Second Quarter/Blog 1: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible was first produced as a play in the 1950s.  I selected this book for a few reasons: (1) a friend of mine told me she read this book and it changed her way of thinking about books, reading, and literature in general; (2) the story is about the Salem witch trials and stories about witches sounds interesting; (3) I thought it would be interesting to read a play with its different format; and (4) the book is short, only 145 pages.  I really have never likes reading so I thought maybe I will be changed like my friend and become a better reader.  If I don’t like the book, then at least it’s short and about witchcraft and something that really happened. 

After reading the introduction, I am confused.  It says that the setting is 17^th Century Salem, Massachusetts, but it was written in 1950s, during a time of war and hysteria over communism.  So, the play was designed to be a contemporary parallel to McCarthyism.  I looked up McCarthyism (phrase coined in the 1950s).  A United States Senator, Joseph McCarthy, was the person behind the term.  Wikipedia states that: “McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.’ 

The Crucible’s plot will compare America’s heightened fears of espionage and communist influence to America’s heightened fears of witches and warlocks and more generally an intolerance for people with different beliefs.  I think this part sounds a little too deep.  I was hoping to read about witchcraft and hangings rather than a history lesson.  But I am keeping an open mind because the theme of intolerance for people who are different will be something I can relate to and could be relevant for any time.

Scarlett Letter: Blog 3

           Reverend Dimmesdale (father of Pearl) is revealed to the reader and continues to be tortured by Roger Chillingworth.  Rev. D is suffering physically and mentally from the sin and secrecy.  He continues to give sermons and serve the town.  He is thought to suffer from a terrible illness and keeps his hand over his heart.  He is heartbroken.  He should have revealed his love for Hester and set his pain free.  I understand that he is a priest and would lose his vocation which probably makes the decision harder and more stressful.  He is undeniably in turmoil. 

           The book then advances seven years.  Hester is doing well.  She helps the poor.  She is admired and the "A" no longer causes people to shun her but instead they see the "A" as Able.   So, seven years have passed and Hester has not talked to Rev. D.  She has seen him and watched him suffer because of Roger.  Hester feels she owes it to Rev. D to make him aware of who Roger really is and his evil plot.  The book says that Hester feels that she has a link to Rev. D because "the mutual crime" has lasted through time.  I don't think the book had to tell the reader this.  Certainly the story plays out without spelling it out.  But I think it is more than their mutual crime.  I think Hester and Rev. D love each other.  That Hester thought she could save him from the torture if no one knew, but she sees that Roger is destroying him and she wants to save him.  So, she tells him and they decide to runaway together (with Pearl) to Europe.  They have plans to leave by boat after the Election Day celebration (when Rev. D will give his final sermon).  But on election day, in front of everyone, Rev D. confesses his sin, reveals his chest which is branded with an "A" and then dies on the scaffold.  Very dramatic!!! 

           The conclusion tells you what happens to Hester and Pearl (and Roger).  I won't spoil it, but it's not a happily ever after ending (obviously, Rev. D died), but it's not a horror story ending either (not everyone dies).  But the last chapter makes you think about sinners and what happens when you harbor your sin and what happens when you admit your sins.  And how others react and deal with their sins and the sins of others.  The message I received was: accepting and acknowledging your sins is much healthier than hiding and running from them.  I definitely recommend reading this book.   

Scarlett letter: Blog #2

I am now more than halfway into the text of The Scarlet Letter.  According to the author, wearing the "A" was a living sermon against sin.  Hester was sparred death because her husband had gone out to sea making the adulterous behavior less offensive because he is thought to be dead.  But he returns (showed up at the scaffold and then went to see Hester in prison) and now posing as a doctor of medicine and going by the name Roger Chillingworth).  He tells Hester that they wronged each other.  His wrong was making her marry him when she did not love him and then deserting her.  And although he does not want to hurt her, he is determined to figure out who the father is and reveal him.  I find this strange because if he realizes he did wrong by Hester, then why does he care who the father is and vow to expose him.  He says that few things are hidden "from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery."  Sooner or later, he is going to uncover the father.  He says that he will read it on his heart and he will let him live but he will seek to ruin his soul.  Sounds like a horror movie to me, definitely not a romance.

So, we know what is going to happen. Hester's long lost thought to be dead husband is going to figure out who the father is and torture him.  This seems odd to me.  It seems like he does not love Hester because reveling the father will only make the people more enraged, so why not leave the father alone.  Hester does not want to expose him, so why is he determined to do so?  Jealousy?  Revenge on the one who got away with the crime?  Or maybe he's just evil?  Some people love making other people miserable.  They are fulfilled by the misfortunes of others.  This is a terrible character flaw.  Although I do not think it is fair for Hester to suffer alone and the father to "get away" with his participation in this, I do not think it should be someone else who makes it their mission to solve the mystery and bring more humiliation to this situation.  I guess if I think of it like a crime (as that is what it was considered in 17th century America), then Hester's husband is uncovering a criminal. . .I guess that makes more sense on why he is doing it.

Meanwhile, Hester’s child, Pearl is growing up.  She is described as angelic, full of life, intelligent, strange, and elfish.  I think she sounds awesome.  She is full of life and of course she is odd.  She is recluse from society.  She has only her mom and when around others, they point at her, run from her, and isolate her.  I think it’s a miracle she is not a demon.  This really could be a horror film. So I will read on about how the father will be uncovered and tortured and how Hester and Pearl will continue to be demonized and mistreated.  Good stuff.  

Scarlet Letter post #1

My American Literature "free read" for this quarter is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  The setting is the mid-17th century (1642 to 1649) in a Puritan colony on the edge of an untamed forest still inhabited by Native Americans.  Sounds like classic American Literature to me.  Published in 1850, this 150 year old story is famous, at least I have heard of it and seen clips of movies, and the plot seems pretty simple, so I am excited to finally read it and see what all the hype is really about.  I am only a few chapters into it and it starts right into the essence of what, when, where and who.  No mystery about why it's entitled the Scarlett Letter.  I like that.  Although the sentences are flowery and filled with vocabulary words, you can't get lost or confused.  That's another plus for me when it comes to reading.  It has my attention and I am not lost.  This says a lot for me, as I have never been much of reader.  But so far, I am all in.

The Introduction states that this story is timeless and the characters face the same moral struggles as readers in the 21st century.  I don't think that is true from how I see America today.  If Miley Cyrus is any indication, America has accepted just about every possible behavior out there.  In fact, today's society thrives and begs for sensational stories and glamorizes issues of morality; personal freedom; and public life.  The thought of someone being demonized and punished in front of their community seems so far from reality.  Gay love, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse are all part of everyday life.  Acceptance is here.  I can't think of anything or anyone who would be jailed, branded, humiliated, demonized, and abandoned like Hester Prynne.  Rather society would put her on the cover of magazines and You Tube and make money selling her story.  Her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts would be liked and followed.  There would probably be a marketing opportunity to sell crimson A's with gold threading.  University of Alabama would love it.  

I just don't envision that the modern reader is going to see themselves as a victim anymore.  Sin and guilt are yesterday's worries.  Rather, I see Hester's story as the way it was and no longer is.  But I think this is good thing, to a certain extent.  Seems our society could use a lesson on morality and less personal freedom, but then there would be an outcry of rights.     

What defines me? Why it defines me? And more

Emory Ellis

Mr.McElveen

English 2 American Literature

14/8/13

What defines me? Why does it define me? And more

Almost everything that I have encountered ends up having a significant meaning in my life or in my heart. Knowing where the important ideas or objects fall and how I fell about them is something different. Being a little OCD and having lots of different involvements and experiences I have come up with symbols for what objects mean to me personally. I have many parts of my life that fall under many different categories (most of with are spiritual, or include my loved one), but I decided to list a few symbols in my life and what they mean to me. I have mostly faith related symbols, a family related symbol, and just something I require in my every day life as well.

The most important attachment in my life are my beliefs.  To most people a cross is just a symbol of Jesus, or the method of crucifying people in Calvary, Jerusalem around 4 B.C. To others it is a symbol of just another faith or religion, just like the Star of David or the crescent moon and star for Islam. Yes, the cross is a symbol of Christianity, and that is one of the reasons I see into the cross specifically instead of another entity. Having my beliefs being the most important part of my life, religion is as well (as I have previously explained). I have become one of roughly 2.18 billion Christians around the world, and I always have been involved in the church. My father belongs to the St. James Episcopal Church, and my Mom with Trinity. This has given me the ability to attend almost every Sunday. Being a Christian I have become fond of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and try to be more like Jesus every day in any way I am able to. Whenever I see a cross it is a huge reminder of where I have come from and that I cannot change that even if I wanted to. Especially on rough days or when I am upset or emotionally unstable, seeing a cross helps me remember that God is there almost like a crutch to lean on.  I have gone through some difficult times and knowing that I have the holy trinity right next to me in the form of a cross around my neck or wrist. I use to have a cross necklace that held tightly to my neck really helped me in middle school. As crazy Christian as I sound having a helping had of those too lines crossing over each other has always been there for me, and I know that they always will be.

Just like the cross, the dove also has a very deep place in my heart and mind. A dove is, by definition, a stocky seed or fruit eating bird of the pigeon family, with a small head, short legs, and a cooing voice.  To me doves are graceful biblical creatures that come into peoples lives holding an oil branch representing the Holy Spirit. I have never seen a dove with an oil branch other than in pictures, but I have seen pure white doves just like the bible describes and they are breath taking, beautiful creatures from God sent to earth. In the Bible itself the dove represents divineness and purity as it does to me. The dove is an important part of my life, because just like the soap when I think or see of a dove I feel clean and pure. I fell like I have been accepted by god and I am apart of him and he is apart of me. I first really starting relating to doves and the symbol doves give when I was young. I would always stare at the stain glass in awe by all of the stories and colors that were shown. Having such a mesmerizing image of this white being with the green branch surrounded by bits and pieces of color really made an impact in my mind. Now that I am older I know the meaning behind the dove and I can relate to it on more then one level.

Another Christian symbol that has more personal meaning instead of family meaning is a butterfly. Yes it is a pretty, colorful, and patterned flying insect, but to me it has become an important and spiritually significant portion of my life. It mainly became an important part of me in early 2013 at my first Happening (happening 70) when I went to a spiritual “senior high retreat” or a high school weekend away from home. I had been to weekend retreats like this one before, but they were more “friend” based and helping people with what they are going through with faith, and not of a spiritual weekend that taught you how to help yourself with God more with beliefs and spiritual empowerment.  At my first Happening, as it is every year, the main symbol was a butterfly. The first night they tell a story of a caterpillar and his specific touching story of becoming a butterfly after realizing that you do not need to follow the group when you can learn to become your own person. Odiously, people go through changes in their life, but the thought of what he goes through is very eye opening. They close the first talk with telling everyone that hopefully they will see how they can learn to not follow the characteristic of a difficult high school life, but that they can find God over the weekend and have him lead the way. Not changing their personalities into someone they are not, but changing the way people think about their Christian faith and kept it in their everyday life, and also because so people are, but not to be ashamed of expressing their beliefs and faith. As the weekend went on and people continued to connect everything to butterflies and this has stuck in my head as a weekend I could never forget all about butterflies.

August 23 through august 25 I returned to the Solomon Center for another happening experience where I gave an original version of my favorite talk from my last visit. It is called the mask talk where I ask everyone to take off their personal mask and be themselves for the weekend and maybe the rest of their lives. Most people wear masks especially in middle school and high school. I think that this is a big idea to discus with most uprising high scholars and people that have been in high school that want to change their experience in high school through God, because what is going on in their life is not ideal. Another reason a mask means so much to me is drama and arts aspect of it. There is such a passion and creativity that can be found on a stage. Being one of the thespians at episcopal, I understand that acting is no easy chore and neither is another preforming art. The people that wear mask everyday is not acting its pretending. To me there is a difference.  Acting is digging into someone else’s shoes and really relating to them and portrays who they are. Pretending is being a fake and not true to someone’s self or those around them. The felling I get when I go on stage is amazing, and there is no other word to explain it. The tingle that goes up my legs into my torso when I exclaim the first words in front of a crowd, or when I am waiting to go on stage with butterflies in my stomach. Weather I am speaking publicly or acting, dancing or singing, playing an instrument or maybe more than one talent at a time. It is just a way of life for people that no one can a person cannot describe. There is no word found for it.  I usually do back stage or behind the scenes work, because I know that when something needs to happen not everyone is willing to donate time for no “credit”. Usually the people on stage need the limelight, some do not and just go for the love, but while I love recognition as much as the next person but I am okay with it.

Just like acting singing and making music is just as important. Listening to your favorite song is one activity, but doing so in the winter with the comforts of your own house and a nice crackling fire in the fireplace is another. Most people see them as a different cheaper way to obtain energy in a home, or a pretty flame that takes effort to make. To me it means way more. It means love, affection, the warm fuzzy feeling someone gets when they know somebody else loves them, and the fire that has been said to me in my own heart. I love being confortable, and the childhood memories that I associate with a fireplace. Fireplaces also remind me of Christmas witch is another reason and we use to light it Christmas night and spend family time around the fire. The flames help me remember my family and the times we have spent together around the fireplace and around each other. The fire in my heart is such a good example because anyone who has seen a fire before knows that there are always embers and little pieces flying out from the logs just like me. I do everything out of love and try to for the good of others, but sometimes something just pops out and it is not the love and kindness I aim for. I recollect getting burned one winter morning because I was sitting to close and I got a singed on the leg by a free floating ember.

            Knowing the love of Christianity and religion as well of preforming arts and my family, having them all come together to form myself, and realizing what they mean in my life is huge to me. I do not hide behind a mask made my stereotypes and social media and I can be my self with no worry about what everyone thinks of me. I can be a creative spiritual human with realization that people believe in other ideas, but I can still have connections with them in other ways.  

Symbols in my Life

Emory Ellis

Mr.McElveen

English 2 American Literature

14/8/13

Most things that I encounter end up having a significant part in my life or in my heart.  Knowing where those things fall and how I feel about them is something different. Being a little obsessive compulsive and having lots of different experiences, I have come up with symbols for what things mean to me.  I have many parts of my life that fall under many different categories (most are spiritual or include a loved one), so I decided to list a few symbols in my life and what they mean to me.  I have some faith related symbols, a family related symbol, and one I require in my everyday life.

The most important things in my life are my beliefs.  To most people a cross is just a symbol of Jesus, the method of crucifying people in Calvary, Jerusalem around 4 B.C.  To others it is a symbol of just another faith or religion, just like the Star of David or the crescent moon and star for Islam.  Yes, the cross is a symbol of Christianity, and that is one of the reasons I see into the cross specifically instead of something else.  The most important thing in my life is religion (as I have stated).  I have become one of the large Christian populations around the world and always have been involved in the church.  My family belongs to St. James Episcopal and Trinity Episcopal churches and youth group, so I attend almost every Sunday.  Being a Christian, I have become fond of Jesus and God and try to be more like Jesus every day in my way of life.  Whenever I see a cross it is a huge reminder of where I have come from and I cannot change that. Especially on rough days or when I am angry or sad, seeing a cross helps me remember that God is there like a crutch to lean on.  I have gone through some difficult times and I find peace knowing that I have the holy trinity is right next to me in the form of a cross.  I use to have a cross necklace that held tightly to my neck really helped me in middle school.  As crazy Christian as I sound, having a helping hand in those two lines crossing over each other is what brought me through, and I know that they always will be a refuge.

Another Christian symbol that has more personal meaning instead of family meaning is a butterfly.  Yes it is a pretty colorful flying insect, but to me it has become an important and spiritually significant portion of my life.  It first became an important part of me in early 2013 at my first Happening (a spiritual “senior high retreat” or a high school weekend away from home).  I had been to weekend retreats like this one before, but they were more “friend” based and helping people with what they are going through with faith, and not of a spiritual weekend that taught you how to help yourself more with beliefs and spiritual empowerment.  At my first Happening, as they do every year, the main symbol was a butterfly.  The first night they tell a story of a caterpillar and his touching story of becoming a butterfly.  Obviously not true, but the thought of what he goes through is very eye opening. They close the first talk with telling everyone that hopefully they will change for the better.  Not changing their personalities, but changing the way people thought about their Christian faith and instilled it in their everyday life.  As the weekend went on and people continued to connect everything to butterflies, this image stuck in my head as the symbol for my transformation for the better.  It was a weekend I will never forget.  So when I see or think of butterflies, I am transformed.

On August 23 through August 25 I will return to the Solomon Center for another Happening experience where I will be giving my own version of my favorite talk from last time.  It is called “the mask” talk when everyone is asked to take off their personal mask and be themselves for the weekend and maybe the rest of their lives.  Most people wear masks, especially in high school.  I think that this is a big thing that needs to be discussed with most uprising high school middle school students.  Another reason a mask means so much to me is drama and arts.  There is a passion that can be found on a stage.  Being a thespian, I understand that acting is no easy task.   The people who wear masks every day are not acting its pretending.  To me there is a difference.  The feeling someone gets when they go on stage is amazing.  There is no other word to truly describe it.  Whether they are speaking in public, acting, dancing, singing, or playing an instrument, a talent is needed.  I usually assist with back stage or behind the scenes assignments during school productions. Usually the people on stage need the limelight, and while I love recognition as much as the next person, I am okay with allowing others to shine.

Listening to your favorite song is one thing, but doing so in the winter with the comforts of your own house and a nice crackling fire in the fireplace is another.  Most people see them as a practical and cheaper way to warm a home.  To me it means way more.  It means love, affection, the warm fuzzy feeling someone gets when they know somebody loves them, and the fire that has been said to me in my own heart.  I love being comfortable, and the childhood memories that I associate with a fireplace.  Another reason is because Christmas is my favorite holiday and we use to light it Christmas Eve night and spend family time around the fire.  The flames help me remember my family and the times we have spent together around the fire place and around each other.  The fire in my heart is such a good example because anyone who has seen a fire before knows that there are always embers and little pieces flying out from the logs just like me.  I do everything out of love and try to for the good of others, but sometimes something just pops out and it is not the love or kindness I aim for.  I recollect getting burned one winter morning because I was sitting to close and a pop landed on the leg by a free floating ember. The ember was flying just like a dove.

A dove is, by definition, a stocky seed or fruit eating bird of the pigeon family, with a small head, short legs, and a cooing voice.  To me, doves are graceful biblical creatures that come into our lives holding an olive branch representing the Holy Spirit.  I have never seen a dove with an olive branch other than in pictures, but I have seen pure white doves just like the Bible describes and they are breath taking, beautiful creatures from God sent to earth.  In the Bible itself, the dove represents divineness and purity as it does to me.  The dove is an important part of my life, because just like the soap when I think or see a dove, I feel clean and pure.  I feel like I have been accepted by god and I am a part of him and he is a part of me.

    Knowing the love of Christianity and religion, as well as preforming arts, and my family, having them all come together to form the person I am today and realizing what they mean in my life is huge to me.  I do not hide behind a mask made my stereotypes and social media and I can be myself with no worries about what everyone thinks of me.  I can be a creative and spiritual human being with realization that people believe in other things, but I can still have connections with them in other ways.