!?!?!?! *P [_] |\| ( + [_] /\ + ! O |\|* ?!?!?!?!

         If there's one thing I learned this week, it would be that debating is hard-very hard. As both sides argued back and forth, both had really good rebuttals.
        For the anti-side, our strongest rebuttal was probably just that the standard conventions of punctuation would limit individual style(especially in the 21st century with Twitter, etc) and how punctuation is ever-evolving.
       The other side makes a good point about how it is important for clarification, especially in academic or professional settings. Even though I was on the anti side, I find myself still debating whether the standards of punctuation is necessary. I understand how it's important in academic settings, but I find that most teens disregard punctuation on social networks or texting just because they assume people can understand them through the context.
       An example of the "individual style" of punctuation is seen when teens choose to use a period or not. It's kind of funny that "Ok","Ok." are interpreted differently. A lot of people automatically assume that the period means, "Uh oh this person is pissed!" Also it is very, very rare to see correct punctuation on twitter. Most people just want the freedom of expression without having to worry about some "standard" that they have to follow. Punctuation not only puts in areas where there should be a pause-nowadays it also shows the tone, mood, and attitude.
   
Argument for punctuation:

A wonderful song regarding the oxford comma:

Marked for Life?

        Alas, time for another blog post. When I read There Is No Unmarked Woman, a sadness came upon me as I realized that women were trapped in this horrible game of marking. We are judged by every action, every word, every movement. Throwing back to a previous topic, I think all of this started back in the day when men started to stereotype women as weak. Being seen as weak, the only way that women had an chance of gaining power was against other women, so they compared each other in the aspects of beauty, wealth, status, etc. As time progressed, although women have gained more rights than the past, this "default setting" of judgment and competition among women has stayed. I think that part of this marking by men has started from women. 

          So, I think the only way to get rid of this "marking" is when women stop the marking first. If even women can't stop labeling each other by their sexuality, how can the rest of society? Even just in high school there isn't a day where I don't hear a girl go "Look at what she's wearing! She's such a slob; Wow she talks to so many boys, she's such a flirt!" We need to start the change and serve as an example. 

      Relating to The Scarlet Letter, I think Hester serves as a prime example. Instead of conforming to what society expects her to act like, she uses her marking as a slap back in their face by remaining strong. Contrary to what many men would think, Hester(THE WOMAN) is stronger than Dimmesdale(THE MAN) in this case. She defies the stereotype of women being the weaker sex. 

Lesson of the day: listen to Rosie!

 My reaction to the end of The Scarlet Letter:

The Truth Will Set You Free

       Lies on lies on lies. It's an inevitable part of our lives. There comes to a point where your pile of lies will consume you. You are your lies, your lies are you. You'll reach a breaking point, and your guilt will eat you from the inside out.
       This week as we read The Scarlet Letter, we saw two different ways of dealing with sins. Hester, being found out, confessed her sin and was harshly judged by all the townspeople. Although she was condemned to a lifetime of judgement, she could live her life freely with Pearl since her sin was already out there. She doesn't have the guilt of her sin eating her out anymore. Also, as the years passed, the townspeople have somewhat forgiven her and now view her differently. Instead of the letter A representing adultery, they now think it stand for able. They think she's a very kind woman who helps out the poor. Although she is still shunned, the judgement on her has decreased.
       On the other hand, Dimmesdale cannot bring himself to confess his sin. As a minister, the townspeople would go insane if they found out that he also confessed the sin. As he holds his sin in, it is eating him alive not only emotionally and mentally, but also physically. His guilt will pile up until he reaches his breaking point.
       I think this applies to real life because it teaches us that we can never run away from our sins. They will always be with us but if we confess and don't let it pile up, then it's okay. This kind of relates to the statement of how you tell so many lies that you don't even remember the truth anymore. This is the same with sins. If you let them pile up then it will drive you insane. You will lose your identity and sanity. More concisely: the truth will set you free.

     

Me, Myself, and I

       As we read "This is Water" in class this week, one line from Wallace particularly stuck out to me.

"Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out."

       This is going to be a stereotypical asian blog post, but I realized that this powerful quote really applied to me (mostly the intelligence part). Junior year: the hellish year full of standardized test, APs, etc.( a stereotype that proves to be true). There isn't a day where I don't hear people around me saying "What did you get on that test?...I can't believe she aced it!...How did you do?...I'm so dumb compared to her!...At least she got a lower grade than me!" There goes the never ending cycle of comparing and using someone else's score as an excuse to make yourself feel better. This cycle leads to one thinking, "Why can't I be as smart as *so and so*...Why can't I be as athletic as *so and so*?" I'm not going to lie, I do this too. But, it needs to stop.
       The more we focus solely on one thing, the more we'll lose. The smarter you want to be, the dumber you will feel. The richer you want to be; no amount of material goods will ever satisfy you. The more power you crave, the more vulnerable you will feel.
       The moral of this? I just feel like we need to learn to be grateful for what we are and stop trying to be someone that we're not. We don't need to be as smart as other people to fulfill our lives; we don't need to prove ourselves to other people in order to feel powerful.
       My motto that I presented this week was "You are as invincible as you believe yourself to be." In other words, YOU are the limit of yourself, not other people!! You can be as smart, powerful, content, or rich as you want to be, but be happy with your own limits. Don't let other people define what your limits are. Define for yourself what you consider to be smart. It could literally be intelligent, or it could mean being able to put 100% effort into something and know you tried as hard as you could. Being powerful could mean being able to control, or being able to overcome your fears. Being rich could mean having loads of money, or being rich in your heart; in other words, being able to give back to someone who could never repay you.

As the great Dr. Seuss said, "Today you are You, that is truer than true, there is no one alive who is Youer than You."

O'er the Land of the Free

       In class this week we read the Declaration of Independence and discussed if we have lived up to the statement "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

       I think the debate over whether or not we have lived up to that statement is subjective because the interpretation of the statement changes with each generation. At first, the "men" that the founding fathers refer to are only white men. 

       In the early 1900s, the definition of "men" expanded to women and they fought for their suffrage. Then, African-Americans fought to have the same rights. It's kind of sad that it took America so long to expand these rights to these people who should have had the same rights in the first place. In this generation, people are still fighting for gay rights. The pessimist would say that America does not live up to the statement, but the optimist would say that America is just slow in it's progress in living up it.
       Personally, I feel like America has made more progress than a lot of other countries, but we still have a long way to go. Even though we'd like to say that we all have the same rights, racism and prejudice is still prevalent in our lives and I don't think there's ever going to be a complete end to it.
       Recently in the news, an African-American gymnast named Simone competed at worlds and an Italian gymnast who finished right behind her claimed that Americans always have an unfair advantage over every other country and stated that maybe next time her and her team mate should paint their skin black so they would win. This remark really struck me at how terrible people can be. Even though this isn't necessarily a remark made by an American, this is an example of how there is still progress to be made in the definition of equality. Prejudice often overpowers the fact that all people should have the same rights.

Who are you?

       This weekend as I read Patrick Henry's speech, I noticed that in his style, he uses a lot of rhetorical questions to get his point across. Rhetorical questions ultimately reveal the truth by answering simple questions that we forget. He pauses in between the questions to give us time to reflect and think about the truth that's hidden.

        Every week(more like every day) I constantly hear my parents yell, "Is your room clean? Homework done? ACT practice? Is that a phone I see? Where's the homework?" Although this gets very, very annoying, I realize that deep down I know the answer to all of those and they're just using the truth against me to reveal what I need to be doing. The questions keep me on my toes and somewhat motivate me that I need to get up and do something. 

       I think this relates a lot to The Crucible. This week, we discussed how one of the main points in the play was reputation and your name. I think that rhetorical questions help us remember who we are and help us make the right choices. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Would your mom be proud if she knew you did that? Wouldn't you get caught? Do you want to get into college or not?" Rhetorical questions help people remember that they need to stay true to their identity so their good name can live on. 

       

Girl World is a Mean World

       This week, as we read The Crucible, we saw how one accusation by a single person can lead to the whole world believing in something false. Abigail portrays how manipulative humans can be when they want something. She sets up a trap to make Elizabeth look guilty of witchcraft, and when she accused her, the court just automatically believed her.
       The sad truth is this is similar in high schools, especially with girls. Through the years, there have been a countless number of times when one girl starts a rumor about someone else and everyone else just believes them even if they don't have proof. Think about it- high school is just everyone trying to follow a stupid "status-quo". Shamefully, there have been many times when a girl becomes a victim of a rumor and gets a negative image. Everyone just starts to believe it because the "popular" girl started the rumor, so who would want to go against the "popular" girl? A lot of the time, people decide that laying low is better than sticking up for someone because you might become the next victim.
       This is similar in The Crucible when Mary Warren says she can't confess the truth because Abigail would kill her. In this case, Abigail is the "popular" girl and Mary Warren would rather inflict the rumors on someone else than become the victim herself.
       This past week, National Mean Girls Day was on October 3rd and I realized that it connected well with this topic. In the movie, Regina George-"the popular girl"- spreads nasty rumors about Janice Ian and every girl automatically believed in it just cause they didn't want to go against Regina. They'd rather laugh with the bully than be laughed at.
       So, my message to all is screw the status quo! This is cliche, but the only way to end this cycle of gossip, accusations, and rumors, is if YOU stand up.