Walden Pond Themes

Henry David Thoreau write Walden to show how he believed that faith in ones self is more important than the neediness that everyone possesses. The general idea of what he did shows that this is true because when he could have a nice home with furnishings, he instead chooses to live in the wild with rotting planks of wood as structure for his home. He believes that self-reliance is extremely important and shows this by living on his own (on someone else's land) in the wilderness. He does however value friendship and socialization, but chooses not to associate himself with society in order to show that faith in yourself is all that is needed to survive. By living in the wilderness with only essentials, another them that is identifiable is the theme of simple life, and how it is sometimes favorable over waking up and having to deal with squabbling people on the way to work. Because by living I'm the wilderness with no other people to socialize with, people like that do not have to be dealt with.

Nature Questions Pg. 375

Questions 1-3 and 6 on page 375.
1.) No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.
2.) Nature is a spiritual symbol, words are natural, and particular facts are that of spiritual ones.
3.) The occult relation of man and vegetable.
6.) Nature takes on emotion of man by being connected and always harmonized. 

Emerson writes nature as a way to show how he believes nature and man to be connected. Not only does he believe that it is harmonized with man, but that nature's emotions change along with man's. He says that the greatest delight the fields minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. By this, he means that he enjoys the connection that he believes to exist between man and nature. He also states that the delight received from this connection does not ascend from man or nature, but from both when they are harmonized only as one.

Self-Reliance Theme

Ralph Waldo Emerson writes self-reliance with the theme that no matter how strange, or unethical your ideas may be, if you believe in it, that you should trust your own ideas and the way that you live your life. For example, he says that "Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age,".
By this, he means that the most memorable men have always told the secrets of themselves during their era no matter how similar they may end up sounding to others. He believes that the men who do this are the most memorable because of their trust for themselves with output of thoughts that may not seem so normal during their time-period.
"Absolve to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world." Emerson uses this to reinforce that what you do, as long as you yourself approve of your own ideas, other people are bound to as well.

A Psalm of Life, How Rhyme Scheme and Stanza Structure Emphasize Poem

In A Psalm of Life written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, he rhymes the words that emphasize meaning of the points he makes. Longfellow also makes the writing more simplistic for someone trying to dissect it because of the breakdown into stanzas that he uses. Because of the rhyme scheme that he uses to describe several stanzas, it makes the poem more entertaining to read with creative mixtures of words and details. It would be much longer and more complicated if he had mixed every line of writing into a paragraph. However, Longfellow wrote the piece so that each line could be interpreted in a certain way and share meaning that he believed was how life should be lived.

2.) Our destined end is to die while trying to be remembered doing influential things.
3.) People who have lived great lives remind us that sublime decisions will be remembered
4.) Each word that is rhymed is emphasized because it carries important meaning
5.) During the battle of life, live among others as someone who will do something, or do his or her best to live an influential life of pursuing one's goals

Personal Narrative

Donovan Henson

9/12/2013

English 12

                       When I was 16, I moved to North Carolina; where my dad lived, away from Alaska; where my mom lived, for eight months. It was the one of the worst times of my life. I had decided that I was tired of Skagway, or at least tired of having what I thought was nothing to do. Little did I know that after moving I would have even fewer things to do. 
                       Every day I woke up, I felt so sick of North Carolina that I felt as if I was going to vomit. It wasn’t the change in climate, my family (at first), or even my friends. It was the overwhelming sense of boredom and the feeling that I would never do anything entertaining again. The nearest basketball court was a three-mile bike ride away, and for some reason my dad would always refuse me rides in the car.

“Hey, dad, could I get a ride to the basketball court?”, I would ask.

“No, there’s a bike up on the wall you can use.”

So whenever I did want to go to the court, I would take down the bike, and ride those three miles in sweltering heat. Nearly every time I arrived, I was so exhausted from the bike ride that I could barely muster up enough energy to play basketball.

            When I first arrived, my dad was living with my uncle, in a suburban neighborhood occupied by mostly upper-class people white, black, and Indian people, who lived in large two-story houses. These houses were nicer and larger than the average two-story houses; even the basements of the house were nice and held master bedrooms.  Less than 400 yards away from my house was a community swimming pool and outdoor basketball court. I often frequented both of them. My dad’s plan for me was to go to a new school that just opened. I was happy and had things I liked to do, until my dad got married. I wasn’t unhappy because I disliked his new bride, but because his new wife and my uncle, whose house we all lived in, did not get along.

            They had arguments about things like how much salt should be in cornbread, or why we shouldn’t eat fast-food, but said so many things behind one another’s back, and just made their relationship worse. I would overhear my step-mom squabbling and saying things like

“That food was so nasty and undercooked, we’re just going out to eat.”

My uncle too said things;

“Can you believe her? She’s ridiculous.”

They both however made sure that the other would not hear their snarky comments.

            So, instead of working out their problems like adults my step-mom convinced my dad that the only solution was moving. So, we moved into a house with more rent, where we would no longer have a swimming pool or basketball court, and relocated into a poor neighborhood filled with crime. Now, the closest basketball court was three-miles away, the nearest pool was at least ten, and I could no longer get rides from family to school unless they were to wake up half-an-hour earlier. Because I had no rides, I had to wake up at 6am to catch my bus.

            Oddly enough, school actually gave me something to do. Instead of sitting inside doing nothing all day, I got to meet new people. Plus, I got to get away from my family for a bit. Although Skagway offered more opportunities, what took up most of my time in North Carolina were sports: cross-country, football, and basketball. My dad continued to promise that we would go to a hockey rink and play pick-up games, but after several months, it became apparent to me that he had other things that he prioritized over sports. However, I could only participate in some of his hobbies, like working on motorcycles or taking apart phones for his work.

            Even though I had those few sports and hobbies to kill time with, I missed Skagway more than I thought was possible, and after missing out on Christmas vacation and not being able to see my friends, I was determined to come back home no matter what. I would often tell my mom that I wanted to return. After I told my dad of the situation, instead of saying he wants me to do what’s best or being just slightly supportive, he told me

“Some people can’t handle it.” If he meant I wanted to stop living with people who constantly irritated me with petty arguments, then yes, I couldn’t handle it. About mid-way through January, my mom had finally raised enough money to get me back. During the conversations I had with my dad about moving back to Skagway, I kept telling myself that if he was to sincerely ask me to stay with him, I would puff up my chest and deal with North Carolina. But instead of being asked to stay I just kept listening to him tell me things like

"I can't handle it" or "It's too tough, I get it." 

Needless to say, that's why I am in Skagway today, because I lacked the support from my dad that I needed, and I knew that my mom could give it to me in a much more applicable way. Being away from a place that I was so happy to leave, I first believed it to be great. You only realize how much home means to you once you are away from it for so long.

           

*Why did I want to move back to Skagway?

*How are Skagway’s athletics and opportunities different from Northwest’s?

            

Thomas Paine Appeals

Emotional Appeals - Paine uses anger as one emotion by stating how British are stubborn and stupid, but as well uses pity because at the end, he shares that the variety of evils is a ravaged country or a depopulated city without safety and with slavery.

Ethical Appeals - Paine believed that Britain was tyrannical in their attempts to forcefully control the colonies. He knew that war was soon in order and decided to try and sway some opinions of single-minded colonists as such as loyalists. When he says The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now deserves the thanks of a man and woman.” He says that the colonists claiming to be patriots are only patriotic when they are not needed to be, and do not fight in a patriotic way for the country that they love so dearly.

Appeals to Association - "I know our situation well, and can see the way out of it," Here, Paine is saying that battles and fighting against the higher power whether or not they will win or lose, that war is the only way to gain independence from a much higher power than the colonies.

Appeals to Authority - "I thank God that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear." He is thanking God for not being afraid, and sees no reason to be afraid, because he believes that he is on the side of God, which is the right side that will fight against Britain for freedom.

1. When the shipment arrives we will collect the money. When the shipment arrives, adverb clause

            2. The club, which welcomes visitors, meets on Tuesdays. which welcomes visitors, adjective clause

            3. Diving is a skill that requires concentration. a skill that requires, adjective clause

            4. Experts predicted that the election would be close. that the election would be, noun clause

            5. Do you know where the Greek restaurant is? where the Greek restaurant is, relative adverb

            6. Is that the flute that you carved? the flute that you, adjective clause

            7. Terry didn’t hear what the score was. what the score was, adverb clause

            8. The trees that David planted are elms. that David planted,

            9. Homework was collected before class started. before class started, adverb clause

            10. Peg phoned the store when her order was not delivered. when her order was not, adverb clause