Monday, November 29th

We started class today with a quick exercise. We all wrote down a small description of things that we saw, touched, tasted, heard, and smelled over the Thanksgiving break. We then went around the room and each person shared one response and the class identified what sense the description appealed to. Next, Ms. Flournoy handed out a sheet of paper containing the Scarlet Letter paper topics to each of us and we went over it as a class. We took a few minutes to review the topics individually to see which one interested us. Then, we looked in our actual book to get ideas about possible topics. Next, we were instructed to make a diagram type structure to form more ideas. After, we opened our laptops and wrote down thoughts that came to mind about our topics. All of these exercises helped our minds start flowing and helped us get an idea of what we want to write about. At one point in class, we discussed scope and sequence and depth over breadth. Ms. Flournoy explained to us that it is important to focus in on one area of the book and go into great depth analyzing it. Also, a few important things were written on the board. For the thesis, focus on the subject matter and what you will argue. And, a few questions to think about: Which concrete elements of the text will you examine?, Which literary devices will you explore?, and What is your overarching point?/What ties everything together?. Our homework for tonight is to create a thesis for our paper.

I thought the different methods we used today to get our minds thinking about what topic we would like to do were very helpful. I especially liked free writing on our laptops. I think this is a really great way to get all your thoughts onto a page. Then, you can you those thoughts and ideas to move forward with your paper.

A quote that I think is very relevant to the process of picking a good topic is as follows, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” I think it is very important to pick a topic that really interests you. If you are interested in and excited about a certain topic, you will easily go into depth with the topic. And, it might be enjoyable to write the paper because you can use your creativity to come up with a totally original idea about the subject matter and think of great ways to argue your thoughts.

The vocab word for today is “ruminate”. Ruminate means to think deeply about something, to reflect on, or to ponder. Sample sentence: We need to ruminate before starting our papers by looking over each topic and refreshing our minds about the main ideas in the novel.

English Class on Monday, November 15th

Hi Guys!

The first thing we did in class today was learn about the schedule for the next few weeks. Ms. Flournoy explained that we are going to finish The Scarlet Letter by Friday and that will be learning about our paper soon after that. After a week of working on our papers after Thanksgiving, we will be going straight into review week. And then Midterms! After that, Ms. Flournoy had us write assertions about important occurrences from our reading over the weekend (ch. 16-18). As we read them aloud, I noticed that most people focused on the theme of sunlight. Some people connected it to purity, God, and goodness saying that it shied away from the sinful Hester. Others commented on how it represented a renewed chance at life for Hester and Dimmesdale. One of my favorite points of the discussion was the connection made between Hester and Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. It hadn't even occurred to me that they both had transforming moments in which they let down their hair down and left behind items of their past selves.  My own assertion had more to do with this concept than it did sunshine. I speculated that the discarding of the scarlet letter was symbolic of Hester's release from sin and her past identity; however, the fact that the scarlet letter did not land in the stream and float away represents its remaining presence among the characters. The last part of our discussion was a debate centered around if Hester and Dimmesdales' meeting in the forest was good or bad. There were many conflicting ideas about this, and the predominate answer came to be that it was both good and bad. Finally, our homework for tonight is to read the next two chapters (pg. 19 and 20).
One of the things I struggle most with in this book is that there is no definite right or wrong. Being a person who likes answers rather black and white, the many different interpretations of the book get me all confused. It sometimes frustrates me, for even when I have a eureka! moment, I soon after get lost in deeper analysis. But, I guess that is also part of the beauty of writing and literature. It can mean many different things to many different people. Because of that, I really enjoy our group discussions in class. I've recently found a really good quote about confusion, that helped me come to terms with the difficulties that come with interpreting literature. “Confusion is the welcome mat at the door of creativity,” said by Michael J. Gelb. I liked this quote, for it helped me realize that great ideas can come from just pulling things out of the confused wad of thoughts in your head. This is also a helpful concept for writing papers, for while at first you may not know what to write about, you may eventually come up with some extremely creative ideas. Lastly, the word of the day is "wicked." I think there is so much power behind just the pronunciation of this word. This word is defined as evil, immoral, bad, or playfully malicious. I thought that this was a great descriptive word to use in reference to Pearl's behavior. Sample Sentence: The wicked children taunted the poor substitute teacher by switching names, dropping things on the floor, and pulling pranks. 

Class November 12, 2010

We started off class today by having a competition to see who could finish the Scarlet Letter crossword puzzle first. After the competition, we opened up the Scarlet Letter vocabulary document that Ms. Flournoy emailed to us. The class was instructed to pick ten words they did not know from the list and guess the meanings of the words. After we guessed the meaning of the words, we looked up the real definitions for the words and compared our definition to the real definition. We got into partners and wrote down definitions of the words our partners looked up. We finished class by fixing seven sentences that had grammatical errors in them. The homework for the weekend is to read chapters 16,17, and 18 in The Scarlet Letter.

I thought it was interesting how you are sometimes able to guess the meaning of a word just by looking at it. During class we guessed the meanings of ten words ,and I was surprised that I was able to correctly guess the meanings of some of the words. Knowing Greek and Latin roots would help you immensely in figuring out the meanings of many words. The ability to figure out words by looking at them reminded me of the movie Akeelah and the Bee. In Akeelah and the Bee, Akeelah is memorizing roots of words in preparation for a big spelling bee competition. By memorizing the roots of words she is able to spell and figure out the meanings of numerous words. Akeelah is able to guess the meanings of words just by looking at them similarly to what we did in class. This skill would be a very useful on standardized tests, such as the PSAT and the SAT.

The new vocabulary word that applies to today’s class is bout.

Sample sentence: In class, there was a bout to see who could finish the Scarlet Letter crossword puzzle first.

Thursday the 4th

Last thursday we began class after reading chapter 3 and 4 from The Scarlet Letter, this was one of our first times to do independent reading for this book. Chapter three is titled Recognition, In this chapter, Hester is standing when she see's a man (which we figure out to be her husband) walk into the town. She is later questioned by Governor Bellingham and other people in the town. They want to know who the father of the child is, but she will not reveal who it is. In class we discussed why she is trying to protect who the father is, because if she would reveal who it is she would receive less punishment. It is also revealed in this chapter that the baby is a girl. The chapter ended with, "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior.", This passage helps show the supernatural aspect of Hawthorne's writing.

In chapter 4, titled The Interview, We find out the husband of Hester. They had been married in the UK when they immigrated into the colonies. He was supposed to meet her there but she didn't. Roger Chillingworth seems like a very inteligent man, whoever he did spend some time in the wilderness before arriving in the town. He has a mysterious, dark part of a personality. We will see how his character unfolds in the book.

When I think of some of the characters in this book they remind me of silhouette because of Hawthorne's dark and light writing style.

Although this is a well-known word contradictory is my word of the day. Because Hawthorne's writing is very contrasting and he shows dual nature, good and evil, and dark and light

Monday, Nov 1

This Monday we began reading The Scarlet Letter. The handout we got was a copy of the first chapter of the book. We read it then analyzed the basic themes, such as light and dark imagery and individual versus society. The first ideas we discussed were the contrast between the rosebush and the prison door, and the irony of the prison being one of the first buildings made in the colony. Afterwards, we started reading Chapter 2 as part of the homework.

The reading was a lot like the Minister's Black Veil and had the same dark and supernatural imagery and themes. The vocab word we discussed in class was liminality, referring to the "rite of passage" Hester experiences in her story.

An example usage of the word is: Medical interns experience a term of liminality when going through their first year of medical school.

Tuesdays Class by Alexis Vitenas

On Tuesday we discussed Nathanial Hawthorne, and we took notes on a power point on his background and beliefs. We learned that Hawthorne was a dark romanticist whose works explored the idea human nature and that he was concerned with the inner truths of our hearts. After discussing Hawthorne, we discussed chapter two of The Scarlet Letter and pointed out the light and dark imagery. We also talked about the townspeople’s view of Hester, but in particular we looked at the women’s critical views toward her. After discussing the chapter we looked for reviews that had been written during the time of The Scarlet Letters Publishing. As an addition to the class discussion I have found a review of The Scarlet Letter that connects to what we have been learning about.

http://ibiblio.org/eldritch/nh/loring.html

This review goes into greater detail about the transcendentalists and their views in relation to the novel. It also explains what we discussed about Hawthorne’s exploration of human nature.

The new vocab word is Malefactress. It is found in chapter two of the scarlet letter.

Hester Prynne was seen by her puritan contemporaries as a malefactress because she had committed adultery.