relfection: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

While reading “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, I recognized that there was a lot of diction and humor in the story.
The diction that Mark Twain uses is very unique. He uses it when he talks about Simon Wheeler when he “reeled off the monotonous narrative which follows this paragraph…but all through the interminable narrative there ran a vein of impressive earnestness and sincerity” (Twain, 525). The other diction that he uses is that of old English, or English that is not correct. This type of diction is also shown in Huckleberry Finn and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The other element that Mark Twain is known for in his stories is humor. The humor in the story is shown in that of the description of Jim Smiley. The description begins with the description that Jim Smiley makes a lot of bets and that he even bet on his own wife. The humor really beings when the Stranger and Jim Smiley have a bet that Jim’s frog is the farthest jumping frog in Calaveras County. This is shown when “he says, ‘I do wonder what in then nation that frog throw’d off for- I wonder if there ain’t something the matter with him-he ‘pears to look mighty baggy, somehow’…and turned [the frog] upside down and he belched out a handful of shot” (Twain, 529). He tried to catch the cheater but the Stranger was already long gone with Jim’s 40 dollars.

reflection of the Outcasts of Poker Flats

After reading The Outcasts of Poker Flats, I recognized the characterization and how it changed the characters in The Outcasts of Poker Flats.
The characterization of the characters is shown immediately in the story when the four outcasts, Mr. Oakhurst, a woman known as the “Duchess”, another woman titled “Mother Shipton”, and Uncle Billy are shown banished from the town of Poker Flats. Mr. Oakhurst is calm, quiet, and smart while Uncle Billy is “a suspected sluice robber and confirmed drunkard” (Harte, 536) The “Duchess” is like any other regular woman while “Mother Shipton” is accused of being a witch and is shown as an evil person when the group travels out the Poker Flats. As they go along on their journey, they meet up with Tom Simson and his to-be-wife, Piney. Both Piney and Tom are shown quickly as being very optimistic however bad the situation is.
As they go along on their journey, most of their characteristics change. The characters who do not change are Uncle Billy, Tom, and Piney. The “Duchess” becomes friendlier with the others, especially Piney. Mr. Oakhurst acts as a leader and tries to lead everyone to safety. The one who changed the most was “Mother Shipton”. She who was evil when the group left Poker Flats became very kind and gave all of her food to Piney, thus starving herself to death. All this is shown when “the lovers looked into each others eyes and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst settled himself coolly…The Duchess, more cheerful then she had been…Only Mother Shipton seemed to sicken and fade” (Harte,540).

What would you do with a million dollars?

The topic of this poll is a simple one: what would you do with a million dollars? This simple question does have a meaning behind it though. For example, the answer “spending all of the money in one day” shows that there is a little (if not a lot), of impatience or carelessness in that person (I am not saying that anyone is impatient or careless). As for the answers “carefully saving every thing” or “spending some now and saving some for later”, they are both answers that are normal and probably the best for a person to answer. The answer “giving all of the money away” shows that the person is one of selflessness and is humble. Lastly, the answer of “Mine, all mine!” shows that the person is greedy and is like a miser (if you really meant it when you chose this answer). In the end, with a grand total of 9 votes, the choice of “spend some now, save some for later” came out on top, as it should. All in all, this poll, if acted upon in the real world, would show a person’s true values when money is involved.

(Click on the picture to see it better.)

Romanticism essay

“Simplify, simplify” was what Thoreau said to show his thoughts on how to live life, but Melville, a Dark Romantic writer, thinks that it is nonsense. This relates to the chosen selections in that the selections talk about having a simplified life or not having a simplified life. “Walden” is about Thoreau, who narrates his thoughts about society and life. He discusses that a simplified life is the best one and that society has pulled away from nature. “Bartleby” is a satire, something that is meant to make fun of, of “Walden” and Thoreau. Melville makes fun of Thoreau’s thoughts and Transcendentalism by creating Bartleby, who follows Transcendentalism 100%, which later leads to his downfall. For “Walden” and “Bartleby”, Thoreau is for and Melville is against the fact that there is value in simplicity through not only Thoreau experiencing simplicity in life and the meaning of Walden Pond to Thoreau but also through men not accepting Bartleby.
In “Walden”, Thoreau shows the reader that a simplified life is for the best because he himself has experienced it. For example, when he was in solitude in his house that he built, “[he] experienced sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may be found in any natural object…there can no black melancholy to him who live in the midst of Nature and has his senses still” ( Thoreau, 122). Thoreau explains that even the simplest thing in life, like how he is trying to be, can be important and encouraging. This shows that someone does not have to be complex in order to have meaning in life. Another experience he has was when he explains the nature of the ponds and says about his experiment, that “if living thus reserved and austere, like a hermit in the woods, so long, it has acquired such wonderful purity, who would not regret…” ( Thoreau, 177). In this quote, he explains that while living in the woods in simplicity, he gained something: purity. He also wants to emphasize that the gains with being simple in life are many and not few. As shown in “Walden”, Thoreau’s experiences lead him to show us that a simplified life has meaning.
Just as Thoreau explains to the reader that a simplified life is for the best, so also does he describe, although not directly, the meaning of Walden Pond to him. As he describes Walden Pond, he says that “the scenery of Walden is on a humble scale…this pond is so remarkable for its depth and purity as to merit a particular description” (Thoreau, 162). He explains that something as humble and simple as a lake can have its recognition, even more so than other complex things. This pond is a basis for all things that he believes in. Later on, Thoreau continues on describing these lakes in that “they are too pure to have market value; they contain no muck. How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters, are they” (Thoreau, 182)! Again, he presents his statement of simplicity and purity by likening the lakes to it. This description of the lakes is everything that Thoreau either longs to have or wants to reveal to everybody. Through this description, the reader can now see the importance of Walden Pond to someone like Thoreau.
Although, in “Walden”, Thoreau talks about simplicity as good, in “Bartleby”, through the conflict between Bartleby and men, the reader can see Melville’s point of view on simplicity as it being nonsense. When simple Bartleby prefers not to examine his copy, the narrator asks “‘Turkey,’ said [he], ‘what do you think of this? Am I not right?’ ‘With submission, sir,’ said Turkey, with his blandest tone, ‘I think that you are.’ ‘Nippers,’ said [he], ‘what do you think of it?’ ‘I think I should kick him out of the office’” (Melville, 14). Melville demonstrates that being simple is not that simple, nor is it good. This is because in being simple, anyone can get annoying to many people, as is seen with Bartleby. Just as anyone can get annoying, so also can they be of harm to themselves. This is shown when the grub-man asks about Bartleby and says “‘his dinner is ready. Won’t he dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?’ ‘Lives without dining.’ said I” (Melville, 41). As is shown in this quote, because Bartleby became too simple, he eventually died. This is probably the main point in which Melville wanted to show us. As in “Walden”, where simplicity is good, in “Bartleby”, simplicity is shown as nonsense.
In “Walden” and “Bartleby”, Thoreau and Melville are on opposing ends of the fact that there is value in simplicity through not only Thoreau experiencing simplicity in life and the meaning of Walden Pond to Thoreau but also through men not accepting Bartleby. In this paper, the main point is the argument of simplicity between Melville and Thoreau who have opposite thoughts about this topic. As Thoreau talks of the benefits and the greatness in being simple, Melville has other thoughts. Melville thinks that being simple in life will not last in today’s world, and Bartleby soon dies in the end. These selections should improve and give information for one’s life in that one should be simple in life, but should still be a little complex and not too simple. Regardless of what path one chooses, there will always be hardships that will need to be endured.

Effects of Rubber

There are many things that we take for granted and one of those things is rubber. Rubber has many uses and it had several effects on how people would use and live with rubber in the 1800’s, and even today. Some of its effects are that rubber is convenient and efficient, it made transportation easier, and as for vulcanized (synthetic) rubber, it could withstand temperature changes, which would help many people.

One effect is that rubber is convenient. it’s efficient in manufacturing items and has changed part of our lifestyle. We see rubber on tires, erasers, and tubes; these are just some of the things that are made from rubber. No rubber tires would mean that we would have to find another solution that would have good traction for tires. Erasers are important not only because they erase our mistakes on paper, but because rubber was called rubber in Europe because it could “rub out” your mistakes on paper away. It is still called rubber in Europe to this day. Also, life preservers had there value with rubber in the 1800’s. This is because before, the rubber would wear out because it was used a lot. It was also probably because it was used in cold waters, which would probably freeze it.

Another part of our lifestyle in which it has changed is that it makes transportation more smooth. We see this on tires and luggage, mostly tires. With the tires, cars drive smoother, airplanes land more easily and smoother, and rolling luggage is easier to take with you wherever you go. With this kind of transportation, you could go many places faster and easier because of the rubber on the tires.

Although all of these effects of rubber are convenient, there was still one problem with the rubber when it was used in the 1800’s. That problem was that when it was hot or cold, it would either melt or it would freeze. The man who created, accidentally, vulcanized rubber, was Charles Goodyear. Vulcanized rubber would not freeze or melt, and it was durable. This also made the rubber useful for a long time because it would not wear out as fast as original rubber. The last effect was that it would save many peoples lives. Thanks to rubber, and the people who made improvements on rubber, the convenient effects were that poor people on the streets could now easily afford “rubber” shoes and it would keep their feet warm. With these examples, rubber can be seen to have the following effects: it was convenient, it was efficient, and it could withstand temperature change, which would save many poor peoples.

This topic is so hard...

Bartleby, a satire

Melville’s use of a satire in “Bartleby the Scrivener” intends to show the reader, or expose to the reader, that nobody can follow through with the beliefs of Transcendentalism 100%. Melville’s mocking tone reveals that one cannot live within himself, and that is shown by Bartleby’s stubbornness and tranquility (Oliver 66). An example is made known in that “a pale scrivener, by the name of Bartleby, had a desk there; that he copied for me…; but he was permanently exempt from examining the work done by him and that even if entreated to take upon him such a matter, it was generally understood that he would ‘prefer not to’ ” (qtd. in Oliver 68). Bartleby is shown living within himself in tranquility and showing the stubbornness that he had in “preferring not to”. In addition to the mocking tone that he uses, Melville also uses the narrator to show his thoughts of Bartleby through a Dark Romantic’s view (Oliver 72). This particular method is effective in that it lets the reader decide how they think about Bartleby through a narrator who has similar thoughts as Melville. A situation where this happens is when after the narrator questions and asks him to leave and take up another job, he “effectually [dodged] every one by the suddenness and rapidity of [his] flight, rushed from the building, ran up Wall-Street towards Broadway, and jumping into the first omnibus was soon removed from pursuit” (Melville 38). Melville is intrigued by such a man as Bartleby but is soon unwilling to stay near him because of his independent course of actions (Oliver 73).

Thanatopsis poem

When we say our last words,
As the sun starts to frown,
Or breathe our last breath,
Like a diver, gasping for air.

We’ll be free from this body,
This incomplete temple.
We will rise from the earth,
And enter the heavens.

We go to the fork,
Of left or right; up or down.
There, the Judge will make the decision,
To go left or right; up or down.

Depending on His judgment,
We’ll go one of two places:
We’ll go to Heaven, unless, therefore,
You perish in Hell, forevermore.

red: personification
white: Simile
Symbol: temple-body; Judge-God