Journal 8

2. Keep cool: it will all be one a hundred years hence.
This is saying that as bad as something may seem now, it will not always be that bad. Some things may seem like a huge deal at the time, but after 100 years, it will be forgotten about and mean nothing. It is important to live in the moment but not put too much weight on every little thing as they happen.


4. We boil at different degrees.
Everyone has different points where they can be pushed to. Not everyone is the same so not everyone will have the same boiling point. Everyone cannot be treated alike do to this because some people would get mad way more often than others would get mad. 



13. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
It is saying that it is better to live life to the fullest instead of just sitting back and being passive. Life is always changing and new things happen every day, so it is up to the person to go out and try new things. Life cannot be enjoyable when just going through the motion and not enjoying it to the highest degree that it can be. 

Journal 7

Journal Assignment #7

William Cullen Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl” (p.151) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (p.181)

Read the selections and write a detailed response to the following:

1. Compare/contrast the different views of nature that are being presented in the poems.  Refer to the list of classical and romantic characteristics and provide specific examples from the poems to support your analysis.       

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe uses a more romantic sense of nature than “To a Waterfowl” does. Poe’s poem has spontaneity when there is a tapping on the door and a bird flies into the house. Bryant’s poem has more harmony between man and nature in his poem because the speaker is taking a positive message out of nature, unlike “The Raven” where the message taken is negative.  The poem by Bryant was driven by his mind because the speaker was thinking about how the waterfowl compared to him. The poem by Poe was driven by emotion because of the loss of his loved one. He thought that Raven was relating him to the despair from his loss. “The Raven” has a gloomy tone while the poem “To a Waterfowl” has a happy and optimistic tone. The speakers have different tones towards nature by the end of each poem. “The Raven” takes place at an eerie time of darkness while “To a Waterfowl” is a sunrise which is beautiful and peaceful. The speaker in Poe’s poem has a conflict because of his loss of his love. The conflict in Bryant’s poem is not his own, it is just a question of where the bird goes. He gets an answer that he wants by the end of the poem; the speaker in Poe’s poem does not get an answer that he wants. The imagery and symbolism in “The Raven” puts a dark, dreary image in the readers mind. The poem “To a Waterfowl” puts images of a loving God and success in the readers mind. 

Journal 6

Journal #6

From Ben Franklin’s The Autobiography (p. 80 – 83)

Write a well-developed paragraph in response to the following questions.

1. Explain what was involved in Franklin’s plan for self-perfection?   What conclusion did Franklin come to regarding the effectiveness of this plan?

Franklin’s plan for self-perfection was on that was made up of thirteen virtues. He thought that if he could achieve all thirteen then he would be perfect. He decided to take them one at a time because once one was mastered it would be easier to master the next. He created a book to mark down his faults when he did something wrong in a certain virtue. He was not able to achieve perfection because everyone makes mistakes in parts of life. He came to the conclusion that even though he did not become perfect, his attempt still made him a happier and better person. It was effective in a way that allowed him to be happy because he still attempted.

2. Do you feel that a plan such as Franklin’s would improve you as a person?  Why or why not?  What would be your top five virtues? 

I think that it could improve you as a person if you took it the right way. Nobody can achieve perfection so if you did this and did not get discouraged, it would make you a better person. If you try your best to be perfect it is better than if you did not try at all even if you failed. My top five virtues are order, silence, humility, justice, and sincerity.

Journal 5

Journal #5 – from Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” (p.95-6)

1. Identify the specific argument that Paine is making in each paragraph.  For each of the arguments, identify whether Paine is making an emotional, ethical, or logical appeal and suggest an effective counterargument.

          #1 Paine’s argument is that we need to stand up to Britain and they are being treated like slaves by being taxed so much. Paine is making an emotional appeal to the reader to support his argument. A counter argument is that Britain is sovereign over the colonies so they can tax them if they like. He uses non-sequiter by comparing taxation to slavery.

         

          #2 Paine is saying God is on their side and He will not let them lose. It is an ethical or moral argument. They are morally right so God will support them. The counter argument is that the British King is supposedly appointed by God so why would God help the Americans over the British if God chose who leads the British. Saying God is on your side is dogmatic. The logical fallacies are begging the question because they say God is on their side but it can’t be proved. He used argument from authority and begging the question.

          #3 America would not be happy and at its best if it did not separate from Britain. Paine says we should fight now because it is not right to let the children fight later on but for the people to fight right now. Logical part says it will happen sooner or later, emotional part and ethical part is about doing it for the children. There is always going to be problems with Britain so it is better to break away now. A counter argument is that the parents could die and that would have a negative effect on the children. Begging the question is used because it is not guaranteed that they are going to win the war.

          #4 He uses argument by analogy to call the King of Britain a thief. He says we are not supposed to just sit there and take it when the King does bad things like we wouldn’t sit there is a thief broke into our house. We should fight because the King has trampled on our rights and we must fight back after what he has done. Counter argument is that the King has the rights to do what he wants unlike a thief. He says that the King will be haunted by all the people that he has wronged in his doings.

Journal 4

Journal Assignment #4

Descriptive Writing Assignment

Using Ann Hodgman’s essay as a model, write a detailed description of a recent meal that you ate.  Your focus should be on describing as many aspects of your food as you can.  

Important Elements:                      Concrete/Abstract Images

                                                            Multi-Sensory Images                                                                                                       Simile, Metaphor, Analogy

Dominant Impression

                                                           

 

            The flavorful and creamy taste of cookie dough ice cream is like no other. With each bite comes the taste of sweet cookie dough mixed with the soothing coldness of the ice cream. Ice cream on a hot day is as refreshing as jumping into the pool after being in the sun for hours. The taste is comforting and can be savored and enjoyed for as long as you make it last. The cookie dough in the ice cream brings back memories from childhood in the kitchen eating the cookie dough out of the bowl that mom is cooking in. Being able to have that cookie was the best part of the day as a kid. The ice cream melts in your mouth and reveals the hidden chunks of sugar filled cookie dough. The cookie dough and ice cream complement each other perfectly like salt and pepper or peanut butter and jelly. 

Journal 3

Journal Assignment #3

“No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch” – Ann Hodgman

(The Norton Sampler p.77)

Read the selection and write a one paragraph response to the following questions.

1.  Cite three specific examples of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery that you find to be particularly effective. 

“When I pulled open the container, juice spurted all over my hand, and the first chunk I speared was trailing a long gray vein.”

“I gagged my way through can after can of stinky, white-flecked mush and bag after bag of stinky, fat-drenched nuggets.”

“It wasn’t bad except for its texture- like meat loaf with ground-up chicken bones.”

2.  What do you think Hodgman’s purpose was in writing this essay?  What overall message/meaning do you take from the essay?  

I think that her purpose was to find out for herself if our food is like dog food. When we see the advertising it looks like it would be connected with human food. The advertising can be deceitful and deceptive. She was being satirical and humorous that she uses to send the message that she is not fully being literal. She is making fun of food magazines and things like that because she was a former food critic. 

Journal 2

Journal 2 - Annie Dillard – “The Death of a Moth,” from Holy the

Firm

1. How are the moths in the essay’s opening different from the moth at the campsite?  What do the different moths represent? 

The moths in the beginning are grey and dusty lying on the floor. They are just body parts laying there that cannot be identified. The one at the campsite is very descriptive. The dead dusty moths are not very inspiring, but the moth in the flame lights up and gave light and inspiration.

2. What lesson does the moth provide that Dillard takes back to her students? 

It shows her that you should not just sit back and not try your hardest. The moths in the bathroom are read and not even recognizable because they just died in a boring house and place. They are unrecognizable as for the people who do not try to do big things are not remember. The moth caught in fire lights up and provides inspiration. The moth in the flame symbolizes people that go for the gold and try their best in everything.

3.  How many references are there to fire in the essay?  What’s the larger significance of fire in the essay? 

The title of the book that she is reading has the word “fire” in the title. This is the book that made her want to be a writer. While she is reading, the moth flies into the fire and burns like a wick glowing gold. She leaves on candles when she goes to sleep instead of putting them right out. Her cat’s tail gets burned by the candle when it accidently got its tail caught in the flame. The fire is inspiration to show passion and emotion, it is a spark.

4. Address how each of the following quotes connect to Dillard’s overall point.  

a.      “I would rather be ashes than dust!
          I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
          I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in        magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
          The function of man is to live, not to exist.
          I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
          I shall use my time.”

                    -Jack London

This is a philosophy on how she wants her students to live their lives and how it should be done. It is better to go all out in your live and never me content with mediocrity. You do not want to be the one that just falls off and did not live for anything. You want to be the moth that burned when it died because it died for something. Dillard calls the moth a martyr for chasing after what it wanted even though it died.

b. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

          -William Butler Yeats

This is about education. She is educating her students and the reader by using the image of fire and all of its meanings. Something has to come from within you to push you to be the best. She tries to educate her students with what she learned from the burning moth hoping to inspire them because it inspired her. When you light a fire there is a spark and she is using education to spark an interest not just fill their brains with information.

c. “A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”  

          -Franz Kafka

This goes back to when she talked about using an ax. The ax is being used in literature metaphorically to show how to go at life. Attack the day and push hard to get excited about life. The book she read and the one she wrote both serve as inspiration to her and the reader as an ax breaking up the laziness within us and sparking our minds. 

Journal 1

No Budging

             Joe Smith has loved the environment his entire twenty-two years on the Earth. His favorite part of it is the park he went to when he was younger. That very park was being torn down to build a new mall. There was no way in the world that Joe was going to let his entire park be destroyed. When he caught word that the park was being destroyed, he formulated a plan of what he needed to do. He set out for the park, deciding he must be the one to stop it from totally being destroyed. When Joe reached the park, his heart dropped. All was gone except one final tree in the middle of the park. The wrecking crew was on break so it gave him time to start his plan. Joe laid out his beach towel that he had been carrying, along with a pillow he brought from his couch. Joe laid down on the towel and laid his head on the pillow, which rested right in front of the last tree. When the wrecking crew returned, they saw him lying their and were moved by his love for the park. They knew that they could not finish destroying the park, even if it was their job. They had not known that this park was so important to someone who lived so close to it. They realized that the money to destroy it was not worth destroying a memory of someone’s childhood. Joe knew he had accomplished his goal. He closed his eyes and fell asleep in his favorite park next to his favorite tree.