Christmas is by far my favorite season. Not spring not summer, fall or winter but Christmas. Even though Christmas is technically only for a day,the whole month of December is full of cheer. When i was little my favorite Christmas tradition by far was going to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve.
Every Christmas Eve while I lived in Charleston (which was until i was 10) my whole extended family and I would always go to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve to open presents and celebrate the holiday. Every time i arrived i was overcome by the smell of cinnamon, gingerbread, and excitement. I would always arrive in time to see what Santa had brought all the grandkids. See Santa always came twice in our family. He would drop by my grandma's house around six pm for the first round then around midnight at our house for the second round. (double the presents) From there we would eat dinner which besides getting presents was the most anticipated event. My grandma would always have the most beautiful array of food set out and it was always so good. The ham never lacked flavor or locked in juice amount. Every single candied yam was cooked to perfection and there was never a little smokie sausage that wasn't amazingly wonderful. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.
After dinner we would open presents. We always had to wait our turn when it came to opening presents though usually it went in birth order. i was always second. There was something almost magical when our hearts were pounding in our chests and we could barely contain our excitment as we tore throught the what seemed like a never ending amount of wrapping paper. Finally we shreaked with joy as we found something that we had waited all year to have, a few things we weren't expecting but we were overflowing with joy. After presents as the kids played with their new toys, the adults would remincice about the good old days. Usually by this time the gingerbread cookies were finally finished cooking. we decorated them and enjoyed our creations. By this time everyone was wondering what could be better than this.
Then we found out, the phone rang and all the grandkids were on the edge of our seats. As my grandmas called us all to the phone we were in shock,overcome by utter amazment, this ladies and gentlemen was the annual phone call from Mrs. Clause and the head elf, Brock Q smith. thinking about it today, i am not sure that there was ever an elf named brock but to a bunch of seven year old and younger kids, this is what dreams are made of. Mrs.clause told us to have a Merry Christmas and sleep tightly as she hung up. About and hour later it was time to go home. Hugs kisses, goodbyes and a farwell piece of cake are given out and we all go our seperate ways as we head home to await the second arrival of Santa.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Secrets Destroy
Secrets destroy. They have the power to destroy everything in their path. even the smallest secret can have the biggest effect on the lives of innocent people. This is strongly portrayed in the novel representing the Puritan time period. Throughout the novel, the four main characters experience very effective changes. The changes in Dimmsdale and Hester seem to be the most evident throughout the novel though. While only the looks and attitude are being changed or destroyed in Hester, the outside appearance as well as the personality of Dimmsdale is changing radically.
Because Hester committedremember to stay in present tense -Kristinaturner adultery she is forced to sit on the scaffold all day then wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life. Though some members of the Puritan community find this punishment too weak(some suggest she should have been branded on the forehead with a hot iron) it goes unchanged. Hester then moves out of the community into a cottage with Pearl and is virtually out of contact with everybody.The reader notices that as Hester continues to live in confinement with Pearl as her only companion, she begins to change from the beautiful women she had once been to a solemn lady who is all too aware of the crime she is being punished for. You notice this because Hawthorne states that even the sun does not follow Hester as closely anymore. "...When sunshine came again she was not there. Her shadow had faded across the threshold. the helpful inmate had departed without one backward glance..." Hawthorne also states that Hester, even after she had been by herself, even after the "A" has transformed from adultery to "able" she is still not social, she still feels very wrong. "... Meeting them in the street, she never raised her hand to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on."
We see how the scarlet letter and her secret have destroyed Hester from a beautiful women to a lonesome outsider. it is Dimmsdale though that experiences the most changes. The community knows of the crime that Hester has committed. But as she makes herself more helpful in the community, they do not see her as the trashythis word probably too informal -Kristinaturner 10/4/07 3:29 PM criminal, they see her as willing to help. she admitted her sin and was punished for it, and even if the puritan community has forgotten about it (because seven years have passed) there is still a missing factor--who was Hester's lover? The reader soon finds out that Dimmsdale, the minister was in fact her lover and Pearls father. But Dimmsdale never confessed his sins to anyone. He is keeping the secret inside and it is slowly destroying him. As a minister in the community, he is looked up to and respected. If in fact his secret got out then his fate is too harsh to even think about. Arthur Dimmsdale keeps his secret from everyone. The book says that he keeps a knife with him and cuts himself as punishment. About three years after the crime is first committed, Dimmsdale gets very sick. No one can seem to figure out what is wrong with him. He is physically changing. He looks very pale and frail. People seem to think that it is because he works to hard. "...By those best acquainted with his habits, the paleness of the young minister's cheek was accounted for by his too earnest devotion to study...his form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich ans sweet, had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it....He was often observed,on any slight alarm or other sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness indicative to pain..." add comment here -Kristinaturner 10/4/07 3:31 PM
We also see from the quote above that Dimmsdale is having what looks like mysterious chest pains. As the condition of Mr. Dimmsdale worsens, Roger Chillingworth, the doctor and also Hester's husband living under a new name, moves in with Dimmsdale to observe his symptoms and try to cure him. Chillingworth finds it very peculiar that Dimmsdale is have "chest pains" Chillingworth is determine to find out the cause of these pains. When Dimmsdale refuses to let Chillingworth look at his chest, Chillingworth is said to have given Dimmsdale some medicine that makes him sleep soundly. Chillingworth takes this opportunity to find out what is on Dimmsdale's chest. He opens his shirt and is completely shocked by what he sees. "...Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have no need to how Satan contorts himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom." The reader is never informed of what is seen on Dimmsdale's chest but we now find out that he is indeed Hester's lover. Roger Chillingworth is absolutely pleased at these results. Dimmsdale's condition continues to deteriorate as he keeps this secret all to himself,it is destroying him. Internally and externally he is reacting very badly to the results that the secret keeping have thrust upon him.
As you can see the secret did not destroy Hester, it only changed her personality. It transformed her from a bubbly young women to a solemn matured lady. The circumstances were not as fortunate for Dimmsdale though. He suffered terribly,on the inside and on the outside. He was physically transformed from a young, healthy looking man to a weak and pale man of very bad health. On the inside he was changed to. He was beating himself up because he could not let his reputation of an upstanding minister of God be simply thrown away because of love. So instead of coming clean, he kept it all inside and it destroyed him. You can clearly see from the above situation that Hawthorne was right, secrets do destroy.
Because Hester committedremember to stay in present tense -Kristinaturner adultery she is forced to sit on the scaffold all day then wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life. Though some members of the Puritan community find this punishment too weak(some suggest she should have been branded on the forehead with a hot iron) it goes unchanged. Hester then moves out of the community into a cottage with Pearl and is virtually out of contact with everybody.The reader notices that as Hester continues to live in confinement with Pearl as her only companion, she begins to change from the beautiful women she had once been to a solemn lady who is all too aware of the crime she is being punished for. You notice this because Hawthorne states that even the sun does not follow Hester as closely anymore. "...When sunshine came again she was not there. Her shadow had faded across the threshold. the helpful inmate had departed without one backward glance..." Hawthorne also states that Hester, even after she had been by herself, even after the "A" has transformed from adultery to "able" she is still not social, she still feels very wrong. "... Meeting them in the street, she never raised her hand to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on."
We see how the scarlet letter and her secret have destroyed Hester from a beautiful women to a lonesome outsider. it is Dimmsdale though that experiences the most changes. The community knows of the crime that Hester has committed. But as she makes herself more helpful in the community, they do not see her as the trashythis word probably too informal -Kristinaturner 10/4/07 3:29 PM criminal, they see her as willing to help. she admitted her sin and was punished for it, and even if the puritan community has forgotten about it (because seven years have passed) there is still a missing factor--who was Hester's lover? The reader soon finds out that Dimmsdale, the minister was in fact her lover and Pearls father. But Dimmsdale never confessed his sins to anyone. He is keeping the secret inside and it is slowly destroying him. As a minister in the community, he is looked up to and respected. If in fact his secret got out then his fate is too harsh to even think about. Arthur Dimmsdale keeps his secret from everyone. The book says that he keeps a knife with him and cuts himself as punishment. About three years after the crime is first committed, Dimmsdale gets very sick. No one can seem to figure out what is wrong with him. He is physically changing. He looks very pale and frail. People seem to think that it is because he works to hard. "...By those best acquainted with his habits, the paleness of the young minister's cheek was accounted for by his too earnest devotion to study...his form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich ans sweet, had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it....He was often observed,on any slight alarm or other sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness indicative to pain..." add comment here -Kristinaturner 10/4/07 3:31 PM
We also see from the quote above that Dimmsdale is having what looks like mysterious chest pains. As the condition of Mr. Dimmsdale worsens, Roger Chillingworth, the doctor and also Hester's husband living under a new name, moves in with Dimmsdale to observe his symptoms and try to cure him. Chillingworth finds it very peculiar that Dimmsdale is have "chest pains" Chillingworth is determine to find out the cause of these pains. When Dimmsdale refuses to let Chillingworth look at his chest, Chillingworth is said to have given Dimmsdale some medicine that makes him sleep soundly. Chillingworth takes this opportunity to find out what is on Dimmsdale's chest. He opens his shirt and is completely shocked by what he sees. "...Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have no need to how Satan contorts himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom." The reader is never informed of what is seen on Dimmsdale's chest but we now find out that he is indeed Hester's lover. Roger Chillingworth is absolutely pleased at these results. Dimmsdale's condition continues to deteriorate as he keeps this secret all to himself,it is destroying him. Internally and externally he is reacting very badly to the results that the secret keeping have thrust upon him.
As you can see the secret did not destroy Hester, it only changed her personality. It transformed her from a bubbly young women to a solemn matured lady. The circumstances were not as fortunate for Dimmsdale though. He suffered terribly,on the inside and on the outside. He was physically transformed from a young, healthy looking man to a weak and pale man of very bad health. On the inside he was changed to. He was beating himself up because he could not let his reputation of an upstanding minister of God be simply thrown away because of love. So instead of coming clean, he kept it all inside and it destroyed him. You can clearly see from the above situation that Hawthorne was right, secrets do destroy.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Nature Essay
As i walked out of the school building i didn't know what to expect. I had never been on a "nature walk" with my english class before. It is the middle of October and i half-heartidly expected the weather to be cooler than it had been. Oh my naive self, how i was wrong. The heat came at me like a spider monkey. I felt as if i had just been hit with a ball of fire. It was BEASTLY hot outside. After getting over the initial shock of the constant heat wave, i began to steer my train of thought in a different direction. I thought to myself "Chelsea, it will be cooler in the woods." So I proceeded to follow the class to where the woods began. What a surprise I came into when the woods were the same exact tempurature as the rest of the outside world. I brushed this off as Cauley and I entered the unknown world of the woods. Mrs. Turner told us to go by ourselves into the woods and take on the thought process of Emerson and Thoreau. No disrespect to Mrs Turner or the great authors that have come before us, but i was not about to go off by myself in strange woods and try to think like an old dead guy. I did try this for about ten seconds though, i looked around and saw beer cans and cigarette butts. There were candy wrappers and trash thrown about, I almost did not recognize this as a piece of Gods greatest creation. Instead of hearing birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees, i heard cars whizzing by on 81 and the laughter from my classmates a few yards away. I had two choices right about then, i could continue to observe my nature-like surroundings or i could see what everyone was laughing about. I chose to see what everyone was laughing about. As i approached the scene of joy, i saw what looked to be a ropes course and what looked to be my stupid classmates climbing the incline then jumping in the loosly bound rope below. i thought to myself "Chelsea, you could do that and forevermore look like and idiot, or you could watch everyone else do it and forevermore call them idiots." I chose to call them idiots. The climax of fun time to me were when Cauley decided it would be fun to do it. Oh... and let me tell you... it was.-Cauley She climbed up, then jumped down. In the midst of falling to her almost death and taking on severe rope burns, she about took out Allie. Haha... sorry about that Al... -Cauley [again] it's okay cauley and chelseaa, this is a really good story. love the hank part -Allieelrod 10/12/07 10:29 AM(again) At the time i thought this to be the climax, that was until i saw Hank climb up the incline. At first I thought nothing of it just another kid about to take on a few rope burns while falling aimlessly to a net. Oh but no, Hank decided it would be fun to get his head stuck in the deathly ropes. This resulted in a few cuts on his nose and a semester spent with his head hung down in shame, that is until his cuts heal. After a few more kids took to falling to the ropes,Mrs. Turner decided it was time to go in. Not everyone agreed. As we were on our hearty way back to the classroom she did a head count, five missing. She reassured the worried that this was not unusual. Two were located already in the classroom but that left three unaccounted for. We gave it about five minutes and came to the conclusion that Luke, ShyNiqua and India were MIA. Mrs Turner said if they didn't come back she would look for them on her lunch break, which was about thirty minutes away. A few minutes passed and Hank and David were orderd to go look for the lost. They were out searching a good ten minutes before returning. Thankfully the little nature lovers returned saving Mrs. Turners career and calming the nerves of many. That my friend is the end of an uneventful day. We became one with nature, some became one with the ropes and others started a promising career of being lost and quickly found.
THis is ROCKIN! lol... I love the relation to spider monkies, they are facinating creatures! lol
Yall act like we were really lost. I was becoming one with the trees.
Oh Chelsea, you are so funny, i love the spider monkey
THis is ROCKIN! lol... I love the relation to spider monkies, they are facinating creatures! lol
Yall act like we were really lost. I was becoming one with the trees.
Oh Chelsea, you are so funny, i love the spider monkey
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