Directions, Reflections, Connections

One of the first pieces of evidence that Thomas C. Foster had profoundly affected not only my reading experience but my life experience too came when I went to see Wicked. It was my first time seeing the musical and so you can say that I got lost in the music and the story, and both of these would be true. But it's also true that, almost without thought, I began to analyze many different aspects of the play. Among these aspects was colors.

I wondered, "Why is Elphaba green?" I remembered Foster had talked about using colors as symbols. I decided that green has two meanings: the first is green as in new, young, or inexperienced. Elphaba is obviously young, but she is also new to the world of witchcraft and, inevitably, to the world of "popular." I understood the second meaning of green as in having a "green thumb." Not to say that Elphaba was actively reducing her carbon footprint, or took an avid interest in gardening. To me, it simply has connotations like "good" and "moral," both of which suit Elphaba just fine. And then, of course, I noticed when Elphaba began to wear her black cloak, thus masking her "green" self with an external, and wicked, black.

I also noticed that in a particular dance scene, all of the students (minus Glinda and Elphaba) wore black and white stripes. At first I discounted this, but then I remembered Foster's answer to the question, "Is that symbolism?" He'd said, "you bet it is." So I thought more about the stripes. And the immediate association that came to mind was prison stripes, and I had to wonder if the outfits were meant to emphasize the school as a prison, not only because the students hated school but also because in the overarching storyline, the school is actively discriminating. Not only will discrimination create a prison-like atmosphere, but it also forces a uniformity like the prison stripes, as students strive not to be noticed. This is why Glinda and Elphaba stand out, Glinda because she craved the attention, and Elphaba because she was, however unwillingly, different.

Actually, Glinda reminded me of The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Harvey was always advising us not to use excessive vocabulary, especially just to make ourselves sound smart. Glinda is constantly using big words, but she actually uses them improperly--it is malapropism. Glinda says things like, "I know clandestiny." My guess is she really means to say destiny.

Another aspect I noticed was the symbolism. I experienced an "aha!" kind of moment when Boq got a heart disease (and his heart began to shrink) and then became the tin man. Sadly, before reading Foster I actually hadn't thought much of heart diseases. But Boq very clearly stood out to me as a case of symbolism. So first, he has no heart (or a very small heart) and then he becomes tin, hard on the outside and hollow on the inside. Very indicative, especially since Boq did, indeed, turn out to be not especially kind. My epiphany regarding the tin man made me wonder if any of the other famed companions of Dorothy had the same symbolism in the musical. And, actually, though abstract, I did think of a reasonable explanation for the scarecrow.

The scarecrow, previously Fiyero, is also Elphaba's lover. The purpose of a scarecrow is, of course, intended to scare the crows away, and I have to wonder if Fiyero was the one to become the scarecrow for precisely this reason. Because by this time, Elphaba had covered up her true self in blackness; she had turned to evil. A traditional symbol of evil, besides black, is the crow, for its carrion tendencies and, of course, its blackness. And so I think that the scarecrow is meant to keep Elphaba's crows, her evil, away. And indeed, once Elphaba and Fiyero are united, Elphaba becomes more of her old, green self.

I'm really glad that we were able to take a kind of pre-AP test because it gave me the chance to learn what I know and what I don't, and give me a little bit more self knowledge (like the fact that sometimes, I am actually a magpie). It was reaffirming to learn from The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing that the "pompous style" was a bad thing; of course, using an excess of vocabulary and making complex, nonsensical sentences is always bad. But I've always looked at older, longer, and more "professional" papers with a kind of resignation: "I will never write like that." But Harvey turns the word professional into the word pompous, saying that clarity is key. Not that, even bare of advanced terms, my essays are always particularly clear. So that is one thing I know I will have to work on, especially as it will definitely come into play during the real AP test.

The poem forums were very useful as well; not only did I have to explore and explain my own ideas, but bouncing ideas off of one another allowed me to see (and learn to look through) others' perspective. It really helped me learn to consider all perspectives or aspects of a poem or text rather than just leaping into developing my own. If I can do that, combined with a clear Nuts and Bolts essay, I think the AP test will be much smoother for me.

The terms test taught me that I'm really an "examples" kind of learner. Yes, I memorized the definitions, but that actually didn't end up helping me very much, nor would it help on the AP test. I learn academically, as in life, by example.