I.C. 8

Doesn't 8 seem like a high number? It does to me. It seems as though these blogs could be revised a bit. I understand their purpose, but the truth is that I work in spurts, brief flashes of inspiration that result in pages of information accompanied by a sense of not wanting to look at the paper again for days. This is what is currently happening, one of the long spells between the likely two bursts of productivity that will become this paper. And I submit to you, dear readers, that perhaps the system of commenting every day on a paper in which it is doubtful that work is achieved every day is a bit ludicrous. I suggest an alteration in which a certain number of blogs are to be done on the paper over the two weeks, but when the writer decides to post them is up to him or her. Perhaps, two a week should be enforced, to encourage the writer to start work the first week. The bottom line is, the current over-the-top system should be thoroughly examined and perhaps modified. On the paper specifically I did little, although I did read the editorial the Terman Oscillation by the esteemed Ann Cutler and enquired as to more bibliographic information on that article.

I.C. 7

Well, here we are again, dear reader. Stuck in this same boring routine of me writing and you reading. I would propose a change, in which I verbally dictate my blogs to the halls of university high school at large, greatly increasing both my listeners and my popularity. This would save me the fatigue and joint pain caused by the mind-numbing repetitiveness of typing out my amazingly profound ideas into this banal and overused archetype of telecommunications, the web blog. But I digress. Today, I again did little. I worked mainly in study hall on my paper, but not having the chutzpah to actually do any analysis or thought, I simply did the annoying but necessary bibliography. I need to finish citing my mother's editorial, as she did not provide me with relevant issue information, but that will come in due time. The good news is that the bibliography is almost entirely complete, a thought which gives my troubled mind some modicum of rest in these harrowing times. Now that I have a solid majority of my expository essay completed and the repetitive and honestly useless works cited list out of the way, I can breathe a little more easily.

I.C. 6

Wow. Big day today. It began with major procrastination, as it always does, but I finally pushed myself to do some real work on the paper today. First, I dragged my sorry behind to the library and found not one, but two non-electronic sources to use! And they are good too! The first is hothouse kids by Alissa Quart, which discusses the ridiculous amount of pressure gifted individuals are under. This works as a source against increased gifted education, as does the Davidson Academy. I also unearthed Real Education, which discusses four "truths" one of which directly related to gifted education. This section seems to be fairly short and succinct, exactly what I need for my paper. This, a NYT article, a Times article, and the national association for gifted children will count as my for sources. Things are looking up. I also wrote a boatload tonight, bringing my total from about a half of a page to about 3 and a half. I've included NAGC, Hothouse kids, NYT and times articles, and Davidson Academy already. I need more of the Times article in the piece and need to read and bring in Real Education. But all in good time. No fear anymore.

I.C. 5

Well, today I finally did some real research. I found a department of state website which defined gifted and discussed briefly the nature of gifted education in the U.S. today. I also found a school called the Davidson Academy of Nevada (if I remember correctly), which is a free public school for the extraordinarily gifted. Top tenth of a percent of the population allowed in.  And then the  mother lode of all gifted education resources I found on the Davidson website, a Time article discussing the state of gifted education in the U.S. titled "Are we failing our Geniuses?" This is a great article discussing many aspects of the current limitations and advancements in gifted education, a strong support in favor of my side attempting to increase the funding of gifted education across the nation. I also wrote the first paragraph of my paper, introducing the concepts of my paper as well as introducing the prevalent definition of gifted that I previously posted. This provides a jumping-off point for my paper to delve deeper into the issue based on the fundamental description of what being gifted means.

I.C. 4

I have just noticed that when inquiry contract is abbreviated, it becomes I.C. This is suspiciously close to I.Q., an abbreviation for another term, intelligence quotient. This is especially important because I.Q. is highly related to giftedness, and is sometimes used a direct numerical test for determining giftedness. For example, Sycamore used an I.Q. of 130 as its cutoff for admission. Just an observation, dear readers, for those of you who are as observant as I and noticed this delightful coincidence. For those who, like me, went until now without noticing, you are now informed. Congratulations on your newfound, completely irrelevant knowledge. To be entirely truthful, I have not as yet done any more research on the issue of gifted education. I have, however, given it some thought, and have realized I need to decide where the boundaries of my search exist. Do I research gifted education in Indianapolis? In Indiana? In the U.S.A.? I need to decide where i start and stop my search, an issue I will certainly approach in the future. However,  I refuse to approach it now. Anyway, I did briefly revise my proposal and turned it in today, which I consider a definite milestone in my search for intellectual enlightenment.

I.C. 3

Today I did minimal research on Giftedness. I have to say, I am extremely impressed with the miniscule amount of information that I found. However, this was probably due to the epic epic epic epic epic amount of time that I spent researching, which all in all totaled up to about 2 and a half minutes of time on my computer. However, I am still proud of this because I am ahead of schedule as we do not even need our proposals in until tomorrow. Thus, I am pleased. I did find in my brief spell a definition of giftedness, which I found at a website of some national foundation for giftedness. Stuck-up punks. But here it is, for your viewing pleasure:Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities. My font has now changed. Maybe... yes.. it has... Anyway, I would like to point out that a large portion of university high school would fall under these criteria, especially those in our AP english class. Just saying...

IC 2

I now begin again my attempt to tell the story of my epic quest to find something of true importance in a world which appeared to me in shades of gray. Where in everything else I had done and probably will do I could fall back to lies and feigned enthusiasm, I must here actually be enthusiastic, actually care, actually see something in bright colors, or at least a more defined black and white. As I recounted in the first installment of this epic tale, I finally approached an idea, a concept, that I could see in color, that actually had made a difference in my altogether too short life-span, something that may actually matter to me. This was a revelation, an epiphany of sorts. I was amazed that something so fundamental, something I had for many years taken for granted, could actually, upon further consideration, become to me something of great importance. The idea was fuzzy, amorphous, but slowly taking shape as I contemplated it further. Could I really return to Sycamore, force my mind back into patterns which it had been trying to escape for so long? Could I make myself do what I had hoped never to be required to do again? Yes, I decided, I would take up the challenge for honor's sake.

Inquiry Contract, the first of many

To be absolutely honest, I have already written my inquiry contract proposal and have been encouraged by our esteemed professor LaMags that I should procrastinate and try not to work ahead. Instead, I am encouraged to play frisbee. That being said, I am unlikely to do much work on my paper tonight. In the place of the delicate descriptions of riveting research that will follow in the days and weeks to come, I will regale any reader with the tale of the beginning of this epic quest, the start of a month-long journey that began with one single step, as all such magnificent journeys must. When I was but a boy, sitting in the classroom of AP English during fourth period last week, I heard terrible news. I was being compelled to find something of real interest to me, whereas I had been battling with the demons of bullshit for most of my life. Where would I find something of real interest to the cynical and, if young, still world-weary misanthropist I had become. I thought and I thought, and finally, a solution came to me. I would return to the place of my intellectual birth, the land that had reshaped me when I was a child into the person I am today. I would return to Sycamore School!