Compare and Contrast Essay

Navjot Sandhu

Period-3

Ap Lang

Sep,4,09

Decisions

Decisions,choices,disagreements and sacrifices. In this world these are one of the important things that human beings goes through. Every person goes through a time where they have to make important decisions that will change their life. And that decision will either make their life can be harmonious or it can be complete hell. In both Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Where are you going, Where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates, decisions play a major role. In Hawthrone’s story the protagonist is Young Goodman who leaves his wife and eventually goes in the forest with his companion the devil to perform a profane rite. And later on he decides to turn back from the ritual because he loses his faith(his wife and his faith), however in that instant when tries to depart , he finds himself alone. So,Brown wonders if it was reality or if he was dreaming. Similarly happening in a unconscious mind of state is Where are you going and Where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates. In Oates story the protagonist is Connie,a teenager girl who obligated by the antagonist Arnold Friend(the devil) to leave with him. And as she refuses ,he starts making her weak mentally until she compelled to go with him. Although, these two stories seem parallel to each other, they can be tied together as one if looked closely. And which makes these two distinctive yet comparable at the same time.

Both of these stories have a major commonality which is the idea of devil which tried to veil a cast upon us. The Young Goodman Brown story depicts the idea of puritan society which is the same setting as The Crucible. Oates story’s setting is in the 1970 during which rape rates had tripled. So the stories purpose was how the time period effected the women and in this case connie. Even though, the settings are centuries apart, they both have one thing in common-the devil. In both stories the devil manipulates the characters and wheedles them to make the wrong decision. In where are you going,where have you been, Arnold was wheedling connie and trying to persuade her to go with him. Arnold says “[he will ] have [his] arms around [connie]...[he will]show [connie] what love is like”, trying to allure her to go with him (¶50) . And she falls for him which is identical to Brown’s decision. The devil befriends with him and tries to be his guardian when he says “ [Browns parents] were [his] good friends ... merrily after midnight(¶18). So, this convinces him to make the wrong decision and continue with the devil.

However there are other variances that these narratives have such as the motifs. Therefore, the theme for Young Goodman Brown is how strict puritan society overemphasis on sins due to suspicion which creates distrust. On the contrary, for where are you going and where have you been , the theme is appearance and how things can get out of hands if you advertise your beauty it. Aside from that there is a common theme that holds these two together, which reality and search for identity. Both Connie and Brown aren’t sure if they are imagining or if its reality and are lost in finding their identity. Another difference they have is the word choice; Hawthrone uses old English with words like “sayest thou so?”(¶16) where as Oates uses more modern English. Antithetical yet identical these stories go back and forth in having elements that are common and different.

Apart from that, I saw a connection between Young Goodman Brown and Adam and Eve which is the snake. Just like Adam and Eve, Brown seek enigmatic knowledge which eventually leads them to wreckage. The staff is like the snake, where the snake leads Adam and Eve to the Tree of Knowledge ; just like that the staff leads Brown to the Devil’s Ceremony. So, both lose something where for Brown losses his faith and Adam and Eve are expelled from their paradise. So, this is a another story that appeared similar to Hawthorne’s story.

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Joyce Carol Oates teach readers a vital lesson about reality. And these stories show people how to make decisions carefully because once you make a decision there is no turning back which is reality.

Earth without people :)

1) Paragraphs 7 and 8 talk about the sequence of events about nature and the destruction of New York City. And it describes how cement would split and weeds will grow in the city. And many of the chains are repeated throughout the essay in paragraph 14,15, and 22. 4) In the essay, Weisman writes about different cities like New York, Korea and Colorado. I think the details are necessary and help the reader understand what he's talking about. And the visuals help the reader picture Earth with no humans and how it would be. If the effects weren't there I think I won't understand how it would look like. 5) The visuals that Weisman uses are detailed and help the essay become more understandable. It gives us a lists the places and the details and helps visualize the cities with no humans. One way he would have made the essay better would be maybe adding some events that would lead if there were no humans for example everything freezing or any scientific effects that would take place.

"Yeah Code"

As the bell rings everyone starts going towards their classes just like birds go to their homes at dawn. A normal teenage classroom conversation can’t be completed without “yeah”,its at least used 2 times by an individual. However,I have noticed that the “yeah code” only works with certain people. For instance,if my cousin and I are talking to each other;we can talk in the “yeah code”. You might be wondering what is the “yeah code”? Well,the “yeah code” is when two individuals are thinking the same thing and they look at each other and say “yeah”. This occasionally happens to me and my cousin,like once we went were in the mall and this guy was working in Tilly’s . And, I thought he was kind of cute;so me and my cousin looked at each other and say the code- “yeah uh huh”. Both of us were thinking the same thing;she also thought that he was cute.

Another occasion was when we were at a family gathering and my aunt was cooking something and both of us were eager to eat it. Each one of us took a piece and I said “it needs a little yeah”. My cousin replied “no,it needs the other thing yeah”. My aunt looked like a freshman in high school on their first day,she was confused. With a puzzled face she asked “ what are u guys talking about, are we still talking about food?”. Both of us were shocked on why she couldn’t decipher on what we were talking about and my aunt asked how can we understand each other. Then, I realized that the “yeah code” only works if a person is really close to you and you have a little connection going on in your minds. So,two friends can only talk using “yeah” and interpret each other but a stranger would think that they are from a totally different world. They will have no idea on what you are referring to ; Only,the people who you spend a lot of time with can unravel what you are talking about. Everyone can’t talk in the “yeah code” with each other. In order to do that they have to spend a lot of time with an individual to create their own code whether its “yeah code” or “like code” or “uh huh code”. People have different codes that they create with their friends and family , mine is the “yeah code”.

Comfy:!

Everyone loves it,its comfy,warm and welcoming-our living room. The cherry colored wooden floor goes just right with the fireplace. We never used the fireplace even though there are 5 rectangular wooden pieces placed for use. Just above it, hangs a picture of all four of us. By us I mean my family,I am on the farther left,next to me my mom,then dad, and to the farther right is my dad. That memory is captured in a Silver Leafy Frame. The frame itself is not straight,it has twists and turns like a roller coaster. If we move to right there is a window its white a square with pale brown curtains. The furniture is comfy,you can sleep on it when you are exhausted.For us whenever we are tried we just lay on the light brown sofa. The sofas hold the warmth in the room.As you lay on it,you feel like a baby laying in his mothers arms. The sofa has two pieces on can hold up to 4 people and the other one can hold two. The one which can hold two is right across from the squared window. The brownish gold table is surrounded with the sofas like mountains surrounding a city. To keep the our feet from getting cold,there is a rug placed underneath the sofas and table. It has maroon background with golden,green. design on it. Sometimes the rug looks like it has mangoes,but other times it looks like it has exotic people dancing. The rug only covers up some area but not all. So,when we have to turn on our TV,you have cross through the cold Antarctic. The wooden floor gets cold and when we place our feet on it,I can feel the temperature changing in my feet. The TV though is black color,it is about 45 inches tall and 36 inches in width.No entertainment set or anything,just a TV.If we look at all the walls they are either covered up with my family pictures or religious pictures. My dad as fond of animals and plants has Scindapsus going around our walls like a green snake.In a corner there is a table with a maroon lamp which we never use. It has no purpose except to be a decorative piece. Right across there are cultural pictures: there is one with golden Frame and a punjabi girl wearing the traditional dress and dancing. There is another on right diagonal to it,which shows punjabi and states famous quote. One more pictures hangs diagonal to the second one it has traditional musical instruments. On the ceiling like stars there are light in form of a circle. The control line is near the door we enter from. And as we enter the door we can sense the culture,the warmth and comfy feeling.

Like a Sunset☀

It was the smallest one upon all of them-the orange candle. It was about 3½ inches tall and 2 inches in width. It held a round shape like an orange. The color looked like sunsets in summer. Not exactly orange but with a pinch of yellow,dark orange and light orange. Other candles were more bigger and wider however that one stood out more. We didn’t use it before,the tip was brand new. Though it had an orange color,it gave an apple scent. It smelled like a fresh picked apple from the tree. As, if you can almost feel your taste buds feeling the juicy and sweetness of the apple. Then, I decided to lit up the candle. My hands struggled as I tried to light up the orange candle. I gave up I didn’t want to light it. I thought Maybe It doesn't want to light up just yet. I thought the candle was like us-Teenagers. It doesn’t know what it has, until its lit. Just like we never know what we have until we try it. The candle has light which help us in our vision,but it doesn’t get lit up by itself. We have to make a effort to lit it which helps us see. So,we can see it as opportunities,if there is an opportunity take the time and effort to take advantage of it. The only way to find out what you got is by trying new things and taking things to the next level.

:9

These past weeks we have been looking at Narrative writing and read some fantastic pieces. Before, I thought Narratives were easy to write and they are just like telling someone your story. However,they are much more than that you have to choose the right tense,transition and many more things. So,it takes just as much time and work to write a Narrative like any other writing. The two main things I learned were avoid switching tenses and use transition words.

Usually Narratives are written from the author’s point of view using “I”. Often what pulls a reader toward the writing are the sensory images and details. It allows them to picture what is happening in the story. All this takes us to time and transition words,in order for the reader to imagine the event you need the time. Time is one of the factors that setting and helps the reader. If the author wants to go to a flashback,they can’t just switch the tense. It will confuse the reader,so transition words step in to help set the time and avoiding using past tense. An example would be if the author wanted to flashback in their childhood,instead of switching the tense they can use transition words. They can say “when I was 5 years old”,this tells the reader the time and the reader know its in the past tense. So,transition words play a vital role in Narratives.

A reflection can be another word for Narratives because often they are events from the past. The author reflects upon a memorable events in the past while using as much details as possible. In order to show the reader what happened. While I learned these rules,I had another question in mind. It was that “are narratives always about the author’s life?”. Throughout reading and learning more about Narratives I learned that narratives can be from autobiographies to diary entries or about someone else’s life. If the author feels the lack of experience,they can write about someone else’s life. So,its not necessary that a Narrative have to about the author’s life.

Although,I learned many things about narratives a question still lingers in my mind. What makes a narrative different from a regular story? How can you tell them apart?

Yearbook

Now that yearbooks are here

everyone is looking at then

as you walk through the hallways you see

a group of people looking at one yearbook

Its funny how everyone changes throughout the year 

even if we don't think we do

well I was looking at Jamie's Yearbook

and wanted to look at my softball picture

and it wasn't there,it was just varsity

it made me pretty sad that we weren't in it.

But Its really not a big deal.But

I still have to buy my yearbook