A Call to Prayer?

After finishing the eye-opening, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I was very moved by the intense passion and bravery of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was truly like none other: he was able to teach himself how to read and write although it was illegal and his incredible oratory and writing skills enabled Douglass to become "...the most powerful and influential black American of his time..." (iii). Douglass knew that the main audience of his autobiography were northerners (mainly Christians) who were unsure if slavery should be continued. Many times throughout his narrative, Douglass makes reference to religion. Often using the epithet, "hell of slavery," it is likely that Douglass wanted his readers to come to the conclusion that those who allowed the evil of slavery to continue would have to endure the wrath of G-d. I believe Mr. Douglass tried to showcase the hypocrisy of the "religious" slave owners in the hope of giving readers a deeper feeling of hatred towards slaveholders: "[Mr. Covey] sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief, that he was a sincere worshipper...when he may be said to have been guilty compelling his woman slave to commit the sin of adultery" (37).

Based on Douglass' narrative, many people during that time had strong religious beliefs and feelings. Today, it is becoming more and more common for people to reject religion. There may be many reasons why people in the United States are generally less religious nowadays than they were in Douglass' time. I feel that the main reason is that people have less to worry in terms of health issues because improved medical care over the years. When I went to Hebrew school, I could see a clear lack of faith among many of my peers. After 7th grade, almost 1/2 of my religious school peers no longer attended. The graph below represents data that was collected in a study done by the University of California, Berkeley. The results of the graph seem to accurately depict my own experience in Hebrew school.

Why do you think people are less religious these days?

The New Trier Uniform

This past Wednesday, I got an iPhone. Finally! 

Before I had an iPhone, I felt like I was the only one in a sea of 3,000 kids that didn't have an iPhone (no joke). I had a flip phone which didn't have all the bling and the blang of an iPhone, but I could still use it to call or text. Living in a generally well-off area, I have been exposed to an extremely spoiled bunch of kids (including me). To be honest, I was very reluctant and excited at the same time to follow the bandwagon of the iPhone users. I knew having an iPhone would make communicating through text and social media substantially easier, but I did not want to fall into the "New Trier uniform."  

My friends and I joke now that I am a "real" New Trier student now. Another pretty iconic example of the "New Trier uniform" is a North Face fleece. I will admit that I have been a proud owner of several black North Face fleeces over the past 8 years or so. Growing up and living almost all my life in the New Trier district, I remember from when I was quite little that I always wanted a North Face fleece like my friends. In very much the same way an iPhone attracts customers, North Face makes their brand seem highly prized because it is more expensive, however, it is no better than the Target brand fleece or one that you could get at an outlet store. There's no doubt that I enjoy the warmth and comfort of my North Face and my iPhone when I want to check Facebook or a text message. But, in the end I always feel that in some way I lost the battle. I am fitting into my mold, slowly forming like a mound of clay. The outcome is inevitable. 

Do you feel that you wear a "uniform" of some form?

7 Pix

After a class discussion about New Trier's "Hall of Fame," I wondered what other aspects of New Trier may be sending subliminal messages to students and members of the New Trier community. One example that I have seen about a million times is the photo slideshow on the New Trier website. When I actually stopped to think about it, I was sort of upset at the photos that were chosen for the front page of the website: a student studying, a student playing violin, a student making art, a student playing lacrosse, a student on an iPad, students at the "commencement" ceremony, a student working on a robot project (or at least I think that's what it is). It is so monotonous and so wrong.

I can see someone on the board of education saying something like, "Let's put up a photo of someone playing an instrument, someone in an art class, and someone on an iPad...That's what the parents want to see."

There is much more to New Trier than that. I feel that those particular photos were not chosen for any other reason besides to show off to people like parents and non-New Trier students. I think those photos create a very cropped image of New Trier, forgetting about so much more that New Trier has to offer.

I think the average user of the New Trier website is probably a student from New Trier who is not in the least bit interested in seeing another student studying. So, why bother with putting up those propaganda-esque photos in the first place? I mean, we get it already. New Trier is a pretty awesome high school. It is not fair to sum up an entire student body in 7 measly photos.

William Gets a New Hairdo

Shakespeare is changing with the times

I can remember many nights spent at the desk in my room staring blankly at text from the Odyssey. Apparently, I hoped that eventually I would find some sort of hidden clue as to what the heck was going on. By the time I was finished with the novel, excuse me, epic poem, I felt like I could pretty much read Greek. But, to be honest, at first I felt like I really didn't get too much from that ancient poem besides a migraine headache. I certainly was not the only one though, my peers constantly complained about reading books that were far too old to be interesting. So, why is it that schools across the country have been having high schoolers read the Odyssey, the Catcher in the Rye, and Romeo and Juliet for at least the past half century?

I would not say that I dislike the above mentioned books, not at all. But, I find it interesting that it is so consistent across the country for people to read the same thing. I would argue that our country has changed immensely over the past fifty years or so, yet we continue to read the same books in school as students did in the Stone Age (no exaggeration).

My feeling is that though the language we use nowadays is way different from the time of Romeo and Juliet. We can still understand the feeling of what it would be like to be in love, but never be able to be together because of family rivalries. Or in the case of the Catcher in the Rye, to be a teenager who feels lost and alone with no one to console him, but his younger sister Pheobe.

I occasionally even look back and reread passages from my freshman and sophomore English classes that I find moving: "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you" (Salinger). I think that high school students can often relate to Holden in his moments of despair or even Odysseus feeling like you have to steer away from the entrancing call of the Sirens. I really do not think it is so crazy that we keep reading the same books in school because they are really NOT the same and they never will be.