failure is forbidden

       Different people have different fears; fear of heights, water, dark and so many others that may seem common yet have a great impact on the person who fears it. For me, I have a fear of not meeting expectations of other people, a fear of failure. Ever since I was young my parents have constantly told me to do better, better than my brother and  often compares me with my older cousin, for me to do even better than her.  That single act of comparing me to others, I believe, caused me to become more self-conscious about everything in life ,especially how others judge me, since I am unable to gain approval for the work I have done, the effort I put in for school. Even when I put a lot of effort into studying and assignments if the mark is low then it is low. My parents will not, did not, sympathize with me for trying hard and getting a low mark; they will just say "why didn't you try harder?". From listening to all their lectures for not getting high enough grades when I was young have created a constant pressure in my current life where grades are  extremely important to me. Sometimes I really envy other teenagers in my life who do not really care about their grades. When my life seems to revolve mainly around school other teenagers are having fun, hanging out with each other and still have parents who are satisfied with their grades; which are not that low at all, but only low compared to my parents' standards .  Although my parents do not complain about my grades now, there is still the unspoken rule in the house: "failure is forbidden.". In a sense, I feel like I had been brainwashed  by my parents when I was young, that getting good grades is a must and anything lower than an A is unacceptable; only to face disappointment when I fail to meet their expectations.
    This fear of mine is still a positive aspect of my life because it motivates me to achieve, to set the bar higher and higher for myself. However, I am always self-conscious about how people might judge me therefore I tend to dislike public speaking. Unlike fears like a fear of spiders, I cannot run away from this fear since judgements are made by everyone, even by strangers who I never talked to.

Quotes in Wuthering Heights

    In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte utilizes quotes to foreshadow certain events that happen in the novel. An example of this is: "This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small-Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton" (24). This quote is significant because Wuthering Heights is a romance novel and the quote indicates a dilemma Catherine Earnshaw faces in Wuthering Heights; contemplating who she should marry, Linton or Heathcliff. Earnshaw represents her maiden name, Edgar Linton and Heathcliff are people she can choose to marry. By writing her name as Catherine Heathcliff and Catherine Linton multiple times in the book, this shows her inability to choose who to marry and uncertainty of who she wants to marry. Catherine chooses to marry Linton because he is young, cheerful, rich and loves her; she also explains that she cannot marry Heathcliff because he has been degraded too much by her brother. By marrying Linton she will be one of the greatest woman in the neighbourhood. Her decision in choosing to marry Linton explains Heathcliff's bitter personality in the beginning of the novel where he is seen to be quite short-tempered and introverted to Mr. Lockwood, his tenant. 

    The next quote is significant in the way that it foreshadows Hindley Earnshaw's actions against Heathcliff: "He has been blaming our father (how dare he?) for treating [Heathcliff] too liberally; and swears he will reduce him to his right place-" (27). This quote hints that Hindley will be deliberately cruel to Heathcliff. In Wuthering Heights, Hindley purposely degrades Heathcliff as a revenge since Heathcliff usurped his position as his father's son, stealing all the spotlight when they were still children.Eventually it reaches the point where Mr. Earnshaw rather believes Heathcliff than Hindley, his own son. Hindley is especially displeased with the way Mr. Earnshaw treated Heathcliff because Heathcliff is only an adopted child; in Hindley's mind, Heathcliff should not have been treated that well. Therefore when Hindley gains control of Wuthering Height he degrades Heathcliff to the position of a servant, what Hindley considers to be Heathcliff's rightful position. He also forbids contact between Catherine and Heathcliff, to teach Heathcliff the difference between their status.

    The last quote left the strongest impression on me: " 'For shame, Heathcliff!' said [Mrs. Dean]. 'It is for God to punish wicked people; we should learn to forgive' "(64). This quote also foreshadows Heathcliff's revenge later in the novel, on Hindley, for mistreating him from his hatred, or Catherine, for choosing Linton over him and betraying him. However, this quote left the strongest impression on me because both Hindley and Heathcliff are punished by 'God' for being wicked. Hindley is punished for purposely ruining Heathcliff's life as a revenge. Hindley loses everything including his wife, the one he loved the most, and also loses himself from the loss of his wife. Heathcliff fails to be together with Catherine and ends up with Isabella. They have a son but his son dies leaving him with only his widowed daughter-in-law, as revealed in the beginning of the novel. Heathcliff ends up spending his life alone in Wuthering Heights still wishing to be with Catherine, even when she is dead.

"im LOLing so hrd im abt 2 x_x" - plz tlk pr0perli

            I believe that the usage of computer language and texting abbreviations, textism, are degrading the English language and that they represents the modern society. Perhaps, one of the reasons why computer language and texting abbreviations are so popular and common is because our current society is moving at a very fast pace; where every second counts. Everything we do seems to have a time limit and the twenty-four hours we get a day just does not seem to be enough especially when we need to sleep. By shortening our words we can save time but there needs to be a limit to how much a word should be abbreviated because something like "3v3b0di" does not make sense.

             It is not that I object to the usage of computer language and texting abbreviations but I think that users should be able to differentiate between formal and conversational language especially when it should be used. It only makes sense that we talk to our friends in a conversational style or else we would seem like strangers talking to each other. Therefore we use computer language and texting abbreviations to communicate but it is unacceptable to use textism, informal language, for school, work and resumes. It should be limited to the internet and text messages only. The reason we go to school is to be educated, therefore we ought to sound educated when we are writing papers and handing in assignments. If informational articles were to be written in computer language and texting abbreviations it would be extremely difficult for people to understand if they are not used to textism and computer language. I think that textism should only be used on resumes if people do not want to be hired since resumes need to be written in formal language in the first place. It seems disrespectful to the employer to have all sorts of abbreviations on resumes. It is unnatural to have people say " LOL, LMAO,  TTYL" as a replacement for laughter and normal speech. I believe that computer language and texting abbreviations should be allowed as long as they are not in formal writing and speech.

Wuthering Heights

       Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, is a romance novel, a classic that is read by many people. The main protagonist in Wuthering Heights is Mr. Heathcliff. My first impression of Heathcliff is that he is not affable. He is not generous, unwilling to offer a guide for his own tenant even when he knew that he "[runs] a risk of being lost in the marshes" (17) during a snowstorm. Later even when it is proven completely impossible to travel in the weather he still refuses his tenant's, Lockwood, request to sleep on a chair in the living room: "no, no! A stranger is a stranger, be he rich or poor: it will not suit me to permit anyone the range of the place while I am off guard!" (22). What is even stranger is that he looks at Mrs. Heathcliff, his daughter-in-law, with a look of hatred even when she should be the living memory of his son since his own son is dead. 
 
       Heathcliff is a relatable and realistic character because he is not too perfect of a character. He is lacking in many aspects because he is short-tempered, impatient and uncaring. Even in real life, there are people who are similar to him making Heathcliff easier to relate to. He seems to be a person who dislikes showy display of feelings, hiding his feelings away from others whether it is hate or love.  He is definitely relatable because many people also hide their feelings away from others and are often hard to understand because on the outside they may always be yelling at others. Yet on the inside they may just be thinking of others' well-being. He is rather unapproachable because of his personality; similar to bashful people and people who cannot express themselves in society. 

 

      I predict Mr. Heathcliff will be more welcoming to Mr. Lockwood as he learns about Mr. Heathcliff's past. I think that the time  in where Lockwood arrives as a tenant is already quite a few years after the moment when Heathcliff and Catherine were in love with each other. Lockwood finds Catherine's hand written books: "this writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small- Catherine Earnshaw... Catherine Heathcliff...Catherine Linton" (24) which can only mean that Catherine is no longer there. However, I think that Mr. Healthcliff is originally a cheerful and open gentleman that only later, after falling in love with Catherine, did he turn into the person he is now, more introverted. I anticipate that Mr. Heathcliff learns to love others and express his feelings for Catherine but along the way he will have many conflicts caused by their love for each other, involving many other characters in the novel, perhaps jeopardizing his position in his family. I believe that Heathcliff and Catherine's love did not work out in the end because of the change of Heathcliff's personality after the incident.