Civil Disobedience

One can easily learn from the famous essay Civil Disobedience that Henry David Thoreau was not a fan of the American government. He shares his opinion on the topic very often and uses several comparisons to back up his emotions. First, he compares the government to a wooden gun, claiming that it’s a simple job for a single man (Thoreau). He points out that the government is truly a majority rule made by one and followed by others. He offers the knowledgeable advice the man should first use his conscience, and then subjects can come afterwards (Thoreau). Instead of man being a piece for a machine, Thoreau state, “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it” (Thoreau). Along with the government, Thoreau also opposed slavery and the Mexican-American War. He was very frank about these situations and the problems with them. He uses his own life experiences as sources for his opinions. Relying on truth to make decisions is a major point in the Transcendentalism period. As a protest against the American government, Thoreau refused to pay poll taxes for six years (Thoreau). He explains his beliefs behind the subject. “If it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine” (Thoreau). He felt that the government failed to handle issues in a respectful manner, and that they approached citizens inappropriately. He said, “When I meet a government which says to me ‘Your money or your life,’ why should I be in haste to give it my money? I am not responsible for the successful working of the machinery of society” (Thoreau). Henry brings up another comparison of a plant. He explains how a plant cannot survive in a lacking environment just as a man cannot live in a lacking world. However, when Henry David Thoreau chose not to follow the law by paying taxes, he had to pay the price by spending time in jail. “It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey” (Thoreau).He is quick to point out all the flaws of man, especially those that make up the government. Pointing out that man is not necessarily perfect and political societies are other factors of Transcendentalism writing. Henry David Thoreau admits that he can see a wonderful State. However, this wonderful State is only seen in his dreams. “If we were left solely to the worldly wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations” (Thoreau). Thoreau’s strong feelings for the government and its members are very biased, yet he is able to support his side. His shared feelings were similar to those of many Americans during this time.

Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.

Journal #26 - Breaking Laws

My first thought to this question is an obvious reaction. It's never okay to break a law, duh. However, the more I think about it, the more options I can think of for finding one's way around the law. Of course, if you or someone you see is in danger, I think it is okay to break the law. Self defense is not necessarily considered breaking the law, what about if you are defending another person who is in danger? I think the law should be lenient when it comes to protecting others that are unable to protect themselves in a dangerous situation. This wouldn't apply to revenge though. I always see on the Law & Order shows, and even in real life, that when a person is hurt of murdered, another person will try to be the hero, and they will kill the person that caused the danger. I have never been in a situation where people close to me are seriously hurt, so I can't fully relate. I would probably feel like I would want to give the suspect a taste of their own medicine, but I can't imagine that I would ever go through with it. Revenge is honestly one of the ugliest and most annoying ideas to me. I also feel like there are a number of unnecessary laws. Curfew, for example, why does that have to be a law? I think curfew should be set by parents, and that way punishment for late curfews can be set by parents too. As a sixteen year old, I think my curfew is 11 o'clock on weekends--I'm not for sure on that one. I don't see why parents can't be in charge of this part of a child's life. I also know that there are parents out there that are Laissez-Faire and let their children make their own decisions without really punishing them. I'm just speaking in general terms, but it's likely that the kids with parents who don't care that they are out til 2 in the morning are doing something else illegal at that time. Just skip over the curfew aspect and I'm sure you'll find something else illegal happening. All I'm saying is that curfew is an unnecessary law that cops could be a little more lenient on before accusing a minor of it.

The Minister's Black Veil

As a display of Minister Hooper’s sins, the black veil served as an important symbol in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil. The theme is given early on in the story when the minister gives a sermon, which is noticed as one of the most compelling sermons he has ever given, about secret sins while covering his face by wearing a black veil. The congregation had strong opinions towards the black veil.  Hawthorne writes, “At the close of the service, the people hurried out with indecorous confusion, eager to communicate their pent-up amazement, and conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the black veil” (Hawthorne). Minister Hooper acted no differently than he had any other Sunday morning. He treated the visitors with the same respects and even joked with the children, yet he still received the odd, turned off reactions from the congregation. One lady pointed out, “How strange that a simple black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper’s face” (Hawthorne). Mr. Hooper’s fiancée soon became sick of his black veil. Hooper begged for her to stay claiming that he didn’t want to be alone, but she left him anyways (Hawthorne). Elizabeth, his fiancée, was a selfish woman who became influenced by others’ opinions instead of those of her loved one. There are even times when Mr. Hooper catches his reflection in the mirror and is scared of what he sees. His surprising reaction shows that there is reasoning behind his actions. The black veil symbolizes something that Mr. Hooper believes in, but is not yet able to get across to the people around him. After becoming quite famous for his black veil legacy, Mr. Hooper becomes very ill. He is encouraged to remove the veil by others while on his death bed. The constant reminders and pleads finally get to Mr. Hooper and he shares with them the meaning for the black veil. He says, “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough; and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might have not to do the same” (Hawthorne). The black veil was there to admit that he had sins, and unlike everyone else, Mr. Hooper was no longer going to hide them. He was being open and honest with his congregation, but they took him as a monster instead. Mr. Hooper was always respectful to those around him. He is described as often showing “a sympathetic smile where livelier merriment would have been thrown way” (Hawthorne). The congregations shunned away their reverend without even asking him what the meaning was for the veil. Their secrets, mystery, and sadness are the key points behind the Dark Romanticism piece. It is not uncommon for Nathaniel Hawthorne to be writing about death and the supernatural because that is a popular theme in writings in the Dark Romanticism period (Krueger).

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Eldritch Press. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.

Krueger, Christine, ed. "Romanticism." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 19th Century, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal #25 - Fear

Mark Twain once said, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." I agree that it is never wrong to have fear. Fear can be used as inspiration and drive behind any action in life. Having fear doesn't make one weak or laughable. The great thing about fears is that they are different for all people. For example, I have a rather large fear of frogs. I get mocked and laughed at for this fear, but what can I do? I received this fear similar to how others get their own fears. What had happened was.. I went to a small fair in Pleasant Plains about seven years ago. It was the Fourth of July, and the community was have games and food out to occupy visitors before the fireworks. I was dressed up in a casual dress. Let me just point out that wearing a skirt was very odd for me circa 2005, which was when this event was taking place, because I was a complete tomboy. So I had played almost every game at this small fair and there was only one left: the frog race. Multiple players could line up, pick their frogs, and then race them down a track. I picked the biggest frog I could find in the bucket. Looking back, I see that I went about picking my frog considering it was a race. I should have picked the lightest and youngest looking, duh. So I pick my frog and get set up in my lane. The race began, and we were able to tap our frogs on the back to get them to jump faster. When I went to tap mine, it somehow got turned around and jumped right into my skirt. I squealed and jumped up. Although I was probably overreacting, I started hyperventilating. It was all just a very bad experience. It came back to me in eighth grade when we had to dissect frogs. Their textured skin and long tongues make me shaky and cause me to gag. I had to keep myself from puking everyday of the week long experiment. Frogs are one of my few fears. I try to overcome others by fighting myself against them. At one point I had a little fear of heights, but I was able o overcome it. Since then, I have been para sailing, jumped off the highest of diving boards, and been on three zip lines. I feel like fears are there to be destroyed. Accomplishing one always gives me a great feeling.

Reflection: The Pit & The Pendulum

Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum is set during the Spanish Inquisition. It is important to know the background of this time period to understand what is happening in the story. The Spanish government was Roman Catholic and would punish those blamed for heresy without any true evidence. Punishment led to death most of the time. The government was very uncontrolled yet brutal with its citizens. The narrator of the story, whose name readers never learn, had a very interesting way of describing the judges of the Spanish government, their lips in particular. He said, "They appeared to me white and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness-- of immovable resolution-- of stern contempt of human torture" (Poe 263). The narrator is able to realize the horrendous things that are taking place in his country, and finds the cause as being the darkness in the judges's hearts. Just by getting a better understanding of the judges's character, the narrator learned what his future was before they even told him (Poe 266). He is eventually accused and sent to jail. During the toughest of times in his cell, the narrator even considered suicide. "In other conditions of mind, I might of had courage to end my misery at once by a plunge into one of these abysses" (Poe 268). In order to exaggerate the journey taking place, Poe incorporated suspense and major descriptions of fear into the story. These details also bring drama and scary ideas to the story, categorizing it as a dark romanticism piece. It's obvious how paranoid the man is feeling, and longer his holding lasts, the more self control he seems to lose. The narrator is never shy to share his true feelings about his future. He claims, "The agony of defense grew at length tolerable, and I cautiously moved forward, with my arms extended, and my eyes straining sockets, in the hope of catching some faint ray of light" (Poe 265-266). The greater part of the story is the narrator awaiting his destiny. Therefore, his emotions and struggles are discussed throughout most of the plot. At one point, he sights a pendulum in his cell (Poe 269). The narrator goes into great detail of the pendulum and its motions. His cell is also accumulated with rats at one point, which just adds to the grotesqueness of his situation. After all of the tests that the narrator endures in his cell, he comes to a final belief. "The Inquisitorial vengeance had been hurried by my two-fold escape, and there was to be no more dallying with the King of Terrors" (Poe 273). The mystery and suspense of The Pit and the Pendulum is a great way to add darkness to what one Fact on File Analysis describes as Romanticism, "a belief in the power of the imagination, a celebration of nature, and a fascination with the supernatural and the exotic" (Stade).

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Pit and The Pendulum." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 262-273. Print.

Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. "Romanticism." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal #24 - Spooked

I rarely get spooked, so this journal is going to be difficult. Somebody can set up and plan a prank for hours, but I will show little emotion once the prank has been pulled. However, if someone was to stand behind a doorway and jump out when I was was passing through, I would jump and shriek and make the biggest scene anyone has ever made. It's simple, stupid jokes like that that really freak me out. My heart pounds and I have a huge rush go through my body. Some people like the feeling of being spooked, but I absolutely hate it. It makes me feel so out of control and crazy. I wish I was the type of person that could throw a punch whenever someone tries to scare them. I always see the videos of people scaring others, and then getting knocked out because the victim has such great reflexes. Can you imagine someone jumping out from behind a door and me just giving them a strong, right jab to the face? Haha that would be so great! One specific time when I was completely spooked was my freshman year of high school. It was still early on in the year, so I didn't feel fully comfortable with the high school layout and my classes yet. I was headed down the short flight of stairs it takes to get to Mrs. Durbin's english class in the basement. I was turning the corner and entering the small hallway down there when an older girl jumped out from the doorway. She was in her junior year, and I had only seen her face a couple of times before. I screamed to loud and fell to the ground with terror, dropping my literature book and pencil bag on the way down. The girl started laughing and claimed that she thought I was her friend. She apologized multiple times. As she helped me up, her friend walked through the doorway and asked what just happened.

Reflection: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe creates many points of interest in the poem A Dream Within a Dream. His words make the reader consider his point of view and question what they once believed, which is what a great poem is meant to do. The short poem is a comparison between a beach and a dream. He says,"You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream" (Poe). It's easy to come to the conclusion that Poe looks at his life as a dream. This could represent how his memories are like dreams because they are not easily remembered. Edgar Allan Poe incorporates dreaming into several of his poems. Dreaming is a common way to use one's imagination, a trait of the Romanticism period's writings. Poe goes on to say, "And I hold within my hand/Grains of the golden sand/How few! Yet how they creep/Through my fingers to the deep,/ While I weep -- while I weep!" (Poe). His comparison of his dreams and the coastal sand is very well thought out. Both slip away from him. By using the ocean and the coast, both natural landscapes, in his writings, Poe shows yet another trait from the Rationalism period. Nature and exotic landscapes was used in most Romanticism pieces because of the imaginative factor that they add to stories. Comparing a losing one's memory of a dream in the same way that sand slips from one's fingers is an easily relatable idea. By giving the mental picture of sand, Edgar Allan Poe is using the sense of touch to really involve readers into his poem. Imagery is a great form of figurative language to use when it comes to trying to get your point across to readers. At the end of his poem, Poe asks, "Is all that we see or seem/But a dream within a dream?" (Poe). Poe's final question makes the reader really begin to wonder. As one ages, their memories fade and could eventually be gone forever. Similar to a dream, eventually many moments in life will not be remembered. It is possible that everyone is truly living a dream within a dream. One analysis of Romanticism writings describes Edgar Allan Poe as one of the "the major short story writers and novelists" for the period (Werlock). The piece also states, "Romanticism certainly can be distinguished from realism in that it seeks truth, or the ideal, by transcending the actual, whereas realism finds its values in the actual" (Werlock). Seeking truth is exactly what Edgar Allan Poe's poem A Dream within a Dream is looking for. With a number of questions, Poe is looking for answers. Isn't asking questions the number one way to find out the truth? Poe's question about whether your lives are reality of just simply dreams not only gets readers thinking, but also to inspire people to find the truth. Edgar Allan Poe was the first to observe the idea, so A Dream Within a Dream was his way of sharing his perspective.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "A Dream Within A Dream." Edgar Allan Poe, Short Stories, Tales, and Poems. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.

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

Journal #23 - Scary Story/Movie

I try to avoid scary movies at all costs. The smallest surprise would make me scream. I can't do gory, let alone thrillers. To be honest, I still get uncomfortable watching the beginning of Law and Order because I know something bad is going to happen. 4 minutes. 4 minutes into Law and Order and it's safe. The scary part is over, and the DUN-duh duh-dundun theme music is on. Trust me, that's from years of avoiding the scary, creepy scenes. Whenever I find out that there is a party where scary movies will be played, I usually make up an excuse to not go. Why go to a party and have to cover my face and be a nervous wreck all night? There are so many other things I would rather be doing. I do have on trick however, when a trailer comes on for a scary film, whether it be in the movie theatre or at home on the TV, I keep my face looking forward, but I move my eyes to the side of the room. That way I don't look like an idiot for being totally afraid of a commercial. Plus, whenever the person I am with turns to me and says, "Oh my gosh! That looks so good." I can slightly nod and whisper "Mhmm" when I never even watched the clip in the first place.
The scariest movie that I have ever seen has to be The Children of the Corn. I wouldn't even consider it scary considering how old it is, but it's one of my favorites. Having seen it about twelve times, I know what's going to happen next, so I don't get scared. However, there are like 7 different Children of the Corn films. I have seen about three of them. (It's an obsession my neighbor and I have with eighties movies. I promise I'm not a complete weirdo that sits at home watching COTC [that's what the cool kids say it] every Friday night. Well, most Friday nights...) If I were to see say number five for the first time, it is very likely that I would be terrified.
Scary movies get you with the creepy background music. I promise that if the badum-badum heart beat sound didn't happen while the scary monster was approaching the young, innocent girl, the films would not be scary. Also, new scary movies have all the crazy special effects that give evil guys yucky faces and weird noises. It's just all way too much for me.

Journal #22 - Sledding

Awaking to a pure white covered hill,
I'm out of bed cause there's time to kill.
I layer lots of clothing to stay warm
out in the wonderful December storm.
Once dressed nice and cozy, I rush upstairs
to mention sledding and see if mom cares.
She says yes and reminds me to be safe,
I jump for joy, and I'm off with a wave.
My first step in the snow is a great one,
and the purest white snow reflects the sun.
My layers make it difficult to move
I rush as if there's something to prove.
I place my sled upon the soft, white ground
Quiet and clean, there is no one around.
With a quick leap, I am onto my sled.
"It's time for breakfast come inside," Mom said.
No! I could not, I was just getting good!
For sure, a couple more quick rounds I could.
I would glide fast down those snow covered hills, 
And avoid bushes with my newfound skills.
I will hurry so breakfast is still warm.
Maybe I will beat the oven alarm.
This is it, my final, downhill slope ride,
I love sledding! There's no rules to abide!

Journal #21 - Snowy Scene

Although it is just the beginning of January, we are half way through the winter season. Winter is known for being the coldest of seasons in the Midwest and usually involves snow and ice. However, the season has been lacking these conditions in the past year. Because Springfield, Illinois has not yet seen white covered ground, I will have to use my memory and imagination to come up with the most beautiful snow scene. I take one step and my foot disappears in the soft, white snow that covers over a foot of the Springfield, Il ground. I love the scene that snow covered ground creates. The pathways are hidden and the greenery has disappeared, so I have to blindly find my way through my front yard. Each step creates a unique path behind me. The very firat footsteps of the year are always special ones. They ruin the beautiful sheet of snow that is created by the atmosphere, and instead add imperfections to the once perfect scene. My feet crunch, crunch against the somewhat hollow mineral. When My footsteps reach the middle of the front yard, I pause to take a look around. The houses, driveways, and forest land that make up my neighborhood are covered in snow. I can no longer see Ainsley's mailbox that stands just yards away because of the fog that the white substance has created. A strong wind blows and pushes me out of my still position. I can feel my face becoming blushed and chapped from the harsh weather conditions. Conditions that my pale an dry skin can hardly handle. The beauty of the season is not enough to make me like it considering all the upkeep that has to be made for my sensitive skin. The freezing temperatures reach my hands informing me that it is time to go back inside. Following my previously made footsteps, I make my way back to the front door. Taking one more glance behind me, I say goodbye to the pure white snow and head inside for a nice mug of hot cocoa.