Shambhavi's Shells

  The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery Even though The Little Prince is considered a children's book by many, it has been regarded as a book that teaches a lot about relationships and understanding the world as a whole. Since I'll be going off to college soon, having the little prince as the top of my reading syllabus will make sure that I read this book first before going off to experience a new journey in my life.  Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll  To me, this is a little embarrassing but I've actually never seen, heard, or read the entire story of Alice in Wonderland but after some research about the book, I've learned that it's about the struggle of understanding and becoming a part of the "adult world", which seems to fit in well with for someone who will soon have to go through the same struggle.    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott After hearing about this book being adapted into different movies and shows, I've alwa

           Walking into the classroom 12 AP room, everyone was new to me. I ended up sitting at the same pod as Cecelia and Alex (Sonnet joined us a little later), these were people that I had never spoken to before.       Now, since in AP Lit we had to almost always have pod discussions, the four of us, considering the fact that at least three of us are introverts, had a hard time making conversation at first. Those first few days of awkward silence and stagnant conversation is a memory that will always stay with me because since then, I've learned how to communicate my thoughts and ideas more freely with my pod always supporting me (plus Lily:) ).     Throughout high school, if there is something that I have learned and consistently tried to improve upon, then it has to be taking every opportunity I can get rather than letting some slip past me. I have always been finding myself letting good opportunities get away because I haven't been proactive about taking action on them.

     Dear Mrs. Hong!      You most likely don't know who I am, but I am a huge fan of your writing!      I am a senior in high school and I've encountered your pieces multiple different times, both as an assignment and through my free time.      The first time I came across your writing was when we were assigned The Indebted from your book Minor Feelings, which has become a huge part of my philosophy as I become more involved in literature and the history of my ancestors.      In AP Literature we were asked to choose a poem as our mentor poem to further develop our writers voice, and the first poem that came to mind was your poem "Zoo", which I was able to connect to as a South Asian in America with immigrant parents. The depth and somewhat obscurity at the beginning of the poem regarding the symbolism of the zoo interested me in finding a new way to deliver my ideas through symbolism.      Through my own practice, I've attempted to write a couple of lines of

     Defining and finding meaning line by line of any written piece has never been my strong suit, but with the poem my group chose for the poetry panel project, I find that it's necessary to understand every line in the poem since each line holds a valuable meaning that develops the underlying message of the poem. We are, I am, you are by cowardice or courage the one who find our way back to this scene carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths in which our names do not appear.      The stanza above is the final stanza in the poem Diving into the Wreck . During my first read of the poem, I found myself confused with what the poem was trying to say, at first glance the poem was really just about the speaker going on a dive to explore a wreck that she witnesses. Now since this is the poem from my group's poetry panel project I won't give out any spoilers, but I do want to mention that I admire how each and every word from Rich's poem carries weight to it.      Cathy Park

     Last year in AP Lang we read a part of Cathy Park Hong's book Minor Feelings, specifically, The Indebted, and Hong's writing style and word choice stuck with me as impactful and gave me a new perspective on different ideas.      When thinking of beautiful words and poetry, the first thing that came to my mind was Minor Feelings and The Indebted. Although I haven't read all of Minor Feelings, there were two lines from the book that stuck out to me as beautiful.      “Innocence is both a privilege and a cognitive handicap, a sheltered unknowingness that, once protracted into adulthood, hardens into entitlement.” Hong's choice of words such as "unknowingness" and "hardens" brings a sense of (interestingly enough) innocence turning into the knowledge of self, which is exactly what Hong is trying to convey. Another notable word to point out is Hong referring to innocence as a "cognitive handicap", unlike others who would refer

       As water shows us our reflections, I'm taking the time (partially since it's the assignment) to look into important water at this point in the school year.      First of all, senior year has honestly been going pretty well for me. Compared to online school sophomore year, I've been able to connect with others a lot more, and I've made so many new friends. Looking back on the first day of school I ended up sitting in a pod with Cecelia and Alex, both of which I had never spoken to before this class, now these two (plus Sonnet who I knew before) have become an important part of AP Lit for me so far.      I find that I always share any and every idea that comes to mind regardless of if the idea makes sense or not with my pod, and they find ways to add on to my analysis. reading and discussing passages as a pod was something I always enjoyed and something I hope to be able to continue doing second semester.    I found that I've started to analyze any media I enco