May-Flower-Pink, small, and punctual

May-Flower- Pink, small, and punctual

Pink, small, and punctual,
Aromatic, low,
Covert in April,
Candid in May,

Dear to the moss,
Known by the knoll,
Next to the robin
In every human soul.

Bold little beauty,
Bedecked with thee,
Nature forswears
Antiquity.

      I think that Emily Dickinson is trying to convey a message of being yourself.  She says that everyone has a little flower in their soul just waiting to bloom.  The flower in one's soul will bloom as soon as the time is right, like a flower in May.  One's flower may be hidden or covered, but it will come out soon enough.  She also says that nature believes that it will not stay.  Someone may have a change in heart about something and their flower will die, but a new one will come again.

Transcendentalism vs. Anti-Transcendentalism

    I personally like the transcendentalists more than the anti-transcendentalists.  I feel that transcendentalism is more about life and how one should live his or her life happily.  The transcendentalists make so many interesting and profound connections with nature.  They really make you think about everything they say and make connections with your own life.  I like the fact that the transcendentalists believe that man is born good.  We all like to think of ourselves as good people, even if it is not always true.  "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams ... he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." This quote from Walden makes you more hopeful of your dreams coming true, which in return makes you more happy.  The transcendentalists are also quite optimistic about everything, even bad events they turn around to mean something good.  Their optimism makes their writings so much more interesting and enjoyable to read.  The transcendentalists are definitely better than the anti-transcendentalists.

Alternate Ending

    The walls kept coming closer and closer until I could not stand any longer.  I begin to fall, but I happen to have time to grab onto the edge of the pit.  I try to hold on for as long as I can, but I am so tired and I still feel drugged.  I attempt to pull myself back up, but all of a sudden I starting feeling tickling and tiny pains all over my body.  There are spiders crawling all over me! They itch and hurt so badly.  I decide that dying from spider bites would be a lot more painful and torturous than falling down the pit.  I let go and all of a sudden I am falling.  My life flashes before my eyes, and the next thing I know I am in some water.  I try swimming around, but I am just to tired.  I do not think that I can avoid anymore attempts at torture so I just decide to drown myself.  I take a big inhale of breath and pass out.  Everything goes black, then suddenly I see a bright light and I realize I am dead.

Poe vs. Irving

    I am definitely Team Poe and not Team Irving.  I believe that Poe had a better writing style and could write more to manipulate the human mind.  He knew how to almost control peoples thoughts by creating vivid mental images and tugging at our emotions.  It almost feels like you are in the stories.  I believe that Poe also had much more diverse writing, like horror stories, mysteries, and poems.  All of his stories almost sound poetic, too.  He uses so many literary elements in all of his works.  He uses so many great sounding words that fit well and even sound scary.  His works are sometimes difficult to read, but even if you do not understand all the words you still get the idea and are still captured by the story.  Poe's stories actually interested me, while Irving's did not.

Romantic Poems

    Out of all the poems we read this week, I liked "A Psalm of Life" the best.  It talked about how we have to seize the day and live in the moment.  We should not worry about the past and not be afraid of the future or death.  We need to make sure people remember us by the good things that we do and the impacts we have made on their lives, like footprints in the sand.  We should always try to be optimistic and see the bright side of things.  I try to live by these things, that are almost like life mottos, everyday. I try not to let the past or the future affect me.  I try to be optimistic about the present, because you do not know what actually will happen in the future, so there is no need to be negative about what may or may not happen.  Carpe diem!!

Nature

    Fall is a beautiful time of year.  It is the end of hot weather and the beginning of the cold.  The trees start to change color, and the colors are absolutely gorgeous.  The sun starts to set earlier, so we get longer nights.  The smell of people burning leaves is wonderful, and the smells of fireplaces starting to be used is great.  All the colors and smells mix so wonderfully with each other to create a perfect season for everyone.  I love fall because it reminds me that winter is just right around the corner, and winter is my favorite season!  It makes me excited every time it gets colder because it makes me think about the snow that will soon come!

Political Climate of the 1950s- McCarthy Hearings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4N46jLdhCU&feature=player_embedded

     I completely agree with this video.  The hearings never really did end instead it turned into a hunt for terrorists instead of communists.  Anyone can be accused and no evidence is really brought up.  In the McCarthy hearings Joseph McCarthy would accuse a ton of people and not really give evidence.  They would not really receive fair treatment in court, instead they were just convicted of being a communist, unless they gave the names of others.  It is so easy to just start blaming other people when you know that it will get you out of trouble, even if it is wrong to do so.  In the McCarthy hearings people would have to accuse their friends, so that they would not be put in jail.  This arrogant, self-centered man had no right to accuse all of these people or put them on trial for something barely any of them actually did.  I believe that we will always find a new group to persecute and accuse unfairly, just like the witch hunts, communism trials, and the terrorist scares.