Dark Romanticism

I think Hawthorne would be against transcendentalism. Transcendentalist believe that everyone has a part of God inside of them. That man itself has a stronger power and mind then any government that could ever be made. Hawthorne on the other hand, had ancestors who were judges. Judges who would hang and kill people because of others who claimed they were evil.

In my point of few there is no way that Herman Melville could ever be the same person. If you see humans fighting to eat other humans you've seen the unbelievable. I understand that that was probably the only thing they had to survive, but I think by Melville seeing that that showed him that you fight or die. So, no I don't think he thinks everyone is pure.

Edgar Allen Poe has completely different morals then transcendentalist. Even though I feel its not his fault, but the fault of the environment he grew up in. If you are writing stories and poems about everyone starting off with a touch of evil, you most likely believe in original sin. That everyone is born a sinner because of Adam and Eve.

I think I am more with the transcendentalist. The way I feel when I go outside by myself, even if its not the prettiest sight, the atmosphere just takes me to another place. I also feel like everyone does connect in some sort of way. Once you become real close to a certain person you realize more and more you guys think alike or you might even say the same thing at the same time. Its just hard to believe that if we are all from one thing, that we wouldn't have a part of each other.

After reading The Black Cat it kind of scared me. The story is about a man who has a huge obsession over animals. He gets married, and as a coincidence his wife loves them too. One day he gets a black cat and his wife goes on and on about a old myth that they are evil. He cares for the cat very much and ignores his wife, but day by day he grows meaner and meaner. He stops taking care of all the animals except for the one black cat, Pluto. I thought that was very weird that he would only start caring for that one cat when his wife said it was evil. Then, he started to become mean and ill, he would even cuss at his wife occasionally. This is where it relates to Dark Romanticism, they think the cat is evil and now has turned him evil. "In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise." I don't believe in it, but it did freak me out, especially when he hung some animal and was crying. He had turned "evil" but still knew it was wrong so he was crying as the "evil" took over him.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, was a very intriguing poem. What I interpret the poem as is his wife is dieing, and the raven is used as a symbol of scariness and sorrow. He keeps hearing something at his door, but no ones every there, and finally the raven comes through the window. The line, "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;" stuck out to me. This is where he wants you to know he is terrified. It is late at night and hes so dramatized by what is happening to his wife that he starts to hallucinate that something is there calling for him. "And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-- He feels as if something is out there repeating what he said, because he only whispered the words and they came back louder then ever.

This relates to dark romanticism because of the imagination. Not only the imagination, but the evil imagination. In the poem this guys conscience is not completely pure. Something is haunting him because of the way he feels. "In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore." Here he is explaining the symbol of the Raven, that not only does he represent sorrow but he also represents saintly evil.

Not only did Edgar Allan Poe's wife die when he was literally in the next room, both his parents also died when he was only three years old. I can see how this would change his state of mind. Of course he had to be more independent, which would explain why he is so open minded and has such a big imagination. Also, if he had to face that his parents died at such a young age, death probably didn't become such a big thing to him. Everything that happens in every ones life affects the way the think and feel about certain situations, and I can see where Poe comes from.

Transcendentalist

I read From Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I agree with what this author feels. Throughout the essay he discusses nature, and how when he's in the wild he is apart of God. He strongly believes that God is apart of him, and when he is out looking at nature he is taken away from his own body and God over comes him. I agree with him in the sense of nature taking you to another place. I feel calm and peaceful, like nothing could harm you in such a beautiful place. That no matter what the scene is your feelings find a way to relate to nature. In the poem he speaks the touching words, "For nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today." I believe what he feels is true. What he is trying to get across here is that if you seek a beautiful place like the mountains, one day it could be filled with beauty, because your soul is happy inside. The next day something petrifying could happen to you, and that same spot that was yesterday stunning, could turn gloomy and heartbreaking.




The essay From Nature relates to transcendentalist. Transcendentalist believe that everyone has a "oversoul". That some where in everyone is a piece of god, and that everyone connects to each other some how. In From Nature, the author expresses this through nature. "I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God." This quote is from the poem, and is explaining the connection between him and God. He believes that the nature pulls God out of his soul and he becomes part of his holiness.



The essay From Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson is what I understand to be about being independent. He feels that if you imitate people or follow the crowd you are killing the soul that was given to you. In the poem he quotes, " There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till." To me this means that everyone has their own personality and if your not being yourself your not using what God has provided you with. That if you have this great idea that everyone thinks is crazy, one day your idea will be what everyone believes in.



This essay relates to Transcendentalist because in the essay he talks about listening to yourself and being individual. Transcendentalist believe that of the same nature. They believe that there is apart of everyone with in you, and God speaks to you somehow. So, if you listen to your instinct which they believe to be God, you wouldn't be following the crowd. If your not following the crowd, then therefore you are considered to be a individual.

In the essay, Resistance to Civil Government by Henry Thoreau, the impression it has on me is that he doesn't like the structure of the government."Why can't there be a government where right and wrong are not decided by the majority but by conscience?" To me he is saying that the government is based on majority instead of the few with their own unique ideas. I think this is true in a way. I know the government has to try and satisfy every one's needs, which would be the reason for following what the majority says. If you always listen to the majority though, they could all just agree with each other because they really have no ideas themselves. There are a tremendous amount of people out there with magnificent ideas, but they have no one who will listen.

In this essay this man believes that you should go with your conscience instead of what "law" says. This is what transcendentalist believe. They believe you should listen to your intuition, that little voice inside of you instead of following the crowd. The way he portrays this image is from the statements he makes throughout the essay; "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward."

After reading Chris's scenario, I understand how he feels. My family has always been hard on me to make the best grades, go to college, stay out of trouble, and degree in a profession that will provide me with a good amount of money. Sometimes that's not the case though, sometimes I don't want to proceed with what I've always told my family. I want to travel and explore so I can settle down with a job that I really love and dedicate myself to. In Chris's situation I would do what I felt was best for myself. If I didn't think I was going to be happy with something everyone else wanted me to do, Id do what I feel is right for me. If the people your scared of hurting really love you as much as you think, changing your profession shouldn't change that. Your wife or husband should be there for you 150%, so if something that makes you happy and is good for the both of you makes your marriage have tighter budget, so be it. In the long run it's your life and it's what you want to proceed, and anyone that doesn't back you up on that doesn't care for your happiness. I think a Transcendentalist would do what their heart was telling them. No matter how many people they knew were telling them they were making a mistake, I feel they would follow that voice everyone has."Why can't there be a government where right and wrong are not decided by the majority but by conscience?" That's the way transcendentalist feel, they feel that we should decide on what's right and wrong by the feeling we have inside, not the rules of the law.

Alone in the wilderness relates to Transcendentalist tremendously. The video clip is about a old man who decides to "become one" with nature, and build his own cabin so he can survive out in the wilderness. His plan is to stay out in the wild observing nature for thirty-five years. He is like a transcendentalist in the way of resulting to nature for peace. Transcendentalist believe that nature calms you, and brings the God in you out of your soul. "I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God." This is a quote on the way transcendentalist feel, and they way the old man in the video portrays to be.

Independent Readind- The Voice on the Radio (190 pages)

The book I read is called The Voice on the Radio. This book is a sequel to The Face on a milk carton.The story caught my eye because I like mysteries. This book is about a girl,named Jannie, who is living a normal life with what she thinks are her normal parents. Until one day while eating lunch in her school cafeteria she sees a picture of her when she was only three on the back of a milk carton. The milk carton has a picture posted and a caption saying "Jennie Springs is missing". Even though that is not her name now, she knows its her face on the carton. I couldn't imagine being in her position! Thinking your parents that have raised you now may be kidnappers. I'd be lost, confused, and scared. I would wonder who my parents were and if they were even looking for me anymore. It would be weird because I would feel torn away from the only thing I've ever known. In away I wouldn't even want to meet my biological parents just because for thirteen years I have been with another family. At that point in life I would trust no one. Later on the book, they reveal that the parents that supposedly kidnapped her had a daughter named Hannah. Hannah was involved in a gang and left home. When she returned she brought Jennie with her saying she had a kid and didn't know how to raise her so she put them in charge. When Hannah's parents realized that Hannah kidnapped Jennie they were sad and hurt. At this point in my life I wouldn't know what to do, because whose fault is it? It's Hannah's, so neither family is in fault.

Writing 2- Requirements for becoming a lawyer

Becoming a lawyer is a popular choice for students who want to pursue a legal career. As the population grows and people getting in trouble continues to increase, the need for lawyers will continue to match the need. A Lawyer is a professional who seeks to uphold the law in a courtroom. With their knowledge, they act as legal advisors if their clients find themselves in a legal fix. Lawyers may work for individuals, companies, the government, or have their own practice. They will need many skills such as listening, communicating, advising, and negotiating. It’s not as simple as it seems. It also takes a tremendous amount of education to meet the requirements.

The first step is graduating from a four-year bachelor’s degree program. There’s no specific major, but it would help someone perusing law out is they take courses in English, government, public speaking, and philosophy. After graduation, the next thing one needs to pursue is to enroll in a law school. She will have more opportunities if she graduates from a school that is accredited by the American Bar Association or by a state authority. If not it can limit the graduate’s ability to receive a law license in states other than where the school one graduated from is located. Most of the law degree programs available for attending to will take a student approximately three years to study. After graduation the graduate will have received a Juries Doctor degree. Before one begins their career they have one more thing to accomplish. They must pass the state bar exam in the state where one chooses to practice. Depending on where they choose to go, some states require further test, including an ethics test and a committee.

A graduate now has the title of a lawyer. Now it is time to choose what field one may be interested in. Civil and criminal law are the most popular, but one has many other choices. Such as Bankruptcy, Probate, International law, elder law, intellectual property, patents, and real estate. It all depends on the law students interested and what is compatible with them.

The field I would one day like to pursue would be criminal law. I would like to become a Public Defender. A Public Defender is an attorney whose duty is to provide legal representation to indigent defendants who have been charged criminally and who are unable to pay for an attorney. They are needed for anyone accused in a criminal case that is exposed to any likelihood of imprisonment.

Becoming a lawyer provides one with a good amount of money. Salary earnings depend on the type of law that you specialize in, and who you might work for. According to a chart updated on February 19, 2008 on average a private practice/ firm would make $41,695 a year, a company would make $43,604, government/state and local $30,783, and government/federal $35,197 a year.

There is a lot of schooling a pursuing law student has to do in order to become a lawyer. Not only do they need school, law has to be something one is good at and interested in. There are many things a student needs to accomplish to get to the big finish. If a lawyer is really what one is interested, do not let the work stop the goals one may have, because in the end it will be worth it.

Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle is a story about a old man who one day goes hiking to a beautiful place, meets some "elves" , drinks liquor they provide to him, and falls asleep for twenty years. It was a pretty boring story, but a intriguing situation to think about, even though we all know it is impossible. I put myself in his position and thought what if I fell asleep for even ten years. How would my child look? He would all of a sudden be talking to me. Who would be president and would we still be fighting in war. What if the people ruled all of a sudden and the world was going crazy. What if our technology reached the unbelievable, and our cars your built to fly, and we had robots doing everything for us.

It's crazy enough thinking there probably will be a major growth within ten year. But to be asleep through the whole transition would throw you off as a human being completely. The way we talk changes on a daily basis, think about not communicating for ten years. You might be socially retarded.

In the story they demonstrate many examples of romanticism. One of the examples I found was "His mind now misgave him; he began to doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched." What he means is something crazy happened to him, and he thinks everything around him is evil, and betraying him. You need your imagination to say this because it is not logic. He feels scared so he says everything is "bewitched", but he really knows the town cannot be evil. "He assured the company that it was a fact, handed down from his ancestor the historian, that the Kaatskill mountains had always been haunted by strange beings." What the mean by this saying is that there has always been a folk tale of creatures haunting the mountains. This is a example of romanticism because no one has seen these creatures, people just feel that they are there but their really not.

In the poem Thanatopsis I feel he is talking about a woman he loves, how the times when their together are so great, but when its almost time for her to go how he falls apart. I also think he is talking about how people die and go to a greater place which he refers to as heaven. What comes off to me as romantic in this poem is that he is imagining how heaven is and the people there, but he doesn't really know. It is strictly his imagination he is writing about.

In the Rope walk ,by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I think the point of this writing is to take you to a place he sees, or feels. When he says, "With it mounts her own fair face, As at some magician's spell." That sticks out to me because she must have a very catchy facial expression for him to notice and describe her face as he did. This is also a example of romanticism because there is no such thing as magic, and you also have to imagine what her face looks like.

You could use a visual piece of art to illustrate romanticism. The reason I believe this is that when you look at the picture you imagine what goes on there, you wonder where it is, and sometimes you may even feel like your there. Some pictures can take you on a journey just by looking at them.