The worst part of this situation, in my opinion, is the fact that the history teacher finds nothing wrong with his teaching. In the last stanza, it says he "walked home past flower beds and white picket fences." This is saying that he is in his own little perfect mindset. He is completely oblivious to the damage he is creating for the future generation; he is even proud of what he is doing. The teacher finds the kids' innocence more important than their correct knowledge of history's experiences. Although, to some extent, children should live their youth without worries, they need to understand what our world has done wrong in the past so that their generation will know what not to do. It is really just important to keep stories and historical knowledge alive, which is what Harriet Jacobs did by writing about her experiences as a slave. In the long run, knowledge of the past will be much more valuable and important than innocence as a child.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Is innocence greater than knowledge?
On Monday, we discussed the poem "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins. I really liked this poem because it was fun and unique, but it also taught a very valuable lesson. It was about a teacher who taught his students less harsh versions of historical events to "protect his students' innocence." The teacher is happy with how he's teaching and he thinks he's doing the right thing for his students, but all he is doing is making them think they live in a perfect world. This poem teaches about the idea that if people aren't taught about past mistakes, then history will repeat itself.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Death and Life
This past week, we read a few poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. I thought I knew all there is to know about death, but these poems have opened my eyes to what death really teaches us about life.
In Dickinson's poem, "Because I could not stop for Death", death is personified as a polite and kind carriage driver. This is unusual because most people would never think of losing someone they love to death in a positive way, but what Dickinson is expressing in this poem is that death is, although an ending to a life, the start to peaceful immortality. Another one of Dickinson's poems from a different point in her life, "My life closed twice before its close", shows her more negative view of death. This poem is about how she felt as if she died inside twice because of losing loved ones to death. It teaches that death really causes more pain for the ones who remain alive than it could ever cause for the one who died. In "Success is Counted Sweetest", it doesn't seem like it's about death, but it can relate to a lesson that death teaches. This poem is about how you don't know what success is unless you've never had it. This reminds me of the idea that you don't know what you have until it's gone, which teaches us the importance of making that most of the time we have on this earth. In Whitman's "Song of Myself", he discusses how death is natural and leads you back to where you came from, which is nature. It teaches us to accept that fact that death will occur and to enjoy life while we can, instead of worrying about dying.
I have never looked at death so carefully as I have reading these poems. I understand and accept death more, both in a positive way. In short, death teaches us that there is eternal life in immortality, it is more painful living through others' deaths than actually dying, it is important to live life to its fullest, and it is even more important to enjoy life while you can.
In Dickinson's poem, "Because I could not stop for Death", death is personified as a polite and kind carriage driver. This is unusual because most people would never think of losing someone they love to death in a positive way, but what Dickinson is expressing in this poem is that death is, although an ending to a life, the start to peaceful immortality. Another one of Dickinson's poems from a different point in her life, "My life closed twice before its close", shows her more negative view of death. This poem is about how she felt as if she died inside twice because of losing loved ones to death. It teaches that death really causes more pain for the ones who remain alive than it could ever cause for the one who died. In "Success is Counted Sweetest", it doesn't seem like it's about death, but it can relate to a lesson that death teaches. This poem is about how you don't know what success is unless you've never had it. This reminds me of the idea that you don't know what you have until it's gone, which teaches us the importance of making that most of the time we have on this earth. In Whitman's "Song of Myself", he discusses how death is natural and leads you back to where you came from, which is nature. It teaches us to accept that fact that death will occur and to enjoy life while we can, instead of worrying about dying.
I have never looked at death so carefully as I have reading these poems. I understand and accept death more, both in a positive way. In short, death teaches us that there is eternal life in immortality, it is more painful living through others' deaths than actually dying, it is important to live life to its fullest, and it is even more important to enjoy life while you can.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Effects of a Secret
As we finished reading The Scarlet Letter this week in class, I've been really thinking about secrets and their effects. What I've concluded through what we've discussed in class, including the PostSecret blog and connections to The Scarlet Letter, and what I've thought about on my own time, is that secrets are not meant to be held in.
In the novel, we see the effects of secrets in Dimmesdale's character. As the whole community knows about Hester's adultery, no one knows that Dimmesdale is the one who she committed it with. It is obvious why Dimmesdale wants to keep his sin a secret; he is the minister and would be the last person anyone in the community would expect to commit this sin. Although keeping this secret upholds his respectable position, it really doesn't do him any good because his whole inside is being eaten up by guilt, shame, and weakness. Just because Dimmesdale decided to keep his secret in, he has created a mental downfall for himself.
As I was thinking about secrets, I remembered an old Disney channel movie called Little Secrets. This movie is about a girl named Emily who is a "secret-keeper" and charges neighborhood kids 50 cents to relieve themselves of a secret they've been keeping. All the kids are fine because they aren't holding their secrets in, but Emily doesn't have anyone to tell her deepest secrets to. She eventually breaks down and her dreams are almost crushed. This is just another example of how secrets shouldn't be held in. In class, we discussed the PostSecret blog, where people can send in post cards with their secrets on them. The man who created this is amazing because what he has done has saved millions of people from experiencing their inner downfall and from holding in their pain any longer. Keeping a secret might seem like the right thing to do, but, in the end, all it will do is cause inner pain and most likely create a mental and, in Dimmesdale's case, also a physical downfall.
In the novel, we see the effects of secrets in Dimmesdale's character. As the whole community knows about Hester's adultery, no one knows that Dimmesdale is the one who she committed it with. It is obvious why Dimmesdale wants to keep his sin a secret; he is the minister and would be the last person anyone in the community would expect to commit this sin. Although keeping this secret upholds his respectable position, it really doesn't do him any good because his whole inside is being eaten up by guilt, shame, and weakness. Just because Dimmesdale decided to keep his secret in, he has created a mental downfall for himself.
As I was thinking about secrets, I remembered an old Disney channel movie called Little Secrets. This movie is about a girl named Emily who is a "secret-keeper" and charges neighborhood kids 50 cents to relieve themselves of a secret they've been keeping. All the kids are fine because they aren't holding their secrets in, but Emily doesn't have anyone to tell her deepest secrets to. She eventually breaks down and her dreams are almost crushed. This is just another example of how secrets shouldn't be held in. In class, we discussed the PostSecret blog, where people can send in post cards with their secrets on them. The man who created this is amazing because what he has done has saved millions of people from experiencing their inner downfall and from holding in their pain any longer. Keeping a secret might seem like the right thing to do, but, in the end, all it will do is cause inner pain and most likely create a mental and, in Dimmesdale's case, also a physical downfall.
The trailer for Little Secrets:
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The Effects of a Decision
Reading The Scarlet Letter this week, I've realized that one decision you make can affect your whole life, in either a good or a bad way. Hester Prynne decides to commit adultery with Dimmesdale and, because of her sin, she is forced to wear the scarlet letter on her chest her whole life. This action she took ended up giving her a huge amount of ridicule and hate. It also affected her life in other aspects, such as almost not being able to keep custody of her own child. Hester's decision has made her life much more difficult, but she doesn't regret it and she stays strong. She even wears her scarlet letter almost proudly to prove she doesn't regret her relationship with Dimmesdale.Although Hester's life is filled with ridicule for a long time, after a while, she gains respect from some of the community. She becomes more active in society and does much to help the poor and sick. Society reinterprets the meaning of the scarlet letter as "able" rather than "adultery". Hester has proved that she is strong enough to overcome the hatred and even give back to her community. In this sense, her past choice has a positive effect on her; it gives her strength and motivation to improve.
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