So this is my AP 12 English Blog, hope everything is up to speed.

September:

One of the things that I wanted to expand on that I didn't feel was connected very well in our Socratic seminars was how Howard Roark encouraged other young artists. Howard Roark survived the gauntlet of becoming recognized as a great architect, but he knew that not everyone would have the same success as he did, so he tried to help others along. Part of this was in the way he treated his employees, allowing them to work in an environment that encouraged creativity. I just think that this is a very interesting move on his part, to want to encourage others to be successful. Howard doesn't seem to care normally what everyone else thinks about his work, and yet he goes out of his way to promote the work of his employees. I think that we don't do enough of that in society today, personally. In my experience, school and work are very non-creative environments. We turn out cookie-cutter work in response to cookie-cutter prompts and expect cookie-cutter grades. The originality and variety that built this country are being lost. Instead, we replace these foundations with standards and achievements. If we are to create achievements, let them be true ACHIEVEMENTS. Let them be goals that challenge us to think creatively, that we must exercise all of our creative and intellectual gifts to attain. Let's not set the bar at the level of the lowest student, let's set many bars for our many unique students and see what we can truly become. I am in support of what Howard Roark did. He offered advice and criticism as requested, but for the most part he allowed his architects fairly free reign over their designs. However, these standardized architects couldn't seem to handle their newfound freedom to express themselves. They either quit, or doomed themselves to mediocrity. As abrasive a character as Roark was, he was clearly a supporter of creativity and originality, and I think there is something to be said for that.