The Scarlet Letter

For my 19th century novel I read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main theme of the novel is adultery and the consequences that people face if they commit it. For those of you that have read the book before or seen the movie Easy A. You know that the main character Hester Prynne is forced to wear a bright, red, letter A on her clothes, after she conceives a daughter, named Pearl through an adulterous affair.  After being exposed for the crime she struggles to create a new life of dignity. Another theme in the book was guilt. Hester  was a bold woman and  she wasn't ashamed of committing the sin. She doesn't confess to who she had the affair with either. Hester went against the morals of the society and she was judged and ridiculed for not being a righteous woman. In the end her secret is revealed that she had the affair with Dimmesdale and they were buried with a red A on their tombstone. I believe that the moral of the story is that the truth always comes out even if  you try to cover it up so you should always be honest.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a book that I read this year as a part of our individual reading project. It was recommened by my former middle school teacher, who said that it changed her views about life and that it would challenge me to think about the purpose of my life. The book, written by a young professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, contains many life lessons.

This book has impacted me in so many different ways. Although it may not be a book with literary merit or extremely sophisticated sentences and vocabulary, the author's writing style makes it easy for the readers to establish a connection with him. With a lighthearted tone, Pausch shares his positive outlook on life and death. He wrote, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." After reading this book, I hope I will be able to cope with not only death, but with all the difficulties I may encounter in the future with courage.

"Hope is a Thing With Feathers"

For my poetry video, I picked "Hope is a Thing With Feathers" by Emily Dickinson. I really like this poem because unlike most poetry, it is very easy to understand. This poem also has a positive and encouraging message.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

By comparing hope to a bird, Dickinson is able to describe an abstract idea with a concrete example. Hope is a bird and its sweet song is the voice of hope. Hope is described as a precious and essential element in life as it selflessly provides warmth to people. Despite of this poem's simplicity in its structure and vocabulary, the ideas mentioned have a much deeper meaning. With her straightfoward style, Dickinson encourages the readers to always keep an optimistic attitude even when faced with obstacles in life. 

Heart of Darkness

I've been reading the book, Heart of Darkness for a while now. It's such a hassle trying to decode this book. It's such a complicated book, it made me struggle for a long time. Joseph Conrad's advance vocabularies definitely hindered me to understand and finish the book in good time. What I can bring out of this book is Conrad's view towards brutality. It's really unfortunate for the indigenous people to suffer, but it was inevitable during this time. I think Conrad is trying to portray that although brutality is wrong, it's impossible to escape from it. It's part of nature and you can't mess with it and sometimes, it becomes a issue that you have to ignore. The consequences of making people suffer is indeed grave, but the fact that you are living in a society stop you from speaking out. Brutality, and Conspiracy is imbedded into our society and it's a natural thing to just accept it and go along with it. It saddens me that we have come this far, but as greed of human being increase, the morals of human beings will gradually decrease.


Alex Han

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

I have been reading The Woman Warrior for a long time now, simply because I only read a little at a time and I am reading other books simultaneously. The interest in this book lies mainly in its cultural perspective. The narrator writes from a Chinese perspective and incorporates many aspects of Chinese culture into her writing. It has been difficult for me to get absorbed into his book because of the fact that some of the chapters are written in a Chinese folk tale style. They have a lot of symbolism and the writing style is very complex and hard to understand at times. The perspective switches between chapters, from a folk style to a modern style. There are some parts that seems to be memoirs of the author, yet others are stories she has made up herself, and some are stories told to her by her mother. Each chapter is from a new perspective, and it is up to the reader to discover which new direction Kingston is taking. It has definitely been a challenge, but I have recently used Spark Notes to better understand the format of the book and what is referring to who. By now gaining this basic understanding, I can better appreciate the rich language and try to interpret the underlying details and messages. I would suggest this book if you are up for a challenge and are interested in Chinese culture.

Chicana Falsa

 Chicana Falsa by Michele Serros is a combination of poetry and fiction. I really enjoyed reading this novel because it was short and entertaining. Michele Serros describes her life growing up in Los Angeles and struggling to find her true identity. She has to deal with stereotypes and not being considered a real Chicana because of the way she speaks.She wanted to become a writer at a young age but some of  her family members and neighbors didn't  believe she could become a writer because there weren't many Latina writers during that time and she didn't get good grades in English.
Her mother was the only person who supported her dream and encouraged her to continue writing. This was her first novel which she dedicated to her mother after she died, because even though her family was poor her mother spent all the money she saved to buy her a desk where she could write her stories. She struggled to find something to write about but then realizes her life was the perfect story to tell.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

This book was originally written in Swedish by Stieg Larsson in 2006 and is now at the top of my favorite books list. It is filled with action, mind boggling mysteries, and a shocking ending. The main character Lisbeth Salandar is a computer hacker who is blamed for three murders. Lisbeth is the most fascinating and dynamic character that i have had the opportunity to read. so much so that i feel apart of her life. This book is relatively long but extremely worth it.