Journal #31

On Wednesday I went to Memorial Medical Center and job shadowed a physical therapist.  While there I also ended up shadowing an occupational therapist and another doctor.  I watched as the physical therapist helped people who were staying at the hospital as well as people who just come for therapy and then leave.  It was really interesting to see how they help people regain mobility and help them build up their strength.  I liked how with this job you get to work with people and really get to know them.  Although I really liked it, there is a downside to it.  Seeing the patients struggle so much just to do the stuff I do not even think about is really upsetting.  Something as simple as sitting up or moving a leg is a hard task for a lot of the people I saw at the hospital that day.  It was really cool to see how much effort the patients put into helping themselves get stronger, and also the effort the physical therapist put in to help motivate them to do so.  I think that this is a really interesting career and it is a possibility for me in the future, but I want to keep my options open and see what else is out there before I make a decision.  One thing about this that I really liked was that some patients were very appreciative of the work the physical therapists put in to help them, but then again there were also some patients who really did not like the therapy at all.  I think this job has some good things about it as well as some bad things, but I think that will hold true for most jobs.  Another thing that I really liked about shadowing this job was seeing a couple patients who were going through their last day at the hospital.  They were doing their last physical therapy session and were checking out later that day, and it was like a bright side to seeing everyone else struggle so much.  It showed me that all of the hard work really does pay off and it was really cool to watch something like that.

Journal #30

Personally, my favorite Walt Whitman poem probably one of the shortest, simplest poems published in Leaves of Grass.  My favorite Walt Whitman poem is called To You, and like I said it is very short and simple.  Being short and simple are two of the main reasons I like this poem because it is straight to the point and that makes it a lot easier to understand.  What I have found throughout these past few English classes is that a lot of Walt Whitman's poems are kind of hard to understand at first glance.  They only start to become clear after we discuss them in class, but it was different with this poem.  The first time I read through this poem I actually knew what he was talking about, which is a first for me.  The fact that this poem is so short already puts it above longer poems in my mind, but on top of that it was so simple to understand.  With most of the poems we have looked at as a class, I have a hard time analyzing them and figuring out what the author really means, but with this one there really is not much analyzing to do.  It is exactly what it says, which is the main reason I like this poem.  Another reason I like the length of this poem is that when we have to read long poems it is a lot harder to pay attention to it, but with this one its a lot easier to stay focused on what it is.  A lot of Whitman's poems seem to only make sense after we discuss them in class, but with this one I feel like I know what it is about without having it explained to me.  Just feeling like I know what a poem is about makes me like it because that does not happen very often.  With a lot of Whtiman's poems there is some hidden meaning that you have to try and figure out, but this one is so much more simple than those.


http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/poems/24

Reflection: Chanting the Square Deific

Walt Whitman wrote Chanting the Square Deific as a piece of his book Leaves of Grass. In this poem, Whitman refers to God as four-sided, which is different from the three-sided way the Christian church views God (Oliver). There are four stanzas in this poem, and each stanza is introducing one of each side of this four-sided God Whitman writes about (Oliver).

 In the first stanza, God is called many different names. First he calls himself Jehovah, then Old Brahm, then Saturnius, and finally as Kronos (Whitman). All of these names he calls himself are the names of Gods from other cultures or religions (Oliver). In this first stanza God describes himself as being "unpersuadable, relentless" which is very different from the way God is usually portrayed (Whitman). God is usually described as being forgiving, loving, and powerful, but in Whitman's poem he is described as relentless, remorseless, and unpersuadable (Whitman).

In the second stanza, it is from the point of view of Christ, which is the second side of this four-sided view. In this stanza, Christ is described as being more kindhearted, gentle, and wise (Whitman). Christ calls himself the "mightier God" and claims he has the "kiss of affection" (Whitman). Christ also says "and my sweet love bequeath'd here and elsewhere never dies" which is more like the God that is usually described in poems and songs.

The third stanza of this poem is from Satan's point of view, and he says he is "plotting revolt" and is "comrade of criminals" (Whitman). In this four-sided view, Whitman has placed Satan and God across from each other, intentionally creating a balance between good and evil which is something Whitman believes is necessary in the lives of human beings (Oliver).

The fourth stanza is from the point of view of the "Santa Spirita", which is similar to the Holy Spirit. The "general soul" is across from Christ in this four-sided square, and is said to be the most solid part of the square.

In conclusion, this poem is about the four-sided square that makes up the self.  The Father, the Son, Satan, and the Holy Spirit are each one side of this square and all of these sides put together make up the Transcendental self.

Bibliography

Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." CHANTING THE SQUARE DEIFIC. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892]) -. The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.

Journal #29

Transcendental self is not what you do, it is who you are.  It is really hard to figure out the difference in these two things because it is not something I have ever thought about  before.  This whole thing is really awkward and weird.  A persons transcendental self is not their job or the sports they play, it is what is under the surface and it is who you are.  I honestly do not know how to figure out what my transcendental self is because its really weird to think about.

I think that my transcendental self is similar to the person everyone else sees, but maybe slightly different in some ways.  For example, when I am around people I never really volunteer to do stuff or attempt new things and I think that is because I do not want to embarrass myself or do something stupid.  I think that part of me is the same on the inside and can be seen from the outside because it is just something that I have always done.  I think the way I act changes a little depending on the people I am around because there are certain people I am comfortable around and others that I am not, and I think that this would be the same for most other people because no one is comfortable around everyone.  I think that these are two things that are probably a little bit obvious to people, and I think a lot of other people may even feel the same about themselves.  On the other hand, there are probably so parts of me that people can not see as easily from the outside, but that is the way I want it to be.

This concept is still really hard to think about and hard to understand, let alone write a blog about, but I think I now have at least a little bit of a better understanding of what a transcendental self is.  I now understand why it took Whitman so long to write Leaves of Grass and why he revised it so many times because defining your transcendental self is no easy task.

Emily Dickinson Reflection Blog- By Abby & Gabby

Nature, the gentlest mother, is written by the author Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson has been known for writing about her love of nature and how even in its simplicity, it is the most beautiful thing that we have ever known. Many authors wrote about their love for nature during this time. For example, Walt Whitman was a big fan, and even before him, Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Henry Thoreau.  Her poem starts out like this, “Nature, the gentlest mother, Impatient of no child, The feeblest or the waywardest,- Her admonition mild.” (Dickinson). To Emily Dickinson, Mother Nature was “the gentlest mother” and is also very patient with her children. In the second stanza it then goes on to say that she hears everything; whether it is in the forest or the hill, and that she is always “restraining rampant squirrel or too impetuous bird.” (Dickinson). Finally, in the third stanza, she goes on to say,“How fair her conversation, A summer afternoon, her household, her assembly; and when the sun goes down (Dickinson). I think that this is saying that no matter what time of day it is, or what season, or what year, Mother Nature is always beautiful. Not only is nature beautiful in the day, but even when the sun goes down, she still offers something wonderful, like the stars or the moon. I like how in her poem Emily Dickinson talks about Mother Nature as if she were an actual human. I think that it makes it more interesting for the reader and is very creative.  In the fourth stanza, Emily Dickinson says how the voice of Mother Nature encourages the "timid prayer of the minutest cricket, the most unworthy flower" (Dickinson).  In this stanza, I think what Emily Dickinson is trying to say is that everything in nature has some sort of purpose, like crickets and flowers.  Even though they are not the best part of nature, they still have a purpose.  In the fifth stanza, Emily Dickinson talks about how when the children are sleeping, Mother Nature lights the sky with her lamps (Dickinson).  I think that when she says lamps she really means stars and the moon because they come out at night when everyone is sleeping.  In the final stanza of this poem, Emily Dickinson says "With infinite affection, and infiniter care, her golden finger on her lip, wills silence everywhere" (Dickinson).  In this stanza, Emily Dickinson is saying that with a lot of care Mother Nature wills silence at night.  I think that this stanza was pretty much self explanatory because I think it means exactly what she is saying.  I think that in this stanza Emily Dickinson uses imagery because she says "her golden finger on her lip" which I think is a form of imagery.  Overall, this poem was really interesting to read because it was about Mother Nature and how she is the gentlest mother.  This poem is really cool because Emily Dickinson refers to Mother Nature as if she is a real person, not just a figure of speech. 


Bibliography

Dickinson, Emily. "1. “Nature, the Gentlest Mother.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." 1. “Nature, the Gentlest Mother.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

Journal #28

Emily Dickinson wrote "I heard a fly buzz when I died", which is about a fly that interrupts the speaker as they are passing away.  In the first stanza, it says "I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form was like the stillness in the air between the heaves of storm."  I think that in this stanza Emily Dickinson is saying how everything finally became peaceful right before her death, after being sick and heaving for long periods of time.  I think this poem sounds pretty interesting just by the first stanza because the first line is so weird it made me interested in seeing how the rest of the poem will go.  I thought the second stanza was a lot harder to analyze, so this might be wrong.  The first line of the second stanza says "The eyes beside had wrung them dry," which makes me think of people crying because this poem is about someone dying so it would  make sense that people would be crying.  The second line of the second stanza reads "And breaths were gathering sure" which I do not really understand what this means at all.  Maybe it means people were gathering or visiting this person because they are dying.  The third and fourth lines of the second stanza go "For that last onset, when the king be witnessed in his power."  I think that these last two lines mean that death is finally because when you die you are supposed to see God, who is the king, and all his power.  I think this stanza brings all the other stanzas together and helps them make more sense.  In the third stanza, Emily Dickinson talks about how she gave away all her possessions and was finally ready to die when a fly came and kind of ruined the moment.  In the first, second, third, and fourth lines of the third stanza, she wrote "I willed my keepsakes, signed away what portion of me I could make assignable,- and then there interposed a fly,"  She is saying that this character gave away everything she could and was ready for death when  a pesky fly came along and kind of ruined the peaceful moment.  The last stanza of this poem  is about how the fly interrupted death.

Bibliography

Dickinson, Emily. "128. “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.” Part Four: Time and Eternity. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." 128. “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.” Part Four: Time and Eternity. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. 

Journal #27

I am currently listening to a previous English class sing Emily Dickinson's poem Narrow Fellow in the Grass to the tune of Amazing Grace.  I think it is weird that poems are written to the same tune as songs.  Emily Dickinson was pressured by her family to be Christian, and Amazing Grace is a song about the grace of God so it kind of makes sense that her poems are written to the same tune as this song.  Even though she was pressured to be a Christian, she struggled with her own beliefs.  She would feel guilty if she thought thoughts against Christianity, but she was not really sure what she wanted.  From what I have read about her, she is kind of crazy and withdrawn.  She spent most of her life in her room writing poetry, and most of her poems were not even published until after she had passed away.  I think that Emily Dickinson wrote her poems to the tunes of songs that had some sort of meaning to her.  For example, Amazing Grace is a song about the grace of God and her religion was something that she struggled with.  The sun in Amazing Grace is part of nature, and Emily Dickinson liked nature.  It seems like a lot of poets write about nature and religion.  I think that tunes of Emily Dickinson's poems are significant to what her poems are about and to what she is dealing with in her life and also are similar to her writing style.  Emily Dickinson is known as a very famous poet today, and that is because her poems are viewed as awesome by a lot of people.  She wrote over 2,000 poems in her life time and they all had some sort of theme from her life in them.  Emily Dickinson liked to write her poems to the tunes of folkways because she liked folkways.  I think its cool and weird that she wrote poems to song tunes but hey maybe that is what was cool back then.

Emily Dickinson Reflection Blog

Along with Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson is also a poet who does not fit perfectly into either the Modernism period or the Realism period. Once again, realism is when the author attempts describes life as it really is instead of how they want it to be (Werlock). Realist writers are very specific and careful with what details they use, unlike naturalist writers (Werlock). The Modernism period was when poetry started to break away from the traditional art forms and created new ways (Fargnoli). It is obvious that Emily Dickinson loved writing poetry because during the thirty years she wrote poetry she wrote over 2,000 poems (McChesney). Before she was the famous poet she is known as today, Emily Dickinson showed signs of her poetic talent by expressing her feelings frequently and looking at life as a philosopher would at a young age (McChesney). Because only a very small amount of her poems were published during her life time, Emily Dickinson wrote with little to no feedback from anyone, positive or negative (McChesney). Some common themes found throughout Emily Dickinson's poems are "life, love, renunciation, love of nature, death, and the question of immortality" (McChesney). For example, in 677 she expresses her feelings by saying "To be alive—is Power—Existence—in itself—Without a further function—Omnipotence—Enough—" (McChesney). Emily Dickinson had a very interesting and unique way of viewing life, so to some people she was seen as crazy (McChesney).

I can also see how Emily Dickinson does not fit into either Realism period or Modernism period. One thing that I have noticed in many of the poems written by Emily Dickinson is that she uses a lot of dashes. I think the dashes are used for to make something seem dramatic or to emphasize something. Because she wrote so many poems, I feel like she probably spent a lot of her life writing poetry. She also wrote about a wide variety of themes ranging from love to death, which I think is interesting that she wrote about both. Sometimes an author will write about one or the other, but she just wrote about everything that she experienced in life. Emily Dickinson became such a famous writer not only because she was an excellent poet, but because she was different from everyone else. She wrote a lot about what she was going through in her own life and that made her poems more deep and interesting. Emily Dickinson was a total opposite from most women in her time period. She did not like to cook or sew like most women of this time period, so this is part of the reason she locked herself up in her room and began writing poetry (McChesney). Emily Dickinson has a writing style that is so unique and different, and that is why so many people thought she was crazy. Both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman have writing styles that are not perfect fits for neither the Modernism period or the Realism period, and that is why they are known as famous poets today.

Bibliography

Fargnoli, Nicholas A., Michael Golay, and Robert W. Hamblin. "modernism and the
works of William Faulkner." Critical Companion to William Faulkner: A Literary
Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File,
Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Quinn, Edward. "free verse." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second
Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online.
Facts On File, Inc.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File
Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File,
Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Walt Whitman Reflection Blog

Walt Whitman is an author that is said to not fit perfectly into neither the Modernism period nor the Realism period. Realism is when authors describe how life actually is, not how they want it to be seen, and realist authors choose careful details to describe reality (Werlock). Modernism is a rejection of traditional art forms and has a focus on "stream-of-consciousness" (Fargnoli). Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass in 1855, which incorporated many new poetic forms that were unfamiliar with the rest of the world (Connors). Whitman's goal was to create a new way of writing poetry that eleminated the traditional styles of poetry (Connors). After Leaves of Grass was published, Whitman spent the rest of his life learning new ways to perfect this new poetic style (Connors). In Whitman's Leaves of Grass, he speaks directly to all American people in a way that he hoped would make people want to become more literate (Connors). In Leaves of Grass, he speaks about himself with "I" but he actually referring to all Americans (Connors). For example, in this passage from Leaves of Grass he says "I" but he is speaking to every American: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you" (Connors). It is said that Walt Whitman's poetry is revolutionary because of the emotions expressed within his writings and for its expressive words (Connors). These characteristics were especially prominent when he was discussing love and democracy, which are both themes that are reoccuring throughout the works of Whitman (Connors). Walt Whitmas was strongly influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and admitted that Emerson was even one of the biggest reasons he began writing poetry (Connors). Whitman broke away from the traditonal forms of poetry and paved the way for the modern writings and free verse (Connors). Walt Whitman is known as the pioneer of writng using free verse (Quinn). Free verse is writing poems without using any sort of meter or rhyme (Quinn). Free verse has become a popular way of writng poetry over the years, and we have Walt Whitman to thank for that. Although today Walt Whitman is known as a famous poet and is admired by many, it was not always like that. He did not achieve praise for his poems until years after his death (Connors).

I can see how Walt Whitman does not really fit into neither the Realism period nor the Modernism period because he sort of made his own way of writing poetry. I do not think that he necessarilty fits into one of these periods more than the other, but if I had to pick which one he was most similar to it would have to be Modernism. I think Walt Whitman fits best in with the Modernism period because that period is breaking away from traditonal art forms, which is what Walt Whitman did. He broke away from the normal way of writing poems with the same meter and rhyme scheme and out of this came free verse writing, which over time has become more and more popular.

Bibliography

Connors, Judith.
"Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia:
Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference
Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Fargnoli, Nicholas A., Michael Golay, and Robert W. Hamblin. "modernism and the works of William Faulkner." Critical Companion to William Faulkner: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Quinn, Edward. "free verse." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Blog #18

For my Walt Whitman poem I chose O Captain! My Captain! because the title looked really familiar and I was interested in seeing what it was about. The first time I read through this poem, I kind of understood the point of it but I felt like I was missing parts so I looked up an analysis online and found one that I thought was a really interesting way of looking at things. Looking at this analysis, I learned that Walt Whitman was a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln and saw him as "The Redeemer President" of the United States (Lorcher). After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Whitman wrote this poem (Lorcher). If you think about what the poem says and then compare it to the events in the civil war, it actually makes a lot of sense. For example, in this poem Whitman says "The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won," (Whitman). Abraham Lincoln was part of the Union, and the Union won the civil war so that is how this line can be related to the events of the time. I think that this is a really interesting way to look at this poem because for once I actually know why it was written and what its meaning is. Walt Whitman was a supporter of Abraham Lincoln, who was obviously against slavery, which is one way in which this poem can be related to Emerson and Thoreau. The Civil War was between the north and the south, which is also people who were against slavery verse people who were for slavery. Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau were all against slavery which is one huge similarity between them all.

Lorcher, Trent. ""O Captain! My Captain!" Analysis: The Meaning Behind Walkt Whitman's Famous Poem." Brighthub Education. 9 Dec. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Blog #17

I chose to Hope is a Thing with Feathers for my Emily Dickinson poem after looking through quite a few of them for a couple reasons. First off, I was drawn to this poem by its title because it sounds like it would be interesting, and then when I read it it actually made sense to me. In this poem, Emily Dickinson describes hope as a bird that sits perched in the soul and sings without ever stopping (Dickinson). I thought it was really cool that she compared hope to a bird because it makes things a little easier to understand and makes things a lot more interesting. She talks about how the bird has sang to her in the "chilliest land" and on the "strangest sea" which to me means that in the worst of times she always had hope (Dickinson). Also in this poem it talks about how this little bird has "kept so many warm" which I think means that it has kept people going through the harder times. The last two lines of this poem read "Yet, never, in extremity, it asked a crumb of me" (Dickinson). I think these last two lines mean that hope helped her so much but it never asks for anything in return. I think this is such a cool poem because it is so simple yet it has such a good idea to it. Although I do not think this poem can be directly related to Emerson and Thoreau, they both had hope for similar things. For example, both Emerson and Thoreau were against slavery and hoped for it to end (Wayne). Emily Dickinson's poem is about hope and they had hope so I guess it is similar in that aspect. A few ways that this poem differs from Thoreau and Emerson's philosophies are that a common theme for their writings involves nature or something along those lines and Emily Dickinson's poem includes no reference to nature what so ever.

Wayne, Tiffany K., ed. "Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson." Critical Companion to

Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Chelsea House

Publishing, 2010. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Dickinson, Emily. "Selected Poems by Emily Dickinson." Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Blog #16

To Build A Fire is a short story written by Jack London. This story is about a man who travels in extremely cold temperatures with no one to help him out besides his dog (London). The temperatures are so cold that frostbite is a constant threat, and only becomes more real when he falls into a creek and gets his legs wet (London). The man decides that he needs to stop and build a fire so that he can dry off his gear, so he stops near some trees so that he can use their branches to help get the fire going (London). Unfortunately, as the man is breaking off twigs from the surrounding trees he is also weakening the branches that hold a lot of snow and just when he gets his fire going, snow falls down and puts the fire out (London). Now the man is fully understanding of the seriousness of his situation, the man quickly tries to start a second fire, but once again is unsuccessful (London). The man considers killing his dog and using its body heat to help him survive, but his is not able to do it so he thinks of another way to get circulation throughout his body (London). The man decided to run around, but he rapidly becomes too weak to run and falls in the snow (London). As the night went on the dog sensed that the man had died so it went back to where there were more people that could provide for it (London). This story can be related to Emerson and Thoreau because it has a great deal of nature in it I think. The whole story takes place in the Yukon and for much of this story we are reading about this harsh environment. Emerson and Thoreau both wrote about nature quite a bit so I think that is the biggest way in which this story is similar to the writings of Emerson and Thoreau.

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire, by Jack London." The World of Jack London 2012®. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Blog #14

The Darling is written by Anton Chekhov, and the main character in this story is Olenka Plemyannikov. In this story, Olenka is said to have always been in love with somebody, starting out when she was a young girl and in love with her father (Chekhov). As time goes on, Olenka's father dies and leaves her his house where she soon meets the next love of her life (Chekhov). Olenka falls in love with her neighbor, Mr. Kukin, and soon after that marries him and helps him run his business (Chekhov). Unfortunately for Olenka, her husband left for Moscow and somehow died on the journey, leaving her all alone and widowed (Chekhov). Olenka quickly moved on after the death of her husband, and once again fell in love. This time around, Olenka fell in love with Vasily Pustovalov, who was a merchant in a timerland (Chekhov). Throughout this marriage, Olenka befriends Smirnin so eventually when her current husband dies, she once again falls in love (Chekhov). Smirnin had to leave Olenka for a little while, and when he returns he tells her that he has decided to stay with his wife and son (Chekhov). In reaction to this, Olenka suggests that Smirnin and his family move into her house and she will move in to the cottage that is attached to it (Chekhov). Yet again, after a short while Olenka falls in love with Smirnin's young son Sasha (Chekhov). I definitely think this story is really weird because I am fairly sure that it is not normal to be in love with your father or a little boy, but I guess I could be wrong. In this story, at one point it says how Olenka is left completely alone, with no one but her cat for company (Chekhov). I think that this can be related to Thoreau because at one point he left society and lived in the woods all alone (Grant). Although the reasons for their antisocial behaviors are different, they were both alone for some time.

Chekhov, Anton. "Short Stories: The Darling by Anton Chekhov." East of the Web. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of

Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Blog # 15

Richard Cory is a poem about a man who seems like he has it all, but it turns out that he was not as perfect as everyone thought he was. For example, in this poem he is described as being "...He was rich-- yes, richer than a king, and admirably schooled in every grace:" (Robinson). As the poem progresses, we learn that Richard Cory was not as perfect as he seemed to be. At the very end of this poem, the line reads "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head" (Robinson). I think this poem is really creepy because it talks throughout the entire thing about how this guy has it all and he is just too awesome but then at the end it says that he shot himself so its kind of weird how the whole thing played out. This poem can be related to Henry David Thoreau's philosophies about material items because in this poem it mentions how Richard Cory should be happy because he is rich. Henry David Thoreau accuses people of being obsessed with acquiring material goods (Grant). Thoreau says that people should live a more self-sufficient life style and should move away from the unnecessary material items and have a closer relationship with nature (Grant). I think that Thoreau is right about how just because people have material items or money it does not mean that they automatically have a perfect life. Overall I think this poem shows a lot about how society thinks and also a lot of the things that people value. Many people often assume that if you have money you are happy, but as shown in this poem that is not always the case. Also, this poem shows some of the things people value, which includes money and material items. I do not really think this poem relates to Emerson very much other than he focuses more on nature rather than material items and that is similar to Thoreau and is a complete opposite to this poem.

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of

Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "45. Richard Corey. Edwin Arlington Robinson. Modern American Poetry." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.

Blog #13

The author of I Will Fight No More Forever is Chief Joseph. Chief Joseph was the chief of a Native American tribe called the Nez Perce found in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon (). In this story, Chief Joseph is talking about all the suffering his people have gone through and how he is done fighting (). The reason why The Nez Perce were fighting is that they were ordered by the United States off their land but they refused to go (). They decided that they would travel over 1000 miles and live in Canada, but unfortunately they had to battle United States troops all the way and with only 4o miles left of their journey, they were defeated (). One thing that I really liked about this story is how straight forward Chief Joseph is with what is happening. With most of the stories we are forced to read for english they are long and confusing, but with this one and is short and straight to the point. For example, he says "My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death" (). In this little quote Chieft Joseph is talking about the situation his people are in and how it is not a good one. He is very straight forward with what is happening to his people and that is the way I like my english stories to be. A difference in the writings from Chief Joseph and Emerson and Thoreau is the lack of detail used by Chief Joseph. I think that Emerson and Thoreau use quite a bit of detail in their stories and as I have previously mentioned, Chief Joseph is just straight forward. Another differnece in the writings of Chief Joseph and those of Emerson and Thoreau is that in most of the writings from them contain something about nature and Chief Joseph's story did not mention anything about nature.

Blog #12

Edgar Lee Masters is the author of Spoon River Anthology, which is basically just a series of poems about different people. One of the first poems I came across is titled The Hill and is about all of the different people who have died and are buried on the hill. This poem is different from the rest of the poems I have seen in Spoon River Anthology because unlike most of the other poems that are about one single person it is about a group of people. This poem talks about different people and the different ways they have died and how they all ended up buried together on the hill. The book Spoon River Anthology all together is about a small town, so its kind of cool that you can read about one person is one poem, and then see them mentioned somewhere in another poem. I think that because I did not read the whole book I did not get the full affect of the story, but I think if I did it would be pretty cool. I think The Hill is a pretty depressing poem considering it is about people who have died and the ways they have died. For example, it says "One passed in a fever, one burned in a mine, one was killed in a brawl, one died in jail, one fell from a bridge toiling for children and wife-" (). One of the most creepy and repetitive lines in this poem reads "All, all, are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, on the hill"(). I think that this line is so creepy because it is referring to the dead people on the hill by saying they are sleeping. Another reason I think it is creepy is that it is very repetitive in just that line and also throughout the whole poem.

This poem seems to be very eerie and almost a little careless about the dead people sleeping on the hill, which I think is like complete opposites with the way Ralph Waldo Emerson feels about death. When Emerson's wife dies he is devastated and miserable, and by the way this poem is written it seems to have a lot more eeriness than devastation.

Blog #11

I think that in Mark Twain's Two Views of the River, he refers a lot to nature as well as how his feelings about the river have changed over time. He talks about how he once had a strong desire to be where he is now, but now that he has finally accomplished his goal he wishes he still had the same view of the river as before. Now that he is gotten to where he had alwasy wanted to be, he says that he ignores the beauty of the river that he once could see just as easily as the passengers he carried on his steamboat. It seems that Mark Twain's story here has a theme in it that goes along with society today, because it seems like we always want what we do not have, and then once we finally get it we do not want it anymore.

I think that Mark Twain used a lot of description in this story as well as referring a lot to nature and its beauty. Henry David Thoreau also wrote about nature a lot, so there is one similarity between the two authors. Throughout this story, Mark Twain describes to us how his feelings changed over time as he traveled the Mississippi River. He tells us about how he used to view the river as something beautiful, but as time went on began to shift his views from seeing the beauty of the river to only navigating his steam safely from point a to point b. He describes how at first while he sailed on the river he loved the nature and the beauty of it, but as time went on he slowly stopped noticing how beautiful nature is. I think that this would make me kind of sad to know that something that you once thought was so beautiful is constantly around you and you do not even notice it anymore. Overall I think that this story has a good theme and is similar to the way Thoreau wrote because it includes a lot about nature.

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-505. Print.

Blog #10

In The Badge of Red Courage, a soldier Henry Fleming is a recent recruit on the Union side (Crane). In this story, Henry is a part of a regiment that does not face too many battles, but when a battle finally comes around, Henry becomes a coward and flees before the fight (Crane). As he was wandering around the forest, he begins to feel guilty for fleeing his regiment and he decides to return (Crane). While he is returning, he stumbles upon a "tattered man" and it freaked him out so he left the man in the forest to die (Crane). Soon after he finds another man who is badly wounded but he decides to try and help him (Crane). Unfortunately, his efforts were not good enough because his friend dies. I think this story is very relate able to Henry David Thoreau's writings because in one of his stories he too runs away. Although Thoreau and Henry run away for different reasons, I think its still a similarity because they both ran away. In Thoreau's story, the main character runs away from society and in The Badge of Red Courage, Henry runs away from the battle because he was scared to lose his life. Another way in which this story is similar to Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson is that all three of these people are strongly against slavery. In this story we know that Henry Fleming is against slavery because it says that he is in a regiment on the Union side, which is the side that was trying to end slavery. I think that this story is one of the stories that I could easily relate to both Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson because it is something that each of them have discussed their opinions on in their previous stories. I actually liked this story because it was kind of easy to read and its topic was not completely boring. The only thing I disliked about this story was its length because it was extremely long.

Crane, Stephen. "Untitled Document." The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Blog #9

The Story of an Hour by Kate Choplin is about a woman who is told her husband has died and then she goes through phases of grief and joy. She feels sad about the death of her husband, but then she realizes that with her husband gone she now has a new freedom she did not have before. For example, she says "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Choplin). The setting of this story is back during the time period when women did not have much of a say in anything, so I can see her excitement in now having this new freedom. But even though I can understand her excitement, I think its really mean and rude of her to be happy and joyful because her husband is dead. The main character makes marriage seem as something that is very oppressive and when she finds out the news of her husbands death she is only sad for a little while. Completely different from the main character is this story, Ralph Waldo Emerson reacts much different with the news that his wife had died. Ralph Waldo Emerson was described as being "unstrung, debilitated by grief" and his life was filled with "miserable apathy" (Marriage). In comparison with the wife in this story, I think that Raplh Waldo Emerson was a better spouse considering he actually cared about the death of his wife. The author of this story did mention some of the saddness felt by the wife when she says "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms" (Choplin). Although I could relate Emerson to this story a little bit, I could not find in ways in which Henry David Thoreau related to this story because he was never married (Henry). Because he was never married, I really have no idea what his reaction would be to a situation like this.

Bibliography

"Henry David Thoreau Biography." About.com Classic Literature. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

"Marriage Emerson - Living Legacy." Harvard Square Library. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Choplin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Blog #8

A Wagner Matinee was written by Willa Cather. In this story, the narrator recieves a letter from his uncle asking him to pick up his aunt at the station because she has some inheritance she needs to get. From the very beginning of this story, we are shown the relationship between the narrator and his aunt is special to him. For example, at the beginning of the sixth paragraph Clark says "I owed to this woman most of the good that ever came my way in my boyhood, and had a reverential affection for her" (Cather). Clark, the main character, recalls that his aunt used to be a music teacher before she left the city with her husband and then decides to take her to a Wagnerian opera (Cather). The author reveals to us that Clark's aunt lost something that she loved when she says "Don't love it so well, Clark, or it may be taken from you. Oh, dear boy, pray that whatever you sacrafice may be, it be not that" (Cather). It seems like Clark's aunt really misses not being able to play music anymore since she moved away from the city to live on a farm with her husband. Later in the story while they are at the opera, Clark studies his aunt and at the beginning of the show he describes her as "She sat looking about her with eyes as impersonal, almost as stony, as those with which the granite Ramses..." (Cather). This description tells us that Clark's aunt is pretty unemotional and uninterested in what is going on around her, but later in the opera she breaks down and begins to weep. At the very end of the concert, everyone around them begins to leave but Clark's aunt stays seated and then finally says while sobbing and pleading "I don't want to go, Clark, I don't want to go!" (Cather). At this point in the story, we can understand why Clark's aunt was weeping during the concert. She did not want to leave the city and return to her life on the farm. One of the things Emerson valued in his philosophies is education, and at one point in this story the author mentions Clark's aunt's knowledge of music and how it was more than most people of her time (Cather).

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee." Willa Cather's Short Story:. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Blog #7

Ambrose Bierce wrote An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge in three different parts. In the first part of this story, we are introduced to the main character who we soon learn is awaiting to be hung at Owl Creek Bridge. I think that this first part was kind of confusing because we did not know anything about the main character or what happened to get him into this situation. It was all thrown at us at once and without much explanation of how it all happened so it was kind of hard to read, but after reading the second part of this story it all makes more sense. In the second part of this story, we learn that the main character is Peyton Farquhar, who is a successful planter and a supporter of the Southern cause (Bierce). We learn that Farquhar is not able to join the Confederate army, but he is eager to help them out in some way (Bierce). He gets his chance to help out when one day his wife and himself were approached by a solider, who they assumed was part of the Confederate army (Bierce). The solider informed him of the plans of the Northern army and told him how one could easily destroy the North's chance of advanicing (Beirce). At the very end of this section, we learn that this solider that was assumed to be a part of the Southern army was actually a Northern solider in disguise (Bierce). After reading the second part of this story, the first part makes much more sense because we actually know who the main character is and now we know why he is being hung. I thought the third part to this story was very interesting because the ending to the whole story was unexpected. The first part of this story was in the present, then the second was the past, and then in the third part we are back to the present again. In this part of the story, the noose hanging Farquhar breaks and sends him into the stream below (Bierce). He frees himself of the noose, avoids all of the shots being fired at him, and eventually ends up on the bank of the stream, out of sight and range of the soliders (Bierce). He walks through the woods all night long, fighting through the pain all because he wants to see his wife and kids (Bierce). At the very end of this part, Farquhar is walking up to meet his wife when he feels a sharp pain in his neck, and that is when we find out that he is dead. I thought that this part was pretty shocking because it means that the whole third part of this story was not real, and that he had died because he was hung at Owl Creek Bridge.



Bierce, Ambrose. "Fiction." : An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

Blog #6

From what I can remember from past history classes is that Robert E. Lee was the leader of the Confederate Army in the Civil War. When I looked up some of the letters he had written to his wife, I got to picture a different side of him that we never really talked about too much in history class. For example, from what he wrote in one of the letters to his wife it became pretty obvious that he is a very religious man. There are many instances throughout his letter where he mentions God, which also seems to be a common theme throughout all of the poems and speeches we have read recently. Towards the end of his letter to his wife, he says "We must, however, submit to His almighty will, whatever that may be. May God guide and protect us all is my constant prayer." (Lee). I can tell from reading these letters that he is very loyal to his country, but he also knows that whatever happens was God's choice and he has to honor it. I think that Emerson and Thoreau both had philosophies that pertained to religion, so that is one way in which Robert E. Lee is similar to them. For example, one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most famous quotes reads “Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God.” (Ralph). I think this quote shows that Ralph Waldo Emerson also believed that if God wants something to happen, it is going to happen. Another instance where Robert E. Lee wrote about God is in his letter to his mother. In this letter, he says "I hope God will at last crown our efforts with success" (Recollections). I actually found these letters slighty interesing and I did not mind reading them because I think it is cool to get a better look at someone who is really important to history that we never saw before.

Bibliography



Lee, Robert E. "Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes (Author of Self-Reliance and Other Essays)." Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Lee, Robert E. "Robert E. Lee's Letter to His Wife." Civil War Trust: Saving America's Civil War Battlefields. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Blog #5

In Sojourner Truth's speech, Aint I a Woman, she talks about the inequalities between white women and black women. She talks about the differences in how white women are treated and how black women are treated. For example, she says

That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted
over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helped me into
carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place...(Sojournern1-7).

In this part of her speech, she is saying how people always say that a woman should be treated right, but she has never been treated like that. She was not given the same kind of respect that white women were given because of her skin color. It seems to me like a lot of these poems and speeches we have been reading all seem to have something about slavery or freedom embedded in their themes. I think that just that theme in itself shows similar characteristics to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson because one of his philosophies is that every person should be free. A famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson is "Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it." (Ralph). I think that the meaning of this quote can be applied to this speech because Sojourner Truth is addressing the issue of inequality between women of two different races. In his quote, he says if you do not try, you will not get anywhere. Without people like Sojourner Truth people may not have realized the racism that was taking place throughout society. Throughout her speech, Sojourner Truth compares herself to other women and says that it should not matter what color your skin is, a woman is a woman and they should all be treated with the same respect. She also talks about how some men say that men should have better rights than women because Jesus was a man, but she says that Jesus was born from God and a woman so men should not be superior to women (Sojourner). I think Sojourner Truths speech does a very good job emphasizing the differences between colored women and white women.

Bibliography

"Sojourner Truth's Aint I a Woman Speech!" Women Writers: A Zine. 14 July 1998. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes (Author of Self-Reliance and Other Essays)." Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Blog #4

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that was sung by slaves in the south while they were working on plantations. Although the author of this song is unknown, the meaning of it is pretty clear by the lyrics of the song. One of the lines that is repeated many times throughout the song is "Swing low, sweet chariot, comin' for to carry me home," (Swing). I think that this line means that they just want to go to heaven because they would rather be up there than be enslaved. I think that every time the word "home" is used in this song it is referring to heaven because of other lines in this song. For example, in line 8 it goes "a band of angels comin' after me" and again in line 12 when it says "Tell all my friends I'm comin' too" (Swing). I think that this song has a very religious meaning. In Go Down Moses I noticed that one of the most repeated lines in this song is "Let my People Go!" which automatically makes me think of slavery (Go Down). As I was reading through the lyrics of this song, I began to realize that this song is also heavily based on religion. For example, it says "God-The Lord said 'Go down, Moses Way down in Egypt land Tell all Pharaoes to Let My People Go!" (Go Down). I think that these few lines mean exactly what it says, that God sent Moses to Egypt to tell the Pharaoes to let his people free. I think that this song and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot are similar in that they are both religious songs. In the song Keep Your Hand on the Plow, it also refers to Jesus and God quite a lot. On of the most repeated verses in this song is "Keep your hands on that plow, hold on" which makes me think that whoever is holding that plow is struggling to keep going (Keep). The writer of this song makes quite a few references to Jesus in this song, for example they say "Peter was so nice and neat Wouldn't let Jesus wash his feet" and "Jesus said, "If I wash them not You'll have no father in this lot."" (Keep). I think that a common theme in all three of these songs is that even if you are struggling to keep going, God is there and will help you through it. Once again I think that all of these songs include quite a bit of religion in them, which is also a philosophy found in the writings of Emerson.



"Keep Your Hands On The Plow - GospelSongLyrics.Org." GospelSongLyrics.org - Lyrics and Music to All Your Favorite Gospel Songs. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

"Go Down Moses Lyrics - Lyrics." Gospel Music Lyrics. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. "Go Down Moses Lyrics - Lyrics." Gospel Music Lyrics. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.


"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Lyrics." Scout Songs: Song Lyrics for Boy Scouts Songs, Girl Scouts Songs, and American Patriotic Songs. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Blog #3

Walt Whitman was a nurse in the Civil War, and his poem Cavalry Crossing a Ford describes the scenes of a cavalry of troops crossing a ford. First of all, I would like to say that a ford is a stream because if you do not know what a ford is this poem makes no sense. In this poem, he talks about a group of troops that are crossing a ford, winding in and out between islands (Whitman). He talks about how the group of troops marched together at the same rhythm and how they stopped and loitered in the middle of the stream (Whitman). From reading this poem, I thought that Whitman seemed to be very patriotic. For example, at the very end of his poem he says "Scarlet, and blue, and snowy white, The guidon flags flutter gaily in the wind." (Whitman 7-8). I think that both Whitman and Emerson both valued and supported freedom, but they believed in different kinds of freedom. For example, the freedom that Emerson worked for was more of an individual type of freedom and the freedom that Whitman wrote about was freedom for his country. Something that I found interesting about this poem was that Whitman never talked in first person or referred to a single soldier, it was always as a group (Whitman). For example, he says "-- their arms flash in the sun--" and "behold the brown-faced men--each group, each person, a picture--" (Whitman 1-4). I think that this poem can be interpreted in many different ways, but the way I chose to look at it made it seem to be very patriotic. I think that Walt Whitman was very supportive of the Civil War because he was a nurse and because he helped the wounded soldiers. Something that all men had in common is their dislike for slavery. In writings from all of them they discuss freedom, and they did not like slavery because that takes away freedom.

Bibliography

Whitman, Walt. "118. Cavalry Crossing a Ford. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass."Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Blog #2

On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave what is known today as one of the most famous speeches ever given (Basler). I remember back in eighth grade when we had to memorize parts of this speech, so it seems like it is very important. In this speech, Lincoln talks about the Civil War and about what people have done for our country to have the freedom we have. For example, he says "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live" and also "The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract" (Basler). I think that both of these quotes from the Gettysburg Address show that Abraham Lincoln feels strongly for freedom. This philosophy is one that is quite similar to a philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also felt strongly about freedom. Emerson was a former slave so I think that his reaons are obvious for feeling so strongly about freedom. Abraham Lincoln talks about freedom in his speech when he says " -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- " (Basler). He is talking about how all of the men who gave their lives for this country did not die in vain because the outcome of it all will be freedom(Basler). Although I did notice a similar philosophy shared between Lincoln and Emerson, I believe that Lincoln and Thoreau have different views when it comes to government. In Lincoln's speech, he says " -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth. " (Basler). I think what he means when he says this is that if the government is ran by the people, then it will not fail. On the other hand, in Thoreau's Civil Disobedience he says "After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule, is not becausse they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest" (Lenant). From this passage I gathered that Thoreau felt that if a governemt is ruled by the people, everything is always going to go the way the stronger group wanted it to just simply because they were stronger, not right.

Bibliography

Basler, Roy P. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." NetINS Showcase. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.

Lenant, Richard. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - 1." The Thoreau Reader. Web.

Blog #1

On July 5, 1852 Fredrick Douglass, who was once enslaved himself, gave a speech about the meaning of the fourth of July to black slaves (Joe). For most people, the fourth of July is a time of celebrating freedom and patriotism, but unfortunately for black slaves they were generally not allowed to celebrate (Joe). Some people believe that the black slaves were not allowed to celebrate the fourth of July because they feared that it would give them ideas of freedom (Joe). In his speech, he talks fondly of the men who were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but then he begins to tell about the fourth of July from the point of view of black slaves (Joe). For example, he says "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim." (Foner 13). This passage is a great example of how the black slaves felt on the fourth of July. I think that Fredrick Douglass and Emerson have quite a few philosophies that are similar. For example, both Douglass and Emerson believed that slavery was bad and they were both against it (Brewton). Both Douglass and Emerson also strongly believed in independence, which goes hand in hand with them being against slavery (Brewton). It seems that both men also have a strong belief that everyone should learn from their own experiences (Brewton). Although I think that both Douglass and Emerson share many of the same philosophies, I do think there is a difference in the writings of them. I think that it seems like Fredrick Douglass' writings are more from a logical point of view and that Emerson's writings are more spiritual. For example, throughout his speech Douglass talks about American Institutions, the slave trade, and American politics. To me it seems like these topics are more logic based than spiritual.

Bibliography

Foner, Philip S. "Africans in America/Part 4/Frederick Douglass Speech." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 07 Feb. 2012

Joe. "Frederick Douglass: On the Meaning of the 4th of July :: Racismreview.com."Racism Review. Racism Review, 4 July 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2012

Brewton, Vince. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]."Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 07 Feb. 2012

Reflection Blog- Civil Disobedience

In Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, there are many characteristics from both the Romanticism and the Trancendentalism time periods. A few characteristics that are commonly found in Trancendentalism writing are that it is very political, it also values emotion over reason, and it stresses that every person knows the difference between right and wrong. There are a few similar characteristics between Romanticism and Trancendentalsim, but there are also quite a few differences. For example, Romanticism writings are more likely to include imagination and descriptions than Trancendentalism writings. I think that Civil Disobedience is a great example of Trancendentalism writing because the entire essay is about government, and one of the characteristics of Trancendentalism writing is that it is very political. Throughout his entire essay, Henry David Thoreau is discussing the problems he sees with the government and pretty much defines what he think is an unjust government. At the very beginning of his essay, he says that he agrees with this statement "That government is best which governs not at all", which I think shows that he really does not like the government (Thoreau's). One of the biggest things Thoreau argues in his essay is that there is sometimes a difference between what is right and what is voted on by the strongest group (Thoreau's). Basically what he is saying is that just because the biggest or strongest group votes on something, that does not make it right. He thinks that people should decide things based on conscience rather than majority rules. He says

Must the citizen, ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward (Thoreau's).

Thoreau believes that if a person respects laws and the government to much, they will do bad things. He thinks that people should do what they are obligated to do, not just what the laws tell them to do. Although throughout most of his essay he is critizing the government, in this passage he states that he is not looking to eleminate government, but to make a better one

But, to speak pracically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obaining it (Thoreau's).

I think that Civil Disobedience was a really cool essay to read because it was filled with Henry David Thoreau's opinions on the government. I thought it was neat that he said just because its the majority does not mean its right because the majority could just be the strongest group, not necessarily the group that is justified. I think that Civil Disobedience is a great example of Trancendentalism simply because of how political it is and because that is a characteristic of the writing style from this time.

Bibliography

"Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - 1." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. .

Journal #26- Breaking the Rules

I think that maybe in some situations people see no other way out than to break the law, but if you ask me I think there is always a better way of doing things. There are some people who break the law for fun, which I think is kind of ignorant but there are also people who break the law because they do not know of any other way to get what they need. There are a lot of laws that everyone breaks like speed limits and curfews, which is not really a big deal but I think shoplifting and things similar to that are never acceptable because there is always a better way to get the things you need to live. For example, if you do not have enough money to pay for your own food then there are many ways you can get around this without stealing food. If you have more stable relatives then maybe you could go ask them for help, and if that is not an option there are still many other ways to get by without shoplifting. Some people break laws for fun, which should not ever be acceptable but I suppose some of the laws that we have in society today are really pointless and stupid. For example, jay walking is illegal so I think that everyone has broken that law and in my opinion it is acceptable to break that law because it is so silly. Sometimes I wonder why people break the laws because with all of the technology we have in today's society it is almost impossible for them to get away with it. If someone is shoplifting there are censors on many items, cameras outside and inside the store, and if all of that fails it is likely that there are witnesses around to see it all go down. I think that people should really think about all of their options before they go and break the law because almost every time there is something that can be done to help them out.

Reflection Blog- The Minister's Black Veil

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Minister's Black Veil, which is a short story that tells us about a sexton who wears this black veil over his face and about all of the drama and mystery this black veil brings. I thought that this story was kind of weird at first, but once I finished it and looked back at what everything actually meant it was a pretty cool story. This story starts out with people's first reacitons to seeing Mr. Hooper with a mysterious black veil covering most of his face. From what I understood from this story, it seemed that people thought that he was crazy or that something. For example, on page 283 there is a quote from a man discussing the matter with his wife:

But the strangest part of the affair is the effect of this vagary, even on a sober-minded man like myself. The black veil, though it covers only our pastor's face, throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to foot (Hawthorne 283).

This passage shows a glimpse of how some of the people in the town felt about the mysterious black veil that covered the face of their pastor. I think that because Mr. Hooper wore this black veil, he troubled many of the members of his church because no one knew why he was wearing it. Finally when Mr. Hooper is on his death bed, he tells everyone that he had been wearing the black veil because of his own personal belief that his black veil was similar to a persons face because both hide a persons evil thoughts and sins (Hawthorne 280). That right there is a quality of Dark Romanticism writing because they expressed the belief in sin and evil throughout this story. The Minister's Black Veil included many characterisitcs from the Romanticism and Dark Romanticisim time period. A few characterisitcs of the Dark Romanticism time period are that it is said to pay attention to the mysteries of life, and to have a belief in sin and evil (Dark). In addition to those characteristics, people during these times valued feelings and emotion over reason and also emphasized looking inward for the truth (Dark). I think that it is pretty cool to see how much people freaked out about Mr. Hooper wearing a veil over his face because if you really think about it, it is not a big deal. I think what scared people most about the black veil that covered their minister's face was the fact that to them the meaning behind it was a mystery. People thought Mr. Hooper had gone crazy, or that he was a monster, but really he was just proving a point. He believed that a veil is the same as a person's face because they both hide the truth and sin. I think that the way the people react to Mr. Hooper's black veil is very realistic though because I know that if something similar to that happened to me I would think they were crazy as well. I think that people fear what they do not have an answer to, and because they did not know why Mr. Hooper was wearing this black veil they feared it.

"Dark Romanticism - ArticleWorld." Main Page - ArticleWorld. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm,
Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed.
Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 280-289. Print.

Journal #25- Fear

I am scared of a lot of things. I am scared of many things that are not real, and many things that are. One of my biggest fears is alligators and crocodiles. I do not really know why I am so scared of them since the only time I have ever been around one is at the zoo, but for some reason I am terrified of them. Another one of my biggest fears is spiders. I think having a fear of spiders is more normal than having a fear of crocodiles because unlike crocodiles, I actually come into contact with spiders occasionally. I have tried everything to spider proof my room but somehow they always seem to sneak in. One of the scariest encounters I have ever had with spiders is when I was in the shower one day and out of the corner of my eye I saw a little black dot descending from the ceiling. I am very lucky that I did not fall and injure myself because the second I saw it I had a mini heart attack and then I jumped out of the shower, nearly slipping and falling. Another time I had a close encounter with a spider was when I was home alone and I was sitting downstairs waiting for my ride to come. You see, the first problem with this is that I was home alone. Every time I am home alone something seems to happen that is super freaky. Anyways, I had to go upstairs to go to the bathroom and as I was at the very top of the stairs I noticed a huge black dot on the wall and I stopped and stared at. When I tell people this, they think I am crazy but I swear this spider and I stared into each others eyes and it was one of the scariest things ever. I was so spooked by this spider that I decided I did not want to go to the bathroom so I started back down the stairs. I decided that I should keep my eye on the spider just in case it moved so right as I got to the bottom of the stairs I walked directly under it and right as I was in its path, I saw it lunge off the wall and try to land on me! The spider tried to land on me but thankfully I am extremely fast and I was able to dart out of harms way. I knew from the moment I made eye contact with that spider that it was evil, and after what had just happened it was confirmed. I took a shoe and threw it at the spider a few times until I knew it was dead.

Reflection Blog- The Pit and the Pendulum

Edgar Allan Poe wrote many poems and short stories during the Romanticism/ Dark Romanticism time period, and is still today a pretty well known author. In his short story The Pit and the Pendulum, he tells about the horrors of a soldier who is sentenced to death during the Spanish Inquisition and is held in a cell with hot iron walls that are constantly moving in forcing him into a deep pit (Poe 263). When I read this, I was not surprised by all of the horrors and scary things that Edgar Allan Poe wrote about because it seems like a lot of his writing as well as many writings from this time period in general include evil and horror. In this short story, Edgar Allan Poe uses quite a bit of detail in describing the situation this solider is in. For example, on page 263 in the first paragraph he boldly states that this solider is sentenced to death and later on the same page tells us that he will be tortured (Poe 263). I think it is safe to say that death was a very common theme for poems and short stories during this time period. Some characterisitics of the Romanticism/ Dark Romanticism time period are valuing feelings over reason, valuing imagination, and also sometimes it consists of evil and tragedy. I think that there are many instances throughout The Pit and the Pendulum where Edgar Allan Poe shows characteristics from this time period. At many points throughout this story, this solider is telling us how he feels during certain situations. For example, on page 265 he says

I felt nothing; yet dreaded to move a step, lest I should be impeded by the walls fo the tomb. Perspiration burst from every pore and stood in cold big beads on my forehead. The agony of suspense grew at length intolerable, and I cautiously moved foreward...(Poe 265).

and again on page 267 when he says

In other conditions of mind I might have had the courage to end my misery at once by a plunge into one of the abysses; but not I was the veriest of cowards. Neither could I forget what I had read of these pits- that the sudden extinction of life formed no part of their most horrible plan (Poe 267).

Also, Edgar Allan Poe shows us a little evil and horror throughout this short story. For example, on page 271 he is describing to us the rats that surround the solider

They were wild, bold, ravenous; their red eyes glaring upon me as if they waited for motionless on my part to make me their pray (Poe 271).

Another example of evil in The Pit and the Pendulum is on page 272 when the solider is describing the chamber he is kept in

Demon eyes, of a wild and ghastly vivacity, glared upon me in a thousand directions, where none had been visible before, and gleamed with the lurid luster of a fire that I could not force my imagination to regard as unreal (Poe 272).

I guess that this passage is not exactly evil, but I think it is scary and cynical which is what a lot of the stories from this time period had.

Bibliography

Poe, Edger Allan. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Glencoe Literature. By Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Douglas Fisher. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 263-73. Print.

Journal # 24- Spooky

Unfortunately I have been spooked too many times to count, but there are a few times that really stand out to me. Oddly enough, my mother, the one who is supposed to comfort you and what not, is generally the one who spooks me the most. Scary movies that have demons also spook me a lot. My mom loves scaring me and freaking me out so sadly for me it happens a little to often. Every time after I watch a scary movie my mom always attempts to scare me. One time, I was sitting in my kitchen with my friends Ashley, Megan, Rachel, and my cousin Tiffany while my mom, dad and brother were out grocery shopping. We were all sitting around the kitchen table when we heard a loud knock on the window so we all freaked out and ran into the living room. We all huddled together on the couch and then I called my dad and told him to hurry home because we were all freaking out. In my living room, there is a huge glass door that goes to the porch on the side of the house and we have a huge tan curtain hanging over the windows. It was about sunset so it was not very light outside but there was still enough for us to be able to see shadows against the window. Once I got off the phone with my dad he told me they would be home in like ten minutes so we all sat there waiting for them to get back. We had been sitting there for like two minutes when we saw the shadow of a person walk in front of the window in the living room so we all started freaking out really bad. Then the person suddenly just disappeared and was out of sight for like another two minutes and then all of a sudden we all heard a loud banging on the door that leads to the porch! Right after we heard the loud banging my mom and dad and brother all walk into the house laughing hysterically. We were all so scared and spooked that a few of us started crying. This is only one time my mom has completely scared me to the point of tears, but I know that it is all in good fun.

Eldorado- Edgar Allan Poe

I chose to analyze Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe for a few reasons, but mostly because I have seen movies about people traveling the road to Eldorado in search of gold and I thought it would be cool to read a poem about a similar journey. The second reason I chose to analyze this poem is because it is short and simple, so hopefully it will be easier to understand. The first time I read through this poem, I had an idea of what it was about. From what I understood, it was about a man who is in seach of Eldorado but he does not find it. Then I read through this poem a second time and I got a little better understanding of what was happening. When this poem begins, Edgar Allan Poe describes the character as "a galliant knight" who is on a journey in search of Eldorado (Eldorado 2). In the Romanticism time period, we see quite a shift in the values of people and in the way they think. The Romanticism time period is when people moved from reason to feelings, and it is easy to see the difference in the writing styles between the two. Earlier this year we read stories by Benjamin Franklin that valued reason over religion, and now we have moved on to poems that seem to value feelings and nature over reason . Also, in many Romanticism style poems there is some sort of a hero portrayed and in this poem, when Edgar Allan Poe says "a galliant knight" the first thing that comes to my mind is a brave, courageous hero (Eldorado 2). It seems that in a lot of the Dark Romanticism/Romanticism writings there is some tragedy or death that occurs within the poem or story. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee he tells the story of the love he shared with this girl but then she died and it was tragic. In Eldorado there is kind of a tragedy when Edgar Allan Poe says "And as his strength failed him at length, He met a pilgrim shadow-" (Eldorado 15-16). I think that this passage shows the sadness of death and tragedy because Edgar Allan Poe is telling us that the strength of this knight is not enough to get him to Eldorado and that he is failing. After reading so much about how awesome Eldorado is supposed to be, I thought back on all of the movies I have ever seen that were about peoples journey to Eldorado and I remembered that in one of the movies two young men were traveling to Eldorado in search of gold and riches. The knight in this poem is on a journey searching for Eldorado because he wants the gold and the riches that are supposedly there. I think this poem is a good example of the Romanticism writing style because it shows a lot of characteristics from this time period and it also has the right mood. Edgar Allan Poe is a very popular author from this time period.


Bibliography

"Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

Journal #23- Scary Stories

In school every year we watch students present scary stories, and one thing that I noticed most of the students doing while they were presenting was they all tried to create suspense. They all began kind of slow but as the story went on they built up suspense by pausing randomly throughout their story. It seems that everyone who tells a scary story always has a long pause right before they tell the scariest part, and I think that is because they want to create some sort of a suspenseful moment for the audience. Also, it seems that there are quite a few moments of complete silence when someone is telling a scary story because they are trying to create suspense and really get the audience into the story. Personally, when I was little I used to hate scary stories because I thought they were so creepy and spooky, but now I actually enjoy listening to scary stories because I think they are entertaining and its interesting to see how people tell a scary story. Also, sometimes scary stories are accompanied by weird music or creepy sounds which I think can sometimes have a negative affect of the scariness of a story. Sometimes it seems like the music can really add to the suspense but on the other hand sometimes it seems like it can ruin the suspense of a scary story. When people tell scary stories I think they always try to exaggerate everything and make everything thing seem a lot more dramatic than it actually is because it can add to the suspense of the story. One of my favorite parts of listening to a scary story is at the very end when the storyteller pauses and then says the last scary line. I like this part a lot because it can either make or break a story. I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to the scariness of a scary story and I think that in order to effectively tell a good scary story you need to add suspense in all the right places and keep it simple and scary. My life is a scary story because my computer is going to shut down in :50 seconds and its so suspenseful. Suspense is one of the biggest factors in a scary story, but I think a story can be scary without suspense depending on what it is about. For example, I have been told scary that had no suspense but it was still scary simply because it was a true story. Depending on how you tell the story, you can make a story that is not scary at all into a really scary story because of suspense and everything else that attributes to a scary story. I think some people are better at telling scary stories than other people because some people are not good at delivering a story and other people are. Suspense is probably the most important element in telling a good scary story, so I think that should be one of the biggest things a scary story teller focuses on because if you have good suspense you will have a good scary story.