journal- Nature in life cycle

Personally, I do not see much correlation between nature and the life cycle. This is most likely because I am a Christian. I believe my life cycle has little to do with nature, and much to do with God. One key component to the life cycle is death. Although death is a natural thing, it does not have much to do with nature other than that it is human nature for us to die, and that after we die we are buried in the ground, where we turn to dust. There is not much nature involved in dying. Although dying is a physical thing, it is very much so more than that. Dying is a spiritual thing. I say that because your soul is involved. Even though you are buried, lifeless in the ground when you are dead, your soul has to go somewhere. I believe that the somewhere that your soul goes is either Heaven of Hell. Many people may disagree with that opinion, but really, you have to believe that your soul goes somewhere. If you think about it, nobody believes that after you die, that is the end of things. It is almost unfathomable to think that when you die you are done forever. That is was thousands upon thousands of generations of people have debated and discussed life after death. Nobody can possibly imagine your soul not living elsewhere once we are dead. That belief is not something of human nature. I also believe that nature has little to do with being born and with life after birth and until death. Yes, it exists, but it seems of little importance to me.

I think that the people who must rely on nature as the answer to life's daunting questions are the ones who have nothing else to believe in. If you have a strong belief, then nature just exists, and hardly seems relevant. To someone who is a Christian, in the grand scheme of things, nature is utterly unimportant. But to someone who doesn't know what they believe, nature is one thing that is solid and constant for them to rely upon.

journal- communication tools

For our project, we have to collaborate with students from other classes, and even from another school. The students from the other school are from Farmington, which is too far away to actually have contact with these students. Therefore means of technology will be very imperative in the completion of this project. Luckily, we live in an age where there are many technological options available. One option would be writing letters, but that would be silly because there are quicker routes of communication. A few other quicker routes of communication that I can think of are e-mail, online chatting, Facebook, Twitter, text-messaging, and maybe even talking on the phone. Those options seem to be the easier, quicker, and more efficient choice over writing letters.

Online chatting is a good option of communication. For example "www.todaysmeet.com" could be used as a form of online chatting. It is an efficient way to communicate with others. It could definitely work as a way for all of us to have discussions together without actually physically being together. This could be a good source of communication, especially for the preliminaries of the project. After we have the big picture of the project figured out, we may need to use a form of communication that can help us be more detail oriented.

E-mail could be a huge help in the completion of this project. By using e-mail instead of some form of online chatting, we all have records of what the others said. That can be useful so we can go back and look to make sure we know what our assignment is, as well as being able to hold others to their duties. E-mail will probably be the most efficient way of communicating for this project. A problem may arise however, if some students don't check their email very often.

This is where Facebook and Twitter come in. We could use them to contact some of the students more readily than we would be able to contact them by email. In this case, social networking sites may actually come in handy, however, they may also be a distraction. It is probably not a good idea to mix school work with a social networking site. This could cause students to get distracted and not follow through on their project on schedule. Therefore, text-messaging or calling each other may also be useful.

Fireside poets and Rationalism and Puritanism

The Fireside poets had all had the same overall writing style. They all had romanticism writing. Romanticism writing was writing that involved love religion, patriotism, family, and usually had much to do with nature (fireside 211). Rationalism writing was very Deistic, and used much logic and reasoning, unlike the romanticism writing, which is very flowery writing and about emotion, not logic (Romantic v. rat.). The majority of Puritan writing was based around God and the Bible. The views supported in Puritan writing were solely Christian views, or Christian-Catholic views. The Puritan writing style showed much reliance on the providence of God (PAL). Unlike the Puritan era of writing, Romanticism writing did not solely rely on God. Although there was religion incorporated in Romanticism writing, it was not the main component of the writing (Fireside 211). The style of Romanticism writing is often very poetic and figurative. Often times, works of the Romanticism era were poetry, but not always. To most of the writings of the Romanticism era, there were literal meanings to the work, and always had a figurative meaning as well (Fireside 211). Figurative and flowery language is usually a sure indicator that writing is Romantic. Rationalism writing style is always very logical and literal. There is not figurative language used in Rationalism writing, like there is in Romantic writing (Romantic v. Rat.). Writers during the Romanticism writing era used common sense as the source of their writings, rather than emotions. Unlike both of the other two writing periods, Puritan writing was often very formal (PAL). The authors usually wrote about things that were very near and dear to their hearts. Puritan writing also used some emotion as the source of their writings. However, it was not the raw emotions that were used in Romanticism writing. The emotions used in Puritan writings were usually honest emotions but were well thought out, and put in relation to God, rather than just spewing out of the author like in Romanticism writing.


The poem "Flower-de-Luce" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a very good example of Romanticism writing. Romanticism is defined at "a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement in the 1700s emphasizing the imagination and the emotions, advocating feeling over reason, inner spirituality over external rules, the individual above society, and nature over environments created by humans" (Appleby). The poem "Flower-de-Luce" has much to do with nature. The author uses nature to help describe his emotions, which is a trait that many Romanticism writers use. "A Legacy" by John Greenleaf Whittier is another poem that helps show what Romanticism writing is. The entire poem is about what life will be like after the author of the poem dies. Death is something that is extremely natural, and is often a topic of Romanticism writings, or at least usually involved in them. "A Legacy" is a very emotional poem. The author uses much emotion and flowery writing to convey his thoughts. The Romanticism era of writing was very important in history and especially in the founding of our country.







"The Fireside Poets." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 210-211. Print.

"Romantic Vs. Rationalist." :: Free Essays :: Paper Writing :: Book Reports ::. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

"PAL: American Puritanism: A Brief Introduction." California State University Stanislaus | Home. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More.

Whittier, John G. "A Legacy by John Greenleaf Whittier." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.

Thanatopsis

At first glance, the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant seems to be a depressing poem. The word thanatopsis actually comes from the Greek word "thanatos", which means a meditation on death (define thanatopsis). So it would be very logical to assume that "Thanatopsis" would be a very morose poem about death that is very depressing. In this poem, much of the poem makes references to nature, uses nature in many analogies, and the poem in general is about death, which is a very natural thing. Knowing that the poem has many things to do with nature, is one way to identify that it is romanticism writing (Appleby). The poem starts off by telling of a man who is extremely worried about dying. In fact, the man is not simply worried about dying, he is utterly riveted by the thought of it and awaits this tragedy with extreme anxiety. Bryant says of the man,

"When thoughts

Of the last bitter hour come like a blight

Over thy spirit, and sad images

Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,

And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,

Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;"

(Bryant, lines 8-13). It is in line ten that we realize the author is no longer talking about some man, but he is referencing the reader of the poem. He is saying that thoughts of death has come like a blight, or disease, to our souls (Shmoop). After the author addresses that he is talking to us, the readers of the poem, he goes into more detail of the things of dying that we fear. He even talks about being trapped in the "breathless darkness" of a coffin (Bryant, line 12) (Shmoop).

The first portion of the poem seems scary and can come across as being gloomy, but like I said earlier, "Thanatopsis" only seems to be a depressing poem at first glance. In line twenty-two, the poem starts to show a mild turn around. The author starts discussing what happens to our bodies after we die. He says that after we each lose what makes us human, we "mix forever with the elements" (Bryant, line 26). This means that after we die, our bodies are buried in the ground, and we become one with the earth. To some, this may not seem like a mild turn around in the poem, this may seem creepy and even more frightening. But during the time period in which this was written, the people reading this poem would have actually felt a certain peace about knowing that even after they die, they can contribute to nature and become one with nature (Appleby).

The main portion of this poem is about thinking of death and that everything, leads the author to think of death. He even goes as far to say

"The golden sun,

The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,

Are shining on the sad abodes of death"

(Bryant, lines 45-47). Even the sun reminds the author of death (Shmoop). Again, you may question my opinion about this poem not being depressing, but do not fear, with line seventy-three comes hope! In lines seventy-three through seventy-nine, the author challenges a call to action. He challenges us all to live! He states that all of us will die, that is a fact, so why don't we spend our time here on this earth living to our full potential! (Bryant, lines 71-79). In the closing lines of the poem, Bryant says,

"By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams"

(Bryant, lines 79-81). After working us up through the entire poem, the author ends on a rather soothing note, saying that we should approach our death like someone wrapped up in a blanket ready for a happy sleep filled with pleasant dreams (Shmoop).

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Thanatopsis Summary"Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

"16. Thanatopsis. William Cullen Bryant. Yale Book of American Verse."Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. .

"Thanatopsis | Define Thanatopsis at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .

Flower-de-Luce and Autumn

The poem "Flower-de-Luce" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the poem "A Legacy" by John Greenleaf Whittier have man similarities and differences. Firstly, they are both works romanticism writing. Romanticism is defined at "a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement in the 1700s emphasizing the imagination and the emotions, advocating feeling over reason, inner spirituality over external rules, the individual above society, and nature over environments created by humans" (Appleby). "Flower-de-Luce" is quite obviously romanticism writing. Nature is woven throughout the entire poem, and there are many details of the nature. Also, the author is very much so exerting his feelings over reason, he tells of his old companion who has passed away. He tells of how he misses him, and gets very emotional in doing so (Longfellow). "A Legacy" is also romanticism writing. It does not exhibit many allusions to nature, however, I believe that the whole poem is about the legacy the author will leave behind to his friend after he dies. I could not find any literary criticisms on either "A legacy", or "Flower-de-Luce", but I have inferred many things from the poems on my own, whether they be accurate inferences or not. I believe that "A Legacy" also exemplifies romanticism writing because it really did put the author's emotions over reason, individuality over society, and his inner spirituality over external rules.

Although "A Legacy" and "Flower-de-Luce" are written by different authors, they have many similarities. The most obvious similarity is that they are both about death. "Flower-de-Luce is about the author after one of his great companions dies. It is about his feelings and trying to cope with his death and realizing that there was no man quite like his friend was, and nobody can take his place. His legacy will live on. "A Legacy" on the other hand, is about death of the author. I believe that it is a poem for a friend of his and how his friend should handle the death of the author. I think he is giving him permission not to mourn, but instead remember the good times. The third line of the poem reads "Let me not leave, to pain and sadden thee" (Whittier). He is wanting his friend to know that just because he died, it does not mean that his friend must be sad. As well as being about death, both of the poems are about moving on. In "Flower-de-Luce" the author is lost after Hawthorne dies. He seems to just be living life without purpose. He does not know what to do after his friend dies, he is just aimlessly wandering through life. But eventually he realizes that Hawthorne is in Heaven with the angels and questions who will finish his beautiful writing for him. Only to realize that the writings must remain unfinished, and that nobody could do as well as Hawthorne. He realizes he realizes he must move on after Hawthorne's death. In "A Legacy" the author is telling his friend to move on after he has died. He does not his friend to waste his life being sad about him, and would rather him remember the good times that they had together and to continue living his own life. There are many similarities and differences between the two poems, but I believe that overall they are very similar because they both maintain similar writing style of romanticism.

Whittier, John G. "A Legacy by John Greenleaf Whittier." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .

journal - 20

"Autumn" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is written in a figurative way. "Autumn" is a piece of Romanticism writing. I know this because the entire poem is about nature. The poem literally it is written about farmers and harvesting crops. The poem says,

"Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,

Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o'er the land,

Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!"

The poem talks of an honorable king who stretches out his hand in benedictions to the farmers on his land. I think the "bridge of gold" could be referring to wheat that is so important to the farmers, which bridge the gap financially for the farmers. Also, when the poem refers to "thy royal hand", I think the author is referring to the literal king of the land and how he is the king over all of the farms. This great and noble king blesses all of the farmers through their harvesting season and gives them things to help keep them going throughout their season of harvest.

Literally, this poem makes much sense, it is about a king over a farming land. But figuratively, this poem has a whole different meaning. This poem is about the season autumn. This poem starts by stating "Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain". This means that Autumn comes in with the rain. Once you realize that this poem is actually about autumn, not a king, it changes things a little bit. Instead of a great king that the poem speaks of, it is speaking of a great season. Autumn is the one that stretches out its hand to the farmers. Autumn makes the farmers wealthy. Autumn is the one that brings blessing to the farmers, not a king. It is not a king that does all of these great and noble things, it is a season that is the hero for the farmers. It is Autumn that brings rain to yield the crops and that brings life to the harvest.

This poem is also very short and rolls off the tongue quite fluidly when read aloud. It is a neat little poem, that seems to bring the season of autumn to life.

The Chambered Nautilus

In my opinion, the poem "The Chambered Nautilus" is a divine poem with such deep meaning behind it that speaks to every life, no matter what stage of life the reader is in. This poem starts off telling of some shell, the chambered nautilus. In fact, from the entire first three stanzas the reader gains knowledge of this shell.

However, in the first stanza the writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, points out that the chambered nautilus shell comes from the same place as do sirens and sea-maids. This suggests that what he is going to tell us about is not indeed real and is a legend (TCN analysis).

In the second stanza, Holmes is now referring to the shell as being a wrecked ship of pearl (Holmes). I believe that he is implying that the shell is cracked. He speaks of the sunless crypt of the shell being unsealed, which to me means that the shell has cracked and its inner chambers are now exposed.

The third stanza tells of the "silent toil" of the chambered nautilus, as it continually builds new chambers as it grows (Holmes). It is here, half way through the third stanza that we start seeing information that is applicable to life. Holmes spends the rest of the poem speaking to our lives. The entire third stanza tells of the chambered nautilus, who after building his next chamber to grow into, cannot go back to his previous chambers, just as we cannot turn back after acting and cannot relive past events in our lives. The choices we make change our future, and once a decision is made, we cannot easily go back.

The fourth stanza brings with it an allusion of Triton, in which Roman and Greek mythology believed was the protector of the sea. (TCN analysis) Sailors of the olden times who lived in the era of Roman and Greek mythology would pray upon Triton during fierce storms in hopes of being delivered from it. They're last hope they would cling to would be the sound of Triton's horn, which would mean deliverance and protection from the fierce sea storm. Holmes refers to Triton's horn as being a wreathed horn, which suggests that his horn was indeed a chambered nautilus. Which brings the focus of the poem to the chambered nautilus, and that it is the saving grace of our lives. That leads to the big question of the poem, which is "What is our goal in life?" (TCN analysis).

The fifth stanza is something beautiful. "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul" refers to life. It means to build bigger and better things for your future. Do not be stuck in the present, strive for the future, start your better future now, by working hard and building it. I believe that "As the swift seasons roll!" refers to life as well, and how quickly it does go by! So do not wait, life goes by too quickly to waste it away, so "leave thy low-vaulted past", or the small and insignificant past that you had for yourself. Instead, "let each new temple, nobler than the last". Make every season of your life better than the season that came before it, just as the chambered nautilus makes every new chamber bigger and better than the previous. "Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!" (Holmes). Live here the best life you can, until one day your soul is free and resting with the Creator in Heaven, rather than here in this cut-throat world. Make the best of your life now, and better yourself each day, otherwise, what is the point of this wearisome life?

Holmes, Oliver W. "801. The Chambered Nautilus. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 1909-14. English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman. The Harvard Classics." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .

"The Chambered Nautilus Analysis Oliver Wendell Holmes : Summary Explanation Meaning Overview Essay Writing Critique Peer Review Literary Criticism Synopsis Online Education." Writing Workshop, or Something. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .

Romanticism, Rip Van Winkle, The Devil and Tom Walker

The stories "Devil and Tom walker" and "Rip Van Winkle" have very much in common. Both stories include much vivid and quite extensive detail. They both describe nature at length. In each story, the author aims to describe one attribute of nature, and it ends up being an entire paragraph of details of that attribute in nature (Definitions of Romanticism). For example, at the beginning of Rip Van Winkle, instead of Irving just telling us that there are mountains, he says "Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change o weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but sometimes when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory" (RVW Irving 2). Also, in Romanticism writing, the writing is less idealistic, and more practical. The writing style was down to Earth, rather than some high up and exalted form of writing (Definitions of Romanticism). In "Rip Van Winkle", the the summation of the story, Rip was not affected by the knowledge that he now lived in a free country. To him that seemed unimportant compared the the knowledge that his wife was no longer in existence. Instead of gaining his life and liberty from a free country, he gained it from knowing that the nagging woman he had been enslaved to was no longer a threat (The Van Winkle Project). Just as in the two stories, Romanticism writings tended to be about more common things that many people could relate to. (Definitions of Romanticism). The writing styles of both stories were so clearly written in the Romanticism era of writing.

In both stories, there are many common threads. It appears quite obvious in reading them that they very well could have the same author, which they do; Washington Irving. In "The Devil and Tom Walker", the devil comes to make a deal with Tom, and his wife wants Tom to bargain with him. Since Tom's wife wants him to, he defiantly rebels. It was not of his own moral compass or honor that he refused the offer of the devil, but because he wanted to defy his nagging wife in every way possible (The Devil and Tom Walker). Likewise, in "Rip Van Winkle", Rip also defies his wife. Although he was a "henpecked" man, who grew in character out of the tragedy of having a nagging wife, he still defied her. After Rip could not take his wife's nagging anymore, he retreated to the mountains, which were described in the first paragraph (RVW Irving). Just as Rip no longer had to deal with his wife, Tom Walker was also freed from his, when his wife disappeared after trying to bargain with the devil (The Devil and Tom Walker). In both "The Devil and Tom Walker", and "Rip Van Winkle" both men were stripped of the things that they prided themselves on. Rip was proud of knowing everyone in the town. He loved helping others and knowing everyone personally. The story says that even dogs in the neighborhood would not bark at Rip (Rip Van Winkle, 2). After Rip returns from the mountains, he no longer has that security. He hardly even recognizes, and absolutely nobody recognizes Rip. Also, both stories seem to be legends, and there is a lesson to be learned from each story.

These two stories are very similar in writing style, content, theme, and detail. They are both of the Romanticism writing style and both Written by Washington Irving.

"Literary Analysis of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving." The Van Winkle Project. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .

"Definitions of Romanticism." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .

Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 240-250. Print.

Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." Bartleby.com. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.

journal - 14 Apprentice

To be Benjamin Franklin's apprentice would be quite an accomplishment, especially back in Franklin's time. In fact, it would be near impossible, considering that I am a female. Back then, women did not have the rights that men did. Women could not hold jobs, they did not have that right. For the most part, women had only two basic rights. One being able to divorce her husband, and the other to be able to own her own land. Those two rights are not necessarily rights that a women even needs, or would want to be in a position to use. So since I would not be able to have a job, I feel like there would be no need for me to be an apprentice, because the whole point of an apprenticeship is to learn a trade from someone who has more experience than you do, in hopes of being able to learn the trade well enough to be able to one day have that trade be your job. So frankly, I do not think that I would be able to be an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin. However, hypothetically speaking, if I was able to be Benjamin Franklin's apprentice, that would be very neat! It would be so interesting to learn straight from a man who has invented so many things! I would learn so much simply from watching him and listening to him. Benjamin Franklin created so many things that are vital to America today, and it would be very interesting to learn about those things, and maybe even gain some understanding about how they work. I feel like after being an apprentice to Franklin I would gain much. Even if I did not gain knowledge or was not more smart after working under him, I would definitely gain wisdom. After all, Franklin was the man who tried to better himself, by following thirteen virtues. Working under a man who has such high self standards as Franklin did, would definitely result in causing me to see things in a whole new perspective and think outside the box from what I'm used to.