Farewell

My fellow AP English classmates:

(To the tune of Good Riddance by Green Day)
Another writing prompt, a thought stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the pen, directs you where to go
So make the best of this class, and don't ask why
It's not a journal, but a lesson learned in time

It's something simultaneous, but in the end it's right.
I know you had the time of your life.

So take the blog topics, and pre-writes in your mind
Hang 'em on a shelf in good health and good time
Novels of Nurses and Destroyers of the world
For what it's worth it was worth going blind

It's something simultaneous, but in the end it's right.
I know you had the time of your life.

It's something simultaneous, but in the end it's right.
I know you had the time of your life.

Thank you AP English, class of 2011! Farewell.

Should I Take AP?

The common question among sophomores. "To [do] or not to [do AP English.] That is the question." But my recommendation for most of them would be yes, you should for the 10 following reasons:
1. Whining rights. As the class in our high school with the most homework, you can whimper. A little.
2. Never losing the ability to write. Now that it is a full hour after my test and I have not lost any of the information that I needed for the test, I know I'll be able to write quickly and efficiently for the rest of my life.
3. Having Ms. Serensky as a friend. Given that over half the school is totally intimidated by her, you can use this to your advantage.
4. Being smart. Not only do you get better at English, but you just become a smarter person in general.
5. Freaky relations to your own life. Characters, events, and relationships from books literally BECOME your life. Weird? Yes. Cool? Yes.
6. Bragging rights. You can always use the line: "Why don't you call me up when YOU finish a 23 page data sheet!"
7. Inside jokes. They just come naturally. Ask any AP English 12 student about "Dear Journal..." and a smile will come over their face.
8. All the life lessons you can learn. The verbal lashing that came to us after we verbally abused a substitute teacher really taught us our place.
9. Applications to the outside world. Although you can feel like you are in your own little world in the AP English classroom, analyzing the effect of juxtaposition or symbols to something as simple as a Harry Potter movie can give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
10. The gratification of walking out of the AP test with a smile on your face, thinking "I rocked that."

Amy, Chasuble and Harding arrive at the rec center, looking anxious.
Chasuble: “Will the interment take place here?” (Wilde, 27)
Amy: Well, she “keeps tottering forward, mimicking life, but without much warmth, or soul, or even a pulse” (Currie, 200)
Harding: “You haven’t had the pleasure [of taking an AP Test]. Pity. An experience no human should be without” (Kesey, 188)
Chasuble: “But have you any grave doubts on the subject?” (Wilde, 27)
Harding: “It’s cheap, quick, entirely painless. It simply induces a seizure” (Kesey, 189)
Amy: “She’ll be trapped with herself. I’m hoping it will destroy her” (Currie, 92)
Harding: Hey! She “is a veritable angel of mercy and why just everyone knows that” (Kesey, 61)
Chasuble: “I am on my way to join her” because she looks like she needs me to give her all the answers (Wilde, 50). Join me, will you?
Amy: “There’s something exciting about the risk of it” (Currie, 203)
Chasuble: “You were always the most generous and forgiving” (Wilde, 26)