How to Deal with Guilt

In class this week, we got together with small groups and discussed different aspects of Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  My group was assigned Huck's guilt.  One thing that I noticed about how Huck deals with his guilt is that it is very unpredictable.  He feels guilty in many spots in this book, and each time, he deals with this guilt in a new way, most of which are somewhat obscure.  When the Duke and the King con the Wilks family, Huck feels guilty about stealing copious amounts of gold from such nice people.  What I would do in this situation is simply tell the family that they are being conned.  Yet Huck, for some reason, resolves that "There ain't no good way but one.  I got to steal that money, somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they won't suspicion that I done it" (147).  I personally fail to see the logic behind this decision.  If he were caught, then he would get in trouble, and regret his actions.  If he was not caught, then the Wilks family would be in even more distress, since their money was stolen.  Either way, it is a lose-lose situation for Huck.  Perhaps others are seeing something here that I am not, but regardless, I think that this was a stupid decision of Huck's.  Do you think that this was the right decision by Huck, and if, like me, you disagree with his actions, why?

Metablog: the Sequel

To be honest, I don't think my blogging has changed during second quarter as much as it did first.  I was a new blogger, completely lost, and experimented with many different techniques during first quarter.  After the first few blogs, I kind of settled down into a style that I see in the majority of my posts.  I feel that my style consists of a short, but to-the-point body about a singular current issue coupled with a question or opinion at the end.  This has remained consistent throughout second quarter, but there are three small details that I have changed, or am at least trying to.  First off, I have been putting more links and sources in recent blogs.  Next, the ending sentences to my blogs have changed as well.  The final variation in my blogging experience has to do with my attitude towards blogging.

I am inserting more links into my recent blogs because this website said so: Blogging Tips.  Sarcasm aside, I am really doing this because it is mutually beneficial for my readers and I.  Out of my first quarter blogs (excluding the first Metablog), 4 of them came without a link, and none of them had more than one link.  In my second quarter blogs, however, only two have no links, and one blog has a whopping THREE LINKS!  That blog is from 12-11-10, and is titled "Julian Assange: The International Manhunt".  I provide a link to a video that I talk about, and also give links for two articles related to the topic I am talking about.  When I bring up a topic, such as Julian Assange, that some people may not know a lot about, it helps for me to include a link to a page that talks solely about Assange.  This way the reader can have a better understanding of the context, and in turn will lead to me having a more successful blog.

The next topic I'll talk about that has changed in my second quarter blogs is the nature of my ending sentences.  First quarter, all I did was pose a question at the end of each post.  Even though some of these questions were insightful (of course there were those that weren't), they were one-dimensional.  They only asked one question, and nothing else.  Now, I am ending my blogs more openly.  Rather than narrowing down the ending idea to one issue, I leave them more open ended.  This way, the comments on my blogs (if I ever get any!) can be on a variety of topics.  For example,  my blog from 1-8-11 titled "The Game of Life" ands more broadly.  I provide one real life example to support my opinion, and rather than asking a question at the end, I asked my readers if they had any examples.  This way there could be a variety of topics broached in the comments, and perhaps promote more comments.  All in all, leaving the end of my blog in a more open ended way could lead to having my readers be more inclined to comment.

One last detail that has, unlike the others, been a undesired change, is my attitude towards blogging.  During the first quarter, I never missed a single deadline: all nine of my weekly blogs were completed punctually.  However, I skipped two weeks during second quarter, and had to make up for that by doing two extra posts.  Hopefully this isn't a trend, and I will be back on track third quarter.  At least I got the Metablog in on time.  But to sum it all up, my second quarter experience with blogging has gone through less change than first quarter, but has still been an enlightening one.


p.s. the blog i want looked at is "Julian Assange: The International Manhunt", from 12-11-10

The Censorship of Huck Finn

A recent topic that has been brought up in both the classroom and in the media is the censorship of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  There has been much controversy about Twain's classic novel, and there always will be.  This debate is centered around the word nigger, which most people view as being extremely offensive and hateful.  The proposed censorship would replace the n-word with "slave".  I strongly disagree with this decision on nearly every issue.
First off, those in favor of the censorship argue that the book cannot be read by children due to the presence of the n-word.  I certainly agree that that is one reason children should not read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,  but it is definitely not the only one.  So far, Huck has ran away from home, stolen, and lied to many people.  I personally don't think that those are the lessons we should be teaching our kids.  Also, there are some scenes and words that are easy for us to understand, but may be a problem for children.  Those are just a few of the reasons why kids should not be reading this book in the first place.  Another reason is the fact that replacing the n-word with slave would alter the meaning of some passages.  For example, on page 68 in our edition of the book, Huck realizes that "You can't learn a nigger to argue."  In my opinion, this passage would be completely different if it said slave instead of nigger.  In the quote, Huck is clearly referring to the issue being that Jim is black, not the fact that Jim is a slave.  One final reason that I think the censorship of this book is bad is because of the constant changing of a word's meaning.  With each new generation comes new meanings for words.  For example the word "cool" meant nothing but chilly 100 years ago, and now it has a different meaning.  My point is, who knows what words we may find offensive in the future.  Whether it be tomorrow, or in 1000 years, if other words in Huck Finn are then profane, then those could be censored, until you finally have something that looks nothing like the original book.
Also, one last thought.  If the censorship does occur, then I feel the book needs a new title and author.  It would be a crime to call it Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  I might be fine with Censored Version of What was Once a Book Called Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by (insert publisher here).  What do you think should happen if these changes to the book were made?

The Game of Life

During class this week I brought up the game of Life.  In this game, for those of you who are not familiar with it, you progress through your character's "life" by being assigned at random a career.  The possible career choices are the following: doctor, computer consultant, police officer, athlete, entertainer, artist, salesperson, accountant, and teacher.  Based on which career you get, you are then given a salary to fit your job.  If you want to find out more about this game, click here.  Some of the jobs that have the highest salary choices are athlete and entertainer, whereas those jobs like teacher and salesperson have less luxurious salaries.  This game is mainly for younger kids, so this means that our youth is being taught that athletes are more important than teachers, which I disagree with.  I started thinking about this topic, and realized that the Game of Life is not the only thing that is telling our youth that athletes and entertainers are more important than teachers.

Take trading cards for example.  When I was around 12 years old, baseball cards were popular among boys my age.  We were always competing to see who had the most, the best, the rarest, and so on.  These cards taught us to idolize athletes, and wish that we could grow up to be athletes ourselves.  At that same age, when school was starting to get a little challenging, our teachers were evil in our eyes, piling on the tests and homework assignments.  So naturally, when given the choice, any twelve year old boy would choose athlete over teacher.  This is just one example of how kids these days idolize the wrong people.  If you have another example, please feel free to leave it in a comment below.