Tara+C

=Learning How To Research 4/15/12 =  I have previously written a __paper__ about Nathaniel Hawthorne, the man known for making the distinction between a romance and a novel. My __paper__ had a strong use of text, and sources. When writing my next paper I will __improve__ my sentence structure and use of transitions.I could also __improve__ the sentences and how they flow. I noticed in my paper that my sentences were a bit choppy and sounded like you stubbed your toe when reading it. I hope to improve this with my next paper and go on to write excellent work in the future. ==

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= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Nathaniel Hawthorne: Family Man 3/11/12 = I have been doing a research project on a very interesting man named [|Nathaniel Hawthorne]. This man was a very interesting character, quite like the ones in his books. He was very much a family man but also a well known author. He balanced the two with great precision. He had his priorities in line and was an excellent man.

 The hardest part about researching Hawthorne, was the amount of useless stuff that is out there. I found that an online database was extremely helpful in finding the truth and reliable sources. I feel that I have learned so much about this man in the passed few weeks, from his literature to his family life and friends. The most helpful part of the process has been having to write an annotated bibliography. It has come in handy so many times and is a great way to get organized.

Being organised is very important when writing about such a well known and influential person to the literary community. Hawthorne is known in the literary community for making the distinction between a romance and a novel. He had many friends whom were also acclaimed authors, such as Herman Melville, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. I believe they were very helpful to Hawthorne and offered support in the beginning, when Hawthorne was having troubles getting published.

Before I did the research project on Hawthorne, I didn't see him as much of a family man. When I read that he wrote a diary with his children and his wife, my mind was changed. He was a caring man and very much comical. His depth was not only in his characters but inside himself. Nathaniel Hawthorne was a very important member of the literary community and through his works he furthered literature greatly. He set the bar for many authors after him.

= = = = =Great Diction 2/7/12 =

 My favorite part about Nathaniel Hawthorne is his use of words. He has a brilliant way of painting a picture for the reader. I love his use of words, and at the same time It's hard to understand but nevertheless beautiful. I'm currently only on page 21 and will not be able to complete the entire book in time. Instead I will read about half and look at reviews people have made and __compare__ their opinions to my own. I really enjoy the way he expresses and captures such beauty with words in its self. I just hope one day I will be as great as Nathaniel Hawthorne. I aspire to be a writer and this book really opens my eyes to the other ways you can express yourself. Its a diffrent style than I think my generation is used to, but it hasn't out grown its beauty.

Merely an Unfledged Chicken... 1/27/12

During my reading of the book "The Marble Faun" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I have found a specific passage that caught my attention. It wasn't because it was exceedingly important, it was merely the fact it was a little strange, but still remained informative and compelling. I laughed when I read this and could imagine myself in the scene, gazing at the timeless man, Donatello. 

Hawthorne writes//,// //** "He caught Miriam's h **// //**and, kissed it, and gazed into her eyes without saying a word. She smiled, and bestowed on him a little careless caress, singularly like what one would give to a pet dog when he puts himself in the way to receive it. Not that it was so decided a caress either, but only the merest touch, somewhere between a pat and a tap of the finger; it might be a mark of fondness, or perhaps a playful pretense of punishment. At all events, it appeared to afford Donatello exquisite pleasure; insomuch that he danced quite round the wooden railing that fences in the Dying Gladiator. **// //<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">**"It is the very step of the Dancing Faun," <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">s<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">aid Miriam, apart, to Hilda. "What a child, or what a simpleton, he is! I continually find myself treating Donatello as if he were the merest unfledged chicken; and yet he can claim no such privileges in the right of his tender age, for he is at least--how old should you think him, Hilda?" ** // <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> // **<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">"Twenty years, perhaps," replied Hilda, glancing at Donatello; "but, indeed, I cannot tell; hardly so old, on second thoughts, or possibly older. He has nothing to do with time, but has a look of eternal youth in his face." ** //

<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">Donatello strikes me as a very knowledgeable young man, very artistic, but very childlike. He acts as though he has not had a parent figure in his life and has spent most of his existence as a bachelor. Donatello seems very bright, and as he is like a child, he can be quite a charmer. I see him as a most romantic sort of man, who is looking for a woman to be with for the remainder of his lifetime. I believe he is looking for someone to take care but also be able to be himself.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">The women in this passage, Hilda and Miriam, speak of Donatello as if he is an art piece. They say that he has a look of Eternal youth on his face, and speak of his beauty. They also believe the sculpture's appearance is strangely close to that of Donatello's; Miriam and a man named Kenyon, believe it is no coincidence.

<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">**//"Donatello has certainly the gift of eternal youth, as Hilda suggests," observed Kenyon, laughing; "for, judging by the date of this statue, which, I am more and more convinced, Praxiteles carved on purpose for him, he must be at least twenty-five centuries old, and he still looks as young as ever."//** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">**//"What age have you, Donatello?" asked Miriam.//** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">**//"Signorina, I do not know," he answered; "no great age, however; for I have only lived since I met you."//** <span style="background-color: #fffcf6; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana,Arial,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">**//"Now, what old man of society could have turned a silly compliment more smartly than that!" exclaimed Miriam. "Nature and art are just at one sometimes. But what a happy ignorance is this of our friend Donatello! Not to know his own age! It is equivalent to being immortal on earth. If I could only forget mine.//**

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I find Miriam's remark very peculiar. I believe Miriam thinks not knowing you own age, would almost free your soul. You wouldn't be tied down to a number, you would simply live, without a care it would seem in the case of Mr. Donatello.

From Saloons to Cathedrals... 1/20/12 <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Nathaniel Hawthorne starts his book, "The Marble Faun", by describing the scenery and vast beauty of Rome. He takes the reader to a saloon in a sculpture-gallery, where the main characters are standing, observing some art pieces. He informs the reader that out of the four main characters, three of them have a passion for art. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The particular art piece the main characters are looking at is a sculpture of a "marble faun". It isn't quite clear, but it seems to me the main characters, Hilda and Miriam, are comparing the sculpture, to the man who created it. I believe his name is "Donatello", and he created this sculpture in such a way that it looked surreal, as if it were flesh and blood. The only garment it bared was a lion skin, and this draped down its back. Hawthorne describes the sculpture as best he can, and says, "But we must do more than merely refer to this exquisite work of art; it must be described, however inadequate may be the effort to express its magic peculiarity in words." (pg.8) I love how he feels that the sculpture is so beautiful and needs to be described but he knows that no matter the words he uses, they will never be enough to truly paint a picture of the utter beauty his eyes are set upon.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">He conveys that there are multiple sculptures of gods and characters from ancient folklore, and each is beautiful, he goes on to say, ".. All famous productions of antique sculpture, and still shining in the undiminished majesty and beauty of their ideal life, although the marble, that embodies them, is yellow with time, and perhaps corroded by the damp earth in which they lay buried for centuries."(pg.5)



<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Hawthorne paints another picture in the readers mind, and that picture is that of a little girl, holding a dove to her bosom and being assaulted by a snake. The author reveals that this sculpture has been erect for close to two thousand years, and still remains beautiful and maintains its meaning, or purpose.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Nathaniel Hawthorne takes this piece a little bit farther when he goes on to say, "Here, likewise, is seen a symbol of the [|Human Soul], with its choice of Innocence or Evil at hand..." (pg5) I thought this was a very interesting way to look at the sculpture. I also thought that many people would not have come to that conclusion. Now that I have had time to reflect on his words, I do believe I understand what he means, and I very much see the symbolism. The dove would symbolize her innocence, whereas the snake would be evil, possibly referring to the bible, where the devil (Satan) was depicted as a snake.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">The Beginning... 1/13/12 <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I will be reading the book "The Marble Faun" by[| Nathaniel Hawthorne]. I chose this book and author because Edgar Allen Poe, a highly credited author, praised Hawthorne's book, "Twice Told Told Tales." I predict that the book "The Marble Faun" will be about Roman cultureand about the diversity and hypocrisy of people in a culture.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">"The Marble Faun" looks very professional and lovely. The [|cover is a picture] of a very beautiful sculpture of a man. It adds elegance to the book, without having to even open the book and read his words. Although this book was the first novel from this author, I chose this book because it looked like it would be a wonderful book.