Dark Romanticism and The Minister's Black Veil

Hawthorne was an influential writer in Dark Romanticism and is considered one of the key figures in the movement. Dark Romanticism's history was discussed in my previous blog post, and if you feel the need to educate yourself on it's characteristics and notable authors please looks it up. Masterfully written in my opinion. Well to start out this analysis for Dark Romantic characteristics this quote will open up, "It was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper's temperament. The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them (Digital.)" This quote is from Hawthorne's short story The Minister's Black Veil. The quote talks about the sermons the minister gives after mysteriously garnering a black veil that covers his face for an unknown reason. Hawthorne used this as symbolism for the veil of sin that we all live behind, but refuse to acknowledge. It clouds our judgement and we are so accustomed to it we don't even realize it's there. It's like committing a sin so many times, knowing it is wrong, but eventually becoming accustomed to it and not even acknowledging the fact that is a sin after a while. This psychological analysis of all humans, and his thought that all humans are sinners is a key characteristic of Dark Romanticism. The entire idea of this and his representation of humans being ignorant of their sinful nature, and the nature of man to pick sin over any other option demonstrates his characteristic writing of Dark Romanticism and firmly cements the story into this literary genre. The whole aspect of the entire story being more psychological and focusing on the town's peoples fears and focusing on their nature of sin and ignorance is distrustful of humanity as a whole and shows his lack of faith in the good nature and hope instilled in man. Upon the death of the minister this line is written by Hawthorne, "All through life the black veil had hung between him and the world: it had separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman's love, and kept him in that saddest of all prisons, his own heart; and still it lay upon his face, as if to deepen the gloom of his darksome chamber, and shade him from the sunshine of eternity (Digital.)" This line shows the sacrifice this man had to give for his people. He connected with them on a better level and the people recognized his symbolism for sin and the dark veil that covered his face. This example of the man dieing alone and sacrificing all he could for the benefit of his people is a bittersweet end and showcases the sheep-like and foolish nature of humans. These characteristics and incidents in the story showcase Dark Romanticism and cement this story and Hawthorne as one of the key figures in the movement and his excellent and psychological writing style.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister's Black Veil” In American Literature. Willhelm, Jeffory, comp. McGraw Hill. Columbus, 2009. Print.

Journal #25: Mask

Wearing a mask to hide your emotions is a thing that all people do at one time or another. I don't know why we do it, but it is a foolish thing. It keeps others who care about our well being from knowing what is going on inside our head and if something is wrong. They won't be able to tell and only want to help us in the first place anyway. I wear a mask when I am angry so I don't ruin or other peoples days and sour their moods up by being rude to them. That is one situation in which wearing a mask is a pretty good thing, but otherwise you really shouldn't and it will only end badly for you. Talking about your feelings, while sounding really sappy, helps quite a bit. It helps you get things off your chests and reveals any problems you might have with somebody and from there you can figure out possible remedies for what ails your relationship. At the same time it can be bad because you might offend certain people by telling them something because other's don't handle information well. The worst situation to wear a mask in is when you are depressed because withdrawing from people and pretending you are find will only lead to your demise faster. These are my opinions on wearing a mask and stuff. I still have about 100 words left....well ok then. While sounding pretty sappy you really should try and talk to somebody when you're feeling depressed. Depression can lead to a bunch of bad junk and in the end you will only hurt yourself and those who care about you the most, and it's a very selfish move. You need to find whoever will listen to your and explain your problems. Everything will usually turn out better, you'll get help and move on with your life happier and learning how to deal with sadness and bad situations much better.

Dark Romanticism and The Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum was a short story written by Poe highlighting the effect of terror on a prisoner captured and condemned to death by the Spanish during the Inquisition. Dark Romanticism was characterized by it's subject matter and the style. It was a branch of the Transcendentalist movement with less optimism and hope for the human race. Dark Romantics were less inclined to sympathize with man and believed all of our faults were wrought on by sin and self-destruction. Also in light of the Transcendentalists instead of viewing nature as a safe haven for self-realization and a spiritual place, the Dark Romantics saw it as an evil force that worked to it's own advantage and destroyed any who stood in it's way with force. The first example of Dark Romanticism comes with this quote in the story, "I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white -- whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words -- and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness, of immovable resolution, of stern contempt of human torture (Digital.)" In this excerpt the author tells of his condemnation at the hand of some unknown judges. His fate is sealed by these unknown being whom we are given the interpretation of seeing them as somewhat demonic. This condemnation to torture is an example of the sinful nature of man and his contempt for his fellow being. The rest of the story plays off of fear and attempts to immerse the reader in the man's cell so they can feel the same horror as him. Most Dark Romantic stories (especially Poe's) tend to depend on the supernatural to aid the story, but in contrast The Pit and the Pendulum is much grittier and realistic. One of the most effective images that Poe utilizes in the story is the image of Death hanging the pendulum that will eventually kill the narrator. It is extremely effective due to the impending nature of death for all of us and it is a metaphor for this. It is also effective in that Death is a traditionally frightening image and what better image than that of the face of death to evoke fear in the narrator and by extent the reader. Poe is masterfully able to use the primary senses to put the reader in the shoes of the narrator and truly frighten them. Due to this ability the reader feels as if they are in the shoes of the narrator and the effectiveness of the short story is multiplied and has a lasting effect on the reader. These are simply a few of the characteristics of Dark Romanticism that Poe demonstrates in his short story The Pit and the Pendulum and through his excellent use of symbolism and metaphorical representation he crafts a haunting tale of a doomed man and what could possibly be last days on Earth after his condemnation at the hand of seemingly demonic judges. The man's tale and his attempt to survive are a classic and remain with the leader long after they have read it.

Poe, Edger Allan. “The Pit and the Pendulum” In American Literature. Willhelm, Jeffory, comp. McGraw Hill. Columbus, 2009. Print.

The Raven Analysis

The Raven was a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe in the early 1800s and is considered one of the most famous pieces of Dark Romanticism. Several critics and pundits have analyzed this work and picked it apart to discover it's meaning and the symbolism and other similar cogs and gears that move the poem and give it such a wallop. One such analysis of the poem describes it as "Many readers who prefer sunshine to the weird lights with which Mr. Poe fills his sky, may be dull to its beauty, but it is none the less a great triumph of imagination and art (Digital)." This description puts so much praise into this poem and rightfully so, because the poem is viewed as a classic and one of Poe's greatest works. The analysis goes into great depth of the rhythm, the writing style and the masterful atmosphere Poe paints and can so vividly place his reader in. The analysis focuses on all of these aspects and masterfully regards Poe's beautiful writing style and his skill as a poet. The writing style is one of the main focuses of the analysis and the author goes into detail about the rhyme scheme and how Poe used it to enchant the reader and meld them into the dark and atmospheric world he painted and left a lasting impression on them with his masterful use of the scheme that most people will not even realize. His use of Nevermore haunts the reader long after they have finished reading his brilliant and dark poem. Another aspect that the analysis analyzes is artistic nature of the poem and how Poe's masterful writing style makes it so congruous and artful. Through his use of language he transposes his simple literary poem into a masterful work of art that is analyzed in schools to this day and left a lasting impression on the world, cementing itself as perhaps his magnum opus and the cornerstone of Dark Romanticism. The rhythm of the poem transports the reader to the realm of Poe and puts them right there with the narrator and the raven to feel the same pain and haunting demeanor of the narrator as he feels trapped and hopeless against this demonic raven who crushes his hope and dreams of being with his love for once more. As the author says "The rhythm of this poem is exquisite, its phraseology is in the highest degree musical and apt, the tone of the whole is wonderfully sustained and appropriate to the subject, which, full as it is of a wild and tender melancholy, is admirably well chosen (Digital)." This quote demonstrates the dedicated nature of the author to the small details that Poe put into his work and their dedicated analysis and appreciation of the rhyme scheme and Poe's subtle use of rhyme and the English language demonstrate the core mechanics of their analysis of the poem. This analysis did and excellent job of picking apart The Raven and showcased the authors excellent skill of analysis.

Analysis of The Raven

The poem begins with a man sitting in his chamber reading a book. He begins to doze off and eventually falls asleep until awoken by a rapping on is door. He gets scared and tells himself it is just a visitor and ignores it. The rapping continues and he begins to be scared. He thinks of is lost love Lanore and morns for her. The rapping begins anew and he goes to answer the door after reassuring himself that it is just a visitor at his door. He opens it and nothing is there so he looks around an opens his window and a Raven flies in. It perches itself on a bust of Pallis Athena and says the phrase nevermore. The man accuses the raven of being a demon and several other things but the bird only responds with nevermore. He yells at the bird to leave but the bird responds as always. He then asks it when he will be with his love Lanore again and the bird responds nevermore and the man grows saddened and stops communicating with the bird while it just stays perched on the bust.

There were several literary devices in the poem including the use of rhyme scheme to set mood and darken the atmosphere of this already bleak poem. Another literary device is symbolism in which he uses the bust as Athena as a representation of the man's courage and giving him strength to see what is at the door. Another symbol is the bust being over the door and representing protection of him while giving him strength and courage.

The figurative meaning of the poem is the raven representing fear and the thought of there not being an afterlife. The man is afraid that he will never be with his love again and the raven represents a manifestation of his fear that his love is gone forever and there is no hope that he will ever see her again.

Journal #24: Anxiety and Fear

Ha good one. Me being afraid of something, that's a complete jokes. I'm too much of a complete man to be afraid of anything. I once fought an entire army of ninjas while saving a flaming box of puppies from the evil Empire. I didn't even feel an ounce of stress or anxiety that entire time. In fact my tear ducts are clogged shut due to the massive amounts of testosterone my body produces. But in all actuality I really hate heights. It's not even funny how freaked out I get when I go up really high places. Now I'm fine with flying but skyscrapers are out of the freaking question. I had a panic attack when I went up on to the Sears Tower and was frozen in place with fear. I just can't go up to really high places. It's like the time I saw an explanation of several different types of phobias and the explanation for fear of heights was something along the lines of You're really freaking high up! How the heck are you not freaked out right now? In my opinion being really freaking high up is the freakiest thing in the world. Spiders are creepy too. Those things are little demons sent up from hell to devour the flesh of the living...actually that's zombies not spiders but same difference. I hate those things so much and I have a hatred of them that burns like a thousand red hot suns. I see a little demonic little arachnid I smash the crud out of it and burn it. I really just hate those things so much and they freak me out. Don't tell anybody but I will screech like a small child when seeing one of those things. Heights and spiders are the only real things that freak me out otherwise I'm pretty much the bravest person ever, and like I said I have a massive amount of testosterone that makes me the manliest man ever in the entire history of the world hands down no questions asked end of story.

Journal #23: Unplugging

Hahahaha oh lawdy please. Me go a week without some form of technology? Hahahaha That's a laugh. I would go into withdrawals and collapse from technologic denial. I use my iPod throughout the day and I average listening to about 6 different albums a day. If I were to not use my iPod or listen to at least a single album in a day I would probably die. That's a bit of an exaggeration but still I really like my technology and have become quiet attached to it. I like my computer, consoles, and my cell phone a bit too much to just go without it for a weekend. And I just flat out hate camping so that wouldn't go over well. As you know from my previous blog entries I freaking hate camping and the outdoors in general so I really don't think I would willingly go out on a camping trip with friends. Maybe if I was kidnapped and had a gun to my head I would go out on a camping trip, but otherwise no freaking chance am I going out in the woods and pitching a tent and living out there. Also cars are nice. I like driving and they're very convenient. So yeah all in all I wouldn't enjoy nor be able to go an entire weekend without technology. It sounds cliche and stupid but seriously I like my music and my other technological stuff way to much to just give up on them and not do it for an entire weekend. So anyway in summary I dislike the outdoors and would refuse to go out there unless I was forced by gunpoint or tankpoint (is that a word?) and forced to camp out for the weekend, but rest assured I would NOT enjoy myself as I was partaking in the frolicking and what not. Also I really like technology and music and all that goods stuff too much to not use it for a weekend and that's that and what not I guess. Blog done.

Gahndi and Thoreau

There are many similarities between Thoreau's speech and Gahndi's speech. Both men were extremely important figures in during the period Thoreau being a leader of the Transcendentalist movement and Gahndi being the most important person in India and fighting for Indian independence from the English crown. The two were extremely strong-willed and knew what they were fighting against and wrote essays or in Gahndi's case gave a speech highlighting all the issues and tackling them all in a very sophisticated and well-done manner. The issues they were fighting for were in essence the same and actually Gahndi has stated he was influenced by Thoreau's writings and the Transcendentalist movement so the similarities are that much more evident.

The theme of the two writings are the same, both are up in arms and refuse to pay a tax, but for different reasons. Thoreau writes about not paying the poll tax because he believes it screws out the poor and thus they aren't allowed to vote and voice their opinion, which he sees as extremely jaded and a step backwards for the country. Gahndi on the other hand wrote a speech in which he addressed the public directly and talked about the importance of not paying the salt tax that was coming. He talks about what would happen if they refused to pay taxes and why they should. At one point Gahndi says "Even free India will not be able to accommodate a greater number of public servants. A Collector then will not need the number of servants, he has got today. He will be his own servant. Our starving millions can by no means afford this enormous expenditure. If, therefore, we are sensible enough, let us bid good-bye to Government employment, no matter if it is the post of a judge or a peon. Let all who are co-operating with the Government in one way or another, be it by paying taxes, keeping titles, or sending children to official schools, etc. withdraw their co-operation in all or as many watts as possible (Digital.)" This line acknowledges what will happen after the people achieve a free India and what will happen to the government workers. Gahndi holds no resentment towards the civil workers but expresses his disdain with the government itself and the higher ups who make the decisions, similar to Thoreau who dislikes the higher ups in the government and the aristocracy in America.

These are a few of the similarities and differences between Thoreau and Gahndi. Gahndi was more direct and selective of his audience and knew the point would get across to the correct people and action would be taken as a direct result of his speech and his writings. Thoreau on the other hand was not a public speaker, but a writer. He only hoped that the right people would read his message and take action, inspired by what he wrote. The principles and themes of the two essays are the same but the method of delivery is drastically different for both.

Famous Speeches Of Gandhiji : On The Eve Of Historic Dandi March." Mani Bhavan - Gandhi Sangrahalaya: Mahatma Gandhi Museum & Reference Library. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. .

Journal #23: Morality

Morality is a tough subject. Romantics said that it was ok to break the law if breaking it was morally superior, so long as you paid the price afterward. This question reminds me of a scenario in which a man needs to buy some medicine for his ill wife and she will die if she doesn't get it soon. The man has $3000 to his name and the medicine is sold at $5000, despite the fact that the medicine is manufactured for only $2000. The man goes to the pharmacy to buy the medicine and tells the pharmacist he will pay a down payment and swears to get the rest of them money to him when he has it, but the pharmacist refuses and tells him he needs all of the money to buy the medicine. The man then leaves the store and breaks in at night to steal the medicine for his wife. This in my opinion is a situation in which disregarding the law is an acceptable alternative because the moral aspect of it is greater. The man saved his wife by stealing the medicine, and while it is usually wrong to steal in this situation the pharmaceutical company is truly in the wrong. They are pricing the medicine too high and despite the man having enough to make the company a profit he was still turned down and forced to turn to crime to save a life. I think that Romantics would agree that saving a life at the expense of breaking the law is acceptable. This situation is not commonplace and extremely rare, so these types of occurrences are not normal and would be acceptable to break the law if the damage done by breaking the law was not severe and by breaking the law the moral benefits were greater than the harm done, and serving your punishment for your crime would make it acceptable in the opinion of a Romantic writer. Blog done.

Journal #21: Emerson and Franklin

Emerson and Franklin were on very opposite ends of the literary spectrum. Emerson was one of the most important figures in Transcendentalism and believes firmly in the idea that man could overcome any hardships and come to his full potential by self-introspection and deep personal realization. Franklin on the other hand was a firm Rationalist. He believed in Science and technological progression with nature and self realization not having a role in his style. He believed in spirituality for personal achievement and by following a strict personal code would one reach their highest level of capability and achievement. This is somewhat similar to the views of Emerson in his ideas of the ability of man to achieve and other themes. These are the only two main similarities between the two authors because their two movements were on completely opposite ends of the spectrum and had many conflicting ideals and motifs. Despite the differences though the idea of self-realization through some form of self is a common theme shared by both men, albeit their methods were different. The key themes of Rationalism were the idea of thought and progress, with logical thinking having more value than other things. These conflicted greatly with the ideal of Transcendentalism and the very similar Romantic Movement. Those two movements came about as essentially foils to Rationalism and it's idea of Scientific progress. These conflicting ideals showed the differences between the two writers with some being very drastic form their views on science and technology from their few similarities in their ideas and opinions of self-realization and the will and ability of man through their own achievements. All in all the two men had extremely radical and different views on several aspects because of their literary groups and their upbringings, but despite this they had similar viewpoints on the capabilities of humans and the means through which self-realizations and achievement could be achieved. These are the main similarities and differences between Franklin and Emerson.

Journal #22: Emerson Analysis

Ralph Waldo Emerson had a large influence on the Transcendental movement which in several ways was similar to Romanticism, but in his latter years Emerson rejected the idea of Romanticism. Romanticism was heavy on the idea of going out into nature and finding oneself, while Transcendentalism was heavy handed on the idea of finding oneself through personal revelations that did not require outside influence, only heavy self-introspection and revelations. All in all the aspects of the two movements were similar on the surface but upon deeper introspection and analysis one can find the differences and discern between the two movements. Transcendentalism was a very influential period in literature for America and the lasting impression of the literature written at the time is still felt today and is echoed in several authors today and in the Modernism movement. The entire idea behind Transcendentalism is vaguely similar to Romanticism, but the two movements have their differences along with a few similarities that usually end up with people overlooking the differences and simply classifying the two movements together incorrectly. The two are similar in some issues on the surface but upon further more in-depth analysis one can see the overall depth and complexities in both issues and properly distinguish from Romanticism and Transcendentalism.

One of the things that sets Emerson apart from Romanticism and firmly plants him as a Transcendentalist writer and proofs some of his withdrawals about Romanticism is this quote. "Most readers of American literature know the story of Emerson's refusal to mourn. His first wife Ellen died in 1831, when she was nineteen. Five years later he lost Charles, the brother to whom he was closest (Digital.)" This quote demonstrates the inability of Emerson to mourn properly or his unique method in which he dealt with loss and hard and heavy emotions. Romantics were much more emotion heavy into emotion and expressing it, and would have dealt with the loss of a loved one or a close friend in a very dramatic fashion that showcased their grieving. Because of his disassociation with emotion and rejection of traditional grieving methods it disconnected him from Romantics and while he still believed in human potential and self-actualization through achievement it demonstrated his distance from the emotion of humanity and his thought that it was trivial and unimportant to the working spirit and behavior of man while still rejecting the idea of technological and scientific progression as the sole focus of mankind which kept him in some similar space as Romantics, but due to his reservations of emotion showed him as a true Transcendental writer.

These reasons, mainly Emerson's emotional detachment from other people and thought process of work and self first and before all other matter, while still distancing himself from the scientific and technological marvels of the time solidified himself as a Transcendentalist, but concreted him straight out of the Romantic and Realist literary groups. Despite several similarities with Romantic writers he rejected the emotional aspect of Romanticism and his emotional coldness and stone faceted attitude served as crucial aspects to this.

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. (accessed November 10, 2010).

Journal #20: Self-Reflection

Ok so I'm supposed to write about self reflection and all that good stuff. Wooo. I can barely contain myself I am just bursting with enthusiasm about this journal. I really don't like going into nature and all that mumbo jumbo. I hate nature for the most part if you would refer back to one of my previous entries you would find that a fact. I like technology and most of society too much to just go into the woods and "find" myself which in my opinion just sounds like a massive load. I hate this hole Romantic thing in most cases and the whole thing about finding yourself and being one with nature. I just don't buy into it and I'm much more comfortable being around technology and other people plus I don't even have any issues about who I really am and stuff. I've got most things figured out about who I am so I don't think I require any self-reflection. I mean I suppose in a way when I just shut out the world and listen to my music I am Self Reflecting but not really because I mainly just analyze the music and rock out to it so no I guess I don't self reflect when I'm listening to music. Yeah that's my main take on self reflection and stuff so I guess I don't really have much else to write about. I'm not even self reflecting right now, except I guess I kind of am because I'm revealing how much I loathe self reflecting which is ironic in a sense right? I don't know like I said I don't buy into it and I would much rather be around all my technology and other people because that's more comfortable and gives me more of an identity than going into the woods and finding myself. I just don't like nature and think that's stupid. So yeah that's my whole take on this whole issue and whatnot. Excelsior!

Journal #19

My ideal United States is a land of awesomeness. Actually it would probably be a land where the Apocalypse has already happened and zombies roam the land. Imagine a world like Fallout with zombies from Dawn of the Dead and stuff. Not infected, but the undead who were all slow and shambling. It would be so amazing. I would roam the countryside being an awesome zombie slaying hardcore dude saving survivors and taking down roaming zombie hordes while keeping the ideals and values of America strong by fighting the communist invader. Remember this is Fallout world where communists in China caused the War with the United States and everything is like it was in the 50s. This is my ideal version of the United States because it combines one of the greatest games ever with the coolest thing ever zombies. Fallout and zombies would just be so amazing you don't even realize how excited I am just typing about this. I mean America would be in shambles and only select villages of people would still be around but still it would be totally awesome because I would awesome, well even more awesome than I already am and we all know how that is. But anyway yeah I would roam the wasteland with my trust companion Mountain Lion whom I would name Borealis. Me and Borealis would be the best killing zombie team in the entire universe and we would rescue people from the zombie horde and pick up chicks. That would be so fun. I would have a field day in an apocalyptic remnant of the shattered United States. I would have so much fun it would be obnoxious how much I would enjoy myself. I would totally rule over most places as King/Lord/God of everything, and I think I would probably be revered as a God in most places which makes this version of America my ideal version. Six more words and I'm done.

Poetry Analysis of The Ballad of the Oysterman

The story of the Oysterman is one of heartbreak and star-crossed lovers (not as I had been hoping for a Superhero who fights crime using oysters, but whatever.) The poem tells of a tall young oysterman who lives across from an attractive daughter of a fisherman. The oysterman sees the daughter call out to him one night urging him to come over. The oysterman thought to himself that it would be a good idea to go see her, so he swam over to her house. He climbed up to her room and kissed her but they heard her father's footsteps so he leaped back into the water. The father questions what just fell into the water and she explains it was just a pebble she threw into the water, but he says that pebbles can't go that fast and she tries to cover it up and say it was a dolphin. The father urges for his harpoon to go kill the dolphin and the girl jumps into the water to stop him. Both her and the oysterman drown and they live on together selling oysters to mermaids down below.

This poem does not have much in the way of symbolism, but it goes for a more direct and head on method of tackling it's issues. There is a small amount of symbolism and reference but for the most part the poem plays out as it is read. The biggest and most obvious reference is the timeless story of the star-crossed lovers who are unable to be together due to an external conflict that prohibits them from being together. There is also symbolism in the role of the father who plays the part of the force that keeps them apart, and the role of the oysters is one of hope that keeps the idea of the lovers being together strong.

The poem is a simply, albeit beautiful one. The story of star-crossed lovers is timeless and numerous people can relate to the tragic story of the two lovers who fate declares shall not be together. Through simplistic and straight-forward writing methods the author, Holmes, manages to paint a hopeless and morose story that shows the tragic story of two souls urging for the others embrace, but finding no solace do to an external force.

Journal #17: Romantic Poem

Nature has awoken with her wrath

She comes to destroying everything in her path

Man has taken advantage of her for too long

Soon humanity will realize what it did wrong

We have raped Mother Nature and left her for dead

Using her for our own gain and ignoring all warnings that had been said

Unbeknown to us she had one last push left

And would punish us for our theft

She roared with thunder and maelstrom

She left not an untouched home.

Showing no mercy for even the smallest of beings

As animals and humans were sent fleeing

The damage she caused was catastrophic

Who she destroyed she did not pick

None could stand up to her awesome might

And in the night there was no hopeful spark of light.

Poetry Analysis of Thanatopsis

The poem of Thanatopsis when taken literally portrays an extremely bleak and morbid view of life and the eventual demise of a man. The first few lines of the poem when taken literally are about how after death you will be one with nature and eventually fade away. Through this you will become one with the planet and all aspects of it. The earth and tree roots will pierce through you and taken you into it as one. You're death will not be lonely and you will be together with all kinds of people. Then it goes on to explain that the amount of people who over the course of time have passed away and become one with nature is massive as opposed to the minuscule amount of people who still remain on the planet in their physical bodies. When you pass away people will be saddened by your loss momentarily but they will move on with their lives and along with you die eventually. Live your life as well as you can and to your fullest ability, but when your time has come accept it without quarrel and be at peace.

The most important piece of symbolism used in this poem is the idea, and picture of death. The entire poem is based around the sole idea of death, it's inevitableness, and the foreboding nature of man's demise. The nature of death is the sole theme and central idea behind the entire poem. The line "So live, that when they summons comes to join The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death," is the best example of the poem's theme. The line explains that when your time has come you should accept it without quarrel and take your place in the hall of death by becoming one with nature and all those who have passed before you and will pass after you.

The morbid and morose theme of the poem helps deliver the meaning in a much more effective way. The cold and calculating emotion central to the poem helps deliver the meaning of the poem and support it's idea of death. The message of the poem, while depressing and bleak, is optimistic under the surface. The idea that one will become one with Earth and all those who have passed or will pass is a hopefully and spirit lifting idea that should leave the reader with a positive outlook on the subject matter of passing away. The poem was extremely effective due to it's methods of using emotion and getting it's point across.

Journal #16: Nature

Ok so I'm just going to throw this one out there. I hate nature. Big time. I don't like going outside for the most part because it is either too hot or too cold and I don't like temperature extremes. I'm an indoor kind of guy and prefer to do my sports and relaxation and basically everything else inside and away from that giant jerk that we call the sun. I'm not vehemently opposed to going outside when it's nice out, in all actuality when it's pretty nice out I might go for a dunk in the pool or lay out in the sun when it's nice. But when it's too hot I don't like going outside and would rather just stay in the nice air conditioned temperate room. Also I'm a nerd so that accounts for my fear of the outside world a bit as well. I absolutely HATE camping. It is the worst thing in the world and I refuse to ever go camping out of my own will. Not unless I was kidnapped and tortured would I ever go along on a camping trip. Evidently Matt's pencil has more of a point. Well yeah all in all when it comes down to it I prefer being inside to being outside. Not much of an outdoorsy guy on this end. I mean hanging out with friends and stuff it's fun but alone or something like that I just really really really don't like going outside when it's too hot or cold.

Journal #15: My favorite band

I have a lot of favorite bands. I really can't narrow it down to just one band so I'll just write about numerous bands that I list as my favorites. I have way to many bands on my computer. I have about 10000 songs and 500 or more bands on my computer. I have so many favorites out of them it's not even funny. Some of my favorite bands are Periphery, Gorillaz, Middle Class Rut, At the Drive-In, Atreyu, Killswitch Engage, The Mars Volta, 65daysofstatic, Maybeshewill, Fellsilent, and quite a few more. I love all of these bands and probably a few more than others. My favorite progressive Rock band would probably be The Mars Volta and Porcupine Tree. Prog Metal would be awarded to Protest the Hero. Instrumental Rock would be 65daysofstatic. Right now I guess my absolute favorite band out of all of these would be Middle Class Rut. They're really awesome and the band only consists of two guys. One of them is on vocals and guitar and the other rocks out on the drums. They've been around for a while and opened for bands like The Receiving End of Sirens (one of my other favorite bands) and Them Crooked Vultures. They just released their first full LP called No Name No Color. It's ridiculously good and I can't stop listening to them. My best friend in Arizona told me about them after he went to a free show they put on and said they were one of the best shows he has ever been to and he's been to a pretty impressive list of shows. So I checked them out and I instantly fell in love with them. So yeah right now I'm going through a Middle Class Rut phase and would call them my favorite band at the moment. Protest the Hero would probably win second place for favorites I guess. They're pretty awesome and they put on awesome live shows. Oh I forgot to mention Between the Buried and Me and Mastodon who are other favorites of mine. I saw them live sometime last year and it was an awesome show.

Journal #15: Logic and Reason

I like logic and stuff. I took a class out at Lincoln Land this summer on logic and the fundamentals of argument. It was pretty interesting and we learned a lot about basic logic and arguing and all that good stuff. The professor was pretty cool too so all in all I liked that class quite a bit. Chess is something that requires logic. It's a game of logic and it's very strategic. That reminds me that I haven't played chess for a few months now. Probably even years. That's a shame cuz I really like chess too. I used to do tournaments and stuff for chess when I was younger and I used to place pretty well in them. I should start that up again and start playing chess and then I will regularly use Logic in my life. Every time I play chess I will think to myself that I am using logic and being a good Samaritan....or maybe just the logic part because I have no clue what being a good Samaritan has to do with playing chess. I mean Russians are really good at chess and everyone knows how evil they are. Freaking Putin plays chess and I mean, despite being pretty awesome at just about everything like being amazing at Judo and killing a freaking whale with a crossbow that man is the root of all evil. Not really actually I have no idea what makes him evil. He could be evil but in all honesty that's just not for me to decide so I'll leave it at chess does not make you a good Samaritan is just requires that you use logic. And there is a supercomputer that is really good at chess so that somehow relates to my story here. That's really all I've got to say on the matter of logic and reason right now and I know that I focused on logic way more than reason but that's the way it's gonna be so you better learn to deal with it....or else.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine was an author, a revolutionary, and a radical. He is known as one of the founding fathers of the United States and his pamphlet Common Sense was well regarded in convincing America to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Great Britain and demand and gain independence as a sovereign nation. His works supported the idea that America should become an independent nation and break off from the British Empire. His role as a revolutionary caused him to write pamphlets and propaganda supporting the Revolutionary cause. Common Sense heavily pushes the revolutionary viewpoint and attempts to persuade the colonists towards sovereignty.

Paine was not a huge fan of the monarchy, and pushes his view many times throughout his pamphlet. He also wasn't a big fan of government but like all wise men knew it was a necessary evil as evidenced in this quote "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one. (Paine)" This quote demonstrates his distaste for government and although he thinks government is evil he knows a society cannot function without one, and therefore should have the best of the worst to make things more manageable. This is why Paine supports a government by the people and for the people instead of one run by a monarch and his descendants, which he believes to be a very ill form of government. I like Paine's idea that government is a necessary evil and his way of convincing people of this by outlining the fallacy's of monarchy get a strong point across and would have likely invoked much emotion and ill temperament against the crown, demonstrating his skillful approach to propaganda.

Paine's distaste towards the crown is extremely prevalent in this article as evidenced in several quotes such as "Absolute governments (though the disgrace of human nature) have this advantage with them, that they are simple; if the people suffer, they know the head from which their suffering springs, know likewise the remedy, and are not bewildered by a variety of causes and cures. (Paine)" demonstrate his nature of planting ill will in his audience. Paine was a propagandist and his job was to spread hatred of the crown in the colonists to invoke the want of a revolution to dispatch of the Empire and form a new nation. Through his masterful use of language and disgust towards the tyranny of rulers he is able to effectively convey his points and spur the reader into contempt for the crown.

Paine was an extremely efficient propagandist and his writings such as Common Sense were vital to the Revolutionary cause. His papers kept up the moral of the Revolutionaries while opening the eyes of lesser concerned citizens and convincing them of the tyrannical and horrid method the English crown ruled with. Due to his writings the Revolutionaries were able to properly carry out a revolution with the support of the people. His writing style of plain and simple fact was extremely effective in it's simplicity and helped convey his message in his writing.

Works Cited

Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Archiving Early America. Online. 17 Oct. 2010.

Literary Criticisms

When Lemay analyzes Franklin’s autobiography he picks it apart piece by piece and

analyzes every single aspect of the book that he can. He looks at the novel from every aspect

and point of view as possible and does a superb job of analyzing Franklin’s work. Because he

does not take a standard approach to analyzing the book and picks it apart so much is what sets

his criticism aside from others and makes it truly excel in his analysis.

One of the more interesting reasons Lemay gives for the books popularity is as he

says “A more fundamental reason for the book's power and popularity lies in the archetypal

appeal of the individual's rise from helplessness to power, from dependence to independence.”

This quote evidences the analysis of Lemay’s work. The idea that the book appeals to the

masses due to the disenchantment with the American dream is an interesting one. Usually

people are demanding of something optimistic or a happy ending, but Franklin’s realistic and

cold nature of reality is an appeal to some people and because of this causes his work to be

timeless because we are all at one point disenchanted with our lives.

The aspect of popularizing the American Dream is another interesting aspect of the

literary criticisms Lemay makes. As Lemay says “Franklin is often commonly supposed to

be the progenitor of the Horatio Alger success story of nineteenth-century American popular

literature.” Although Franklin was not the first rags to riches story that everyone had heard he

was well-known and highly revered by the American public and his story coming out around the

same time as the birth of the nation gave Americans something to cling to and make their own.

The analysis of the American Dream due to Franklin’s early timing was a great aspect for Lemay

to use in his criticism of the autobiography.

Another good idea that Lemay uses in his criticism is the analysis of individuality

in Franklin’s autobiography. As Lemay says “The American Dream is a philosophy of

individualism.” This aspect of analysis shows the depth that Franklin created in his accidental

formation of The American Dream. His good timing allowed people to interpret his story as the

ideal dream for American sand his personality and individuality set him apart from people and

made him larger than life person and a hero to most average day people.

The ideas that Lemay presents in his criticism of Franklin’s autobiography show his

analytical depth and his excellent critical thinking skills. His criticism shows his off the wall

thinking method and proofs his excellent knowledge and appreciation for Ben Franklin. Due to

his careful method of picking apart several aspects of the autobiography and carefully analyzing

each one the reader is able to find a new layer of depth and complexity in Franklin’s writing. His

ideas are well thought out and rational and he presents them in a logical and methodical fashion

that allows the reader to easily understand and decipher what he is saying. These skills and his

excellent support for all of his ideas show his great skills as a critic.

Works Cited

Lemay, J.A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." In The Renaissance

Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark

Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and

the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream,

Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House,

2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http:/

/www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=

BLTTAD005&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 13, 2010).

Journal #14: Declaration of Awesome

I am now going to write out the Declaration of Awesome. Now I myself am a pretty awesome guy, ask anybody. This declaration defends my being awesome and proclaims that nobody in the world will ever achieve the same level of awesomeness because mine is exponentially higher than their scores of awesome. Everything I do is awesome. My taste in music is beyond awesome, as is my taste in literature and my taste in film. Really I don't even have to write this declaration because the level of awesome that I am is so high that everybody knows of it. Ask somebody in freaking Tibet about me and they'll know! That's why this declaration isn't even necessary because the world already knows of my level of win. But, due to this being the assignment I guess I kind of have to write this. There are numerous rules to being as awesome as I am and sadly nobody else in the world can even come close to achieving all of these rules and being anywhere near as amazing as I am. In fact you know how humans are made up of like 75% water and stuff? I don't obey that rule instead I'm made of 99% WIN. That's right pure unadulterated WIN is the stuff that I'm made out of. The other one percent is normal H20 but that's beside the point. My awesomeness just can't be contained and due to this I'm the most awesomest person in the world. Yeah, awesomest, you may say that's not an actually word but I say silence mortal my word is law! Some might say I'm narcissistic and egotistical but they're just jealous. They want to be me, but they know they can't so they spread dirty filthy terrible rumors about me to try and bring down my awesomeness and that' s just not gonna happen. I'm too amazing, so sorry but that's how it goes. I am awesome.

Journal #12: Working With A Partner

Comradery! WOOOO. Who doesn't love working with a partner? Me that's who. I really am not a fan of working with other people one important projects or assignments or anything like that. I'm a loner and I just find working by myself to be a lot easier because then I can just plug in my iPod and work at my leisure while relaxin to my music at the same time. That's my take on working with a partner and I can understand why some would want to work with a friend on something but that kind of thing just isn't for me. On something similar to a high priority project some people think working with a partner is good because then you both split the weight 50 50 and it becomes much easier on you as opposed to you taking the entire project on by yourself, but even then if you are paired with somebody lazy then you might be deducted points because their section sucks and yours is good. It's not fair in the same case if you do most of the work and the partner does almost nothing and you both get an A. Also I've found that when working with a partner in class time or something you are a lot less likely to get any work done and instead just talk with them for the majority of the class and end up not getting any work done. Also when working with a partner what usually happens is that you split the worksheet back and front with one person doing each side. Then it ends up that you only learn half of what's on the worksheet and the other person learns their side. That's why in my opinion it is better just working by yourself as opposed to working with a friend or partner because you get a lot more done as a loner and you learn more. That's just my take on things though and I'm sure that some people would disagree with me.

Journal #11: Ethics and Values

Ethics and values are important things to a person. Values are a very important thing to a person's integrity. A person's values tell a lot about that person. The things they value can define and craft their personality. If somebody values their religion then they are most likely a very religious person and are defensive for their beliefs. Good morals are also very important for a person. Morals are good to have and what not and they keep you going down the right path and all of that good stuff I guess. I really have somewhat of a hazy definition of morals and ethics and values and things of that nature so I'm not the best person to write about this stuff but hey whatever. Good morals keep a person straight and down the right path and bad morals will supposedly lead them down the road to sex, drugs, and Satan....or something along those lines at least. I dunno I don't really have a set of morals more just a list or guideline things going on. I guess that's the same thing really but I just don't like the word morals. It's such a righteous term and in all honesty I'm not a very righteous person. I mean I'm good but morals just seems like something for a paragon and I'm definitely NOT a paragon. I mean I'm by no means like a Pariah or anything but morals just seems all morally uncorruptable to me. That's just me though and I'm pretty weird with stuff like that. I dunno I just don't like morals. Strict or loose guidelines just seems like a better term for a guy like me. That's just my take on the whole situation however and like I said I'm kind of weird when it comes to stuff like this. Maybe I'm just over Analyzing the whole issue and I should just use the term morals more loosely but for now I'll just stick with my guidelines if it pleased the judges and that'll be that. The paragons can keep their morals.

Journal #10: Science Vs. Religion

In this corner weighing a hefty 6.022 x10 to the 23rd it's Sciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiience. And in the other corner weighing an entire 5000 lbs times i it's Religioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon. Ok now that the goofy intro is out of the weigh I'll talk about my views on Science and Religion. I'm a pretty big Science guy so I'm a fan of Science in this debate. It's kind of a touchy subject for a lot of people and my parents have always told me that religion, along with politics, is something that you just never discuss with people and whatnot. Personally I think a lot of the stuff in religion is totally unbelievable and can be dis-proven with religion. Like the fact that the Bible says that the Earth is only 6000 years old is obviously false and can be easily dis-proven with carbon dating and the awesomeness that is Science. That's just my opinion though and I find a lot of that stuff to be false with the help of science. The fact remains however that back then they didn't really have as much information on the world as we do now and what we now regard as foolish was the only explanation for things back then and they regarded that as true. What we now see as stupid and unbelievable was the only thing they could come up with back then and they didn't have anywhere near as good of a scientific. Old stories about religion like the Greek Gods and stuff in the bible or the Quaran can be disproved using Science and I think that the clear victor in this battle is Science. Science is emerging as a very powerful force in the world and in the coming years I think that we can use science to prove and disprove just about anything, including religion. That's my take on the whole battle between religion and Science. It's a really controversial topic however and alot of the stuff I talked about isn't really right to bring up in normal conversations.

Puritan Project

Journal #9: Organized Religion

Organized religion is a pretty broad spectrum of religions. All the branches of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto, and Pastafarianism are just a few examples. My favorite religion is Pastafairanism. They believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and they don't worship him but they believe he is there. Also they think pirates are good for the environment and help bring down global warming. They dress as pirates on National Dress Like a Pirate Day and believe this will help to end Global Warming. I find this to be the most entertaining religion aside from Scientology of course. THEY believe that the Dark Lord Xenu brought all the aliens down from space a few billion years ago and put them all on earth, gathered them around volcanoes, and dropped Hydrogen bombs on them and their spirits (Thetans) now wander the earth inhabiting human's and this is what causes emotions and all that good stuff. Now Pastafarianism is a joke religion that just pokes fun at Christianity and all those other religions, but sadly enough Scientology is actually real and people believe in it. That too me is just the most entertaining aspect of the religion and I find that just so entertaining it's not even funny. I'm personally not a fan of organized religion but hey whatever floats peoples boats and as long as they don't try and shove their belief's down my throat I'm all good with whatever they feel like believing. I think I'm going to be converting to Pastafarianism pretty soon. They seem like a fun religion and I hear they give great Dental coverage. Anyway that's just my personal take on some of the more ridiculous organized religions in the world. Also in regards to Scientology it should be noted that the founder of the religion stated on more than one occasion that the best way to make money is to create a religion and suprise, suprise he made a religion. Isn't that just a little bit coincidental?

Journal #8: Proofreading

Uh, wow that's the only thing I can say after seeing that video. That was a pretty fun knee video. I sea that guy's pint on why you should proofread your owne piper. Bad jokes aside it is really important to proofread your own paper after you type out your paper because grammer mistakes on your paper can kill your grade. (I spelled grammar wrong back there because it was ironic.) I can't count the number of points I have lost because because I typed the same word twice in a sentence or maybe used two periods.. Having a parent or a friend read over your paper for mistakes is a great idea because they will catch some of the things that you don't. Your own mind works in it's own way and when you read doubles doubles sometimes it doesn't catch that, but when you let somebody else read over your paper they can catch mistakes like that and tell you to correct them. Plus when you make a grammar mistake people kind of just think to themselves, yeesh this kid can't even spell grammar correctly he must not be very bright. Parents are not always a very good idea because they might feel bad if they tell you things are wrong with your paper which is why the best people who could read over your paper are other teachers or maybe just turn in the essay early and let the teacher look it over for mistakes. The points are the main killer in essay gradings.

Journal #7: Superstitions

I'm not a very superstitious person. I guess I believe in good and bad luck to an extent but not like the whole going under ladders and breaking glass and stuff. That kind of seems like a stereotype of luck. I feel racist talking about luck like that because everybody thinks about that kind of stuff when they talk about luck and I'm not like that, but anyway I digress back to the luck thing. I'm Irish so I believe in the luck of the Irish and the fact that four leaf clovers are good luck. I guess my thing is I believe in all the good luck things about luck but not the bad things. I don't believe that going under ladders is a bad thing or that breaking a mirror is a bad thing, nor that black cats are bad luck. I do however believe in the luck of the Irish, four-leaf clovers, and finding a penny head side up is good luck (I actually have a collection of all the pennies I have ever found that were heads up.) I'm selective in my superstitious beliefs. I don't believe in ghosts or witches or anything stupid like that either. I'm a very scientific man and don't believe in any of that superstitious stuff. Except for the fact that Ninjas are all around us at any given time. But that isn't even a superstition that's a cold hard fact. Seriously ninjas are all around us, in fact I am even a half-ninja by blood. That means I'm able to see all my full blooded ninjas. Little known fact, you have one in the far corner of your room. He likes it there and finds the temperature to be very nice. His name is Greg and although you are a pirate he doesn't have any bad blood against you. It's just a stereotype that all ninjas hate pirates and he doesn't like it when people assume he is prejudice against pirates because some of his best friends are pirates.

Journal #6: The Blame Game

Blaming someone with something they didn't do could have some very serious repercussions. It's a morally bad thing to do and could get either you or the person you blame for whatever you're blaming them for into a serious amount of trouble. It may momentarily get you out of trouble but you will live with the guild and will probably end up turning yourself in or getting found and out and getting into an even larger amount of trouble than you would have been if you had just been a bigger man and accepted the blame in the first place. Some repercussions could be that if it was serious enough you could have the event follow you for some time. Like if it were for a drug that you had on you and you pinned it on a friend hiding it in your things. You would get in serious trouble for having such a substance on you and most likely do a number on your friends reputation as well. The event could follow you all the way into college and decrease your chance of getting into a school. On the other hand it could also ruin your friends life if he were attempting to get into something that didn't allow any history of drug use. Maybe his life long goal was to join Harvard or an Ivy league school and because you accused him because of your problems you have destroyed his chances of getting into that school and maybe just ruined his life. You would lost a friend and also have to live with that fact that you did that to a person. I would never be able to do such a terrible thing to anybody no matter how much I dislike them. The fact that such a terrible ting could follow somebody around for the rest of their life is a scary idea and I would not be able to live with the consequences of such a terrible and aprehensible action.

Journal #5: Technologic Punishment

Compared to punishments of the past the punishments of today are no where near as harsh. Compared to being beaten or cut off from like food or something now a days we are just told "no electronic devices for a few days." The world of today is much more different from the world of yesteryear. In the past children being hit was an acceptable punishment but now if parents hit their children the social workers will be noticed quicker than you can say flapjack. Now children rely mostly on electronic devices like computers, Xbox, PS3s, phones, and iPods. It seems like a fair punishment because of the technological dependence of this day and age and it works very well. Cutting off children from their lifelines with all of their friends is a very good punishment to get them to obey their parents. To me thought compared to punishments of the past these punishments seem very lenient and not severe enough but they are very effective and get the point across. Facebook getting taken

Journal #4: My opinion on long trips

I actually just got back from a two week trip in Ireland in early August. We were gone from our house for around two weeks and traveled around Ireland. I usually like most vacations and this was one of the best vacations I have ever taken but after being away for so long it is a very draining experience. Long trips are always very fun at first, but near the end you are very drained and get homesick. In my opinion the length of a perfect trip would be just over one week around maybe eight or nine days. And by the end of the trip if you are stuck with a large group of people then by the end you are kind of sick of hanging out with them. Despite living with your family after being couped up with your family in tiny hotel rooms it can be a bit agitating as the trips nears it's end. Being in a car for long periods of time is also very fatiguing. Especially when you are the one driving the car by the end of the time you get there you are just ready to hit the hay and not do much else. Thankfully I wasn't the one driving while we were in Ireland so I didn't have to deal with such an issue but still being couped up in a car with MY family for so long did have a bit of a lasting affect on my mental state. I still haven't fully recovered from my time overseas. But for the most part the longs trips are very enjoyable especially if you go somewhere that you enjoy. For the most part Ireland was awesome but near the end me and my entire family were ready to go home, despite this though we would all love to go back there at one time or another because of how fascinating a country it is. That's my blog.

Journal 3: Stockholm Syndrome

Being held hostage would probably not be a very enjoyable activity and would most likely push a person to the brink of their limits. I think that coping in a hostage situation would be extremely difficult and would be very difficult. There is also the ever-present threat of coming down with Stockholm syndrome but that would probably make dealing with the situation a bit easier. Stockholm syndrome is a great song by Muse also. I think that to cope with being in a hostage situation I would probably turn to humor and try to lighten the mood. Humor is usually my one effective method at lightening a situation and it would be the only thing I really had in my arsenal. Being in a hostage situation would be extremely dangerous and it depends on what kind of people the captors are. I guess if it was a multiple hostage situation like in a bank the humor might be good for keeping some people calm and not letting them worry, but in a one person captivity time thing befriending your captor is probably not a good idea, unless you can then trick them into letting you go or escaping somehow. The thing is though you can't get too attached to your captor then things won't end well for you and you would probably turn out like that one person's daughter who was captured by some extremist group and when she was getting ransomed she changed her viewpoints and ended up joining the group. Can't remember her name but that was a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome and that really sucked for her. All in all being in a hostage situation would be extremely unenjoyable and would be extremely difficult to cope with. There wouldn't be very many way to cope with such a situation but I think that humor might be a good way to diffuse the situation and possibly cope with such a harsh and bone-chilling reality.

Journal #2: Animal Story

At one time there was a kind and gentle deer and a very rude snake. The deer was kind to everyone she encountered and was loved throughout the forest by all the smaller creatures like the squirrels, the chipmunks, and the birds. Even the grumpy old bear thought that the deer was nice. On the opposite end of the spectrum the snake was a very mean animal. He would often eat the smaller animals and treat everyone very badly. One day while out and about the snake encountered a large bird known as the eagle. The eagle was tired of the snake eating all of his smaller friends so he attacked him. After a fierce battle the eagle flew off and the snake was hurt very badly. He knew he would not last long but he tried to make it back to his home. At the same time the deer was out walking in the forest. She saw the wounded snake slithering back home and asked him what had happened. He told her to go away and mind her own business but she persisted and eventually ended up taking him back home to take care of him. It took him many days to recover but eventually he was back and stronger than ever. Because of how well the deer treated him he decided to change his ways and be nicer to everyone he encountered. He promised to never eat the smaller animals while he was roaming about and eat fruits and berries to survive from now on. The deer treated the snake kindly and did not care about his previous behavior only treating him as she treated everyone else, which not one of the other animals had ever done for him, and thusly being treated so well changed the snake from being such a mean and spiteful animal into another kind animal in the forest. The hospitality and courtesy of the deer had a massive and positive affect on the snake and changed him for the better.

Journal 1: Culture of the Native Americans

Native American culture is far from a specialty of mine but I do have a bit of knowledge in the area. My main knowledge is on the culture of the Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, and Olmec and those inhabited Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula. The Aztec culture was my favorite to learn about because of their ritualistic sacrifices. The Aztec priests were actually so specialized at ripping out a man's heart they could do it so quickly that the heart would still be beating after they ripped it out. It took 5 priests to sacrifice the person and it was usually a prisoner of war. Four of them would hold them down and the last would use an obsidian dagger to tear open the chest and tear out the victim's heart. They sacrificed them because they thought that the sun god and and serpent god Quezocaotal demanded sacrifices to keep the sun rising. If they did not sacrifice enough people then the gods would not allow the sun to rise and their crops would be destroyed. The Aztecs were a very violent group going to war to gain prisoners. When they fought they tried only to incapacitate their opponents so they could either use them as slave labor or sacrifice them to the gods. They had two pyramids in their capital city of Tenochtitlan that were dedicated to their sun god. The pyramids were the largest buildings in the city and they only usually used one to sacrifice their prisoners. Many of the commoners were farmers or fishers who lived in the city of Tenochtitlan fishing from the lake their city rests on. Holy men were the most revered people in their city and below them on the social ladder were their warriors who wore the pelts of jaguars or eagles that they killed. Depending on the skin they wore they were known either as Eagle or Jaguar warriors. The city of Tenochtitlan is now where the city of Mexico City stands.

Symbolism Journal

Symbolism is a very powerful literary tool. Every single author who has written a story has in one way another included symbolism in their writing. It could be as basic a symbol as a lion representing courage, or in the case of Hemingway using several Christian themes and incidents to symbolize the events in his novel The Old Man and the Sea. I'm usually a fan of symbolism in most cases because authors can usually convey it in a clever and very original way. Most symbolism it seems to me is very original but after a while some religious symbolism can be overdone and cliched. For example when I was reading and analyzing Grapes of Wrath I was pretty sick of symbolism at that point and when I found something that to me looked like symbolism for something else, I simply found it old and uninteresting sometimes even annoying. That's a very bad quality to have however because most symbolism is veiled thinly and used so brilliantly in a novel to further help it's point across. Symbolism is not a thing to strain and agonize over analyzing, but something to enhance and enrich the journey of reading the book. In the case of a novel like Fahrenheit 451 the symbolism is so brilliantly crafted in the novel that some won't even recognize it until afterward reading of Bradbury's viewpoints on censorship and the media. Symbolism enriches novel's in many ways often adding more qualities to the protagonist or antagonist or relating the plot to well known events in history. It is a great and necessary tool that all authors must master to become successful.

Grapes of Wrath: Socialism

At the time of the novel's release the socialist party of America was actually becoming pretty popular. The average worker was pretty enticed by the idea of socialism despite the fact that as we know a perfect socialist state is virtually impossible due to corruption and the inability of man to share power, at the time it struck them all as a pretty cool idea and one that they could easily get behind. The novel took a pretty sympathetic view on the poor man, and your average worker because of the main characters being a family down on their luck and forced to move out of their homestead and state in hopes of striking it back over in California. Due to this sympathetic and realistic portrayal of the poor and it's never before seen point of view critics and other people were pretty angry at Steinbeck. The book got publicly banned in a few places and some people even bought it just to burn it (yea that will show him let's increase his book sales.) Political correspondents attacked the book calling it rubbish and a simple tool of communist propoganda to indoctrinate the common citizen against the United States government so that the Socialists could take power and run America right into the ground. Evidently stupidity and ignorance have been in America much longer than just today which is a relief. The fact that they could interpret such things from such a boring and plain novel is just amazing to me. It's just a statement on how much people's lives sucked back then and he gets called a communist in that day and age? He should be lucky he didn't write and release the novel when McCarthism was going on or he would have been straight out of luck. Anyway the point is that if people try hard enough they can just pull out anything from a book and call it what they want or say that it represents something in even the most minuscule of fashion which just amazes me that people have the capability to be so stupid some times.

Grapes of Wrath: Rose of Sharon

Alright well aside from having a pretty awesome name and sharing it with one of my favorite songs albeit with different spelling, there is very little about Rose of Sharon that I actually liked. She was a dreamy teenage girl before the pregnancy and afterward she becomes reclusive and hardly ever talks. Due to this she really doesn't talk all too often but when she does it's usually a pretty important statement, or something along those eyes. She is Tom Joad's younger sister and the daughter of Ma and Pa Joad. I don't know why she escapes with such an awesome name when everybody else gets names like Tom, Ma, Pa, Noah, and John but hey whatever not like I named the characters. In the novel Rose of Sharon kind of plays a type of symbol for the Virgin Mary and the whole immaculate conception jazz because Steinbeck likes to put those oh so subtle religious symbols and themes into his novel. I really just didn't like Rose of Sharon because to me I couldn't really relate to her at all which I suppose is a good thing, but the whole being so reclusive aspect really made me kind of dislike her. And then the episode at the end of the novel where she feeds the stranger by breastfeeding him, while being all noble and a very thinly veiled symbol for the capability of mankind's regrowth and being able to treat it each other right despite all of our faults just struck me as pretty weird. I guess it's just a thing of living in the modern age but the image of this teenager suckling a grown man to keep him alive just seems a bit odd to me, but hey whatever. I guess the main reason for me not liking Rose of Sharon was that she was written to symbolize the Virgin Mary and stay there to give hope to the family that despite all the terrible events that happened the human capability and beautiful ability to give birth and sustain life was there to keep them going and stuff, but that just struck me as really cliched.

Grapes of Wrath: Symbolism

Oh boy another post on symbolism joy, oh happy happy joy. Alright I'll try and contain my happiness and excitement as I write this. The main symbol that I found in this novel was that of Rose of Sharon's pregnancy, oh and guess what it's ANOTHER religious symbol. God I'm getting tired of Christianity in every novel I read. What about the Hindus guys? Can they get some lovin here? Anyway Rose of Sharon's pregnancy is sort of like the immaculate conception in that we don't know who the father is and she herself represent hope, goodness and the ever present chance for redemption, or something along those lines. The way the baby is born and is discarded (it's a stillborn) is reminiscent of Moses being sent down the Nile. Not in the fact that Moses was stillborn (he wasn't) but the whole being sent down a river in a basket thing. That's the main relateability to the bible here. It has also just occurred to me that this event happened in the Old Testament so therefore we have a reference to both Judaism and Christianity, oh boy. I still don't get why nobody pays attention to the Hindus but whatever. The whole representing The Virgin Mother thing by having some holy woman who is representative for redemption has been so played out for me by this stage I don't even care. I hate religious symbols and undertones in novels and at this stage the abundance of references to the Holy Bible are just getting on my nerve. Oh my gosh Steinbeck you're trying to make a statement on the redeemability of mankind despite all the terrible and tragic things that we have done to each other and our capability for destruction that is just SO original and I have never read ANYTHING similar to that idea at all. I really just don't like religious undertones in my novel because I feel that they kind of distract from the thing I'm reading. Blegh. I hate this book.

Grapes of Wrath: Tom Joad

Tom Joad is the protagonist of the Grapes of Wrath and I didn't really like him whatsoever. Not once did I feel myself being concerned for Tom's well-being or if I even cared if he lived or died. He was not a relateable character whatever I felt. He starts the novel as just being released from prison for four years after he is paroled from homicide. He starts off by telling us that prison changed him into living for the moment and only being concerned with his survival for the day, which in my opinion is just a stupid philosophy to have. Eventually he changes his way of looking at life into one for bettering his life and having a more positive outlook on the future but seeing as how that was the only logical and seemingly sane version for the character to progress I wasn't impressed at all. Seriously the novel was just a straight forward ride the entire time with nothing surprising happening at all. It seems like half of the events in the plot and through character development could be pretty easily seen and predicted which gives the book too much of an air of predictability, which I don't enjoy in my novels. I like being surprised by happening in my novel or character progression happening do to important events in the book that not only affect the character, but they give me a feeling of having witnessed what just happened, or some jazz along those lines. I honestly didn't like any of the characters in this novel and Tom Joad was one of my least favorites due in fact to his massively obvious character development and the fact that I couldn't relate to him in any way shape or form. In fact I really don't think he was a good protagonist for this novel in any way shape or form that comes to mind. I really just didn't like this book at all as you can tell and most of these blogs are going to be me picking apart every little nuance that I can find that annoys me.

Grapes of Wrath: Opening Thoughts

Alright, I'm going to be completely honest here. The only novel I have ever disliked more than this novel was Wuthering Heights. I wouldn't go so far as to say I absolutely hated this book (only that trash by Bronte deserves that tag) but the list of things I enjoyed about this novel is so few it's not even funny. Honestly one of the only things I liked about the book was the character Rose of Sharon's name. And that's only because one of my favorite songs is called Rose of Sharyn which I thought could have been a reference to the character in this novel. It wasn't however and I was severely disappointed by this. The writing style of the novel was one of the main things that turned me off right away. Now I'm all for making the story atmospheric and really getting the reader into the world but good lord did Steinbeck take it over board. The amount of trivial and extremely boring stuff he added in was so unessential it wasn't even funny. I think the only good thing to ever come out of this novel being written was the South Park parody episode, other than that I really wish that he had never written this novel. Another thing I just hated was the character of Rose of Sharon. The whole saintly and Virgin Mary role she played in my opinion was just stupid, and I couldn't care less how her character developed from a non-talking recluse into suddenly this symbol for holiness and redemption and whatnot. Ugh I could just go on and on about the list of stupid stuff that I didn't like from this novel but I won't because that would probably go on forever and I could submit this as a college thesis paper at that rate. So as you can tell there will not be a lot of positive entries from this section of my blog so prepare yourself for the worst as I analyze the second worst novel I have ever read.

Fahrenheit 451: Final Thoughts

Well I've pretty much beaten the horse that is Fahrenheit 451 into submission so I figure I will write my final analysis of the book here and move on to The Grapes of Wrath. I don't think I'm going to enjoy doing that. Fahrenheit 451 has left me with quite a bit to think about. Really the thing the stuck with me the most in this novel was the timeless message it left the reader with. We live in an age where it is considered normal to not read books and to just prefer watching mindless television or listening to the next shallowly produced pop single from some slutty pop star. The ever-present threat of this novel's reality has not diminished over the years, no indeed it has become even stronger and more prevalent 60 years of being written. To me this idea is incredibly frightening. I don't think that Bradbury ever could have imagined how much of a lasting impression this novel would have on society, but due to his masterful writing skill and ability to portray such a bone-chillingly possible future he succeeded, and I don't think he would be very happy with that. The ever-present threat of literary insignificance is becoming more and more real. How many of the novels being written today will be analyzed as "classics" and have a lasting impression on the up and coming years? To me it seems that the downfall of literature and the increasing prevalence of computers, televisions, and the shallowly produced message of music that not much hope remains for books. I really enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 none the less and was amazed at how Orwellian the future that Bradbury painted was. The dystopic setting of the novel was really one of my favorite aspects of the novel as well as the seemingly hysteric demented genius of Captain Beatty, who in my book will go down as one of my favorite villains in literature.

Fahrenheit 451: Clarisse Living or Dying

There are two versions of the book that Bradbury is cool with. One is the ending of the movie in which it is revealed that Clarisse never died but she ended up living with the hobos out in the middle of nowhere (an ending that Bradbury liked so much he ended up re-writing that as the ending to later versions of the novel.) The second and in this version of the novel canonical ending is one where the fate of Clarisse if ambiguous. It is never proven that Clarisse is killed in an auto-accident. This could just be information that Beatty uses to get inside Guy's head and mess with him as he always does. Or it could be that she really was killed by a traffic incident and it just sucks to be Guy. Personally I like thinking that she actually did die, because in this case it is best for his character development. She's more of an angel in this way in that she comes to help him and then departs very suddenly, or something along those lines. I'm not just being an evil little freak now either because it is seriously for the better if she dies for Guy. It's like his mentor the one who has caused him to open up his eyes to the world around him is killed by the very thing he has been helping to maintain all of these years and this event finally causes him to realize what is wrong with what he has been doing and to attempt to right all of his wrongs. It's got a much better sense of poetic irony in this sense and I think adds another layer of depth to the novel and the character of Guy. If she survives then sure it gives Guy some happiness but if she dies it really gives a sense to the actions that he takes against the firemen and adds a layer of justice and nobility to everything that he does.

Fahrenheit 451: Burning Bright

The title for this section is a reference to the burning that occur at several points throughout the section. The section begins as Guy Montag is called to his house by an alarm designating his house must be burnt. He sees Mildred leaving with a packed suitcase and deduces that she called the firemen to the house. Beatty leads him into the house and hands him a flamethrower telling him that he must burn down the house by himself and if he attempts to escape he will be killed. But then Guy comes up with the bright idea of roasting Beatty alive with his new found flamethrower. Beatty toasts up pretty good (Guy must like his human well-done. Ha joke.) After killing his boss (He was fed up with those lousy hours! Ok I'm done.) Guy escape into his yard and digs up the remaining books he has been hoarding which amounts to four. The mechanical hound injects his leg making it go numb but as he does with all his problems he burns it. He runs away as news choppers begin to track him as does another mechanical hound. He hides his books in a co-worker's house (that's what you get for stealing my lunch! Ok sorry I promise I'm done now) and calls an alert to his house to distract the firemen. Then he runs to Faber's house and learn to follow the railroad tracks out until he meets some hobos and Guy tells him how to get rid of his scent in the house. Guy runs to a river and jumps in to make the hound lose his scent. He floats down the river for a while until he washes onto shore and walks on until finding the group of hobos. The leader introduces himself as Granger and tells Montag they are memorizing books for when the world ends and they can rebuild society. Not long after this the bombs drop and the city is vaporized. The group then walks up river to start a new life and be reborn as a collective whole just like the phoenix.

Fahrenheit 451: The Sieve and the Sand

The second part of Fahrenheit 451 takes it's name from a memory of Guy's. He recalls being at a beach and attempting to fill a sieve with sand and crying because of the impossibility of the task. The section begins with Mildred and Guy still reading the books. Guy wonders about what made Clarisse such an interesting character and why she acted the way she did. Montag remembers an English professor he once met in a park who gave him his phone number and he tries to contact him with information about the bible, but he thinks he is being tricked so he hangs up on him. Mildred goes back to watching TV and Montag takes a subway over to Faber's house with the bible. On the train he is distracted by an ad and waves the bible around while yelling at the passengers. After this he quickly departs at the next stop. He reaches Faber's house and chats with him for a while attempting to convince him to make a copy of the bible. Faber is convinced and he helps Montag by giving him a two way radio piece for his ear. Guy returns home and talks with Mildred and her friends. He is enraged by their shallow and idiotic viewpoints and actions and reveals a book of poetry that he reads to them. This causes one of the women to break down and cry because of the emotions that the poetry brings up while the other yells about it's evil nature. After this the next day Montag returns to work and hands Beatty a copy of a book which he tosses in the street. As the two are talking an alarm goes off and they head to the source which is revealed to be none other than the house of Montag. At this point the second section of the novel ends and the third beings with Montag at his house and discovering the source of the alarm.

Fahrenheit 451: The Heath and the Salamander

The first section of this novel is called The Heath and the Salamander. A heath is commonly known as a fireplace, and in ancient mythology the salamander was thought to have been born and lived in flame. The first part of the novel is the section that causes Guy to question what he is doing and to realize the fallacy of his ways. Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to burn any illegal books that they find. On his way home one day he meets a new neighbor Clarisse. She talks to him about why he is a fireman and whether or not he is truly happy which frightens him. He spends the next few days thinking about the answer and talks to her on his way home several times, until one day she disappears. He continues to work for a while until one day when the firemen encounter an elderly woman hoarding books. She self-immolates herself after the firemen douse the house in kerosene and this event shocks Montag who calls in sick the next day. Before the woman burned herself he found a copy of the Holy Bible which he takes and hides. Captain Beatty, Montag's captain arrives at his house the next day to talk to him. The conversation reveals Beatty's questionable sanity and after he leaves Montag reveals to his wife his stash of books that he has been taking in over the months. She is frightened by these and does not want them in the house. The book ends with another visitor coming to the door but neither of the two Montag's answer the door and it is later revealed to be the mechanical hound, a robot used to execute people who break the law. It is hinted at the dog was programmed to hunt down and kill Montag. The hound leaves without incident and both Guy and his wife go on reading, albeit she is very reluctant to be reading and would rather be watching the television.

Fahrenheit 451: Religion

Religion is a very important aspect in Fahrenheit 451. One of the books that is often by the firemen are copies of the Holy Bible. This demonstrates to the reader that religion is not an important thing in that society, and that due to the increasing ignorance and dumbing down of society religion has all but been forgotten. Due to the burning of all texts religion in America is non-existent. It would also seem that a larger reference in the novel to Christianity it the nuclear apocalypse that occurs. It seems to have a great similarity to the end of days mentioned in Revelations. Montag himself thinks of a quote from Revelations as they walk upriver to the decimated city to rebuild it. Bradbury probably had Revelations in mind when he was writing the end to this novel as the similarities between this nuclear holocaust and the apocalypse in the bible are clear. Fire is also a very prevalent symbol in the bible and Bradbury uses fire quite a bit as a very important symbol in Fahrenheit 451. Faber also talks about the creation of wine from himself, who he describes as water, and the mixing of Montag, who he describes as fire. This is a reference to the miracle of Canaa when Jesus makes water out of wine and makes enough food to feed a massive crowd. It also strikes me as odd that in this novel religion is completely discarded. The way I see it there are two types of dsytopias. One version with no focus on religion at all with the society either being atheist or worshiping some sort of government figure or head of state as a holy being. Fahrenheit 451 falls into the first category. The second category is that of which the dystopia is religious in nature. The idea of a state-run theocracy in which the people are brainwashed into obeying them seems to be the second version of a dystopia. I found the use of religion or in this case lack of it in the novel to be an interesting aspect, albeit one that does make sense in the context of the novel.