D'Amore AP Lit

       I walk up the long brick path. My feet carry me slowly over each name inscribed into the hard-worn brick. As I look up towards the three buildings in front of me, my eyes meet those of man. He wears his Sunday best, a white button down, neatly tied necktie, and tan abused shoes. I follow him into the middle of the three buildings where I am surrounded by young men dressed just as he is. I carry myself up the stairs which are crowded with young folks weighted down by large bags on their backs.         The clock strikes eight, and all the halls are empty. The sound of a few lone stragglers echoes up the spiral staircase, as they rush to make it to the classroom. I open the door to a classroom and step inside. Taking a seat towards the front of the classroom, I can see all the students as they prepare for a days learning. Each one of them sits behind a computer, their faces illuminated by a haze of blue light. The teacher stands at the front ...

In this article Maria Popova explains Vladimir Nabokov’s three qualities of a great storyteller. Nabokov says there are three qualities a storyteller must possess for their work to be deemed excellent. Nabokov breaks down the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, which is interesting because it is one of the simplest stories ever published or continually told he calls it the birth of literature. From here Nabokov goes into depth on the three personas of writers, a storyteller, a teacher, and an enchanter.     Reading the article, I thought back to all the books I have read over the years and tried to fit each book into one of Nabokov’s three personas. A good story needs to have all three personas present for it to be something spectacular and memorable. For example, a book we read this year The Poisonwood Bible is told using the storyteller and teacher personas. It has a strong story that keeps you entertained and allows for emotional participation from the reader. You become atta...

Throughout the beginning of the novel, the name Solomon never appeared. Suddenly in these last few chapters, the name keeps reappearing. Pilate is the first character to use the name Solomon when she calls her "husband" Mr. Solomon and says that is who the bones in the green tarp are. Though it is thought that the bones in the bag are actually the white man Macon Dead II killed in the cave. After the scene in the police station, the name Solomon does not come up again until Milkman arrives in Virginia and pulls into a small grocery store run by a Mr. Solomon. This town is significant because it holds keys to his family's history and potentially the lost gold. Does this fact mean that Pilate was leaving Milkman a hint earlier back at the police station about where to look? I do not think so I think that Morrison was foreshadowing to something even greater than just the town where the gold may be. There is something greater waiting for Milkman in the hills of Virginia that ...

         What turn of events caused Guitar to seek Milkman out to kill him? They have been best friends throughout their lives and confide everything to each other, yet it is Guitar who puts the wire around Milkman’s throat in the forest. Guitar came on his day, Sunday, to kill Milkman which hints at this has something to do with the Seven Days. Guitar also whispered to Milkman, “Your day has come” right before he began to strangle him just as the Seven Days do before killing their victims. Was Milkman selected as a revenge killing like the other victims of the Seven Days? This wouldn’t make sense though the Seven days kill white people as a way to even the ratio of whites and blacks and revenge the deaths of innocent black people killed at the hands of whites. Milkman does not fit the profile of a Seven Days victim so is Guitar using the Days to mask his true intent which is to kill Milkman because of the way he has been acting about the gold? Even more odd ab...