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F R O G S

Aight so I just read through Aristophanes' The Frogs , a comedy/satire that mocks prominent Athenians, pits two classical poets against each other, and just generally makes fun of everything. It loses a little bit of the humor as the translation strips away nuance and puns and the historical distance removes the context for the jokes, but it's still a bitingly funny comedy. To give you an example of the style of humor in this play, it OPENS UP by breaking the fourth wall and then switching into a joke:  XANTHIAS Look, master, an audience! Shouldn’t I say something? Tell them one of those jokes they always fall for?  DIONYSUS O, all right—say what you like. Only no jokes about how you’re dying to piss. I can’t stand those— they’re all so stale.  XANTHIAS What about my other jokes?  DIONYSUS Go ahead—just nothing about your bladder, about how it’s going to burst. XANTHIAS What? You mean I can’t tell that really funny one . . .  DIONYSUS I suppo...
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November MOR: The Frogs

This month's MOR is The Frogs.  I'm reading it with Shady. That's all. http://www.professormalone.com/images/Aristophanes_Frogs_e-text.pdf
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1984 October MOR

So... 1984. I've really been... enjoying? Is that really a word that can be applied to a dystopian novel? Whatever. I've been enjoying the novel. I've finished the first "book", in which we are introduced to Winston Smith, our protagonist, and the world of 1984 : divided into 3 megacountries, the world is in a constant state of war. Oceania, the country our story is set in, is ruled by The Party, headed by Big Brother and kept in a constant state of poverty and total government control. Winston Smith is a low-level official of the party, responsible for editing speeches and newspaper articles to retroactively make them fit the narrative of the all-powerful Party.  I'll be honest; I already know where the plot is headed. Months before ever deciding to read 1984, I had watched the video linked in my previous blog post which exposits the interesting, suspenseful, but ultimately bleak and sad plot. Nevertheless, actually reading 1984  has been very interesting...
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This month's MOR is: George Orwell's 1984

Alrighty then, we're here now. AP English's monthly outside reading. Fun.  October is for "Contemporary" literature, or literature published after WWII. Because 70-year-old books are still contemporary, guys! I promise! This month I'm choosing to read 1984 , by George Orwell. Why you ask? Because I'm a masochist who wants to hurt myself with depressing literature and All Quiet on the Western Front  was written before WWII and thus ineligible. In all honesty, though, 1984 is a book I've wanted to read for a while as it's a dystopian classic that has been highly influential on society. There's a reason "Big Brother" is a household term for overreaching government surveillance. It paints a bleak and powerful picture of the possible outcome of totalitarianism, a warning that more people should heed. I'll read it with whoever else is willing to subject themselves to this pain. If no one else is interested, Fahrenhe...
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