Participation: 12 Reasons Why

Participation is always an important part of any English class. In order for a class to discuss a topic, everyone must participate. I believe that throughout this first trimester, I have earned a high participation grade. I do not believe I have earned a perfect, 100 percent average for participation because no one is perfect, but I do think I should receive a generally high grade. In order for me to justify this belief, I have compiled a list, which I have entitled the “12 reasons why I should receive a high participation grade.”

1. I pay attention in class
2. I am always prepared, and have everything I need for a particular class day
3. I contribute to class discussions
4. I think about what is being said, and bring up new ideas or questions for discussion
5. I do not talk over my classmates
6. I do not talk over my teacher
7. I do not discuss anything that is off topic
8. I partake in games when reviewing for tests/quizzes
9. I do not act out of line when participating in above mentioned review games
10. I do not have side conversations with the people sitting next to me
11. I take notes during class discussions, powerpoints, etc.
12. I do not do anything that would be a distraction from what we are doing

In addition to this list, however, I know that there are factors that reduce my participation grade. I have not compiled these into a formal list because I do not feel there are enough of them to need a formal list. These factors are that sometimes I do not participate completely during a discussion or offer to read a passage in class. I can provide justification for these reducing factors, however.

Most of the time, I try to participate in class, but sometimes I feel that some of the other students in my class make it difficult to participate. My class has a tendency to get off topic. As a result, I feel like it is difficult to participate. This is one of the reasons why I sometimes do not fully participate in a discussion. When my class gets off topic, I usually do not have anything to say about the new topic, so I do not say anything. Another reason why I sometimes do not participate fully is that I like to think before I speak. When I want to contribute to a class discuss, I want my point to actually have a point, so I usually take a minute or so to think about what my point is, and what importance it has. This thought process can have a tendency to keep me quiet for portions of class discussions.

In conclusion, I believe that my participation grade should be somewhere between an 85 to a 95. I do not think my grade should be higher than a 95 because I do have factors that probably reduce my grade, and because no one is perfect. I think my grade should be higher than an 85 because I believe that I participate in class more than some of my classmates, and my list of 12 reasons justifies this.

Final Thoughts on The Stranger

In my last two blogs, I talked about how Camus’ random and confusing style of writing caught my attention in the first five chapters of The Stranger. After now having finished the novel, I understand Camus’ style of writing better, and I am able to form an opinion on the piece as a whole.

The Stranger is one of the only novels that I have read that has caused me to ask so many questions. There were several instances throughout the book that made me think “why did he say that?” or “why did he do that?” For example, on page 35 in chapter 4, Mersault states that Marie asks him if he loves her. He says “I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.” This moment was a “why did he say that?” moment. Mersault went out with Marie, kissed her, and did other things that would make it seem like he loved her. For him to say he didn’t think he loved her, and that he didn’t know for sure confused me.

A moment in the novel where I thought “why did he do that?” occurred in chapter 6 (of part 1). In this chapter, the magistrate is questioning Mersault so that he can create his defense for the trial. Much to his dismay, however, the magistrate does not get all of the answers he is searching for. As a result, he pulls out a silver crucifix, and begins to question Mersault’s faith. This moment confused me because it seemed so random. The magistrate practically threatens Mersault with the crucifix just because he is not responding to questions. This seems like a very rash and radical decision, and makes me view the magistrate as crazy. It also makes me view this part of the novel as a section that only catches our attention because of how unprecedented it is.

This section also brings up another theme in the story that confuses me. Even though this moment, for me, was memorable for its extremity, it did not appear to affect the plot much. After this moment, you never really hear about it again. I have noticed this theme in most of the novel. You read a section, and then it ends up having no affect on how the story turns out, or never is mentioned again. This theme bothers me because I believe that memorable moments in a book should have some significance to how the story ends or reaches a climax.

Based on the points I have made, I think it is obvious that this novel generally confused me, and left me asking questions. Despite all of the confusion, however, I liked the novel because it kept me thinking, and the random moments did capture my attention. My final thoughts on this novel are that I probably will not read it again any time soon, but I will definitely remember it and I would suggest it for people who would like to read something a bit different.

Random But Captivating

In my last blog, I discussed how I was both confused and captivated in the first two chapters of The Stranger. This blog is going to be similar. Instead of being confused and captivated for pages 25 through 47, I was captivated by a different theme. Camus can be quite random.

While reading, I also found two ways of classifying Camus’ random points. I will call them “storyline random” and “just plain random.” Both classifications are exactly what they sound like. Storyline random is a random point or statement that moves the story to the next plot point. Just plain random points are points where the narrator adds some insight into something that really does not seem to have any importance, or move the story along.

Chapter two ends with the statement “nothing had changed.” This statement itself and the statement before it is, in my opinion, the most thoughtful thing the narrator has said the entire book, so far. He suddenly switches back to his indifferent self at the beginning of chapter three.

This random jump into a new subject captivates me because of its placement. To go from a thoughtful statement such as “nothing had changed” into “I worked hard at the office today” sets you off your mindset, and that is what captivates me. It sort of keeps me guessing as to what the narrator might say next, and how it will relate to the story. This random switch is storyline random because it moves the story along.

Another random moment in chapter three is when the narrator says that he really enjoys washing his hands at lunchtime, and not any other time. This statement is just plain random, and most likely has no impact on the story. Unless his love of washing his hands at lunchtime becomes what the story is about, I am pretty sure this statement is just random and not necessarily needed. This statement, however, peaks my interest because it provides us with some insight into the character. It gives the narrator another dimension while it has no importance to the plot whatsoever.

Similarly to my last blog post, I wonder whether the author had reasons for these random points, and if he did, I wonder whether they will come around to have some sort of pertinent plot point.

Confusion and Captivation

The next novel I am going to discuss in my blog is The Stranger by Albert Camus. I have only read the first two chapters so far, and I am already feeling mixed emotions about the novel. I am confused and captivated by it at the same time.

The first sentence in the book is “Maman died today.” After reading this sentence, I immediately felt sympathy for the narrator, and expected him to go into some sort of explanation of the death. After this sentence, however, he questions whether his mother died today or yesterday. These statements confused me because they gave a sense that the narrator did not even care his mother was dead. These statements also captivated me. Even though it seems that the narrator does not care about his mother’s death, I was captivated into reading more of the story to find out how she died, or just more about the situation in general.

In addition to the beginning statements, the set up of the rest of the first two chapters confuses me. To me, the story, at this point, is just the narrator’s stream of consciousness. I see no plot or point to the story yet. Usually when I read a book, I can sort of get an idea of what the plot might be like, or what the point of the story is quickly after starting to the book. So far, the narrator’s stream of consciousness has not shed any light on what might come in his story.

I am again captivated at the same time though. As I have been reading, I have not seen any real change in the narrator’s way of expressing his story, and none of the plot points have really connected to one another. I believe that this lack of change and connection is what has captivated me into reading the story more. I want to see if the narrator will tell part of the story differently, or suddenly connect two seemingly different, unconnected plot points, and turn them into a prominent part of the story. My hope or wonder as to whether a change will occur captivates me into reading the story.

After reading the first two chapters, I know that while I continue to read this novel, I am going to want to continue to feel confused, but at the same time captivated. I feel that if the narrator continues to tell his story how he has told it in the first two chapters, I will initially think that he is crazy, and I just want to stop reading. Ultimately, I think that I will always have the tendency to stay captivated also, despite the lack of continuity. I am excited to see whether the novel does ultimately culminate into one large plot point that makes all of the previous discontinuities connected.