Journal

Georgiana is unable to hide her emotions about her birthmark and appears to be vulnerable. She begins to fear that the birthmark stands between her and her husband’s love. One night she voluntarily brings up the subject about the birthmark. She asks Aylmer about his dream from the night before. She is now referring to her charm birthmark as an odious hand. By the way she is mentioning her birthmark, the reader can tell she is becoming hostile towards it. Georgiana now brings up the phrase that Aylmer screamed out in his dream: “it is in her heart now; we must have it out” . From this point on, Aylmer has done enough criticizing and Georgiana now despises her odious hand. She is worried that if she gets the operation done that her face could be deformed or maybe the stain on her cheek is as deep as her skin. Aylmer comforts her and claims he has spent a great amount of time researching this procedure. Georgiana can tell her husband is very eager to make the change so she agrees to it because of him. She desperately says, “let the attempt be made, at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust…” She has completely changed her mind about her birthmark and wants to make him happy so she can be happy too. Georgiana is showing how deeply affected she is by the thought of her husband’s displeasure.

Journal

In the short story, the reader can tell that Georgiana is very insecure about her looks once Aylmer points out her flaw. Aylmer asks her whether she has thought about removing it. She responds and is trying to brush off the question. She says, “it has been so often called a charm, that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so.” At that point of the story, Georgiana does not know how upset her husband is about the flaw. As their conversation proceeds, he then starts to discuss his disgust about Georgiana's birthmark. He expresses his concern: “...you came so nearly perfect from the hand of nature, that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beaut, shocks me, as bring the visible mark of earthly imperfection.”Georgiana, of course, does not agree with his statement and is at first resistant to listening to him. Aylmer starts putting negativity in her head about her birthmark: “Ah, upon another face perhaps it might...but never on yours”  Georgiana finally acts out and argues back, which is stunning for a person who usually is so submissive. She is the type of wife that will treat her husband like her master. She cries, “then why did you take me from my mother’s side? You cannot love what shocks you.” Georgiana is feeling very insecure because the man she devotes herself to is suddenly making her feel not good enough. Typical Georgiana must do something in order to please her husband to make him love her again.

Journal "The Birth Mark"

Imperfections make a person unique and different from others in the world. Flaws are not necessarily always a negative feature in a human being. However, to some individuals something imperfect can drive them to a fatal obsession about the imperfection. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story "The Birth-Mark," Georgiana, a beautiful and almost perfect woman is willing to change her imperfection on her cheek to please her husband, Aylmer, to become his ideal wife. Aylmer continuously points out Georgiana’s disturbing birthmark and will do everything in his power to get rid of the flaw that lies upon her pale cheek. Georgiana tragically relents to her husband’s pressure and this destroys happiness that both of them could have shared.

            Georgiana is the type of wife that will do whatever it takes to please her husband. Aylmer believes she has an odd looking birthmark and is devoted to persuade her to remove it. It is in the center of her left cheek that is a singular mark that is deeply interwoven with texture and substance of her face. It is similar to a handprint many people would say. Georgiana also has very nice complexion; however, when she gets nervous her eye-catching birthmark disappears, then reappears once she turns pale again. Georgiana’s lovers say that a fairy laid their tiny hand on her cheek as a baby; that is why it is so special. Men are drawn to her: “...desperate swain would have risked life for the privilege of pressing his lips to the mysterious hand”. Her birthmark is something special to her and she has gone her whole life without thinking of it as something she should feel shame or regret about. But unfortunately, her husband whom she loves so much, decides to pester her about the situation. Georgiana has grown to please her husband, so she knows she must do something about her birthmark for it to be fixed.

Journal I believe reflection

            This I believe essay has so far been my favorite assignment this summer. What I liked best about it, is how it was broken up into many steps which made it less stressful, more personal and easier to complete.  This assignment was the best personal narrative I think I’ve ever written, just because I came up with it all on my own and it was a topic that really meant a lot to me. Normally a personal narrative has more guide lines on what it has to be about, and you usually just end up using the story that best fits the rubric. But with this one I felt it was really my own true words about what I believe and why I believe this way.   When we completed our, I believe list it had my mind thinking about all the things I truly believed in, and how I could expand on all the topic I was writing. Creating the list my brain really started thinking, and I was really proud of how long and detailed my list was for the amount of time we were allowed.

            I also really enjoyed being able to read what the other members of my writing group believed in. I felt like after reading everyone’s essay, I had known them their whole lives and we were then connected in a different level. The one thing I would change is maybe not having so many people in each group. I loved being able to give everyone my input and read about them, but by the last one I felt like I was saying the same thing and that the last essay I edited didn’t get as good as advise as the first 3.  Reading everyone’s comments on my essay truly made me happy. Not only from all the good reflection of my group but also because of constructive criticism they had provided me with. I didn’t even realize that I had turned my essay into our group discussion with weird paragraphing or that I needed to expand more on my own experience until I read the comment of my group. I believe the honestly and great advise of my group truly helped me improve my writing.  I really enjoyed this assignment and If I had the chance to do it again I would chose the second thing that I believed in the most on my list and enjoy writing about it just as much as I did this topic. 

Bloom journal

After looking at and reading about the Blooms Taxonomy chart, I know understand how your brain develops, and how we move up the chart as we complete a task or in this case improve our writing. At the very beginning of the summer all I had is past knowledge from years before, and was trying to remember it all as we got started. Then as we began reading the heart and the fist, I was then at the comprehensive level. Not only did I have to read the book, but I had to really understand and comprehend what I was reading so I could then discuss and write about what I had read with my class mates.

When we created our blog is when I moved up to the step of application. We were required to create something I had never done before, but I did however have a Myspace back in the day. Even though I had never created a blog I used my past knowledge to realize it was similar to how I would set up my profiles on Myspace. I loved creating the blog, and even though I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. I analyzed the website. I messed with everything and explored all my options until I had it perfect. Not only did I have to analyze the blogger website, but I also had to explore Mrs. A’s classroom and our classroom to find my way and do the best I could this summer.

I believe I moved up to the synthesis stage when I began to free write on my blog more offer.  I began to notice words I used to often and I realized I was a better writer than I thought. I always dreaded having to sit down and write a paper. But when we were able to just free write on our journals everyday it was relaxing and it made me proud of myself and what I was capable to do.

This past week we have been focusing on editing of writing groups essays and our own which has pushed me to the evaluation section. I had to examine and judge their writing and recommend my opinion on how to improve their essay, as they did the same thing for me. Now I have been editing my own paper, making revisions and trying to make it the best it can be.

This is my first time being introduced to the Blooms chart and I love it. It really is true and everything about it makes perfect sense, especially using my past experiences to really show my growth as a writer. 

Gossip Girl Journal

I love gossip girl!
 Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, originally ran on The CW for six seasons from September 19, 2007 to December 17, 2012. Narrated by the omniscient blogger "Gossip Girl", voiced by Kristen Bell, the series revolves around the lives of privileged young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City.
The series begins with the return of Upper East Side It girl Serena van der Woodsen  from a mysterious stay at a boarding school in Cornwall, Connecticut. is a longtime friend and occasional rival of Serena's, and the queen bee of Constance Billard School's social scene. The story also follows Chuck Bass, the bad boy of the Upper East Side, and "golden boy" Nate Archibald, Chuck's best friend and Blair's boyfriend for many years. However, their relationship has been rocky ever since Serena left for boarding school. Other characters of the turbulent Manhattan scene: Dan Humphrey, Dan's best friend Vanessa Abrams, and Dan's sister, Jenny Humphrey .
I love this show and everything about it. If you haven't yet seen Gossip Girl, and are looking for a knew show to watch on Netflix, check it out!

Journal The beautiful country of Switerland

One country I traveled to is the beautiful country of Switzerland, officially known as the Swiss confederation, is a landlocked country in Western Europe bordered by Germany to the North, Italy to the South, France to the West, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the East.  Switzerland is about 2 times the size of New Jersey, covering 15,942 square miles.  Switzerland is sometimes referred to as the “roof of Europe” because of the soaring Alps that cover more than half of the country.  Although Switzerland is predominantly a German speaking country, its closeness with the other countries brings also a lot of French and Italian language into Switzerland.  There is a lot to learn about this country and I believe Americans should learn more about Switzerland because of their economy, education system, low crime rate, culture and amazing landmarks of the country.