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.

journal - 18

Autumn is my favorite season. There are so many qualities of Autumn that make it the best season, in my opinion. The perfect Autumn day for me would be one where I wake to the feeling of crisp autumn air on my face, as my body is snuggled up in a soft quilt. I would then take my time getting up, and eventually mosey my way down the stairs. There, I would smell a delicious smell of my mom making breakfast, and hear the sizzling bacon in the pan on the stove. I would also smell the bitter and fresh coffee that my grandma would be brewing in the coffee pot. There, I would eat breakfast and socialize with my family. I would then spend the day in Missouri at my brother's football game. Our family would watched the game all day and have fun! We would eat nachos and hot dogs, while enjoying watching Missouri's win against KU, their rival team. After the game, my brother and I would walk back to his dorm by the dim light of the setting sun. There, we would hang out and rest until our family would go out to dinner. After a delicious dinner and dessert, we would have warm hot chocolate and chai tea lattes, as the steam from them was rising up into the cool autumn air. After dinner, our family would go to church with my brother, and there I would get to meet socialize with many of his friends. After church, we would walk around campus as the dead, brown leaves crunch under our winter boots and tennis shoes. My family would hang out and watch a movie in our hotel, and spend time together laughing and talking. After that, we would go to sleep and leave the next day. That would be the perfect autumn day.

journal - 17

I am not quite sure how to depict bonding with nature, but in my own terms I believe it is something I have done before. Bonding with nature sounds like some sort of weird and creepy hippie thing, however I don't take it like that. I actually do not currently have a good way to define bonding with nature, but I can give some examples that might help show what I believe to be true about bonding with nature.

I have been in nature many times in my life. When I was young, I lived in a Suburb, and did not have very many interactions with nature. There was a small pond behind a neighboring house, I once saw a raccoon, and saw a deer there once, and that is about the extent of nature that I knew. However, when I was young I used to go to a summer camp in Wisconsin. It was at that camp that I experienced nature the most in my whole childhood. I spent the summer at that camp in a cabin, played games in the woods, swam in the lake, went horseback riding in the pasture, went camping, went rock climbing, and so much more. It was also there that I would go sit in hidden places in nature to reflect. I would read my Bible, pray, and think while in God's beautiful nature. Those were the times that I bonded with nature the most.

journal - 15

I think there will definitely be many challenges in working together with Farmington High School to work on a project. All of us will most likely have many similar ideas and opinions, but the trouble with that is that we are so far away. We will have to do things differently than we are used to for this project. I think it will be fairly difficult to accomplish the project efficiently while working with students who we are not directly involved with. Firstly, whenever working on a group project you always have to sacrifice things that you want to happen, in order to incorporate ideas of other students. I believe we will definitely have to cooperate well with the students from Farmington High School and will need to take charge of the project, but still involve ideas and thoughts of the students from Farmington High School as well as the other Pleasant Plains High School students. Also, we are going to have to use many means of technology to accomplish this project. I believe that e-mail will be very helpful in this project because it is an almost instant way of communicating through technology. Also, I think that texting and talking on our cell phones is also another way of communicating sufficiently. Another challenge may arise if the students from Farmington High School do not do their part of the project. That could be very unfortunate. Luckily there will be other Pleasant Plains students in my group other than me, so hopefully we will all be able to work together. However, if students from the other school do not do their part, we will end up having to do their work, since they are not here for us to directly talk to. Although there will be many challenges in accomplishing this project, hopefully it will all go smoothly.