Civil Disobedience - Analysis

Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience was a very outspoken essay on Thoreau's views on the American government. During Thoreau's life time, the major political issues were dealing with the Mexican-American War and with slavery, both of which Thoreau was not a fan of. He was very outspoken about both issues, saying that the Mexican-American War was a sign of aggression by the American government. Thoreau spoke out in protest by not paying a poll tax, which landed him into jail for a night. One of his friends finally bailed him out and the ordeal was over, but he continued to protest his ideas towards the government.

A very popular concept at the time of Thoreau's publication of Civil Disobedience was the concept of Manifest Destiny. The concept had three main points, but one main concept sticks out and pertains to Thoreau. A part of Manifest Destiny told that God was on the side of American expansion, and the people had to do what ever they could to expand the nation. Thoreau was up in arms with the fact that our country was in the middle of the Mexican-American war, which was fought partly because of the belief in Manifest Destiny. Some would say that the concept was almost imperialist, but to the same token, Thoreau was doing just as much wrong as the Mexican-American war was doing to our country. Thoreau spoke out and acted based on his moral compass and his personal beliefs, but our country was in the war over Mexican territory because of the concept of Manifest Destiny, which gave people the right to expansion. Thoreau was getting mad at the war and acting out in the same ways that the war itself was acting towards the other country. He thought that he was doing something for the greater good, but in turn he was doing the exact same thing.

I find that Thoreau hinted at semi religious points throughout his essay. His main idea was that people had a higher power to obey, even higher than the law. He also thought that people had a sense of morality that they would refer to when living their lives. Again, a part of Manifest Destiny was a religious base, which makes Thoreau sound even more like his opposition.

Another important point to be made is on Thoreau's comments on political reform. He claimed that little reform acts would do nothing to the overall picture of society, while he continued to form his own act of rebellion by not paying his tax. He, in turn, did the exact same thing that he was criticizing in his essay. Thoreau went back on a lot of his ideas, but he did show many characteristics of Transcendentalism writing. His main focus was a sense of personal worth over society, or in this case government.  Thoreau also provides a new basis for revolutionary ideas, which he proposed throughout his essay (Thoreau). Thoreau was influenced by writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a very prominent transcendentalist writer who came up with many of his own ideas himself, which is why this essay is definitely an example of transcendentalist writing.

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 25, 2012).

Thoreau, Henry D. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Richard Lenat, 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html>.

Journal #26 - Breaking the Rules

There are many times that it is acceptable for the rules to be broken. I mean, rules were meant to be broken, so lets have a party. Obviously if breaking a rule will save a person's life, then it should be broken. If there was a rule that you had to throw knives at all Chicago Blackhawks fans, I would obviously choose to break that rule. It is also acceptable to break a rule when it conflicts with a personal interest or belief. In Thoreau's case, he felt insecure with the state of the national government, which was why he spoke out by protesting the poll tax. He did not agree with the Mexican-American War, which was why he ended up spending a night in jail until one of his friends could bail him out. NHL goaltender Tim Thomas was a part of the Stanley Cup winning Boston Bruins, and when they were invited to the White House to meet the President, he chose not to go. He believed that our government system was corrupt and that the corruption occurred on every level, not just by the president. He also stated that his decision had nothing to do with his political party, as he believed that both parties were equally responsible for the corruption. He chose to break the rules set forth by the team, and he was not reprimanded for his actions. A big deal was not made of his actions and everyone moved on, even though he clearly made a choice that was against the normal decision that should have been made. That is a perfect example of how there is a time and a place for breaking rules, and if done correctly, there aren't always consequences for breaking rules. Whenever I break rules, I always am the first person to get into trouble. It doesn't matter what I do, I can't ever get away with anything. I personally try not to break rules, but there is definitely a time and a place for everything.

The Minister's Black Veil - Analysis

Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to his story The Minister's Black Veil as a parable. A parable is a story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson, and as most Dark Romanticism period literary pieces do, this story had a deeper meaning than what was on the surface. The parable begins with a preacher walking into his service wearing a black veil. The color black is usually associated with death or mourning, or generally sad and scary things. Black is worn at funerals and mainly associated with death. The fact that the preacher was wearing not just a veil, but a black veil is the authors way of depicting the veil as dark, and even the preacher as a dark character. When they ask him to remove it, he says that he simply cannot remove it. The author does not specifically say why the preacher is wearing the veil, but it is possible that the veil symbolizes more than just a covering of his face. The veil could stand for some sin or shame that the preacher has encountered in the past and cannot let go. Even up until his death at the end of the story, the preacher would not take off the veil. He is even buried in it, taking his "sin" to the grave with him.

It should be said that it was nothing that the preacher did that made the people stray away from him, but simply the black veil that he wore. He did nothing that would scare away people, he only wore a black veil over his face. That theme relates this story back to Dark Romanticism. Human nature caused people to stray away from what could have been a perfectly socially acceptable man, but because he had a stigma, his veil, people were afraid of him. He, in a sense, caused his own demise, but the other characters in the story helped to play an equally important role. They did not understand, so they chose to ignore him.

Abby Werlock discusses many valid points in her literary criticism. She promptly noted that the title of the story concluded that it was a parable, but there are two types of parables. Christian parables are stories that have a moral or spiritual meaning, but Greek parables are simply stories that are told "side by side" to one another (Werlock). She also notes that in the footnote from Hawthorne, he tells that the story "parallels a narrative about Mr. Joseph Moody, another clergyman who covered his face because in his youth, he had accidentally killed a friend, but that this story has "a different import" (Werlock). Which type of parable is it? Both would be clear choices either way, but it is difficult to create an argue to definitively defend one side or the other.

Through out the story, the townspeople are too afraid to ask the preacher why he is wearing the veil, so instead they gossip about the possible reasons. They discuss in private, behind his back, why he would want to wear such a thing and even conclude that it may be to cover up some kind of sin. In the process, however, they themselves create sin gossiping about the preacher. There may not have been a reason at all, and if so, the towns people would have done even more wrong than the preacher wearing the black veil, possibly covering up nothing at all. That is why this story is Dark Romanticism.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. .  Print

Wright, Sarah Bird. "'The Minister's Black Veil'." Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCNH403&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).

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 23, 2012).

Journal #25 - Fear

Fear is different for every person. To some, fear might come in the form of a really tall building or even a spider to others. Fear is an emotion that most people do not enjoy, and it is rightfully so. Fear can be associated with scary things, death or even uncertainty.

The Pit and the Pendulum Analysis

The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe has quite a fitting title. The short story begins in what is most likely somewhere in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. Initiated by Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish Inquisition includes the torture of Jews and Muslims who would not convert to Catholicism (Ferdinand). The main character, and narrator who is not named through out the short story, begins describing his inevitable hearing in a court room, in front of "robed judges" (Pit 263). He comments on how he is so scared that he can barely understand what they are saying to him. While waiting for their ruling, he, for some reason, thinks about forms of torture that may be coming to him after the judge's decision (Pit 263). The decision is finally made, and the judges leave. When the narrator finally regains some form of consciousness after fainting from extreme emotion, he doesn't immediately recognize his state of being. The narrator cannot figure out if he is dead, or if he is still alive but consumed by darkness. This is creates a very scary situation that Poe uses to portray his Dark Romanticism writing style characteristics, which he does very often. The narrator has seemed to be mentally alive, but physically dead. The fact that he is aware of this is a very frightening concept, leading the style back to Dark Romanticism characteristics.

When the narrator finally realizes that he is not dead, he begins to feel around to figure out where he is. He describes that the floors are covered in slime, and he even falls to find his head suspended over a seemingly bottomless pit (Pit 267). The narrator realizes that he just escaped death by falling just a few inches from the pit, which he has decided is his impending doom. After he sleeps for a while longer, he awakes and sees a pitcher of water and a loaf of bread next to him. He can't help himself, and after drinking the pitcher of water, he passes out again. It must have been drugged (Pit 267). The narrator finds himself bound to wood with a blade suspended above his head. After imagining his death once more, this time in a different way, he notices that the blade has lowered towards him. He also notices that there are giant rats near him. When the blade reaches only 3 inches from his body, the narrator finally "thinks" for the first time in days. (Pit 271). Thinking that the blade will surely cut his bandages before his body, he creates a plan and escapes from his impending doom, once again. As soon as the narrator realized that he was free, he also realized that the figures on the walls were very pronounced (Pit 273). The temperature began to rise, and the narrator found himself in another death situation. The temperature became so hot, but finally the sound of trumpets burst in and the narrator was saved from death (Pit 273).

The Dark Romanticism side of this short story is a mental and psychological game. The narrator faces through out the story choices of death. He is basically forced to choose his own death, which is such a terrible and stressful thing to have to deal with. Not only is he going to die, but he has to decide how it is done. Through out the story, the narrator is faced with near death experiences, and immediately after he escapes one death, another is thrust into his life. The happy ending of the story seems to be happy, but it really just adds to the psychological distress put on the man. He was so prepared to die that he was going to thrust himself into a bottomless pit, but at the last second he is saved. The emotional toll put on the narrator wold have been so great, and he even though he wasn't killed, he still endured cruel and sick torture.

"Ferdinand V." American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=lbio0049&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 19, 2012).

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 261-277.  Print

Journal #24 - Spooky Event

I don't get scared. That is a very false statement. I really get scared all of the time, and I'm not one of those types of people who say that they like being scared. Let's be honest, no one really likes to be scared. There is nothing fun about being scared. It is just uncomfortable and not appealing. Every time I watch a scary movie, I'm always scared when I go to bed that night. I have no idea why I continue to watch scary movies, but for whatever reason I continue to do so.

The Raven - Analysis

Edgar Allan Poe was a very well known Dark Romanticism writer, and one of his very famous poems is "The Raven." Poe used many different techniques to make the poem feel very scary, giving it characteristics of Dark Romanticism writing. There are many different broad themes throughout the poem that help contribute to the "scary" aspect of the poem. A very profound theme is madness. The main character in the poem talks to a bird. Just that fact alone makes him sound like a crazy person. Since the poem is supposed to be an eerie story, it makes the reader wonder, is the bird really talking? Is there really a bird at all? Just those few aspects make the poem seem scary to the reader, bringing it closer to Dark Romanticism. This poem, much like one of Poe's other poems, contains the mention of a lost love. "And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!' This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'" (Poe 28-29). Poe, while using what is usually a happy aspect of life, uses a very depressing look on love. The main character in the poem really wants to be back with the one woman he loved, but that is something that he simply cannot have. Poe used that same technique in his poem "Anabel Lee."

Poe sets the setting of the poem saying that it is late at night and he is falling asleep by the fire. He even says that the embers of the fire form a ghost on the floor as he nods off to sleep. He then says how he is woken by a tapping at the door, but he decides that it is only a late friend (Poe 1-8). The man calls out to the "visitor" at the door, asking who is at the door. "So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door" (Poe 15-16). Poe creates a scary mood by describing how the man's heart is beating. Poe wrote almost 2 stanzas just leading up to the man opening the door, and when he finally does, there is no one there (Poe 13-24). That also helped to create a scary mood over the poem.

A few stanzas later, the main character finally encounters the title of the poem, the raven. When he sees it, the raven is "Perched upon a bust of Pallas" (Poe 41) which is another name for the Greek Goddess Athena. Athena is mainly known as the goddess of wisdom, which signifies that the raven will be knowledgeable. The main character asks the raven a series of questions, but the raven answers each one with the word "nevermore." As the questions get more personal, the man slowly loses contact with reality, and breaks down. He finally tells the raven to leave and come back to where it came from, and the raven replied "nevermore" (Poe 101-102). The poem ends with the main character repeating that the raven is still sitting on his statue, and that it will never leave.

Poe, Edgar A. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven." Heise Online | IT-News, C't, IX, Technology Review, Telepolis. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html>.

Journal #23 - Scary Stuff

There are many different things that make a movie or story scary. Personally, I find movies to be more scary than scary stories, but there are a few stories that can scare me. The first, and probably most important, aspect of any scary story or movie is the ability of the reader/watcher to relate to the characters in the story. Many scary movies set the plot up with a person being home alone. There are many times that I am home alone, and it is hard not to think of those types of movies. A very detailed plot that has a lot of room for expansion is also a technique that scary movies use to scare the watcher. If a person watches a movie and later thinks about it, their mind may wonder and they could start thinking that the movie could be true. Another important factor to anything scary is the possibility that it may be real. Stories or movies that could be real are always scarier. An obvious characteristic that I forget to mention is suspense. Suspense is key, especially in poetry. It is much more difficult to create suspense in literature than it is in a movie, but Poe, as an example, was excellent at it. He used great detail to make the reader feel great suspense.

Journal #22 - Sledding Poem

Sledding is such an easy thing to do,

The only thing needed to go is you

Well, you might also need a sled that's thin,

And a cheerful, happy, smiling grin
The weather will have to be very cold,
Many will come, no matter young or old
The best place to go is a hill that's tall,
Make sure to be careful so you don't fall
Climbing to the top is the hardest part,
Kids wear good shoes, but only if they are smart
At the tip-top of the hill, looking down,
Some of the children might begin to frown
It might be very intimidating,
The feeling will be exhilarating
The wind will be rushing around their heads,
 It's possible their cheeks will become red
Falling off the sled is always a risk,
If it happens, you might slip a back disk
That simply won't happen because you're safe,
If you don't watch out, you'll end in a cafe
The moral of this poem is simple,
When on a red sled, sit in the middle
This poem was a waste of your good time,
Simply because of my super lame rhymes

Journal #21 - A Snowy Scene

Since I live in Illinois, I do not know what a snow covered field would look like. If I was to witness such a sight, I can imagine that it would be beautiful. The snow would caress the curves of the hilltop, like a sheep's wool covers its body. There would be silver sparkles, glistening in the sunlight over the fresh blanket of snow. A brown, crumpled leaf may blow across the field, and run along in the meadow, and a late bird would chase it across the glistening field. That same white snow would lay in a thin layer over all of the pine trees that still bear their needles. It would not find refuge on the dead deciduous trees that had lost their leaves many months before. A simple deer would walk across the scene, leaving simple hoof prints in the fresh blanket of snow. She would bounce across the meadow, scampering like a chipmunk up a tree.  But then, a deafening noise would fill the valley. The sound of running children fills the deer's heart with angst, and it runs off. The noise gets increasingly louder, until suddenly 3 children are in plain view. They are happily running and playing in the snow, just as any child would. They bound through the snow and leave wide tracks from where they push the snow aside, to form a fortress of solitude. As they laugh, they continue to pack snow into balls and throw them at each other, not knowing that they are disturbing such a beautiful winter scene. As night begins to fall, the children go running back to their homes, the sound of their worried mothers rings throughout the field. When the children finally leave, that same, lonely deer returns to the scene, to inspect the damage done by the kids. The snow is all packed together in walls, nothing like it was when it was freshly sprinkled across the field. It is no matter, because a few tiny flakes begin to fall from the sky, and it is obvious that the next morning that very same valley will be covered with a fresh layer of snow for the children to come and create their own version of a winter wonderland.