A Week to Remember: Week 2

This week has been pretty great. I'm in Florida for a chess tournament. I ended up finishing 3 out of 7. I'm really excited because I was about to beat a 1700!!!!! But, I dropped a rook. Yeah that sucked. Hopefully from this tournament I finally break a 1000. Fingers crossed. Florida isn't as warm as I would have expected. It has only been reaching around 60 degrees. Now I have to do homework. It's a bummer because after playing chess for three days straight I just want a break. However  I can't get one. So that's my week for ya. This is Kiana signing off. Peace.

TEDx

I chose the Ted Talk " The Danger of a Single Story" by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I picked this talk because it was amazing. I never thought of the idea of a single story, but I do understand it. From the media, I only know Africa as this HIV/ Aids infested, Ebola spreading, and poverty ridden country. But that's only a single story. Chimamanda continues in talking about how these single stories lead to stereotypes. And from this I see where oppression comes from. If you are continuously shown in movies African American females acting and talking ghetto, you'll thinks that's the norm, a representation of the entire race of females, right? That's why I enjoyed this Talk because it encourages you to open your eyes, do you own research, and not settle with the single story. This is Kiana signing out. Peace.

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story#t-1113852

A Week to Remember: Week 1

Overall my week has been fairly enjoyable. Monday and Tuesday were calm days. I didn't receive a crazy amount of homework, but a good deal of it. On Wednesday, I went to chess practice. We are preparing for our tournament that is next week. On Thursday, I procrastinated a lot when it came to doing homework. And today, Friday, I had two quizzes. One in trigonometry and one in driver's education. Also, on my way home I almost got hit by a car. When I approached a corner near my house I was given the right of way from the light, however I yielded to allow cars to make left turns. When all the turns were completed I proceeded crossing through the crosswalk. When more than half way across the street, a car comes out of nowhere and makes a sharp  left turn. The car was heading directly at me and at the last moment the driver turned the wheel to avoid hitting me. I was really scared. I was thinking, did my time come already? This horrible image of what might've happened if he did hit me flashed through my mind. So yeah that was my week in a nutshell. Tune into my blog for my weekly summaries. This is Kiana signing out. Peace.

Goodman Brown

Extra! Extra! Read all about: Goodman Brown finally discovers the bad in us, but can he accept it? In the story "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a young man who has been unaware are of the evil that exist in everyone. Goodman witnessed this evil first-hand in a dream where all the pious people of his town worshiped the devil. Although Goodman Brown is innocent in the sense that he has never been exposed to such evil or failed to realize its presence, his reaction to the discovery of the evil inside everyone made him to be profiled as an unsympathetic, unrighteous, unfeeling, and unwilling to accept flawed humanity character. This is also is determined from the fact that he knew what he was walking into, he was just unaware of the severity and close presence of the evil.

            Goodman Brown is considered as an unrighteous character because he went into the evil forest on his own without being pressured into doing so.  Goodman Brown went into the forest knowing that an evil presence was lurking in there. This is seen when the narrator stated, "With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his evil purpose," (Hawthorne, page 237). This exhibits how Goodman Brown knew where his journey would lead, yet he still proceeded with his expedition, which tarnishes the possibility of his innocence being to blame for his actions. He was also warned of this possible evil from Faith when she mentioned of her horrid dreams. This is seen when Faith stated," A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afraid of herself sometimes," (Hawthorne, page 237). Then Faith makes a plead to Goodman Brown to stay with her for the night. Yet he refused, even when given the plead and warning from his wife.

Goodman Brown is also to be considered as an unwilling to accept flawed humanity character because he refused to accept flawed humanity. When Goodman Brown was walking with the man in the forest he noticed a change in the man's walking stick, but he waved it off. In the story it stated, "So curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a serpent.... must have been an ocular deception" (Hawthorne, page 238). Even when evil was directly in Goodman Brown's face, he refused to believe it. This shows his way of not accepting flawed humanity, but rather blocking it out. This is also seen when the stranger spoke of Goodman Brown's father also walking through the forest. Goodman Brown did not want to accept the possibility of his father embarking on such a wicked journey, he was too righteous to do so. Goodman Brown stated in the text," We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness," (Hawthorne, page 238). To wave away the possibility of wickedness existing, Goodman Brown made the claim of his family being too righteous to commit such an action. This is Goodman Brown's way of not accepting flawed humanity.

Goodman Brown is also an unsympathetic character because of his unsympathetic nature. When Goodman Brown awoke from his dream he was very unsympathetic to the people in his community. In the text it stated,” Then did Goodman turn pale dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers” (Hawthorne, page 244). This narration shows how even though Goodman Brown went to the worshiping of the devil as well, he considers himself as pure. That those who claim to be pious are not. At this moment he is seen as a hypocrite and unsympathetic. He just deemed them all worthy of death because of the evil that exists in all of them except him.

                In conclusion, Goodman Brown does have a right to feel bewildered and/ or scared by the dream he had experienced. However, he chose to go in the forest where the evil that lurks. He decided to look blindly upon the signs that were presented before him. He picked to not to accept flawed humanity. Though this evil is new to him, he is still unsympathetic, unrighteous, unfeeling, and unwilling to accept flawed humanity character.