Entry 17: The American Romantic Hero

Characters that would be considered heroes today can either be a great man or a person with super powers. Most of the times today when we hear the words hero we would think about superman, batman, spiderman, and other comic characters. There are also daily heroes that appear on the news instead of the movie screen or comic book. These heroes are what I consider true heroes, because they actually risk their lives for others. The heroes in the movies and comic books are just too unrealistic. They're cool and all but they really are only imagination. Same as the heroes during the Romantic period they weren't real. The writer wrote the character with idealistic ideas in mind, wanting to create a perfect hero. However no one is perfect and to be a hero you still must have human qualities, and that is why you never see comic book heroes in america like like aliens. The Romantic heroes are similar to our comic book heroes in the sense that they are both idealistic and both seem to own super human qualities. However in real life heroes are just people, ordinary people who are no different from the rest of us. Other than the fact that they have a heart big enough to be willing to give up their lives or the lives of others.

Entry 16: Intro to Romanticism

Romanticism is an 18th century art and literature movement. Unlike the movements before it it focus more in the beauty and naturalness of things. They focused on bring back the nature to be more "barbaric". The romanticism was seen as being vulgar and primal. Many saw it as being bad but later learned to accept it and become part of it. The book and painting made during this time period showed the true nature of man kind. It also showed a lot about nature and how it brings out the best of people. Nature and the original form of human being is the best there can be and that is what the romantic movement is trying to bring back.   The transcendalists were a group of people who like rationalist believed in the original good nature of man kind and to find truth on must go beyond oneself. Americans today believe the same concept that man kind is born with a good nature and that one must challenge oneself to achieve more.

Entry 15: American Ideal

"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak with our own minds"
This quote expresses many of the American ideals, such as individualism and freedom. Walking on their own feet symbolizes their independence and no need of support from others. Working with their own hands also symbolizes their independence and individuality. Then speaking with their own minds symbolizes freedom of speech and also individuality. It doesn't just apply to the American society in colonial times but also modern times too. Americans today are even more independent than ever, further expressing the old American ideal. It also applies to the society around me. Everyone is wanting to be more independent, to prove that they can do it on their own. The freedom of speech is also very important,everyone wants to speak their mind and they want to do it without anyone trying to stop them. I myself sees this as a global and not just american ideal. I like being a independent person trying not to depend on anyone for completing my work. I also think that people who don't want to be independent is either immature or just lazy. I have meet many people who just depend on others to help them complete their work, they use people. Therefore because I believe in this ideal I despise people who practices it's opposite version. 

Entry 14: Persuade me

Don't work for other people, work for yourself. You will not find happiness in the work you do for other people, if you can make it so that your working for yourself then you should quit and change jobs. What I mean by not doing work for others doesn't mean you have to create you own company and be the boss, but to find a personal purpose in the things you do. If you are always doing thing because other people tell you to or to please someone else, no matter how great the result you will never be happy. To be happy with what you have accomplished you must do it for yourself, do it because you want to do it, not because someone told you to do it. If you are doing it for someone else they will always have a opinion on the work, you'll be doing in their perspective putting nothing of your own into it, but time and sweat. For me the art works that I do I never do it for someone else. My art works I do it because I want to do it, I do it for my own pleasure and that is why I love it so much. The things I do for classes such as posters, or even for school events I usually don't like it. I don't like things that I have made just for the purpose of getting the grade, because I see no joy in viewing it or in the process of making it. That is why I try to find a personal reason of making very thing, of doing everything I do. Such as making a poster for a class I try to view it as my personal way of knowing the material better, to see it as a learning tool. For school events I see it as a learning experience for my future, to let me get a taste of what is to come, so I give it all the effort I can put in.

Entry 13: Give Me Liberty or...

I think words such as independent, competitive, and creative shape our society today. Everyone is independent or want to be independent. To be on their own and living off their own pay check. Competition is very intense in the 21st century and to be successful one must be competitive. Creative people always stand out and today being different is good. Being different means you have something good others don't have and having creativity is a large part of being different. They are different but not completely different because both stress individuality. I was to hear the words "freedom" or "liberty" it would makes me think of more freedom on the weekends. Instead of freedom in rights and laws, I think about my parents allowing me more time to go out of the house. As for liberty, it hardly makes me think of anything other than my US history class I took last year. Thins have changed but the way people value freedom and rights haven't change, they are only expressed differently and different word help shape a free society.

Entry 12: Sin

Sin, an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. That is the dictionary definition of the word sin. Society usually defines it as the same thing and it is most of the times related to a religion. I my self define it as anything that is against my morals or principles. If I was to see someone go against my principles I would have negative opinions about them. However others may not think what I think, they may consider my wrongs to be right or OK thing to do. Everyone has a different set of principles they follow, no matter if they not it or not. The only reason you would have great amount of common principles yes if you share a common religion or you grew up together. I have done things that some people would consider to be sinful but some wouldn't, so its really hard to tell if its a real sin. However in my opinion it is and I regret what I have done. I have also witnessed or people sin and felt that they were doing the wrong thing. I couldn't just stand back and watch so I told the person what I thought was wrong and now we share a common moral. The moral of not lying, unless it is completely 110% necessary. If one is to sin and publicly shamed, I believe the only way of atone for it is to change. By change I mean change the why you live by changing yourself so that you would never do it again. For someone to change is very hard and I have had to change myself before, it was a difficult process. I had to mentally challenge my own mind and control my actions. I did this to control my anger problem which made me act upon many moral sins. Changing isn't easy but if you could be determined to change, it will be successful.

Entry 11: Fear as a motivator

Fear is a very powerful thing, and if used right can cause people to do things they have never imagined doing. Fear is not a great motivator but it is a very effective one. John Edward puts fear into the people he's preaching by telling them of the wrath of God and how unmerciful God can be. He uses sensory details and figurative language to project a clear image of what he wants the people to be afraid of. I have been motivated by fear before and I hated how the person did it. Instead of being encouraging he was threatening and the threatening was what made me do it. I believe that something that is motivating should be encouraging not frightening. The person used my fear of a secret being told to make me doing things he told me. It was still back in middle school and the kid used me for things he didn't want to do himself. Such as lining up for lunch (because our lunch lines has a 30 minute wait), homework, and carrying his things for him. By the end I decided that it was enough and I could no longer take his oppressing attitude. He made me feel like a slave and I stood up against him. I told him that I wasn't afraid of him telling others and the oppression passed away. I really hate people who use fear as a motivator, however sometimes it seems like the only way, and on rare cases do people use it for the better.

Entry 10: Church, anyone?

I have been in contact with many different religion's and practices before. I have been an atheist all my life but it seems like my friends aren't. First of all a lot of my friends back in Shanghai are Christians. They go to a "retreat" every year, similar to camp but about God. They also have something called KG (know God) every few weeks and they go to church every Sunday. I have never been to their "retreats" before but I did go to one of their KG meetings. It was a place where they chatted about what was happening in their lives and relating it to the bible. It was really confusing for me because I've never read the bible before, and probably never will. I have never been to church, but I have been to temples. Buddhist and Taoist temples look pretty similar to me and the things they do there also look the same. I had a friend's mother who was a devote Buddhist. I have seen her pray time I go to my friends house. When I say pray I don't mean talking to God with your hands held together, but I mean nailing down and bowing to a statue. I was pretty surprised the first time I saw my friend's mother do that but I got use to it over the years. Compared to the puritans none of them seem to be ass strict. however each one believes in their God as being the almighty.  Usually when I see these things I don't react much different I just see it as a way for them to have a sense of safety or support.

Entry 9: Motivation

In all the poems we have read, the authors express a certain aspect of their religious beliefs. I believe that they are caused to believe these reasons or actions because of their surrounding culture. As they grew up they were surrounded by this culture and the religion. Everyone they knew believed it, so why would they be different? They won't, people always tend to want to stick to the group no matter what. Even if what the group is doing is wrong you would still want to fit in if everyone else is doing it. That's how pear pressure works. Their beliefs are not only things that they practice at home but it greatly effect everything they do. For example Puritan's would only do what "God" told them to do. As for someone who is a Rationalist would do things they find reasonable. Everything they do may come naturally to them because they grew up with it, but to others they would have to think about the religion. My own action are guided by a set of principles set by myself through the progress of my life. The list changes, things get added and deleted. I don't think about it, it also comes naturally like the religion for the authors. There is one principal I would always stick by " Bros before Hoes". To me it doesn't just better friends with your boys, but to value friendships before anything else.  If my "bros" were to ask me to do a favor and a girl who I like also asks me to do a favor. I would help my "bros" first. I wouldn't put anything before them other than family, but they are pretty much family with me any ways.

Entry 8: Compare and Contrast: Bradstreet v Sor Juana

The two poems we read in class about puritan and catholic beliefs and way of dealing with loss. Bradstreet's and Sor Juana's beliefs are different on many aspects. First of all the Puritans had a strong belief in simplicity however the Catholic's believe in creativity in expressing their devotion to God. In Bradstreet's poem she continues to regard God as being the taker and giver as for Sor Juana she only regards God as being a greater power but she is the one to decide on her actions.  Bradstreet's poem talks about the loss of her house in a fire, and Sor Juana talks about riding of the material world and embracing what is in the mind. Bradstreet towards the end of her poem also implies that the material world wouldn't last and only what is in side of you could. So the two poem share the same theme. Having a lot of things is not important what is important is to have a lot inside of you. You can only keep what knowledge you have but not the objects you own. The format of their poem is also similar however Son Juana's is shorter and more direct. Bradstreet uses a lot of passive actions when referring to the event. Son Juana uses a active voice while telling that the material world is a waste of time and that she is going to give it up so she can keep what is important. The two authors may have different ways of practicing their religion but both express the same belief that the material world is a waste and that only the intellectual world is what is important.

Entry 7: Hounding

The title conveys a clear perspective of how the author views the material world. The word hounding is a strong word and using it in the title makes it seem as if she was very confident about her choice. She was not afraid of showing other people her perspective, which is that the material world is of no use only what is in the brain is good. My personal point of view is that intellectual matters are more important than material goods but not to the extreme of giving it all up. Over the years in high school I have slowly given some material goods in my world and moved on to intellectual property. Materials can be stolen or broken but intellectual properties can not be. The theme conveyed in the poem is that world is trying to force feed you all this material good but you shouldn't accept. You should only value your intellectual goods. When I first realized the theme I disagreed temporarily but after thinking about it for a few minutes I realized that she was right and that I was already following that. However mine was not that extreme I didn't see the world hounding me but only temping.

Entry 6: Poem about loss

He asked for my help
but he was i not therefore
he was facing issues that were hard to deal with
i was busy messing around
he was over whelmed by the problem
he asked me but I didn't move
all i did was stop and stare
i could have helped but for some reason i didn't
he hated for for that
and understand i could
it was a taste of betrayal and bitter sadness
i couldn't believe what i have done
or what i didn't do
lost a friend i id
and it was to late to make it up
all i could do was apologize
however he wan't ready to forgive me
i only looked to the bright side
new he has only loyal friends
not ones who bail at the time most needed
i myself have lost a once close friend
i felt sad but happy for him
i began to change my ways
become more loyal and a better friend
for i would not like it to happen again
my lost has changed my ways