I got to use Depa's "going sane" idea from Shatterpoint in my English class today!

And no one knew it was from a Star Wars book.

We were discussing Catcher in the Rye and whether or not we thought Holden was mentally insane and should be in the mental ward like he was at the end of the book.

I decided to take Depa's concept and relate it to what we were talking about.

I said that perhaps in realizing the "phonies" in society (a major part of the book) that perhaps he realized the insanity around him and went sane. The rest of the world saw his sanity as being insane because they believed that they were sane and he wasn't.

Then I brought up that since being insane is the normal, would being insane actually mean being sane, and therefore classify Holden as insane?

Most people didn't get it, but a few people did and thought it was a pretty cool idea. I didn't mention I got it from Shatterpoint though.

 

You get the EU gold star for the day!

What'd your teacher think?

 

I don't think she really understood it, to tell the truth. She just kinda said "yeah" and went on to the next person. A few people understood it though. Someone said he thinks someday I'll write something like The Matrix movies.

 

That's awesome! I can see how your class got a bit confused, though, it's easier to read that kind of thing.

~*Ambyr-Rose*~

 

My guess is that most people in my class wouldn't understand it too well if they read it either.

 

Ooh, major diss!

~*Ambyr-Rose*~

 

The sad thing is that its the honors english class. I really do not think some of the people in there should be in there. Oh well.

 

Hey! You used that with me in your PM!

But nice. I bet half my advanced English class wouldn't have gotten it either...

 

Yep, and I used it in another PM too. That's what gave me the idea to use it in English class.

 

Nice, Ousley.

"Advanced/Honors English" is just a device to separate the well-behanved kids from the disruptive kids.

 

It could be looked that way, then again a lot of the kids in advanced/honors classes want to learn, thus making their behavior better.

I once applied the same thing to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and a lot of the people thought I was insane.

 

Sounds like your honors english class is just like mine.....

 

I paraphrased a fair bit of the prologue to Traitor in one of my English essays dealing with emotive links to color and symbolism.

Thank you Mr Stover.

 

Yeah, but did you write an entire research paper on "Philosophy in Literature" with the main focus being on Traitor? I got a B only because of grammar errors.

 

I should get to start Traitor tomorrow. I only have about 80 pages left in Rebel Stand.

And I added the going sane thing into an essay I had to write about the same subject. The topic was:

The Catcher in the Rye is a comment on insensitivity of modern society. Holden is a hero who stands against the false standards and hypocrisy that almost all others accept. As much as he would like to accept the world and be comfortable like almost everyone else, he can't pretend that society is worthwhile.

I used a bunch of stuff from the book to back this up, then brought up that perhaps he had gone sane while the world around him was insane.

 

Congrats, Ousley.

You've become me.

I do SW stuff every single day in my English class. Only I'm a lot more blatant about it. I've used Chewie and Anakin's deaths in commentaries about compassion in the world for short story units, Jacen Solo's lessons from Vergere in Traitor and his vision in Balance Point as a basis for someone's entire lifestyle, the concept of ascension to a higher level of understanding many times...and I can do a flawless Darth Vader.

I also did the Matrix "super-duper-avoid-the-bullets-dance" for a presentation. They thought it was hella good.

 

I can't wait until next semester. I'm taking a class on Philosophy and Values, where we'll discuss stuff like, "Is war ever justified?", along with the morality of several other issues.

I'm so totally busting out Traitor.

 

"Is war justified?"

you should read Starship Troopers, by Rober A. Heinlien. But Traitor would be good too.

 

Speaking of Traitor, I finally got to get started on it today.

 

That's not really an English class topic. It's more related to philosophy. The main question is whether the majority gets to dictate what the norm should be. Then we get into questions about whether it is human nature to lump together based on similarities and condemn all those who are different.

Yep, definitely a deeper discussion that we really didn't get into until our senior year of high school, in an advanced college English course. I think most American high school students don't WANT to think about these things since fitting in is such an important concept to them. Only when you get to college do you really notice that people have changed. Perhaps they felt safer in their secluded microchasm where they were the big fish in the little pond, but being in a huge college environment might have negative effects on some people while it could HELP others. (Speaking as someone who benefited immensely from college. )

Yeah, I think I spoke a little too much about that. But after reading what I wrote (unless you decide that it's tl, dr ), maybe you can understand why your fellow classmates might be a bit behind. Us Star Wars geeks mature faster.

Jae Angel

ED: Speeling

 

Makes sense to me, NJ.

 

I wish I knew the EU existed back in school! It would of made things a lot easier when it came to cheat- um, I mean, finding inspiration! haha.