Journal 8

Journal 8 - Emerson’s Aphorisms

Write a one paragraph personal response based on three of the following aphorisms. Your responses should address the point Emerson is making as well as your thoughts/feelings about what he is saying.

4. We boil at different degrees.

Emerson is using this aphorism to say that each person is different and more specifically that each person is different in what it takes to get someone upset. To me, I think this aphorism is accurate in saying each person has a different level of tolerance for certain things. Some people can get mad or upset at something that seems unimportant to someone else. Each person is different in their views, personality, and tolerance levels.

7. When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.

The aphorism is saying that Nature and God work through people. I think this aphorism is saying that each person is on earth for a reason. We all have work to do. We were all sent by something greater for a specific purpose. This aphorism is meaningful in telling that no life should be wasted or taken for granted. We are each made a genius to make a difference and make changes in the world.

11. What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

Emerson is using this aphorism to state that the challenges in life are not impossible. We have what it takes within us to make it through anything that comes to us in life. I think this aphorism is motivational in that it is a positive message of reassurance that no task or challenge is too great to be accomplished. God makes each one of us with more power within us to make it through the matters we face in life.

Journal 7

Journal Assignment #7

William Cullen Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl” (p.151) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (p.181)

Read the selections and write a detailed response to the following:

1. Compare/contrast the different views of nature that are being presented in the poems. Refer to the list of classical and romantic characteristics and provide specific examples from the poems to support your analysis.

The two poems had similarities and differences. The Waterfowl poem was written in a rational voice. The Raven was the opposite in that it was irrational. The narrator was dependent on a bird to tell him whether or not he would ever be reconnected with his love that had died. It is irrational for a bird to tell a person anything, much less talk on a topic that is extremely abstract and emotion based. One difference between the Waterfowl and the Raven is that the Waterfowl takes place in nature but the Raven has to do with a bird but takes place inside the narrator’s house. Both authors use rhyming to create the tone for the poem, so the writing styles are similar; however, Poe is more structured and formal in his writing where as the author of the Waterfowl uses a more chaotic technique. The Raven has a distinct conflict of the narrator grieving the loss of his love, Lenore. The Waterfowl does not have a definite conflict but rather an inner curiosity of what happened to the bird. The Waterfowl’s conflict is in the end resolved where as in the Raven the conflict instead makes the narrator more angry and more hurt and saddened by his loss. The imagery and symbolism in the Raven is dark and gloomy, depicting the darkness that is overshadowing the narrator. The Raven itself is a supernatural symbol for evil. The raven tells the narrator that there is no afterlife and that life is pointless and painful and that there is no hope for being reconnected with lost loved ones. The Waterfowl says the exact opposite of life in that, the Waterfowl poem is filled with hope and power. Both poems have a similar purpose. The waterfowl is teaching a lesson and the Raven, doing the opposite, is saying that life is irrational and meaningless.

Journal 6- Ben Franklin

Name: Leanne Ches

Journal #6

From Ben Franklin’s The Autobiography (p. 80 – 83)

Write a well-developed paragraph in response to the following questions.

1. Explain what was involved in Franklin’s plan for self-perfection? What conclusion did Franklin come to regarding the effectiveness of this plan?

Franklin’s plan for achieving self perfection was revolved around these virtues. He came up with thirteen virtues that fully express what is needed for self perfection. The virtue of temperance touches on the amount he should eat and drink, silence tells how he should speak. He has virtues to keep him in order and clean. He has virtues that control his behavior and more. These virtues become the contract for the way he thinks to live his life to be perfect.














2. Do you feel that a plan such as Franklin’s would improve you as a person? Why or why not? What would be your top five virtues?

I think Franklin’s plan could be a good guideline to improve me as a person; however, I don’t believe in striving for perfection. I don’t think you could live solely off of the virtues and still have a full life. I think the virtues are good suggestions but shouldn’t be taken so seriously. My top five virtues (in order) would be humility, frugality, temperance, tranquility, and cleanliness. I think these virtues cover most aspects of life without controlling any part of life.

Journal 5- Thomas Paine

Journal #5 – from Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” (p.95-6)

1. Identify the specific argument that Paine is making in each paragraph. For each of the arguments, identify whether Paine is making an emotional, ethical, or logical appeal and suggest an effective counterargument.


#1 Argument-
Appeal- Emotional and Logical
Counter- Americans owe England because without them we wouldn’t be a country. We can’t assume Americans will win.





#2 Argument- “God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so..” (God won’t let us lose)
Appeal- Ethical
Counter- There’s no proof that God will support them
Logical fallacies- begging the question





#3 Argument- If we don’t fight them now ourselves, our children will be the ones forced to sacrifice their lives to fight later.
Appeal- Emotional and Logical
Counter- If we wait, things will work themselves out and no one will need to fight.






#4
Argument- The king is like a thief breaking into your house which is a reason to fight.
Appeal- Emotional
Counter- The king and thief is not an affective analogy because it’s his property. He owned the colonies and allowed the groups to live there. He has legal rights to the colony.




2. Can you identify any of the logical fallacies that we discussed in Paine’s arguments? If so, which ones? Overall, what do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of Paine’s arguments?
Faulty Analogy, Begging the Question

Paine is very persuasive in using emotional appeal. However his logic and facts are either false or exaggerated. He uses faulty analogy repeatedly in this writing.

Food Descripion Journal

Food Description

By the time I got out of class, it was way past the normal time to eat lunch. I hadn’t eaten all day and I was starving. I had been thinking about the buffalo chicken wraps with the crispy chicken, spicy buffalo sauce, and soft tortillas. They were being served in the cafeteria that day and I had been anticipating lunchtime since before I arrived at school. I finally made it to the cafeteria to find that they were sold out of the wraps, but that wasn’t the worst of it. They had sold out of all the other good food that they normally have. I was forced to buy one of the premade sandwiches which actually didn’t seem too bad. I purchased the sandwich which, in my opinion, was overpriced, and I made my way to my usual table. I carefully unwrapped the sandwich and when I lifted the bread I was disappointed to find that there were tomatoes on it. It couldn’t have been the slices of tomatoes, but instead the finely chopped diced tomatoes that were near impossible to pick off. I was upset but I was so hungry that I had no choice but to begin scraping the tiny little red chunks from the sandwich. The smell was nauseating, and the appearance was disgusting. The seemingly easy task of separating the tomatoes from the lettuce proved to be a challenge. After wasting nearly my entire lunch period getting rid on the tomatoes, I finally thought I got the sandwich to an edible point. I took a bite and immediately sensed the slimy, bitter, sickening taste of the juice and seeds left behind from the tomatoes. The sandwich caused me to lose my appetite so I threw the rest of the demolished sandwich away. The cafeteria should label the ingredients of the sandwiches on the outside of the packaging to avoid this kind of dilemma.

Ann Hodgman Journal

Journal Assignment #3

“No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch” – Ann Hodgman

(The Norton Sampler p.77)

Read the selection and write a one paragraph response to the following questions.

1. Cite three specific examples of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery that you find to be particularly effective.

“Cycle-2, for adults, glistens nastily with fat, but it’s passably edible- a lot like some canned Swedish meatballs I once got in a care package at college.”

“There were chunks in the can, certainly- big, purplish-brown chunks.”

“Rather, it looked- and felt- like a single long, extruded piece of redness that had been chopped into segments and formed into a patty.”

2. What do you think Hodgman’s purpose was in writing this essay? What overall message/meaning do you take from the essay?

I think Hodgman’s purpose for writing was to confront her curiosity of the taste of dog food that packaging and advertising sell to be appealing. The author states that she has always wondered if Gaines-burgers are really like hamburgers, like the packaging claims. She tries numerous types of dog food and treats to reveal what exactly is in the makeup of “real meat” dog food. She finds that most foods do not taste the way that one would assume from reading the labels.

Annie Dillard Journal

Journal 2 - Annie Dillard – “The Death of a Moth,” from Holy the

Firm

1. How are the moths in the essay’s opening different from the moth at the campsite? What do the different moths represent?

The moths in the opening were just dead bodies. The moths at the campfire were alive until they flew into the fire of the candle. The different moths represent the different situations that the woman has had to deal with in her life.

2. What lesson does the moth provide that Dillard takes back to her students?

Dillard tells her students about the lesson of determination that is needed if they want to be writers.

3. How many references are there to fire in the essay? What’s the larger significance of fire in the essay?

There are at least three references to fire in the essay. The last fire was when Dillard spoke of the candles that she lights and never extinguishes. The candles help Dillard to see the light in all of her friends.

4. Address how each of the following quotes connect to Dillard’s overall point.

a. “I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

-Jack London

This quote connects to Dillard’s essay in that she feels similar to London’s overall message. She never blows out the flame of her candles which represents what she does in life.

b. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

-William Butler Yeats

This quote relates to the essay because it talks about education and Dillard is a teacher. She talks to her students about giving their life to writing like the moth gave its life when it caught on fire.

c. “A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”

-Franz Kafka

The essay and the quote both use an ax as a comparison for writing and education.

Narrative

I picked up a second job at a corner restaurant. It was a Monday afternoon, the busiest time of the day. Just before noon, which was the time all of the nearby workers get off for lunch. A large group came in and suddenly the place livened up. It had been a slow morning, but I was told it always picks up around noon. Everything had gone wrong that day and it continued going wrong for most of the remaining day. I slept through my alarm which meant I was going to be cutting it close to making it to work on time, and the heavy traffic didn’t help my cause. I was a little over ten minutes late and got a scolding from my boss. It wasn’t the way I had planned on making a first impression. Most of my co-workers were pretty bitter and not very welcoming. There was one other waitress who had a warm personality and gave me some insights of the restaurant. She was probably the only person in the restaurant, including myself, that was into the holiday spirit. You see, I picked up this job to save some money for the holiday season. Christmas was right around the corner and the money was short. I was lost in thought when the crowd of people entered through the door. I overheard some of their conversation and quickly learned that they were members of a church group who were stopping by for a warm drink after a few hours of Christmas caroling. I spoke to one of the carolers for a short while and soon enough told them of my situation. She gave me some kid words of advice and a smile and went on her way. When I went to clean their table after they left, I saw that she had left an extremely generous tip. That one customer was all it took to put me in the Christmas spirit.