Five Questions Interview

A while ago, Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness posted a meme that goes like this: Someone asks you five questions to answer in a blog post. Then people comment on that post to be interviewed. The poster choses a person and sends them questions to answer.

Kim warned us that she is a journalist, and the questions would be good...and they are! I'm used to asking people tough questions for my school newspaper, so it is fun to answer some every once in a while!

If you would like to be the one I interview for this fun meme, post 'Interview Me!' along with your email address.

1. Pretend you're going to spend the next 12 months on a submarine -- what three books do you bring with you?
Definitely not anything to do with the ocean! By the time that year is over, I will be tired of it. Of course, I will want to bring my Bible. I'd also want to bring East of Eden because every time you pick it up, it can be interpreted differently. A Complete Works of William Shakespeare would be nice too. I'll have a lot of time on my hands for more heavy reading!

2. I really liked the post you did about being a teenager and blogging (especially about how you sometimes get comments that are different from what adult bloggers get). What is one piece of advice you could give to students who are thinking about starting a blog?
I know that blogging was popular among teenagers back before MySpace became popular. Those blogs were filled with everyday gossip. Teenagers shouldn't start blogs unless they have a set subject matter other than about themself. It makes it so that the readers of their blog think better about them, and not about the gossip they spread. I know if any of my teachers or people at school read this blog, they certainly wouldn't think the same about me! Teenagers should show their maturity through blogging, not their immaturity.

3. 10 years from now, what do you want to be doing?
I either want to be working in a French speaking country as an international correspondent for a major news network or earning my master's at some really fabulous school-on a full scholarship of course ;)

4. What is one book that's changed the way you think about a political or social issue?
I have really strong political views-especially for someone my age. I think I may get it from my mom. She gets really angry when people have political views based totally on ignorance. There is one book that strengthened my views on war. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini showed how war is sometimes necessary. Just as school is sometimes a necessary evil, so is war.

So far, no book has radically changed by life. More people have changed my life than books have, and personally, I would rather have that!

5. You've been chosen to teach a class on any kind of literature you want -- what genre would it be, and what books would you put on your syllabus?

I would want to teach a class that would show young people that literature isn't just for old man english teachers. I'd pick books that are relevant to the lives of students. I know that there are some classics that a lot of people should read, but The Scarlet Letter will only give high schoolers a bad taste in their mouths for literature. I don't think it is the books that matter as much as how it is taught. If literature classes focused less on symbolism at the beginning and more on how the book affected society, I think a lot more kids would be reading for fun. After a while, teachers should work up to literary theories, but not from the start.

I'd put The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, The Pearl, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Romeo and Julliet, and Hamlet (The Shakespeare plays would be in the No fear Shakespeare version) on the syllabus. Most of the books are short. You have to face it. Teenagers just won't read long books. They'd rather be on facebook.