America

Equality is something that Americans say that hoped for since the start of their country. But is this ever possible? No it isn’t. From the very first second a baby is born, they are already unequal. Some are born disabled some are born fat and healthy. Some are born into affluent families while others are born into poor ones. This gives some babies a higher advantage than the other ones. Their starting points are different, which makes their chances different. Yes, we hear a lot about how certain famous people grew up in a poor family and because of their hard work, became successful. I am not disputing these claims, but that is only about 2% of the famous people we hear of. Also, it is less 0.5% of the poor population that becomes successful. (Do not quote me on the statistics. This is just an analogy.) Furthermore, it requires a lot of luck and, mind me, coincidences for such person to emerge out of his or her background and become successful. The media sometimes over emphasizes these examples and make people feel like this happens often, when in fact it doesn’t. I am not saying that things like that doesn’t happen, I am just saying that the chances are very slim compared to the babies born into rich, powerful and educated families.

Harsh Words

Words can be very powerful things. Words can be used to manipulate and hurt or to comfort and heal. Just as a few friendly words can make a person’s day, words can also cut like knives into a person’s heart. I think what makes words so powerful is the emotion behind it. Some words that are dearly important and emotional to a person may mean nothing to another. However, there are words out there that would make most people angry or sad when directed towards them. Nobody likes to be called stupid or ugly. These harsh words are often used in name-calling or taunting. There are also harsh words that are directed towards certain groups of people. Minorities like the black people in the United States have been called really offensive names. These names that may seem very offensive today may be common words used to refer black people in the past. In To Kill A Mocking Bird, we see examples of these types of words used to refer to black people. However, because of the history and time period, those names were common. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t wrong to use those words; it just means that because of the background, those words happen to be used.  

Mockingbird So Far

The beginning of To Kill a Mocking Bird is about a woman’s childhood reminiscence. The protagonist, nicknamed Scout, lived in Maycomb County along with her brother and her father. The story was set during the Great Depression, when Scout was about 6 years old and starting her first year of school. In the summer before school starts, Dill came to stay in Maycomb County with his aunt. Dill is an interesting character. He is one year older than Scout and became her and her brother’s good friend. Dill was curious and mischievous and got Scout and her brother, Jem, interested in finding out about Boo Radley. When school started, Scout was the only child that could read in her class. However, the teacher was mad at her for being able to read. She wanted to start a new way of teaching and believed that Scout abilities will lessen her possibilities of accepting the new material. Scout spent a boring year of school until finally summer cam again and Dill is back.

So far, the character I am most interested about is Scout’s father, Atticus. Although not much have been written about him, he seemed like an intelligent and kind man. When Scout cam back and told her father what her teacher said, Atticus did not get mad. He was really understanding and advised Scout to be in her teachers shoes so she will understand how her teacher feels.

Response to Veil

The congregation was shocked when it first saw the minister walking in with a black veil. Throughout his sermon, the congregation was uneasy with the presence of it. People murmured, feet shuffled and some of the women couldn’t bear it and had to leave early. Nobody knew why the minister did so, but all them felt some kind of evil when they see the minister with the veil. They no longer wanted to be too close to him and tried to avoid him.  The reason for their reaction might be that the black veil is usually used for mourning death. It’s a symbol for evil. It is even worse because it covers the minister’s face. Even though the minister acted and preached the same way, the congregation was great affected the by the black veil. I feel like the congregation had overreacted a little. Even though it is a weird thing to wear a veil to a sermon, I wouldn’t freak out if I saw this happen. Yet, I would not criticize the Puritans because I am not as religious as them. Some very religious people in the present day might also feel the uneasiness when they see a minister preach in a black veil. The symbolism of the black veil is not as strong to me as it is to them.

Parable

There was once a pair of sisters. The elder sister looks really beautiful. She has silky blond hair, the prettiest shade of blue eyes and straight white teeth. People would stop and stare at her on the streets. The younger sister, however, looks nothing like the younger sister. She has brown hair that always seemed to be tangled together. She has tiny eyes and a crooked smile. 
The elder sister is really proud of her looks. She stand in front of the mirror for hours, just combing her hair and looking at herself in the mirror. She wants to look her best every day. She would also look down on people that are ugly, so she was never nice to her sister. The younger sister, on the other hand, takes her time to do study and more useful things. She treated people nicely and would quietly help people when they are in need. As time went by, the villagers grew to like the younger sister more than the elder one. They see the inner beauty in her. When the younger sister finally grew up, she married a knowledgeable man that provided her with a stable and happy life. The elder sister married a very good looking man. The man, however, never worked. He was also really flower-hearted. The elder sister fought with her husband a lot and was really poor. She finally learned that looks is not everything.

The Saddest Prison

"The saddest of all prisons is a person's own heart." This is a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorn. The quote suggests that the worse kind of prison is one where a person bottle up their emotions. This seems to be a prevalent theme with many of Hawthorns works. Many of his stories have to do with guilt and hidden sins. Take on of his most famous works as an example: in the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, a revered minister in the Puritan community has a hidden sin. He had committed adultery but was not brave enough to stand up for his sins. The guilt in his heart weakened him day by day. In the end, he decided to kill himself (right after he announced to the public that he has sinned). There are many other stories like these, but most of them happened in the past. Would people today still pine away in their guilt? For me, the answer would be yes. I believe that some people nowadays may still hide guilty feelings and feel bad about it. I think it depends on the person’s personality whether they would hide their sins or admit it to the public. I do not think that people in the past would be more likely to hide their feelings than people in the present would.

Comparing Poems

In two of Longfellow’s poems, “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” and “The Cross of Snow”, he discusses the concept of death. However, the tone and attitude of each poem is drastically different. This might be caused by the difference in feeling and intension when he wrote the two poems. “The Cross of Snow” is a poem that Longfellow kept private and never intended for it to be published. He wrote the poem to express his grief towards the death of his wife. This poem seemed to be more touching because more emotion is involved when Longfellow wrote it. There is a specific person mentioned in the poem: Longfellow’s dead wife, Fanny Appleton. In the poem, Longfellow expressed his unbroken love for his wife, even after eighteen year of her death. The other poem, “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”, is a much more neutral poem. In it, Longfellow portrayed death as something natural. Just as the tide rises and the tide falls, people live and people die. Human life is just like the journey of a traveler. Once we are gone, our traces are washed off, and we never come back. No specific person is mentioned in the poem. This implies that the traveler can be anyone or even everyone. This made the poem more universal.

Image of Grief

In Longfellow's poem, "The Cross of Snow", he used the cross-shaped snow marks on the Holy Cross Mountain to convey the feeling of grief. He felt that he wore the cross for eighteen years, and the cross reminds him of the sadness of the death of his wife. He might have chosen the cross because it is related to Jesus’ crucifixion and the Christian religion. The feelings of his sorrow is stapled in for eighteen years. The formation of the cross on the mountain may also be significant. The snow stains in the mountain because the mountain has crevices in the shape of a cross. These places do not get shone by the sunlight, so the snow does not melt all year round.

For me, grief is like falling though a deep and dark hole. The hole is bottomless, and get darker and darker as gravity pull you deeper and deeper down the hole. You get the feeling of falling constantly. This makes you feel helpless and insecure, because you never get to the bottom. You just keep falling and falling and falling. You are engrossed into that darkness and it gets worse day by day. You never land to the bottom until the grief ends. However, when it does end, you will see light again.

Human Life: A Cycle?

I do not believe that human life is like a cycle. We are faced with new experiences everyday. These small everyday things contribute to our growth as a whole.  I think human life is more like a mountain climb. When we are young, we are climbing up the hill. We get grow and get stronger each day. There may be obstacles on our road to the top of the mountain, but once we overcome them, we are one step closer in reaching the top. This is just like our life. There are just some times in our life that we will face difficulties and have a hard time moving forward, however, if we keep at what we do, the challenges will eventually pass. I believe we get to the top of that mountain at in our 20s and 30s. This is when out body is the strongest. This is also the point when most people begin a new life as an individual and not under the care of their parents. After we pass the peak, it gets to the downhill. Our body functions may weaken. We become more likely to forget things. By the end of the mountain climb, life ends. We have left a trail on the life mountain we climbed. After that, it is time to take a rest.

Natural Cycles

One year. Four Seasons. Twelve Months. 365 Days. 52 weeks. Sunrise. Sunset. Nature goes in cycles of repeated patterns. Although time never stops, time frames are grouped into cycles of similar pattern. The living and death of organisms can be seen as a cycle as a whole. An animal is born. It grows and reproduces, creating new life, then is dies. Some species may become extinct. Although that is the end of the cycle for that specific species, it does not end the cycle as a whole. New species can be developed, which starts a whole new cycle.

The recurring cycles of life and death will always be there. Nothing can last forever except for time. Time will continue on as cycles are repeated and as the world change. If something happens to exist forever, cycles will be disrupted. In this way, the cycles of life and death actually brings order to the world. The existence of these cycles does not disturb me. Knowing that nothing will last forever only shows how tiny we are to the world, the universe and time. Although some people may think that we have conquered nature in our current technologically advanced state, nature is so great that it can never be conquered. Who knows? The era of our species might be coming to an end!

A Realistic View of Life

As we get older, our view towards to would and our future changes. It becomes less idealistic and most often, less colorful and happy. When we grow older, we learn to face the many difficulties of real life. I learn to come on concept with real problems that we have to resolve in order to go on. 
In the past, I thought of my future as full of possibilities. I could be anyone I wanted. When I am watching TV or a performance, I imagine myself as a performer or and dancer. When I go to the doctors and see how they can heal others, I see myself growing up as a doctor. Other times, I would want to be an artist because I like to draw and to create things. For me, the hard part in coming into realistic terms is the choosing. I have to choose one specific career and one specific future. I cannot be an actor or a doctor or an artist whenever I felt like it. I can only choose one.
There are also a lot more life lessons that I have learned that have changed me. I now know that  the intensions of people are not always just to make the world a better place. There are complicated things like jealousy, selfishness, and many others that does not make everyone angelic figures that only wish to do good.

Comparing Characters

In the Rad Badge of Courage, two of Henry's friend seems to argue pretty often. The reason for this is that these two characters are pretty different people. Jim, or the tall soldier is the more modest and honest type. He wouldn't say things that he doesn't believe in. Wilson, a character that changes throughout the story, started out as a loud and overly confident person. When Jim announces that they were going to go to a battle the next day, Wilson did not believe him. He argues that they were told to prepare to fight for many times, but they have not been to a single battle. Jim, however, strongly believe in what he heard because he thinks the sources were trustworthy. 
Another difference between the two characters is their attitudes towards war before the battle. When asked if he might run from a battle Jim, the more down to earth of the two, said "if a whole lot of boys started and run, why I s'pose I'd start and run... But if everybody was a-standing and a-fighting, why, I'd stand and fight." Wilson, on the other hand said, "I s'pose I'll do well as the rest. I'm going to try like thunder" and laughed at the idea of running away from battle. From what they say, it is evident that Wilson is more sure of himself than Jim.

Henry's Relationship

Jim Conklin, or the tall soldier, was Henry’s childhood friend that came to war with him. He is in the same regiment as Henry. Although he dies early on in the story, Jim taught Henry several things. Jim comforts Henry when he replied honestly to Henry’s question: when asked whether he would run away if most of the soldiers were retreating, he honestly replied that he would do the same. However, he id his best and was very brave when fighting his first and last battle. By the end of the battle, he was wounded badly and died. In these ways, Jim Conklin represents the ideal soldier, brave and honest.

Wilson, also known as the loud solder, is full of confidence. He is loud and argumentative and speaks out about whatever he believes in. Although he seemed really brave, he does show a sign of weakness and a fear of death right before the battle. He gave Henry a letter he wrote for his family is he was to die in the battle. He also shows that he cares about Henry and their friendship. He was worried and quickly yelled for assistance when Henry came back with a wound on his head.

The tattered solder is a good-natured man that annoys Henry with his questions. The only reason why his questions annoy Henry is because Henry feels guilty. He tries to be nice and start conversation, but Henry takes it the wrong way because he ran away from the battle.

Conscience

Conscious is that voice inside you that tells you what is right and what is wrong. For example, when you are young and you go to your friend’s house. You see your friend’s doll or robot lying here on the floor. You really like it, but you don’t take it. What is stopping you? Yes, it is conscience that stops you. You might say that it is only because you don’t want to get in trouble, but deep down inside it is because we can tell what is morally right from wrong.

 Lets say that you actually did steal the toy and manage to get away with it from being caught. You will never feel right when you play with the doll. There will be this voice that reminds you that the toy is not yours. Even if it is the best toy in the world, it will loose its fun. Eventually, you would want to return the toy. This is all caused by the guilt you feel, and the guilt is caused by the conscience in you.

In the Red Badge of Courage, Henry struggles with his conscience because he did not stay and fight the battle. He tried hard to convince himself that what he did was right, but he is still worried and uncomfortable. What is the need to convince himself? If he truly believed that what he did was right, he would feel good in what he did. All of this comes down in conscience.

The Dark Side

The Dark Romanticism came out of romanticism and transcendentalism. Many thought of dark romanticism as the opposite of transcendentalism but in fact, they have the same basic ideas. Both ideas values expression of strong emotion and imagination. The difference is that they focus on different aspects of emotion and imagination. Romanticism and transcendentalism are a lot more optimistic. They are about the positive things in life, like the innocence and heroic characteristics of people and the beauty of nature.  The transcendentalists talk about achieving the human perfection. Dark romantics have a more negative view towards the world. Their works focus on the conflict between good and evil, effects of guilt and sin, the destructive underside of appearances and even madness. Some of the leading dark romantic writers are Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. In Nathaniel Hawthorn's famous novel, the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale suffers from sin and his own guilt. He is a minister and tortures himself for his secret sin. Many of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories are also really dark. Many of his stories talk about mad people or describing people that are about to get killed. I think the scariest part of his stories is the anxiousness and fearful tone. To me, dark romanticism is just like scary stories but at a deeper and more thoughtful level.

The Transcendentalists

The transcendentalists looks beyond, or transcends,  everyday experiences and seeks for ultimate truths. They believe that by looking at each individual person and by getting to truly understand them can they find out about the reality of God. They try to look past the physical appearances and into a person. They are idealists that work to achieve human perfection. The leader of the transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson, says that the idea is "the very oldest of thought cast into the mold of these times" Their ideas effect American today because there are still some American that think like them. They try to achieve human perfection.
To me, their ideas are very confusing. I do not understand how to "look beyond" everyday experiences to find truths about God. I also don't get how they connect the physical world to the spiritual. How can we, by understanding the physical world, get to find out about God? However, there is one part of their belief that I agree with. Although I don't know how the transcendentalists define "human perfection"but I believe that most people do have goals to improve themselves. I, for one, try my best to do what I can. I work hard in school, but also spend time with friends to make myself happy. Although it is sometimes hard to find a balance in between the two, I still try. For me human perfection is to be able to achieve all of your own goals.

Romantic Values

In contrast to the pervious time period, the age of reason, the romantic values imagination and freedom. Romanticism values emotions, feelings and individuality. It emphasizes freedom of thinking and closeness to nature. In romantic artwork, things are sometimes abstract or not clear. It believe it is so because our emotions are not something that is set in stone. There is a lot of in-betweens and different sensation when describing emotions. Imagination is something that is even more abstract. Every person thinks differently. An artwork created by a person with a certain feeling might give another person that is looking at the artwork a different feeling.

One thing I found very interesting that this time period came right after the age of reason. The age of reason is the total opposite of romanticism. It seeks to prove everything in the world. Everything should the clear and precise. People tried to find reasons for everything. Artworks during that period are usually very balanced, with a focus on form and unity. It seems as though there is a lack of emotion. People seek to derive, prove and ration things in the world. How Romanticism came out of Reasoning is a total mystery for me. Did people just get tired of solving and proving everything? Or did people just one day find out that emotions are very important too and took a 180 turn and focused on the other direction?

The American Romantic Hero

Young, intuitive, and close to nature. These are the major characteristics of the American Romantic Hero. These heros are common throughout stories and novels during the Romantic Period and even afterwards. Indianan Jones is an example of such hero. His adventures and explorations in the wild fascinate audiences. In the modern day, we have a different kind of hero. Spiderman, Superman and Batman are heros for many little boys and girls. These hero all have super powers and use them for the good of the people. They hide their identities so that they would not gain fame from what they do. 
A major difference between stories of the American Romantic Hero and of the modern heros is that the settings are drastically different. In the past, people seem to be closer to nature, so the Romantic Hero would be and adventurer that can live successfully in the wilderness. In the modern days, however, most people live in cities. The heros that they prefer are those that share the same settings. The modern day hero lives in the city just, like us, except they have another secret identity that he uses to save mankind. Curiously, the modern hero also has to possess some kind of super power. People nowadays only look up to those that are special and physically different from the rest, while in the past, heros are just normal people that have determination and skills.

Freedom and Equality

These two words have been used to describe America since the creation of the country, but are these words true illustrations of the country? Most might say yes. However, looking back o history, these words have not applied to many that lived in he United States. Did the slaves ever experience freedom, much less equality, before the Civil War? What about the Native Americans that have been relocated again and again to smaller and less fertile land? How can they experience freedom when they are trapped in a reservation? 
Although the road to reaching equality is still long, conditions have improved greatly in the modern world. Many, or even most of us take freedom and equality for granted. We have the luck to live in these conditions without fighting for it. We are so use to living in such environments that we take it all for granted and turn our cravings to other things. If we had to fight to attain those conditions, we will cherish it more when we have it. For some people in the world, they are still struggling through these problems. The women in Muslim countries, for example, are still far from gender equality. People from lower social classes are also striving for equality. For those that have to luxury to enjoy freedom and equality, we should be more grateful.

The American Ideal

"We will walk on our own feet,
We will work with our own hands,
We will speak with our own minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think this quote reflects the American Ideal very well. Even from before the United States was a country, the thirteen colonies that founded the country had wanted independence from British rule. They fought a war for their freedom and independence. In the Declaration of Independence, it stated that people have the right to "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." Also, in the First Amendment to the constitution, it says that people have the "right of speech". Included in these famous documents that form the foundation of the Unites States is parts of the American Ideal. Even today, this statement applies. Americans still value individual rights as something very important in their society. 
In the Taiwanese society, this quote might now apply. Yes, individuality and independence is valued, but its is not as important as some other things that ties us back to our history. I feel like the Chinese and the Taiwanese view family histories and the name and honor of families and the individual persons in the family. They take pride in their family names and care much less about each separate person. The reason to this might be because there is a large human population in China. They see groups of people as more important that single persons.

What I Like About This Class

1. I really like how we are having more discussion in class this year. I way the seats are set up helps with our chances in discussing and debating because we can see each other. The class size is also much smaller that what we had in the beginning of last year. 


2. I also like the journal prompts that we are doing. It gives me a chance to put together something short and just to practice my writing skills. I think writing more often would make us more accustom to doing so. One thing that this writing prompt can be improved is feedback. I feel like I would be able to learn more when there is constructive criticism. I think we should get feedback either from the students or the teachers for at least one every week, which means that one of our post in the whole week would be commented on.


3. One other thing that i like is the novels that we are reading. I have not had the chance to read too many classical novels. I think the novels that we have read and will be reading this year are really god choices of books. 

What I Don't Like About This Class

1. First of all, I'd like to ay that I really enjoy the novel reading that we are reading in class. The thing I dislike about the reading is that I feel like we are moving on too fast. Especially when we were reading the Scarlet Letter. I thought 8 chapters every week was too much to go through.  This has improved in the book we are reading now, so I wish this stays the same. 

2. I think there should be more discussion about the novel in class. I feel like we never talked much about what we read except when we answer the questions for the reading quizzes. I would suggest talking more about the symbolism in the text and some of the deeper meanings that the author is trying to tell us. If we just read on our own, sometimes we will miss these important details or even misinterpret them.

3. Although I understand that it is the main theme of the first unit, I thought reading about Puritans belief is kind of boring. The first few poems and passages were pretty interesting, but I feel like we have stayed in the unit for too long. Maybe we should just do around 3 writings in every unit. This way, there would also be a higher chance that we can look at all the units in the book.

The Unknown Quantity

People often learn more about themselves when they are challenged. When they are driven to their limits some people can do things they never thought they could. In the face of danger, some people would show that they are actually braver or better than they thought while others, sadly, would have to admit that they are not as good as think they are. In extreme situations, people would react in extreme ways. Just a few days ago, a friend had asked me a question that got me thinking. She said, "If there was a major earthquake, and you and one other person is stuck under the crushed building. You are not best friends with that person, but you are acquaintances. You have two choices. One, you get saved with not the slightest scar on you, but you have to watch the other person die in pain as the the building crush on him/her. Or two, both you and the other person get saved, but you have you cut off your legs for the other person to survive. You will have to feel the pain of cutting off your legs, but you will save the other person. Another down side to the situation is that the other person might also be badly damaged. What would you choose?" I'm sure that the very first response that most people would give is to save the other person too. This might not be because they want to "look" like a nice and sympathetic person. They might really feel that way. However, I think we would never know until that day actually comes. Some people just might prove to themselves that they are the sympathetic person they think they are. Others, however, might learn that they have to take a new look at themselves.

Persuade Me

Tests are not the best way to help students learn. Instead of tests, we should play competitive games in class to access our learning abilities and provide us a motivation to review school materials. The competitive games have the same propose as the tests, to make us review and to  see how we are doing in class. Yet, it has a lot more benefits than tests. First of all, the students it provides a more positive attitude for the students. Games are so much more interesting than tests. It provides students with a better motivation to study and work hard because they want to win the games. Also, these games are not pointless at all. Instead of grading boring test papers, teachers can simply look at a student's ability to answer questions correctly to see how well each students are absorbing the materials they are given. It doesn't give pressure for the students, neither does it gives teachers pressure to grade the tests. Its an benefit for both sides. Lastly, competitive games makes classes more interactive and lively. Students get excited when  they get to play games. Students may be more active in the participation of discussions. In conclusion, competitive games should replace tests because it gives the class a more positive attitude towards studying.

Give Me Liberty Or...

In the colonial period, colonists wanted freedom from the English monarchs. People talk about "liberty" and "self-relience" all the time. It shapes the attitude and dreams of most colonists. In the Virginia Convention, a famous lines that Patrick Henry said was "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." Yes, many people did die for their belief and pride for America as a country, but eventually the United States did get its liberty. 

"Technology", "speed" and "time conserving" are words that are often heard in our society. The modern world is all about quickness and accuracy. Everything is a rush. In the word today, being "slow" means inefficient, which is bad. People do not life to "waste" their time on eating breakfast, so they do it while they work to "save" time. Why not take some time to enjoy the very first energy boost in the morning? Nowadays, people, especially in cities, never take time to slow down and enjoy a slow paced life. There is always an endless to-do list and too many deadlines to be done. They feel like they have no time for slow but pleasant little moment of life.

The words we hear in the modern world and the words that were popular in the colonial period are very different. People still feel pride in their countries when they hear here the words "liberty" and "freedom", but the feelings are not as strong. Instead people are too concerned with the work that has to be done by next Tuesday or the presentation they have to prepare for by Friday. 

My Own Sermon

In every action you take and every decision you make, there are results and consequences. Good choices can will make you a better person and more successful. Bad choices, on the other hand, will lead to bad results. If you sin, it is inevitable that you will get punished. Not only will you feel guilty and mad at yourself, you would be worried about people finding out and dreading the punishments. Eve if you are not punished in your life on Earth, God himself would punish you after you die. You will go to hell and suffer a painful and sad after-life. Yes, you will regret what you did. So, what can you do now to prevent a painful after-life in hell? Do nice thing and make the right decisions in this life! Do not cheat on people, do not steal things, and most importantly, do not do anything that you know you would regret. Think carefully when you take actions. Help and forgive whenever you can. Its not that hard to lead a good life. When you try, you will realized that it actually makes you happy. When you are nice to people, they will remember you as a kind person. They will help you when you are in need. So after you hear this speech, go out there and do whatever you can to lead a happy and good life!

Response to Edwards

Honorable Mr. Edwards,

I understand that you are a respectable man of high rank, however the sermon you preached this past Sunday has caused me muich distress.  I cannot close my eyes without images of burning hell appearing in my mind. I cannot sleep at night because I am afraid of my future. Everything I do seemed to lead me to hell. I do not believe that you have the right to curse and condem people like that. You speak as though you are God himself. Yes, you are a respected pastor, but you are not God and will never be. You do not have the right to scare people in the name of God. The sermon you preasched has casued a large impact in the community. Everyone is on their nerves. The nights have not been peaceful since you sermon. Many children have been scream and crying though the night. You make us feel trapped and we have no way out.

There is a question that have been bugging me for the whole week. How can you describe hell so well? Did you make everything up just to scare the people in the community or have you really visited hell?  If you have never visited, please do not scared innocent villigers like this. I have seen too many viligers this week crying and distressing over their life,

Sincerely,

Devoted villager

Sin

According to the Marrian-Webster dictionary, sin is "1) an offense especially to God 2) a weakened state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God" This word seems to be closely associated with religion. In fact, according to Christians, everyone, from the time of their birth, are sinners. Everyone are sinners because we are all the descendants of Adams and Eve. They have sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. Everyone is a sinner, so the only way out is to believe in Christianity, and by doing so, God will forgive four sins. Sin is a very powerful and very negative word. It is when people distance themselves from God to do something that is morally wrong. I disagree with the Christian idea that every single person, even newborn babies, is sinners.I believe people become sinners when they commit crimes, or do things that are morally degrading. I also disagree with the idea that people can pay money to get out of sin. I think that idea is pretty absurd. I think the only way people are forgiven is when they do something good to make up for their wrongdoings. I do no believe that I have sinned. Of course I have lied and I have done things that are wrong, but i do not believe that is sin. I think sin is too strong a word to be used in my case.

Fear as a Motivator

Many say that fear is a very powerful motivator. Yes, this is most likely to be true, seeing as fear can make our body do things that we never thought we could, for example, outrun a bear. However, I do not think this is a very effective or very moral way of motivation. First of all, it does not motivate people toward something, but rather to stay away something negative. This is not true motivation. Take studying as an example. If a student is motivated my himself/herself to work hard and lead a better life, they would take care to do things more carefully. On the other hand, a student that is motivated to study out of fear from punishment, would try to find the easy way out. They would do all the work, but the quality of the work would not be as good. Another reason why fear is not a good motivation is that when people are in constant fear, they wear out. They would become depressed and scared most of the time, but the motivation would not be as strong. 

Church/Temple

Every Chinese New Year, when I stay at my grandmother's place in Ping-Dong, we would always go to the temples. The local temple we go to is always filled with people. The tables are piled with food of all colors in decorative baskets and trays. The smell of burning inscence mingled with a light scent of flowers always make me want to sneeze. Sometimes, there would be two giant candles burning at the very end of the temple, right in front of the figurines. The figurine in the center is the largest and the most lavishly decorated. What fascinates me the most, however, are the two smaller figurines on the two sides. One has a red face with long ears while the other has a green face, both of them very serious-looking. The one with the red face is called "the listener" and the one with the green is called "the searcher". They are said to be able to listen to or see things from miles away. 
Outside of the temple, there is a place where people burn paper money to be sent to the ancestors. My cousins and I have always loved this part of the ritual where we get to burn paper money. I liked to watch as pieces of paper catch on fire, slowly turn black, then into ashes, but I can never stare too long. My eyes get watery and my nose get runny when I watch it for too long.
Although going to temples have now seem to be an ordinary activity, it has been something that excites me when I was young. As I write this, thinking back to the past and re-living what I have seen, these experiences seem a lot more fascinating. 

Motivation

A similarity between "The Burning of My House", "World, in Hounding me" and the Scarlet Letter is that all three of them are written in a puritan's point of view. Puritans have strict religious rules and most are extremely pious, therefore the religion play a major role in the characters' actions and thoughts. When misfortune happens to them, like in "The Burning of My House", they attribute it to God's will. When people commit crimes, like adultery in the Scarlet Letter, the puritans take strong actions to condemn the "sinner" and make a show of the harsh consequences. This is caused by their belief that people are evil by nature. They seem to care little about earthly matters, putting all their hopes in the afterlives that "[lie] above". They believe, to an extreme point, that taking materialistic good too seriously is bad for the soul. For them, to enjoy materials on earth is to "throw [your] life away on vanity". Religion and God is the motivation source and reason to almost everything they do.

I, however, have very different motivations. Right now, I do not believe in any certain religion. My motivation come mainly from my future. I strive to create a future that would allow me to have better opportunities and a better life. Plainly stated, I work hard to go into a good school that would help me lead a better life. In a way, this motivation has some similarities with the Puritan's view. For me, I hope to be successful when I grow up, while for the Puritans they wish to go to heaven, which is also the future. I believe that all motivations come from a desire for a better future.

Compare and Contrast: Bradstreet vs. Sor Juana

The most similar aspect of the two poems are the themes of the poem. In both of the poems, the author believes that materialistic possessions are not important and that people should focus on the spiritual and religious aspects of life and afterlife. Although they have similar themes, the two poems have different topics. Bradstreet's poem is about the burning of her house and her own self reflections and self criticisms. Sor Juana's poem is about her distress toward the society's view toward material possessions. The style of the two poem are also different, which also caused the rhyming of the poems to be different. Bradstreet's poem is a lyric poem and the rhymes go in pairs. Her poem also used the plain style. Her choice of words are vocabularies coming from everyday speech of her time. Sor Juana's poem is a sonnet, so it  follows the sonnet's 14 line rhyme scheme.  

There are some phrases and words in both poems that refers to heaven and God. In Bradstreet's poem, she talks about a "house" built by the "mighty Architect". In this, the house is the heaven that is built by god, the Architect. In Sor Juana's poem, the "treasure in my mind" is a metaphor for knowledge.

A third similarity is that both poems use the word "vanity" and "treasure". In Bradstreet's poem, she wrote "Adieu, Adieu, all's vanity." She is dismissing all the material possessions that is lost in the burning of her house, and anticipates a better future in heaven. She also writes "My hope and treasure lies above". This also shows that she has faith that her life in heaven would be more pleasant than the one on Earth. In Sor Juana's poem, she want to "leave the vanities of life aside, not to throw [her] life away in vanity". The vanities she talks about here is also materialistic precessions. She wants to "[set] treasure in her mind" rather than having a "mind that set on treasure". In this. she compares in importance of knowledge verses materialistic possessions in her view.

In conclusion, there are many ideas in the two poems that are similar, but the ways these topics are discussed differ. 

Theme of "World, in Hounding me"

The theme of the poem is that the pursuit of materialistic possessions are ultimately vain and that overtime, these things become useless. The author favors knowledge over materialistic possessions. This theme is apparent in the last few lines of the poem, "Mine is the better and the truer way: to leave the vanities of life aside, not throw my life away in vanity." These lines say that the author does not want to waste her life in the pursuit of vanities that would do her no good as she get older and after she dies. 
I agree with the theme in that knowledge is more important compared to wealth and beauty. I also agree that beauty would wear out eventually as time go by. Money wouldn't be important if you didn't have the knowledge to use it on useful things. However, I disagree that enjoying life on earth and the pursuit of materialistic possessions is totally worthless. I believe that it is best to live life to the fullest. I think that people would be most successful if they can enjoy life and still learn as they grow.

How Effective is the Poem's Title?

I thought the poem has a pretty effective title, but only after reading the poem. Although not directly related, it describes the feeling of being restricted well. Just by looking the title you would not be able to tell what the poem would be about. 
After our discussion in class I learned that the "things of beauty" in line 3 means knowledge and not happy thoughts. I think I understand the poem a bit more after this. I thought the poem was about how the author had a different view towards beauty and wealth, but instead she is talking about how knowledge is more important than beauty and wealth. I think he use of words (even thought translated) is very nice. She would use the same world to describe two different things. For example, "setting treasure in my mind" means learning about all the wonderful things in the world, while "mind that's set on winning treasure" is the more literal meaning of treasure, the money and other riches. Another example is "to stock my mind with things of beauty", which also talk about knowledge, and "wastes it stock on beauty's claim", which is the society's view towards what beauty. She uses similar words to describe contrasting things: one that she wants and another that she does not want to waste her mind on.

Hounded By the World

The title of the poem "World, in Hounding Me..." gives me the impression that the person is being tracked or chased after. It gives a nervous and uneasy feeling. I makes me think that the poem would be about running away from something big and powerful; and that big and powerful creature, wether an object, person or even animal, limits the person. I think the tone of the poem would be and anxious.
After reading he poem, however, I realized that it is not about being chased after. The author of the poem feel limited my the world. She seems to have a different take on what is beautiful, the definitions of being wealthy and the importance of both beauty and wealth. She is frustrated by the fact that he society makes everyone think the same way. In the poem, she tries to convince people that her point of view is right.

My Personal Loss

The Death of Pudding

Crouched in the corner of the cage

was a ball of fur, 

fast asleep.

When he finally woke up,

its two black and beady eyes gazed back at mine,

my sister and I giggled.

The color of its fur was yellow

with a bit of brown,

so wee decided to name

our first pet hamster

Pudding,

He grew up fast,

a small ball of fur no longer.

Its fat, but cute,

and wobbles when he walks,

because he has short legs.

My dad made a collar for him.

So we can "walk him" like we would to a dog.

It never works.

He would just find a way to slip out of the collar.

Let himself loose to room the house.

He is the longest-living hamster I know of. 

Two and a half year. Almost three.

But we could tell it was getting older.

He is not as energetic and has lost patches of fur.

His eyes looks a bit blurry.

His senses not as sharp.

I knew we would loose him soon.

He seems to know so too.

On that uncommon day on the 22nd of April.

Pudding came out of his cage again after refusing to do so

so many times before.

It roomed around the house,

making sure he gets to every corner.

At night, as he was making his way outside of the house,

he got stepped on.

He did not die

yet.

He opened his weak eyes,

to say his last good bye.

My mother rush to the doctors,

so he can have a less painful death.

Yes. He left.

After more than two years.

Our very first pet:

Pudding.

Guilt

Guilt. It's a feeling I have felt many times in my life. Even if it was for something as small as eating snack before dinner. Its that uneasy feeling at the pit of your stomach that keeps coming back. You really want to tell the truth, but you just can't bring yourself up to it. You're afraid of the consequences. The last time I felt guilty was the past summer. I went to a camp with many bright and friendly people. There was this one girl that was especially nice to me. She would buy me things and even introduced me to her friends back at home. We got along really well at first, but as time went on, she would be jealous whenever I hang out or hugged somebody else. She continued to be really nice, so I couldn't do much to reject her. However, I started to slowly avoid her. I don't think she noticed what I was trying to do because I still acted happy when I was with her. I tried to act like I liked her as much as she liked me, but felt bad. I wanted to be with her, but she would sometimes get a little obsessed and I would find an excuse to leave. I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to just tell her how I was feeling. She would feel bad. I felt really guilty until the last day of camp. On that last day, I gave her a real hug and told her that I would miss her, which was true. Then her dad walked over and told me, "So you must be Tiffany? I've heard a lot about you." I felt so bad I almost cried. Right now, all I can do it keep in touch, and well, we're still good friends. We want to go to the same college, so some day, we might meet and I would make it all up to her. Next time, I would be a real good friend. 

Puritans and Possessions

Think about major Puritan Beliefs as you read "Burning of the House". What philosophical belief about God and the purpose of human life are reflected in Branstreet's poem?


The puritans believes that the purpose of life is to live as God says. They believe in living an industrious and simply lifestyle. They believe that everything they have comes from God and God can take it away whenever he wants to. People shouldn't have too much connections with their material goods or else, they will loose their connection with God, which is the most valuable thing to have. They believe that true happiness lays in heaven, after people have died. On earth, people just have to do good and wait for their chance to go to heaven.
I think their belief contradicts itself. If true happiness is only in heaven, then most people would want to just die so they can go to heaven. Another contradiction is that if they believe only certain chosen people can go to heaven, and they these people are destined to go to heaven, they why work so hard when everything is destined?

Hester's Punishment

How do you feel about what happened to Hester Prynne?


I thought the punishment they put on Hester was understandable. Even if they didn't make her stand in the middle of the market, people would know about the what she did and would also treated her badly. They seemed to be especially lenient to her because the punishment of adultery at the time was a death penalty. I think the death penalty is too harsh a punishment for adultery. The government shouldn't even have the right to have control over people's private relationships. However, because of their strict religious rules, it is very possible that the puritans would create a rule like that.
Although i thought the punishment was understandable, I don't think Hester should take all the blame. her partner should have been brave enough to stand up and admit to what he did. Also, her husband had not come to meet her for more than a year before she committed adultery. There is a very high chance that her husband would not survive to get to the new world. Hester and even most of the colonists didn't think he was still alive, so Hester was not truly at fault for what she did.

Material Possessions

"Burning of our House" quickwrite (textbook p. 28)

I think material possessions are pretty important to me. I would be devastated if my house burned down. I would feel the place where I belong has been destroyed. The hardest things to loose might be my childhood pictures and cards people sent to me. Another thing might be my huge teddy bear. I got it when I was around ten and it reminds me of one that I had when i was even younger. Something easy thing to live without would be the decorations around the house.   They don't have too much importance in my life.

Puritans and Rationalists Today

Consider the beliefs of the puritans and rationalists. How do people think about the universe ad human nature today? What do you think about them? Can you see evidence of either of those world views in  your own views or of those of society at large?


Puritans believed that all people are sinners because we are the descendants of Adams and Eve. However, they believe that there are a chosen few that would go to heaven after they die. They practice strict religious rules and live simple and industrious lives.
The Rationalists, on the other hand, believe in using reason to prove everything. They, unlike the Puritans, believe that human nature is good. They believed that God created this world and stood back to let it run by itself.
In the world today, there are still conflicting views on the human nature. Although they don't necessarily agree with the rationalist ideas, modern people tend to prefer using reason and experiments to solve their problems.
I do not agree completely with either the puritans or rationalist view, but i do prefer the rationalist view in that human nature is good. I also think that human are lazy by nature. People do bad things, like stealing, because they are too lazy to do things the proper way.