Shreya's English Blog

  The melodious and harmonious sounds of the violin surrounded me and drew me into music. The lyrical chords transported me into a world filled with tranquility. At this point, I realized that music is like a getaway vacation, in a sense that I can relax my mind and soul after experiencing stressful situations. As I immersed myself in orchestral activities and listened to a professional string quartet, I was quelled with awe of musical elements and developed genuine passion, love and energy for my instrument. After experiencing the sensation of music and musical expression through my school orchestra, I developed greater interest in singing at my Indian classical music class.  Music is the way I express myself, tell stories and paint pictures. As I perform solos, I envision a story to bring life to my music and employ techniques to convey the story. Music is the way I connect and communicate with my audience. Music is my voice and the bridge between my sentiments, emotions, fe...

  I really enjoyed doing class reads as the discussions we had in class really enhanced my comprehension of the piece. Since everyone has many different interpretations of the piece, I am able to broaden my understanding of the piece during discussions. I would like to see more choice reading in AP but I also really value doing large-group reads.  One assignment I really enjoyed this semester was the Lyric Essay assignment. I liked how we had a lot of choice and “wiggle room” in creating our topic and overall essay. I also liked how we were able to shift away from the conventional essay format and integrate different pictures and links to better express our sentiments from the actual essay. In addition, the assignment encouraged us to be reflective, analytical and creative.  I really enjoyed blogging this semester and I would like to continue blogging. Blogging has allowed me to become more introspective and helped me gain a deeper understanding of books, life and society...

Every year around the holiday season, when my my family and I sit at our dining table and have dinner, my parents always tell the story of how when I was younger, I couldn’t even reach or see the top of the dining table. I would always stand on my tippy-toes and try to see what was on the table but was too short to. This story sets a nostalgic tone to our dinner as we reminisce on older times and laugh at our childhood antics. My parents always recount my childhood stories keep those memories and moments alive. Perhaps they valued these moments very much and they want to never forget these moments. Storytelling allows families to pass down memories, values and culture.  My parents also keep the memory of my grandfathers alive by telling us stories that reflect their personality, ambitions and traits. My grandfathers passed away early and so I never got to meet them. However, through the stories my parents tell about them, I feel as if I have interacted with them and have a strong c...

 Last week, I started on my AP Physics C homework. Before I even started the assignment, I started to think about how I thought the class was so difficult and how I am bad at physics. I wondered, “why did I sign up for this class...I should have taken an easier class instead”. Because of this mindset, I felt that I could not do the assignment because I did not know the content. However, after looking through the class notes, I started to understand the content and began working on the assignment. In this case, I just assumed that the challenge was too hard for me to overcome so I put myself in a fixed mindset.  I realized that assumptions like these cause me to hesitate before pursuing challenging things. I sometimes feel that the task is too difficult. However, after putting in effort for the challenging task, I am able to progress, improve and complete the task.  Now, I have realized that when presented with something difficult, it is best to not make assumptions about ...

 I listened to 680: The Weight of Words. In this podcast, people talk about their experiences with words in different forms and how they found them comforting and used them to get past tumultuous times in their lives.  The podcast begins with the host talking about her experience with prayers. She said that even though she doesn’t believe in God or in any of the words of the prayer, she finds that saying the prayer is a comfort. Part of this is due to the fact that the prayer is familiar to her and perhaps reminds her of happier times in her life. Reminiscing about these moments gives her strength to carry on and move forward from any tragedy she faces. She had used the prayers to comfort her after mother’s death and said that the prayer reminded her of the nursery rhymes her mother would sing to her every night before bed.  The first story on the podcast is about a woman, Shamyla, who was abused by her family in Pakistan and isolated from the real-world. Her adoptive par...

  This picture is meaningful to me because it was the day I met my younger sister. I still remember how excited and happy I was when my parents told me my little sister was born. I distinctly remember my dad picking me up from daycare and driving me to the hospital to meet my sister. The whole drive, I kept asking my dad questions about her as I could not contain my excitement. Before my sister was born, I often felt bored and alone as I did not have anyone to keep me company at home. This feeling fueled my excitement when my sister was born and I could not wait to meet her. I simply kept thinking of all the different games we could play together. When we finally arrived at the hospital, I remember not being able to peer over my sister’s bassinet to see her and asking my dad to lift me up so that I could take a look. I also remember as soon as I saw her, she somewhat smiled at me. Feeling elated, I chattered away to my mom and dad in my loud, childish voice. The next day at daycare...

  In this work of art, Banksy satirizes aquariums and zoos by employing the toilet bowl, hula hoop and kiddie pool. These elements suggest that the animals at these places are confined and aren’t able to live freely and contently. Banksy utilizes indirect satire to mock how sea-animals are kept captive in a space that is simply too small.  As if this were not enough, the sea-animals are forced to perform tricks all while being confined for other people’s pleasure. This aspect causes a reflective tone to its viewers as they ponder on this practice by human nature and think about whether it is worth jeopardizing and harming a living thing’s existence for simply brief enjoyment and monetary value. By creating a mocking, satirical and reflective tone, Banksy hopes that people will view his work of art and change their human practices to better reflect the interests of sea-animals, as they are living things too. This piece also criticizes places like SeaWorld as they have made a bu...