Journal 12

Journal #12 - “Young Goodman Brown”

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

            Young Goodman Brown – An average man trying to live a good life

            Faith – represents Goodman Brown’s belief in God and people

           

            The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – The devil

           

Goody Cloyse – represents corruption or hypocrisy 

The Ceremony – a symbolic religious ceremony and having the people initiated into the evil

The Pink Ribbon – losing Goodman’s faith

 

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – It represents the journey of life when you realize the knowledge that comes from learning that not everyone is as innocent as they seem.                    

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

Theme                       Message of Theme                 Element Used to Establish  

Life.  The longer you live, the more you learn and the less innocent you become. As you learn more about the people in your life, you may find that you have lost your faith. The element used to establish this theme is the symbolism. 

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

``That old woman taught me my catechism,'' said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.

``My Faith is gone!'' cried he, after one stupefied moment. ``There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given.''

When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers.

Journal 11

Walden

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

            You learn more about yourself and have a deeper meaning in your existence when you live away from all the excess in society and alone in nature. 

Quote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover I had not lived.”

“Sounds” (234)

This describes a day in his life where he would just sit around and listen to the nature around him and let every pass through him. 

Quote: “Instead of singing like the birds, I smiled at my good fortune.”

“Brute Neighbors” (235)

In this Walden is comparing the black and red ants fighting for wood chips to humans fighting for terriorty and he does this to show the pettiness of humans wars over things that he considers to be trivial.  

            Quote: “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men.”

“The Pond in Winter” (237)

Nature is a neverending giver even when we can’t see its bounty. 

Quote: “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” 

“Spring” (238)

The winter is cold and rough but in the spring everything comes back and is renewed in the new season. There is a rush of new life every spring and he compares this to the creation of the universe.

Quote: “Walden is dead and is alive again.”

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.

            In Othello’s speech at the end of the play, he comes to the conclusion that it is the destiny of those who are great to fall from their high position. He talks about how what happened was as unavoidable as death. He sees what had happened to him as an act of God and that he was always destined to fall from his high position just like what had happened to many great leaders before him. He also realizes how wrong he was to do what he had done and how he wishes everyone to remember him as the man he was instead of what he had just done. He wishes that although he had fallen from his renowned position to the jealous man who murdered his wife that he is remembered as the great military leader and man they knew before the last few days.

Journal 9

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.

The argument about free will that could be used is that we are the only ones who can decide what we do which can completely change our destiny. Many times throughout the play, the free will of other shown by the choices they make determines there outcome and if a different decision had been made on their part everyone’s destiny could completely change. For example, if Cassio had used his will and not got drunk when he should have been patrolling, he never would have fallen from Othello’s good graces. This event in the play lead to many changes because Iago used this against Cassio and it also is what led further suspicion to the idea that Cassio and Desdemona were having and affair. The free will of the character in the play directly influenced the outcome of the play because it was their choices that they made based on the information they had that led them to make them and change the story instead of some kind of divine inspiration or influence and Iago’s quote describes this very well.  

The argument for determinism could be made based on certain events in the play that would lead the reader to believe that everything that was happening is based on outside forces and past events and the choices of others was irrelevant. Evidence of this can be found in part of the play including the destruction of Othello and Desdemona’s love because of all the environmental influences instead of the will of either of them. The argument can be made that the environmental influences caused all of the problems in the play instead of the human will because of the times and past events that had occurred which shaped each character and led to all the events in the story.

           

Journal 8

           The first aphorism, “We all boil at different degrees,” talks about Emerson’s feeling that everyone can tolerate different amounts before they show it. Some people can take lots of pressure or prejudice before they show signs of their anger and lash out where everyone else can handle all different levels and it can discuss knowing that just because you can handle something then someone else may not be able to.


            The second aphorism, “There are always two parties; the establishment and the movement,” this means that on every debate there are people who talk about doing things, and then there are those people who will act on what they feel and are willing to do something about this. I believe very strongly in this because it can be seen throughout our society in people who are thinkers and those who are doers.


            The last aphorism is “All of life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” This means that in life, anything you do has a risk and you can learn something from all of it. The more things you try and learn from, the better off you are because you have more wisdom for the future so it is always better to try instead of not trying.

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.