Dimmesdale vs. Chillingworth

For the past two weeks, the students of Miss Kirkman's AP English class have been reading the novel, "The Scarlet Letter", written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Based off of what we read, we now have to pick between two characters whom we sympathize for the most. I sympathize for Dimmesdale more than I sympathize for Chillingworth because Dimmesdale committed one sin seven years ago, and until this day he lives with guilt and is being tortured by not only himself, but also by Chillingworth. The fact that Dimmesdale still feels horrible for what he has done shows that he is indeed a good person a made a one wrong decision. Though Chillingworth does have a reason to be angry, his actions and the way he seeks revenge is much too evil. Taking advantage of Dimmesdale and torturing him for seven years is inhumane. Thus I sympathize more for Dimmesdale, who is sorry for his mistake, as opposed to Chillingworth, who is purely evil and spiteful.

"Some smokers can blame their genes"

Recently, a new study has been done to determine whether nicotine addiction may be a genetic trait. Researchers at the University of Colorado experimented on adult twins, both identical and fraternal, to figure out whether there is a genetic influence in nicotine addiction. Using 569 pairs of twins, they found that 65% of identical twins quit smoking within a two year period while 55% of fraternal twins were able to quit during the same amount of time. Since identical twins genes are more similar to each other than fraternal twins genes, researchers were able to to link genetics to cigarette addiction. This article was written by Shari Roan in the Los Angeles Times news paper. Reading this article has caused me to question whether nicotine addiction runs in my genes, since my parents, grandparents, and their grandparents come from a long line of smokers. I have discovered it is not just something to do socially on your leisure time, it can be a genetic trait.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Out of all the seven deadly sins, the sin that I am most guilty of committing is probably sloth. I always find myself leaving everything for the absolute last minute when I no longer have a choice and I have to do my work. I think many people my age suffer from laziness, and I blame technology! Unlike the main character of the novel, I do not have to walk around wearing a giant S as a punishment. If I received the same punishment for the sin I have committed, I would be humiliated, especially during the puritan times. In my opinion, her punishment was too harsh. Puritan people are crazy hypocrites, and I'm sure each and everyone of them who judged that unfortunate woman had committed a countless number of sins themselves. We all make mistakes and carrying them around with us and constantly being reminded and judged by our past is just cruel.