AP LANG Christina's second quarter reflection

    1/25/2012                                                         

                                                        AP LANG- Second quarter reflection

             First quarter, I argued, and argued and re- argued about my opinion.  Second quarter, I analyzed and analyzed and re- analyzed the given prompt in order to improve and understand the meaning of American experience.  As I learn more about the American experience, my opinions about the American experience has completely changed. When I thought of an American in the first quarter, I considered American people as people who do not speak up for their right. I used to think that American people tend to follow everyone else by following the old tradition weather the choice is right to be made or not. For example, my summer assignment was to read the “lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The text suggests that American people easily kill their neighbors without a reasonable reason and without even questioning “why?” simply because it is their tradition. Another example can be found in ‘Why Don’t We Complain?” by Buckley. Buckley argued that American people do not complain because Americans expect someone else will speak up about the problem. I was persuaded by Jackson and Buckley that American people’s opinions and speaking ability is hampered by close- minded thoughts. However, my thinking has changed throughout the second quarter. I strongly think that American experience is finding one’s freedom and fighting for individual rights.

American people often argue and question what is right or wrong in order to speak up for their right. This is proven throughout the historical period especially in the Civil rights movement.  When African American people were treated like an animal, African American people stood up and dissented. For example, in the book ‘narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass’, Douglass learned how to read and right and eventually succeed in becoming a freeman.  While I was reading the ‘narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass’, I was amazed by how Douglass was incredibly brave and how he walked his way to search his own life. Compare and contrast was one of the major writing techniques I learned in second quarter of AP Lang ; So I compared and contrasted Frederick Douglass and William Buckley. Douglass and Buckley both lives in America. However, Frederick Douglass made tremendous amount of more impact in American society by helping African American people to gain freedom and helping the political leaders to free the enslaved Africans. Frederick Douglass could have faced death because of the hard obstacles; however, Douglass never gave up and became a leader among the African slaves while Buckley just wrote about why people do not complain. Because Frederick Douglas made more impact on the society, American history, and to all the colored people, this proves that American experience is searching one’s brighter future by dedication to one’s belief.