Writing Critique #1

From the very beginning of Hannah's blog her use of words seen in the text and language from the time period of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth caught my attention. She clearly steps right into the shoes of Elizabeth and responds to Mr. Darcy's letter as she expects her to, based on what we have learned of her character thus far. I don't personally think Elizabeth would give in so easily to understanding Darcy's breaking up Jane and Mr. Bingley, but Hannah displays this idea very well. Despite her making Elizabeth seem to have completely changed from her strong and independent self, to a woman who succumbs so easily to the word of a man, I think Hannah's use of vocabulary and knowledge of the text makes this letter quality work. She succeeds in thoroughly displaying what she believes Elizabeth's reaction to be, not only towards the letter, but towards Darcy himself. This thought leads to predictions that could be made for the future of the text, which left me thinking. Good job Hannah :)

Pride & Prejudice #2

Based on the discussion we had today in class, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Darcy is not as much of an antagonist as he was made out to be. After Mr. Darcy was first introduced, I was sure that he would not be a favorite character of mine. As I continued to read though, I began finding him interesting. His brutally honest state of being tends to offend those around him, but cannot be considered an all around bad trait. This is true because Mr. Darcy does not intend to hurt others with his words, he simply believes all should be as strong as him and able to handle the truth. This sense of strength and independence is something that Darcy sees in Lizzy and is automatically fascinated by. Although they both take pride in their independence, we see a wall come down when Darcy openly asks Lizzy to dance, and Lizzy accepts. If nothing else, this can be considered proof that Darcy may tend to judge quickly, but actually has an open mind and an open heart and may not be as prejudice as we believe.

P&P Blog 1

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

After reading this quote, it is clear that marriage and status were two important concepts in the time period in which this story took place. The word choice in the beginning of the quote suggests that this statement is something that everyone knows and should not come as a surprise to whoever is being spoken to. This tells a lot about the importance of those two concepts. It is clear that the ideas of social status and rigid class systems were important simply because it was made a point that this man was wealthy, rather than just referring to him as a common man that all readers could relate themselves to. Towards the end of the quote is when it may become controversial. It is known that in olden days, women were not quite considered equal to men. This can be confirmed when seeing how the speaker seems to refer to a wife as somewhat of an object, something that all men want to possess. It also suggests that men of high status tend to want a wife even more because they have already gotten everything else that they could possibly long for. This makes the theme of society and roles of women and men within those societies a conceivable option when attempting to discover what the theme of Pride & Prejudice may be.

Scarlet Letter Blog #2

Hawthorne often succeeds in symbolizing Pearl as an angel, using descriptions such as "So magnificent was the small figure...Pearls own proper beauty, shining through the gorgeous robes which might have extinguished a paler loveliness, that there was an absolute circle of radiance around her, on the darksome cottage floor" and "wild-flower prettiness of a peasant-baby, and the pomp, in little, of an infant princess" (82). These excerpts in no way infer that Pearl is anything but an innocent, young angel with an undeniably positive aura surrounding her. This element of Hawthorne's writing concludes that he believes some good things can come out of evil situations.

Scarlet Letter Blog #1

By making the scarlet letter "A" beautifully decorated, Nathanial Hawthorne is trying to get an important message across to his readers. He is trying to represent the fact that Hester is a strong woman who is trying to see the light through all the darkness in her life. Hester is simply making the best out of a bad situation; ' "She hath good skill at her needle, that's certain," remarked one of her female spectators; "but did ever a woman before this brazen hussy, contrive such a way of showing it! Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?". (pg 51) She knows she has committed adultery and deserves punishment, yet she also knows that she is still beautiful inside and out and is not willing to let that one mistake break her. She is not going to hang her head and feel bad about herself because of it, she is going to move on and continue living her life despite how differently people may treat her.

MLK Syllogism Extra Credit

True Syllogism:

MLK feels strongly against how the police force treats blacks.
When a person feels extremely strongly about a cause, they want to inform others of this ugly truth.
MLK wants to inform others of the ugly truth of how the police force treats blacks.

This syllogism is true because when someone feels strongly about a cause that may even affect them directly, they want to inform others of this cause. This is how Martin Luther King Jr feels about the ugly truth of how the police force is unjust towards blacks. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, he uses horrific imagery and parallelism to get this point across to his readers and persuade them to feel the same way.

False Syllogism:

MLK feels strongly against how the police force treats blacks.
When a person feels extremely strongly about a cause, they want to inform others of this ugly truth.
All people feel strongly about this cause.

This is false because the true syllogism states that MLK feels strongly about this issue, and wants others to also, but not that they already do.

True Syllogism:

MLK is in Birmingham because injustice is there.
Injustice can be caused by segregation, racism, and discrimination.
Segregation, racism, and discrimination are in Birmingham.

This syllogism is true because MLK blatantly states that his reason for being in Birmingham is because injustice is there. Injustice, more often than not, includes segregation, racism, and discrimination, therefore, segregation, racism, and discrimination can be found in Birmingham.

False Syllogism:

MLK is in Birmingham because injustice is there.
Injustice can be caused by segregation, racism, and discrimination.
MLK is racist and discriminatory.

This syllogism is false because, although the first two premises are correct, the conclusion states something completely false. MLK is in Birmingham because injustice is there, but that does not mean he is an unjust person.

The Crucible Debate Winners-Proctor vs. Abigail

Choosing a winner in this debate was very difficult for me. In the end, it came down to who had better rebuttals and challenged the other group more. In my opinion, it was the group that was arguing that Abigail was to blame that did this. Both groups had very well structured arguments, but Emmeline and Sarah came together and formed better rebuttals on the spot that directly addressed many of the points brought up by Dasomi, Ceilli, and Brittany. Overall, this debate could go either way because of how evenly well both sides argued their points but in the end, I was more convinced that Abigail was to blame for the happenings of the Salem Witch Trials.