Dimmesdale Gets My Vote!

     Should I choose the man who is slowly becoming the devil, or should I choose the poor man who is being tortured by a creature such as this. Of course, I pick Dimmesdale! There is a true connection between Dimmesdale and Hester, one which Chillingworth or any other satan "wanna-be" cannot demise! The marriage between Chillingworth and Hester was already an aranged one, so Hester was not even into him when they tied the knot. On top of that, he is torturing the one man that she loves that actually might love her back! Chillingworth is the Devil!
     Hester even confirmes that even though Chillingworth was keeping Dimmesdale alive, "Better he had died at once!" (Hawthorne 160) Is any woman deserving of a man whose help and guidance leads to another's slowly descending life? I think not! Dimmesdale is the man she shares her one prized posession, Pearl with! They concieved this child together! So what if the satan has possessed her soul, or if she is well beyond the paranormal... She is their child! A parent's love for a child exceeds any obstacle or hardship that may come along the way! (except in Matilda's case in the movie Matilda) I rest my casee!

Gum Chewing Does NOT Affect Weight Loss

     Have you ever seen commericals on gum claiming that chewing their gum will lower your snack cravings, therefore, contribute to weight loss? I know I have, and for a while, I was very convinced that this did actually have quite an affect on weight loss. It only makes sense that if your mouth is busy doing something else, it is not eating anything. However, in an article in the La Times written by Jeannine Stein called "Study: Chewing sugar-free gum has no big effect on weight loss", gum chewing actually poses no affect on weight loss. The reliability of this article is based on a research that was conducted on a group of people.
     Two-hundred and one overweight or obese individuals participated in a research to prove this hypothesis. Half of them were in the experimental group, and those individuals were told to follow an eating chart and chew gum for ninety minutes a day. The experimental group was given the same eating chart, but they were given no gum to chew. At the end of a certain amount of time, both groups were evaluated, and there was no significant change in between both groups. Only a slight weight loss among both groups, probably due to the eating chart. So next time you reach out for a stick of gum because you crave something unhealthy, do yourself a favor and eat something healthy instead of chewing gum or eating something unhealthy. In the words of Mr. Wonka, "Chewing gum is really gross, chewing gum I hate the most."

The Scarlet Letter: Connections with American Romanticism

     In The Scarlet Letter, a book that we started reading last week, we get to see a lot of American Romantic aspects being reflected into the story. This is no surprise, since the story was essentially written in the 1840s, which correstponds directly to the American Romantic era. An example of a romantic aspect would be the prison door (Hawthorne 43). In all of chapter one, the author describes the door very carefully and descriptively, not missing an inch of character from it. It is very dark, rusted, and old, which corresponds with the common "ghastly thrills" that the people were interested in during the romantic era. This door also sets the initial mood for the story, foreshadowing future unfortunate events that might take place. It also foreshadows irony that may be coming up in the story because of the fact that it was an old, distusting door, in the middle of a quite elegant, architecturally sophisticated environment.
     Another aspect of Ameican Romanticism is the fact that Anne Hutchinson was reffered to (Hawthorne 44). Anne Hutchinson was a woman who belived in faith in God. She preached that having faith will bring one closer to God. This set her as an outcast compared to the rest of the villagers, because not everyone believed in that. She was kiled, which contributes to the aspect of facination with death of American Romanticism. This also serves as a foreshadow for what might happen to Hester Prynne since she was both compared to Hutchinson, and in a similar situation as Hutchinson was in because of the fact that they are both outcasts in society.

Tamar the Sinner.

     I have come across many experiences in my life where I have been entangled in a situation that unfortunately portrays the "sinner" side of me. The sin I feel I am most likely to commit is wrath. Those who know me at best may know that I can have episodes of sheer anger when I get really upset at something. Sometimes, I may not even know my limits as to what is considered acceptable anger and psychotic anger. This in itself obviously sounds like a crazy person talking, but all the great people are, right?
    These episodes would most likely be seen by the public during my basketball games often. The reason for it in my opinion is because I set such great expectations for myself, and when I cannot seem to reach high enough to achieve them, I get vry mad, and let it out as anger. I believe, however, that these episodes help me shake off whatever is going wrong, get my head straight, and come back fiercely and aggressively (which is a good thing in a game, not so much otherwise). If people were to brand me by my sins, I would be utterly dissappointed. Not only would they be being rude, but they would also probably be disregarding their own sins to focus on someone else's. Yes, people make mistakes, and yes, we all sin at one point in our lives. It is best to ask for forgiveness, be careful to not commit the same thing next time, and move on with your life.

"Huswifery"

     In a poem that we read this week by Edward Taylor, a man from Puritan Times writes about his dear, loving wife, who serves as his connection to God. The speaker is the author of the poem, Edward Taylor. The poem was written in Puritan Times, when colonizing into the Americas was beginning to become a trend. All who came to America were allowed to belive in any Christian faith they wanted, which essentially is the reason why Puritan faith was so popular at the time. In an appreciative tone, Taylor addresses both his love towards God and his wife, while informing the reader of the clear bondhe creates between the two.
     Throughout the poem, Taylor explains the process of his wife making clothes for him. He starts by saying how his wife makes thread with the spinning wheel, showing her love towards her husband as well as God. He later explains how she weves the thread together in order to create a cloth. Though he mentions how colorful the cloth is, one can assume that his idea of colorful of different shades of bland colors, since those types of monotonous colors were the fashion at the time. He  finishes off my saying that he now has a "holy robe" which his wife knit with her love towards God in mind. This makes the bridge between him and God, which seves as a great aspect to any Puritan man at the time.

Tattoos for the Animals!

     On October 24th, there was an article in the Huffington Post named "Billy White, Tattoo Artist, Raises Money For Surviving Zanesville, Ohio Exotic Animals". Billy White, a 62 year-old tattoos artist from Zaneville, Ohio donated more than $1,000 to help in the capturing and caring of mokre than a hundred animals that were let loose by a farmer, Terry Thompson, right before he shot himself. Many animals that were let loose were unfortunately killed by officials. Police killed 48 animals, including eighteen rare Bengal tigers, seventeen lions and eight bears.
     White said that until that Saturday, anybody who walked in and got a tattoo of a tiger or any other exotic animal would have the proceeds of his/her visit go to donating money to help these animals. Though no one knows why White would do such a  thing, one can conclude that it came out of the mere kindness of his own heart. These poor animals were shot and killed because of the careless mistake of the farmer. Many were angry because of the tragedy, but many others were hopeful that the money raised would contribute to the surviving animals and their future.

My Favorite Speech Presentation

     This week, Mrs. Kirkman had a wonderful idea to make us create a project on any given speech by using powerpoint.The list of speeches we had to choose from were very famous speeches that used all that we have learned in this class so far, especially when it comes to persuasion techniques. Other than the speech I had chosen, "Farewell to Baseball" by Lou Gehrig, I think Gareen Mehseredjian and Patil Hovsepian's speech project was very well presented. They did their project on Hilary Clinton's speech, "Women's Rights are Human Rights, which was delivered in Beijing, China, September 5, 1995. The significance behind delivering this speech in China was to inform the old-fashioned people there that human rights need tobe applied to both men and women, that there are no differences between what women and men could and have the right to do.
     Hillary Clinton's purpose was to tell all people in her audience, especially those in China listening to her live, that women have all basic rights that all humans are accountable for having. She was very demanding and confident when delivering her speech, and the speech was full of "charged words" that intrigued the audience and caught their attention. The fact that she delivered this speech very firmly and beautifully has helped society as a whole, by becoming a great contribution for people to understand the importance of human rights. Kudos to Patil and Gareen for presenting it so well!