Hemna Hypothesized

1 Animal Farm by George Orwell With the rise of book bannings, this selection always appears. Satire has always taken me more time to understand, and I fear that the opportunity to be exposed to political satire is dwindling by the day. With the message of not questioning authority being forced upon me every day, I want to see how ideas from 70+ years ago still hold relevance in this day and age. 2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury This is another dystopian novel that criticizes the government. Knowledge and speech are tools of power and change, which this novel reminds the audience of. I feel like it'll help provide guidance for me as I advance in my future endeavors that'll require being outspoken and going outside of my comfort zone. 3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Three of my friends have been raving over this book series and its movie adaptation. It's sort of nostalgic, as I had that adoration for Harry Potter and the movies in elementary school. This will...

A song that has resonated with me for the longest time is Your Best American Girl by Mitski, which was released in 2016 under her Puberty 2. This song is about Mitski expressing her desire to be in a relationship with a White American, however, her racial identity makes it difficult to achieve. As a fellow Asian, this song hits deep. The lyrics are: If I could, I'd be your little spoon And kiss your fingers forevermore But, big spoon, you have so much to do And I have nothing ahead of me You're the sun, you've never seen the night But you hear its song from the morning birds Well, I'm not the moon, I'm not even a star But awake at night I'll be singing to the birds Don't wait for me, I can't come Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me But I do, I think I do And you're an all-American boy I guess I couldn't help trying to be your best American girl You're the one You're all I ever wanted I think I'll regret this Yo...

Poetry feels exclusionary. Since I was young I always rejected it. It doesn’t allow for multiple interpretations/perspectives, pushing me away from this type of literature as a whole. This has affected me in adulthood. Poems are always short, yet in school, we always search for meaning in every single word and letter. It feels excessive to dig up something that simply isn’t there. It’s why a lot of people stay away from poetry. What are we even looking for? Are we trying to understand the overall message or dissect individual parts? It’s not just reading poems, it’s also writing them. It’s like you have to use a certain voice in poems in order to be deemed poetry. Where’s the variety of voices? I have to create a facade to be a poet, which I do not appreciate. I feel I sound like those people who try to act like philosophers when there’s simply nothing else to it. Oftentimes, it’s like poems are in code. I already feel insecure in not being able to understand, why does it have to feel...

    I used to be a big reader up until my sophomore year. I no longer felt a connection to it because school didn’t let me use my creativity. This became apparent this school year. I felt out of place the first time I entered the AP Lit classroom. It seemed like my thoughts and interpretations of what we read had no place here. The phrase “so what” started to haunt me. D:< My brain was wired throughout high school to prepare me for AP Lang. Digging for the meaning of the work and to apply it to a universal level was tedious to figure out. It turned out it had something to do with my priorities and not my capabilities. Reading The Stranger in class made me realize I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough to get the learning I desired. Meursault is a character that was hard to decipher. I started to give up trying to figure him out (which was reflected in my reading check scores!). However, when it was time to write the essay for it, something clicked. When I was tryin...

          The art we consume reveals much about the human mind, especially when it comes to questions of morality and human nature, which can reveal flaws in what we’ve been taught to think of them.  Literature exposes people to so many experiences. It’s the catalyst that leads to a broader worldview and makes it better. It allows us to understand and feel more.           When presented with multifaceted issues anywhere in our lives, humans interpret them differently depending on what it is and their own experiences. Some either prefer to make sense of it or will make their own conclusions. Most are quick to create labels in their minds before the story is fleshed out, especially when it comes to analyzing female characters versus male characters. In the International Journal of Humanities Social Science and Management, Ibrahim states “Literature serves as a mirror that reflects societal attitudes and expectations and it...

     When we returned from Thanksgiving break, we watched (500) Days of Summer with Tom as the movie’s protagonist. I wasn’t present for the second half of the movie, but I watched the rest independently. What intrigued me is what Mrs. Feldkamp brought up when the class shared how annoying Summer is. She asked if she was actually the villain or if we just sympathize with the protagonist a lot. THAT’S SUCH A GOOD POINT??? That moment in class made me start thinking about how I can be hypocritical a lot of the time unintentionally. I hate when people lack nuance yet I fell for the most obvious trap. Why do we usually side with the protagonists most of the time no matter what? We treat them like we’re their ride-or-die. Tom was all in throughout the relationship but Summer wasn’t deeply committed. However, she explicitly stated multiple times how she felt and that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. Tom knew that and what he was getting into, yet was surprised anywa...