Life is Bubbling with Fun
Christian Burton
The Amazing McGee
1 Freakin A
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Letter to the Reader
Bucket List
6 Word Memoir
Writing #1- Soul Paper
Writing #2- Sonnet 130 and Sonnet 18
Compare and Contrast
6. Writing #3- Boundaries Between Social
Classes in Pride and Predjudice
Letter to the Reader
Dear Reader,
I must be honest, my progress this year in developing as a writer was
sometimes hindered by my lack of discipline in this class. In most cases one would
have crashed and burned, but due to patients of The Amazing McGee I was able to
navigate my way safely through the adventure that was AP English 12. Abbie did a
fantastic job this year making a class that I normally thoroughly despise and
turning it into one of my favorite classes of the year. I progressed MUCH more than
I expected I would and can only hope for such an awesome teacher again next, as I
start a new journey at VMI. Thank you for everything Ms. McGee and my fellow 1A
hood rats! It’s been fun.
Stay Classy,
Christian Burton
Bucket list
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Run with the Bulls In Spain
Ride one of those Bulls while I’m at it
Go to the North Pole
Hunt and kill a lion
Jump out of a plane without a parachute
Have a one night stand with Katy Perry
Teach Edward Reddick how to swim
Hit 350 mph in a car
Make Jackass 4
Set foot on all seven continents
Swim in all five oceans
Wrestle an alligator
Have a staring contest with The Most Interesting Man in the World
Sail across the Pacific Ocean with just me and my German Shepherd named Apollo
Get a German Shepherd and name him Apollo
Visit the Dark Side of the moon
Live a life with no “what if’s”
Save a life worth saving
Take a life worth taking
Do everything humanly possible to squeeze every drop of excitement out of the one life I’ve got
6 Word Memoir
for this boring world
The Soul of Christian Burton
The soul of Christian Burton has many parts. At the center lies a competitive athlete, loyal
friend, son and brother. There is nothing more important to his soul than his love for basketball,
family and friends. These areas receive a lot of his time and attention. His soul also embraces
patriotism and yearns for excitement, mischief and playtime. His soul is content outdoors or in the
country, away from the chaos of the big city.
Christian’s soul finds extreme pleasure when it’s well-fed and sleeping long hours to relieve
the stress of everyday life. Comedy is good for the soul, and Christian’s soul whole-heartedly
agrees. It has a never-ending desire to laugh and enjoy life. His soul feels weighted down by the
thought of details and small talk and much rather enjoys simplicity and common sense. His soul has
a rather tough outer shell and a very stubborn side when it chooses. It can also be territorial, being
compared to an animal more than once by his family. His soul is protective of its space and
possessions. You are surely experiencing its utmost generosity when his soul shares time, food or
space.
Christian’s soul also thoroughly enjoys a good story and loves history, which is a great match
considering history is full of fantastic stories! Christian’s soul enjoys an adrenaline rush, which
explains his love for flying and his desire to experience the thrill of flying at super-sonic speeds. At
the core of Christian’s soul lives a desire for fairness and justice in life. Perhaps this stems from
playing sports and loving his country. His soul desires fair play among athletes and fair calls among
basketball officials. It also desires justice for himself and others without favoritism or corruption.
Finally, Christian’s soul embraces service. His soul yearns to serve his country, in an effort to
protect and uphold the values and privileges his soul has enjoyed for eighteen years. Christian’s
soul is willing to do the things many others won’t, to go to the places many others would rather
not, and to push Christian harder than many others can.
Sonnet 130 and Sonnet 18 Compare
and Contrast
Shakespeare is arguably the greatest writer/poet to ever live. He had such a wide range of stories he could write.
He was the author of classics such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Some of his well known works though are his
sonnets. Two of his most famous are Sonnet 130, and Sonnet 18. In each of these the speaker describes the woman he
loves, but in two very different ways.
In Sonnet 18, the speaker compares the beauty of a summer’s day to the beauty of the woman he loves. The
speaker praises the woman. He likens her to “the darling buds of May”. In this Sonnet, the speaker spends the entire time
giving flattering compliments to his love in order to express his feelings for her. Shakespeare’s affection was very evident as
he described the woman as practically perfect. He used comparisons such as “Thou art more lovely than a summers day”,
and “Thy eternal summer shall not fade” to flatter the woman. This technique gave the sonnet a feeling of romance.
In Sonnet 130 however, Shakespeare uses a much different approach. He begins the sonnet by saying “My
mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun”. This immediately is different than Sonnet 18, for he is somewhat downplaying the
beauty of her eyes by stating that there is nothing extraordinary about them. Further on, the speaker says “Than in the
breath that from my mistress reeks.” This is a complete negative when describing the woman he supposedly loves. All these
somewhat negative aspects though lead into a powerful ending in which the reader realizes that the speaker is in love with
an ordinary girl. Very rarely will you find a woman with all the perfect qualities described in Sonnet 18. Sonnet 130 paints a
more realistic picture of what love is; however, it lacks romance of Sonnet 18.
Sonnet 18 is a literary classic, but Sonnet 130 is a much better example of a normal woman. Very rarely will you
find a woman that has all the angelic qualities described in Sonnet 18. People like to dream about the “perfect”
man/woman, but in reality all of us have negative qualities. These qualities make us human. If people were perfectly
beautiful in the way Sonnet 18 describes, there would be nothing special about any person. Sonnet 130 gives a clear picture
that one can whole-heartedly love someone with many “not so perfect” qualities.
There is no doubt that Shakespeare was a master at writing sonnets. His descriptions, whether romantic or
realistic, drew a mental picture of what he was describing. Romantic sonnets such as Sonnet 18 may be what people desire
to read so they can dream about perfection. However Sonnet 130 was very realistic and gave a vivid description of a woman
that was no less powerful than Sonnet 18. Perhaps a person’s preference between Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130 lies in whether
their heart leans more towards romantic or realistic.
Boundaries Between Social Classes in
Pride and Prejudice
In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a novel that illustrated the rigid class structure of Britain in the early 1800’s, courtship and love are
affected by the social standing of families. Austen attempted to sway her readers to assess the strict lines between the upper and middle class, and if
those boundaries should be respected or ignored when it came to courtship. She used several relationships throughout the novel to show the stress
caused by division of the social classes of that time and how they could be overcome by the desire for love.
The courtship of Elizabeth and Darcy was of great importance in the novel. Darcy, a wealthy landowner, seemed to have a great deal of
pride in his family standing, yet he was drawn to Elizabeth, an intelligent lady of a middle class family. Could Darcy’s prejudice towards the middleclass and Elizabeth’s pride in her family, especially in her older sister Jane, be put aside so the couple could share love for one another? “She is
tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (Austen 8). This comment made by Darcy towards Elizabeth illustrated his arrogance towards
those with a lower social status than his own. Austen initially swayed her reader by allowing Elizabeth more voice than Darcy. This gave more
understanding to Elizabeth’s point of view. However, Darcy’s feelings were understood in the end, which allowed the reader to desire a romance
between Elizabeth and him.
The courtship of Jane and Bingley was also of interest in the novel, though it was not as exciting as that of Elizabeth and Darcy. Bingley,
Darcy’s wealthy friend, loved Jane, Elizabeth’s lovely older sister. The two seemed friendly and much less contrasting than Elizabeth and Darcy.
However, social class and status still had a somewhat negative effect on the couple due to the divisive line between the upper and middle class.
Both of these courtships were examples of the challenges that existed in courting between the social classes, yet Austen seemed intent on
proving to her readers that social barriers could indeed be crossed successfully. Austen presented the two wealthy upper class men of Darcy and
Bingley to illustrate that even upper class men looked beyond the division of classes. Both men had their doubts at first and had opportunities to
pursue women of wealth. However, they both chose women of substance over women of status.
The desire of some characters to reaffirm their social standing was also an issue in this novel. Characters such as Lady de Bourgh and Mrs.
Hurst had a negative impact on the two courtships mentioned in this novel. Lady de Bourgh, the wealthy aunt of Darcy tried to control her nephew
and persuade him not to continue courting Elizabeth because of her family’s lack of wealth and status. “Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus
polluted?” (Austen 307). In this statement Lady de Bourgh implied that Elizabeth’s younger sister’s elopement would tarnish Darcy’s family name if
he were to marry Elizabeth. In the end, Darcy’s love for Elizabeth prevailed, but the arrogance of his aunt had a negative impact on the situation.
Also, Mrs. Hurst, Bingley’s sister, tried to discourage a courtship with Jane because of her lower social standing. As proof of this, Mrs. Hurst spoke
these words concerning Jane: “I have an excessive regard for Miss Jane Bennet, she is really a very sweet girl, and I wish with all my heart she were
well settled. But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it” (Austen 30). The actions of these
characters had a negative impact on the couples because they interfered with the relationships that were developing between Elizabeth and Darcy,
as well as the relationship between Jane and Bingley. The British upper class in this novel frowned upon the mixing of different social classes.
Exposing the arrogance of the upper class was a technique used by the author to give the reader more sympathy towards the middle class.
Although there was much emphasis on the division of the middle and upper class in Pride and Prejudice, there was also an emphasis on
love and happiness surpassing the rigid lines between the classes. The courtships of Elizabeth and Darcy and Jane and Bingley were affected by
numerous characters from both the middle and upper classes. These character’s impacts, though ultimately temporary, highlighted the social
tensions that existed at the time. Austen’s attempt to sway her readers that love and happiness were more important than class structure was
ultimately successful. Elizabeth and Darcy overcame their pride and prejudice after Elizabeth read Darcy’s letter and realized she loved him. “How
despicably have I acted! I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities!” (Austen 178). This quote showed
Elizabeth’s frustration with her own pride when she realized she had been upset with Darcy for an unjust reason. Although the novel was named
Pride and Prejudice, love and happiness prevailed.
Favorite Elementary School Books
• The Hardy Boys
series was without a
doubt my favorite
thing to read as a
youngster. The
mysteries always had
me guessing and the
endings always had a
twist you wouldn’t
expect.
Favorite Middle School Books
• The Lord of the Rings
series was all a middle
school kid could ask
for. It had action,
action, and more
action. Not to mention
the movies were
fantastic! These books
made reading
enjoyable again after I
finished all the Hardy
Boys books.
Favorite High School Book
N/A
Favorite High School Book
• October Sky takes this
one because it was a
story about something
I’ve always been
interested in. I’ve
always loved space
and rockets, and the
fact that it was about
kids my age building
them was a very
intriguing story for me.