Honors Literature Writing #2: The Scarlet Letter

"In literature it is only the wild that attracts us. Dullness is but another name for tameness. It is the uncivilized free and wild thinking in Hamlet and The Iliad, in all scriptures and mythologies, not learned in schools, that delights us."

Choose a novel that you may initially have thought was conventional and tame but that you value for its "uncivilized free and wild thinking." Write an essay in which you explain what constitutes its "uncivilized free and wild, thinking" and how that thinking is central to the value of the work as a whole. Support your ideas with specific references to the work you choose.

The novel, Scarlet Letter, takes place in 17th century New England. It is a story about a woman named Hester Prynne who commits adultery and faces the lifelong guilt and shame that follows with it. At first glance, this book seems like a "tame" book about a woman silently living with her guilt after committing adultery. Along with many other post-Pilgrim-era and pre-20th-century-era material, it could be just another book about how women should be constricted with chastity belts, as it is the way it should be before marriage.

However, further reading into this book, you could tell that it would be a whole other story. It starts off with a prosecution: the "whore," Hester Prynne, is sentenced to 3 hours standing on a scaffold, and the rest of her life wearing a scarlet letter ("A," for Adultery) on her chest. The first few pages of this in the book even defied my initial thinking that adultery was a shushed subject, hence why chastity belts were kept under the clothing. However, my thoughts were changed even after reading the opening scene.

Another example of my pre-existing thoughts proven wrong was the outcome of adultery: Pearl, Hester's illegitimate child. Sometimes, people fail to realize that intercourse is meant for procreation. The general idea of prostitution and whoring in the 17th century was left at sex and that's all. Scarlet Letter reminded us that prostitution leads not only to prosectuion, and the subject of Pearl was a major subject in the book, without her the story would be very incomplete.

Blog #18

With the industrialization project, I learned a few writing styles and techniques that I could use for any future projects, including media saves the beach.

An example is the Lede. The Lede (or Lead) has to have the who, what, where, when, and why/how all in one or two sentences. This is important for any type of writing, since it puts the most important details first. This is important because it sums literally the entire essay to come in as little words as possible.

Blog #17

1. http://www.sdbaykeeper.org/
San Diego bay keeper.

2. http://www.sandiego.gov/water/
San Diego Water Department
The official water department of San Diego. "No Time To Waste, No Water To Waste" is their logo: They are in charge of all things that have to do with water -- obviously, including beaches -- in San Diego County.

3. http://www.sdcwa.org/
San Diego County Water Authority
Keeps the world up to date with the drought alerts in San Diego County and ways to prevent this.

1. Councilmember Sherri Lighter
http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd1/
She is part of the communities in district 1 (northern county), including a major part of the coast.

2. Councilmember President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer
In charge of communities in district 2 (middle county) near the coasts. Part of his promise is..
"To passionately.. protect our beaches and bays ... with results for the citizens of San Diego."

3. Councilmember President Ben Hueso
Is in charge of communities in district 8, the lower san diego area near tijuana. He is also in charge of what goes into the tijuana river.

Honors History Writing #2 -- fictitious William McKinely Writing

With the election year 1896 coming up, it's important to keep in mind important candidates for the election that will make a difference in America. And keep in mind, who a better candidate than Senator William McKinley himself!

William McKinley is a war veteran. He served in the civil war as a private in the 23rd regiment in his home state of Ohio. He was part of the humble Union army and won fights against countless Confederate units. After showing his bravery and leadership in battle, his superior promoted McKinley to commissary sergeant. After fearlessly fighting in the greatest war of all American history for 4 years, he immediately entered the field of Law, first by attending the Albany Law School in New York. He practiced law as a prosecuting attorney for over a decade, and was successful in nearly every case he was given.

Prove it, you may think. Well, what about when 33 miners rioted in Stark County? Their conditions were unfair and they were angry, but nonetheless they were imprisoned for rioting, for stating their opinion. Did McKinley ignore their cries for freedom? NO! He put his effort into getting all but one of them out of prison using his genius law skills. Not to mention how he selflessly refused the hard worked pay that they offered him after his generous deed.

After his huge impact on law practice everywhere, he became more involved as a natural leader in the Republican Party. He began this career by first running for governor of Ohio, which he was voted for by the majority of honest voters. He was a representative in the House of Representatives for 2 terms, the last ending a little over 5 years ago. As you can hopefully see, he has had plenty of experience in the law and political fields.

His independent and unique thoughts and takes on actions considering the people are nonetheless notable. "Cuba ought to be free and independent," humble McKinley says. "And the government should be turned over to the Cuban people." This just shows how selfless and thoughtful he is on the people's behalf: Even though he is a representative and politician, his main focus is the good and freedom of people, even for countries other than the United States of America.

In the words of Mister Future president himself, on the subject of diverse thoughts, "Our differences are policies; our agreements, principles." By this quote, he comes to believe that even the smallest of agreements or disagreements should be seen as principles; necessary, compromise. He holds true to his every word and stands by what he says.

Vote Senator William McKinley, 1896, for a better America. We need Senator William McKinley in the oval office!

Blog 16 -- MSB Stuffs and things

Brent Springer
Brent's idea was to create a documentary for the project. He included a website, surfermag, to further expand knowledge of environmental issues at the beach.
What i learned from this is that there are pros of sewage spills. I'm not too sure as to what these are, but I guess he can enlihten me more on this.
http://bspringer-brent.blogspot.com/

Daniel Mahmud
Daniel's idea was to have a slideshow. The slideshow consists of photography from different points of the beach. This is a diverse take on the project, as it takes on a perspective from all points.
http://dannyfletcherharchesterunited.blogspot.com/

Marcus Alexander'

Marcus thought that a photo essay was a good idea for the project. He uses last year's Junior Yoselin Lopez's project as an example: She took many photos and did an essay explaining each. From this I learned that it's good to take previous junior's ideas and recreate them to the point where it's original, but not copying it all.
http://maalexander.blogspot.com/

Blog #15 -- Possible MSB Products

An idea for a final product would be a large painting depicting acidification and pollution affecting the marine life.

I couldn't find a painting depicting how pollution affected marine life, but I found a detailed picture of painted marinelife. This is sort of the idea I have: a main object in front of a detailed background, the main idea in front of trivial things. In this case, I could have an animal or a group of animals living in the ocean, while in another part of the picture I could have a depiction of how animals are being affected by pollution.

Another idea I have for a final product would be a photoshopped image of pollutants in marinelife.

Like in this picture, it has plastics and other marine pollutants arranged in the picture to make it look like a species in the ocean. This satirical image packs a punch, and sends a message. It's a clever concept, albeit my 2nd option for this project.

Blog #14 MSB Questions and Resources

"What is the main problem concerning marinelife and beaches?"

1. When did this problem become apparent?
2. What can we do to help?
3. Why is this the most urgent concern?

Acidification -- http://www.aibs.org/washington-watch/washington_watch_2007_11.html
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/acidification-of-the-sea-is-the-biggest-threat-to-marine-animal-life_10077712.html
Pollution -- http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20071013-9999-1s13outdoors.html
Overfishing -- http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=106433

Blog #13: Industrialization and Coastal Environments

In the Oil spill of 1993, estimated 330,000 gallons of oil spilled onto the shores of Florida. 13 miles of beach and shores were affected by this spill. Not to mention a fire that added to the spill, which burnt for 18 consecutive hours. A large amount of marine life was affected.

This prompt mainly included how people were affected by the spill (i.e., how BUSINESSES and BEACHES were affected, not MARINE LIFE and HABITATS affected).

A part of this story that wasn't clarified was how this spill was cleaned, or how it even started. Did a truck tip over and spill all the oil into the ocean (unlikely)?

A way to follow up this prompt would be answering these questions, along with questions already answered (but maybe in your own words).

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090925/NEWS/909255063/1036?Title=Offshore-Drilling-Time-To-Speak-Up

An optional assignment i decided to do

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is a protected historical park. In the park are several old buildings preserved and recreated from as far back as 1821, after the Mexican War of Independence.

One famous building in Old Town is the Whaley House, believed to be one of the 30 haunted houses in the US, dubbed by the US department of Commerce. It was built in 1857 and had 2 generations of Whaleys live in it before abandoned in 1905. In 1909 it was restored, and after several ghost sightings it was opened to the public for a small fee. It is reported to be the most haunted house in America.

There's not really an issue, except the Whaley House was closed to the public because of preservation purposes a few years ago.

http://www.whaleyhouse.org/

Honors Novel #1

Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures—national, regional, ethnic, religious, and/or institutional. Such collisions can call a character's sense of identity into question.

In the story of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, “Huck,” as author Mark Twain calls him, is an uneducated orphan with a $6000+ trust fund in the 19th century. However, he is just a young boy, living under a religious widow's household. The widow tries to teach Huck about religion and make him pray, but the way he sees it is mere grumbling to a person who isn't there. His father was/is an abusive drunk and Huck feared him, possibly growing up not knowing how family members should treat each other.

This character, "Pap,” is somewhat an influence to Huck's character. To him, Huck is seen as a failure because he “thinks he's better than [his father]” by getting an education. Huck is the first in his family to get a formal education, making him different from his relatives.

In the beginning, Jim is the family slave and Huck doesn't care to call him anything more than that. However, once Jim escapes the fate of being sold for $800 to a New Orleans family and runs away with Huck, they become more acquaintenced. This is a change in character for Huck, since he was raised as a white boy, not to mingle with African Americans, but him and Jim become friends.

Huck is a boy inbetween colliding cultures: The culture of society, where he is seen as a failure as an undereducated white orphan; The culture of his family life, where he is unsure how to feel about family members since his mother is long gone and his father an abusive drunk; and the culture in which he, a young curious boy, lives in. This last culture includes his strange friendships for an 18th century era, and how he carries himself as a boy who has the chance to be educated and "saved by God."

Blog #12: MSTB

1. When did the issue of pollution/etc. of the beach become apparent?
I'm sure that the problems at the beach haven't always been this bad. When did it start? When did people notice that the pollution at the beach was becoming a problem? Did it start once the North Pacific Gyre was discovered?

2. What is the most urgent of all the problems in the beach areas?
Self-explanatory, what is the most urgent of all the mentioned beach problems?

3. What are ways we can help?
There has to be more than monthly beach cleanups and watching what we put into storm drains. What else can we do to help and keep pollution, etc. from affecting wildlife in the ocean and the beaches?

Blog #11

Honors History Writing #1

“The Civil War is often known as the beginning of ‘modern’ America, ‘America’s 2nd Revolution.’”

Although most would think the events that brought on the Civil War and things closely following it are dead and gone, lost and kept in history not to be brought up again, it is quite the opposite. Even though the Civil War was the end of an epidemic nationally, the epidemic of slavery and inequality in America, it was the beginning of a new Revolution in America. If you think about it, a controversy large enough to split a nation apart and pit brother against brother is not something easily forgotten. In this case, it lead to even more issues and disagreements nationally. Think: If suddenly your house slaves who had no point in life other than to serve you thanklessly suddenly became a citizen, as equal as you, it would be quite difficult to adapt to. Even now, almost 150 years later, the subjects of such an old controversy are still hot topics and disagreeable by many.

The well-known southern story of a man literally “dying for Dixie” is an example of such. The story of a man being shot down and allegedly murdered for the mere fact of being seen as a racist on the Kentucky-Tennessee border is still hotly talked about. The confederate flag, seen as a symbol for racism and white supremacy in the south, triggered the shooting (the man was driving a truck the with the flag attached, and from there, a car chase which ended in a death). So, when did this feud take place? Certainly, you may think, such racism and prejudice should’ve died decades ago, yes? No, this took place not even 20 years ago, in 1995. That’s right, 1995. Even after the civil rights movement had taken place 30 years before, people still saw inequalities in others. After these events, there were reported 5 cross burnings in nearby towns along the Tennessee-Kentucky Border, performed by the infamous white supremacy group, Ku Klux Klan.

The KKK is a prime example of disagreements to the civil war’s outcome. Created less than a year after the Northern won the civil war, the KKK consisted of mainly veterans of the civil war on the confederate side. At its peak, it had 6 million members, secretly killing blacks and scalawags that supported the civil rights act. This white supremacy group is not the only of its kind; the White league and the Red shirts are well known for mass killings to anyone who got in their way. These groups are still active today, going behind the scenes, meeting and sharing their bizarre ideals and thoughts over the internet. It needs to stop, soon.

But it doesn’t stop here. How about interracial marriages still banned in a state until recently? That’s right, it was illegal for an African American and a Caucasian to get married in the state of South Carolina until November of 2007, when a statewide poll was taken. The majority voted for removing the law, however, the majority barely was. 33% of South Carolina residents were against removing the ban.

In a way, some towns in the South have always been seen as an old world. For example, in public schools, children are taught that the Civil War was secretly won by the south. You would’ve thought this age died in the 18th century, along with slavery and all the prejudice that came with it. But this isn’t the case. The veterans of the war and the citizens that had lived during that time were not welcome to the change Many spent their life angry, prejudiced, racist, and not willing to take a second to see how the other men saw it. They taught their young with their “old world” views and died with their hatred. Their young grew up believing everything that their predecessors had told them. This process lived on, now thousands of citizens – Americans – see this society as a corrupted and soiled one.

These situations pose difficult questions. When can racism and prejudice be ended for sure? Can it be ended by just another civil war? Or will hatred between different skin colors never, really, end? Although the civil war created a new revolution in America, from the revolution emerged a people still strongly believing in the previous world America had lived in.