#Punctuation

Grammar is undoubtedly vital for clear and effective communication; thus, punctuation, being a subset of grammar, plays a role in facilitating understanding. Despite this, punctuation is not meant to be set in stone and has and will continue to evolve and adapt to our changing culture and society.

The most important purpose that language serves is to convey our thoughts to others; the way we communicate constantly evolves with technology and time so language should, and does, reflect that. Punctuation, along with grammar, serves to set a outline of our thoughts. Like an outline, punctuation has a few key aspects which can affect our writing, like the oxford comma (source G), but the rest is merely detail subject to whim and change. This becomes blatantly obvious when considering the numerous punctuation marks that, although they possibly had meaning in their time, have "come and [gone]" (source A). Punctuation can thus also fall into usage; for example, the semi-colon, although disdained by an older writer like Kurt Vonnegut, is widely used today and not only serves a grammatical purpose but also ties a writer's thoughts more clearly (Source F). The technological changes of the 21st century and the influence of Twitter and Facebook has also brought about several new punctuation marks, the @ symbol and # hashtag, which will most likely fade out of usage within the next century (Source A&H). Even before the large technological revolution of the late 20th century, writers and society in general challenged traditional punctuation and its rigid set or rules. Emily Dickinson, whose poetry became staples of her era's work, wrote of how the lax rules of poetry allowed for freer writings that conveyed more meaning than the conventional prose before her. By relinquishing the chains of strict punctuation, poetry has "more numerous of windows -- / Superior -- For doors--" (source C) and opens itself up to possibility.

Secrets

Why do we keep them? Some secrets aren't that big, such as having a celebrity crush or something. But depending on the severity and the importance of a secret, it can literally gnaw away at your soul, as was seen in The Scarlet Letter through Dimmesdale's mental and physical deterioration. So the question is: why do we keep them?

The number one reason that we keep secrets is to keep the peace. We hold onto secrets in order to keep others blissful, content, set in their vision of the world, and in their vision of us. Secrets can form the strongest walls between people and within people. They are what keeps the world moving but also what stagnates our ability to grow. Secrets can range from the little white lies people tell, "yes, I know what you're talking about", to our deepest thoughts and secrets - ones we take to the grave. Obviously, most of the secrets we keep and most of the lies we tell fall somewhere in between. Now we should first put some boundaries on what can be considered a 'lie'. Lies can be as small as a nudge of the truth when telling some gossip to different people; they can be telling a half-truth and omitting some 'irrelevant' details. How big a lie can get . . . well there really is no upper limit.

When asked if I lie, I, along with most rational people, would say no. Most people would also say that they don't keep secrets. This is our instinctive reaction - why would I tell a lie or a keep a secret and then talk about it? Many times, we don't intentionally tell lies, they are a product of trying to justify our thoughts or actions and are a manifestation of how we try to live up to our own image.

So why are lies so harmful? Let's look at this in a roundabout manner. If I ever catch myself telling a lie, there is about a 10 minute grace period in which I would come clean about it. Every minute and hour outside this period makes it harder and harder to tell the truth. If I fess up about something, most often a metaphoric weight is lifted off my shoulders and I (but maybe not the person I lied to) will feel better. If I don't come to terms with the lie, I'll hang a "poor me" banner around myself and try to tell myself that it was really the other person's fault and that I was justified in my actions. Of course, this never really works out. So in the end we reach this: no matter how bad telling the truth might seem, there are ways in which everyone, ultimately, is healed.

Perspective

My view. Your view. His view. Her view. Their view. Our view. Given any prompt, event, or occurrence, hundreds of interpretations can and will be taken and the way we perceive what happened will vary. Perspective plays a huge role in how we see the world around us and the people we interact with, giving everything a twist. Almost everything in this world is subjective to a point, and the way we perceive things, from a narrow view to the big picture, completely changes the world's influence on us and our influence on the world.

There are several places in which perspective changes our views: negative or positive view, events and significance, and amount of empathy. For the first, we can consider a crying baby. To most people, this would be largely annoying and placed in a negative light, we might think of telling the mother to keep her child under control. However, what if a women who could not have a child, or one who had several miscarriages were in the same situation; she might be envious of the chance to do this. For the second, we consider the impact of time on our view of the world. In a study conducted on people who had life-changing events, winning the lottery and becoming paralyzed, it was found that both parties experienced the same level of happiness just a month after. Our perspective of triumphs and downfalls becomes dulled after time and we may not view today's decisions as the same tomorrow. For the third, we can relate back to our first example. Our personal experiences puts us in a perspective which allows for a certain amount of empathy.


Here's a short story modeled after one I've read recently.

There is a large construction site with nothing but small base and pile of bricks. Three men are working on the site and are all doing the same task, taking a brick, laying it upon the base and then cementing it on. When asked what they were doing, the three men responded like this: the first man said, "I am laying some bricks"; the second man said, "I am building a wall", the third man smiled and answered, "I am building a cathedral".

Here it is evident that something between the men was different - and that was their respective perspectives. Each man was doing the same thing, but their ability to see the bigger picture changed their attitudes and views.

Nature

We are surrounded by it. Nature affects everyone; from those living in the concrete jungles known as mega cities, to those who sleep under the stars, all are influenced, albeit all to differing intensities. For the great majority of my life, I've lived in Troy, Michigan, where the great suburban life means the closest one can get with nature is the trees in his backyard and maybe the park across the road. Despite this, nature still has a profound impact upon my life, and the lives of all those around me, even if it is imperceptible. There are the obvious points: nature gives us the oxygen we breath, the heat that we live off of, the food we eat, and the weather that gives us cycles to measure time by. Then there are the subtler points: nature is what originally shaped us into humans through the process of evolution; nature is what defines what we build (cities, suburbs, farms) and how we adapt to things; it can also be argued that nature is what compels all our actions.

We can also simply appreciate the beauty of nature. Some of the most magnificent sights in the world are man-made, this is true; however, the most beautiful scenery in the world can only be credited to Mother Nature. The number of these picturesque scenes is constantly dwindling due to the crass way in which humans treat them, but several are preserved and will hopefully stay the way they are. Among those that are protected under national parks, Yosemite and Banff are the best that I have seen. Among the mountains, lakes, and miles of forest, you feel truly insignificant. Reading about how vast the world, the galaxy, and the universe gives little in comparison to actually experiencing a situation like that. It gives the impression that we, as humans, really matter little in the course of history, and will be slowly forgotten after death. It becomes of little wonder why a large theme in literature centers around nature.

Unintended Effects of Independence

No American document has had a greater global impact than the Declaration of Independence. It has been fundamental to American history longer than any other text because it was the first to use the name “the United States of America”. Thus, The Declaration of Independence gave birth to what is known today as the United States of America, and is symbolic for American democracy and freedom. And, as the first successful declaration of independence in world history, its example helped to inspire countless movements for independence, self-determination, and revolution after 1776. Although the Declaration was at first purely designated to declaring independence from Britain, its influence has extended over centuries and throughout the world.

One of the most important statements made in the Declaration is as follows: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Of course, when this was written, "all men" referred to only white men, and more specifically those who owned wealth and property. The "unalienable Rights" were denied to everyone else - women, slaves, the poor. So the Declaration was merely a way to get a political message across to the King and Parliament without seeming too crass. However, this was not the impression that it gave off to the rest of the world, or even the rest of the country. 

The Declaration served as the bridge towards gender and race equality, and was a tremendous influence upon the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other movements for independence.One of the more immediate effects, even though it was 80 years later, of the Declaration of Independence was the emancipation of black slaves. Abraham Lincoln perhaps interpreted the Declaration in his own way and understanding, but perhaps the Emancipation Proclamation was another political move. Either way, it wasn't until a 80 years later, in the mid-1800's, that African Americans were freed. Starting in the early 1800's, the United States began to see a push towards gender equality, and in the early 1900's, the movement became officiated and, legally, all women were placed on the same level as men. One of the most important documents of the women suffrage movement was the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled directly after the Declaration of Independence. Right after the War for Independence was won, the Constitution and its Bill of Rights were drafted and applied, both of which had a basis from the Declaration. Finally, the Declaration has also left lasting effects upon other foreign nations, as it arguably incited the French Revolution, and became a model for the Vietnam's declaration of independence from France. 

The Art of Lying

When someone lies, it is usually to purposefully lead another towards a different direction. There are many forms of lying, ranging from making a false statement, to changing the spin and telling the 'partial truth'. Lying also ranges in degree, from what is considered the white lie, which arguably keeps the world running, to deceit and trickery seen in swindlers and in the girls of The Crucible. Lying is prominent throughout the piece, and the art of lying is mastered by almost all of the girls, leading to a snowballing of lies and deceits that ended with condemnations and executions.

Most of the characters in The Crucible lie to keep their secrets hidden, their purposes fulfilled, or simply to themselves about the gravity of the situation. Abigail lies about her ability to see spirits, ghosts, the supernatural in general, and the other girls join in on this. This is of course the main instigator to the conflict, and so is detestably the biggest lie told in the play. Proctor lies about cheating on his wife, and then lies again by hiding it. Another important lie that is told is that of the judge, the lieutenant governor, and the minister. They lie not to others, but to themselves; their pride causes them to lie about serving God's justice. Ironically, lying actually saves the lives of many of the condemned, since by lying, you were renouncing your 'witchery' and could go to God again. On the other hand of this, telling the truth got you killed, and no matter how strong your integrity is after your death, you're still dead. So would it be better to lie and live or tell the truth and die?

Hubris

Pride is something that everyone has; the amount varies from person to person, but it can be found in everyone. In its usual state and quantity, pride offers little or no harm to others and is seen as a good thing, giving people confidence to do what they do. However, excessive pride - hubris - has been a major theme that can be traced back to Greek mythology and history, and continues to show in modern day events. 

Today's connotation and definition of hubris translates roughly to 'excessive pride', but that is only part of the traditional definition. The other part, arguably more important in ancient times, means 'over stepping' and usually refers to placing yourself above the Gods, or, more realistically, above the cultural and moral values of society. The Greeks placed a large emphasis on the role of hubris, and they charged it as a crime. More accurately, they charged other crimes such as murder and robbery as crimes of hubris. This leads us to a closer interpretation of how hubris is portrayed in Greek mythology - when an excessive amount of something, often a good something, leads to harm. An example of this would be knowledge. In the story of Prometheus, the Greek Titan steals knowledge, represented as fire, and gives it to humans. This brings a hail of Zeus' wrath, and Zeus binds Prometheus to a rock on mount Caucasus and has an eagle forever eat his liver. Knowledge is a good thing . . . unless, like fire, you have too much and get burned. 

Fast forwarding through time, we reach colonial America and more specifically the Salem witch trials. In 1692 mass hysteria broke forth in the Massachusetts town of Salem. Their society operated under a theocracy, and because of the heavy religious atmosphere and economic hardships, an overdue opportunity for everyone to express his guilt and sins emerges. It began with a few teenage girls accusing older, lower or middle-class women of practicing witchcraft. Sufficient evidence, obviously, could never be found, but the mere accusations and the general air of resentment created by outside factors was enough to prosecute and condemn them. You would suppose that, after a few people are tried and hanged, the girls would stop and realize the consequences of their actions. However, the hubris created by the power the now hold was enough to compel them onward. In the end, their excessive pride and inability to control themselves because of it lead to the imprisonment of over 100 and the hanging of 20 men and women. 

Hubris in its first form can still be seen today. In Congress, the opposing parties show too much hubris and can't decide on anything, since if either side backs down they will seem weak. In Congress versus the President, neither side will back down and the shutdown of the federal government was the result. Toning down from these large-scale things, hubris can also been seen on a person-to-person level. There is always that person whose pride refuses to let him or her accept help from others. So in the end, an excessive pride is never a good thing, and being humble and open to new things is most often (99.9% of the time) the best policy to follow.