Hopefully This is an Actual Blog and Not Me Talking Completely About Video Games...

Dear Reader,

      I tried something really abstract this week if this makes no sense please let me know. Seriously, I read this over and I don't know if it makes sense...

-Writer

This week in English we talked about many different conflicts that Hester faces in The Scarlet Letter . We annalyzed how this rose bush in the story represents a sign of hope but also represents danger because of the thorns it has. Thinking back to all the other books I have read in the last couple years, I don’t remember their being quite a blunt symbolism in an object. Sure in our summer reading there were some different elements but none of them seemed that they represented hope as an entirety. So than I asked myself where I have I spent more time in media than in books. The answer: video games. So things here are about to get super nerdy. So the last game I have completed that had a decent story was Halo 2 on the Xbox 360.  The whole story circles around a space soldier only known as, Master Chief who through the whole story is beat up, incinerated,(reborn) and blown up by evil alien race that wont let up. Although Chief is silent and has trouble making friends, he is partnered with Cortana , a one of a kind AI (artificial intelligence) that is Chief’s solo companion. The two are very different biologically but on a personal level they are much the same. They both go through tough times and they both only have each other to rely on. In the end Cortana is lost in outer space leaving Chief in complete shambles. He completely looses himself and promises to find Cortana again.

So what’s the point? I believe that the rosebush is parallel to the loss of Cortana. Both the book and the game recognise that neither are lost, and yet both seem to be hopeless no mater how much they try to achieve their goal to reach a better life,  Hester without a sinful life and Master Chief with his companion. Also I believe that the thorns on the rose bush represent more than the hardship that the character will have take to get their but also the sorrow that they feel with loss.  So since these characters loose their normal lives and not being able to fit within society that is how these stories can relate.

About Music and Culture

So since this week we have been talking about different ways culture affects society I decided that I should try to look at this from a different view point. I decided to try to look at the different cultures and how they view music. There are many stereo types and assumption about the music that cultures like. There is the assumption that all people in the south like country music because that’s where it originated from. Although most people of that culture enjoy that kind of music, doesn’t mean that the whole culture and society accepts it. Although some culture can become viral and be absorbed by an entire culture like Gangman Style (Video below if you haven’t heard it….). So what I have drawn between these conclusions is that even though radio, TV’s and pop culture divided things in today’s society, I think that music should be untouched. It is a personal preference and should not be limited to a person’s race or origin. To all of us, this is a freedom that I think we overlook. There are counties in the world that regulate the music that its citizens listen too, which in my opinion, takes away too much from a personal freedom to be able to enjoy what we like. Bottom line, like what you like and don’t let any stereotype define who you are and enjoy what you like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Blog #1 :Memorials

     So this week in class we covered memorials. I learned that even the most basic monument, from an intricate design to a block of several stones, has many features that many overlook such as location or positioning. Although we covered most of the topic about this one thing that I think we overlooked is how monuments have progressed throughout the years. Even though we have found more intricate designs in the older ages, I was curious whether the U.S. is still continuing the modern trend of basic architecture in their monuments and memorials.

Picture of New Castle Court House

So like any modern researcher, my first destination was the internet. I first found a Presidential Proclamation that explained that 5 new monument were going to built in the upcoming years.  One in particular is the “First State National Monument” in New Castle, Delaware, which is commemorated to the state to be the first to ratify the Constitution. Also, unlike the other monuments we covered, this one is an actual building that has been turned into a museum to represent a courthouse. This monument also is made to represent the conflict that the Delaware had with Britain at the time. So even though wars are remembered through basic structures such as the Vietnam memorial, it seems the U.S. has a different thought on architecture for other historical events.