Journal 11- Walden

Journal 11 - Selections from Walden   

Write a summary of the following selections and identify a direct quote that you feel best expresses its main idea.

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)

            The story starts with the narrator recalling several places he bought before he bough his home, “Walden Pond.”   He concludes on a sermonizing note, urging all of us to sludge through our existence until we hit rock bottom and can gauge truth on what he terms our “Realometer,” our means of measuring the reality of things

Quote:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life . . . and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

“Sounds” (234)

The narrator talks about how he spends his time sitting in the woods and taking in his surroundings and nature rather than going to a movie etc. The “sounds” represent using the senses to appreciate the environment. To him this is better entertainment.

Quote:

“I have this advantage at least in my mode of life”

“Brute Neighbors” (235)

The story shows how ant’s life can be just as hard as a humans. The author takes the small ant battle and enlarges it. Creates an epic story out of a relatively small occurrence in human terms. The point of the story is not only to show the ferocity of the ant battle but to show that the smallest of ants can have the greatest of battles by graphically recounting the ants fight.

            Quote:

“I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellum but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black.

“The Pond in Winter” (237)

The author begins this chapter awakening with a question put to him in the night, which was answered when he awoke again at dawn. The beauty of the light and his surroundings answers all his questions. After finding this answer, he turns to the morning work: finding water beneath a foot and a half of ice. The pond sleeps all winter like the animals, and when Thoreau cuts through the snow and ice to find the pond totally calm beneath, he finds heaven below as well as above.

Quote:

"While men believe in the infinite some ponds will be thought to be bottomless."

“Spring” (238)

With the coming of April, the ice begins to melt from Walden Pond, creating a thunderous roar.. Thoreau mentions an old man he know, whose wisdom, Thoreau says, he could not rival if he lived to be as old as Methusela, who was struck with terror by the crash of the melting ice despite his long experience with the ways of nature. He finishes by saying that death in an atmosphere like that would have no sting at all. Because new life is coming.

Quote:

“A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is intermediate between land and sky.”

Journal 12- Young Goodman Brown

Journal #12 - “Young Goodman Brown”

1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative).  What do the following represent?

            Young Goodman Brown – represents innocence and trying to be good. His name shows that he is just a regular man.

            Faith – The wife of Goodman brow, symbolizes

           

            The Elderly Traveler/Fellow-Traveler – Symbolizes the devil

           

Goody Cloyse – Symbolizes hypocrisy

The Ceremony – Symbolizes religious rituals that celebrate salvation or cleansing, except the opposite.

The Pink Ribbon – Symbolizes the innocence of faith. When he sees the pink ribbon fall he loses his faith in life.

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – The journey changed Goodman Brown and stripped him of his innocence. In the woods at night Goodman Brown realizes that the people of the town can also be like the people at the ceremony.

                       

2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”: 

Theme                       Message of Theme                 Element Used to Establish  

Loss of Innocence	Goodman Brown was inevitably corruptible.	Goodman Brown’s loss of faith after his dream, if the dream was real then Goodman Brown was corrupted by the devil. If it was fake than the dream revealed Goodman Brown's dark side, and that he was able to corrupt himself.
Fear of wild	Goodman Brown becomes comfortable in the wilderness only after being corrupted	The moment Goodman brown enters the woods he feels uneasy.
Faith based on community.	Faith based on public opinion is often weak, based solely on what one perceives the rest of the community believes.	When Goodman Brown sees all of his town at the ceremony he decides it might be ok to go.

In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.

``There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,''

“At the word, Goodman Brown stepped forth from the shadow of the trees and approached the Congregation”

“Be it so if you will; but, alas! it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.”

Journal 10

     Journal #10

Othello’s Insight

Write a one paragraph response to the following question:

Often at the end of a play, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often have a moment of insight.  What is Othello’s insight?  Look closely at Othello’s last speech before answering this question.

Othello's final speech features a few key insights by Othello about his life and how he wants people to remember him by. He first tells the delegation that he wants them to remember him as the great general that he was, instead of the murderer that he became after Iago was done with him. He also admits to them all that although he once was one of them, now he is nothing better than a Turkish outsider and stabs himself. 

Journal 9

Free Will is the concept that one makes decisions based mainly on ones own ideas,beliefs and morals and not from outside influences. In the play "Othello" Iago uses free will to justify what happened to Othello in the play. He says that Othello caused his own doom by making stupid decisions. On the other hand of the argument is Determinism. Determinism suggests that people make decisions based on outside influences, this argument is more on the side of Othello as many say he only made the decisions to kill Desdemona and Cassio after Iago misled him into believing they were unfaithful.

Journal 8 Emerson Aphorisms

Journal 8- Emerson Aphorisms

1.    All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

2.    Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.

3.    What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered.

I chose these tree aphorisms to write a personal response about. I believe that in these aphorisms Emerson is trying to show his readers his beliefs and to share his wisdom. The first aphorism is a phrase we have heard ourselves in many different forms but it still rings true to the ear, one can never have success if you do not try. The second aphorism is Emerson saying something he has noticed about society and people, Emerson is trying to tell his readers that in order to be truly noticeable and exceptional you cannot conform to what society asks of you. The final aphorism tries to show the value in things that seem to have no value at all, rather their value is hidden and yet to be appreciated. These aphorisms from Emerson show his unique and profound beliefs about society and how society is sometimes very incorrect.

Journal 7 Waterfowl Raven

                                                                                    Name:

Journal Assignment #7

William Cullen Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl” (p.151) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (p.181)

Read the selections and write a detailed response to the following:

1. Compare/contrast the different views of nature that are being presented in the poems.  Refer to the list of classical and romantic characteristics and provide specific examples from the poems to support your analysis. 

In the two poems, “The Raven” and “To a Waterfowl” we see an example of two different time periods in the writing. While “To a Waterfowl” is classic and written in the Age of Reason which focused on natural values and logic, “The Raven” poem is from the Romantic era which focused on emotions, senses and the way humans perceive their environment.

The tone and style of the waterfowl is optimistic and positive which contrasts to the gloomy and sad world of “The Raven.” Edgar Allen Poe’s poems are often toned to what is happening in his characters head while the water fowl’s tone is positive and focuses on rationality and harmony as most classical writings did. The settings also contrast romanticism and neo-classical writings. The setting of The Raven appeals to the senses in a dark and gloomy matter, the setting of the waterfowl is realistic.

The two poems have a similar purpose; the poets are trying to explain something. The water fowl is trying to show the beauty of nature while The Raven is an attempt to show that there really is no purpose to life, that the principles of logic and reason.

Journal 7

                                                                                    Name:

Journal Assignment #7

William Cullen Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl” (p.151) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (p.181)

Read the selections and write a detailed response to the following:

1. Compare/contrast the different views of nature that are being presented in the poems.  Refer to the list of classical and romantic characteristics and provide specific examples from the poems to support your analysis. 

In the two poems, “The Raven” and “To a Waterfowl” we see an example of two different time periods in the writing. While “To a Waterfowl” is classic and written in the Age of Reason which focused on natural values and logic, “The Raven” poem is from the Romantic era which focused on emotions, senses and the way humans perceive their environment.

The tone and style of the waterfowl is optimistic and positive which contrasts to the gloomy and sad world of “The Raven.” Edgar Allen Poe’s poems are often toned to what is happening in his characters head while the water fowl’s tone is positive and focuses on rationality and harmony as most classical writings did. The settings also contrast romanticism and neo-classical writings. The setting of The Raven appeals to the senses in a dark and gloomy matter, the setting of the waterfowl is realistic. The imagery and symbolism in the Raven creates a dark and gloomy setting which is starkly contrasted in the bright setting of the Waterfowl. The author's view of nature is contrasted as well from the Neo-classical and Romantic viewpoint. The Raven is much more particular, describing in detail the factors that put the Raven beyond human control. To a waterfowl is universal and indefinite and is easily subjected to human control. In The Raven untamed nature is to be celebrated whereas in To A Waterfowl untamed nature is dark and often evil. 

The two poems have a similar purpose; the poets are trying to explain something. The water fowl is trying to show the beauty of nature while The Raven is an attempt to show that there really is no purpose to life, that the principles of logic and reason.