Dimmsdale and Chillingworth

      This week in class, we continued reading the novel The Scarlet Letter. We learned new facts about the characters, and saw the plot develop even more. Two characters that people may sympathize for are Arthur Dimmsdale and Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth is Hester's husband, while Arthur Dimmsdale is Pearl's actual father, and the person that Hester had an affair with, while cheating on her husband. Both Dimmsdale and Chillingworth have their secrets, and neither of them are perfect, especially in the moral aspect.
      I sympathize more with Arthur Dimmsdale. Despite the fact that he knowingly did something wrong and morally corrupt, he realized his mistake and had to live with the guilt, torture and unhappiness for over seven years. As the story develops, Chillingworth seems to become more evil, colder and harder to sympathize for. Although he was cheated on, it is hard to feel bad for him, because of his character and his actions. While Dimmsdale morality seemed to be corrupt for that time that he had the affair, it seems as though Chillingworth's moral values have no importance to him. The quote that convinced me most was: "Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come p hither once again, and we will stand all three together" (Hawthorne, 126). This is when Dimmsdale asks Hester and Pearl to stand on the platform with him. It shows how he is finally ready to move forward, and take responsibility for what he had done.

Newspaper Article

      This article found on Yahoo!News was titled "Egypt closes Great Pyramid after rumors of rituals". A couple of days ago it was announced that Egypt was closing down its Great Pyramid, also known as Khufu. People were suspecting it was closing it down, because there were rumors of spiritual rituals that wanted to be taken place around the pyramid. These rituals are said to have corresponded to the day 11/11/11/. For many people this day is thought to be 'magical'. However, another worry was that people wanted to do a 'pyramid hug' where over a hundred and twenty people would join hands and hug Khufu. Officials claim that they would be closing it down for maintenance reasons.
      Despite all these, Khufu still remained open on Friday. Officials kept security extra tight, and guards were patrolling the grounds. Some security guards with machine guns were stationed around the pyramid. It is important for people to know about this, because it is important to understand different cultures' ideologies and customs. It is interesting to discover other's ideologies. Another important reason is to know that measures will be taken to preserve ancient, historical artifacts important to the history of the world.

American Romanticism

      This week we started reading the novel The Scarlet Letter. The novel is about Hester Prynne and the consequences she has to face after her affair is discovered. The novel is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and corresponds to the genre of American Romanticism. It is Gothic literature, because there is a sense of mystery and darkness throughout the entire story. An example is the prison door. The prison door sets the tone of the story. It is ugly, old, gray, and has spikes all over it. It makes the tone very gloomy, and also somewhat apprehensive, because you now know that it will not not be a happy story.
      Another example of the story being Gothic literature is when Ann Hutchinson is mentioned. Ann Hutchinson was a woman who was accused of heresy, then exiled, and finally killed. The author compares Hester to Ann. We can foreshadow, that Hester's life is not going to be an easy one, and that it is probably not going to have a happy ending either. It shows how her life will be sad, lonely, and troublesome.

Seven Deadly Sins

      This week we started reading the book The Scarlet Letter. The book deals with the idea of committing a sin, and dealing with its consequences. To go along with this, we learned about the seven deadly sins. These are: lust, sloth, wrath, gluttony, greed, pride, and envy. There were many people,especially in older times, that believed committing any one of these sins would be punishable by death. I think one of these sins that I have committed is sloth. Sloth means laziness, and I believe that at times I can be lazy. For example, sometimes when I do not feel like doing something for no particular reason, I keep putting it off and procrastinating until the last possible moment when I have to rush to get it done. I think that a way I can work on this is by setting out goals to get things done, and actually following them through.
      In the book, the main character is forced to wear the letter 'A' on her clothing wherever she goes, as a constant reminder to herself and to those who surround her, of what she had done. I would hate to be in a position like that, where I would be constantly reminded of something wrong that I did. The thoughts would be with me wherever I went, and I would never be able to get closure and move on. The humiliation and isolation would also be terrible. People would be hesitant and afraid to come into contact with me. I think putting someone in that situation would be cruel because of the constant pain and reminder of things they had done in the past that they regret.

"To My Dear and Loving Husband"

      These last couple of weeks in class, we have been focusing on Puritan poems and literature. We have started reading The Scarlet Letter, as well as read a couple of poems in class. One of these poems was title "To My Dear and Loving Husband". The author of this poem was Anne Bradstreet, who wrote it in Puritan or colonial times. She writes to her husband, explaining to him how much his love means to her, as well as how her love for him can never be quenched. She states that his love is more important to her than all the money and riches in the world. Bradstreet also mentions that she believes their love is so strong, that even when they die they will still be together.
      The tone of this poem is very emotional, loving, and romantic. This completely goes against what Puritan literature is typically supposed to sound like. Puritan literature is very practical, direct, and straightforward. Its topics are usually about religion or useful ideas, and especially not love. Puritan style is very simple and basic, and hardly ever appeals to the senses. This is why Bradstreet's poem is drastically different from most literature written at this time. She focuses a lot on her personal thoughts, and especially her feelings and emotions, instead of being very religious, unemotional and simple.