Mrs. Ho's AP Lit - 2021/2022

 Last Thursday night, the 2021-2022 NFL season kicked off with a matchup between Super Bowl champions and my favorite team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, against the Dallas Cowboys. To me, there is no greater joy or a single better day in the year than when football starts. I get to look forward to 9 straight hours of football on Sundays, primetime games on Mondays and Thursdays, and of course the playoffs near January-February.  This NFL season is already drastically different than last year's, and it's only been one week of games! Last year, the NFL did not allow fans in any stadium until the very end of the year, where they allowed 20-25% capacity in select stadiums. This year, every single stadium was cleared by their state to hold full capacity beginning week 1, creating a stadium atmosphere that football players hadn't experienced in over a year and a half!  This past Sunday was the first Football Sunday of the year, and there's nothing that makes me happier. If you a...

     My favorite food of all time is acai bowls. I make them at home almost every day for lunch when I get home so I will say the recipe now. This is very good and you should try it if you like fruit as much as I do. The first step I take is letting an acai packet that I get at Publix sit out on the counter top for about 5 to 7 minutes. This is a very crucial step in the acai process. It is very important to not let it sit out for too long because then the acai will be watery and not thick if it is left out to melt for a while. The brand of acai that I use is called Sambazon Acai Packets in the unsweetened version for reference. Next, I blend that with a handful of frozen mango and a handful of frozen strawberries. Though I use mango and strawberries you can really use any frozen fruit. I just use those because they are my favorites. I also add a little bit of almond milk so that it blends easier and I do not break the blender. Once it is all blended, I place it in a bowl...

        What’s up to my soccer fans in this class (might only be one other person)! I wanted to give some soccer updates and get some feedback on what you guys think about some of the recent news. First, we have to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo going back to his home club, Manchester United, and scoring two incredible goals on his debut. At age 36 he is still scoring goals, which is absolutely incredible and just proves why he is the greatest ever! Does anyone think Messi is the Goat (P.S. You are wrong)?      Next, Erling Haaland is an absolute machine and I consider him to be the best player in the world right now. While many say his PSG counterpart, Kylian Mbappe, is the best currently because he is the more technical player, I still think Haaland will end up having more goals and assists as he is a more deadly and consistent finisher. Additionally, Haaland’s hunger to win and score goals is absolutely incredible: After scoring a hattrick for No...

     Hi everyone! So for anyone who didn’t already know, I’m a pretty big fan of Taylor Swift (what you’d call, a “Swiftie”). I am here to list a bunch of reasons why and see if I can persuade anyone else to become a fan, as well.       First of all, it is undeniable how talented Taylor Swift is at songwriting. She writes all of her songs and clearly devotes a lot of time to crafting them in a polished yet authentic, relatable way, which not all artists are capable of doing. Look at her more recent albums like Folklore or Evermore , for instance. The lyricism, story-telling, and imagery are astounding. I literally learned at least a few more vocabulary words from her songs and could very much visualize the detailed scenes she was setting.       Secondly, Swift’s range of musical genres in her discography is impressive and shows how versatile she is as a musician. From her country roots in earlier albums ( Taylor Swift, Fearless, Sp...

            I just finished reading Yair's top 5 blog, and that inspired me to make a top 5 blog of my own. Although top 5 Shabbos games is very controversial, I think this might be a little bit more controversial, and I would even go so far as to say that this is with out a doubt the most controversial blog that I've ever written. I will put the final list on the bottom so I don't spoil it, but without further ado, these are the top 5 kosher meat restaurants in Florida.      At number 5, I have to put Fuego by Mana in North Miami Beach. It's a solid pick for when you are celebrating a special occasion, but I probably wouldn't go there just on a random Sunday. Last time I went, I got the Chicken Skewers which were pretty good and very filling which is what matters.       At number 4, I am going with China Bistro in Hollywood. You can never go wrong with having a solid Chinese food restaurant in the top 5, and I would...

  As we all know, last year’s Rosh Hashannah differed a lot from years past. Almost everyone I know streamed services from their home and didn’t go in person. I also experienced this and watched services from the comfort of my couch with my mom, dad, and dog. I have to say, I really enjoyed this experience. Being a rabbi’s kid, the expectations for the high holidays are much different than a normal Jewish teenager in Boca. This time of year is always extra stressful with having to find modest yet cute outfits to wear, waking up early in the morning and rushing out the door to head to temple, and my parents usually make me read Torah on the 2nd day as well. With the temple still at limited capacity this year, I made the conscious decision to opt-out and stay home, which I secretly wanted to do all along. I ended up still streaming services on a zoom with my siblings but being able to watch from my parents’ bed in my pajamas and being able to just roll out of bed and turn it on is so...

  Week 2 - Best Shabbat Games/Activities *Updated Fall 2021* Shabbat is a time of rest, but it is also a time for fierce competition with friends and family. Games are an important part of my Shabbat and Yom Tov routine, which is why I would like to share my top picks. I know this topic can be extremely controversial, but make sure to stay respectful in the comments. Here is the list of my top 5 picks, in order of importance. Settlers of Catan Ping Pong/Table Tennis (I know, it's a sport) Connect Four Monopoly Millionaire Deal Coup I will start with my least favorite because I want to get it over with. Coup. I haven’t played this card game in a while, but I do know for a fact that it is an incredible game. The game involves lying to your opponents and looking super unsuspicious in order to win. The game is obviously more complicated than that, but I’m rusty and not willing to waste words to explain. At number 4: Monopoly Millionaire Deal. I want to be clear - This is the mi...

 In his poem "Grief Calls Us to the Things of this World," Sherman Alexie describes a call with his mother through a hotel bathroom telephone and their shared conflicting emotions about Alexie's father that arise from the conversation. The tone of the poem shifts from a simple decision to call his father because "he's astounded by bathroom telephones" to a deep sense of self-reflection from both Alexie and his mother, asking themselves how they possibly could have forgotten that Alexie's father is dead.  While Sherman and his mother's initial reactions are to feel guilty for their forgetfulness, their mistakes are actually a result of their undying love for their father/husband. When Sherman decides to phone his father, he isn't even thinking about the incredibly obvious fact that his dad is dead (rendering him unable to answer a phone call) because all he is thinking about at the moment is that he is u sing a bathroom phone and he needs to tell ...

     In the poem, "In this Place" written by Amanda Gorman, the author discusses the beauty and triumph of America despite frequent suffering. Despite systemic poverty, racism, the immigration crisis, and religious division, there is good and "poem" in this place called America as Gorman displays. The title of the poem, "In This Place", is extremely important to the poem because Gorman is trying to show that in this place called America bad things do unfortunately happen but the goodness of America as a whole prevails in the end.While this poem was very powerful, a few lines in particular spoke to me.  This line displays perhaps one of the most violent and horrible days in America. Alt- Right protesters and Alt- Left protesters were committing extremely violent acts against one another which ended in a tragic death. Even through tough times, of fellow American vs. American, neighbor vs. neighbor, Amanda Gorman was able to find the "poem" or hope ...

  The poem "1969" by Alex Dimitrov looks at the moon landing and uses it to symbolize how everyone is looking at the future as if they are living in it in the present, and how everyone looks towards living in peace even though they constantly live in war. Dimitrov describes how we came to the moon "in peace for all mankind then returned to continue the war".  The title "1969" signifies the date of the moon landing, but does more in that it is a past date that looks forward to a bright future. It is a year where it was shown that certain things that may have seemed impossible may become possible in the upcoming years in the future. It is a title that both looks back at the past, but also looks forward to a bright future.  I agree with the message of the poem of looking forward to the future, but I also think that focusing on the present is very important which I think is something that the author emphasizes. We are living in a world that is not reality, and...

Second Attempt Crossing by Javier Zamora is an emotional poem about Javier, the author, attempting to cross the Mexican-American border for the second time with his guardian, Chino, and others who are seeking a better life. The title, “Second Attempt Crossing", is significant in that it depicts just how desperate foreigners are to live in our incredible free country, the United States, as they are willing to risk their lives however many times it takes just to cross the border. Those who are coming in illegally are usually fleeing other more cruel and corrupt countries that do not treat people the same as we do in America. Zamora illustrates just how desperate these immigrants are when he described the “dried creek [in which] 40 of [them] slept” surrounded by dirt, heat, and bugs.  Additionally, throughout the poem, the author continues a grateful tone specifically towards Chino. Throughout the poem, Zamora continues to repeat the word “you” followed by a description of something...

      In the poem "Complainers" by Rudy Francisco, Francisco encourages the reader to not get beaten up by their problems but to overcome them and stop complaining.  This poem can be broken down into three sections; the first being a list of people who have had terrible things happen to them (terrible would actually be an understatement) and then encouraging us to not let our everyday problems get us down, lastly what we should do instead of complaining.     Francisco grabs our attention with a story about a man who had to amputate his own arm after a boulder fell on it. Then he tells us more stories about people who got extremely hurt. Instead of telling the entire story with detail for each person, he brings out the same effect just by saying short sentences like "Matthew Brobst was hit by a javelin." Because of the detail he went into earlier, we feel the same sympathy even with a story with fewer details. This allows him to fit more stories in and keep ...

  Week 1 - “The Answering Machine”, by Philip Schultz In Philip Schultz’s “The Answering Machine”, Schultz discusses the place his answering machine plays in his daily life. He opens the poem by saying that he speaks with his friends “mostly to one another’s machine,” meaning that he spends more time than he would like talking to answering machines instead of to his friends. By starting the poem with this sentence, he sets up the rest of the poem to critique the use of an answering machine in households. He then explains that he “broke off with Betesy,” who I assume was his girlfriend, through the answering machine, when he impersonally told her that he could not join her on a trip to Colorado. By including this specific anecdote, he highlights the loss of personal connections that is replaced with a robotic answering machine. This aversion to conflict, he admits, often results in “greater isolation,” where people simply jump around from hearing a variety of voice messages ranging ...

     “Flounder” by Natasha Trethewey is a poem written in 2000, describing a fishing trip with her Aunt Sugar.  In her poem, Trethewey utilizes both dialogue and imagery to allow the reader to have a better glimpse of the memorable trip the author went on. Trethewey describes even the seemingly small aspects of the trip when she writes, “Aunt Sugar rolled her nylons down around each bony ankle, and I rolled down my white knee socks letting my thin legs dangle,” and “[Aunt Sugar] sat spitting tobacco juice into a coffee cup.” Through mentioning these details, Trethewey evokes the senses of the reader to enable them to better visualize many aspects of the scene and feel more immersed in the story. Trethewey also includes dialogue such as, “ You ‘bout as white as your dad, and you gone stay like that ,” to reveal the personality of her aunt and to show rather than tell the complex dynamics the author has grown up with. When Trethewey describes catching a flounder fish...

Amanda Gorman’s poem “Earthrise” discusses climate change, “the single greatest challenge of our time,” and offers a glimpse of hope for the future of our planet. When reading this poem and listening to her recite it, a few lines and stanzas stood out.  “ Protection of a future so universal Should be anything but controversial.”   This line provides the opportunity to get an outside perspective of what is actually happening today. In the polarized world we live in, somehow, the will to save our planet has become an opinion. It should be a shared belief to protect the world we live in so that it is safe and, at the very least, exists for generations to come. Politicians have started questioning science and spreading misinformation that climate change isn’t real; it is very real. Environmentalism should not be controversial, so why is it? This brings me to another stanza that explains the reality of our world. “We’ve known That we’re caught in the throes Of climactic changes som...

  Nicole Blackman’s poem, “Daughter,” is all about how she wishes to push her beliefs and values onto her future daughter someday. Blackman is a known feminist and most of her poems include some sort of that connotation. My favorite quote from this piece is the last line that is repeated once, presumably for dramatic effect. The line states “Never forget what they did to you and never let them know you remember.” This could be interpreted to mean basically “forgive but don’t forget.” Blackman is trying to tell her future daughter or young women around the world to take your experiences and memories with you and learn from them; you can move on from what they did to you, but don’t forget it so you won’t be wronged again. Throughout the poem you see Blackman using different metaphors to tell her daughter to be and live for herself without caring what people will think. With aggressive words and phrases such as “make men lick her enterprise” or “kill the kittens” and “light things on ...