Part 1- Thinking and writing
The two pieces I chose to put in my blog were my memoir and the Scarlet Letter essay. The point of my memoir was to take a personal experience we had and put a twist to it. We had to write in detail about this experience as well as to use brushstrokes. The brushstrokes really made our writing more interesting. They helped to make the memoir more of a formal essay than just one that is told informally.
The point of the Scarlett Letter essay was to write about a main topic in the book and discuss it thoroughly. We had to use specific examples from the text and cite them in the essay to connect it to the novel.
Writing all four of these essays conducted a lot of thinking! I don't think I have ever thought this much about writing an essay ever! When writing my memoir, I really had to look deep inside of me and bring out almost every thought and detail I could remember from that experience. I had to go back and think of what I saw, did, thought, heard, and even smelled! Then putting that all together to make it sound decent was an even tougher challenge. Thank goodness Mrs. Turner provided us with the brushstrokes instructions to help form and make the memoir sound more better.
When writing the Scarlett Letter essay, I felt a bit more comfortable. I picked a topic that I knew and wanted to write about. I had also done essay's like this before, so I was more comfortable writing about this topic.
While writing these essay's I learned many new things. One thing that helped improve my writing were the brushstrokes. It added a lot more voice and depth into the writing. While re-reading my essay with the brushstrokes in it, I couldn't believe how much more interesting my writing became! It was just great learning a new technique that would improve my writing. Another really big thing that I learned was to really sit down and think about writing the essay topic I had been given. In earlier years, I had just written and essay for the sake of a grade. I never even thought about it. This time, I thought about what I was going to write as soon as I got the topic. I would brainstorm the ideas in my head as well as on paper. This really helped me gather all of my thoughts together. Then I would just type up the paper using my thoughts and opinions as well. That is another thing that I believe helped me in my essay's. Earlier, I would just solely write about the topic and nothing else. This time, I also learned how to incorporate my own opinions into my writing. I believe this helped my essay as well as my liking for the topic. One more thing that helped was to eliminate being verbs. They just all clog up your writing and make it less interesting.
Part 2- Process of Revision
Writing these essay's also included revising-and a lot of it! After I wrote my essay I would re-read it to see how I could make it better. Then Mrs. Turner would also comment on them, so I would take those comments and also use them to revise my essay's. I also had to learn not to be so vague when writing. I just usually say something and then never explain it. I also tend to not use details. So this time I went above and beyond and tried to include as many details and thoughts.
Examples of revision:
Before: We talked about everything and anything imaginable.
After: We talked about everything and anything imaginable. Such as what we did over the summer, what we were looking forward to, boys, what we were going to do in the morning, boys, Katelyn, boys, movies, boys, random things, and most importantly BOYS! (more details)
Before: Hawthorne mainly uses Pearl to symbolize the "A" through his use of mysticism and romanticism.
After: Hawthorne mainly uses Pearl to symbolize the "A" through his use of mysticism and romanticism, which is a style of writing.He uses one object to refer to another.(vague)
We should not follow this example in our lives today. If someone did something wrong but also confesses their wrongdoing, we should look upon them as brave and honest. We should be willing to help them through their problems and struggles.(my opinion)
Step 3- Learning from your classmates
Having my classmates help me in writing my pieces was so great! They all contributed so much. Their opinions really shaped my essay. Rachel, Erika V., and Kayla all contributed toward my essay's. They each told me that it is good to let your own voice out in your pieces and have an opinion on the topic. They taught me that you shouldn't think of what the teacher wants you to write, but what you want to write. They all told me that I needed to add more detail! They couldn't understand what I was talking about in some places. So I really took that into account.
Rachel's blog: http://www.rachelwhitmire.blogspot.com/
I really liked her Scarlett letter essay. It was really in-depth and it really explained everything really well. Our topics were similar, so we both contributed to each others. Hers also helped me with referring back to the book with excerpts and quotes.
Erika V.'s blog: http://erikaverbeck.blogspot.com/
Erika had a great voice in her writing! She included many details and adjectives. I liked how she explained everything really well and had her own opinion as well. It reminded me that I need to explain everything in depth.
Kayla's blog: http://kayladyarsblog.blogspot.com/
I loved Kayla's memoir. She always has beautiful writing. From her I learned how to make my writing's flow and make them sound really nice.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Scarlet Letter
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" This quote states that when your conscience begins to grow tender, you will act to prevent the misery of those around you than to provoke it. This applies to Hester because towards the end of the novel we really begin to see Hester's true feelings towards Arthur Dimmesdale. She shows her compassion when Dimmesdale's conscience is really burning him inside. A major part of their burning consciences is the symbol of Pearl, but this symbol applies more to Hester since Pearl is her own daughter. In the Scarlet Letter, Pearl is an extremely important symbol that plays to Hester's conscience and emotions. Reluctantly she is brought into the world, disapproved by society, and Hester must daily bear the burden Pearl restricts on her life. Thusly, Pearl plays a significant role in the novel and is more importantly a symbol that represents a reminder to Hester about the sin that she has committed.
When we are first introduced to Pearl, we merely know her as an infant. Hester is carrying her when she is walking up to the scaffold. At this very scene in the novel we see how Pearl begins to play with Hester's conscience, "Even the poor baby, at Hester's bosom, was affected by the same influence, for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with a half pleased, half plaintive murmur"(Hawthorne 20). This excerpt has an extremely significant role in the novel. As Pearl reaches out to Chillingworth it shows us that she is reaching out to her own father. It reminds Hester who her husband truly is, instead of her lover and adulterer Dimmesdale. As the novel goes on and as Pearl grows older, she keeps on reminding Hester of her guilt-filled letter "A". Throughout the novel, Pearl toys with Hester's emotions by playing with the letter. The citizens in the town also state that Pearl herself embodies the letter "A". Hawthorne mainly shows this through the way that Hester dresses Pearl. When Pearl is going to the Governor's Hall, she is wearing an A-symmetrical dress that is scarlet red with gold trim. This shows a familiar similarity to the "A" on Hester's clothes. Hawthorne mainly uses Pearl to symbolize the "A" through his use of mysticism and romanticism, which is a style of writing. He uses one object to refer to another. Pearl continues to torment her mother about the letter as the novel goes on. She keeps on referring back to the letter, pestering her mother for the meaning of it. Hester is still persistent not to reveal the letter to Pearl until later in the novel.
Throughout the novel there is an ongoing disapproval by the citizens of the town at the fact that Pearl is in existence. Since Hester committed her crime, she and Pearl are disowned from the strict Puritan society. Pearl is even referred to as "An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants."(Hawthorne 45). This shows that the Puritan society as a whole disapproved of Pearl's existence in their society. Hawthorne even uses the phrase "A beautiful flower growing out of sinful soil" to describe the little child. There is also his use of romanticism by using the term "elf-child" to describe her. Having the whole Puritan society condemn upon Pearl puts an even greater burden on Hester. Constantly she is reminded of what she has done. One day Hester goes to the Governor's house. While there, Bellingham wanted to take Pearl away from Hester because he felt as if Hester could not take care of her. Dimmesdale then retaliated and stated that Hester should be given a chance. This example shows irony because Dimmesdale is actually the father of Pearl and he is the one that defends Hester so she can keep Pearl. Even though it is still a secret to the rest of the town, Dimmesdale and Hester are showing their true feelings for each other.
Towards the end, we really do see how Pearl has an effect on Hester. Hester begins to reveal all of her secrets to Pearl. This is significant because it really does show how lonely Hester is. She has no one else to confide in around her so her only option is her daughter. No one really notices Hester in the society and it is almost as if she is an invisible woman. This also shows how lonely she really does feel with no one listening to her. By telling Pearl her secrets, she is almost letting our a part of herself. She is getting rid of that burden that has been bearing down on her with all of her secrets and troubles. I also personally believe that Hester could confide in her daughter. Since Pearl had been questioning her about the letter and having so much knowledge about it already. I believe this also led to the fact that Hester could confide in Pearl.
Pearl plays an extremely significant burden on Hester's conscience. Pearl is an everyday reminder of sin to Hester's conscience. She has to carry and bear the burden of her own sin through her own daughter. Through Pearl, Hester has to live with the thing that she has done wrong. Pearl also is a reminder of who Hester's true lover is and how she has to keep it a secret from the society. In the novel Hester is basically banished from the society. We should not follow this example in our lives today. If someone did something wrong but also confesses their wrongdoing, we should look upon them as brave and honest. We should be willing to help them through their problems and struggles. Hester showed courage and strength throughout the entire novel. She had to live with the torment of everyone judging her, as well as her own daughter, and I believe she did a beautiful job handling it.
When we are first introduced to Pearl, we merely know her as an infant. Hester is carrying her when she is walking up to the scaffold. At this very scene in the novel we see how Pearl begins to play with Hester's conscience, "Even the poor baby, at Hester's bosom, was affected by the same influence, for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with a half pleased, half plaintive murmur"(Hawthorne 20). This excerpt has an extremely significant role in the novel. As Pearl reaches out to Chillingworth it shows us that she is reaching out to her own father. It reminds Hester who her husband truly is, instead of her lover and adulterer Dimmesdale. As the novel goes on and as Pearl grows older, she keeps on reminding Hester of her guilt-filled letter "A". Throughout the novel, Pearl toys with Hester's emotions by playing with the letter. The citizens in the town also state that Pearl herself embodies the letter "A". Hawthorne mainly shows this through the way that Hester dresses Pearl. When Pearl is going to the Governor's Hall, she is wearing an A-symmetrical dress that is scarlet red with gold trim. This shows a familiar similarity to the "A" on Hester's clothes. Hawthorne mainly uses Pearl to symbolize the "A" through his use of mysticism and romanticism, which is a style of writing. He uses one object to refer to another. Pearl continues to torment her mother about the letter as the novel goes on. She keeps on referring back to the letter, pestering her mother for the meaning of it. Hester is still persistent not to reveal the letter to Pearl until later in the novel.
Throughout the novel there is an ongoing disapproval by the citizens of the town at the fact that Pearl is in existence. Since Hester committed her crime, she and Pearl are disowned from the strict Puritan society. Pearl is even referred to as "An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants."(Hawthorne 45). This shows that the Puritan society as a whole disapproved of Pearl's existence in their society. Hawthorne even uses the phrase "A beautiful flower growing out of sinful soil" to describe the little child. There is also his use of romanticism by using the term "elf-child" to describe her. Having the whole Puritan society condemn upon Pearl puts an even greater burden on Hester. Constantly she is reminded of what she has done. One day Hester goes to the Governor's house. While there, Bellingham wanted to take Pearl away from Hester because he felt as if Hester could not take care of her. Dimmesdale then retaliated and stated that Hester should be given a chance. This example shows irony because Dimmesdale is actually the father of Pearl and he is the one that defends Hester so she can keep Pearl. Even though it is still a secret to the rest of the town, Dimmesdale and Hester are showing their true feelings for each other.
Towards the end, we really do see how Pearl has an effect on Hester. Hester begins to reveal all of her secrets to Pearl. This is significant because it really does show how lonely Hester is. She has no one else to confide in around her so her only option is her daughter. No one really notices Hester in the society and it is almost as if she is an invisible woman. This also shows how lonely she really does feel with no one listening to her. By telling Pearl her secrets, she is almost letting our a part of herself. She is getting rid of that burden that has been bearing down on her with all of her secrets and troubles. I also personally believe that Hester could confide in her daughter. Since Pearl had been questioning her about the letter and having so much knowledge about it already. I believe this also led to the fact that Hester could confide in Pearl.
Pearl plays an extremely significant burden on Hester's conscience. Pearl is an everyday reminder of sin to Hester's conscience. She has to carry and bear the burden of her own sin through her own daughter. Through Pearl, Hester has to live with the thing that she has done wrong. Pearl also is a reminder of who Hester's true lover is and how she has to keep it a secret from the society. In the novel Hester is basically banished from the society. We should not follow this example in our lives today. If someone did something wrong but also confesses their wrongdoing, we should look upon them as brave and honest. We should be willing to help them through their problems and struggles. Hester showed courage and strength throughout the entire novel. She had to live with the torment of everyone judging her, as well as her own daughter, and I believe she did a beautiful job handling it.
A magical night
It all started out one day when my friends and I decided that we wanted to do something outrageously fun...
"OMG Reema! Why don't we go to books-a-million and have like a Harry Potter Night or something?" Kirsten asked me.
"Kirsten are you serious?"
"I am so totally serious," she said.
I didn't like the idea at first. I thought it was completely dorky and that Kirsten was out of her mind, but then I thought, maybe it would be fun. What the heck, I like Harry Potter, ok I'll go. So I told Kirsten that I was all in for the idea. Of course we just had to invite the usual people: Catherine, Savanna, and Katelyn. They all said that they would come. Thinking carefully, we came up with the idea to have a Harry Potter extravaganza! Just all day packed full of nothing but activities that involved Harry Potter! Since the 6th movie was also out in theaters, we decided to see that and then maybe spend the night at someone's house. So we called everyone back, and they agreed to the new revised plan. Catherine also said that all of us were allowed to 'camp out' at her house for the night. Also while I was on the phone with Kirsten, we decided who would be what character. Savanna and Catherine would be Crabbe and Goyle, the fat twins just because they wanted to. We assigned Katelyn Dobby the short, stumpy, fragile house-elf because she basically is short and stumpy. Kirsten decided that she wanted to be Hermionie. Then we get to me, oh yeah! I decided that I wanted to be three people: The fat lady that can't sing, the whomping willow, and the random Indian girl. Now that we all had our characters picked out we were so incredibly pumped about the actual day!
It was finally that monumental of a day, July 23rd. We all first met up at the movies. You could see all of our faces grinning to their fullest extent. We did not dress up of course because none of the characters in the book or movies wore their wizard robes on a daily basis. Instead we had nametags that said 'hello my name is: (insert preferred charter here). We all showed off our awesome nametags at the movies and everyone fell in love with them. We then sat ourselves down in the very top row of the movie theater having the smell of buttered popcorn. The movie started and all of us, excited at the thought that the gorgeous, hansome, and incredibly hot Daniel Radcliffe was going to be in it, were excited to see it. As the movie rolled on, I didn't expect it to be so incredibly funny. Catherine and I laughed the entire time! Glaring eyes of all the people around us were sending signals to stop laughing, but we didn't care. After about two and a half hours, the movie sadly came to an end. It was pretty much awesome, although, it could have used more details.
After the movie was completed, we all hopped into a car and drove over to Books-A-Million. All of our mouths were dropping at the sight of the crowd. There were seriously about 500 people there. The first thought that came to my mind was, "wow I can't believe how many nerds there are." Yeah that was rude, but that is what I thought. Ok so it was like already 10.30 at night, so we skipped Harry Potter for a while and rushed toward the coffee line, but the line was huge! So we just stood there goofing off and talking to all the people we knew. Then we finally got to the front! I was so excited. I knew exactly what I wanted: the vanilla bean frappe. Then when I got it, it had absolutely no ounce of caffeine in it. Urgh I was so angry. So I cast a spell on the attendant out of frustration (lepidus frontum) and *poof* her head was spinning around and around and she was jumping on one leg. I just kind of winced and then walked away.
For the rest of the night we just walked around the store looking at all the activities they had. We took part in broom flying 101. We weren't considered "up to professional flying standards" so you can say. While we kept walking people dressed in long, billowing black robes kept brushing past us yelling some kind of wizard language. So of course I responded back, but I had no clue on earth what I was saying. With my eyes wandering around in every direction, it was seriously an experience to see everyone in their different costumes and how much people were actually into this cultural phenomenon. So we kept walking around until someone released what seemed to be a wild tiger or something of that sort. Everyone in the store went rushing toward the front of the counter. A line soon formed snaking in and out of the aisles and then out of the store. Completely shocked and taken aback, all of us didn't realize how many people had come to buy a book at midnight. None of us were going to buy the book that night, so we left to go to Catherine's house to camp out.
As soon as we got there, we all put on our pajamas an got our stuff ready to camp outside. We're all carrying bundles upon bundles of sleeping bags down the steep steps into the back yard. When we stepped outside we all saw it, this enormous castle like tent Catherine's dad built for us. A fire was burning in the corner of the yard to keep us warm on the chilly, breezy, cold night. Already being pumped from the book launch party, we stared taking loads of pictures to remember the night by. It was like a strenuous workout taking some pictures. Trying to get an ariel shot, we put the camera between our extended legs to attempt to get the picture. Of course, that didn't work out as planned.
It was already pretty late into the night, and then I suddenly remembered something Catherine had told me some time before. She had said that her brother randomly came up to her one day and asked her if she would challenge him to a duel. This statement cracked Kirsten and I up so much. So at 3.17 in the morning, creeping up the steps carefully, Kirsten and I entered Ralph's room.
"Komodo Wood," we both shouted in unison.
Ralph, at first, was completely shock as to the fact that we were in his room, then sporatically jumping out of his chair he began to duel with us. A battle lasting about 28 minutes went on and on getting more intensely heart-pumping. Then finally, with one final spell, Kirsten and I defeated Ralph. He was a good contender, but he fell short to the awesome duo of Kirsten and Reema.
After the remarkable duel Kirsten and I took part in, all of us got into our sleeping bags eating the most unhealthy of snacks blabbing up a storm. We talked about everything and anything imaginable. Such as what we did over the summer, what we were looking forward to, boys, what we were going to do in the morning, boys, Katelyn, boys, movies, boys, random things, and most importantly BOYS!! Finally it was about 4.00 in the morning and we could see the sun about to rise. We all said our prayers and fell asleep with memories that we would never forget.
The sun had risen and ironically we were awaked by a rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing. Pretty soon all of our parents would be coming and we would have to say goodbye to such a wonderful memory. Gathering our sleeping bags, we all looked up at each other and just laughed. I don't know why, but we usually do that anyways. I soon realized that this was the last time we would all be seeing each other for a while, due to the fact that each one of us were going on vacation for the next few weeks, I just reminisced on the past day and gathered all the memories we made so I could remember them for the rest of the summer. Harry Potter night was the most awesome thing that I did all summer and going to it with my best friends in the world made it 100 times better!
"OMG Reema! Why don't we go to books-a-million and have like a Harry Potter Night or something?" Kirsten asked me.
"Kirsten are you serious?"
"I am so totally serious," she said.
I didn't like the idea at first. I thought it was completely dorky and that Kirsten was out of her mind, but then I thought, maybe it would be fun. What the heck, I like Harry Potter, ok I'll go. So I told Kirsten that I was all in for the idea. Of course we just had to invite the usual people: Catherine, Savanna, and Katelyn. They all said that they would come. Thinking carefully, we came up with the idea to have a Harry Potter extravaganza! Just all day packed full of nothing but activities that involved Harry Potter! Since the 6th movie was also out in theaters, we decided to see that and then maybe spend the night at someone's house. So we called everyone back, and they agreed to the new revised plan. Catherine also said that all of us were allowed to 'camp out' at her house for the night. Also while I was on the phone with Kirsten, we decided who would be what character. Savanna and Catherine would be Crabbe and Goyle, the fat twins just because they wanted to. We assigned Katelyn Dobby the short, stumpy, fragile house-elf because she basically is short and stumpy. Kirsten decided that she wanted to be Hermionie. Then we get to me, oh yeah! I decided that I wanted to be three people: The fat lady that can't sing, the whomping willow, and the random Indian girl. Now that we all had our characters picked out we were so incredibly pumped about the actual day!
It was finally that monumental of a day, July 23rd. We all first met up at the movies. You could see all of our faces grinning to their fullest extent. We did not dress up of course because none of the characters in the book or movies wore their wizard robes on a daily basis. Instead we had nametags that said 'hello my name is: (insert preferred charter here). We all showed off our awesome nametags at the movies and everyone fell in love with them. We then sat ourselves down in the very top row of the movie theater having the smell of buttered popcorn. The movie started and all of us, excited at the thought that the gorgeous, hansome, and incredibly hot Daniel Radcliffe was going to be in it, were excited to see it. As the movie rolled on, I didn't expect it to be so incredibly funny. Catherine and I laughed the entire time! Glaring eyes of all the people around us were sending signals to stop laughing, but we didn't care. After about two and a half hours, the movie sadly came to an end. It was pretty much awesome, although, it could have used more details.
After the movie was completed, we all hopped into a car and drove over to Books-A-Million. All of our mouths were dropping at the sight of the crowd. There were seriously about 500 people there. The first thought that came to my mind was, "wow I can't believe how many nerds there are." Yeah that was rude, but that is what I thought. Ok so it was like already 10.30 at night, so we skipped Harry Potter for a while and rushed toward the coffee line, but the line was huge! So we just stood there goofing off and talking to all the people we knew. Then we finally got to the front! I was so excited. I knew exactly what I wanted: the vanilla bean frappe. Then when I got it, it had absolutely no ounce of caffeine in it. Urgh I was so angry. So I cast a spell on the attendant out of frustration (lepidus frontum) and *poof* her head was spinning around and around and she was jumping on one leg. I just kind of winced and then walked away.
For the rest of the night we just walked around the store looking at all the activities they had. We took part in broom flying 101. We weren't considered "up to professional flying standards" so you can say. While we kept walking people dressed in long, billowing black robes kept brushing past us yelling some kind of wizard language. So of course I responded back, but I had no clue on earth what I was saying. With my eyes wandering around in every direction, it was seriously an experience to see everyone in their different costumes and how much people were actually into this cultural phenomenon. So we kept walking around until someone released what seemed to be a wild tiger or something of that sort. Everyone in the store went rushing toward the front of the counter. A line soon formed snaking in and out of the aisles and then out of the store. Completely shocked and taken aback, all of us didn't realize how many people had come to buy a book at midnight. None of us were going to buy the book that night, so we left to go to Catherine's house to camp out.
As soon as we got there, we all put on our pajamas an got our stuff ready to camp outside. We're all carrying bundles upon bundles of sleeping bags down the steep steps into the back yard. When we stepped outside we all saw it, this enormous castle like tent Catherine's dad built for us. A fire was burning in the corner of the yard to keep us warm on the chilly, breezy, cold night. Already being pumped from the book launch party, we stared taking loads of pictures to remember the night by. It was like a strenuous workout taking some pictures. Trying to get an ariel shot, we put the camera between our extended legs to attempt to get the picture. Of course, that didn't work out as planned.
It was already pretty late into the night, and then I suddenly remembered something Catherine had told me some time before. She had said that her brother randomly came up to her one day and asked her if she would challenge him to a duel. This statement cracked Kirsten and I up so much. So at 3.17 in the morning, creeping up the steps carefully, Kirsten and I entered Ralph's room.
"Komodo Wood," we both shouted in unison.
Ralph, at first, was completely shock as to the fact that we were in his room, then sporatically jumping out of his chair he began to duel with us. A battle lasting about 28 minutes went on and on getting more intensely heart-pumping. Then finally, with one final spell, Kirsten and I defeated Ralph. He was a good contender, but he fell short to the awesome duo of Kirsten and Reema.
After the remarkable duel Kirsten and I took part in, all of us got into our sleeping bags eating the most unhealthy of snacks blabbing up a storm. We talked about everything and anything imaginable. Such as what we did over the summer, what we were looking forward to, boys, what we were going to do in the morning, boys, Katelyn, boys, movies, boys, random things, and most importantly BOYS!! Finally it was about 4.00 in the morning and we could see the sun about to rise. We all said our prayers and fell asleep with memories that we would never forget.
The sun had risen and ironically we were awaked by a rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing. Pretty soon all of our parents would be coming and we would have to say goodbye to such a wonderful memory. Gathering our sleeping bags, we all looked up at each other and just laughed. I don't know why, but we usually do that anyways. I soon realized that this was the last time we would all be seeing each other for a while, due to the fact that each one of us were going on vacation for the next few weeks, I just reminisced on the past day and gathered all the memories we made so I could remember them for the rest of the summer. Harry Potter night was the most awesome thing that I did all summer and going to it with my best friends in the world made it 100 times better!
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