Reflection-Civil Disobedience

There are several interesting points that Henry David Thoreau made in his essay, “Civil Disobedience.” I am finding particular interest in the essay when he writes, “it(the government) must have the sanction and the consent of the governed.”(Thoreau 227). This quote is what our government is technically based on. At this point in the United States there is a disregard of this idea in the government, and there was obviously the same problem when Henry Thoreau was alive. In America right now it seems that there are a bunch of greedy business men running our country only trying to build wealth for themselves, and not having any interest in their country. When Thoreau is writing I feel that he is either angry or upset with the way the government is being run. He writes,

“I saw that the State was half witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it, and I pitied it.”(Thoreau 224).

His feeling toward the State, or government, is frustrated and sorry. He is saying that the State is being so poorly run that it is like a woman who does not know who to share something as pointless as spoons with, because she can not discern whether they are a friend or enemy. He writes that the government is not superior to everyone else in intelligence or wit, but only has more physical strength to enforce what it wants.

As the psychological aspect of this writing goes there are two or three different interesting scenarios which I believe would be helpful to discuss. Thoreau writes about government, “Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on”(Thoreau 222). The government is successful in what it does by mentally tricking men into believing what it does is right. It uses its physical might to scare people and force them to comply with the government. If the government did not have any physical power then we would not obey it because we would not be fearful of the consequences. Since the government does have physical power however, we are always watching our speed, not running stop signs or red lights because we are afraid of being punished by the government. It is all a psychological game. Almost everyone obeys out of fear.

After Henry Thoreau is thrown into jail for not paying a certain tax he writes the following, “I did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar… They clearly did not know how to treat me”(Thoreau 224). When the government puts someone in jail they are attacking that person psychologically. The person is supposed to feel confined and controlled. He should not feel like he has any say in his life. He is to feel miserable because he is treated like an animal. There are many people that become insane or crazy in prison because they have no control over themselves. They are made to live in a small room, caged up like a tiger or bear. All of this is to make them think. To make them think about what they have done wrong, and why they would not want to do it again. And it comes back to the government and wanting to display its physical strength. It is all psychological. The government is really based on fear.

This however clearly did not affect Thoreau because he was not intimidated by the government. He was not threatened by them because he knew they were no better then him. You have to be very strong mentally to not be overcome with fear, which is what the government basis a good portion of its power on.

Thoreau, Henry David. "Civil Disobedience." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Reflection-The Minister and the Black Veil

“The Ministers Black Veil”, by Nathanial Hawthorne, is a very interesting story with a very good point to it. The minister, Mr. Hooper, was using his whole life to prove a point to his congregation and community. His point was that every single person lived their life behind a veil whether they wanted to admit it or not. He made himself a living example to the people in his community. Mr. Hooper was leading by example. If everyone lived behind a Black Veil then they were separated from their friends, but more importantly they were separated from God. The minister went through some difficult situations because of his devotion to God and his example to others. He was not able to fall in love because of the Black Veil.

“Have patience with me, Elizabeth!” cried he passionately. “Do not desert me, though this veil must be between us here on earth. Be mine, and hereafter there shall be no veil on my face, no darkness between our souls! It is but a mortal veil- it is not for eternity! O! you know not how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind my black veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity forever!”

“Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face” she said

“Never! It can not be!” replied Mr. Hooper

“Then farewell!” said Elizabeth. (Hawthorne 286)

That is just one of example of something he had to give up in his life because of the Black Veil.

This story has many characteristics of the Dark Romanticism writings. One of the main things I noticed when reading this was that the story involved death once again. Many of the other Dark Romanticism writings involve death in them, such as; “The Raven” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edger Allen Poe. In the story Hawthorne writes, “Father Hooper fell back upon his pillow a veiled corpse.” (Hawthorne 289). Nathanial Hawthorne also writes about some exotic creatures in his writing. He writes this on two ladies talking about the spirit of the woman who died. “’I had a fancy,” replied she, “that the minister and the woman’s spirit were walking hand in hand.’”(Hawthorne 284). That brings a certain mysticism feeling to the table. Making you feel almost uncomfortable. There is also the mention of ghosts on page 287 when Hawthorne writes, “It was said that ghost and fiend consorted with him there.” (Hawthorne 287). This is talking what goes on behind the Black Veil. The mentioning of the ghost and the spirit make the story feel dark and sinister.

This story attacks the psychological side by making you think. As I mentioned before the point of the story is to make you understand that everyone is living behind a Black Veil, or a mask, hiding their secrets and sins. All of this story makes you wonder what others are holding back from you and forces you to think about what you are hiding from everyone else. In the story people are scared to interact with the preacher because they are afraid of his veil. They are scared psychologically because the people thoughts were running wildly through their minds. The story growing larger and larger all of the time because of the way people twist the story.

Hawthorne, Nathanial. "The Ministers Black Veil." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Reflection on The Pit and the Pendulum

“The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edger Allen Poe is a very suspenseful and exciting story. Poe did it again with his Dark Romantic writing. Most of the story is dark and morbid. I would say that “The Pit and the Pendulum” is a perfect fit in the Dark Romantic writings. There are a couple of ways that “The Pit and The Pendulum” is like the Romanticism writings of the time. Poe writes,

“I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white-whiter then the sheet upon which I trace these words-and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness- of immovable resolution-of stern contempt of human torture.(Poe 263)”

The author also uses an elegant way of words which is like that of the Romanticism writings. He also uses words we can not understand like, “locution” and “sable”(Poe 263). There are several things that are unique to the Dark Romanticism writings. The main topic in this short story is death, which seems to be a reoccurring theme in this style of writing. One of the things I noticed is that the main character tries to find relief in death. Poe writes, “the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave.”(Poe 264). This is such a morbid thought to have, one must be at a point of lunacy to think like that. Poe also writes, “although death would have been a relief.”(Poe 271). It appears that the thought is a reoccurring one.

There is also the element of suspense in the short story by Edger Allen Poe. The whole story went on and on with information that makes you yearn to know the ending. However, there are a couple of places that are of particular interest to me when I was reading and listening to the story. On page 271 Poe writes, “Down-still unceasingly-still inevitably down!”(Poe 271). By this time the pendulum or blade had been swinging for quite some time. Slowly falling, slowly building the suspense every swing brought the blade closer, but it did not bring the relief of death that he is wishing for. Poe also writes,

“Unreal!-Even while I breathed there came to my nostrils the breath of the vapor of heated iron!”(Poe 273). At this point in the story the walls around our hero, (if you will) have been heated and are closing in on him. All of this suspense makes of an epic story.

There are also several mentions of exotic beings, like the ones we have discussed in class. Poe mentions angles in the very beginnings of the story, “At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angles who would save me”(Poe 263). He also mentions Father Time. Poe writes, “It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented” (Poe 268). Father Time is a mythological figure who is known as the keeper of time. The mythology aspect is also shared with the regular Romanticism writings. Lastly there is a mention of an exotic place, Hades. Poe uses it on page 264 when he writes, “all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades.”(Poe 264). Hades is another name for Hell which is a most unpleasant place, and the mention of it is not very common in literature in this time period

Poe, Edger A. "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. 97-99. Print.

Journal 24

One time when I was spooked I was with my friend Brock and we were looking for something fun to do. We were at his house because Springfield is boring and offers nothing exciting for minors. We decided to take a bike ride at 12:30 in the A.M. We rode our bikes down to a construction zone that was right by a creek and a forest. It was already kind of scary because we saw a van pull up to the construction site, so we hid our bikes and climbed up a hill to spy on the people in the van. We saw some suspicious looking people get out of the van and walk into the construction and do some suspicious things. There were roughly six people we saw go behind one of the larger pieces of construction equipment for about fifteen minutes. After that they piled back in the van and drive off. Being brilliant young minds we are, we decided to go down and investigate. We climbed back down the hill and got back on our bikes. We rode over to the equipment and started to look around looking for evidence of anything they may have been doing wrong.

Journal 22

It is a cold, brisk, bright and sunny day

The snow is falling hard the wind is fast

I can hear the jingle bells all the way

I will sled today like it is my last

We are racing down the giant hill hooray

My sled of green is a racing machine

Weaving in and out of the large spruce trees

The violent crash should have been foreseen

My easy going feeling was a tease

The spill was as awful as Charlie Sheen

My horrible wreck started with a sneeze

My toboggan flipped and it was a mess

The cold, wet snow went inside of my coat

It sent a chill inside my body

Reflection Fireside Poem comparison

The two poems I have selected from the Fireside poets are “Flower de Luce” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

“Old Ironsides” is a very compelling poem about saving an old war ship. It talks about the ship in its former glory days. “That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout, And burst the cannon’s roar;- The meteor of the ocean air”(Holmes 211). The ship was supposed to be scraped to make a new ship and Holmes was writing this poem to make people aware of what was going to happen if they did not take action. I think that the meaning of the poem was just that, to raise awareness about the ship and what an important image it was for the United States.

I think that it qualifies for the romanticism writing style because it is a captivating story that utilizes imagery to help us imagine what the ship was like. In lines nine and ten Holmes writes, “Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood, Where knelt the vanquished foe,” (Holmes 211). Given this image it is easy for you to imagine that this ship was once a great war ship. Another to tell that it is romanticism writing is by the author. Oliver Wendell Holmes is a Fireside poet and Fireside poets were known for their romanticism writing style. The romanticism writing style also used metaphors to make the story more interesting. In line sixteen the author, Holmes, refers to the ship as, “The eagle of the sea!” (Holmes 211). This is a metaphor as well as a way for the reader to realize how majestic the ship really was.

The other poem “Flower de Luce” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is another excellent poem. In the poem Longfellow talks about a funeral, and the death of his friend and fellow fireside poet Nathanial Hawthorn. In the poem he tells us that he could not escape the pain of his death. In line three and four Longfellow writes, “Though all its splendor could not chase away The omnipresent pain.”(Longfellow) . Longfellow gives the pain an almost foggy or mist feel when he calls it omnipresent. It was as if you could fell the sadness hanging in the air. The pain was inexscapable. Longfellow writes that in his grief everything he knew seemed strange. In lines 13 through 17 he writes, "The faces of familiar friends seemed strange; Their voices I could hear, And yet the words they uttered seemed to change Their meaning in my ear." (Longfellow) The hurt of losing his friend was making everything he knew feel foreign. With him gone the world would be a much different place. Longfellow writes, "Ah! Who shall lift that magic wand of power, And lost clew regained? The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower Unfinished must remain." (Longfellow) Longfellow says this because he believes that no one else can write like Hawthorn did, and no one ever will. Longfellow writes that his work will remain unfinished because nobody could ever take his place.

"Flower de Luce" is a good example of romanticism writings in many ways. Longfellow has references to nature such as, "The lovely town was white with apple-blooms, And the great elms o'erhead." (Longfellow) Longfellow also has an allusion in line thirty five when he references Aladdin's tower from the book "Aladdin and the King of Theives". In line thirty Longfellow uses imagery by writing, "The wizard hand lies cold." (Longfellow) In saying this we can see the body of Hawthorn lying there cold and absent of life.

Holmes W. Oliver "Old Ironsides." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

Reflection Chambered Nautilus

In the poem, “The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, there are two separate meanings to it. The first meaning is the literal meaning. It says, “This is the ship of pearl”(Holmes) which of course is talking about the chambered nautilus. The poem talks about how the nautilus grows and becomes bigger by building new cells to live in. The narrator if you will talks about finding the nautilus on the shore and it being “wrecked” (Holmes). This may mean that the shell was broken open and he could see all of the cells that the nautilus had once lived in. I think the poem would be boring if it did not say this, “Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee”(Holmes). This is saying there is another meaning to the story. It is giving us a reason to read through the poem again through a new lens, through a figurative meaning.

When Holmes says, “the ship of pearl.”(Holmes) I think the figurative meaning is our lives, or us personally. The author says, “Year after year beheld the silent toil”(Holmes). It is telling us the length of time it took for the nautilus to build its shell, but it is also telling us that it takes time for us to build our lives. The poem also talks about the toil that is involved in building the shell and our lives. The nautilus does not hatch from its egg with its shell already attached, it takes “Years after year” (Holmes). In the same way we are not born fully developed and ready to go out to the world on our own. We spend the first eighteen years of our lives living with our parents learning how to survive on our own. We go to school and learn from our parents. Then Holmes writes,

“Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:-

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting seal”(Holmes).

Its saying if you want to live a better life you can not keep living as you are now, you have to keep striving to get better. If you build your life and your family you can not keep living in a one room apartment. You have to move into a bigger house. It needs to be bigger and better than the last. You can not live in the past, you must always be looking forward to the future and planning and getting ready for it. If you do not plan and prepare in life, you will not progress. It is like an athlete, if the athlete wants to get better he has to train and make himself become better, he can not just sit around and hope to magically be better when he wants to be. Do not live in the past, but always be planning for the future.

This poem exemplifies the romanticism writing in the way that it talks about nature and the nautilus forming its shell, but it does not give the scientific meaning for it.

Holmes, Oliver W. "801. The Chambered Nautilus. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 1909-14. English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman. The Harvard Classics." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .