Taylor Rudow's article on "The Freedom to Fail"

Last week I was watching the Lahaina Girls basketball team compete against other schools in a preseason basketball tournament. The Lady Lunas dominated the tournament and won the championship game by a 53 point spread. I realized that they were such a dominating force, not because of what they had, but because of the key element that the other schools had lost.
The majority of the newest generation has lost their freedom to fail. This is evident in the sports arena in Maui. Because children expect to be given everything, they no longer feel the need to fight for it. This was first obvious when I entered middle school, and I was informed that we would not be competing because the leagues were just for fun. Because they did not want the children with less experience to feel bad about themselves, they took away scoring and competition. This loss of competition made the athletes no longer feel the need to improve themselves because they no longer had anything to fight for. Because they took away the athletes’ ability to succeed, they also took away their ability, or freedom, to fail.
In high school, they took away the athlete’s freedom to succeed yet again. It was decided that our school would not have tryouts so that every student that wanted to be on the team was able to. This turned the varsity sports into a jumble of accomplished athletes and uninterested beginners. To top off the new rule, my coach decided that he wanted to give equal playing time to all of the members of the team. This took away the hard working athlete’s right to succeed because even if one put in more time than everyone else, they were not rewarded with more playing time or harder competition.
The Lahainaluna Girls basketball team is such a powerful force because they still have the freedom that the other schools have lost. They give their girls competition from an early age, and teach them that they have to fight for what they want. By giving the girls the freedom to fail if they do not work, they have also given the girls the freedom to gain tremendous success. Anthony D’Angelo said, “In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” The Lahaina girls have been taught this lesson, and it shows in their game. The rest of us have lost our freedom to fail, and therefore, cannot hope to achieve optimum success.

Senior Poem Challenge 10/13/10

Read the following poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Then write response of about 100 words. You can write your own poem, a short "interpretation" of the poem, any connections you might think about, or a reaction to one of your classmates responses.


A Vast Confusion

Sounds of trains in the surf
in subways of the sea
And an even greater undersound
of a vast confusion in the universe
a rumbling and a roaring
as of some enormous creature turning
under sea and earth
a billion sotto voices murmuring
a vast muttering
a swelling stuttering
in ocean's speakers
world's voice-box heard with ear to sand
a shocked echoing
a shocking shouting
of all life's voices lost in night
And the tape of it
someow running backwards now
through the Moog Synthesizer of time
Chaos unscrambled
back to the first
harmonies
And the first light

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

A&P Senior English response

Respond to one or more of the following:
-Updike's use of imagery and word choice in this story is particularly brilliant. Respond to some examples of this in the story.
-On the LAF handout, Mr. H says that literature has so much irony because life is ironic. Comment on some of the many ironies in the story. Why are they so "life-like"?
-Note the publication date (at the end of the story). Any thoughts on why this story is very much of its time?
Your response should be about 150-200 words. In your entry, respond to at least one other posting. Early responders, come back to respond to other postings.

Sophomore Independent Reading Blog #2

Write a paragraph telling people who haven't read the book what the book is about so far. Read other people's posts and ask at least one person a question about his or her book.

Sophomore English Independent Reading Choice

Tell us what book you are reading (title and author). Tell (briefly) what it's about and why you chose it. Look at other people's choices and respond to at least two other posts (e.g you've read this book and want to comment, you think it's an interesting choice, your curious for more info about the book...).

Senior English Frankenstein Challenge 2/10/10

Victor Frankenstein discovers the secret of life and uses this knowledge to create a sentient being. Imagine that you have discovered some previously thought-to-be-impossible technique or ability. What would you create? Describe your creation and tell why you came up with this idea. Respond to two other people’s creations. Early responders, please come back to respond to your classmates’ creations. No inappropriate responses, please.