Independent Reading

I just started reading "Dexter in the Dark", the third book in the Dexter series. The first two books had murder mysteries and this one is no diffrent, the twist is you are getting to know the "Bad Guy" before Dexter does. At the end of a couple of chapter it calls him the watcher and he is following Dexter after he has seen him kill a victim. Jeff Lindsey, the author, is also doing a good job of keeping Dexter funny and sarcastic. So far the third book is just as good, if not better, than the first two

American Romanticism

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Well one thing that is obviously romantic and imaginative about Sleepy Hollow is that it is a ghost story. Of course this could never happen but it is a nice adventure of a guy, who frankly is kind of jerk, who gets his in the end. While I read this story I had no bad thoughts about him dying. I think that’s what’s romantic about this story. Normally in life the jerks and bad guys get ahead in life and get the girls, but in this story the jerk gets what he deserve at the end.

It also has a sense of irony to it. A man that doesn’t believe in ghost and only listens to ghost story’s to get to with women dies from a ghost. Well maybe not die, they never said that, they just said they never found his body just his hat. It’s kind of romantic that he becomes a ghost story. His tale will be told after he is gone, and then the villagers say you can hear him whistle. This is a romantic story because of how the things react to one another and the sense of wonder and imagination to it. Even though it would never happen it is easy to believe in it.

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head.
I guess this would be an example of how this story could be considered romantic. Since everything was so bad during the days when he wrote this, he made up something more frightening that would make people feel better about there lives.

Away, then, they dashed through thick and thin; stones flying and sparks flashing at every bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered in the air, as he stretched his long lank body away over his horse's head, in the eagerness of his flight.
This is a good example of romanticism because a chase through the woods would rarely ever happen. Plus the story makes it out to be some kind of exciting adventure and it kind of gets your heart pumping. A good piece of fiction, that’s what make’s it romantic.

Thanintopsis

I think he is talking about life and death in this poem. He starts out with saying how beautiful mother nature is a beautiful thing ."She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides into his darker musings, with a mild And gentle sympathy, that steals away". Then he starts talking about the final hour, or "the last bitter hour", and at the end he wonders what people will think when he’s gone. This is romantic from my point of view of how he makes death out to be a beautiful thing. I guess death can be beautiful but most of the time its just ordinary. He described with and elegance and happiness about it.

The Ropewalk

I really didn’t understand this poem that well. I would say the writing is describing some of the beautiful things in the world, or at least some of the things that he thinks seem beautiful. The most beautiful things he talks about are the mountain banks and the girl with faded loveliness. This is describing some of the nicer easier things to look at in the world, not the terrible, ugly, and sometimes tragic things we see almost everyday. You can picture a calm and peaceful place in your mind sometimes and it can help you calm down and relax.

Paintings

I think paintings can be considered romantic by their beauty. There aren’t that many beautiful, nice or peaceful places left in the world. This picture is a good example of a romantic picture in how calm and peaceful it is. The clouds and the sky are reflecting off the water, the sun making its way through the clouds. No buildings or distractions, just god’s creation at it’s finest.




This is a romantic painting because of the colors of the scenery. You very seldom see rainbow’s, especially a perfect one. You also have the duck and the ducklings, which is a kind of nice way to look at life. A mother taking care of her children and not having to worry about anything else. Its fall and leaves are all colorful and all over the place. This picture is romantic because you rarely see anything this peaceful.

Writing Two

How to run for president

If you want to become President of the United States, there are a few steps you have to take. There not going to let you do all the important things a President has to do without the right amount of qualifications. The President gets to decide where our nation’s money goes, and helps us become allies with other nations. I went to http://www.fec.gov/ to find out just what you need to do to become President of the United States. To start out it is actually easier than I thought. You have to register, round up a campaign team, and then actually start your campaign.

There are rules to become President, just as their rules for pretty much everything else. You must be at least thirty-five years old to become president (The youngest President we’ve had was John F. Kennedy who was elected when he was 43). The reason this is the age requirement is because they want you have experience with politics and be fully mature. Another reason for this could be because these rules were written when our nation first started by older white men, and they wanted the country to be run by other older white men later down the road. It is found in the Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

At http://www.fec.gov/ it explains the steps it takes to register. You register once you or someone working for you receives contributions exceeding $5,000. Within fifteen days of that time you must file a statement of candidacy. This is the fec form 2 (the FEC form is the papers you fill out to register) , which authorizes a principal campaign committee to raise and spend funds on your behalf. Within the next ten days your campaign committee must submit a statement of organization (fec form 1). After that your campaign team will report its receipts and disbursements on a regular basis.

Once you announce your plan to run for office your campaign begins. At http://www.factmonster.com/ I found how you run a campaign. The first thing you have to have is a nomination campaign. This is where you square off against other candidates in your same party to get support, and to get that party’s nomination. You have to try winning over delegates and other people who will support you and try to convince people to vote for you. After this you square off against the candidate’s in the other party in debates to win the votes of the people. You will give speeches and be involved in debates. At these debates you argue about your beliefs against your opponents, things like whether you’re pro choice for abortion, or if you support gay marriage. Your campaign team advertises for you, and lets the country know all the great things you’ve done and what you believe in. Most of the time they criticize thier opponents, and tell everyone the terrible things they have done like drugs or illegitimate children and such.

Finally on Election Day the country votes and if you win you get the oval office. Once you win the election you get inaugurated (a ceremony to where you’re put into office) on January 20, of the next year. On that day you take the presidential oath "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States". Then finally at that moment you are officially President of the United States.

Rationalist

There is a big difference in opinion when it comes to the Puritans and the Rationalist. The Puritans believed god was someone to fear. They thought that god pulled all the strings and that every unexplainable thing or event was some sort of miracle. They didn’t need an explanation on why it rained, or why the sky was blue, they just believed God knew what was going on and what was good for them. They believed heavily in pre-destination and that were doing what God wanted them to. The Rationalist on the other hand believed there had to be explanation for things. Most of the still believed in a higher power, but they also believed there was a way that science could explain things. Like why does it lightning, what is lightning, and why do we need oxygen to survive. They believed they walked their own path and made their own decisions.

They believed everyone was equal in God’s eyes.
The different opinions in the Rationalist way of thought and the Puritans are still around today, mostly in the opinions of natural disasters. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans some people had different opinions on why it happened. Some people believed like the Puritans and thought God was punishing us for not having as much faith as we used to. That he was angry with us for taking prayer out of schools or just angry because we were a much more liberal society than we used to be. On the other hand though, some people believed like the Rationalist. They would say that this was just a natural thing. They believed that the damage to our planet and our ozone was throwing our planet off balance and that if we didn’t take care of it things like this would keep happening. So the thought are kind of similar in a way. They both believe we are the cause of our planet’s destruction. The difference is the Puritans believe God is punishing us and the Rationalist believes that it’s just the natural order of the things.

The thing that makes Ben Franklin a good example of a rationalist is his way of thinking for himself. This is a man who went out on his own to explore life. He lives his life his own way and even made a list of things to help him improve his life. His planned to achieve his goal one step at a time and not take on all at once. The Puritans believed that had to fallow every thing in god’s plan. Rationalist lived their life by there own plan and that’s why Benjamin Franklin is a good example of a Rationalist.

My List of Virtues

Patience- enjoy life more and not be in such a rush.
Language- not curse as much
Respect- show more respect to others
Strength- exercise daily
Kindness- be generally kind in everything I do
Explore- try new things
Work- work as hard as I can everyday
Relax- enjoy resting everyday
Thankful- be thankful for everything I have
Learn- try to learn something everyday.
Health- eat healthy every day
Time- use all my time doing something
Care- care for others

I think it is a good thought thought saying I could accomplish these things, but I doubt I ever wood. I think I could but even though these things would make me a better person I don’t know if it would improve my life. There are a certain few that would but not all of them. I do try and do some of these things on the list already. Some of these things would put a strain on life though. Like eating health, I’m totally for and I try to do it, but sometimes I want to enjoy a big juicy burger or a nice big piece of cheesecake. I guess thought that if I did all these things I would be considered a good, king and caring person. It would definitely look good on a resume.



For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
This shows rationalism because the Puritans would believe God’s vengeance would punish a murderer. Or that it would be their job to punish them. Rationalists want to trial
and then prosecute.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
This is probably the most famous part of the Declaration. This shows rationalistic thought by saying we have the right to take our own path and try to find happiness. The Puritans believed you just got what you deserved.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government
The Puritans believed the wealthy and the chosen few by God should control. Rationalist took a or logical approach by saying if someone gets out of line the people can decide to get him out of office by popular vote.

Indipendent Reading

I just got finished reading a book called Dearly Devoted Dexter. It's the second book in the series by author Jeff Lindsey. It's about a man named Dexter Morgan, who is a serial killer. The catch is, he only kills other murders, rapist and people who are a menace to society. The book is based in Miami, Florida, where he works as a blood splatter analisyst. There is also a television show based on the books called Dexter.

Writing One

I love the movies, going to the movies or just renting them. It is one of the things I enjoy doing the most. There are so many different types of movies, and so many different steps involved in making a good movie. I’m going to analyze my favorite type of movie, Comedy, an adult comedy movie to be more specific. A comedy needs to have to have a funny concept, funny actors, a good writer, and so many more things to make a great comedy that involves mostly sex and adult urges.

The first thing you need of course is a good script that people will enjoy, and mostly something that they can relate to. One of the best things about teen sex comedies is that they can take moments, like getting a parking ticket or going on a blind date, that when they happen to you in real life you may not think it is funny or enjoy it at all. For example in the movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin", Steve Carrel’s character gets his chest waxed. In real life getting your chest waxed is rarely funny, but it’s one of the funniest scenes in the movie. In an adult comedy they can make you remember those moments in your life, and laugh about them. The most important thing when making a comedy movie is definitely having a writer who has been in the characters shoes and know how they feel so they can show the audience things that they can relate to. The reason this is important is because an audience is going to care about the character more if they know what they’re going through.

Another very important thing about an adult comedy is you have to have genuinely funny actors that have good timing when it comes to jokes. It’s not all that important to have good-looking actors and actresses. If the person in the movie is a good-looking actor and the character there trying to play is just an average guy, or a nerd or dork, then its going to kind of take you out of the story. Like Jack Black in "Shallow Hal", his character has a hard time picking up women. Since it’s Jack Black that’s a believable scenario, but if you put Brad Pitt or George Clooney in that role it would be hard to believe. You’re not going to believe someone with perfect hair and teeth are gonna have that much trouble picking up a girl, or making friends.

There are different types of funny actors too. Some can read a good script and hit the punch line of a joke at just the right moment to make you laugh. A couple of actors who seem to do that rather well in my eyes would be Steve Carrel in "The 40 Year Old Virgin", or on his show "The Office", or Jerry Seinfeld in his sitcom "Seinfeld". Steve Carrel has a punchline he loves to use on his show, when another character says something that sounds sexy his character will say, "That’s what she said".

Another type of funny is physically funny. This is when someone puts his or her body through serious pain to show something funny. Some examples could be Ben Stiller in "There’s Something about Mary", Will Ferrell in "Anchorman" or "Old School", or Dick Van Dike on his old sitcom "The Dick Van Dike Show". A good example of physical comedy is when Will Ferrel goes streaking in "Old School".

The last type I can think of that I think is the funniest are quick comedians, or Improv. An example of this is when an actor just spits out funny lines so fast. These movies rarely ever have to slow down for a joke. These movies have funny lines and conversations non-stop, "Superbad" is good example of a movie like that. Some good examples of these actors would be Vince Vaughn in "Wedding Crashers", and Dave Chappelle on "Chappelle’s Show".
Another thing that almost always seems essential to adult comedies is sex. That’s one of the main reasons that they would be considered adult comedies. Sex is such a big part of our society that it can be funny sometimes. The funny things about sex are normally the lengths some people go just to get it. That’s what most sexual comedies are about. In American Pie the whole plot of the movie is four high school seniors want to lose their virginity before they graduate. In Wedding Crashers two guys go to weddings to pick up brides maids who are envious of the newly married friends. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin, a man who as you probably could guess is a 40-year-old virgin and the whole plot of the movie is for him to lose his virginity.

Adult Comedies also normally feature lots of vulgar language. I think it makes it seem more real, because you know most people, honestly, talk like that. I believe most people over the age of fourteen or fifteen use bad language regularly. So if your trying to base a movie truly on someone over that age, it would have to be rated R most of the time. Some movies with a lot of language would "Life" or "Wedding Crashers". One comedian that always seemed to use language not only in his stand up comedy but also in his movies was the late Richard Pryor. He may have used a good bit of language, but he was almost always funny.

One more thing that makes some adult comedies stick out is heart. A comedy is always supposed to make you laugh but if it can make you feel the characters to then that’s when I think it is a great comedy. Like in "The 40 Year Old Virgin", the thing about that movie that is great is behind all of the smart remarks and jokes. These guys become friends and they all learn things from one another and by the end of the movie your rooting for the hero to get what he wants. Those are the things that make an adult comedy, sex, language, a good script and a little bit of heart.

The Puritans

Puritans Beliefs

The Puritans believed very differently than modern Christians do today. They didn’t see God as a forgiving being, but as someone with much anger for sinners. They didn’t think that we all can go to have, they believed only a selected few would be good enough in God’s eyes to make it into heaven. They also didn’t see Jesus as someone who died for all of us, but for only a few, therefore only those few could make it into heaven.

They also believed that God only gave a certain few power to spread his word, and live a holy life. If someone rejected God’s grace after God offered, they would be going against the power of God, something that would be impossible in Puritanism. The Puritans were God fearing people. There we’re taught to believe in God through the fear of going to hell, not the grace of going to heaven.

The Puritans

The Puritans were an interesting group of people. Even though William Bradford’s journal isn’t the easiest thing to read, it show’s a lot of insight into how our nation was made, and how it has changed. These people really believed what was preached, and very few in the first colony didn’t believe these things. They really wanted to believe in God, and they had faith that he would help them when they were down. They wanted their children to remember what God did for them, which was showed in this passage. "May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity."

Jonathon Edward, who is known for his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", believed people should be god fearing people. Though Edward was kind of past his time, he was one of the most zealous preachers in his day. He strongly believed in original sin and preached more to those who had not found Christ yet. His congregation in 1750 eventually voted him out of his church. His sermon showed that the puritans truly feared hell. The way I see it, his motivation for accepting Christ was scarring his congregation into not wanting to burn in hell. In one of his passages he says, "So that thus it is that 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". That is pretty much saying that no matter what you do, God will never forgive, and your already sentenced to hell.

Going back to the early puritans, they believed this same philosophy. Instead of preaching to people and saying that they could be forgiven for their sins, they believed that if you were a bad person you’re automatically going to hell. Saying that though, most of the Puritans at that point believed they were still going to heaven. I think they believed that what they were doing was right, and they rarely questioned themselves as right or wrong. I’m not saying they were all bad people, they probably did what most of us would do. They did make a peace treaty with the Indians. Even though we all know now what they later did to the Indians.

One thing I do think is interesting about the Puritans is that they did have strong faith for the most part. Even when they were starving and sick they still kept their faith. Even though I believe in god myself, I’ve always found it interesting what all can be considered miracles. There can be miracles out there, but sometimes it may be luck. It sounds to me that anytime anything good happened to the Puritans, it wasn’t luck, it was God. "And here is to be noted a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that here they got seed to plant them corn the next year, or else they might have starved." It may be true that God helped them at that point, but it amazes me how faithful they were. In today’s age most people I know, even the ones who believe in God, would start questioning God once things started going wrong. These people starved and had a hard life for a long time and few if any of them ever stopped believing in God. That is a true test of faith, and if god were grading them on it, I’d have to say they passed.

To be such God loving people, or fearing depending on which way you look at it, they paved a way for many Americans after them. There are few people in today’s world that have as much faith as they did, but we still believe many of the same concepts. More religions believe in some sort of heaven and hell, some sort of God and Devil. They faith was a different then some people’s faith today, but there theories and ideas still pop up in religions today. Like original sin, most of us have heard the same story about Adam and Eve that they did, and nothing that I’ve heard today is different from the way they told it then. The puritans were probably wrong about something’s, but at the end of the day they had much strong faith in God then we have faith in anything today. And what is life really if you have faith in nothing?

Textual Evidence

Limited Atonement

However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being in this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be truly convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you see that it is was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, peace and safety; now thy see that those things on which they depended for peace and safety were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
From "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

This passage shows that they believed no matter what you did, whether it be go to church or teach your family about God, if you were supposed to go to hell, you were going to go to hell.

Unconditional Election

What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity," etc. "Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good: and his mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them." "Let them confess before the Lord His lovingkindness and His wonderful works before the sons of men."
From "Of Plymouth Plantation"

I think this passage shows how the pilgrims believed God loved them more than anyone else, and that he chose to help them above others.