Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.
1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?
The object that symbolizes George Gray’s life is the boat at rest in the harbor. It represents him because he didn’t pursue his desires. He is like the boat that didn’t fulfill its purpose of sailing. He hungered for meaning, and feared going out and achieving his ambitions, like the boat that yearned for the sea. The boat must lift its sail and sail or its purpose would have no meaning. We, too, must fulfill our purpose and put meaning into our life.
2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?
Lucinda’s life and George’s life were different because Lucinda took the risk to change her life. She didn’t mope around longing for destiny, like George. She was anything but the boat longing for the sea. Lucinda did everything she could to make life worth living. She lived her life without regret and took every opportunity she was offered. The last line of the poem means that in order to love life itself, one must take every opportunity and live life to its fullest extent. You can’t love something that you don’t know or haven’t experienced.
3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?
They are both examples of realism because they show how a lot of human beings feel. They stay true to human thought and emotion. They are examples of the average lives of average people. “Lucinda Matlock” describes Lucinda’s everyday activities. Many people don’t achieve their ambitions, like George. The description of their everyday lives, activities, and thoughts stay true to realism in literature.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Journal #12 - Young Goodman Brown
1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative). What do the following represent?
Young Goodman Brown – A good man, human beings in general
Faith – Religious faith
The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – Satan, temptation, evil
Goody Cloyse – Religious hypocrites
The Ceremony – Humans giving in to sin
The Pink Ribbon – the loss of faith
Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – The knowledge of good and evil
2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:
Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish
Sin Sinning is inevitable. Allegory
In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.
“The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine
with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and
General Court are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I, too -- But these are state
secrets.''
“What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to
heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?''
``There,'' resumed the sable form, ``are all whom ye have reverenced from youth. Ye deemed
them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your own sin, contrasting it with their lives of
righteousness and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet here are they all in my worshipping
assembly. This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds: how hoary-bearded elders of
the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a
woman, eager for widows' weeds, has given her husband a drink at bedtime and let him sleep his last
sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers' wealth; and how
fair damsels -- blush not, sweet ones -- have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole
guest to an infant's funeral. By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the
places -- whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest -- where crime has been committed,
and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot. Far more than this.
It shall be yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts,
and which inexhaustibly supplies more evil impulses than human power -- than my power at its
utmost -- can make manifest in deeds. And now, my children, look upon each other.''
Young Goodman Brown – A good man, human beings in general
Faith – Religious faith
The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – Satan, temptation, evil
Goody Cloyse – Religious hypocrites
The Ceremony – Humans giving in to sin
The Pink Ribbon – the loss of faith
Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – The knowledge of good and evil
2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:
Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish
Sin Sinning is inevitable. Allegory
In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.
“The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine
with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and
General Court are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I, too -- But these are state
secrets.''
“What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to
heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?''
``There,'' resumed the sable form, ``are all whom ye have reverenced from youth. Ye deemed
them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your own sin, contrasting it with their lives of
righteousness and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet here are they all in my worshipping
assembly. This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds: how hoary-bearded elders of
the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a
woman, eager for widows' weeds, has given her husband a drink at bedtime and let him sleep his last
sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers' wealth; and how
fair damsels -- blush not, sweet ones -- have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole
guest to an infant's funeral. By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the
places -- whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest -- where crime has been committed,
and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot. Far more than this.
It shall be yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts,
and which inexhaustibly supplies more evil impulses than human power -- than my power at its
utmost -- can make manifest in deeds. And now, my children, look upon each other.''
Journal #11 - 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)
Live life only dealing with the essentials.
Quote:
“Sounds” (234)
People need to interact with people to be entertained, but he entertains himself by walking through nature. He would take in the sounds of nature.
Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad
“Brute Neighbors” (235)
The ant’s life is as hard as a human. There are comparisons between the war between ants and the war between humans. We share the same brutality as the ants at war.
Quote: “I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combants, 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)
In the beginning, the narrator describes how we can either contemplate nature and not find the answers, or we could go out, experience nature, and have our questions answered. The narrator respects the men with fishing reels because they don’t care what authority has to say and they experience nature first-hand. At the end, it describes how nature is carried out through man. Beauty and life is on the surface, but also under the surface.
Quote: “But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips.”
“Spring” (238)
During Spring, nature renews itself.
Quote: “As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)
Live life only dealing with the essentials.
Quote:
“Sounds” (234)
People need to interact with people to be entertained, but he entertains himself by walking through nature. He would take in the sounds of nature.
Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad
“Brute Neighbors” (235)
The ant’s life is as hard as a human. There are comparisons between the war between ants and the war between humans. We share the same brutality as the ants at war.
Quote: “I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combants, 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)
In the beginning, the narrator describes how we can either contemplate nature and not find the answers, or we could go out, experience nature, and have our questions answered. The narrator respects the men with fishing reels because they don’t care what authority has to say and they experience nature first-hand. At the end, it describes how nature is carried out through man. Beauty and life is on the surface, but also under the surface.
Quote: “But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips.”
“Spring” (238)
During Spring, nature renews itself.
Quote: “As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Journal #10 - 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.
At the end of the play, Othello gives his last speech where he instructs Lodivico to record his life story honorably. He says to remember him as someone who was a great general that loved and was simply manipulated into something that wasn’t his true self. He states that he realizes that Desdemona was always faithful and that he was a fool for being manipulated by Iago. His insight was that he was altered from an honorable and proud general into a jealous murderer. He compared himself to a Turk that lacked judgment and morals. He finally understands that he has become a murderer and a racial outcast.
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.
At the end of the play, Othello gives his last speech where he instructs Lodivico to record his life story honorably. He says to remember him as someone who was a great general that loved and was simply manipulated into something that wasn’t his true self. He states that he realizes that Desdemona was always faithful and that he was a fool for being manipulated by Iago. His insight was that he was altered from an honorable and proud general into a jealous murderer. He compared himself to a Turk that lacked judgment and morals. He finally understands that he has become a murderer and a racial outcast.
Journal #9 - Free Will
Free Will - The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.
Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our
gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).
Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.
Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like
death” (3.3 313-16).
Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms. In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.
Free will is the power that is given to us to make our own decisions without external circumstances influencing our choices. We are the only person who can influence our actions. No one forces us to choose our actions. In Othello, Iago states that he is not the villain of the play because he simply plants the ideas and doesn’t force the characters to make their decisions. Cassio could have chosen not to drink and start a fight. Emilia wasn’t forced to steal the handkerchief from Desdemona. Othello had the choice not to believe Iago’s lies. He also wasn’t obligated to kill Desdemona. All of these actions were the product of their own free will. It wasn’t their fate or divine will that caused these events to transpire. It would be completely possible for all of these events to never happen if the characters chose a different way to go about their actions.
On the other hand, determinism states that every event, act, and decision is the effect of destiny or outside influences that are incapable to be changed by human interception. In a way, Othello’s events could have been the characters’ divine fate. Perhaps, Desdemona and Othello’s failing marriage was destined to happen. It had already been written that Othello would fall into jealousy, Roderigo, Emilia, and Desdemona would be killed, Iago’s plan wouldn’t completely prevail, and Othello would shorten his life. Their fates were all set in stone. Iago also influenced the outcome of the incidents. He changed the environments, planned ahead, planted evidence, and lied.
Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our
gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).
Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.
Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like
death” (3.3 313-16).
Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms. In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.
Free will is the power that is given to us to make our own decisions without external circumstances influencing our choices. We are the only person who can influence our actions. No one forces us to choose our actions. In Othello, Iago states that he is not the villain of the play because he simply plants the ideas and doesn’t force the characters to make their decisions. Cassio could have chosen not to drink and start a fight. Emilia wasn’t forced to steal the handkerchief from Desdemona. Othello had the choice not to believe Iago’s lies. He also wasn’t obligated to kill Desdemona. All of these actions were the product of their own free will. It wasn’t their fate or divine will that caused these events to transpire. It would be completely possible for all of these events to never happen if the characters chose a different way to go about their actions.
On the other hand, determinism states that every event, act, and decision is the effect of destiny or outside influences that are incapable to be changed by human interception. In a way, Othello’s events could have been the characters’ divine fate. Perhaps, Desdemona and Othello’s failing marriage was destined to happen. It had already been written that Othello would fall into jealousy, Roderigo, Emilia, and Desdemona would be killed, Iago’s plan wouldn’t completely prevail, and Othello would shorten his life. Their fates were all set in stone. Iago also influenced the outcome of the incidents. He changed the environments, planned ahead, planted evidence, and lied.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Emerson - Journal #8
We boil at different degrees.
This aphorism has a few different interpretations. My main interpretation is that everyone is different and we all don’t have the same interests, beliefs, hobbies, etc. Every human being is different and unique. I feel that this is one of the best ways to view the human race. It’s a somewhat positive believe because it shows that we are all unique from one another.
To be great is to be misunderstood.
This aphorism shows that when a person is great/wise/intelligent/talented, they will most likely be misunderstood. A person that is “great” most likely thinks outside of the box. Their thought process is different from most people, which could lead to “normal” people, who think like everyone else, to not understand the “great” individual. I really like this quote, because I seem to think differently and have different opinions on most subjects than other people. This seems to give me a somewhat different outlook on people who are different from the norm of society.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
This aphorism is somewhat like the phrase “Practice makes perfect.” If you are proactive in your life, you will have a better one. Sitting around and making everyone else experiment and learn about life isn’t going to help you understand it any more that what you already know. In my opinion, most people should follow this simple fact, but they don’t. It is probably the best advice to give someone who is complaining about not understanding how life works.
This aphorism has a few different interpretations. My main interpretation is that everyone is different and we all don’t have the same interests, beliefs, hobbies, etc. Every human being is different and unique. I feel that this is one of the best ways to view the human race. It’s a somewhat positive believe because it shows that we are all unique from one another.
To be great is to be misunderstood.
This aphorism shows that when a person is great/wise/intelligent/talented, they will most likely be misunderstood. A person that is “great” most likely thinks outside of the box. Their thought process is different from most people, which could lead to “normal” people, who think like everyone else, to not understand the “great” individual. I really like this quote, because I seem to think differently and have different opinions on most subjects than other people. This seems to give me a somewhat different outlook on people who are different from the norm of society.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
This aphorism is somewhat like the phrase “Practice makes perfect.” If you are proactive in your life, you will have a better one. Sitting around and making everyone else experiment and learn about life isn’t going to help you understand it any more that what you already know. In my opinion, most people should follow this simple fact, but they don’t. It is probably the best advice to give someone who is complaining about not understanding how life works.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Waterfowl and Raven - Journal #7
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 “To a Waterfowl”, the view of nature is positive. In the poem, the tone has a peaceful, tranquil feel. The setting is on the coast of an ocean during a sunset. The narrator uses a neo-classical view of nature. They describe nature as calm, balanced, and in harmony. The classical view of nature deals more with landscapes and beautiful scenes. Like the classical view, the poem describes a landscape in which the waterfowl flew across the coast at sunset, only knowing where it was going through its instinct or a higher power. The writing style seems to be plain and direct. There is no conflict in this poem- there is just a question. Also, like the classical view of nature, “To a Waterfowl” has a hidden lesson. The lesson states that we should follow God and He will take us where we need to go.
“The Raven” has an emotional and moody view of nature. The tone of the poem is depressing and lonely. The setting takes place in the narrator’s room during the “bewitching hour”, or midnight. “The Raven” has a more romantic view of nature. The poem uses emotion, moodiness, introversion, inner struggle, artistic feeling, folklore, and themes from the occult. It describes the emotional struggle of a lonely man, which has recently lost his wife, and an eerie talking bird. It alludes to Greek mythology and occult ideas, such as the bewitching hour and the talking raven. The writing style is more lengthy and formal. The conflict deals with the narrator’s grief. The “lesson” in this story is that depression will conquer you. He also says that the raven has come from hell and is there to say that there is no afterlife.
In “To a Waterfowl”, the view of nature is positive. In the poem, the tone has a peaceful, tranquil feel. The setting is on the coast of an ocean during a sunset. The narrator uses a neo-classical view of nature. They describe nature as calm, balanced, and in harmony. The classical view of nature deals more with landscapes and beautiful scenes. Like the classical view, the poem describes a landscape in which the waterfowl flew across the coast at sunset, only knowing where it was going through its instinct or a higher power. The writing style seems to be plain and direct. There is no conflict in this poem- there is just a question. Also, like the classical view of nature, “To a Waterfowl” has a hidden lesson. The lesson states that we should follow God and He will take us where we need to go.
“The Raven” has an emotional and moody view of nature. The tone of the poem is depressing and lonely. The setting takes place in the narrator’s room during the “bewitching hour”, or midnight. “The Raven” has a more romantic view of nature. The poem uses emotion, moodiness, introversion, inner struggle, artistic feeling, folklore, and themes from the occult. It describes the emotional struggle of a lonely man, which has recently lost his wife, and an eerie talking bird. It alludes to Greek mythology and occult ideas, such as the bewitching hour and the talking raven. The writing style is more lengthy and formal. The conflict deals with the narrator’s grief. The “lesson” in this story is that depression will conquer you. He also says that the raven has come from hell and is there to say that there is no afterlife.
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