october 12, 2010

In the day prior to this class period, we had been assigned to read, analyze, and answer the questions of the document, "From Resistance to Civil Government" by Henry David Thoreau. Today, we discussed what the main theme was, and went over questions we faced while reading the document. The main idea we settled on was a collaboration of the class thoughts. We decided that the document really was emphasizing the point that when individuals come together in a government, there is some sort of a corrupt force and it is very important for every individual to focus on their own paths. We also said that according to Thoreau, there is no true government unless the individual is thoroughly respected. While trying to go deeper into this idea of a group of people coming together and once together, losing morals, we branched off into an idea from the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. What we used from that novel was the idea of, mob mentality. Mob mentality is best explained as when a people come together as a group, they lose individual morality, and conform to the morality of the group. This is how Thoreau describes the government, while his message is that our true righteousness is in our individual selves despite the beliefs of the group.

My thoughts on our this document start with thinking back to what I knew about Henry David Thoreau. In previous classes, we had established that he was a Transcendentalist. Knowing that Thoreau was a Transcendentalist, I also knew that the tree things his life really revolved around was God, nature, and this idea of individual self. Knowing this really helps because I can now grasp that Thoreau, through out this document, isn't always commenting literally, but figuratively. From within his jail cell, Thoreau says, "I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was still a more difficult one to climb or break through, before they could be as free as I was". Thoreau is not saying that he is more free then those men under the law, but in essence of life. I understood that Thoreau meant that even though he is trapped in jail, he is more free because he has broken out of the group of alikeness, he has achieved enlightenment. I also started thinking about how this discussion really brought us back around to the beginning of the year when we were talking about Will McLean, and Lennie and George, and how they were all against society. I thought it was interesting how we went back to that drawing which was so familiar from our first unit, of the lone large stick figure faced by a series of smaller stick figures compiled into a large mass on the other side. I think it is really important to take note that the one person standing alone is very large. Seeing this really supports Thoreau's claims of of the strength of an individual, he says, "...for a single man can bend it [government] to his will".

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

On October 13, we discussed Transcendentalism and began talking about self reliance and going beyond the range of human experience or belief of powers. We learned a lot about Transcendentalism and the major writers during that time including Emerson and Thoreau. We went into depth with the differences between these writers. We discussed how Emerson was interested in Nature and was a thinker, whereas, Thoreau was interested in Walden, about simple things of life, and was a Doer. These two writers differed, however they both surpassed the human experience. I think that the handout called Transcendentalism, which explains Transcendentalism and the dissimilarities between Thoreau and Walden, is very helpful because it went into depth about each individual and the topic.

My thoughts during class were that Transcendentalism is a very interesting topic and that it is fascinating to learn about such an extraordinary subject. Before today, we had studied the Brook Farm which gave us a broader view on the topic and gave me a great introduction to what Transcendentalism really is. Transcendentalism focuses on living close to nature as this handout mentions that, "They strongly felt the need of intellectual companionship and interests (Brook Farm) and placed great emphasis on the importance of spiritual living." I think that this quote portrays the main thoughts and interests of a Transcendentalist, even though the whole subject goes into greater depth. In class, I tried to imagine being a Transcendentalist and really being one with nature. This brought the class and I to really think about how we never really see how great nature is, even though it is such a significant part of life and the whole environment, we never take the time to really appreciate it. I had never been introduced to Transcendentalism before this class and I think it is a remarkable topic that helped my learning process.

Thursday October 21, 2010

On thursday in class we reviewed our vocabulary terms for the upcoming quiz. We were placed into groups of two and given three words to define in a sentence and draw a a picture. This activity was fun and helped the class have visual representations to understand many of the words. Personally I can still remember that Kobayashi easting one hundred hot dogs is not a hyperbole. We had no homework on thursday except prepare for the vocabulary quiz on Friday.

Because we were learning these new prefixes and suffixes, i wondered to myself why we learn vocab. On the website line below it talks about the reason of why we study vocabulary and strategies to expanding our vocabulary. Things i thought that were important from this article were that vocabulary opens new doors. It talks about how without vocabulary we present ourselves as being not intelligent. I thought this would be important because it the years to come we will all most likely be taking college visits and interviews. Expanding our vocab, will be important if we want to be accepted in our first choice colleges. Also a way to learn new vocabulary is to either read, and search words you dont understand; or use the "elementary style." The author of the website says the elementary style is by using the vocab book we use. I think you are reading this post it would be useful to read this website.

http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/english-vocabulary/importance-of-strong-vocabulary.html

10/7/10

Last Thursday we talked about Transcendentalism and how nature is important to humans. We continued with the ideas from Tuesday, when we spent the day outside. We began by reading each other's journal entries about a concept of nature. All the ones I read were really well-written and discussed things like mountains and trees and talked about them in metaphorical terms. Personally, I wrote about aardvarks.

After that, the class watched video clips from a Ken Burns documentary, which discussed the influence of a few important transcendentalists on the development of the national parks system. I found John Muir's role very interesting, and I was amazed at what an influence on man could have in sparking the establishment of the park and in the preservation of the area.

10/14/10

Today in class we talked about Emerson and Thoreau. At first we got our brains going with a quick journal about a perspective piece on a picture, and we went around and shared our ideas. I liked the idea of the horse pens in a race; when you looked at it the picture seemed like it was just that. Then, we discussed Thoreau and Emerson, each of us having to research and find a quote that we felt resonated with us. I really liked the quotes because many of them talked about self reliance and independence. Both Emerson and Thoreau remind me a little of Ayn Rand. Although they were from different time periods, I think that their writings both covered the ideas of individualism, self-sufficiency, and a fierce will to be independent. This Thoreau quote that I used, "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor," reminds me of this Ayn Rand quote "The most depraved type of human being ... (is) the man without a purpose." Both quotes have a similar idea of being aware of who we are and aware of where we stand. Although we did not have a formal class discussion, I think that everyone learned a little from one another, just by seeing our quotes (we found out what really resonated with each other), and by our quick warm up in the beginning. It is always nice to see what our peers think, and I believe that today was a great example of that.

October 5, 2010

Today in English we expanded more on the idea of Transcendentalism. We learned that they believe in connecting with God through nature. We then got to experience connecting with nature and went outside and tried to write in a transcendentalist point of view. We connected nature with human nature and wrote about different objects in nature. I wrote about how a rock can connect with humans in that just like a rock we are moulded through life's experiences. The Transcendentalists are interesting to read about and the poems we have been reading are making me think.

Today in English Class, we began by discussing Transcendentalism, and how it relates to Nature, God, and the Human Soul. We then read poems by Mary Oliver. The two poems were titled The Journey and The Morning Poem. Each of these had imagery and figurative language. There were many metaphors in these poems, and Mary Oliver has many reoccurring motifs in her writing. Our homework Assignment was to write a journal consisting of Images and words which the two poems made us think about.

This class today helped us to analyze the poems which we read. We discussed the meaning and reason for each and every line. Mrs. Flournoy helped guide us through interpreting poems. This will help prepare us to interpret on our own. The homework will help us express the emotions which are evoked when we read this poetry; it will help give us our own views on the poetry. Although we have already gone through the whole poem, this new assignment will help us expand our ideas which we began in class.

Friday, October 1, 2010

For Friday, we began class quickly reviewing our notes on the American Renaissance (Romantics Period). After that, we discussed the previous night’s homework on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Reading important excerpts of the story, we shared our ideas on what the veil might symbolize, the theme of the story, Puritan beliefs playing a role in the village’s response to the veil, Hooper’s relationship with God, secret sins existing in every one person, and how one could outward express one’s inner self. We, ultimately, focused on how, throughout this story, the Romantics viewed good and evil of a person, an American Renaissance conception. Running out of time, Ms. Flournoy went over the weekend homework. She did the first example. We are supposed to fill out a chart with the “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

I really do enjoy breaking down and analyzing stories. Our discussion in class was really interesting. It made me ponder whether humans are born good or bad, discussed on Thursday’s class. It made me consider, in depth, secret sins and how people cope with their own mistakes, blaming others or self-disciplining. I think the visitors were impressed! (: