History and Innocence

This week in class we read a poem called "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins. This poem really stood out to me because this teacher whom all the students look up to for answers and the truth is lying to them. He was giving them information about wars and time periods that were completely false. However, when I read it I didn't think of it as lying. Although he was being naive, he was only trying to protect what innocence was left in the world. The children, however, have already lost their innocence, "...[leaving] his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart...", they have already been exposed to the cruelty in our world. This is what the teacher was trying to protect them from. This poem showed an ideal world: where everyone is able to maintain their innocence without being exposed to inhumanity. I think that Billy Collins was trying to say that we see the world how we want to see it. The teacher saw the children's ability to stay innocent, while the speaker saw the inevitable cruelness of man. While many may disagree with me, I think the teacher was only trying to protect the kids from the dangers in the world in order to preserve their purity.

Punctuation in Today's World

In an ever-changing world, standard punctuation must be highly valued for the sake of clarity and understanding .
In Source A, Hitchings states that "deviations from the established [standard punctuation] rules seem to indicate a break from tradition". New technologies and social media appear to be reinforcing this break. For example, using marks such as the "snark" instead of the standard question mark to represent a rhetorical question. Using new punctuation can cause confusion among the many people not connected with advanced technology and social media websites. By adding new or removing "outdated" punctuation, the point of the story, essay, tweet, etc. is lost. There is no clarity in what the author is trying to convey because the reader will be concentrated on deciphering what he/she is trying to say. It is "better to use [punctuation] sparingly, and with affection" (Thomas). According to Thomas, it is better to value punctuation rather than overuse or ignore it. Change is inevitable, the rules of punctuation are bound to change. In her poem, Austen demonstrates that punctuation is unnecessary to prove her point. When she says "YIPPEE" it is clear that she is exclaiming but she did not use any punctuation. Punctuation is not a necessity in writing, however, the highly valued use of punctuation creates clarity and understanding in writing.

Guilty and Ashamed

This week in class, we briefly talked about the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense,crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined. Shame is the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. Guilt includes being aware of doing something wrong. Our guilt originates from our actions, much like Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter feels guilty for his sinful relationship with Hester. His guilt begins to eat away at him, breaking him down physically, as well as, emotionally.  Shame, on the other hand, is the agonizing feeling one gets from experiencing guilt. Dimmesdale experiences this too. His constant pain in his heart, his own scarlet letter, is killing him. He knows he did something wrong, therefore he feels guilty. From this guilt, he feels ashamed. It pains him to be hiding this secret away from society. His shame, in the end, is what ultimately kills him. The pain he experiences from his guilt(his shame) eats away at his sanity until it eventually kills him. Towards the end of his life, his shame had taken control of his life. He inflicted torture upon himself (the A "scratched"on to his chest). Finally, during his sermon, after keeping his relationship with Hester a secret for so long, his shame had gotten the best of him and had killed him. The guilt we experience after shameful actions is not what hurts us, it is the shame we feel that eats  away at us.

Society of the Past and Present

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is judged merely on her faults and not much else. Hester is a self-sufficient, strong single mother. The Puritan society, however, does not see this, they only see a women guilty of adultery. The people of Massachusetts Bay Colony are quick to judge and find it hard to forgot her sin. They torment her and ridicule her in the streets and won't let her forget either.We say that society has changed, but maybe the only thing that has changed is what we see as wrong or right. Adultery and cheating, unfortunately, have become more prevalent in today's world. For lack of better words, most people have become more accepting of cheating. It is not as sinful and unlawful as it was seen back in the 1700s. Today many people are more focused on physical appearances and judge themselves and others based on outward characteristics. We judge and label people using harsh terms such as ugly, fat, and as Hester was labeled, whore. So society has changed, just not the way we think it has. Society has changed what they think is right/wrong. Hester's story points out that it's easy to judge someone based on their actions and not on their personality. Today it is easy to judge someone based on actions and appearances. Society itself has not changed just our view points on things have changed.