A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is exactly that. It follows parallel stories that take place in two cities (London and Paris) before and during the French Revolution.

     I first read this poem in Miss Reineke's English class my freshman year. This was my introduction to poetry. It caused me to think. What do I want, sitting in my small classroom without windows, reading poetry about people who have influenced people in amazing ways. What do I matter? How do I compare to Langston Hughes writing for his English teacher. This poem still echoes in everything that I do. "Let it come out of you, and then it will be true."
   I'm very glad this was my introduction to poetry, and that now I have the opportunity to share it with others. I learned an awful lot about myself from a poem written for someone else's class.

THEME FOR ENGLISH B

By Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple? 
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem. 
I went to school there, then Durham, then here 
to this college on the hill above Harlem. 
I am the only colored student in my class. 
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem 
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, 
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, 
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator 
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

1951

Big Question: Abstract

The purpose of this inquiry is to determine whether fictional stories that focus on love and interpersonal relationships create a skewed view of the realistic expectations for long- term happiness.  Literature defines the stories to which I refer as romance novels and in television, romantic comedies, and even some dramas, fairy tales too fall into the category to which I refer. In these novels, or narratives that have been passed through generations, good characters after some trouble, come to good ends. Meanwhile, their “evil” counterparts are defeated and become miserable.   I intend to investigate the impact that “romance” novels have on the relationships, and the expectations that occur due to the avid belief in the ideas portrayed in the novels.  I intend to focus especially on the expectations that occur in the current generation. I hope to see a coloration in changes in the psychological and anthropological trends, due to the relevance of romance stories in the media.

"By their deeds shall ye know them." We often judge people by what they do; therefore, we consider people who commit cruel or reprehensible acts corrupt, base or amoral. In literature, however, authors often introduce us to characters whom we learn to like or even respect, despite their deeds.

Write an essay about one such character for whom you developed admiration or compassion. Briefly explain why you felt his or her behavior to be condemnable or contemptible, and how the author's techniques influenced you to admire that person. Do not summarize the plot. (40 minutes)"

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we find ourselves in the middle of a story in Puritan Massachusetts. A married woman was found to be pregnant, with a child that was not her husband’s, as he had not been seen in years. Hester Prynne was branded with a scarlet A, and forced to live outside the small community.  The community watched and judged as the woman raised her daughter without her unknown lover. The authorities condemned her, and called all others to see her as an example.  The ailing Reverend Dimmsdale was among the judges who watched as Hester and her unborn child were sentenced. We come to find out that Dimmsdale was the unnamed partner, and had been suffering inwardly as he watched the events unfold.

                Dimmsdale allows the guilt of his actions to consume him. He creates a hell for himself because of his great sins. As a devoted minister, he taught the value of living a chaste and moral life, while he himself had committed a sin of the highest degree. In the Puritan community, Dimmsdale was revered for his morality, and his ability to preach the correct principles for the dogmatic congregation. Despite his age, he was seen as an authority on maintaining the laws and statues expected of those in the settlement. He was ailing, all around him could see. He had a mystery illness, and looked to be much older than his actual age. Reverend Dimmsdale had created a personal punishment for himself, because his actions were not known to those around him. He did not confess to being a party in the adultery, but he suffered more because of the inward guilt he felt for Hester’s public suffering.  

                The Reverend’s health continued to suffer. He became friends with a mysterious doctor who moved into the small community. The doctor was Hester Prynne’s husband, Roger Chilingsworth. He suspected that the Reverend had been the man with which his wife had an affair. He made it his mission to cause more suffering to the worsening condition of Dimmsdale.  As his suspicions were confirmed, Chilingsworth did his best to ruin the life of the already guilt ridden man with whom he lived.  Dimmsdale’s life became consumed with the guilt he felt for abandoning his child, and leaving his lover to suffer alone in silence.

Dimmsdale’s actions in the public were self-preserving, and cowardly.  Nathaniel Hawthore, however allowed the reader to see the suffering that was actually felt by a man who to others seemed to be pure. The suffering caused by the guilt, and by the infliction of a scorned husband, allows compassion to be felt. It is felt even more strongly when, at the conclusion of the novel, we see the scarlet “A” branded into the flesh of the dead Reverend in the center of the town, for everyone to see.  We see, through his death by self-inflicted guilt, that the child, and the lover were never far from his mind, and that the unnamed man suffered more than the publicly condemned woman.