Reflection Blog: Civil Disobedience

I found "Civil Disobedience" very hard to understand. The aspect that government has on our society is very powerful, but yes, our conscience and our decisions have a lot of power too. I think that in this three part story, that Thoreau was trying to compare and contrast the effect of government and the effect of our own decisions. In the very beginning of the story, Thoreau starts out by explaining that government rarely presents itself as useful. That is a pretty moving statement. He believes that the accomplishments achieved in the past lied in the character of the people involved in them. He thinks that if government was involved even less than it was that these accomplishments would be a lot successful than they already were.

Upon finding a criticism, I learned some part of history that connects Henry Thoreau to his story and his opinions. Henry Thoreau was thrown in jail because he refused to pay a toll tax during the Mexican War. The Mexican War at this time was a perfect example of how the will of the people was not taken into consideration anymore.

The fact that Henry Thoreau thinks conscience comes first is a concept that I have never really thought about and its quite interesting. Henry's thoughts and ideas paved the way for civil rights that became increasingly important after he had died. It is interesting how someone thinks that a good solution is to avoid the American government and follow your conscience instead.

One of the main characteristics of the transcendentalist time period is the formation of revolutionary thoughts and ideas. Henry's thoughts, like I said earlier, became so popular later when civil rights came into play, and it gave a different outlook on government for future generations altogether. Another characteristic of the transcendentalism time period is personal intuition, or valuing feelings over reasons. In Thoreau's story, the "feelings" are represented by conscience and "reason" is represented by the government.

Henry Thoreau refers to the government as a machine in his story. At some point all machines wear out. He comes up with his own theories about government and how it works. Government controls us, but it is like a machine and we usually listen to it. That is why they are very few real men left, if any at all, who will listen to their conscience first and the law second. Even though I do not understand politics very well, I found the story very interesting. This one man had the ability to get people to listen to his ideas and they actually helped the future generations too. As for another transcendentalism characteristic, I think that Thoreau favors individual worth over that of society. We are all part of society, under one government. So basically he is saying that the conscience that we have will get us farther in the end than the government will because there are going to be times when the government fails us like it has before, and in his opinion repeatedly does.

Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "'Civil Disobedience'."Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0453&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 27, 2012).

Journal #26 Break the Law

I think it is acceptable to break the law, only when you are desperately in need. For example, if a dad were to get laid of his job and he does not have enough to support his family, and he decides to steal something so they have food on the table that night, I find that more acceptable than someone who steals food just because they were hungry and did not want to pay for it. People take the law for granted sometime. I have witnessed someone who obviously had money with them, but it was easier to steal something instead. I think that people in need are the ones who are more inclined to break the law and be able to have a case against them, or to represent them. There is always assistance though, so I do not think many people need to break the law in order to get what they need. There is always food stamps, and shelters, food pantries, and stores that have cheaper supplies for the people that are desperately in need. I also think it is acceptable to break the rules when you are younger. That is just a part of the younger generation. They say that in order to be old and wise you must be young and stupid first. That shows that to be "stupid" you made mistakes and break the rules. Breaking the rules is an inevitable part of being a teenager. Other than those circumstances, I do not find breaking the law acceptable in any way. If it was, then there would be no need for cops and stuff like that. It is dangerous when people break the law because more and more people would want to do it too. I do not think that breaking the rules is really acceptable either. I am not saying that teenagers automatically get to break the rules, but every once in a while they do, or they do not have a normal childhood.

Reflection Blog: The Minister's Black Veil

I like this story a lot. It was very interesting to read, and then have it read to me. The overall story has a really strong theme, which I think is why the story is so interesting. I noticed many dark romanticism characteristics right of the bat. The black veil is the topic of the town. People do not understand why the minister is walking around with the black veil. That adds mystery to the story because if people in the town do not know why he is wearing the veil, then the reader does not know either. The quote "He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face," is such a powerful quote in the story. Just because Mr. Hooper added a piece of crepe to his face, all the characters in the story suddenly think he has gone mad and his personality has changed. This is the mystery that I find in the story because if people really knew Mr. Hooper, then adding a piece of crepe to his face should not change their opinions of him. The minister is very smart in this story and also has a lot of perseverance. I think he sends out a good message with the black veil, because he is right. We all do have sins and mistakes, making our face a black veil. There is a lot of emotion on our faces, we can easily hide what we have done wrong, which is represented by the black veil.

This story also has an aspect of horror to it. I think this because of the color black. When using the word black to describe the veil, it just gives it a whole new meaning. I think of something very dark, never being able to look into his face while talking to him. This frightens most people in the town. I can tell when the woman says "and I would not be alone with him for the world. I wonder he is not afraid to be alone with himself."

I think this story represents the dark romanticism because of the tragedy at the end. Mr. Hooper said he would wear his veil until the day when all people were to remove their veils and then his face would be seen once again. This time came at his death bed at the end of the story. He was about to enter heaven where he would no longer need the black veil hiding his secrets and his sins. Sin is also a major characteristic of dark romanticism writing because it is such a sad, and painful topic. No one likes to admit their sins and they happen everyday. The black veil is ultimately a symbol for sins, and how each day we cover our faces, which covers all our sins. Another term associated with dark romanticism is "monsters." The townspeople in the story believe that Mr. Hooper had become a monster because he was walking around with such a grotesque veil that people could not longer see him as the Mr. Hooper he was, but what he is now,

The theme in this book is very powerful. The black veil was such a bold statement made by the minister that all of his congregation should learn from him instead of abandoning him because he covered his face with a black piece of crepe, showing the power of his individualism, which is another characteristic of romanticism writing.

 Werlock, Abby H. P. "'The Minister's Black Veil'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS581&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 25, 2012).


Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Minister's Black Veil. New York: Glencoe Literature. 279-90. Print.

Journal #25- Fear

When I think about fear, I start thinking of all the things that I am afraid of. Like first of all, I am afraid of spiders. They are my biggest fear. Yesterday, I was doing my laundry and saw a spider in the laundry basket. I turned around to put my clothes from the washer into the dryer and when I looked back the spider was gone. I was terrified and very paranoid. The second thing I am afraid of is bridges. They scare me. Especially when they are over water. I do not know why, but I just do not like the feeling I get when I go over a big bridge that have water underneath them. I tend to hold my breath over bridges. I also do not know why. Or someone tends to hold my hand if it gets that bad. The perfect example of that is when I was going to Florida with my family. We had to cross about a 2 mile long bridge to get to our house from town. Each time you had to stop on the bridge and pay a fee for crossing. So not only was I scared on the bridge, but the fact that we had to stop just freaked me out more. I am scared of clowns. They are not funny, they are not cute, and I do not care if there is a real person inside there, I do not like it. One of them tried to come up to me at a parade and I ran and hid from it like a little child. I do not know how children find them amusing at all. Then, I have minor fears. I am afraid of Styrofoam. The sound it makes, makes my stomach hurt really bad. I do not like when people mess with it and I also will not touch it because of the sound. Then, I hate nail files. The sound they make also make me queasy. I cannot file my nails and I cannot watch other people file their nails either. Since I have OCD, it just the little things I am afraid of because my fears are what throw me off balance, and I cannot stand it.  

Reflection Blog: The Pit and the Pendulum

This short story is very interesting. It starts out when an unnamed narrator is swooning in between life and death. He describes his conditions, his visions, and his environment as he feels that he is going to die, but he is not dead yet. At first for me, the story was kind of hard to follow. The dark romanticism characteristics are present from the very beginning of the story all the way to the very end. The horror, the pain, the violence, and the overall tragedy of the story are the main dark romanticism characteristics that I see present in the story.

Upon doing research from blooms literary reference, I did find out a lot of characteristics from the story that I did not really catch on to. Instead of someone who is merely struggling from life and death, I learn he was captured and also being tortured. Knowing those pieces of information gives me a whole new outlook on the short story. I think that the way his perceptions are not all clear and the fact that his thoughts are hazy adds a sense of mystery suspense to the story. Since he is captured by the Spanish inquisition, you start to wonder if he will ever get rescued. One of the most significant or suspenseful quotes in the story "Down -- certainly, relentlessly down! It vibrated within three inches of my bosom! I struggled violently -- furiously -- to free my left arm. This was free only from the elbow to the hand," shows the ultimate struggle. The prisoner is seconds away from a tragic death and the reader is just waiting for his robe to be slashed, when in turn the suspense dies down. 


I like this story because it reminds me of  a scary story. When I think of dark romanticism, I also think of darker times. I'm just assuming, but I would say the prisoner being captured was one of the darkest times of his life. The story is so powerful and moving because of how the suspense is distributed in the story, The very beginning started out very vague, and the reader kind of has trouble following along. As the story progresses though and the mystery of the story is added, it actually becomes a pretty frightening tale to think about.


The one thing I find interesting about the story and that we have not really discussed with dark romanticism yet is the overall tone of the story. The tone is almost too calm. It is like the prisoner is just trying to display what he is going through. I did not feel an emotional connection really because I did not feel like there was a lot of emotion being portrayed by the character other than being scared, which is understandable given his circumstances. For example, in this quote "I forced myself to ponder upon the sound of the crescent as it should pass across the garment -- upon the peculiar thrilling sensation which the friction of cloth produces on the nerves," the prisoner almost sounds calm. Even though he cannot really save himself from death, he just sits there listening to the pendulum that will ultimately kill him. 


Overall though, I think the story is really pretty interesting to read about. The fact that he was captured and is being tortured and survived and in the end got rescued is just a story in itself. Then, by adding the dark romanticism characteristics, there is a pretty good horror story that is made from all the tragic events. 




Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "gothic literature and the literature of empire." Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ELOE097&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).


Werlock, Abby H. P. "'The Pit and the Pendulum'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS676&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).


Poe, Edgar A. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Literature.org - The Online Literature Library. Literature,org. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/pit-and-pendulum.html>.

Journal #24 Spooked

I used to be really spooked out by my room. I thought for a long time that my room was haunted. I had played the Quija board in my room before with a friend and after that all these weird things started happening. Like my lights would flicker and then all of a sudden they would all shut off on me. I would get really scared because it was random when they would shut off. I would be listening to music or watching t.v and then all the power in my room would shut off. Also, my Ihome's volume would turn up and down by itself. That would creep me out the most because I would be sitting on my bed and then my ihome would turn up to a volume of 27 or so and slowly drop. I was not the only witness to it either. Arianna saw it one time when she was at my house. She got a little scared and we hung out downstairs instead of in my room. The lights situation was eventually fixed when my dad checked the circuit box and found a problem with my lights. He fixed that problem for me so that did not happen anymore. My Ihome still hasn't been figured out though. I would not even be standing near my ihome and the volume would turn up. Sometimes though, I would even be downstairs and come up to my room to music playing on my ihome. Another thing with my room was early in the morning, around 3:00, my t.v went to one of those public service announcements where your screen turns green and they do that annual test. Well, I watched because my t.v did not look normal. My screen was black, not green, and lasted for a long time. I don't know if it was a dream or not, but I swear there were actual people talking on this annual test. I got really scared. I sat there and listened and watched until after about 3 minutes it eventually shut off. I was already scared because it was 3 in the morning. I went to see if my mom and dad just got a service announcement too because every t.v should get the same thing. My mom was watching t.v and she said she never got an announcement and told me to go back to bed. I have never figured that one out either.

Reflection Blog: The Bells-Edgar Allan Poe

I started out by analyzing the Edgar Allan Poe poem called "The Bells." The first stanza of the poems starts out by going into great detail about the bells. The first line states to listen to the sleigh with the silver bells because their melody brings a sense of joy. They shine in the cold air of the night while all the stars are shining too, which makes the heavens look like they twinkle. The bells keep perfect time that makes pretty music, which comes from the silver bells. The second stanza changes color from silver to gold bells and talks about weddings. It talks about how the bells send out a sweet harmony bringing happiness throughout the night, while people are dancing and the turtle dove listens with satisfaction as the golden bells ring. The third stanza talks about brazen alarm bells. The alarm bells give more a sense of terror. They shriek out of tune and send a horror sound. It also mentions how our ears can tell the danger from sound of the bells. The fourth stanza talks about the laborious sound of the iron bells. The iron bells sing a dark and gloomy song. The iron bells make people shiver in fright because of the muffled monotone. The king, though, makes a joyous noise from the bells. He dances with the rhythm of the bells. So basically, what I took from the poem is that Edgar Allan Poe is describing different kinds of bells, which gives people different moods. Our ears are able to tell the difference from these bells, so we know what each one represents. Dark romanticism characteristics are present in this story. One we start getting into the brazen and iron bell characteristics, the mood changes to dark and horrifying. The sense of horror and darkness are major themes in the dark romanticism time period. Also, the word somber was brought up when he started talking about the iron bells and the brazen bells. Having a more serious and somber tone is also a characteristic of the dark romanticism time period. I think the poem also has a suspenseful kind of mood. It starts out very happy, describing the bells that are pretty in appearance and also make beautiful music. As the poem progresses, or builds up though, the poem starts exploring the bells that are not so nice on the ears, making a shrieking noise that is out of tune. Another characteristic of dark romanticism is when pain is present. Pain is present when the poem talks about "how we shiver with affright" (Stanza IV) at the sound of the bells. The poem also represents aesthetics, which is another characteristic of dark romanticism. Overall though, I think the poem is a good example of the dark romanticism writing style. Edgar Allan's poems have a nice flow and are easy to understand, so the meaning of the poem and characteristics are really clear to me and the dark romanticism characteristics stand out more.


Poe, Edgar A. "The Bells." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. The Literature Network. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/poe/575/>.

Journal #23 Scary Stories

When I watch scary movies or hear scary stories, there are many elements I pick out that make them scary. First of all in movies, the suspense building up to a scary part makes the movie scary. When people "pop up" out of nowhere and stuff like that, it makes the movie scarier. Also, the mood and lighting makes a movie scary. Usually scary movies are really dark and create a creepier feeling. Also when you listen to scary movies, you are usually sitting around a campfire, which is dark, or sitting in a dark room. So really, the overall mood makes a movie or story scary. Then there is aspects like the music. The music in a scary movie sets the mood too. The scarier music helps indicate when something bad is about to happen in the movie. It builds up suspense too, so when you are watching, you do not really know what to expect. Like in paranormal activity 1, 2, and 3, when the lights go out when they go to bed, that is when the paranormal stuff really happens. The lights went off, the music built up, and then the scary parts happened. What makes a movie a lot scarier is when the claim it is based on a true even because then people believe that it could happen and while they watch the movie, they get more freaked out. For example, the Haunting in Connecticut claims to be based on a true story. So when people watch that movie, they realize that maybe they could be haunted too; that it is possible in real life like it is in the movie. Also what can make a scary movie scary is violence. There is usually some kind of violence or blood that builds suspense in the movie. For example, in saw, people are tortured in various different ways. That kind of violence makes the scarier even though it is mainly just gory. Mainly things that are just unexpected in the movie make it scary. Like the fact that a monkey is being hung on a tree in the background during the Wizard of Oz. Those kinds of things are just unexpected and give the movie a more eerie feeling.

Journal #22 Sledding Poem

I love to go sledding with my best friend.

We went to the park that was full of snow.

We started at the top of the big hill,

And waited til it was our turn to go

The snow that covered the big hill was white.

It looked like diamonds in the moonlit sky.

As our turn to go sled finally comes

We race toward the end, and end with a tie.

 I in my hat and my gloves and my scarf,

am warm from the frigid air of the night.

The hill such a mass, the climb was quite hard.

Trying not to fall was such a big fright.

When we reached the top all over again, 

we sat there and watched as the others went.

Then stood up and cheered as they reached the end,

 then it was our turn to start our descent.

We went fast down the hill and started again.

The excitement of sledding never did end.

Our hands and our faces were numb and cold.

All of the snow- hills, yes we did tend.

The memories of sledding never fade

We sled til the night turned to the day.

We we did get home we laid in our bed.

We are tired of winter, we want may!

Journal #21 Snowy Scene

The new fallen snow lay calm on the ground. The frigid air blows through the town. The darker atmosphere of the winter months sets up an eerie feeling. The snow, as white as can be, trampled with footprints covers the rooftops, the trees, the flowers, everything. The wind whispers a song that is heard through the town. All the children are asleep in their beds. For once the town is at peace. The chimneys are blowing smoke from the fires that keep the houses warm. As the morning sunlight starts to shine through the darkened, cloudy sky, the excitement of the town arises. The snow catches the sunlight, sending a gleaming, vibrant light to all who view it. Smoothed over from the calmness of the night, the snow looked pure in the town. The children all start to go outside in play. The dogs are being taken on walks. Now the snow, filled with footprints and now tinted yellow lay in the town. Only the certain areas are untouched by the human race. As I sit on the bench in the park next to the untouched snow, I imagine what nature would be like at night. It takes me back to past memories when I was a kid, just going out to play in the snow. It reminds me how the snow was so smooth and pretty when I went to bed, and how destroyed it had become when I would wake up. These memories overcome me as I am hit in the face with something very cold. I open my eyes. The remains of a snowball lay in my lap. Some kids are having fun playing in the snow. I, in my youthful innocence, get up and start to play too. Building a fort and making snowballs with the other kids, I feel like a kid myself again. I get up to walk home, as the sun is starting to set, and I watch the snow as I walk. Trying to walk in other people's footprints. A light snow has started to fall again, resetting the smooth atmosphere for the night; restarting the process for the human race tomorrow.