Journal #14

Journal #14 - E. A. Robinson Poems

Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.

Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”

“Richard Cory“ (497)

Everyone in the town that Richard Cory lives in everyone looks up to him. He is seen as the perfect man and its shown through the nice clothes he wears and how smart he is. This makes the story ironic because Richard goes home to kill himself. This shows that no one actually knows whats going on, on the inside. It was very ironic because everyone thought he was perfect and he went home to kill himself. A theme of this story would be to not judge a person by what you think is on the outside. No one ever really knows what’s going on behind closed doors.

“Miniver Cheevy” (497)

Minivery Cheevy dreams of living in a different era of knights and romantics. He loves the days when people rode horses and used swords. He dreams of life where everyone is romatic. He became a drunk because all of these dreams could not be fulfilled. The life that he wanted to live wasn’t possible. His life became empty and all he thinks about is the life he’s not living.

“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)

In this story, Mr. Flood is having a party for himself. This is not the ideal party because it is only himself. He’s old now and doesn’t have any friends. The story explains that all the doors are shut and will never open. I believe that he did something unforgivable and therefore everyone shut him out of their lives. Mr. Flood gets drunk because when he is like that, he gets to have a party and thinks all of his friends are there. In reality, Mr. Flood is just a lonely old drunk.

Journal #13

Journal #13 – Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs (p. 502)

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 waiting to go out and sail. The boat represents him because it has been docked its how life and will never go out into the water. This represents George was because his whole life he has been too scared to do anything. George is too scared to take any chances fearing that they will result in a bad consequence where as the boat is the same way because it is worried about bad weather. The sail of his boat was never opened so the chance to enjoy the sea was never taken where as George was the same way because he never took a chance at love or anything exciting.

2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?

The life of Lucinda Matlock’s is very different from George Gray’s in that she enjoyed life and took every chance possible. Throughout her life, she had many years of excitement by trying all the new things and taking the chances that fulfilled her life. This is very different from George because George’s life ended unhappy and unfulfilled where as Lucinda’s was the opposite. Lucinda accepted that life was short and lived every day like it was her last. The last line of the poem was advice that life must be lived to the fullest or else as you die, you will look back and be happy with everything you have done.

3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?

George Gray and Lucinda Matlock are perfect examples of realism because they both lived the average every day lives of normal people. Both of them were described as normal and never had anything spectacular happen to them. Although the two were completely different in their views on how to live their lives, they were both realistic. George lived and died with the same common problem that many have in that they didn’t live to their ful potential and instead stayed inside in fear of losing. Lucinda lived a happy and fulfilled life just like thousands who live their lives to the ful potential and die with happiness.

Journal #13

Journal #12

Journal #12 - “Young Goodman Brown”

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

Young Goodman Brown – It symbolizes the fallen man and someone who is good but has an inclination to sin. He represents innocence and tries to be good in the world that is not. He tries to fight to inclination to do wrong. He represents the process that everyone goes through.

Faith – It stands for his religious life. Something that seems like a strong belief but ends up being something you didn’t expect.

The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – Represents that devil and temptation.

Goody Cloyse – She was his catechism teacher. She represents hypocrisy.

The Ceremony – The Ceremony represents the acceptance of your inner flaws. Like the opposite of a baptism. It is where you acknowledge your true self and all of your flaws. Almost like a renewal of their marriage based on reality.

The Pink Ribbon – This represents purity and innocence. When the Pink Ribbon drops that means that the purity is over and he needs to accept it and acknowledge that he is the same.

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – Represents that as we go from innocence to reality. Everyone thinks all is good until you get a taste of reality. Everyone goes through this process.

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

Theme                  Message of Theme                   Element Used to Establish 

Theme: Sin/ Human Weakness

Message of Theme: Every person goes through the same process of losing innocence, sinning, and facing reality.  

Element Used: Characterization

  

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

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"

“What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to heaven:”

"Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race"

Journal #11

Journal 11- Selections from 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)

            This excerpt talks about the necessity of simplicity in our lives and how living  a life with too many possessions is unessesary.  He talks about the advancements humans are making, and he is against them because he wants to keep a simple life for people. He is saying that advancements, such as railroads, are pushing humans too far from their natural lifestyle.

Quote: “Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity” and “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.”

“Sounds” (234)

Walden talks about all the sounds he heard while actually listening to the world. He loved to just sit out without doing working or seeing anyone and just being peaceful. He was able to stop his life for a little bit and just take a step back from his busy life. He loves life and thinks its an adventure. He doesn’t think nature is a waste of time and its wonderful to sit their and just listen to the sounds.

Quote: “it was morning, and lo, now it is evening, and nothing memorable is accomplished.”

“Brute Neighbors” (235): A red ant was fighting a black ant that was half an inch longer. They were wrestling with each other and it look not like a duel but a war. It was between two raises of ants (red and black). The black were so big it was frequently found that two red ants equaled one black. The red ants stood for republicans and black ants stand for imperialists. Then a red ant came to the full of excitement. He could see the unfair battle but he charged ready to fight. He ripped the body parts out of the black ant that was nearly twice his size. The man witnessing it was excited to see the minority party that the red ant was representing coming back. The man never found out which party won nor the cause of the war but he was excited to witness the battle before his door.

            Quote: “I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellium, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted ones to one black” ……. “It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed, the only battlefield I ever trod while the battle was raging; internecine war; the red republicans on the one, and the black imperialists on the other.”

“The Pond in Winter” (237)

            Nature, in which all creatures live and flourish, offers no questions. It only gives the answer of pure beauty. Humans do not have to ask Mother Nature to provide wonder and awe, she just shows her true colors through the earth and animals. A pond in winter is beautiful because of its ability to be different, yet underneath the sheet of ice, its orginial beauty is still preserved through all seasons of the year. Life is beauty through any kind of weather.

Quote: “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our head” pg. 237

Spring:  It is talking about the beginning of Spring, and what Walden goes through in the beginning of Spring. It looks majestic and alive and beholds a great summer ahead. The geese are circling it, and different animals are coming alive. He is saying that Walden is like the beginning of new life with great chaos in it. It’s a time of new beginnings and happiness.

Quote:

“As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is life the creaytion of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.”

Journal #10

        Othello's last speech is him realizing that he had been tricked and he had done something very wrong that can't be undone. He realized the things he did to others and to himself by listening   to Iago. In his speech he tells everyone that when they are telling this story to tell the whole truth and not make him seem less bad than he is. He wants them to be truthful in that he did kill an innocent person and make himself look like a fool. He realizes that his jealousy took over his body and he couldn’t do anything about it. Othello truly realizes his wrong doings and I believe that he would do anything in world to go back and change them. Othello knows that he listened to all the wrong people, let his jealousy take over, and killed an innocent person.

Journal #9

Journal #9 - Free Will vs. Determinism

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 of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstance or by an agency such as fate or divine will. This definition is saying that people have the option of making all the choices in their lifetime. God made the world this way because he didn’t want everyone to be the same. He also did this in a sense that the choices people make will either lead to joy or consequences. It seems to me that Iago was the only one who really understood free will in the book because of when he said “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). Free will is very apparent in the book Othello by William Shakespeare because it was the choices of all the characters that led to their death. Othello had the option of ignoring Iago and not listening to his lies but he chose to believe and chose to kill Desdemona. Desdemona could have escaped from Othello while he was going to kill her but she chose to believe in a better Othello. Rodrigo also chose to listen to Iago and let him deceive him. Rodrigo choice to believe Iago only led to him making decisions that led to his death. Everyone has the choice in whether to believe someone and in the actions they take.  

In the book Othello it seems that not all of these actions could revolve around free will but instead are concentrated on Determinism. Determinism is the belief that situations weren’t only free will but involve fate which is something that humans have no control over. It seems that everything that happened that was part of Iago’s plan couldn’t have happened as easily as it did. It is apparent in the book that the death of all the character was destiny, something that they all had coming for them. It was fate that Othello’s jealousy would overtake his body causing him to do the unspeakable of killing his innocent wife. Othello couldn’t help what he was doing and didn’t want to kill her but his jealousy got in the way. This is also visible when Othello says ““Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like death” (3.3 313-16). He understands that fate comes into play with everything and everyone’s death is destined and meant to be. People have no control of when they die therefore their death is fate, something they couldn’t change.