DARK ROMANTICISM

Nathaniel Hawthorne






First of all the Transcendentalists believed that everyone was absolutely good and pure, they also believed that each individual is a part of God. Also they thought that people's thoughts and intuition were the voice of God. So when I read about Hawthorne, from the jump I knew he wouldn't agree with the Transcendental philosophy. One reason I don't think he would agree is because of the evil acts of his family members. How could a person believe that everyone is pure and good if you seen innocent people killed because they were thought to be evil. He was so embarrassed of his family members actions he even changed the spelling of his last name so I know for a fact he wouldn't agree with the Transcendentalists belief because of the evils things that he had seen in his life.































Herman Melville






This man witnessed a human eat another humans flesh. So honestly I don't think he would agree with the Transcendentalists beliefs because if everyone was so good and pure and everyone had a part of god in them do you really think that person would eat another humans flesh that is so sick.































Edgar Allen Poe






From the paragraph that you gave me to read about Poe I figured that he was against the Transcendental philosophy because it was saying that in the stories and the poetry he wrote all of the characters had a little bit of evil in their minds which eventually took over. So that would be opposite of what the Transcendentalist believed cause they felt that everyone had a part of God in their minds telling them to do the right things. They thought that everyone was pure and good and Poe didn't believe such a thing and you could tell by his writings. Also the things that went on in his life with his father and his mother I don't think he would agree with everyone being good and pure because I think he had little evil inside himself also.

I think I'm closer to being a Dark Romantic because I really don't agree with the Transcendentalist. How could everyone be so good and pure then you got all this bad stuff going on in the world today. For example murder and child molestation if everyone was the way they thought then why would people kill other people for no reason or touch a child knowing that it isn't right. I'm sure God's doesn't speak to these people and say go kill him go kill her,or touch her in the wrong place. I don't think he would so I don't agree with them that's why I say I would be more of a Dark Romantic. To me everyone has a good side and a bad side, everyone isn't perfect like the Transcendentalists want them to be.

I read " The Black Cat" and it was a very strange story to me. The main character in the story was a very sick and evil person. What type of person with any common sense or a heart would mistreat or do harm to innocent people and animals. The part that really got me was when he came home one night and cut his cat name Pluto eye out. I thought that was a very evil act and he really proved that people could be very lowdown. Then to make it even worse he killed his wife and put her body inside the walls of their home. The story wouldn't be something that the Transcendentalist would like or agree with because they believed that everyone was pure and good and did the things God told them to and I'm pretty sure God wouldn't want a human to kill another human so they would totally disagree with this story. It really didn't agree with the thoughts of the Transcendentalist because of the evil things the main character was doing. How could you be so good an d pure but harm your animals and kill your wife.

Textual evidence:
The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame. I took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket ! ( This is pure evil and I'm pretty sure the Transcendentalist wouldn't agree with this)

I tried reading The Raven then I looked at the movie. Honestly I really didn't understand it at all. Basically it was talking about how he was visited by this bird who would never go away and was there to make him suffer. The bird represents death and sorrow. It's like the bird is the voice inside his head. A Transcendentalist wouldn't agree with this poem because the voice inside their head would be God talking telling them nothing but good things and making them feel like everything would be alright no evil thoughts. They would probably go sit by a river to clear their minds.( "Prophet!" said i, "thing of evil!-prophet still, if bird or devil!) It's like he is saying the bird is the devil inside his head trying to drive him crazy and put him in misery. The Transcendentalist wouldn't believe this because they felt that only God spoke to you in your head and told you nothing but good things.

Edgar Allen Poe was one of the leaders of the American Romantic movement. His parents died when he was young and he was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia.

In July of 1835 he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, she was 13 years old. She was his first wife and she died from tuberculosis on January 30, 1847. During her death Poe was writing his poem "The Raven". People say he would go sleep on her grave and do all kind of crazy things cause he missed her so much.

Poe suffered from bouts of depression and madness, and he attempted suicide in 1848. He finally died on Sunday October 7, 1849 5:00 in the morning the cause of death is unknown.

TRANSCENDENTALISM

NATURE




I think that the main point is about becoming one with nature and God. It expresses all the quality's and wonderful appearances of nature. Becoming one with yourself and reaching the stage of being a peaceful person. It was like nature was some type of poetry to him and he thought people could get peace of mind if they were one with nature. It gave me a peaceful and happy feeling when I read it. It is expressing to you how important it is to be in touch with your surroundings and nature. To be able to get a moment to yourself and to have time to think you should isolate yourself from others and escape into nature to hear your inner thoughts and inside you the person speaking was God.




QUOTE




I become a transparent eyeball;I am nothing;I see all: the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God

This is a good example of Transcendentalism because the Transcendentalists believed that everyone had a piece of God. They believed that God communicated with people through nature and people's intuitions. In the quote it states ( I am part or parcel of God) One of the Transcendentalists belief so basically that's why I chose this quote because they as people believe that everyone was pure and good because God spoke through people.

SELF-RELIANCE

"Self-Reliance" is basically talking about life and appreciating life. It's letting you know to be yourself and don't try to fit in with society. When you try to be like everyone else and ignore what you feel inside you're basically committing suicide because you're ignoring God. The Transcendentalists believed that everyone one had a piece of God in them and if you're going by your thoughts and feelings inside you're living the right way because you're obeying God but if you're not you're going against God so you might as well be dead. He's trying to teach the people to live by what they think is right and don't try to fit in with society; instead rely on yourself.

QUOTE

Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

It's a good example of Transcendentalists thought because it's basically saying accept what God does for you and the Transcendentalists strongly believed in God and they believed that everyone should go by what God says. Also that everyone is connected through the over soul.

RESISTANCE TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT

I read the summary of "Resistance to Civil Government" on http://www.sparknotes.com/ and to me it was a very interesting piece of reading. Thoreau really wasn't satisfied with the government and he felt like they should be doing a better job than what they were doing. From what I read at the time the government wasn't really for the people it was for the government. I agree with what he was saying because he was standing up for what he thought was right and he deserved to be heard. He felt like they weren't doing what they needed to be doing with the people's tax money and he felt we would be better off without a government. The only time government was useful was when it stood aside and let people do for themselves. He felt that the government didn't deserve the credit they were being given because they weren't doing what they needed to be doing. I felt as he did while reading this summary because I really didn't feel that they were doing what they needed to be doing.

QUOTE

"There will never be a really free and enlightened state, until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power."

It's really not that good of a quote but I chose it because I think it's something a Transcendentalists thinker would agree with. It's saying that if the government doesn't recognize their citizens higher and independent power then there will never be a good government. Inside of everyone there's a little piece of God and with the government not paying attention to their citizens they aren't paying attention to God. That's what I thought it's probably not right but I tried my best to explain what I thought. The Transcendentalists would also agree with him because they didn't think the government was important anyway.

SCENARIO

I chose scenario two because I had so much to say about it. First of all if my husband decided to do something like that I think I would also be upset because he didn't follow through with what he had already planned to do. Plus the fact that I would have to provide him with the money that he would need for the extra teaching it would also upset me. He should go through with his plan with being a lawyer at least try it and if that doesn't work then he should try and go to school to become a teacher. He shouldn't just waste all the time he put in to becoming a lawyer i think that would be real stupid.

I think a Transcendentalists would respond differently to this situation because they would think he is just going with what he feels in the inside listening to his inner self and to them him doing that would be him listening to God because they believe that everyone had a little piece of God in them. They would see nothing wrong with the situation.


Transcendentalists believed that God spoke through people's minds and their hard work. Since they believed this, they also believed that every human was absolutely good and pure.(This is why I think they would have no problem with what Chris decided to do with his career.)

RESEARCH WRITING

I chose to research Brian Nichols, the mad man behind what some would call a courthouse massacre. Brian Gene Nichols was born December 10, 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland. Family members and friends considered Nichols to be a very normal person and claim he was a normal young child growing up, so they were all surprised at his actions.
Nichols is accused of killing Judge Rowland W. Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, and deputy sheriff Sgt. Hoyt Teasley at a Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia on March 11, 2005. Also he is a suspect in the murder of U.S custom agent David Wilhelm on March 12, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he was being taken to put on presentable clothing so that the jury wouldn’t be prejudiced against him. He attacked sheriff deputy Cynthia Hall. It was later reported that she suffered bruising to her brain and some fractures around her face. The Hospital announced her conditions as critical but she survived.
After Nichols escaped from the sheriff he went into the old courthouse where his trial was being held. He then shot and killed Judge Rowland W. Barnes, the court room reporter and also a pursing deputy outside the courtroom. During this drastic escape he attempted to car jack several cars including a tow truck and then he later attacked Don O’Briant a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and took his Honda Accord.
As soon as all of this was known to the world. Mayor Shirley Franklin announced that there would be a reward of $60,000 for information leading to Nichols’ arrest. Later on that night Nichols supposedly approached Ashley Smith at an apartment complex in Duluth, Georgia. He reportedly told her that he was a wanted man and then forced her into her home and tied her up in her bathroom. She claims she then told him about her five year old daughter, she tried to reason with him. Smith was held several hours in her apartment. In an interview with CNN she states that Nichols asked her for marijuana but she told him she only had ice, also known as methamphetamine. She also stated that he tried to force her to use the drugs with him, but she refused and told him about her trying to recover from drug use. Smith says she talked to Nichols about the situation and claims to have helped him decide that it was time for him to turn himself in. The following day Nichols let Smith leave her apartment to visit her daughter, and as soon as she could, Smith stated to MSN that she called 911.
The Local law enforcement, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Federal bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol all responded to the scene. The SWAT team quickly surrounded the apartment; Nichols surprisingly surrendered peacefully and was taken away. At first many people thought that Smith and Nichols were in on this whole thing together and that they had a prior relationship but later decided that she was chosen randomly.
On May 5, 2005 Nichols was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on 54 counts including murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault, battery, theft and car jacking. Nichols attorneys stated that he was willing to plead guilty as long as he no longer faced the death penalty. Attorneys have disclosed that they will be defending Nichols on the basis of mental health. They are trying to claim that he wasn’t in his right state of mind and he is a disturbed person.
It also stated in a article that I read on that Nichols attorneys filed a proposal saying that they don’t have enough money to go forward with the trial. They also stated that they expected to run out of money by October or November, before jury selection is even complete, making it impossible to provide Nichols with his constitutionally guaranteed defense. All this notorious case has ever been about is not whether Nichols is guilty of killing innocent people but whether he will face the death penalty.
I gathered all my information from websites like http://www.11alive.com/ , http://www.cnn.com/ and also some information from http://www.wikipedia.com/ . They all talked about the situation in their point of view. People have different ways of telling the story the way they want to tell it but these three websites told their stories in a similar kind of way.

AMERICAN ROMANTICISM

1. I read the story of Rip Van Winkle and to me it was a very interesting story. I really enjoyed it I didn't think I would like it at first but I did. Rip Van Winkle was known in the neighborhood as a very simple, good-natured man. He was a kind neighbor and did things for the people in the neighborhood. He would help women in the neighborhood by running errands for them and things like that. The only thing I really didn't like and really didn't understand was he would do for people in the neighborhood but not for his own family.






Dame Van Winkle to me was a very controlling woman from what I read. She was always fussing and screaming at him like he was some type of child. I know he wasn't right for doing for others and helping them take care of their homes and not their own. Maybe if she didn't act like this towards him and respected him a little more he would've did right by his home and his family. I don't blame him for leaving home but I kind of feel sad for his kids because I know it affected them.






The ending was surprising to me, he shouldn't have drunk the flagon that night because he basically slept his whole life away. I was thinking when he went back to the neighborhood his wife would've have remarried and became rich or something but she didn't she passed away. It seemed like he was kind of happy when his daughter told him his wife had passed. I was glad that people didn't attack and kill him instantly I'm glad they gave him a chance to explain to them what had happened. Its probably a good thing thought that he went away and drunk the flagon because I think if he would've stayed at home with his wife any longer they would've did harm to each other. I really enjoyed this story and I'm glad I picked it.













2. The first example of romanticism that caught my eye was when Rip Van Winkle drunk the flagon and slept for 20 years and that is so impossible because no one can sleep that long the only way they can is if they are dead.











Also when he approached the elf's in the woods that gave him the flagon, they were bowling and the only way to believe that is to use your imagination because there are no such things as elf's and you wouldn't see them in the woods bowling.











3. The poem talks about ordinary people and nature which are two things that have something to do with romanticism. For example it talks about when you are feeling down and depressed about dying go deep into nature and listen to its teaching. It's trying to tell you that no matter who you are everybody is going to die one day. You could be a poor person or the king but you both are going to die and become part of the earth's growing because that's what you were in the beginning . It talks about how you could become a river or a tree when you die because you are a part of nature. It's trying to make people who are down about death and other things understand that we all are ordinary people and it's going to happen to everyone and when you die its not bad actually its better than being alive. I might be wrong but that's what I thought the poem was trying to say and that's what I got out of reading it. A poem about death, a poem about nature and a poem that's trying to make you understand that ordinary people can accomplish just as much as anybody else. The poem is saying when you're scared of death you should talk to nature.

Thou shalt lie down , With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good, Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulchre ( Textual Evidence) It's talks about common people, it's saying that we all are going to be together in one big grave when we die and we all will become a big part of earth. No matter who you are.

4. Basically the poem was talking about a man who didn't enjoy his job and he used his imagination and thought to keep his mind off of the boredom and to keep from falling asleep. The images that stand out the most to me are the images of the two fair maidens swinging in the swing and the old man using the rope to pull the bell and the bell lifting him up in the air. The reason why "The Ropewalk" was a good example of Romanticism was because in the story the man was using his imagination and that it is one of the things that romanticism is all about.

5.How could a piece of visual art like this be considered Romanticism? When you look at it the

first thing that catches your eye is the beautiful sky. It deals with nature and it gives off a good vibe. It would put you into a deep thought if you just looked at it for such a long time.

The reason
I chose the picture I chose is because when I looked at it the first thing I did was try to imagine what was going on in the picture and that's what Romanticism is all about. Using your imagination. It's like the man is standing on the mountains looking at the world that he knows explode and he is the only one safe.

RATIONALISTS

1. The Puritans believed that God was responsible for everything and people weren't suppose to worry themselves about what's going on around them, because it was all in God's hand. On the other hand the Rationalists wanted to achieve order and explanation of the natural things through science. They thought learning about it the scientific way was better than learning from the scripture. Rationalist believed that human society was run by natural law, they thought that if people were able to understand these laws they would be able to improve their lives. Improvement was important to the Puritans also but they always pleaded to God for it. The Rationalist believed they could take a scientific approach to things like that which the Puritans thought was an insult to God.

3. Ben Franklin was a good example of a rationalist because he didn't live by church rules he lived by his own rules with natural beliefs.

"In the evening I found myself very feverish, and went in to bed; but, having read somewhere that cold water drank plentifully was good for a fever, I follow'd the prescription, sweat plentiful most of the night, my fever left me, and in the morning, crossing the ferry, I proceeded on my journey on foot," See I think this is a rationalist thought because he didn't wait on God to heal him from his sickness he used natures creation and got well himself if it was someone who believed the same way the Puritans did they would've waited on God to heal them but he didn 't.

4. Peaceful- Avoid disagreements that aren't worth it

Respect- Respect others like you would want them to respect you

Honesty- Be honest because telling lies gets you nowhere

Trustworthy- Be able to be trusted and be able to trust other people

Caring- Care about others instead of just caring about myself

Interactive- Interact with other people instead of being a anti-social

Considerate - Think of ways to help other people in need

Giving- Give sometimes instead of always wanting to receive

Positive- Try to be a positive person instead of having negative things to say

Dependable- Be someone that people can depend on

Courageous- Always have the courage to do my best

Independent- Depend on no one but myself to handle my business

Pride- Show pride in what I do for example my school work

I honestly think if I were to follow by these thirteen virtues I could reach moral perfection. I do need to really work on these things. Especially being a caring person, because I have a problem thinking about others people's feelings and only worrying about my own. Also being independent because I always depend on my mother to help me do things. Which will have to stop because pretty soon I will be a mother myself. I believe though if I focus and really go by these thirteen virtues I could become a better person.

5."all men are created equal" would be a rationalist thought. The Puritans wouldn't believe this cause they believed that God only chose a certain people to have certain abilities

"that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable right: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" Puritans would disagree because they thought God chose the one's he wanted to be happy and made the other people suffer.

"that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it" See this is a Rationalist thought because the Puritans would think that it is not up to the people to try and handle the problem it is up to God. The Rationalist believed that they had a say about what went on in their government.

ANALYTICAL WRITING

Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. known as T.I and also by his alter ego T.I.P is a Grammy Award- winning rapper, songwriter, actor, record executive and producer as well as the CO-CEO of Grand Hustle Records. His lyrics, style of rapping, movies and his sense of fashion plus his hometown Atlanta, better known as the ATL makes T.I the best rapper alive.

"Look bet all you see is tats, money, grills, and chains but if you scratch the surface you can feel the pain, Names changed but the situation still the same the bills need payin homie simple and plain." T.I.’s lyrics show the reality of what’s going on in everyday life in what some people would call the ghetto. Most rappers rap about how they use to sell drugs in the past, but they never have a logical explanation as to why. T.I on the other hand explains to you in his lyrics that he had to do what he had to do for his family, to have a roof over their heads and food on the table. His lyrics have meaning. He isn’t just rapping and saying stuff just to be saying it. He’s trying to inform and entertain at the same time – from when he was on the streets selling drugs to survive to what is still going on out there for people who are still trying to maintain.

You really can’t pick one style of rap for T.I. because he has so many different styles like his slow southern style on songs like "I’m Serious", "24’s", "Never Scared" and "Be easy". Then sometimes you can catch him in his relaxed laid back mode where he is just calm and collected with songs like "Let’s get away", and "Let me tell you something". Where he isn’t rapping about drugs and things he’s mainly doing something for the ladies out there who enjoy his music and want to hear something instead of music disrespecting women or talking about drugs. For example in the song "I Still Love You" he says "Forgave me once, forgave me twice, forgave me three times I stayed lying, you stayed down in the meantime had my son and turned around and had another one I broke your heart when I told you bout the other one, I stay in trouble though and got to much to lose, knew I could lose it all but never thought of losing you". Other times he has a faster flow like on "Top Back" which was one of my favorites. Also "We taking Over" which features other artist who love the faster flow but none of them compare to T.I.

T.I made his first acting debut in the hit movie ATL where he played a teen name Rashad who goes through everyday things that teen’s experience. He has to struggle alongside his uncle to make ends meet so they can keep a roof over their heads while trying to keep his little brother out of trouble and off the streets. It’s really a good movie and it shows a good side of T.I, it shows the down to earth everyday human being. He is a good actor and should continue perusing his acting career. He is also in the upcoming movie "American Gangster" where he stars beside of Denzel Washington. Other rappers should try to follow in his footsteps and step out and try to do other things besides rapping. When he acts its like he turns into the character but also puts a little of his personality into the character also.

You could catch T.I.P in some fresh Sean John or Roca Wear jeans whichever he prefers with a fresh white tee and a clean pair of Air Force Ones and A town hat thrown to the side of his head. Sometimes he just wants to be a "stand up guy" and you can catch him in a 3-piece suit and nice pair of shoes, dressed to impress. That’s what I like about his appearance instead of trying to dress hip all the time he has his own style. No matter which style he chooses you would know it was him cause no one rock their clothing like T.I.P. He also has a clothing line AKOO (A king of oneself) which should be launching later in 2007.

You can’t talk about T.I without talking about his hometown Atlanta, Georgia also known as the ATL. It’s a very large city and besides T.I. there are so many other artist coming straight out of the ATL. The city is well known for artist like Monica, Outkast, Ciara, and many more. T.I always represents for his hometown and I bet if you ask anybody in the A who their favorite artist is most likely they would say T.I.P the King of the South. You can tell when you’re listening to an artist from Atlanta mainly because of the beat or the type of song it is. When you hear a song like "Lean wit it Rock wit it" you know there from the A because it’s crunk music, which was really started by Atlanta artists.

T.I is a father, businessman, and fashion icon, King of the South and future Hollywood A-lister. With all these titles no wonder so many people consider him to be one of the best rappers alive. He has a style like no other and he’s always dressed to impress. When he raps he keeps it so hood, and he always represents for the people in his hometown. So if he did it so big in 2007 just imagine what he’s going to do in 2008 will he still hold the thrown.

The Puritans' Beliefs

THE PURITANS' BELIEFS


The Puritans believed that because of the sin that Adam and Eve committed everyone was born a sinner. They believed that God only saved a certain few and the rest were certain to go to hell. They had in there mind that it was no way to earn God's grace, also they believed that Jesus didn't die for all he only died for a certain few. Which I strongly disagree with because I was taught that Jesus died for all of God's children.They believed that human kind was utterly dependent upon God for salvation and they also believed that the church should be organized from scripture. I'm pretty sure there's other things they believed in but these are the things that caught my eye.

MY RESPONSE TO THE READING
William Bradford's journal isn't something that I'm use to reading but I'm going to try my best and summarize what I've read and learned from the reading. Bradford was one of the leaders of the English Puritan Separatists, who we now call "The Pilgrims". He started writing a journal in 1620 and it was completed around 1650. Inside his journal he talked about his feelings while on The Mayflower and the things they went through to start their Puritan Colony.

From what I could understand The Puritans were searching for a place they could make a home. They eventually found a place which is known to us today as America, but it was already occupied by the Indians. It's like the Indians were afraid of the Puritans they would show their faces but run when approached. Also the Indians would do crazy things like take the Puritans tools while they were eating dinner. Then on the 16Th of March a certain Indian came amongst the Puritans , they talked and he introduced them to the others that were there. After talking for awhile the Puritans and the Indians made peace with each other. The Puritans had to follow by the terms that were set by the leader of the Indians one of the terms was "that neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any of their people".

They had their first harvest in 1621, in the summer everything was alright for the them but when winter came it was like a drought. In 1623 they started something called private and communal farming. They decided that because there was not much supply and they never knew when to expect any, each family would be assigned to a piece of land according to the number of the family. This turned out to be a good idea, the women now went willing into the fields now and took their kids along with them. Which before if something like this would have been done it would have been looked at as a weakness.

I really didn't understand how he spoke but I tried to summarize it the best way I could. I feel like the Puritans came and took over the Indians land. They acted as their friends but all they were trying to do was take over the land. Which brought confusion and discontent! They had some crazy beliefs about the wives should behave. They thought that the wives should be obligated to services for other men, like dressing their meat and washing their clothes. It was like some kind of slavery. The Puritans believed that everyone should have everything alike and be alike. To me the Puritans were strange and had some unbelievable beliefs, which I learned from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. I did the best I could trying to explain the little that I read and could understand.

I chose these two of the four beliefs at the beginning of the post that I could find evidence for:

Total Depravity- through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful-concept of Original Sin(Natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it)

Unconditional Election- God "saves" those he wishes- only a few are selected for salvation(The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God and that of an angry God, without and promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being drunk with your blood)