unit 6 american gothicism and anti transcendentalism

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

ELAWLRL1.3.a.i The student identifies and analyzes elements of poetry from various periods of world literature and provides evidence from the text to support understanding; the student:

• a. Identifies, responds to, and analyzes the effects of diction, syntax, sound, form, figurative language, and structure of poems as these elements relate to meaning.
  • i. sound: alliteration, end rhyme, internal rhyme, terza rima, consonance, assonance

ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.

Essential Questions:

• What draws people toward things that are mysterious?
• Are people generally good or generally evil?
• Think about the Transcendentalists' philosophy for a moment. With which of their ideas would you disagree?

Key Terms:

• Gothicism
• Narrative Poem
• End Rhyme / Internal Rhyme
• Alliteration

Me personally, i fall inbetween transcendentalism and dark romanticism. I believe in original sin, but i just believe that was where sin started. Original sin is the reason we know how to sin, but not neccessarily the reason why people are evil or have insane thoughts. On the other hand, i dont believe in the philosophy of transcendentalism either. No human being is perfect, everyone sins on a daily basis, but i see where they are coming from with their views on the government.



     The story "the black cat" had alot of examples of dark- romanticism or gothicism. The story starts out with a normal human like anyone else. He has a normal family, he loves pets, and he is suppose to be happy. Really he isnt happy with life. There was no evidence of something that really caused the main charachter in the story to gain evil thoughts. His evil thoughts came after day to day of life.
     He loved his black cat, he often reffered to the cat as a friend or buddy. Over time he had became so angry with who knows what, that he became violent. he took his violence out on an innocent creature, which was much easier to do then to hurt his wife or hisself. He took the cat and ripped out his eye ball, and he got an abnormal feeling from what he done. I think he liked the feeling cause it was different from the norm of life which he had obviously gotten tired of.
     He was human, he did have feelings, he did feel remorse, but the feeling he got from his violence was greater than those other emotions that he had. At the smallest aggravation of the cat, he killed it. He didnt only kill it but he hung it, and made it suffer. The evil the main character had relates to the philosophy of gothicsm. The evil he had in his brain came from nowhere, believed to be from original sin. He felt bad at first but then he killed his wife. When the cops came and searched for her, he felt no remorse. The evil thoughts obviously grew.



the raven:

"and my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor"
shall be lifted "nevermore"

"then this ebony bird beguilting my sad fancy into smiling. by the grave and stern decorum of the coutenance it wore."

INTERNAL RHYME :
ah destincly i remember, it was in the bleak december, and each seperate dying ember.

END RHYME:
let me see then what thereat is, and this mystery explore
let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore

ALLITERATION:

UNIT 5: Romanticism and Transcendentalism

ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.  The student:

a. Applies knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a universal view or comment on life or society and provides support from the text for the identified theme.

b. Evaluates the way an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of the work.

c. Applies knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme.


Essential Questions:



What is theme?

How is imagination important? Is it more important than rational thought?

Are people essentially good or evil?

Key Terms:


Romanticism - is the school of thought that emphasizes intuition over logic, and feeling over reason.

Transcendentalism

Theme



I believe that in this unit i will be learning about themes and the way we use words to influence or change the theme. We will also learn what a theme represents, and i will learn how to use multiple themes in literature.



Rip Van Winkle:

In this particuliar quote from the story, rip van winkle is using feeling and emotion over logic to figure out why he is confused.

"The strange man with a keg of liquor—

the mountain ravine—the wild retreat among the rocks—the woebegone

party at nine-pins—the flagon—“Oh! that flagon! that wicked flagon!”

thought Rip—“what excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?”"

There isnt any logic of why everything had changed. He is using intuition in this quote over logic. He is also explained the nature.

"The very village was altered; it was larger and

more populous. There were rows of houses which he had never seen

before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had disappeared."



Thanotopsis by William Cullen Bryant

In this poem he used romanticism by explainin the nature as beautiful. He doesnt use logic explaining his sad emotions. Its also kind of vivid like you would imagine or dream, not like something that really happened.


from "nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both."

This stuck out to me because i like the view that this poet had on nature. He was saying different people see nature in different ways. Its the way you appreiciate nature. You never know what nature is going to give you, and you can never really see all of nature.

This peom used transcendentalism alot mainly by describing nature, and using imagionation. Also the poet brought up his view on god which relates to transcendatalism.

"Self reliance" Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood"

This stuck out to me because i like how he used great speakers of the past as a reference. What he is saying can very well be true. Its different the way he thinks things and that also stuck out to me.

This uses Transcendentalism because he brings up souls, and nature, things you can imagine. He talks of common people that can accheive anything in todays world. He says things that you can imagine and may be true or not, but is mostly spiritual.


Wilderness:

You can apply Transcendentalism philosophy to the man in the wilderness.  He uses the nature in such a way that is really remarkable. He is just an ordinary man though he can live alone in the wilderness and nature. In the video they said his spirit lives on in the cabin he built. Spirits and stuff of that nature has to do with transcendentalism.



Closing:

In this lesson i learned about romantiscism and transcendentalism. I learned the main differences in the two. I read different parts of american litterature and found the differences of themes in all of them.

unit 4: autobiagraphies and speeches.

ELA11w2.2.k: The student uses language, point of view, characterization, style, and related elements effectively for specific rhetorical and aesthetic purposes.

ELAALRL3.1.a.ii: The student relates a literary work to the seminal ideas of the time in which it is set or the time of its composition.

Essential Questions:

• How do speakers and authors use reason as a persuasive tool? Can you think of any modern examples?  Patrick Henry is a example of using reason as a persuasive tool.

• What is the difference between emotion and reason? Emotion involves feelings to persuade, reason is based on facts.
• To what extent are we in controll of our own lives? We are in full control of every choice we make.

Key Terms:

• The Age of Reason / Rationalism

In this term i think ill be learning about how to use reason and emotion, i also think ill be reading about Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Franklin. I think ill be using literary works also.



The Puritans believe heavily that everything is controlled and made by god. The Rationalist believe that there is a theory behind everything. The Rationalist performed science projects to try and find a reason behind the way things on the world works, while the Puritans thought it was disgraceful to god to even try any of these experiments. One common thing that the Puritans and Rationalist believed was that God created the universe.

Benjamin Franklins purpose of writing "Arriving at moral perfection" was to become a better person and a more slef suffiecient person. He noted his faults, and made a proper form of action to resolve his faults. He made a step-by-step list to deal with his faults, and to be more productive. His list consisted of thirteen values; Temperance, Silence, order, resolution, frogality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, chasity and humility. He used logic as his approach to making himself a better person.

If i had thirteen values to improve my life they would be:

1. Respect
2. Honesty
3. Responsibility
4. Inteligence
5. Diet,
6. Exercise
7. Courage
8. Faith
9. Focus
10. Determination
11. Kindness
12. Friendliness
13. Authority

"God helps them that helps themselves."
This quote from Benjamin Franklin stuck out to me because if someone is trying to better themsleves to help theirselves then i believe god would help them. If someone was lazy and didnt try to better themselves i think god wouldnt be too happy with that person and in favor not help that person untill he wanted to do something to better himself.

Speech to the Virginia Convention:

Patrick Henry is trying to persuade his audiance to fight a war against Great Brittain. At the time Great Britain was taxing the colonist and acting as if the colonist were slaves to the king. The reason the colonist moved from England to find a new country was because they wanted freedom, Patrick Henry is trying to make a stand for freedom and for what is right.

He supports his argument with factual statements, England thought the colonies were weak, so they werent fair to the colonies. The colonies wanted complete independence from Britain, Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty or give me death".

Closing:

In this terrm i learned how to use persuasive language and the difference of reason and emotion. I also related literary work to the seminal ideas of the time in which it is set of its composition.

unit one: the anglo saxons

I believe in this unit i will read litterature from the past and compare it to literature now, which will give me a broader understanding of literary works, as well as works from other time periods.



Beowulf:

     Overall i liked beowulf. I could tell it was a very old story by the literary works used. It was confusing to me at times but the modern version that i read was alot easier to understand then other versions. The story was narrowed down and did leave a few key elements of the story out, and adding parts of the story that really had no significance to the story at all.
     The story was about the danish people, the Danes, and the Anglo-Saxons, called the geets. Beowulf was a geet, a mighty warior above all other soldiers in the world. He had the stregth of thirty men in just his grip alone. Well the king of the Danes was friends with Beowulf's father and the Anglo Saxons found out about the trouble that the danes were having so he sent Beowulf to fix it.
     The problem was a monster named Grindle, who killed the Danish people for a long time. He would come in at night and kill as he pleased. With Beowulf around it didnt exactly go that way. The first time Grindle came in to kill, Beowulf ripped off his arm. The Danes believed that Grindle was finally dead and rejoiced. The king gave Beowulf gifts for his brave act. Soon after, Grindles mother came in to avenge her sons death and she killed the kings most trusted advisor.
     Beowulf took a army of his own anglo- saxons and went to the lair of grindles mother. He killed the beast with a sword that was gaven to him by the gods, then he finished off grindle. Soon after the sword melted away. Beowulf was praised again and became king of the Geets. He ruled for fifty seasons and finally came his last battle, a dragon.
     Beowulf brought an army of twelve warriors, but he was the only one brave enough to battle the dragon. Swords wouldnt scratch the dragon, the dragon sent fire around beowulf intrapping him, while all of his warriors went and hid. Finally one warrior came to help Beowulf and threw his sword peircing the dragons head, making the fire less strong. Beowulf then took out his knife and killed the beast, that was his last victory. Beowulf won the battle but the strike from the dragon sent him to death, he then had a funeral and will be remembered by the anglo-saxons forever.

Beowulf showed that the Anglo-Saxon culture was a brave culture, as well as a culture of warriors.
"So the good Geat chose
the bravest warriors,
fourteen of them,
and that crafty sailor
led them to the land's brim,
to the ship."

This story realtes to hero stories in my culture alot. All heros have to be brave, and fearless, Beowulf was both of those.
"They spoke of Beowulf's
glorious deed, often saying
that no man under the sky's
expanse, North nor South
between the seas, no man
who bore a shield, was more
worthy of a kingdom."

     I liked how Beowulf went out in style. He was still brave after many years of being king. Most kings would stay at home while their warriors fight, but beowulf was the first one in battle. He never lost a battle, he won his last battle and then he died.
     I also liked how his funeral went, the people did everything that Beowulf requested. The new king was the only warrior that stepped up to help Beowulf, so i thought he was deserving of the throne. Fire took Beouwulfs life and it was god's will that Beowulf died and i liked that it was fate.

"Those were the aged king's
last words, thoughts from
the heart, before he tasted
the funeral-fire,
that hot, hostile flame.
His heart departed, his soul,
to seek glory."


I think i adressed these standards by comparing litteary works from older times to new literature. I took qoutes from beowulf for dirrect evidence.

Unit 3 slave narratives and the puritans

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.
ELAALRL3.1.a.iii The student identifies and analyzes elements of poetry from various periods of American literature and provides evidence from the text to support understanding





Eseential Questions:
1. How do we use emotion as a pursuasive tool? To draw the reader into the story by using feelings that the reader can relate to, adding emphasis on the story.



2. What is the difference between emotion and reason? Emotion is feelings, as reason is reasoning behind those feelings.



Key Terms: Puritan, Original Sin, Imagery, Similie, Metaphor,

Figurative language: personification, imagery, metaphor, conciet, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, symbalism, allusion



I believe in this unit i will be learning alot about using emotion in litterature, as well as reason. I think i will be learning the deffinitions of Puritan, Original Sin, Imagery, Similie, and Metaphor, and also learn how to use personification, imagery, metaphor, conciet, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, symbalism, allusion in my own writing.



Compare: Contrast:

The Puritans and Native Americans had very different views of god. I could definatly see why they would have clashed. Some differences is the Native Americans believed in many gods, as the Puritans believed in only one god. The Native americans viewed there gods as the creator of everything, and a generous god that they worshipped. The Puritans seen god in a very different point of view, they saw him as a savior, but not as generous. The Puritans believed everyone was born of sin, and unless you were a saint you could not be saved and you go strait to hell. The Native americans had a very different view of the afterlife then the Puritans, they were much more spiritual and believed the spirit continues to live as the body dies.

The sermon i listened to about Puritans was based more on emotion then reason. They emphasised hell alot and the wrath of god, but they only really had one reason, which is we were born a sinner because of adam and eve. The Puritans believed everyone was born a sinner, and god only saves a certain few, but there was no reason behind why he saves those certain few. They believed jesus died for those certain few, but again didnt give reason. They said everyone else is going to hell, which seems to me the emotion of being scared. They also believed there was no was to earn gods grace, which is also pretty emotional.


Simile example: He used simile by comparing god as an angry god.

Imagery example: He provided a clear image of hell, firery lakes, and so on.





The life of Olaudah Equiano:
This is a story about a slave named Olaudah Equiano. She grew up with her sister and loved her sister very much but very soon they were both kidnapped. They walked a great distance and soon had another master. They were then split apart and went to new homes. They reunited once again in their life but was soon torn apart again. Olaudah had many different masters and travelled in a few different countries. Her story was mostly of her distress.

"I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow"
"We were then unbound, but were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our misfortune for a short time. The next morning we left the house, and continued travelling all the day. For a long time we had kept the woods, but at last we came into a road which I believed I knew. I had now some hopes of being delivered"
"the only comfort we had was in being in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears"

Those were some quotes from the story showing ways the narrator used emotion. He used emotion in the story so the reader can sort of imagine and feel the emotions that he was trying to percieve in the story. The main emotions used in this story was agony, distress and very sad emotions.


"To my dear and loving husband" by Anne Bradstreet
Her thoughts in this poem were love, she uses a loving tone in writing this poem. Puritans believe in original sin, so in the poem she believes that they will die together and be together afterlife.


In this unit i learned how emotion was used in writing as well as different points of views, i learned what a simile is, and also imagery. I also learned the puritans beliefs and compared them to the native americans beliefs.

Unit 2 journal accounts and Historical narratives

ELAALRL1.2.c The student analyzes, evaluates, and applies knowledge of the ways authors use language, style, syntax, and rhetorical strategies for specific purposes in nonfiction works.

ELAALRL1.2.a The student analyzes and explains the structures and elements of nonfiction works of American literature such as letters, journals and diaries, speeches, and essays


Essential Questions:
1. How does someone's point of view affect how they portray events in a story?
It all depends on how there oppinions were and how they felt, if they were a primary source or a secondary source. More biased people could portray the events in a story different then how it really happened.



2. What are the advantages of primary sources?  The disadvantages?
An advantage of a primary source is they were actually there to write the history, a dissadvantage is since they are the primary source they can alter in their writings what really happened to make them look better or include there biased oppinions.




Key Terms
1. Primary Source
2. Objective vs. Subjective
3. Writer's Purpose


I believe in this unit i will be learning alot about writing. I think i will learn many different techniques and also learn past american litterature techniques as well. I will learn an authors point of view as well as the sources obtained to write a speech, essay or maybe a poem.



"The General Historie of Virginia"
Valuable to History:
"From May to September, those that escaped lived upon sturgeon and sea crabs. Fifty in this time we burried; the rest seeing the President's projects to escape these misseries in our pinnance by flight (who all this time had neither felt want or sickness) so moved our dead spirits as we deposed him and established Ratcliffe in his place..."

"Six or seven weeks those barbarians kept him prisoner, many strange triumphs and conjurations they made of him, yet he so demeaned himself amongst them, as he not only diverted them from surprising the fort, but procured his own liberty, and he got himself and his company such estimation amongst them, those savages admired him. (refering to John smith)"

Stretching the Truth:

"Then Powatan more like a devil than a man, with some two hundred more as black as himself, came unto him and told him now they were friends and presently he should go to Jamestown and send him to great guns and a grindstone for which he would give him the country of Capahowasic and forever esteem him as his son Nantaquond."

"Journal of the First Voyage to America"
Valuable to History:
Afterwards I shall set sail for another very large island which I believe to be Cipango, according to the indications I receive from the Indians on board. They call the Island Colba, and say there are many large ships, and sailors there. This other island they name Bosio, and inform me that it is very large; the others which lie in our course, I shall examine on the passage, and according as I find gold or spices in abundance, I shall determine what to do; at all events I am determined to proceed on to the continent, and visit the city of Guisay, where I shall deliver the letters of your Highnesses to the Great Can, and demand an answer, with which I shall return.


Stretching the Truth:
"I suffered nothing to be touched, and went with my captains and some of the crew to view the country."

"The melody of the birds was so exquisite that one was never willing to part from the spot, and the flocks of parrots obscured the heavens"

I feel the Historical Importance outweighs the way they were written. It seemed from the two stories i read that they were mostly made up of facts. The founding of this country is significantly important, the biased oppinions, however, are not as important. I think they gave a good clear vision of the real history that happened, and you can easilly tell their oppinions from the facts.

I feel the biased oppinions outweighed the historical events in this story because most of it was describing the land and the tribe, and any of what was said could have been altered by deffirent points of views.



I applied knoledge in the way authors used language, style, syntax, and rhetorical strategies for specific purposes in nonfiction works by copying quotes from stories. I analyzed them by writing a short paragraph about these quotes. I also analyzed the structure of non fiction work by explaining the journals or diaries that i read.

Unit one. origin myths/ oral tradition

Essential questions:

1. How can we use oral stories from ancient cultures to discover what was important to them? We can tell what was important to them by reading these stories because they usually input what was important to them in the stories.

2. What oral traditions do we use, and what does it reflect about our culture? We sit at a table for dinner, that reflects our culture cares about family traditions.


Key terms:

Oral Tradition: The act of delivering important cultural information (myths, customs, history, etc.) by word of mouth
Creation Myth: A folktale that explains how the world was created.  These vary from culture to culture, and can be a good way to understand what they felt was important.

"WHAT I THINK THIS UNIT WILL COVER"

I believe unit one will cover the origion of past cultures. I  am intersted in learning how past cultures did things, i believe by reading these stories i can get a good idea of the way they lived. I also think this unit covers the ancient myths of the bc era, which i am also intersted in learning.

"EARLY NATIVE AMERICANS"

Smith described the interactions of the colonists with different Native American tribes beginning with the battle upon arrival in Jamestown. Smith detailed his exploration of the land and involvement with different tribes and tribal leaders, which resulted in trading practices that sustained the colony. He noted that Powhatan and his people sent deer, bread, corn, turkeys, and other supplies during his stay in the colony. Smith also described being captured, injured, and rescued from certain Native American tribes. He was witness to healing ceremonies and learned more about native trading practices. Internal fighting, sickness, and changes in leadership plagued the colony, but Smith ended the relation with optimism concerning its survival. This work was first published under the title True Relation on 13 August 1608


This is a great example of both oral tradition and creation myth. John Smith described some of the tribes traditions like witnessing a healing ceremony. In the Powhatan culture changes in leadership often plagued the colony along with sickness and internal fighting.


"THE EARTH ON THE TURTLES BACK"

 Dreams were important to the Onandaga people. You can tell because the chief gatthered everyone to try and make this dream come true, he even strained and strained more to uproot the tree.

"This is very sad," he said, "for it is a

dream of great power and we must do all we can to make it come true."

"APACHE MYTH 2 OF CREATION OF THE EARTH"
     

The myth i read was from the apache indians. They believed in four gods but only one creator. They believed it all started in complete darkness then suddenly a white and yellow disk appeard with a small man with a beard, that was the "creator". He is the one that created light in the beginning and he looked down and created colours, yellow streaks of dawn to the east, and many colours on the west. clouds of different colours also emerged. "the creator" then created three other gods. A little girl, a small boy and a sun god.
     Then he created celestial phenomena which was the winds and the tarantula. Out of the creators palms the four gods sweat mixxed together formed a little brown ball the size of a bean, that would eventually form to the earth. It formed to the earth by the work of the tarantula and the wind together. The wind went inside and blew the brown ball up, and the tarantula spun its cord on each end of the earth and stretched it untill it was immeasurable size, and then it became earth. Then the Creator created the rest of the beings and features of the Earth.
     Some similairties of this myth to others i have read in this unit is that there is always one creator, and many gods. However in my culture more people believe in one god. I could tell from this myth that small boys and little girls were probably important to the apache tribe considering they believed that they were created from "the creator" as gods. The tarantula, and the wind is probably also very important to the apache people considering the myth is that they created the earth. A similarity to my culture from theres is that we believ that there was a creator that created the earth and it didnt just pop up.



The influence of traditional literature to america annalyzed in this blog was the story of john smith and pocahontas. John smith discovered this new land and it described what he went through and how early native american culture was. American fiction was formed through myth's of earlier tribes. I also showed some styles and forms of poetry in the stories.