Blog on "As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing"

So, i guess i kind of understand how this poem relates to Christianity. It relates to this religion because Whitman relates farming and plowing to life and death. As we all know, living in Central Illinois, just because someone plows the crops, does not mean that they can never grow crops on that land again. Farmers will grow crops every year because the land does not go bad after one year of growing crops and harvesting. This relates to a guy i know named Jesus. Jesus woke up one day, and he was all like since humans are not being as good as they should be being, so he took it upon himself to die for all of humanity's sins. This relates to the poem because of the way that Whitman describes the harvest in his short poem. I really do not know how else this poem really relates to the idea of Self in which Whitman likes to represent inside of his works. I honestly do not know how this poem really reflects the idea of the everyman because of how short the poem is. I guess one go stretch as far to say that this poem reflects the idea of the everyman because of the way that every man tends to experience life and death, but i do not really like to use that comparison. In this poem, all that the author is really doing is just comparing life and death to farming and harvesting. I mean, that is really all this poem is trying to say. I honestly do not see any other examples of the idea of the everyman because the poem, once again, is so short. I guess that another idea of Self that Whitman uses within this poem is Nature by the way that he compares life and also death and the rebirth to things in nature such as farming and growing, and also harvesting crops. It seems to be that this is all i could find about the idea of Self.

Reflection of Poems That Describe Whitman's Self

From these multiple poems, it is very easy to see the reflection of the idea of self that Whitman shoes in his poems. When Whitman expresses the idea of self, he stresses especially that society and nature combined, are all part of the present, the past and the future as well. Also, when reflecting on the idea of self, Whitman uses the similarities of man in multiple examples such as multiple people or even multiple findings in nature. To him these events and findings all reflect the simple idea of self, which he clearly shows in his writing.

For example, in the poem "Myself and Mine," Whitman relates the experiences of many and of himself to reflect the idea of self by the way he ties all of the ideas found in the poem into the point that he makes at the end, where he finally starts questioning the differences between two or even more personalities if they both feel the same way. He also starts to question the identities of the nameless beings that he speaks of within his poem and concludes the poem by basically showing the reader that he has actually just given many example of self within the poem and he has also described the very idea of self.

In the poem "One Song America, Before I Go," Whitman once again reflects his idea of self by the way in which he writes his poem. Since Whitman believed that self resembled not only the past or present, but also the future, this poem reflects the very idea that Whitman had of self. For example in the story, Whitman is describing almost of how he wants to describe to the nation that since thing have gone very well in the past for the nation and that also our nation has overcome many obstacles to get where we were when this poem was written, then the future is simple to predict for the country in the very eyes of Whitman because of the way he views self. Self not only reflect the present and the past, but also the future. This means that what Whitman really wants to "sing" to the nation before he goes is the fact that everything is going to be fine and dandy for the nation in the future because of the way that certain events unfolded in the past and because of the way that our nation learned to overcome certain obstacles.

One more example of how Whitman's idea of self is reflected in Whitman's poems is by the way that Whitman makes the final analogy in the poem "As I Watch'd The Ploughman Plouging." Within the final line of this short poem,. Whitman makes an analogy of how life relates to how much crop a farmer grow compared to the harvest at the end of each season which relates to death. This reflects the idea of realism by the way that he makes this analogy of nature to life and death. The basis for the idea of self is that not only life, but also nature goes into the idea, and since Whitman relates these two things together in the end of the poem, the poem relates to the idea of self.

Blog on "Whitman's Language of Self"

I found the article "Whitman's Language of the Self" very interesting to read because of the way the author uses specific examples from Whitman's work to express the the language of the self that Whitman uses in his works. Within this article, the author gives examples of specific instances of how Whitman uses very specific characteristics of the idea of Self within his works. For example, the author tends to mention a lot throughout the article that Whitman uses the simple idea of personality quite a bit within his work. The author goes on to explain that within his work, Whitman uses not only the personality of himself to set the ground for certain works he has written, but also Whitman, uses the personalities of the idea of Self as a whole. This means that basically he goes on to use the personality of anyone who has anyone to do with the story as an example of a personality within his respected works, which he uses to portray the idea of Self to the reader. Also within his essay, the author explains that not only does Whitman use the idea of personality to explain his portrayal of the idea of self, but he also uses the idea of nature as well. For example, the author of the article goes on to say that very commonly in one of his works, Whitman will describe one of the characters he has created within a story who has troubles. This character will then go on to find beauty within nature which will then help that certain character out with the certain conflict or quest that the character is trying to overcome. From this example it is very easy to see how Whitman uses the language of self within his work. Most commonly, though he will use the idea of personality of also the idea of nature to portray the idea or concept of self that he would like to reveal within his specific works.

My Favorite Food (Steak)

Ok, so i do have a favorite food. That favorite food is steak. Steak is very good. Wow i do not think that i can handle talking about this after lunch because my lunch was not very big after all and i am still very hungry. Anyway my favorite type of steak is the classic ribeye from Longhorn Steakhouse. I really like it because it is a 12 ounce steak but it is pretty spicy and it tastes very delicious. I like to order it cooked medium because when you eat it, the flavor basically melts in your mouth. It smells very delicious when the server brings the steak out for you to order. You can basically smell to flavor that it creates when it comes off of the grill. It smells so good. In fact i am getting very hungry at the moment by just thinking about eating one. When you get a steak from the restaurant in front of you, you are always thankful that you made the right choice. One may ask, "But Kirk, how do you know if you made the right choice by ordering the ribeye?" Well, i will be the very first person to tell you that if you order the ribeye from Longhorn Steak, then you know that you have automatically made the right decision because it is so gosh darn good. So that is how you know if you make the right choice. Ok, so, i guess that all of these reasons above is why the ribeye from Longhorn Steakhouse is my favorite. I mean if you have a steak that is very good tasting, very good smelling, and also very good looking, it is very clear that this is my favorite food ever! I mean, anyone who has ever had one of these things will have to agree with me that these are some of the best tasting steaks ever! So, i guess that this is why i love this steak so much.

What It Would Be Like To Give An Interview In A Trench

Personally, i believe that if i were a reporter doing a story on a war while in the trenches with the soldiers i would be scared. This is kind of a random topic. But anyway, if i did do that, and i was a reporter, i probably would not interview troops who are in the middle of battle, and also i would not interview them in a trench because i would be afraid for my life. This is because if i was in a trench when a war was going on and the enemies knew where the trench was, i would be very afraid that there would be a chance that i might get hurt because the enemies might launch an attack on the trench when i was there interviewing the troops. I honestly do not think that i have ever seen an interview of an active troop in the middle of a war when the interview is taking place at the base of the troop or troops. But basically, if i was giving an interview within a u.s. base and there were people around whop were considered to be dangerous, then i would be very scared. I do not think that it would be very fun giving an interview when having to worry about your life and when you are very far away from the ones that you love and the thing that you love to do. So, i guess that this is why i do not want to be a very famous reporter when i grow up, or i guess when i get older. This is because overall, i would honestly hate to go to a place that is not safe, where i feel alone, just to give one interview or story in general. Also, i would be very mad at the corporation who thought that they could send me to such a place without me expressing disapproval. I just would not enjoy that at all.

Analysis of "To Build a Fire"

The short story, "To Build A Fire" by Jack London, is a wonderful story about a man and his dog who go out into the Yukon in search for gold(London 601-614). During, this search unfortunately, the man and his fellow dog encounter very extreme weather conditions, and therefore are forced to have to deal with the battle to survive in the harsh conditions(London). Because the main conflict is between man and nature and so much of the story is focused on nature, this story would fit under the category of naturalism. Naturalism is a subset of realism that involves nature than anything in the story and usually ends up with a conflict between man and nature, or naturalism "has been devoted to documenting, with apparent objectivity, the extreme experiences of characters existing on the margins of society (Werlock "Naturalism")." This subject was actually partially influenced by writers such as Jack London himself along with some others as well. As the story progresses even though the battle against the weather or nature does not get that much worse for the man and his husky, it slowly wears the man down, doing a toll on him and his dog(London 601-614). The rest of the story is about the man abandoning his search for gold, and instead trying to find a shelter or some type of safety(London). To a reader it may seem pretty obvious from the beginning of the story that the man will have a battle with nature because of the foreshadowing that London gives with his early entries and even the title of the story, but in the end the story is not about the element of surprise, the naturalism is always about how strong someone can prove them self to be against nature, or becoming one with nature, as Jack London proves in textbook fashion, in his story "To build a Fire(Werlock, "Naturalism")." Not only does this story reflect naturalism because of the main conflict between man and nature, but it also represents simple realism by the way the Jack London uses simple language to portray his main message within the story(Werlock, "Naturalism"). For example, London quotes, "He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles, crossed a wide flat of niggerheads, and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a small stream. This was Henderson Creek, and he knew he was ten miles from the forks. He looked at his watch. It was ten o'clock. He was making four miles an hour, and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve. He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there(London 607)." From this quote it is very easy to see the simple writing style that London uses to get his thoughts across to his readers. He does not use very complex writing at all, but at the same time, he tends to go into lots of detail about what the character is doing and what he is think to make the character seem almost life-like(Werlock, "Realism").


London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601-614. Print. (Werlock, "Realism")

Werlock, Abby H. P. "naturalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0501&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 16, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 15, 2011.

Analysis of "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy"

The poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a poem about a man named Richard Cory who is very pleasant, educated, and seems to be the richest man in town where the setting is according to the narrator(Robinson"Richard" 575). Well one night, when people are taking the things that they have for granted, Richard Cory kills himself by shooting himself in the head(Robinson"Richard" 575). This story states off by not sounding like it is a realism story because of hoe cheerful it sounds, but in the end it turns into a realism story because in the end, the poem ends up reflecting how "life truly exists(Werlock)." Besides just the simple story of the poem proving that this is a realist work, the actually grammar and context proves that this poem is a realism poem by the way the author keeps the writing style within the poem very simple while at the same time, he uses a lot of figurative language to describe the status and appearance Richard Cory(Robinson "Richard" 575). For example, within the poem Robinson states, "He was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But he still fluttered pulses when he said 'Good Morning,'and he glittered when he walked(Robinson "Richard" 575)." From this quote it is easy to see how the author uses figurative and very descriptive language in the story while at the same time, he keeps the writing style basic and easy to understand. For example, the author, Robinson, uses figurative language when the he says, "He glitters when he walks(Robinson "Richard" 575)." This statement does not mean that Cory literally glitters when he walks. When the author says this, he is describing the effect that Cory has on people and the certain appeal that he is able to have on many people. The next poem, "Miniver Cheevy," is very similar to "Richard Cory" in the fact that the catch and main purpose of the poem is actually at the end of the work. "Miniver Cheevy" is a poem about a boy who wished that he was in the middle ages when swords and horses and castles were still around(Robinson "Miniver" 576). this work is an example of realism because of the way that the poem, once again reflect life "as it truly exists(Werlock)." For example, in the story, at first, the author has the audience confused because the author goes on to talk about how this person wants to be living in the middle ages, but in the end, he finally realizes that there must be a reason why he was not born back in those times, and then he finally decides to continue on with his life(Robinson "Miniver" 576). This shows realism because even today in society, when people cannot get what they want, they will just have to accept the face and move on without the thing that they truly wish they had. Another way that this work reflects the work of realism is the way that the author uses very simple language to portray the message of the story(Werlock).

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 575. Print.(Werlock)

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Miniver Cheevy." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 576. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 15, 2011.