Journal 26 - SNOW

Some may know snow is just a mere light form of precipitation falling from the atmosphere. Others may know it as a glorious sign that Christmas is coming. But to me snow means some intense down hill sledding, figure skating, and snowmen / snow angels.I can not wait to take somebody either snow or frost sledding. We will have quite a bit of fun. Then ice skating is really fun as well. The whole concept of snow just brings me a warm feeling. The thought of huddling around a fire and drinking hot chocolate is just heart warming. I also love playing in the snow. Last year, my foreign exchange student Bene and I had a snow ball throwing contest. We would make snow balls then see who could hit the target first. It stopped when I hit the street light bye my house and it fell to the ground and exploded into millions of fragments. It also makes me think of snow basketball games in my driveway with Mark my brother, Erin my sister, Cody my sister's fiance, Bene, and my father. We would play basketball and it would be just everyone slipping all over the place and it was just so fun. I miss those times from last year. One thing that I am looking forward to something of which I cannot say on the blog because of the adult content. Let us just say it is the name of a laundry detergent. Some people say they do not like the winter season and the idea of snow. Some people think it is cold and depressing. But I feel as if winter is bringing Spring which means new life. Winter is the best season in the world and I am really looking forward to the season itself. I love snow! Then here is Christmas that the snow brings and there are carols and family coming together. Winter is just the best season ever.

The Minister's Black Veil

When some one is to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil, it is easy for them to tell how much it relates to the writing style of Dark Romanticism. One very obvious statement that can be said about the story is the whole thing is shrouded in darkness and death. Within the story we are told of how the black veil had such an effect on people. The darkness it said would fill people's souls with guiltiness whether or not they had done anything wrong. It then says, "Once, during Governor Belcher's administration, Mr. Hooper was appointed to preach the election sermon. Covered with his black veil, he stood before the chief magistrate, the council, and the representatives, and wrought so deep an impression, that the legislative measures of that year were characterized by all the gloom and piety of our earliest ancestral sway" (Hawthorne). This whole statement is just depressing. He was saying that because of the black veil, the term of the governor, which I assume was four years because that is what it normally is, was characterized by all of the suffering all of our ancestors have been through. So thinking about that there are plagues, wars, feuds, starving, droughts, all the times that are tough to get through and all of the suffering that people went through were like the governor's term. That is a depressing term of four years. So darkness is quite a large characteristic of Dark Romanticism and can be seen quite frequently within Hawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil.

Another thing that is easily noticed is the effect of the black veil of which Mr. Hopper wears has on the people around him. Here is a good example from the story, "From that time no attempts were made to remove Mr. Hopper's black veil, or, by a direct appeal, to discover the secret which it was supposed to hide. By persons who claimed a superiority to popular prejudice, it was reckoned merely an eccentric whim, such as often mingles with the sober actions of men otherwise rational, and tinges them all with its own semblance of insanity. But with multitude, good Mr. Hooper was irreparably a bugbear. He could not walk the street with any peace of mind, so conscious was he that the gentle and timid would turn aside to avoid him, and that others would make it a point of hardihood to throw themselves in his way.....It grieved him, to the very depth of his kind heart, to observe how the children fled from his approach, breaking up their merriest sports, while his melancholy figure was yet afar off" (Hawthorne). To read about how the people took in the whole situation is shocking. To think that the mere putting of dark cloth over someone's face has such an effect on every one around him, and I mean every one around him. His wife to be even left him because of the dark cloth over his face. You would never think it would have a huge effect on people yet every body around him would make sure to avoid him at all costs. Mr. Hopper lost everything just to keep the veil on his face because it was a symbol he said, yet no one respected that and they merely criticized him for it. It is sad to think about but I suppose that is what Hawthorne intended for his readers to see.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister's Black Veil.” In American Literature. Willhelm, Jeffory, comp. McGraw Hill. Columbus, 2009. Print.

Journal 25 - Masking

One time I knew a guy wearing a mask. Some called him a devil. Some called him a ghost. But I knew him as the phantom. This phantom was not evil, although many people thought he was. He had no parents and so he lived underneath an opera house. He was hiding from the people because people wanted to be separated from him because he was seen as a walking skeleton and often wore a mask over his face to hide the scarring and the ugliness. He fell in love with this girl who was soon to be the star of the latest opera. But soon he was discovered for it and many people hated him and tried to run him out of the village. He was known as the Phantom of the Opera, even though his name was actually Erik. All Erik wanted to do was to be understood by the fellow opera lovers, so he would send roses to the girl he loved and charge rent to the owner. He was just criticized more and his feelings were hurt even more. He one time took the girl he loved down to the dungeons and she fell asleep after some sweet sweet singing and then he just kind of watched her sleep, which was a little creepy. Then the owner of the opera house does not pay the rent to him so he gets really angry and cuts down a chandelier hanging above the play. This makes the whole place go mad and he soon is basically banished form the rest of the town, like he basically already was. Erik just wanted to be loved by Christine and understood by the town. But was he? No. Because he was very scary looking and wore a creepy mask and was all sketchy throughout the whole movie. I would have understood you Erik. I know you really were just a scary looking guy with a heart of gold who loved operas, which is a totally normal thing for guys to love.

The Pit and the Pendulem Relating to Romanticism

Dark Romanticism is a very dark style of writing that includes details of individuals being prone to sin and self-destruction. It also is very spiritual, meaning there are things like the devil, Satan, ghosts, vampires, ghouls, things like that. Another characteristic is they believe that nature is a very spiritual force. The world is seen as dark and very mysterious. When we look at The Pit and the Pendulum written by Edgar Allan Poe, we instantly see a dark effect upon the main character. The main character is a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition. The whole story is about him being tortured and what it felt like. Thinking about being tortured the way he describes it, it fills me with fear because of how descriptive it is. Here is an example from the story; "It was not that I feared to look upon things horrible, but that I grew aghast lest there should be nothing to see. At length, with a wild desperation at heart, I quickly unclosed my eyes. My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal night encompassed me. I struggled for breath. The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me. The atmosphere was intolerably close. I still lay quietly, and made effort to exercise my reason. I brought to mind the inquisitorial proceedings, and attempted from that point to deduce my real condition. The sentence had passed; and it appeared to me that a very long interval of time had since elapsed. Yet not for a moment did I suppose myself actually dead. Such a supposition, notwithstanding what we read in fiction, is altogether inconsistent with real existence;—but where and in what state was I? The condemned to death, I knew, perished usually at the autos-da-fe, and one of these had been held on the very night of the day of my trial. Had I been remanded to my dungeon, to await the next sacrifice, which would not take place for many months? This I at once saw could not be. Victims had been in immediate demand. Moreover, my dungeon, as well as all the condemned cells at Toledo, had stone floors, and light was not altogether excluded" (Poe). This statement and description is just so evil. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to think you are going to die from a sacrifice or the terrible torturing which is taking place. Then also, when Poe describes the dungeon as dark, it just sets up the creepiness of the whole scene.

"And now, as I still continued to step cautiously onward, there came thronging upon my recollection a thousand vague rumors of the horrors of Toledo. Of the dungeons there had been strange things narrated—fables I had always deemed them—but yet strange, and too ghastly to repeat, save in a whisper. Was I left to perish of starvation in this subterranean world of darkness; or what fate, perhaps even more fearful, awaited me? That the result would be death, and a death of more than customary bitterness, I knew too well the character of my judges to doubt. The mode and the hour were all that occupied or distracted me" (Poe). This is very stylish of Dark Romanticism. You see the talk of torturing the human soul, there is a dark dungeon. Then there are talks of death which is very dark. This story is just full of qualities of Dark Romanticism.



Poe, Edger Allan. “The Pit and the Pendulum” In American Literature. Willhelm, Jeffory, comp. McGraw Hill. Columbus, 2009. Print.

The Raven Criticism

When reading the criticism written by Harold Bloom on Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven, something that Bloom wrote really caught my eye; "From the beginning, the poem addresses a problem of interpretation: the speaker's first response is apprehensive, but he quickly denies the importance of the sound he hears" (Bloom). That is of course referring to this line from the Raven, "
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door........`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -This it is, and nothing more," (Grave). I found this connection intriguing so I read the lines a couple more times and I then realized what Bloom said was true. You can tell the speaker has a tough time interpreting everything throughout the poem. There could be many reasons for this; One: the most likely explanation is the speaker is very tired considering it is in the middle of the night, two: less likely, the speaker may be mentally slow and it is challenging for him to accept everything throughout the course of this poem, and a third, which could be likely; it is difficult to take in a talking bird, let alone a raven who are not considered one of the "talkative" birds and have a serious conversation. Anyways, that is just one of the things that stuck out to me in the criticism.

Here is another thing of which I was intrigued by. Bloom writes, "The raven appears. It is a creature out of old mythologies, the "saintly days of yore," and makes an irreverent entrance, awkwardly humanized with an attitude of nobility. It perches "upon a bust of Pallas" (a name for the goddess Athena), an appropriate object for the scholar's room, representing learning and wisdom. The speaker immediately attempts to interpret the bird's presence, to "read into" the ostensibly natural occurrence, and in doing so supplies the "meaning" of what the bird croaks. Poe explains that he chose the word "nevermore" to evoke a melancholy tone in a single non-human utterance. The word has "little meaning—little relevancy" until the speaker interprets its answer as a meaningful answer" (Bloom). I like how Bloom included Poe's actual reasoning for choosing the word which causes so much confusion to both the speaker in the poem and the readers. Then it is nice that Poe explains how the speaker interprets the raven's statements of the word, "nevermore."

It is strange to read everything of which Bloom has written and think about everything that actually goes into a poem. The Raven has a lot of different interpretations for the meaning; even in our class, a class of what? 13 kids, we had about four or five different ways people took the meaning in. The symbolism is immense and it is just a keen thing to think about.



Bloom, Harold, ed. "'The Raven'." Edgar Allan Poe, Bloom's Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1999. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Accessed November 22, 2010.

Grave, By The. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven." Heise Online - IT-News, C't, IX, Technology Review, Telepolis. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. .

RAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LITERAL MEANING:
One boring night while I thought of interesting legends and while I was almost falling asleep again some one came knocking on my bedroom door and said, "it is a visitor knocking on my door and nothing else.
I remember it clearly in a desolate December and each ember fell like a ghost upon the floor. I wanted it to be the next day and I wanted to take book from the bookshelves that were sad, sad about Lenore for the rare times I hear the name Lenore, which is nameless here evermore.
And the purple curtain thrilled me with terrors I never knew before so that now I was keeping on saying, "there is someone at my door."
My soul grew stronger and I finally said, "Sir or Ma'am, I was napping I am sorry. You knocked so softly and somehow I heard you" Then I opened the door and there was nothing but darkness.
I stared into the darkness for a long time thinking and fearing, doubting and dreaming dreams no man ever dared to dream before; but the silence remained and it was still. Then I whispered, "Lenore! and it echoed back, nothing more.
I turned back to my bedroom and my soul was burning, then I heard a stronger tap on the door. I said, "Surely it is in the window, let me look what is there and explore this mystery. It is the wind and nothing more!"
Then I closed the shutter when I jumped and a Raven came in. Not the least gesture he made not a second stopped but with the expression of a lord or lady was resting above my door. The raven was on a statue of Pallas Athena above my door, he sat and nothing more.
Then the bird tricked me into smiling by the stern look on its face. Then I said, "Though your crest is strong, you are an old Raven wandering around the night's shore, tell me what your name is on the Pluto shore!" The Raven said Nevermore.
I wondered if I had actually had heard this bird, though its answer meant nothing we cannot help but to agree that no living human has seen such a bird above their door with such a name as, Nevermore.
But the Raven sitting on the peaceful statue spoke only that word as if it what his soul wanted to say. Nothing more he uttered nor a feather fluttered until I said, "Other friends have been here before, and in the morning he will leave me as my hopes have flown before. Then the bird said Nevermore.
I was scared by this outbreak and so I said, "Doubtless, what it says is only its stock and store caught from some unhappy master who was struck with misfortune until his hope bore, NO MORE.
But the raven still charming all my smiling and I moved a seat in front of the bird and then I thought about what this bird meant when it said, Nevermore.
I sat and guessed but nothing could come up to those fiery eyes which were now deep in me. This and more was I thinking about with my head resting on the seat lining the headlamp and expressing She shall press nevermore!
Then I thought and the air seemed to grow thicker brought by angels whose foot-falls tinkled on the floor. I said, "Darn! your god has lent you, by these angels he has seen you rest and drug me from my memories of Lenore, I will drink to this kind drug and forget my lost Lenore" The Raven said Nevermore.
"This bird is the devil, prophet! Whether the devil tempts me here in my house, in my land, tell me!" The Raven said nevermore.
Prophet! This bird is evil! By heaven that bends above us tell this sorry soul within the distant Eden it shall grab a saint lady whom the angels call Lenore." The Raven said nevermore.
"That is my last word bird! Go back to hell and Pluto Leave nothing and leave me alone! Take my broken heart and go away form the door! The Raven said Nevermore.
And the raven did not move from the statue. His eyes have those of demons and the map throws shadows on the floor. My soul from those shadows on the floor will be lifted nevermore.

POETIC DEVICES:
There are quite a few poetic devices use in the poem, "The Raven". The allusions in this poem are those of the Raven being a person and having human-esque qualities. There is a lot of imagery about spiritual things, like the ember ghosts or heaven and hell. There are not very many metaphors in this poem. A lot of what this poem is is just saying how he was doing this, then he did this, then he did this. He says the word "while" a lot in this poem. Similes are pretty rare as well in this poem. There is a rhyme scheme as a lot of the end words rhyme.

FIGURAL MEANING:
The figural meaning of this poem is that the author is sleeping then something wakes him up so he goes and checks it out and soon enough he finds a raven on top of his door. He starts talking to it and the only word the Raven says is Nevermore. This confuses the author and he drives himself mad trying to figure out what it means. Then He tells it to leave and it does not so he asks the raven when he will meet with his love Lenore in heaven and he realizes it will be nevermore.

Journal 24 - Scared

I get scared quite a lot because my mind plays many many tricks on me. I tend to make my mind believe things that are not any where close to true. I see something and then I just make my mind gradually start to believe it until all of a sudden something that was a really small, or maybe something that was not even about me in the first place into all of a sudden being this huge thing that I am afraid of and do not want any part to do with. Then my heart starts beating really fast and it will skip beats and my mind just goes blank and I get really freaked out. The other day I was eavesdropping in a conversation that I could have sworn was about me. Then I kind of made myself believe that the conversation did involve myself and I was kind of afraid that it involved something bad about me. Then I asked what the conversation was about then I found out it had nothing to do with me at all and it was really quite the opposite of what I thought it was about. I do not know what happens with my mind and why it thinks this way. I just make myself self conscious and I just get really freaked out. It sucks. Another thing that I am afraid with is getting pulled over by a cop. I am a typical teenage driver and yes, I do indeed tend to speed quite a bit, especially at night. So when I am driving home and it is dark, and lets say I am going 60 in a 50, and I see lights in the distance, I make myself believe that the other car is a cop and I slow down a lot and quite frankly lose a lot of time because I will go down to like forty five and I am usually late at night because of undisclosed reasons.

Walden Literary Criticism

In one literary criticism which I read called Walden by Tiffany K. Wayne seemed like it was trying to get a point across. It seemed as if Wayne was trying to tell us that Thoreau's trip to Walden Pond was just a search to become better connected with nature for an indefinite period of time. In the criticism, she tells us Henry David Thoreau would frequently be ridiculed when he got back from the two year, two month trip; "Contrary to contemporary criticisms of Thoreau that he removed himself from society to live as a hermit during his "two years and two months" stay at the pond, Thoreau had no desire to live completely apart from human society" (Wayne). I thought it seemed pretty cool of Tiffany K. Wayne to tell us about how Henry David Thoreau was the first to tell us about measuring the depth of Walden Pond, "Walden Pond itself served as the best example of Henry David Thoreau's dual perspective of nature as having both physical and spiritual aspects, but also of having both knowable and unknown qualities. The pond itself is the symbolic center of the text, a place that Thoreau had known as a child and thus was, in a sense, part of his own self that he had come to learn about in new ways. The pond symbolized for Thoreau the human spirit or soul. Local legend was that the pond was bottomless, but Thoreau had set out first to measure the pond's depth—which he found to be more than 100 feet—and then to see that not as a limitation but as representative of holding specific identifiable truths that just have not yet been fully comprehended or mined" (Wayne). It was pretty cool to read about how a pond which Thoreau moved to and lived by could represent so much. Then having this person, Thoreau, telling us all of this information about this pond, and to find out that this pond had never been measured for its depth. Then this person who has been telling us all of the information, to be the one who measured and find that a small pond was not quite so small after all. This means almost there were parts of his soul to be discovered. This tends to make me think about my own soul and what I mean to the world and what I an do, and how I am connected to nature. Sometimes it seems hard to be connected to nature and I now understand why Henry David Thoreau wanted to get away from civilization and get in touch with nature and his self. It would be pretty cool to live by yourself for a couple of years by a pond and just have that time to think about everything. I would think it would be relaxing. According to Wayne, Thoreau only documented four seasons while he lived at Walden Pond in his story, Walden. Maybe the reason Thoreau only documented one half of his stay was because he was too busy enjoying himself and relaxing, being away form everybody else.




Wayne, Tiffany K. "Walden." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. accessed November 16, 2010.

Journal 23 - Unplugging

I think if some one were to "unplug" their life from all of their electrical things in their life it would be a really good thing for them. In my opinion you do not really need things that function on electricity. Back in my day we did not have no fancy schmancy electrical thingy mabobbers like those fancy cellular devices and radios. In my day we men were tough, we did not need no feminine mechanisms like those palm pads to accomplish things we men can do with our hands and the number one tool - our brains. Anyway, back to the subject. I would probably go to the middle of the back land woods in West Virginia where the cannibals from the Wrong Turn movies are supposed to be residing at. I think that it would be very relaxing just to be camping maybe with two or three of my best friends and just chill out in the woods for a day, a week, however long. It would be like the movie Without a Paddle and we would jsut be three guys facing the world and possibly hunting for DB's treasure. But being unconnected form the world and have no worries about anything in the world like stress from school, a job, whatever is causing problems in your life. I love having no worries, like the week of RAGBRAI I basically am just hanging out with two of my best friends for a whole week and the only thing I have to worry about is riding my bike seventy miles in something like fourteen hours. I think that someday I might do something like go away for a week and have no electronic devices. It would be nice and relaxing. It would be a little challenging yes, as I have to admit I am quite addicted to multiple electronic things like my computer (because of this class), my guitar (because I love playing music and I play the electric bass all the time), and my phone (because of my girlfriend but I do not mind being addicted to my phone because it is worth it to talk to her). It might start some good habits if I got away from civilization and "unplugged" my life.

Gandhi to Thoreau

Mahatma Gandhi's speech On the Eve of the Historic Dandi March and Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience have many similarities and even more differenced. They both are talking about, or their talking is based upon a ridiculous tax that neither of them want to pay. Mahatma Gandhi is talking about his refusal to accept a salt tax and Henry David Thoreau is talking about a poll tax that he does not want to pay. I think they both have very good reasons to angry about their taxes because both of the taxes were asinine. The salt tax which Mahatma Gandhi was mad about was ridiculous because it is salt. The British have no right to put a tax on a necessity at the time and place. The Indian people were not very wealthy at the time, well they still are not generally, but at the time they could not afford to be paying a lot of extra money for something that keeps their food fresh. Then Henry David Thoreau had a good point with his. The poll tax, or a poll tax I should say, is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, it is true that it is better for the wealthy people and it might raise more money for the government, but what about the poor? There is no way that the less fortunate people of the country could afford any poll tax because they simply just did not have the money. They can barely and in some cases cannot keep themselves living a healthy life. So I believe Henry David Thoreau had justification in his refusal to pay the poll tax.

There is one big difference in the two different writings. The time they write the essay, or speech. Henry David Thoreau write his essay, Civil Disobedience, after he had refused to pay the tax and he talked about what had happened to him when he was in jail and what happened before that and after jail. Mahatma Gandhi wrote his speech, On the Eve of the Historic Dandi March, before anything had happened to him. Gandhi says, "You may take it as my will. It was the message that I desired to impart to you before starting on the march or for the jail. I wish that there should be no suspension or abandonment of the war that commences tomorrow morning or earlier, if I am arrested before that time" (). He says he will probably and it is his goal to get arrested. He also says, "Today I shall confine myself to what you should do after my companions and I are arrested" (). He knows he is going to arrested so he just is telling the crowd what to do after he is taken away.

An obvious difference between the two writings is Mahatma Gandhi is addressing the people directly as it is a speech to a population of people who is there in front of him. Henry Davis Thoreau is just writing for a general population, no one in particular. He is just writing for himself and if someone were to pick it up and read it, then that is just fabulous for him.

"Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau." The Transcendentalists - including Ralph Waldo Emerson - Henry David Thoreau - Others - Dial Magazine. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. .

"Famous Speeches Of Gandhiji : On The Eve Of Historic Dandi March." Mani Bhavan - Gandhi Sangrahalaya: Mahatma Gandhi Museum & Reference Library. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. .

Journal 22 - Breaking the Law

So there is this crazy new thing called Romanticism where it is okay to break the law sometimes. Now if you are a criminal and think you can get away with whatever crimes you can because you are a Romanticist, YOU ARE WRONG!!!!!! There are some Romanticism philosophies that basically say it is okay to break the law. There is the philosophy of doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

So there was this one guy in history with the last name of Hood. His first name was pretty like a bird and it was Robin. So Robin was this cool guy that thought he should steal money from the rich people in his village and give the money he stole to the poor people. So he ran around burning our women and raping our churches to steal the money from the rich. Then he would give all of the money he stole from the wealthy people and gave it to the poor people so they could actually survive and not be in poverty. This is a case of breaking the law worse than Judas Priest. Yet according to the philosophies of Romanticism this was okay because he was stealing for the right reason, even though it may have seemed wrong, but really it was right, even though it was a bad thing, but it was for a good cause even though he was doing something bad, but really it was a good thing even though it seemed wrong.

Another Romanticism philosophy is putting yourself before the big picture of everything in the world. You are supposed to look at the things around you and decide what to do to make your life as good as you want it to be. So say if you want to steal something because you believe it will make you a better person and happy, then you can steal it wiht no consequence, according to Romanticism. The end.

Emerson and the work of Melancholia

I found it very interesting how Edmundson brings up the fact of why Ralph Waldo Emerson began to write his Romanticism writings. He talks about how he refused to mourn when his wife died in 1831 and then shortly after that Edmundson says that Emerson lost his best friend and brother, Charles. Then he tells us of James Cox telling Emerson it is okay to be sad in his The Circles of the Eye, "Getting over the deaths of loved ones is no tired or traditional 'spiritual' vision for Emerson precisely because it is a literal breathing in, or inspiration, of the death in life" ("Emerson and the Work of Melancholia."). I think when Emerson read that line he probably got the most inspiration he had ever gotten because he probably actually did begin to mourn the death of the two closest to him. Then from that mourning Emerson probably got this huge wave of new emotions coming at him and a bunch of them so he expressed this in his writing. Later in the Criticism we read an excerpt found in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Compensation, "Every soul is by … intrinsic necessity quitting its whole system of things, its friends, and home, and laws, and faith, as the shell-fish crawls out of its beautiful but stony case, because it no longer admits of its growth, and slowly forms a new house. In proportion to the vigor of the individual, these revolutions are frequent, until in some happier mind they are incessant…. And such should be the outward biography of man in time, a putting off of dead circumstances day by day…. But to us, in our lapsed estate, resting, not advancing, resisting, not cooperating with the divine expansion, this growth comes by shocks" ("Emerson and the Work of Melancholia."). That is a really deep statement almost about how he handled his whole situation with the deaths. He tells of how he put it off and put it off then he got used to having that "shell" on his back and by not facing this problem it would not allow him to grow.

I think the reason Emerson rejected Romanticism in the later years of his life was because he had finally moved on from the deaths that had happened earlier. When you think about it, and read everything I had written above it all makes sense. The whole reason he had started to write in the romanticist style was basically because he started to mourn the deaths of two loved ones earlier in his life. This was his whole reason seemingly that he started to write in the deeper style of Romanticism was because of these new emotions he was feeling. So as he grew older and he got more time to think to himself of these deaths he finally accepted them and embraced them. Then he looked at his writings from previous years and realized he did not have the same kind of compassion about that style of writing that he had had before. Then he just did not want to write in that style any more because he was past that stage in his life.

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. (accessed November 7, 2010).

Journal 21 - Emerson to Franklin

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Benjamin Franklin both believed in making themselves better people, in a sense. They both thought that if they could make themselves better they would make the world better. Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that an individual should believe in themselves and become their own individual and not be like any other person in the world. He believed that at the time when he was writing that the world was conforming too much and everyone was being to similar to everyone else. So you should be yourself so you are not like anybody else and you keep your individuality. Benjamin Franklin believed there should be this set of doctrines, well he used virtues to be that person. This set of virtues that he would use was a list of thirteen that attempted to make him a better person. It worked for a while but then it got old and he did not do those virtues anymore. I like turtles. I think Emerson's Self Reliance was better because by believing in yourself and becoming your own individual will last forever. I wish I was half of how good of writers Emerson and Franklin were because then I would have no problem with this class. Then it would be awesome and life would be easy because Franklin and Emerson were beasts at everything. I wish I had invented something like electricity. Maybe I will someday. Franklin and Emerson are just really awesome people and I would really like them. If only if only the woodpecker cries, I wish I could write more or else I will cry. I should be a rapper did you just read that rap? That was sick and off the chains. What if I started to speak in rhyme? That would probably the coolest thing since sliced bread. I should also invest in Brandon because he is hilarious and he has some great stories form the place that is Best Buy.

Journal 20 - Self Reflection and Taking a Break from Society

It is always a good idea to take some time away form the norm and get to to know yourself a little bit better. Take Bobby here for example, he used to be very sad about everything in his life and in the world around him. Bobby was kind of a loner. He was that person who did not have any family still around. He had had no friends for who knows how many years, and he just did not really like his life. One day he decided to go for a nice little walk in the woods. This was not just your casual walk through the woods in my backyards, he was walking through the woods in back country West Virginia. He just kept walking and soon enough it was night time. He just decided to camp out that night in a tree so he did. In the morning Bobby woke up and decided to go for another walk. So he walked all that day too. Once again he slept in the woods. He kept doing this every day and soon enough he was connected to the world. He was living on mother nature's nurturing. Soon enough he was in Georgia. He had walked through most of West Virginia and all of North Carolina until he was in Gainesville Georgia. You see, Bobby really liked Gainesville. He walked into the gas station at the town and he fell in love with the cashier, Rhonda. It seemed as if by spending a year in the woods Bobby had become more sociable and he knew his limits now; he had none. So Bobby and Rhonda fell in love. Soon enough Bobby became a public image for the town of Gainesville and he soon ran for mayor. He won in a landslide result and he made the society a perfect one all because he took a year break from civilized life. As in Bobby's case it was nice to take a break from society and reflect on himself.

Journal 19 - Ideal United States

The ideal picture of the United States would be led by the best President ever, Franklin D. Roosevelt. He had such a good image of the United States. The New Deal was a great idea that he had. It made the United States beautiful all the way around. Then it brought us out of the Depression. It was just genius of him to create a way to get people jobs and make the whole structure of the United States way better off. I am not sure how that would work out in today's society considering we do not really need any more public works constructed and we are very modernized now. I am sure Franklin D. Roosevelt could figure something out though to improve the economy of our nation. He was a great president during the war as well. I am sure he would have handled the whole war on terrorism much better than George Bush did. I think something that would improve our nation a lot would be to stop buying so many foreign products. That is what started the whole recession we went into. It also screwed over GM with everything that happened. If we just bought American goods and items it would boost our economy greatly. If only people could have realized this before everything happen. Another thing would be to make the states more independent and let them rule themselves more. I do not like the idea of states because they are like countries within a country, but the bigger country rules everything else while the other countries inside of that larger country have their own rules that are not really important. So maybe the ideal United States would be to just stop the federal government and just make all of the states their own countries considering they are just as big as countries in Europe. That is a little bit more debatable than just buying American goods, but hey you never know what could work considering our country is terrible with government anyway.

Journal 17 Romanticism Poem

The leaves fall down and the colors grow,
Winter is coming and the weather grows cold.
Clear the ground of green, make way for the snow
As the beauty of winter is about to unfold.

Winter is the time of rebirth,
It is the foundation of the rest of the year
The whiteness will end and the new beauty will unearth.
Spread your wings, fly and have no fear
As the seasons change it is a sight to see,
Will you my beauty come to me

OLD IRONSIDES ANALYSIS

Literal Meaning:
Take down the flag of the Constitution; it is has been up for a long time; many people have looked and seen the flag waving in the air; under it there was battle and the cannons firing; the meteors will not be in the sky anymore. The ship's deck was stained red from blood of heroes where the dead enemies knelt, where winds were running over the flood, where the waves were white below, no more shall it feel the winner's feet or know their knee, the monsters of the shore will pluck the eagle of the sea. It is better her shattered mass should sink in the sea; her thunders made the deep tremble, and there her grave will be, nail her flag to the mast, set all of the thin, aged sails, and give her to the god of storms, lightning and wind.

Poetic Devices:
There are really not very many poetic devices used within Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes. However, there is a lot of imagery in this poem that describes past scenes that have taken place aboard this ship. It also describes that dignity of this ship and how glorious and respectable it is. There is also the use of stanzas, being three stanzas total in this poem. It is kind of just a sad poem about how this beautiful ship should not be retired.

Figural Meaning:
The poem Old Ironsides is about an ironclad ship, the Constitution and how it is being retired. The writer is clearly very sad about the retirement of this ship which has fought and been victorious in many battles. He thinks the ship better be at the bottom of the ocean in its grave than be taken out of commission. It is clear the writer had very strong feelings toward this beautiful ship and did not want to see it go.

Poetry Analysis of Thanatopsis

Literal Meaning:
Nature is beautiful and speaks to people.
When someone dies, people are sad, and their world is dark.
A person who dies is forever in the ground.
The human essence is lost and mixed with nature.
The oak tree will embrace you.
You will not die alone and you cannot ask for a better resting place.
Everyone is the same after death.
Nature is a giant tomb for man.
Everyone of all ages is sad about death.
People on Earth are a small amount of people that rest in the earth.
Embrace your death, or become lost and alone.
Who will notice you when you die?
Everyone dies.
People will move on, but eventually join you in death.
Regardless of age, they will follow you in death someday.
Live life to the fullest, so it’s not agony when you die; you die happy.

Poetic Devices:
There are many poetic devices which are used in William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis, One that sticks out a lot to me is Imagery. There is a ton of imagery in this poem regarding the heavens, nature, and then a large portion about death. It wants you to think death as a peaceful thing and so it refers to beautiful things that surround us our whole life.
There are also metaphors within this poem. They are a little rare, but they do reside within the poem. Bryant compares the last thought of death to a bad omen over your soul in the first stanza for an example. Bryant uses metaphors to put forward an easier way to read, and a recurring thought of death with his metaphors within Thanatopsis.
I do believe that William Cullen Bryant uses a small amount of personification within his writing like when he mentions the valleys and the brook, he says they are respectable and they stretch in silence, which they cannot do.
Bryant uses many similes within this poem. It occurs many times throughout the poem like when he says,"the hills rock ribb'd and ancient like the sun," or, "When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit."
There are also three stanzas within this poem as they all reflect it seems to be different stages of accepting your death.

Figural Meaning:
The meaning of Thanatopsis is very deep. It says that you should accept your death. You should not be afraid because whatever you did on earth is forgotten once you die; you are just another part of the earth like past kings or thieves. Nature will embrace you once you are dead no matter what you have done in your life. So live peacefully and do not think about death.

Journal 17 - Bonding with Nature

I like nature. Nature is one of the most beautiful and saving things that you can have to use to your advantage. Whenever I need to calm down I just go outside and go for a walk in the woods behind my house. It is so peaceful just to walk around and think about everything. I seems that nature just seems to take out all of the bad things that are happening in your life and it replaces them with happy thoughts. It is like nature takes you to your own happy place. Then when there are storms it is even more amazing. I love to watch a steady rain, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and then thunderstorms are the best.One time that sticks out to me in particualr that I felt one with nature was probably about two yers ago. I was out for a run in I am going to say mid April. It was about seven in the evening I would have to guess and it was beginning to get dark. There was a thunderstorm rolling in off in the west and I could see the lightning striking and I could hear the thunder rolling in. Before too long it started to rain. At first it was just the steady rain where it is not too hard but just kind of raining. Then it began to pour. It was raining so hard you could not really see very far in front of you. Whenever it is raining this hard it is just straight impressive. I had never felt so great in my life. I felt like I was running so fast and I felt like there was just another spirit or something with me. It was so amazing that I could ahve ran forever. I ran fourteen miles that day when I set out to do just three. It was absolutely fantastic and I think I would be pretty sweet if it ever happened again.

Journal 16 - My Favorite Toy

I have many toys that I play with like four different bikes, seven guitars, drums, piano, legos, cds, action figures, hot wheels, army men, slinkies, a car, assorted balls, hoops, baskets, trails, and so much more! I love all of my bikes, one is an old 1960's Schwinn cruiser that I restored from a pile of rust. Then I have an early nineties Specialized Allez. It was one of the first transition bikes ever made where they took the shifting from the down tube to the end of the handle bars. Then I bought two bikes over the course of this last summer. I bought a Surly mountain bike that is the model of the Instigator. I love to take it out on the trails and just ride for hours. Then my pride and joy is my Trek TTX 3.0 Traithalon bike. It is so sexy. It is a sleek silver with a royal blue accenting color and IT IS FAST. I averaged like 28 miles an hour one time with it on a thirty mile bike ride. The bike is amazing!!! That is probably my favorite toy of all. I also love to play music. My guitars are a double neck custom electric guitar, a Washburn acoustic, a Gibson acoustic, a Fender Telecaster, a B.C.Rich Warlock, a piece of crap electric guitar that is less valuable than a Wal Mart guitar, then my favorite an Ibanez bass guitar. My main guitar is the bass guitar so it is my favorite. Soon I will trade this Ibanez for a much nicer Fender Jazz Bass more than likely. Then I love my piano. I love to play piano and I am actually pretty good at it. My piano is easy to play so it is amazing. It just needs a little bit of tuning. My car is a 1996 Pontiac limited edition Grand Prix GTP two door. Needless to say, it is probably the coolest car ever. I love driving it around. It is easy to drive and fun. Plus it is pretty fast.

Journal 15 Logic and Reason

The point when someone decides to use logic and reason is really whenever they want to. Say if some one is planning on jumping off of a building. They are standing up there on top and looking at the ground. It is this point when they would use logic and reason. They would be thinking, "if I jump right now, I am going to die and never live again." This would be the point where many people would think, "Okay, I am not going to jump because I want to live." Then they would use logic and back slowly away from the edge. That is one of the many times you could use it. Or say if some one were playing baseball and there was a runner on first and second. The ball gets hit to the third basemen who is pretty far away from his base. There is one out. The third baseman could run over to his base and get the out and maybe, just maybe. get the batter out at first. This would preserve the man from being at third. Instead, he throws it to second then the ball goes to first and the double play is completed. This logic of getting two outs instead of one is brilliant and protects the man from being on third, and gets the team out of the inning. It would be smart if many people thought about things before they actually did them, but many times that is not the case. Many times people just walk around all willy nilly and do their actions without thinking about them at all. This is just stupid. People should always use logic and reason when doing anything whether it be running a race or buying toilet paper at County Market. Many times things end up better when you use logic and reason, so you should do it! Go Logic and Reason! You will end up having a better, and full life.

Common Sense

I do not know the way I feel about Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Many of these things I would not classify as common sense. Like I do not know near as much about government as Thomas Paine knew about his government. I do agree with him however that it is kind of Bogus that the ruling of England was controlled by a kind and no one else can become the king unless they fell underneath his family lineage. Could you imagine having no one but George Washington's family be President of the United States? Our policies would never change and we would never expand our horizons or do different things. I completely agree with what Thomas Paine was trying to get through that statement. I really like what Paine was trying to get across to his readers under his OF MONARCHY AND HEREDITARY SUCCESSION (Paine). The first paragraph was dead on with my beliefs where it says it is true that every man was created equal but in no shape or form is any body treated equally. The poor were treated poorly, and the females were seen as lowly creatures who got no respect. Even in the Declaration of Independence it says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Yet we see it not just throughout the world, but in the United States today racism and feminism even when the very document that the country itself was founded upon says all men are equal. We see later in the document Thomas Paine speaking of the Great Britain government ending, "The authority of Great Britain over this continent, is a form of government, which sooner or later must have an end:And a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and positive conviction, that what he calls 'the present constitution' is merely temporary (Paine)." I too would be upset with the government of England at this time. All the government was was an arrogant ruler trying to control all of the world that he possibly could at one time. I agree with Paine when he says, "Men do not change from enemies to friends by the alteration of a name" (Paine). This is agreeable as to say if Al Queda changed their name to the American Loving Society. Just because their terrorist operation changed their name to something good about the people who are fighting the war on terrorism against them does not mean they will be friends. This goes along with any other good guys versus bad guys in the world. I really like the point Paine got across with this argument. I do not like Paine's idea of splitting each one of the American Colonies and splitting them into six, eight or ten districts. What would the colony of Rhode Island do? There is a very small land mass there and It would be interesting to see the amount of population represented by those districts. Also say if there were a very small amount of people living in one district and none of them wanted to be involved with the politics, how would that go over with the congress? It is all very interesting to me.

Paine, By Thomas. "Thomas Paine's Common Sense - Text Version." Archiving Early America: Primary Source Material from 18th Century America. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. .

Literary Criticism

What J.A. Lemay says in his literary criticism of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is that it is one of Benjamin's Franklin's greatest work of art. However I do not agree this truly was his greatest work of art. I do however like the ideas that Lemay uses when trying to explain why the Autobiography was Franklin's greatest work. He uses legitimate background information to prove his point to his readers. He also uses good quotes from other people about Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography to prove how great the book actually was. A good one that brings his point across is, "Franklin's Autobiography is the first great book in American literature, and, in some ways, it remains the most important single book. One cannot claim for it the structural perfection of, say, Henry James's Ambassadors or Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, nor does it possess the grandiloquent language of Melville, Whitman, or Faulkner. But Franklin's Autobiography contains those 'short quick probings at the very axis of reality,' which, in Melville's opinion, were a touchstone of literary greatness" (Lemay). This is a very strong point he makes. He states it is not the most perfect book in the world and it does not have perfect grammar or anything, but the idea of the book and its content is what makes it one of the most important books of all time. In my opinion, it is better to say that something is not the greatest in everything because nothing in the world can be the best in every single category. I would rather have something be great in some key categories of which I am looking at it, then it can be truly great. It is like when you compare the an Mac computer to a windows computer. It is true macs are not good for gaming like windows are, but overall they are a better computer. Macs only have a dozen known viruses where windows have thousands. Macs are way faster and function better, and are just an overall better computer. Another thing I really like about Lemay's criticism is he asks the reader questions and challenges his readers to actually think. In the criticism he asks what the American Dream is (Lemay). No one knows what the American Dream actually is, it could be different for many people depending on what they are looking for. Lemay does not give a straight answer and just says there is a common cliche and no set 'dream'. This leaves room for reader questions and gives them a chance to put some of their own thoughts into Lemay's writing. Whether this is on purpose or not, it is a great literary element for this kind of writing. Lemay actually tells us what the main theme of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is and explains to his readers what the book is going to be about if someone would want to read it. This is nice because it does not tell us any of the events that happen within Franklin's book, but it gives the reader somewhat of a heads up and an idea of what they are going to be reading about. I hate when you read something and do not know what its purpose was, then you get an idea of what it is about and you read it over again and you understand it. This is a help to a situation such as this.

Franklin, Benjamin. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. [S.I.]: General, 2009. Print.

Lemay, J.A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." InThe Renaissance Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. October 11, 2010.

Journal 14 Declaration of Kirk

The Declaration of Kirk is a very precious thing. It is how the man named Kirk Robert !@#$% lives by. It goes a little like this - I Kirk Robert !@#$% am on this day of the third day of this December in the year of nineteen hundred and ninety three in the village of Alytus in the beautiful and godly country of Lithuania am now born to this planet they call earth. From this day forth and for all of the days of my my long and prosperous life will I always be the best man alive. When I am young I will move to the village of Springfield in the state of Illinois and be nice to everybody around because I am just that nice of a kid. I will walk around like I own the place because I do. I am Kirk Robert !@#$%! If someone comes by me on the street and waves at me I will wave back because I am a nice kid. I will be loving towards all the creatures of the land. I am one of these creatures of the planet and I follow the golden rule. When I grow to the age of two, Nile !@#$%^&* and I will play the game of soccer and we will thrive on the prarie grasslands of central Illinois and create a dynasty that no one besides Alexander the Great can compare. I will go to the school of Pleasant Plains throughout my life and try my hardest at school because I care! I will respect women when I am on a date, I take them to a park and maybe the museum and I will only try to kiss them if they are ready. I will help my mom and dad by getting a job so I can help pay for school supplies! When I walk into a house I will wipe my shoes on the mat because someone just cleaned that floor. I Kirk Robert !@#$% will live by these values and I will be a very nice person to everyone.

Journal 13 Spirit

What do I think of school spirit? That is quite a question. Sometimes I like the idea of school spirit but other times I do like the idea of school spirit. I really like homecoming week because it makes you get a sense of actually belonging to your school if you actually do participate. It is fun to compete against all of the other grades for points to see which grade actually likes their school the most. Sometimes however school spirit can go a little to far. That point is when you start arguing with other kids from other schools about how much better your school is than theirs. Or like a couple of years ago a bunch of kids from Pleasant Plains vandalized the Lutheran High School and wrote go Plains all over the building. That is when it becomes too much. But showing pride in your school is never a bad thing. It is nice to go to the mall or something and walk around to see people walking around with different school logos and athletic teams or clubs on their shirts or pants, or maybe even hats to go a little crazy. People should be proud of their school because it is where they learn many things and have many great experiences in what many people call the time of their lives. One thing I dislike about homecoming week is the girls. Many times girls get too involved in the activities and start bossing people around telling them they need to dress up for this day or do that in the pep assembly. Earlier during homecoming week some kids in my grade, who will be unnamed, got in a fight with a different group of friends about what the lip sync for the pep assembly was going to be. The group of friends that started the argument ended up getting the so called "honors" to do the dance and never even organized an actual thing. Then Zander and Luke stepped up and did the Napolean Dynamite talent show dance and won! That dance was pretty great and it showed what great class pride they had! It was a great way to step up for the sake of earning points for our grade. Another good thing I saw during homecoming week was the penny race. It is fun to have a competition that raises money for a good cause like the Pleasant Plains can drive or whatever it is called.

Journal 12 Working With a Partner

Some people work better when they work with a partner.Other people tend to struggle while working with partners. To me working with partners is a valuable skill to learn for the future. Imagine you are the co-boss of a company and you share the company with your worst enemy. Your company is the biggest manufacturer of stools in the whole world. Recently however, people have not been buying stools and the stool economy is heading way down hill. You decide your company needs to make something else rather than just stools, but you cannot do this alone because the company is owned and managed by someone else as well. You have to work together with this person in order for you to make a living but you hate this person. You have to have this skill of working together that you learned when you were a young child of working with a partner. This is why people learn to work together and share when they are little so stool companies can flourish throughout the world. If people did not work together then what would the people behind me right now be sitting on? I can tell you it would not be stools! I think people should never be able to pick their partners during classes because then it is like you get to pick people you already know and get along with. It is fun to get thrown in that awkward situation with somebody else (not really). If only people would get thrown into awkward situations everyday, then there would be a lot of pretty turtles walking around. The I love turtles kid would be very happy then indeed even though he was clearly dressed as a zombie. Whenever people love turtles as much as him, they get into Daniel Tosh's show and get made fun of quite a bit. I am a taken man by a very lovely woman.

Journal 11 - Ethics and Values Amongst the World

Who here has any values? No one? Alright, it has been established nobody in the world has any values at all. When we look at the world as a whole, it is easy to see the world is ethically and valued challenged. The world is basically at a war because there are so many countries fighting somewhere for some reason. They do not care what it hurts or who it hurts. They just do not care at all. It is absolutely ridiculous how stupid the world is. I wish I had no values like most of the world. But no I actually care about things and people. I am such a good person. People are just so obsessed with me that I would think the world would become a much better place. They would follow the excellent example I give to everyone of being an amazing person. If only the world actually followed my example. There would be no wars, or disagreements, and a lot of Muse. No crappy music. Maybe that is what gives all the people in the world bad values. They listen to terrible music like Soulja Boy, or Jason Mraz. They are pathetic and make people go angry and want to make people riot against each other. Maybe fight each other. People are so jealous and selfish it also makes people go crazy. some people are just so stupid today. I hate so many people and it just gets really annoying. If only people were like me. I would never argue with them. This whole obsession with me being a utopian human being is just to get three hundred and twenty five words. Sometimes it is just hard for me to collect all of my thoughts on one subject and pile it into a blog from. I can not concentrate enough to get all of those words. I do not have the mental capacity for it.

Journal 10 - Religion versus Science - The Ultimate Showdown

One thing that has been constantly brought back up in conversations is whether God exists or not. I have been in so many conversations about God and atheism I have lost count (not that I was keeping count in the first place). It is one of the wonders of the world whether God does actually exist or not. In my opinion it is one's choosing whether God exists or not. I do believe there is a God and he is working constantly trying to make this world the best it can be. In many other people's beliefs there is no God. These people are usually educated very well and know too many things that "prove" God does not exist. . My brother is one of these people. He went to Notre Dame and had some bad experiences with education. He was stressed too many times and ended up just losing faith. One of the smartest people I know, my old cross country coach, is one of the most faithful in God people I know. I had a conversation about my recent sleeping troubles and he gave me hints of praying before I sleep. He is an anesthesiologist and went to the University of Illinois and then Washington University for his doctor degree. He is always full of knowledge and you would think he would be an atheist but no, he is one of the strongest Christians I know. I do not like discussing my beliefs to the public so I will not do that. People become too obsessed over things that I believe in and it causes riots. Things like that can cause catastrophes all over the world because I have such a strong following. I am pretty sure the whole world watches every single little thing I do and then they try to be exactly like me which usually does not work because no one, I repeat no one is like me but me.

Puritan Exam Project

Journal 9 - Organized Religon

Organized religion is a very interesting ordeal. There are so many different forms of organized religion it is just mind blowing. Just Christianity alone has so many branches of its own religion. Then let us take into account Islam, Muslim, Pastafarianism, and of course Scientology. There are just so many examples of organized religion it is almost as many as the number of different insects in my bug collection is Zoology. That number is an astounding and fascinating number. But organized religion is such a valuable thing to so many people in this world. Today in advanced placement American history we talked about how Benjamin Franklin, who was a deist, was happy about the number of people praying in the streets or singing hymns during the Great Awakening. It also played an important role in the establishment of the United States. In the Pledge of Allegiance itself it says, "one nation, under God." This means our whole nation is under God's power and we do things through him, well not anymore. It should mean this because when you watch National Treasure featuring Nicholas Cage, you see about how religion played in the movie, which is historical fiction in a sense. Many people, not just people but famous people are going into the new religion of Scientology. This means they believe in these alien life forms and worship some alien. I am not sure of the exact facts, but look it up on Wikipedia and you should find your answer there. Wikipedia never lies! People like Will Smith and Tom Cruise are joining this religion. Even South Park made fun of it. You know you are hitting something brilliant when South Park makes fun of it. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are hilarious, but they are certainly going to hell, which is a part of organized religion! When you look at things it is obvious that it plays a role in many major parts of the world today.

Journal 8 - Proofreading

Proofreading sucks. No one likes to proof read ever. But it is something you must always do when writing any kind of paper, essay, or anything. You papre migt ind up looking lick this. No bodies want there papre to look lick this. Id looks reelly stoopid, espeecially win they spell stuff wrogn. So proofreading is a vital and necessary commodity every one must do when writing something. I am one of these people that does not know how to proofread. Many times I catch myself having awful grammar, probably like you see in many of my blog posts. I hope that you do not write like me, and if you do, I sincerely apologize. The video we watched is probably the best thing since sliced bred. I too wish I could get into a colleague. That would be just fantastic. Or even college. That would be great. It is my biggest dream since I wanted to fly on a spaceship to the moon and be a spaceman. Proofreading is what professional people like Josh Cornett do. If you would ever look at one of his papers which he has written, you would see a beautiful work of art to which no one, not even George Orwell can compare with. Josh Cornett is a beautiful writer who has the best proofreading skills. His motto is, "I proofread so why can you not proofread?" This is the motto which I go by. Josh Cornett is my hero so I do whatever I can to be just like him. So remember kids, if you proofread, you will get into college (hopefully) and you will end up meeting a bunch of people. These people will be the people you will spend the rest of you life with. Maybe one of these people you might end up marrying. This can all come from proofreading. So Proofread so you can end up going to college, not look stoopid, and end up meeting your friends and possibly your significant other whom you will marry and have a happy life with.

Journal 7 - Superstitions

I am a very superstitious person. One might even say I am one of the most superstitious people around. I am not one of those crazy people who never washes their underwear. That is gross. But the only time I am superstitious is with my running and bike racing. I always wear the same things. The same shoes, socks, shorts, jersey, and sweatband. The sweatband is the only thing which does not get washed, which I do not think it is too disgusting, just a little bit. I usually do the same routine as close to possible as I did the race before. I drink out of the same water bottle even if this means pouring water from a different water bottle into the water bottle I drink from. Another thing I do during race season that involves superstitions is I never cut my hair during the season. So usually right before the season I will be participating in is when I get my haircut pretty short. Then it grows wild and crazy for the next three months until my season, and hopefully the state race is over. I am not however a weird person who never washes any thing or thinks karma is real. That would be weird. I also do not like people who think wearing something really obnoxious is cool. A superstition of mine is to make fun of these people for how stupid they look. I think that can be included as a ritual of mine because I do it before every race. Some people get tied down to superstition and it really holds them back. They can not function properly without doing some crazy ritual or being superstitious, like superstitious man. He is like super man only superstitious. If only I was not superstitious at all because then I would not have to worry about anything besides a race. That would be my biggest dream come true!

Journal 6 - The Blame Game

There were killings the thirty second of the thirteenth month of October. I was a witness. The Court brought me in for questioning. Say I was in the United States Supreme Court, and I was being interrogated about the crimes of Alexander Olivero. I knew his family was in the gang business and they always had been. But these crimes of quedripleton trillion gazillion murderings were not him and his family. Ever since I had been held hostage though I had a grudge against Alexander,Lisa, Dan, Anthony, Vinny, Cleo, and Audrey Olivero. They held me hostage when I was running for President and now I was being asked to prove them innocent. No way, no how, no anything towards them for sympathy. They asked me if I had seen them at the scene of the murders, I said yes. They asked me if I saw the Oliveros and their pets murdering those poor quadriple-ton trillion gazillion people, I said yes. I wanted them thrown behind bars, which they were after my answers. My enemies were now behind bars safe from all other people. Soon enough however, the real criminals were caught. He had no identity but I knew him to be Kirk Gower the Quique crazy hands and Dr. Ob. They were found killing poor little kittens behind Club Chrome. Their murder weapons were found to be the exact one that were used to kill the quadripleton trillion gazillion people. The Oliveros, much to my shame and the whole world, had been released out of jail. The Supreme Court came after me because I had committed perjury in the highest court in the universe. I was thrown in jail for seventy years. When I was released out of jail the seven Oliveros then came after me and murdered me with the same weapons crazy hands and Dr. Ob had used.

Don't lie otherwise you might get thrown into jail for seventy years and be killed by the Oliveros.

Journal 5 - Punishment

Many parents today are beginning to ground their children and are becoming more strict with their children. I do not have much experience of being disciplined because, I am just going to be straight with you, I am basically the perfect child. My parents never have to yell at me or anything because I have never done anything long. I have the same thing that Jim Carey had in the movie Liar Liar. My young son once made a wish at his birthday party that I could not lie, only instead of having it be for only day, it is like that for life. So if I ever did do something wrong, my parents could just ask me if I did something wrong,and I would have to tell them what I did. But instead I can not lie and I am the perfect child.

Let us just say that for once my parents did have to punish me for some reason, or let us just say I have grown up and now have my children, whom are all meddlesome kids. I will eventually have to punish them. If I was a parent in this day and age I would punish my kids by taking away all of their privileges. If I really wanted to get to my kid and make sure they did not ever do this wrong thing again I would make sure they got the point that I did not like that. I would take away computer, television, phone, driving, and having fun with friends privileges. They would be absolutely miserable for the duration of their punishment to assure that they would never do that wrong again. If I did all of these things and made sure that right after school they come home and do not do anything but homework and read for their last seven hours of the day, they would be miserable and would never want to do anything again. I might let them go outside, but only close to the house.

Journal 4 - Traveling

I have not done too much traveling in my day. Before I was born, my parents would travel all over the country with my siblings. Then I was born and it was like the whole world became boring. I have been to Yellowstone Park, but I was like three years old when I went there so I have no clue what it was like. My paren's idea of vacation now is RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI is short for Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. So for my summer vacation I spend a whole week riding a bike and camping outside in ninety to one hundred degree weather. What a great traveling. I do enjoy it thoroughly however because biking is my favorite thing to do. It is my favorite sport and my dream is to be a professional bike rider and ride on Le Tour do France. So this week long bike ride is kind of viewed as a "training" time for this goal. So the week starts out on Saturday night. Twenty thousand people gather in a city and just hang out. It starts on the West side of Iowa and you ride to the East side. From the Missouri to the Mississippi is the ride. It is basically a week long party for people who are over twenty one. Every night you stay in a big-ish town and then have all of these festivities for the riders to do. There is a beer garden and this is where the parties happen. I usually spend my nights standing outside of the beer garden listening to the band, swimming, and chasing girls. These are what my traveling times are. They are very fun and I do actually enjoy them. I do, however, wish that I could go on an actual vacation to somewhere cool like Europe. Hopefully I can go see my old foreign exchange student, Bene. I would enjoy that very much if that happened. It would be my very first real traveling experience!

Journal 3 - Hostage Situation

If I was ever held hostage this is how it would be -

I woke up today only to find that I had been captured by the evil Crips. These Crips were not just any regular Crips. These were the Crips of the Crips. I could not find out where I was. All I could see was a haze. The foggy morning haze where the light is blinding. I look around and see the giant boxes and broken windows. I figured I was in Zander's basement. I always knew Zander and his family were in the gang business. His mom only coming home on the weekends. I knew it was suspicious. Lisa Olivero had to be the Crips's message lady. I look up and I see a masked man coming towards me. It was obvious to me it was Zander because of the tall stature and the akwardly shaped head that only Zander had. He made me sick now. I asked him why he was holding me hostage in his basement. He only responded with, "for what's right." I tried to weasel more out of him but he would not budge. It was obvious to me that his family was Republican since I was running for President and was the heavy favorite. I heard Zander talking about how sick I made him because of my foreign policies. It was clear they wanted Jordan Romager for President. I could not let that happen. She had everything looked at the wrong way. She was worse than Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton - combined. I then looked around the room and saw a piece of shattered glass, perfect for cutting my bonds. I crawled over to the glass, cut my bonds, and ran away from their house to safety. I then turned the Oliveros in to the police and all was well again. I went on to win the Presidential election. This is the end of my blog.

Journal #2 Using Animals

One day, Mr. Snake was traveling along in his little world. He was traveling along at python level speeds. He was getting all of the little blocks and his length was growing to cover a huge portion of the map. Soon he took up the whole map. He then moved into a new map. This was a universal map and all of the little creatures of the world were in this universal map. So the snake keeps moving along at python speeds and eating all of the blocks he can to become huge and set the world record for length. Then, a little mongoose came along. Usually Mr. Snake hates mongooses, but today, Mr. Snake was in a good mood. He was cruising along at very high speeds and he was huge. So Mr. Snake decided to be nice and let the mongoose go in front of him. Now Mr. M. Goose was not expecting the snake to let him go in front of the snake. Mr. M. Goose was actually preparing to fight the snake since the two are usually fighters worse than two dragons and knights. So when Mr. Snake let Mr. M Goose travel in front of him, it turned Mr. M. Goose into a very good mood. Mr. M. Goose said to Mr. Snake, "Why thank you Mr. Snake! That was very hospitable of you to let me interrupt your cruising to let me travel in front of you." From there, the two became the best of friends. Every day Mr. Snake the snake and Mr. M. Goose the mongoose defy animals hostility and are two peas in a pod all because of the one hospitable move Mr. Snake the snake made towards Mr. M. Goose. But the story does not end there! From that day on, Mr. M. Goose was hospitable towards other creatures of the endless map. Mr. M. Goose would let Mr. Turtle go in front of him. Then Mr. Turtle let Mrs. Cow go in front of him. It turned into a never ending circle with all of the creatures of the endless map letting the other creatures go in front of them. Soon enough, an animal let Mr. Snake go in front of him and Mr. Snake was repayed for his very kind and hospitable action towards Mr. M. Goose.

Be hospitable and all the creatures of the land will be hospitable towards you!

Journal One The Natives of America and their culture

Well, I do not know all to much about the natives of America. I know they lived in teepees. They also live in reservations and make a lot of money through their casinos. I know a native American who is very rich because of their casinos. In the Twilight Series, the native Americans are seen as transformers between human and wolves. They can turn into wolves when they want to fight the Vampires.

In southern America, well southern from Illinois, tribes would create giant temples nd pyramids to worship their gods. The Mayans also had a percieved trip to hell after they died. They would go through seven levels of torture and then they would reach hell. After this they would be risen to heaven. There were seven levels, I believe, or what I can remember. It was also a very realistic journey. Their soul would arise from their body and they would have to make the trip through a famous cave located near the capitol of their civilization. They would then enter the cave and bein the journey. They would go throuhg seven levels of the cave, like the room of daggers. The room of darkness. The room of flames. The room of sacrifice. I can not remember any of the other rooms, but I am pretty sure there were seven levels of finding hell.

According to the wise Alexander, "The Native Americans were very good at farming, but it seems they were very bad at staying alive." This is an interesting statement and it is 100 percent true. Tere were three brilliant, no not brilliant, amazing societies that just seemed to disappear over night.

They also seemed to have a knack for creating calenders. Their calenders have already ended like seven times. So in a sense they fail at making calenders, but were geniuses at the same time. If only they would have created a strong calender system that lasted forever and cause everyone the confusion of the world ending in 2012.

Symbolism Journal - The Symbolism within the bad grapes

The Grapes of Wrath is full of symbolism. A lot of these symbols can be connected to religion. I will concentrate on these images taken mostly from the Bible for this blog.

The first religious symbol I will talk about is Moses. No, Moses was not in the book, but Rose of Sharon's dead baby symbolizes Moses when he was just a small child. In the Bible, Moses was sent down the Nile. He later went on to free his people from suffering. Rose of Sharon's dead baby is sent down the flooded stream and in a sense has the same burden placed on his shoulders. This is confirmed when Uncle John tells him to go and get them.

The second religious symbol is the one we see at the end of the book when Rose of Sharon is nursing the malnourished man. When she does this, Rose of Sharon becomes a figure of motherly love. Her child, much like Mary, is in control of a higher deed. He is to free his people from suffering. Rose of Sharon made the sacrifice of sacrificing her maternal item to this man that needed it. She becomes a sign of comfort and the end of suffering.

Drum Roll Please and Summary Part two

On with the summary. The sharks take away all of Santiago's weapons. Then Santiago is defenseless against all the sharks and all of these sharks eat all of the meat off of the fish. Santiago rolls up to shore with nothing but the fish's carcass and broken hope. He goes to his apartment/ house and sleeps. He gets woken up by his boyfriend Manolin, and has a nice talk with him. The fishermen measure the carcass and find the fish is eighteen feet long. The end.

Yay! This is my last blog and words can not explain how excited I am to hit that orange Publish Post button below this blog. But I have to have three hundred and twenty five words of this blog for it to count. So I am going to do a review over the books that I have read over the summer!

The first book I read this summer was called Grapes of Wrath and it was written by John Steinbeck. It was really long and boring. The Joads travel to California because their life sucks in Oklahoma and they have many mis adventures along the way there and when they get to California. The second book I read this summer was Fahrenheit 451 and that was written by Ray Bradbury. This was the most predictable book of all time. It was about this married guy Montag who meets a girl he has a crush on then does all this reading, which is illegal. He then gets caught and kills his police chief. He gets chased by a giant mechanical dog but gets away. Montag then finds a group of book lovers and finds out the quote he wants to remember. The final book was The Old Man and the Sea and was written by Ernest Hemingway. It was disappointing and I just told you about that book. Overall the books this summer were pretty terrible and boring to read. I am glad we only had to do two essays, but these blogs have sucked royally and are far worse than a third essay.

But I am done with my summer blogs and can enjoy the final day of my summer with no stress! Yes!

EL FIN

The Old Man and the Sea Summary

I have finished the book, The Old Man and the Sea which was written a while back, almost in ancient times, the year 1951 (at least that is what the copy right date is on the copy right page found in my book) by Ernest Hemingway. I was disappointed in the ending, to say the least, but I did enjoy some of the book. So this is what I got from the book: So there is this old man, who's name is Santiago. Santiago is a cheap old man. He buys nothing in excess and buys only enough to get by on. He likes a little boy named Manolin. Santiago gets made fun of by all of his other fishermen friends because he sucks at catching fish and has not caught a fish in eighty four days. He tells Manolin on one of their dates he wants to go deep into the ocean to end his sucking at fishing and to catch a big fish. Manolin is all like, "I respect you baby, so I am going to give you some live bait." So Santiago starts out in the ocean and goes deep into the middle of nowhere and drops a line. After a little while a fish bites and it carries him away. This fish is strong, and soon enough it has been like two days of trying to catch this fish. Then he sees the fish jump out of the water and it is the biggest one he has ever seen. Then the old man goes crazy and starts talking to the starts and thinking of a man he has a crush on who is a famous baseball player. He brings the fish close to the stern of his boat and kills him with a harpoon. The fish has one last leap of glory and then dies. Santiago ties the fish to the boat and begins to sail back towards land. On his way back the fish bleeds into the water which attracts sharks. Soon there are to many sharks and they gradually take away all of Santiago's weapons.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Five

What the heck? That is it? That is how the book ends? Josh Cornett was right. It was like reading a plot, then more plot, then bam end. It is like there is half of the book missing. I am confused as to why an author would end a book like this. It leaves me with so many questions. These questions will never even be answered either because Ernest Hemingway is dead! This book might have one of the worst endings of all time. Just seriously, what the heck?!?!?! This book is The Old Man and the Sea and it was written by the man whom I said was dead earlier, Ernest Hemingway. I wish I could have at least found out what the other fishermen thought of him. But no, they just measure the fish and probably drop a deuce in their pants. Eighteen feet is quite a large fish though. I remember when I caught my first eighteen foot long fish. Now I am on to bigger and better things. I only catch Moby Dick's, Killer Whales, Shark Whales, Blue Whales, and Great White Sharks. There has to be danger involved otherwise I can not have any fun fishing. It gets to boring out there just sitting on a boat waiting for my fishing pole to move. That is why I usually get a bunch of dead raccoons, opossums, and skunks off of the side of the road and make them bleed into the water to attract all of the sharks. Remember if you are not scared, you do not care! But they, my respect goes out to the little man that could. He caught a decent sized fish and tore his hands into eight thousand pieces. Congratulations, but thanks to Ernest Hemingway, I do not get to find out what happens to you. So many questions! So little answers! Come back to life, Ernest so I can ask you what happens. Please, I will let you come fishing with me.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Four La Parte Dos (for those spanish lovers out there)

This is why this blog goes out to those spanish lovers out there. I just got done reading one of the most sad things of which I have ever read. Poor old Santiago has had this fish that he spent three days trying to catch, literally eaten off of the side of the boat. Then he had to carry the skeleton up the huge hill towards his house. It was probably for the best that none of the other fisherman were on the shore when the old man arrived there. He would have looked rather foolish when he strolled up to the beach with nothing but a skeleton. I also have realized I forgot to say which book I am reading and all of that other stuff. I am reading The Old Man and the Sea. It is becoming to be a pretty good book. This book is written by the great and mighty Ernest Hemingway. I also forgot to say why this goes out to all the spanish lovers. This was the worst part of the book because it was so sad to read, so it sucked. In my opinion, the two years that I took of Spanish were easily the two worst years ever. I hated that class. Back to the book though. Santiago did have what he got coming for him. He tied a dead, bleeding fish to the side of the boat where the blood can drip into the ocean. I think it is a shark can smell a drop of blood from five miles away. Maybe it was not that extreme but it is pretty ridiculous how sharp their noses are. So imagine if they smell a bunch of drops in the ocean. Pretty obvious there is something waiting to be eaten there. I would follow that scent if I was a shark. It was a real shame though that all of the work Santiago had been doing for the past day amounted to nothing. I also feel bad for the fish. It was killed for nothing. It did not feed any starving under-priveledged children, just some scavenger sharks.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Four

It is about time Santiago! You finally captured the fish that you have been trying to catch for the past three days! I am of course talking about The Old Man and the Sea, which was written by Ernest Hemingway. My fun fact of the day is the Old Man and the Sea was copy written in 1952! Some author info is that Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899. Then he died in the great state of Idaho in 1961. But I just got to the part where Santiago finally kills the giant fish. I wonder what the feeling is like when you just got done with a three day bout with the biggest fish you have ever seen. I would probably be feeling a great sense of pride and manhood. Then I would imagine I would sleep for the longest time ever. I hope Santiago takes back the fish to his village and shows them how good of a fisherman he is. I am sure he will have no people laughing at him anymore. He is way more beastly than the guy off of River Monsters. No one can compare to the great Santiago who is now, in my eyes, seen as the fishing god. Seriously, what a beast! I also have the most respect for the fish as well. He had the same fight as Santiago did, only instead of the line burning his hands, it had a hook stuck in its mouth, which I would imagine would hurt way worse. Your mouth is one of the most tender areas in your body, so I am sure that fish's mouth was not feeling the best for three days. The fish also decided to go down in stardom and take one final leap to show off how much of a beast it was. I want to see what this fish looked like. It would be cool if it had rainbow scales like that one magic fish I read about when I was a small child.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Three Part Two

The Old Man is a champion. Or should I say el campeon? He is used to these all night long ordeals. This one with the marlin, and then before that he had an all night bout with the great negro from Cienfuegos. That probably wore him out I would imagine. But I am beginning to gain some respect for this old man. While he was having a duel with this giant fish, he caught another fish, but not a tiny bass, a frickin dolphin. With one hand. This old man is a legend and is not afraid to be a hero. I am to confused as to why Santiago is still trying to catch this giant fish. Sure, he would be crowned basically the fishing god of all time, but he says the people in the village are not worthy of a fish like this. I thought he was not religious? But here he is, all of a sudden he thinks he is Noah and gets to decide who lives and who dies. Santiago needs to concentrate and keep his mind in the game. I like fish. Oh wait, he did not! While he was taking a break from using his arms he did not take a nap or anything. What an idiot. The Great DiMaggio would have taken a break. Even with a bone spur, but this old man is no great baseball player. He is just a lonely old man who thinks the stars and the fish he is trying to catch are his friends. If only he woke up in the morning, got kicked in the nuts, he might then realize that he is lonely and needs to get out and have a life. I also forgot to mention again that I am reading the Old Man and the Sea. This book, which in no way can be real (this guy is too much of a hero), is written by Ernest Hemingway.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Three

I am reading The Old Man and the Sea. It might be one of the most ridiculous books I have read in quite a long time. the old man, Santiago might also be one of the kindest, stupidest people I have ever read about. Ernest Hemingway is the man who created all of this by the way. Thought you should know that. It could also be considered a copyright infringement if I do not give the author some credit. So there is his credit, and I also give him credit to making a terrible story line and making Santiago a homosexual and weird. Being gay is not a choice, and Santiago is a perfect example of that. One thing I do like about this book is Santiago's personality. He is such a nice guy. No straight man could ever be that nice. He lets the bird sit in his boat to rest. He thought about feeding the fish which he is trying to catch. No way is he straight. I still dislike the narrow story line. We have met like two characters. Then we met a fish. Now there is a bird. Yipee! what a story. Now try to capture the fish. Darn I could not get it so I am moving into my second day of fighting this giant fish that i somehow am still managing to hold on to even though it is bigger than the boat that I am traveling on and am alone. Ernest Hemingway, you sir, are making an unrealistic book at the moment. Either that, or he should have his own show like the guy from River Monsters. Now that man is a beast at catching fish. He once caught a four hundred and fifty pound stingray. I do not even know how you can catch a stingray! Yet, here this man is doing the unbelievably day after day. Catching giant fish. This is something my boy Faber from Fahrenheit 451 would do.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Two Pt. Two

So I am reading The Old Man and the Sea. The Old Man and the Sea was written by Ernest Hemingway. I have figured out so far that the old man is this man named Santiago who is quite old. Then the sea is the sea. At least I am pretty sure. I am not too sure, the sea could represent something like Santiago's sexuality or something like that, but more than likely it is the actual sea. I am through the first two days of the book. Santiago has hooked a beast marlin who never gets tired and pulls he old man's boat basically for a day. He was a tank. As they are getting pulled Santiago sees a pair of porpoises and it reminds him of another time when he mercilessly killed a female dolphin as its male mate was watching this all happen. I can not believe Santiago and his heart. Just who does that? I find it really hard to do blogs for this book because it is just so simple that there is not much to write about. In Fahrenheit 451 I could actually complain about stuff. But The Old Man and the Sea is so boring. There is only two characters and a fish. The fish does not even play a part except for pulling Santiago away from shore and all of the the fishing boats. If I was Santiago I would be beginning to get a little bit scared. I can not even see the shore anymore. They say on a clear day your eye can see four miles on flat land. So I would imagine there are mountains where Santiago is because he is Mexican. Those you can see from like fifteen miles out. So he has quite a long rowing back to shore ahead of him. Imagine how jacked his arms would be though after he got done rowing to shore. He would be super ultra ripped.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day Two

I am reading this pretty boring book. This is not way to end my summer reading. I was hoping my last book would be exciting, but no, all of the books that I have read this summer have sucked. But no, why would Ernest Hemingway want to ruin such a good streak that John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury had already started? The Old Man and the Sea is very boring. I am to the part of which I believe is about halfway through the second day of Santiago's adventure. He just caught the ten pound tuna fish. To me, that is a pretty big fish. I do not know how he plans to catch a fish so big that it will eat the ten pound tune. That will be one mighty big fish, and I do not think Santiago, an old man, will be able to reel in the fish by himself. If he can, then he will have my respect. I still think Santiago is gay. Before he left he creepily went to Manolin's house early in the morning and they have a nice walk with Santiago's gear. Who knows what Ernest Hemingway actually meant by Santiago's gear. It could be a multitude of things. Maybe it is a fishing pole, a bait box, food, or beer. Maybe it is something crazy that none of us have ever heard of before. Or you could use your imagination and think of something else. I would also like to comment on Santiago's expert rowing abilities. He must have been on Harvard's rowing team or something, because not too many people can make their fishing lines not drift with the current. What a beast. And Santiago is such a lonely man, I mean he thinks the flying fish are his friends and he talks to himself. He is comparable to the crazy cat lady form the Simpsons cartoon show. I feel very bad for him. Especially since he does not have too much life left, and his wife is gone.

The Old Man and the Sea - Day One

So I have started my third and final book of the summer. A little late, yes, but that does not matter because this book is very short and I will have probably a grand total of two hours spent reading this book. So a very short time indeed. This book that I have just started is called The Old Man and the Sea. It is written by the great author, Ernest Hemingway. I have already established who the old man is, and the old man is Santiago. Impressive right? But I have finished with Santiago's first day. I have also read about Santiago's past luck. It is either he is not irish, or he just plain old sucks at catching fish, but how can you go eighty four days without catching a fish? I could go to the pond next door and catch a fish within an hour. I also have established Santiago's sexuality. He has to be gay. When I read this book it feels like he has a weird "crush" on his younger fisherman/ helper boy, Manolin. It is creepy. I do feel bad, however, for Santiago because he is basically the loser of all of the fishermen. Everyone makes fun of him because he sucks at fishing. At least he has one friend, who also appears to be gay. Manolin was all up in Santiago's grill telling Santiago there is nobody like him. It is kind of gross. They both like baseball, though so that is pretty cool. I actually know what they are talking about when they say the "great DiMaggio." He was really good at baseball. The dream that Santiago has is a very interesting one. I wish I always dreamed his re-occuring dream of little lions playing on a beach, but instead I get these really weird dreams. I also wish I got to go to Africa like he did when he was younger. You know, maybe I would meet some of my family while I am there.

Fahrenheit 451- The Book is finally burned in my mind

It is about darn time! This is more than likely going to be my last blog over Fahrenheit 451. I would do some summary blogs just to take up space. But those are stupid and I hated this book way too much to do any more blogs on it. I just want to do a review of the book and be done with it. I have done far too many blogs as it is for this book. Ray Bradbury sucks. This book sucked. I hated it. I wanted to shoot myself in the face as I was reading it. It was so unbearable that I once threw up because of the books terribleness. It was absolutely mind boggling how somebody can write a book this bad. This book was so bad it makes a research paper look fun. Okay that is enough. I would probably read this book before I would write a research paper. The rest of the statements are true though. I just really disliked this book. Mildred really sucked. Montag also sucked. So did everyone else besides Clarisse and my boy, Faber. Fahrenheit 451 was completely unreal. People are never going to drive so fast you can not see the country side. People have to see the beautifulness of the country side. It is what makes people people. Machines are things that would do that. People are not machines unless they are like Darth Vader. Now he was a machine that just so happened to have some person inside of him. Overall, I thought this book sucked. I hope I never have to look, speak, dream, or think of it ever again after this summer. It makes me gag. These blogs did not help my enjoyment of the book either. Ray Bradbury, in my mind, did a horrible job of making this book interesting. He should probably never write another book again. I am pretty sure he is not with us any more, which might be for the better. Fahrenheit 451 sucked royally.