Accordion to 12AP

 As I was scrolling through some TV channels on a boring evening, I saw the name America's got Talent. I stopped mindlessly trying to find something interesting to watch and hoped that America's got Talent is actually a good show now. However, despite all of my hope, I was first presented with some weird comedian guy, then some kids doing normal talent show stuff, and then the classic: that one person that's going through a tough time and a judge hits the golden buzzer. Wow, totally did not see that coming. I was just about to click off this channel but finally a person holding an actual musical instrument walked in. As a mostly classical musician, I was so relieved to see that maybe finally I can cleanse my eyes and ears of those cringe "performances". The musician starts playing and I realize that he is actually pretty good. He played everything in tune and on time. He has a lot of dynamics and looks pretty professional. But as the camera switched to the judges

 In 11 AP, we learned a bit about the different lenses that readers can analyze the characters and/or themes that are in literature. Here is the link: https://chineseaccordionboi.blogspot.com/2019/11/after-learning-about-different-lenses.html. It honestly feels great to learn more about things that I have interacted with in the past like the different literary theories. I think a lot of these different literary theories can be used in almost every book to explore new ideas or themes that may or may not have been intended by the author. Oedipus Rex is a great example of a story that can be viewed under many lenses. The most prominent and famous one is through the psychoanalytic lens. The term "Oedipus Complex" refers to the " unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and hatred for the same-sex parent." This is a theory by Sigmund Freud that allows readers to understand the story of Oedipus through a new lens. The readers can directly relate the prophecy

                    Everyone is afraid of something. It might be a fear of spiders, heights, water, social interaction, or even failure, but one common reaction that results from the fear of something is to stay as far away as possible from that horrifying “thing”. This ensures that we cannot be harmed by that “thing” we deemed dangerous. However, in the case of Oedipus Rex and The Trial by Franz Kafka, that natural response to fear led the protagonists to the thing that they are most afraid of: Guilt. As we debate the influence of fate on Oedipus’s tragic end, one question was always bugging me. Why did Oedipus choose to keep looking for the truth despite all the warnings and confirmations that people he used to trust gave him? Was it because he is arrogant and considers himself better than others? Maybe. But I think the better answer here is that his fear of being guilty caused him to go on this endless hunt for the truth. Similarly, in The Trial, the main character, K, is informed o

Reading Saving Sourdi was really an emotional ride; the plot was full of twists and encourages the readers to think deeply about the characters' actions and thoughts.  While the story focuses on the complex characteristics of the main characters, another major theme is the treatment of women in some Asian communities. Sourdi's poor treatments by men from the same culture as her throughout the story were accepted by herself and others. For example, at the beginning of the story, Sourdi was sexually harassed by men at the restaurant, instead of having a reaction herself, she just allowed it to happen. Similarly, when Sourdi was engaged to an older and wealthier man, even though she was still (maybe) dating Duke, her mother tried to force Duke out of Sourdi's life and force Mr. Chhay into Sourdi's life. This type of marriage is definitely rare in modern communities, but in communities that are more rural and traditional, this type of marriage is rather common. As a person