Journal 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.       

“To a Waterfowl” and “The Raven” are two very different poems but have some small similarities. One key difference just found in the title is the difference of the articles. “To a Waterfowl” as the article “a” and “The Raven” has the article “the”. This shows one key difference. The bird found in the waterfowl poem is a normal and common bird that he believes to be following and outside power, but overall, it is a normal bird. “The Raven” has “the” in the title to show that it is unique in its nature. Also, each poem has a different outlook on nature. Waterfowl has a hopeful tone and its outlook on nature is positive in that if you follow this power it will lead you to safety. On the other hand, “The Raven” has a dark and hopeless tone and deals heavily with emotion. “The Raven” and “To a Waterfowl” also have very different settings. “The Raven” occurs on a bleak winter night at midnight, but the waterfowl is at dusk. A similarity between the two poems is that they are both written in an ornate style of writing instead of a plain form of writing because of the way the poems are set up. Another key difference is the speaker’s point of view and outlook on life. The speaker in the waterfowl poem is at peace with nature and with himself where the speaker in the raven is disturbed and he is having an internal conflict after the loss of his wife. Overall, these two poems have very large differences, despite the small similarities. 

Journal 6- Franklin's Autobiography

1. Explain what was involved in Franklin’s plan for self-perfection?   What conclusion did Franklin come to regarding the effectiveness of this plan?

1. Franklin’s plan for self- perfection was to follow the thirteen virtues he saw as the most important and try to make them habits. He made a schedule and for every day of the week he would grade himself on how he felt he lived his life according to that virtue every day. He spaced out which virtue he would work on to make habit so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Franklin found that is plan was overall effective because he thinks that he became a better person, but he never achieved the perfection. He thinks it is important that as a person for have some flaws in your life because that in the end is what makes you a human because we aren’t meant to be perfect.

2. Do you feel that a plan such as Franklin’s would improve you as a person?  Why or why not?  What would be your top five virtues?             

I think that Franklin’s plan to achieve self-perfection would not improve me as a person because if you work so hard on trying to become a perfect human you lose the true meaning of being a human because having imperfections is a big part of everyone’s life. Having flaws makes you a human and allows you to have humility and understand what it means to be imperfect. The top five virtues for me to follow to achieve self-perfection are: honesty, humility, responsibility, moderation, and sincerity.

 

Journal 5- Paine

1.       Identify the specific argument that Paine is making in each paragraph. For each of the arguments, identify whether Paine is making and emotional, ethical, or logical appeal and suggest and effective counter argument.

#1: Paine’s argument is that even though going to war will be tough, the victory will be great because of how hard the victory will be. This is an emotional argument because he is trying to use his words to inspire the people to act. An effective counter argument would be what if we don’t win the war?  What will happen then? The fallacy in this paragraph is begging the question because he assumes they will win.

#2: His argument is that God will help them to win the war against them and will not let them lose. This is a dogmatic argument. This is an ethical appeal. The fallacy in this is begging the question because he assumes God is on their side. An effective counter argument would be would if God isn’t on their side?

#3: Paine’s argument is that America won’t be free and content until they are free from the rule of Britain. And it is better to split from England sooner than later to benefit the children. This is an emotional and ethical appeal. An effective counter argument would be that being with England would benefit America because of how they can trade with each other and the children should have their choice to fight against England or not to and if they win maybe things won’t be better for their children.  The fallacy is begging the question because he assumes thing will be better if they split from England and that they will still win the war.

#4 The argument Paine is making is that the king of England is coming into their home and stealing their things like a thief and when someone does this you have the right to fight back. Paine is arguing by analogy. This is an emotion, ethical, and logical appeal. An effective counter argument would be that the king has a right to do this because he technically owns everything in the colony. The fallacy is faulty analogy.  

2.       What are the overall strengths and overall weaknesses in his argument?

His main weakness is that he relies heavily on emotions and ethics but not a lot of logic to back it up with facts and reason. His main strengths

Journal 4

Last night, I sat down at the table for dinner. I made my plate of tender ham, with gooey macaroni and cheese, and a salad. The ham was warm and delicious with a bit of a honey taste with it. The macaroni and cheese was great. It melted in my mouth as the cheese and went down as smooth as a drink. The salad was crisp and fresh with a great amount of Thousand Island dressing to give it extra flavor. I had a glass of ice cold, sweet tea to wash everything down with. All of the flavors complimented each other and the meal was great.

Journal 3

1. One example of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery is when she is describing the dog food, “I gagged my way through can after can of stinky white-flecked mush and bag after bag of stinky, fat-drenched nuggets.” Another example is when she describing eating the food “There was a horrifying rush of chedder taste, followed immediately by the dull tang of soybean flour- the main ingredient in Gainesburgers.” One more example of Hodgman using descriptive imagery in the essay is when she talks about the food again and says, “a lumpy, frightening, bloody, stringy horror is a sign of high quality- lots of meat.”  

2. I think Hodgman wrote this essay as just a way to tell the story of her experience of trying dog food. She wanted to get her experience out to people to let them know how different things are. I think the overall meaning of the essay is to try things that you want to do and stick with it even though it may be difficult.

Journal 2

1.      The moths in the beginning of the essay were trapped by the spider and either eaten or left on the floor, where the moths at the end of the essay are burnt by the candle flame. The different moths represent ways to go after things. The moths that are caught just shrivel up and die and give up where the moth in the flame goes at the flame and never leaves because of how determined it is to be there

2.      The lesson she takes back to her students is that if you want to do something you need to pursue it single mindedly and have determination

3.      There are 5 references to fire throughout the novel . This is relevant to the novel because fire symbolizes the passion of the moth and of people.

4.      These quotes apply to "The Death of a Moth" because they deal with living your life without regret and not wasting your time which is what "Death of a Moth" is about.

Journal 1

Narrative

            This train is leaving a station in France with the threat of a bombing to their hometown. The train is full of refugees being forced to evacuate the town to get to safety. The children, Matthew and Claire, are looking out the window to say good-bye to their parents that they may not see for a long time because of the uncertainty of the time. Their parents did not make it onto the same train as Matthew and Claire and have to look on and watch their children drive away, hoping that they may be reunited in safety.

The man to their right was a longtime resident of the town. He is looking back at the town, reminiscing of the memories he made there. He thinks back to his wife that he lost and all he had worked to create in his life that worked so hard to build. These refugees are being moved from town to town due to the dangerous conditions of the war. Life has been hard on them recently and there are little signs of it looking up as they are going to be moved to a new town to try to start a life again. For some, it is too painful to look back at the town because of how hard it is for them to leave the place that they have tried to make a life in. But for them, life must go on and they will continue to move on from town to town and keep on trying to live life without being effected by the war. The train pulls off and they look back to the town and hope that things may work out better in their new destination.