Blog Reflection

Over the course of the trimester, I have come to gradually like my blog posts more and more. At the beginning of tri 2 I thought my post were something a 7th grader would be capable of writing, as they were all mainly reflections or focused on very basic ideas about my books. By the last few blogs of trimester 2 I was happy with how they were turning out. They were covering harder topics, digging deeper into the story and asking harder questions. I can definitely tell that I have grown as a writer and a reader over the past 12 weeks. 

My writing during the first few weeks of blogging was very broad, and didn’t focus on just one element from the text. This can be seen in my post Gone With The Wind Vocabulary. In this post I am talking about the vocabulary in the book, and how that affects the theme, the setting and the context of the story. I specifically state, “When vocabulary like this is used in the book, it makes the theme and context of the story make more sense. The setting of the book is in the South during the Civil War.” I go on to talk more about the setting, completely ignoring the theme and setting elements, and then at the end of the post I ask the reader, “Do you think vocabulary is important in a book? If so, what part of the story does it impact the most?” In my post, I didn’t narrow down the topic enough to ask this question. There is no evidence in my writing that vocabulary impacts either theme, the context of the story or the setting.

I really tried to improve my writing by narrowing down my focus and further developing the element that I chose. I think I show a more narrow focus in my post The Fire and The Whip. In this post I focused on only the symbolism of Scarlett and Rhett. I used my knowledge of the characters and evidence I got from the book to prove that Scarlett and Rhett were best fit to be represented by the objects I thought were most like them. In one line from the blog I state, “Rhett Butler is a whip. An item people don't like associating with or using, but they do anyway out of greed and necessity. He is the town scoundrel, disowned by his family and banned from the city of Charleston.” In this line I use my feelings about the character of Rhett and background knowledge to convey that I feel like he is a whip. I tie both elements into one main statement and focus on the idea that Rhett is a whip, instead of throwing in elements randomly and giving no explanation, as I did in the post about the vocabulary of the book. At the end of this post I ask the reader, “Do you believe these symbols are accurate? Do you have any others that would work?” These questions are a great way to get the reader involved because even if they haven’t read the story I have given them enough background knowledge and details in proving my symbols, that they should be able to answer these questions. I narrowed the focus down to symbolism and think I did a great job of digging deep into the text. This is one of my favorite posts! 

This trimester, I have read 5 books. Even though I am nowhere close to my goal of 20, I do feel like I have grown as reader. I have been choosing to read more challenging books, and have been analyzing them more closely as I read. While reading Gone With The Wind I have learned some new vocabulary, writing technique and character development that I know I will try to use in future writing. Through the story of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, I have learned more about the Civil War. I feel like I have expanded my mind just from reading and blogging and I would like to keep doing that next trimester!

The Many Faces of Scarlett O'Hara

Scarlett O'Hara is a southern belle no more. Throughout the story, she has become more and more similar to a woman of this time period. She runs her own buisness, lies, cheats and takes advantage of anyone that can help her further herself. She has shocked the people of Atlanta to the point of no return and she doesn't care.

At the beginning of the story, Scarlett is the most beautiful girl in the county, charming, fun and full of life. She thinks that the way southern women are supposed to act is ridiculous, as she has to act stupid and only focus on catching a husband. She is taught to act polite, interested and kind towards others and to be a true lady.

By the time Scarlett gets back to Tara after the seige in Atlanta, she has changed. Her only instinct is to survive. She doesn't care who she has to hurt or trick to get her way. After working hard on the fields Tara she swears she will never left her family starve again. During the war her mother died, and her father became almost insane with grief, forcing Scarlett to become the man of the house. When she gets back to Atlanta, she decides that she needs to have a buisness to be able to consistently send money back to Tara. This is strongly looked down upon in the late 1800s, becasue women are taught to not show their men up and to make their men feel as secure as possible in their manly ways.

This relates to today becasue it shows that women can be just as successful, if not more successful than men. Today alot of women are paid less then men for the same jobs. It is become a huge issue in our country, as we are still fighting for equality. Scarlett's story, along with so many others shows us that women are just as strong as men and can take care of themselves. It is almost like Scarlett is in the wrong time period. She is an example of a modern woman in this book and it is very inspiring to read.

The Fire and The Whip

In Gone With The Wind there are two main characters, Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. They both are very similar in personality, which is why they are attracted to each other. But there are some differences that set them apart. I have picked a symbol for each of them to represent their personalities and beliefs.

Scarlett: Fire. This is the first picture that pops into my head when I think of Scarlett O'Hara. Her name literally means red, and boy is that name appropriate for her. Scarlett, like fire, can put on a face of warmth and kindness when she wants. When its cold you want to sit be the fire, right? But she puts on these faces to hide her anger toward other people and her annoyance at people who don't have common sense and don't see reality. She has a quick temper and like fire can flare up any time. She hates people who are kind to her, but doesn't get along with Rhett, the only person who challenges her, making her a complex character to understand. She is hard to tame and burns brighter once she gets going. She does have moments of comfort though, like a fire's warmth, and she has common sense, like any person should have when they are around a fire. She has a big personality and challenges the image women have during her time period. She breaks a lot of stereotypes and doesn't care what others say about her. People respect, love, criticize, and hate her at the same time. She is definitely the perfect character to match with Rhett, as the relationship can get very tense because they are so alike.

Rhett: Rhett Butler is a whip. An item people don't like associating with or using, but they do anyway out of greed and necessity. He is the town scoundrel, disowned by his family and banned from the city of Charleston. During the war, his reputation gets worse, as he deals with the Yankees and makes millions that he is not willing to share with the rest of the South. The southern social life is what made him an outcast, so he has no problem seeing it fall after the war, much to the shock of the Southerners. Like a whip, he is witty, sharp and sarcastic with his tongue and can beat almost any one in a duel. He puts people in their place and speaks only common sense. He is the only man that sees through Scarlett and encourages her to be headstrong and not listen to others. The people of Atlanta still do business with him because they need money, but they hate him and want him gone. When a horse sees a whip, it is fairly content to stay moving and motivated, as it doesn't want the whip to be used. Much like a horse and a whip, Scarlett is motivated by Rhett to do well in business and to have her life together, as she doesn't like being teased by him. Rhett's main soft spot is with children, a point where him and Scarlett differ. Scarlett thinks children are a pain, while Rhett believes they are a joy and has a preference to girls over boys. He loves women and can be demeaning to them, while at the same time believes they are just as sensible as men and loves showering them with gifts.

Again, I will say that I strongly encourage you to read this book. It is long, but well worth it and amazing. I have fallen in love with the characters and I want other to as well. Do you believe these symbols are accurate? Do you have any others that would work? Thanks for reading!