The scarlett Scar.
Some of the men in my little town took pride in how they pun,ish their boys. The standard practice was a whipping with a belt, and my father was in that group. From about age 6 he would whip me with his belt when I was bad, and I guess this was quite a bit.
The one I remember best was when I was 17 in the 11th grade. He caught me doing something that boys sometimes do but don't tell there folks. He made me lay on the bed, take off my shirt and then whipped me 20 times with his belt. His belt had little medal pieces on it and they could make you bleed a little.After he did this he sat on the side on the bed and cried, I don't know why. Maybe he thought I was going to be just like my older brother who got in trouble, maybe he was sorry. I don't know.
After he left the room my mother came in and put some stuff on the places that were bleeding. It kind of embarassed me to say she took off my shoes and sox but that made me feel a little better. I know this is silly but it kind of reminded me of when I was little. She said "Frank I am proud of you and I will always love you."
Well the scars are still there. Jack and Alice took me to a plastic surgon to see if he could fix them. He said he could but it would be very expensive. Jack and Alice are so kind to me but they did not have the money for the skin crafts.
I was embarassed to take off my shirt when we played side yard football. But Jack told me about a book called "The Scarlett Letter" about a women who had to were A scarlett letter on her dress because she had committed a sin. Jack, who is always upbeat with me said tell anyone who ask that the marks were your scarlett scars and forget about it. Then he said something I did notunderstand at first. "You cary the scarlet scars but you kept others from having to cary them." When I went to bed that night I tried to figure what he meant. I think best just before I go to sleep. It came to me. I had the scars but when I married and had kids they would never have scarlett scars. I don't know how to pray but I thanked Jesus for letting me see what Jack meant. I promise. Noone I take care of will ever have to wear a scarlet scar. Frank
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Frank,
ReplyDeleteThis is very good, again. For your professor: Yes, I understood it, and yes, the title is exactly right for it.
Spelling/grammar corrections:
The title should be "The Scarlet Scar" - the word 'the' is capitalized in a title when it is the very first word. (You capitalized it above the writing, but not in the title of the post) And Scarlett with two t's is the name of an actress and a movie character, but the color Scarlet and the book The Scarlet Letter are only spelled with one t. "pun,ish" should be "punish".
"don't tell there folks" should be "their". "There" means a place, like 'over there'. It might help to remember it if you think of 'here and there', being spelled alike, and both being places. (But you can also use "there" to say "There are clouds out today" or "There is a deer on my windshield", and when you use it this way, it doesn't mean a place. But if you use it that way, it always comes at the beginning right before some form of "is", like "are" or "will be" or "was".) "Their" means it belongs to them. "They're" means 'they are'. Most people mix these up, so it's good to learn how to use them right.
"medal" should be "metal". "cried," should be "cried;" (semicolon rather than a comma). "who got in trouble," should be "who got in trouble;" (ditto). My english teachers used to tell me never to use the word "stuff" in a paper, but I never fully agreed with them on that. "sox" should be "socks". "surgon" should be "surgeon". "skin crafts" should be "skin grafts". "were A scarlett letter" should be "wear a scarlet letter". There should be a comma after "who is always upbeat with me". "anyone who ask" should be "anyone who asks". "notunderstand" should be "not understand". "cary should be "carry" (both times). "Noone" should be "No one".
Places I would put commas: after "metal pieces on it", after "socks", after "silly", after "so kind to me", after the title "The Scarlet Letter", and after "how to pray".
Your writing is very good, straight from the heart. I was crying a bit by the end.
Oh, and I wanted to say, praying isn't something you have to know how to do. Praying is just talking. ANY talking to God is good; he won't care if it's not fancy.
God bless, Frank.
Anna
Anna. Frank here. I have made a list of your corrections. Tell me after tomorrow if I am doing better. Thanks again a lot. Frank
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