Young Goodman Brown (Story)

Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife. And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown.

(  http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/158/ )

Young Goodman Brown

1. What do you think Hawthorne's purpose was for writing this story?

I think he wants to show how all people are capable of sinning . Due to his own personal sinning he thought everyone else wherr sinners. 

2. Hawthorne states that Brown's wife is "aptly named" Faith. After reading the story, do you agree? Does Faith's name fit her personality? Does Brown have true faith in her?

 

I think Faith's name fits her exquisitely.  Brown's "faith" was supposed to stay with her. 

3. What do you think the pink ribbons signify?

 Faith's pink ribbons represent her purity in the story. The color pink signifies her personality which is full of youth and happy and it also signifies how innocent she is. 

4. Was everything Brown witnessed real, a figment of his imagination, something conjured by evil, or a dream? Support your answer with passages from the text.

I believe that everything that Brown witnessed was real. The evil magic was put in to make Brown think he was in a dream. His veiw on people will be forever changed. 

5. Who do you think the old man really is? What textual clues tell you this?

He could possibly be the devil. He is proud of himself and what he does to the men 

6. What does the staff represent? Do you think the staff leads Brown onward or is the primary motivator Brown's own conscience/mind?

The staff represents what is the devil's staff. The journey Brown had with the staff is similar to Eve's story. They were both fooled by the temptation and led to the path of evil.

7. If Brown had not ventured into the forest, how would his life be different? If he'd stayed home, would Brown still have Faith? Would he still trust his wife and his fellow townspeople?

He would see everyone the same as he did before. He would be trusting everyone with the purity in his mind and haveing faith.

Class Notes

• Nonverbal: Doesn't include your voice
• Para-verbal: Quality of voice but not to content

Class Notes

Diction- style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words

Syntax- a system or orderly arrangement.

Monomyth- a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world

Reflextions on the Week

1. Are there any factors that you think are going to affect your participation or experience in this class? (Access to a computer, cell phone, transportation? Family that can help or hassle? Friends that can help or hassle? Scheduling factors that can help or hassle?) 

In my opinion a hassle would have to be remembering to go onto the blog to check for homework, I usually do remember but sometimes if I cannot find something and I think oh well maybe there is no homework tonight, but there ends up being homework. That's just a personal hassle for me. I don't believe this will affect my participation though. 

2.Think of an awesome (or the best ever) learning experience (or an experience where you changed) What was it you learned?  Where were you? What happened? Who else was there? Did it teach you anything about how you learn (or pay attention... or think?) How did you know what was happening? 

  

One of the best experiences that I have ever had would have to be when I was in English last year and was actually being pushed to get work done and to ask for help. I learned that at that moment I had never been taught the way that I learn. I have begun to pay more attention on the way that I take what is going on and what is being said in class. With this information I had thought"well now what?". Well now I am doing better then I ever had before and it feels great to learn that from my sophomore English teach Mrs. Byrne.

3.What are you most [excited/concerned] about in this class? What do you look forward to in learning?  How do you think it can/will make a practical difference in your life?

One of my biggest concerns is forgetting to update my blog, sometimes you can just forget to do things out of the blue and get marked down for it. On the other hand i am excited to have a new way to learn during this course and doing some outside of the box thinking! I think this will effect my life because it's not every day that you get to do your homework on a blog, just learning how to do things on this blog has taught me so much already

Ancient Stories

1. How is the language in these texts similar to and/or different from the language you use in everyday conversation?

     The language in the "The White Buffalo Calf Woman" is different from today's language because in my opinion it is more sophisticated, mature, and accurate. The story is put in a certain way which makes the story sound more proper. The worldly way this story is assembled makes it sound aged than the stories today do. 

2. Because it began as an oral story, "White Buffalo Calf Woman" can be found in multiple text versions. How important is it for a story to be repeated word for word? Is meaning embellished, distorted, lost, or enhanced in the retelling?

     

Reading this story word for word is important because the meaning would be changed with the slightest bit of altering. If someone where to tell this story to another off the top of their head, a lot of things would be forgotten and a bit rocky. If changed the whole feel and meaning to the story would be changed.

Vocab List #1

adumbrate: report or represent in outline;indicate faintly;
foreshadow or symbolize
apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax;
the elevation of someone to divine status; deification
ascetic: characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons; a person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention
bauble: a small, showy trinket or decoration; a baton formerly used as an emblem by jesters
beguile: charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way; help (time) pass pleasantly
burgeon: begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish; put forth young shoots; bud
complement: a thing that completes or brings to perfection; a number or quantity of something required to make a group complete; add to (something) in a way that enhances or improves it; make perfect
contumacious: (especially of a defendant's behavior) stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority
curmudgeon: a bad-tempered or surly person
didactic: intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive; in the manner of a teacher, particularly so as to treat someone in a patronizing way

Realism Personified: Theme, Narrator, Voice

noun

noun: realism; noun: Platonic realism

1.

the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.

"the summit was marked by a new mood of realism"

synonyms:

pragmatism, practicality, common sense, levelheadedness "optimism tinged with realism"

• the view that the subject matter of politics is political power, not matters of principle.

  "political realism is the oldest approach to global politics"

2.

the quality or fact of representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life.

"the earthy realism of Raimu's characters"

synonyms:

authenticity, fidelity, verisimilitude, truthfulness, faithfulness "a degree of realism"

• (in art and literature) the movement or style of representing familiar things as they actually are.

Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich yes, richer than a king

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

First week of School

The first week of school went on a great path. I understand that I had a lot of schedule changes, but for the most part it went quite smooth. I was not in this class to start off with but I have grown to really enjoy and like the class vibe. I really didn't see any problems withing the first week of school, but that is always known to happen during the first week of school. Well to start its the first week of school, that's when everyone is getting their classes figured out and getting to know new faces on campus.

The Big Question

My big question, something I've always wanted to know, is what is really going on in a teenagers mind? Why is it that we can sit here and ask them questions but can never really figure it out? Why do people want to judge on the way that other people think or the way that other people do things? Why is it that society wants to feel the need to find perfection when there is no such thing as something being perfect? "Why is a Raven like a writing desk?"

Assignment #1

The reason i decided to take this course is because I wanted to learn about English in a new and unique way. Deciding to take the alternative route this year is exciting, I think this will be a great way to improve computer skills and to further the way I tend to look at English and look at work that is done in class. The main reason I am looking forward to this class is because I know that I will be able to understand the material better now that I have other resources to look at other then a book that was written years ago. What better way to learn then through your peers?

What I am excited about this year is that I will be getting a chance like no other to learn new things through my computer and/or my phone instead of just from an ordinary text book. There are some parts of me that are nervous about doing this though, to allow anyone to look at what you're doing wrong in an essay or  little mistakes on a project. I am also nervous when speaking in front of a small or large grouping of people. When the opportunity presents itself I wont pass it up, but the fact of just standing in front of people you may or may not know is slightly nerve-racking. One of my goals I hope to accomplish is receiving a good grade while learning and trying something new. 

 

I expect my knowledge to improve by learning new skills, an all-around different way of viewing school, and also the fact that its not the normal way to present a class. Maybe by viewing school in this new way it can make school more intriguing causing it to be easier to consume the knowledge being taught. The reason Richard Cory never would have surprised an open source learning network is because reading it off a computer is different from hearing it out loud, where there is emotion and changes in tone. Where one thing can go from happy to heart throbbing in a matter of seconds. Reading it much different from hearing it.