Reflection Blog: Romanticism Critique

When I began searching for a criticism for Bryant's poem to match the Romanticism period on Bloom's literacy, I knew right away that it would not be that hard to get the job done, simply because the Romanticism period is virtually famous for its poems and other literature works. Poetry is not my favorite topic per say, but it is definitely a topic that will interest me if I find the right poem to read. That is why I was very intrigued by the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant. In one criticism I found, the author says that Bryant's poem compares Calvinism and pantheism (Snodgrass). I find this to be very interesting because I never saw this comparison when reading the poem on my own. It is mind-opening to see the many reflections people have of a certain piece of literature, definitely poetry, that can be analyzed in many different ways.

The poem itself I interpreted it being as a warning to everyone that we all die, and that it is something we cannot avoid in life. In a way, it is sort of like a life cycle. You die, then you turn into something with nature. It sounds extremely cliche, but going back to the whole Calvinism thing, where it is believed that all things are in Christ and of Christ, the statement holds true when I analyzed it a bit more. We do just kind of, sort of...die. We never know when it will be that we are forced to leave this world. Nature is somewhat like a teacher that can help us guide us through life, represented in the form of a woman. I think "mother-nature" came to be because nature is nurturing, a lot like a mother. "To Nature's teachings, while from all around-Earth," (Bryant). I love this quote. It basically summarizes everything I was trying to say about nature, it is everywhere. You cannot avoid the trees, water, and skies no matter how hard you try.

When I compare this poem by Bryant to the Romanticism period, I find it to fit the category very well. First of all, Bryant's poem talks about death, a topic not so riveting and exciting in and of itself. This trend was extremely popular during the Romanticism period because authors were beginning to break out of their shell and talk about stuff that beforehand, people feared to discuss or bring up in their writings.

Another aspect I drew from the poem that I found in one certain criticism was the topic of, again, nature. Nature basically defines the Romanticism period in my opinion. Along with getting really gory and gross (thank you Mr. Edgar Allen Poe), authors also began to analyze the importance of nature in the lives of society. Bryant compares death to nature in a way. Like I said before, Bryant says that we die and become one with nature.

I never thought I would analyze a silly poem like this, but I actually got really into it when it came to William Cullen Bryant's poem. I think the Romanticism period produced a very interesting variety of literature, with Bryant't poem being one of then.

Byant, William C. "Thanatopsis." PoemHunter.com. 13 May 2001. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "'Thanatopsis'." Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal #19 - Circle of Life

Nature is so important in society and everyday life. People do not realize just how much of a role nature has in our lives today. As far as the circle of life is concerned, I think about the bond that nature and spirituality have with one another. It reminds me of the practices of Buddhism. Buddhists believe that once you die, you reincarnate into something that has to do with nature. You could come back as something such as a bird, a tree, or even a part of the river. I find this concept to be extremely fascinating and interesting. It is so different from the ideas of Christianity. The circle of life starts out, in my opinion, when you are first born into this big and strange world. You grow up into the person you want to be, grow up with the one you love, and then die. It sounds depressing, but in an average of about seventy years, a person can accomplish so much in their life. When they die, spiritually, if you believe in the teachings of Buddhism, they become one with nature. I do not know if I am interpreting this blog topic wrong, but that is how I feel about the subject matter. The circle of life is demonstrated very well in the movie The Lion King. Simba sees firsthand how the circle of life effects everyone. Eventually we all have to leave this earth, but in the end it is up to you personally whether or not your walk on earth is that of excitement and purpose. For me, the circle of life means you leave behind your own mark, then let generations to come always remember the impact you made in life and how they can improve my ideas. I hope that I can leave something important behind for my family and friends to remember and find interesting. This blog definitely made me think about what it is life to die and what happens after that.

Reflection Blog: Romanticism Period

My favorite time period, when it comes to oddness, that we have learned this year is probably the Romanticism period. It is very interesting to learn about how society changed so much from the Puritan period, the Rationalism period, and now the Romanticism era in American. The Romanticism period was a time that involved a sort of reawakening of things, including art, literature, and a connecting bond with nature that had been remotely lost before the Romanticism period took hold around the globe. Before learning about specific details of the era in class, I knew a little bit about some of the famous names that were around at the time. David Henry Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Edgar Allen Poe were just a few prominent authors of the time period that used nature, art, and abnormal methods to create masterpieces in their work. Emotion was a key component to their writing and they used it as such a way to get their point across. Before in literature, authors were all about using facts and figures to express the topic. I think a big reason why the Rationalism period did not last as long as most other eras is because science was not as advanced as some people longed for it to be. Many inventions were pawned up at the time, but they were not enough to fulfill the strong desire to be completely rational and logical about things. I feel as if the Romanticism period was a way for society to accept the fact that everything could not be proven with science just quite yet, and they realized that it is okay to provide feeling and emotion with art. Art during the Romanticism period was rather...interesting I guess. I am actually rather intrigued by the unique nature-connecting works that many authors became famous for. Instead of man being the focus of their work, nature and animals were now becoming the spot light and focal image in a painting or sketch. When comparing the Romanticism period with that of the Puritanism period, there was actually little difference in the two, if one asked me. I think that the major difference was the fact that in the Romanticism period lacked the consistent thanks given to God for everything that happened in life at the time. The Romanticist were more wrapped up in the personal and man-drawn opinions and thinking more than anything else.
Overall, I was very intrigued at the information provided and researched about the Romanticism period. It was an era that was drastically important to America and played a key role in what happened throughout society. Man thought differently, acted differently, and went about life in a more nature-bonding manner than before. Although it is not quite my favorite, I see find the Romanticism period to be fascinating and mind-boggling, much like the other eras we have learned about previously. Despite the fact that really weird things, such as poems from Poe, came out of the Romanticism period, I still find their weirdness to be important to life in general.

Journal #18 - Autumn

The perfect Autumn day would be a cool, crisp afternoon with red, brown, and yellow leaves falling down onto the ground. I absolutely love Autumn because the weather begins to cool down and everyone prepares themselves for Halloween with orange pumpkins and caramel apples. In the cold morning air of an Autumn day, I wake up and open the curtain to let the light pour into my room. Then I get up and go outside to smell the Autumn air. Probably the best smell in the world would be the smell of the morning dew on the green grass. Walking through the grass with no shoes on, feeling the moist weeds and flowers beneath your toes is probably the best feeling in the world. I also love fall because my birthday is in the beginning of October, so for me, my birthday kind of sets off the Autumn months. The smell of barbecues and bonfires also fills the air as families all over the country spend time with one another enjoying the vibrant atmosphere. In the afternoons of fall when the sun begins to set and the temperature begins to cool down, it is always nice to sit on the porch and watch the sunset before going inside and relaxing for the day. When you are outside, you can hear the crickets singing and the birds singing songs to one another. The cicadas roam the high trees and buzz all the evening long until there is absolutely no sunlight left peeking through the clouds. Fall is my favorite time of year because there is so much nature around us to look at and just enjoy. The beginning of the school year is never hard so there is always time to relax and just have fun before the brisk winter air takes over. If I could chose a favorite season it would definitely be autumn because it brings so much happiness into the lives of others. I thoroughly enjoy fall and wish that it would stay here all year round.

Journal #17 - Nature Bonding 101

I think the first time I actually bonded with nature was when I visited California and Oregon for the first time ever about two year ago. I found out literally three days in advanced that I would be making the trip out west, and seeing that I had never been beyond Illinois westwardly, I was really excited to see the new scenery that Oregon and California had to offer me. When I first got off the plane it was around 1 am Pacific time, but instantly I could smell a difference in the atmosphere. It smelled cleaner, fresher, and more radiant than nasty Illinois did. The next morning, I was able to see all of the mountains that surrounded the home I was staying in. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was living among nature. Later in the week, I got to see the ocean in California also for the first time. As soon as we got there, I took my shoes off, despite the fact that it was about 50 degrees outside. Feeling the sand between my toes was awesome. I remember just soaking up the sun and seeing how the ocean basically went on as far as the eye could see. The highlight of my nature experience on that trip was the last day I was in California. We went to this place up in the Valley and drove our car through a tree that was practically twice the width of any vehicle. After that, we were able to hike up the mountains and see the view from the top of the peaks. It took about two hours of hiking, but it was definitely an experience of a lifetime. We also rode a zipline thing through the trees up to the highest point of the mountains before leaving. I ended up getting priceless pictures. Thinking about it now, I really miss the nature that Oregon and California had to offer me and I cannot wait to go back as soon as possible.

Reflection Blog - Attempting Franklin's Virtue

For twenty-four hours, I attempted to apply Benjamin Franklin's virtue of industry. I have to say that it was very hard to follow, but at the same time, I learned a lot from thinking about it over a one-day span. His virtue of Industry says, "Lose no time, be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary action." I tried applying this virtue by managing my time more efficiently. It was very interesting to have attempted this virtue last night because I had a Scholastic meet, and on top of that, I had to come home around eight o'clock and finish all of the homework I had due the next day. Earlier in the day, thinking about the virtue, I decided during my free time during Pace and lunch that I would work on the finalized draft of my Zoology project. Looking back at it now, it really applied Franklin's virtue because usually when I have free time during the school day, I spend that time relaxing and putting off homework. I found that by doing my homework when I actually do have some time to work it helps lessen the work load I have when I come home late at night. After the Scholastic meet, I came home with a depressed attitude because I expected I would be working on Zoology all night. Instead, I was able to relax and read a book. By reading, I was doing something productive with the extra free time that I had. Overall, I found that by following Franklin's virtue of Industry, I was able to get a lot more done with the time I had. I will say that it was rather hard to break my habit of relaxing during Pace, but in the end it helped substantially.

Journal #16 - Possible Tools

I will probably use cell phones and Skype to communicate with my partners from Farmington and also here from Plains. No one really uses email anymore, so it would be pretty much inconvenient for me to get the email addresses of my group partners. I hope the people I am with are not very weird and always stock me and text me a lot. By doing these kind of projects, I think it will help me with communication in the long run. In life I will be forced to work with people I do not like or possibly do not know from all of the world. That is how society is getting today and it seems that communicating with people are over the world (or even the state) will be something very popular in the near future. As far as the group project itself, I know I will be using the computer for basically everything. This will pose a problem for me, seeing that I do not have a working computer at home anymore. As I said before, the best way for my group members to get ahold of me would be from my cell phone. Also, Facebook would be a very helpful tool because then my group members could even post pictures of anything that involved the project and I would be able to view it whenever I needed to. The only concern I have is, with using all of this technology, I am afraid that nothing will go right and every communication device in which I use will automatically fail me and stop working. I seem to have that kind of luck. Anyway, the project itself will require many tools, all of them being common twenty-first century items like cell phones, computers, web cams, and even social networks. These devices are all very handy, but they are also known for breaking very often. It will be a very interesting project and I am looking forward to see where it leads me.

Journal #15 - Skype Challenge

I think the biggest challenge I will face while working with students outside of the area is the fact that technology will probably fail me sometime or another throughout this process. To overcome this challenge, I hope that someone will be tech-savy enough to fix any issues that I am faced with. It also will help to get to know the people I am working with. It might be useful to be specific with our ideas, too. I know I will not be able to procrastinate when it comes to doing an intense project such as this. As we saw today, I believe technological dilemmas will prove to be the worst for a project such as this one. Other than anything that deals with Internet issues and such, I think another problem will be working with someone I do not know at all. I am the type of person that takes on a group project on my own, hoping to get it done as efficiently as I possibly can. It is hard for me to trust someone (especially someone that I do not know) into doing a project that my grade relies on. It will be something I will have to get over, but again, I think a way to help this issue will be getting to know the people I am working with, and also reminding them to get the project done in plenty of time, in case any technical issues arise when it gets closer to the due date. In general though, this project seems to be very interesting. I have never done something like this and I am excited to be involved in an experience that uses technology on such an extensive degree. As long as everything works out the way it should (when it comes to the cam working, Internet not lagging, etc.) I am sure that this task will be fun to do. I am looking forward to working with Farmington High School regarding Benjamin Franklin's Thirteen virtues and seeing what new information I will learn from other students.

Benjamin Franklin vs. Henry Tuckerman

Benjamin Franklin's virtues are very useful, depending on who you are. Reflecting on Henry Tuckerman's opinon of Franklin's virtues and Franklin's own opinion on the virtues he himself created, it is interesting to see how the two agree in similar ways. Franlin's system behind the virtues is rather complicated, but simple in a way...if that makes any sense at all. After careful consideration, I have decided that Tuckerman really liked Franklin. He sees the flaws in the virtue system, but at the same time, so does Franklin. This shows that people (like Tuckerman)are able to successfully analyze Franklin's virtues and come up with their own opinion. With this said, it means that no one opinion on the system is exactly right. As long as you analyze the material in your way, no one can judge you for your opinion. I sound like I am just ranting, but in all honesty, this makes complete sense in my head. I am using Franklin's virtues to creatively write this blog.

Despite the fact that Henry Tuckerman's criticism was longer than any other document I think I have read before, I was able to pinpoint the main points of the document. Basically, Tuckerman agrees with the virtues Franklin has, but he says that the system of virtues is a bit hard to follow. Franklin is a philosopher in Tuckerman's opinion (Tuckerman). Tuckerman makes a good point about Franklin's system of virtues. He says that every virtue is not for everyone, but they can be applied to anyone's life if they really need it. During the Rationalism period, people were big on fixing things to make their lives better. I think that society saw Franklin's virtues not as being perfect, but as being basics for steps to improve their own lives. The Rationalism period was very prominent for thinking outside of the box, which Tuckerman does in his criticism report.

As for Franklin and his virtues, I believe he did a good job of trying to set of his system successfully. He tried to manage his life in a rather organized manner. Many people recognize his success in doing this even today. That is why we have to learn about these virtues in our everyday lives. Benjamin Franklin, along with Tuckerman, see that the virtues will not work for everyone, and they come to the conclusion that people need to figure out how to apply the virtues to their OWN lives. It may not be a perfect system, but it is a darn good start for someone seeking help in life with their organizational skills and self-help stuff.

Overall, I think my opinion of Franklin's virtues has changed after reading Tuckerman's critical review. He points out many good circumstances that I before had no idea to ponder on. I think that Benjamin Franklin's system is something to apply to our lives in at least some way throughout our walk of life. Tuckerman agrees in many ways with what Franklin has to say. It is clear to see that Tuckerman would have liked Franklin if they would have ever met.

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.