Journal Entry 40, Title: Harsh Words

Many words that provoke strong emotional responses are words that relate to the people’s race, family, or their weak points. These words either say bad things, or remind the people of what they are bad at. Words that offend people in general are the words that tell people they are dumb or unattractive. Words that make me angry are the words that remind me of the things that I wanted to hide or forget. The words that offend people are the words that provoke strong emotion. Like the word referring to the black people in the past, that word offended the black people by saying that their skin color is of the inferiors. Other words that offend me are the words that condemn my family. The tone of your voice can also provoke strong emotion when you are saying certain things. If you’re saying something with a sarcastic voice, people might get offended; but if you say it with an earnest voice, people won’t be offended. Sometimes your voice is what makes a word become an insult. 

Journal Entry 39, Title: Mockingbird So Far

The book To Kill a Mocking Bird is told from a woman named Scout’s point of view, and it is told in a light and merry mood. The story begins as Scout looks back at her childhood. She started from the summer when they met a boy named Dill. By the details given in the story, I think the setting is around the 1900s in America, when the depression is happening, and when there is still slavery. There isn’t an actual plot in this story, it sort of goes by chronological order, like a woman telling the story of her life. Scout has a brother named Jem, and they spent a lot of time playing together before they went to school. After Scout finished first grade, Jem preferred to play with Dill, who comes to Maycomb every summer. These three children played around the Radley house. They make plays and games about the house and the Radley son, Arthur. I think this book is very helpful for us to understand traditional American history and culture. Many of the things that Scout’s father, Atticus Finch told his children taught me what they valued. I think the Southern people are generally good natured, and they live a simple life. Atticus Finch told his children many times that “If Boo Radley wants to stay in his house; he has the right to do so. If he wants to come out, he will go out himself; you don’t have to force him out.” From this sentence I think the traditional Americans are simple and easy-going, they don’t want to cause trouble.

Journal Entry 38, Title: Response to the veil

The congregation in “The Minister’s Black Veil” responded to the black veil immediately after they saw it. They were very curious about the reason why the Minister wore the black veil and began taking random guesses. Some of the people were very terrified as they think the black veil as a black and ominous thing. I think the congregation’s reaction won’t be considered reasonable in our modern time, but it might probably be reasonable in that time, because their lives revolve solely around religions. Mr. Hooper acted as a sign of purity and a symbol of a great soul to the congregation, but when Mr. Hooper wore the black veil, it somewhat cast doubt on the congregation’s beliefs, and because the beliefs are the center of the congregation’s lives, they are terrified. I think the congregation did not overreact because that kind of reaction towards that kind of things was considered reasonable in the past. I think that if we were in a PAS school meeting, and Pamela went up in front wearing a black veil, we wouldn’t have had any reaction stronger than being mildly curious. I think I will just be curious of the reason Pamela did such a thing, and I will ask my classmates about the reason. On the other hand, if it was something that meant a lot to us, we would have a reaction similar to the Puritan congregations. For example, if Pamela went up and pulled out a gun, we would certainly have a very big reaction. I think a person living in a Puritan community and a person living in modern-day Taiwan will have different reactions to different things. We will only react strongly to something that matters to us, modern day people wouldn’t have cared if they see someone talking with a black veil on their face. Most modern day people will only think that person is retarded or just plain weird.

Journal Entry 37, Title: Parable

There were two servants in Roger’s house, one of them is bright and brilliant, and one of them is not that smart. One day, Roger had to leave the town for a few weeks for his business, and he left the house for the two servants to care for. Before Roger left, he told the servants to remember to receive the money from one of his fellow businessman, because he will be away at the time when the businessman comes. A few days after Roger left, a well-dressed man with a big mustache came to the house and gave half of the money to the smart servant, and half to the other servant. The amount of the money was so great; it is enough to buy an entire castle. After the businessman left, the smart servant thought deeply, and decided that he will run away with the money. The other servant didn’t think much about the money; he put it in a box and kept it safely in his master’s room. That night, the smart servant packed all his belongings and departed, leaving the house to the other servant. During the next few days after the smart servant left, a huge snowstorm struck the town and covered everything with snow. After the roads were cleared, the dumb servant went out, and found the smart servant frozen to death in the midst of the snow. The dumb servant later got the news that Roger also died in the snowstorm. Because Roger has no relatives, the dumb servant received all the money and wealth that Roger had. The dumb servant built many great bridges and donated money to the poor, he was loved by everyone in the town.

Journal Entry 36, Title: The Saddest of All Prisons

I agree that the saddest of all prisons is a person’s own heart. Our own heart is a cage that can shut off everything outside, and conceal everything inside. I think that many people in the world still carry guilt in their heart, like the people in the past. One of the examples of people concealing their guilt in the past is Arthur Dimmesdale. He was unable to confess because of the society he lived in. One of the modern examples is the North Korea president. The president jumped off a cliff and committed suicide, I think he hid some secrets in his heart and became more and more uncomfortable, so the guilt eventually drove him to death. I believe that the guilty secrets hidden in people’s heart can in fact isolate people from others. Arthur Dimmesdale began to feel uncomfortable being with other people, and the Korean president committed suicide without noticing his family. I think people who carry guilty secrets inside their hearts can never be happy; they can only gain happiness by confessing. Arthur Dimmesdale became happier after he confessed to the public, so I think whenever you have these kinds of secrets hidden in your heart; you should confess to someone and let the secrets out.

Journal entry 35, Title: Comparing Poems

Even though the poem “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls”, and “The Cross of Snow” is written by the same author, they are kind of different. One of the most significant differences is the attitude towards death in the poem. In The Cross of Snow, the author showed his grief and regret about the fact that his wife has died. In contrast, the poem The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls explained death as a nature’s cycle, it happens to everyone and it is inevitable. In The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls, the author has no apparent attitude towards death; he treated it merely as something that will eventually happen to everyone. In The Cross of Snow, the author treated death as something that wouldn’t have happened if he tried harder to save her. He regretted the fact that he failed to save her even though he tried. I think the unnamed traveler in the In The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls, the author described an unnamed traveler. I think the unnamed traveler does not describe a specific person, but it describes the whole human race. I think Henry Longfellow is stating the fact that we will all die someday, and it is inevitable. In the other poem, the author described a specific person, which is his wife. I think he knows the fact that everyone will eventually die, but he still regrets the death of his wife because he thinks it’s mostly his fault. 

Journal Entry 34, Title: Image of Grief

Henry Longfellow chose the snowy mountains as a scene that represents intense grief. I think he chose this scene because the snowy scenes convey the meaning of sadness, and maybe his heart is cold and lonely like the tall mountains standing in solitude. I think images from nature that can represent grief or sorrow often involves coldness and bitterness. I think grief can also be represented by cloudy skies or rainy places. “Grief is a city where the sun never shines.” This metaphor compares the feeling of grief and regret with a city that will never have a bright day, and will always be sad and gloomy. I think grief is like the image I’ve chosen because when you are experiencing grief, you tend to be very unhappy and gloomy. Your mind is like a gray city, full of regret, sadness, and other unhappy thoughts. I think grief is a thought that is kind of special, because it’s not happiness, and not as strong as anger. It is a feeling that is somewhere between the two. Grief is often similar to regret, we have grief mostly because we regret something. We keep on thinking about that specific thing that make us regret, so our minds eventually gets filled with grief.