Thanatopsis Questions

1. The two Greek words combined to make the title are "thanatos", meaning death, and "opsis", meaning sight. The meanings of these words contribute to the poem in that they make the reader realize that the poem is talking about looking past the "obstacle" of death, to truly see the beauty of one's surroundings.

2. To shroud is the act of covering or concealing, and it relates to the poem in that death shrouds, or blinds us from being aware and appreciating that which is around us. A pall is anything that shrouds, relating to the poem in that death is a pall to us. The narrow house is another word for the grave. This word relates to the poem because it refers to a person dying and being placed in a grave, or narrow house, and becoming one with nature. Similar to a narrow house, a sepulcher is also a grave, tomb, or burial place, relating to the poem by the mention of someone dying and being buried. Overall, these words contribute to the poem by uniting death with comfort and nature.

3. In my opinion this poem is about life because, although it talks about death, it's main purpose is to remind the reader of their inevitable and impending end, and to persuade them to truly enjoy and appreciate life while they have it.

4. The tone of the first part of the poem is one of coldness, sorrow, and mourning as it speaks about someone dying and leaving behind the beauty of nature. The tone shifts at line 31 to a tone of hope and joy as the realization is made that when one dies they do not die alone, but with all the others who have passed, and they are not leaving the beauty of nature, but becoming one with it.

5. An elegy is a poem of deep reflection on topics of sorrow, death, loss, and other sad subjects. Thanatopsis meets these conventions as most of the poem speaks about death and departing from the world which has been so full of care and beauty, indicating immense sorrow and loss.

6. The extravagant descriptions of the different aspects of nature in the poem are similar to a painting. Images of tree roots piercing the ground, green meadows, and continuous woods are created in the poem. A landscape of the beautiful and wondrous features of nature is created in the poem.

7. The poem uses a variety of old words such as thou and thee. The poem is a Romantic poem in that it is full of emotion and depicts the beliefs of the author clearly. It is a Calvinist poem in that it shows a direct relationship between humans and nature through emotional and spiritual mediums.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Questions by Abby Cox & Austin Klutz

1. Edwards was a pastor during the Great Awakening. This is the time period when people were reviving their faith. His goal is to persuade the people to be reborn and revive their faith.

2. By "natural men" he means the natural progression of all men and their faith is that they are going to sin no matter what they believe. What differentiates you from everyone else is how you handle it and if you are reborn.

3. Abate means to succumb to the wants of the other party, or make the other party happy.

4. Edwards uses this anaphora to provide structure for his oratory, and to emphasize the existence of these things.

5. The clause rewords the previous statement to emphasize the point he is trying to make. Example: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath.

6. Repeating the word and captures the audience's attention and emphasizes the effect that is being had on the situation.

7. Edwards uses semicolons because his statement was all one thought and he didn't want it separated. He uses "not willingly" to make it clear to the reader that they should take none of these things for granted because they don't have to provide for them, yet they do anyways.

8. He develops the simile by first stating the simile and then describing the object that God's wrath is being compared to (dammed waters). The power of the imagery is capable of putting fear into the listener and making it easier to persuade them. He uses imagery to stress the potential power that God has the ability to bestow upon them.

9. Yes, we notice a progression in the three paragraphs, as the imagery as the imagery gets more severe in each paragraph. The point he is making through the imagery is that at any given moment, God could let go and stop supporting you.

10. Edwards uses pathos in his whole speech, as he attempts to scare the audience into being reborn.

11. Edward's tone in his speech is very fierce and serious about his subject. He constantly addresses the audience in a way that suggests that they are worthless. He constantly states that gods wrath will send you to hell on an instant.after the first page, his tone goes from a convincing tone, to more of an angry tone.

12. The texts meant to be heard are written so that they seem to single people out in the audience. He directs his words straight to the audience and then goes into extreme detail of what god will do to the sinners. "O sinners! Consider the fearful danger you are in." The texts meant to be read are more calm get convince the reader that they are no good. "If God withdrew his hand, nothing would keep you up."

13. Yes, this speech is very persuasive. He constantly is describing God's wrath which puts fear into the audience. Anyone that is fearful of something will believe what they hear about it. A persuasive text to me is a text that without a doubt convinces you to go to the authors side of the argument

14. I believe that that kind of response came shortly after he directed all of his descriptions of God's wrath directly to the audience. He addressed them as sinners and then told them what God does to sinners. 

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Native American Tribe Review Questions

1.       Respond: What words would you use to describe the images in these tales and the impression they made on you? I would describe the images with the words grand and majestic. The Native Americans didn’t spare any fancy, eloquent wording when describing these aspects of their culture. The impression that these descriptions made on me was that the Native Americans had a very colorful imagination and were very passionate about their beliefs.

2.       (a)Recall: What do the grizzly bears do that angers the Chief of the Sky Spirit? (b)Analyze: What does his reaction tell you about him?

3.       (a)Recall: What punishment does the Chief of the Sky Spirits levy against the grizzlies? (b)Analyze Cause and Effect: How does this action affect his grandchildren, the people of the Earth?

4.       (a)Recall: Identify the stages of the Navajo Creation ceremony. The men and women washed themselves with different colors of cornmeal, respective to their gender. The gods laid a buckskin down facing west, then the corn on this facing east, then finally the other buckskin facing east. Under the white ear they put a white feather, and under the yellow, a yellow feather. The wind blew on the pile of symbolic items and from this came a man and a woman; the man from the white ear of corn, and the woman from the yellow. They were given life from the wind.  (b)Analyze: What do the order and ritual of the ceremony tell you about the Navajo people? From these things it is evident that the Navajo people were very ritualistic and believed that you had to perform these rituals precisely otherwise they wouldn’t work.

 

5.       (a)recall: What is the wind’s role in the ceremony? The wind gave life to the people. (b)Contrast: How does the wind’s role contrast with the order and ritual of the ceremony? The wind makes the rest of  the ritual seem somewhat pointless as all that was needed for life was the wind.

6.       (a)Compare and Contrast: In what ways do the two tales differ in their attitude toward nature? In the Navajo story, nature is manipulated to create man and woman; however, in the Iroquois story, nature is upheld as a respected resource that should be thanked. (b)Evaluate: With which attitude do you most identify? Why? I identify most with the idea of upholding nature and respecting it because, although it is possible to manipulate nature to some extent, we can’t control what happens most of the time, and what we put into nature cycles back to what we get out of nature; therefore, it should be respected in order for us to keep receiving good things from it.

Page 28.

1.       Respond: If you were the chief of a Native American nation, would this speech persuade you to join the Confederation? Explain. If I was the chief of a Native American Nation, this speech might actually dissuade me from joining the Confederation because the list of requirements that leaders in this group must meet is a little daunting.

2.       (a)Recall: What do the lords plant to commemorate their meeting? The Tree of Great Peace. (b)Analyze: What do the roots of this plant symbolize? The roots symbolize the expansion of the tribe and its beliefs; they symbolize the tribe reaching out to others and offering them a place in the tribe as long as they agree with all the rules and regulations that the tribe has placed forth for them.

3.       (a)Recall: According to the Constitution, what must confederate lords do to open a council meeting? To open a council meeting, the confederate lords must give thanks and greet their cousin lords, and offer thanks to the earth and all the supplying aspects of the earth, and also to “the great creator above”. (b)Infer: What does this decree suggest about the Iroquois? This decree suggests that the Iroquois people are very spiritual and they highly value their relationship with nature and their surroundings.

4.       (a)Analyze: What three images from nature does Dekanawidah use in the Iroquois Constitution?  The animals that serve as food and give their pelts for clothing, the messengers of the Creator who reveal his wishes, the streams of water, the pools, the springs and the lakes, etc.(b)Infer: What do these references tell you about the Iroquois? These references tell you that the Iroquois are highly observant of their surroundings and thankful for everything that nature provides them with.

5.       (a)Summarize: Summarize the qualities and conduct required of council lords by the Iroquois Constitution. The qualities and conduct required of council lords by the Iroquois Constitution include not getting angry or upset, keeping a “level head”, having a thick skin, being peaveful and good, wanting to please the people, being patient and deliberate, etc. (b)Synthesize: How well do these qualities apply to leaders in the modern world? I think that these qualities do apply to what leaders in the modern world should be like; however, it isn’t uncommon at all for qualities such as these to be shattered by leaders today in the modern world.

6.       Take a Position: Do you agree with and support the ideas presented in The Iroquois Constitution? Why or why not? I do agree with and support these ideas because the Iroquois people have offered up nothing but a peaceful proposition in their Constitution, and I definitely think that leaders in the community should be the strongest people in the community, in every way. I do believe that a respect for nature should be prominent in society because if we disrespect nature, it comes back to harm us. I also agree with being thankful for everything that we are given and giving thanks often.

Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper

Symbolism is quite abundant in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as the entire story is even a symbol of its own. The symbolism begins when the main characters move out to the countryside to “cure” the woman of her illness. Throughout the beginning of the story this “illness” is talked about as if it is truly a physical/mental problem affecting the woman, illustrated in comments such as , “I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to "work" until I am well again.” However, as the story evolves, so does the idea of her illness. Near the end of the story the woman’s illness reaches its peak. It becomes clear that the “illness” she is experiencing is a symbol for her newfound confidence and self-reliance. The very beginning of the woman’s illness corresponds with her dependence upon and trust in her husband, and the end corresponds with her coming into her own and becoming more outspoken; therefore, the “illness” she experienced throughout the story is a symbol of nonconformity and resisting the authority of men over women (feminism).

The next example of symbolism in the story is the namesake of the story: the yellow wallpaper. Although it may be blaringly obvious that this is an example of symbolism, there are many different ways that it can be interpreted. One of these interpretations is that the yellow wallpaper symbolizes the restraints that the woman experienced. At the very end of the story, the quote, “I've got out at last in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" illustrates the fact that the woman in the story viewed the wallpaper as somewhat of a physical restraint. As for the symbolism of the wallpaper, the restraint can be translated into the society of conformists that believed in the superiority of men over women. This was a restraint for the woman because, throughout the story, she was beginning to realize that she did not have to succumb to men and that she could have a voice of her own. This leads into the next example of symbolism: her journal.

The journal that the woman wrote all her thoughts in is an example of symbolism because, as her thoughts evolve throughout the story, her transformation from being a conformist to a feminist becomes evident. The beginning of the story shows her writing things such as how caring and loving her husband is, and that she should trust him because he knows what is best for her. This differs greatly from her thoughts near the end of the story, which include the quote, “He asked me all sorts of questions, too, and pretended to be very loving and kind. As if I couldn't see through him!” showing her newfound doubt in her husband and her ability to see through his deceiving nature. Additionally, throughout the story the woman mentions how difficult it can be for her to write, in quotes such as, “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me. But I find I get pretty tired when I try.” This can be compared to the pressure and grief that a feminist during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries may have been faced with; therefore, the journal is a symbol of the woman’s transformation and her struggle as she became her own person with her own voice, rather than relying on her husband for everything.

Introduction to Me

My name is Abigail (Abby) Cox. I have lived in the same small town nearly my whole life, with my mom, dad, and brother. We have two dogs, a horse, and an ever-changing number of fish. We "go into town" every Sunday and Wednesday to attend the local Methodist church. We're a pretty average family, really.

A major aspect of who I am, is that I don't typically let people know a lot about me, so blogging is a little bit "anti-my personality".

A prominent part of my personality is that I am dedicated to everything that I do, and to everyone that I do things for. Whether it be school, a relationship, my family or my friends, I will give my all and do whatever it takes satisfy the other party. Which leads to another part of who I am: a people pleaser. In many situations it's a negative aspect simply due to the fact that I compromise my own happiness for that of others. I love making people happy though, I can't help it!

Some of the more stereotypical facets of who I am:

• Favorite color: Green
• Favorite animal: Horse
• Sports I play: Varsity soccer, Varsity cross country, basketball (for fun)
• Hobbies: Horseback riding/barrel racing, playing guitar/piano/saxophone, singing, hanging out with friends, working out, taking care of my animals, etc.

 

 

 

Lastly, I am a very future-oriented person. Although I know that nothing ever goes the way it was planned, I have numerous goals and dreams for my life. I want to attend a 4 year university after I graduate high school to get my undergrad degree in biology or animal science. As a die-hard Wolfpack fan, it's not hard to see myself in Raleigh when the time comes (GO PACK!). Following undergraduate school, I plan to attend Veterinary School to get my DVM in order to become a veterinarian. As for longer term goals, I'm pretty typical; I would love to get married and spend a few years with the person that I love, having fun and experiencing life, before creating a family of our own.

Although I do have all these plans and goals for my life, my mantra is that as long as I have love, I have life, and I have happiness. Whether it be people in my life, the place I'm in, what I'm doing, et cetera; as long as I love and am loved, I am well. "All you need is love..."

"Hatred stirs up dissensions, but love covers all wrongs."
Proverbs 10:12


So, that's who I am.