Entry 37: Civil Disobedience

There are times when authority should be challenged, those are the times when the authority is morally wrong and no one cares to change it. You should stand up and fight against it because you know it is wrong and that it isn't a correct use of authority. The only times that you should obey authority is when you know it would result in a better outcome and that it benefits all people. In my live since I am still a teenager I have many people that I have to obey. Number one on the list would be my parents because they are the ones raising me and supplying me with my daily needs. Then The head of school and teachers can also control me because if I go against their authority there is a chance of getting kicked out of school. However I don't always listen and obey to all of them many times I disobey because I find the things they want from me or the rule they set up to be unreasonable. For example there was once in school when a teacher wanted to punish me for doing something I didn't do but another kid that he liked did. He told me to stand outside of the class room for 45 minutes and not to move but just stand there. Of course I found it outrageously unreasonabl and therefore I stuck my butt to the seat and didn't stand up to move out. It wasn't until the principal came did I move out into the hall way but when I told him about what happened he let me in and told the teacher he wanted to talk to him after class.

Entry 36: Red Badge Film

The movie didn't turn out as I expected, as always, movies are never the same as books. It is because books allow the reader to imagine the characters but the movies give a face and personality to them that you may not what imagined. The difference of between the movie and book is mainly that time seems to go by faster because in the book its split up into chapters and the movie is one that continues without stops. The rest was pretty much the same only how I imagined it was different. Mainly the people looked different from what i had in mind. Especially Henry, I took he would be very young like a boy my age 17 or 18 but he looked 28 and almost 30 and therefore the name youth didn't really fit his face. Then an other character that shocked me was Jim. I imagined him being older but not that old, he looked like he was 70 years old when I imagined him being 38. Another thing was the battle field and the armies. I thought the battle field was a little smaller and not huge flat land surrounded by forest and mountains. The characters seemed to have troubled me the most because the faces never fit the character in my head, expect for Wilson.

Entry 35: Government

In many countries today a government that doesn't govern at all is best for that country, but only because the government is corrupted. I don't agree nor disagree with Thoreau's statement of "That government is best which governs not at all", and I do have explanations for me saying this. Many times in a society order is needed and resulting from that is the set up of a government or leadership rule. The idea of having a government is one that is ideal because it's purpose is to keep order and to makes decisions based on the well being of it's people. However now a days many governments/government officials are taking that authority for their own advantage. Governments are no longer think on behalf of the people but for themselves. They make laws that benefit their own kind and package it to make it seem reasonable and to appeal to all citizens. This is when governments become corrupt, twisted, unjust. The government is no longer there for the well being of the society as a whole and therefore loses it's purpose. That is when a better government emerges, one that doesn't govern at all because then it will never be corrupt and the citizens will all be treated they way they want to be because their is no one else forcing them otherwise. Other than that governments are good as long was they govern the way they are meant to be governed.

Entry 34: Theme of Self- Reliance

Emerson believes that everyone has a unique talent and that it takes different way of bring it out and it can only be done so personally. Self-reliance is not the same as selfishness and Emerson believes so too. Self-reliance is depending on yourself to do things and to be independent where as selfishness if you take advantages of other for the benefactor of yourself. Having self-reliance you can also be helpful to others instead of using others and not helping them. Emerson uses figures of speech such as "Society is a joint-stock company" which expresses his view of society being bad for people. He believes that society leads to conspiracy and that it only brings out the worst in people. Unlike nature which he believes to be very beneficial to people and society is only taking people away from nature. Emerson believes that self-reliance is good and that society makes people to dependent on each other. I myself believe that self-reliance is good however the perceptive that Emerson and I have are very different. I think self-reliance as being independent yet i believe society is good because it bring about teamwork. Therefore I say both being independent and being a team player is good. 

Entry 33: Imagery in Nature

Emerson as a Romantic writer used a great amount of imagery in both "The Nature" and "From Self-Reliance". He uses imagery to symbolize and express his love for nature and how great nature is from his perspective. For example he writes "rays that come from heavenly world", implying that nature gives off heavenly light and that nature is great and holy. He is expressing the Romantic belief that nature is great and provides passage to heaven. He expresses how nice nature is by saying that it is never mean or appears mean. I believe that his imagery creates a clear picture in the readers mind (or at least it is clear to me). He is very descriptive and by doing so it makes his ideas more clear. Unlike the writers before him who uses imagery that is too deep, his isl lighter but easier to understand and also matches his optimistic personality. However not everyone would agree that imagery is a effective way of explanation but I think that imagery allows the reader to imagine it in his own way and find a more personal way of understanding the idea. Instead of stating facts and cutting off the imagination of the reader using imagery and allowing them to imagine is a more effective way, in my opinion.

Entry 32: The Saddest of All Prisons

Guilt is a thing that has many causes and today we have more causes than we ever had before. People today like the people before also carry around guilt for keeping ugly secrets of the past to themselves. Not only can this guilt isolate people but it can also make people shut down parts of their own mentality. Keeping secrets of past sins can cause guilt that would slowly rot away inside of someone. I have felt guilty about past actions of mine and some I am still guilty of. However I try to get rid of the guilt and there are many ways. The quickest way of getting rid of the guilt is to open up to it and confess for the things that you have done. However that is also the hardest way because no matter who you are it takes a lot of courage to admit that you are wrong or you have done something wrong. The slowest way would be to let time take over and hope that one day you will forget about it. However somethings you can never forget, and the smallest things can remind you of it and bring the guilt back again. I myself try to talk it out all the time but it is very hard and many times I end up using other methods to make it up for the people effected by my actions.

Entry 31: Comparing Poems

Both of Longfellow's poems talk about death but only in different points of view, one being subjective and one objective. "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" talks about death casually and says that death happens all the time and that there is no need to worry about. This poem is the more objective one. Then in "The Cross of Snow" he grieves upon the death of his second wife. Doing so he contradicts his first idea completely, making this one is the subjective one. Even though the ideas are contradicting, it doesn't mean that they aren't both correct. I would say that both ideas are correct and that they only apply in different situations. Yes, death is unavoidable and we shouldn't take it so hard and be afraid of its coming. However if someone you love and care about dies before you do, you have the right to grieve. The death of a loved one is not something that can be easily forgotten. Even if you think you are over it just one simple thing can trigger a memory of the both of you and bring back that grief. Yet I wouldn't fear death as much as I use to now because I accept the fact the death is inevitable and that it is only a matter of time.