Journal #26 Snow

So, today, i am supposed to write about snow. I guess that i am supposed to write about how beautiful and mind bottling it is. Yes i just said mind bottling. You, know, like when your thoughts are trapped in a bottle and they cant get out?-Chazz Michael Michaels. Anyway, so, i really do enjoy snow. To me it is very nice and relaxing, although now, i must admit that i do not like playing in it that much anymore. I mean, that was in like second grade when i enjoyed playing in the snow. Now, it really is not that fun just because i started to realize that snow is actually very cold and i realize now that i do not like the cold. Although, do not get me wrong, i do like sledding, but the problem with sledding is that it is fun for like maybe ten seconds if you are on a very big hill. Other than going down the hill, it is not very fun just because it always takes forever to climb up the hill and to me, that is not very fun. Also, it gets really annoying when you are sledding, and people do not walk up the path that was meant to be used to walk up. Instead, you have these idiots who think that it is a very good idea to just walk straight up the hill where people are trying to go down and therefore, if you are going to go down the hill at crazy speed, it is stupid how you have to try and dodge people who do not want to move out of the way. Now though, really the only time i like playing in the snow is when playing football. I really like playing football in the snow. It is always very fun and i always really like playing football, and because there is snow, it is used as an excuse to tackle people.

Criticism of the Veil

When i read the story "The Minister's Black Veil" by Hawthorne, i seemed to notice that the whole story was basically a symbol of dark romanticism. The story really does sum up the whole idea of dark Romanticism. Basically, this is true because the black veil in the story basically just represent that throughout life, there is always going t be dark times. One would have to admit that there are examples of dark events everywhere. This is basically what dark romanticism is all about. An example of dark romantic writing is the following quote: “With this gloomy shade before him, good Mr. Hooper walked onward, at a slow and quiet pace, stooping somewhat, and looking on the ground, as is customary with abstracted men, yet nodding kindly to those of his parishioners…” (Hawthorne). This quote shows the dark romanticism that is shown in this story. Also, in the book, there is also mentioning of a "secret sin". In the story, this represents the black veil, or also the sadness that goes unnoticed in the world. This reflects dark romanticism because dark romanticists also realize that there is a lot of sin in the world that goes unnoticed and they like to bring that to the attention of the reader (Hawthorne). This is because this thought process is what dark romantic writer really like to believe in when they are writing. The writers liked to believe that there is alway something dark in life no matter how happy the moment is. In my opinion, i really do not like this point of view from these writers. It really just seems way too sad and depressing. As a reader, i like to believe that there are moments in all stories or even in life where there is nothing but happiness. According to these writers, this is not true, or never true in life. For example, in the story, the minister wears his black veil everywhere he goes. He wears it to church, he wears it to a wedding, and then he even wears it to a funeral. Then, when no one really knows why he is wearing this strange black veil, he starts to die, and eventually when he is on his death bed, people begin to realize why he wears his black veil and every other person who goes to the funeral wears a black veil. As it turns, the people realize that the minister because they, like the minister, have realized that even in the happiest moments in life, there is still sadness in the world, and the people are wearing the veils to symbolize that. This event basically represents that mere fact that the minister did his job in making people realize that there are many sins and very sad events that go unnoticed in life. Unfortunately, this means that the people who are wearing these veils are reminded everyday that there is a lot of unhappiness that happens in life, and therefore, the minister did his job in helping the people to notice this by wearing a veil.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 280-89. Print.

Journal #25 Wearing Masks

ok, so there was this one time when a friend of mine wore a mask to cover up his true personality. I really do not know why he wore a mask, although no one really knew what the guy looked like in the audience...of what was happening. anyway, the guy's name was V. I really cannot remember why this was his name, but basically he wore this mask to cover up his identity rather than his actual personality. But anyway, i guess that one could technically say that it does cover his personality, but whatever. So, this guy wantes to wear a mask because he found out that the British government was doing biological testing on human subjects. Now, the last time that anyone did this was in World War 2. I am pretty sure that we all know who did this. But anyway, so my friend tells me this and shows me how he found out, (which is top secret by the way) and so i was all like "You have to do something!" So it sounds bad, but he started going after government officials. By going after them, i mean like, killing them. So, the when he started attacking these people, the British government started to find out why my friend V was going after them. Anyway, so it was basically civil war between the government and my friend V. So, in order to bring V down, the government started making his face the symbol of a public villain. So, anyway, people started burning his mask. It was really hard on V, but i convinced him that he must tell the people the truth in order to have people support him even though it was a risk. So, basically to make a long story short, V started to die from one of the fights he got into, but since the people then knew the truth, they started to build an army. In conclusion, at the moment that V died, the army took over Parliament and blew it up. "We won the battle, mom"-Peter Griffin. The End!

Criticism of Pendulum

Blog bog bloggy. I really wish that my class had not read this poem out loud in class and just read this poem silently so that we could finish it in class. This blog is kind of a moral buster because i do not want to be doing school work on the last day of Thanksgiving break, but i am. I actually thought about not even doing this blog at all, but my responsibility caught up with me naturally. Well, anyway for this blog we had to read the poem "The Pit and the Pendulum" by the epic poet, Edgar Allen Poe. To begin this criticism, i would like to say that i actually did enjoy this poem a lot simply because it included torture (Poe). Now, not to sound sick, or twistedly twisted, but dark stories with torture always tend to catch my attention because it is like the worst possible thing that could happen to a person. It is also one of the scariest. I mean, in my opinion, that is like the last thing that i would ever want to happen to me. To be brutally honest here, being tortured would just flat out suck. There really would not be any other basic way to describe it (Poe). Anyway, on to the poem. In the story "The Pit and the Pendulum", it describes a prisoner who has been sentenced to death. The author, Poe, never actually gives a reason why the prisoner has been sentenced to death (Poe). the author basically leaves that up for the reader to decide. But anyway, the prisoner goes into his cell and tries to avoid death by having rats chew ropes that are holding him down while a pendulum with a blade is getting lower and lower. One of the things that i like about this part is the kind of description that Poe uses when the man is getting closer and closer to death. I really like how Poe describes this moment as he states how worried the man is and the thoughts that are going through his head (Poe). The thing that i liked the most about the poem "The Pit and the Pendulum" was how the author, Poe, changes the mood so much throughout the story. For example, as a reader, i really found it interesting how Poe changed the mood from when the prisoner saw his cell for the first time, to the time when he was almost about to fall into the pit. For example, at the point when the character sees his cell for the first time, the tone of the story is kind of curious. but slowly, Poe really tends to change the tone of the story without the reader even noticing. It is kind of amazing because at the end of the story all hope is basically gone for the main character (Poe). The character escapes the first death trap that he is put into, but then he is just put into another one when the walls start closing in. That is what i liked about the story. (Poe)


Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Pit and the Pendulum” American Literature. Comp. Wilhelm, Jeffory. Columbus 2009.

Criticism on "The Raven"

In the critical analysis that i read on the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe, the author of the analysis thought that the poem was absolutely amazing (Cooke). The author of the criticism really enjoyed the poem, and really liked the mood the Poe used throughout the entire poem. I would have to agree completely with the author of this criticism because of the fact that this poem is a masterful example when it comes to getting the mood and tone of the poem right. I think this because when i read this poem, it was one of the view works of writing that i have ever read that has actually sent a chill down my spine because i was so creeped out by the mood and tone of the poem. To me, that basically proves that the mood and tone of this poem was amazing because of the effect it had on the reader or audience. Another thing that the author of the criticism liked about "The Raven" was the amount of imagery that Poe uses throughout the poem (Cooke). What the reader has to realize about this poem is the fact that it is an extremely long poem but not that much action takes place within this poem (Cooke). Therefore, there is plenty of space within this poem to describe that setting and events. Because Poe has so much description within this poem, it is extremely easy to understand where the poem is taking place and to visualize the room in which the poem takes place and the dark hallway and the window where the raven is sitting. The amount of description within the poem also makes the reader understand the amount of pain that the main character in the poem is going through when he is thinking about the death of his loved one. Also, Poe gives great description at the end of the poem when he his describing the madness that the main character of the poem is going through when he keeps stating "nevermore." I have to agree with the author of the criticism because Poe really gives the reader an extremely vivid image of the setting of the poem and also he gives a very clear description to the reader of the raven and also, once again the pain that the main character feels for the loss of his lover. The other and final thing that the author of the criticism truly enjoyed about this poem is the fact that Poe chose a great vocab to use within this poem to describe the events that take place within it (Cooke). Sure, Poe uses plenty of space and time within this poem to make sure that he describes the setting and events enough, but at the same time, you have to make the correct word selection when it comes to this certain poem because Poe could have used one thousand words to describe one event in the poem, but if Poe would not have made the correct choice of words, then this poem would not be so masterful (Cooke}.


Cooke, P. Pendleton. "Edgar A. Poe," Southern Literary Messenger (January 1848). Reprinted in The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Eric W. Carlson (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966): pp. 21–23. Quoted as "Review of 'The Raven'" in Harold Bloom, ed. Edgar Allan Poe, Bloom's Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1999. (Updated 2007.) Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BMPEAP21&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 19, 2010).

Analysis of The Raven

Basically what literally happens in the poem, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, is that the man in the poem wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears someone knocking at the door of his room, he gets up, and when he opens the door to greet the person who is knocking at the door, but when the man opens the door, he sees complete darkness. Suddenly, he hears a whisper, saying, "Lenore". Suddenly, he closes the door and hears a noise at the window and walks over to open it. When he opens it, he sees a raven. Then the raven starts driving him crazy by saying nevermore. That is basically all that happens. Poe used some interesting literary devices in his work. He used many interesting metaphors and the tone of his writing really showed the dark romantic style. He also used imagery when describing what the room was like and the impact that the raven had on the man. Metaphorically, this poem means that the world can be a dark place and that people's own craziness can make them mad. That is it. I wish i had more time to work on this, but i still have to study for history.

Journal #24 Mind Tricks

So, this one time, i was going out with my friends a few days before Halloween. I really like Halloween because it is one of my favorite parts of the year. So, anyway because it was so close to Halloween, my friends and i decided to go to a haunted house. So, of course, we decide to go to terror on the square because in my opinion, it is really the only true haunted house in our area. Anyway, i have to admit that i was really really scared when going through that haunted house. I mean, looking back on it, i thought that it was pretty fun, but at the time, i was not too excited about getting chased through a maze with tons of people running after with huge weapons and massive chainsaws. But, anyway, when my friends and i got done with the haunted house and done laughing together about it, i started to drive home alone in my car. Well, anyway, i forgot to mention that i was on my way home from my friend Matt's house, and he kind of lives in the country. So, on my way home, it was pitch black, and it was very scary. I am usually not very afraid of the dark, but now, after going to a haunted house, i must admit that i was very scared. So, this is when i started seeing things, or in other words, my mind started playing tricks on me. With two corn fields on each side of the road, i was kind of nervous at first. So, i started imagining what would happen if someone jumped out in the road and attacked me with a weapon. Suddenly, seconds, i started seeing people jumping out in front of me and it really freaked me out quite a bit. I obviously knew it was not real but it still really scared me. i guess that this is a time when my mind played tricks on me.

Journal #23 Unplugging

If i had to unplug for a week and get away from technology today for i week, i think it would be very fun to do. In my opinion, it is aways very nice to just get away every once in a while. We all need that time where we are not around other people in life. But anyway, i would probably pass he time by doing fun things like fishing and hunting. In my opinion, it would be really fun to do that because i love nature and i believe that it would be really fun to take a trip like that. Although, now that i think about it, it would be pretty hard going a whole week without any communication to the outside world. I mean, in my opinion, it would be pretty fun at first, but after a while i think it might get boring because here really would not be that much that you can do for fun. I guess that on this trip, i would also bring a guitar to play for for, but other than that i do not know what else i would do. Actually, now that i think about it, i would probably take this trip in the summer, so i could always go swimming in a nearby river or something. Although, that would only work if i was in shallow water because i would not want to get carried away by the current. That would not be a good thing seeing how a have no communication to the outside world and how no one would probably that i was floating down a river. But anyway, that is pretty much all i would do if i were to unplug for a week. I am sure that at first it would be a very fun trip, but after a while it would get very boring for me because in all honesty there would not really be that much for me to do for fun.

Criticism of Thoreau

The criticism that i found that was over Thoreau's work of "Walden," i found to be very interesting. After i read the short story and then i read the criticism on it, i had to agree a lot about what the author had to say about the writing of Thoreau. For example, in the criticism, the author tended to state quite a bit that Thoreau spent a little too much time in the beginning of "Walden" describing how he wanted to simplify life and find its true meaning (Keck). According to the author of the criticism, the author, Thoreau, also spent much too much time telling the audience or the reader that he will definitely want to write about whatever he finds in the woods. What Thoreau is describing in the early parts of the passage is that he wants to go off into nature, alone, and he really wants wants find out what life and nature is really about (Keck). He wants to do this because the writer, Thoreau really wants to find out how simple life can be and if it is really easy going or if it is full of hardships (Keck). The author of "Walden" Thoreau, then goes on to claim that he will report his findings in nature, or what he experienced, and he will write about it and tell the audience what life is truly about. I would have to fully agree on the author with this one. In my opinion, i think that the author went on for far too long trying to explain this. It is literally a whole page and a half of the excerpt from "Walden." To keep the reader interested, if i were the author, i would try to get this point across within a page or a page just simply because i knew that the excerpt would bore or make my reader or audience want to put the book down. Later in the criticism though, the author describes how he really likes the type of language that Thoreau uses in "Walden." The author of the criticism begins this argument by giving many examples of the very pretty language that Thoreau uses in his famous work (Keck). The author of the criticism then follows up on his first argument by giving many examples of beautiful metaphors the Thoreau uses in his work (Keck). In all honesty, i would have to agree completely with the author of the criticism. The the short work "Walden", Thoreau uses some very pretty language. Throughout the story, Thoreau really does use pretty language in his story. In my opinion, he really proves that he is a romantic writer by the way that he describes nature in his writing and the positive and very romantic tone he uses when he describes it. Is seems like before he wrote this story, Walden had many past experiences with nature and he knew exactly how to describe it in his story. This is the main reason why i have to agree with the author of the criticism. (Keck)

Keck, Michaela. "Thoreau's Walden and the American Dream: Challenge or Myth?" In Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BLTTAD021&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2010).

Gandhi and Thoreau

One of the main differences that i noticed between the speech by Gandhi and the essay written by Thoreau. The main difference that i noticed between the two essays was basically just the tone that the essays were written in. For example, in the essay written by Thoreau, i tended to notice that in his essay, he tends to write with a much more aggressive tone in his work than Gandhi tends to have in his speech. For example, in his essay, the reader or audience, will find much more clear emotion and anger in his writing, or in the writing of Thoreau, than you will in the speech of Gandhi. In the speech written by Thoreau, some examples of Emotion that the writer will find in his work that the reader will not find in Gandhi's speech is the fact that the essay written has many exclamation marks, showing that Thoreau is using a lot of emotion to the point where he is almost shouting his words at the reader (Thoreau 223). Also in his writing, the reader or audience will tend to see that Thoreau is quite frankly, just simply saying what he thinks is wrong with the government and what is wrong with society (Thoreau 223). Basically, he is very up front about it and it almost seems like hedoes not care what other people think about it. His just wants people to know his opinion and to see his point of view with the government and also with society. Something that he also includes in his essay is that he basically gives his opinion on how he thinks that the government could be fixed and how he would change it if he could (Thoreau 223). This is much different than how the speech of Gandhi is written. I mean, sure, Gandhi also likes to show his emotion within his very own speech, but compared to Thoreau, the tome of Gandhi really is not as aggressive as the tone of Thoreau (Gandhi 229). Within the speech of Gandhi, the reader will tend to notice that there are not as many exclamation marks in his speech as there are within the writing of Gandhi. Also, within the speech of Gandhi, instead of telling the people of India what to do to stop or protest the tax on salt the the British had on India, they actually did protest it by taking sea salt from the ocean to protest the tax on salt (Gandhi 229). In a way, i believe that this makes Gandhi a much more powerful writer than Thoreau. I think this because all Thoreau really did in his speech was just be angry and just give his opinion on how the government could improve (Gandhi 229). By being angry, it almost seems like Thoreau almost seems helpless when he is writing because is seems like he is angry simply just because he knows that he cannot convince anyone that he is correct. On the other hand, Gandhi is very powerful because he influences all of India and is one of the most influential writers in India.

Gandhi, and Douglas Fisher. "On the Eve of Historic Dandi March." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 229-31. Print.

Thoreau, and Douglas Fisher. "Civil Disobedience." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 222-28. Print.

Journal #22 Using Romantic Philosophies

You know, in my opinion it is never ok to disregard the law. Even if you are a romantic writer, i just do not see when it is ever ok to disregard the law. O ok i understand it now since Mr. Langley explained it now, it actually makes quite a bit of sense to me now. Ok so, apparently, since the Romantic writers were very dedicated to the self and also to morals, i guess that for someone who believes in the romantic philosophy, it would probably be ok to disregard the law if you thought if it was morally appropriate. So, for example, if you are in a family and you do not have very much money and you had a son starving to death, it would be appropriate to a Romantic writer to steal food if it was for your son to survive. I guess what it really comes down is just a simple question of ethics. I mean, basically according to romantic writers, any law could basically be broken simply because of the romantic philosophy that any law can be disregarded if and only if it is morally acceptable to you. So, i guess that that is all i can really write about right now. I really do not know what else to say. I guess when talking about Romantic writing, it is not really ok to not obey the law, but i guess that it is acceptable if you face a tough moral dilemma or a tough obstacle in your life. So, that must be one of the only times when it is ok to break the law. I can only imagine someone going to court for theft or trespassing and their defense would be that to them, it was ok to do what they did simply because they are a romantic writer. That should be my excuse for everything now. I did it because i am a romantic writer.

Emerson and the Work of Melancholia

In this criticism of "Emerson and the work of Melancholia," Emerson's original style has soft of been lost because of the deaths of his wife and brother in the later years of his writing. This actually in all honesty explains why Emerson did not really believe in writing about romantic things or he did not really like the romantic point of view anymore because a main part of romantic writing is quite simply to pretend that mourning just does not exist(Edmundson). Now, as anyone can see, it was extremely hard for Emerson to do this because it is never easy at all to be able to not mourn the deaths of two loved ones, and so therefore he really did not like to believe in the point of view as the Romantic writers anymore because in all honesty, they like to pretend that everything in life is happy and that everything in life is very beautiful when really there are things in life in which we all must mourn over and there are things in life that are not beautiful like nature is and i it was extremely hard for Emerson to write about things such as these especially when it really was his first time experiencing not only one, but two deaths of two different loved ones(Edmundson). Now, after his brother and his wife had died, it was extremely hard for Emerson to keep an optimistic point of view when trying to write about things in which he formerly thought were happy. It is actually very easy for the author of the criticism to tell because the works of Emerson from there on really had a much different tone than his works before the two separate deaths in his life(Edmundson). For example, the author of the criticism states that in Emerson's writing, he usually presents two different viewpoints of what he is writing about to the reader of the poem. These points of view kind of represent the urge of jumping rather than being pushed off(Edmundson). In my opinion, it must have been extremely tough for Emerson to not just want to write about the point of view of being pushed off because of the recent tragedy he had experienced in his life, or at least he probably wanted to write from a much different point of view from then on out. Later in 1842, Emerson's son died(Edmundson). This obviously changed Emerson's writing to an even more depressing tone because he was not over the deaths of his wife and brother, but now his son dies. It changed his writing because usually, in the romantic style of writing, romantic writers are fine with everything that is going on and they really do not question much or challenge anything in their writing, but in the poem that Emerson wrote about his son, he basically says that to him, his son was brilliant and that he basically changed they world for him, or as Emerson describes in his poem, his son threw off the order of the world for Emerson (Edmundson).

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=MCVRWE007&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 7, 2010).

Journal #21 The Rationalist Point of View

The difference between the point of view of self reliance when it comes to rationalist writers and the point of view when it comes to romantic writers really is not much. Self reliance was one of Benjamin Franklins thirteen virtues i believe. The point of view from him and the point of view of romantic writers is the fact that in the society of rationalist when America was still young in certain ways, people were almost expected to be self reliant. Since they were expected to be this way within this society, they really were not rewarded at all. Rationalists were all about being happy with the good traits that you have and trying to follow them to the very end. When they did act self reliant in their society, they were respected by others and they also respected others as well. So, basically, if you do not act self reliant within the society of rationalists, you might be shunned and maybe not rewarded. In the society of Emerson and other romantic writers, this is not really the tendency that they have when it comes to self reliance. In the society filled with romantic writers, it is actually quite normal to reward people for having good habits and being self reliant. In the romantic era, people tended to try to get away from others and they also tended to try and experience nature much more than they did in the rationalist time period. So, i must admit that i actually tend to respect the idea of rewarding people for being very self reliant rather than kind of ignoring it and just assuming that all people should be extremely responsible and self reliant. Also, i do not like that point of view from the rationalist society because it just kind of seems like a bland idea when not rewarding people for anything they do well because in my opinion that would just make the society very boring.

Journal #20 Importance of Self-Reflectance

I really believe that self reflection and taking a break from society every once in a while can be a really good thing to do every once in a while. I guess that this journal is just about taking a break from your daily routines every once in a while and just do what you want to do. By saying just do what you want to do, i do not mean that you should do something stupid just for brief entertainment, but i mean, do something that you love to do and that relaxes you. I guess that it is also good to take a break from society. By saying this, i mean that every once in a while, it is good to just be alone for a specific amount of time and it is also good to to just stay away from people i guess. I think that that is what our teacher wants us to write about for this journal. Anyway, so yeah, it is always good to just be able to get away from people for a while because sometimes people can be pretty stressful and everyone needs to just get away and to do something that they enjoy because this makes life more enjoyable, if you will, and it can also make people much more happy because they become relaxed and very well rested and they are ready to return to society again. I really do not know what else i can possibly say about this topic. I am really honestly baffled. This is really what i call a serious writers block. So, basically, the moral of this blog is that no matter who you are, we all need to take a break every once in a while. It is also nice to just get away or do something that you love love because that honestly tends to make life a lot easier. And in the words of Forrest Gump, that is all i have to say about that.

Spamerica

My ideal United States of America would be the USSA. That is the United Space States of America. Also known as Spamerica. You see, in the future, when Kirk becomes the first person to establish a colony on Mars, he will be famous. That is when he will convince the entire population to migrate to Mars and live there permanently because by then, our planet will basically be destroyed because of people littering, overweight people taking up too much space because people will still refuse to eat healthy in the future and Google and McDonalds will set up a run the world, calling the planet Moogle. Moogle will obviously be a communist government and Ronald Mcdonald will be the dictator. Quite frankly, this would obviously be a nightmare for like anyone living on Moogle. For the people who were put under the spell of Ronald Mcdonald, Kirk would start an all out war with him and his army. The commander of the army of Moogle would be the Hamburgler, and the normal soldiers would be Umpa Loompas. This would be a fierce army, but Kirk would strike back by appointing Master Chief as commander of the Spamerican Army because after all, he is Master Chief, and the normal troops would be everyday people, but there is a catch. These people would all be wearing the V masks from V for Vendetta. This would be quite the battle, but the Spamerican Army would be victorious because Master Chief would make a special glowing blue hamburger that the Hamburgler could not resist. This would be delivered to The Hamburgler, and as soon as he bites into it, he would explode because it was not really a glowing blue hamburger, it was a plasma grenade. Game Over. So, the USSA would be established on Mars thanks to Kirk and this would be the most successful country in the world, obviously. I need eight more words for my blog to be finished.

Poetry Analysis The Two Streams, Holmes

1.The writer is explaining how he sees a stream of water down a wall of rock. 2.The writer is describing which direction the stream goes as he describes it running through the cleft mountain ledge. 3.The author then describes how the stream stays off out of his vision into a tangled braid. 4.The author in this sentence, describes how even though, he cannot see it, he know that all of the braids in the stream will end. In this poem, the author, Holems uses many metaphors in this poem to describe how the streams are like life. For example, in the third stanza, the author says, "So from the heights of Will
Life's parting stream descends." From this quote, it is easy to see how the author relates the stream to life by using certain comparisons. The author also uses imagery to depict the image clearly for the author of the streams rolling down the rock wall and also as they run off into the distance. 1. In this sentence, the author is explaining the birth or beginning of life as the stream begins. 2. In this sentence the author describes how life can change I'm gay! I like boys! paths quickly as the strema's path turns suddenly as the stream has left its initial path pretty quickly. 3. The author in this sentence is supporting the fact that life takes unexpected turns because the stream left its initial path almost without a trace of where it was going next. In the last sentence, the author describes how even though the stream nmay take many twists and turns, like life, he knows where it will end, as all life ends with death.

My Poem

Alone we learn to show our thoughts so vain
Relate the times we sing our prayers in rain
How plain the life exempt to thoughts unlike
For not all things unheard can oust clear sight
Sedate for once the norm, the cold, divine

Poetry Analysis

I found this blog very interesting. Basically, what the writer is saying is that the world is like a massive tombbecause everyone in the word dies. Even though the author claims that he is at rest and that he is relaxed because e is dying and that nature cams him down, the tone of this poem is still very depressing because of how he words everything. the author of this poem almost sees death as a happy thing because he is being laid down to rest and because he loves nature so much because it always finds a way to relax him or calm him down. The author also states that in life, everyone dies and that even thought dying may be a a very sad event to others, it is actually happy because it gives the author will be buried with nature and with the many people that died before him, and therefore, it is kind of a conforting thought to the author.

Journal #17 Bonding with Nature

One time i bonded with nature was when i came home from school and i noticed that it was a great day outside. So, i decided to hang out on the back deck of my house for a while. Anyway, instead of just sitting on the deck watching the forest that is in my back yard, i grabbed my acoustic guitar and started playing while staring out into the forest. The moment was almost perfect. The temperature was perfect with a nice little breeze that felt just right. I felt extremely inspired just by looking into the distance and just observing the things that happen in nature. It was very very nice and now, i do that on a regular basis. By that, i mean that i go out on my deck and just stare into my forest and just play acoustic guitar. Anyway, that is all i can really say about that one time when i bonded with nature. It was very nice and now i just do it on a regular basis because it makes me very relaxed and also it makes my stress levels go down. Whenever i am playing guitar on my deck, i usually like to have a glass or orange juice or soda with it because those kind of set my mood. Anyway, i really do not know what else i can say about this time. I think i described it pretty well and there is not much more that i can mention about this time. i do not know what else i can say about this. Well...i play a seagull guitar which is very nice and works extremely well for me. i would suggest a seagull guitar to anyone because of its nice playability and tone. I will use this guitar forever and the thing that i really liked about was that it really did not cost that much. It was really only around 500 dollars. i mean that really is not that much when you look at your Gibsons, Taylors, and Martins out there.

Journal #16 My Favorite Song

My favorite song has to be Wishlist by Pearl Jam. And yes, the title of the song is actually one word. I really like this song because it is very powerful in a lyrical way. To me, it is expressing very general feelings in specific ways. I really like the melody of the song also. Even though it is not an acoustic song, it could almost be considered acoustic because of how the song is delivered. It is not a loud or a heavy song whatsoever. It is very soft and melodic, but it is delivered in a very powerful way. To me, songs mean a lot more when they are not extremely loud and sung a little quieter. That type of sound really gets in my head and speaks to me very well. I like pearl jam a lot. Their acoustic music is very good and tends to speak to their listeners a lot. Another thing that i like about the song Wishlist is the lyrics. Eddie makes them almost sad and has a lot of very interesting metaphors and comparisons in the song. It is almost a self-pity song because of how the tone of the song is delivered. I really do not know what else to say about this song. I have really hit a writer's block here. This is crazy. I usually do not do this in the middle of a blog. Not i just basically have to eat up words to get through this blog because i know that i really cannot finish it. Quite honestly, this is madness. What else could i say about the song? I like the tone, the music, the lyrics. The guitar part is really simple but i also like it too because it is almost perfect for what the song needs and it complements the tone of the song very well as well. Anyway, i guess that this is all i have to say about the song Wishlist by Pearl Jam.

Journal #15 When do you use logic and reason?

So, according to the journal topic, i am supposed to talk about where i use logic and reason. Quite honestly, i do not really know what that means. I think that the topic is kind of worded weirdly because it is so vague. I really do not know what to sat about this topic because i do not know if i should take the topic literally because it just kind of sounds really weird. For example, i use logic and reason in the bus station because i have to figure out when the bus leaves and what number the bus is. See? That just sounds really stupid. I really do not know what else i am supposed to say about when i use logic and reason. So, i guess that i use logic and reason when i play soccer because i have to think about where to pass the ball and when to shoot and i guess that that takes some logic and reason because you have to think about it. it is not like you can just know where to pass the ball when you get it, you have to think about it i guess. So, anyway, i am moving on. I guess that i also use logic and reason when writing certain papers because you have to think about what you want to write about and you have to know how you want to bring up certain points and certain ideas when trying to argue your point. Another time when i use logic and reason is when i am in English class writing a certain blog. I have to think ahead to what i want to say and i also have to think about how i want to word something or how i want to bring up a certain point or topic. I cannot just simply write thing without thinking, i have to think about the words that i want to say and i also have phrase them correctly...actually no i don't!

Reflection on Paine

When reading Thomas Paine's journal titled "Common Sense", i found it very interesting. Basically all that Paine talks about throughout the entire journal is how the idea of an Monarchy really makes no sense (Paine. After reading the journal, it actually makes a lot of sense to me why he thinks that about a Monarchy. I think that he does a very good job of explaining why a monarchy makes no sense becaquse he uses a lot of different kinds of support and he also uses support in many different ways. I also like how he relates everything that he says to the Queen of England because this journal basically explains why the colonists should not be listening Monarchy (Paine). I believe that this argument the Paine came up with pretty much influenced many of the colonists that they should not have to listen to England and that they should try to start a country of their own. While reading the journal, i was also amazed by the amount of support that Paine put into it. Because of its massive length, it very clear and easy to see that he felt very strongly about the breaking off from England and that he put a lot of effort into his argument (Paine). In the journal, i thought that there were many interesting parts but one of the parts that stood out to me when i read it was when Paine mentions that in a monarchy, all of the people are meant to one and that are are all meant to be on the same level and equal. He goes on to say that this concept is riduculous and absurd because not everyone is on the same evel in a Monarchy or in England (Paine). In fact, there are many different levels and classes of people in a Monarchy. There are the people who are poor, middle class people, upper class people, the servants of the royal people, the royal people, and the King or Queen. The idea that people are supposed to be equal within a Monarchy is kind of funny because it is so untrue in so many ways. In all honesty, it is not hard to see how flawed this view of a Monarchy truly is in many ways. Another interesting point that Payne brings up in this journal is the simple fact that in a Monarchy, it is assumed that to be successful, it is essential for people to know what is happening in the outside world and that peope must also know everything that goes on within the goverment or civilization so that people can respect what their leader is doing for them. The funny fact about this is that in a Monarchy, no one really knows what is truly happening within the government besides the leared or King or Queen (Paine). Therefore, Paine points out that it is silly for people of England to truly believe that what the Queen is doing is truly justified because not many people know what the Queen has done (Paine).

Paine, By Thomas. "Thomas Paine's Common Sense - Text Version." Archiving Early America: Primary Source Material from 18th Century America. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Reaction to Criticism on Benjamin Franklin

So, i read the artice by J.A. Leo Lemay, i and liked it quite a bit. In my opinion, he brought up some pretty interesting points about the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. First of all, he starts the whole article beginning with discussing the idea of the American dream. I think that the author of the article brought up many interesting points because of how much the whole concept of describing the american dream made me think. In all honesty, before reading the rest of the writing, i had no idea how to define the american dream. I also did not know how specific of vague the term would be if one had to define it. So, i kept reading to learn that the author thinks that the American Dream is the simple idea of going from rags to riches. I thought that that part of the article was very funny because i never thought that the idea of the american dream could be so simpe. i always thought that the idea of the american dream was so much more complex. That is actually waht the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is about. It is about his rise from realy being a nobody in the colonies, to becoming one of the most influential polititians in our nation's history (Franklin 104). The story of Benjamin Franklin is actually one of the first and also most famous rags to riches stories in our country's history. The story of Benjamin Franklin basically influenced the idea of the American Dream. An important idea that Benjamin Franklin also introduced to America, as stated in the article, was individualism. He introduced the idea that one man and ony one man can make a huge difference in the world (Lemay 1). He himself made people realize that you can be one of the most influential or powerful people in a massive crowd of others without having extreme wealth or having a high ranking status from the beginning. To me, after reading the author's article on refecting his thoughts on Franklin's autobiography. I find it interesting how the author uses many different types of quotes from the works to kind of reflect his thoughts and to try to explain the significance of certain quotes or even events in Franklin's life. For exampe i think that it is extremely interesting how the author points out how much Benjamin Franklin's autobiography relates to the American Dream in general. I also think that it is interesting how Benjamin Franklin includes many life lessons and different morals and values in his writing and how the author expains the significance of them. To me, i never realized how much the certain morals and values that Franklin included in his autobiography implied about his writing style. I mean, there is a lot that Benjamin Franklin gives away in his writing just by including some examples of certain morals and values and certain rules that you live by in your writing. The author gives many examples of how these ideas can give away your writing style.

Lemay, J.A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." InThe Renaissance Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BLTTAD005&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 11, 2010).

Holden, Liberty Emery, and Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography. 1898. Print.

Journal #14 The Declaration of Kirk

I am writing about the Declaration of Kirk. The declaration of Kirk is what Kirk lives by. Basically, the declaration of Kirk talks about Kirk's morals and values and it includes everything that one should know about Kirk. In all honesty, i really do not know how i am supposed to write an entire blog about the declaration of Kirk. This blog topic is kind of stupid. Anyway, also included in the declaration of Kirk, are his hobbies and his main interests. The interesting thing about the declaration thing about the declaration of Kirk is that fact that it was actually written by Kirk, so basically anyone who has read the declaration of Kirk, knows absolutely everything about Kirk. Although, only one man has ever read the entire declaration of Kirk. As the tale goes, there was a man who actually led many people to freedom. Because this man had led many people to freedom, they trusted them and kind of became his followers. So, anyway, this man freed these people because he wanted to share the most important document with them that was ever made. So, this man did not actually have the document in his possession, but God had sent him a message and told him where it was. So anyway, as he was following these people, they came to a massive sea. the document was on the other side of the sea. So, this man took the staff of power that God had given him, and he literally parted this sea. He then led the people to the other side of the sea where they came to a cave. Only the one man whop freed the people went into the cave and read the document. this changed the man's life. He knew that he could not share this information, so he became the only person in the world who held the knowledge. I forget what his name was again...it was something starting an M... oh yeah! Matt!

Journal #13 Spirit

OK, so today, i guess that i am supposed to be talking about spirit. I really do not want to talk about this but oh well. I really do not know what i am supposed to say about spirit, but i will figure something out. So, i kind of think that our class's spirit is very weak. All this week, we are supposed to be dressing up based on what the theme is on that day. Well, our grade does not really like to dress up which is really stupid. I think that it is stupid to worry too much about self image to get involved in something really fun. That is why i have been basically giving everyone a hard time who has not dressed up for a certain day. Tomorrow is spirit day though, and that is usually really fun. Our grade will compete with the other grades to see who will win spirit week. It is really fun and i am also excited because tomorrow is a half day. I will get to go home and just finally get to relax for the first time all week. I am so pumped! I have had soccer everyday and that in all honesty has been affecting how i perform in the classroom because i am just so tired all of the time. I cannot wait until the homecoming football game tomorrow. it will be so much fun. I mean, i usually enjoy going to football games in general, but the homecoming game is going to be so awesome because the junior class basically rules the student section and i really like how we all get into the game. In my opinion, it really shows our classes true colors. One thing that makes our class different from every other class is the everyone in our class can find a way to get along. At football games, i can find a way to talk to and have a great time with people i have not talked to since last year.

Journal #12 Working with Partners

so, apparently, i have to write about how i feel about working with partners. so, when i work with partners, i usually like working them, but then again, it all depends on who the partner is. In my opinion, i think that it is stupid to not be able to chose partners because usually when i work with a partner, i want to work with someone who wants the same grade that i do on a project or whatever we are working on. So, i will only oppose working with partners when i am working with someone who does not want the same grade as me. That is all it really comes down to in the end. If i am working with a partner who wants to do a fair share in whatever we are doing, then i am happy. if i have a partner that wants to make me do all of the work and he or she does not want to do any of it, then i will be very angry, and i will not want to work in partners at all. So, yeah. I guess that that is all i have to say about working with partners then. I have no idea what i should write about now though. So, this week is homecoming week, and so i am kind of excited. Usually, i am not that pumped for homecoming week because it usually means more to girls that to guys, but i am happy because this weekend is a three day weekend. So, really, i guess that i am not that thrilled about homecoming. I mean, i never really got time to get in the mood for it because i had to miss the opening parade because i had to work all day Sunday. it was kind of sad, but oh well. I am excited for the football game though because those are always really fun to go to. So yeah, i guess that that is all that is on my mind right now.

Journal #11 Morals/Ethics

today we are suppose to be talking about morals/values or ethics. Quite frankly, i really do not know what to say about these specific things, so i guess i will just blabber about some random thing relating to the the subject. is the word blabber even real? i honestly do not even know. i mean, i think it is, but at the same time, i am kind of afraid to say it if it is not. i do not really want to sound like an idiot whenever i say the word blabber when it is not an actual word. Anyway, what am i supposed to say about values? i am baffled. i wish i knew how to write about this topic. i mean, i do not just want to talk about my values because no one really wants to read about that stuff. Out of anything in the world, why would we have to talk about our values? Why cant we talk about something fun and exciting rather than talk about this pointless topic? Anyway, i think i have good morals. it is called being a good person and going with your gut on decisions. In all honesty, that is kind of all i live by. well, i am proud of myself. i did not just ramble on about something completely random for the entire journal. I actually mentioned something about the topic. but still, i would rather be talking about something that is not as boring. Honestly, who is going to read this journal? Who wants to read about a random kid's values on the internet. that sounds so fun. not really. ha ha i made a joke. not really. i am just so bored and i want to get this journal over with so i do not have to worry about it when i get home. After all, it is Friday, and it would be nice to not have much to worry about when i get home. anyway, that is all. good bye.

Journal # 10 Science vs Religion

The topic of science vs. religion just kind of bothers me because it seems like no one can say anthing about it that will not offend another person. Thats is why i think that this topic is kind of questionable because one can say one thing and it could offend a lot of people, which i obviously do not want to do. If someone wants a good argument on science vs. religion, then that person should read the book Angels and Demons by Dan Brown if he or she has not. it is a great book with tons of action and great argument with science vs. religion. Wow. i honestly do not see why i have to type about this because i think that it is wrong to debste between the two for something that is school related. Even if i try to sound fair, then something will come out that might offend someone. I mean it is honestly really really hard not to do that just because people can take these topics so seriously. To me, i do not really know what to believe. Imean, i have no idea how the world was created and in all honesty, i do not see a point in arguing about it because it gets nowhere. people in science believe that the world was crweated due to the Big Bang Theory and that human came to be because of evolution. Those who believe in reigion will say that God created the world and that we are here because of Him. In my opinion, i think that it is pointless to post your beliefs on a blog because all it does is give people something to argue about. it is definitely a never-ending argument for sure. it gets absolutely no where. Arguing about it just makes people very frustrated and people wil tend to get mad because of the amount of frustration that goes into it. so that is basicallly why i dont want to put my beliefs on this blog.

My Puritan Exam. Highlights the Puritan Period and their lives

Journal #9 Organized Religion

I really do not have much to say about organized religion. I do not have that much to say because i am quite frankly not that religious. I mean, i do not even know that much about religion. I mean, i know simple things about the Bible when it comes to Christianity, but that is simply it. Seeing how i have a very unbiased opinion on religion, i think that it is nice that i can kind of choose what i want to believe rather than having a parent forcing me what to believe by following the religion that he or she grew up with. In all honesty, i really do truly enjoy having the freedom to believe in what i want to believe. Right now though, I am kind of sad to say that i do not know what to believe in, but at the same time, no one really does. In my opinion, i believe that it is wrong to say that certain religions are not right because peoples' opinions on religion are based on what they want to believe, what relates most to them, or what they have been forced to believe; therefore, it is not fair to say that certain religions are better that others because it is in what you want to believe. At this point in my life, i do not really know what to believe, unlike some of my other peers. I do not try to judge religion other than when people are judging others for their less popular religious views. It is not fair to judge someone based on their religion simply because, in my shoes, i do not know enough about any or any branch of religion to judge someone. If i did judge someone, then that would be unfair and i hope that they would win the argument because i do not know enough of what they are talking about. On the other hand, if someone is trying to force their religion down my throat, then i hope that i can tell them to stop talking because it is not fair to do that to someone else.

Journal #8-Proofreading

I kind of liked the video that we watched today in English class but at the same time, i thought that it was kind of dumb and a waste of time. I mean, to me, there was not much of a point to watching the video. To me, it would have been much more useful just to say, remember to proofread your papers and just to be done with it. I did not like the video also because i would much rather write about something else rather than my reaction to some random video that we watched in class. It really did not teach me anything anyway. I know that someone should always proofread what i have written just to make sure that i do not get points taken off from assignments or anything like that. It was a waste o9f time to watch a video like that when i already know that i must proofread everything that i write. it is just obvious that everyone has to proofread their papers before they turn them in. If they do not, then chances are, they have many careless mistakes in their essay and they will probably get many points taken off from his or her paper. Although, there were some parts that i thought were funny. I mean it is not like it was not entertaining, but i just think that we could have been using our time to do something more productive rather than watching a funny video online. At the same time though, some of the words that the speaker in the video were pretty funny because of the ways they were used. There were many instances when i thought that instead of using graphic language, the speaker could have used more appropriate word to make the video seem more classroom friendly. Anyway, i would have much rather been writing about something fun and much more interesting rather than writing about my thoughts on some video that we watched in class that i did not find important.

Journal#7-Supertitions

I honestly do not believe very much in superstitions. If i did though, i would probably believe in witches. For any of you who are reading this blog wondering why i would believe in witches, i have a question for you, why not? I mean witches are evil and awesome. It would be awesome if they were real. In fact, i believe that last Friday at the football game i saw one. She took the form of i girl playing on the playground. I should have known that something bad was going to happen. So, anyway, i went up to this girl to ask her if she wanted to buy a glow bracelet to support the science club and she turned around really slowly and replied with the word, "Sup?" It was not what she said that actually scared me. It was also not how she said it either. I was the look in her eyes. They were covered in black make-up. What king of ten year old wears make-up? I'll tell you what kind. a witch kind. That is what kind. It was like i was looking into the soul of the devil. I was so scared to the point where i could not even move. I honestly cannot even describe how i felt when i saw her standing there. I am pretty sure that she secretly had cast a spell on me because i could not move. What kind of witch takes the form of a ten year old girl. That is just plain evil. I cannot even begin to think about what happened to that poor girl. Now that i think about it, the witches might know where i live now! oh No! i should probably tell someone because it would not be a good thing if witches started breaking into my house in the middle of the night. I do not even know how the witches would even get information like that but i may be in danger!

Journal #6 Consequences

I do not think that i have ever seriously blamed someone else for doing something bad that i did. If i have, then i honestly do nor remember it. If i have in the past then it must have not been that big of a deal or something. Anyway, some repercussions of blaming someone else for doing something that you did are probably pretty serious if what you said someone else did is serious enough i suppose. All it truly is is lying about something you did. Now, as simple as that may sound, i am sure that the consequences are pretty serious for doing something like that. For example, if you blame a close friend or someone like that for something that you did and they know that you did it, you may lose that close friend. I am sure that no one would like to lose a close friend over something that you lied about just to avoid getting in trouble. I know that if i got blamed for something that i did not do and i ended up getting in trouble for it, that i would be very very mad. I would not be happy at all. I mean, would it really be worth it to lie just to avoid a little bit of trouble? I do not think so. Not one bit. Another consequence would be if the person that you lied to found out that you have lied to them then there are some pretty extreme consequences that you could face from the person that you lied to. For example, if you ever lied to your parents, you could be in very big trouble or you could even be grounded for a very long time. In my opinion, it is not worth lying to your parents just to avoid getting in trouble for a little while. If you are wondering why i said for a little while, i am implying that your parents will probably find out

Journal 5-Fair Punishments

I think that if were a parent i would punish them by grounding them from oxygen. Every child tends to love oxygen. it is almost like a necessity to them. But really, it is more of a privlege than a right. I mean, who actually needs oxygen? It is not like we are talking about taking away air here. I mean, people actually need air to breathe. No, i am just kidding. That would be awful if a parent actually grounded their child from oxygen. Obviously, the child would die. That would be sad. anyway, if i were a parent, i would probably give my child an early curfew. I do not think that it would ever be necessary to completely ground my child from hanging out with his or her friends because i actually do believe that they have a right to hang out with their friends because sometimes, school can be extremely stressful and it really helps kids when they can hang out with their friends. that is why i think that an earlier curfew is a good punishment. The child can still hang out with their friends for some time, but they still understand the punishment when they have to come home early. I believe that this is why kids get mad at their parents when they cannot hang out with their friends. Kids can be stressed a lot from school and it is always nice to hang out with your friends to manage stress but when you cannot even see your friends on weekends, thingsd can be very stressful for your children and they may get very mad at their parents because of the stress that they are going through. So, i think that this would be the best punishment because the child can still see his or her friends on the weekends, but they will still get the point of the punishment when they have to come home early for the earlier curfew.

Journal 4-How Vacations Affect Me

The experience of traveling affects me very much. I guess that this is all I have to write about for the entire blog because i do not quite understand the wording of the topic? Anyway, two years ago, my freshman year, I took a vacation to space. It was pretty sweet. Well, that might be kind of an understatement, but you kind of get the idea. So, i left at the beginning of spring break and came back the day after it ended. My family and i went to the Kennedy Space Center for the launch. It was pretty scary for me. Luckily, i survived. Anyway, on our way to Mars, we obviously got bored so, we just slept the whole time. I guess i will just skip this part because it is boring. So, when we landed on Mars, the first thing we saw was a Martian named Skippy. Skippy was a pretty sly Martian, but that explanation comes later in the story for why he was so sly. Anyway, so we met Skippy and he showed us around. As it turns out, Mars is actually a pretty nice place once you stop getting headaches from staring at the bright red landscape. The climate is pretty nice and it is just a nice place to hang out. I have not even mentioned the view from Mars. It was the greatest because when you looked up you could see almost every star in the universe. Anyway, apparently when we were relaxing on Mars, Skippy and his Martian friends decided that they would like to study our every move and then with the observations that they gathered, they were going to try to take over earth. What a little devil Skippy was. So, he tried to take us hostage, but his plan basically failed right there because Martians are like three feet tall and so my family and I fought back very easily and made it back to earth safely.

Journal 3-How I Would React in a Hostage Situation

If i were a hostage, that would be a problem. I would definitely feel very unlucky. Very unlucky indeed. but anyway, i guess if i were in a hostage situation, i would probably not try to be a hero or anything. I think that it is dumb trying to be a hero in those situations because the poice will probably just end up finding a way to arrest the criminal. Therefore, i kind of find it pointless to risk my safety and try to be a hero when the police will end up saving the day. In a hostage situation, i would probably just end up listening to the person that has taken me hostage and do whatever he says. I would not want to make him mad or angry because chances are, he probably has a gun and he could hurt me very badly if he wanted to. Even if i did want to be the hero in a hostage situation and fight off the criminals that are trying to take me hostage, i would probably be too scared in the end to make any move towards attacking the criminals. Let's be honest. In most hostage situations, the criminals are usually armed with pretty powerful weapons that could hurt many people at once. If a saw that the person who had taken me hostage had a gun or weapon that could possibly end my life, i would probably start crying because i would be so scared. So, i only have like seventy five words left to type in five minutes, so i guess that i could get this blog done in class which would be very nice. Anyway, i honestly have no clue how i could be lured into a hostage situation. I am usually smart in situations like that i think. I can usually tell if someone is up to no good by the way that they are dressed and how they approach you. Well, i guess that this is how i would react in a hostage situation.

Journal 2-Animal Hospitality

Once upon a time, ther was a tiger named Phil. Phil unlike opther tigers, was a very nice tiger. alomst every other critter who lived in the jungle respected Phil very much, with the exception of a grumpy old Toucan named Frank. The sad thing is that no one in the jungle really liked Toucan Frank. He had no friends. Therefore, Frank was not a happy Toucan like his cousin Sam. Of Course, Toucan Sam was very happy because he had all of the fruit-loops he could eat. One day, Phil saw Frank sitting alone in his tree looking very lonely. Since Phil was one of the nicest tigers anyone could find in the jungle, he figured that he could try and cheer Frank up by telling him a joke. "Hey, Frank, why did Michael Phelps win so many gold medals in the last summer olympics? Frank looked down and stared at Phil. "Because he's GRREAT!" Frank turned away and walked to the other side of the branch. This surprised Phil because he thought that Frank would enjoy a nice cereal joke seeing how Frank's cousin worked for Fruit Loops. After this reaction, Phil continued his nice relaxing stroll through the jungle. That night, it started raining and did not stop for an entire week. On the sixth day of rain, most of the animals in the jungle had to leave their homes because of the flooding. Phil the Tiger was the last one to find higher ground in case anyone was drowning. just as he was about to exit the water, he saw a beak sticking out of the water. Phil dove into the deep end of the water and pulled up on the beak and pulled a bird out of the water and brought it to shore. He realized that he had saved the life of Frank. When Frank opened his eyes hours later, Phil was standing over him and he realized that Phil had saved his life. "You're my best friend." said Frank. From that day on, Phil and Frank were best friends.

1st Post-What I Know About Native Americans

So, in all honesty, i really do not know much about Native American Culture. I know that Native Americans were here living in North America before anyone else. I also know that when Christopher Columbus came to North America, he thought that he was in India, so he gave them the label of "Indians." This term is actually not correct thought because of course, Native Americans are not Indians because they do not live in India. I also know that even though in the beginning when we first discovered that Native Americans live here in North America, there were many of Native Americans roaming around and about. When explorer came along though, they actually started killing of the native people in order to obtain land and other good resources that were valued in those times. Today in modern times, they are almost no Native Americans left here in America which is very sad. The European explorers could take out many natives at once because of the technology that they had at the time, all the Native Americans had were mainly arrows along with few other things to attack the explorers with. The explorers actually had guns and technology like that which destroyed the Native Americans. I know very little about the actual everyday life of Native Americans though. I know that they liked to live in teepees which were comparable to a very tall tent. Also, i know that they got a lot of their supplies from hunting other animals. For example, they not only got food from hunting, but they would use bones for certain supplies as well. Native Americans liked to use every part of an animal so that they could have plenty of supplies. With more supplies, they did not have to worry about getting more food and supplies, and therefore, they could focus more on their everyday lives. So, i guess that this information is most of the stuff i know about about Native Americans.

Symbolism In Fahrenheit 451

In Fahrenheit 451, there are many symbols. In my opinion, the most obvious symbols are the Bradbury includes in his book are are futuristic society that the story takes place in and the ending of the book when the city is destroyed. The society represents many things including the many sins of mankind and the loss of morale and values. It represents the horrific things that mankind can do without feeling any guilt whatsoever or even without noticing them. The other symbol is the destruction of the city. This represents the sudden downfall of mankind in the story. Absolutely no one expects the city to be destroyed so quickly and randomly which also shows how oblivious and careless the people were. Bradbury also leaves the story open ended when the author does not give the readers ant hint if the plan of the vanished people will work when they return to the city. This represents the down and rather pessimistic view to the plan. It might not work. This event also represents the beauty of not knowing the future and the idea that trying something may or may not help make things right.

Why Fahrenheit 451 Was My Favorite Book

Wow. I cannot believe that I am writing my last blog. Should I be happy or should I be sad? I simply do not know. I mean I am happy because I am just words away from being done with this blog, but at the same time, I am very sad because my summer is hours from being over. This is depressing. Anyway after I read all three books, I guess that it would be a good way to finish my summer blog by comparing the three books that I had to read and telling whoever is reading my blog which one was my favorite. Not to blow the whole surprise, but I think that without a doubt my favorite book with the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Compared to the other two, this book simply destroyed them. The funny thing is that it was not even close. I think that more action was included in the two hundred pages of the book Fahrenheit 451 than the other two books combined. The Old Man and the Sea only had action when the old man was trying to pull in the massive marlin and The Grapes of Wrath just sucked. I do not even want to think about comparing the book Fahrenheit 451 to the book The Grapes of Wrath because one was so good and the other one was so bad. Anyway, if I have not made it clear, then the book Fahrenheit 451 was my favorite because of the nonstop action. I also like the science fiction plot of the book and found it much more interesting than the other two. Another thing that I liked about Fahrenheit 451 is that it was pretty gruesome in parts. I mean, a guy was burned to death. How awesome is that? Well, anyway, it was a wild ride, summer blog. Even though it was not very fun typing you, I am glad that I finished you in plenty of time. Knock on wood! Kirk OUT!

Type of Conflict Part Two

This is my second to last blog of the summer and I am pumped. Anyway I am actually going to start this blog early because I have a lot to talk about in this one. For those of you who did not read my last blog, it was about the type of conflict within the book The Old Man and the Sea. I concluded that it was man versus nature because the main conflict in my opinion was between the man and the sea. Believe it or not, this book actually had more than one type of conflict. Besides the type of conflict that we call man versus nature, there is another conflict that would be considered man versus himself. This conflict becomes known to the reader when the old man catches the marlin on the line. The battle between the old man and the marlin lasts three days but somewhere along the line there had to be an internal battle with the old man. I mean imagine that you are trying to catch one fish for three days. It task itself would be extremely tiring and you would think about giving up constantly. This is what we would cal an internal conflict. I am sure that when the old man was trying to catch the fish that he was thinking about giving up sometime. I mean, after a while, there is no way that you would not be extremely tired after the fish was fighting for so long. The man had to think about giving up sometime. There is also another internal conflict in the book. This conflict takes place when the other fishermen are making fun of the old man for not being able to catch a good fish. I am sure that there was a point where the old man just simply wanted to give up fishing to save himself from the humiliation. This is another example of an internal conflict taking place inside of the old man’s head.

Type of Conflict Part One

Yes! I am getting a lot closer to finishing my blog for the summer. I am preet sure that if someone like Katie McGraw saw this blog right now, see would probably be laughing her head off right now because she had all of her summer blogs done a really long time ago. At the same time though, I am glad that this is my third to last blog right now because I am sure that ther are people who are sitting at home who are a hell of a lot more stresses than I am right now who have ike twenty blogs left to do. I am happy with myself right now though. I mean it is not like I can be mad at myself right now. I sat down when I needed to and did my work. Even when there were distractions I always was basically abe to get enough of the blogs written. Anyway, I just recently realized that I have not written one single blog on the conflict of a book. To me, that is amazing because usually the conflict of a book or a story is one of the first things that a person will write about. Anyway, in the book The Old Man and the Sea, was a main type of conflict. That type of conflict was mainly man versus nature. I think that this was the main typ of conflict because in the book, the main conflict was between the old man and the sea, which I guess would count as nature. The main conflict in the story is how the man cannot catch a good sized fish anymore. He actually goes on a streak of eighty four days without catching a fish. To me, this is the main conflict because without this conflict arising, the old man would never have gone very deep into the ocean to look for a monster marlin to catch to stop the other fishermen from making fun of the poor fella.

Symbolic Quote

Wow. For me, this is pretty exciting. I only have four blogs left to do for the summer. Although at the same time I must admit that I am sad that summer is almost over. The countdown until school starts went from months to weeks to days to hours just like that. I must say that the thought of the beginning of summer is pretty depressing because of how much time I wasted that I could have been using on better and more fun things rather than sitting at home watching television on a perfect day. Although I cannot be too hard on myself because I did have a pretty active summer in the end and there were times where I actually did need quite a bit of rest. Anyway, on to the actual part of this blog that the people actually want to see! In the book The Old Man and the Sea, the old man states an interesting quote when he says, “a man can be destroyed but not defeated.” To me, this quote is very interesting because I actually find some truth in it. When you are reading a line like this, one cannot take the quote literally. If a person does, then he or she looks like a fool because they are probably really shallow because they cannot find a deep meaning in quotes like these. To me, this quote from the old man in the book makes sense because even when everything around you is falling apart, or some kind of task seems impossible, you must not give up. For example, when the old man gets cut, he actually becomes more motivated to catch the massive fish in the water rather than just give up and let it go. By saying this line, he is saying that no matter how many cut or how injured he gets from trying to catch the fish, he will never give up, and eventually he catches the fish.

Symbols of the Sea

Ok, I only have five more blogs to do for the summer. This is actually quite exciting. The first one went by pretty fast and so I am hoping that I can continue that effort and speed with the rest of them. Ok, back to the book The Old Man and the Sea. The Sea in the book is very important. That might sound really stupid seeing how the book is called The Old Man and the Sea, but give me the rest of the blog to explain myself. Throughout the entire story, the sea has many different symbols. In the book, this is the only singular item that very clearly symbolizes more than one thing. For example, the old man in the book loves the sea. For him, it is a place where he can be alone and where no one else is around. It is his place where he can escape. On a cam day, when things are going well for the old man he does not have to worry about catching a huge fish, the sea is his place for relaxing. Therefore, the sea is a symbol of relaxation. Another theme that the sea symbolizes is hardships in life. Sometimes, the sea can be the most comforting and relaxing place in the world, but when it is raining outside and the weather is bad, then the sea can be a major obstacle. When the weather is bad, the old man has to worry about catching fish while worrying about if his boat will be flipped by the storm or if it will start sinking. To me as the reader, I find it interesting that something that can be so relaxing and pure and beautiful can also be very scary and hard to face. In these ways, I find the sea in the book the Old Man and the Sea is a very interesting symbol of many thing which include relaxation and fear in some parts of the book.

The Ending to the Old Man and the Sea

Ok, so today, I have already done four blogs at work which I guess is good because I only have six to do right now which really is not bad at all. Hopefully these six blogs will go by fast so I can eat and have the rest of the night to relax. It is going to be really weird going back to school again. I mean it does not even feel like the end of the summer. I honestly have never felt this way about the end of summer before. Usually all I can think about is how terrible school will be and how I am going to find a way to get through it all. But unlike every other year this year is different. I am not thinking about tomorrow that much and instead I am focusing on these blogs so I can have something fun to do for the rest of the night. I really really hope that I can get these things out of the way and have something fun to do for the rest of the night before I start worrying about school again. Anyway I should probably start taking about the book The Old Man and the Sea now. I really did like the book the Old Man and the Sea, but one I have things where I have some complaining to do is at the end. First of all, wouldn’t anyone agree with me when I say that the ending of the book seemed really forced? In all honesty, if I did not know that I was on the last page of the book, I would have thought that I had missed a really important part of the book or something. It just randomly ended. I also would have been much happier if the ending was happier. The Old Man really deserves to catch and marlin and be able to keep it so that he could show it off. Instead it dies by getting eaten from sharks.

The Loyalty of Manolin

One thing that i noticed about the book The Old man and the Sea is that there are many themes that were put into this book. For example, one of the gratest themes that i noticed throughout the entire story was the theme of loyalty. this trait is shown by the character of Manolin. when the Old Man has gone eighty four days without catching a fish and his parents tell Manolin that he must go and find a new fisherman to learn from. Manolin actually does do this because he wants to obey what his parents have said, but at the same time he still like to hang out with the Old Man and give the Old Man some bait to fish with. This is extremely kind on the part of Manolin because no one besides the Old Man knows that Manolin is sctually spending time with him. it seem that throughout the book, Manolin is always there to give the old man lots of moral support which the Man need to need because the Old Man becomes worn down because of the stress and frustration that comes when the Old Man cannot catch a very good fish. it actually seems like the young boy is the only one who is there for the Old Man throughout the story which is actually pretty sad because in the story, at certain times, the man suffers from lonelyness when he is out on the sea which is sad because the only two people that know what he is truly feeling the the character of the Old Man and the person who is actually reading the story. i think that it is very good fot The old man to have the character of Manoloin by his side because he is so lonely. i know for sure that if i was a fisherman who was out on the sea for days at a time, i would grateful for someone who is loyal to me and who i van always count on.

Not So Much To Criticize About the Old Man

So, right now, i am in still in Disc Replay, doing my job. I am pretty bored right now and i do not have much to do so i guess i will just try to get another blog done. i am pretty happy because these blogs are not that bad. as of now, i actually do not know how many i have to do, but i feel that i might be able to get many of these blogs done her at work because it is not really that busy here at work. knock on wood. here at Disc Replay, the place is known for becoming really randomly busy at certain time which it just has. ok, so now once again, i should actually start this blog because once again i have to remind myself that writing down my really random thoughts actually does not do anyone any good. anyway, i guess that i will start talking about the book The Old Man and the Sea. ok, so usually i will always have a blog where i criticize the book i read. in all honesty, i thought that the book The Old Man and the Sea was a very good book. i mean, yeah every book has its boring parts and the book The Old Man and the Sea actually does have parts where it is very boring, but in all honesty, what book does not have a boring part? While i was reading the book, i was very proud of the Old Man for not giving up and actually catching the massive marlin in the end of the book. after he caught it though, it made me very sad that after all of the hard work that the Old Man spent trying to catch the big marlin, he feels bad for the fish because it ends up suffering a slow and painful death because it gets eaten by sharks when the Old Man it trying to take the animal to the shore of the land.

The Old Man and Perseverance

So, once again i am siting here at work and we have hit another part of the day where this place has turned into something compareable to a ghost town, so i guess that i will try and get another blog done for the time being. It is kind of weird because i could have sworn that i only did forty blogs and that i would have to do ten today, but right now, my blog is saying that i only have eight more to do, which i must say is quit sexy. Now i might as well actually start this blog because it is pretty dumb if people read this entire blog just to realize that that all i have been doing is writing down my stupid and random thoughts because that does no one any good in all honesty. anyway, in the book The Old Man and the Sea, the Old Man, Santiago, shows many good character traits. in my last blog i wrote about how the Old Man shows the character trait of pride in the book. Believe it or not though, this is not the only very useful and respecable trait that the Old Man shows throughout the book. He also shows the trait of perserverence. i think that it is very obvious how the Old Man shows perserverence in the book. He shows it whenever he catches the massive marlin when he is out as sea. the marlin actually fights to get off of the line for three days. to me, it is actually quite amazing that the Old Man never gave up trying to catch the marlin.the marlin actually dragged the man's boat out so deep into the ocean that the Old Man could not see any land behind him. if i could not see the land behind me, i know for sure that i would just let the marlin go because i would be afraid that i would get lost at sea and no one would be able to find me after a while.

One of The Old Man's Good Qualities

So, i am sitting here in the store Disc Replay. Right now, I am actually supposed to be doing my job right now, but luckily today has not been extremely busy, so i can try to finish these blogs at work which if i may so myself is honestly pretty clutch. in my opinion, i think that it is pretty funny that i can do these blogs at work. I must say that i must be pretty spoiled just because i know that other kids my age who have jobs do not have the same kind of freedom at their jobs that i do at mine so in that case, i should be extremely happy that i can get these done and not have to worry about doing them when i get home because i am always pretty or very exhausted when i get home from work because on Sundays, i always have to work form opening to closing which can be pretty exhausting sometimes, but i guess that i cannot complain because i only work on Sundays when soccer season comes around. anyway, i should probably start the actual blog part of this blog. There are many other themes that are shown in the book The Old Man Man and the Sea besides the simple theme of loyalty that was shown by Manolin in the book. in fact there were many very good character traits that were shown by the old man Santiago himself. one a the great themes or character traits that was shown by the Old Man in the story was pride. in many cases throughout the story, the man would show pride when he would catch a fish that was too big, he would never hesitate to the the little fishy back. to me, that quality is very very respectable. very respectable indeed. The Old Man also showed that he is very pround when the other fishermen are making fun of him for not catching a good fish in 83 days. he never talks back or gets angry because he is much too proud.

The Unlikely Way How Book Burning Became Popular in Fahrenheit 451

One more blog to go! One more blog to go! One more blog to go! I am so happy that I honestly cannot see straight. I do not think that it is very normal to have eye problems when you are really excited. Oh well. I only have to write like three hundred more words and then I am done for the day. I am so happy. You have no idea. I am so sick of these blogs. Well I am not really sick of these blogs by themselves, but I am just tired of worrying about them and I am sick of just simply having to dealing with them. I am sure that anyone who is in my Honors English class can back me up on that one. These things are just awful to worry about when it is such a nice day out and they only thing really productive that you can do is sit here on this computer and write blogs about your feeling about books that you had to read over the summer. I am pretty sure that the only thing people are think when they have to read summer reading books is how much they want to burn the book…like in Fahrenheit 451! They is what his blog will be about I guess. Maybe in the future, one student will get so angry with his or her summer reading books that they will just burn them. I mean, that could be how the twisted society in the book Fahrenheit 451 started. Someone may have simply gotten sick of a book and then they burned it. I mean it is understandable actually. That one person could have started a revolution on book burning. It probably because so popular that that person actually came up with a name for that job. He probably called the profession, being a fireman. After all, the name actually does make sense and it does not take a long time to understand how the name came to be.

Al Joad in The Grapes of Wrath

Ok now I can see the end in sight. I am getting so close to finishing these blogs that I can taste it. I only have two more to do, so I am going to just try to plow through these last two so I can hang out with my buds on the last Saturday before my summer vacation ends. I know how typical it sounds when I say that that thought sounds really depressing, but it really does. Also, I should not be sitting at home trying to do blogs right now. These things are dumb. To be honest, I do not care what other people think about the books that we have all had to read over the summer. I am also sure that no one really cares what I think when it comes to these three books, so it just makes me mad that I am sitting here right now trying to finish these things. I actually find it more productive writing these random thoughts down more than anything else. Believe it or not, this is actually making me feel a lot better about finishing these stupid blogs. Anyway, I guess that I might as well start my second to last blog on the book The Grapes of Wrath now or else Mr. Langley might get mad that I have not shared any of my thoughts on the book inside of this blog. I think that in the book The Grapes of Wrath by the author John Steinbeck, the character of Al Joad is a respectable man. I think that he is respectable because at the beginning of the book, you can tell that Al basically idolizes Tom and wants to be a lot like Tom. Further into the book though, the reader can see that Al has matured because of the hardships that the family has had to face whenever they moved to California. It is really cool to see the character grow up and become an individual.

Uncle John in The Grapes of Wrath

Ok, so I am pretty happy that I only have three more blogs left to do today. I have almost accomplished my goal of ten blogs today which I must say is pretty impressive. I am pretty sure that I can do the rest of these blogs pretty easily simply because I have done so many other ones today. Three is really nothing compared to what else I have done. So, once again this is one of my last blogs on the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I am pretty happy that this is one of my last blogs about the book because in all honesty as many of you know, the book was awful. I did not enjoy it at all. It dragged on and on to the point where I had lost all interest in reading it and then it dragged on some more. In all honesty, I will never think about reading this book again. It was truly that bad. If you think I am kidding, then open up the book and read one page. I am pretty sure that that will convince you how bad this book truly is. But anyway, I will do I quick little blog on the character of Uncle John in the book The Grapes of Wrath. Now, I am sure that many of you who are reading this blog want to ask, what do we know about Uncle John? Well, all we really know is one of the events that happened earlier in his life that really affects him as a person. That event was when his wife was complaining about stomach pains when she was pregnant and he refused to get her a doctor. This causes their baby to eventually die. Even though we do not hear much from Uncle Tom in the book The Grapes of Wrath, I feel bad for him because he has been scared with such a terrible fate, the death of his unborn child.

Grampa Joad in the Grapes of Wrath

So, I took a break from doing these blogs and once again I am bored so I guess that I will just get the four more done that I planned on getting done by the end of today. The only problem is that I just woke up from a little afternoon nap, so I am really tired, and I have no idea what I want to discuss in this blog, so that is never good. Another thing is that my kitten is awake and she really wants some attention right now, so she is bothering me non-stop which is another distraction that is trying not to make these blogs easy at all. Ok so anyway, this blog is going to be one of my last blogs about the book The Grapes of Wrath. In the book The Grapes of Wrath which happens to be written by the author John Steinbeck. One of the characters that I found really annoying in the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was the character of Grampa Joad. I think that the character of Grampa Joad is very annoying because he is such a pesomist throughout the entire story of the book. He always has something bad to say unlike other and more respectable characters in the book. For example, when the family faces an obstacle early in the story, Tom will not really let it bring him or the rest of the family down, but then grumpy old Grampa Joad will come along and just complain about it as much as he can just to prove a point. As a reader, it really annoyed me anytime throughout the story when Grampa Joad had to share his opinion with anyone else. It just made me extremely annoyed because it is made obvious by the author of the story, John Steinbeck that the times in the dust bowl in really tough on the family and I am sure that having Grampa Joad around did not help much.

Symbolism of the Dog's Death

So, I have gotten five blogs done today and I only have five more to go which is not awful I guess. Once again, I am still extremely tired and I really feel like going to sleep right now but I cannot because I have to do these dumb blogs. Maybe I should have a soda with some caffeine in it to see if I can wake up from all of the caffeine. I guess that it is too bad that I do not drink soda during the soccer season because it is awful for your body. Oh well. After this bog I will probably take a short little break from these blogs to relax and give my mind a break. Although, it is not like I am using my brain that much for these blogs anyway because all I am doing for like half of the blog is just talking about really random stuff which is completely useless. My gosh. Word cannot explain how tired I am right now. This is so crazy. I do not think that this is normal. Anyway another symbol in the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is the death of the Joad’s dog early in the book at the gas station. It is killed when it gets run down by some people who are on the road at the time. In my opinion, the author John Steinbeck includes this event because it is simply foreshadowing for the events yet to come. The dog is killed in a sick and twisted way but it just warns the reader of the story that there is more to come later in the story and that this event is not simply the only tragedy within the book The Grapes of Wrath. For example, many bad thing happen after this event when the Joads arrive in California. Some of these events include when they cannot find good jobs and when their home get wrecked by a storm.

Symbolism of the Stillborn Baby

Wow. This kind of sucks right now. I have six more blogs to do today which really is not terrible at all, but I suddenly feel like I have just hit a wall. I suddenly cannot think of any more topics to write about and I suddenly got really really tired which obviously does not help at all whatsoever. Wow I really have six more blogs to do today. This is awful. I randomly just feel like going to bed. It is probably because I just ate and now I am starting to fall into a bad food coma. Why did I eat so much in such little time? I should have known that I would get tired as soon as I finished my meal so quickly. The worst part of this is just thinking about the six more blogs I have to do right now. It honestly feels like I will never get these stupid things done. I feel like just laying down on the couch, and turning on the show The Office because I really feel like I need to relax right now, but at the same time I have to do these darn blogs. Gosh darn it. So, I think that at the end of the book The Grapes of Wrath, there are some interesting symbols, one of them being the symbol of the birth of Rose of Sharon’s stillborn baby. This event is interesting to me because it seems like after all of the thing that have gone wrong for the Joad family, that this will end the streak. Instead, this is one of the most tragic events of the story. Even though this event is very very sad, it actually does not affect the family as horribly as the reader might think it would. It is not that bad because at the end of the story, a man is dying in a barn and Rose of Sharon nurses the old man back to health which is a happier, but kind of strange ending to the book.

Pa Joad is a Poor Man

I only have seven more blogs to do today! That is really good because I know that I can get them all done because I actual did exactly seven yesterday. The fact that I am getting these done so quickly makes me happy because I will have more time to hang out with my friends on this fine Saturday afternoon. I know that I have mentioned something about hanging out with my friends on just about every bog that I have done today, but you have to realize that I am very excited just to get done with these blogs. Once again I wish I was Katie McGraw and I had these blogs done like a month ago so I would not have to spend like two and a half hours of my Saturday these things, but I cannot really do anything about it now because I did not start these blogs until this month which was really dumb on my part. Ok, so I should probably start writing my actual blog now because I have just wasted like half the space of this blog basically typing non-sense which is also fun to do and completely pointless. Ok, so throughout the book The Grapes of Wrath, I always found myself feeling bad for Pa Joad. He always wants to be the leader of the family, but everything wears him down so much in the story that he basically gives up the title. By the end of the story, he has become so worn down that he actually does not really have any say in what the family does, he just kind of blindly follows whatever Ma Joad does. I felt really bad for him by the end of the book because it seems that the move to California has worn him down the most out of any of the main characters when it was his farm that got shut down and it was his idea to move to California for a better life.