I Have Never Seen Any Punctuation Mark Looks Like That

Although it would be nice to keep everything the same way, things change, and the world is evolving as this is being written. 

Punctuation is just one of those things that changes as time goes on.  Most people write how they talk or think. An unknown writer reflecting on a piece by Henry Hitchings states that "punctuation comes and goes" (Punctuation, Social Media, and Evolving Rules of Communication, unknown author). Punctuation changes with the time, as does text message lingo.  Teenagers do not know what a pilcrow or a hedra is. Some authors have decided to do away with punctuation all together as blogger Elizabeth Austin did in her poem "On Punctuation." In her poem Austin is bored by the "dogma of the period" and the "tight-lipped fence of the colon."  In the second half of the poem, Austin speaks fondly of ellipses and exclamation points, which are known by the majority of people, but not commonly seen.  With the use of more modern punctuation, people will be able to convey their emotion in a better way than before,  Punctuation helps show tone of a work without the use of  words. Another well known poet, Emily Dickinson, uses dashes in her poem and talks about the possibility of "A fairer House than Prose." Dickinson uses dashes to express her emotions about how she sees poetry as a world with new punctuation.  Many authors dream of a world where they are unrestricted by the rules of punctuation and can adapt to the lingo of the modern world.

Cholly Breedlove Could Have Been A Lawyer

When I first hear the name Cholly Breedlove, I thought of Atticus Finch because both names were interesting and seemed pretty proper.

I assumed they would be the same.

I was so wrong.

Cholly Breedlove had a rough childhood. His father left his mother before he was born, Shortly after being born his mother placed him in a pile of trash.  There was a small glimmer of hope when Aunt Jimmy took Cholly from the trash and began to serve as his parental figure.  Aunt Jimmy died when Cholly was still a young man, leaving him with no one to send him in the right direction and keep him morals in the right place. After marrying Pauline, he developed a drinking problem. Cholly hit his lowest point after raping his own daughter.  

What would have happened if Cholly had a different upbringing?

Cholly had a rough life from the beginning.  The sad childhood that he had could have been the reason that he continued to struggle later in life. Here is an article that shows how a bad childhood can effect the life of a person forever. 

When I think of bad childhoods, I think of my friends who have divorced parents.

Their lives were changed forever by the actions of their parents.  The children have to overcome different obstacles including new living situations, a different relationship with their parents, and possibly new step-siblings as time progresses on.  Parents determine our futures for us.  When two people agree to have a child, maybe they should think about how their choices will change their child.  It's not often that people are not ready to have children, but still do.   If Cholly's parents would have been there for him, his whole life could have been sent in a completely different direction.  With more help and guidance, Cholly could have worked a better job and received more education.  

Shirley Temple and Pecola

Everyone has had or currently has an obsession with a celebrity.  I'll admit it, I have mine too.  Every July you can find me crying at the local Warped Tour because the singer of *insert current favorite band name here* accidentally touched a piece of my hair when he was singing to some other girl squished up against the barricade with me.  My mother's and I stalked Mathew McConaughey a few summers ago in New York.  Some people have a stalker deep inside of them that they haven't quite revealed yet.
People read gossip magazines, follow their favorite stars on Twitter, and in certain cases, even write fake stories about them.  Everyone wants to be treated like a star.  Stars get the nicest things like fancy handbags from Prada and they can spend hundreds of dollars on cosmetic surgery if they don't like the way they look.

Celebrities get whatever they want.

Pecola has a fascination for Shirley Temple and her cuteness.  After watching a clip of Shirley Temple, I thought that she was cute, but she did not have the majority of the talent that her black co-star, Bojangles, did. Pecola may have only been longing for the physical looks that Shirley has.  The white celebrities at that time were treated better and were liked more by audiences.  Pecola may have not been looking for stardom, but also someone to like her in general.  She can connect with Frida over their like for Shirley Temple, but not Claudia.  I think that if anything, Pecola should have wished for a talent, particularly like the ones that Bojangles had, instead of wishing for something that is only on the outside.

Banned Books

While reading the Toni Morrison piece about Huck Finn, her mention of the book being banned, I wondered what are some of the books that have been banned from schools today?

Here is a list of commonly banned books from 2000-2009.

After looking through this list, I realized, I've read the majority of these books.  Some of these books I can totally see why people would want to ban them.  One of my favorite books from middle school was a book called Go Ask Alice.  This book takes the reader into the life of a girl who is being introduced to drug usage and adult activities.  The book was basically the diary of a girl overdosing on drugs every night. This book ranks at #18 on this list.  I personally believe it could be higher.

Some of these books don't deserve the rankings the got.  #1 is the Harry Potter series.

I think butter beer is the only reference to alcohol or drugs I have seen in these books.

Why is an innocent book the most banned book in American schools?

There is nothing I see wrong with this book series.  It may just be me, but I think that adults are banning this book in an attempt to take away our creativity.  Some of the other books on this list are written in a way to make the reader feel uncomfortable about the subject.  An example of this is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.  We've started reading this book in class and after the first two pages, I felt awkward.  This book ranks at #15 on the list.  After reading the book, I might be able say why it belongs there or why it doesn't.

Social Event or National Holiday?

After reading Fredrick Douglas's piece "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" I noticed that everyone celebrated the 4th of July differently but there was always something similar: no one was really remembering why we are having this holiday. Frederick Douglas states in his piece that the July the fourth was a day of sadness for African Americans since they did not have full freedom.

Should we treat the Fourth of July like Frederick Douglass?

Most people exercise their rights on the 4th of July; maybe a little excessively with  the drinking and fireworks, but they legally have the right to if they are of the correct age. I myself am a huge fan of fireworks. The 4th of July is supposed to be a time of celebrating our independence, but I think it's become a competition between girls to see how many likes they can get on a picture of them in high waisted American flag shorts.

 A national holiday has been turned into an extreme social event. This can so be seen with Christmas. People spend thousands of dollars on material gifts all while forgetting that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. For the people who don't celebrate Christmas, it's the season of buying MEANINGFUL gifts for their loved ones.

In response to my question above, maybe we shouldn't treat national holidays as a day of sadness, but maybe we should try to make them less of a social event.

Witches in Puritan Society

The mention of witches in Chapter 8 of The Scarlet Letter got me wondering: what were witches actually like in Puritan societies?

 "As they descended the steps, it is averted that the lattice of a chamber window was thrown open, and forth into the sunny day was thrust the face of Mistress Hibbins, Governor Bellingham's bitter-tempered sister, and the same who, a few years later, was executed as a witch." (Hawthorne 113) 

The only thing I really know about witches came from the music I listen to (not a good idea) and from APUSH (but did I ever really understand anything in that class?). The music that I listen to gave me a really bad impression that witches were burned at the stake and basically went on to burn in hell.

After doing some research I found a few facts.

• Everyone in Puritan society believed in witchcraft and the Devil.
• Most accused women were either poor, elderly, widowed, or a combination of all of them.
• A failed crop or a sick newborn were signs of witchcraft in a community
• Accused witches were tried and then hung if found guilty-most were.
• Witch hunts began in Salem, and then spread to other colonies.

"'Wilt thou go with us tonight?  There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one.'" (113)

Mistress Hibbins in The Scarlet Letter was openly a witch, but she doesn't have the standard characteristics of most witches.  Should Mistress Hibbins have been tried and hung too? This shows how people see what they want to see. Since Mistress Hibbins lived in a nice house with her brother the governor people assumed that she was a good person. 

Clothing Based Steryotypes

After reading There Is No Unmarked Woman by Deborah Tannen, I noticed that the way she described the three women was very stereotypical. One was classic and beautiful.  The next was older and more modest.  The third had an edgy and youthful style.  These seem like three styles that I see in magazines and are easily noticeable.  Everyone has a unique style, but some people are marked a certain way because of clothing choices.

Our school has 3 clothing types (according to my parents):

The Normal

The I Don't Even Have A Clue What Your T-shirt Says and How Did Your Parents Let You Dye Your Hair That Color

The Please Put Some Clothes On and Take Off Your Parka, It's Not That Cold Outside

These styles are pretty easy to describe and I can find myself fitting into all of these.  I know people who tend to judge others on what they're wearing and then treat them differently. I, myself, have gone through this.  I simply wore a shirt that was difficult to read with big red pointy letters that advertised a band my friend had gone to see. A girl in one of my classes looked at my shirt, squinting her eyes as if she was having a hard time seeing me.  When she asked what my shirt said, I told her the band name and who got the shirt for me, The girl quickly turned and walked away after whispering "oh."  She didn't talk to me that much after that.

I don't think that clothing marking will end anytime soon because no one is the same.  We all have different likes and dislikes when it comes to how we express ourselves.