Evolution Of Punctuation

Throughout centuries punctuation though present, has found a way to morph into several forms. From Shakespeare's famous "How fare thee?" to the average "How are you?" and finally to the evolution of "Waddup?" Even though these sentences ultimately mean the same thing, in today's time, you will rarely ever find someone incorporating Elizabethan language in his/her day-to-day life. Henry Hitchings, the author of the article Punctuation, Social Media, and Evolving Rules of Communication  claims that change in culture reflects change in language. He further elaborates by mentioning previous used punctuation marks such as the "Pilcrow and the hedera" which along with culture also evolved and new marks were/are introduced. As Hitching says, "Punctuation comes and goes" but it never disappears.
                              

Too many grammar restrictions can be seen as "feigning liberation" as it has the ability to make an individual intimidated by the various rules of grammar and overall feel as if grammar is "tightening the leash"  on creativity. If grammar were to cut down its rules, it would leave "a trail of possibilities" (On Punctuation by Elizabeth Austen) for an individual to express his/her thoughts. Furthermore, Amanda Cosco conveys how twitter, a popular (meaning comfortable) means of communication can make one a better writer. In her article How Twitter Can Make You a Better Writer, Cosco is able to point out the perks of Twitter's tight word count as it forces people to be "concise and less flowery" as you wouldn't want to waste "your precious characters on "very" or "really" when you could actually be saying something substantial." This in turn results in the denunciation of the overall issue of wordiness.  It's true that there are many unintelligent tweets, but it's also a known fact that many famous poets such as Andrea Gibson benefit from tweeting as it also can be used as a "testing ground for more developed writings."  In the end, Twitter is accessible to anyone who wants it as it creates a leveled ground. Tweets can range from being unnecessary to beautiful, it depends on how you want to express yourself as "a tweet is essentially a thought gone public" (Cosco 8).  

                                             

Free Fallin

One thing we desire - whether from stress or judgement- is to be free. One may feel trapped by higher authority and their ideals as he/she may not like being ordered around and feel controlled.

"Elbows bent, hands on shoulder, [Pecola] flailed her arms like a bird in an eternal, grotesquely futile effort to fly. Beating the air, a winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach-could not even see- but which filled the valleys of the mind" (Morrison 204).

Morrison uses imagery in this passage to illustrate the strong desire that consumes Pecola to achieve her dream-to be a part of the white standards.Usually, when you see a kid acting like a bird, you would think that they're just fooling around and laugh it off. The imagery is recognized to challenge this thought- process as Pecola is not just playing, she's desperate. Pecola desperately flaps her arms so that somehow she could miraculously fly and reach the blue sky. The blue sky symbolizes white beauty. In a culture where white beauty is dominant and black beauty is ignored, it is impossible for Pecola to live her dream.

A simile is used to compare Pecola to a bird. A bird symbolizes freedom, which is exactly what Pecola strives for. She wants to be free from the "ugliness" and obtain blue-eyes. Unfortunately, even when she thinks she finally has blue eyes, society does not see any difference and because of this she is driven to madness as the pressure becomes to overwhelming.

Furthermore by contrasting the situations of Pecola and Cholly, Morrison is able to elaborate on the dangers of too much freedom. Cholly ended up becoming free to the point where he could do anything he wanted and get away with it. In the end, his freedom drove him to insanity.

Cholly's cause of madness was too much freedom whereas Pecola's was the opposite.

                                                     
                  

In this animated image, the birds (symbol for freedom) are frantically flying, having no sense of direction. This shows how to a certain extent, some sort of guidance  is necessary as too much freedom is harmful.

They Are Flowers For Those Who Want To See Them

So I searched up the literal definition of a weed and Google claims it is a "wild plant growing where it is not wanted " I connected this definition to a particular weed- a dandelion. If they are so unwanted then why do kids get excited when they find one and blow on it? Its pretty ironic because when I was little I used to say- "Look! I wish!" instead of "Look! A dandelion!" I used to think of it as good luck or hope, but in a general perspective it is just a weed- ugly and unwelcomed.

This week in class, we discussed the book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Pecola questions why people look at dandelions as weeds. She acknowledges how people make "dandelion soup..dandelion wine, yet nobody loves the head of a dandelion" (Morrison 47). Though society claims dandelions are ugly, Pecola thought otherwise. In a way, the dandelions represent Pecola and the African American community. The people label them as "ugly" yet need them for their own work. Pecola is a young black girl who is raised with no sense of self- value, just like the dandelions. She is a dandelion who hopes to have blue eyes and blond hair, so that she can be pretty.

Dandelions are not actually ugly, but perspective can morph this idea of true beauty into something it is not. Beauty is art, it has many different perspectives just like a dandelion- some look at it as just an ugly weed, while others (like Pecola) are attracted to it.

In the Hunger Games, Katniss looks at a dandelion as symbol for hope. After Peeta gave her bread to feed her family, she saw three dandelions. She realizes that she could feed her family with food from forest gatherings. Katniss looked at the dandelions as a survival tool whereas society just deemed it useless.
                                   
                                    
                                                 

" Beauty is power; a smile is its sword" - John Ray

This week in class, we discussed beauty and how media has condensed the overall definition of it. We claimed that media is to blame for this issue as it continues to idolize beauty through the most unlikely sources we tend to overlook- such as toys! Media is toying with the meaning of true beauty- see what I did there? We compared a modern day barbie doll to a 70's doll and noted that the modern doll reflects how a "beautiful" woman should look in the eyes of society. By creating such a toy doll, the false definition of beauty is unconsciously encrypted into an individual's mind from a very young age. 

With the amount of blame media gets from the crowd, I always wondered whether they  actually ever even said something which was infact a 100% true. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion that yes they have. Media- or more specifically SOCIAL media has successfully made the definition of beauty diverse. Social media can be seen as the ground where individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives converge. 

 From what I've seen, the most effective way to boost or lower someone's self esteem is through the comments from others.  I think we all can agree that when we upload a picture and receive complements, we feel pretty darn good. This leads you to take more pictures, which overall leads to a more confident smile. It is a known fact that people's opinions can seriously affect the way we judge certain things, why not use this piece of information in a more positive aspect?

Dove conducted a survey and found that after social media gained its popularity, there was an approximately 70% increase in the total number of people of who are now content with the way they look. 

                                     

"It [social media] impacts beauty because there is an opportunity to redefine it."- Jess Weiner

The Impunity Crisis

In 1776, The Declaration of Independence was born and drawn up by the citizens of the United States who mutually felt oppressed by the government and its numerous restrictive laws. The purpose of the declaration was to create unity among the people and right the wrongs, yet it did not live to its full extent.

After its success, social impunity was discovered. People took out the "man" in "mankind" and misinterpreted it as being only directed for men. Therefore, the dehumanization of women was still unofficially apparent. In the Incidents in the life of a slave girl, Harriet Jacobs addresses this issue by exposing the mental and physical hardships of a slave girl named Linda. Linda defies her owner by running way so that she could gain freedom. In return, Mr. Flint  (Linda's master) orders a hunt and announces that anyone who returned her to him would receive an award. Due to this, Linda's great idea of freedom morphs into a state of being "freely" trapped in a closet for 7 years. Free, yet not free. 

Free, yet not- this is what Stanton sees after the the Declaration of Independence. It did not affect the lives of women in any way. "He had oppressed her on all sides" (Stanton 39) Society saw this and graciously granted impunity. Thus, the Declaration of Sentiments was born. Its purpose was to permit women immunity from the oppressor and thus, create true unity among the people. Unfortunately, just like the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments did not live to its full extent. 

In the non-fiction article, Black Men and Public Space published in 1986 by Brent Staples, (way after the declarations were installed in our government) is about a black man who is forced to be alert of his actions and understand the cause and effects of them just so that people can feel "safe" or comfortable around him. When Staples and a women were the only two on the street late at night, the women speed-walked away from what she clearly interpreted as "the danger zone". Society granted impunity to the women thus, making it okay for her to not look at the man as a rightful equal.

 Due to the stereotypical environment we are raised in, it has become almost impossible to not judge someone based on their race. As a result of the increasingly large amount of  inequality faced in our world. impunity is also increasing. 

 "What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse" -Isabel Allende

                                                        

Good guy, bad guy

As the story of The Scarlet Letter came to an end, I could not help but question whether or not Chillingworth was even the villain or not. His death was not intensified or extravagant, instead he just "vanished from mortal sight" (Hawthorne 254). 

I came to the resolution that though Chillingworth was to some extent portrayed as the evil villain, he was not in actual. He was just a man trying to find a purpose in life. Unfortunately, his purpose was revenge on the kind man (Dimmesdale), thus making him seem antagonist the audience's eyes. 

Though the audience must understand that through Chillingworth's point of view, Dimmesdale was the dishonorable one since he was the reason Hester cheated on her husband. 

In one of my favorite series: Divergent, one of the characters is a women named Tori. She is of the dauntless faction and is portrayed to be on the good side. Her brother was killed by Jeanine Mathews- the head of the Erudite compound. In return, Tori made it her personal vendetta to kill Jeanine. 

This is how Chillingworth and Tori show a stark contrast. Though they both found the same purpose in life: revenge, Chillingworth wanted revenge on the good guy, therefore he was marked as the bad guy whereas Tori wanted revenge on the bad guy, therefore she was marked as the good guy. 

In the end, it all depends on judgement. Usually, the "cheaters" are the one's who receive the hate, but due to the fact that in The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses pretty connotations to label Dimmesdale and negative connotations to label Chillingworth, the audience is involuntarily obligated to brand Chillingworth as the malignant character.  

                           

                               

Female Sports Women Are Marked

Many women have portrayed their extraordinary prowess to the world by achieving their goals, yet they go unnoticed. For instance, there is a woman in Australia named Elise Kellond- she won the World cup Football (soccer) All-Stars team in 2011, yet many Australians don't even know who she is. What's the point of winning the World cup when the world, let alone your home country does not even recognize you for your achievement. 

Most of us have heard and seen amazing sport accomplishments made by players all around the world. These players (both men and women) strive to reach the top of the ladder with great success stories, yet why is it that ~eighty percent of people devote their conversations to men's sports only?

 In an article written by Nikola Gow she also questions this issue in Australia and hypothesizes that "This could be due to the sexism of those running media outlets, women’s sport being less popular or the lack of financial gain for the media in promoting it." 

This issue relates to There Is No Unmarked Woman by Deborah Tannen, as she claims how women have become "marked." Though Kellond was given a chance and actually did get to live her dream, she did not become that popular in the media. This is probably because she is a female and is therefore marked in some sort of way to not associate herself to sports. I really hope it doesn't come to the point where female players must disguise themselves as a guy, like Viola from She's The Man and join an all guys soccer team to prove how good they are and finally get noticed (though that would be pretty amusing to see).