classroom reference.

Oh well. More homework for me. Then, well the highlight of my week; service learning. So we had to choose a service activity; it had to be either two onsite, or an offsite activity. I chose a service activity involving horses. You need to know that I have no idea how to take care of horses, but when they asked for volunteers to lead the horses in from the field, I raised my hand. Idiot.


But it was great actually. We had to groom the horses and clean their hooves. I even got to braid his hair. The horse I took care of was named Icon. How iconic. There were ponies and donkeys and a beautiful black stallion, that we were not allowed to go near. But yeah. It was a fun time. When we got back, I was literally tired, and slightly hysteric over how a horse kept nudging my friend like;


So STEM= not worth talking about right now. So let me rant about the musical. The musical is called AIDA, by Elton John and Tim Rice. And no, I am not singing. Don't get me wrong; I like to sing, and I think I am okay at it as well. I just don't like singing for people. Instead, I opted to play the piano for the musical, and was accepted. Woohoo. One good thing!


Actually, I'm proud to say that I am feeling slightly involved. I like this school, the people are nice and we are going on a trip. Whoa. I forgot completely. The next week I will be completely MIA, because we are going to a place called Drakensberg, or Dragons Peak mountains. With no technology whatsoever. So like, be warned. It's going to be fun; there'll be hikes, archery, rock climbing, abseiling etc. It's a school funded trip, so no additional expenses. So I'm pretty hyped. I've got all my stuffies packed and done. Can't wait to get there. BUT I'LL MISS MY MUSIC. MY BOOKS. AND FAMILY. And nothing else.
Hope you enjoyed this update. Okay so here's another fun quiz:

WHICH FOOTBALLER WAS HERE?

The answer will be on the next blogpost next week. Find out what Ishita did in Drakensberg on next weeks post.

LOL, is it only me who thinks that sounds like a news article prompt?

The Anticipated Infographic.

Here's the english class part I warned you all about.

Here I present the amazing english infographic on "The Open Window" by Saki.

Although I promise to do a blogpost by the weekend.
{EDIT 1.5 hours later} Click on any image, and it enlarges like a photo slideshow. That is so sick, just realised!