Sherwood vs George

Who names their kid Sherwood? If you are reading this and your name is Sherwood then I am sorry. I meant know offence. Anyway most people believe that George Willard acts as a sort of avatar of the author within Sherwood Anderson's story, Winesburg Ohio. I was interested in this so I did some research to find similarities between the two. One big similarity that I noticed was that throughout the story George becomes infatuated (at least to an extent) with four women: Louise Trunnion, Kate Swift, Belle Carpenter, and Hellen White. Sherwood Anderson himself was married to four different women in his lifetime. Three of these women he married after the publication of Winesburg Ohio, but I personally thought it was an interesting coincidence. In terms of childhood, Anderson doesn't have much in common with George, Anderson's hometown of Clyde, Ohio bears much resemblance to Winesburg, but other than that and fathers who were frequently in debt the two have little in common in terms of home life. Anderson's father and mother worked low end jobs to make ends meet, and Anderson himself was renowned for working to the bone as a child. I personally feel that George doesn't represent the pre-writing Anderson; not from the outside anyway. Rather I feel like Anderson felt that an expressive, creative, and artistic being was trapped inside him by the financial realities of his life. And just as George left Winesburg to become the man he always wanted to be, Anderson left his wife and kids (in a far less romanticized and admirable fashion) to go pursue his artistic dream.

DO IT

When reading Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio in class, we have encountered many different characters, all with a different story. From the gaunt Mrs Willard to the haunted Wing Biddlebaum, Anderson's cast of characters is a bleak bunch. Personally, my favorite character that we have read about is Joe Welling. Throughout man of ideas Joe is upbeat, optimistic, and won't shut the hell up. Many people might view him as silly or annoying, but I find his personality and quirks amusing. I personally feel that there is more beneath the surface of his character than he is perhaps given credit for. He takes on the responsibility of coaching the Winesburg baseball team with great aplomb. He courts Mr. King's daughter, who is described as rather sad and dull, with enthusiasm and sees the best in her. I believe that beneath his loud babbling exterior Joe Welling is a good man.

Tests

Today in English class we took a test.I did some searching around and found some really interesting facts about the psychology behind multiple choice tests. Now, the test we took today wasn't a multiple choice test, but whatever. What I learned is that in test-taking there are two kinds of memory: recall and recognition. An essay test like the one we took today asks your mind to access it's memories directly. When answering an essay question, your mind thinks back and brings relevant information to the surface of your consciousness. A multiple choice question, however, uses both the recall memory and recognition. multiple choice questions group potential correct answers together as well as often grouping questions from certain chapters or topics together. When choosing from a list of potential answers, the ones that your mind recognizes will stand out to you. This is abnormal or ridiculous answers stick out like a sore thumb on multiple choice questions. Many people find that they struggle with multiple choice tests, often they get caught up choosing between two answers that seem like they can be correct and they work themselves into a state of confusion and distress over it. I myself experience this phenomenon from time to time, but in general I like taking multiple choice tests. Essay questions are easy to answer if you know the material well; you can throw down all the required information on to the test and look like a genius. Multiple choice is easier to succeed on if you didn't study, especially if the test is poorly written. You can also use multiple choice questions to answer other questions that you may be stuck on. Although I think multiple choice tests are easier, in all honesty essay questions are probably a more accurate test of the students knowledge.

I'm super inspired

I am feeling very uninspired and I'm not sure what to write about. However, I don't want to fail this assignment and luckily I, like every good high school student, am quite adept at pulling essays out of my-never mind. I don't know if I'm allowed to swear on here. Anyway since I was lacking inspiration and also since we have been delving into the bowels of Freudian Psychology as of late I figured I would do some research into the science of inspiration and what goes on in the brain when one is inspired or not inspired. First of all, contrary to popular belief, backspace our most inspired moments do not come when we are alert awake and at our most functional. According to a few sources that I consulted many of our most inspired "aha!" moments come when we are supremely relaxed or even groggy. Many studies actually indicate that inspiration tends to be in high supply when we are under the influence of substances. I read about a concept called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is when our mind forms new connections between different items catalogs in our mind. When discussing the development of the brain while in childhood people often talk about association, using the examples of things such as shapes, colors, and people. Unsurprisingly, the brain never stops doing this. and sometimes when our brain make new associations, new ideas are born!

Don't let your dreams be dreams

Anyway, we've been discussing dreams and the subconscious and the id and ego and superego and a whole bunch of various mind-blowing stuff. I was very interested in dreams and what they reflect about your subconscious, so I decided to look into it further. Specifically, I was interested in the types of dreams and what differentiates one brand of dream from another. There are false awakening dreams, or dreams within dreams, where you wake up and sometimes go through your whole morning routine before realizing that you are still inside a dream. I've experienced this myself. I also frequently get up in the middle of the night, shower and get ready for school without realizing that it is two in the morning, but as that happens in reality and is not part of a dream, I think I'm just dumb. Another brand of dream is the common daydream, which the average person does about 70 to 120 minutes per day. The state of mind of a person in a daydream is partially conscious. I don't daydream much anymore, possibly because of my improved mental discipline to work and school now that I am older and more mature. I do however remember doing quite a bit of daydreaming in elementary school. Other types of dreams include nightmares (which I frequently have) as well as recurring dreams (which I haven't had in years). I used to remember my dreams all the time, but I never do anymore which makes me sad.