jeffery green's lit/comp 12

Victorian Poetry

2008-05-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

1. The Poem I chose to read from Lord Tennyson was All Things Will Die. I felt like this poem is about death. He just seems to be talking about how everything seems happy kind of like spring and then everything goes down and dies kind of like winter.

"Every heart this may morning i joyance is beating

Full merrily;

Yet all things must die.

The stream will cease to flow;

The wind will cease to blow;

The clouds will cease to fleet;

The heart will cease to beat;

For all things must die."

I believe that Victorian influence can be found in this poem in its seriousness. The victorians seemed much more serious about life and it shows in this poem. During the whole poem he's talking about how everything must die but he's talking about it in the most cheerful way. The rhymes are what really makes it seem cheery even though its about death.

2. The poem a read by Robert Browning was Meeting at Night. I think this poem is about Browning meeting some girl at night that lives near a beach. I feel like he write it because on this journey to see his women he notices the beauty of everything around him which happens to be the beach and the little waves ruffling on shore.

"And the yellow half-moon large and low;

And the startled little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,"

I couldn't really find anything distinctively victorian in this poem. It just seemed like a normal poem about a guy going to see his girlfriend. It talked a lot about the beach and what not but I couldn't really ting of anything victorian.

3. The Poem by Matthew Arnold I chose to read was Growing Old. This poem is exactly what it sounds like. It's a poem about growing old. Arnold basically just talks about the aspects of getting old but puts them in a poetic sense. If you ask me it's not really that interesting. I have thought of these ideas myself and this poem seemed kind of boring compared to my thoughts. I feel like I could make an equally good poem about growing old even though I'm not even 20.

One trait I'm figuring out about Victorian poetry is it's boring. They talk about things that are obvious and make them seem much more important by putting a poetic sense to it. SO I guess this poem is Victorian because it's obvious.

"Is it to feel our strength-

Not our bloom only, but our strength -decay?

Is it to feel each limb

Grow stiffer, every function less exact,

Each nerve more weakly strung?"

This quote pretty much sums up the boringness of this poem and clearly states the obvious that we're all going to get old and these things will happen.

4. The poem I read by Thomas Hardy is The Man He Killed. The Man He Killed is about a guy who killed another guy, but what Hardy is saying in the poem is that if these two men would have met in another setting they probably wouldn't have minded each other.

"Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat us down to wet

Right many a nipperkin!"

While reading the victorian poems I've noticed that they rely more on rhyming. All through their poems they have really nice rhymes and many different rhyme patters. I think that the clever rhyming in this poem is what makes it Victorian.

"I shot him dead because--

Because he was my foe,

Just so: my foe of coarse he was;

That's clear enough, although"

A Journal of the Plague Year

2008-05-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

First I would like to start off saying that this text was one of the easiest text to read you have given us all year. It was really nice to read something that made sense to me and I didn't have to read over and over a million times. When reading this I was really captivated by it. It seems like everyone had the plague and was just dying in excruciating manners. The way he talked about how he was just walking down the street seeing people die in horrible pain was really intense and made it a very good read. " In these walks I had many dismal scenes before my eyes, as particularly of persons falling dead in the streets, terrible shrieks and screechings of women, who in their, agonies, would throw open their chamber windows and cry out in dismal, surprising manner." This is a quote describing him walking down the streets seeing the horrors of the plague.

I think what was important for people of this time was to be careful. Don't go anywhere near someone who was infected, and don't trust anyone. You can tell that was the way people acted through the text when the man trying to get a hotel swears he doesn't have the infection " pretending to be going into Lincolnshire, and assuring them of his being sound and free from the infection."

I also believe god was more important to people in this time because people were more religious back then, I'm sure they were flocking to the churches and praying to god not to get the horrible infection.

Romantic poetry

2008-05-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

1. The first poem I read was from William Blake called The Shepherd. The Shepherd is about a shepherd who lives a quiet life. The shepherd William Blake is talking about is very connected with his lambs and I feel like when reading it that Blake might have been a little jealous of the shepherd because of his slow pace life.

The romanticism that sticks out in The Shepherd is the individuality of the shepherd.

"From the morn to the evening he strays;

He shall follow his sheep all the day,

And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

I think that Blake is sort of jealous of the shepherd because of his peaceful life style. Blake probably wished he could have lived the life of a shepherd.

2. The poem I read by William Wordsworth was To My Sister. I felt like this poem wasn't necessarily about his sister but about bonds that can created between people when you just let things happen, and don't try to put names and labels on everything.

I felt like this poem was romantic because of the rebellion expressed in the poem.

"No Joyless forms shall regulate

Our living calendar:

We from to-day, my friend, will date

The opening of the year."

Here and in other parts of the Poem Wordsworth is expressing that everything doesn't have to be regulated. He saying that it doesn't matter what the date is lets go out and have fun.

"And bring no book: for this one day

We'll give to idleness."

this quote expresses how if you just go out and don't plan for anything sometimes the best connections will be made.

3. The Poem I read by George Gordon was called Remind Me not, Remind Me Not. I believe that this poem is about Gordon not wanting to be reminded of the love he shared with some girl. At the beginning of the poem it seems to be describing Gordon and some other girl right after they've had sex and they're just laying there loving one another. Towards the end of the poem he starts talking about how he dreams of the time they spent and wishes it could continue.

"dreamt last night our love return'd,

And, sooth to say, that very dream

Was sweeter in its phantasy."

I feel like this poem is romantic because of the love shared between these two people. I know that romanticism isn't exactly the same thing as what we consider romantic but in this poem what we consider romantic is the romanticism in this poem. Wordsworth really loves this women and you and you can tell by reading this poem that him and the girl in the poem just had made really good love and after doing so it was being expressed very strongly through anything that they did. Even breathing.

"And lips, though silent, breathing love."

4. The poem I read by Percy Bysshe Shelley was To The Moon . I really liked this poem by Shelley because it was easy to comprehend and I didn't have to read it five times. This poem is about the moon being lonely. Shelley asks the moon "Art though pale from weariness." You can tell reading this poem that Shelley probably spent many nights looking up at the stars and wondering why the moon was all by itself.

I think that this poem is romantic because Shelley feels the loneliness of the moon. He looks at the moon like a person and feels sorry for it because it has no one to connect with. He feels sorry for it because there are all the stars in the galaxy and they all have each other but the moon is all by itself.

"Wandering companionless

Among he stars that have a different birth,-

And ever changing, like a joyless eye

That finds no object worth its constancy?

5. The Poem I read by John Keats was Dedication. To Leigh Hunt,Esq. I feel like this poem is about a girl that he has gone away, but he doesn't mind. In the poem he talks about how things are leaving and going and I think that expresses how some girl left him.

"GLORY and loveliness have passes away;

For if we wander out in early morn,

No wreathed incense do we see upborne

Into the east, to meet the smiling day"

I believe that this poem is romantic because of the fact that she is leaving him but he doesn't care. This really represents romanticism.

"Pan is no longer sought, I feel a free

A leafy luxury, seeing I could please

With these poor offerings, a man like thee."

As you can tell when he says he pan is no longer sought he saying that he doesn't want to be with her anymore. And when He says " Seeing I could please with these poor offerings, a man like these" he saying he's happy with himself and doesn't need her.

Step Three- The Victorian Period

2008-05-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

The first historical event I will look at is the industrial revolution. Though the industrial revolution started in the romantic period it was still going in the victorian era and the effects were being shown. The industrial revolution caused for a rapid change in the way people thought and lived. I think because of this rapid change forward people began to think more highly of life and take things more seriously.

Imperialism is the next historical event I would like to discuss. I feel like imperialism played a role in the victorian thought because just like the industrial revolution it was this big system of greatness that man (the british in the case) created. Because of all this sense of greatness and fullness I believe people during this time felt much more importance to life and felt the need to improve their lives.

I think the normal people of the victorian era were a more serious and focused group of people than in any other time before. Because of all the rapid changes around them and the expansion of everyday life people had to become more serious and work harder at things. This being a direct cause of the industrial revolution.

I believe the difference between the romantic period and the victorian period is the same as the difference in a young man and an old man. The romantic period is more rebellious and free flowing. The victorian period is more serious and obvious. The romantic period was at the start of the industrial revolution and right after the enlightenment making a mix of new ideas and a lot of new stuff. The victorian period was more during the time of the industrial revolution when people were feeling the effects (e.g. child labor).I really like the romantic period more because I more rebellious. Maybe if I was an old man I might like the Victorian period more, but until then I would rather read romantic literature.

I think that victorian poets were expressing seriousness and the obvious in their poems, but like to cheer them up using rhyme. You can see the seriousness when you look at Lord Tennyson's poem All Things Will Die. This is obviously a touchy subject but in his poem he \ talks about it cheerfully and uses rhymes to make it seem not that bad. You can see how they commonly stated the obvious when looking at Matthew Arnold's Growing Old. This poem just talks about getting old. It gets really poetic and rhymes well, but really it's just states the obvious and makes it look poetic. I really didn't like the victorian poetry that much because it was kind of boring. The only thing I really liked about it was the use of good rhyming. Other than that I can't really get into it.

Step one: The Romantic Period

2008-05-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

The first historical event leading up to romanticism I want to talk about is the enlightenment. Even though Romantics hated and opposed the enlightenment they were very similar and also heavily influenced by it. The enlightenment was a time of reason. People were starting to think more logically and relying less on the church for reasoning. The romantics, the next generation, were almost the same but with a twist. The romantics strived more on individuality and expressing themselves. They too disagreed with the church, but hated the aristocrat. I believe that the romantics were to force that eventually led to the rise of the middle-class of the industrial revolution.

The second historical event I want to look at is the french revolution and the napoleonic era. The french revolution occurred right at the beginning of the romantic period and I believe was started from the romantic mood at that time. People were starting to gain national pride, or nationalism, in their country and culture. People were also starting to hate the aristocratic government and feeling the need to do something about it. I think that the romantics feelings of expression is what caused the french revolution. The napoleonic era also help fuel the romantic period because countries were so frustrated with France's nationalism that they also began to have pride in their countries and feel need to express themselves and culture.

I feel like normal people in this time were becoming more aware of themselves and the things around them. People didn't want to be held down by the church or some straight edged logic. They wanted to express themselves and become more individual. This shows through the romantics wanting to have pride and expression of their cultures. I also believe that the romantics might have been a little on the ass-hole side. After reading about them they seem like smart people who think way too highly about themselves (or in this case culture).

I believe that the romantics were mainly expressing rebellion and individuality in their poems. You can see the rebellion when you look at Wordsworth poem To My Sister When he's saying that things don't have to be regulated and the best way for two people to get to know each other is through pure improvisation of time. The individuality is expressed in poems like The Shepherd by William Blake. In this poem Blake is so jealous of the individuality of the shepherd and how he lives such a nice peaceful lives caring for his sheep and his sheep caring for him. I really like Romantic poetry in comparisons to other poetries. I think this is because I like rebellion and individuality.

A modest proposal

2008-05-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

When I was reading a modest proposal I saw a lot of dark comedy. Swift expressed how kids are molded by other people throughout their lives speaking of them like meat that is prepped, bought, sold, and eaten. I think that his analogy of being raised kind of like meat is very true and I agree. A Modest Proposal is a good example of a satire because his comparison of children as meat is a use of dark comedy poking fun of something that is actually sad.

Definition of Satire

2008-04-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

A satire is a genre of Literature in which the author will be attacking something that he doesn't agree with, with humor. The best example I can think of a satire is South Park. In every episode there is a meaningful point made, but with loads of humour. In one episode they make fun of Michael Jackson and makes the point that his son must live a very neglected life, and that law enforcement usually tends to attack rich black men ratrher than rich white men.

The Glorious Revolution

2008-04-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

If you ask me The Glorious Revolution was nothing more than a whole bunch of drama. King James, a catholic, wanted to keep catholic control in England and didn't want the protestants in power. William his some in law, a big supporter of the protestants didn't like what James was doing and decided to take him out, but without too much force. First William got a bunch of support from many people ranging from many different places in Europe. Then he got the OK from the Dutch ( he had to get the OK from them because he was a Dutch Stadholder). The great thing about all this is William did it all super secretively. King James fears it but wasn't completely sure he was about to get invaded. So with OK from the Dutch William invades England with a fleet of ships twice the size of the spanish armada. The ships come in without any bloodshed. Just like William predicted there wan't much fighting because the king knew that his army was smaller and didn't have a lot of support for him. So William makes it to London and tries to start taking the throne but can't immediately because of politics, but gets it a few months later. Once he gets the throne there are a bunch of uprisings in Ireland and Scotland. King James even returns to Ireland with 6,000 French troops at one point coming to help out, but leaves once his army gets humiliated. Oh yeah, during all this the French declares war on the Dutch because of its invasion on Britian and they have an alliance with Britian. So William goes and battles there, but ends up just loosing a lot of money and putting the Dutch in a lot of debt forcing the Dutch to leave global politics and leaving Britain as the powerhouse in Europe.

So what good did all this drama do, because it was a whole bunch of drama. Well, because of the Glorious Revolution the Bill of Rights were made, Absoloute Monarchy ended leaving more power to the parliament, and catholic influences in english politics ended. All this I believe helped the people of Britain get away from the absoloute monarchies that they were used to, and help the everyday people start to think for themselves rather than what the king says they should think.

mentor logs

2008-04-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

April 16th, 2008
3:15-4:15

Today Drew and I just talked about college and my work ethics. She told me that I need to stop being lazy and do my homework. She says that in college I'll really be hurt academically by not doing homework or studying. Doing homework and studying has always been super hard for me and I've always had trouble just getting it done. Hopefully by the time I'm in college I'll get my act together and study.

Drew was a little dissapointed in me today because I didn't get my college application turned in. I was going to but I forgot to get my dad's card one night and just kept on forgetting and forgetting all week. I need to make sure I get that done or she'll kill me.

Other than that we just talked about random stuff. We didn't get that much done but I had a nice time talking to her. Hopefully next week we can work some on my product.

Mentor logs

2008-04-17T11:40:00.002-07:00

April 10th, 2008
3:30-5:00

When Drew came today I was working on my critical essays section of my noval project. Before she began to help me I explained to her the story of Brave New World. Once I had explained the story to her she read the directions on what I needed to do and began to help me. It helps to have her around because she's good at helping me get my ideas out on paper in a clean cut way. One problem though is it's hard for me to write with someone watching me.

It was pretty funny because even though she was helping me with my noval project we ended up talking about stock markets. When I was talking about how I think the great depression had an infuence on Brave New World it sprung a conversation on stock market crashes and how they affect everything around them. We concluded that we both think the great depression had a big impact in the writing of Brave New World Huxley was experiencing some of the side-affects of seeing the "perfect world" of the 20s go down the drain. When talking to Drew I can tell that she is very interested in the stock market and really knows her stuff.

Other than that we mainly just talked about random stuff. One of the random things we talked about is my college career. She really wants me to jump on it and apply for college and gives me due dates in which I should send in my application and get signed for the tests. This helps me because I'm lazy and sometimes need a little structure to get something done. Drew and I will be meeting again next week at the same time.

Mentor logs

2008-04-17T11:40:00.001-07:00

Literary Importance of Brave New World

2008-04-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Does Brave New World deserve to be studied in an english class? I believe it does because it has such a meaningful message. Aldous Huxley puts out a strong message in the Brave New World that you cannot have utopia without people loosing their individuality. Brave New World also has a good deal of historical significance because of how much the mood of that time shows in Huxley's writing.

In BNW everybody lives in this perfect utopia in which "Everyone belongs to everyone else." In this world people are created, they are not born. Using the Bokanovsky's process they can create 96 babies from one sperm cell. Embyro's are conditioned to whatever their destined occupation is and raised in a government controlled nursery where they are fed propaganda their whole lives. In the pursuit of a utopia the government has almost completely ruled out the option of individuality."individuality is literally impossible. As a result, built on a large foundation of identical, easily manipulated people, the society thrives. Stability lives, but individuality—the desire and/or ability to be different—is dead." (cliffnotes.com). I believe that the loss of individuality from utopia is the main message in BNW. It is also a very meaningful message because not only is it a interesting idea, but in Huxley's time it really seemed like a strong possibility because of the great depression, the industrial revolution, and the rise of corporations.
Another message I picked up on from the book is that full happiness cannot be achieved without sacrifices. In BNW, John the Savage wants to show his love to Lenina but all she wants to do is have sex with him. "I wanted to do something first.... I mean, to show I was worthy of you," said John. Lenina replied, "Why should you think it necessary" (BNW 189). This quote shows how John felt like he should have to prove his love first, but Lenina didn't care. Lenina didn't care because she had grown up in the BNW and doesn't know better, but John knows that if he proves himself first that the sex will be more meaningful and he'll reach a higher level of happiness. It's kind of like when you build something yourself, or buy something with your own money. Since you've put the sacrifice into it you'll appreciate it more and it will give you more pleasure. In BNW everything is made to be easy and simple, with no conflicts.

When Huxley wrote BNW it was during the worst part of the great depression. Everyone was broke, unemployed, had no confidence in the economy, and was feeling the giant come down of the roaring twenties. During the great depression people were getting the feeling of what happens when something so big (e.g. the U.S. economy) falls to the ground. I think that this had an influence on Huxley because he got to see the bad side of something as big as the U.S. economy crashing.

I also believe that the industrial revolution had a big impact on the way BNW was written. All through Huxley's life he was witnessing the industrial revolution. People were starting to work in factories, do specialized work (like in BNW), and become more dependent upon other people (also, like in BNW). I believe that this was the main influence on the book because before the industrial revolution people generally worked for themselves. They planted food for themselzes, they hunted for themselves, they built houses for themselves, and made clothes for themselves. When the industrial revolution occured all the sudden people were producing things for other people and buying instead of making products from other people. Because of this people became more tied to their fellow beings, creating the famous quote of the book "Everyone belongs to everyone else."

I think that because of BNW's message on the importance of individuality and its historical background it is a must for english classes all over. Students everyone I think should read BNW because they need to know that their individuality is important and that if they let the government take it away from them they'll loose many of the simple pleasures that we all love.

mentor logs

2008-04-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

04/03/08
3:15- 4:30

Today me an drew talked about how everything we had done in my research paper was erased. She was pretty bummed about it, but it's in the past. We actually just talked our last visit because I was writing my logs for the last time.

Today our main focus was at stocktrak.com. Stocktrak.com is a website were you can invest fake money into the stock market and look at all your returns. Her portfolio is actually grouped with her whole class and they have a competition who can make the most. Drew is 9 out of 51, which I think is pretty good. She showed me all of her stocks that were doing good and told me why she bought them. She also told me that she had just invested realy money in the real stock market, so I wish her luck.

After that we pretty much just sat around and talked. We talked about my future education and looked at a few scholorships and a few schools, but other than that we just sat around.

mentor logs

2008-04-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

February 28, 2008
3:00-5:00

On Thursday, Drew came at 3:00 and she helped me on my Research paper. She knew a lot of stuff that I didn't and gave me a lot of insight. She also was really good at helping me write out the thoughts in me head. This helped a lot because sometimes a have writer's block and just can't think of the right way to write something.

Basically we talked about how stock markets affect their economies and how they can accelarate their economies. We also talked about how the stock market can liquidate money to consumers and how it affects people's everyday spending. Another thing we talked about was how the stock market can show a good index on how well an economies going.

She also showed me the website that I would be using in my product. The website is called http://www.stocktrak.com/. At this website you can use two million dollars in fake money to invest in the stock market for four months and see how well you would've done. You can also look at your portfolio in graph form, look at all the publicity around your stock, and also see how well everyone in your class in doing.

Aldous Huxley's Biography

2008-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Aldous Huxley was born in 1894 in Godalming, Surrey, England. He came from what seems to be a very intelligent family. His dad was also a writer. I feel like since he was raised in such a intelligent environment that this helped him develop complex ideas. Huxley was taught by his mother for a good portion of his life but when she became terminally ill he started attending Hillside. He started college at Eton college but got seriously sick and had to drop out. Once he had recovered he got his degree at Baliol College, Oxford.

After college and in his late 20s' is when Huxley started getting serious with his novels. He wrote many novels ranging from Crome Yellow and Antic hay which describe the mood of the 1920s' to Brave New World and island which are both about utopian worlds.

I feel like Huxley got his inspiration to write Brave New World because he grew up during the industrial revolution and saw how mass production was taking over. I can really see how he thought the world was going to be like that in a few hundred years or at least come up with the aspect of it happening.

I also feel like Huxley's great sense of humor played a big influence in the book. " Oh Ford" is a very common phrase used in this book. instead of having god they look at Henry Ford as a idol. They even use the term A.F. (after Ford) as a way of measuring time e.g. B.C. A.D.. When I first heard that I laughed hard. Another thing is the way that they condition the kids to be super sexualy active.

"What's the lesson this afternoon?" he asked. 'We had Elementary Sex for the first forty minutes,' she answered." This quote is from the beginning of the book when the director is kind of giving a tour of the baby factory/daycare. This really cracked me up along with many other creepy A.F. lines.

Huxley had a pretty interesting life. When he got ill in college he lost his eyesight for a few years which actually saved him from the draft (if you think about it, if he wouldn't have gotten sick he probably would've died a lot ealier and never even write a noval.). Once he started getting better his eyesight started coming back which enabled him to go back to college to study. Around 1939 Huxley started using the Bates Method in hopes of better vision. He claimed that the Bates method helped him regain his eyesight, but some people are skeptical how much better his vision was. Though it might not have gotten that much better it compelled his to write the book called The Art of Seeing.

Another interesting aspect of Huxley's life is his involvment in hellucinagenic drugs like mescaline and LSD. Huxley truely believed that hellucinagenic drugs could open your mind up to enlightenment. He believed this so much he wrote the noval called The Doors of Perception which is a book about psychadelic enlightenment. That book became a cult noval among hippies in the 60s.

Brave New World- Volume Three

2008-03-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

In my last entry I was in a point of the book where Brenard (one of the main characters) sounded like a pretty cool guy and I thought his character was going to be character the plot of the book centered around, but it wasn't. Now that I'm finished with the book I think completely differently of brenard, but the plot is still kind've the same it just took a little different twist.

So once Brenard brings John and Linda back to the civilized world he becomes somewhat of a celebrity and everyone loves him and he starts getting a lot more attention, especially from girls. The bigger Brenard gets the bigger his head gets. He starts even being hateful to friends who have always been there for him. Eventually Brenard's big head puts him back where he started, being a loser.

Also while this is happening John (the savage brought back to the civilized world) and Lenina are kind of having an affair. Though they never actually do it they get pretty close at one point. The reason they never do it is because John feels like he has to prove his love to her, but Lenina doesn't care and just wants to do it with him. This just makes John extremely angry and puts him into a kind of rage like state, really scaring Lenina.

Right after John and Lenina have there huge fight the telephone rings for John. He answers and it's the hospital saying that his mom is dying. John is completely alarmed by this and immediately heads to the hospital to see his mom. When he gets there Linda (his mom) is in this really creepy hospital. The hospital is basically a giant death farm. All the rooms had the best synthetic music playing and all the patiently were in deep Zoma holidays. When John got to his mom she was basically dead in a deep Zoma holiday. He tried to talk to her but she couldn't really comprahend him and kept kind of dozing off. Then a nurse came and told John he had to be leaving because she had a batch of children coming. The nurse then brought in a bunch of kids all identical to observe the dying people. This drove John mad because he had to sit there watching his mom die with a bunch of kids all playing around like it was a gymnasium. As John is freaking out trying to talk to his mom she dies. This really puts John in a rage and he leaves the hospital, and on his way out he see's the workers of the hospitals getting there Zoma rations. In his rage and entirely fed up with the civilized world John goes to the front of the line and takes the Zomas and throw them off the air strip and started screaming " Free. Free. You're Free." This of coarse cause a giant outrage and these poilice like people came into the crowd with Zoma super soakers and sythetic music to get the situation under control ( I thought this was hilerious. It's so perfect for the world A.F.).

John, Brenard, and Helmholtz (one of their friends who got caught up in the matter also) all were sent to talk to the controller of western europe, Mustapha Mond. There the controller talked about how it is important to make sure that the people aren't exposed to certain literature, science, or solitude to insure their happiness. During this meeting John and the controller are in a constant debate about how happiness should be achieved, and matters of individuality. At the end of the meeting the Controller informs Brenard and Helmholtz that they will be sent to islands that have people like them, but says John has to stay so the experiment can continue.

John gets furious with this and decides to leave London and try to find somewhere, where he can live in solitude and support himself. He does this, and moves in an abandoned light house. During this time he feels the urge to cause massive amounts of pain on himself to purify himself to god. He feels like the civilized world has made bad and he wants to be good with god. One day while he's lashing himself some poeple see him and tell some other people and then reporters here of it and start coming by to his light house and constantly bugging him. One night John is thinking of Lenina and the pain he caused her and starts getting extremely furious makes him go into self inflicting rage. He goes outside and jumps into a thorn bush almost completely naked trying to make himself not think of Lenina. During his rage a reporter who decided to stay all night trying to get a good shot sees him in his rage and starts recording it. Within a week the video is released and becomes one of the best movies in A.F.. because of its deep pain and emotion. So the next day there is swarm of people all coming to John freak out. John tries to hide but can't, the people are everywhere. People start throwing gum and other highly civilized products at him urging him to use them just trying to egg him on. John is yelling for them to stop but they don't, they keep egging him on and start yelling for him to whip himself. Eventually John starts whipping himself and crowd goes nuts. Eventually everyone leaves, but the next day everyone shows again wanting to see him freak out. When they can't find him they go up to light house, but find him dead. He had hung himself.

I actually predicted John comiiting suicide pretty early in the book, but the way it got there was crazy. The ending of the book was heart thumping with intensity. The way they egged on John was horrible. I couldn't feel worse for the guy.

Even though the end of the book was really intense and climatic it wasn't my favorite part of the book. My favorite part of the book was when John and the controller were debating means of happiness. This part of the book got very deep and was kind of hard to understand fully at times, but during this part of the book the whole point of the book was explained.

Reasonings for Stock Market Crashes

2008-02-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Source- "Stock Market Crash." 2006. http://www.stock-market-crash.net/what.htm

Stock Market crashes always start with " Smart Money" ( corporation, big businesses, and smart investors) and end with " dump money"( average investor). What happens is when the stock market is low, big corporations and smart investors will buy a good bit of stock. Once these corporations buy these stocks, they'll start rising gaining interest from mutual funds, brokerage firms, and some smart investors. Once all these mutual funds and brokerage firms start buying the stocks they rise a little more a start making the everyday investor look more and more at these specific stocks. Once this happens a bull market is created. All investors start putting all their money into these stocks because they think they're great and will keep rising and everything is great. At this time all the "Smart Money" people are selling all those cheap stocks they bought when the market was low to the small investors who are buying at a ridiculous prices because they think the market will keep rising, what makes it worse is they'll buy on margin trying to greater increase capital.

So what happens now is the crash. Once the stock market reaches it's high it has gotten all the investors it's going to get and they have spent all the money they can in the market. So now there is no more money going into the market, it is at it's absoloute high, so the only way to go is down. Once the media catches on there's no more money everyone starts selling there stocks immediately. Once this starts to happen everyone gets nervous about buying stocks for awhile and all the people who bought on margin can't sell there stocks putting them more and more in debt. So eventually all the stock prices drop back down to dirt cheap and everyone's broke except the people who invested at the begginining when it was cheap. Well guess what, after the crash the markets cheap again and the companies buy the stock once again and renew the whole process again and again. taking all the small investors money.

Day Trading

2008-02-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

Source- http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/careerplanning/l/aa032999.htm

Day trading is exactly what it sounds like. It's trading stocks constantly day by day. Day traders aren't investors, they are traders. They spend every hour the market is open glued to a computer watching every cent a stock rises or falls trying to decide the absoloute best time to sell, trade, or buy. Many day traders will only hold stock's just for minutes hoping the stock will go up just a few cents so they can make a nice little return.

"For example, at 10:00 AM a day trader might buy 1000 shares of stock XYZ just as the price begins to rise on good news, then sell it at 10:04 AM when it's up by 1/2 ($0.50). The day trader makes $500, minus commission. With today's cheap commissions of $29.95 or less per trade, that's a quick $440.10 or better, excluding taxes."

There are some day traders who trade up to 100 stocks a day. They are called SOES bandits. They will usually never hold a stock overnight and might only hold a stock for a few seconds.

the stock market

2008-02-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

Source- Stock Market. Febuary 23, 2008. http/:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stock_market

Trading

trading is done by an auction market. Which means a potential buyer asks to buy a stock at a specific price from a potential seller. Once they both settle on a price an exchange is then made. Buying and selling generally is done on a floor or on the computer. Buying an selling on the floor is done by outcry ( screamning out an offer or a price.) and that's how trades are made on the floor. On computer stocks are traded and bought using the internet, it's pretty simple.

"The New York Stock Exchange is a physical exchange, also referred to as a listed exchange — only stocks listed with the exchange may be traded. Orders enter by way of exchange members and flow down to a specialist, who goes to the floor trading post to trade stock. The specialist's job is to match buy and sell orders using open outcry. If a spread exists, no trade immediately takes place--in this case the specialist should use his/her own resources (money or stock) to close the difference after his/her judged time. Once a trade has been made the details are reported on the "tape" and sent back to the brokerage firm, which then notifies the investor who placed the order. Although there is a significant amount of human contact in this process, computers play an important role, especially for so-called "program trading"."

"The NASDAQ is a virtual listed exchange, where all of the trading is done over a computer network. The process is similar to the New York Stock Exchange. However, buyers and sellers are electronically matched. One or more NASDAQ market makers will always provide a bid and ask price at which they will always purchase or sell 'their' stock."

These are the two main stock exchanges that Americans buy, sell, and trade stocks in. As you can see, the New York Stock Exchange is done more of an old- fashoin style and The NASDAQ is just all on computers.

The Stock Markets Importance

The stock market is extremely useful because it gives companies ways to raise money to make capital, and give business's to go public and make lots of money. The Stock Market usually represents how the economy is going also, and how much the normal household has.

One really attractive reason to invest in stocks is you can quickly get rid of anything you don't want to invest in anymore, unlike other investment options like real-estate.

Stock Market Basics: Learning without Losing.

2008-02-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thomas, Dwain Mandell, Phyllis Levy. School Library Journal; March 2004, Vol.50 Issue 3, p75-76, 2p. "Stock Market Basics: Learning without Losing."

Author- Thomas, Dwain1Mandell, Phyllis Levy

Source- School Library Journal; Mar2004, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p75-76, 2p

" 50 percent of Americans families currently own stocks"

This is something to look at when deciding on wether you should invest or not. It's clear to see that the market as gradually risen so as long as your cautious with your money and put it in good long term stocks, you'll make good money over the years.

Book Review: Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems. Didier Sornette, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2003.

2008-02-11T12:03:00.001-08:00

Porra, Joseph M. "Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems."
Author- Porrà, Josep M. Journal of Statistical Physics; Nov2004, Vol. 117 Issue 3/4. p773-774, 2p.

" The build up of financial bubbles manifest itself as an overal super-exponetial Power-Law acceleratin in the Price Growth Accompanied by long periods of oscillation."

Basically, what he's saying here is bubbbles in the stock market are always the source of a crash in the stock market.

Book Review: Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems. Didier Sornette, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2003.

2008-02-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Book Review: Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems. Didier Sornette, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2003.

Author-

The Investor's Guide to Technical Analysis

2008-02-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

C. Colburn Hardy. Stock Market Theories. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1978

Author- C. Colburn Hardy

Publisher- McGraw- Hill Book Company

New York, St. Louis, San Francisco, Auckland, Bogota, Dusseldorf, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Mexico, Montreal, New Delhi, Panama, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto

Copyright 1978

Stock Market Theories

The most Popular Theories in the Stock Market is the Dow Theory.

" To Dow, THe Stock Market Wasa Barometer of Business. His theory calls the turns of the market and forecasts the business cycle or longer periods of prosperity or depression. Under his concept, there are two major movements of the stock market: the Primiary movement, which last usually 23-33 months or longer, and the secondary movement, which usually last from three weeks to three months and, during this period, retraces one-third to two-thirds of the previous market action- the advances in a Bull Market, the decline in a Bear Market."

Their are many doubters to the Dow Jones Thoery. Many don't like it because it's out-dated. It uses Closing Prices which aren't that accurate because the price may change a lot here and there through the day.

How to Find Winning Stocks

1. Review Weekly Charts.
2. Check the Weekly Stock Market tables.
3. Watch the DAily and Weekly highs.
4. Py special attention to most active stocks.
5. Study the group stock averages.
6. look at the overall stock market.

Fortune's Guide to Personal Investing

2008-02-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

Editors of Furtune. Fortune's Guide to Personal Investing. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962-1963

Copyright 1962,1963

By the Editors of Fortune

Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

New York, Toronto, and London

Brokers

Not all Stock Brokers are good, some are bad. Even though it's illegal for stock brokers to advertise that they can make trades faster, some Brokers can. Because some Stock Brokers are so big they can have more representatives on the Floor at the Stock Exchange giving them a better chance to get the stocks faster, or get rid of the stocks faster. So when looking for a stock Broker you usually don't want to go with a new smaller firm. It's generally best to go with a bigger Broker.

" The number of men afirm as on the floor does matter to the customers, and sometimes it matters a lot- e.g. When a sudden new development inspires investors all over the US to ask their brokers to buy a stock, the first orders executed might be at a lower price than the later orders."

Brave New World- Volume Two

2008-02-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've now Gotten to the point in the book when the plot is starting. At first the book was just explaining all about the new world A.F. (after ford), but now the plot is starting to unfold.

So in the story there is the main character Brenard. He is pretty much a loser. He is pretty much the outkast of the whole new world A.F.. He likes this girl named Lenina, she is pretty much as normal as anyone in the world A.F.. For someone reason Lenina likes Brenard and thinks he is interesting.

Brenard decides he wants to take Lenina to The Reservation. The Reservation is basically like an indian reservation, except the indians are actually really living the indian life. So once he takes her there he meets this mixed boy named John and his mom Linda. Brenard becomes facinated with there way of life, because he himself is somewhat of an individual. Lenina on the other hand is really appauld by indians and thinks they're savages. Once Brenard is there and talks to the boy and his mom for a while he realizes that the boy is the son of the Director, and that's where I'm at now.

I think it's really funny in this book how disgusted everyone from the world A.F. gets when they see things like mothers and fathers taking care of their kids. Lenina was constantly freaking out when she was at the reservation. It's also funny how they thing it's so weird that someone would want to sacrifice something to gain something e.i. trying and trying your hardest for a girl who might never like you.

Brave New World Post One. British Noval Project.

2008-01-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

I would first like to start off saying that Brave New World is a very well written book and is enjoyable to read. Aldous Huxley does a very good job with suspense. Even though the story line ins't that suspenseful, the way he writes makes it suspenseful and keeps me glued to the book.

So far in the story they have basically gone over the whole aspect of making children in the new world A.F. (after ford), the use of zoma as an everything healer, and most importantly the importance of efficiency in the world A.F.. They have also introduced some characters that I'm guessing will be the main characters in the story.

The way they make babies in the world A.F. is crazy. Every human-being is conditioned as an embryo to serve a specific purpose in life. And everyone is a pre-determined caste. They can either be Epsilon (the stupidest people, used for labor jobs), Gamma, Delta, Beta, or Alfa which are the smartest and also the tallest of the castes'. All the babies start as Embryo's in a factory and our conditioned to their destined caste. In the process of conditioning embryo's are basically tortured, depending on their destined caste. The farther down the caste you are the more you will be conditioned. Babies and children are also fed massive amounts of propaganda. They don't live in houses with parents like we do, they are raised by the government and when they reach their adult age they go to work. While in these government houses they are constantly being fed propaganda through all types of methods, mainly they use hypnopaedic. Hypnopaedic is a way to feed children propaganda in their sleep and engrave it in their brains. The main slogan that every caste of children gets is " Everyone works everyone else."

The thing that stands out to me the most in this book is the lack of individuality in their society. Everyone is born into their occupation and never has a chance to be anything different. In the world A.F. nobody has any options. I have a feeling this is going to play a big part in the plot of the book because one of the main characters, Brenard Marx, is one of the few people in the world A.F. society that is somewhat of an individual.

Anglo-Saxon Project

2008-01-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

Reading Beowulf sent me through many ups and downs. There were many parts of the book that I did really like and some parts I got really into, but there were also a bunch of times were I would just get bored and wonder what was going on or why they put a certain section in the book.

The parts that stood out to me were the battles that Beowulf was in. The one I liked the most was the fight against Grendal’s mom. When I was reading that part I really got into the book. The biggest thing that stood out to me while reading Beowulf was the way the text flowed since it’s written as a poem. During the fight with Grendal’s mom the text was just flowing and flowing.

One thing I didn’t get about Beowulf was why the book had so many conflicts. I felt like they should have spent more time building up the conflicts rather than using multiple conflicts. I think that Beowulf should’ve been broken into two books. One that goes into Beowulf’s battles with Grendal and his mother and the other should include the battle with the dragon and Beowulf’s death.

When I think of Anglo-Saxon culture I imagine a crazy scary environment. Back then they were much more rugged than we are today. They lived in what I think of as a brutal world. Kings ruled over small territories all over Britain and had a lot of power and exercised it willingly. When I think of an Anglo-Saxon person, I picture a very dirty illiterate person with a short temper and ready to fight.

When looking for how Beowulf illustrates the Anglo-Saxons I first looked at their strong belief in god, "The battle would have ended quickly, if God had not protected me. " All through the story everything is about god, and how god is this almighty power that will strike you down if you do him wrong.

One thing I picked up on through the book was how they talked about the world as if it was much smaller. Many times in the book they would say stuff like this, "Poets sang sad songs throughout the world," I really doubt that Arabs were sympathizing with King Hrothgar, but back then I think they thought of the world as much smaller.

The biggest thing that illustrated the Anglo-Saxon culture to me was Beowulf’s bravery and how he was such a great warrior.

"They saw me come from battlesstained in the blood of my enemies, when I destroyed a family of giants,when I endured pain all night,killing water monsters,"

When I think of Anglo-Saxons I always thing of the big, brave, warrior and that is exactly what Beowulf is.

Beowulf is pretty much the same as any hero story. Beowulf is the typical modest hero. Though he has great strength he is still nice and only uses his strength for good."The battle would have ended quickly if God had not protected me. Nor could I accomplish anything with Hrunting, that strong weapon, but the ruler of mengranted me to seea beautiful old mighty swordhanging on the wall." The biggest thing that stands out to me is how Beowulf only kills his enemies with his bare hands instead of using weapons. "scorn to carry sword or shield,but I shall seize my enemy in my hand grip and fight,"

One difference between Beowulf and a modern day hero is that he doesn’t have super powers. A lot of modern day heroes have superpowers like superman and Spiderman. Another difference Beowulf has from modern day heroes is he died at the end of the story. Most of the time in a modern day hero stories the hero lives.

I thought the way Beowulf died was very appropriate for the story. I kind’ve saw it coming, but it was still good. "He bit Beowulf's neckwith sharp tusks--Beowulfwas wet with life's blood;blood gushed in waves." I thought this was a good way for Beowulf to take his final blow. The only problem with it was that is was a really serious blow. There’s no way Beowulf could’ve picked up his knife and stabbed the dragon after being bit by a fifty foot dragon, but that’s why it’s a story.

I thought that it was really pathetic that Beowulf’s men were too scared to go help him. Beowulf had given them the best of everything, and when it was there time to return the favor they wussied out. I thought it was good that one of Beowulf’s men was loyal, but I think they should’ve killed the cowards. It’s already a pretty gory book, might as well throw in some vengeance.

The last little bit of the book is good when the author is talking about death.

"It's a mystery wherea good man goeswhen he reaches his end,when he can no longerlive in the houses of men.So it was with Beowulfafter he'd soughtthe keeper of the cave.He himself couldn't knowhow he would leave the world."

This little bit of the story is good for the ending because it kind’ve makes you think of death, and putting yourself in Beowulf’s shoes. I really like the part when the author says, " He himself couldn't know, how he would leave the world," because you don’t know what happens on earth after you die.

Mending a Wall

2007-05-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mending a Wall is a very thought out poem. It takes you to a farm where every winter this wall that divides Robert and his neighbor falls apart a little. And every spring Robert and his neighbor fix it but never speak more than that.
"But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go."
So eventually Robert asks why they built this wall? He has apple trees that would never grow onto his neighbors pines. When Robert asks his neighbor his neighbor replies " Good fences make good neighbours.” When you look at that quote from the neighbor it doesn't really make sense because if they had a good fence then they would never talk and never see each other.

A Dream Deferred

2007-05-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

A Dream Deferred is a good example of both the Harlem Renassaince and Disillusionment. Hughes talks about how the American Dream is made out to look so good and so easy, but it's not, and it doesn't reach many of the people. Through the Poem Hughes is asking the reader about the American Dream deferred " Does it stink like rotten meat? " Another thing I really enjoyed about this poem is its rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme used makes reading the poem so much more interesting and makes things stick a lot easier.
"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?"

Incident

2007-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

I really liked the poem Incident because it really flowed and I could almost hear Cullen saying it in my head. Incident is a good example of the Harlem Renaissance. In the poem Cullen gets called a nigger by a white kid the same age as him and for no reason. Being a kid that had to have been a horrible incident. He was just being nice and smiling and the other kid didn't even know him but judged immediately just for being black. Cullen says at the end of the poem that out of all the time he was in Baltimore that was all he remembered.
" saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember. "

The Negro Speaks of Water

2007-05-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

This poem written by Langston Hughs is from the Harlem Rennassaince. In this poem Hughs is speaking of himself has his black anscestors and what they've been through. He writes about how black people were the first people to walk the earth and they've now made there way to America.
" bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it,
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset."

Richard Corey

2007-05-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

Richard Corey is an example of dissillussionment. When you read you can tell that the author Edwin Robinson wanted you to feel good about the working class. In the poem Edwin sees this super rich guy every day named Richard Corey, and when he sees him he thinks he wants to be just like him.
"And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place."
So Edwin starts to work real hard so he can be rich one day. Cuts back on what he wants "And went without the meat, and cursed the bread" in hopes of getting the American Dream. When in the end Richard Corey shoots himself in the head. What Edwin wanted to say by Richard Corey killing himself was that even though rich people may seem like they have it all, they don't and probably aren't happy.

Modernism: Jelly bean response

2007-05-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed reading jelly bean one because it was a good story and two it was easy for me to read. This is the first story I have read for the literature projects that has been in modern style english. In the story jelly bean the main character is Jim "Jelly-bean." I really like Jim through the whole story because he's kind've a laid back avoid complication kind've guy. When he's invited to a party he tries to stay out of the way but ends up stealing the show winning money and a kiss from the hottest girl in town.

I like how in the end of the story things don't go Jelly Bean's way, and the hot girl (Nancy Lamar) goes and marries her boyfriend, because that's the way it would work in real life. Though it would've made a beautiful ending it would've been fake. Hot Girls don't just leave their big bulky boyfriends for nobodys when they get drunk at partys. F. Scott Fitzgerald did a really good jod delivering a "real" story.

Modernism: Jazz Age

2007-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am most interested in the Jazz Age because it seems to be the coolest topic. The Jazz Age just has that rebel feel to it. The Jazz Age to me seems like the first time people really started living the fast pace life most Americans live today. Having to sneak around the governments back to drink alcohol and dancing to jazz music really made the people of this time into rebels. I think that the Jazz Age type literature will be kind've angry but at the same time really cool.

Realism. Bob Marley

2007-04-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Bob Marley is the best modern example of realism I think there is. His lyrics were straight forward and spoke of many problems from political to racial. Bob marley wanted the people of Jamaica and Black people around the world to hear his music and realize the problems around them. A song that a found particularly "real" from Bob Marley is the Song "War." This Song is actually a speech from the Ethiopian Ruler Hailie Salassie mixed with a little bit of Bob Marley's lyrics, but it captures Bob Marley's Realistic thinking.

"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned
-Everywhere is war -
Me say war.
That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes
-Me say war.
That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,Without regard to race
-Dis a war.
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained
-Now everywhere is war
- war."

Dark Romanticism. Edgar Allen Poe

2007-04-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Edgar Allen's Poe life is a lot like his writing. Reading about his life you come across many misunfortunate events (his father abandoning him and his mother, his mothers dies) and many travels. It seemed like he was a man on the move with sorrow following him. Edgar Allen Poe's life is his writings, shady. Even Poe's death is a mystery. They think he might have been alcohol, drugs, cholera, rabies, suicide, or tuberculosis.

Dark Romanticism. The Raven

2007-04-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Raven is a really good poem. The thing that stood out most to me was its amazing rhyme scheme. Reading the poem you just flow through reading the text in a way that sounds sorrowful and catchy in your mind. The part that stood out most to me was the part were Poe's yelling at the Raven ( the raven represents the sorrow that is over him) to go away. Get out of his life, he doesn't want to deal with it anymore.

-"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

What I found anti- trascendental was the sorrow and saddness of the poem. Throughout the whole poem you can tell Poe's spilling his heart out. you can see the words: evil, demons, and devil all throught the story.the Transcendentalist believed that all people are good and everythings ok, but people like edgar Allan Poe knows that lifes not that great and bad things happen.

Dark Romanticism. Hop frog

2007-04-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

The story hop-frog is great because of its revenge plot. The king and his men were complete jerks and treated the dwarfs as if they were nothing but amusement. I thought it hilarious when the dwarf set the king and his men on fire. I imagine the whole event being very funny. All these monkey looking like people dancing all around all of the sudden get thrown up into the air then cast on fire.

What I found Romantic about Hop Frog was that how everyone has a little evil in them. The nice little dwarf can even pull off something heinous and cruel if someone drives him to it.

" In less than half a minute the whole eight ourang-outangs were blazing fiercely, amid the shrieks of the multitude who gazed at them from below, horror-stricken, and without the power to render them the slightest assistance."

The King and his men got what they deserved. They were cruel and evil to Hop frog and his friend Tripetta and got what they deserved. This story also is Romantic because it shows the evil all around. Everywhere you go there's someone getting someone back.

Realism. The Battle with Mr. Covey

2007-04-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

The story of the Battle With Mr. Covey is about Fredrick Douglas as a slave when he was a yound man. The story takes place on a plantation were the slaves never get any break but on Sundays. "it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow too hard for us to work in the field." So on this plantation one of the over-seeers named Mr. Covey just has it out for young Fredrick. While working on the wheat fan Fredrick starts having what sounded like a heat stroke and when Mr. Covey came to assist he kicked and told him to get up and keep working, once on his feet Mr. Covey hit him in the head with a hickory slat busting open his head making him bleed everywhere. Fredrick then starts running to the masters house to seek protection from the master, but the master basically gives him no help because Mr. Covey is a white man. The next day when Fredrick returns for Mr. Covey starts running at him with a whip and Fredrick hides in a corn field. Then Fredrick goes into the woods where he meets one of his fellow slaves going to his wifes home a few miles away. This fellow slave named Sandy is kind've like the old wise man. He advises Fredrick to pick this root and carry it in his right pocket and all times and he can prevent ever being whipped. Not really believing it but wanting to satisfy the old man Fredrick goes and picks the root. When returning to the plantation he saw Mr. Covey and he did nothing, but it was Sunday. On Monday morning they asked Fredrick to clean the stables out when doing so Mr. Covey came into the stables grabbed Fredricks legs and tried to tie him up Fredrick immediatley sprang up and begam fighting with Mr. Covey another white man tried to break it up but then he kicked him right in the ribs, and when Mr. Covey called for help no one answered. The Master let it happen because Mr. Covey had it coming and deserved it. So after that day Fredrick never got whipped anymore, but got in a bunch of fights.

Throughout the entire story Fredrick talks about how Mr. Covey was a slave-breaker. And how slavery kills the spirit inside you. "I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! " This quote is a good example of how Fredrick describes the feeling of slavery.

The social issue that Fredrick Douglas is trying to solve in this story obviously is slavery. Slavery is a horrible system that breaks every natural law that man deserves. In Fredricks Douglas's story he really gets across the horrible image that is slavery.

Realism. A Story of an Hour.

2007-04-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

In the book A Story of an Hour there is a wife Mrs. Mallard who has just found out that her husband had been killed in a train wreck. Her sister had to tell her becuase they were scared she would have trouble taking the news with her bad heart problem. When Mrs. Mallard finds out about her husbands death she goes into her room and starts to thing of life after her husbands death. At first she seems to be sad and unsure of life after his death, but then she can't help but think "She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" So even though she's sad she kind've feels realived because now she can live for herself and not someone else. Once she calms herself she goes back into the living room and when she walks in the room her husband walks through the door, it turned out he wasn't even near the accident. Being so shocked she fell down and died.

I think what problem Kate Chopin was trying to solve witht his piece of literature is that wemon should live for themselves and not for there men. Instead of worrying their whole live away about others wemon should try to nurture themselves the way the nurture others.

Dark Romanticism

2007-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

I think I fall more on the Dark Romanticism side. Though I do believe in some things the transcendentalist think. I like the transcendentalist thought that god speaks through people but I don't think he speaks through everyone. There are a lot of evil people in the world and i think the devils inside of them.

Dark Romanticism

2007-04-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Nathanial Hawthornes Dark Romantic side is his disliking for his great-grandfather who was a judge in the Salem Witch hunt. He knew that his great-grand dad was evil and that god wasn't in him. Herman Melville's Dark Romantic side was from his life experiences. Seeing people eat people probably assured him that god wasn't running through everyones vains. Edgar Allen Poe is just a staright up dark guy, and nothing like a transcendentalist. His family hated him and all of his wives died, he knew life wasn't all happy and joyful, and that people were evil and bad things happen for no reason.

Scenario 2

2007-04-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

In scenario 2 a Transcendentalist would go back to college and become a teacher, becuase transcendentalist strived on individualism and part of being an indivisual is doing what you want and what you need to fulfill the wellness of yourself. If David went and became a lawyer he would make a lot of money but would never be happy.

trancendentalism

2007-04-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

You can easily see trancendental thoughts in the paper Nature. " I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the universal being Circulate through me; I am a part or particle of god." This quote talks about the trancendentalist thought of everything in the universe being as one. He has died and now he is free and become one with god.

Self-Reliance focuses on the indivisual aspect of trancendentalism. The story talks about this guy how has to work hard to get by and doesn't need to worry about being wrong or misunderstood but needs to follow his own way and be his own man. " Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood-- Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and socrates, and jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

The Resistence to Civil Government also captures the indivisual aspect of trancendentalism. In the Paper Henry is talking about how the individual citizen needs to rise and become better and the government needs to step away and let the people grow and not hold then back. " There will never be a really free and enlightened state, until the State comes to recognize he individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly."

Resistence to civil government

2007-04-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

Resistence to Civil Government is a strong paper. When you read it you can really see Henry David Thoreau's anger in the government. I really like it in the paper when Henry writes about how he can't imagine a state in which he can be treated as an equal "I please myself with imagining a state at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor." I also liked how he talks about how the government needs to back off and man needs to step up and better themselves in order to govern themselves.

Self-Reliance

2007-04-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

Like Nature this story was pretty boring and took me a few times to read it to understand it completely. the part of the story that stood out most to me was the part when he talks about man can only be happy when he has done his best best and worked hard. It is true, there is nothing that makes me feel better than accomplishing something. Another thing that stood out to me in this story is how at the end Ralph talks about how man shouldn't be scared to do what he believes of because of being scared of being misunderstood by the general public.

Nature

2007-04-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Reading Nature you can really see Ralph Waldo Emerson's love for beauty. I like it at the beginning when he's talking about the stars, " the rays that come from those heavenly worlds."
The middle of the book is probably the best because he talks about how everything belongs to nature. Even though you might own your land, your land is part of the big picture which is nature.

Though this story was good and interesting, it was very boring and took some time to read to fully understand. I like where it was going but it was just too boring and not really fun to read.

Romanticism

2007-03-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Romanticism

Can you imagine if almost all rules and regulations in society were dropped? If you could throw your trash anywhere, drive in whichever lane was open, park your car anywhere that suited you? That’s basically how it was for people living in large cities in the time between 1820 to 1840. Relatively young cities (young compared to other large European cities) like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia quadrupled in this period giving these young cities no time to create all the rules and regulations you need to control large cities. With few rules and regulations and thousands of people flooding in the cities everyday they became a hectic mess. People could throw garbage anywhere, horses could lay droppings anywhere, and there was not one person to clean all of it up or keeping order. In all of this chaos people needed a break from the harsh realities surrounding them. To break away from the crummy usual day, writers began writing in a more imaginative artistic style of writing, giving berth to Romanticism. Romanticism focuses on intuition over logic very different from there fathers, Rationalist, who focused on reason to describe the world around them.

Rip Van Winkle, written by Washington Irving is a great example of Romantic Writing. Some of the parts are a little boring but most of the book is quite good. At the beginning of Rip Van Winkle it was overly descriptive and boring. By being so descriptive Irving would get off from the main point of the story and start to ramble about peoples clothing.
"On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of the stranger's appearance. He was a short square-built old fellow, with thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique Dutch fashion--a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist--several pair of breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approach and assist him with the load."
This would get annoying because I really just wanted to read about the story not about the characters clothing.

Towards the end of the book is when I started to enjoy it, because Irving started focusing more on the story, less on people’s clothes, and the story picked up. One thing that I thought was interesting was how Irving didn’t tell you whether the whole scene with the elves was real or not because it made me stop and think whether if he was already dreaming or if drinking with the elves made him begin sleeping.

When I was reading the story I was very intrigued by all the unique illustrations. All of the pictures in the book are very dark, and many of the people in the illustrations seem to be old, dirty, and poor. To me this represents the majority of the people in this time period and the dark gloomy backgrounds represent the sad city settings.

What I found particularly Romantic was the use of fantastic elements in the story. When Rip goes out hunting in the woods and comes along a band of little people. "in the centre was a company of odd-looking personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in a quaint outlandish fashion; some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of similar style with that of the guide's." This is very illogical and probably would never happen in the real world. Another example of the surreal is Rip going to sleep for twenty years. The reader is expected to believe that Rip survives for two decades without food or water. This is scientifically impossible because a human cannot live without sustenance.

The poem Thanatopsis written by William Cullen Bryant is a little bit of a depressing poem. Though there is an underdog theme most of the poem he is talking about the beauty of earth and the darkness of death.
"By those, who in their turn shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan,

that moves To the pale realms of shade,

where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, "
This part of the poem I thought was particularly depressing. Death being a dark, silent, nothing I think is what everyone fears of death and doesn’t want death to be.

What I found to be romantic in Thanatopsis was the underdog theme of the average American. What Bryant is saying in the poem is that though Europeans might call Americans unsophisticated and stupid, Americans don’t really care and believe they can do just as good and live just as happy lives as Europeans without being sophisticated, and when we die we all rot in the ground as complete equals.

The Poem Ropewalk, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is really imaginative poem. The point of this poem was that even though this guy’s job sucked he could go deep in his head and imagine something good. While walking down the ropewalk he starts to imagine what all of the rope he’s spinning is going to be used for.

"Two fair maidens in a swing,

Like white doves upon the wing,"
This quote from the poem really is the easiest thing for me to picture. Two beautiful girls flying through the air in a swing held up by a strong, thick, white rope.

What I thought was romantic about Ropewalk was that the main character could escape from his everyday life. Even though spinning rope was hard, hot, and tedious the character could get out and go to a much more imaginiative world where things weren't so bad.

I think that this picture is romantic because to me it represents natures power over man, and no matter what man makes it want be as beautiful, great, or powerful as what nature creates. The way the sun shines down on all bellow I think is a way the artist wanted to symbolize the sun as the real power in the universe. The cliffs and mountains I think are representing how nature can create huge beautiful landmarks that humans will never be able to match.

American Romanticism was a really cool time in history. When everything was dark and logic ruled all thinking, there came Romantics believing in intuition of logic which was a break for the everyday factory beaten Americans. Knowing your going to work in factory all day long everyday for the rest of your life making just pennies a day is a harsh reality that I think Americans wanted to escape. Romantic Books by Washington Irving and poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were perfect antidotes for the rough city life of Americans in the Industrial Revolution.

Jitterbug Perfume

2007-03-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Jitterbug Perfume is an epic written by Tom Robbins. It's a very different type of epic that i'm use to reading about. Instead of the classic hero Robbins uses a coward of death king, Alobar. This book is a very interesting book that has many twist and many mind opening adventures.

The book starts off in the middle ages of Europe with a man named Alobar. Alobar is a king in the beginning of the story but runs away from his kingdom to avoid death. He goes to another village but ends up fleeing the town to avoid death once again. Once Alobar flees the second town he meets Pan who tells him to travel east in search of the bandaloop. The bandaloop is some weird settlement of people in caves who practice immortality. When Alobar gets there he learns the ways to become immortal, and eventually leaves and travels back west. While traveling he meets a girl named Kudra. Kudra is unhappy with her life because she's in a fixed marriage and doesnt like it. So she travels with Alobar.

While all of the mess with Alobar is going on there are three other stories going on. One is a story of a kind've messy confused waitress/chemist named Priscilla who lives in a small apartment in Seatle and is trying to have a breakthrough in perfumery. The second is a story of a perfumer by the name of Madam Duvailer who owns a small perfumery in New Orleans. The Third is about the Lefever family. They are a family that owns a large highly respected perfumery in Paris. All of these stories come in kind've like chapters all through the book, and eventually tie together in the end.

Once Alobar meets Kudra he teaches her the bandaloop methods of immortality, and they travel all over the Europe and parts of Asia together. While traveling Alobar reacquaints himself with Pan and Pan travels with them. They can never stay in one city long because people start getting suspicious on why they never age. So they just travel from city to city when finally Kudra says they should go to Paris and open an incense shop. Everything was going good in Paris except for Pans strong odor that brings suspicion to them. So Kudra starts to try to find a perfume that will cover Pans odor. While trying to make this perfume Kudra becomes a little obssesed with it. She can find all the perfect ingrediants just not the base note, and that drives her mad. When one day she comes up with the idea of dematerialization and convinces Alobar to try it with her. When they try it she dematerialiates but Alobar does not. Somehow then Alobar gets the idea that if he can find the right base note for the perfume and finish it that it will help Kudra find her way back to earth.

The book starts to get really crazy after that part. Many twist and surprises happen. Alobar ends finding the base note to the perfume. On the way to the New World Pan throws the bottle of perfume over board, and Alobar ends up in jail in the modern time. All of this is starting to come into the other stories in the book as it progresses.

In the end all of the stories come together in the theme of the perfume. They all want to market on the perfume and figure out a way to even out the money. Kudra re-materializes and her and Alobar reunite again.

This book was the most intresting epic i've ever read. the twists Tom Robbins uses are unlike any other. The only bad thing abou the book is how sometimes Tom goes into really long boring tangents that are irrelevent to the story and butt in at climatic times. Though many of the tangents are instresting and you can learn stuff from them, they go off topic and I didn't particularley like them. Other than that the book is amazing. I would recomend this book to anyone. It's the best book i've read in awhile.

Rationalist

2007-02-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Rationalist and Puritans differ very much. The Rationalist are more scientific and don’t believe things just happen because god said so. They believe that most things can be proven through mathematics or science. The Puritans based their explanations of the world around them on god. They believed that god was the reason the sun set in the morning and the moon rises at night not that the earth in spinning and moving through space. In General, The Rationalist were open minded and wanted to fill their minds with more information. The Puritans were closed minded and wanted to keep their minds shut in order of god.

Benjamin Franklin in one of the best examples you can use to explain The Rationalist. Franklin was an open book ready to be filled. He wanted to know why things were and wanted to improve everything around him including himself. You can truly see this when you read The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin. "I balances some time between principle and inclination; till I recollected that when the were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs. Then thought I, if you can eat one another, I don’t see why I can’t eat you. So I dined upon cod very heartily and continued to eat with other people." What is happening in this quote is Franklin doesn’t want to eat fish because he has felt they have never done him any wrong, but when he sees inside the fish’s belly he sees smaller fish. "So why not eat the fish? "He asks himself. And then comes to the conclusion that it’s ok to eat the fish and dines happily.

Franklin had a list of moral virtues that he went by day after day trying to make himself a better person. This is a very Rationalist thought because Rationalist wanted to better themselves, which in turn will better the society as a whole. Like Franklin I have a list of moral Virtues:

Being Nice- Do on to others as what you’d do on to yourself, and you will almost always be nice.

Honesty- Be honest and do not lie.

Being calm- Don’t Freak out over every little thing.

Reason- There is reason to almost everything. So use it.

Open minded- Stay open minded letting as much information in my head as possible.

Resourceful- Always make the best of what you have.

Silence- to not speak unless you have something to say, and do not get into pointless conversations.

Goals- Always have goals in order to keep yourself in line.

Moderation- Avoid extremes. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

Values- Always keep things you value close to you and cherish them.

Cleanliness- always to clean and keep things around you clean.

Humility- Imitate Jesus or anyone wiser than me.

Love- Always have love for something

Have you every asked yourself why America is as successful as it is? It is because we were founded by Rationalist. People like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock were Rationalist who played a major role in the creation of America. You can see strong Rationalist thoughts when you read The Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." What Thomas Jefferson is saying here is that all people have their natural rights, and we use governments as a way to secure these natural rights, but when the government takes your natural rights you have to abolish that government.
Rationalist played an important role around the world in places like France and all over Europe, but most evident in America. Puritans came in first and set the bar of hard work in America and set us in the right direction, but then The Rationalist came in and gave us our reason. They made America the "free country" that it is. They put the icing on the voluptuous cake that is America.

Dragon Boy

2007-02-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Arthur Alexander was a dreamer. He would spend all day dreaming. Nothing could keep him focused. One second he would be taking a test, the next second he would be in another world fighting and slaying a fire breathing beast the size of a bus. With an imagination like that how can you blame him? Arthur went through his life being the weird spaced- out kid with no friends and nobody to talk to. He always had to resort to his dreams for any nurturing or advise, but Arthur always knew that one day, just one day dragons were going to come, and he would have to save the world from them.

On Monday, the first day of the school week, Arthur got up and got ready for school. Putting on the first thing saw when he woke up was Arthur style, but always wasn’t the most hygienic way. His socks smelled like burning sulfur from all the sweat absorbed in them. His shirt smelled like a fat man’s armpit from his lacking use of deodorant, but what does he care? You don’t need to smell good to slay a dragon. Skipping breakfast, Arthur made his way out of the house and made his way on his long journey to school. The walk to school was always long and boring. On the walk to school he could feel the happiness sink out of you and heaviness slip in. He felt as if you’re walking with weights on, but really it’s just the burden of school bearing down on you. The sights are always the same everyday, crack after crack on the sidewalk until you reach the big house; school.

Arthur’s walk to school that day actually wasn’t going that bad. Instead of looking down to the sidewalk and counting cracks, Arthur had his head up high and looking at the trees wave in the wind, looking like people swaying their hands in the air cheering him on. The wind that day was also different. The swiftness of the wind felt as if he were being picked up and carried. This had to have been the best walk to school Arthur could ever remember. He couldn’t explain why, but definitely knew something was different. Right as he was examining the day and its brightness he noticed an odd looking stone, a stone he had never seen before while walking to school. Was it because he was always to busy counting the cracks on the sidewalk, or has it really never been there? When he stopped to investigate he noticed a dragons face carved on the stone. "What a cool stone" he thought. Wondering if the stone belonged to anyone or not, " My stone now," Arthur said with great enthusiasm, " finders keepers, losers weepers." Reaching down to pick it up he felt heat. The kind’ve heat you feel when you almost touch the eye of a stove. A warning heat that tells you "Stop! Don’t touch this." But Arthur being a kid full of curiosity tried again and when his fingers touched the stone he let out a screeching yell so loud it could be seen because the sound waves were so powerful.

"What’s going on," yelled Arthur. He was being twisted, flipped, and thrown in some type of weird funnel that was spinning profusely. Not knowing what was going on Arthur thought he was in some type of tornado until SPLAT! ! !

Arthur landed hard and flat on his back in some type of spongy grass. He was in a swamp. The thick humid in the air gave it away immediately. The air in a swamp is so thick that it fills his nose with a stuffy feeling of wet grass and bugs. Arthur, not knowing were he was, sprung to his feet immediately in a confusing shock. Looking around he became more confused not seeing the sidewalk, road, street lights, buildings, or anything else that was just before his eyes.

After scanning the area for a while Arthur noticed a shack in the distance harboring smoke with an awkward scent. The smoke itself was quite awkward. It waved around, swifted up and down, and swirled in funnels. The smell of the smoke was quite seductive. There isn’t a word for the smell of the smoke. It just made Arthur think of running through perfumery with all the beautiful smells hitting him all at once. The way the scent funneled it’s way up his nose encouraged him to go investigate.

When Arthur reached the door it opened immediately, letting out all the smoke he saw coming out of the chimney. Floating and shimmering around him he saw a small figure coming from the inside of the shack. As the smoke cleared the figure became more clear. It seemed to be an old lady. Looking more carefully Arthur noticed it was a Witch!

The Witch looked like your typical old Witch. Her hair like the smoke was long, curvy, and white. She had a big nose with a green tint to her. She was wearing an old black robe with pointy wooden shoes that looked awfully uncomfortable. She must have been over 300 years old. The smell of the shack was a mix of all the potions she had bubbling all over.
"Hello Arthur. What took you so long? I’ve been waiting," said the Witch with a voice sounding like more wood cracking than a human talking.

"What do you want?" asked Arthur in a tone sounding more like a scared dog.

"I want you," said the Witch. " For you are the chosen one. Its is you who will save the world. It is you who holds all of your friends, families, and future loved ones lives in your hands."

"WHAT?" gasped Arthur sounding like a confused stoner.

" Yes, Arthur. You are the reason you are living right now. The year is 1111 and there is a dragon so big so fierce that if it is not slayed it will kill everything on earth. Eventually killing itself for having nothing left to eat. And you Arthur, you are the only thing stopping it. You are the only thing in its way," said the Witch straying from her normal wood cracking voice to a more lively voice.

"The year is 1111?"Arthur asked still sounding confused

"Yes, I brought you back in time to this year because of this dragon that’s scraping the earth of life like a fat kid scraping the edges of his ice cream bowl. I was sure that this dragon would destroy all life on earth until I looked into the future and saw that earth beaming with life. Confused by this, I concluded that there must have been a hero of some sort. I also felt it was my destiny to harbor this hero, and I feel it’s your destiny to be this hero and save all that is all."

" You can’t be serious, this can’t be real, and I can’t be a hero. I’m not strong, I’m not smart, and I’m not clever. I don’t have the makings of a hero. I am a modern day loser," said Arthur in a low mumbling voice.

"Oh how wrong you are," said the Witch. "For you are the only human of any time that can possess the power to use the Sword of Helios and the Shield of Hydrona. Your power is your mysterious imagination. No one else could imagine a sword that shoots fire and a shield made of ice that can’t be damaged.
"
Yeah your right, I am pretty weird," for Arthur was finally being excepted as a weirdo. His weirdness is actually paying off. Oh how he couldn’t wait to be back in his time and tell his mom. Wouldn’t she be amazed. Right then Arthur felt a thump and then he was spinning out of control and flipping around in a funnel.

BOOOOM! Arthur’s fall made a furious sound that echoed and rumbled all the walls around him, for he was in a cave. The cave was dark and empty of light except for The Sword of Helios. It boasted a beautiful glow that surrounded it like a halo. There was stench in the cave that smelled horrible. The smell was very similar to the smell of a baby’s diaper. There was a noise that was loud, deep, and echoed through the cave like smoke going through your lungs. As Arthur was observing the cave and examining it he saw to big yellow balls hanging in the air. When all of the sudden the cave lighted up with fire and Arthur realized the big yellow balls hanging in the air where the eyes of a giant dragon.

"HOLY SHHH"

-"ROOOOOAAR," exhaled the giant dragon in an angry rage.

"OH MY GOD, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Arthur screamed in his head. For his adrenaline was pumping faster than gas pumps into your car. His mind was racing in fear. "What to do, What to do," Arthur thought. The room was getting very hot now because of the dragon’s breath. Making each and every decision that much more hard to make. The pressure was bearing down on Arthur and he had no idea what to do. There was no way he could come close to this fire breathing dragon.

In all this confusion Arthur looked up and saw the dragon running his way. Not knowing what to do or where to go Arthur just dove down and covered himself with the shield hoping for some miracle. Then the Dragon roared with fury, Fire spilling out of his mouth, hoping to burn Arthur. Arthur thought he was dead until he noticed he wasn’t. The flames were all around him, but not on him and not hot at all. The shield was completely flame proof. "Oh what a shield," thought Arthur.

Now feeling confident Arthur started to think of a way to kill this dragon. For he was close and had a shield that could protect him. The first thing that came to his mind was "CHARGE!" Arthur got up ran toward the dragon with his shield in front of him and his sword high in the air. Oh if only Arthur could have seen himself, for he looked like a crazed soldier in fear of nothing and willing to sacrifice their body to the better of others. When all of the sudden the dragon lifted his hand swung it at Arthur and sent him flying into a wall.

"Oh what a let down," thought Arthur barely able to move. "What a wasted effort." Feeling discouraged and injured Arthur took his time getting up when he saw the dragon sprinting towards him with fire being spitted and thrown everywhere. Once again not knowing what to do and being discouraged Arthur dove down and hid behind the shield, but this time the dragon didn’t stop. He kept going full speed and almost trampled right on top of Arthur. And with a swoop of his tail the dragon sent Arthur once again full speed into a wall.

"I’m bloody tired of this," yelled Arthur at the top of his lungs. His voice was so fierce that even the dragon flinched. Getting up quickly he yelled, "Come on you heinous beast. Come kill me now." Arthur had a glow about him now. Something had clicked inside of him. For he now looked, walked, and talked like a hero. The dragon having seen many hero’s come and go to his fury was startled for a second then reclaimed himself and once again sprinted at Arthur, but this time with a more furious focused rage. As he got closer and closer Arthur just stood their with his heroic glow. Not even moving an inch. Not even revealing one slight bit of fear. When all of the sudden Arthur pulled the handle of his sword to his head and thrusted it down deep into the ground. When The Sword of Helios hit the ground it made a wave of hot lava spread all around it and all through the cave stopping the dragon right in furious path. The dragon now on the ground in great pain huffing and puffing fire could not move. Though there was lava all around, Arthur was not affected by it. In fact he could walk on it with no problem. He had the dragon pinned down and now had to finish his duty’s of slaying the dragon

Arthur walking very slowly towards the dragon had nothing to say and nothing to think about. He was completely focused on the job at hand. The cave was collapsing right around him in a scorching manner that very much resembled the sun, but not one bit of the lava covered debris hit him, and each step he took on the burning coals of the caves didn’t burn him one bit. Why was this? Was it the Shield of Hydrona? Not at all. Nothing was affected Arthur because of his heroic glow. The glow surrounded him like a bubble and in this bubble he couldn’t be affected by anything.

Finally Arthur made it to the dragon. The dragon now just barely huffing and puffing for he was almost dead. Arthur took the sword and jabbed it right into the top of the head of the dragon. Instead of blood spewing out of the dragons head water started shooting out like a geyser. Soon water filled the whole area. And with the water little plants started to grow, on top of the plants trees started to grow, and in a matter of seconds there was a whole jungle around Arthur growing more and more rapidly around him. Then the trees started receding and roads and building came all around. It was starting to look just like the world that Arthur knows until-
Beep. . . Beep. . . Beep. "Arthur Alexander. If you don’t get up right this second I’m gonna light a fire under your ass," yelled Arthur’s mom. Arthur sprang to his feet in a second

"What in the hell just happened," Arthur thought to himself. "Was it a dream. Did that really just happened." Arthur ran to the other room where his mom was looked around and realized it was just a dream. "Well hell." Thought Arthur. He could’ve sworn it was real. He was sure he had slayed a dragon. "Oh what a bummer," he thought.

Finishing getting ready for school Arthur got his things and walked out the door. Taking the normal route to school counting the same number of cracks on the sidewalk Arthur was quite disappointed realizing that it was just a dream and he was still just a weirdo loser.

The saddest part of this story isn’t that Arthur’s dream wasn’t real. The saddest part of the story is that it was real, and so were all of his dreams. Arthur is the greatest hero of our time. Every night going and battling off dragons and other monsters, saving our lives everyday without us even noticing, and him waking up every morning thinking he’s a weirdo loser who just dreams of being a hero.

The Puritans

2007-01-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Puritans
The Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620 tired and weather-beaten
after leaving England for religious freedom. Once they landed they were all by themselves with little supplies in an unknown world. There was suppose to be another boat full of supplies coming, but it never came. With little supplies, an unknown world, and a cold winter coming the Puritans had to be tough, and that’s what they were.

The Puritans beliefs are very straight- forward and blunt. They believed in total depravity. Which means because Adam and Eve ate that apple and disobeyed god all humans are born sinful, the concept of original sin. This was a whole new way of thought for humans in this time. Instead of being great and holy, humans are sinful and evil. Another Puritan belief is God’s Grace. Their belief was that Jesus only died for the chosen only. God’s Grace could not be given or taken away. You’re either an "predestined" (the word the Puritans used for the chosen ones) or a "reprobate" (the word the Puritans used for the not chosen ones.)

The puritans were tough. Surviving the long and hard trip over the Atlantic, surviving the rough New England winter, and doing all of this with little to no supplies wasn’t at all easy. The Puritans being one of the first successful settlements in the New World set the bar for which Americans had to reach to become successful.

In the speech Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Johnathan Edwards, was a very fierce speech. Bringing many of the people in the audience to tears. Though he is very descriptive of hell it is still very straight- forward (and to his knowledge) honest. "Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen." This quote captures the main point of the speech. What he is saying is that on earth you are standing on this "rotten covering" that is to weak to hold you and the holes you can’t see are the many unseen ways you can die at any moment.

In the book Of Plymouth Plantation, written by William Bradford you can clearly see The Puritans plain text style. "And for the season it was winter, and they know that the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men--and what multitudes there might be of them they knew not. " This is how the whole book goes, very plain and boring. He gives you the straight facts and that’s it. William Bradford being a Puritan probably didn’t even realize how boring his writing was, Because like his writing his people were boring. Always working so hard for the next day so that the next day will be better, never realized that if you always work for tomorrow you will never enjoy the time at hand.
Whenever I think about the Puritans belief I always get very confused. How could so many people want to be a Puritan? The appeal of their success is the only thing that comes to mind, their beliefs on the other hand aren’t appealing. If I would’ve gone to one of their sermons I would have left depressed and never wanting to see a Puritan again. What is appealing about going to hell? Unlike most beliefs were there is some reward after living a good wholesome life and obeying your god, The Puritans believe on certain people go to heaven. And there’s no way you can earn it if you’re not blessed with god’s grace.

Total Depravity in the day of The Puritans was a whole new type of belief. Instead of being perfect holy creatures, humans are evil and born 100 percent sinful. It is surprising that people in that time accepted this. It’s a hard concept to accept, and in my opinion I think it was ahead of its time. In the speech Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God John says " The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment." What John is saying here is that death is coming for you in many unseen ways, There's no way to predict it, and you're going straight to hell and god isn't going to help you one bit. Because you are evil and unchosen.

Unconditional election is the belief that god only chooses to save certain people. This is the backbone to The Puritans beliefs. In the speech Sinners in the hands of an Angry God John Edwards says "God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death" What John is saying here is that god feels no obligation to save the unchosen from hell or eternal death.
What throws me off about Puritan beliefs is Irresistible Grace. Which means grace cannot be earned or taken. This makes there beliefs unlike most because joining their church isn’t going to help you get into heaven one bit if you’re unchosen. So What makes people want to become a Puritan? If you have grace then it doesn’t matter if you join or not because you’re going to heaven, and if you don’t have grace then it also doesn’t matter because you’re going to hell and there’s nothing you can do about it.

The Puritans wrote in a way that is called the plain style, which means they don’t want the reader to get any satisfaction from the book, but just get the facts. When you read the book Of Plymouth Plantation you just get bored. "But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amazed at this poor people's present condition; and so I think will the reader, too, when he well considers the same. Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by that which went before), they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor." This quote from Of Plymouth Plantation is very boring, but it works with the mood of the moment. If it was describing something fun and exciting it might be very plain, but since it’s something kind’ve down the plain style works for it.
The Puritans plain style writing is in no doubt the Puritans characteristics on paper. The Puritans just like their writing is very boring and plain. Also the Puritans being hard workers were probably very particular with everything, and you can see in their writing everything is very descriptive and particular. "The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow... " This quote from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is very descriptive and makes me feel like I’m on my way to hell. When John Edwards was writing this he had to have spent hours and hours making sure this was as descriptive as possible.

So in the end do you really hate Puritans? Though very boring, The Puritans were very hard workers and would’ve been good people to have your back. You can hate them, but how can you hate someone that simply spends their lives working hard trying to make tomorrow better? Their beliefs are a little different, but it’s their beliefs that made them tough and sturdy. If they would’ve been all soft and caring then they wouldn’t have ever made it past the Atlantic and definitely wouldn’t have ever made it through the winter. The Puritans set the bar on how to become successful in America, and anyone who came to America after The Puritans saw that bar and knew they would have to work hard to become successful in America. So in a way you can credit The Puritans for the great success of America, because without them there would be no "American Dream."

The Magic of Athens

2007-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

How can I explain to you the magic of Athens? The only thing that comes to mind is the aura. The aura in Athens is like a light breeze that just keeps passing by you, making everything seem nice and cool. It’s like the fountain of youth bringing you back into your happiness of childhood. Athens has all the ingredients to make it a magical city: The University of Georgia, bringing football, culture, and people to Athens the Historic Downtown district; and a music scene that is nationally known. These are some of the many unique attributes to Athens.

The University of Georgia is an enormous presence in Athens, bringing many contributions. The most recognizable to an outsider is football. Football brings thousands of fans full of pride from all around Georgia pouring into Athens. Being downtown during game-day can be a little crazy with thousands of drunken fans chanting, "Go dawgs." The football scene on game-day is cool, but actually going to a football game is where the fun’s at. 92,462 Fans screaming at the top of their lungs. The roaring of all the fans around you brings an undefinable joy that makes you want to get up out of your seat and scream, "D……. FENCE! D……… FENCE!" It can be quite the experience. Football is a big part of what the University brings to Athens, but not the biggest.

The biggest part of what the University brings is the culture. The University hires teachers from all over the world, and every one of those teachers brings a little something of his or her culture to Athens, and I believe that every culture in the world has something that it does better than everyone else. So with all this culture out in the open, the people of Athens can see it and embrace it. Also the culture from all these other countries brings amazing foods to Athens. Some Examples are Aqua Linda, an authentic Mexican restaurant, Thai of Athens, an authentic Thai restaurant, and The Bombay Café, a middle-eastern restaurant. All this culture the University brings is a key influence on how Athens is as a whole.

Downtown Athens is the stage at which the magic of Athens is portrayed. Drunken college students and awesome music makes-up a good bit of the magic of Downtown, but isn’t the main force. If you go downtown during the day and walk around, you’ll notice that all the building have a similar style. The Taco Stand, Mellow Mushroom, and Phoenix all have that laid-back, maybe a little dirty look to them. Which to me captures the atmosphere of Athens. Laid back, and sometimes a little dirty.

The music scene in Athens is killer. Many famous bands have come out of Athens. Including REM, B-52’s, and Widespread Panic. Athens is roaring with music. On any day of the week you can go and see bands from all types of genres. But I don’t think that the music of Athens is as much as an influence to the magic of Athens as it is the product of the magic of Athens because there aren’t that many cities with as many accepting audiences. In Athens we want to see something new and different, and that’s exactly what record labels want, too. So yes, I think it’s the people of Athens that makes up the amazing music coming out of Athens.

So what is the magic of Athens? Is it the University, downtown? I’m nor really sure, because To me you can’t define magic it’s something you can’t see and is extraordinary; and that’s what Athens is. With young people cycling in and out of the University, keeping Athens youthful, energetic, and a cool place to be, Athens is an island of blue in a sea of red, a needle in a haystack, a cowboy in the city. Athens is the "Something Different" everyone is looking for.

about me

2007-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Hello, My name is Jeffery Scott Green. I was born in Atlanta, but raised in Athens. I have two sisters, a mom and a dad. I spend most of my time hanging out with friends, going to school, going to work, and playing the Nintendo Wii.
I attend school at Classic City High. It is a pretty laid back school, and very flexible to my scedule. I plan to graduate in 08' and go to college. I was planning on going to some small college and tranferring to UGA, but now I think I want to go to California for college.
I work at Mama Sids Pizza, and like my school it's a pretty laid back place. All I do is wash dishes and take a delivery every now and then, so it's pretty cool. I only get paid minimum wage, which sucks, but I hear minimum wage is going up to $6, and that would be great.