Laughter is the Best Medicine when AP English Gets Feverish

     "This is not a novel, a book, or a story. It's a PLAY" (Ms. Serensky). Well, now that I know how to properly identify my favorite work of literature we have read this year, I will reveal which play it is: The Importance of Being Earnest. The main reason this text is my favorite is because it is only 54 pages and we read it in a week. Just kidding! That is surely a plus though. Thinking back to all of the books we have read this year my mind goes to a psycho murderer, a man who watches a woman get raped, a doomed life at birth, resentment towards family, and mental patients. Basically, I liked IOBE because it is the only book that didn't have something terribly depressing occur. "Why on earth do you say that," you may ask (Wilde 3)? Ultimately, I thought this piece of literature was filled with pure humor and light-hearted topics. This is definitely the book that I wanted to end my senior year with for the aforementioned reason. Plus, the fact that we read this play out loud made me like it that much more. "It is a great truth" that smiles are contagious and I feel this play created a very joyous atmosphere in our classroom. It was very easy for me to follow the story unlike other novels where I have felt very confused after reading. The characters, especially Algernon, really drew me into the story with their dynamic personalities. I think Wilde's inclusion of "bunburrying" and placing the baby in the handbag instead of the basinette was so clever. I really like how everything in the story reaches a full circle at the end when we find out Jack's history. More so, I especially loved playing the part of Gwendolen. I looked forward to going to class that week to act her part out. By reading the play aloud, I feel I fully comprehend Wilde's mocking of the aristocratic class that I would not have grasped if I read it by myself. I can honestly say that I learned "the vital Importance of Being Earnest" (Wilde 54).


I feel like the yellow smiley when I think of IOBE.