Sean Wang Week 9 - Gambling With My Grade So You Won’t Have To
Gambling With My Grade So You Won’t Have To
by Sean Wang
“If dangerous ideas didn’t excite the imagination, we would never wander astray.”
- Heimerdinger from the TV show Arcane
Man. Words cannot describe the sheer level of writer’s block that this quarter’s blog topic has placed upon me. As much as I hate to admit it, over the last three days, I have:
Like a masterful detective in search of the elusive criminal mastermind (the blog post that I so desperately needed), I laid out the facts. The topic was Language and Power. Seeing as the blog post was to be more of an informal piece than a formal one, I reasoned that it would be more fitting for me to have more influence over the structure and focus of my writing. Now, I’ve come to realize that the great thing about APENG (I swear Ms. Benedetti isn’t paying me to say this) is that unlike other classes, you have much more freedom to play around with your preconceived limits. For example, I myself always thought it wrong to deviate from the tried and true five paragraph essay format that was drilled into us. Nevertheless, it was only until this year that I began to take a more signature, individual approach to how I expressed my thoughts and ideas; my previous blogs showcased that better than any essay I had ever written before this school year.
I’m sure at least some of you are familiar with the fact that although the world around us has evolved tremendously in the past centuries, the cookie cutter construct we know as the school system has remained more or less the same. In times like these, it’s hard to find the pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. It’s hard to feel unique and purposeful, even when you know that you have the potential and the power to do what it takes. And although our school does a wonderful job of presenting opportunities that encourage branching off onto roads less taken, at some times, it just seems — futile.
So as a testament to the creative nature of AP English and Language Composition, I decided to not write about power. You’ll notice that there are zero instances of Language and Power in my blog so far, save for the introduction of the topic. Am I a fool for risking my grade on a whim? Perhaps. But achieving great things rarely comes without risk. Boundaries are meant to be broken, and breaking them is a power unto itself.
The first posts of every quarter are always the most fun for me to read. Everyone has their own interpretation of the topic, and it's always exciting to witness the diversity that takes place before a lack of ideas plagues the entire cohort with an onslaught of conformity.
Should we apply the same risk-taking mindset to our futures, there’s no telling where we might go. And to redefine what’s considered possible — that’s powerful enough, is it not?
(Shout out to Leslie. You’re going places, buddy.)
- Listened to POWER by Kanye West a total of 23 times
- Watched YouTube videos on power (in hindsight, maybe watching Ted-Ed videos on electric power wasn’t the brightest idea…)
- Asked non-APENG students on what they think about the concept of power
- And more…
Like a masterful detective in search of the elusive criminal mastermind (the blog post that I so desperately needed), I laid out the facts. The topic was Language and Power. Seeing as the blog post was to be more of an informal piece than a formal one, I reasoned that it would be more fitting for me to have more influence over the structure and focus of my writing. Now, I’ve come to realize that the great thing about APENG (I swear Ms. Benedetti isn’t paying me to say this) is that unlike other classes, you have much more freedom to play around with your preconceived limits. For example, I myself always thought it wrong to deviate from the tried and true five paragraph essay format that was drilled into us. Nevertheless, it was only until this year that I began to take a more signature, individual approach to how I expressed my thoughts and ideas; my previous blogs showcased that better than any essay I had ever written before this school year.
I’m sure at least some of you are familiar with the fact that although the world around us has evolved tremendously in the past centuries, the cookie cutter construct we know as the school system has remained more or less the same. In times like these, it’s hard to find the pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. It’s hard to feel unique and purposeful, even when you know that you have the potential and the power to do what it takes. And although our school does a wonderful job of presenting opportunities that encourage branching off onto roads less taken, at some times, it just seems — futile.
So as a testament to the creative nature of AP English and Language Composition, I decided to not write about power. You’ll notice that there are zero instances of Language and Power in my blog so far, save for the introduction of the topic. Am I a fool for risking my grade on a whim? Perhaps. But achieving great things rarely comes without risk. Boundaries are meant to be broken, and breaking them is a power unto itself.
The first posts of every quarter are always the most fun for me to read. Everyone has their own interpretation of the topic, and it's always exciting to witness the diversity that takes place before a lack of ideas plagues the entire cohort with an onslaught of conformity.
Should we apply the same risk-taking mindset to our futures, there’s no telling where we might go. And to redefine what’s considered possible — that’s powerful enough, is it not?
(Shout out to Leslie. You’re going places, buddy.)
Image Source : https://www.oneesports.gg/league-of-legends/arcane-quotes-most-memorable-netflix-anime/ from Riot Games
Weirdly enough, the first time I sifted through the topic list for the quarterly blogs, I was most confident in finding something to discuss about for Language and Power. However, now that we've made it to Quarter 3 I also find myself scattered when it comes to finding a specific subject worth discussing. I think the assignment description stressed something about giving APENG students a space to explore rhetoric unbounded by the standards of formal writing and the need to restrict my blogs to quarterly topics that have two requirements really diminished my enjoyment of this process. And as much as I wish could say that I discovered my unique space in terms of essay writing, I can't. In fact, APENG has instilled in me this fear as I watched my grade go up and down from which I eventually came to a formula for timed writes that I can't seem to seperate myself from.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI think this quarter's blog topic is pretty ironic. In a system of assignments where we are supposed to be given the most "power" we were ever given, this topic seems to have many constraints surrounding it. There is often a taboo that restricts us from talking about power. I was looking at an article about power when I was researching for my blog post, and I realized that power is everywhere, although it is not the same power. There are many different ways to deal with and approach power, and there is not a certain formula to deal with power effectively. That could be a reason for the invisible restriction this topic has put on us.
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteI found your rebellion against this quarter's topic interesting. In a sense, the power we as a species hold is to reject the order of the natural world and chart our own path outside the bounds of evolution.
I agree with you on that out of all the classes I've taken in my high school career, APEng is the one where I have the most freedom. I craft no timed write and essay the same, playing with the classic formula and incorporating techniques such as storytelling and fourth wall breaking, and it has made me a much, much better writer than I started out being at the beginning of the year.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the English 11AP course offers a lot of freedom in what to do for assignments, and your blog does address the topic (although in an unconventional way). The writing style which you use for the first half of your blog is very entertaining through a humorous narration that gradually leads to your main point. With analogies and an unconventional approach to the topic, you regale the reader with your hilarious tale, leading to a climactic statement that explains your approach. I am confident that your blog post will earn full points and amuse whoever grades it. Well done!
Sincerely,
Raymond Yu
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteThis must be one of the most clever interpretations of a blog topic that I have yet to see. The "power" in breaking the rules is genius, and I hate to say it but I would have never thought of something like this myself. With these new blog groups, I hope that we will be able to stray away from the "onslaught of conformity" as you described it and truly engage in discussions that will be a little more meaningful than blurs of text that feel like they were written at gunpoint.
lmao thanks ggez
DeleteHi Sean, I can definitely relate. My blog also revolves around not knowing what to write for this new prompt. I love how you were able to twist it up in the end to show how there is power in not adhering to the boring prompt. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I was extremely confused when I read your blog the first time over. To be honest, I was skimming a bit, but when I finished, I asked myself, "wait so where's power?" I read it over again and I find your idea quite interesting. I feel as if you may just get the credit for this post because of the creativity or the way everyone else in this group will overanalyze it. Either way, I think you did a pretty good job at putting a lot of substance while also not writing about the prompt given. I wish you good luck.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best ideas I have ever seen in any blog post. You use power by not writing about it. Genius! I didn't know what to write about, why did I not think of this? I could possibly do something like this next quarter. What a great idea.
Sincerely,
Vivan Waghela
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI respect and appreciate the way you listened to POWER by Kanye twenty-three times in preparation for this blog. I like the premise of your blog a lot. I agree that APENG is more about thinking out of the box in order to achieve a goal or answer rather than to simply arrive at it. You executed that perfectly and in a way showed the power we have as students by not even talking about power. We thank you for test running this for us and I hope you get the grade.