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▸ est. 2021◂
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↳ I'm Ayesha. I like to write about my hobbies. 👋
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A Comprehensive Review on Books I've Read for High School
Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare
9th Grade Honors, in-class reading
★★★✩✩
Romeo and Juliet is arguably one of the most famous classics of all time, written by none other than the William Shakespeare. While technically not a novel, we read this play in its modern translation side-by-side with the original Shakespearean equivalent for my ninth-grade English language arts class. Part of the book was a class effort, with each student taking up the different roles of each character in verbal reenactments. To better understand the complicated language (definitely not for relaxation purposes), we took a couple of days to watch the 1968 movie, which followed much of the original play's storyline quite nicely.
The play often plays a large role in modern pop culture, with a well-known plot line and many spinoffs -- the very first time I was exposed to it as a kid was the 2011 animated film Gnomeo and Juliet. The general idea is simple: Romeo and Juliet are two star-crossed lovers who come from two clashing, feuding families with a complicated history, but end up falling in love. Before reading the play, I knew this much.
The play itself is approximately 25,000 words or so, which is a decently short read itself. The play and the 1968 movie run a little over two hours. The plotline was a bit quick for me, but I also know it's originally a play, which merits the speediness. The character development was there: Romeo starts off as immature, unthinking of his actions, and my least favorite character, but later turns into someone who takes responsibility and he gained a little bit more of my respect. I quite enjoyed the Nurse, who was comedic relief in my slight Shakespearean confusion.
Not-so-spoiler
they both die at the end
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
9th Grade Honors, in-class reading
★★★★★
Freshman English wasn't the first time I'd read The Alchemist; I'd actually read it first a couple of years ago. It was a recommendation from my mother, who'd read it when she was around my age. When my teacher told us that this would be one of our readings for this year, I was absolutely ecstatic. We ended up finishing the book just before summer break.
Like Romeo and Juliet, The Alchemist was also a fairly quick read, especially after my second time through. Though, there were a lot of different aspects I had overlooked the first time. I did recall a good portion of the plot, but I didn't realize how many things I had forgotten. It's amazing to know that the author only took a couple of weeks to write it. The story follows a main character called Santiago, who chose a shepherd's life so that he'd be able to travel. After a dream about a treasure that lies elsewhere, however, he sells his sheep and follows omens on a journey of a lifetime.
Again spoiler
The treasure ends up being back at home, under Santiago's sycamore tree in Spain
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
10th Grade AP Seminar, summer reading
★★★★★
Despite my keen interest in the sciences and all things biomedical, I had never heard of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks before I saw it in front of my eyes on my summer reading assignment. Non-fiction novels typically are not found on my to-be-read list, but once I read the synopsis, I was invested: it was not only biology-related, but following the story of an actual person. After this, my primarily-fiction TBR was immediately reconsidered.
The book follows author Rebecca Skloot as she uncovers the true story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells became the immortalized line of HeLa cells that scientists still use today in research. While the cells have been used for remarkable breakthroughs and discoveries, they also come from a series of ethical and moral fallout.
I was initially disappointed to find that I wouldn't be analyzing fiction in my sophomore English class with AP Sem. Looking back, it was nice to take a class that was more research and argumentative-based, especially since I was able to research topics in STEM that I was passionate about. As someone who mostly wrote fiction, I found the intersections between stylistic choices in fiction and non-fiction, and found ways to use my skills to further my research writing and presentation. I enjoyed the class because it took two things that I've always loved to do and put them together, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.