Journal #17

There are many possible ways to bond with nature. Some people bond with nature through being around animals and other wildlife in their natural habitat. Others bond with nature through being outside during different weather conditions. Some people bond with nature by being around it, while others bond with nature by seeing it and looking at it.

I have bonded with nature by seeing sunsets. I absolutely love sunsets, and I try to see the sunset every day that I can. I enjoy seeing all the beautiful colors being painted across the sky. I enjoy the sunsets that are like rainbows in their colors, but those are not my favorite. My absolute favorite sunsets are the sunsets that are vibrant oranges, pinks, and purples. It is also the most beautiful when the colors are painted halfway across the sky so they can take up all of one's vision.

I enjoy laying outside and looking up into the sky. It feels great to have the sun shine down on me, and I absolutely just love looking into the sky. It is fun to look at the clouds moving and how they can be many different shapes.

I enjoy being around grass, and I enjoy feeling it tickle me. I like laying down in the grass and just relaxing by falling asleep, but I get nervous about all the animals. I get nervous about having bugs crawl all over me, because I do not like bugs. I get scared thinking about bugs and spiders and other insects crawling all over me and getting in my clothes, in my hair, or under my skin. I also get nervous about swallowing them or inhaling them while I breathe, so I do not lay down in the grass very often, even though I really enjoy it.

There are many ways that people can bond with nature, and while some people really enjoy being with and around nature, some people totally and completely hate it. It is all a matter of opinion, and I enjoy nature sometimes.

Puritan Exam

Many different opinions and people affected the Puritans and their writing style. The biggest influence was God, and it shows in everything that they did.

Journal #16

My favorite food is macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese is delicious, because I love pasta and I love cheese, so when they are put together, it just makes my day. I could eat macaroni and cheese for days straight without anything else, becuase I love it so much. I prefer freshly made macaroni and cheese, though, becuase warmed up is just not the same. Sometimes if one must warm it up, it is better to warm it back up on the stove again, by adding more milk and just reheating it.

Speaking of pastas, I also love lasagna. Lasagna is delicious and I almost never get to eat it because it takes so long to make and not everyone in my family likes it, so when I do get lasagna, it is a great treat.

My favorite dessert is brownies. Brownies are incredibly delicious, and I love them the most when they come freshly out of the oven and are still very gooey and warm. I have a very hard time eating brownies without milk, though, becuase anything that delicious and chocolaty definitely needs something cold and refreshing to go with it.

If I had to pick a favorite breakfast, it would be french toast with scrambled eggs. I would also have some waffles, toast with grape jelly or butter, and some bacon. Breakfast is delicious, but my parents never get up and make it, so normally I must fend for myself. My favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but on most days I just grab a Nutrigrain Bar.

My favorite supper is grilled or fried chicken, potatoes either mashed or fried in the grease from the fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, corn, and biscuits of some sort. I also like pot roast with mashed potatoes, because the two go hand in hand.

I am weird and I also like eating just the dough of the biscuits, even though most people think that is really weird. All in all, I love a ton of foods, and eating makes my day.

Journal #15

Logic and reason are two different things that should be used at all times. Many times logic is overruled by emotion and is not used when it should be, but sometimes, emotion is better than logic. It is often hard to differentiate between the times where logic should be used and the times where emotion should be used. Reason is a good thing, though, that should be consistently used in one's everyday life. Often people use deductive reasoning, like a multiple problem on a test as an example. If someone as any idea about a question they are trying to answer, they often use deductive reasoning to come up with the best possible answer, which is the most logical. One would start by immediately ruling out the answer or answers that have no possible chance of being correct. Often, there are at least two possible answers that make sense, so then one must guess between the two, and pick whichever one they think would be better. Often, though, one's instinct must also be given a voice, because more often then not, one's instinct is right. Instinct is a key part of everyday life, because often, when logic and reasoning tells a person to do something, that person's instinct tells them to do something completely different. There are times when one's instinct may be incorrect completely, times when one's instinct is close but still a little bit off target, and times when one's instinct is totally and completely correct. There are a ton of situations where logic should be used, emotion should be used, reasoning should be used, or instinct should be used. It is often hard to determine when each different thing should be used, but one normally knows whether or not each different thing should be used. They are all vital parts of life, and have been ingrained into human beings since birth. If one tries their best to live their lives how they should, they will learn to be able to tell the difference of when they should use each thing.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was a very articulate man that knew what he was talking about. He did careful research about everything that he ever wanted to discuss in his works, and he was considerate of the fact that emotions should not necessarily be put into some literary works, because it could easily interfere with the message that one is trying to get across, or even taint the whole work with a certain emotion, so the work would not be plausible any longer. He used many different strategies to prove to his audience that the point he was trying to get across was a legitimate point that needed to be brought to their attention so they would be able to make well-informed decisions about the actions that needed to be taken to give the colonists the safety, freedom, and happiness that they deserved. Paine had a number of strategies that he employed, and one of them was to say quite a bit of information, then back it up with facts that he discovered from all of his researching. For example, he at one point talks about how Britain should not really be called the mother country of America for a number of reasons, some of which are that not all of the citizens of America are from Britain (Paine). In fact, quite a number of them were from many other countries, such as France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, and other countries in Europe (Paine). Another reason that he talks about which proves that Britain should not really be called the mother country of America is that the King of England, William, was from France, so Paine says that France has as much right to be called the mother country of America as Britain does (Paine). Paine also talks about a number of other things, such as how monarchies are not a good way to rule a country, because in Britain, chaos was happening, and some of their older kings had set up different people to help them rule, when those people would all do what the king wanted (Paine). Often the monarchies would have total and absolute power, even though the constitutions that Britain had set up tried to keep the kings from doing so. The constitutions that Britain had did not always work as they imagined they would, and Thomas Paine was trying to prove in as many ways as he could that America should not be like Britain and needed to try separate from Britain (Paine). There were a great number of things that Thomas Paine tried to use in his literary works to persuade the rest of America to break from Britain (Paine). He used techniques like stating his opinions, but backing them all up by fact (Paine). He also tried to keep as emotion as he could out of it, because he understood how vital it was to keep his works emotion-free (Paine). He realized that emotion in his works made them become not plausible anymore, and he became very persuasive in his writing (Paine). His works eventually led to many people becoming fired up to separate from Britain and the beginning of the American Revolution (Paine).

Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. Philadelphia: W. and T. Bradford, 1791.

Franklin: His Autobiography and the American Dream

Franklin wrote a very complex book, which most people take to be talking about the American Dream, although it can be taken in other ways as well (Lemay). There are quite a few people that consider Franklin a very boastful man after reading his book and do not like him anymore, but there are also people that are more open-minded and can read into the book to determine that he was not being boastful, he was only using his experiences to illustrate the points he was trying to communicate (Lemay). The criticism seemed very concentrated on the different aspects of the American Dream that could interpreted through the book, and the interpreter was trying to pick apart Franklin's motives for why he decided to write his autobiography. It was good for the author to write about Franklin's many abilities in writing style and his intelligent way of dealing with the problems that came to him. He explained how Franklin was an intelligent man that understood the complexities that came with writing his autobiography, that people would read into his book in many different ways, and that he needed to be careful in what he wrote, because his book may have directly or indirectly affected views on the United States and how people were changing from rags to riches (Lemay). It is also important that the author explained exactly how pivotal Franklin's book is, because it helps to paint the picture of how intelligent Franklin is. The author goes into detail about the many different ways Franklin's story of how he went from rags to riches could help people and how Franklin explained it. He told about how most of the writing flowed easily for Franklin, which is proven through the other things he had written and the many different writing styles that he had been known to write (Lemay). The author explains that many people read Franklin's book for many different reasons. Some read it because of how Franklin made fun of religions, some read it for the ethics he provided, and some read it for the lessons they could learn (Lemay). One of the most important ideas in the book, however, was the American Dream, and that was what this author chose to expand upon. The author also found it very important to show how much hope Benjamin Franklin had included in his autobiography. It was very important for everyone to understand how much hope was necessary and involved in going from rags to riches in one lifetime (Lemay). Without hope, it is impossible to make anything of oneself, because one does not think they can make it (Lemay). They will always doubt themselves, and will never be able to reach their full potential, because they do not hope and will not have faith in themselves, so they will have a hard time getting to riches. Many different things are relevant and important to Franklin's Autobiography and to the American Dream (Lemay). This author did a good job of hitting on the highlights of the two of them together and how they work well as a team. This critic did good at his job, and his criticism is a good and interesting work to consider.





Lemay, J. A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." In The Renaissance Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BLTTAD005&SingleRecord=True (Accessed October 13, 2010).

Journal #14

This of my declaration of my faith. I believe in Christianity, but I am non-denominational, so I do not follow Lutheranism, Baptist, Methodist, or any other denomination of Christianity. I believe that God created the world and that he sent his son Jesus to die for everyone in the world on the cross to save them from their sins. I do not believe that one can go to Heaven just by good works alone, I believe that they must have faith in God and have Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Following God should change their lives for the better, though, and should make them want to do good things and make the world a better place. Many things are important to my faith, but Christianity is not just a set of rules and regulations. Christianity is a life-changing religion, and many people are very hypocritical about it. I try very hard not to be hypocritical, because it makes other people not want to become Christians and know the truth about Jesus Christ. Many people do not like Christians or Christianity because of the fact that so many people are hypocritical and make Christianity seem like a religion that has no real meaning and is only a set of rules and regulations that everyone needs to follow. Many Christians are also very close-minded and try to beat their religion over other peoples' heads. That is another reason that Christians may not be liked. Often, people see Christians in the wrong light or through preconceived notions, and they may be close-minded as well. There is a good chance that this will cause many problems between everyone, and this is part of the reason that so many people in America do not like each other. There are many close-minded people that can not tolerate real religious freedom, so they always try to force people to believe what the other people believe, and refuse to let it go until they have succeeded.

Journal #13

Many things come to mind when I think of spirit. Since this is homecoming week, we are supposed to have a lot of school spirit this week, which we show by dressing up every day, participating in the penny race, going to the homecoming parade, helping with the Cardinal Clean-up on Thursday, and participating in the activities on Friday. Some people have a lot of school spirit and go all out in their clothing every day and are very emphatic in their participation. Some people could care less and do not dress up at all. I personally think it is a lot more fun to at least dress up a little bit, so one can join the festivities and laugh at everyone else, because they are being laughed at too. It is very fun to participate in the activities on Friday, becuase some people look very funny, and many times it becomes very competitive between the classes. It is often mostly the juniors and the seniors that are so competitive, because the juniors always want to upset the seniors and get the win. That never happens though, becuase the whole contest is rigged, so the seniors always win and it is never really a fair competition, but it stays fun throughout the whole day.

There are many other things that come to mind when I think of spirit, such as people that have a good, kind spirit, compared to those that have cruel, mean spirits. I enjoy people with good spirits, because they are much kinder and more fun to be around. They are fun people that look out for others and worry more about other people than themselves, which does not happen very often. There are many people that come close to having a completely good spirit, but at some point, everyone thinks of themselves first, so no one can have a completely good spirit. People with bad spirits are not necessarily fun to be around, because they are selfish and don't think of anyone else. It is a lot easier to have a bad spirit because it is easier to think of oneself, but it is much better to have a good spirit and think of others.

Journal #12

Working with a partner can be very fun, or it can be very complicated. It is often enjoyable when the other person will work together with you and will help do some of the work. It is nice to have partners that are willing to take part of the workload in comparison to partners that will not. Partners that will not help take part of the work can be very annoying because it just means that one would have to do all of the work, and often one's partner gets the exact same grade, even though they did not do anything at all. That is annoying, because they did not earn their grade and it is not fair to the partner that did all the work. Sometimes it is fun to have a partner that is a friend, even if they do not do as much work as they should, because a person is more willing to forgive a friend for not doing as much in comparison to forgiving an enemy. Partners should be willing to help do work, even if they have the time to mess around, because it is better to just get all of the work done while the group can. That way, the group will not have to send the homework home with only one of the partners that will have to do everything that the group had not done in class. It is also fun to have a group of people work together while they are all doing the same thing, because they can divide all the work up and get it done faster. It is nice to do things that way, because that way people will still learn what they need to know, but they will also have the chance to finish their homework a lot faster. There are many good and bad things that can come from having partners on a project, worksheet, or packet, but it all depends on how the partners work together and how hard they work.