Journal 31

My job shadowing experience was actually really fun. I did not expect to have as good of a time as I did. I job shadowed at a marketing and advertising agency. When I got there, I was immediately greeted by the friendly secretary. Then Wally Hamlin, the CEO, and the vice president greeted me just as friendly. I was immediately taken to the conference room with three other girls from my school who were also joining me on my job shadowing experience. Wally talked to us for a few minutes until one of the employees, Kari, took over. She showed us some of the work she did and then we got to participate in an actual focus group. We all went to separate rooms and got on separate computers. It was fun. After that, we got a tour of the office and met everyone there. They all seemed like really fun, nice people. I went with one other girl, Kirsten, to the account manager. She then gave us one of her projects for the day and let us do it with little help from her. She gave us a big poster and the things the company wanted to make a table display advertisement. It was very fun and exciting, and after we got our basic ideas she showed us the program she used to share it with everyone in the office so the graphic designers would have access to make it come to life. We then went to the graphic designer area and Sarah made our display come to life. Using a program called InDesign, she put all of our ideas to use. It was really cool to see! She then printed it out and gave it back to the account manager so she could approve it. Our display was actually going to be used! It was a really great experience. We then met in the conference room again. Wally told us some encouragement for our future and walked us through how he thinks we should continue in our life. It was really encouraging and exciting to hear him speak. At the very end, he said that in four years, or after we graduate college, to give him a call if we need any help. The office was a really great atmosphere and I had a great time. Marketing is definitely something I may be interested in in the future.

Chicago by Charles Sandburg Analysis

Journal: Walt Whitman

My favorite poem by Walt Whitman is To a Stranger. This poem is short but includes elaborate ideas about Walt Whitman's belief of self.
In his poem To a Stranger, Walt Whitman talks about brief encounters that he has with people and how they can create a relationship. He wrote about how strangers have the opportunity to become good friends. The narrator can create a past with a stranger with his or her imagination. The narrator imagines having a past relationship with people and creates opportunities with them of the future. He imagines enjoying things with them romantically. Walt Whitman believes strongly that strangers can only look at each other and act on their impulses. He writes with the hope that you never know when the next stranger you meet might be your soul mate.
I find this poem very interesting. I am always thinking about strangers and how they could influence my life. When you think about it, all of your friends were once strangers. Your best friend who influenced you to do something could have changed your life forever. All of this from a stranger. From this poem I assume that Walt Whitman met many strangers and tried to create relationships with them.
Passing by people in a bookstore, I always smile. You never know when the stranger you are just meeting could become a life long friend. Just by smiling, you create a friendly environment that may draw some one to be interested in you.
I find that a lot of people are interested in how a stranger could affect your life, but never really talk about it because it may seem a bit creepy or desperate. Keeping this urge to talk to strangers when you find them interesting is something that is best kept private with one's self. I think that this is part of the magic and the mystery of strangers. You never know when a stranger you meet could possibly become a lifelong friend, or in Walt Whitman's case, a lover.

Whitman, Walt. "To A Stranger." Love Poem. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://www.thedatingadvisor.com/love-poem-to-a-stranger.html>.

Reflection: Chanting the Square Deific

Chanting the Square Deific was written by Walt Whitman in 1865 (Oliver). It was part of his book of poetry called Leaves of Grass.
In this poem, Walt Whitman wrote about God not being a trinity as the Christian Church accepted, but being a quanternity (Oliver). A trinity is a union of three people, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Trinity). Whitman went against the church in this poem and said he had four different sides. Each stanza in this poem represents one of the sides.
In the first stanza, God describes himself at "Jehovah," "Old Brahm," "Saturnuis," and "Kronos" (Whitman). All of these are  a religious king in other religions. Also in the first stanza, God describes himself as merciless.(Oliver). For example, he writes "

Relentless I forgive no man—whoever sins dies—I will have           that man's life"

(Whitman). He is a very harsh man.

In the second stanza, the side of Christ is the topic.This side seems to be a lot nicer than God. He calls himself the "mightier God" (Whitman). I think that this side of God is too nice while the first side is way too harsh. Christ takes all the burdens of sin while God does not accept any of them (Oliver).
Satan is the topic in the third stanza. He is "the brother of slaves" and yet at the same time he is a criminal (Whitman). He claims that nothing will change him. He also has a "soft heart" for the "downtrodden" (Oliver).  Satan is the least important side of the four. There is already an accepting character, Christ, the mean one, God, and the most powerful one who is kind of a wild card, Satana Spirita.
In the last stanza, the last side of God is shown according to Whitman's beliefs. The last side is "santa spirita" (Whitman).The last character is the spirit of the universe. It is on the opposite of Christ in the square of four. This last character includes all of the other three sides inside of it at the same time. Whitman writes in the last stanza "

Here the square finishing, the solid, I the most solid,

Breathe my breath also through these songs."

 On Charles Oliver's literary criticism, he ends with an interesting point. He believes that the last line of the poem suggests that the author is Satana Spirita. Charles Oliver believes that he is not only singing to the people in this poem, but to all the stories in Leaves of Grass (Oliver). That is a very deep point which seems to be true. The last line makes this poem kind of an intro to all the other stories and connects them together.
(Whitman).These two lines sum up Satana Spirita. He describes himself as lighter than the light. He is obviously the most powerful of the three sides. He is very powerful because he somehow contains all three other parts and yet is still opposite to the side of Christ.

Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." CHANTING THE SQUARE DEIFIC. 


"Trinity." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trinity?s=t>.

Journal 29

My transcendentalism self is who I am, not what I do. It is not what I do on the outside, but it is who I am and what I define myself as on the inside.
I think my transcendentalist self is mostly what everyone else see's of me on the outside. I do not put on an act and fool people from seeing who I am on the inside. There are a few things that I do not show to everyone on the outside, though. How I act definitely changes from the people I am around. When I'm with my friends who obsess over music, I talk a lot more about the art and the emotional side of life. When I'm with my other friends who focus on humor, I am more of a listener and just have the goal of laughing and having a good time. When I am with my family, I let out all the bad because I do not really care what they think of me. I sometimes am cranky because of how everything else happens throughout the day and take it out on them. i think I take it out on them because I know they will accept me regardless. I am more comfortable around some than others. Around my coworkers, I am more mature and do not really let them see the real me. I feel that unless they are going to be friends with me, I do not need to let them know what is going on in my life. I have made friendships with some of my coworkers, which changes the way I act around them. I am more open around them because they have become friends of mine.

Finding the inner you is something that is really hard to do. It is also really hard to think about. Whitman probably found this difficult as well, although I think he definitely did a better job than I did. I understand why he kept editing it for a long time. He probably was still learning about all the changes in his life. I think that it is a really hard thing to do. Defining yourself always changes because you always change as a person, either for better or for worse.

Reflection: Emily Dickinson's Poem "

Emily Dickinson uses a lot of themes in her poem "Nature the Gentlest Mother" such as the beauty of nature and personification comparing it to a mother. A mother is a caring person and makes sure that everyone is okay, such as nature. In a way, nature is like a mother with how it takes care of the world. She takes care of the squirrels, trees, and other animals. She compares mother nature as being patient. In her first line she writes "Nature, the gentlest mother, impatient of no child, the feeblest or the waywardest, her admonition mild" (Dickinson). This quote from Emily Dickinson shows the gentle and patient side of nature, but also that mother nature can be cruel. Emily Dickinson loves nature and enjoys nature and loves nature, which is why most of her poems are about nature. You can start hearing the crickets by the words that she uses. She gives to the animals around her and prays for them, just like a real mother would. At night, she made sure that all the animals had a place to sleep. In Emily Dickinson's poem, she writes "with infinite affection, and infinite care, her golden finger on her lip, will silence everywhere" (Dickinson). This part of the poem talks about her control over everything and how at night she can silence the whole place. Everyone is at peace and ready for their night. We call nature a mother because it nourishes people. We can get everything we need from nature, just like we should with a mother figure. Nature gives everyone a chance to survive in life. Your mother is also supposed to give you a chance in life and prepare you for the real world. Both nature and a mother give you the best that they can out of what they have. She also adds some imagery in the form of sight. For example, the forest and the hill show us imagery. Another example is the nature restraining the rampant squirrel from the traveler. Nature protects us, such as the scenario with the squirrel. When nature is mad or upset, it brings storms and natural disasters. When a mother is upset, it feels  like a natural disaster. You can tell she is upset when she slams things down or talks with attitude.
In Emily Dickinson's poetry, she talks about the most unworthy flower. She mentions how it does not deserve a  good life, but she is still going to help it live. This is the same with a real parent. When a parent's child does something wrong, they still love them and give them a good life. They try to do the best that they can and try to change them for the better. Her golden finger also shows imagery. You can see the finger on her lips. The color gold symbolizes royalty and higher power, like mother nature. Mother nature is royalty and above all.
Emily DIckinson's poem truly embodies the thought, or idea, of comparing nature to a mother and makes a lot of sense of why we call nature a mother nature.
Dickinson, Emily. "1. “Nature, the Gentlest Mother.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." 1. “Nature, the Gentlest Mother.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/113/2001.html>.

Journal 28

Emily Dickinson's poem "I heard a fly Buzz When I Died" is what my journal topic is about. Emily Dickinson lived by a cemetery. She wrote about love, nature, and death. She believed that death was a horrible thing that involved a lot of suffering. In this particular poem, I think that she believed that the fly was apart of the journey of death. The fly was just waiting for the character to die off so it could feast on it. The fly interrupts the end of the Emily Dickinson's death and this is tragic. The cemetery is a peaceful place that is quiet and that accepts death. She wants death to be peaceful and quiet, but instead she gets her death interrupted by a fly.The fly could interrupt the movement of the soul and send her down and possibly not allow her into heaven. The fly interrupted her peaceful death. Emily Dickinson's narrator in this poem eventually does fall into the black abyss of death. She said that she "could not see to see". I think this line means that she is dead and can no longer even imagine basic functions, let alone do them. If I were dying, I would not want any interruptions. I would want death to be a peaceful thing. I would not want any flies swarming around bothering me, I would want my family around and helping me get through the horrible time. I would hope death would not be painful. The fly would be a big distraction. It could symbolize the distraction of the reason for life. I think that the Emily Dickinson had distractions in her life that effected what she wanted to do with her life. She may have had her own goals for life but got distracted by things that society does. The fly represents everything in her life that went wrong. She has to be bothered by it one more time before she dies. I think that the fly represents everyone's burdens in life.