The Caretaker

The Caretaker was a relaxing read for me because I never really got emotionally involved with the characters. At first read the play seems bland and pointless but after discussing it in class, I have changed my mind about its lack of point or purpose. The way that Harold Pinter sets the scene with the different characters and scenery is all symbolic for England after the World War II. Personally, I do not think that it deserved all the praise and international recognition it got simply because there are other plays for Harold Pinter. Even though all if not many of Harold Pinter's plays have underlying political messages, there are other plays that are more entertaining. Pinter's The Birthday Party is much more absurdist in nature but manages to get the reader more emotionally evolved and the political messages are sugar-coated for the average reader. For example, the only part you might feel any kind of emotion is when Aston is giving his monologue (which can be considered the climax of the play). When Aston talks of he's early days and being sent to electroshock therapy with the consent of his mother, the reader cannot help but feel sympathetic. The act closes however, and act three begins with the same boring tone as the first act.

IOP

My IOP was about dogs in the novel Disgrace. "The dogs in Disgrace represent the state to which South Africa and its people have been reduced to." Was my thesis. I started off by acting out the metamorphosis of a human into a dog while All I Need by Radiohead played the background. I used a power point presentation to guide both me and the audience through the presentation as smoothly as possible.

All forms of public speaking are healthy for students in high school because it has high importance in most high-end jobs. Preparing and watching all the Individual Oral Presentations really opened my eyes to how easy it is to seem boring in front of a crowd of students. I, personally, have a hard time speaking well in public about things Im not passionate about. I like that the IB has diversified its assessment methods because it gives fair chance for those that might not do so well in written tests, to get some grades as well. Im sure that most of my colleagues feel the same way about the IOP itself, what worries me however is the way we approached this project. Between the IOP proposal, IOP assigned dates, IOP assigned questions, evaluating answers, watching the presentation, righting comments, and self assessment the actual presentation is lost. Instead of this project being a chance to discuss different topics/takes on the novels it became a long check-list of different evaluation combinations. The presentations became robotic and empty like dictation. This however is not completely because it really shows you all the mistakes you might have done. I learned many things about public speaking and preparing for important presentations especially since I had to go through the process twice. It feels great on the other hand to be over and done with them.

Oracle Night

Oracle Night is a relatively easy-going novel. You don't really feel heightened moments of sadness or stress until the very end. I like these kinds of books because they keep my emotions at bay and give me time to think about the novel as a whole while reading it. I think, however that my biggest attraction to the novel was the mystery that paul austen built around the central plot. Everything from the blue notebook to Grace's dreams seem to leave a trace of mystery and ambiguity in the reader's mind. I think that Paul Auster did a good job at creating this air of uncertainty in this novel without cliche. It is unlike most novels in that sense because we never really loose touch of the reality of the story. Paul Auster remains true to realistic fiction and still manages to deliver a novel stimulating to the reader's imagination.

Reaction to The Rock of Tanios

Though Amin Maalouf never specifies the location of this book, it is not difficult to figure out that it is in a Middle Eastern setting. Since I have grown up in a middle eastern setting it is not difficult for me to be able to connect with manny aspects of this book. The characters' culture in this book is familiar to mine. Usage of arabic words such as "sheikh" in the book may be foreign to western readers, but I recognized it instantly as an honorific term. In fact, this term is still used today and can be bought and added to your passport here in Lebanon. Even the type of food that they eat is similar to ours nowadays in Lebanon for example the cheese that they ate is one of my grandfather's favorites. The people that live in the mountains in the book show how hierarchy was molded into their culture. The power of the sheikh in this book was opulent. Everyone in the village went and kissed his hand in the morning and he took a part of all their produce. Though the time the book is set in is probably long ago, remnants of this ancient arab culture is still found today which makes this book a whole lot easier to relate to.

Byron and His Poetry

No, Lord Byron’s Poetry was not eclipsed by his life. Him, being a public figure no doubt has helped his writings become known, but this is not a reason for us to undermine his works. I find his works and him equally interesting. They are closely related and I believe there is a reason for this. Lord Byron, I believe, enjoyed the attention. Many other authors that have been prosecuted by governments or society have been able to separate their works from their personal life. Don Juan, one of Byron’s most famous works acts as a front for him to rant about society and other themes affecting his life such as unfaithfulness.

My Haiku

The full moon looms
Spider feeds
Death is near

Makhloutah