Actual Air

"..the bare branches/ looked like mounted antlers on the canyon walls." p.8

(R) Once again, I feel like I'm not the only one that used to think this way. I've always thought that branches looked like antlers and vice versa. I also used to think that antlers were actually made out of wood and i'd be baffled whenever i would try to figure out how it is that wood can grow out of an animal's head but not out of mine. Berman's poetry is something i can really connect to, and that's why i really enjoy it.

Actual Air

“...and my signature is drawn in magic marker
on the lower right hand corner of the window

so when something passes in the dark
it's captured for a moment inside my work.”

(R) This is a pretty cool way of thinking about things. It's sad in a way because it could be seen as the speaker not believing enough in himself and having to resort to something like this in order to feel accomplished, but on the other hand he could be seen as an innovator of thought. The first time i read these lines they really enchanted me, I still can't seem to shake the feeling that this passage connects with me more than i actually think it does.

Actual Air

"..we got so high we convinced ourselves/ that the road was a hologram projected by the headlight beams." p.6

(R) I used to think in this manner. Not high though, because i've never been. Anyways, this reminds me a lot about the ways i thought as a child. How shadows would be our alternate selves trapped on the wall, or how tires spun to move the earth beneath them, not to move the car above them. Yeah, cool stuff yo

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"This was one of the great days; though the sky had from my clearing only the same everlastingly great look that it wears daily, and i saw no difference in it." P.128

(E) Regardless of how beautiful a day may be, the events that occur are what define it as great or not. I think that's what he means to say. That or no matter what happens, great day or not, the outside's always beautiful.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"As i drew a still fresher soil about the rows with my hoe, i disturbed the ashes of unchronicled nations who in primeval years lived under these heavens, and their small implements of war and hunting were brought to the light of this modern day." P.126

(R) I think it's pretty cool that back then one only had to hoe their bean field in order to find native american artifacts and other tools and things of past residents. So many things have changed since then that it now takes more effort to find artifacts of the sort. If you did deep enough in your own back yard you'll only end up finding your own trash.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"But here were two acres and a half of furrows, and only a hoe for cart and two hands to draw it.." p.125

(R) That's an interesting way to look at it. I like how he can relate things of different scales and show that they, at a very broad level, are essentially the same. He has a way of simplifying things by making them complex, by connecting them to other things in order to make something in your mind click and allows you to see or think in the manner that he did.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"The pines still stand here older than I; or, if some have fallen, I have cooked my supper with their stumps, and a new growth is rising all around, preparing another aspect for new infant eyes." p.124

(R) He seems to be saying that the same pines he familiarized himself with when he was a child are still present in his life or have been present at some point, and that a completely new set of pines is getting ready to be viewed by a future generation. I think it's really amazing that two people, separated by time, can be present in the same place but have two completely different experiences and sights. And i also think it's pretty amazing that he sees it this way, i don't know how long it would have taken me to realize something of the sort.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"What was the meaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this small Herculean labor, I knew not." p.123

(E) He recognizes that there is some type of significance to his labors, enough to compare them to Hercules' 12 tasks, but he can't seem to figure out what that is. His tasks were at first essential to his survival (hoeing a bean field) but he seems to have grown more than he needs, so he asks himself what is the meaning, or point, to doing all this.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"The waste and decay of physical life, which so often needs repair, seemed miraculously retarded in such a case, and the vital vigor stood its ground." p.113

(R) I love the way in which he writes. It would be simple to convey the same message, although not as exact, by using much simpler language, but instead he writes in such a poetic fashion that you find yourself wondering if this came as easily to him as it seems. His writing style is very admirable.

The Collected Poems

”I ordered this, this clean wood box
Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift.
I would say it was the coffin of a midget
Or a square baby” p.212

(R) I'm intrigued by her dark sense of humor. She seems like she would've been the type of person to drop these left and right like they're nothing. I feel like her humor reflects her pain, or whatever it was that she was going through at this period in her life.

The Collected Poems

”You come in late, wiping your lips.” p.201

(not sure). I really like this line.it could mean so many things. Was that person drinking? Were they out with someone else? I like how such a simple sentence can make you think this much.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

”I watch the passage of the morning cars with the same feeling that I do the rising sun, which is hardly more regular.” p.93

(E) He's removed himself from society just enough to the point where the sun rises more frequently than cars pass by. He seems to be in awe at his own observation and seems to find it very pleasing as well.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

”..a fish hawk dimples the glassy surface if the pond and brings up a fish..” p.91

(R) I really like how he worded this. He took what could've been a simple sentence, took away some simplicity, but made up for it in imagery. This is what I like about writing.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

”Much is published, but little printed. The rays which stream through the shutter will be no longer remembered when the shutter is wholly removed.” p.88-89

(R) A lot of what is actually said or done is actually just the same thing recycled over and over again. Thoreau thinks we should focus more on importance and originality, not on the same things over and over again.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

” Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” p.74

(E) He doesn't want us, I believe, to use up our time with meaningless tasks, and without the use of careful thinking and precision. If we're to do something we should do it right, and with purpose. And we should not waste time in doing unnecessary things.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

"The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.” p.71

(R) People tend to be extremely different in the morning than at night. Maybe it's because we've not yet remembered that which worries us, maybe we're too tired to care at the time. Whatever it is, I feel like it really mellows you out to wake up on your own in the morning. It's a really great feeling.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"..I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them." p.68

(R) I just think that iy's funny how he phrased it, but it is so true. The most common way we can ever have some type of bird companion is by imprisoning it in our houses. But instead of imprisoning the birds in order to be their neighbors, he "imprisoned" himself in a sense.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"Olympus is but the outside of the earth everywhere." p.68

(Q) What?.. No really, what? Thoreau, up to this point in his book, has used many greek mythology allusions, but those were clear. This one is very different from the rest; it's more of a metaphor than an allusion. I know what he means when he says "Olympus", but what else is he trying to say?

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"..the man who goes alone can start to-day; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off." p. 58

(R) Thoreau is the prime example of a loner. And while he does have a point in saying that most things are better done alone, he fails to factor in the emotional and psychological benefits of having company. His philosophy is one of efficiency, not happiness.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course." p.57

(E) This is a way of saying no matter how long something takes, it will be accomplished. It is a true model for perserverance and shows that it's okay to take your time, or if time isn't in your hands, then it's okay as long as you end up achieving/reaching your goals.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"There is some of the same fitness in a man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building his own nest. Who knows but if men constructed their dwellings with their own hands, and provided food for themselves and families simply and honestly enough, the poetic faculty would be universally developed, as birds universally sing when they are so engaged? But alas! we do like cowbirds and cuckoos, which lay their eggs in nests which other birds have built, and cheer no traveller with their chattering and unmusical notes." p.36

(E) We, unlike those birds who's tones we admire, do not "build our own nests", which negates us from developing our own beautiful singing voices. Instead we do like the cowbirds and cuckoos, who's voices bring enjoyment to no one, and settle down in nests built by someone else.What do the birds who build their own nests learn that the rest of us who refuse to partake in this task don't?

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"In this course which our ancestors took there was a show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to satisfy the more pressing wants first." p.31

(E) It seems as if though we used to be better at prioritizing in the times past. We knew the importance of some things over others and acted based upon logic instead of desire.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

”Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.”

(E) So basically, the only reason why some are poor is because they feel the need to have what others do, instead of only what they need. This isn't exactly envy, but it's still just as bad. Why harm your financial position in order to be like everyone else? That's like when people who don't have too much money buy expensive luxuries like iPhones, beats headphones, Jordans, Toms, and things like that with the little money they have instead if using it on something they actually need. Why? Because ”everyone else has them.”

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

” We may imagine a time when, in the infancy of the human race, some enterprising mortal crept into a hollow rock for shelter.” p.21

(E) He seems to be describing one of the first instances when man seeked out shelter, or maybe even man's natural instinct to look for a place to feel safe and protected. He emphasizes this by using the example of a primitive human, whom we can assume is very simple minded being the time that he was alive in, and even without modern education he still seeked out shelter for himself.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

”As for a Shelter, I will not deny that this is now a necessary of life, though there are instances of men having done without it for long periods in colder weather.” p.20

(E) I think shelter, at least for humans, has always been necessary and essential to our survival. So the type of shelter Thoreau must be talking about is the excessive, luxurious one that includes way more than what is necessary in order for us to survive. According to him, all we need from a shelter is warmth and protection from the outside world's conditions while we rest so anything more than that is unnecessary.

If We Must Die

This was an interesting sonnet. Although protest or call-to-action poetry has been done before this one seems to have a defining characteristic that sets it apart from the rest. What i think that may be is the author's blunt writing, telling his audience to fight even when death is imminent instead of implying it through the use of literary devices or other things of the sort. There's no big allusion, there's no connection made between this work and another, it just simply states that in order to die a noble death one must give it his all even when the odds are against his favor.

Walden and ”Civil Disobedience”

"The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveller's cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same." p.19

(R) Monkey see, monkey do. It's so sad knowing that our kind has advanced so much and yet so little in the time between now and when this quote was written. You see people outside wearing toms, skinny jeans, "swag" shirts, and Obey snapbacks, that still claim to be original individuals, but those that can't afford all that stuff, that have to put their own outfits together out of outgrown pieces of cloth are more preoccupied with less material things instead of feeling the need to prove to everyone else that they are an original individual by doing the exact same thing the next person does. I really dislike hypocrisy.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old, until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles." p.18

(E) I feel like part of what Thoreau is trying to say is that no matter what you do on the outside, you will still be the same person on the inside, so there's no point in trying to change appearances until and inner change itself has been achieved. Also, if I may base myself on his previous statements that led up to that quote, he believes that your outer appearance should reflect your inner self. I say this because he explains that as men move forward they feel the need to express that by buying more and more luxurious things. So a poor man will have a small house, humble clothes, and barely any food, while a rich man will have an enourmous house, lavish clothes, and enough food to feed him for more lifetimes than he could ever see.

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

"Darwin, the naturalist, says of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, that while his own party, who were well clothed and sitting close to a fire, were far from too warm, these naked savages, who were farther off, were observed, to his great surprise, 'to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a roasting.' So, we are told, the New Hollander goes naked with impunity, while the European shivers in his clothes. Is it impossible to combine the hardiness of these savages with intellectualness of the civilized man?" p.9

(R/Q) Is it not possible to pertain to both characteristics? What about a civilized man makes him so sensitive to the cold? And at what point does the savage become too smart to remain warm in the nude? Is it only possible to have one but not the other? Or does the fact that a person is civilized imply that they're not to be walking around nude? Is a savage not expected to be of any intelligence?

Walden and "Civil Disobedience"

" 'the villagers, who scarcely know where it lies, instead of going to the pond to bathe or drink, are thinking to bring its water, which should be as sacred as the Ganges at least, to the village in a pipe, or wash their dishes with it!' " p.XIV

(R) Thoreau seems to have been one of few that saw what was wrong with this picture. He learned to acknowledge and appreciate the importance of nature, and see it for its undisturbed beauty, which caused him to realize what the villagers planned on doing would result in more damage than improvement. He saw it blasphemous to treat something so pure and sacred with no regards for its delineative qualities.

Divergent

"I do not know what life will be like... it feels disengaged, like a leaf divided from the tree that gives it sustenance." p.487

(R) There are very many things that can fall inside the bounds of this simile. From simple things as a lightbulb disconnected from its socket, to a baby far away from his mother. This specific simile speaks volumes to me. It holds truth for so many things that are off-point, meaningless, even 'disengaged', when removed from their 'tree that gives [them] sustenance.

Divergent

"By the time it's my turn, I will know how well the others did, and how well I will have to do to beat them." p.382

(P) I think that observeing everyone else's performance could seriously improve Tris' score. I've always liked to go last or near-last whenever we have to do presentations for a class, partly because I'm shy, but also because I can see potential mistakes and correct them before I even go up. I see what everyone else does right and wrong and implement it whenever it's my turn. I feel like this is what Tris is going to do.

Divergent dj6

"Why do people want to pretend that death is sleep? It isn't. It isn't" p.303

(E) I feel like the only reason why this question is being posed is because death is something that's very hard for the characters, or anyone really, to accept. Death is just another part of life, and while it is hard to accept, it isn't something you can choose to ignore. Masking death as something as simple as sleep would be just plain wrong and disrespectful to the one that passed away. I know if I passed I wouldn't want people to think that I could just wake up again at any given moment.

Divergent

"I should be pleased that I am ranked first, but I know what that means. If Peter and his friends hated me before, they will despise me now. Now I am Edward. It could be my eye next. Or worse." p.267

(P) I think something bad's going to happen to Tris. Edward used to be 1st in rankings but shortly after everyone found out, he got stabbed in his eye in his sleep. Since they already didn't like Tris to begin with I think something worse is going to happen to her.

Divergent dj4

"'But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point.'" p.239

(Q) I'm not too sure what's going on. I know the character that said this (Four) is starting to stand out amongst the rest of the supporting characters in the books but still i must wonder. Why does he hold on to his faction's old philosophies when the rest of his faction has veered into a whole different direction? Why do their definitions of being Dauntless differ so much?

Divergent dj3

"Edward lies on the floor next to his bed, clutching at his face. Surrounding his head is a halo of blood, and jutting between his clawing fingers is a silver knife handle. My heart thumping in my ears, I recognize it as a butter knife from the dining hall. The blade is stuck in Edward's eye." p.202

() It's hard for something, especially a book, to get some sort of reaction from me, but when I read this paragraph a million things raced through my mind. How could someone who's supposed to be 'Dauntless', or courageous, or brave, do something as cowardly as this? And also, how could a group, or 'faction', of people who believe that cowardness is a direct sign of weakness (and therefore those who are cowards are unfit for the Dauntless lifestyle) let something like this happen?
I guess what really made me react was that the injury wasn't just anywhere, it was in the eye. A stab almost anywhere else can heal. Especially a stab from a butter knife. But a stab to the eye? That eye will either be gone or severely damaged to the point where it won't even be useful anymore.

Divergent dj2

" 'You're fast. If you can get a few good hits in before they know what's going on, you could win.' " p.129

Four said this to Tris when they were out by the city's fence. Just days before Four had almost drowned her friend as punishment for quitting during her fight and walked out when Tris was in the middle of hers, but now he's offering her advice. It makes no sense for him to do that, but it seems as though Four has alterior motives and has been hiding something from everyone up to this point.

Divergent

"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear." p.77

(R) It is hard to deal with something that you're not at least somewhat prepared for, but this is never a valid excuse to do nothing. The best thing you could do in a situation is the righ thing, the second best thing you could do is the wrong thing, but the worst thing you could ever do is nothing at all.