Decisions. Decisions.

Hester is being charged with adultery. In my opinion, this makes her weaker. Between protecting the 2 men and deciding which one she's loyal to. Will drain her mentally not physically. Who knows she could make the wrong decision & regret it.
~Segana Kinye

May I Have Your Autograph??

I'd say by far, out of all the stories, parable, poems, sermons,  articles,  and whatever else. My favorite author out of them is Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. The only son to Nathaniel Hathrone & Elizabeth Clark Hathrone. His father was a sea captain & died when he was four. Forcing him, his sisters  & his mother to move in with their stinking rich uncles. He got his passion for reading and writing because of an leg injury that left him immobile. With the provided aid from his uncles,  he attended Bowdoin College from 1821-1825. While attending college he began to miss his mom and sisters, so after graduation he moved back in for 12 years where he found a purpose for writing and his "voice".

Nathaniel Hawthorne has a peculiar way of wording his words and turning them into a story, but its complication for understanding hooks me on.

For example,  In The Minister's Black Veil he says "In this manner Mr.Hooper spent a long irreproachable outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men,  shunned in their health and joy,  but ever summoned to their aid in mortal anguish."
This means Mr. Hooper has had a long and hard day because of the veil. This veil is bring up suspicions. His loving and caring future wife,  who is all up to understand. Eventually ended up leaving him. The congregation feared him. He was shut out.


In The Scarlet Letter he says " It was a circumstances to be noted, on the summer morning, when our story begins it's course,  that the women,  of whom, there were several in the crowd,  appeared to take a peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to ensure. "
This means let this be known,  the woman who had done the crime. Her time will only be half of what she expected.

~Segana Kinye

What That Veil Do???

In The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Mr. Hooper, wears a black veil that conceals his face from the nose up. The veil symbolizes secret sin, darkness, and hidden mysteries. The theme of the text is that everyone wears a black veil, meaning they have a secret sin or sorrow.

"The subject had referenced to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest." Mr. Hooper had even preached about secret sin to his congregation the first day he wore the veil. The darkness and mystery behind the veil established fear among those around the minister and added gloom to all events he attended, "added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding."  The townspeople and congregation feared what the veil might represent and why their parson had wore it. Mr. Hooper states, " There is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils."
-Jazlyn Verner

The Good, The Bad, and The Puritan

 The Scarlet Letter is set in a specific time period, one that allows the problems presented in the story to be much more prevelant than they would have be if it were set in this day and time. It takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, a place inhabited by puritans.The puritans were a christian group who believed that while the reformation was good and helpful, the church still needed to punished those who decided to sin. Today, the word Puritan has a negative connotation. When mentioned, they are remembered for their strictness, strong principles, and harsh punishments for sin. The author's view of themis clear in his descrption of puritan children, who he calls "heartless" and makes them seem rather cruel. They often abuse Hester and play games about burning witches and being attacked by the natives in the area, often pretending to scalp each other. Through this, the author shows that puritans do not really care about the people involved just as long as those people are punished for their wrong doinigs. Seeing as how children look up to their parents, the children usually act just as bad as the adults. Knowing that this is true, several of the towns people probably feel content with punsishing Hester for her sins because it makes up for the sins that they themselves commit in private. 

Rachel W.

The Sins of Our World

The sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," has several themes. Something to keep in mind is that the author, Jonathan Edwards, was a Puritan which means that he was not very open to religious diversity. He more than likely believed that whatever was written in the bible should be followed to a tee.

I imagined that Edwards would look just like any other preacher of today that is trying to put the fear of God into their congregation. Speaking of preachers of today, I can picture it  now. My very own preacher, reading something along the lines of "For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son," in an attempt to make the people of the congregation feel guilty for all the sins that they had knowingly commited. The only difference between then and now is that people of the church actually cared back then where as today people will listen to the sermon and as soon as they step out of the church they'll be right back to their old ways (sinning with no remorse). 

Anyways, back to the business at hand, the theme of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." I think that the theme would revolve around the Puritan way of life; more specifically what they believed in.

One of the major themes that I noticed in the text involved how Edwards continuely suggested that all of humanity was evil. In his sermon he stated that "O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment." In reading this excerpt, I realized that Edwards strongly believed that humanity was no more than a nuisance God. He believed that no matter what any human did or said that it would never compensate for all of their wrongs. He was under that impression that everyone was evil and that it was inevitable for them to end up in Hell. Another prevelant theme, as the title staes. was the anger of God. For example, Edwars states "the wrath of God is like great waters that are damned for the present; they increase more and more and rise higher and higher...it is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment." In this excerpt, Edwards compares the wrath of God to the rushing water of a river, He does this in order to show that God's anger is very fierce and is on the verge of overflowing. This gave the congregation a better understanding of just how mad their actions were making God. 

Rachel W.

Two Birds, No Stone

In the story "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester has been accused of adultery and has refused to reveal her husband and mistress. In my opinion Hester's decision to do so will only make her stronger. I say this because she will be the only person that will be looked down upon for adultery and eventually she will adapt to being treated different. However, Hester only truly has to protect her husband, not the mistress.

-Larenzle Coleman

Hooper's Mystery

In parable "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author's use of imagery allowed me to see the affects of Mr. Hooper's veil on the people in his society.

• "The clergyman stepped into the room where t he corpse was  laid, and bent over the coffin, to take a last fare well of his deceased  parishioner. As he stooped, the veil hung straight  down from his fore- head, so that, if her eyelids had not been closed forever, the dead maiden might have seen his face. Could Mr. Hooper be f earful of her  glance, that he so hastily caught back the black veil? A person who  watched the interview between the dead and living,  scrupled not to  affirm, that, at the instant when the clergyman’s features were dis- closed,  the  corpse  had  slightly  shuddered,  rustling   the  shroud  and  muslin cap, though the countenance retained the composure of death.  A superstitious old woman was the only witness of t his prodigy." (Hawthorne, 5)

-  In this excerpt from the story, it shows that whatever Mr.Hooper had hidden under his veil could not only repulse the living but also make the dead tremble.

• "Though of a firmer character than his own, the tears rolled down her cheeks. But, in an instant, as it were, a new feeling took the place of  sorrow: her eyes were fixed insensibly on the black  veil, when, like a  sudden twilight in the air, its terrors fell around  her. She arose, and  stood trembling before him." (Hawthorne, 9)

-In this excerpt from the story, I could image Elizabeth crying and a few second her eyes becoming dilated from terror like a cartoon character.

-Larenzle Coleman

1. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. New York: Norton, 1987. 97-107.

About Me

My name is Sengane Iya Njeni Kinye. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia on  November 28, 1999. My name is derived from the Banga Bakundu tribe with very important meaning. I moved to Memphis, Tennessee 2008 of June with my immigrant parents and 2 siblings. I have 8 brother, but only 2 blood brothers:  Tebelle and Boseme Kinye and 0 sisters. I am a junior and I attended Southwind High School. I plan on graduating in the year of 2018.
Some interesting facts about me are:

• I was supposed to be born January 19, 2000 instead of November 28, 1999.
• My name Sengane is actually spelled Segana on my birth certificate, due to some ignorant person mispelling it
• My parents are from Cameroon

I got my second middle name "Njeni" by save my mother's life during birth. The doctors said my mother flatlined for 5 - 8 seconds and within those seconds I was pushed out. Giving her body some type of shock, which woke her up. & when they told her what happened, she gave me the name "Njeni" which means miracle child. 

You want to learn something about me? Well there plenty of things I can tell you,but I'll sum it up for you. I was born on the 26 of September in Missouri. At the age of one my family made the decision to move to Tennessee. I'm a junior at Southwind High School and plan to graduate in 2018. Once I graduate I plan on earning a BS in Biomedical Engineering. The college that I will attend is uncertain.

-Larenzle Coleman

My name is Jazlyn D'shelle Verner. I was born in Fresno, California on March 11, 2000. I am the youngest of four girls: LaTerika, Latasia, and Dominique. I also have two nieces KaShari', who is four and Korrlyn, who is one. I grew up around a large family consisting of around fifteen uncles and ten aunts. I am a junior at Southwind High School and plan to graduate in 2018. Once I graduate I plan to continue my education to become an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist.

My full name is Rachel Symone White. I'm a junior at Southwind Highs School and I love to read, although I don't do it as much as I used to. My birthday is on November 13 and I recently turned 17 years old. Once I graduate high school, I plan to attend a college up  North; hopefully Howard University in Washington or Cornell University in New York. While in college, I in want to major in either Economics or Law. As a means of staying afloat financially, I plan to do something along the lines of doing hair or even tutoring. I don't know exactly what i want to do with my life after college, but I hope that i will find out sooner rather than later. My favorite movies are The Notebook, The Fault in Our Stars, almost all of the Marvel movies, and the Twilight movies.My favorite music is from Luther Vandross, Childish Gambino, Bruno Mars, and John Legend.

• Rachel White

So, you want to know who I am? Well, my full name is Rachel Symone White. I was born and raised here in Memphis, Tennessee. My birthday is on November 13th and I just recently turned 17.I'm a junior at Southwind High School. Once I graduate I plan to attend college up North; hopefully Howard University in Washington, D.C. or Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.I want to major in either Economics or Psychology. In order to keep my head afloat while I'm in college, I plan to tutor or even do hair. I honestly don't know exactly what I want to do with my life once I get out of college, but I hope that as i get older I'll find out.