I think that there are definitely times when it is acceptable for people to break the rules. Usually, I think that it is a good idea to play by the rules, desperate times call for desperate measures and you can’t always follow the rules.
The example that Mr. Langley talked about in class was a single mother who loses her job and can’t get any help to feed her baby. She has no money and no way to legally get some baby food, so is it okay for her to steal some? I think yes. She is not just going to let her baby starve. I think that this falls under the desperate times call for desperate measures category. It would be morally wrong for her to not steal the baby food. It would be morally wrong for her to let her baby starve just because she did not want to risk getting caught.
Another example is a man who has a very sick wife. He knows that his wife will die if she does not get the medicine that she needs and if she gets the medicine then she will for sure live. The only problem is that the medicine is very expensive. Should the man steal the medicine? I think that this example is like the first one and that he should steal it. He loves his wife and he wants her to live so of course he should steal it.
I think that these examples might be slightly different if it was not a life or death situation. If the woman could get help and was able to obtain the baby food in another way I think that it would be wrong for her to steal. I think that if she was stealing the baby food just because it was easier than working to get some money or if she just did not even attempt to get some kind of support from an organization then it would be different and I would not think that it would be moral for her to break the law. It is only moral to break the law if it is a life or death situation and you are out of options.

Civil Disobedience

The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, was his reaction to being put in jail for not paying his poll taxes. He did not pay his poll taxes because he did not agree with how the government supported slavery or how they planned to expand through the Mexican War (Wayne).

In his essay, Thoreau criticizes the government a lot. He speaks his mind through his essay about the faults of the government and how he does not want to support it. I think that Henry David Thoreau was cool about the way that he stood up for what he believed in. He did not use violence, but instead he just refused to pay.

He talks about how he is not against the government or anything; he just does not want to support it by paying the tax. He feels that supporting this government that he does not agree with, it would be the wrong thing to do.

“I perceive that, when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side, the one does not remain inert to make way for the other, but both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and flourish as best they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.” (Thoreau)

This passage that Thoreau wrote supports his belief that he does not want to just conform with what the government tells him to do. He compares his morals and the state’s laws to an acorn and a chestnut. He says that he must do what is in his nature in order for his survival, just like the chestnut and acorn must do what is in their nature to survive. The chestnut and acorn would not just step aside for the other, so why should he?

“They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humility; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.” (Thoreau)

In this passage, Thoreau is talking about how it is not his neighbor’s faults that they go along with the states laws and taxes, and just because they do go along with it all does not mean that they necessarily agree with it. He says that since they do not know of any purer truth than that of the Bible and the Constitution, that they just go along with it and do what they say. He believes that if everyone knew what he knew, that they would do the same as him.

This essay is an example of transcendentalism writing. Transcendentalism writing is the reaction to Puritan and Romanticism (Barney). It is considered a form of Romanticism and it is characterized by “neither religious faith nor radical skepticism but instead explored the spiritual and immaterial aspects of humanity through engagement of the imagination and contact with nature.” (Barney)

I think that this essay can be characterized as Transcendentalism because in his essay, he does not go along with the laws, he does what he feels is the right thing to do. 

"Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - 1." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil1.html>.

Wayne, Tiffany K. "'Civil Disobedience'." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETRA068&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 26, 2012).

Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "Transcendentalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0820&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 26, 2012).

The Minister's Black Veil

The Minister's Black Veil was a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is about a minister who wears a black veil and will not tell anyone why he is wearing the veil. The reason he wears the veil is a mystery to everybody around him, even his own wife. The minister never reveals why he is wearing the black veil, but it does make his sermon more powerful and sinners feel that they can repent to him when he is wearing the veil. The veil also has some negative effects. People in the town do not understand why he is wearing the veil, so they begin to start rumors about why he is wearing it. Some people believe that the minister had gone mad, and some believe that he is hiding some mysterious sin. The only person that directly asks him why he is wearing it is his wife.

“’there is nothing terrible in this piece of crape, except that it hides a face which I am always glad to look upon. Come, good sir, let the sun shine from behind the cloud. First lay aside your black veil: then tell me why you put it on.’” (Hawthorne)

She approaches the subject in a nice way, saying that the only reason that she does not like the veil is because it hides his face and she wants to be able to see his face. I do not think that she was being honest when she said that because she gets really mad when he refuses to take it off.

"’But what if the world will not believe that it is the type of an innocent sorrow?" urged Elizabeth. "Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!’” (Hawthorne)

I think that Elizabeth was more concerned with what other people thought of the minister and what they would think of her since she was with him. I think that is the reason why she left him when he refused to remove the veil.

The minister gave many reasons for why he may want to be hiding his face behind the dark veil. One reason that he gave for wanting to hide his face was that he was mourning. He also said that he may be hiding it for sorrow or for sin.

“‘If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough," he merely replied; "and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?’" (Hawthorne)

“‘There is an hour to come," said he, "when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape till then.’" (Hawthorne)

When Elizabeth asks him to remove the veil, he says that he will when he dies. He says that everyone will remove their veils. I am not sure exactly what that means but I think that it is probably a religious reference.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the veil that the minister wears in this story. Mystery is a common theme in dark romanticism (Werlock) and it is used a lot in this short story.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Eldritch Press. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. .

Werlock, Abby H. P. "gothic." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS391&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 25, 2012).

Fear

Something that I fear is spiders. I hate spiders. It is a very common fear, but if you think about it, it is kind of irrational. Spiders are so much smaller than people, yet so many people are so scared of them. We could easily kill a spider just by stepping on them, but whenever we see them, we run away from them. I am scared of spiders because they are just really ugly creatures. I hate their nasty legs and how they have those tiny little hairs. The worst thing about spiders is when you look at them up close and you can see that they have like a million eyeballs. They are so creepy. I especially hate the spiders that are really fast and the ones that can jump. Spiders freak me out so much.

Another thing that I am very scared of is demons and possession. I have seen so many movies about demons and people who have gotten possessed and it freaks me out so much. Movies like those are the only ones that actually scare me. I believe that it is possible to get possessed by demons and that just makes the movies seem even more real.

A third thing that scares me is death. I think that almost everybody is afraid of death. I think that it is just kind of a natural fear since it happens to every single person. There is no way to escape death because no matter who you are it is going to happen to you. The kind of death that really scares me is the violent ones and the ones that come way too early. I have a lot of plans for my future life and I am afraid that death will make those plans not happen. Whether death happens to me or somebody that I am close to, it scares me a lot.

My last fear and probably my weirdest is lady bugs. Lady bugs are gross because in the summer they are everywhere. I hate when you do not know that there is one on you and you feel their tiny little teeth bite you.

The Pit and the Pendulum

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is a short story written during the romanticism time period by Edgar Allan Poe. “The Pit and the Pendulum” is a horror story and it is considered as dark romanticism. This story is about a soldier who is sentenced to death by the Spanish inquisition. Instead of a quick death, however, this soldier is tortured endlessly before he narrowly escapes. This story is extremely suspenseful and scary. The whole concept of this story is terrifying and just imagining how Edgar Allan Poe could create this story amazes me. The first few lines of “The Pit and the Pendulum” kind of sets the tone for the rest of the story. He starts out the story describing how the soldier is feeling and what he is thinking.

“I WAS sick -- sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence -- the dread sentence of death -- was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution -- perhaps from its association in fancy with the burr of a mill wheel. This only for a brief period; for presently I heard no more.” (Poe)

Already we can see that the soldier is losing hope and does not think that he will live. As soon as he hears the death sentence, he gives up.

It kind of seems like he might have been a little messed up. This story had a lot of psychological details in it.

Throughout the whole story, the soldier’s thoughts and feelings are described to us. This passage of the soldiers fear is a good example of the psychological aspects of this story:

“ By long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, and had become in every respect a fitting subject for the species of torture which awaited me.” (Poe)

The soldier has been through a lot already, and is beginning to feel very nervous and jumpy. At this point, he knows that he is not going to die a normal death, and that he is going to be tortured.

This story is a good example of dark romanticism. Many common themes that are included in other dark romanticism writings are included in this story as well. In a text by Abby Werlock about dark romanticism, she describes dark romanticism as commonly including themes such as terror, suspense, and mystery. All of these themes are shown constantly throughout this story. The theme of terror is the one that is most commonly used throughout this story.

“I shrank from the glowing metal to the centre of the cell. Amid the thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul like balm. I rushed to its deadly brink. I threw my straining vision below. The glare from the enkindled roof illumined its inmost recesses. Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to comprehend the meaning of what I saw. At length it forced -- it wrestled its way into my soul -- it burned itself in upon my shuddering reason. -- Oh! for a voice to speak! -- oh! horror! -- oh! any horror but this! With a shriek, I rushed from the margin, and buried my face in my hands -- weeping bitterly.” (Poe)

This passage shows terror in it. The soldier is so terrified that he says that he would rather have “any horror but this”. Edgar Allan Poe was very good at writing scary stories and stories that are considered “dark romanticism”.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "gothic." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS391&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. .