Rappachini's daughter 1/31/11

        While I can't say that this story is "exciting," it does have some interesting points. Firstly, on the differences between the movie and the book, I was curious why they existed at all. But I guess that's Hollywood, nothing more. I found a couple of things worthy of note.
        The first is that the professor made no appearance at the end of the movie, while he had the very last line at the end of the movie. I found his whole character to be very mysterious. Why is it that he knows so much about Rappachini and his daughter, and how does he just happen to have an amphora of antidote lying around??? And that brings up another good point: did he know the effect that the "antidote" would have on Beatrice? He sure didn't seem to shocked when she died.
        The second thing that I was what is to happen from here? And if there were any antidote left in the amphora, would it kill Giovanni too? If that is the case, then the professor is hiding something big. I guess this blog entry has become a character analysis of this professor, but I really feel like he plays a vital role despite the few number of appearances he makes. If I happened to completely miss what you wanted me to discuss in this entry, let me know and I will do another, but this is the first thing that came to my mind.

Discussion about chapter 13 of Scarlet Letter

        Chapter 13 gives us a new definition of Hester in society. She is viewed less as a villainous sinner, and more of a reformed citizen. There are those who still scorn her, as there always will be, but many see her in a different light. Officially she is still a poor outcast, destined to be alone; The townspeople, however, see her as a good person. She helps the poor, cares for the sick, and is an all around good person.
        Dimmesdale is also becoming a bit of an issue to Hester. He is approaching insanity because of this secret that he is holding in, and it worries Hester. I think that she is also realizing that there are going to be some issues with Pearl as she grows up too. She will eventually inherent some of her mother's isolation.
        I think that's all. This was mostly a speculative chapter that was just analyzing the current state of the characters, so I don't think there is a whole lot more to talk about.

What I now understand about writing a thesis

While I feel I already had a good grasp on the things that needed to be in a thesis, I think that going over it in class was still very beneficial. I think the information that was the most helpful was the fact that theses need to be VERY specific. I have been one to give very vague theses in the past, so that was a good refresher. From my new definition, a thesis is a specific statement that addresses all parts of your paper, setting up a strong opinion.

Scarlet Letter chapter projects

My group consisted of Eunji, Nina, David, and myself, and we were responsible for chapters 6-11. Instead of doing the one at a time as a group, we split into two subgroups. I worked with Eunji and chapters 6, 9 and 10. Between the two of us, she was the one who was actually doing the physical drawing while I supplied the information. In other words, I managed and she worked. We made a good team though, and I felt that we were both important to the project.