Life is Bubbling with Fun

1. Life is Bubbling with Fun Christian Burton The Amazing McGee 1 Freakin A

2. Table of Contents • Letter to the Reader • Bucket List • 6 Word Memoir • Writing #1- Soul Paper • Writing #2- Sonnet 130 and Sonnet 18 Compare and Contrast • Writing #3- Boundaries Between Social Classes in Pride and Predjudice

3. Letter to the Reader Dear Reader, I must be honest, my progress this year in developing as a writer was sometimes hindered by my lack of discipline in this class. In most cases one would have crashed and burned, but due to patients of The Amazing McGee I was able to navigate my way safely through the adventure that was AP English 12. Abbie did a fantastic job this year making a class that I normally thoroughly despise and turning it into one of my favorite classes of the year. I progressed MUCH more than I expected I would and can only hope for such an awesome teacher again next, as I start a new journey at VMI. Thank you for everything Ms. McGee and my fellow 1A hood rats! It’s been fun. Stay Classy, Christian Burton

4. Bucket list • Run with the Bulls In Spain • Ride one of those Bulls while I’m at it • Go to the North Pole • Hunt and kill a lion • Jump out of a plane without a parachute • Have a one night stand with Katy Perry • Teach Edward Reddick how to swim • Hit 350 mph in a car • Make Jackass 4 • Set foot on all seven continents • Swim in all five oceans • Wrestle an alligator • Have a staring contest with The Most Interesting Man in the World • Sail across the Pacific Ocean with just me and my German Shepherd named Apollo • Get a German Shepherd and name him Apollo • Visit the Dark Side of the moon • Live a life with no “what if’s” • Save a life worth saving • Take a life worth taking • Do everything humanly possible to squeeze every drop of excitement out of the one life I’ve got

5. 6 Word Memoir for this boring world

6. The Soul of Christian Burton The soul of Christian Burton has many parts. At the center lies a competitive athlete, loyal friend, son and brother. There is nothing more important to his soul than his love for basketball, family and friends. These areas receive a lot of his time and attention. His soul also embraces patriotism and yearns for excitement, mischief and playtime. His soul is content outdoors or in the country, away from the chaos of the big city. Christian’s soul finds extreme pleasure when it’s well-fed and sleeping long hours to relieve the stress of everyday life. Comedy is good for the soul, and Christian’s soul whole-heartedly agrees. It has a never-ending desire to laugh and enjoy life. His soul feels weighted down by the thought of details and small talk and much rather enjoys simplicity and common sense. His soul has a rather tough outer shell and a very stubborn side when it chooses. It can also be territorial, being compared to an animal more than once by his family. His soul is protective of its space and possessions. You are surely experiencing its utmost generosity when his soul shares time, food or space. Christian’s soul also thoroughly enjoys a good story and loves history, which is a great match considering history is full of fantastic stories! Christian’s soul enjoys an adrenaline rush, which explains his love for flying and his desire to experience the thrill of flying at super-sonic speeds. At the core of Christian’s soul lives a desire for fairness and justice in life. Perhaps this stems from playing sports and loving his country. His soul desires fair play among athletes and fair calls among basketball officials. It also desires justice for himself and others without favoritism or corruption. Finally, Christian’s soul embraces service. His soul yearns to serve his country, in an effort to protect and uphold the values and privileges his soul has enjoyed for eighteen years. Christian’s soul is willing to do the things many others won’t, to go to the places many others would rather not, and to push Christian harder than many others can.

7. Sonnet 130 and Sonnet 18 Compare and Contrast Shakespeare is arguably the greatest writer/poet to ever live. He had such a wide range of stories he could write. He was the author of classics such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Some of his well known works though are his sonnets. Two of his most famous are Sonnet 130, and Sonnet 18. In each of these the speaker describes the woman he loves, but in two very different ways. In Sonnet 18, the speaker compares the beauty of a summer’s day to the beauty of the woman he loves. The speaker praises the woman. He likens her to “the darling buds of May”. In this Sonnet, the speaker spends the entire time giving flattering compliments to his love in order to express his feelings for her. Shakespeare’s affection was very evident as he described the woman as practically perfect. He used comparisons such as “Thou art more lovely than a summers day”, and “Thy eternal summer shall not fade” to flatter the woman. This technique gave the sonnet a feeling of romance. In Sonnet 130 however, Shakespeare uses a much different approach. He begins the sonnet by saying “My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun”. This immediately is different than Sonnet 18, for he is somewhat downplaying the beauty of her eyes by stating that there is nothing extraordinary about them. Further on, the speaker says “Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.” This is a complete negative when describing the woman he supposedly loves. All these somewhat negative aspects though lead into a powerful ending in which the reader realizes that the speaker is in love with an ordinary girl. Very rarely will you find a woman with all the perfect qualities described in Sonnet 18. Sonnet 130 paints a more realistic picture of what love is; however, it lacks romance of Sonnet 18. Sonnet 18 is a literary classic, but Sonnet 130 is a much better example of a normal woman. Very rarely will you find a woman that has all the angelic qualities described in Sonnet 18. People like to dream about the “perfect” man/woman, but in reality all of us have negative qualities. These qualities make us human. If people were perfectly beautiful in the way Sonnet 18 describes, there would be nothing special about any person. Sonnet 130 gives a clear picture that one can whole-heartedly love someone with many “not so perfect” qualities. There is no doubt that Shakespeare was a master at writing sonnets. His descriptions, whether romantic or realistic, drew a mental picture of what he was describing. Romantic sonnets such as Sonnet 18 may be what people desire to read so they can dream about perfection. However Sonnet 130 was very realistic and gave a vivid description of a woman that was no less powerful than Sonnet 18. Perhaps a person’s preference between Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130 lies in whether their heart leans more towards romantic or realistic.

8. Boundaries Between Social Classes in Pride and Prejudice In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a novel that illustrated the rigid class structure of Britain in the early 1800’s, courtship and love are affected by the social standing of families. Austen attempted to sway her readers to assess the strict lines between the upper and middle class, and if those boundaries should be respected or ignored when it came to courtship. She used several relationships throughout the novel to show the stress caused by division of the social classes of that time and how they could be overcome by the desire for love. The courtship of Elizabeth and Darcy was of great importance in the novel. Darcy, a wealthy landowner, seemed to have a great deal of pride in his family standing, yet he was drawn to Elizabeth, an intelligent lady of a middle class family. Could Darcy’s prejudice towards the middle-class and Elizabeth’s pride in her family, especially in her older sister Jane, be put aside so the couple could share love for one another? “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (Austen 8). This comment made by Darcy towards Elizabeth illustrated his arrogance towards those with a lower social status than his own. Austen initially swayed her reader by allowing Elizabeth more voice than Darcy. This gave more understanding to Elizabeth’s point of view. However, Darcy’s feelings were understood in the end, which allowed the reader to desire a romance between Elizabeth and him. The courtship of Jane and Bingley was also of interest in the novel, though it was not as exciting as that of Elizabeth and Darcy. Bingley, Darcy’s wealthy friend, loved Jane, Elizabeth’s lovely older sister. The two seemed friendly and much less contrasting than Elizabeth and Darcy. However, social class and status still had a somewhat negative effect on the couple due to the divisive line between the upper and middle class. Both of these courtships were examples of the challenges that existed in courting between the social classes, yet Austen seemed intent on proving to her readers that social barriers could indeed be crossed successfully. Austen presented the two wealthy upper class men of Darcy and Bingley to illustrate that even upper class men looked beyond the division of classes. Both men had their doubts at first and had opportunities to pursue women of wealth. However, they both chose women of substance over women of status. The desire of some characters to reaffirm their social standing was also an issue in this novel. Characters such as Lady de Bourgh and Mrs. Hurst had a negative impact on the two courtships mentioned in this novel. Lady de Bourgh, the wealthy aunt of Darcy tried to control her nephew and persuade him not to continue courting Elizabeth because of her family’s lack of wealth and status. “Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?” (Austen 307). In this statement Lady de Bourgh implied that Elizabeth’s younger sister’s elopement would tarnish Darcy’s family name if he were to marry Elizabeth. In the end, Darcy’s love for Elizabeth prevailed, but the arrogance of his aunt had a negative impact on the situation. Also, Mrs. Hurst, Bingley’s sister, tried to discourage a courtship with Jane because of her lower social standing. As proof of this, Mrs. Hurst spoke these words concerning Jane: “I have an excessive regard for Miss Jane Bennet, she is really a very sweet girl, and I wish with all my heart she were well settled. But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it” (Austen 30). The actions of these characters had a negative impact on the couples because they interfered with the relationships that were developing between Elizabeth and Darcy, as well as the relationship between Jane and Bingley. The British upper class in this novel frowned upon the mixing of different social classes. Exposing the arrogance of the upper class was a technique used by the author to give the reader more sympathy towards the middle class. Although there was much emphasis on the division of the middle and upper class in Pride and Prejudice, there was also an emphasis on love and happiness surpassing the rigid lines between the classes. The courtships of Elizabeth and Darcy and Jane and Bingley were affected by numerous characters from both the middle and upper classes. These character’s impacts, though ultimately temporary, highlighted the social tensions that existed at the time. Austen’s attempt to sway her readers that love and happiness were more important than class structure was ultimately successful. Elizabeth and Darcy overcame their pride and prejudice after Elizabeth read Darcy’s letter and realized she loved him. “How despicably have I acted! I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities!” (Austen 178). This quote showed Elizabeth’s frustration with her own pride when she realized she had been upset with Darcy for an unjust reason. Although the novel was named Pride and Prejudice, love and happiness prevailed.

9. Favorite Elementary School Books • The Hardy Boys series was without a doubt my favorite thing to read as a youngster. The mysteries always had me guessing and the endings always had a twist you wouldn’t expect.

10. Favorite Middle School Books • The Lord of the Rings series was all a middle school kid could ask for. It had action, action, and more action. Not to mention the movies were fantastic! These books made reading enjoyable again after I finished all the Hardy Boys books.

11. Favorite High School Book N/A

12. Favorite High School Book • October Sky takes this one because it was a story about something I’ve always been interested in. I’ve always loved space and rockets, and the fact that it was about kids my age building them was a very intriguing story for me.