The end

With the end of the semester upon us I find myself in a joyous mood.  This has been a long semester, I only enjoyed two of my classes, those being English and physical science.  I enjoyed most of the material we covered in English class, I liked reading the scarlet letter.  Rip Van Winkle was one of my favorites this semester as well.  I enjoyed English class, I'm sad that it's over. Everyone have a great break!

Favorite pod

Out of all the stories and poems that we have been assigned this semester I would have to say that my favorite pod session was when we had to read the 'Scarlet Letter'.  Leading up to the pod I was weary, because I didn't know what to expect.  After I had a firm grasp of the story I found that i really enjoyed the book.  The setting of the story seemed kind of familiar to me, it kind of reminded me of the setting of the crucible, with the puritans and all.  The only character that I didn't really care for in the story was Chilingsworth, he was a pretty crummy guy.  The ending of the story was alright, I was kind of hoping for a happy ending, like one where Hester and Dimmesdale live along happy life together with their daughter Pearl.

Nobody

One of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson was 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?'.  In this poem my mindset of the type of poetry that Emily Dickinson wrote, and her personality in general was enhanced.  This poem is telling the reader that being a shy unsocial person is much better than being a social person.  The narrator even admits that they are a nobody asking the reader "Are you - Nobody - too?".   I just found this poem amusing in the fact that It almost described Emily Dickinson to a tee.

poetry with Walt and Em

With this semester coming to an end we end with the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.  Poetry has never been my favorite subject, I like reading poetry, but writing poetry has never been my strong suite.  I remember learning about Emily Dickinson in my junior year of high school, she lived a life of seclusion by choice.  From reading her poems, and about her, she seems like she would have been a very strange and awkward woman; living in seclusion being a small part of me thinking that.  She wrote her poems not knowing that they would be read by anyone but herself, I'm not sure if she would be happy about that, but it is what it is.  I can say that I find reading her poems interesting, I have to read some of them a few times before I get the jest of the poem; I also love how short her poems are, that makes reading and comprehending them so much easier.

Black Veil society

In the 'Ministers Black Veil' Hopper is judged greatly for wearing a black veil over his face.  Hopper lived in a highly judgmental society, much like we do today.  In the story it is made clear that people would avoid him like the plague, with his black veil being the main perpetrator.  Humans in general judge every aspect in every person that they encounter, we know it's mean and  sometimes hurtful, but that doesn't stop us from doing it.  At the end of the story, Hopper kind of lashes out at everyone around him shouting 'Why do you tremble at me alone!?'.  His anger and sadness had shored up over the years, he had been shunned and ridiculed because of that veil he wore over his face; he was shunned and ridiculed because society judged him not by his character, yet by his appearance.

21st century Rip Van Winkle

Before Rip was lost in the woods the political climate was pretty secure, there were rumblings of oppression towards the British, but nothing too serious.  Fast forward twenty years and the entire political scene had changed, the British had been removed from power following a revolutionary war.  It was a lot for Rip to take in, everything he had known had changed.  Based purely on the political climate, if Rip were to be alive in our time would he be bewildered by our political landscape today?  Two political ideologies miles apart in their beliefs  in how the United States should be governed, in his day it was the revolutionaries and the British, in ours the republicans and the Democrats.  Here recently the political landscape has gotten very bitter and personal, just as it was leading up to the revolution.  I am not hinting at a revolution, I am just implying how the political atmosphere is relevant to the latter.

Everyday Use

This last week I read the short story 'everyday use'. Everyday use was an interesting story; you had a mother, and her two daughters, one shy and introverted, the other outgoing, and snobby.  The story identifies the daughters persona through the mother.  The mother is sad that Dee, her snobby daughter , doesn't seem to appreciate anything that she has done for her.  Maggie, the shy one, has always been with her mother.  It presents a challenge, Dee wants a quilt, and argues that Maggie will use it so much that it will be torn up, with the mother agreeing.  Dee on the other hand would showcase it instead of using it like Maggie would.  The mother eventually lets Maggie have the quilt, with Maggie being shocked, for the fact that her sister Dee is always used to getting what she wants.