Journal #9

1. The first quote represents free will because Iago is talking about how people can be manipulated into a certain direction but the final decision is the persons’ to make. He says that no external force can change what the person is going to do in the end; it just gets them there faster. So even if people persuade you to do something they can't actually force you to do that action without the consent of you. In the end the final decision is up to you to make and nobody else can effect that decision no matter how hard they try.

2. The second quote really reflects the definition of Determinism because it talks about how your fate is decided at birth and nothing you do can change that. Othello even talks about death and how that is final and we can't escape it no matter how much we try. Even though we may try to control our lives our fate was decided long before we even tried to figure out what our faith is. We can do things to lengthen and shorten out lives but how and when we are going to die is in God’s plan and we can't change that no matter how much we try.

Journal #8

1. The first aphorism that I find interesting is “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” I think this is saying that you need to try many different things in life so when your time is up you have no regrets on how you lived your life. I like this personally because I think that you do need to try a lot of different activities in your life so you find what truly makes you happy. If you are not happy by the end of your life you will have many regrets and won’t be happy about the way you lived your life. Live it to the fullest because it’s the only one you get.

2. The second aphorism I found interesting is “We boil at different degrees.” This is saying that everybody has different tempers and tolerance levels. Some people will get mad after one joke and others will never get mad. This is personal to me because I believe that some people are more prone to get angry over certain things. We are born to tolerate different levels of discomfort and anger and some people do it better. This means never to assume that some is ok with a joke or hurtful response until you know them. Better yet just don’t say hurtful things and this will never have effect in your life.

3. The third and final aphorism that I found really interesting was “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.’ I think that this is saying that it doesn’t matter what is in the past or what lies ahead in the future as long as you are true to yourself you can and will succeed in life. This is personal to me because I think that everybody makes mistakes in life but not many people know how to forget about them. Part of growing as a person is to learn to forget about some of the mistakes you’ve made in the past and just know that you being yourself and the virtues and knowledge you have already about life will get you through rough times.

Journal #7

These two poems are very different. Whether it’s literary or poetic terms they differ greatly. The first thing that I can think of is the tone. The tone in these two poems is very different. In the Waterfowl the tone is very peaceful and attentive but in the Raven the tone is very gloomy and hopeless. You can tell that in the Waterfowl the speaker is excited and curious about these birds but in the Raven the speaker just wants the bird to leave. The setting in the Waterfowl poem is very early in the evening where the sun is setting and it is very peaceful. However, in the Raven the setting is midnight when it is very creepy and eerie especially when you have a bird that is the sign of death talking to you. The mood is different because you get chills reading Raven when you are more relaxed reading about the waterfowl. I think the themes are different because the theme in the Raven in simply that death always finds you while the theme in the waterfowl poem is about living life even though you might not know where you are going at certain times in that journey. The Raven is a lot longer so it develops more of a plot than the Waterfowl poem does. The Waterfowl poem is more of a description while the Raven is set up more like a narrative type of writing. Poe’s version of romanticism is definitely more pessimistic whereas the Waterfowl poem is optimistic saying that you could go anywhere with the help of God guiding you. The conflict in Waterfowl is where the birds are going and if they will get there but the conflict in the Raven is much more involved. It has to do with life or death and where you go when you die if you don’t have God in your life. The imagery in the Raven is very dark and gloomy whereas the Waterfowl poem imagery is bright and hopeful. Nature in the Raven is displayed badly but in the Waterfowl nature is being guided by a higher power to its final destination. The raven is guiding the person to death whereas God is guiding us to happiness.They are both written in first person but the speakers have very different views on nature. Both poems do have to do with birds but in very different ways. The message of the Raven is that there is no afterlife and once you are dead that life just ends and you do not get to see your loved ones again. In the Waterfowl the message that a higher power like God is leading you in the right direction even if you don’t quite know where the final destination is. These poems are very different but are both well written and interesting.

Journal #6

1. Explain what was involved in Franklin’s plan for self-perfection? What conclusion did Franklin come to regarding the effectiveness of this plan?

Every one of his tools all built on one another meaning that the one before always helped the one that came after it to succeed. You can't have silence without temperance; you can't have order without silence, and so on. All of these virtues relate to one another and without all of them you will not have true success in your life. He began everyday saying what good could I do today and then went off that. He planned out his whole day in a 24 hour block using different hours for different thing like work, sleep, and a 1 hour lunch. And then at the end of the day he would ask himself what good have I don’t today? He came to the conclusion that if you plan your day out you can get a lot more done then if you just went with the way that your body told you to do things. You need a certain schedule to succeed.

2. Do you feel that a plan such as Franklin’s would improve you as a person? Why or why not? What would be your top five virtues?

I think that a plan like that would improve me as a person because instead of procrastinating all the time I would have specific times to get stuff like work done fully so I could then use the rest of the time for stuff that I enjoy doing. This would give me the freedom to not have to worry about getting the work done while I am trying to have a good time so I can just enjoy the time that I have on this earth and never waste it. Everyday would have a purpose to me if I woke up saying what amazing things could I accomplish today? My top 5 virtues are first cleanliness because you can't get anything done in a dirty environment, moderation because you never want to do anything too much because it could be unhealthy, humility because you can't always think that you have the answer to things and everybody need help sometimes, sincerity because everyone needs friends to help them get through life, and finally and order because without order it is almost impossible to be productive.

Journal #5

1. Identify the specific argument that Paine is making in each paragraph. For each of the arguments, identify whether Paine is making an emotional, ethical, or logical appeal and suggest an effective counterargument.

#1. If this was going to be easy we would not value the freedom and victory as much. The English did grant everything you have now including your freedom in the colonies. Emotional and logical because they were put under slavery by England and are supposed to be getting freedom when they moved to America. How can you be sure that the colonists will win? I mean the British are a lot more powerful than the colonists.

#2. God will not let us lose. He thinks that God will help them because they tried to avoid the war in every way possible. This is ethical because he is saying that we did the right thing in trying to avoid the war at all costs. We are good and they are evil. Maybe God won’t support them because He doesn’t want war at all.

#3. If we don’t fight now then our children will not have peace and are going to have to fight the war. Emotional because it involves the children of them. Ethical because they are saying the parents aren’t good parents unless they fight. Logical because a war will need to be fought sooner or later. We should not fight because eventually things will work themselves out. Fighting the war will cause families to be torn away by death and things could get worse for the children if the parents fight.

#4. We want to have this war because it is not offensive. It is ok to fight them if they initiate the war but not if we go over to Britain and fight them. The English are like thieves so we need to protect ourselves from them. It is emotional because it deals with how people view Great Britain as thieves. It is logical because if people are invading you it is logical to fight back. Their army is so much greater than ours so we will probably die trying to fight them. And if they lost Britain would treat them worse than they already were.

2. Can you identify any of the logical fallacies that we discussed in Paine’s arguments? If so, which ones? Overall, what do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of Paine’s arguments?

a. Sentimental appeal and Faulty Analogy

b. Begging the question

c. Faulty Dichotomy

d. Argument by Analogy, Faulty Analogy because they are comparing Britain to thieves.

Thomas Paine is very persuasive when it comes to the emotional and ethical appeals to make something that might not be true correct. He however does not make a logical argument.

Journal #4

It was amazing. The piece of meat was sweating with deliciousness. When it came out it was sided with garden fresh vegetables and good wholesome mashed potatoes. When it got to my table I breathed in the intoxicating aroma of well cooked prime steak. I got my fork and knife and dug in to the slab of meat. It felt like butter when I cut it. There was absolutely no fat around the steak. I was just perfect. The middle was filled with a little bit of pink, just as it should be. This steak would melt in your mouth. You could eat it if you had not teeth. It was so deviously tender but had just the right firmness to it. I paired a piece of steak with the mashed potatoes and there was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. It tasted like there was perfection rested on top of a cloud of fluffy potatoes. The next on my menu was the vegetables. All different kinds including carrots, peas, squash, and green beans. You could hear the crunch as I bit into them. They were just right in every way. This dinner was probably one of the nicest I had ever had and it would be great if I could have this every night.

Journal #3

1. Cite three specific examples of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery that you find to be particularly effective.

“One specific Purina spokesman told me that poultry by-products consist of necks, intestines, undeveloped eggs, and other carcass remnants.” “The cheese chews like fresh Play-doh, whereas the meat chews like Play-doh that’s been sitting out on a rug for a couple of hours. “White-flecked mush and bag after bag of stinky, fat-drenched nuggets.” All of this made me nauseated when I read them so I thought that they would be good for my argument.

2. What do you think Hodgman’s purpose was in writing this essay? What overall message/meaning do you take from the essay?

Her purpose in writing this essay was not to show that she ate the dog food. She just wanted to see what she and many other pet owners were feeding their dogs and what was truly in that. She discovered that some products are fine and even healthy to your dogs but others can be harmful. The overall message in this story is to really find out what is in the food you buy whether it is for you or your pet. Pay attention to what you eat so you can live and happy and healthy lifestyle.

Journal #2

1. How are the moths in the essay’s opening different from the moth at the campsite? What do the different moths represent?

The moth in the beginning just died because its life was over not because of anything else. The moth that died in the fire went out with a bang but also sold its life short. The moth in the beginning was playing it safe and the moth at the campsite was living on the edge.

2. What lesson does the moth provide that Dillard takes back to her students?

That being a writer consumes your life. That you need to be willing to make sacrifices not matter what they be for the things you want to do most in your life. That some things trump other things in your life.

3. How many references are there to fire in the essay? What’s the larger significance of fire in the essay?

The first reference is when she is reading a book about candlelight, the second one is when she feels warmth or comfort like being by a fire, and the last one is when the moth flies into the fire at the campsite. There are definitely several references to fire in the essay. The larger significance of the fire is that life can consume you in something if you’re not ready for it. If you can't handle something it might take you over just like the fire took over the moth.

4. Address how each of the following quotes connect to Dillard’s overall point.

a. “I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

-Jack London

b. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

-William Butler Yeats

c. “A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”

-Franz Kafka

1. This relates to the story because Jack is talking about how he wants to go out with a bang instead of just wither away. He doesn’t want to waste his life but use it for everything that it is good for.

2. William is saying that life has to be spontaneous and exciting not tedious and boring. You only get one life, so live it to the fullest and don’t waste it.

3. Franz is saying that education and learning something new should open our eyes to something new that we haven’t experiences. The axe is kind of like a chisel and every time we learn something new we get shaped a little bit more into the person we will one day be.

Journal #1

He didn’t know that this would be the last drive that he ever took. Jeff Franklin was a very wealthy man with a good life. He had brown hair, was relatively tall, and was always the partier. The one thing missing in his life was a wife to stand by him through thick and thin. Jeff was in a coffee shop one day checking on his stocks. A waitress came up to him and asked him “What are you gonna have today”. He said “The usual, Linda.” Linda was the owner of this coffee shop that was right across the road from his hilltop mansion in Washington. He goes there about once a day so Linda knows Jeff fairly well. She brought back one French Vanilla coffee and two glaze donuts. They were Jeff’s favorite. He thanked her and then went back to his reading. What Linda didn’t know was that Jeff secretly liked her but never really showed it. He always thought to himself if Linda was the right woman for him. Jeff got the check, payed, and then left the shop for the day. The next day was the same; he came in, got his usual, and then went his way. Each day thinking when it was going to be the day to ask Linda out. The next day he went to the shop and asked Linda if she would join him for dinner that night. She said “I would love to.” She, like all women, went home and talked to all of her friends and told them all about Jeff and that they were going to go out together that night. Jeff made reservations for the fanciest restaurant is town and put on his nicest clothes. Linda got all dressed up and did her hair, makeup, and put on her nicest shoes. Jeff went to Linda’s door to pick her up. Jeff, being the gentlemen he is, opened the door for Linda and they were on their way to the restaurant. While they were driving there wasn’t a silent awkward moment. They had so much in common that they talked the whole way there. They had a very nice dinner. They couldn’t believe how much chemistry they had together! Once they were finished dinner Jeff went ahead and asked Linda out for a second date. She of course said yes. Jeff paid and then they were off. While Jeff was driving he was distracted by the beauty that he saw in Linda. He couldn’t believe he had known her all of these years and didn’t think about asking her out sooner. Sadly, they didn’t make it home that night. Because Jeff was paying so close attention to Linda he didn’t notice the drunken man behind the wheel of another car heading rapidly towards him. The crash killed both of them instantly but when their bodies were found they were holding hands. You only need one day to find true love and realize that that was the person put on the earth for you. Unfortunately their time was cut short but I believe that they are somewhere together. Because every road comes to an end no matter who you are doesn’t mean the ride doesn’t have to be sad. Live everyday to the fullest like Jeff did and you will have no regrets.