Reflection Blog: Thanatopsis

William Cullen Bryant's poem greatly reflects the romanticism time period. When searching for a criticism on Bloom's Literacy, I found a one, that depicts the aspects of nature in Bryant's poem. Of course, the criticism was hard to understand because of the college level writing style that is used, but from what I understood, I do not think that the criticism favored William Bryant's poem that much. I could tell because in the criticism. the author stated that "Part of being human is understanding that you must die. The problem with William Cullen Bryant's poem is how to live with this certainty." I can tell that death was more inviting in the first part of William's poem because he talks about nature, and how nature spiritually helps with death and coping with death. As the poem progresses though, I agree more with the criticism that death becomes harder to understand. There are many visual aspects in the poem, highly regarded with nature. Nature is a main characteristic of romanticism writing, which also helps set up the poem. I think of nature as a basis for what the poem talks about, considering nature is much more of a pure place to really express oneself. Nature has the ability to create visual pictures through words, which really help me to understand the poem. In the criticism though, the author makes a good point when he says "nature, in this poem's conceit, is more teacher than companion." Mainly all the words referenced in the poem are dealing with nature. This is because in order to understand death, one must understand and take in accountability of nature. No matter how young or old someone is, there is always a possibility of death. Even though one may be young, there is always that time where understanding death is very useful. When one looks around and there are other people dying, it is good to know, that it can happen to anyone, and to be prepared. Nature in the poem is more a leader, because it helps us to comprehend the aspects of death. The poem actually has a dark subject matter when you really think about it. Some of the words are really cheery, but the overall message is all about death. The criticism I used explains that mortality, or the state of being subject to death is constantly being reminded through the nature in the poem. I think the best part of the poem is reinforced in the very last part, where nature is telling us to be profound in our faith and to truly believe. I think it is a more uplifting point to the matter at hand, which also gives readers a sense of hope. The poem has a sense of individuality. Since all people experience and cope with death differently, we all take away from this poem. Even though the criticism does not agree entirely with William's poem, I think that the poem has two sides. One side compares nature as our leader, and the other compares our faith side and individuality when facing the subject matter of death.

 Byant, William C. "Thanatopsis." PoemHunter.com. 13 May 2001. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/thanatopsis/>.r


 Huff, Randall. "'Thanatopsis'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0402&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 22, 2011).

Journal #19 Importance of Nature

The blog for today reminds me a lot of the Lion King, because they talk about the circle of life and they also live in the wilderness. I think that nature is very important to spirituality because people who are really religious tend to go to nature, where everything is pure and they can kind of escape their lives for a while. For example, when people go camping and hiking, they usually are not around technology and rely on the land. Nature helps spirituality because it helps take away all aspects of life, so that you can focus. In the Lion King though, the animals eat each other and the land, but its a circle of life because they all have a place and everything has a purpose. When someone dies spirituality plays a major role in the decisions they make during the death process. Nature is one of the big factors because there is some people who would rather not be buried in the ground after their body dies. Other people want to be cremated and either their ashes are kept or they are thrown somewhere indicated in the person's will. I think that determining what to do with a body after death is chosen because of someone's spirituality and their views on nature. In life though, many people do use nature as a place of worship. Like in the movie "The Proposal" Sandra Bulluck meets with Ryan Reynold's grandma and ended up staying to "chant" in the woods with her. It showed that just by putting on nature sounds, and clearing your mind, that you can actually worship the spirits of nature. Nature helps a person speak their mind because they can never be judged by nature. Nature is not something that we can control, so it is very easy to connect our spirituality with nature, I think. I have personally never chanted in the woods or really worshiped in nature, but I do believe it could be a much purer place where you can clear your mind of all thoughts and get a lot more accomplished.

Reflection Blog: Romanticism Comparison

Well, I have been researching poems that were created by the fireside poets. One interesting one that I found is called Sand of the Desert in an Hour-Glass by Henry Longfellow. It was a very interesting poem. One thing about the romanticism writing is that in order to fully understand the poem, you must break it down into parts and figure out the true meaning. Romanticism was a reaction the rationalism time period, but the romanticism defines more of the emotional and feeling aspect towards situations, whereas the rationalism period is more about thinking logically and everything having a logical purpose. One characteristic of the romanticism time period is valuing feels and intuition over logical reasoning. In Henry Longfellow's poem, as he is describing the sand, he talks about possible situations that may have happened out in the desert where the sand was taken from. One part of intuition is a gut feeling, in other words you don't really know why or how something is the way it is, so you think of possibilities, which is exactly what Henry did. "Perhaps the feet of Moses, burnt and bare, crushed it beneath their tread; or Pharaoh's flashing wheels into the air scattered it as the sped" That quote shows that Henry is thinking about the possibilities of what the sand has overcome, as he is just looking at it through an hour-glass. Another major characteristic of the romanticism time period is looking for beauty in the imagination. In Henry's poem, he envisions the sand in the quote "and as I gaze, these narrow walls expand; before my dreaming eye stretches the desert with its shifting sand, its unimpeded sky." From that quote, his imagination is taking him to the desert in which the sand is from. He is thinking about the desert, with the winds that are constantly moving the sand, always shifting, and then it meets the unpreventable or open sky. Another characteristic visible in his poem was looking back towards the past for wisdom and purpose, but once he started thinking about the sand in more modern terms, he turned toward his imagination. He talks about the sand in terms of Mary and the Christ of Nazareth, Moses, the Pharaoh, Mecca's pilgrims, the Ishmaelites, and the anchorites, explaining possible situations when they could have encountered the sand from the desert. When he looks at the hour-glass though in modern terms, he looks towards nature and his imagination for its explanation. Almost like he depends on the history, but the future has little hope. 
Overall, I think the poem does a really good job at showing the romanticism time period. As compared to the Puritans, who played all their reasoning for everything on God. God was the main person for them, whereas the romanticists focus on imagination and past experiences. The rationalism period was more focused on logical reasoning, so they actually searched for scientific explanations for situations. I think the time periods all go together though because they build off each other. First they started with just believing in God, then they moved to believing in God, but figuring maybe he was was not in charge of everything, that there could be other reasoning, and then to figuring out the use of imagination and using the past to help generate the future. 




http://www.readbookonline.net/read/3149/12731/

Journal #18 A perfect Autumn Day

The perfect autumn day is around 70 degrees when all you need is a light jacket and some jeans. I think that a light breeze is amazing on an autumn day, where it cools off the air around you, but does not make you too cold. The leaves are all on the ground in their red, orange, and yellow colors. The leaves make the ground look very colorful. First I would wake up at dawn and outside the sun would be rising in the air. I would then go to the bike path and run on the trail. Then I would come home and make a big breakfast! Then I would meet up with my friends and we would go for a picnic. I would pack up the picnic basket and we would go to the park. We would set up on the top of the hill in the park and stay there for awhile, just talking and soaking up the day. Then,  I would come back home and take a shower, so I can plan my night. My night would be amazing. After I shower, I would get ready for a bonfire. Autumn nights are always so cool that sitting by a fire is like the perfect thing to do. The fire is always so warm and when you are with your friends, it always makes things better. So basically I would have a girls night. The girls night would last all night. During this time we would talk, gossip, stargaze, and do things that normal girls would do. I think that the perfect autumn day also revolves around the people I am with. If I am with my friends, it will be a good time. I think that the people that make my day should be the ones I surround myself with. Other than that, the perfect autumn day depends on how I spend my time with those people. I like to be busy during the day, but I like my nights to be calmer and more relaxing. The weather really makes the perfect day too. It should not be too hot or cold during the day, but also not too cold at night.

Journal #17 Bonding with Nature

One time I bonded with nature. It was a big surprise, because that does not happen very often. I went camping with my friends on a weekend. They had a camper that we stayed in, or we could choose to sleep in tents. Even though we wanted to stay in tents, we decided that it was too cold and we were going to stay in the camper. Before we went to bed though, we made a fire outside and huddled around the fire in our blankets. We were all warm and making s'mores. We ended up staying up for hours and talking about everything in our lives. We were one with nature. We went on a hike to look around the campsite. Since I was new to the site, I was showed all the trails and everything we could take. We were definitely bonding with nature at this time. Another time that I bonded with nature was I was at my house. There was a full moon outside and the night sky looked so beautiful. I was with Kirsten and Arianna. We were dancing in the street, and acting weird like usual, but that's just us. We were tired, so we brought pillows down from my porch and we laid down on my driveway. Our heads were all in the middle, and we were facing different directions. We sat and watched the stars for a few hours. The planes went by really fast. We watched for shooting stars and the big and little dipper. We brought out hot chocolate too. We were bonding with nature then because we were outside, looking at nature all around us. We were appreciating everything that was around us. Another time I bonded with nature was when I went night swimming!    We were bonding with nature then because nature was the only thing around us. We had the midnight sky around us and we had all the nature sounds. Even though the sounds got annoying at times, it was almost relaxing. Mixed with the water in the pool, nature just completed the setting.

Journal #16- Tools

Some possible tools that I could use to communicate with my partners is the computer and my phone. I could use email or gmail. I get gmail sent to my phone so I can constantly check it if I need to. I also check gmail on my computer basically every night before I go to bed. My main way of communication would probably be through texting. I respond to texts really fast because my phone is always sitting by my side. Texting would be the best way to get a hold of me because I check my phone more than I check my computer. Another way to get a hold of me would be through twitter. Twitter is really easy for me to use because I check twitter everyday, even throughout the day, while I am at school. I get twitter notifications sent to my phone, so I would be able to respond quickly to people. If none of these tools work, I am also on faceSome possible tools that I could use to communicate with my partners is the computer and my phone. I could use email or gmail. I get gmail sent to my phone so I can constantly check it if I need to. I also check gmail on my computer basically every night before I go to bed. My main way of communication would probably be through texting. I respond to texts really fast because my phone is always sitting by my side. Texting would be the best way to get a hold of me because I check my phone more than I check my computer. Another way to get a hold of me would be through twitter. Twitter is really easy for me to use because I check twitter everyday, even throughout the day, while I am at school. I get twitter notifications sent to my phone, so I would be able to respond quickly to people. If none of these tools work, I am also on facebook. Facebook is checked on my phone everyday and usually when I get home too. If I get a friend request, I am pretty good at accepting it really fast, but if not, you do not have to be my friend to send me a message. All of these tools are checked constantly by me. Also I can take calls on my phone too, but I do not like to talk on the pone as much. I will still answer the calls and that would be another way someone could get in touch with me. These tools are all very important to me and I know that I would be able to communicate with my partners through at least one of these tools if not all of them. So I am a very easy person to get a hold of if they have questions, comments, or just want to discuss the project. book. Facebook is checked on my phone everyday and usually when I get home too. If I get a friend request, I am pretty good at accepting it really fast, but if not, you do not have to be my friend to send me a message. All of these tools are checked constantly by me. Also I can take calls on my phone too, but I do not like to talk on the pone as much. I will still answer the calls and that would be another way someone could get in touch with me. These tools are all very important to me and I know that I would be able to communicate with my partners through at least one of these tools if not all of them. I do not really have a preferred method of contact. Any one I listed above works for me. It just depends on the other people in my group and what works best for them. So, I am a very easy person to get a hold of if they have questions, comments, or just want to discuss the project.

Journal #15 Overcoming the Challenges

To overcome the challenges of working with people from other schools, or areas is difficult because you do not have face to face access to them, but it also works out better. Since there is distance, it makes each person complete their own role. Since they are in your group, but far away, you cannot rely on them to complete sections of a project that do not belong to them. Each person has to complete their own role. To overcome the challenges, you have to find the easiest ways to communicate. I would like to communicate by phone, because that is my preferred method of contact. Texting is my main way of talking to people because I always have my phone and I respond very quickly. I also talk on the phone, but I only talk for a certain amount of time because I do not like talking to people on the phone that much. My second method of contact would be email. I get my gmail sent directly to my phone and I can reply right from my phone, so I always have access. Besides that, I usually check my email every night so I can clear out my inbox. I think to overcome the challenges, you have to find a balance between groups. You have to find times where you both can talk to each other when you are not busy and you have to make time to work on the project. I think that working with people from other schools is an easy task if you take the time and really figure out what the other person's needs are. When you work with people from other schools, it is difficult because sometimes talking face to face makes more sense and you can actually discuss your perspective, so in that sense you loose a little bit of understanding, but I think

Reflection Blog: Franklin's virtues

Ben Franklin's virtues were like a foundation for the ideal person. His virtues are very specific and to most people are hard to follow. I think that his virtues made him a better person because since he made them, he is more inclined to follow them. His virtues were logical rules that could help him in his daily life. By applying these rules to his life, he had the ability to become a better person. In Tuckerman's criticism, I think that he liked Franklin and respected his virtues. I think this because Tuckerman had a positive view toward Franklin's virtues. He even quoted "If we glance at the subjects and occasions of his tracts, letters, reports, paragraphs, and essays, we shall find that they embrace the whole circle of questions important to his country and his age,—morals, the economy of life, commerce, finance, history, and politics" (Tuckerman). Based on that comment alone, we see that Tuckerman likes Franklin's virtues. When we look at his writings, his words apply to every part of our lives. That is what I took from that quote.


Tuckerman's criticism was a very long document, but had some really interesting points. He thinks that Franklin's virtues were a basis for the ideas and advances we have today. According to Tuckerman, Franklin is a philosopher (Tuckerman). A philosopher is a person who understands and spreads ideas to answer the questions of life. I agree that Franklin is a philosopher because his virtues were like answers to the problems people had in life. 


Franklin did a good job of keeping up with his virtues. He went through his virtues and added one each week. He completed going through his virtues in 13 weeks. After he finished the virtues, he started over again and kept going for a year. This made him a better person I think because he was following his own advice. Franklin was very practical (Tuckerman). He planned everything out. He knew what he wanted his virtues to accomplish when he first started making them and he worked hard towards that goal. The virtues are hard to achieve, because the average person has to give up a lot of things just to follow the virtues, but they are such a great reward and anyone can achieve the virtues if they have the motivation to follow them.


Tuckerman had a very high respect for Franklin because through his criticism I could tell that he had good opinions on his virtues. He only had good comments towards Tuckerman and the rules. He thought that his virtues were answers to all people's questions (Tuckerman). The quote that I like best from Tuckerman is "His name was not only an honorable passport among the learned, but an endeared watchword to the humble" (Tuckerman). I like that quote because it shows that all people can learn about him and his virtues. Franklin was a very flexible person. His virtues and view on life and problem solving was able to help all people, just in different ways.


Franklin, Benjamin, and Leonard Woods Labaree. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964. Print. 

Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Facts on File. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.