PROJECT PROPOSAL GLASS MENAGEERIE

English 1B Monday & wednesday 4-5:20pm

Group: K.C. Andrew, Pedro, Faith

Assignments:

Writer: K.C.

Director: K.C.

Editor: Faith

Set/Costume Designer: Faith

Actors: Pedro & Andrew

Rough Draft Essay The Letter "A"

Faith Lucero                                                                                                                                                                                           

Professor: Stacey Knapp

English 1B

4 May 2011

In the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A manifests in a variety of forms and places. Not only does the A manifest in various forms, but it also acquires a variety of meanings. It represents more than just the sin of adultery. Even as the original mark of adultery, the scarlet letter has a different individual meaning to the various characters.

To Hester, the A is a symbol of unjust humiliation. The A magnifies in an armor breastplate at the Governor's mansion to exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be acutely the most prominent feature of Hester's semblance. In truth, she emerges absolutely hidden behind it. The A grows to be larger than Hester signifying the town's view of her sin. They do not see the human being behind the scarlet letter, they only see a sinner. For Hester, the A is not only a symbol of adultery, but also a symbol of alienation. She is an outcast from society and the women treat her differently by constantly sneering at her in public. The scarlet letter is a symbol of what society wants to see and the decision to create a relativity. The townspeople soon began to accept her and believe that letter had supernatural powers. They decide that it meant able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength, that they were allowing her to remove it. Their opinion and vision of the scarlet letter changes into its complete opposite within a short period of under ten year's time. This opinion conforms according to their worldly view of convenience. To the Puritan community, it is a mark of just punishment. In the beginning of the story the letter struck fear into the society's hearts. It symbolizes the unfair humiliation she endures, such as humiliation standing on the scaffold at noon in public view. The ornately gold-embroidered A on Hester's heart, at which Pearl throws wildflowers and decorates with a border of prickly burrs. To Pearl, the A is a bright and mysterious curiosity which symbolizes her existence and the meaning behind it. In mockery, Pearl creates an A on her chest made of green seaweed which represents purity and innocence, but also signifies Pearl's future as the daughter of sinner. For Chillingworth, the A represents the need for revenge and is the spur to this quest. To Dimmesdale, the A is a piercing reminder of his the guilt engulfing his concealed sin. It drives him to punish himself and endure Chillingworth's torture. In addition, the A also symbolizes attributes other than adultery. On the night of his vigil on the scaffold, Dimmesdale sees an immense red A in the sky. It symbolizes Angel when a great red letter in the sky, the letter A, which the townspeople interpret to stand for angel, as it manifests in the sky on the night of Governor Winthrop's death. One of the most dramatic of the several A's the book hints at is the A so frequently seen earlier and which Dimmesdale finally reveals to be an A on his chest by most of the spectators who witness his confession and death. At the end of the novel, as a summary symbol, the scarlet A refers against the black background on Hester and Dimmesdale's tombstone.

Dimmesdale and the Change

Dimmesdale the minister and Hester’s secret lover watched Hester come out of prison for her crime of committing adultery. Although Dimmesdale’s congregation had not yet known that he was the secret lover, he slowly tormented himself of his shame and guilt and started to change throughout the novel. Dimmesdale would hold his hand over his heart as if something was hurting him; he started to act as if he was in poor health.  

Before Dimmesdale revealed himself, he and Hester decided to run away together. A bad side of Dimmesdale started to a crew, he wanted to do things he had never wanted to do before and saw and then began to see a future outside of his ministry, “Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!”She silently ascended the steps, and stood on the platform, holding little Peal by the hand. The minister felt for the child’s other hand, and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half torpid system. The three formed an electric chain” (Hawthorne 101).

Dimmesdale needed to apply extreme self-control over his tongue to keep himself from destroying other people’s faith and lives. On election Sunday, he preached his last sermon and decides to confess to his congregation and to the people of Boston his secret by revealing the scarlet mark on his chest, over his heart- the mark of the sin, a letter A.  

Extra Credit Dimmesdale Glog:

2nd rough draft the flowers

The Flower

The female characters in the novel, The Flower by Dagoberto Gilb, Silvia, Cindy and Nica, share the traditional gender role of a woman. They all live in this patriarchal system where the man sets the rules and the women abide by them. The main character, Sonny, a fifteen year old boy, shows us the oppressive life style these women face and how their cultural heritage has played a huge role in their lives.

Silvia, the mother of Sonny, was described as a beautiful woman who always dressed so elegant, her clothes were always new, she smelled of perfume, wore sparkling jewelry, her nails were always painted and her high heels were always color coordinated with her outfits. Sonny described Sylvia as a sex object, “How pretty she was in a way men are flipping through pages of dirty magazines” (Gilb10). Silvia didn’t pay much attention to Sonny, he explained a time in the novel when she kissed him, “She kissed me right on the lips. I couldn’t remember the last time she kissed me anywhere, unless it was for show when she’d also be drinking” (Gilb18). Silvia manipulated her way through life by using men; Silvia met a man by the name of, Cloyde Longpre, who would take care of her and her son. Cloyd had provided a home, a car and money for them with the expectation that Silvia would be a stay at home mother, cook for him when he was hungry, cater to any guest who would come over and keep the house clean. Silvia found herself miserable trying to fulfill Cloyd’s expectations. She did not like to cook, did not like to clean, and before she moved in with Cloyd, she had a lady to come and clean her home. Silvia’s life became oppressive because of her dependence on Cloyd, a man she did not love! Silvia seemed to know, no other way to get through life but to use her beauty, it was though she didn’t even know how to love her own children because she was so focused on maintaining herself so she could get through life.

Then there was Cindy, poor little Cindy, a nineteen year old girl who was married to a man who paid no attention to her at all. Cindy flaunted around described as, “Her skin made curves, from a lot below her belly button way up, and it was hard not to pay attention to there because it came so close to those places you weren’t supposed to stare at but couldn’t  not at the same time. If the clothes seemed too small, also everything fit her good” (Gilb28). Cindy didn’t have any friends and was left at home with no money, no car and nowhere to go in life. Her husband Tino would work all day and whenever he came home, he expected sex and would then take off and hang out with his buddies. When she met Sonny and the fact that Sonny would acknowledge her, she used her only weapon which was her body and sex. Cindy would seduce Sonny and would vent to him about how miserable she was and how much she hated her husband. She did seem like a depressed young girl who would do anything for affection and to suppress her feelings of loneliness, boredom and feeling unloved, she would smoke weed and drink alcohol. In Cindy’s defense, maybe she knew no other way in her little world, due to her upbringing in life and was raised to grow up and find a man who is supposed to take care of her and in return her job was to put up with any situation that the man put in her way, even a situation of being dependent on a man. Whatever her situation may have been she did not think

or feel very good about herself, because she stayed in a marriage where she would continue to feel alone and unloved.

Nica was around the same age as Cindy. Nica was actually the opposite of Cindy. She was best described by Sonny as. “She was a little girl in a white chiffon dress and black shoes and a pink ribbon. But you do not tell!” She was a little girl” (Gilb164). Nica was pulled out of school by her parents so she could stay home and take care of her baby brother Angelito. It seemed the only two things in life her mother and step father allowed her to interact with, were her younger brother and the T.V. Her parents would not let her out of the house, so when she met Sonny, she was glad to have a level of conversation with someone of her own age. Sonny introduced her to pizza and gave her the opportunity to express her desires of wanting to change her name to Carmen or Cathy and how she did not like being Mexican and how she want to travel to Spain. Nica suffered from a life style that she had no control over. It was her Mexican heritage and upbringing of her own parents that kept her at home to care for her brother and neglect her education. They sheltered her from the world almost as it was her duty to be their personal slave until her debt was paid off!

From a feminist point of view, these women lived an oppressive life style because of the dominate stereotype image that has carried with us for hundreds of years. Until this very day, women suffer from the staggering motto of, “The Man Wears the Pants,” “The Man has the Better Education,” which means, “The man makes more money,” leading the women’s dependence on a man, which brings us back to Silvia, Cindy and Nica who share a common life style, they have all became dependent on a man to provide for them, even if it meant they lived a unhappy.

WEEK SEVEN "THE YELLOW WALLPAPER."

Based on the title alone, "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper," my breakdown of the story determine that, because we do not have a degree or lack the education that any specialist may have the advantage of, we as human beings could better diagnose ourselves than hearing it from an over educated specialist. I say this because, I myself have been diagnosed with an over active thyroid and was prescribed all these medications which I had refused to take, two or so months later when I went back to see the physician, he had run all the blood work all over again and when the test results finally came back, my Thyroid was back to normal. When the physican originally diagnosed me with hyper tension and offered me medication, I did not refuse it because I was being rebellious I wanted to try an alternative and my life style habits, such as exercising, the way I eat and so forth so I would not have my body become dependent on a medication. This is how I felt and I felt that taking a medication would not be the best thing for me so I tried and succeeded as Charlotte Perkins Gilman did. Instead of laying in bed and going crazy, she continued to live a normal working life.

Literary Terms:

"Transitions"

Addition Category:  again, also, and, and then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, moreover, next, second, still, too
Comparison Category:  also, in the same way, likewise, similarly
Concession Category:  granted, naturally. of course
Contrast Category:  although, and yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that, even so, even though, for all that, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, neverthless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet
Emphasis Category:  certainly, indeed, in fact, of course
Example or Illustration Category:  after all, as an illustration, even, for example, for instance, in conclusion, in deed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is true, of course, namely, specifically, that is, to illustrate, thus, truly
Summary Category:  all in all, altogether, as has been said, finally, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in particular, in short, in simpler terms, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to put differently, to summarize
Time Sequence Category:  alter a while, afterward, again, also, and then, as long as, at last, at length, at that time, before, besides, earlier, eventually, finally

Idea Paper/ROUGH DRAFT

I have been working really hard to use the rigth words so my paper is from a feminist point of view without saying from a feminist point of view just yet, this is what I have so far:

Faith Lucero                                                                                                                                                                                         

Professor: Stacey Knapp

English 1B

7 March 2011

The Flower

The female characters in the novel, The Flower by Dagoberto Gilb, Silvia, Cindy and Nicca, are portrayed as the traditional stay at home women. One or all of these women carries a duty to keep themselves up for their husband, take care of the child, keep the home clean, cook dinner and all the other ideal chauvinist jobs that one might think they should do.  Although through Sonny’s eye’s, he shows us the oppressive life style these women face and how their root heritage have played huge burden in their lives.

Silvia, the mother of Sonny, was described as this beautiful women who always dressed so proper, her clothes were always new she smelled of perfume, wore sparkling jewelry, her nails were always painted and her high heels matched all her new dresses. Sonny described Sylvia as a sex object, “How pretty she was in a way men are flipping through pages of dirty magazines” (Gilb10). Silvia didn’t pay much attention to Sonny, he explained a time in the novel when she kissed him, “She kissed me right on the lips. I couldn’t remember the last time she kissed me anywhere, unless it was for show when she’d also be drinking” (Gilb18). Silvia used her beauty, found a man who would take care of her and her son, Cloyde Longpre, who provided a home, a car and money for them. Silvia did not have to work but found herself miserable. She did not like to cook, did not like to clean, before she married and moved in with Cloyde she had a lady to come and clean her home. Silvia’s life became oppressive because of her dependence on Cloyde,

                                                                                                                        Lucero 2

a man she did not love! Silvia seemed to know, no other way to get through life but to use her beauty, it was though she didn’t even know how to love her own children because she was so focused on maintaining herself so she could get through life.

Then there was Cindy, poor little Cindy, a nineteen year old girl who was married to a man who paid no attention to her at all. Cindy flaunted around described as, “Her skin made curves, from a lot below her belly button way up, and it was hard not to pay attention to there because it came so close to those places you weren’t supposed to stare at but couldn’t  not at the same time. If the clothes seemed to small, also everything fit her good” (Gilb28). Cindy didn’t have any friends and was left at home with no money, no car and nowhere to go in life. Her husband Tino would work all day and whenever he came home, he expected sex and would then take off and hang out with his buddies. When she met Sonny and the fact that Sonny would acknowledge her, she used her only weapon which was her body and sex. Cindy would seduce Sonny and would vent to him about how miserable she was and how much she hated her husband. She did seem like a depressed young girl who would do anything for affection and to suppress her feelings of loneliness, boredom and feeling unloved, she would smoke weed and drink alcohol. In Cindy’s defense, maybe she knew no other way in her little world, due to her upbringing in life and was raised to grow up and find a man who is supposed to take care of her and in return her job was to put up with any situation that the man put in her way, even a situation of being dependent on a man. Whatever her situation may have been she did not think or feel very good about herself, because she stayed in a marriage where she would continue to feel alone and unloved.

                                                                                                            Lucero 3

Nica, was around the same age as Cindy. Cindy was actually the opposite of Cindy. She was best described by Sonny as. “She was a little girl in a white chiffon dress and black shoes and a pink ribbon. But you do not tell!” She was a little girl” (Gilb164). Nica was pulled out of school by her parents so she could stay home and take care of her baby brother Angelito. It seemed the only two things in life she was allowed to interact with were her younger brother and the T.V. Her parents would not let her out of the house, so when she met Sonny, she was glad to have a level of conversation with someone of her own age. Sonny introduced her to pizza and gave her the opportunity to express her feelings and thoughts of wanting to change her name to Carmen or Cathy and how she did not like being Mexican and want to travel to Spain. Nica suffered from a life style that she had no control over. It was her Mexican heritage and upbringing of her own parents that kept her at home to care for her brother and neglect her education. They sheltered her from the world almost as it was her duty to be their personal slave until her debt was paid off.

Silvia, Cindy and Nica all have one thing in common, they were all dependent on someone to care for them and provide for them, even if it meant they lived a miserable life.  From a feminist point of view, these women lived an oppressive life style. Until this very day, women still suffer from the staggering motto of, “The Man Wears the Pants,” “The Man has the Better Education,” which means, “The man makes more money,” leading the women to praise the man because he brings in all the income. Therefore, the women gets stuck feeling they should be taking care of the children, cooking and cleaning.