Harsh Words

Many words related to people’s race, family, character and background that provoke strong emotion are often referred as harsh word. These words are often bad words that condemn your race, background or personality or just sarcastic statement that often let people feel uncomfortable with. Words that usually make me angry are words that sarcastically criticize me or my family due to stereotype. Also words that condemn me as an individual with profanity and hostile slang words make me mad. Besides the wording, the tone of your speech can also be harsh. When a person is sarcastically saying a word that usually has a neutral meaning, one might feel offended by it due to their misunderstandings or it’s deeply related to their strong emotions. For example, if someone sarcastically say that you are a genius, the first thing you are thinking of is not that he or she is complimenting you, but instead saying it so that the word has a second meaning which is condemning you. Finally words that’s related to people’s political view or nationality may provoke strong feelings too. For example, it may be offensive to say that all Asians who are speaking in mandarin are considered as Chinese. Some people may interpret the “Chinese” as calling them as citizen of China.

Mockingbird So Far

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is about a woman’s childhood. The narrator is a young girl nicknamed Scout who lived in Maycomb, Alabama along with his father and brother. The story was set during the Great depression, when people were generally all pretty poor and still discriminating the African American. The chapter starts out describing Scout’s background that she lost her mom when she was only 2 and she spent most her time playing with her brother Jem and neighbor Dill. In the summer, the children would play games such as imitating the Radley family, a infamous family that is disliked by the Maycomb community, and playing dare games. Due to Scout’s precocious knowledge, being able to read difficult stories at a young age, she found school to be boring that it was too easy for her. Scout’s father Atticus Finch is the main focus of the story that through Scout’s perspective, the reader will discover how Black are treated during this time period and realistically depict how not all White are racists. Atticus is a well respected lawyer of the community, who treated everyone equally despite their race. Atticus discussed how black is like a mockingbird that does no harm to human, yet people are trying to kill it.

Response to the Veil

When the congregation first saw Mr. Hooper entering the church with a black veil covering his face, they were murmuring to each other and wondering whether the man is really the minister they have known. Although the minister spoke in a normal, usual tone, people were scared and terrified by his sermon, which seemed more powerful and dark. As if the congregation were paranoid, they felt like the minister is creeping into their minds, trying to discover their sins which they may not even consciously know about. The congregation acted this way because usually black veil usually symbolizes mourns for the dead and to cover their sadness so it won’t affect the other. With a minister wearing a black veil on a happy Sunday, the whole joyful atmosphere is disrupted with a strange atmosphere. Like most puritans in the past, they are extremely paranoid when it comes to the issue of guilt and sin. They think they might have committed sins that they don’t even know about and constantly want to go to church and allow the minister to free and purify their soul with his preaching. In a present world, people may just feel awkward like the congregation but never be scared of being creep upon by the minister.

Parable

One day in the medieval period, a rich knight is searching around the country for a good sword. This knight is a greedy man and loves anything that shines. When a black smith shows him some really nice swords, he rejects all of them because they are all made of iron with a silver metallic appearance on it without any attractive decorations. After meeting with more than 100 black smiths, he finally sees a sword he has always dreamt of. This sword is made of 100% gold on the blade, with red ruby decorated on the handle and fancy designs of dragons on the hilt. As the knight held the sword under the sun, the golden blade makes him feel invincible and magnificent. On the other hand, an experienced knight is also searching around the country for a good sword. Wanting to please him, all the black smiths he has met are trying to sell him fancy swords with diamonds and gold on them. However, the experienced knight rejects the offers and buys a seemly ordinary sword made of iron with a simple and plain design. One day, during a civil war, the 2 knights face each other face to face on the battle field. Before the fight, the rich knight arrogantly declares, “Ha, what an ordinary sword, you shall die under my almighty golden sword.” With only 1 round, the rich knight’s golden sword quickly becomes dull with a chipped blade. Soon enough, the rich knight is defeated by the experienced knight with a simple and ordinary sword.

The Saddest of All Prisons

“The saddest of all prisons is a person’s own heart,” quoted from Nathaniel Hawthorn. Despite all the infamous prisons in the world, the worst prison one can ever find is actually in one’s own heart, where a person conceals his or her deep emotions within themselves. In many of his work, Nathaniel Hawthorn proves how guilt can affect and isolate one from the society. For example, Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter, who as a respected minister in the Puritan community, had committed adultery. Instead of revealing his crime, Dimmesdale was too afraid to confess that he concealed his emotion deep within his heart. As these emotion and guilt builds up, it eventually destroy Dimmesdale by driving him sick and forcing him to commit suicide. These prisons of emotion often times can last forever in one’s heart and can never be broken. Would people today still hide away their guilt deep within their heart? I believe it would be a yes. However, we will never be able to find out since they hide their emotion “secretly” within themselves that they may just perhaps perform and act normally without being severely influenced by the emotion. As human, it’s normal for as to hide our feelings to avoid shame and humiliation from the community. It is unlikely that one would confess unless forcefully told to do so.

Comparing Poem

In The Tide Rises The Tide Falls, it mainly focuses on how human is so insignificant compare to nature that unlike nature which goes in cycle, human don’t. In the poem, it describes how a man’s trace on the beach is easily washed away in a night that the next day it seems as if the man has never walk on the beach. In my opinion, it illustrated that human is so insignificant that our trace on this earth can easily be washed away and vanished. However, on the contrary, in the poem The Cross of Snow, it conveys a feeling that one can never be washed away although the physical body may long be perished. In the Cross of Snow, the poet described how he remembers his wife’s death and his grief is like a big cross on a snowy mountain. Although his wife has passed away for 18 years and her body now longer leaves any trace on the earth, his memory of her still exist deep inside his heart. This is different from The Tide Rises and The tide falls although physically human’s trace disappear as time flies, memories of us will forever lies in people’s heart and can never be washed away.

Image of Grief

Choosing an image of a holy cross on the snow mountain, Henry Longfellow used a powerful image to convey his intense emotion of grief and sadness toward his wife’s death. With a holy cross, this conveys a sense of religious feel into the poem that indicates Longfellow was religious. By saying that he had bear the cross for 18 years and was changeless since her death clearly demonstrate his love for her that he felt probably guilt to be unable to rescue his love and forever grief over her death. An example of an intense image to express the feeling of grief is rain. When you feel sad, often times the rain starts to pour out like water fall from the sky, mixing with lighting and thunder. As you scream out loud “NOOOOOO!” holding someone you dear in your arm, unable to save her from the inevitable death, the thunder strikes the earth to express your anger and the rain to express your grief. Your tears mixed with the rain soak your clothes and wet your face. It seems like the god is weeping with you and sharing the same grief as you. Rain is a perfect example for expressing grief.