Dear Students,

A month or so before the AP exam, Ms. Romano assigned what seemed like a boat-load of work revolved around my reading of a book of my choice. She told us to choose books wisely as they had the potential to help with the open-ended question on the AP exam in May-- she could not have been more right. I read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and found myself swept away into the intricate lives of Milkman, Pilate, Macon Dead, Ruth, The Seven Days, and so many other rich characters. Two days before the exam, as I sat at my dining room table reading this book, I noticed that the main character Milkman, starts to lose many of his material possessions while traveling to get a stash of gold and thought, “Morrison is doing something here.” I found that as Milkman lost more possessions, he became closer to nature until  he finally communicated with it. This became the basis of both my third essay on the AP exam and this project.

Our country’s materialism has always been something that has bothered me. I have never been able to understand why unemployed people walk around with the newest Samsung Galaxy 3, why children need Ipods to be happy, and why Walmart can’t pay its employees more. As I read Morrison’s masterpiece, I marveled at the way she destroyed materialism in Milkman. This destruction opens Milkman’s eyes to the fact that the simple pleasures found through connections to nature are the only means of true happiness-- an idea that has been reiterated to me throughout my entire life. I chose to make the idea of materialism vs simplicity the golden thread of my final independent reading project. Each piece either reflects a human’s materialistic desire for profits and power, or demonstrates how humans connect with elements of nature. The piece on wealth and the letter from Macon Dead exhibit the way many people think that happiness is achieved-- through earning money. The collage and scene isolate consumeristic matters in others and present nature-centered imagery to demonstrate the wonder of nature that humans engage in when they open their eyes to broader perspectives. The culmination of these pieces argues that humans need to drop their devices and enjoy nature in order learn about the lasting merriment and contentment that nature brings.

I will admit that I was nervous about starting this project because I am not that great of a creative writer. The project ended up being a lot of fun because I enjoyed thinking of the concepts I wanted to present through the eyes of the characters. I also loved doing the research on how my topic relates to the world around me as I do plan to be a scientist and enjoy learning new information. In doing this research, I realized my motives for doing well in school have been to get into a good school, get a good job, and make money. Having this brought to my attention made me rethink how I will approach school work in the future and made me motivated to find a career that makes me happy, not makes me money. All in all, this project has been an insightful journey that I hope brings new perspectives to others.

Sincerely,

Colleen King